Dad Lives the Dream

Three weeks ago, my family and I went to Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for my dad's training for his first 42-kilometer run. After sixteen weeks of training, proper diet, and rigid self-discipline, I think Dad was more than ready for The Bull Runner Dream Marathon. Today, he lived that dream!

Starting at an ungodly hour of 2:00 AM... (sorry, bad lighting!)
...Dad finished all 42 kilometers in 5 hours and 18 minutes! (See that victorious man cross the pink ribbon!) I do think, though, that his mini support system worked wonders. Haha! See photos below.
Nice touch with the art materials for cheering! Anyway, my dad's name is not Jack. We call him such in reference to Jack Bauer of that awesome TV series, 24. Haha. Okay, TMI.
Imagine how many people in this world can complete a full marathon. Need I present statistics? Hah! I'm so proud of my dad!

More photos:Dad poses again at the photo wall, now with The Bull Runner Dream Marathon organizer, The Bull Runner herself, Jaymie Pizarro! Congrats, TBR, for a very successful event! Next year again? :)
And here is Dad with Coach Jim Lafferty. Coach Jim's techniques are way beyond awesome! I've tried incorporating them into my daily timetable, but school, among others, gets in the way. Soon, soon.
Matadors greet the The Bull Runner Dream Marathoners with a medal upon crossing the finish line. Bull Runner, matadors... Hah! Very clever. ;)
Daddy and the (very) few, the loud, and the proud Team Running Jack! Hahaha! We adjusted body clocks, meal times, mindsets. We stood strong amidst millions of yawns at dawn; amidst the heat on that sunny day... Anything for Dad!
(L-R) Drew Arellano, Iya Villania, me, my brother Gabe. (Like, duh, did I really have to have that caption? Hahahaha.)
Me, TBR and TBR Jr. :) To be treasured! Haha! My blog is graced by The Bull Runner's presence. *DANCE* Hahaha.

Since I am yet to run 42K, here's a manipulated photo of the photo wall from today. Haha!
And soon (say, a year? Haha), I will run my own 42K! After I'm done with all the school requirements I'm expected to finish to get that diploma, I can focus my time on training so I can live my dream marathon, too. Perhaps in a year or two? ;)

Back From Hiatus

Such an eventful Friday! (Okay, fine, fine, delayed post. Hahaha.)

"Ladies and gentlemen, please, walk this way!" Mr. Carlos Celdran, thank you, I had an awesome walking tour! Manila never looked so different until you made us see beyond aesthetics. :)
On a kalesa with Meryl, Kay, and Paula! Thanks manong kalesa driver for this photo!
Later that Friday, Royale: Rule the Night at Gasthof, A-Venue, a party for the benefit of Project: Brave Kids. I rarely go to parties but my friends, Lych and Reg (and their group for their event class) organized it. Congrats!

(Okay, so they're not in the photo. Hahaha. Sorry, the ones with them aren't up yet!) Here's Pam, Ate Clarence, Kuya Jojo, AJ, and Mommy Ria! Some heart-to-heart with Ate Clarence made a lot of things make a lot of sense! :)
And then my Saturday and Sunday were very uneventful. Home, grocery shopping, church, dine out. But it was awesome, nonetheless.

I didn't mind three things for three days:

1. SCHOOL - Yes, I know it's almost finals week but I think I can manage to take a break. Besides, my classes this term don't require a lot of reading, reviewing, studying, and the like. Most of them (if not all, hmm) are method- or process- application classes. Of course, having Monday as a no-class-day is always a plus! :)
   
2. WORK - I know I'm not really "employed" but GMG, more than an extra-curricular school activity, is almost my life. Well, my lifestyle is dictated by it sometimes. I haven't been very MIA (missing in action) because I'm like glued to my phone, still. I think I really, really deserve a break from all the production services request. After all, I have academic, family, and social life to lookout for as well.
   
3. CYBERSPACE - My mom always told me that I'm an internet monster. Or a computer monster. Something like that. I look like a zombie because I stay up until the wee hours of dawn, just hooked up to the internet, eyes glues to the monitor, fingers typing away to infinity. And beyond! (Haha, Buzz Lightyear in the house?) I'm glad to see only 77 email messages for a span of three days, as opposed to my more estimated 50+ email messages per 24 hours.

Now that I'm back from my so-so but relaxing weekend, I expect my world to be the way it was three days ago: noisy and erratic despite the awesome, cheap thrills. I don't expect the stress to be murderous anymore. I think I owned the weekend.

Happy Panda

Sometimes I just wanna hide from the world (well, MY world, at least) and from everything that's happening with it.

Photo downloaded from somewhere in the web, I don't own it. I wish I owned a panda, though.

What makes a panda sad?

Sometimes I just wanna hide from the world and from everything that's happening with it.

1. Sleeping at wee hours in the morning (try 2AM?) to make sure that the day ahead is planned, spic and span
2. Making endless phone calls and sending text messages that depletes a P100 credit to P12 in a matter of three days
3. Listening to ramblings and bickering from the bosses and higher ups about how wrong things were done
4. Setting three to four meetings in one afternoon just to meet deadlines

What makes a sad panda a happy one?

1. Getting a hug from mom, dad, brother, and puppy
2. Getting a pep talk from the ultimate hero, mommy
3. Crying a large bucket of tears as a way to de-stress
4. Getting by with classes and school work
5. Hanging out with friends (and best friends!) who actually listen even though some don't understand

I was Happy Panda at the beginning of this week. Tuesday came and I was Sad Panda. After today, request problems were resolved and issues were cleared. I'm no Sad Panda no more! But I ain't one that's happy either. Tomorrow, perhaps? :)

Taking The Wheel

Today wasn't my usual class-chill-stat-hangout-MIA-chill Thursday.

I drew this on my best friend Joh's nape, see? CUTIE! I think I wanna be a tattoo artist if worse comes to worst. Bahahaha!

I took the wheel tonight and boy did I drive! (Haha, what?) The Green Media Group had its last general assembly for this school year and it was awesome. Hehe. Well, generally, maybe not really that awesome, but it was to me! It was the first time that I presided a general assembly. It was nothing much, really. It's just like talking in front of a class, telling them about your plans and all other agenda. It was cool.

Two weeks ago, the Executive Board for the next academic year was announced. Tonight, more brave souls were summoned to the call of leadership and responsibility: the Pool Heads for GMG's six unique pools.

[L-R] Incoming pool heads for an awesome year ahead: Frank (Hosting), Hannah (Creatives), Raj (Production Design), Celine (Coverage), Robin (Scriptwriting), and Joan (Audio-Visual Production).

Outgoing (and proxy) pool heads and incoming pool heads!

Outgoing pool heads, incoming pool heads, plus the executive board! We are gonna have an awesome year, loves! ♥

Going through a transition phase yet again, and this time, I really should take the wheel. Note to self: In everything that you do, DFTBA! (Don't forget to be awesome!)

Personal Best

My personal best was 50 minutes for 5K, and that's the farthest I can run. More than that, I think I'd die midway. Haha. With enough training I think I can go for a 10K on the Mizuno Run on Aprill 11. But! Before anything else, I'm still holding my head high and proud because I beat my 50 minutes this morning in Ready, Get Sweat, Go!, the Pocari Sweat Fun Run. This morning, I ran for only 43 minutes for 5K! Woo!

It is Otsuka's first time to organize a fun run, I think, and I have to give it to them for having 1,800 registered runners. That's 300 people more than expected! ;) But I hate how the water stations weren't very functional. They're placed in strategic places but I know that they weren't strategic enough when I started coughing because my throat was already extremely dry!

Anyway, less rant, more photos!

HAHA. This photo, FTW. Sorry, I'm just so overwhelmed. I wasted a month without training and yet I beat my personal best!
Mom beat her personal best, too, with 38 minutes! Woot!
My brother, Gabe, was supposed to run 10K, but he has a basketball game in the mid-morning. No, he didn't run 3K. He ran 5K, we were just being goofy. Hahaha.
Look who I met up with at the starting and finish line? David! Hahaha! Great job on the 22 minutes, partner!
Beads of sweat. Let's go, thesis! (More beads of sweat there. Haha!) Missing Meryl. Sis, run with us soon, ah? :>

After today, I have set a new goal: RUN MY FIRST 10K! It comes with a condition, though. I'll only run a distance of 10K once I get a 30-minute 5K run. Woo!

The Future Started Today

Responsibility is something I've always had, but it wasn't something I always chose to deal with. Sometimes, random circumstances tweak the way your life was supposed to go... Or at least how you wanted it or how you planned it. It's all a matter of recognizing priorities and acknowledging what's urgent and important.

Today marked the beginning of a future (I hope will be) filled with surprise, excitement, new insights, new learning, and maybe a bit of healthy stress. Haha! Come on, I'm not being pessimistic; it's all part of the job. Pressure will always be there to create stress, eventually. Just a reality check. Haha.

Today, the gods have spoken. Haha, what gods? I have one and He's the only one I got.

I know and I believe my Father loves me, He never leaves me.

My Father's Child
(A gospel song I learned back in grade school.)

I am more than scared than confident, which isn't such an advisable start. But the more that I think about it, I am constantly being reminded that there will always be my GMG mommies and current co-executive board members who I can run to when all is set on rocky ground.

Outgoing and incoming EBs.
[Photo courtesy of Joan Guinto]

All geared up? Good to go? Let's do this, darlings!
AJ, Meryl, Mimi, Sheila, and Angge... WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, OKAY? I believe in us! :)
[Photo courtesy of Joan Guinto]

Green Media Group - Second General Assembly,
AY 2009-2010, T3 | Y505

Photos, photos!

Coverage Pool!
[Photo courtesy of Joan Guinto]

So, here.
[Photo courtesy of Meryl Algenio. Thanks, sis. CONGRATULATORY!!! Haha!]

*** EDIT ***
So just to give you more than just an idea, haha, I've been to vague, yeah? Haha. I was elected as the DLSU Green Media Group's President for the incoming school year of 2010-2011. There. Whew. It still feels a little weird to say (or type) that. La la la. :)

Fate...

... is something I hardly believe in. It is something that I resort to only when logic (and all else) fails. It's simply like throwing myself into an abyss, a bottomless pit, just because I was too lazy to make sense of it.

It's driven me before, and it seems to a faint,
haunting mass appeal.
But lately I, am beginning to find that I,
should be the one behind the wheel.

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
with open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there...

Drive
Incubus

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. I'll try my best but no guarantees. You can expect my open arms and open eyes, though. ;)

Collapse, Lay Dead, Hibernate

What is up with my February? There are only four weeks, and the third week is about to end today. The first week was one hell of a busy one. I spent the second week being sick to the bones. The third week was a no-academic-stuff-accomplished-just-pure-org-work week, which gave me more than the stress and exhaustion that I expected: two shows.

Taken last Thursday night, during the Culture X production. Yuchengco never looked this pretty until that night.

Last night, when I went to the University Week Animo Fair and Culminating Night, I felt like I wanted to collapse and lay dead and hibernate. I wish I could do just that. Hibernate! I feel like I need that now. I collapsed on my bed last night. I lay dead and slept. All that's left to do is hibernate.

But before anything else, here are some photos to show that despite insanity, I look sane. Or not? Hahaha! Well, fine. I look too damn tired.

I was telling them a funny story that happened two weeks ago. I'm really this animated when I tell people about my experiences and whatnot. I'm enjoying my mango juice, that's for sure. Haha.

Ugh. Fat cheeks plus deep, dark eye bags. Not nice. Not nice at all.

Both photos courtesy of Yanee.

I know that hibernation is a far cry right now; what with midterms week coming up and all other requirements attached to it. For sure, I would love to hibernate from GMG, even just for this week. I know I still have a lot of responsibilities despite the midterms, but I think I can put them off somehow. Even just for a week.

To make things light again, here are some photos from Friday night:

Most photos courtesy of Yanee, Lexie, and Meryl.

Hanging On

I've been sick, battling coughing fits and popping paracetamols, since Sunday afternoon. Four days of this isn't much of a big deal, really. I've had worse days. This has been hell week so far. Add to the feverish mornings that end with wasted nights, this week should be awarded: "Hell Week of the Year" and that's only the beginning, I can tell. School is making me feel like I'm nearing midterms already; schoolwork are piling up! Work, as in org work, has been by far at its most erratic state. I'm also in an erratic financial state. I just can't seem to at least learn how to budget my allowance. Haha, that sucks, yeah? My social life is okay, nonetheless. It's steady.

Every day, I feel like giving up on my responsibilities; be it in school, with the organization, at home, la la la. But it all comes down to sleeping the stress away with a glass of milk or a mug of green tea, late night internet blahs, petty text updates with my friends back home, et cetera. In short, it all comes down to everything feeling alright when I close my eyes at night (or midnight, or dawn) after my nightly prayers preceded by random ramblings, cussing, and ranting (to myself, in silence, in the dark, haha) about what a hellhole the day felt like.

Like tonight, I was supposed to do two group works with, well, two different groups for my two classes tomorrow. I'm sooo glad I have such amazing friends (who are like my sisters, really) as groupmates. The two of them spared me and my sister-bestfriend (what haha) from absolute insanity from all the things that kept us busy.

Ah, friends. They're like presents on a Christmas morning. You already know that they're good stuff no matter how nicely or badly they're wrapped. (Not that I'm friends with badly-wrapped packages. I choose my friends, you know. I befriend beautiful people. Haha! Just kidding. I'm Miss Congeniality, for crying out loud. Bahaha! Again, I kid.)

As for the other group, of which three are guys and I'm the only estrogen, uhh, good luck, I guess? Haha. I'll settle the matter tomorrow. Before class. Major cramming, hahaha, that's what I'm good at.