And its been a long December, and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass
-Counting Crows

Dante's Inferno Hell Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Extreme
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

here's to
evil
another end
and more ends to come.

Read between the lines
What's fucked up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone
-Green Day

i've been working on my applications to colleges in the states. i dont appreciate the pressure my family's been putting on me about it, to say the least. they all say i should do this, do that. i'd like to decide that for myself, thank you. and even if i should, there's still the question of whether i'd actually want to.

none of them really ever bothered asking me that.

Lakas tama!
-Siakol

i wandered around sta lu while the others werent there yet. when they finally did arive, it was noon, and i met up with them at 2rats 4d brats, where camille was going crazy over merchandise as expected. we headed to the bowling center, rented the shoes, picked our balls (ahaha!) and played 2 games. the general flow was: strike - gutterball - spare - gutterball - split - gutterball etc. then we got hungry so we paid our dues and went for lunch at sushi. after eating we worked the guns at the arcade. house of the dead! i noticed we had an audience building up around us. all boys. one of which i heard followed lex and kami around after i left them. bwahahaha! i commuted to village east. spent most of the time there watching les get her hair relaxed and cut, while looking at magazines, and half dozing. then we went back to the house and watched an episode of you're under arrest, and watched them cook some luncheon meat before i went home.

vergara clan party. there was the usual flock of cousins and aunts and uncles. and the half of the crowd who you dont know (you only see them once a year and there are too many of them). some watching tv, some playing billiards, some chasing each other on the lawn, some talking endlessly, some (like me and my gang of cousins) teasing each other over playstation. food all around.

getbackers marathon till midnight. the gayness! lots of laughs.

clock strikes twelve. i go downstairs. chad's on the sofa, the tv softly blaring. i sit by the christmas tree. kaiser sniffs around the gifts i open. "merry chirstmas"s. "good night"s.

valenzuela clan party. three words. food. food. food.
wacky: i remember the first time i saw you... you were in a blue dress.
me: *laughs* i was... eight! you'll never see me in a dress agaaaaiiin!
~
me: sayang nga eh... we cant diss the school in the paper.
wacky: aww... kung pwede sana... "our principal sucks and is involved with a 19-yr-old girl from UP!"
me: O_o... now that would be interesting, since our principal's a nun!then i just hovered around my brothers listening to them talk to my older cousins. then got tired of that and slept on the couch.

there'll be ceasar salad later from tito boy vic, and ham from lola.

and presenting... the eraserheads:

There's a fruitcake for everybody
There's a fruitcake for everyone
There are b-sides to every story
If you decide to have some fun

Take a bite
It's alright
There's some brandy and star margarine to make it bright
Take a bite
It's alright
A little lovin' and some fruit to bake
Life is a piece of cake

It's the season for being happy
But the reason is dead and gone
If the reason for being happy
Takes a backseat when the season's done

Just take a bite
It's alright
Taste the taste that sent all mothers giggling in sheer delight
Take a bite
It's alright
A little lovin and some fruit to bake
Life is a piece of cake

Everybody, everywhere people do you really care
Christmas time has once again arrived
Everybody, everywhere people do you really care
Christmas time has once again arrived

Mistletoe and a little snow
But we don't get it there at fruitcake heights
Mistletoe and a little snow
But we don't get it there at fruitcake heights

Stars are falling down from heaven
But it's nowhere near our town
Miracles are falling down from heaven
But it's nowhere near our town

There's a fruitcake in everybody
There's a fruitcake in everyone
There are b-sides to every story
If you decide to have some fun

Just take a bite
It's alright
Taste the taste that sent all mothers giggling in sheer delight
Take a bite
It's alright
A little lovin and some fruit to bake
Life is a piece of cake

Maglabas ka pa ng baso
At tatagayin ko kayo
-Parokya ni Edgar

i'm getting better at the eleventh commandment. bwahahaha.

and at patching things up.

its the first time i've felt the christmas spirit. through... the joy of giving. cliche, i know. but hey. what can i do? thats the way it is.
blood, sweat and tears can all be nicely compensated for by a smile.

things not going my way.

I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float
To the dark side of the moon
-3 Doors Down

people actually remembered my name in that place. i never really expected that. one big cozy home. christmas started for me there somehow i guess.

but for some, i guess it wasnt very merry. life can really distribute a poor hand to you sometimes. but friends can remedy that. pizza and mojos and coke and ice cream help too.

and of course quality time together.

Stop the music and go home
I repeat stop the music and go home
(crowd goes wild)
-Daft Punk

parties are great and all.
but i think thats the last time i'll opt to be host.
to much trouble just to end up torn.

Oh, with all that I've done wrong
I must've done something right
To deserve her love in the morning
And butterfly kisses at night
-Bob Carlisle

class encounter
we were placed in groups of five, each of which had a handicap. we were supposed to be lame. so our thighs and ankles were bound.
karla: o! mga sirena!
fruit salad.
ayeen: *grabs the plastic apple from the basin of water in her mouth* *spits into the basin of shaving cream* go!
me: *does the same with the plastic papaya*
ayeen: o game! yung mga saging sa ilalim!
me: *dumps my head in* *spits banana into the shaving cream* shit, thats not plastic! gross!
eight legged race
our team: okay... one... two... hop! hop! hop!

batch encounter
funny bone
me: (after successfully completing the tasks) ...i need doctor quack quack...
boat is sinking
marie: group yourselves according to your sections in... grade one!
batch: *squeals, groups themselves*
me: *slinks away to the back*
kamla: bea, wala ka rin dito nung grade one?
bea: haha, wala.
kamla: *laughs* meet section SIX. *points to all the others who had slunk away to the back coz they werent in aa in grade one*
me: *laughs*

marie: group yourselves into your sections in... grade seven!
batch: *squeals, groups themselves*
marie: o... sino ang klase na... rebelde!?
7-1 (kasali ako dito): kami!
marie: o... sino ang klase na... maarte!?
7-2: kami!
marie: o... sino ang klase na... nanalo sa dance competition ng itrams!?
7-4: kami!
marie: very good! yung section three, normal lang.
7-3: HOY!
marie: sige, sino daw yung hard competitors nung dance compi!?
7-1: one and four!
7-2: one and two!
7-4: two and four!
katkat: one, two and four!
7-3: HOY!

lunch
me: ahaha... may mga palayok pa pala sila dito sa tabi ng drinking fountain.
alex: pansalo sa tubig. *steps on the pedal thingy*
*water shoots right at me*
me: *blink* wala atang kwenta yung mga palayok.
alex: *laughs* *tries stepping on it again a few times* (the water goes way past the plants) *laughs again* *drinks*
me: *notices the sign above the drinking fountain* "do not waste water."
alex: <nabilaukan>

family encounter
mom: *hopefully* maybe they forgot that you signed up for the four-legged-race...
jali (on stage): rialp!
me: ...ehehehe, nope!

let us not forget the completely JOLOGS dance we performed. let us take a moment to shudder.
*shudders*

haha... and they very sweet father-daughter dance.
dad: do you know what a dip is?
me: a what-- oh!
dad: ...*winces slightly* okay, i might be too old for this.

and two roses to remember it all by.

Most friends fade
Or they don't make the grade.
New one's are quickly made
And in a pinch, sure, they'll do.
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?
Here's to us!
Who's like us?
DAMN FEW!
-Stephen Sondheim

old letters, old pictures, old memories... i miss them too.
i dont know where to start. now that she's finally willing to open up to me again, now i'm the one not budging.
dad: hey beija... who's your closest friend now in school?
me: *blink* ...i...dont know.

i know i should take the initiative. but sometimes i'm just so tired of being so damn nice.
dad: he can treat us that way because he knows its unconditional love, no matter how much your mom and i get hurt. and he can hurt you because he knows to some level you will always try to understand him and forgive him.
sometimes i wish i could just say "go to hell." too.

but there are things that just might save you from that:

crazy english reports.
writers bloc and workshops from hell and halaga, harana, huwag na huwag, inuman na, and cake.
kuya jonie denting the neighbors car.
dad and shows.
the evil starbucks.
the moon.

I'm in the sky tonight
There I can keep by your side
Watching the wide world riot
And hiding out
I'll be coming home next year
-Foo Fighters

images of UP, scrapbooks, frapuccinos, velvet carpets floated around in my mind as i slowly fought to gain full consciousness.

sir uy: *teaching calculus*
i-forget-who: sir! whats the connection of this to life?
class: oooohhh...
sir uy: o_o
i-forget-who: our life as christians.
sir uy: O_O
classs: *laughs*

I don't have to be anyone other than the birth of two souls in one
Part of where I'm going is knowing where I’m coming from
-Gavin Degraw

youkai_kaze: adik ka na sa ym!
isle_of_echoes: teka, natatae na ako! bakit ba parati akong natatae naka-ym?
youkai_kaze: ym is a drug. it has side-effects.
isle_of_echoes: wait lang...
youkai_kaze: go na, make tae!
isle_of_echoes: *changes status to "adrenaline rush"*
youkai_kaze: *roflmao*
isle_of_echoes: ayaw lumabas. nahiya ata sayo.
youkai_kaze: hoy jebs! wag, lumabas ka na dyan!

youkai_kaze: you make people randy?
ave_aradian: without fail. its a power.
youkai_kaze: of all the power's in the world... not super strength, flight... but sex appeal.
ave_aradian: i'll apply for a place in xavier's mansion. i want to be an x-man!
youkai_kaze: teaching by day. kicking ass by night.
ave_aradian: i wont be kicking ass, i'll be getting ass.
youkai_kaze: oh, all day and all night!

YOU WANT LINKIN PARK?
LEMME GIVE IT TO YOU.

I have a dream of a scene between the green hills
Clouds pull away and the sunlight's revealed
People don't talk about keeping it real
It's understood that they actually will
And intoxicated and stimulated emcees
Staring in the trees, paranoid, or caught in the breeze
Watch them flee, hip-hop hits
Take a walk with me and what you'll see
Is a land where the sand is made up of crushed up wax
And the sky beyond you is krylon blue
And everybody speaks in a dialect of rhyme
And emcees have left materialism behind them
Meanwhile I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night

Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to where the music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old scene
And dedicated to the people advanced in the game
What's real is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun

I've seen a lot of shit, I've talked to a bum
Out on sunset strip, he asked me How would you feel
If everybody acted like you didn't exist
You'd lose your grip, probably eventually flip.
So let it be known, the only reason that we do this
So that you can pick it up and just bang your head to it
While emcees fight to see who can be the commonist
Be floatin overhead like a space odyssey monolith
Over seeing the game, over being part of the same old thing
It's all gonna change in a hurricane of darkness and pain
And acidic rain and promises that you won't do it again
Meanwhile I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night

Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to where the music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old scene
And dedicated to the people advanced in the game
What's real is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun

Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide
Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide

This is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to where the music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old scene
And dedicated to the people advanced in the game
What's real, everybody who doesn't feel safe
What's real, everybody who knows they're out of place
What's real, anybody with nowhere to run
Will hide in the shadows waiting for the sun

MAGASAMA KAYO!
WHEEEEEEEEEEE!

commercial:
WALANG PASOK!

i hate being absent on wednesdays.