I am titanium

"Shoot me out, but I won't fall. I am titanium"

Don't you just hate it when plans you make never push through? Like, you spend a lot of time planning something amazing, but something always happens in the end. Now in my case, someone actually shot my "something" down.

Lemme paint you a picture. I asked you to bake an extravagant cake for a party. So you go out of your way to buy the ingredients, and prepare all the necessary tools to bake. Then, just as you're about to put the batter into the oven, I knock the batter onto the floor and tell you I want one single cupcake instead.

That is exactly how I felt. It felt like a knife was jammed into my heart, and turned 360 degrees. To have something you worked so hard, something you put so much time and effort into planning, something so many people helped you with, and something you put so much consideration into. To have something like that shot down killed me a little on the inside.

I spent weeks trying to look for a venue. I spent days conceptualizing the theme. I spent days planning the attire. I spent days talking to the photographer, going over the creative direction of the shoot. I spent hours planning out the date, putting into consideration the weather, the availability of the photographer, as well as the entire EB plus BOD.

It just sucks that you don't even consider everything that put into this as a "hassle" since it hasn't even happened yet. Ugh.

Stupid bitch.

Keep Dreaming.

GIMP

School is right around the corner. It literally starts next week for me. As an executive board member for this year's Biology Society, we are working double time to make sure that everything is set in place to welcome the incoming Bio freshies. As one of the PROs, one of my duties is to handle the incoming elections for the 1st year batch representative.

Another thing is that just recently, I was announced to be on the Executive Board for the Biology Majors Alliance of the Philippines (BMAP). They put me in-charge of the Promotions and Publicity, which is a good thing since I'm basically online 24/7. As part of the Promo and Pub committee, it is my responsibility to produce the different posters and fliers for our different events, which leads me to the reason behind this post.

In order to entice freshmen to apply for batch rep, the PROs (Melo and I) need to create a poster to catch the attention of the students. Now, usually, I would probably be the last person on earth who would do this. I mean, leave the photoshop to the experts, and leave the instagram filters to me HAHAHA. Well, it just so happens that I'm also the OIC for the Arts and Promotions committee, which means I'm one of the people in charge of this. I'd usually get Ate Cams, 4th year batch rep, to do this for us. However, I felt like it was time for me to step it up. I can't always rely on her and other committee members to do this, especially since majority are seniors. Another is that I'm leading the promotions committee for BMAP, which means there's a lot of pressure on me to produce some eye catching posters. So, since I wasn't doing anything, i felt this would be the perfect time to start letting my creative juices flow and start practicing.

When I found out about the posters, I was in Anvaya cove at the time with no laptop, only my iPhone. I had no way to note down my ideas except for notepad. I came up with 2 concepts, one of which was also thought of by another member of the council. The first one I came up with was top model inspired. It basically was a dark, gradient background which focused on the middle, as well as a silhouette of a man and a woman. The font on top would be similar to the America's Next Top Model font, with metallic, gradient colors. It would read "BioSoc's Next 1st year Batch representative". The details would follow underneath, specifically Melo and my contact information. It would also bear the logo of the Biology Society and the University of Santo Tomas.

Here's the final outcome. The background was changed because it wasn't exactly how I pictured it. In fact, the background looked very plain. So i decided to look for a more interesting background. Luckily, I was browsing through my iPhone wallpapers and saw this number. This was perfect for me. I also changed the title. I added "The Search for" at the top because there was this huge space on top that needed to be filled. I still stuck with the top model theme, match the font as well as the silhouettes of the man and woman.

Later on, Tisha (the assistant secretary) commented that it looked to much of a pageant poster, rather than searching for an officer. After this, I decided to change the silhouettes to head shots so it would seem less "pageant" and more election. In the end, it looked more like a kiddie version that what I had imagined.

My second idea was an old school, western, Wanted poster. Ciara was the first one to comment this, so I decided to go through with it anyway. Not much to say about it except that I tried to keep it as authentic as possible. I only changed the texts just a little bit so that it would fit our situation more. For the silhouette, I used the icon on facebook for users who don't have a profile picture. I edited it a little to look darker, and a little older. I also searched for fonts that had a western theme that was often used on wanted posters such as this.

At the end of the day, I felt good. It felt good because this was a product of my hard work. I felt like I had accomplished something because it was a product of my hard work and dedication. I also felt that these were decent enough to publicize and be posted around the third floor. At the end of the day, what I did was for me more than anyone. I not only designed some posters for BioSoc, but I also taught myself how to use GIMP.

Before I go, I'd just like to send a shout-out to my bro JB. He really helped me while I was in the middle of creating my first poster. He was there for me everytime I had a question to ask, and whenever I needed advice. Love you bro!

Big thanks as well to all the people I went to for their opinions on what I should do, what fonts I should use, etc etc to make my poster better. And thanks as well to the YouTube videos I searched up when I was lacking ideas on how to do something.

BTW, I know these posters aren't the best. But for someone who just learned how to use GIMP in 24 hours, I felt that these were good enough.

Keep Dreaming.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to use technology

One thing that really pisses me off is when people claim to be upset on social media, like twitter or facebook, or even when they tell you personally that they're upset. Now, I find this particularly annoying because whenever I ask that person if something's wrong, they end up saying that they're fine or that yeah something's wrong but never expound. Here's an example of one of my conversations with a friend a few days ago:

Me: What's up? You okay?

Friend: Nope

Friend: :((

Me: What's up bro?

Friend: None bro :(

*end of conversation*

This pisses me of because I am the type of person who likes helping other people out. And this person I was talking happens to be a close friend of mine. This is irritating because this has happened so many times. You always let people know that something's wrong, yet when they try to help you out, you put up this barrier that prevents them from helping you out. Especially since it seems like you could use a little guidance here and there.

Another thing that irritates me is when people send in late replies on purpose. By this, I mean those who see the messages, yet refuse to reply immediately for whatever reasons they have. I can understand late replies if you saw it some time after I sent it to you, but if you see it immediately and don't reply, that's where I get pissed off. And to add to it, it gets even more rude when you see that person tweeting away especially if they use the same device for both texting AND tweeting. I mean, what's the point of replying to a message/text after 7-8++ hours, especially if the text was looking for an immediate response. I just think that it's rude and a waste of load, especially if there isn't an valid reason behind your late reply.

I honestly don't know what to do with this person. I think I'm just gonna lay low from my friend. If they miss me, they'll let me know. point blank.

Keep Dreaming.

Trusting your gut instinct

Everyone has this feeling right? When you need to make a decision, and you're torn between the choices. There's usually this voice telling you to pick a certain choice. Usually, there's a reason behind this and I don't think most people trust their gut instincts. Sometimes, the person would focus more on what others or society would demand from them, rather than what they personally feel would be the better choice. I just don't feel that people often listen to that "voice of reason", especially in a world where the youth's motto is YOLO (You Only Live Once).

So this reason for this post is something that happened to me recently. So tonight, just like any other night, I was just browsing the internet when I get this friend request from a stranger (let's name her "Lisa"). So Lisa adds me up on facebook, I'm automatically curious as to who she is. So I decided to check out her profile. The first thing I checked out was the about section. All I could find there was that she was from UST, so I presumed she was a batchmate of mine. Then I checked out her photos, which were mostly pics with friends as well as ads for ladies dorms around UST. So, after what I saw, i was still hesitant to add her since I didn't know who she was. There was this gut feeling I had not to accept, but I went ahead and did so anyway. This is where I should' ve listened to my gut.

When I accepted her, I prayed that I would avoid one of those conversations where they immediately message/chat you up and introduce themselves and shit. Well, turns out she did exactly that. She gave me her name and said that she was an alumnus of UST (both my course and med proper). Then she started spamming me up with adverts for ladies condos around UST (which I honestly don't understand, since I'm clearly not a woman). So once she did, I turned off my chat, but she still kept leaving messages in my inbox. Being as socially awkward as I am, I blocked her. I didn't know what to do, I just felt so afraid because I didn't know what to do and what her deal was.

Lesson learned. Always trust your gut, no matter what. That way, whether you succeed or fail, you only have yourself to congratulate or to blame.

Keep Dreaming.

TATAK BIO

So, I decided to run for the home org/student council type of thing for my course here in college, Biology. Apparently, their original candidate dropped out and my friend Tisha (who is also running) asked me if I wanted to run. As someone who was active in extra-curricular activities in high school, I immediately jumped on the chance to be active again. I can't even express how much I've missed extra-curricular activities this year. I also found this as an opportunity to widen my circle of friends and break out of my shyness shell as a freshman.

So for three days, we spent our breaks (and sometimes during our own classes) to campaign to the different bio blocks that are eligible to vote. I honestly felt good with my speech, but I was more confident about it after I added the 'tweeting' part. I'm honestly still scared about the elections on wednesday, even though I'm running unopposed. I think running unopposed is riskier than running against an opponent. Think of it this way. Let's say there are 1000 voters. If I ran against an opponent, an it ended up 200 for me, 199 for my opponent, and the rest abstained, I'd still be the winner. If I ran unopposed, I would need 501 votes for me to be considered the winner. No less.

So, if there's anyone from UST Bio here reading this, I hope you guys vote me and my party :)

TATAK-BIO: Tapat, Totoo, at Aktibong Kabataan ng Bio!

Service for All, kay CHINO ROBENIOL

BIO will go far, with ABBY ESCOBAR

JANE GALAMITON dahil sa serbisyong on na on, siguradong ikay' matuturn on

Kay JONA VASQUEZ, serbisyo'y at it's finest

Dahil kay TISHA, IN ka

Kay KRISTINE, walang pondong mabibiTIN. Level up!

You're gonna like, like a VIRGIL, running for the very first time

CASSANDRA DELA VEGA, ang inyong CASSama, CASSanga, at CASSandalan sa kwentahan

MELO MELO MELO MELO, ang inyong INTERNAL PRO

Hatid ni HO HO HO, information on the GO!

Always ready ang serbisyo, basta kay IVY BULESCO

Serbisyong walang palya, basta't kay ANGEL ESTELLA

DARLS ALOYA, ang DARLEN ng buhay niyo

Dito ka na sa BIBO, AKTIBO, TAPAT, At KARAPAT DAPAT

Keep Dreaming.

A day in my life (12.07.12)

I'm not doing much tonight so I thought I'd share how my day went.

So since today was Game 3 of the Finals for the PCCL, my school (The University of Santo Tomas) decided to declare it yellow day (which means that instead of coming to school in our normal uniforms, we come in casual attire, but the catch is that our top needs to be yellow).

Anyway, I had to go to school earlier than usual. My classes start at 12 on MWF, so I usually leave the house so I get there around 11. But today, I had to leave the house by 9-ish because I had to submit my sister's friend's application form (no fucking idea why she volunteered me to submit it just because I go to UST). So anyways I was there at around 10:20, and I had to wait about half an hour in line. The line reached up to the 2nd floor. Though I'll admit that when I got to the front of the line, the girl who was handling me (wanky) was hot. I wish I knew who she was. All I know is she was wearing an MC Seniors '12 jacket, though when I showed her to my MC friends, they didn't know who she was. I got a picture of her though!! Anyways, after I submitted the form, they sent me and the other people over to a hot, un-airconditioned/electric fan-ed room to wait while they processed the forms. It took me about 10-15 minutes before they gave me back the form. I went straight to the hospital lobby where my driver was waiting for me so that he could take it back to my sister.

Before I went to class, I decided to go to the car park and buy that new iPhone case I was eyeing the day before. It was the similar style to the most recent one I'd purchased (hard, color blocking) except the color scheme was different! I was please to get it because the one I bought before was already coming apart (which is sad because I loved that case).

When I got to the main building, it was practically a ghost town. The once hallowed halls turned into hollowed halls that day. When I got to the main building, it was emptier than my wallet on a friday. I'm glad I saw Sir Reyes looking at one of the billboards near the faculty room (He was always one of my favorite profs). When I got to the front of the room, my blockmate JC was outside, sitting on the floor, studying for bio. We both noticed how the hallways were really empty and wondered why. Turns out there was a mass earlier which is why everyone was there. Later when more of my blockmates turned up, we decided to go into the room since the ones there weren't even having class. But then when more of their blockmates arrived, we decided to head back out.

Our first class for today was Fil, and ma'am was surprisingly in a good mood. She made us laugh, and wasn't bitchy at all during the presentation. Afterwards, we had Psych which was really boring (this current lesson is boring enough). Then, we didn't have BioLec because there weren't any teachers in the sciences faculty room. We decided to go up and buy burgers instead since we were hungry. We stayed in the room while majority of the block went out to eat lunch together... AGAIN.

Anyways, today was a good day. Kinda wasted a school day though :)

Keep Dreaming.

Happy Birthday Dan! (11.21.12)

Happy Birthday to one of the coolest, one of the most awesome people I've met at UST.

To my brother and my best friend, happy birthday mofo.

Keep Dreaming.