Reading Quirks

I've observed that people who actually read books have certain quirks which vary from person to person. For example, before purchasing a book, one might pick a random page and read it to see if it's good. Other people, on the other hand, go to the last page and read the ending.

one pre-reading habit of mine is to see how long the book is and see what page the story ends. That way, I can pace myself and brace myself for the climax.

There was this one incident in the past when I didn't look at the final page and I ended up reading a 800+ novel, expecting it to end at 1/4 of the book.

Since We're On Reading...

Here is a link for some funny summaries of popular SF&F books.

Disappointing

Studio 23 was showing reruns of the UAAP's Thursday basketball games yesterday, and I thought they'd be showing the second match between DLSU and Ateneo after the rerun.

Apparently, they didn't, since the game was moved to next Thursday.

Hmmmm, I wonder why they did that?

Another Disappointment

I was supposed to meet some friends yesterday afternoon but none of them showed up. One had to go to his job at a call center, one didn't reply to my text message, and the other just couldn't come. And since it's usually a tagging-along system when it comes to these things, well, I had to kill time in Robinsons Galleria reacquanting myself with the arcade.

Also finally got to try Popeye's Onion Rings since they have a P39.00 meal offer when you buy it from 2 pm - 6 pm, similar to what KFC has.

Joint Birthday Celebration

Of course in the evening, had to meet up with my friends from Xavier as I had a joint celebration with two other guys whose birthday falls under September.

The restaurant we were going to eat was at Wilson's North Park (I hate Chinese!) and it's a good thing it didn't rain since I had to walk there.

It seemed to me we were more numerous than usual since I think there was a dozen of us, all from Xavier, each one from different backgrounds (one's going to be a doctor, some managers, some into programming, one's even a scout ranger...) and different universities (UP, Ateneo, DLSU, UA&P, UST, etc.).

I can only be thankful that there were three of us celebrants to split the bill.
Urban Legend

Of course it was also amusing to hear the latest "urban legends" about me. The only one I can remember as of now is the fact that they claimed I walked from Ateneo to Greenhills, and then back to Ateneo. Only the former is true. I honestly wouldn't want to spend an hour walking back to Ateneo.

Free LAN

Apparently, one of our friends is setting up a networking center near Shaw so some of us headed there to test-run the machines. Unfortunately, some couldn't come, the irony of which is that when they were in high school, they didn't have curfews (which they have now).

It's been exactly one year and a week since I last played Warcraft, and there's the Frozen Throne expansion now available.

Counterstrike just isn't for me because aside from my lousy aim, I get dizzy quickly so my maximum playtime for such games is usually an hour or so.

Raves for October

I'm curious to see how the Song of Ice and Fire RPG will turn out, which will be released by Guardians of Order in a month or two.

Right now though, I have a strange desire for the D&D Miniatures, although I am disappointed with the current's set figures because they're mostly humanoid creatures (elves, humans, dwarves, orcs, etc.) and what I want are monsters (i.e. Beholders, Mindflayers, Dragons, Balors, etc.) which I can use as props for my game.

Then there's the Miniatures Handbook which is useful regardless of whether you actually have the miniatures for the RPG game, as well as the Book of Exalted Deeds.

And I've procastinated buying myself new PC speakers and an optimouse for a year...

Read more!

Must Read

A Kuya Mark story.

Sale!

CCHQ sale starting on October.

On a side note, their singles didn't come in today since it was stuck in Alaska. At least the trades (including Endless Nights) came in...

Read more!

Exhausted

Commuting to Ortigas from school, while raining, isn't easy, especially when one leaves his umbrella at home.

After dropping by Mega Mall and Podium, I went home, only to find out thirty minutes later that the books I ordered in Makati have arrived.

The driver wasn't home so I had to walk all the way to the MRT station in Ortigas just to get to Makati and back home.

*sigh*

Outside Tequila Joes

When I got out of Glorietta, several people were crowding outside of Tequila Joe. Apparently, they were watching the Ateneo vs DLSU UAAP basketball semifinals game.

When I looked at the scoreboard, both teams were tied and it was already the 4th quarter with 45 seconds to go. One of the teams called a timeout and one team was set for a free throw. As much as I wanted to see the conclusion, games like those tend to extend themselves.

So I left, not knowing whether Ateneo won or not.

Speed

I really run fast. But I never expected I'd outrun a text message.

I was at the ground floor of the building when I sent a text message to Elbert asking where he was. I then went up to the second floor, dropped my bags in the classroom, then went to the third floor to look for Elbert. When I saw him, his phone beeped and lo and behold, it was my text message.

Words of Wisdom

Mr. Sunico in class today told us something my dad used to tell me about business. Selling merchandise is easy. It's collecting (money) that's difficult.

Copyright Violations

Got demoralized when I heard about the state of copyrights here in the Philippines (not that it surprises me). And one of the biggest violators are, of course, the universities we study in (myself included). With all the photocopied material and all, a lot of royalty really evades the authors.

When you produce something, you automatically have the copyright to it. What's difficult is proving it, which is why going to the National Library is important, or if you really want to sue, there's the long process of applying for a patent. The poor man's way of proving a copyright is that upon creating the work, write a contract that you are the creator of the work and mail it to yourself (don't open the envelope!). It's valid proof since the post office marked a date on it.

Read more!

Busy Busy Busy

Haven't been able to get out much these past few days. Yesterday was my 12 hour class and today, I have a play to watch at UP that starts at 7 pm.

So much to do, not enough time...

Read more!

Family Dinner

Every Sunday, my family (is forced) to go to my grandparent's house and have dinner with the rest of my relatives on my mother's side.

For the past few weeks though, this obligation was stopped since my grandfather was in the ICU.

Apparently, my grandfather isn't in the ICU anymore and is back at his home, which means that the regular Sunday dinner was once again effective as of yesterday.

Of course it's a sad sad sight when my grandfather and grandmother are in two separate rooms, the former unable to speak because of his heart condition and the best that I can do is hold his hand, while the latter has shrunken legs and can't speak because there's a tube stuck in her throat to get rid of all the phlegm that comes out.

And They Forgot My Birthday

Not all of them. Some did remember. Others didn't, and it was obvious, because they usually buy me clothes every year, and yesterday's gift was ampao (money inside red envelopes). Not that I don't like receiving ampao...

The Ampao Business

Of course despite the urgings of my family to learn more about my Chinese heritage, it seems that they themselves are pretty much ignorant of it. An example is the ampao I receive from them. Technically, the amount should be divisible by 12, or 6, or even 3. But my parents usually give me ampao in amounts not divisible by those numbers. The only exception is my aunt who gives me amounts of money divisible by twelve, whether it's P1200 or P240 (which explains the not-quite-whole-number amount).

Me Being Evil

Me: I could buy you a gameboy advance SP.

Vin: No!

Me: I had to offer (even though I know you'll refuse). Maybe I could entice Nikki or Dean...

Vin: They'll refuse.

Me: I know, but I want to see their faces as they struggle to say no...

Bible Boy

Our theo teacher asked these questions today and while I didn't openly answer them, I mumbled and got them correct, to the surprise of my seatmates.

Teacher: St. Stephen was the first martyr. Does anyone know how he died?

Me: Stoned to death.

Teacher: He was stoned to death.

Teacher: Paul was on his way to Damascus and there he found God. He fell off his donkey. And then guess what happened?

Me: He got blinded by light.

Teacher: He was blinded.

Teacher: God talked to Paul then. Do you know what he said?

Me: Why are you persecuting me?

Girl whom teacher called: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Seatmate: How do you know all this?

Me: I've, uh, read the entire bible.

Read more!

Twenty One

It's been a hectic weekend, especially with me being deprived of much needed sleep.

Of course it never ceases to amaze me at how I manage to retain my duplicity all these years...

Mega Mall's Restroom

I went inside to wash my hands and despite that there were half a dozen sinks, no one was using them since all the men were looking at the mirror, posing and fixing their hair.

All those unused sinks...

"1st Gaming Convention"

Neutral Grounds had their gaming convention today at Megatrade Hall A. Of course the emcee claimed that it was the "1st gaming convention" of its kind.

I mean how many times have I heard that being said on conventions, even when it's not?

The highlight of the event was the Magic: The Gathering Mirrodin prerelease. I probably saw a few hundred M:TG players which hasn't been seen since, uh, five years ago when M:TG was at its peak (here in the Philippines).

The other 50% of the area involved miniature games (i.e. Warhammer, Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings, Hero Clicks/Mage Knight/Mechwarrior), a stall selling anime (2Rats), a games shop (Uber Games), and some RPG demos.

Yes, it was pretty small. One can only thank the gods that the entrance fee was only P20. Wasn't really tempted to purchase anything in the place, unlike the trip to Fully Booked during the late Saturday evening.

Read more!