Taboo: January 2011

1/31/11

Yo Ma,

Caressing an inflated ego,
There's still a lot of things I don't know.

Walking around like I've done no
Bad feelings arising from the ground low

Can't say I wasn't happy from the get-go
But I can say what I did was a sure blow
I'm smiling though, even if I know you aren't
I know I'm the sunshine in your heart that's darkened

Don't think that I'm saying this for you
Cause I'm saying it for my own sake
Nowadays I look around and I'm not too sure
What things there are for me to take

With conviction, passion, and lot less guilt
I thought my life was for myself to build

But you built mine when I couldn't even speak
You built mine when I was nothing but weak

Guess what ma, I'm feeling weaker as I speak
As I rhyme, I know you think of me as weak
We've ever barely been on the same page
Should I blame the big number that is your age?

Should I blame the restlessness that I feel
The urges and excitement I cannot explain
Or should I kneel at your feet so as to compel
Your mercy towards things in me you completely disdain?

The stars told me I could make magic today
That fatalism is a ploy for those who think they have no say
Destiny let me be your sweet child
But I don't know how I could ever follow in your strict style.

1/30/11

Saturdays Spent

Every Saturday, I get up early (at least try to) to go to school and attend my FN 11 class. Entitled Principles of Food Preparation, this subject deals basically with cooking, baking and the science behind how food is prepared. When I enlisted for this class, I really dreaded it because it would be on a Saturday! There was another class scheduled on a weekday but it was in conflict with my major so I had no choice. The first few meetings weren't enjoyable, but thanks to some getting used to and some really good recipes, I'm beginning to enjoy this class!

Here are a few of the things we've made:

January 22: Buko pie! My group and I made the whole pie from scratch. That's Alexa, one of my close UP friends, being her usual self.

January 29: Banana cake and Shirred eggs. Both recipes weren't perfect :( The banana cake was alright, save that it was rather dry and not sweet enough. The shirred eggs would've have been heaven but because I put too much butter, it was a bit too rich for my taste. At least the other groups liked both of them!

We're 5 groups in my class, each making our assigned recipe/s for the day. When we're all done cooking/baking, we prepare the tables, sit down and start tasting each dish for evaluation. The dishes are evaluated on 3 categories: Appearance (this includes plating), Texture/Consistency, and Taste. I thought describing food would be easy but it's not!! You have to be very specific and creative (i.e. "the icing looks like black leather", "the leche flan crumbles into little balls when eaten", "tastes like a Red Ribbon chocolate cake"). All the eating can get tiring, plus having to think of very articulate descriptions for each dish can be difficult too. After eating and evaluating is clean up time--the worst part of the class because we have have to wash everything we used. Then after that, lecture which is sorta sad for Ma'am because we're all so sleepy and tired to listen to her. Good thing she isn't too strict. :))

This class made me want to start baking again (I used to bake often in highschool) but the oven just recently broke. So much for the motivation.

How do you spend your Saturdays? :)

1/28/11

To whoever this will hit--

You really have to stop the habit of thinking about all the weird possibilities and just realize that no one will ever really know what's going to happen until the moment it does happen. No one. You have to understand that sometimes even if you prepare ahead of time, prep yourself up for the pressure and possible failure, you don't know exactly what it will be like. So, why bother thinking about what hasn't even happened yet? For all you know what you're envisioning will never come to materialize at all. Stop putting yourself up for too high a hope or too painful a disappointment. The outcome can never be fully foreseen. Even the most calculated experiments (yes, I mean like the ones in Chemistry class) have "percentage error". Take comfort in the fact that error is real and that it's okay. Just sit back and stop thinking. It's the weekend so just relax, have a drink, and enjoy.

February is just around the corner :)

1/27/11

Doing that thing you do

Been a while since I blogged!! School has been very busy leaving me feeling rather burned out and "lost". That is why so I am SO HAPPY that tomorrow begins my "weekend"!! :) Yes weekend is enclosed in quotation marks because it's not really a weekend. But I'm still happy nonetheless!! :)

Please drop by the ESPLANADE BAZAAR @ Zen Garden in ATENEO and check out my friends' booths! Tomorrow is the LAST day so if you haven't gone yet, go! :)

FML Cheesecakes // Mills Ang Espina and Laura Catala

Freestyle Necklaces // Claudine Mijares and Marvin Conanan

Everyone deserves a break so give yourself one this weekend. :) Happy weekend! :)

1/17/11

R.A.N.D.O.M.

So tired from Cebu!! Haha! I'm kidding of course. I didn't go because school is just too cool for me to miss. I keep telling myself that this semester is the Semester of Sacrifice, as I keep having to give certain things up so that I can focus on school. That doesn't mean I'm not having fun though!! I not only foresee intensified academic devotion in the future weeks, but also exciting things I've rarely, or have never done before! I guess the phrase delayed gratification will just have to reign supreme for now.

As the title obviously suggests, this post contains rather random things. Let's have a go:

1. My favorite thrifted item to date--an oversized men's polo with red stripes. It's soooo big, and that's why it's really great. It's a perfect alternative to other cover-ups like cardigans, not to mention it gives off that laid back 90s vibe.

2. My mom's graduation picture from med school (circa 1982, I think). She's just so... beautiful. I found this lying around and my God!! It deserves to at least be framed. Now, it has online recognition haha!

3. The Kids Are All Right---MUST WATCH. A movie about the dynamics of a family with lesbian parents, it chronicles their ups and downs as a daughter goes to college, as a man sneakily enters all of the members' emotional territory, and as two women strive to keep their marriage alive and meaningful. I seriously encourage everyone to watch this film because a.) it reflects what goes on in society now; b.) it's simple and honest; c.) the soundtrack is great; d.) it makes you think that Julianne Moore likes doing lesbian roles; and e.) it doesn't leave you feeling heavy (as other dramas would do--because it's not completely a drama haha). The movie explores sexuality, sex, teenage angst, emotions, and vulnerability. Don't watch it with your parents though. I think you already know why.

The film, released in 2010, was directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and stars Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson.

Images care of Google Images

Cheers to the week ahead! :)

1/13/11

Delay tactics for latter happiness

It's already 11:39 and I'm still going through blogs and other social networking sites when I really should be hurrying up the review. I did find something really interesting though, from http://bahalanasibatman.com/. It's a witty blog that explores different Filipino subjects, diving into them with humor, mockery, and sarcasm. This list I found there, it's almost perfect.

PS: If only I could say "Bahala na si Batman" with conviction right now...

On another note, here's Erwin Romulo, one of my favorite personalities. Read his shirt and his white board.

His shirt is so rebel but sorry Erwin, I'm not about to fuck my college dream.

Buhbye for now. Please pray that I endure tomorrow. :)

1/11/11

Anthropop

Guess who's staying with me til Thursday?? This lucky fella!

Yeah, so exciting no? Anyway this is for that class I've mentioned in other posts, Anthropology 101. It's Physical Anthropology but lucky for me the dean, the super cute (and I mean this in a different way cause he's gay) who also happens to be my professor, shifted this subject to the direction of Biological Anthropology. Exciting no?? My classmates have reserved the Anthro lab for all of us to study the skulls cause it's so hard to memorize holes and sutures and all that without having the actual specimen to handle. Lucky for me, my mom works at a place where she both teaches and sees patients, so she got me my own skull! I hope I get a fairly better grade than when I was still just reading the books off my laptop.

PS: The first time I ever held a skull, I said the opening line of Hamlet's soliloquy. Haha! Couldn't help myself.

Good luck to all those taking exams! :)

1/8/11

Last one before I sleep

Words from the man himself. Ely, you'll always inspire me.

U2

The good girl gig gets so tiring, don't you think?

1/5/11

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being “in love”, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Louis de Bernières

1/3/11

wlkejfolsjdfalksdf

So fucking pissed off right now.

WHAT THE FUCK
WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT THE FUCK

Bencab Museum

This was one of the highlights of my Baguio trip. I took the photos using my phone, hence the low quality. The nicer ones are in my sister's Nikon.

the man himself, Bencab (Benedicto Cabrera), rendered by an artist I was not able to jot down

32 Variations of Sabel by Bencab. Glaze on Mariwasa tiles

Kawayan de Guia's The Last Fairwell Goodbye. Gotta love this guy

Bencab's studio, which is probably his rest house too

my mom with Junyee's Pintado

that bag is made of STONE. really. it's a hollow rock. tangena lang my pose, no?

The museum houses lots of other artworks, including antique furniture and wood carved statues. It pays homage to the artistry and craftwork of the Cordillera region and home grown artists of Baguio. There are also works of the masters such as Jose Joya, Victorio Edades and Arturo Luz. Please do visit this museum when you head up to Baguio. It's quite a drive from the buzzing metro, and costs P100 to get in. (Show a student's ID, and you can enjoy the place for P80.) If the art is not enough to entice you, there's a cafe, an outdoor garden, and a breathtaking view of the mountains.

PS: If anyone knows what anya ngay means, please do tell me!! I wasn't able to ask the taga-Baguio.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

The New Year has finally come and so I thought to change the way my blog looked. Well, that's a very shallow change, but a change nonetheless. When I was waiting for 2010 to roll in, I was really excited and I told myself it would be mine. I can't say it was the best year I've had, but for odd reasons, I loved 2010 and will never forget it. I could tell 2010 was going to be exciting, yknow, a thrilling ride, and for the most part it was. As for 2011, I can't tell what the hell it will be like. I'm excited but scared shitless at the same time. All I know is that I made my bargain with the Lord--I've thanked Him for all my blessings and asked Him for extra help on more stubborn issues. In any case, I am looking forward to 2011. I can feel even bigger changes coming on (yes, 2010 had some pretty big ins and outs for me) and so I hope that I muster all the strength I have in this fragile body of mine to face all of it head on.

In the final moments of the past year, everything I have ever given importance to boiled down to Andy Warhol's honest words: They always say that time changes things but you actually have to change them yourself. Time is flying by too quickly for it to change anything, anyway, so I guess we've no choice but to do that something ourselves (soon, preferably).

I already have school on the 4th. :( That means time to study (2 big exams to get through) and to fix my body clock.

Gather up your jackets and move it to the exits; I hope you have found a friend.
Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.