Dec 31, 2008 :
Looking Back
Posted by Keng at 11:59 pm; 23 Comments
So I’ve never done any of these reflective posts people usually do on New Year’s Eve. I’m always either too lazy or too busy with festivities, and with each coming year, it becomes more and more of the former. New Year’s here in the US is so… uneventful and boring. It’s not anywhere near as awesome and fun as the family gatherings we’d have amidst thousands-worth of fireworks on my uncle’s roofdeck back in the Philippines. Since this year’s “celebration” is the drabbiest yet, I figured what the hey, let me spend an otherwise wasted evening doing something meaningful and profound and inspirational instead!
;)
Like Kaylee, I tend to measure my time in school years and semesters, and trying to remember back to January, when Spring semester started, seems like a lifetime ago. It doesn’t help that my memory really sucks in general, heh, but I’ll try my best to remember The Stuff That Really Mattered, most of which would have to do with events in recent months that I haven’t been able to blog about or elaborate much on. :D
(WARNING: Extremely long post ahead! XD)
- I didn’t kill myself over not getting an A.
It might seem funny to most, but when I got my first ever C in my entire life, it was a very difficult concept (me, getting a C?????) for me to accept because I had always excelled academically. By all means, it wasn’t like it was such a dark part of my life like I seem to make it out to be for me to consider killing myself, but it’s always hard when you know you would’ve done so much better if you invested the time, but you didn’t. Despite all the negativity and hate I initially had for that grade, it, however, served as a good eye-opener for me. It taught me that the world doesn’t end when I don’t have that perfect 4.0 GPA; that life is so much more than the grade I got for my Intro to Financial Accounting class; and that I, as a person, am not defined by the grades that I get in whatever class I take.
- I was able to snag a giclee print of Audrey Kawasaki’s “Lacey”.
I don’t even think I need to explain this one, hahaha. XD It was the first time I tried to purchase an actual art print, and it was a Kawasaki at that, whose internet sales for limited edition prints are well known to sell out in as little as a minute. But I managed to get one! And on my first ever attempt, too! :D
- My older brother came to visit us after being away for 2 years. <3
Kuya D3, my 2nd older brother, has been in the Philippines since 2006. He didn’t really like it here when we first moved (heh, none of us did), so him and Kuya Erik worked hard until they had enough money for a plane ticket and one year’s tuition (after which time my parents would agree to support them if they showed promise in their academics). Kuya Erik eventually went back here later that same year because of his health, but Kuya D3 stayed behind until he had to come back here to renew his re-entry permit 2 years later. He got on everyone’s nerves a lot while he was here, he he, but it was awesome to be able to hug him again and to talk about relevant stuff (instead of always trying to catch up with each other XD). :)
- I got exposed more to the evils of Mr. G. >__<
Mr. G was a very mean parrot to me this year. D:
- I finally moved to an off-campus apartment with 3 of my closest friends in uni.
Despite all the comforts and benefits of living in the dorms, moving to an apartment was definitely a decision I (and my roommates, for that matter) can’t ever regret. It has its ups (we each have our own bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet! we have our own kitchen and a washer and dryer! etc etc!) and downs (dishes, worrying about rent and bills, dishes…), but for the most part, it’s such an awesomely fun and new experience that I can’t really complain much. It’s especially nice to find out that there’s so much more to learn from your friends by living with them; that each day can always turn pleasantly surprising and eventful from something as small and routine as a conversation. :)
- I made the switch to Apple and got myself a MacBook Pro.
I think it’s funny how when I first tried a Mac 3 years ago (yeah, I don’t think they existed in the Philippines before then, HAHA), I absolutely hated it and vowed never to get one. Sometime last year, however, the prospect of being able to run both Mac OS and Windows in one machine through Boot Camp or a virtual machine started intriguing me, and once the seed was planted, it continued to grow and gnaw at my mind. It took a year, but I finally got one back in September and it arrived on my doorstep the day after my 2-year-old Toshiba laptop decided to die on me and got itself riddled with Trojans (and to think it never got any virus whatsoever prior to that). My experience so far with Kaede (my MBP’s name, hee :3) has been interesting, to say the least. I’m always finding something new to learn about and be excited over, it’s ridiculous, especially considering my first impressions on a Mac.
- I turned 20.
I’ve never been a person who cared much about her age–I didn’t understand or see the point in worrying myself over some silly number. This year’s birthday, however, was different in that I’m not a teenager anymore. I don’t particularly mind it, but it’s weird to wrap my mind around the fact that I’ve lived in this world for two decades now. ^^
- We finally have a house!
After only being here in the US for 3 years, owning a house seemed like such a far away thing–something that will happen in maybe 5-10 more years. But no, my parents were able to buy one through God’s blessing, despite some bumps on the road, and it certainly has been an exciting adventure. DIY stuff tends to get annoying, though, but all the rewards and experiences in the end are always worth it. :D
- Christmas. <3
The holiday season didn’t feel like the holidays for me this year, I don’t even understand why. Regardless of the lack of Christmas spirit within me, however, this Christmas proved to be one of the best I’ve ever had since I made myself operate on Philippine time and video chatted with my lovely BFFs and some of our high school classmates, who were all at Rosa’s for a fabulous Christmas-party-slash-epic-sleepover. XD I miss them all terribly, and for a whole week I was able to constantly talk to most of them, it was awesome. <33
- I changed my major from Accounting to Information Systems & Operations Management.
Ahhh, the most major of all the major things that happened in my life this year/recently. XD I’ve been in Accounting ever since I started uni, but my reason for choosing it as my major has never been because I liked it. Initially, I couldn’t think of what I wanted to take, so I put in what my parents took (they’re both CPAs), thinking that if I ever needed help with something, all I had to do was call home. Retaking Intro to Financial Accounting last semester helped in making me more interested in the subject matter, and up until Accounting Info & Business Processes 1, I enjoyed learning about financial accounting. Once I realized, however, that there was also cost accounting and managerial accounting and all these other kinds of accounting for me to learn, I started rethinking this path I set myself on. My professor for BP1, Dr. Dickinson, was the best I’ve ever had in all my years at UF so far–she was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, easy to approach, loving–I could go on and on. But they were qualities I would never ever have towards Accounting, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was just dragging my feet along this particular ride, waiting for the end to come near without deriving any sort of lasting pleasure. I saw no sense in that and in working my butt off for a future I won’t even enjoy, so I went ahead and shopped for a new major. ^__^ I’m going to be taking programming classes next semester, I’m excited! And I hope my sentiments for my new path in life stay like this. :)
Wow. 2008. What a year. I hope 2009 is just as good and promising. :D
On that note:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Dec 25, 2008 :
Pasko Na
Posted by Keng at 4:08 am; 9 Comments
My mom did the most atrocious thing the other day:
SHE BOUGHT A SWIMSUIT. FOR ME.
*dies*
That better not have been her Christmas gift to me, hahahaha. XD
Kidding aside (well, on that last sentence anyway):
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
(Mr. G was too scared to wear the Santa hat in the corner, lol, so this image has to do XD)
Expect a site rehaul in the next few days! ;)
Sep 12, 2008 :
Nonsensical
Posted by Keng at 11:53 pm; 5 Comments
Meet Carlito, the transvestite donkeycorn of apartment 111. :)
One of my roomies, Rose, turned 21 last Sunday. I decided to give her a piñata as a birthday gift (although initially, it was just meant for entertainment purposes), and she ended up loving it him. Apparently, I conceived him in Mexico with no knowledge of who or what or if there is a father. How I even got to Mexico without knowing how to drive still baffles me, but OMG DETAILS LIKE THAT ARE NOT IMPORTANT. Rose keeps Carlito away from the bad mother (aka me) and the evil a-piñata-is-supposed-to-be-hit! plans of Wendy and Ruth, and spends a lot of time hanging out with him and eating candy from his butt.
Yeah, it’s always this lively in #111. XD
In less-weird news:
I got a MacBook Pro! And I love it! :)
Also, BoardX (aka the only forum I’ll ever love/actively participate in, at least now that SonyPH has been dead for a while) is back! It’s a fresh new start, but it’s still filled with the same awesome, supportive (can definitely vouch for that <3) people who’ve made it great all these years. Go join if you never have or re-join if you still haven’t! ^_^
Yay I updated! Haha.