Art School

I finally finished this book! (And, might I add that I finally own this book. I started reading this in Fully Booked and yup, I never bought it. I would like to send my deepest apologies to Fully Booked for abusing my rights and privileges as a reader. I promise to see myself as  a better individual and most importantly, in this case, as a consumer. Anyway, it's looking good with all the other books in my self-proclaimed bookshelf.) (More of that in the future.) 

This book is good. Nothing more, nothing less. Sure the word "good" doesn't give it justice but I think this is one of those things that when given more compliments, it becomes nauseatingly bad and irksome. It's like giving a child too much of what he wants; and it's bad for his health. Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. I gave it five stars in Goodreads. The characters are so... true and  the author did a pretty great job in telling the story of the alienating adult world. Decisions, the pressure, realizations and the fear of growing up. 

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall. 
 But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

The alternate cover. 

And of course there's always The Perfect Actress/Actor for This Character. Lily Loveless has always been Bev for me. The girl on the cover, the one wearing the yellow cardigan, is gorgeous and perfect BUT THIS IS LILY LOVELESS. Her metallic blonde hair and SHE'S LILY FREAKING LOVELESS. (And no, I'm not going to talk about Skins and Naomi and Emily right now.)

Also, I can't stop thinking about the VW van, Melinda. In my head, it's this robin's egg blue van, pretty old with a few rusts in the delicate sides. (No picture for you to see what I mean, I want you to visualize it on your own hehe.) It's my favorite object in the book. I don't know, I think it's because we used to own a red one. I used to ride in it with my uncle and it was very glorious, wow??? He'd pick me up in school with that van. I miss it so much and I think that's why I fell in love with this book? I regret not giving it a name like it was my pet, like it was mine. I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE MY FAMILY SOLD IT TO SOME STRANGER IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. HEY FAMILY I HOPE YOU'RE READING THIS, I'M STILL MAD. 

Anyway, watching book trailers is not my hobby but this one gave me an idea about the places they've been, the people they met and the things they did. Turns out that it's pretty close to what I was imagining while reading hehehe. 

And of course, the soundtrack of the whole trip. This is my first time to hear this song and wow, why am I not a fan of girl bands? Then came The Marvelettes and Heart. I have yet to listen to their music but I think the way Alexa and Meg drools over these bands, I know they won't disappoint. 
I wish to encounter another novel like this: vibrant and screaming with music. Thank God for Nina LaCour. You should definitely read this book. 

So...

...we're almost done with 2013. Give it four months and 2014 will burst out of nowhere. I know, it sounds so weird because everything happened so fast. It's like we're running 250 miles per hour and there's no stopping us. More often than not, unexpected things--bad things--happen. Believe me, it gets really hard. But I have learned something very important the past month. I don't know why I haven't thought of it in such a long time. It's living in the now that's important. Swallowing the moment's temporary atmosphere. Good or bad, it brings us something we will forever have inside: a virtue and a lesson. 

And so I would like you to watch this. It's a movie called The Spectacular Now. Starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley (both are in the Divergent movie, it's funny, I don't know). 

"Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) lives in the now. A high school senior, charming and self-possessed, he’s the life of the party, loves his job at a men’s clothing store, and has no plans for the future. A budding alcoholic, he’s never far from his supersized, whisky-fortified Thirst Master cup. But after being dumped by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and wakes up on a lawn with Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley) hovering over him. She’s different: the “nice girl” who reads science fiction and doesn’t have a boyfriend. While Aimee has dreams of a future, Sutter lives in the impressive delusion of a spectacular now."

I'm not saying that planning about the future is bad. It's all about stopping and looking beyond. There's more to life than just to exist; you have to live. (Okay this sounds so cheesy and sticky and corny but I just have to let this out, yeah). 

Also, another movie! 

The first time I saw this movie... I cried. (Especially when Tessa came home form the hospital and her name was everywhere AND OKAY). Judging from the title, whatever happened in the past or what tomorrow will bring, it's always good to have now. 

Just don't be scared about the future. 

Do or Die: Part II

UPCAT two weeks ago. I was basically holding onto myself and telling myself that it isn't the end of the world, that I can do this and that, there are way too many chances for me to get in, hey stop doing that to yourself and blah blah blah BUT WHO AM I KIDDING. They said 83,000++ senior students took the UPCAT. And I wanted to go home and sleep because I can feel the pressure seeping through me and I JUST WANT TO ESCAPE. I wanted to cry and curse UP for the right-minus-wrong thing. But I can't do anything about it. "Screw it," I muttered to myself. I opened the car door and I almost fell on the slippery sidewalk. It was raining and I thought WOW IS THIS A BAD OMEN? My dad said the almost-accident took away the bad omen and that I'll do good.

And then I'm inside this room with white lights screaming that my terrible fate is nearing and that resistance is futile, I have to shade these oblongs. And so I did. It was worse than I thought but I managed to answer with pure reasoning. Trusting my instincts helped a lot so, thank you, instincts. I owe you. And goddamn, was Science hard?! My brain was jumping up and down and I was screaming inside. "What are vacuoles", "WHERE THE HELL CAN WE FIND THE MITHOCONDRIA", "do these phenotypes and genotypes really exist" "This is so stupid why do you have to know the speed of the car". 

And the rest I don't want to talk about. The five-hour exam is finally O-V-E-R over. I ate two barbecues to celebrate. This stall in front of Law Center sells good barbecue and I can see myself eating here. But then again, I still have to pass the UPCAT to eat barbecues. 

Anyway my dad and I explored the whole school for fun. One of the reasons why I want to study here is because of the number of trees surrounding the whole campus. It was amazing and so I took pictures. I felt like a tourist lost in a city. No, not a city, but a tourist lost in... her thoughts. (Wow so emo.)

The very famous Oblation. The moment I saw it, I told myself that I have to pass the UPCAT. There were goosebumps at the back of my head and I wanted to.... cry. I know, so melodramatic; so pathetic. This is my dream school. This will always be my dream school. I would have these intentional nods whenever I hear someone talk about UP. I would think about that glorious feeling. And just... okay. 

My birthday is on June 10th and I got all giddy when I saw this. Jack Barakat was born on June 18th, Pete Wentz on June 5th, my best friend, Sam, June 3rd. Magnificent things happen every month of June. I am blessed HEHEHEHEH.

can we all look at the traffic 

thank u america thank u so much

tourist photo #1 HEHEHEHE i felt so stupid when i took this photo oh my god but hey, my chucks look pretty, don't they? i love them they're my favorite

this place is so peaceful

tourist photo #2 hahahaha i'm sorry i just have to 

This is my favorite photo of all. I don't know why. I think it's the fact that you don't have to edit this photo...

COLLEGE OF ARTS & LETTERS. DID YOU KNOW THAT MY FIRST COURSE CHOICE IS ENGLISH STUDIES AND MY SECOND IS JOURNALISM? YOU DIDN'T? WELL NOW YOU DO. Okay so if the odds are in my favor, I'd be studying here and I would walk around here everyday and there are feels I can't explain. (English studies and Journalism are part of college of arts & letters right....??)

So yup. This is the prologue of my college life. 

til tonight do us part

I was starting to feel like my favorite band has betrayed me, for not making any announcements, for not mentioning their band's previous achievements and for not talking about their songs and the year 2006. I was losing hope. But then, six months ago, Fall Out Boy decided to come back and save rock and roll. I was in complete and utter shock because it was all of a sudden. Well I was kind of expecting it to happen, since a lot of people from the music industry are giving off hints on twitter and other social networking sites that Fall Out Boy are coming back and are planning to have a reunion. But there are still doubts like, "Hey, this is just a hoax." I wasn't too lax on the idea of them coming back, unless the band announced it themselves. 

On the night of February 3, 2013, I was on twitter and people are starting to panic: typing on caps lock, tLAKing lieK THiss!!, and the words "fall out boy" can be seen in every tweet. I started to join the commotion as well because my feelings... can't. I read somewhere that "Fall Out Boy are making a big announcement on Q87.7 tomorrow morning!"And that's it. I started screaming and jumping and crying AND EVERYTHING FELT SO RIGHT. Everything was in place, and it felt so good to be alive. The big announcement came and then came the new single. February 4, 2013. They are officially back and no one can stop them. I still remember this post I made from February. Four years worth of waiting, those nights spent on listening to Chicago Is So Two Years Ago and feeling nostalgic. I can definitely say that it was all so worth it. 

Fast-forward to August. This is it, I thought. I'm going to see them live for the first time and I still can't believe it. And so the show began and my ten-year old self is screaming with delight and it's 2007 all over again. I remember the first time I saw them, in a magazine, confused of their identities, and why this certain guy is wearing eyeliner. Thriller's beat brought it all back and I can feel the pulse of the crowd. We were all singing and it felt glorious. 

I don't want to bore you with a long post of how I spent my Thursday night with the anti-heroes, and the band who stand up for the weirdoes. But I can definitely say that if I were to be asked about the people I look up to, Fall Out Boy will be on top of the list. Their performance is not just something we have to rate or whatsoever, it's something we have to remember. You were with the crowd, your lungs are giving out because of singing, the pulsing of the lights, the glorious feeling you get--that's something you have to keep. Fall Out Boy made it all happen. From the long wait in line to the spiels and the screaming roar of agreement of the crowd. Fall Out Boy was, as Fiel mentioned it on her blog, so raw and magnetic. I can't even put to words how amazing they are and I'm running out of adjectives. And nouns. Whatever. 

Thank you, Fall Out Boy, for not letting us down and for making us feel contagious. 

Do or Die: Part I

A few weeks back, Sam and I went to La Salle to pass our college application forms. I woke up late and wow what's new. So then I went to Sam's place and we took off. On the way to Sam's mom's place we kept on muttering things like "oh my god we're so independent," "WOW COLLEGE" "so teenager of us". It felt so different and it's like we're taking a step forward into the future and then the next day, we'll be back in the past and blah blah blah. Long story short, we can't wait for college but we also don't want to high school to end. 

And so we were greeted by the buzzing and hustling of the jeepneys and the street vendors and the smell of street food. I can't help but think how Filipino I am in the future and every single moment I take the streets of Manila, an Up Dharma Down song plays. Anyhoo, we arrived in La Salle and ran into Lara, Erika, Maye, Reisha, Max and Paola. (DID I MISS SOMEONE OMG I HOPE NOT).

The fangirling commenced between Sam and I because this sight said to hello to us. It's so big I think it can be converted into a museum. And it felt a lot like New York to me, even though I've never been to New York. The pictures don't even give justice to how big and ~industrial~ it looks in real life.

riding the escalatorZZzz wooo

This is the i-don't-knowth floor of the building. (((Ideal place for photo shoots hehe)))

People, this is the Yuchenco Hall. Judging from the tarp welcoming you at the entrance, art runs everywhere in this building (I think so. LOL if not please don't sue me). I seriously stopped and clutched my chest. It's so beautiful hhhhhh. We wanted to enter the building and ~tour~ around but we were too shy because students crowded the area and we didn't want to look like we're intruding their space. We didn't want to feel like we're the feelingera frogs HEHE. 

But much to my dismay, I wasn't able to pass my forms because my recommendation forms were incomplete and I wanted to punch myself for seventy-eight times. But whatever at least I got to explore Taft with my best friend. 

WE HAD BON CHON IN U-MALL SO COOL. Sam bought me a bracelet weeee. (I have no picture but it's cute. Thank you, Samantha).

Bon Chon is love and love is real. We love Bon Chon. Bon Chon forever. Bon Chon amen.

This plastic bag is for Lara Ackermann.

And then the awesomest thing happened. We were walking down the road looking for a jeep when we found this alley full of graffiti. I turned my head right and I stopped and gasped like GASPED. And I screamed Sam's name and we entered the place despite the "no trespassers" sign. It looks like a parking lot to me but I don't think they fit in a parking lot where people park their cars or piss on the walls behind the bumper of their cars. I want the people of Taft Avenue to renovate this place and make it look like an art gallery. 

i lyk dis a lot

This unexpected moment make me want to restore my faith in humanity. 

We went to CSB and we were thinking about going inside. But since it's already late and the admissions office were closed, we ended up sitting in one of those little things in front of the building. 

We went back to Sam's mom's place and we were so amazed by how the trip took less than 15 minutes. No traffic, just love. 

And then Sam's cute mother took us to Glorietta, along with her brother. We had J.Co and it was great. It was my first time to have J.Co and it was so good I wanna cry. And we had these little chocolate shakes and it was also very good huhu God bless J.Co.

FREE DONUT I LOVE THE WORLD

In conclusion, I liked La Salle very much. 

(Teaser: this is just part I so clearly, there will be part II. Or III.)(If you care.)