1. Will you be looking for a new job?
That's for the year after next, when I (hopefully) graduate. Part-times, well, I doubt I'll have enough time or motivation to look for new gigs, what with the thesis looming over all.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
Heh. Next question.
3. New house?
I don't think so. That's for quite far off in the future.
4. What will you do differently in 2008?
Well, I guess I'll try to get back to blogging more regularly. As I fill out this meme, I find that I do miss nattering on about my life to the uncaring sort-of-anonymous Internet presences.
In fact, the latter half or so of this year feels strangely uneventful, without the benefit of (much) blog coverage. (Though it wasn't uneventful, really.)
5. New Year's resolutions?
The usual: try to live more healthily (exercise, proper diet, increased water intake), try to deal better with stress, perhaps try to get better organized in general.
I actually never really went for this New Year's resolution stuff. These are more like the general goals that I have in the back of my mind all the time. Maybe a better resolution would be to air out my mind, as it were, and finally start to get things done?
6. What will you not be doing in 2008?
...that I've done or been doing this year? Hmm, let's see. Overspending, I hope? Though that's really easier said than done.
7. Any trips planned?
Nope, not any big ones at least.
8. Wedding plans?
Heh. Next question.
9. What's on your calendar?
UP Fair and other ExL business. Research work for experimental physics class. The start of my last undergraduate year in June, and the frenzy and senti-ness that comes with it. I think that's pretty much it.
10. What can't you wait for?
The resumption of classes. Honestly. It's been getting a bit too lazy and aimless around here. (Yes, I'm talking to you, you.) Apart from that, it seems that things are far enough away to wait for.
11. What would you like to see happen differently?
Yeah, this is a strange question. I suppose you mean as opposed to how the same or similar things happened this year? Well for starters I think I'd like to see my room clean, and stay clean. Heh. Right now it's the typical mess.
I'd also like to see me doing things a bit differently. Which brings us to...
12. What about yourself will you be changing?
I should spend more time writing. The latter half of this year saw the creative juices remain... unjuiced. Yeah. Ahem.
But seriously, I think I should try and see how much more I can develop in that respect. Own-horn-tooting aside, I think there might just be the potential for some more growth, some more fulfillment.
The same thing goes for my academic life, too. I can see how putting in more effort can lead to proportionally greater rewards, so, I suppose I should give it, heh, the old college try.
13. What happened in 2007 that you didn't think would ever happen?
Me watching two musicals (Into the Woods, Avenue Q) in close succession? What else happened this year... Oh, hmm, me actually following through on an organizational scheme? I've been using index cards clipped together as a sort of makeshift organizer, and it's lasted, what, since the latter half of November.
My system's actually far from refined, but it's working well enough (i.e., better than nothing at all).
14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
Definitely.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 2007?
I don't have any specific plans, but it's possible, yeah, if I suddenly felt like it. Right now, though, I don't think so.
16. Will you start or quit drinking?
Never really did it that much in the first place. I won't suddenly abstain from all alcohol, though, i.e., I'll continue drinking on occasion.
17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
How do I know if I'll be able to? I'll try, yeah.
18. Will you do charity work?
If I suddenly see the point, I guess.
19. Will you go to bars?
If there's a good group of people to go with, why the hell not? But it doesn't seem like a scene I'd frequent.
20. Will you be nice to people you don't know?
I've been trying to work on this, with so-so results. I'll continue trying. (Sorry, people I don't know!)
21. Do you expect 2008 to be a good year for you?
Yeah, I suppose. I've been feeling a bit more in control lately, and thus it's easier to be optimistic about the future.
22. How much did you change from this time last year til now?
A lot, I think. You know how things are this stage in life, all crazy shifting and malleable. I don't much regret anything, which is good. But I still have quite a ways to go.
23. Do you plan on having a child?
Heh. Next question.
24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
Y-y-yes? Friends, back me up here?
25. Major lifestyle changes?
Hmm, just the aforementioned healthier living schtick. And will try to write more, smile more, drink more water.
26. Will you be moving?
Nope, barring unforeseen circumstances.
27. What will you make sure doesn't happen in '08 that happened in '07?
Projects and other requirements getting unnecessarily delayed, I suppose. Better work habits, less procrastination.
Items getting stolen from me, as well.
28. What are your New Year's Eve plans?
Whatever the family's doing. Probably eat a lot, cover my nose from the gunpowder, and eat some more. Fall asleep happy and full.
29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
Sort of. Heh. Next question.
30. One wish for 2008?
Growth.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Some new-old pictures.
Ex Libris Christmas Party 2007!
(Warning, not very good pictures here. But still, feel free to look around.)
Cubao Expo
Lunch at Bellini's, then some pictures from a vintage shop.
Toast Box, Trinoma
(Better shots of food here than before, at Bellini's, where we even forgot to take pictures of the pizza! It was here afterwards at Toast Box that we figured out the "super macro" setting of the digicam. Hehe.)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Like I promised:
In the picture: Jeanne, me, Vilma, and part of Arvin. Not in picture: Carl, AD. This is us hurrying through the RCBC Plaza entrance area before the show.
Note the frenetic smiles; we had to run around looking for the right jeep to take us to this place from Glorietta. We arrived safely (with fifteen minutes to spare!).
(Stolen from AD's multiply.)
Avenue Q!
Even though we had to spend a semi-obscene amount on tickets (in fairness, we got second row sort-of-center seats) and even if I have an exam in less than eight hours, I have to say, it was pretty much worth it. Got to wear a rather snazzy outfit (maybe will post a picture later), and the show itself was great, very enjoyable.
First act went for laughs (and succeeded), while the second act contained the requisite drama. Performance of the actors was generally decent or better; the guy who held Nicky and Trekkie Monster had remarkably good timing.
Anyway, maybe a more in-depth review/reaction later, or maybe not. For now, have to review a bit more for Envi Sci. Bye!
First act went for laughs (and succeeded), while the second act contained the requisite drama. Performance of the actors was generally decent or better; the guy who held Nicky and Trekkie Monster had remarkably good timing.
Anyway, maybe a more in-depth review/reaction later, or maybe not. For now, have to review a bit more for Envi Sci. Bye!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Transcript, volume 2 v1.0
>look
You cannot make out anything, but get a vague sense of disarray from what surrounds you. Squinting, you see a shape hunched over a keyboard and a computer screen.
There don't appear to be any exits.
>examine shape
Upon closer inspection, you realize that it's the same person, the author from before, but now much more tired-looking. Rumpled clothes, rumpled hair, lightly bloodshot eyes, and intense attention to what he's currently typing as to make him oblivious to anything else. His fingers do not rest for very long and move in quick bursts over the keys.
He does not seem to notice you.
>fly
You jump up and flap your arms up and down for a bit, but gravity seems to be working properly now.
>now what?
How should I know?
>look
The sense of disarray becomes almost oppressive. You look around but still cannot see anything specific. Except for the computer screen, the keyboard, and the author, stil busy at his work.
>wait
Nothing new happens. The typing continues without slowing.
>clear throat
You clear your throat loudly, hoping to get his attention. No such luck, though.
>talk to author
What do you want to talk about?
>ask author about typing
"Oh, this?" he answers without turning away from the screen, "I'm just writing around twenty 400-word articles about bowling. Got to earn a living somehow, you know."
You can feel, if not see, him smiling sheepishly.
>ask author about bowling
"Bowling as a sport was first popularized in the 1950s by an NBC show called 'Championship Bowling', and has subsequently entered American culture.... Regulation bowling balls range in weight from eight to sixteen pounds.... Crankers choose to deliver their balls with the maximum possible force, while strokers aim for consistency and finesse....
The usual. 'Shoveling cultural snow', I think someone, a much better writer than I, called it.
Although, to be honest, he meant writing for magazines and the like, for instance restaurant and book reviews. I think my articles end up buried in websites who just want to improve their rankings by featuring 'relevant content'. As such, this work does feel demeaning and worthless, at times, but, well, can't complain. Keeps me writing - if we are generous and allow this to be called writing - at least."
Again without turning. You wonder how long it's going to take him to finish the batch.
>north
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>east
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>south. west.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>up. down. out.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
There are no visible doors or windows to exit through.
>hit author
Violence isn't the answer.
>kiss author
Neither is unrealistic intimacy.
>hint
The answer is a four letter word.
>quit
Are you sure (Y or N)? Y
You have quit the game, with 0 out of a possible 0 points.
Would you like to learn more about the exciting sport of bowling (Y or N)? N!
You cannot make out anything, but get a vague sense of disarray from what surrounds you. Squinting, you see a shape hunched over a keyboard and a computer screen.
There don't appear to be any exits.
>examine shape
Upon closer inspection, you realize that it's the same person, the author from before, but now much more tired-looking. Rumpled clothes, rumpled hair, lightly bloodshot eyes, and intense attention to what he's currently typing as to make him oblivious to anything else. His fingers do not rest for very long and move in quick bursts over the keys.
He does not seem to notice you.
>fly
You jump up and flap your arms up and down for a bit, but gravity seems to be working properly now.
>now what?
How should I know?
>look
The sense of disarray becomes almost oppressive. You look around but still cannot see anything specific. Except for the computer screen, the keyboard, and the author, stil busy at his work.
>wait
Nothing new happens. The typing continues without slowing.
>clear throat
You clear your throat loudly, hoping to get his attention. No such luck, though.
>talk to author
What do you want to talk about?
>ask author about typing
"Oh, this?" he answers without turning away from the screen, "I'm just writing around twenty 400-word articles about bowling. Got to earn a living somehow, you know."
You can feel, if not see, him smiling sheepishly.
>ask author about bowling
"Bowling as a sport was first popularized in the 1950s by an NBC show called 'Championship Bowling', and has subsequently entered American culture.... Regulation bowling balls range in weight from eight to sixteen pounds.... Crankers choose to deliver their balls with the maximum possible force, while strokers aim for consistency and finesse....
The usual. 'Shoveling cultural snow', I think someone, a much better writer than I, called it.
Although, to be honest, he meant writing for magazines and the like, for instance restaurant and book reviews. I think my articles end up buried in websites who just want to improve their rankings by featuring 'relevant content'. As such, this work does feel demeaning and worthless, at times, but, well, can't complain. Keeps me writing - if we are generous and allow this to be called writing - at least."
Again without turning. You wonder how long it's going to take him to finish the batch.
>north
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>east
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>south. west.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>up. down. out.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
There are no visible doors or windows to exit through.
>hit author
Violence isn't the answer.
>kiss author
Neither is unrealistic intimacy.
>hint
The answer is a four letter word.
>quit
Are you sure (Y or N)? Y
You have quit the game, with 0 out of a possible 0 points.
Would you like to learn more about the exciting sport of bowling (Y or N)? N!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Transcript v1.1
>look
You appear to be in some sort of virtual world. The surroundings are hazy and indistinct. Opposite you is a man in glasses, looking bored.
>inventory
You are carrying nothing, or at least nothing that would be of the least conceivable use here, sorry.
>examine surroundings
Hazy and indistinct. (I told you already, sheesh.)
>examine man
He is a youngish man with shortish black hair and brown skin. Perhaps in his early twenties, he stands a bit taller and a bit wider than you do. Thin-frame glasses, thin mustache, a beard beginning to get scraggly, and a quiet air.
You feel like he'd answer your questions.
>examine hair
Just long enough to be parted down the (nearly) middle, his hair invites the touch of a hand, fingers to smoothly run through the silken strands or to tousle them good-naturedly.
>examine my hair
Oh, your hair? Same as always, I suppose.
>ask man about virtual world
"New here?" he asks with a smile.
"This is what I tell most people: it's better, on the whole, to not think anymore about how and why you got here. Everything will return to normal, eventually, so just enjoy your stay."
>ask man about escape
"Inevitable, but you can't hurry it. Relax."
>ask man about surroundings
He peers around through his glasses, then back at you, before replying, "I don't know, they seem to be as ill-described as always."
In demonstration, he walks away from you and you watch him grow smaller and smaller before he disappears - and reappears behind you.
"Some crazy topology, eh? Sometimes I think this place reacts to your expectations of it," he muses.
>fly
You fly around for a while. Yay you. Much too quickly the novelty fades (no wind here, or indeed any sort of reference for your motion save the stationary - and much amused - man), and you drift to a stop back where the man is standing.
>ask man about the meaning of life
"42," he promptly answers. "Don't people read, nowadays?"
>what am i doing here?
Sorry, I couldn't parse that.
>ask man about man
"Well, I guess I'm the author around here, yeah," he says to you. "Although, truth be told, I haven't been writing anything much lately, except for some short-lived interactive fiction."
>ask man about interactive fiction
The author sighs.
>ask man about interactive fiction
"Yes, fine, I admit that I underestimated it," the author says, after some more prodding. He runs a hand through his silky, wonderful-smelling hair (you feel like touching it yourself!)
"The ideas I had don't seem to be fleshed out enough, yet, to be worth giving the amount of time and effort that creating interactive fiction, as I found out, would require. I think I need to plan and think about this a bit more. In the meantime, I can find diversions enough to keep me in business."
>ask man about hair
(instead touching the hair)
Soft strands curl around your fingers, and you touch warm scalp. He does not protest, but is visibly uncomfortable at your intrusion.
When you withdraw your hand, he speaks up, "Why do people keep doing that? There must be something wrong with the parser."
The author becomes lost in thought.
>tell man sorry
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>ask man about thought
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>shake man
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>escape
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem - oh, crap, sorry, I mean
You didn't think it'd be that easy, did y -
- well fine okay okay -
(Author's note: there, fixed it!)
****You have won the game****
Finally, you find something better to do.
You appear to be in some sort of virtual world. The surroundings are hazy and indistinct. Opposite you is a man in glasses, looking bored.
>inventory
You are carrying nothing, or at least nothing that would be of the least conceivable use here, sorry.
>examine surroundings
Hazy and indistinct. (I told you already, sheesh.)
>examine man
He is a youngish man with shortish black hair and brown skin. Perhaps in his early twenties, he stands a bit taller and a bit wider than you do. Thin-frame glasses, thin mustache, a beard beginning to get scraggly, and a quiet air.
You feel like he'd answer your questions.
>examine hair
Just long enough to be parted down the (nearly) middle, his hair invites the touch of a hand, fingers to smoothly run through the silken strands or to tousle them good-naturedly.
>examine my hair
Oh, your hair? Same as always, I suppose.
>ask man about virtual world
"New here?" he asks with a smile.
"This is what I tell most people: it's better, on the whole, to not think anymore about how and why you got here. Everything will return to normal, eventually, so just enjoy your stay."
>ask man about escape
"Inevitable, but you can't hurry it. Relax."
>ask man about surroundings
He peers around through his glasses, then back at you, before replying, "I don't know, they seem to be as ill-described as always."
In demonstration, he walks away from you and you watch him grow smaller and smaller before he disappears - and reappears behind you.
"Some crazy topology, eh? Sometimes I think this place reacts to your expectations of it," he muses.
>fly
You fly around for a while. Yay you. Much too quickly the novelty fades (no wind here, or indeed any sort of reference for your motion save the stationary - and much amused - man), and you drift to a stop back where the man is standing.
>ask man about the meaning of life
"42," he promptly answers. "Don't people read, nowadays?"
>what am i doing here?
Sorry, I couldn't parse that.
>ask man about man
"Well, I guess I'm the author around here, yeah," he says to you. "Although, truth be told, I haven't been writing anything much lately, except for some short-lived interactive fiction."
>ask man about interactive fiction
The author sighs.
>ask man about interactive fiction
"Yes, fine, I admit that I underestimated it," the author says, after some more prodding. He runs a hand through his silky, wonderful-smelling hair (you feel like touching it yourself!)
"The ideas I had don't seem to be fleshed out enough, yet, to be worth giving the amount of time and effort that creating interactive fiction, as I found out, would require. I think I need to plan and think about this a bit more. In the meantime, I can find diversions enough to keep me in business."
>ask man about hair
(instead touching the hair)
Soft strands curl around your fingers, and you touch warm scalp. He does not protest, but is visibly uncomfortable at your intrusion.
When you withdraw your hand, he speaks up, "Why do people keep doing that? There must be something wrong with the parser."
The author becomes lost in thought.
>tell man sorry
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>ask man about thought
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>shake man
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>escape
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem - oh, crap, sorry, I mean
You didn't think it'd be that easy, did y -
- well fine okay okay -
(Author's note: there, fixed it!)
****You have won the game****
Finally, you find something better to do.
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