downtime for my brain

am doing undergrad CW advising in my office right now. or at least i should be. students drift in and out my room sporadically so i get to do other things like update my syllabi and reading lists (which involves reading byatt and dalisay and calvino), check my mail and (haha) fill out stupid memes (as geek friend #1 calls 'em).


Ano'ng student number mo?
93-14724

Nakapasa ka ba o waitlisted?
duh.

Paano mo nalaman ang entrance-exam result?
my tita who's a prof in CHE called me one evening when my high school classmates happened to be at my house. i think i was hysterical for a full 5 minutes.

First choice mo ba ang U.P.?
yeh. my dad told me it was UP or nothing. di daw ako mag-aaral kung di ako pumasa.

Alam mo ba ang UPG score mo?
wha dat?

Ano ang first choice mo na course?
creative writing

Second choice?
journalism

Ano naging course mo?
creative writhing

Nagplano ka bang mag-shift?
yeh. to european languages, french. but i gave up when i discovered i can't conjugate to save my life.

Nakapag-dorm ka ba?
i live behind sm north. it woulda been dumb to do that.

Naka-uno ka ba?
ja.

Nagka-3?
nein.

Highest grade?
uno, too many to mention. nyahaha!

Lowest?
5, PE 2 skindiving. can't swim kasi. heh.

Worst experience sa U.P.?
most bad experiences were work-related. napag-initan ng snitty colleague who was having a bad day. she pretty much threw a hissyfit while observing my class.

Lagi ka bang pumapasok sa klase?
yeh. but generally late, to my everlasting shame.

Ano'ng org mo?
shet, AI. lots of bad memories there. a few good ones.

May scholarship ka ba?
ngayon meron, as faculty.

Pinangarap mo bang mag-cum laude?
gawd, yes. i'm such a loser.

Kelan ka nagtapos?
October 1997. was at the april 1998 graduation.

Fave profs?
franz arcellana (dead poet-fictionist whose dentures flew out of his mouth in class), jing hidalgo (spiffy dresser, brilliant teacher, still scares the hell out of me), jimmy abad (who i once compared very favorably to kermit the frog)

Worst teachers?
some lecher named tapales for soc sci 2. oh and the bastard from filipino who gave me a 2.75. wrecked my average.

Fave subjects?
a lot of my writing and lit classes were really brilliant. any nonfiction class under hidalgo, whatever level. i'm such a brown noser, i try to enjoy any class i'm in.

Worst subjects?
soc sci 2 and that really boring filipino class. oh and PE in general was hell for me. haha, lampa.

Fave landmarks?
that bench near the AI tambayan where people went for "privacy" and "serious talks". on top of that pozo negro overlooking the sunken garden where as idiot freshmen we used to have CASAA takeout picnics.

Fave building?
i misspent many many hours at the main library, because the AI tambayan was there. perfect place for ogling the hotties from UPMountaineers. i especially loved it when they held triathlons because the sinewy sweaty guys would go running by in their wet swimwear.

Paboritong kainan?
beach house, casaa. but when i had food issues, no more favorites.

Noong estudyante ka pa magkano ba ang binabayad mo sa jeep?
1.25 for ikot, 2.50 going to SM. am still a student but now the damage is 10 bucks for sm and ikot is 6.50

Lagi ka ba sa lib?
yeh. see above.

Nagpunta ka ba sa clinic nung minsang nagkasakit ka?
nope.

May crush ka ba sa campus?
yeah... peds, that jopson guy, and eng.

BF/GF:
i started iniquity rather late. days after graduation, actually.

May balak ka bang mag-Master's o mag-Ph.D.?
am doing it now. watch me..

Anu-ano ang mga naging P.E. mo?
swimming, skindiving, fencing, weight training, hydrobics. i spent too much time in that swimming hole of death (so murky-filthy, they couldn't find the body of a varsity swimmer who drowned. they had to drain the damn thing). all really horrible, best forgotten.

Kamusta naman ang block ninyo?
there was one really creepy musclebound martial arts guy who thought he was bruce lee; brought various killing implements to class. he's a lawyer now at the country's top firm. i'm still good friends with two of em: one is my semi-roomate at the faculty center, the other edits summit media's gaming zine.

Nakapanood ka na ba ng graduation sa U.P.?
too many. i've even helped put one together.

Memorized mo ba ang alma mater song?
uhm. snatches of it. it just kills me when i see kids sing it at graduation with raised left fists. sooooo cute. i'm sure they flock to call centers the day after to mimic rednecks.

Member ka ba ng varsity team?
nyahaha.

Naka-perfect ka na ba ng exam?
a few times. the first one was difficult: we pulled an all-nighter at my house and kept ourselves awake with the most vile coffee-cream-and-strawberry wine concoctions. my hands shook so hard during the exam, i could barely write.

Anong ayaw mo sa finals week?
checking. back then, it was the lack of sleep. i'm a hideous procrastinator.

Dito ka ba natutong uminom ng beer?
technically, no. our drinking places were always off-campus (malate circa blue cafe/third world/penguin, tumbang preso, 70s bistro, sagada, baguio, el amigo in dumaguete)

Ano'ng gusto mo sa UP?
where to start? the trees, the size of the place. the red things that fall from the fire trees in the summer. many of the good things that have happened to me can be more or less connected to this university. heh, feel-good moment yata.

Ano'ng ayaw mo?
bobong classmates, bobong estudyante. oh and walang gwapo. lalo na sa MA & PhD level.

Maganda/Guwapo ba ang ID pic mo?
my faculty ID scares the hell out of most people. i lost my undergrad ID walking from STS class in october 1997. someone found it and it's been creepily on display at the CS atrium ever since. check it out.

May ginawa ka bang illegal sa loob ng campus?
yes. many times. never mind what that was.