Fortune's not thriving in me these days. Our summer semester's last day is May 19, Monday. My last exam for my afternoon class will be on Monday―that is acceptable. My professor there's got big problem in her memory performance but at least she's keen on having her last class on Monday―that is way acceptable. However, my morning class has crashed my hope of having at least a week of "vacation" at home before going for Cebu and Bohol (on May 24, Saturday). Our fifth examination will be held on Tuesday afternoon (May 20) and our five-hour final examination on Thursday (May 22). I am planning on using this "vacation" period in painting our small living room's wall at our house's second floor. Also, I long planned to allot it on sketching two people.. Alas, those will only end adding up to my three weeks of vacation after the trip (May 30) and before the first semester of AY 2008-2009 starts (June 16). How could I sandwich them in only three weeks?!

So that week's Friday survived my late summer misfortunes. With that, I am hell sure that that day will be spent for Doris.

Anyway, I could use my idle time alone at the apartment applying the finishing touches for my artwork that I last exhibited. When things get bored inside, I could go out and enter the library of SEARCA and read good books [there] about UPLB and scan latest issues of Inquirer.

But it's still a loss having not to spend those days at home.

I'm listening to Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor, op. posth., Fantasia Impromptu no. 4 in C sharp minor and Ludwig Van Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 5 in G while writing/typing this blog entry.

 I've been digging lately to Susumu Hirasawa's music. I was able to know of this man last 2006 after watching Satoshi Kon's masterpiece: Paprika. He's the composer of my all-time favorite Japanese song: The Girl In Byakkoya―the ending song of Paprika. Just who is Susumu Hirasawa? He's a Japanese electro-pop artist and has always been ahead of the techno-pop boom in Japan during his time. He formed bands after he graduated from Tokyo Designer Gakuin College such as the Mandrake, P-Model and, presently, Kaku P-Model .

He's a music genius, I must say. All his work are music to my ear. Yes his music is way too different to classical music or love songs which I like the most. I think he has been able to transcend the boundary between this two in my world. I especially dig in to his music at Paranoia Agent and Paprika. Specifically Yume No Shima Shinen Kouen, Parade, The Girl in Byakkoya (of course), and many others. Some of his compositions that I recently heard of is Forces and Love Song. Thanks to Dizzler, I am able to hear all these masterpiece on the internet for free.

As of now, I am currently downloading via μtorrent his discography (and it's worth 5 point something gigabytes!) and really looking forward in denuding myself to it.

Susumu Hirasawa's a god.

Next in line is my opinion regarding the Republic Act no. 9500 and the UPLB Centennial Campaign.
I am listening to Susumu Hirasawa's Forces, Love Song, High-Minded Castle (I really like this one!), and, of course, The Girl In Byakkoya.

This tree is one of my favorite tree inside the UPLB campus. It can be found right beside the west wing of the Physical Science Building.This is no ordinary tree for this one's so massive and very old. Its buttress has a diameter close to a typical length of a jeepney and it slowly posterize the adjacent road. Its height reigns superior to all adjacent trees. Its foliage so dense that its understory (well, not that of a typical understory under forest canopies) is literally sun-deprived. The tree, I must say, is way more than hundred years old but I cannot exactly competes its age with that of the famous Fertility Tree at the Freedom Park.

It was May of 2005 when I first saw this remarkable tree. I was a freshman then and it was the day of enrolment. While in a queue at the Office of University Registrar, the wind blew strong with mild rainshower. It was then when I noticed from afar one of the most magnificent thing I have ever seen: it was "snowing". Yes, the whole campus was raining not with rainwater but snow―that is, snow-like kapok seeds contained in its seed pods. Summertime is the kapok tree's official grand display or, I must say, show-off. I know its quite childish or that such a sight is quite normal to other people―especially the Los Baños folks―but it's different from my viewpoint. My thought of its seed-dispersal is not science-bound or of the mindset of a grown-up as depicted by Saint-Exupery in his The Little Prince. I approach the event aesthetically. I see it as if its a phenomena right before the eyes of a queer, curious man.

What made me write this blog is that, sad to say, the tree had never flowered for two consecutive years. I still remember the tree still shower its kapok seeds in June and July of 2005 as I always seat in a waiting shed besides the Humanities Building (or the College of Arts and Science Building) that is quite near the tree. It even dispersed its seed on summer of 2006 as it was evident that the ground cover of the CAS complex is carpeted with its seed as the AY 2006-2007 started. Alas, October 2006 marked the event that Filipinos―or Filipinos of Region 4 and 5 in particular―will hardly forget: the direct hit of typhoon Milenyo. The eye crossed the southern part of Metro Manila with its eye wall navigated adjacent provinces including Laguna. The area felt its power for almost eight hours until it recede at about 3:00 or 4:00 PM. I still remember the great damage it caused on UPLB campus. Many large and century-old trees lay dead on the ground. But such wind did not harmed, in some way, the grand Kapok tree. That some way, as I want to pertain to, is its pagtatampo. The term is used on trees, or plants in general, that do not flower or significantly grow as it was expected after dealing a strenuous change in its environment or of any direct changes on one of its parts (like removing a large part of its branches, etc.). I am not quite sure if it was Milenyo that really caused its pagtatampo for consecutive two summers or years.

With that... my last two years was not complete.

I am listening to Eraserhead's Trip to Jerusalem, Shake Yer Headz, With A Smile, and Hard to Believe.
I am thinking of finalizing my template and layout for my Space. Such a template, as I like it, will be patterned to blog sites of Windows Live team.

Oh my... My little brother and I were now leaving for Los Baños. His class tomorrow starts 8:00 AM so we need to leave now (Sunday) since the van terminal in our subdivision starts leaving at 6:30 AM. That's hassle since our journey would take at least 1 hour and 45 minutes during normal to quick traffic.

Ahrg! Man, I cannot keep up with my previous record of 980,00+ at Bejeweled 2. I have played four games and still cannot manage to at least beat my least record included at the top score of 510,000+. Man, I really need to practice that game.

Anyway, I am still pissed off by the slowness of our internet connection. Last night was the bout between Germany and China at the World Pyro Olympics 2008 held offshore at SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. I am playing/viewing four videos [at YouTube] and for heaven's sake it only managed to buffer 40% under long 1 and a half hour. That is a piss considering that each video only has a maximum of 5-minute playing time.

Another thing that really pissed me this day is that I cannot register online our newly installed NBA Live 08. Error always occur whenever I start a game. Now I need to return that pirated DVD to that stupid DVD games boutique at Metropolis Star at Alabang.

Nah, at least my piss-level is held to manageable level because of Susumu Hirasawa's The Girl In Byakkoya.

Because of the recent reformatting of our computer and of my continued pursuit of excellence (wohow!) in the academe, I am now busy updating, rearranging, cleaning, and managing everything in our computer. I have added several software components that handles my voluminous files much improved than the ones I have before. I need to bring back all our files (literally!) to each respective location as [same] as before so as to maintain how it was treated by my siblings. Now we're subscribed to Trend Micro PC-Cillin and Norton Antivirus Protection Centers as big replacements to our McAfee. These two are nasty and I need to overhaul all the settings. To enhance our productivity in Windows basics, I need to update our office to Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 edition (I am actually eyeing for the Groove product and OneNote). I now upgraded to μTorrent from BitTorrent for its ease of torrent assemblies and assignations. I, for now, rejected the service of Mozilla Firefox so as to give chance to the latest Internet Explorer and to avail its hottest addition: the Silverlight (I love it!). Who am I to forgot Windows Live?! Without the Live Writer, for example, I could have not written down good and manageable blog entries! Their interface is astonishing as ever! Now, I have some of the heavy packages from Adobe: Photoshop CS3, Bridge CS3, Stock Photos CS3, among others. Aside from the ever-reliable Windows Movie Maker, I purchased the Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8.0.

Well, these are just some of the things I am managing.

How hateful of me if I will not include my latest installed games: NBA Live 08 and Command and Conquer: Generals: Zero Hours. I know these are some fairly old games (will I exclude 08?) but these games are a must for me.

I am listening to the 3rd movement of Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 16 by Edvard Grieg while typing this blog entry.

I am really impressed on the step-by-step development/improvement of one of my favorite website: Good News Pilipinas. I am pleasured to have witnessed this website from their humble beginning--well, I am not sure if that was really their moment of setting this up but least to say the website that they have when I learned of their existence was, well, quite undermanned--to present where they account thousands of viewers (mostly Filipinos) from different parts of the globe. This could not be possible if not for Filipinos who greatly care for our country and that their aim of reaching the good news achieved by fellow Filipinos to every Filipinos across the world. I am simply exhilarated, I may admit, about their addition of comments box in every article (that is, managed by the WordPress.org). The number of authors and independent contributors have also increased. Advertisements now lined the website, if not dotted.

In months or so, number of people that will comment on every article might increase exponentially--not exactly the same as that of YouTube. Also, all levels of Filipinos in terms of living might get involved in collective reading because I have serious reason that majority of readers of this website land on class A, B or C. Anyway, that is not important.

Oh, GoodNewsPilipinas, as I heard it, was in an electronic board/signage at Makati Business District. Seems as if they're targeting investors/foreigners.

As for everyone, read every article in this website*. This may help in enriching our "sleeping" nationalism and love for country.

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*you're stupid if you'll think I'm referring to Convivial Recluse.

This blog entry was written while listening to Enya's Watermark and Cursum Perficio.