I have always looked forward to graduating and getting a job.

Right now, I am six semesters away from graduating. That is if passing my majors is just a walk in the park. Well, assuming that I am capable of being exceptional, I’m still not close to getting halfway through college. So I resort to daydreaming.

My bumming has brought me to euphoria. Thanks to my very talented imagination, I have created the perfect life-after-college story line out of the many figments from the past. But before I could even ‘come to terms’ with this bliss, it had to crumble down to the ground.
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Every item in my to-do list has been checked. (Mind you, I had the mother of all to-do lists because of that stupid decision to take up too many subjects on one semester.) That makes me an official bum. And I have 10 days to perform my bumming duties and forget about my academic standing.

Since the day I resigned myself from all the schoolwork, my body clock has gone from whacked to completely bonkers. I sign off at around 3 or 4 AM and bury myself in bed until 10 AM. But today, I was at my most sinful for waking up at 1 PM. They say I’m carefree. I’m better off as patapon. 

My fourth semester in UP finally culminated today. It felt liberating to pass by the ES department knowing that I have finished (hopefully) three of the six required ES subjects this semester.

I sometimes feel that my intuition is being tested by the Internet. When I stumbled upon this very odd page, I had to pause for a second. (I may sound very reactive by now.) Hm. It’s not that strapless slippers are impossible, but how long will it last? Is it reusable or just one of those disposable crap that breaks off when I’m using it? I am a flipflop person, that’s why things like this matter to me.

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I am about to put my head on the chopping board. And guess how I’m spending my remaining time? Surfing the internet, eating and slacking. What better way to panic! If I were a GC (grade conscious) person, I would have buried myself in books and acted as if the exams were the only thing that mattered in the world. Luckily, I’m still a normal one. I have recreational needs. Yes, you read that right. While on the eye of the storm (instead of preparing and getting this all done), I have the nerve to unwind and have fun.

I have four final exams on the 25th. Math 55, ES 21, ES 26 and ChE 2. How on Earth could I possibly get through that day? No amount of optimism in my body can suffice to neutralize this oh-i’m-gonna-fail feeling. I am feeling hopeless for two reasons: 1. I have a very poor memory and so you can’t expect me to memorize all the concepts, formulas and theorems. 2. My exams are continuous. So no breaks for me. Whew! For the information of everyone, Math 55 is the last in the Math series which is Calculus, ES 21 is Mathematical Methods in Engineering, ES 26 is Computer Programming and ChE 2 is Elementary Chemical Engineering. ChE 2 is a not-so-great subject. I’m telling you, it sucks bigtime.

Anyway, I am just bitter.

There, the truth has surfaced. My doom’s day is the day of my brother’s high school graduation. I remember reading his wishlist way back in January. I was on top of the list. All he wanted was a complete family on graduation. It frustrates me that I can’t be there on his very memorable day (of escaping the walls of Pisay). Andy and I even thought of saving for a plane ticket to Davao. Haha Futile move!

But then again, we will be attending the same school this June. Wahoo!

***
Looking back.

Two years ago, I was on the same situation as my brother. I did and did not want to graduate. Pisay was a microcosm of a perfect world and I feared of stepping out. But hey! I lived.

I feel as if I am turning away from the life I have been living for 17 years.

I attended Catholic school for 5 years. I thought that 5 years was enough to keep me spiritually healthy and aware. School taught me the prayers, practices and teachings of the Roman Catholic. And my parents did a great job of putting the teachings to action. We spent every waking hour and the last minutes of the day praying to Him. We dressed our best and went to church on Sundays. Our family somehow built a sturdy foundation on God. And for that, I pride myself of a spiritually-enriched family. Now it seems, everything is just a memory.

Holy Week used to be a remarkable holiday. Not until I went to college. Everything has lost its sense. Good Fridays weren’t as solemn as they used to be. And Easter Sundays weren’t as festive either. My Easter Egg has cracked, spilled and made a mess. I miss my old life. I miss my family and the things we used to do together.

I hope next year would be better. Until then, I’ll be toiling for a better, more colorful Easter Egg.

Another semester is about to end. And after spending almost 4 semesters in college, I have realized how odd I have transformed. Here are some of the general things I believe I have been practicing since college.

1. 6 AM is sleeping time, not waking time.
2. I have mastered the art of cooking noodles.
3. I have memorized the hotlines of all the fastfood chains along with their schedule, menu and price list.
4. In college, any class that starts before noon is early.
5. An average of one full meal on weekdays, two on weekends.
6. Allowance doesn’t always suffice.
7. Breakfast, if there is any, consists of cereal or sandwich and anything with caffeine.
8. 4 hours of sleep in bed is too much.
9. Going to the library is a social event.
10. I skip a class to write a paper for another.
11. I stay up late to finish problem sets then sleep through the class in which it was due.
12. I never realized so many people are smarter than me.
13. I never realized so many people are dumber than me.
14. I have met the type of people I thought only existed in movies.
15. Printers and laptops break down only when I desperately need them.
16. Life without Piscine(laptop), my phone and Viridian(iPod) is unimaginable.
17. A canceled class is almost as exciting as Christmas!
18. Class size doubles on exam days.
19. An hour and a half of Philosophy or Chemistry class seems like forever.
20. You have to be street smart to survive. Diskarte=success.

I believe there is a need to take a peek onto the other (brighter) side of the story. I am referring to my brother’s blog entry regarding their Horrible McDonald’s Experience.

Contrary to my brother’s recent complaint against 8McDo’s delivery service, I commend (without hesitation) their service here in Quezon City. Since June 2007, I have been relying on them along with hundreds (I assume) of residents in Yakal, to feed our grumbling stomachs. The absence of a cafeteria in our dormitory has forced us to depend on fast food deliveries and one of which is McDo. Majority of the residents patronize McDonald’s more than any other fast food chain. In fact, McDo has become a rendez vous for org meetings and study groups. I can recall an instance when 3 or 4 McDo motorcycles were parked outside of Yakal. From that scenario, one would think a community dinner was sponsored by McDo. Haha.

I am a McDo person for 5 reasons:
1. Crispy Chicken Fillet is affordable. Most of the time, I get a big slice. Hehe
2. I love their hot fudge sundae and float. We all do!
3. Their hotline is easy to remember. 8mcdo which is 86236. And can also be accessed online thru 8mcdo.
4. They have excellent Customer Service. (Unlike other delivery services who stall on their trunk line and refuse to answer our calls. They put our coins and load to waste.)
5. I am assured of a punctual delivery. Bonus points for being friendly and patient.

It is very ironic to note that my 4th and 5th reasons or better yet the lack of it, has led to my brother’s (and his high school batch mates’) immediate loathing for McDo. I do not blame them for hating McDo’s service. But it would be unfair to generalize such impression. I believe that the flaw was within Davao’s Customer Service Representative and McDo DaMoSa’s crew, and not McDo’s system. Whoever took my brother’s call should have had the common sense to place the order on the outlet near Pisay (which is in Mintal.) He/She was overly qualified to being stupid for assigning McDonald’s DaMoSa to deliver their order. Hello? It’s like miiiiiiiiiles away from Mintal. And yes, of course, I won’t let McDo DaMoSa escape scrutiny. They should have at least had the decency to inform their customer of the delay. They should have notified them of the shortage of delivery men.

From this incident, I point the finger to poor training of crew, both in Customer Service and DaMoSa Branch. Next time, they should hire better people. By better, I mean, people with good judgment and common sense. They should look into this. If incidents like these don’t stop, people might have to boycott McDonald’s in Davao.

One of the many reasons why East Wing 2 rocks is the fact that it was able to hold a Formal Dinner despite the residents’ collective decision to not pursue one. March 18, 2008 was a date to mark in the history of Yakal for having this as a first.

It was a night of bonding and of course, cam-whoring. Hehe

Special Thanks to Eli for the pictures.

Schadenfreude is happiness at the misfortunes of others. We think it’s mean to laugh at people who suffer. The society says it is. So we say it’s bad and we avoid doing it. But little do we know, schadenfreude is becoming an epidemic. Remind me again, when was the last time you laughed so hard you almost fell off your chair? In my case, it was in two instances.

• First, when I watched Janina San Miguel, Binibining Pilipinas - World winner, make a fool out of herself. (Sorry for the lack of a nicer term). Hm. Scratch that. When she had a bad case of jitters. Or according to papers, a verbal breakdown.

Paolo Bediones: Janina, how are you?
Janina San Miguel: I’m fine.
Paolo Bediones: Alright, so you won two of the major awards - Best in Long Gown, Best in Swimsuit, do you feel any pressure right now?
Janina San Miguel: No, I don’t feel any pressure right now. *smiles*
Paolo Bediones: Confident! Alright! Please choose a name of the judge.
Paolo Bediones: We have Miss Vivienne Tan.
Vivienne Tan: Good Evening.
Janina San Miguel: Good Evening.
Vivienne Tan: The question is, what role did your family play to you as candidate to Binibining Pilinas?
Janina San Miguel: Well, my family’s role for me is so important becoz there was the wa- they’re, they was the one who’s… very… Hahahaha… Oh I’m so sorry, Ahhmm… My pamily… My family… Oh my god… I’m… Ok, I’m so sorry… I… I told you that I’m so confident… Eto, Ahhmm, Wait… Hahahaha, Ahmmm, Sorry guys because this was really my first pageant ever becoz I’m only 17 years old and ahahaha I, I did not expect that I came from, I came from one of the taf 10. Hmmm, so… but I said dot my family is the most important persons in my life. Thank you.

• The second one was the Ken Lee video. Some of you might be familiar of this one. The lady who auditioned for Bulgarian Idol ended up humiliating herself for singing the wrong lyrics of Mariah Carey’s Without you.

No one ken to ken to sivmen
Nor yon clees to ju maliveh
When i gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more
New yonooz tonigh molinigh
Yon sorra shoo
Yes ee shooooo, oooo
Ken leee
Tulibu dibu douchoo
Ken leee
Ken leee
Meju more

The roots of “schadenfreude” are the German “schaden,” meaning “harm, injury, damage,” and “freude,” meaning “joy,” giving us, essentially, “harm-joy” as a literal translation.

The way we take comfort in their mistakes is a form of schadenfreude. I am not one to speak about being righteous. One too many times, I make fun of others. But sometimes, I feel guilty for doing so. I feel bad for them.

On a lighter note, they were both known because of it. Their being laughingstocks are actually elevating them to the pedestals. So everytime we talk about them and make fun of them, we are actually making them famous. (And in some cases, they become higher than us.)