Sunday, September 05, 2004
SOMEONE FOR EVERYONE
The Damage Report - Year 3 - Ending Week #12
Background Music: "Build My World" by JC Chasez
NOTE: This is a weekly blog entry that summarizes a series of events of a finished week in and around La Salle.
ANOTHER NOTE: I have no new pictures uploaded for this week. Instead, I'll show you guys some of the pictures taken by my Nokia 7650 over the past few months. They come in absolutely no order. Also, none of them were taken "recently".
"...but no one for me."
IT'S FUNNY how several revelations have entered my life recently. The biggest revelation is the realization that this social life I've built and maintained is nothing compared to an intimate relationship with just one person. I've been blinded that I can survive as long as "my friends are there", which has been my belief for the past few years. It's not exactly wrong to believe that, but there's so much more to find in a significant other that you simply can't find in dozens of acquaintances and friends.
As I've said before, I'm so thankful I've survived several challenges. According to the great book of birthdays, July 13 people are great risk takers. The advice it gives to those born on July 13 is to be patient in life and wait for the right time to "pounce" like a tiger.
At first I asked myself, "What great risk am I taking?". It took me some months before I stumbled upon those photocopied two pieces of paper which had information on those born on July 13. It then hit me that the "great risk" it is probably talking about is my course itself... Broadcast Journalism.
Yes, it's true. Taking up Broadcast Journalism is a risk. The media is an extremely competitive field and in a dog-eat-dog environment, there is no space for childish emotions.
Well, I've taken the risk and I have absolutely no regrets. This past week it was our midterm exams and I browsed a few pages of a dorm mate's Biology book (he's a Human Biology student). My gut has no heart for becoming someone in the medical spectrum. I also don't picture myself as a Computer Science student headed off into the horizon of computer chips and innovative technologies. I'm no engineer. I'm no chef or hotel manager.
***
KAMUSTA NA SILA?
Abbie is now on her 7th month with Andrew. Funny though, because it's hard for me to recall the last time I actually saw the two together in front of me. It's probably because they're at Ed's place all the time or something. Andrew, labas ka naman sa dorm mo o pumunta ka naman sa F10!
Basil, Karl, and Brian... the original Kuwaiti guys which played an active role in my early college life have basically evaporated from my field of vision. It's sad because ever since they started dorming outside this past school year, we barely see each other.
Len has a boyfriend who is a 5th year Industrial Engineering student. Len introduced me to him last week and he looks like a very nice gentlemen for Len.
I barely see Kevin around the school. His room mate last year and my high school friend Lance is hanging out with dozens of "different" people now. He seems to be building this life away from Condo-F. Yes, he dorms in Condo-D. His new friends are in Condo-D. And guess what, we only see each other at the very end of the week when he comes into my room looking for something. He's returning to the states and he's not planning on finishing his course here. He's just taking up subjects this semester and next semester. Don't ask me. I'm too bothered that I've decided not to even bother.
Leah and Tom are in their 5th month and all I can say is that they're pretty much attached to each other. I also didn't say that I didn't mean that in a literal sense. The two remind me so much of my high school days when I was following Nikki and Bryan. Funny, that would mean Eric and Lance are one and the same.
Speaking of Eric, his first La Salleño has been printed. But guess what, the Heraldo Filipino can't release it yet because our contract is still on-going. How the hell did that happen? You know how paperworks go. I love the paper quality of his very first LS, it feels waterproof and smooth. I was caught wiping the pages on my haggard face when I was in the office.
In the other part of the office is Kate. She's doing a "Maycee Mercado" right now by buzzing around departments and different chairs and administration people for interviews. She has me caught in her indecision over her membership in HF. Personally, she's part of HF and since there are "how many of us in JOU3-1" around her, she should be well-balanced with the support she can get from me, Eric, Maycee, Upper, Abbie Mendiola... and her other friends in the paper.
Looking into Eric's new LS is Upper's first by-line. She was so happy when she saw it there. Up's car is currently enduring a tune-up so we had to commute to go overnight swimming at Double V.
Aldrich turned down my invite for him if he wanted to go swimming with us at Double V. I remember he turned it down by saying "I'm not sure if I have something to do on Thursday night...". It's not the first time he gave out an answer to an invitation like that. If you'd rephrase that or put it in a more direct way, it would go out like this: "Thanks for making my Plan B for that night." Haha. Yes, I know that's probably exaggerated. But you can't help it when you feel like a "back-up dancer" sometimes when you're around him. He has a clandestine world as most of us know.
My room mate Tony had an exam at 8am the following day so he turned down the invitation as well. He went home on Thursday night since he was the only one staying there. Our roomie Jan went home already since he had no exams on Friday.
My classmate Tope accepted the invitation and it made me feel better that "finally" another male classmate and friend would join our overnight swimming. I mean, in this classroom and course which is dominated by girls- you still need that back up of extra testosterone to talk to. Tope and my other classmates in Teatro had me as their photographer for the pictorial of their next major production. We shot on Thursday morning at the warehouse near the NROTC building. I loved how the shots turned out. Of course, they made the pictures lively with their expressions and the keylights.
Katz, who was one of the planners of our overnight swimming, introduced us to her boyfriend (Kuya) Eric. No, that isn't Eric Nicole Salta I'm talking about. It's Kuya Eric, her new boyfriend. The two happily celebrated their first monthsary on the night of our swim.
Kay, who currently has no boyfriend but has some suitors, had her friend Wilson join us. Wilson is a 3rd Year PPT student. This Wilson character loved the long slide. He perfected the highest speed record which shattered mine. Kay was, of course, being watched with caring eyes by someone also in our party.
Apple and I continued a conversation which started up in Baguio. We were talking about supernatural things again. She has a third eye and told me how she wishes she didn't have it. Apple suffered a break-up with her boyfriend this past week. She verbally expressed "Depressed ako ngayon..." as she entered a cigarette smoked nipa hut.
Tom was busy working on Mark's laptop which he brought to the resort. He had unfinished projects to work on. He balanced that by swimming in the pool with Leah. I give credit to Tom for finishing several big tasks at the HF office. With our OCM Jaynie, the two repaired the air condition in the office. Tom brought in a new computer, revived a broken computer, brought in HF's first scanner, a new speaker set that could knock even Pointes' out of the way, and two CD writers. The two also finished re-shaping the office giving an area for Editors and another area for the general staff.
***
MAY KARAPATAN AKO SUMIGAW
In the dorms, things were different. On Monday night I shouted at my two room mates at 1:30 in the morning because I was trying to go to sleep and they still had two visitors over and playing the 101st round of Pusoy Dos for that "evening". First of all, we all agreed on a 12mn "visitors go home" time. Visitors could stay if they were to review or do something silent and academic. But those anime-marathons, magic card games, and what-not were to be gone.
That gave me all the K in the A-R-A-P-A-T-A and N in the world to just yell out loud. Whenever I see a room mate sleeping, I immedietly do what I can to minimize the lights in the room or localize it only to my area. I turn down the volume of the speakers. I tell people talking in the room to talk silently.
It felt so good to finally let it all out. I gave them the whole nine yards. I even said I didn't want to sound like their "kuya" or whatever. I was just being practical. I yelled "Man, you guys are so undisciplined!" and said "We had an agreement as room mates that you guys don't even follow."
I smiled under my pillow as they kicked out the visitors and turned off the lights almost instantaneously. And for the first time, I didn't break a sweat. I knew what I said was correct. I was backed by the convictions we made as room mates. Plus, the two of them had exams at 8 o'clock in the morning. WTF man. I don't hate them, but damn they still act like freshmen. Wait until they enter their 3rd and 4th years... watch 'em take College Life a notch more seriously.
Geezus. I'm ranting about them again. Haha. Things are actually turning out okay at this point of the semester.
***
DALAWA LANG ANG WRITTEN EXAM KO
I only had two written exams. Technical Writing on Thursday and REED105 Christian Morality on Friday. The other subjects (which are majors) had different requirements which would become an equivalent of a written exam.
On Tuesday I shot my Newsroom Production and Design (NPD) midterm with Aldrich as my news model. Len was my partner and we managed to get the 25-30 seconds of on-screen talent and backstage design. Sounds so technical when all we did was put up a few pieces of orange cartolina paper, tape the BROADJOURN BULLET logo I made up, and roll camera. Funny, I make it sound so simple. Flashback to the panics from Aldrich, me, and Len as we sorted out the sounds, character generator or "CHAR-GEN", and the lighting... you can't forget the lighting. Thanks to all my classmates who helped us. It felt good helping some of the other groups. Teamwork.
***
WEEKLY RECAP!
Monday - Walking with Gandhi
- Watched Gandhi for Music Scoring class
- Edited yet more materials at HF
- Yelled at room mates... unfortunately memorable
Tuesday - Telecasting for NPD
- Had Aldrich be a news model for my midterm exam
- Ate like hungry beavers at Fiat
Wednesday - Drifting around campus
- No exam, no events at all planned
- Hung out at HF
Thursday - Swimming into the twilight
- Midterm exam in Technical Writing, 2-3pm, quite easy
- Met Naise, 4th year AB COM that Joanna (Associate Editor of HF) wanted to introduce to me. She captured me! I swear, she has this alluring presence... no joke, no bola... must've been her shades, her smile, or the thought that this person really wanted to meet me... basta.. i found her conversation skills with me amazing.. I left her with smiles on my face..
- Loads of good stuff at HF happens which include the air condition being fixed, Eric's 1st LS fully printed except not yet distributed, new scanner which only adds up to the new computer, new speakers, and new office design. Bravo Tom and Jaynie. Bravo HF 19!
- Prepared for overnight swimming at Double V
- Tope, Me, Tom, Wilson, Katz and her boyfriend Eric (not Eric Salta), Kay, Apple, Leah, and Upper enjoy swimming at Double V at 50% more the usual price (we had to pay off for 5 people for the 15 overnight people required to "open" the place for a night swim)
Friday - Bangag and then some
- Was quite puyat
- Took my REED105 exam, 2-3, also quite easy
- Helped Tom on his newsletter feature for his major
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