update

I'll be moving my blog to my multiply site. I find it much easier to post pictures there since I have the technological knowhow of a goldfish. My new addy is http://theredballoon.multiply.com

Check it out and have fun :)

Thought for the Summer

Boredom kills.

Cloudy Summer

This is a really weird summer. I feel like Im in limbo. I have one foot in still in college (it cant seem to take a step forward because it loved the Ateneo so much) and another foot ready to step into a whole new world (hesitatingly so at that). This is like an in between time for me---a neither here nor there, a neither up nor down. The world just seems so vaporous before me, and I really dont know where to go. The world is not taking shape yet, and I cant stand waiting for it to do so. All I see are clouds and clouds of possibilities.

Muse

I have a friend and her name is Desire.

Oscar Speech

School is finally over and I feel that I've just won an Oscar. Anyhoo, like all Oscar speeches, I need to make a list of people to thank.

(clap, clap, clap)

My life in that Ateneo wouldnt be possible without God. Of course, no Oscar sppech is ever complete without him in it. I'd also like to thank my parents for sending me to the Ateneo. Special thanks goes out to my Mom because had she not been working so hard all these years, I wouldnt have gotten the big ass tuition discount that made finances so much easier. I'd also like to thank all my adoring fans (my lit blockmates) for all the insanity. The whole English Department is a crazy bunch of people who make the world a better place to live in. And there's also my barkada from Euro, collectively known as jerbies. Thanks guys for all the moral support, all the inumans, all the gimiks that were a smash, all the gimiks that flopped, and all the panlalait. The human race is never safe while we are around.

Individual shoutouts this time. First to Max Pulan: god of lit crit, mountain man, bomb builder, and most of all, a teacher in the cura personalis way (although he would vehemently disagree). Next to Mom Rica: Western Lit teacher, hot thesis mama, manic psycho, and just a lovable person through and through. Gad Lim: my personal mentor/tormentor, the guy who got me hooked on to writing, and a very patient critic and reader of even my most horrible works. Dr. Clamor: my favorite theology teacher who really inspires me to be a good person, the name teacher was really meant for people like her. Dr. Garcia: wine and cheese, the true life is elsewhere, making my soul lose sight of familiar shores in order to see the stars.

So many more need to be thanked, but due to the limited space I really cant mention all. I think the perfect way to end is to end with a philo lesson, since philo is at the heart of Ateneo education. Because I cant thank everyone I need to, I will once again thank God. If Marcel told his readers that the best way to hope is to "hope in Thee for us" I will take it a step further. I thank the eternal Thou, for the pleasure of being with, crying with, and laughing with, the us.

(clap,clap,calp)

Laziness

Now that I'm on the last few weeks of school, I feel a pervading emotion all throughout my body. No its not nostalgia or anxiety or any of these other existentialist feelings. Im just feeling TAMAD. I just want to graduate and get it over with. TAMAD TALAGA!

Ten Things to Turning Twenty-Two

Wow! so much going on in my life. Here's a run down of things that just happened the week preceding my birthday:

1. I finished the first draft of my thesis and passed it before the deadline
2. I sat in as a reader for Maam Rica's freshman class
3. I made significant revisions on a story I submintted to Dumaguete
4. I organized the Lit Senior's presentation for Humanities Week
5. I attended the book launch of Heights
6. I watched the plenary session of the Reading Asia International Lit Conference in school
7. I got my hair colored by a Korean who spoke no English
8. I presented my thesis in the Read or Die Conference in Intercon
9. I finally got published in Free Press after a long wait
10. I had a small birthday dinner with my barkada

And to top this all, I just turned 22! I've definitely been busy the past weeks, but surprisingly I'm not tired at all. I'm raring to get going with life. I want to write, I want to work, I want to teach, I want to travel, I want to get drunk, I want to get lost in the Visayas, I want to get and MFA, I want to dance in the rain again, I want...oh never mind. There's just too much. I think this was a very happy birthday indeed. Looking forward to so much more.