The New Me Update #3

It has been weeks since I posted an update about my self-reinvention objective which is to lessen cramming ang procrastination. Well, here's a little something...

Last week, our English 203 class was divided in groups of five. We were supposed to present a mock talk show yesterday. We were grouped last Tuesday, and by Thursday last week, we were already prepared with out topic and the flow of our discussion. We even had the plans for the required commercial break and news flash segments. Modesty aside, it was me who did most of the work, and I did it wayyy before the schedule.

As a result, we had one of the best presentations yesterday afternoon and our teacher praised our group. I guess working ahead of schedule and having the opportunity to polish and perfect it really does pay. ;)

Veronica Mars

The other favorite show of mine last season is VERONICA MARS. The show's lead, Veronica Mars (played by Kristin Bell) is the daughter of the former chief of police of Neptune. Veronica's bestfriend, Lily Kane, was mysteriously killed and Veronica's dad, Keith, accused Lily's rich and powerful father, Jake Kane, of killing her own daughter. However, days after the murder, somebody confessed to murdering Lily Kane. For this, Keith was fired and is now a private investigator. To make matters complicated, Lily's brother, Duncan, was Veronica's ex-boyfriend who suddenly broke up with her before Lily's death. AND Veronica's mom is rumored to have an affair with Jake Kane.

During the first season, Veronica relentlessly pursued solving the truth behind Lily's murder while struglling to keep afloat in Neptune High where she is considered an outcast. And along the way, Veronica forges a strong bond with a new kid, Wallace, another outcast, Weevil the biker guy; and surprisingly forms a connection with Lily's former boyfriend, Duncan's bestfriend and one of Veronica's most despised people, the cocky Logan Echolls. Despite the fact that the murder-solving dragged on for an entire season, it was still an interesting show with clever subplots, twists and turns.

The season ender was definitely a breath-taker. The real murderer's identity was a nice surprise which kept me guessing until I read a spoiler. Hehe...

Til next season...

ABC's LOST

One of my favorite TV shows last season was Lost. It's basically about a bunch of airplane crash survivors, lost in a weird island far away from civilization. The intriguing part is, the isalnd seems to have a life of its own. Imagine a polar bear in a tropical island. Or a delusional Frenchwoman who keeps on talking about "the others." Or people appearing out of nowhere. The shows creators, JJ Abrams (Felicity and Alias) and Damon Lindelof, are geniuses for coming up with a pretty used up idea and turning it into something exciting.

As the first season progressed, questions popped up, mysteries were revelaed but answers were nowhere to be found. The show also cleverly integrated the exposition about the characters' lives pre-crash into the storyline. If this TV show was a book, it would be a page turner. You just want to know what happens next.

Before the season ended, one of the main characters (and one of my favorites), Boone died. The death of a major character only made me more interested in the series. It goes to show that the writers are unpredictable.

The main cast is composed of:

• Matthew Fox as JACK the doctor
• Evangeline Lilly as KATE the runaway fugitive, and love interest of Jack and Sawyer
• Dominic Monaghan as CHARLIE the guitarist of a fermerly popular band
• Jorge Garcia as HURLEY the guy who became rish when he won the lottery after he used the mysterious numbers associated with the island
• Maggie Grace as SHANNON the spoiled brat stepsister of the now dead Boone and love interest of Sayid
• Malcolm David Kelley as WALT the only kid survivor, the son of Michael and is said to be a jinx
• Naveen Andrews as SAYID the former Iraqi Republican Guard and love interest of Shannon
• Harold Perrineau as MICHAEL, Walt's dad who is forced to take care of Walt after Walt's mother died
• Josh Holloway as SAWYER the bad boy who hoards stuff and love interest of Kate
• Terry O' Quinn as LOCKE the all-knowing former paraplegic, who leads the pack everytime they venture into the jungle
• Daniel Dae Kim as JIN the Korean hitman of his father-in-law and formerly controlling husband of Sun
• Yunjin Kim as SUN the Korean lady who hid from his husband that she knows how to speak English
• Emilie de Ravin as CLAIRE the formerly pregnant woman who was kidnapped

The second season is due to start in a few days in USA. (Unfortunately, it won't be shown here in the Philippines in the next few months.) The first mystery to be solved will the hatch. What is in there??? They promise to reveal in the first few episodes of season two.

Why was Walt kidnapped by "the others"? That, however, won't be answered sometime soon.

Will the second season be as exciting? Hopefully. New characters are joining led by Anna (to be played by Michelle Rodriguez) who is a survivor from another part of the plane. She is reported to be the new love interest of Dr. Jack. OOOhhhh, interesting...

Til the second season is shown here, I will have to content myself with reading spoilers and recaps.

Tinkering with Adobe Photoshop 2

A picture with my friends which I manipulated using Adobe Photoshop.

Tinkering with Adobe Photoshop

Since my TV is still out of order (BOOHOO!!!) , I was forced to do other things today. So I volunteered to make user pics / icons for a cousin of mine. She only sent me one picture and I was able to make 6 decent icons out of it. Here are the six that I made:

A TV-less Weekend

Prologue: Thursday
11 pm The TV breaks down for no good reason. So I surf and blog until 4 am.

Friday
12 nn I eat lunch.
1 pm I attend class until 4:40 pm.
4:30 pm I surf the net in school and discover the wonders of BlogExplosion.
7:00 pm I go home, eat dinner and start missing my TV.
7:30 pm I go out to play DOTA with my cousins.
12 mn We eat out. Hehe...
1 am I start surfing and blogging until 4 am.

Saturday
7:30 am I wake up and prepare for tutoring.
8:00 am I start tutoring until 12 nn.
12 nn I eat lunch.
12:30 pm I sleep until 3:30 pm.
3:30 pm I start working for a business project, go online to surf and blog here and here and here.
6:00 pm I eat dinner and decide not to go out for the night and surf and blog instead.
6:30 pm I resume surfing and blogging until 5 am.

Sunday
12 nn I wake up and eat lunch.
1:00 pm I read the newspapers.
2:00 pm I take a nap.
5:30 pm I wake up and go online.
6:00 pm I eat dinner.
6:30 pm I go out with my cousins.
12 mn I go home, go online and still am.



CONCLUSION
Internet ang gamot sa kawalan ng TV. HAHA!!!

Amazing Race: Family Edition

Amazing Race 8 will start airing this September 28 (live via satellite on Studio 23 from CBS). This installment of my favorite reality tv show will be a family edition with 4 members per team.

The Teams

1.) The Gaghan Family from Glastonbury, Connecticut, composed of father Bill (40), mother Tammy (42) and children Billy (12) and Carissa (9).

2.) The Schroeder Family from New Orleans, Louisiana, composed of Mark (40), Char (39) and Mark's children from a previous marriage: Stassi (17) and Hunter (15).

3.) The Aiello Family from Mansfield, Massachusettes is led by Tony (57) and his three sons-in-law: Kevin (31), Matt (31) and David (26).

4.) The Rogers Family from Shreveport, Louisiana, composed of Denny (46), Renee (42) and their children: former Miss Louisiana Britney (22) and Brock (19).

5.) The Black Family of Woodbridge, Virginia is composed of Reggie (45), Kimberly (40) and their two sons: Kenneth (11) and Austin (8).

6.) The Weaver Family from Ormond Beach, Florida, composed of Linda (46) and her three children: Rachel (16), Rebecca (19) and Rolly (14).

7.) The Linz Family from Cincinnati, Ohio is composed of siblings: Tommy (19), Megan (21), Alex (22) and Nick (24).

8.) The Bransen Family of Park Ridge, Illinois composed of Walter (51) and his three daughters: Lindsay (20), Elizabeth (25) and Lauren (22).

9.) The Paolo Family from Carmel, New York, composed of Tony (52) and Marion (52) and their two sons: DJ (24) and Brian (16).

10.) The Godlewski Family from Des Plains, Illinois is composed of sisters: Michelle (42), Christine (37), Sharon (39) and Tricia (26).

According to rumors, the season will have a historical theme.

Can't hardly wait for this. 18 days to go...

I Should Have Blogged in High School

After the cheering competition during 1st Yr HS

I am quite dismayed that blogging was not yet available when I was in high school coz high school was much, much, much more interesting than my life now. Right now, I blog about politics, books, movies, school, business and work. Not that my life now is not good, it's not just that interesting.

1st Year Retreat

Back in high school, there was enough drama to rival a teleserye. I cried, I shouted, I ranted like crazy.

And the angst. My goodness, there was more enough to last me a million years.

4th Yr HS cheering

And then there was action. I was bitchy and explosive. I even punched a guy and kicked another one.

Before the Grad Ceremony

And of course there was fun, fun and fun!!! Despite the drama, the angst and the (unwarranted) action, it was the best times of my life. I found who I really was and gained some of the most important relationships in my life. ;) Too bad I didn't have a blog back then that I could browse through right now to relive those moments.

Our Batch Logo

Pics from my HS friends. ;)

20% Weird

You Are 20% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

My Career Type

Your Career Type: Enterprising

You are engertic, ambitious, and sociable. Your talents lie in politics, leading people, and selling things or ideas. You would make an excellent: Auctioneer - Bank President - Camp Director City Manager - Judge - Lawyer Recreation Leader - Real Estate Agent - Sales Person School Principal - Travel Agent - TV Newscaster The worst career options for your are investigative careers, like mathematician or architect.

What's Your Ideal Career?

My Blogging Type

Your Blogging Type is Logical and Principled

You like to voice your well thought out opinions on your blog. And if someone doesn't what you write, you really don't care! Serious and blunt, sometimes people take your blog the wrong way. But you're a true and loyal friend to those who truly get you.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Random FACTS

Got this from LJ: Write 20 random facts about yourself then tag the same number of people as minutes it takes you to write the facts.

Here are 20 random facts about me:

1.) My favorite color was white. Then pink. Now it's blue.

2.) I want to visit as many of the Philippines' 7,107 islands as possible.

3.) I can spend an entire day watching TV.

4.) I can spend an entire day surfing the net.

5.) I maintain 4 blogs.

6.) My favorite That's Entertainment group was the Thursday group. (BWAHAHA!)

7.) As a child, I thought that everybody with long hair are beautiful. (That's why I wanted to have long hair. Shhh...)

8.) My favorite TV show of all-time is Friends. I can watch it over and over again and still laugh at the jokes and punchlines.

9.) I looove coffee.

10.) The first time I had an asthma attack was when I was in Grade 3.

11.) I suck at video games.

12.) While my mom was pregnant with me, she fell off a motorcycle. (Don't even ask me why.)

13.) I love mangosteens.

14.) Some people irritate me just because.

15.) I punched a guy when I was in high school.

16.) I used to think I am sooo dark-skinned, di pala. Noy that there's anything wrong with being dark-skinned.

17.) I cannot sing. I am tone-deaf.

18.) My favorite songs are You by the Carpenters and Seasons of Love from the musical Rent.

19.) My all-time favorite movie is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (but I wasn't able to watch the new movie.)

20.) I used to pray the rosary every day.

It took me 15 minutes to finish this. I am tagging you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you AND you.

Rent

When I first watched the Rent musical on its first run in Manila at the Music Museum, I was initially scandalized but soon recovered and thoroughly enjoyed it. It ROCKED my world. I watched it again when it was mounted at the GSIS Theatre. I love Mark! and Roger! and Collins! and Joanne! and Maureen! and of course ANGEL!

I now have the full OST of the broadway cast on my PC and I play it all the time. My favorite songs are One Song Glory, Light my Candle, Tango Maureen, I'll Cover You and, of course, Seasons of Love.

Now, I am excitedly anticipating the movie. The trailer is so damn good it moved me. The movie stars Rosario Dawson as Mimi Marquez, Taye Diggs as Bejamin Coffin III, Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Angel Schunard, Jesse L. Martin as Tom Collins, Idina Menzel as Maureen Johnson, Adam Pascal as Roger Davis, Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen and Tracie Thoms as Joanne Jefferson. It is directed by Chris Columbus and produced by Sony Pictures.

Can't wait for November 23. ;)

~ 0 ~

Some memorable lines from the play:

"Time Flies, And Then - No Need To Endure Anymore, Time Dies" -from One Song Glory

"There's Only Yes, Only Tonight, We Must Let Go, To Know What's Right, No Other Course, No Other Way, No Day But Today" -from Another Day

"Might As Well, Dance A Tango To Hell, At Least I'll Have Tangoed At All" -from Tango Maureen

"I Think They Meant It
When They Said You Can't Buy Love
Now I Know You Can Rent It
A New Lease You Are, My Love
On Life"
-from I'll Cover You

"Take Me For What I Am, Who I Was Meant To Be, And If You Give A Damn, Take Me Baby Or Leave Me" -from Take Me or Leave Me

"The Moon Glows
The River Flows
But I Die
Without You"
-from Without You

"I Should Tell You I Should Tell You, I Have Always Loved You, You Can See It In My Eyes"
-from Your Eyes

and the song that defined the musical and my life:

Seasons of Love

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Moments So Dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure - Measure A Year?
In Daylights - In Sunsets
In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles
In Laughter - In Strife

In - Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life

How About Love?
How About Love?
How About Love?
Measure In Love

Seasons Of Love
Seasons Of Love

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Journeys To Plan

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure The Life
Of A Woman Or A Man?

In Truths That She Learned
Or In Times That He Cried
In Bridges He Burned
Or The Way That She Died

It's Time Now - To Sing Out
Tho' The Story Never Ends
Let's Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends

Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Measure In Love

Measure, Measure Your Life In Love

Seasons Of Love...
Seasons Of Love

In Diapers - Report Cards
In Spoke Wheels - In Speeding Tickets
In Contracts - Dollars
In Funerals - In Births
In - Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Figure
A Last Year On Earth?

Figure In Love
Figure In Love
Figure In Love
Measure In Love
Seasons Of Love
Seasons Of Love

New Books

The package finally arrived. And I was ecstatic to see three new books for me, me and only me. The three new books I got are all for my Math classes, but I am so, so, so happy to have 'em all. My three new books are:

• A Concise History of Mathematics by Dirk J. Strunk,
• Fundamentals of Number Theory by William J. LeVeque, and
  
• Number Theory and Its History by Oystein Ore.

I was actually disappointed that there are only three. :( Nonetheless, I am happy, happy, happy. ;)

The Last Days

About a year ago, I was able to watch a music video of an acoustic performance on MYX of a relatively unknown local band. The band's name was Hourglass and the song they were singing was "The Last Days." Since then, the song has been a favorite of mine.

THE LAST DAYS
by Hourglass

If today were the last of all days
Would it change how you feel, who you are?
Would you rise for a moment
Above all your fears
Become one with the moon and the stars?

Would you like what you see looking down
Did you give everything that you could
Have you done everything that you wanted to do
Is there still so much more that you hold

Follow your dream to the end of the rainbow
Way beyond one pot of gold
Open your eyes to the colors around you
And find the true beauty life holds

Would you live for the moment
Like when you were young
If time didn't travel so fast
Be free in the present enjoying the now
Not tied to a future or past

Follow your dream to the end of the rainbow
Way beyond one pot of gold
Open your eyes to the colors around you
And find the true beauty life holds

You probably said all you wanted to say
But doesn't that strike you as strange
That we only begin to start living our lives
If today were the last of all days

If today were the last of all days
Of all days.....


Check out my current blog for the video and mp3 of this song: LINK.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to

JOANNA GRACE ABELLA

for passing the

2005 Philippine Physician Licensure Examination!!! ;)

Click here for the complete list of passers.

Men of Mathematics

I have taken a respite from reading Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World. I am now reading ET Bell's Men of Mathematics. I am still in the Introduction section. And so far, it has been interesting.

I asked my mom to buy this book to serve as my reference book for my History of Math class. However, I realized that it is not just an ordinary textbook. Actually, it is not a textbook at all. It's an interesting look at the lives of mathematicians who have made great contributions to modern mathematics. The introduction states that even those with only high school level knowledge of mathematics will be able to understand fully the book.

I know some people will probably crucify me for saying this, but it has been more engaging than Sophie's World. I know, I know it sounds geeky, but that just my opinion.

Memoirs of a Geisha Movie

Everyone who has read the book, like me, is probably excited about this movie. The book by Arthur Golden is interesting, engaging and unusually exciting. Sayuri's life, albeit fictional, was painted so articulately and vividly that you can almost feel her every emotion. I am about to re-read the book to prepare for the motion picture release.


The motion picture stars Zhang Ziyi as Sayuri, Michelle Yeoh as her mentor Mameha and Ken Watanabe as the Chairman. There has been much discussion whether the producers made the right decision in casting non-Japanese actors. Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks is one of films producers. It is directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago).

So far, the trailer does not disappoint. Big money was obviously spent to capture the setting of the story which was vividly describe by Golden in his book. Some book lovers, hoever, note that the filmmakers didn't use the proper period costumes. Honestly, I don't know the difference.

As long as the movie sticks to the spirit of the book, then it might just become one of my favorite films of all time. Just a few months of waiting left. ;)

If WW2 was fought by online gamers....

from: www.NonsensicalGibberish.com

*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got crap to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bull**** u ***s im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bull**** u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right biznitch im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh **** help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: eisenhower hax hes killing all my ****
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun ****socker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this **** im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: **** now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoylshti!!!111
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all ***s
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o ****!
*paTTon has left the game.*

---

BadMonkey on Ars added the following:
*poland has joined the game*
poland:HAY GUYS HOWZ IT GOIUNG DUDZ?
*poland has been eliminated*
poland:F***!!!11
poland:F*** U F***ING SPAWN CAMPERS!!!