A penny for your thoughts?

So... syempre euphoric ang gabing ito but someone just had to douse the feeling off.  Heard from the grapevine that the RGEP System is being evaluated after producing 12 Summa cum Laudes in 2007, 15 last year and 18 this year (considered the post-implementation graduates, approx. 4-5 years after RGEP was implemented in 2002).  Apparently students are able to go around the system na daw because of RGEP, which enables students to choose classes and profs that give high grades.

While the basis for this assumption holds water, I believe there are other factors that have to be considered.  Sure, you can easily get a one in, say, Geog1 and MS1, but what are the odds that you'd actually get into those classes, right?  Sobrang taas ng demand ng mga class na 'yan.  Factors like that.

I actually don't know what to think, pero ang masasabi ko lang, taon-taon ko na naririnig 'to, na nag-de-deteriorate daw ang "quality" ng graduates ng UP compared before.  Kaya sobrang dami ang naproproduce na cum, magna at summa.  Actually ina-anticipate ko na na may magsasabi nito sa batch ko, kaya medyo di na'ko ganun ka-affected.

Nagpapagpag lang.  Kayo, ano sa tingin niyo sa RGEP at Summa "correlation"?

FTW comment at the grad practice yesterday.

(While showing her photos of Bebeh, my new pup)

Micah:  So... nag-resort ka na ngayon sa aso?
(pertaining to my recovery from a recent heartbreak)

HAHAHAHAHA.  Aylaveht!  Grabe, na-miss kita Miss Sulit!  Only true words from a true friend.  ;)  Pero totoo naman, aminado naman ako dun.  Dumating naman talaga ang Bebeh ko sa panahong kailangang kailangan ko siya.  And I can say this with all pride and dignity:  he rescued me.  And I couldn't be more thankful.  =)

Cute namen no?

Photo Blog

*cross-posted from my LJ ;)

Got this Photo Meme from Anna on Facebook, and it was just too good and interesting to pass up, so here it is!  Enjoy!  Do it too if you want.  :)

1. a picture of you in your room.

Circa 2005!  Haha.  I don’t have my own room, so I guess this photo taken on our communal area at the second floor of our house would do.

2. a picture of someone you don't really like.

Hmmm… nandyan siya/sila somewhere, bahala na kayo maghanap.  LOL

3. a picture of you very drunk.

HAHAHA.  I originally didn’t want to post this photo, but nothing else pretty much comes close to the words “very drunk” than this.

4. a picture of you on your birthday, or your favorite holiday.

With special guest Micah.  Haha.  This birthday is the best and the worst ever!  LOL.  Hahaha.  And I bet maaga pa itong pic na’to, ‘di pa ko mapula eh!

5. the youngest picture you can find of yourself in digital form.

I don’t know where my baby photos are, so here’s the earliest photo I could find.  Taken around 2003/2004, when I had my first webcam ever thanks to two good friends.

6. a picture of you in one of your favorite outfits.

LOL.  I just dig the preppy/call-center look.  Hahahaha.

7. a picture of you making a goofy face at the camera.

Goofy Face ba kamo?

8. a picture you miiiiiight have edited to make yourself more attractive.

In-edit ko lang naman para magmukha akong maputi.  Hahahaha.

9. a picture of a night you regret.

Not this particular event, though, but whatever preceded it.  And, well, sige, some parts of this na rin bilang I gave up Boracay moments for this.  Hahaha.

10. a picture of you being truly yourself.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I can only be my truest self when I’m around these two girls.  They know me straight through my bone marrow!  (Betches, this was taken nung nanood tayo ng Team B game sa San Beda, nang medyo sabaw na tayo kina Horkheimer, Marx at Jurgen Habermas!  Remember?!)

11. the most recent picture of you.

Hindi naman ako hayok sa beer niyan?  INOM EASTER ONLY

12. a picture of you being absolutely ridiculous.

Grabe, napaghahalatang tanggero ako ah!

13. a picture of you showing off a new haircut/color.

Nang gulatin ko si IA at Elsie with my “Summer Haircut” that’s a snip and a razor away from being a semi-kalbo.  Hahaha.

14. a picture of a time in your life that's over, but you wish it wasn't.

Need I say more?

15. a picture of a time in your life that's over, and you couldn't be more thankful that it is

Studying, but definitely not schooling.  ;)

16. a picture of you when you were anything but happy.

Fun times with friends at Mimosa, Pampanga.  But deep inside was another story.

17. a picture of you that you had no idea was being taken.

Obvious bang hindi ko alam?

18. a picture of you when you were a different person than you are now.

19. a picture of you with someone you love

Hindi lang halata pero Mama’s Boy talaga ako.  :P

20. a picture of how you'd like the world to see you.

JOWK LAAAANNNGGG!!!  Eto talaga:

21. a picture that describes how you'd like to spend every day.

What better way to spend every day than to love and be loved in return? :D

22. a picture of a time when everything was changing

Last official day of classes in UP… ;(

23. a picture that makes your head hurt.

DEFINE HEADACHE

24. a picture that makes your heart smile.

Very Rare Ito.  =)

25. A picture of one of the best days/nights of your life

Every day/night spent with these two girls is considered the best of my life.  But this one pretty much takes the cake, and the icing too! :D

What was 2008?

Taken last December 2008, a very rare time when all three of us were genuinely happy

I have this weird yet very common penchant for naming things—my laptop is Joaqs, my sunglasses is Shids, my phone used to be called Bruno, my abaniko is Laura Belle and my eyeglasses is aptly named Tito Boy.  When I get my hands on an MP3 player I’d name her Peyton, and when I get a new phone its name will be Dharma.

They say that when you name something—or someone, just in case—you claim possession of it.  The “thing” changes from being a mere “thing” to being “your thing.”  Names bring a special attachment to whichever it is accorded to, making it stand out from the rest.

Recently I was browsing my blog’s archives, trying to see how much I’ve changed over the years.  And unwittingly, I stumbled upon an old habit I wasn’t able to practice this year—naming the years that have passed.  I remember doing it every year in time for my New Year yearend blog recap, punctuating the nostalgic trip down memory lane by baptizing the year that passed with an umbrella word that captures its very essence.

I remember 2004 was The Year of Discovery.  I hold no solid proof of that statement, but memory should serve me right this time.  I was well out of high school for the latter part of 2004, and so the prospects of a new environment could only provide new perspectives for such a juvenile mind.  That I was admitted to the University of the Philippines made a great deal out of these “discoveries” that I had, no matter how minute or monumental they were.

2005 was The Year of the Two.  This one is a bit hard to explain without revealing too much information, but let’s just say that this year, I learned about the many dualities that exist and continue to exist in our world today—love/hate, up/down, male/female, those kinds of things.

I can vaguely recall what the name for 2006 was, but I know I had a name for that year somewhere.  I made a mere mention of the idea in one blog post, but silly me for not dropping the name there (and subsequently, for forgetting to put it in a future post):

Anyhoo, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! The days are cold again and you always end up wondering, where the heck has the year gone? It has passed by so quickly. Parang kelan lang, maliliit pa tayong mga bata… hehehe… But seriously, this year has gone so fast. I now have an idea what to name this year (2004: Year of Discovery; 2005: Year of the Two). Of course, that’ll come in another post.

[UPDATE:  2006 was The Year of Change!  LOL.  I’ve recently unearthed a past blog entry bearing that name.  And now I remember why it’s the year of the change—so many new things happened to my life that year.  New friendships, old ones rekindled, and, dare I say it?  A new love.  Also, major turning points in my life also happened, especially involving my now-struggling faith.]

There was no other name to call 2007 but The Year of the Risk.  I was at the crux of deciding for my college life at this point, debating whether to stay with Journalism or to shift out to Psych.  Moving out of the Mandaluyong house also proved to be a major event.  On the other hand, I also took a lot of risks, love wise.  And I know I can say all those risks have eventually paid off.

2007, I believe, would be aptly named The Year of the Risk–for all the times I had to leave my comfort zone, for all the time I had to take on a challenge, for all the times I took a leap of faith (and times I fell, and times I rose from falling), and for all the times I took a chance… this year, it was definitely worth taking risks, for I’ve reaped many rewards because of it.

And now I just learned that I have not named 2008 anything—for a number of reasons.  One, I was not bent on doing a yearend post for last year, and I admit it’s due to the incredible chore the habit had become through the years.  I can also say that nothing quite eventful meritted the name-tagging, or the yearend reporting, but that’s just me making a sordid excuse out of it, because one can never run out of exciting things happening in his life.  In any case, I’ve pondered and thought quite hard about it, and I resolve that 2008 deserves no other fancy schamnzy name than…

…The Year of Love.  Yes, it may not be the most romantic year for me.  It may not be the time when we were feeling so young and carefree and more than willing to ditch it all for love.  It may not be the most memorable point in my love life, nor the most feet-sweeping, sparks-flying phase in our relationship, but I have to say that this year, I have learned to love the way it should have always been—real, humble and down to earth.  None of those cutesy stuff seen on TV, they certainly have nothing on the love I gave and experienced last year.  Last year, I have found and wholeheartedly accepted what it meant to love, and to be loved, and that, I shall always treasure.

That I have lost my love towards the end of last year doesn’t run contradictory to what I’ve just said.  In fact, it complements the reality of the love I have seen, because as we all know, love also dies—it fades, it withers away, it lets go of one’s hands when the universe tells it to be so.  And to accept that fact and to live by it—despite  the longing, the pain, and the loneliness that comes with it—is still, in my book, an unending testament to what love really is.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this blog post.  Want more of my emo shit?  Help yourself to generous servings at my LJ--http://jmtuazon.livejournal.com.  Be warned, though, only the strong at heart can endure the melodrama that is my life ;)  You have been warned!

And oh, FML