This is kinda the wordy blog.

And wordy it will be. Oh, and I haven't written in months. I miss it a lot.

I'm currently into the second semester of college and god, I am hating it a lot. The schedule sucks, the fact that I got sick for a week kind of sucks, and the National Service Training Program sucks. That, by the way, is mandatory for every college student. On the plus side, it's only for a year and I'm halfway through it. But it takes up my Saturdays and I can't go home because of them.

My Monday classes start at 7 am, too. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that the first class is English. Last semester my English teacher sucked as a teacher. This semester my English teacher is an asshole, and no, I am not exaggerating it.

I missed classes for almost a week, from the 10th to the 15th of November (the 16th was declared a holiday). I got to meet the English teacher back when classes started on the 8th. Unfortunately she wasn't our actual teacher because the list of classes they were to handle weren't finalized yet. When they did, we ended up with this...jackass.

I'm being kind calling him a jackass. At least I'm not saying he's an unmotivated little bitch which he said I was. That's something, saying you know all there is to know about a person after you've been in the same room for an hour and talked for five minutes.

No, he didn't say I was an unmotivated little bitch. It was only implied, which makes it a lot worse. Jackass. Just because my greatest dream is to sit pretty doesn't mean I'm an ungrateful brat who's used to getting what she wants. Just because that's my dream doesn't mean I'm less motivated than the blind kid whose greatest dream is to graduate from college. I don't think like that blind kid, does that make me less motivated? Is it wrong to think long-term? I don't say my greatest dream is to graduate because after that, then what? I'm done with my dream and I can die now? No.

Just because you've taught for 21 years doesn't make you entitled to assume that your students are this and that. You don't have to drag me down to Assville because you live there.

Perspective

I took up a job at this writing troupe thing where the people do freelance writing for various clients. A few nights ago one of the co-heads of this writing troupe decided he needed to impart some food for thought through the Internet. He tried to call, but I refused, because I like the barrier set by the Internet. We communicate through written words, nothing more, nothing less.

He asked me how long I usually take to write a composition. I told him it takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, and these are articles that comprise of my thoughts.

He told me it takes him 15 to 20 minutes to come up with his articles. These articles are not unlike the articles you see in about.com or on wikihow.com. Simply put, these are articles with minimal research and no sentimental value. Oh, and I need to write at least 500 words.

I was thinking of telling him a few things about me but I thought it would be unwise, so I'd lay them down here.

One, I live in a world where an attention span of five minutes is considered a feat. Two, I was trained to convey my thoughts with the fewest number of words. Sentences are shorter, and beating around the bush is boring. Occasionally I can write over 500 words, but usually they fall short. Which kind of sucks.

I just needed that out of my system, thanks. I shouldn't be interrupted whenever I write because I lose track of what I'm supposed to write.

A black blog is nice.

It doesn't hurt my eyes because I don't have to strain to read the words. But then again, this is a very wordy blog, so I think it's best if I used bright colors.

Isn't PostSecret lovely? Personally I like it a lot better than Emerson Spartz's Six Billion Secrets. You get something new. It's not all "I was raped" and "I did it for you and you didn't notice me". I'm tired of that. It's the same every day.

You should go to OMG Facts though.

A little something I want to write about:

I'm a few days late, but I only got the whole story yesterday when I pestered my friend into telling me the whole story.

First of all, I'm a Filipino citizen. Born and raised and living in the Philippines. I went to Philippine Science High School and am now in a state university. My surname's Chinese but I can't speak a word or it (okay, maybe a word or two). It doesn't change the fact that I was born a Filipino citizen and I don't think I'd want it any other way.

Second, the population of the Philippines is approximately 92 million. That's a lot of people. That's a whole lot of people. Some of them may be a bit dull, but surely there's at least one in 92 million people who isn't. And it's unfair to lump him with the 91,999,999 dumb people because he lives with them.

Now that's stretching the truth to breaking point. Remember the school I told you? Philippine Science High School? There are eleven campuses comprising the system: the main campus, found in Diliman, Quezon City, and ten regional campuses, one of which is found in Jaro, Iloilo City and which happens to be my alma mater. On top of that are two more campuses in the making. In the regional campuses, each of the four year levels are divided into three sections, whereas in the main campus there are eight sections. Each section has 30 students.

If you don't want to do the math, let me do it for you. There are at most 240 students per year level in the main campus, which amounts to 960 students maximum. Each of the regional campuses has 90 students per year level, which amounts to 360 students. That, multiplied by the ten campuses, plus the 960 from the main campus, amounts to 4560 science students with ages less than 18. Here's a news clipping about a few of them.

Here's another one featuring Fred Nyll Tupas, whom I know personally.

And here's a whole lot of them, featuring Carmela Antoinette Lao, whom I kind of came across when I was actively participating in these math thingies. I think she's one year younger than me.

Oh, and she's not one of the 4560 students from PSHS. She came from St. Jude Catholic School, which is not a part of the PSHS system fyi.

Okay so, now that I've presented the facts and the numbers, don't you think it's a bit unfair to label the whole Philippines as a bunch of pretty fucking stupid people simply because of one incident that happened in one place? You can say all you want about how it happens in the Philippines all the time but no, it doesn't. For the record, never have I seen a gun being used, except in the movies. Never have I seen a person die of a gunshot wound in front of me. Never have I been taken hostage, and never has anyone I know personally been taken hostage. I've lived in this country for seventeen years and chances are, you've seen more violence that I ever have, not counting the movies.

I don't condone what happened concerning the disgraced policeman. I don't condone the actions of the police, I don't condone how they handled it, I don't condone the fact that they received insufficient training. But, please, stop generalizing. Stop saying that the Filipinos are stupid because their police acted stupidly. Stop saying that the Filipinos hold tourist buses hostage because the Mendoza guy did. Stop, just stop. Not all the Filipinos are like that and it hurts when we're seen as such even if we've already done everything just to stay clean and actually be good citizens of the world.

~
On a lighter note, I want a pair of these:

On the 11th day to the -ber months

Dear Christmas,

Please keep the I'M BURNING!!!! heat away.

I wish this year's -ber months would be a lot cooler. It kind of sucks that all this country has is a hot season and a wet season. I hate it when it's hot and I hate it when it's wet. Awesome.

Hopefully the -ber months would be cold with just a little drizzle. Or something. I just hate it when I walk outside and I'm drenched because I am either sweating or walking in the rain. Come on. Be coooold.

That is all. I'm thinking I should learn how to make shoes. I find the shoes in shoe stores pretty boring and even if I don't, they're usually not my size.

PS. This is what I currently want:

Thank Jane Aldridge for me wanting those shoes so bad.

Birthday wishes

Today is my older sister's birthday. We went to our little retreat house thing in the mountains and this is what I wore:

Promod shirt, Calvin Klein pants, Dr. Martens boots

 

I prefer to keep my identity private, thanks. And yeah, that's a bottle of something with 5% alcohol. Haha. I wasn't drunk.

That is all. Thank you.

I'm the least stylish person you'll ever know.

I'm stuck in the 90s, and I wasn't even conscious for most of it.

This is what I wore yesterday. I call this my sick costume.

See them in all their unedited glory.

That's a French Connection hoodie dress thing that I slap on top of whatever I'm wearing when I have to go somewhere and I don't feel like changing. And those are the Dr. Martens boots with the normal laces, as promised.

Also, a few things I got from my awesome mom:

I have no idea if they're real Tory Burch flats, but I don't really care much because they're really fun to wear. Mom bought these for school, anyway. Also, nobody around here knows who Tory Burch is. Kinda sad.

That's a pretty iconic design known around the world, but not around here. Whatever.

It's the Bottega Veneta Intrecciato design, and God knows how many copies of the you can find here. I'll give you a hint: So many that if I lugged that around, people would think I bought that off a cheapskate boutique down the road. You know, those boutiques that sell Coach copies with the Gucci logo, or the LV copies with the frayed stitches, or the iconic YSL muse with the Burberry fabric. Those kinds of cheapskate boutiques.

I can't care less for the authenticity of the Tory Burch flats, but I care a lot for bags. I care for them so much that you wouldn't catch me dead with a copy. Sorry.

That's pretty much all I have to say now. Mom bought herself a YSL Tribute from a seller who had no idea how much those really are, and I hope I get it soon enough. :)