Saturday, July 06, 2002

The rain never seems to stop. And it doesn't even happen on a weekday. I remember how I often wished it would rain when it was in grade school and high school. Somehow, it just doesn't seem as enjoyable when it happens on weekends. Oh well, welcome to the fact of life here in the Philippines.

I always believed in archetypes. I mean there are some people I'd meet who's speak the same way, act the same way, sound the same way, and sometimes even look like each other. Well, I was early for Sunday School today when I saw an old classmate, Peachy. She's small, bubbly, and full of optimism. I don't know why I didn't see it before but she reminded me of Ma'an, one of my acquaintances at Ateneo. They both speak in this high-pitch tone, seems to be popular with people, and shy in their own way. Life never ceases to amaze me.

And because it's raining, I don't think I'll be able to go to mechapinoy's mechameet today, as much as I want to see Garr, Richie, and Benj. I've been walking in the rain for the past few days and I just don't feel like doing it one more time today.

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Since I don't really have much to say, I guess I should write about my reflections. Now seems like a good time as any.

During Ambeth Ocampo's class several days ago, he mentioned how male and females were separated. In plays, the cast was either all male or all female. And of course, you have the church to blame.

Of course when it comes to Xavier and ICA, the church is literally separating the guys from the girls. I mean Mary the Queen is in between the two schools. Ironically, that's usually where the couples meet.

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There's nothing like a rainy day to gloom my mood. I don't know why it happens but somehow, storms and the like manage to dampen my attitude.

I probably wouldn't be exagerrating if I said today's amount of rainfall is more than all the amount of rainful for the past week combined. It's been literally raining all day and I haven't been able to get out much because of it.

There's not much for me to recount since by the time I woke up, I headed for Area 51 to play Warcraft 3. That was six straight hours of gaming. And amazingly, I got bored.

Technically, I'd be playing Never Winter Nights but Area 51 didn't have it. Instead, I'm stuck with Warcraft 3. And as much as a Warcraft fanatic that I am, I can only play for so long. Besides, I need a challenge. I want to fight the really good players, the experts. While losing isn't exactly something I look forward to, it's usually the only way I learn. =)

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Friday, July 05, 2002

Rain... torrents of it. That's what's been pouring for the past few days. And it's getting irritating.

Girl: I think I'll wait for the rain to lighten.

Charles: Okay.

*rain started to lighten*

*rain started to become stronger*

Girl: We'll get out when the rain becomes lighter.

I also did manage to cram a Philosophy outline this morning under one hour. Which is why I should remember not to do last-minute work.

And my local network gaming area has resumed its prices of P30 an hour so I really should cut back on my Warcraft and Never Winter Night games. It's starting to hurt. So I really wish someone would loan me their video card because it sucks to have the best computer available yet you can't play games with it.

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Wednesday, July 03, 2002

Things to do while you're an hour early for Fr. Dacanay's Theology class: count the number of seconds it takes for latecomers to come out of the room after entering.

I was finally able to visit the two museums we're required to make a reaction paper on for history. Of course since I'm usually afraid to go alone, I was able to drag one of my blockmates along, Eva.

Of course Eva happens to be the nerdy type who takes down notes, observes every little detail, and has a keen interest in the arts. It was annoying me when I already finished looking at all the pottery and Eva was in one corner, taking down notes and writing all the details. Can't she just appreciate the stuff for what it is? I mean we're being asked to write a reaction paper, not a comprehensive report.

By the time we got to the Spolarium, I was very exhausted from all the walking (and the standing waiting for Eva to finish). It was a miracle we were done by 3 pm. And then, I rushed to Glorietta to check out if there were any good books at A Different Bookstore. And then made another rush to Datablitz Megamall.

When I got to Datablitz, the first thing I saw was the huge stand of Warcraft 3 that had empty boxes saying "coming soon". The salesladies were all in Warcraft 3 shirts and there was a short line. In front was a girl with presumably her boyfriend. The girl (not the guy) was buying the Warcraft 3 Collector's Edition, which had the artbook, soundtrack, DVD, and 8 x 10 character cards in addition to the regular stuff. The guy in front of me saved the task of asking the price. The saleslady replied it was around P4500. My heart stopped. I only had P3000 in my wallet and I had other plans for my stash at home. Perhaps I'd even purchase Never Winter Nights and Warcraft 3 instead of buying the limited Collector's Edition.

Of course Datablitz in Megamall ran out of the Collector's Edition. The guy in front of me kept on asking the saleslady if there were any more in stock on their other branches. I quickly skipped him and asked the price of the "regular" Warcraft 3. It was P1700 and a few hundred bucks cheaper than Never Winter Nights. Paid for it, grabbed it, and hurried home.

Well, the problem with Taiwanese video cards is the fact that there's not much software support. Mine wasn't even plug and play, as I soon found out after "accidentally" uninstalling my video driver. Oh wow, I have a 64 MB video card... which I can't use to play games!!! Maybe if I cross my fingers, someone would loan me a spare video card or something. All I need is around 16 MB worth if video memory, or even 8 MB will do. Looks like my Warcraft 3 will go the way of my Diablo 2: unable to be played on my computer.

Everything on the Warcraft menu works well. It's just the fact that certain images are silhouettes. Like the game map and the units. Oh wow. I'm playing in the dark. Now I have to guess where the gold mines and the trees are. How nice. Interestingly, I was able to hook up to battle.net and register my account (a lot of good that will do me). Interestingly enough, there were three games currently available. Once was labeled 2 on 2. Another was Newbies vs. Computer. I nearly laughed at that. For one thing, the computer in Warcraft 3 is quite difficult. Yes, it has its flaws (which I know quite well) but even I lose to the computer and I'm an experienced player. How good is the computer? Two friends of mine fought against one computer. One friend was experienced and the other was a newbie. Well, they lost. What's more, the map they chose were full of high level monsters, the ones that need an entire army to take out. The newbies probably didn't stand a chance. But then again, there's no better way to learn than through defeat. I should know. That's how I got so good.

After trying to fix my PC since I didn't even know what model my video card was and the driver disk given wasn't much of a help, I went to Neutral Grounds to rendezvous with my new gaming group. To make a long story short, we met at Galleria, hitched a ride to Pasig, made our character, and went our separate ways. Of course my separate way involved walking from Kapitolyo to the Meralco building since that was where my companion's car was. Of course since it was almost eleven, the gates were closed and we found that out the hard way. And I didn't even get to play Never Winter Nights or Warcraft 3 the entire day.

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Tuesday, July 02, 2002

Through all this time, I've finally managed to put a track down at my other, more popular (for some strange reason) blog. I don't get it. Why is it more popular? Maybe people have a craving for something more than rants and one-liners. Do they really want to read my long anecdotes and essays about my life? Oh well. At least now I know they all come from referrals from wami's site. =)

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*yawn* Just woke up. Aside from being sleepy last night, my brother was using the phone as well. The fact that it was raining didn't help either (I'm afraid to turn on the computer because it might receive an electric jolt).

As for yesterday, spent of my waking hours mostly at school, as usual. Came a bit later than usual but that didn't stop me from tracking down Paula and Ma'an to give them their birthday presents. I actually even got to sit beside Steph during that time.

We had another taste of Ambeth Ocampo's wacky quizzes. As I told my friends before, you can expect a quiz from him every meeting since that's the only way he checks attendance.

And then I was able to squeeze in an hour of Never Winter Nights until I had to meet my carpool.

The rest of the evening was spent on eating, sleeping, reading, watching TV, and reading again. Yes, after two weeks of suffering from reading burnout, I have started to read again. Praise Douglas Adams. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a treat.

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Monday, July 01, 2002

Okay, back to normal now. My brother was using the phone all evening which not only irrittes me but drowns all my creativity.

As usual, I went early to school. My friend Kim saw me, called me, and told me to accompany her. What was I to say? And I don't know why but people I know always tell me information about my crush without asking them.

Kim: I'm supposed to meet her today but I forgot what I was loaning to her.

Me: *shrug*

Also, went to get our Philosophy handout but it wasn't with the photocopier lady when I went. When I did go to Philo class, some of the students had it and our teacher told us to make a comprehensive sentence outline on the readings, gave us a free cut on Wednesday, and continued on with the lesson. At least that frees up my Wednesday so I can go to the museum for History.

As usual, our poetry class's first row was lined with smokers. *cough* *cough* *cough* Did I mention it was in an airconditioned room? More lectures from Mr. Yuzon and he did gave us an assignment at the end. I'm now supposed to write a poem about the family or something. Oh well.

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*yawn* There's nothing like a good night's rest.

Well, it's nice to see that some people have resumed their blogging. =)

Right now, I'm deliberating whether to purchase Warcraft 3 or Never Winter Nights. I'm on a tight budget since I'm anticipating August's bookfair. On one hand, Warcraft 3's a great game. On the other, Never Winter Nights is also a great game... Well, at least you know what games I'm playing at Internet Cafes and the like.

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Sunday, June 30, 2002

To me, Monday will always be the start of the week. Sunday never feels like the beginning of the week despite what it says on the calendar. Sunday is more like closure rather than a beginning.

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Here's one more interesting Pullman links for Mia in case she's reading this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/film/newsid_1803000/1803880.stm


Well, the production company behind Lord of the Rings is doing the film for the His Dark Matters trilogy.

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After writing my blog, I had a quick snack. And then I remembered why I don't like to eat. Spent the next three hours sleeping. Yes, I know sleeping after eating is bad, since energy which is supposed to be used in digesting is diverted. Which is why I don't like to eat in the first place. =)

A lot of people's birthdays are coming up (or have come up). Of course it's annoying when you don't know their birthdays and that info isn't exactly public. -.-

Speaking of birthdays, just greeted Paula happy birthday a few hours ago. I don't know why I do it. If it were any other ordinary situation, I don't think I would have done it. I did greet Kara a happy birthday yesterday but that was Kara. Oh well.

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In another day of my not-so-mundane life, I did something mundane: go out shopping for school materials.

I just hate it when people constantly ask you for paper, pencil, ballpen, tape, stapler, and whatever else you might need in class. Still, that hasn't stopped them. And that's how I lose some of my materials that were meant for me and me alone.

I did manage to buy glue, a notebook, masking tape... everything but a ballpen. I think purchasing a ballpen takes the longest time and is one of the hardest pursuits. I mean you can't just buy any ballpen.

First, above all else, you need a ballpen that works. I mean there are fancy ballpens like gelpen, techpen, and other gimmicks but what I need in a ballpen is the fact that it writes. A lot of generic ballpens out there write but after a few weeks (or *gasp*, a few days), their ink starts to dry up and it won't write anymore. It's quite pathetic when you need to to burn the tip of your ballpen on a regular basis just to make it work.

Second, its ink must be just right. I don't want the pen to blot and probably mar the paper but something that can be plainly seen without trying too hard.

Third, I don't want it to be something too big or too small. I don't really want to lug around a pen the size of a marker. Or something as small as an eraser. As long as it fits comfortably in my hand, it'll be fine. I already despise handwriting as it is. Choosing a pen that fits comfortably goes a long way.

Lastly, there's also the dilemma of price. Do I really want to shell out more than P50.00 just for a ballpen? I'm not the type that needs a Parker or a fountain pen. What I need is something that works and preferably, for the most meager of prices. It's a ballpen for God's sakes. It's not something people should show off. While aesthetics is good, practicality should always be remembered.

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