Chameleon Sofia

Dumpy Humpy

2009-04-08T23:32:00.004-05:00

Putting this entry together was a chore. Done now.

On Mock Orange. Good poem analysis and comprehensive profile of Louis Gluck.
Chip Tsao's "nation of servants." Blog post that contains the reactions of some big guns in the Philippines, as well as Tsao's original article itself. Seems like an interesting blog overall, too.
Maningning Miclat. Details about her death and a brief listing of other authors who died young.
Recession. Getting the better of it. For the jobless lawyer. Voluntereeism in general. Escapism and the romance-novel industry. Not overtaxing the wealthy.
If you seek Amy. Get it, get it?
Publishing. Getting published. And publishing yourself.
Random. What husbands want. Criminals in med school. And the end pf philosophy.

I am going to become a snoot. In the grammar sense. For real. Watch me.

So Little Time, So Much To Do

2009-03-13T23:33:00.004-05:00

The harder I work, the harder I play.

The internet is my playground of the moment. And here are my toys.

Allow me to introduce Jay Asher. He's my person of the moment because of his job history:

[He] has worked at an independent bookstore, an outlet bookstore, a chain bookstore, and two public libraries. He hopes, someday, to work for a used bookstore.

That has got to have been fun. In one of my alternate universes, I know that I am working at random bookstores and libraries and being completely happy doing so.

Oh yeah, Jay came to my attention because his first novel, "Thirteen Reasons Why," is getting lots of attention, both mainstream and not.

I'm adding that book to my ever-growing reading list. Ah, as if I didn't have enough to read already - what with my regular online haunts and my books. But that's okay. It's no fun to aspire to what I can easily achieve.

* * *

A few weeks ago, I had a hankering for an e-reader. The only two choices are the Kindle 2 and the Sony Reader. The latter is prettier, no question. But the Kindle 2 wins for me because you need a USB cable to download books for the Sony Reader. In-depth comparison of the two devices here.

At the end of the day, though, I don't think I am going to get an e-reader. For one thing, that's a couple hundred dollars that I am not willing to spend. And second, I think that ink and paper are essential parts of the reading experience. I mean, I have read stories online. Here's a good site for a quick lit fix, for example. But for reading and writing, I am very old-fashioned. I blog here, but my journal is written by hand. And I read pages and not screens. Just like the my favorite writers did.

* * *

All right, sleepy now, but I want first to dump some interesting articles that I came across this week. I may expound on them at a later post, but I never carry out my blog plans so don't count on that.

So little time, so much to do / I want to spend my days with you / So little time, so much to do / I want to spend one day with you / But if that day is not enough / I wish that we could stay in touch / But I'm not making plans for tomorrow / It never comessssssssss

* * *

Who is the you? What is the you? It's you, you, and all of you!

Egad!

2009-03-11T00:16:00.005-05:00

This article, Doctoral Candidates Anticipate Hard Times, made me sad. I have thought quite a bit about what it would be like to get a Ph.D. and about what subject is most deserving of the hard work and devotion of such a program. I'm pretty sure that one is beyond my reach right now, but it's still pretty interesting to imagine myself going for one. Just for fun. And then there would be the graduation to the scholarly lifestyle of an academic --- living on campus, teaching, researching, writing, publishing. NICE. I'm romanticizing it, I know. But non-romanticized professions aren't very fun anyway, so no guilt in doing that.

Here's the "quote of the article":

William Pannapacker, an associate professor of English at Hope College in Holland, Mich., who writes a column for The Chronicle of Higher Education under the name Thomas Benton, has frequently tried to dissuade undergraduates from pursuing a graduate degree in the humanities. He is convinced that the recession will push universities to trim the number of tenure-track jobs further.
“It’s hard to tell young people that universities recognize that their idealism and energy — and lack of information — are an exploitable resource,” he wrote in a recent column. “If you cannot find a tenure-track position, your university will no longer court you; it will pretend you do not exist and will act as if your unemployability is entirely your fault.”
Unless you are independently wealthy or really well connected, don’t apply, he advised.

Bottomline is that money makes the world go round. But imaginations don't cost a thing.

* * *

Speaking of money, get a hold of this: Audrey Niffenegger Receives $5 Million Advance for Second Novel. Mamma Mia! That's a lot of dough. I wouldn't mind having $5 million dollars. Wow.

Anyway, Audrey wrote "The Time Traveler's Wife." I have not actually read that book, but I plan to, eventually. Still working on Francine Prose, but I have plans of adding "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" to the mix. So, anyway, I was quite happy to discover that Audrey is a Chicagoan. Perhaps I have run into her already. Um, probably not.

* * *

I downed two Archie comics (Double Digest) in the past week. I learned to read on Archie's. I like them a lot, but I find it funny that the Riverdal High Schoolers still exhibit a level of sophistication that I, the nine-years-out-of-high-school-real-life-person, clearly do not possess. I'll be Ms. Grundy's peer in a few years, and I bet I'd still feel the same way.

I'm struggling to be coherent, so I think I'll end this and sleep. Or watch TV.

Please Don't Stop the Music

2009-03-07T14:35:00.005-06:00

One of the most long-running debate topics (at least, in my opinion) concerns the legality of prostitution. They were talking about it then, and they're still talking about it now. I've always wanted to step back from that debate and discuss the more fundamental issue of whether prostitution is, in fact, wrong.

I've got my religious and moral paradigms well in place, and I could answer that question according to those paradigms in a heartbeat. I guess the morality of something like that is so well-accepted that questioning it is insulting, if not trite. What I would like to know is whether there is any good argument as to why prostitution is morally okay.

What makes prostitution different from other jobs or means of livelihood? Working (i.e. laboring for someone else's money) for 70 hours a week is still morally superior to one hour of sex for pay. Why?

It's not the time or the effort or the physical motions. It's the act itself. Is it the fact that sex and acts attendant to it are intimately linked to our conception? And does that give force to the argument that sex should be treated or perceived differently than, say, cleaning a window or watering a plant? I don't know.

An interesting article entitled "Can People Unlearn Their Naked Shame" was kind of getting at that, albeit in the context of clothes. Here's the gist of the article:

With the long immature period of a young human, mum and dad need to form a stable pair bond to do the looking after. But humans are more social than any other primate, living and moving in large social groups.
Psychologist Professor Dan Fessler, of the University of California, Los Angeles, says our gregariousness "poses a challenge... because those groups of course provide a source of temptation. Potentially both sexes can benefit by cheating on their partners."
That's where our shame of nudity comes in. Over thousands of generations, we've learned that showing off a naked body sends out sexual signals that threaten the security of mating pairs. And we've chosen to agree that that is a bad thing.

Interesting, yeah? Going back to the original prostitution question, do IVF and other similar technologies change the analysis?

* * *

I spend most of my time above the ground. My office is 70+ stories up, and my home-for-now is 10+ floors high. I used to love being "on top of the world, looking down on creation." I still like it. But these days, I find ground zero more comforting.

* * *

I have been revisiting my past blog entries, and I cringe a little bit at how revealing some of those entries are. I'm a private person by nature. And that's why my most interesting stories are tucked away in that little black Moleskine that I always keep close.

* * *

Last thing. I was slacking while working this afternoon when I got this message: "Sorry for stopping the music, but you haven't interacted with Slacker in the last hour."

Needy, aren't you, Slacker? The myriad of people who I haven't interacted with in these past weeks haven't stopped the music. You know why? They're not music players.

Restless Oldie

2009-03-06T18:15:00.005-06:00

Samuel Brackett has piqued my interest because of this quote: "All the old people & the old places, they make me feel like an amphibian detained forcibly on dry land, very very dry land." Nice.

Restlessness, my old friend, is once again at my side. I'm sick of his company and wish he'd prey on someone else. But then I like him with me, occasionally, as a reminder that I can never just stop. Once I settle down, I'll forget that "it's not easy to be calm when [I've] found something going on." And the truth is that my dreams will still be here tomorrow, but I may not.

That last phrase right there was meant to be more symbolic than literal, but I suppose its two meanings shine together, one refusing to dim while the other lives (kind of like Harry Potter and Voldemort). Body and soul, that kind of thing.

Speaking of body and soul, was really sad to hear that Francis Magallona passed away. Just sad is what that is. He was only 44.

I'm 26 years old. That's too old to be restless and too young to settle down. But I did make a commitment, and I will honor it. It's a fight to the death with the monster on my screen. And when I have emerged victorious, as I know I will, perhaps the world will still want to play.

Lean, Mean Ressurecting Machine

2009-03-06T01:12:00.005-06:00

Talk about a lean, mean resurrecting machine. I am once again making an appearance. Just like Michael Jackson but just like not, and it's the latter statement that's making me happy. That's an uncharitable statement as it is, so I'll try to be charitable and clam up about that topic. Clammed up now.

I suppose I owe you, my faithful readers, a brief explanation of where I am now and what I am doing. If my supposition is correct, I guess I'll just dispute the debt or otherwise ignore it ... for now. I am such an interesting topic, so we really must hear my thoughts on myself some time.

For now, though, I'd like to turn your attention to my favorite person of the moment: Michiko Kakutani. I have been checking out the Arts section of the NY Times daily since fairly recently, and one of her reviews caught my attention. Specifically, I thought her opening paragraph was a winner:

Nearly all the characters in Zoë Heller’s ambitious new novel, “The Believers,” are true believers. Though each chooses a different vehicle of worship — socialism, liberal humanism, orthodox Judaism or the New Age gospel of self-improvement — they are all in thrall to their own certainty, self-righteous about their own beliefs and contemptuous of anyone dimwitted enough to disagree. They are also believers in their own mythologies: the roles in which they have been cast by their parents or children or followers, the personas they have had thrust upon them and have, over the years, internalized as their own. Zeal is their default setting; sanctimony, their favorite defense.

Nice job, Michiko. Despite being an awarded journalist, she's actually pretty controversial - see here and here. I love characters, more so "writing characters", and do resolve to follow her reviews religiously from now on.

On that note, one of my usually reliable authors, Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP), has let me down big time with her latest novel, "What I Did for Love." If you haven't read any of her books, then skip to the next paragraph (if there is one), as my disappointment will be incomprehensible to you. One of the things I like about SEP is that she's formulaic (weird situation, guy meets girl, girl falls first, guy falls second and has sucking up to do because he didn't fall first, happy ending) but also original. In her latest novel, she did follow her formula, but her originality flew out the window. The story's a plagiarism of the Pitt-Jolie-Aniston triangle, pretty much. It was definitely not her best work. Here's hoping that the re-issue of Glitter Baby is better.

I won't get to read that book for a while, because thisfunnylittlethingcalledwork is being needy right now and, more importantly, because I'm reading another book that I'm enjoying immensely. And that is Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer." I guess you could call it the ultimate textbook for creative writing. It's very informational, and the many excerpts she dissects stop it from being boring. So reading-wise, I'm in a good place.

I am also sleepy. G'night.

Productivity

2007-04-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, I admit it - I am feeling the urge to be productive right now. Not in the sense of "I want to start buckling down and studying for finals" (although it'd be awesome if I felt that way, as finals are just around the corner), but in the sense of "I want to produce something, use my labor to come up with a product."

I'm being neither sarcastic nor dramatic. And that's the sad part.

I just feel the itch to do some busy work and get things moving. The last time I did this was in my senior year in high school, when I was the head of the debating club. My members and I did a lot of good things that year (i.e. best hosting job ever), and, while I had to stay up late working on proposals and doing other admin stuff that came with the position, I was happy. Satisfied and happy.

When I got to college, I shunned admin stuff completely, but I was very active in the competitive debating scene. And this was really the perfect route for me. I got to do what I wanted, and I didn't have to do what I didn't want to do. Besides, if you're sent to South Africa to represent the school, it's hard to find something to complain about.

But now, there is reason to complain. Ugh. There's no outlet apart from school for me, no assurance that aside from school or even in spite of it, I am doing something worthwhile. This is a really sad realization, given that I will be graduating next year and leaving South Behind forever. I remember my college professor who always reminded us to "live, love, and leave a legacy." (Or wait, was it some Covey guy who said that?)

The point is that I have been living, I have been loving, but I have no legacy to leave here. That is just so sad. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but I have never been one of those people who were satisfied with just passing in the night. I want to do something, damn it.

To be fair, I did handle a project for this org that I'm a part of. That turned out okay, I suppose, but I didn't find fulfillment working on it, for reasons I shall be keeping to myself, and I'm not too excited to do something like that again.

Well, I have several prospects for next year, and a huge one for this summer. There are a lot of opportunities to be productive and to do something. Watch me go for gold, friends - the Productive C is back in the game.

* * *

I am suffering from tinnitus. I'm not sure if I have the objective one or the basic one, but I am pretty sure that this is the condition that assailed me last night. Was lying in bed, trying to sleep, when I heard a chorus of bells. My gut feel told me that I was either being crazy or possessed, and I was already summoning St. Michael the Archangel to my side, when I remembered Archie Andrews and the gang, my good ol' friends from Riverdale High.

I remembered that cartoon strip where Reggie Mantle and Veronica Lodge put bells on Betty Cooper's hair, and Betty thought she was going crazy and she was crying and being otherwise, well, crazy. And then Ms. Grundy demanded to know what was going on, and saw the bells and figured everything out.

When I remembered that, I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. I wasn't going crazy - Reggie and Veronica had just put bells on my hair.

* * *

My sleeping schedule is out of whack. Dang those two papers. Yesterday, I went to bed at around 7:30 P.M., got up at around 12 M.N., and then went to bed again at around 5:00 P.M.. For those five hours that I was awake, I fixed this blog up and then chatted with my sister who's in California. And then the bells happened. I slept at 5 A.M., and woke up again at around 3 P.M.. And here, I am making a web appearance. Hey, wait a minute - so I am being productive after all.

Potty-Mouthed Parents and the Resume-Padding Dean

2007-04-28T00:26:00.000-05:00

Prepare yourselves for my take on these two issues: 1) the outing of potty-mouthed parents and 2) the firing of the resume-padding MIT dean.

1) The Public Crucifixion of Potty-Mouthed Parents

The celebrity world, and the larger world that follows it, has long been abuzz with Alec Baldwin's voice message to his daughter. As may be expected, different people have weighed in on the issue, with the majority response being "oh my goodness, Alec is a horrible father, and a threat to his daughter." The judge in charge of the Baldwin's custody case seems to fall squarely on that side of the fence, as she issued a restraining order shortly after being informed of this message.

I know there are different possible angles with which to look at and comment on this matter (i.e. parental alienation), but I've no interest in any of them except for one - the public judgment of Alec Baldwin. Let me make clear, now and forever, that I am no fan of this actor. The only movie I remember seeing him in is Notting Hill, and he lost my favor completely and irrevocably when he made poor Hugh Grant take out the trash in that scene with Julia Roberts. What I will say though is that the public condemnation of this guy, based on that one phone message, is largely undeserved.

I think that people do not have the right to judge the parental qualities of another based on an isolated incident. (I'm saying this was an isolated incident because all the criticism seems to be focusing on that one voice message.) It's very difficult to take an action out of context and to judge it as such. Even the killing of another human being can be either justified or excused (depending on how you look at it) based on the context in which it was done. I'm not saying that I advocate this particular way of raising a child, or that I think that every act is inherently subjective and cannot be judged on its objective merits alone. All I am saying is that this one act is not representative of him as a father, and it is no one's business to judge his character, and to take action, solely because of it.

I also think that people are being highly intrusive for weighing in on this issue. There are privacy rights, and the right of parents to raise their children as they deem fit is one of the most well-established rights in juvenile law. Different contexts call for different responses. More, not everyone can be expected to be as politically correct as, say, Steve Covey when their blood is boiling and when emotions are running high. I think Alec was wronged when that phone message was made public. And I think it was in bad taste for it to have ever been published in the first place.

This is exactly how I feel about another similar issue, that of the YouTube video of a religious mom who's upset upon hearing her son say he's an atheist. For one thing, I think whoever filmed that video and posted it online was out of place in doing so. What upsets me even more is to read about how some people have been so self-righteous and judgmental about this incident.

In an article for The Harvard Crimson, Jimmy Y. Li weighs in on this video, saying

“You’re an atheist? Give me a fucking break.” That’s not exactly the kind of language you ever expect a mother to use, especially when talking to her own son. Yet, at the beginning of “Pissed Catholic Mother,” an alarming video posted on YouTube earlier this month, the mother says those exact words to her son—who looks to be about 13—after he tells her that he’s an atheist. ... “Pissed Catholic Mother” is shocking and disturbing to say the least, and it’s probably safe to assume that most parents would not respond with such hurtful and abusive language if their child were to tell them he or she is an atheist.

For the full article, click here.

I didn't even go on to read the rest of the article. I just stopped at that part. What was the point in loading the statement with judgments? What was the point in playing a Dr. Be Calm and using this as an "alarming" example of horrible mothering? Well, I know what his point was - he wanted to come up with a good intro. But my point is that he should not have chosen to make this point by blatantly insulting the character of the mother.

People make mistakes in private. They do stupid things, they use foul language (yes, even mothers), they say things they later regret. They shouldn't have to be called to account for that behavior in public - except of course if the behavior has been either tortious or criminal. The public knows nothing of who they are apart from their publicized behavior, nothing about their relationship with the people involved, nothing about whether everything related to that incident has been atoned for. People shouldn't capitalize on these private-made-public mistakes to make them feel like better people. That's just uncalled for and very intrusive.

Alec, you shouldn't have made that public apology. Just like you shouldn't have made Hugh Grant take out the trash.

2) The Resume-Padding MIT Dean of Admissions

The admissions dean of MIT invented her educational credentials. An anonymous caller blew her cover. She resigned.

Here is an excerpt from her personal statement:

I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since.

Full text of the statement here.

I feel bad for this lady. From the different accounts I've read of her, she seems to have been well-respected in the academic community, and people don't seem to have questioned her capacity to do her job well. I guess her mistake is that she thought no one would check, and no one would find out. It had been 28 years since she first gave that resume out after all.

I understand the position of MIT in this matter, and I think they did the right thing. But I also sympathize with her. Once you get into a job based on a fake resume, there's no going back. You reveal the dishonesty, you lose your job. People don't like being made fools of.

On an entirely different note, I wonder what's going to happen to her now. Will people hire a former MIT admissions dean who might not even be a college graduate?

Music Review

2008-04-20T20:48:00.007-05:00

My Chemical Romance is the best band ever. Check out 'Welcome to the Black Parade,' 'Teenagers,' 'Famous Last Words,' and 'Mama.' The first three stream from the website, and you can of course find all of them on the most addicting site ever. The lead singer, Gerard Way, has an awesome voice. It's really strong and powerful, and it never falters or goes out of tune. For proof, just listen to the last minute of 'Famous Last Words.' Seismic. Apart form the vocals, I love this band because the elements of the songs just fit together perfectly - from the lyrics to the melody to the tempo to everything musical that I was taught. Perfect.

Some songs don't work out that nicely. Consider Garth Brooks' "Standing Outside the Fire," for example. Now that song is a really good song too, and I've listened to it enough to know it by heart (well, almost), but I don't quite like how the chorus slows down from the verses. Does anyone share this impression? I feel that the chorus disappoints after the suppresed tension and rising crescendo of the verses. While that song doesn't really make me go whoa, Garth has other songs that do work spectacularly: 'Callin' Baton Rouge', 'The Thunder Rolls,' and 'Friends in Low Places.' Listen to the first if you want something catchy, listen to the second if you want to hear a sad story, and listen to the third if you're drunk and doing karaoke.

Consider this other song that kind of works but doesn't: 'Give You the World' by The Dey. The song streams on the site, by the way. I love, love, love the first few seconds of the song (when the girl is singing), but I have to stop listening when that guy rapper starts with his "I'ma give you the world, Mama." Yick. For some reason, that just doesn't work for me. Maybe this has to do with my newly developed aversion to rap, care of the lyrics of 'Crank That (Soulja Boy).' I'll only post an excerpt here because I don't want this blog to be obscene:

Soulja boy off in this hoe
Watch me crank it
Watch me roll
Watch me crank that soulja boy
Then super man that hoe

Full obscenity here. Seriously, superman that hoe?!? You have little ballerinas dancing to this! Heck, I tried to dance to this! Golly. Soulja boy baboy.

Some rap songs though, I do like. I like Eminem a lot, especially 'Lose Yourself.' I like Nelly's 'Country Grammar.' And of course, who could forget 'Gangsta's Paradise.' But genre-wise, rock is still the way to go.

The other songs on my radar right now are Imago's 'Akap,' which I initially checked out because of Lea's raves in that podcast but which I now really like, Sam Milby's 'Close to You,' which is so embarrassingly catchy, and Maroon 5's 'Makes Me Wonder,' which is light and bubbly like Cali Shandy. I'm done with Fall-Out Boy's 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' and all the songs in Panic in the Disco's first album, which I was obsessed with for a while.

And that ends my music review, pay per view. Pay up, *J! Grin

Rolling

2008-04-22T19:29:00.007-05:00

Caution seems to be in order as regards the cool-looking three-wheeled baby stroller, as it seems to have a morbid attraction to lakes and other bodies of water. Last Saturday in the (Really) Windy City, this stroller rolled into the lake along with the two-year-old in its arms. The report suggests that winds of 20-30 mph had something to do with it. That boy is now in critical condition in the hospital. A little more than a year ago, a five-month-old baby drowned when his stroller rolled into the river. This report suggests that the steep paths contributed to the accident.

Wind or steep paths aside, be careful when using that stroller. Or any other rolling thing for that matter.

Should you be careful when talking, though? This is what Colorado Rep. Douglas Brown had to say about a temporary-worker bill: "We don't need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in the state of Colorado." Oh my goodness. While I definitely agree that he could have used more appropriate words to express himself, I am not sure I support an ethics investigation into this matter.

People, lawmakers especially, should be able to say what they want to say however they want to say it without being automatically shut down or dismissed by terms like "bigot" or "racist" or what-not. It's best to have conversation out in the open. And to remember that every side, for better or for worse, has an agenda. Political consultant Alfredo Gutierrez once said "We call things racism just to get attention. We reduce complicated problems to racism, not because it is racism, but because it works." (Got this from a comment in one of the news articles, but here's apparently where it can be found: quoted by Richard de Uriarte, The Phoenix Gazette, March 14, 1992 (quoted in The ProEnglish Advocate, 1st quarter, 2002).

Be open-minded for real and don't fall into the labeling trap. Mindless following is scary. Informed conviction is not.

Quarterbacks

2008-04-24T23:22:00.007-05:00

It was a three-way debate among wasting time, blogging, and putting the laundry away. The laundry put forth the most rational arguments, but blogging tugged at the heart strings and was ultimately more compelling. And wasting time has had her time, so I don't feel too bad about letting her down. And here we are.

Guess who I saw two days ago? Jimmy Clausen. I was on Asphalt, and he was in a black SUV with the music blaring. So jock-y. Can't he be more like Brady Quinn, who constantly and unfailingly talks about his double-degree in Political Science and Finance and his plan to take up law eventually?

I announced this chance meeting to a friend I was walking home with, and he asked me, "who's Jimmy Clausen?" He caught sight of my horrified expression, and he said quickly, "is he a rock star?" I looked even more horrified so he tried again: "is he an actor?" I barely managed to squeak out that Jimmy Clausen is only Notre Dame's quarterback!

I've clearly been bitten by the Irish bug. It's only April, but I am already so excited for the upcoming football season. Unlike last season, we won't be having the four-way quarterback battle among Evan Sharpley, Demetrius Jones, Zach Frazer, and Jimmy Clausen. The drama was so exciting to follow. First there were four. And then Zach Frazer was out. He transferred to the University of Connecticut. Then there were three. And then Demetrius Jones pulled a shocker and transferred first to Northern Illinois and then to the University of Cincinnati, where he's at, currently. Here's a look at all the dramz. And then there were two: just Evan and Jimmy. And then the non-existent season happened.

Flashforward to Fall 2008. Jimmy is the clear starter this season, with Evan kicking ass in baseball and choosing to focus on that instead of football. While Jimmy may have the spot all to himself this year, there might be another quarterback battle next fall between him and Dayne Crist who, though definitely not as highly touted as Jimmy was, was definitely heavily recruited himself. I love competition.

And that's all I'm going to say about ND football. I like talking about it and reading about it, but I honestly don't understand the game that much. For those who just like following like I do, this is the best site out there. Know how I discovered this? I glimpsed it on my classmate's screen one class day. That's also how I discovered Perez's site, by the way.

Before I end this, let's talk about yet another quarterback: Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. 2007 Heisman Trophy winner - and the first sophomore to win the award too. Dual-threat quarterback, meaning he can both pass and run the ball. Born in the Philippines to missionary parents.

Sizzling.

A Post in Pictures

2008-04-25T18:36:00.004-05:00

This is how I feel right now:

And this is how my bed makes me feel:

Images stolen from the best photographer ever. Thanks, Hans!

Goin' Out of My Head

2008-04-26T23:36:00.005-05:00

I love, love, love, love Little Anthony and the Imperials! They are definitely one of the best musical groups not only of the 50s but also of all-time. Here's a hit medley video. The group is amazing.

Another song I've been quite taken with today is T.A.T.U.'s "All About Us." Very different from "All The Things She Said," which I don't like. Sonic Syndicate, a melodic death metal band from Sweden, did a cover of it. I half-like it and half-don't, and the clincher is the lead singer's electro-screaming.

In other news, two Notre Dame players got picked in the NFL Draft today. Both were second-round picks: John Carlson, TE, was picked 7th in Round 2 (38th overall) by the Seattle Seahawks and Trevor Laws, DT, was picked 16th in Round 2 (47th overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles. Hope Zbi (Tom Zbikowski) and Sully (John Sullivan) get picked tomorrow!

Tada!

2008-08-24T02:16:00.005-05:00

Am once again in an in-between. Took the bar exam almost a month ago. Have two more weeks at a civil rights organization. And then a break - a short period of rest and relaxation (and well, a little work) after three months of so of running on sheer willpower and a fear of the embarrassment that goes with failure (and not failure itself, note). And then life as a firm lawyer will begin and perhaps life as a a more-or-less average 25-year-old will end. Que sera sera. Bring it on. Bring it. And I will take it away.

* * *

Have entered the "hip-hop" phase of musical obsession. When people ask me what kind of music I like, it always takes me a while to answer. I dabble in all genres, see, but my genre of the moment always changes. For example, last summer, I was into 80's songs as my then-boyfriend was. And then I got into country music after my spring break trip to Nashville. And now, I'm into hip-hop. Of particular significance is Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" and "Me Love." So addictive, seriously. As regards the former, I actually prefer JoJo's version more. But when I tried to download it from the iTunes store, I found that the store didn't carry it. So the ever-reliable youtube will have to do for now.

* * *

Am shifting around among five books right now. I love reading, and at any one time, I'm always reading something. I used to finish one book before I turned to the next, but in recent times, I've found that it gets harder for a book to sustain my attention. I don't know if that's because of the glasses I refuse to wear or because I've somehow developed ADD. So I'm going back and forth between these books: Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," Ron Jeremy's "The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz," Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories," Jeanne Birdsall's "The Penderwicks," and D.B. Gilles' "The Screenwriter Within."

Three of the five are children's books, one's an instructional book, and one's a porn star's memoir. I got Ron's book along with "Little Women," believe it or not. I was at an Urban Outfitters nearby, presumably shopping for cute tops but really just basking in the aircon for a bit before I had to walk on home, when I caught sight of their sale table. They were selling "Little Women" and Ron's book for $5. That was 1/3 of their retail price. There was no-way-in-the-hey that I was turning down a deal like that. So I got both. I usually don't like memoirs, but a sale is a sale and a book is a book.

I'm still in the first few chapters of the book, and I have to say it's an interesting read. It's definitely not porn, so if you're getting it just for sex, don't bother. There's more action in romance novels, of which I heartily, heartily recommend Susan Elizabeth Phillips who writes the best dialogue in the genre and whose characters are oh-so-familiar but oh-so-lovable still. Nah; Ron talks about his life. He's definitely led an interesting life, but I'm already started to get bored with him, just as I got bored when reading Gilda Radner's memoir. And I find his habit of doing

this for emphasis very annoying. So I'm probably not going to touch his book for a bit.

* * *

Just recently discovered the sundeck in my building. Awesome view. I know where my next hang-out's going to be, then. I hate hate hate that it's Sunday already because that means that Monday is coming soon and I don't feel like I've gotten my weekend's worth. Ah, but the weekend is not over yet. And so I still have both time and opportunity to make something happen.

I've missed blogging. And now I'm back. Tada!

Race

2008-05-08T03:54:00.003-05:00

One of the social constructs that I have come to hate the most is race. I don't like being called a minority or a 'person of color' (which is a misnomer, if you think about it). I'm not ashamed of who I am - being who I am, what is there to be ashamed of? Grin. Seriously, if anything, call me Filipino or foreigner or even alien if you like. There's just something insincere and almost ridiculous about me claiming to be a minority or a 'person of color.' I'll try to be clearer about what I mean in a later post - and believe me, I have a lot of thoughts on that matter, thoughts that involve Barack Obama and his race issues and Tiger Woods' discomfort with being called African-American and his preference for being called Cablinasian instead. Just wanted to vent.

Questions for Me and You

2008-05-04T01:54:00.003-05:00

Did J.K. Rowling rely on the [clearly non-Christian] Christian Identity ideology for her race theme in the Harry Potter books? Who else thinks that, among all the other characters, James Potter I needs to be redeemed? Who else has liked Sirius Black less and less? Who else thinks that the dialogue between Harry and Voldemort in the final showdown is too long to be believable? Okay, I clearly have to get back into this "legal" frame of mind.

Two units passed a few days ago, btw. Forgot to commemorate that with a post. But as a make-up post, this is surprisingly apt. And I think only one person will get that. All right, back to work now!

5 Down

2008-04-30T17:29:00.002-05:00

Imagine me smacking my palm on the table. Full hand slam with enough force to make the earth shake. One finger per credit - five credits down.

Obsession

2008-04-30T00:21:00.004-05:00

This is my latest obsession:

I would have loved to be alive during in the 50's and 60's. Talk about good music! I wonder if there is a place centered around this kind of music. Sort of like how Nashville is for country music. Probably not.

Ah, but there is good music in these times too. My latest obsession? "Wait a Minute" by the Pussycat Dolls. It is the catchiest song. The intro kind reminds me of Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous Girl."

In other news, two credits down. Boo-yeah! And thirteen left to go.

Descriptive Quote

2008-04-27T21:18:00.002-05:00

Here's a blog post in a quote:

You can drink and talk all you want, you can bask in the afterglow of Rilke and Plath and Neruda and whoever moves you, and quote them till the cows come home; but when it comes to your own work, it’ll still be just you and the blinking cursor, and maybe a tepid cup of coffee or a half-finished cigarette. ... Writing is always a solitary act and solitude can get lonely, but the books get written and suddenly there’s more than you listening to your voice at 2 a.m.

Credit goes to Sir Butch Dalisay of the Philippine Star.

That quote is exactly what I needed to read right now, when I will be shooting off law school credits (the last ones ever) with papers instead of exams. One observation, though - if you type fast enough, the cursor does not blink. It just moves forward.

P.S. Zbi and Sully did get drafted today. And that's it for ND football for a while.

Kuwentong Filipino

2008-04-20T02:53:00.006-05:00

To all Filipino writers, painters, photographers, and graphic designers: here is Story Philippines to send your submissions to. I saw this in a Philippine Star article and just wanted to share.

To all non-Filipinos: you might find the site entertaining. I personally have not read any of the stuff here, but I recognize some of the contributors. I browsed through the webpage, and I think most of the stuff here is in English. The submission guidelines don't specify that the stories or plays have to be in English, but I guess that's how the submissions have played out.

I'm not getting anything out of this pitch. Unfairly. Sadly. As my siblings and I used to say, "oh well, towel."

Depreciation

2008-04-19T16:05:00.002-05:00

My coconutBattery says that, after 33 months, my current battery capacity is only 32% of its original battery capacity. Just like my drive and patience.

The unwanted side effects of caffeine? Probably not, as I didn't have that much of that today. It's the weekend, so I try to go easy on that stuff. Watch me fail that attempt in a few hours though. Of age? Uh, no. Of maturity? Definitely not.

Start song: The coconut nut is a giant nut. If you eat too much, you get very fat.

Shakey-Wakey

2008-04-18T23:45:00.004-05:00

I experienced the third earthquake of my life here in Notre Dame. I was in bed this time, when the world shook. In my semi-conscious state, I thought that workmen were drilling and uprooting my apartment. I also thought that my downstairs-neighbors were complicit in this scheme. Ah, I never think of the obvious.

In other news, I have enough reward points to get myself a personal shredder. Yay! I love office supplies, and I've been wanting to get a shredder for a long time. I love free stuff.

I Work = iWork '08

2008-04-18T00:04:00.003-05:00

Less than 24 hours after I first decided to get a Xootr Mg (which I still haven't gotten, btw; I'm giving myself the weekend to "think" it through so I can say that I made an informed decision), I am thinking of picking up yet another toy: iWork '08. I'm using the trial version right now, and I am hooked. I've been playing around on Pages more than Keynote, but it's been an absolute blast so far. The templates are awesome, and the formatting is very easy to use. The Apple Store prices this at $ 79, and the student discount just gets me $ 8 off, so this won't come cheap. But I want, I want, I want, I want! Let's see if I will get.

I've also thought very briefly about getting the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. But I'm going to desist and say no. I'm happy with my Microsoft Office 2004. Besides, I tried the Microsoft Office 2008 on Windows, and it's nothing fantastic. So no to that. But if someone gives that to me as a present, I won't say no. Just saying.

Let's shift gears now to free stuff. I've been downloading freeware sporadically since a few weeks ago from this awesome site. These are the stuff I've gotten so far: Quinn (Tetris), HandBrake (which lets you rip DVDs - important for making movies), Celtx (for screenplay writing), Shredder (you have to pay if you want to shred free disk space, but you can shred your web browser cookies and history for free; you can also shred any of your files by dragging it onto the icon; in this age of identity-theft and what-not, can't be too careful), and xPad (like Notepad on Windows, except that this has tabs, so you don't have a lot of documents running around). I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but this is all I'm willing to write right now.

Oh, software is so fun. But I [have to] Work. Now. Bye.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

2008-04-17T14:29:00.002-05:00

What is it with me and my narcoleptic tendencies? Seriously! I think I have selective narcolepsy, triggered by anything that is work-related. You give me Bob Loblaw, and I'll give you Sleeping Beauty.

Now my head is buzzing because of too much sleeping
Just the day before, it was buzzing more
I didn't sleep then, like a good mother hen,
Who was laying her eggs in a nest for a test
But the merciless farmers want more.

That was an original and completely spontaneous composition, thank you very much! If you didn't like it, then rotten eggs to you, you hen! Buck-buck-buck! (Er, those were sound effects for a squawking hen, by the way.)

Enough of this sleeping! Diet Rockstar juice, you're going to save my day and make me pay! And we'll be rocking when the sun sleeps, when the moon wakes, and when the sun rises again! Party on!

The Xootr Scooter

2008-04-17T04:14:00.006-05:00

These days, I've been going around on a Fusion Asphalt. I bought it two years ago, and, since then, it's served me well. There was a time when I didn't use it at all, but I'm using it much more often now because I have to travel to my part-time office, which is slightly off-campus.

I've been thinking of what to do with with the Fusion Asphalt after I graduate, and I think I've come up with a good solution: I'll donate that and get another scooter for myself, this time a Xootr MG. When I was on the bus in Chicago last summer, I saw this office person riding it, and I remember thinking that it looked really cool. I'm really excited about this! I'm wondering whether to get the Xootr MG or the Xootr Roma. The Roma is more expensive because it's the lightest and most compact kind, but the Xootr MG has more panache. I think I'm sticking with the Xootr MG.

The Xootr MG is more than twice as expensive as the Fusion Asphalt, but I think the difference in price is well worth it. First, the Fusion Asphalt is more like a toy, while the Xootr MG is more like a legit commuter vehicle. For another, the Xootr MG has brakes and an apparently awesome engineering design. And most importantly, the Xootr MG actually looks like something I could ride to and from work in Chi-town.

I'm feeling pleased with myself. But the pleasure is quickly fading as I contemplate the money I used to have but don't have now. Ah, well. Let's think happy thoughts and leave those sad ones to themselves. Things will work out.

Xootr MG, see you soon!