quaint little rutted bucket



Thursday, December 30, 2004

Happy holidays.

Hahah. After more than six months, my phone's starting to act up. It doesn't charge. At all. And yes, I've already tried using (1) different chargers and (2) a different battery, from my sister's phone. I figure a loose part maybe or something. Sigh.

I really shouldn't have had it with me during field training days in ROTC. Heheh.

Anyway, I'll be bringing it to either Sony Ericsson's support center in Makati or Semicon at the Podium in Ortigas. After new year. :(



Enchanted Kingdom?

The whole Presno tropa got together and went to EK two days ago. It was cool, but my wallet wasn't cooperating at all: it didn't want to churn out the PhP 500 for the day pass fee. As it turns out, that was a good decision--there were lots of people at EK, making the rides have an average wait time of around 20 minutes. Or sometimes, even more. This was true up to around 11 in the evening. And at that time, I was already tired and in need of some good rest.

It was cool, even though I only got the carousel special this time. (And no, I didn't ride the thing. :)

EK's lost its touch, in my opinion. Last year, S11 (my college block in CCS) went there after the finals just to unwind and relax. It was fun, as there were only a handful of visitors. We almost had the entire park to ourselves! Endless Rio Grande rides, a round at the Space Shuttle (I have only ridden it only once) and of course, at the Condor. Gotta love those things.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

The beauty of all things simple

Today, i headed down McDo, near La Salle to fetch my groupmate and go to Barrio Obrero, in the farthest extremes of Tondo, Manila to visit Alvin.

We took the LRT to R. Papa and a tricycle to the school. There, we met Mr. Roger Cayabyab, a lanky bachelor who, later on, we found to be a very dedicated educator who was perhaps already married--to his vocation, that is.

(I'm sorry about the lack of pics. I really thought only pictures could do justice to the inspiring things I experienced today. :)

Upon arriving at Barrio Obrero Elementary School, I was quite astonished to find out that they had a dedicated center for handling children needing specialized education. (Being an education student, I should. :D It was there I learned lots about the program they had, where they teach "special" (note the asterisks.) children academic and practical skills. Skills that are, aside from being beneficial to them intellectually, help them in dealing with the environment around them. Sir Roger told us that they teach the children skills in housekeeping, painting, gardening, and craftmaking.

Soon after that, we were treated to some good food from those brought by the kids for their Christmas parties. :) We met all the kids enrolled in SPED, such as those who are hearing-impaired, autistic and have attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We also learned that we were the first pair to actually visit the school and the child assigned to us. And that Alvin belongs to the afternoon batch, so we had to wait for a couple of hours. :))

Alvin, with his mum, arrived a couple of minutes past one in the afternoon. As we discovered, Alvin is an autistic child who has an almost tireless penchance for running about, as if curiously exploring his environment. (He'll surely be a winner in the sixteenth. Hahah.) Regardless, his teachers and Ma'am Norma told us a few things to keep in mind when dealing with him. Tips, strategies and what-nots that will surely prove essential in keeping him interested and behaved.
The visit ended when our pair and the rest of Alvin's teachers parted ways with their assurance that they'll try to help us as much as possible, especially when things get pretty overwhelming.

Ahahah. For me, that's the best thing to have in mind. :D



9800 Pro still MIA

Supply constraints? Apparently, Rising Sun (and PowerColor's local distie, PC Trends) have had trouble ordering 9800 Pros. That means I still have to wait for my card to arrive. Karen (RSun Taft) told me to phone her Thursday afternoon if they already have it. Bummer, considering that I have Vampires - The Masquerade: Bloodlines, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth, and of course, Need for Speed Underground 2 all waiting for a decent gaming card. Heheh.

Suggestion to RSun: Just send me an AGP version of Nvidia's 6600GT from any of the brands PC Trends carries locally! Harhar. Now that would be a *sweet* Christmas present! Harhar.

Of course, with all this talk, nobody would even notice I'm experiencing fatigue from all these.

Yes, fatigue.

Of note, I've already stopped playing HL2, like what I did to Doom3 about a month ago. I find these FPSes boring. I tried playing in the local beta of Priston Tale, but interest was soon lost after a few levels. (Hahah. This was the first time I tried to play an MMO, and I find the overall concept pretty dull.) I even played around with Sid Meier's Pirates!, but also got tired of it and uninstalled it pretty quickly.

Blech. I think I'm outgrowing playing games already.



Song of the moment: Don't Dream It's Over (Neil Finn)

Performed by Crowded House

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

Now I'm towing my car, there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page

Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
Don't ever let them win

Lyrics Copyright © 1986 Roundhead Music (BMI).

Friday, December 17, 2004

Unfinished business

The term's officially over for me now. I'm only awaiting course cards on Monday, and a visit to Brother Obrero Elementary School on Tuesday for FTK 2005. Gee, I joined FTK. Heheh.

For those "not-in-the-know" FTK is an acronym for "For The Kids", an outreach program for special children who have not had the chance to experience a normal childhood. Originally started at La Salle Greenhills, the tradition is now continued in De La Salle University - Manila by the university's Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA). It involves inviting delegations of children from different SPED (special education) institutions in Metro Manila to join in a fun-filled day of activities that help in affirming these kids.

A similar experience occurred to me once in my Senior year in High School, when the CAT was tasked to help in a school outreach program for Caritas Manila. That was something profound itself, and it was an experience I'll be drawing much from in this one (FTK).

The only problem is, I dunno how to get to Tondo. You see, the school is somewhere in Tondo. And I nary have an idea how to get there. Shucks. Anyway, I'll be trying Kuya Arnel (Dad's supervisor) for details, as he used to live in the area.



Looking back: My first term in education

After having shifted to a degree program in education, I realized that this was something I should've done earlier. A career in education would enable me to be flexible, as I could continue on teaching, or perhaps become a lawyer if I still wanted to. (Which at this point in time, a not.) But more importantly, it lets me have a career that I could be proud of, and be of help to countless young people who would be the future of this nation.

Anyway, I've had my share of anxieties after shifting--there was a feeling of longing for the usual life in Gox, and I seem to cannot fathom, even today, the idea of small classes. (Gox classes usually average 20 peeps or more, a number of my classes in CED were less than that.) In addition, almost all of my classes have professors that differ much from the ones I used to have in CCS.

Machine projects are inexistent in CED vocabulary. Much of the submitted work we do are term papers, reaction papers, research papers, and all other kinds of papers. In other words, paperwork du jour is almost always the order of the day.

Reporting is also commonplace, in almost all CED courses. There was even a week when all I did for a week was to report, in virtually all of my subjects! Take that for a coincidence. Nevertheless, to say that CED < CCS is wrong, because the two colleges require a vastly different set of skills for one to succeed.

After a term in education, I'm already pretty comfortable with the idea of becoming a teacher. Expectations run high as education is a career that has high expectations, but I can live with that.

I have to admit that I made a mistake in misjudging my GENPSYC class. It was fun, and I would certainly love to be working with Dr. Javier again. While he may be quite uptight, his pedagogy just suits me fine, and I can confidently say that my classmates in S22 shares this view too.

FOUNED2 is a mixed bag. It was only now that I understood (I think) my prof's tenacity to give a number of challenging requirements for her course...

I dropped out of TINTECH. While I loved the class, it was my distance from school for two months that served as hindrance to me coming in time for this one. My mum just recommended I drop and just take it some other time, when we get back to our home in Makati. (Which was just a couple of weeks ago.)

EDTECH1. I had a lot of absences for this one, and if it wasn't for the instructor's relative kindness, I would be dead just for attendance. I used to skip his class as I find it boring to learn things you pretty much have a good idea of as a computer science student--Excel, Word, digital imaging and HTML. And now, I have to pay the price of the not being able to get the grade I desire. Oh well.

LINGUIS. I love my prof on this one. And I certainly look forward to classes under her in the future. It was pretty difficult, (linguistics is not a course for idiots.) but I think I made it. I dunno. We'll see on Monday.

RELSTWO. It was an excellent course, and through this, I started to become active once again in parish work. (I got in as lector/commentator trainee. Work starts January next year. :) In addition, I learned much about the Church and the sacraments, if that matters to you. :D

ENGLTWO. Ewan ko na. Heheh.

That's all for now folks!

Monday, December 13, 2004

Finals week.

I don't have any exams for this week. Wow. I am still left in awe and wonder how could this even happen. So far, I've finished three term papers and the only thing I have left to do is finish my website project (final requirement) for EDTECH. If all goes well, ho-ho-ho: Christmas, here I come.



Edge of Reason?

Renee Zellweger's latest flick, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" continues our view into Bridget's life exactly one year after the events that transpired in the first movie.

The focus now of the movie is on Bridget's desire to finally settle down with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), but this is not without its complications: along the way, Bridget encounters jealousy, unfortunate luck and circumstances, and of course, the all-too-evil-because-I'm-smooth Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

I must say that its an excellent movie. Bridget, fatter than ever, is back and keeps much of what made the first movie a tremendous success, even if this was under the direction of a new director, Beeban Kidron. For me, the Bridget Jones series was never much of a chick flick, but rather, a pragmatic story of an idealistic, burgeoning journalist who never seemed to have lost her childhood klutz even in her dealings with men and even colleagues.

Overall, a nice treat for the holidays. Forget the Christmas-themed fluff, see this one instead. Highly recommended.



Thunderbird is go!

Hot on the heels of the tremendous success of the Mozilla Firefox 1.0 launch, Mozilla.org recently released its version 1.0 of the Thunderbird email client. Coming in with a spiffed-up feature list and theme, its changes are more than just skin-deep. If you're looking to get rid of *that* insecure email client that came with your Windows installation, Thunderbird may just be your ticket to email nirvana.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

[LYRICS]
Pido Lalimarmo
Himala
Words by LaVerne Ducut, Paul Pascua, Ronel Rubica
Music by LaVerne Ducut


Matagal-tagal na rin akong
Tsumi-tyempo para makausap ka
Mangatal-ngatal pa'ng labi ko
Walang masabi 'di maka porma

Kahit na ano'ng gawin
Diskarte ko'y bitin na bitin
Hanggang kailan ko titiisin
Pigil na damdamin

Mautal-utal pa nga ako
Hindi masabi laman ng puso ko
Na mahal na mahal kang totoo
Kaya naman nagkakaganito

Nanlalamig, nanginginig, kinikilig
Sa tuwing ako sayo'y nakatitig
May kakaibang pintig
Gan'to ba'ng umiibig

Bakit natutula, kapag kaharap ka na namumutla
'tila lalong lumalala, walang masabi 'urong aking dila
At sa hiya'y nanlalata, walang mapapala
Kailan ba magsisimula, kailangan ko na ng himala


Vocals & Guitars: Pido
Keyboards: Elhmir Sayson
Bass: Rommel dela Cruz
Drums: Wendell Garcia
Back Up Vocals: Pido, Paolo Santos, Mike Luis


©2004 Acoustic Gold Productions
Warner Music Philippines