drakulita: sleeps with butterflies

Tuesday, May 24

I'm for Carrie even if everyone's rooting for Bo! Rickey even notes that

Clearly the momentum has shifted to Bo's side after last week's performances. All the major media outlets are now boldly predicting that he will win, and maybe American Idol did want a white male winner this year.

Let's not forget that

Carrie however has a tremendous fan base that has existed from the start of the competition, is Simon's favorite, "looks" like the American Idol and has never been in the bottom 3.

I've never watched AI so closely before. I haven't even had a glimpse of AI 1 & 2! It's a good thing I'm enjoying it this season and it doesn't matter so much to me whether Bo or Carrie wins since they're both, err, showstoppers. I just think Carrie deserves the title more since she's more mainstream material than Bo is. I don't want to and I couldn't see Bo being all too packaged.

We'll see in a couple more hours! In the meantime, here are some totally unrelated links to keep you busy:

Electronic Literature Organization (via jill/txt)
A literary site which aims "to facilitate and promote the writing, publishing, and reading of literature in electronic media."

60 Second Story
The site features "works of fiction 1 minute and 1 second or less in duration told in low-bandwith video clips"

Paris Hilton's banned Carl's Jr. ad (via death2iskra)
"That's hot."

Yahoo! Comics (via how now, brown pau?)
Comics!

Erap (via neehnahw)
The website of the now deposed president states that their site "offers the view from our side. It seeks to provide our users and visitors with direct and untainted information so that they can judge for themselves and are informed accordingly." You can even send spam to the "president" and we'll see if he replies.

NYCLondon
BW photography blog. You can also look at his galleries — the pictures are amazing!

(0) comments @ 10:21 PM

Monday, May 23

Flash: Forgetful Lucy

This is in response to the FlashXer prompt "Missing"—

Forgetful Lucy* (384 words): “Coming!” Mrs. Peters replied as the doorbell sounded all over the house for the nth time. Right by the door was Meryl, her twenty-eight year old daughter.

“Hi Ma. How was your day? Wher--”

“Tiring!” The old lady exclaimed. “I spent the whole afternoon gardening. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to answer the door right away. I was at the back, tinkering with my pots. Spring is coming! I can’t wait to see my babies bloom!” Mrs. Peters gleefully replied.

“You’ve been doing that everyday for the past weeks, Ma. They can grow on their own---”

“Oh no, they sure don’t honey. You should do some gardening with me sometime so you can grow roses and tulips on your own. Can’t always depend on the gardener, you know. When I was your age---”

Mrs. Peters paused and Meryl took the time to stop her mother from any more thinking.

“Ma, you know I don’t have time. It’s almost seven. Carrie and I should better be going home already. Where’s my little girl by the way?”

A second passed and the two women only kept a still gaze at the other. Their silence had given way to a little cry.

“Carrie?” Meryl called out as she ran to where she could hear the whimpering.

“Oh dear…” Mrs. Peters managed to reply, although softly.

Meryl opened the backdoor and managed to spot baby Carrie easily. She was on top of one of the empty plastic pots, seated right smack in the hollow middle and sharing the spot with a tiny plastic shovel, in her mother’s lawn.

By the time they walked back in, with Carrie still covered with smudges of soil, Mrs. Peters was seated in the old loveseat with a sullen look.

“I’m sorry Meryl,” she apologetically tried to explain. “Ever since your father departed, I have been all the more forgetful. It’s like I’m aging double-time.”

Meryl didn’t have the words to say. With Carrie in one hand, she managed to sit beside her mother and hug her as tight as she used to do back when she was Carrie’s age. She let Carrie hug her too and as they got ready to leave, Meryl told her mother with an empathizing laugh what she needed to hear.

“No problem, Ma.”

*with apologies to Adam Sandler and 50 First Dates

(0) comments @ 11:50 PM

Zambales!

I spent the weekend up north in Iba, Zambales with Janix and her family. That's me with the Narag (twin?) sisters in the wacky photos. :P (Say 'Aye!' if you agree that they look alike!) Here's an even wackier photo Janix likes that's why out of the almost-200-pics she took, she included this one among the carefully selected five she recently uploaded:

(which certainly reminds you of this

right?)

(0) comments @ 10:30 AM

Sunday, May 22

Refreshing

Maita's photography, which can sometimes be silly, makes me come back to her blog. This one here is a beauty:

(7) comments @ 4:43 PM

Shit happens

I've recently reformatted our computer after one of those virus attacks (mspn.exe) which I couldn't figure out myself. Anyway, during the process, I got a couple of anti-virus and anti-spyware info from the internet and from my friends. You might want to give some of these a try:

Stinger
Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition, Lavasoft takes the fight against Spyware to the next level.

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization tool. That removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's fast! (normally taking less that a second to run) and Free.

Antivir PersonalEdition Classic
For Windows 98/Me and XP (XP&2000&NT), Linux/OpenBSD/FreeBSD/Solaris. Detects and removes more than 150,000 viruses.

Avast! Home Edition
Avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users, non-commercial users. Home Edition is free of charge, since in our opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however, many user are not able or do not want to pay for antivirus software.

Spybot - Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Spybot-S&D can also clean usage tracks, an interesting function if you share your computer with other users and don't want them to see what you worked on.

Scan Spyware
(Serial: 5426-7451-2543)
ScanSpyware has a very user friendly interface, which makes it very easy for even new users to remove Spyware & Adware using ScanSpyware.

(1) comments @ 10:12 AM

Thursday, May 19

Sith happens

Book excerpt from Revenge of the Sith: The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins--but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one candle is enough to hold it back.

Love is more than a candle.

Love can ignite the stars.

Plaridel recommends reading more excerpts from Episode 3 to those who've watched the movie but haven't read the book. :)

(0) comments @ 11:04 PM

U-nibersidad ng Pilipinas!

I believe in academic freedom. The kind of academic freedom that allows the student to learn beyond what the traditional educational system offers. I believe in the importance of an environment that allows the mind to explore and soar. I believe in an educational institution that allows free thinking. A good school does not repress nor cramp nor stunt its students’ growth as human beings. Any institution for higher learning that only teaches how to make money, or even how to make a lot of money, falls short of my standards.

Yes, I believe in U.P. I’m not saying it’s perfect (it still requires [male] students to undergo this blasted citizen’s military training for four semesters, doesn’t it?) but I say it’s still a cut above the rest. (Sassy Lawyer)

Senior year of high school, I was given four options:
1. UP Diliman, not ComSci.
2. ADMU, MIS.
3. DLSU, ComSci.
4. UST, Comsci.

Despite not getting my first choice, I still chose UP because of two silly reasons. One, a lot of people I know didn't pass the UPCAT for Diliman. Two, lower tuition fee might mean bigger allowance + other perks. Of course I was being unreasonable. First, non-UPCAT passers can always transfer while secondly, I didn't (and still don't!) get such a big allowance as I have expected.

During my first two years, I kept on regretting not choosing Ateneo over UP or not even trying to shift to ComSci during my first year. I don't have a problem with my course but when I get bored reading photocopied notes I could barely read, I wish I was in front of my computer instead! (Although I'm always in front of the computer which means...nevermind!)

Now, I can't say I have no regrets anymore because I still do. However, I couldn't imagine myself not being in UP. In UP Diliman to be exact. I've learned to love my school not because of the earlier reasons I gave back in high school but because of the people I have met and the experiences I've had. I must admit I have found the most amazing set of people inside this university including the most interesting, fun and creative professors; the wittiest, out-of-this-world classmates from all over the country (even outside of it); and the most hyperactive bunch of friends and orgmates who'd willingly offer the best they can just about anytime. To top it all, as what Sassy Lawyer mentions above, no other university in the country matches up with the amount of academic freedom and the rich diversity UP gives.

In UP, I have found the richest people in terms of what they can and have to offer plus all the possibilities they could come up with. I know I am generalizing but I'd like to believe it's the truth. Hey, it's not perfect out there (there are boring professors, lazy students, annoying classmates and yes, we do have a number of rules to follow still) but having found such an enriching and wonderful place to grow in and amazing yet real people to grow with, I wouldn't want to settle for anything less. Would you?

(9) comments @ 1:17 AM

Wednesday, May 18

Flash 69

While searching "flash fiction" by interest in livejournal, I ended up in a kinky community called "69 Word Fiction." Here's a sampler:

First time... (by anuisance2you): Carl just laid there. Unsure, nervous. He had never been with a girl like her before. A woman like her. His arms and legs felt awkward, and out of place. He felt like he should be more relaxed, but his muscles wouldn’t give in. His friends all bragged about how easy it was. “Turn over” she said softly. Shakily, he complied. “Do you want a…Happy Ending? Fifty Dollars more”

(0) comments @ 10:48 PM

Drakulita, 20