#summer-08

[armorhues]

Enrollment

Start:     Apr 8, '08 08:00aEnd:     Apr 10, '08Location:     CMC, UP Diliman

They're using the system they implemented while I was an R.A. Pagdating ng April 10 by 4pm, ika-cancel ng CRS ang unvalidated slots para free-for-all na sa mga hindi pa enrolled. Que horror! Buti na lang 198 lang(??) ang subject ko for the summer. Madaling mag-enrol. Haha! ^____^ (source: CRS announcements posted in the Journ bull.board)

[armorhues]

A belated post

IT'S THE HIGH SCHOOL TEST!

I. [Multiple choice. Underline the best answer] "I can finally look at you now, laugh and say without the associated heartbreak 'Oh, that which I used to love!'" In the sentence, what does "that" stand for? A. The classic smirk. B. The crumpled pango nose. C. The rare smile. D. The dilated eyes E. The angas pose F. Everything that's you G. All of the above and more II. [Modified True or False. Underline the phrase that makes the statement false.] When she and you were talking about her lovelife, you felt a twinge of pain.

SCORE!

Nothing beats the feeling of finally realizing that the longest day had ended. Ang sarap ng feeling. Ang saya-saya lang. I'm so glad because I regained a friend. But most of all, I'm just glad. Sobra. =) *sigh* Shet, gusto ko na ulit magkalovelife tuloy. Liberal envy na naman. Haha!

drafted 16.iv.08; 5:12 a.m.

[armorhues]

No space for sadness

Currently surfing here in a net shop, availing the freebies I got from signing up for eBay.ph. Hehe. I decided to skip the university graduation because I'm too full and too tired, but at the same time I still don't want to go home yet.

It's funny. If I had shifted sooner, I could've been part of the College Recognition Rites, wearing a white dress and a red and green Sablay. Instead I wore a white top and a black pair of pants with an orange and white pseudo-Sablay. But no bitterness there, as not joining them is a fact that came with my shifting to the best course ever.

Funny, I sort of expected I'd cry seeing my batchmates get their diplomas. Not the kind of cry of despair because of an impending farewell, mind you, but the kind of cry that you're just too happy for their moment, like the kind of cry people have during weddings when the bride makes her walk toward her groom while the rest sighed "Awwww..."

But the tears did not come. I guess being a Mini-Vox helped. And besides, I was just too happy for the graduates that I could not bring myself to cry. I was like a mother cheering with pride for her kin, all dignity and Mini-Vox role forgotten. I guess in a way it was like the wedding scene I had imagined, with my friends as the brides and grooms making their walk--er, march--towards what they long hoped for: a degree. Haha for the metaphor. :-D

After having lunch with the Mini-Vox, I found myself in a deluge of photo-ops with the Anthro 181 group and with my now-degree-holding orgmates on a high with a wedding theme. When the laughter subsided and the plates cleared up, we just sat on a round table, chatting like the usual chat we'd have in the Skywalk on an ordinary day. And I was just there, savoring the moment with them, not even a thought that this might be my last minutes with them.

And because I am no longer with them, it had just sunk in na pag graduation ko na, baka hindi na mauulit yung ganun na nasa table lang kaming MCOers at magkukuwentuhan habang hinihintay ang Univ. Grad, kasi karamihan sa kanila umalis na. Sino lang bang mga kasabay ko, hindi naman kami ganun karami. And I'm glad, kasi kung mangyari man yun, I have this memory from 2008 to look back on and consider instead.

Ngayon lang din ako nag-uumpisang magtaka bakit hindi ako nalulungkot. Perhaps because I am certain this is not the end, that one day we shall meet again. Perhaps because I am secure in the friendships, acquaintances and semester-long-alliances I have forged with them, and it'll stay that way kahit taon pa ang lumipas bago ko makita ulit itong mga 'to. And lastly, perhaps because I am holding on to our too many memories that to disregard them as factual is unthinkable.

So to the graduating batch of 2008, especially to my orgmates and friends in College of Mass Communicationand most especially in the Journalism Department,congratulations. Nag-uumpisa pa lamang ang laban, at alam ko, kahit nasa labas na tayo, tayo-tayo pa rin ang magdadamayan. :)

[armorhues]

The story--er, survey--so far

Because internship is so tiring I don't have the energy to blog all about it. Joke lang. May sarili akong intern blog. But the entries are rarely updated, for reasons stated above. I do update the links to my posted stories, though. So ANYWAY....

20 Questions Every Intern/ OJT-ers/ Trainees Should Answer Survey:

1. Name: rach 2. Age: 21 3. School You're From: Diliman (oo, yan lang ang sinasagot ko tuwing may magtatanong) 4. Course You're Taking: Journalism 5. Where do you intern? Philippine news for Filipinos 6. How'd you get in? Gaaar. Naghulog lang ng entry sa suking tindahan. Ilang buwan ang nakalipas, hayun! ^___^ --- 7. Do you like it there? OO NAMAN! Feeling ko at lahat ng co-interns ko na ang swerte-swerte namin sa internship namin, experience- and training-wise. 8. How long are you staying there? 150 hours ang requirement. Sa May 14 end ng internship. Pero ewan ko lang kung mageextend pa kami. Kung wala lang akong ibang dapat asikasuhin, I really wouldn't mind. 9. What's the coolest / awesomest thing there?  Everything: experiencing the beats, newsgathering, seeing your tagline and/or byline online, laughing with the wacky editorial staff, working with very interesting reporters, becoming more street smart everyday because you're all over the city, press cons, lahat! At most of all, kahit na above all eh interns kami, pseudo-reporters na rin tingin sa amin, kaya required ng kahit isang story submission. Bongga. 10. What's the dumbest / horrid thing there? I can only name three things: the pressure to break asap at makapagsulat ng mabilis dahil nga breaking news kami; the thought na as soon as the story breaks out, the next minute is your deadline na; the feeling kapag nakakapagpasa ka/ nababasa ng reporter or editor yung crappy mong article. >__<" 11. How're your officemates? Positive. The reporters are great. They're really interesting people: May jolly jolly lang. May very IBS. May mabilis talagang magsulat. May ang itsura eh parang classmate mo lang sa isang GE class. Ang saya nga eh. And it's fun seeing how they work through a story (and mind you, hindi sila pare-pareho ng paraan, which is really interesting indeed). Meanwhile, the people at the desk are fun, lalo na pag kumpleto silang lahat, sobrang saya nilang pakinggan lalo na on issues (and usually balahuraan ang nagaganap, kaya sasakit ang tiyan mo kakatawa, hehe). 12. How's your boss? Ma'am Lynette's my most favorite dotnet person in many ways. First, because she really reminds me of Ma'am Chua. Second, because it's hard not to give her that same level of reverence like I have with Ma'am Chua. Third, because she gets along well with everybody. Fourth, because when it's business, she really means business, ("Magpapasko na, hindi ko pa nararamdaman yung storya mo!" "Alam mo, tatayo na ulit yung bahay, wala pa rin yang fire story mo!" to name just a few famous quotes) and I love it. Fifth, because she's really really nice. 13. Do you crush on somebody there?  Wala naman. There's Rule 7 to begin with. :) --- 14. Do you go to lunch with your officemates? Si Ma'am Thea lang ang "nakasabay" ko for lunch ever. Si Dreo, nung pareho kaming nasa desk. At tsaka si Mimi din, nung napadpad siya sa Senate beat dahil out of town si GMA. Most of the time, I eat alone, at most of the time hindi mo rin alam kung kailan ka manananghalian. Kasi, when you have a story to finish, mawawalan ka talaga ng ganang kumain kasi gusto mo na lang talagang tapusin na. 15. Where do you go to lunch? Pag sa desk ako, sa Deli's sa Rufino. Pag nasa beat, kung saan may malapit na kainan OR may binibigay (as in the case of police) OR kung anumang free food sa press con. Haha. 16. What do you do when there's nothing to do? Sa desk ko lang ito nararanasan, and in those times, I surf and blog. :) --- 18. Are you planning to go there after graduating? Actually oo! Pero yun ay kung tanggapin nila ako. 19. Do you get paid, how much? No compensation. Pero the experience, priceless. 20. More intern hours? Or do you miss summer? More intern hours, pero gusto ko yung more na yun sa desk na lang muna (haha, nahaggard sa beats). Yun lang muna. GTG, we're covering Liwasang Bonifacio today. Woohoo.

[armorhues]

May 1, 2008

Dahil oo nga pala, gusto ni 198 prof na may pictures habang nag-iinternship (sa dami ng gawain, lagi kong nakakalimutan yun). Anyway, ang purpose naman nito ay capturing and for more memories and great moments lang. At naloka ako na kapag nakazoom pala ang camera ko ay lumiliit ang size ng image. Bleah. Idadagdag ko na lang siguro yung iba ko pang kuha mula sa cam ni Mimi pag napost na niya. Tools of the trade: Motorola Razr V3's VGA camera (kaya very low res lang) and Adobe Photoshop for resizing and watermarking.

[armorhues]

Tinimbang ngunit kulang

Of course I was pissed. As Dreo puts it, "Those guys don't play fair and square talaga." At nakuha pa nila ang pirma ng nakatataas. Nakakapanggigil. Yun ba ang sukatan ng paghandle ng blocks, ang pagiging department-based? Tanginang yan.

Pag ang MCO maraming naging mem na Broad Freshies, isasaksak ko yan sa mga baga nila. Tae.

[armorhues]

Believe me when I say I'm not kidding.

I screamed so loud when they announced the Idol that the neighbors thought there was a crime going on in the house. Next thing I knew, baranggay tanods and (armed) security guards were all over our house. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Ganito kasi. Eh di yun nga, inannounce. If you're a friend, you know just how loud my voice could get. Feeling ko naman kasi sarado yung bintana (I was watching inside my sister's room this morning) so sigaw lang ako to death. You know, random victorious screaming. And if you've been in our house, you know na wala kaming disenteng kapitbahay to speak of dahil bakanteng lote ang mga katabi namin. So afterwards tumambay lang ako sa family room. Eh na-bother ako kasi may mga malakas na nagdidiskusyunan. Pagtingin ko sa bintana, hala, yung sekyu may mahabang baril, naglalakad sa loteng katabi namin. Sumilip ako discreetly sa master's bedroom, where the window faced the main road. Three armed security guards, two baranggay tanods, the 50-ish village chismosa, and the 30-ish house owner sa likod ng bahay namin were there. Lahat sila sumisilip sa gate namin. Seconds later, two more tanods arrived. That makes 11 people. Teh horror. Anong meron? So hinarap ko na sila and asked. Sekyu: Eh may narinig daw po kasing sumisigaw galing dito. Sabi daw "Tama na! Tama na!" Me: *whatthefuckwhatthehell?* :O So I explained that no, there was no screaming of that sort and told them (while facing the 30-ish neighbor, thinking she'd understand) that I was just watching American Idol. Ehe. "Kahit iinspect niyo pa po yung bahay namin ngayon, wala po talagang nangyayari. Ako lang po tao," I told them. I told them that thrice. They declined to inspect, asked if I owned the house, and left. Teh horror. Later on, I heard this conversation mula dun sa bahay sa bandang likod nung amin: Person1: O ano daw nangyayari? Person2: Wala. Nanonood lang daw ng American Idol. Person1: Grabe naman tumili yun. -___-" I know, right?

[armorhues]

Lamay

"Gusto ko ng saradong kabaong," sabi ko sa ate konang bumisita kami sa lamay ng isang malayongkamag-anak. Hindi ko kayang sikmurain nasa huling pagkakataon ay nakabalandra ang akingbangkay para usisain ng mga matang ni minsan ayhindi ko naman tinignan sa aking tanambuhay.Subalit mas nanaisin kong manatili ang anumangalaala ko sa kanilang isipan: maaring mukhang tuwa, ng lungkot, ng galit, at ng iba pangmga alaala---kahit ano basta't buhay na buhay, athindi nila ako maalala na "Parang natutulog lamang."

6:00p.m., 1-vi-2008

So ganyan ko sinasummarize ang isa sa mga lakad namin kanina. But of course hindi lang yan basta summary o addition sa napakaraming trash lit ng buhay ko. Bilin talaga yan (na feeling ko hindi susundin ng nanay ko, haha). Ewan. Ewan. Yun talaga ang naisip ko kanina (sorry naman). Sa utak ko, yung binisita namin ay maligayang tao na minsang binisita namin noong bata pa ako. Sa nanay ko, siya ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nakapagtapos siya ng pag-aaral kahit na sinasangkot siya nito sa gulo. Sa lamay kanina, siya ang bangkay na parang natutulog lang. Sa Pilipinas, compliment yun. Pero hindi palabok ang gusto kong huling maiisip sa akin ng kung sinumang magkamaling pumunta sa lamay ko. Haha. Anyway, enough of the death talk. Funny lang na ang mga naging lakad namin ay puro celebration of sorts: of life (kiddie birthday party ng family friend), of death (lamay ng pinsan ng lolo ko), of everything in between (lunch, kape at sine with mom and sister). Hayun.