The twilight of February

A few days to go, and it is the month of March. And that means, IT'S FINALS CRUNCHTIME ALREADY.

Ok let's not get too excited on that because I am in a real mood to write a long blog now (since I finished reading Sobrino, and people who know Sobrino would consider it an achievement if they get to understand this crazy Jesuit) . . . . 

So starting off with the morning, I bumped into Darren's girl (well not that she is his girlfriend already, but I know he's sort of near to that) Erica, then stayed with our class nigger Martin (just kidding man; that's how we love each other as high school classmates). Talked about girls and the life of accounting, topics that interest me a lot (even if I never had accounting or will never have one). For the girls, we were talking to who we think are the pretty ones in campus (but by now it should be understood that it is not necessary that I say a girl is pretty that I have a crush on her, alright?). A couple of R18-rated stuff got involved as well (I don't want to get in detail about this . . . )

Then went straight to the library to study Spivak for PoS61. For crying out loud, she has to be the worst political theory author I have ever encountered so far. Like I can live with reading tons of pages of works by Arendt, Foucault, or Marx, but reading a mere 60 pages of her work on the subaltern drives me nuts. Even if I went to PoS60 class discussing her work, my mind was literally dead as I can't comprehend what is her main point of argument in her work. Even my other classmates died reading her work. Blame post-structural theorists. Their works aren't meant to be understood.

Leaving the class with a dead brain, there was this girl who smiled and waved at me as I was in the Zen garden. Thanks to the Psychological concept called "retrieval failure", it took me a while before I realize that it was Angie (aka eye candy girl and possible Guidon crush) who was smiling and waving at me. Her hair was less curly than before, that's why I almost failed to recognize her.

Anyways, as Psych class approached, I had fun learning a lot about coping stress, that I feel it is usable in real life, just like other Psychological concepts discussed. Now this makes me wish that I could have took Psych as my major, or be an IS major with a Comm track combined with it (or with PolSci or Socio instead). Or maybe I can take it as my minor. 

Then with PoS53, I had a fail moment as I lacked one friggin' interview, and because of that I got a C+ overall wherein I could have gotten a B+ overall if not for that folly (hey, C+ ain't bad, pero sayang pa rin eh. Wasted opportunity much). But the real good news came by the fact that LYJ decided to curve our grades. This gives me much more hope of NOT failing her subject. Hooray. 

As I went to the library to gather research material for our PoS paper under LYJ, I was caught off-guard by seeing Mita along with her friends. Damn. My heart beat went so fast and I was excessively sweating after it. Just when you realize that first love never dies, and to think I've been bumping to her like almost everyday now. And the fail part? I didn't greet her nor even said hi to her.

Anyways, I went back to the Pub to get back my EBR requirements (which I left accidentally. . . . FAIL). Now I feel more pressured by the fact that even if I am done, my co-aspirants have longer comprehensive plans, and when I mean long I mean like 20 pages plus. I made mine with 10 and 1/4 page. Now that's bothering me a lot right now. I just hope that whatever I placed in the plans they are relevant enough and likewise convincing enough for the senior editors (and to add, I am doing my requirements NOT because I want Jan to be impressed at me, but to convince ALL of the senior editors that I deserve to be the next News editor). Well as for my odds prediction scale, I determined it as 40/40/20: 40% I will be the next News Editor, the other 40% Bea will be the next News Editor, and 20% neither of us will be chosen (and of course no one likes the outcome of the latter).

Going back, I went to Matteo after that to study Sobrino (and thankfully I am getting to understand Sobrino's points, unlike Spivak). Then played a couple of games in my laptop, and a dose of OC-ness struck me as I redesigned my laptop's desktop to be less cluttered. Then before going home, I saw Jan, who is probably done with her finals, relaxing with one of the computers at Matteo, and unlike my encounter with Angie and Mita, I waved at Jan with a smile and a dash of being sentimental at the same time (she's graduating pretty soon, might as well cherish the last few moments I'll be seeing her in campus).

And there's to a day that resembles a twilight of February as March is fast approaching.

And speaking of March, my schedule is so lovable . . . NOT

First week: I have a major group paper due, an orals for PoS60, and EB Race panel interviews, plus Guidon work.

Second week: I have a paper presentation, a long test in Psych, and a Spanish Written AND Oral exam that falls under a Friday the 13th day

Third week: I have a Spanish project due and a culminating activity, then starting off with finals with PoS53, and of course other final exams

Fourth week: A major requirement for PoS61, and then finals continue here, and the final judgement will be known here. If I succeed, I might do my final revelation to Jan (which is telling her that overly-used three words, eight letter phrase during the turnover night). If I didn't, then I will not fret; at least I gave it my best shot.

Anyways, that's all I want to talk about right now. Adios amigos!

Injustice much?

After a seemingly epic fail with my PoS51 exam a while ago (while attaining cheeseburger status with my SA21 exam), AND before doing my very best for the Fil14 finals (which will be tomorrow. . . and hence, the start of the most awaited semestral break every stressed college student is wishing for), I came to have this short reflection on how our government has once again committed another great injustice to the people.

 And what great injustice am I talking about? It is the recent news on the freedom of the murdurer Claudio Teehankee Jr., the infamous personality behind the Hultman-chapman murder of the 1990s.

Just a short story about the said murder: Coming from a party, a teenage Maureen Hultman, with her companions Ronald Chapman and Jussi Leino are going home to Dasmariñas village when Teehankee stopped them and asked for their identification. Chapman showed his identification, and in cold blood, Teehankee shot Chapman at the chest, killing him instantly. Leino, on the other hand, was shot at the jaw but manage to survive, while Hultman, despite begging for mercy not to kill her, was shot at the forehead, dying two months later due to a complicated hemorrhage.

I know that with such circumstance, the infamous Teehankee did deserve the lifetime imprisonment for his brutal killing of innocent civilians in spite of these civilians asking for mercy for them. And that's when I (or probably you, or probably everyone else) would have thought of that justice has been served properly.

Yet, this case just proves the Thrasymachaean principle of justice being for the stronger and advantaged, as mentioned in Plato's The Republic. In simple terms, the Hultmans have been placed into a state of injustice as the infamous Teehankee was released from prison on a midnight, as the president has given executive clemency to him.

Now what's the injustice behind it? The mere fact that Teehankee took the lives of innocent people should have merit him death penalty (which was banned . . . $$@$!$@!#!~# I do not believe in a thing called human rights, and because of such principle, we are instead guided upon the wrong principles . . . and this is the reason why I like the philosophy of thomas Hobbes and his Leviathan . . . the single monster that people would fear . . . but would the people fear a midget like our President? I doubt.), the President (who is a certified moron for giving justice to the stronger) gave executive clemency to the murderer, who happens to be the son of a former chief justice. Now what's unfair there? Isn't it that the fact that he committed a unforgivable crime that he should have been given death penalty. BUT NO. Our stupid, idiotic president instead gives the same pardon to the famed murderer for "serving his term enough". Enough of your reasoning, because it is just plain bullshit.

Now with these famed murderers being given executive clemency by the President, will there be a fair perception of justice in this country? I do not think so. What is GMA doing is following the Thrasymachaean principle of justice on justice being for the stronger, giving unfair justice to the powerful so that she maintains her power as the president.

Don't you think that GMA is doing such so that she could gain support especially for the upcoming 2010 elections? Well that's what I'm thinking of right now. Maybe she'll give executive clemency to these famed brutal "animals" (yes not humans) so that she could get this certain kind of perception that she helps people (wherein in reality, she helps these people because of utang na loob and because of money?), and hence, giving her more power.

And at the same time, this case is very alarming and disturbing to the public. The more the president does such, then there will come a time wherein killing people without any cause be of something legal, thus reducing these human beings (being us Filipinos) into brutal animals who do things because of instinct, because trip ko lang kasi.

Putangina pare. Putangina talaga. Not because that I have a dirty mouth (which in reality I do . . . as I do curse a lot), but seriously, what the fuck is going on with Philippine politics and our sense of justice? Why are slowly falling for the Thrasymachaenan principle of the Justice as for the stronger (as seen with the recent release of the infamous Claudio Teehankee Jr.) No wonder politics is plain bullshit here. The government is not doing any good at all. Even affiliated units like the MMDA (under the tyranny of Bayani Fernando) sucks as well (ok so why the fuck would you mind over the property of Ateneo by closing our gates? You are a @$#@ idiot!). Seriously speaking, our politicians are deeply dilapidated and our government is slowly creating chaos to the state.

We should all do something to remedy it as soon as possible. Because when it is late, it might not be able to be remedied, hence placing our politicians and government to a "beyond repair" status, wherein it is impossible to fix.

Please lang. Wake up now guys. The government is creating injustice to every one of us. We should fix the problem immediately

*Study time for Filipino but I am sleepy. I'll sleep then study tomorrow instead :D* *Last exam na ito, let's give it the best!*

Lady Luck.

And she came in at the right time. 

Histo18 and PoS100 exams were a breeze, thanks to endless studying since the weekend before the finals. PoS60 oRRals was a great success; B/B+ in your face! (and that's just stock knowledge, yo:) ). And yes, 3 more exams to go before paradise is attained. As for tommorow: SA21 and PoS51, you are going down!!!

Oh, I am second batch for second sem reg. Hooray!

-And if you love me, you can buy any of these stuff for me on Christmas:

-Nokia 7210 Supernova

-Mac Mini / Aluminum MacBook

-EF 17-40 F4L / EF 85 F1.8 + EF 24-85 F3.4-4.5 USM

-New Adidas Sneakers (Preferably the ZX series)

-4 set Sanyo Eneloop batteries (with charger)

-Lowepro / Tamrac Bag

-iPod Nano 4th gen 8 gb

-A set of Staedler Fineliners 

-Hell yeah. It's a thing called PolSci lovin'. Shifting no more. I smell law school coming up (but first things first, I gotta do well in college! :) )

-Gotta love my camera! (even with a dirty viewfinder . . . hey it still gives great shots!)

Let's all do this, boys and girls. :)

Let's get ready to rumble.

You got it. Two weeks before the Awaited Semestral Break arrives. 

Battle plan:

For this coming week: PoS51 Parliament paper + Presentation, SA21 Gender Stratification Paper + Presentation, PoS100 Media and Politics paper, PoS60 Hobbes paper

Yes, it is a truckload of final papers for me. But wait, there's more!

Finals week!!!

October 6 - Histo18, Deadline of PoS60 Hobbes paper

October 7 - PoS100 Finals, PoS60 Orals

October 8 - SA21 Finals and PoS51 Finals

October 9 - Fil14 Finals and Gudance interview (why is this important? well it is my turnaround moment on if my shifting application gets the green light or sadly the red light)

And to add some ramblings;

-My DSLR's viewfinder is sort of dirty. But it doesn't stop me from pulling off great shots (and I'll have it serviced around December, right before the warranty expires)

-My MacBook suffered THE crack :| but at least the crack isn't bad enough :D And besides I have three years to worry about it :))

-The people at Sennheiser annoy me for charging me XXXphp for the replacement of my earphones (stupid idiots! That's why there is a warranty; you don't pay for anything especially if it is UNDER warranty. You stupid idiots! I don't care if I don't get it; just give me the replacement at NO charge! Stupid people)

-I'm itching for sembreak to shoot some new photos (even with the dirty viewfinder)

-One Big Fight! Ateneo has won the Senior's Basketball Championships after 6 years! And I was even at the Big Dome when it happened (ok my ticket was cheap . . . General Admission only . . . but it was really worth it)

-Christmas is coming close! My wishlist: A new phone (either any of the SuperNova Nokia phones or if I'm lucky a N95), and hopefully a camera / laptop bag PLUS having my DSLR cleaned and re-calibrated just in time of the Christmas season

-Found this new site, called Tumblr. Seems interesting, but I might probably delete it. Why? Here's why:

Multiply: General posting of my photos and blogs

Blogger (This site): Mirror posting of my blogs from multiply plus exclusive blogs

Flickr: For posting my photo portfolio (which hasn't be updated for a while)

Plurk: For on-the-go updates (aka short rants; multiply and blogger are for long regular rants)

-Since Ateneo won the championship . . . It's time for me to buy the Ateneo Hoodie jacket being offered by Adidas :D and of course a championship shirt or two :D

-As usual, I'm saving up for the 85mm 1.8 lens I have been dreaming of :)

-Yes i admit it. I am so in love with the Cheerleader who is now an AB Psych freshie in Ateneo. And in fairness, I get to talk to her decently a last! After 3 years. Add also the two emo-looking girls who are also in my list of cute freshmen too (clue: one is my orgmate, and the other one is the blockmate of my friend, in which my friend is crazy over her :)) )

-And yes, I love college life, sometimes I feel amazed at myself by the fact that every time that I walk around campus, it seems to be mandatory that I bump into one of my friends, giving them the hand wave, saying hi to them, or even having a quick chat with them. College life would mean knowing a lot of people. 

-Yesterday, I have just submitted my last article for the semester. I have been loving news writing lately, and it is because of my org that I seem to manage my time well (considering the pace of our monthly workflow, plus daily acads too . . . I myself was thinking what if I add lovelife to my list . . . would I still be able to manage my time . . . well it takes one to know one)

-Before ending this blog, I seem to be a bit disturbed at the recent events happening within the Ateneo Community. Imagine, 4 suicide cases in just a semester. Wow. It has been really eerie and unusual. Ateneo should be addressing this problem immediately, especially since I believe that there is something REALLY wrong within the Ateneo community. I do not know what seems to be the problem, but I am sure that there IS a problem.

That's all for now. Time to go crunch time, boys and girls.