Here's the usual IF YOU READ ALL THIS, YOU HAVE NO LIFE / YOU ARE MY FRIEND disclaimer. It's really long, so yeah.

Since everyone seems to be making their own Christmas posts, I'll make mine too!

So before the break was a week of FAILURE. I did horribly in my Chem 16 exam. I even left my water jug in the room! We also didn't have Comm 3 EVEN THOUGH THE PROF TOLD US THERE WERE GOING TO BE CLASSES. I went to school early on the day of the parade FOR NOTHING! If only my prof didn't have the ability to smash my face... 

The Economics 11 exam was quite easy. I think I studied a bit *too* much there. /pompous
 

The lantern parade was okay, I guess. The floats were a bit boring, except the ones by CFA. I was in a state of rage during the College of Engineering's parade, since their parade just consisted of them walking. Since there are so many damn people in there, it took them around 20 minutes to actually finish walking along one strip of the oval. The rest of the parade was lots of fun, though. Babaylan made me insecure about my masculinity, but it was all good. There's this one hilarious anecdote that I should share. Before the parade, me and BSBE cousin Wacky were walking towards the men's CR in Palma Hall. On our way there, we spotted a girl in a gown walking along the hall. Imagine our surprise when s/he entered the CR! We then looked at each other in disbelief... and entered the restroom anyway.

The break's been interesting. Usually it's just DotA and Skype the whole day. I had a great game in which I went 29-3 with Balanar, but I should stop talking about that since it's quite nerdy. 

My family opened our gifts on the 20th. I got lots of shirts, and a dumbell. It was all good. I got these checkered shorts, though. Thanks mom!

Me and my brother went to Calamba to visit the father's side! I got money and a wallet and a shirt. It was okay, I guess. The highlight of the day, though, was going to McDonald's. I was SHOCKED when I saw their newest menu addition: DOUBLE QUARTER POUNDER! 

I went to this party hosted by my worldly cousins at the boondocks. Clash of the Stereotypes! Wacky informed me that he was picking me up AN HOUR before doing so. I just grabbed whatever clothes I could find and headed off into the hills of LA! There I was reminded of the fact that there are lots of awesome bands that don't get enough credit. They, the "starving artists" of this country, deserve more recognition. They need to be the ones heard on the radio instead of the crap that dominates the airwaves today! /minirant We went internet cafe hopping (with indie music in the car) the day after. We lost to some poor-looking people. That is all.

Later that day, we went -- against our will -- to the annual Torres (old people Torres) Christmas dinner at Roosevelt. It was quite lame, although the Lechon was excellent. We left as soon as possible, thanks to cousin Pancho! We all went to Paco's house at Greenmeadows, which meant DotA. Of course, our DotA-ing was not complete without the obligatory McDonald's order at 1 am! To my dismay, the Double Quarter Pounder was not yet available for delivery. Oh well. I still enjoyed my regular Quarter Pounder with BIG TIME FRIES AND COKE. We finished everything at around 4 am, since we're hardcore gamers.

I woke up at 12pm, pretty late considering WE NEEDED TO GO DOWNSTAIRS FOR THE VERGARA CHRISTMAS PARTY. Using my super quick bathing and getting ready skillz, I was able to get dressed and all that before 1 pm! The food was okay. Roast pork, some Shepherd's PIe, nothing new, though. I went home afterwards -- and played DotA with the Skypeople -- to go rest, before coming back to Greenmeadows!

That night, we decided to spend quality time with Mama Belen. I slept quite peacefully on the couch. Hurray. Christmas Eve not at home!

Christmas morning consisted of the usual breakfast at Tita Cecy's house. There was relleno and apple pie. Then came the mandatory visit Paco's house and marvel at their gifts. I spent hours smashing Raph -- Paco's 10 year old brother -- in DotA. Later that night, we were told to dress up in suits. Unfortunately, only a handful of cousins did dress up in suits. Damn them! I still felt really snazzy, anyway. The appetizers were excellent. I could've gotten full on them alone, but of course, I had to make room for turkey! Turkey's awesome. We opened our gifts around 9 pm. I was surprised. I got really really nice gifts this year! Cousin Maia went and bought us great shirts. My wardrobe increased HUNDREDFOLD. More shirts to impress UP people with (and possibly get me mugged).

We have this report thing to accomplish over the break. Unfortunately, I couldn't, and still can't contact the guy who I'm supposed to do the research part with. Now our project is in limbo. Oh well. Vacation!

The next few days will be spent in Tagaytay, where we will have our annual awesome New Year's celebration. The (neighbor's) fireworks are always awesome, and the food's great. I'm especially looking forward to the apple pie! Oh, our family sure makes everyone else wish they were us.

All in all, however, it's been a fantastic break. Thanks, everyone! /mushy

TIME FOR RANDOM BULLETS

- I lost my iPod. Back to my good old mini, then.
- People are talking about New Year's Resolutions. I haven't made any my whole life. 
- McDonald's double quarter pounder is so awesome. <3 I wish they could have it for delivery
- I *FINALLY* got my PSP fixed. CDR-king card reader was busted though, so I almost lost all the memory in my memory card. 
- Butchering songs on the guitar is fun fun fun. Forcing people to listen to my crap is more fun!
- We fixed my room. It's now quite spacious.
- I gained lots of weight. Oh well, everyone does.
- Must win in NBA Fantasy. Let's go shady deals!
- I need more shoes
- I like wearing suits. I wish I could wear one everyday!
- Must compose a DotA song.
- Must get life.
 

            I went back to that barbershop. I met my old barber after over twenty years. I didn’t expect him to look that old. “Wow, you’re back.” he said. “I never thought I’d come back here. I’ve been away, out of town. I didn’t expect this barbershop to still be up and running, quite frankly.” I replied. He grabbed his clippers and took a glance at my hair. “Shall I do the usual?” He asked. “You know it. Listen up cause I’ve got lots of stories to tell”

I wasn’t like the other kids. I didn’t really like toys or television. I wasn’t into hanging around the neighborhood to play games with the other kids my age. I didn’t really like the rough, physical games like Ice, Ice, Water and Agawan Base. I didn’t really talk much, either. Usually the only words you would get from me were a “Yes” or a “No”. If you were lucky you’d get a “Thank you” or a “Hello”.

            I didn’t really have lots of hobbies. You could say I was quite a boring kid. My favorite pastime was probably drawing. I only left the house whenever the family went out. I didn’t really look forward to going out. I got bored easily. Going out just wasn’t my thing. Probably the only thing I enjoyed was the once-a-month trip to the barbershop.

            I couldn’t remember when I started getting my haircut there, but as far as I can recall, I had the same barber my entire childhood. His name was Bruno. He was a cheerful guy, probably just a bit older than my father. He had graying hair, his face always wore a smile, and his hands were gentle.My head had this weird shape, so only a few barbers got my haircut right. Bruno was the best at doing so. He could cut my hair like no one could. I loved sitting in that large barber’s chair. They used to put this soft box on it so my head could reach the barber’s hands. I enjoyed the feeling of being “pampered”, the brush caressing my neck and face, the razor softly moving across my skin. I liked the tickling feeling that came with the clippers. Most of all, I enjoyed the conversations with Bruno.

            We talked about all sorts of things. After a while, I knew all of Bruno’s family members by name. I knew his favorite color, his favorite food, and his preferred way of tying his shoelaces. In return I told him about my oh-so-boring days in school. I told him how I wasn’t the type you’d see going out to play. Bruno encouraged me to try and speak up for myself. He told me how he wasn’t unlike myself when he was a kid. “Don’t let them get to you. When I was your age, I was just like you. I don’t think you want to be a barber when you grow up. I missed so many chances to be somebody in life because I didn’t say a word. Stand up for yourself, kid. You’re smarter than most of the kids your age. Just speak up a little” He said.

            Despite all that advice from him, I didn’t change much. I remained quiet in school. I still only spoke when I was asked to recite, and even then, my words were still few and far in between. “Only one bright student got a perfect score in your last test in Math. A round of applause for Daren Macapagal!” That’s me, by the way. I really hated it when teachers singled me out. It’s as if I didn’t get enough jeers as is. Were they intentionally doing this to make me suffer? Murmurs of “Geek, nerd, dami mong alam ah” echoed around the room. Yes, I got picked on a lot in class. Being socially inept and visually awkward does that to you. Being one of the smartest in the class made the others hate me even more. The loudest and the most annoying of the murmurs belonged to Ivan. He was a big kid, a result of the fact that he repeated the fifth grade. He was also the principal’s nephew, so he could and did get away with practically anything.

            After class, I was walking towards the bus when this voice called out “Hey Daren, nice job on that math test!” It was Ivan, his words bleeding with sarcasm. “Uh, thanks!” I said. “Well, can you calculate how many punches it’ll take before your face is a bloody pulp?” I knew it. Oh why do bullies have to be so cheesy with their lines? Well, soon after he delivered his lame speech, I ran as fast as I could. I tried all sorts of evasive maneuvers and shortcuts. Unfortunately, my underdeveloped legs and his athletic one-year-older-because-he’s-a-repeater legs eventually made my efforts futile.

            He caught up to me. Palming my face with his large hands, he began another speech. I forgot what it was probably because of the bad delivery. Well, at this point I began flailing my arms and kicking my legs randomly. Somehow he left his groin area unprotected. BAM, a kick to the groin. I could’ve run away, but I just stared at his helpless body lying there, his eyes in tears.

            Well, a teacher heard the whimpering noises, and I was caught red-handed. She didn’t believe me that I just turned the tables. “I’m very disappointed in you, Daren. You were one of my outstanding students. You could’ve just walked away”. Never mind that he was going to find out how many punches it would’ve taken before my face turned into a bloody pulp. Never mind that there was nowhere to cry for help since it was late in the afternoon. I was Daren Macapagal – vicious fighting kid.

            Obviously, my parents found out about this. They asked me where I got the idea of fighting back. Being the naïve kid I was, I told them that Mr. Bruno told me to stand up for myself. “Kuya Bruno isn’t your father, he’s a kind man but you shouldn’t listen to everything that he says”, my dad said. “He is just a barber after all. They aren’t really the smartest of people. Just think, son. If he were so smart he wouldn’t be getting a living out of cutting people’s hair.” Mom said. Because they were my parents, that was that. No arguing allowed.

            I was kicked out of my old school because of my groin-kicking incident. Since Ivan was the principal’s nephew, I couldn’t really defend my case. We moved out of town soon afterwards. My father got a job opportunity at an insurance firm in Manila. I entered a new school. This time I was determined to actually make friends. I had plenty of new buddies, but none of them were really close to me.

            Since I was in a new town, I also went to a new barbershop. The barbershop we went to was one of the newest in the city. I was amazed at their high-tech gadgetry and how clean everything looked. When it came to the barbers, though, they just weren’t the same. They didn’t have the approachability of Bruno. They didn’t have this aura of passion and joy that came with being a barber. They also couldn’t get my haircut right.

            After graduating from college, I was immediately employed by the same insurance company my father was working in. I soon got married, had children. You could say I had the perfect life. I could only thank Bruno. Our conversations brought out the best in me. My parents weren’t really that encouraging. Bruno became sort of a once-a-month father figure since my father was always out working. I never did get to say goodbye when we moved out of town.

            Well, I eventually did return to the province from whence I came after twenty-something years. I don’t really know why it took that long for me to come back. I guess I just wasn’t into visiting my grandparents. I was never really that close to them. It’s unfortunate that I returned only because my grandmother died at age eighty-seven.

            Almost everything changed after twenty years. New high-rise buildings replaced the old, worn out shacks. I found myself looking for remnants of my childhood. I went to that old street, down a few meters. Turn left. Go through the narrow road between the supermarket and the pre-school. There it was. That barbershop. As I opened the door I was greeted by a familiar face.

“So here I am.”

“Looks like you made the most of your time away.”

“I couldn’t stay away forever. I just wanted to say thanks.”

“For what?”

“For everything”

            I went back to that barbershop yesterday. I met my old barber. He looked a lot older than I thought he would be. “Wow, you’re back.” He said. “I never thought I’d come back here, actually. I’ve been out of town” He grabbed his clippers and examined my hair. “Shall I do the usual?” He asked. “You know it.”

I wasn’t like the other kids. I didn’t really like toys or television. I wasn’t into hanging around the neighborhood to play games with the other kids my age. I didn’t really like the rough, physical games like Ice, Ice, Water and Agawan Base. I didn’t really talk much, either. Usually the only words you would get from me were a “Yes” or a “No”. If you were lucky you’d get a “Thank you” or a “Hello”.

            I didn’t really have lots of hobbies. You could say I was quite a boring kid. My favorite pastime was probably drawing. I only left the house whenever the family went out. I didn’t really look forward to going out. I got bored easily. The mall just wasn’t my thing. Probably the only thing I enjoyed going there was the once-a-month trip to the barbershop.

            I had the same barber my entire childhood. His name was Bruno. He was a cheerful guy, probably just a bit older than my father. Only a few barbers got my haircut right. Bruno was the best. I loved sitting in that large barber’s chair. They used to put this soft box on it so my head could reach the barber’s hands. I enjoyed the feeling of being “pampered”, the brush caressing my neck and face, the razor softly moving across my skin. I liked the tickling feeling that came with the clippers. Most of all, I enjoyed the conversations with Bruno.

            We talked about all sorts of things. After a while, I knew all of Bruno’s family members by name. I knew his favorite color, his favorite food, and his preferred way of tying his shoelaces. In return I told him about my oh-so-boring days in school. I told him how I wasn’t the type you’d see going out to play. Bruno encouraged me to try and speak up for myself. He told me how he wasn’t unlike myself when he was a kid. “Don’t let them get to you. When I was your age, I was just like you. I don’t think you want to be a barber when you grow up. I missed so many chances in life because I didn’t say a word.” He said.

            Despite all that advice from him, I didn’t change much. I remained quiet in school. I still only spoke when I was asked to recite, and even then, my words were still few and far in between. “Only one bright student got a perfect score in your last test in Math. A round of applause for Daren Macapagal!” That’s me, by the way. I really hated it when teachers singled me out. It’s as if I didn’t get enough jeers as is. Murmurs of “Geek, nerd, dami mong alam ah” echoed around the room. Yes, I got picked on a lot in class. Being socially inept and visually awkward does that to you. Being the smartest in the class made the others hate me even more. The loudest and the most annoying of the murmurs belonged to Ivan. He was a big kid, a result of the fact that he repeated the 5^th grade.

            I was walking towards the bus when this voice called out “Hey Daren, nice job on that math test!” It was Ivan, his words bleeding with sarcasm. “Uh, thanks!” I said. “Well, can you calculate how many punches it’ll take before your face is a bloody pulp?” I knew it. Oh why do bullies have to be so cheesy with their lines? Well, soon after he delivered his lame speech, I ran as fast as I could. Unfortunately, my undeveloped legs and his athletic one-year-older-because-he’s-a-repeater legs eventually made my efforts futile.

            He caught up to me. Palming my face with his large hands, he began another speech. I forgot what it was probably because of the bad delivery. Well, at this point I began flailing my arms and kicking my legs randomly. Somehow he left his groin area unprotected. BAM, a kick to the groin.

            Well, a teacher heard the whimpering noises, and I was caught red-handed. She didn’t believe me that I just turned the tables. “I’m very disappointed in you, Daren. You were one of my most intellectual students. You could’ve just walked away”. Never mind that he was going to find out how many punches it would’ve taken before my face turned into a bloody pulp. Never mind that there was nowhere to cry for help since it was late in the afternoon. I was Daren Macapagal – vicious fighting kid.

            Obviously, my parents found out about this. They asked me where I got the idea of fighting back. Being the naïve kid I was, I told them Mr. Bruno told me to stand up for myself. “Mr. Bruno isn’t your father, he’s a kind man but you shouldn’t listen to everything that he says”, my dad said. “He is just a barber after all. They aren’t really the smartest of people.”, mom said. Because they were my parents, that was that.

            Well, we moved out of town soon afterwards. I was kicked out of my old school because of my groin-kicking incident. I entered a new one. This time I was determined to actually make friends. I had plenty of new buddies, but none of them were really close to me. I still yearned for someone to share my stories with. I missed my old barbershop.

“Well, Mr. Bruno, you better listen up cause I’ve got lots of stories to tell”

Weird week.

Tuesday

Took English 11 second long exam. Story of an Hour Awlright!
Discussed some weird shite in Creative Writing 10
Lecture in math in preparation for long exam 4.
Didn't listen in Geology. Again.

Wednesday

Watched Super Size Me in PE 1.
Took the math test. We were allowed to bring index cards containing trigonometric identities. Aha!
Discussed Martial Law times in Kasaysayan 1. Kas 1 rocks when I'm not sleepy.
Bumisita yung mga Atenista. Met the Skype people in real life!!111 (this confirmed they were real people. yeah) Went to some saucy coffee shop (Cordillera Coffee) beside (in?) Vargas Museum. I didn't buy anything because I am thrifty. We went around campus and stuff. Lotsa awkward moments. I also met more LSGH people that day than any other day in my UP life. Weird.

Thursday

Went to school 10 am because we had no English 11. Awlright!
Discussed some weird shite in Creative Writing 10
Math teacher didn't show up because one of my classmates was supposed to do a song and dance thing. He didn't do it, so the teacher no-showed. I don't get it either.
Didn't listen in Geology. Again.

Friday

Slept through Kas 1. Well, I was awake but I kept falling asleep every 5 minutes or so.
Discussed nutrition in PE 1. I didn't get anything. Triglycerides aghahhrhghargh
I was confronted by these aggressive fundraising people. They were selling me a ballpen with a calendar in it for 100 pesos. Seeing as how I already picked up a ballpen - like what they were selling - on the sidewalk, I refused to buy a pen. Instead, I smoothly brought out a twenty peso bill (while hiding the fact that I had a little over 100 pesos in my wallet, which was what I had saved up for the week) and told them it was all I had. I feel mugged.
Apparently, the day got better once I found out that I got a pretty good score in my Math 17 test. This quickly turned to bitterness as my classmate who always seems to be one step ahead got a score of 50.5/50. More bitterness ensued when I found out that my mistakes were due to my carelessness in the index card. I had one identity wrong. Blargh. I also learned that the average score of the class was below 60%. Bummer.
Binisita ko yung mga Atenista. Their cafeteria is excellent. I prefer the UP campus as a whole, though. Nikki Gil was supposedly around 5 meters behind me at the [whatever caf we ate in]. I did not want to feed her huge celebrity ego, so I didn't even take a glance. Take that, celebrity!

Long ass blog that nobody will read. Hurray.

Weird day today. My mom came home after bringing my little brother to school. Dialogue went like this (modified for dramatic effect)

Mom: Hey, want to hear something creepy?
Me: uh sure
Mom: Well, Gab (my little brother) said that he saw you going up the stairs around 6 am. The maids said so too.
Me: Shit.

What's weird is that I woke up early morning (probably 6 am!?) for no reason whatsoever. I'm not usually one to wake up that early without anyone / anything waking me up.

I did some research on this (Wikipedia - credible). Apparently, when friends or family see your doppelganger, you're supposed to be in danger. WELL DAMN. (scared shitless moment number 1)

I also smell something burning (burning rubber, perhaps?) in the second floor of my house (where my room is). I looked outside the window expecting to see the neighboring skwaters burning plastic. Well... They weren't burning anything and there didn't appear to be smoke anywhere. (scared shitless moment number 2) Now I'm downstairs where there isn't any scent of smoke! 

I think it is time to post this on Gamefaqs's Paranomal / Conspiracy board! Though I think my lame doppelganger story pales in comparison to their encounters with MIBs and vampires and mermaids.

Math long test tomorrow. Topics are logarithms, inverse functions, and sequences - easy.  I hope. Overconfidence FOR THE WIN. Actually, I'm going to study. Hard. Leithold, get ready to be LeitHELD.

I finished my first yellow pad today. I was happy and all until I found out that most of my classmates had already gone through three or more pads. Damn!

I got a 2.25 in my Creative Writing 10 midterms. Supposedly I'm supposed to develop my characters more. Oh well. At least I recite a lot .

I slept at 3 am last night due to this geology groupwork that I crammed. We reported about it. It went well - I think. Global warming is a really boring subject to report about. I couldn't think of any fun games either, plus everyone was itching to get out of the room.

I haven't been paying attention lately in Kas1. Since it's so goshdarned early (8:30-10), I usually fall asleep halfway through. When I'm awake I just stare at my watch or daydream to pass the time. Oh dear.

I need to get a UP webmail account. My facebook needs more friends and sexy networking and the only way to do so is to register using a UP webmail (priorities!)

I'm itching for the NBA season to start. It's a shame though, that my favorite player (Monta Ellis) is injured up until December. I'm also excited to play NBA Fantasy again. Stare at boxscores for hours a day... mmm... I miss those times.

Skype is the future.

To everyone's surprise, Bloc Party's album Intimacy was released last week! I went all giddy (ask krazykonfpplz) upon finding out it was already on my favorite torrent site. I downloaded the album and it has been on loop for the past three days. Awesome! The album starts off with a bang and it ends with a quiet electronic single a la This Modern Love (but not quite).

ANALYSIS!

Ares - WOH WOH WOH WOH! AH WANTAH DEKLEAH A WOH!
Mercury - MAH MERCURY MERCUMERCURY
Halo - break near the end is awesome
Biko - meh. decent but a bit too long
Trojan Horse - like Flux and Hunting for Witches combined!
Signs - It's like the Intimacy equivalent to Waiting For The 7.18
One Month Off - great song. I didn't like the key change near the end, though.
Zephyrus - choir for the win!
Better Than Heaven - This song is indeed Better Than Heaven! (7th Heaven, that is)
Ion Square - A more electronic This Modern Love (maybe?) Nice but it was kind of forgettable (initially)

Nothing beats A Weekend In The City, though. Intimacy lacks the goosebump-giving moments most of the AWITC songs have. I was walking earlier around UP listening to AWITC. I felt invincible! (thanks The Prayer!)

For one reason or another I decided to create a livejournal account! Now I'm sure nobody in my school uses livejournal, so this is pretty pointless. Guess this is a step towards EXTREME SOCIALIZING IN COLLEGE.

I'm not sure if livejournal is superior to multiply in terms of interaction and the like. I will find out soon!