Monday, December 31, 2007

The Year that WAS

In a few hours, the Philippines will welcome 2008 with a BANG, well except for Davaoeños since firecrackers are prohibited in the city. 2007 has been a tough year for me. Well, these are some remarkable things that I've done in the year 2007.


I SLEPT the whole day before an exam.
I OVERSLEPT during our FINALS. Haha. 8.30 am ang finals ng Chem16, 8.35 am na ako nagising. My God. My prof just laughed at my funny situation.
I ALMOST lost my cellphone. Good thing, I just forgot to get it from Cocok. Haay.
I learned to appreciate small things in LIFE.
I became more happy in my life.
CONTENTMENT is the biggest lesson that I've learned in my LIFE.
I still maintain my optimistic view in life.
I still managed to maintain my rank in college (same as highschool), despite the VERY HIGH standards of my university.
I skipped DINNER just to compensate my sleeping hours, most especially if it's our midterms and finals.
My views in life had become broader than in my previous years.
I had chose my friends WISELY.
I had learned to ride an HH or Habal-habal. HAHAHA.
I had been suffering from INSOMNIA lately.
I had been addicted with CAFFEINE. Ooooh. I prefer ice-cold coffee than hot coffee.
I had been susceptible to diseases like flu, fever and asthma more frequently due to accumulated stress.


I missed my highschool friends. I missed my alma mater. Well new year's coming and I don't have a clue on what wuld be my life for the upcoming year.

Gummy bears are totally addictive, well most especially if they had a song dedicated to them. So, before I end this post (This would be probably my LAST POST for this year), I would like to leave you a CUTE and CHARMING SONG entitled: I am your Gummy Bear, sang by Gummy Bear!







please click the play button since I didn't activate the autoplay. Thanks.

Oh I’m a gummy bear.
Yes I’m a gummy bear.
Oh I’m a yummy tummy funny lucky gummy bear.
I’m a jelly bear.
Cause I´m a gummy bear.
Oh I’m a movin’ groovin’ jammin’ singing gummy bear.
Oh yeaoooh.

VERSE 1
Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummibär
Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummibär
Bai ding ba doli party
Bamm bing ba doli party
Breding ba doli party party pop
Bai ding ba doli party
Bamm bing ba doli party
Breding ba doli party party pop

REPEAT REFRAIN

Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Three Times You Can Bite Me
Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Ba Ba Bidubidubi Yum Yum
Three Times You Can Bite Me

VERSE 2
Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummibär
Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummy Gummibär
Én vagyok a gumimaci
Gyere már gyere velem
Gyere táncolj már kérlek get get party pop.
Én vagyok a gumicummi
Cicci meg a kodile a mambó csoda
Pápé gyere már és táncolj party pop.

REPEAT REFRAIN

Oh Oh Oh Oh badudi party didi
bab bi du bi dam gummy bear
Oh Oh Oh Oh bi du bi dam dam
ba du bi da bi didi gummy bear party pop
REPEAT REFRAIN



Six freakin' HOURS to go before 2008!

SAYONARA Piggy!

I woke up early today and only had four and a half hours of sleep.

And for the reason? We attended the LAST Eucharistic Celebration of the year 2007. After six or seven months of living in an "unfaithful lifestyle", I finally attended a Sunday Mass. My GOD! Forgive me.

Oh well. Today's the LAST DAY of 2007. Goodbye Piggy. Say hello to our new mascot - EARTH RAT. Hey hey hey! Rats and Chipmunks are related to each other, well, if we take a closer look on to their phylogeny. Whatever. I wish Chinese Astrologers and Feng Shui experts would include the following animals or insects on to their ASTROLOGY:

Chipmunk, squirrels, IPIS, chicken, ducks, hamsters, owls, frog and TARSIER.

Hahaha. Speaking of Chipmunks, I’m really, REALLY EXCITED on the upcoming movie of the Chipmunks, that is, ALVIN and the CHIPMUNKS! I dedicate this movie to my beloved barkada-mate, Kristalalala.

What’s with the Squirrels? Nah. Year of the Flying Squirrels – and every people would soar and fly HIGH like a squirrel. HAHA. Yuck! The hell. Ba’t kasama pa si Manong IPIS dito? Oh well. It seems that I’m pretty thrilled for the upcoming dissection of cockroaches in our Bio 3 Lab. Aynaku. If Chinese astrologers will include this, the would definitely be the freakiest, the nastiest and the eekiest year of all. How about year of the IPIS slash cockroachYEAR of the CHICKENS or DUCKS? Only Chicken Little and Ugly Duckling would be happy for it. Tadahtadah blabberblabberblahblah. Hamtaro would be happy if he’s included in the Chinese astrology. Unfortunately, he’s not. Ooooh yeah. OWLS and FROGS would definitely charm its way to the Chinese Astrology but they can’t since the sky’s has been overcrowded by horses, bulls, Tamaraws (if any..), dogs, roosters, the mighty DRAGONS and more.

The Year of the TARSIER would sound quite awkward but I’m sure Filipinos would be proud of it. Whatever, again. This would make the eyes of the Chinese rounder, bigger and, you guess. HAHAHA =]]. I’m quite hyper today, even if it’s one in the morning. I just have a LOOONG NAP. So long that I slept form 2.30 am to 9.00 pm. Six and a half hours of NAP. Just look at that. Hahaha.

So, 2007 will bade his last goodbye on us by the next 23 hours or less and let’s celebrate and party as we welcome 2008 with a bang, but in an innovative way since I’m a Davaeño. You know what I mean kiddo. No fireworks.


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! CHEERS!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

TAGGED

Rules:
Do the following without any complaints.
Choose 5 lucky people to do this after you have done it.
Leave a tag at his/her tagboard if he/she has been tagged.


FAVORITES:

Colors : anything that belongs to the visible light spectrum. NYAHAHA. well well, I LOOVE sky blue, cerulean, pastel pea green, brown, tan, orange, maroon, black and white. HAHA =]]

Food: the ultimate fried chicken of my dad, spaghetti, bake macaroni and fettuccine of my tita, Tappioca of my tito, FRUITCAKE, Red ribbon cakes, rice [of course], pork chop, pork and beef STEAK, PIZZA by greenwhich, PIZZAHUT or shakey's, BIG MAC of McDo, amazing aloha of jollibee, VIRTUALLY ANYTHING! except for seafoods [except fish], I'm allergic to it. Now that's what you call a DISASTER!

Song: READ MY MIND, Mr. Brightside, When You Were Young, Sam's Town, Somebody Told Me by The Killers, Brighter than Sunshine, Coldplay.

Movie: STARDUST, The Kingdom, The Day After Tomorrow, Twister, Shrek 1, 2 and the third, Titanic, Deep Impact, The Invasion, The Simpsons Movie, etc.

Sports: Basketball. Badminton.

Day of the week: FRIDAY [most especially 'pag dismissal time na], SATURDAY and MONDAY [I don't have classes during this day, as of this semester].

Season: SUMMER and the Holiday Season.

Ice cream flavor: STRAWBERRY and VANILLA. Classic, simple yet irresistible. YUM YUM.


CURRENTS:

Mood: half NR, half excited for the new year's eve.
Taste: nothin'. ---
Shorts: checkered na something that's dark blue to black na ewan. ahh basta! Shorts siya.. PERIOD.
Desktop: abstract.almost black with a tinge of gray but not emo-ish. with a lonely bunny on it. Just downloaded it from pixelgirl.com.
Toenail: plain translucent white. :))
Time: 11.25 pm, as of this moment.
Surroundings: quite cold in here.
Thoughts: food to eat later, back to school drama this third of january, long quiz, arggh.


FIRSTS:

Bestfriend: HAHAHA. Nice question. Definitely it's MILES HILOTINA. Grade one kami nyun. HAHAHA. Funny memories.
Movie: Space Jam or Power Rangers Movie. Either of the two.
Lie: --- HAHAHA
Songs: Macarena, Paint My Love by Michael Learns to Rock, Savage Garden, Careless Whisper, Right Here Waiting, Heaven Knows, Mmmmbop, Spice Girls, Don't Speak, Toy Braxton


LASTS:

Cigar: I don't smoke. I;m asthmatic. I don't want to die EARLY.
Drink: WATER.
Car ride: Kaninang hapon.
Phone call: Two days ago, kay Kristalala Chipmunk. I told her na alagaan niya yung isang cellphone ko. HAHAHA.
CD: Last year. Compilation of The Killer's TWO ALBUMS - Hot Fuss and Sam's Town. I think that would be my last CD collection.


HAVE YOU EVER:

Dated your best friend: No.
Broke the law: Of course! Hahaha. Any kinds of "LAW" will do. But I have limitations and discipline.
Been arrested: Nope. And I don't ahve plans on it!
Kissed someone you don’t know: YUCK. Hell, no.


5 THINGS YOU’RE WEARING:

my glasses
slippers.
watch
t-shirt.
shorts


4 THINGS YOU’VE DONE TODAY:

Net surf.
Watched TV.
Attended a MASS after 7 months. OOPS.
Visited my lola's house.

3 THINGS YOU CAN HEAR NOW:

TV.
Aircon's slow, peaceful humming sound
Music.

Tagged by: Cha. Thanks Cha! :D


Friday, December 28, 2007

say UGGGH

Ugh. Crap.

Dammit.

My head aches SOO BAD. Ang sakit. Wait. My TWO EYEBALLS ache. Maybe it's my crappy eyes again. OR MAYBE, this is the result from accumulated stress. Whatever. I feel like I'm gonna vomit at any moment this time. CRAP. Shit.

I've drank 1 tablet of Biogesic three and a half hours ago.

And I don't want to drink Biogesic NOW - baka ma-overdose ako, and that's another dilemma. Ugh.

It's raining and I'm disturbed with its sound when rain meets roof. UUUYYY! Gumagawa ng scandal si Rain and Roof. Hahaha.

WAIT. MAYBE it's because of sudden weather change. Kanina nga lang, it was like a hot and humid afternoon, then today, it's raining cats and dogs.

I'm halfway with my Chemistry homework. 6 days to go 'til the Chem17 LOONG QUIZ.

I need to SLEEP. Adequate rest is highly appreciated.

Gütten Nacht.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

hard habit to break

I'm finished with my Bio 3 Lab reports. Thank God.

I'm sleepy already and it's still 8.33 pm.

I'm ALMOST broke. YES. ALMOST - from a thousand grands to 300 bucks. YES. 300 pesos. Ugh. At least school's gonna be next week.

WAIT. ugh! NEXT WEEK? Hell. I haven't started my Chemistry yet! Hell. Oh well. I still have 8 MORE days 'til Jan. 4. Good thing, when I'll return to class by January 3, walang Chem. Haaay. SIGH. PROCRASTINATION, get out of my life. Ugh. It's just ME, ME and ME! Whatever.

I want to sleep early. My mind is spinning round and round. I only had seven hours of sleep last night. Argh. Wait. Seven hours? Men. That's still insufficient to me! I CAN sleep SIXTEEN hours STRAIGHT. YES. That's TRUE.

I still haven't bought on what I REALLY NEED slash WANT this Holiday Season:


-a GOOD PENSHOPPE WALLET - since my present wallet's approximately 4 years old. YUCK and it's quite cheap looking. HAHA. Well, well what's important is, I had tons of foul-smelling papers on that piece of trash ESTE mini-bank of mine. Heehee.


-a NEW toothbrush - I need to replace my old one. I've been using my lame toothbrush for like 5 months or more. EEEK. But instead, I bought a 230 peso worth tooth-whitening paste at WATSONS. UGGH. Foolish little brat. I hope that toothpaste would be an effective one. Whatever.

My back hurts a bit. I'm sitting in an office chair with a poor posture. God. The pain's starting to grow. Uggh. The sharp, shearing pain. I need a full body massage right now. PRONTO. Mom can't massage me because she firmly believes that I'm NOT SICK. My acting-fartsy-dartsy didn't WORK. I'm broke. I'm Procrastinating. I'm doomed if I continue this bad habit. Uggh.


I've been using this expression for many times in this post: "UGGH." The hell you care about it. UGGH! Hahaha.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The PIG'S remaining DAYS

The end is near.


It's like saying goodbye to Piglet, Babes, the three little pigs, PEGGY, idig-idig [my alleged pet pig when I was young], BABOY and alike.

The end is near.

I've finally finished and completed the arduous yet exciting Bio 3 (Biodiversity) Lab Reports. I've finished not just one lab exercise, but three life-long exercises. I am half through with my heavy home works and school works. I can now concentrate with my upcoming Chemistry long quiz.

I am almost through.

My friend as well as my classmate, July, stated that these home works almost killed her festive mood in today’s holiday season. I agree with her. I second the motion.

My friend Geva, a BACA [Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts] student said that she didn’t know how to start her midterm projects as school resumes this January 3, 2008.

Inna gave a comment on one of my friendster account. She said that it’s quite difficult to locate those pesky answers on our lab reports in Bio 3.

My good old pal Chippy AKA Kim [Krista] didn’t have plans to study for her upcoming long exams in Microbiology and Animal Science.

Fred Egg had tremendous assignments on his SocSci subjects.

Neil would only worry if it is January 2, 2008. For now, he’s gonna enjoy the festive spirit of the yuletide season.

Life is always difficult. You should deal with it.

While I was busy on answering my Bio 3 Lab reports, Carmi texted me that we should have some quality time together with my barkada at the mall (G-mall). Uggh, again?! So we finalized our plans by midnight.

Life is short and full of surprises.

I’m still suffering with my severe flu and my head aches so bad when night struck. I drank two medicine tablets and good thing my head ache went off. Eventually, mom gave me a cool massage on my forehead, head, back and chest. She surprised me.

Life is so sweet and wonderful.

I crave for fruitcakes. My friends find me weird for I find fruitcakes delicious.

Life is a sophisticated thing. Life is WEIRD.

I’m quite anxious with the upcoming year, which is the year 2008. I really don’t know what would be my fate in the next five days.

Destiny shall linger upon one’s life. It is a mysterious paradigm.

I’m going to sleep early. I’m going to meet my old friends within the next 10 hours.

Life is sweet, delicate and a wonderful gift from GOD. Five jittery days before 2008 !!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Weird Christmas


Since 2001, I never had a chance or an opportunity to watch the wonderful, colorful and magnificent night sky during Christmas and New Year's Eve. Everything was peaceful and serene, except for the noisy yet happy commotions of our neighbors.

Firecrackers or any explosive materials are completely banned here in Davao City under the
City Ordinance XXXXXX (I forgot the code, sorry).This was implented by the City Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte in the year 2001. It's been six years since I had witnessed the colorful fireworks display in the city. After the implementation, the city has become gloomy, morbid, melancholic, CLEANER and the night sky's relatively clearer than those firecracker-stricken years.

Despite the absence of firecrackers during Christmas and New Year's Eve, the quality time for the family during the Noche Buena could never be obliterated and changed. Yan ang TATAK PINOY.

Somehow, I find this year's Christmas funny and weird.

It was 2.30 in the afternoon. While I was busy on surfing the internet and my brother's also busy on watching an anime flick on our dvd, somebody knocked on our gate. The voice was pretty distinctive and my subconcious mind registered it as the voice of a helpless
LUMAD. I was right and wrong at the same time. I was right because she was indeed, a LUMAD only that she did not look helpless for she wore casual clothings and accessories similar to a teenage girl that resides in downtown Davao. She also had an mp3 headset sticking out on to her left ear. She blankly asked us for food and clothing.

My brother confronted the lady and said:

"Balik lang 'day!" (Come back)

Then the Lumad lady replied innocently:
"Dile naman mi mubalik dire kay mubalik naman mi ugma sa bundok" (We can't return to your place [dammit! haha], we're scheduled to depart enroute to the mountains tomorrow.) [aba, parang INDAY version!]


From the kitchen, my father heard their commotion and yelled,
"Balik lang lagi!"

And the lady disappeared without a trace. (Ngyee?)


I remembered while we ate dinner moments ago, my father, mother and brother told me that we're gonna celebrate the Noche Buena by midnight. Aba aba aba! Nagsalita ang marunong! When midnight struck,
EVERYONE was ASLEEP except me. My aunt called me and laughed because everyone in the house was fast asleep. Good thing, mom woke and eventually offered me a macaroni salad. My dad cooked and served it and it was delicious, VERY DELICIOUS.

This is our usual story during Christmas Eve since 2001. But by New Year's Eve, they're wide awake 'til 12.45 am. New Year kasi eh.

It's 2 minutes before 2 am and I want to eat my dad's spaghetti. Yumyum!



Once again, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAVE A HAPPY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.


---

**Oh yeah, may nagpaputok pa rin ng TRIANGLE. Haaay. PASAWAY. Lagot kayo kay digong!**

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Forget me not


It's the Yuletide Season.

A perfect time for family bonding, a time to give gifts to our loved ones, a time to EAT and KILL TIME, and most of all, a time to..

STUDY ??!

Wait wait. It's Christmas right? Am I crazy? No. Seriously. I'm just surfing the net for three and a half hours when I came across with July's latest blog post moments ago. God. Thanks July for posting that blog post, I mean, Bio 3 Lab didn't came to my subconscious mind until I read your blog. Thank you so much. Really. I OWE You.

And this is the summary of our workloads this Holiday Season:


1) Chem 17 Long Quiz - Metallic Bond, Covalent Bond and Ionic Bond, Lewis Structure and it's NATURE. Good thing, we had already lectured this in our Chem 17 Lab and in our MST 1 (Nat.Sci 1). Haaay. Expect the unexpected kiddo!

2) Bio 3 (Biodiversity) Lab Reports - God. Ang dami nila. Lots and lots of blank pages to draw and tables to fill. WERLA !!! (Ma'am Pakdat would always use this word during stressful activities). Lolz.


I'm still enjoying my Christmas BREAK and hopefully I should start doing these tremendous and excruciating homeworks after the Christmas Eve, that is, the day after TOMORROW (I'm not talking about ice ages and global warming for now, haha lolz). At least, I can do something that is productive on to my "intelligence side". Naks naman. =))


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Tomorrow's the BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG and PIG DAY! Don't forget to drink Motillium to circumvent Dyspepsia and Loperamide to thwart that nasty LBM! Haha.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Hindi Kita MALILIMUTAN


"O, ano? Sasama ka ba sa 'kin or iwan ka lang dito sa bahay?? Quarter to Ten na."

I'm still doubtful whether sasama ako kay mama papuntang mall this morning. There are reasons on why I should go or just stay in the house.

I should go with her because:

- I'm so bored in the house.
- I want to shop even I only have 390 pesos.
- I want to window shop.
- I want to buy a prepaid load for my SUN.


I should stay in the house because:

- I can use the computer for 12 straight hours.
- I can do whatever I want to.
- I can sleep the whole day.


Still, I decided to do the former than the latter. So off I went to the kitchen, drank my favorite cold drink, which is the ice-cold cappuccino, took a bath and left our house by 10.30 am. We ate our lunch at Greenwhich and one of my ninangs or godmother wanted to see my mother. May ibibigay ata na importanteng gamit sa kanya. So ayun. Soon, my first ninang realized that today's the Christmas season, so she handed me 200 pesos kahit crisis ngayon and 41 nalang ang dollar ngayon (as what she had stated before handling the money to me). WOOW. At least naalala pa niya ako. Then my 'other ninang' came because she wants to meet my former ninang.

BTW, my mom, my former ninang (Tita Rosette) and the latter ninang (Tita Precy) were former classmates since highschool 'til college. Magbabarkada rin silang tatlo (7 ata sila, not sure). Well, sinabihan ni Tita Rosette si Tita Precy na she should give me a gift. It's been a while since she gave me a gift, approximately 12 years ago pa. =)). Due to conscience and for the fact na inaanak niya ako sa binyag, she handed me another paper. YES. A YELLOW PAPER with a LAZY LOOKING FACE on it. 500 pesos! WEEE. This day, I received a total of 700 pesos ! Haha. From 390+ pesos, naging 1090+ pesos na ang pera ko! Weee. So what I did to the money was to spend almost half of it. Hahaha. I bought gummy sour tapes, a perfume, a 150 peso worth of SUN prepaid load, a Discovery Channel Collection DVD and a BENCH CLAY DOH (Hairstyling clay).

I'm so damn happy today. Haaay. May ninang pa ako sa Saudi Arabia, Canada, United States, London and for the others they're all scattered here in the Philippines and most of them are doctors of various hospitals in the country.

Godfather. Godmother. Ninong. Ninang. Have mercy on US this Yuletide Season, don't forget US- mga INAANAK NIYO!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

WALA po ang AMO ko RITO

It's once again the time that the city seems to shine brighter, goods become cheaper and people are expected to be generous. The Yuletide Season here in Davao is known for numerous immigrants **SLASH** indigenous tribes like the Lumads from the mountains of Pacquibato District, Calinan and Marilog District (a good one and half hour ride from Downtown Davao).

The Lumads that migrate to Davao City during the Christmas season are of a diverse group - elders, teenagers and middle aged persons, some of them even carry their own young children in tow. However, this temporary migration can't be attributed to poverty. According to Prof. Aisle Hilario-Patinio, a professor af Anthropology of the University of the Philippines Mindanao, this migration can be explained by cultural and social reasons that are well entrenched in the culture of these ethnic groups. The practice of going down to the city can be traced to their practice of going down to Davao City to trade with the Muslims living in the coastal areas before.

Right now, I observed that during the Holiday season, groups of Lumads flocked to government owned gymnasiums, like in Bankerohan, Boulevard and Mintal. Today, somebody knocked on our gate, asking for something like food, clothing and other necessities in life.


I just replied to the poor Lumad in a blunt manner:

"Ayyy, wala baya akong amo dire." (Ayyy, pasensya na po, wala kasi ang amo ko [boss]).



They just nod and left the gate. I don't know what to do. Di naman ako basta-basta kukuha ng mga unused damit and clothes sa cabinet ko, may mga kamag-anak pa kami na that needs urgent HELP. Haaay. Nakonsyensya tuloy nang dahil sa LUMAD.

MEET my one and ONLY EX-WIFE

She's been with me since when I was a KID. We were married since 1992. Our relationship can be described as a roller coaster. She LOVED me more than her self being and I DESPISE HER. She doesn't care anything as long as we've been together. I really don't like her presence - the way she hugs me and everything. Whenever she caress me, I felt like I was going to die or something, literally. She gave me a curse - a LIFETIME CURSE. She's a jealous-typed person, and I don't really like it. She keeps on pestering my life. I want to KILL HER, only that she's semi-immortal. I went to the City Ombudsman to file a divorce case for the gazilionth time but they can't help me. Man they're useless. Finally she left me because I did something that almost killed her.


For three months, she didn't came and I enjoyed LIFE without her.


UNTIL..

Strenuous academic activities came by the first week of December. The inconsistency of the weather made her initiative to VISIT me, ONCE AGAIN. Today, she's with me and I felt the same traumatic feeling again, but I'm getting used to it. She's been with me for sixteen and a half years. She's the reason on why I can't eat sumptuous seafoods like Calamares, squid, crabs and shells. Just what I've said a while ago, she's an OVER JEALOUS TYPED PERSON. OA na.

I really missed her already, but one day is ENOUGH. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT !!!

I already drank TUSERAN FORTE, VENTOLIN, NEOZEP and BIOGESIC for three consecutive days. God. Diba ayaw mo niyan?

Haaay. ASTHMA. Kailan mo pa ako LUBAYAN?? I DON'T LOVE YOU. You're the ONLY curse of my LIFE !!!


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

So you think you're a GENIUS?

So, you think you're the most intelligent person in the world? Just answer this EASY QUIZ. I'll not post the answer. Just spam my comment page with your asnwers and I'll tell you the answers later. MADALI LANG DIBAH? okay here it goes.



WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ!

(Passing requires 4 correct answers)

Take your best shot at answering each question. Goodluck.


1. How long did the Hundred Years' War last?

2. Which country makes Panama hats?

3. From which animal do we get catgut?

4. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5. What is a camel hair, brush made of?

6. The Canary Islands are named after which type animal?

7. What was King George VI's first name?

8. What colour is a purple finch?

9. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

10. What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?



Remember, you need 4 correct answers to pass.


Good luck!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

SILLY childhood memories and MORE

As usual, I surfed the internet, watched THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW for 6 times in a row (I'm planning to watch it again and again, the reason? I'm a frustrated CLIMATOLOGIST haha), and propagated a unicameral form of idiosyncrasy occurring malevolently in the meritorious piece of the clusterubial part of my brain - in short, nakatunganga sa hangin. Haay.

My mom's students (she's running a tutorial center) arrived EARLY. Very early. Little did I know, it was their finals week today, so I had to turn off the computer. After that, it was not a boring day for I just recollected my old, silly childhood days.

Let me have this opportunity to share this with you guys. You may laugh at my story, but hell all of these stories are true and the accuracy of this would be probably 99.99%. So, here it goes.



[x] When I was one a half year old,my mom took me to the airport for we'll board a plane enroute to Zamboanga. That was my first time to ride on a plane. It's neither an airbus nor a 747 jumbo jet; it was a Philippine Airline's Fokker plane. I remembered that I really wanted to enter the XRAY machine because I was mesmerized by its unusual form and its mechanics. Mom clutched my wrist so hard that I cried in the airport in a scandalous approach. Yucks nakakahiya.


[x] Since birth, I'm a computer FREAKAZOID. I used to play Super Mario and outsmart my 21 year old uncle (He's 38 today).


[x] My mom named me Renz Marione but she's fond of calling me Maru instead of my first name. YUCKYUCKYUCK! Kaya, whenever we had our annual reunion on both mother and father side, I could easily tell and pinpoint kung sino ang mga childhood friends ko when I was a baby 'til three years old. Eeek.


[x] Whenever my mom scolds me because I did something wrong, I usually call my ATTORNEY. Yes, my attorney **SLASH** my daddy (my grandpa sa father side). My daddy would automatically defend me even if I'm wrong and mom was right. Haay. That's the primary reason why we left our grandparent's house for good and moved to a house that's far, far, far, far, far away from their wrath. =))


[x] Because my dad’s frequently away from home because of his demanding job, I usually get sick if I didn’t see him for at least a week. And the only remedy? Lagyan ng mga shirts ni papa sa ilalim ng pillow ko. And it works. IT REALLY WORKS.


[x] I used to be VERY, VERY TALKATIVE the moment I learned how to speak in simple ENGLISH sentences. I think I was two years old at that time. So, mom decided to train me, which to recite a poem, LITTLE BOY BLUE. Man oh man. I memorized the whole poem in just a few days. She also taught me how to sing a few nursery rhymes like Twinkle twinkle little Star, Jack and Jill, Fly, fly, fly the butterfly, Humpy Dumpy, Sampung Palaka and many more.


[x] As early as two years old, I acquired an inquisitive and curious mind of a scientist/Biologist. I’m fond of collecting lady bugs and after I’m through on investigating those insects and got bored with it, I threw them into a grassy marsh (don’t worry, they fly). Also I used to collect and trap BIG grasshoppers on a home made cage. My daddy accompanies me whenever I want to catch another set of flying creatures.


[x] My daddy’s an engineer – CIVIL ENGINEER to be more specific. Whenever I’m naughty, he’ll draw a big cockroach on a bond paper and he’ll show his masterpiece to me. Ayun, effective! Biglang takbo like Flash and hide under those thick bedsheets of mine. Heehee.


[x] Because of curiosity, I nailed a large staple bullet on an electric socket, then after a few seconds, I hid under my study table. And for the reason? The electric socket blew and smoke billowed my room. Amoy sunog. The electric current sparked in a malevolent way. Crazy little fella. Strike one.


[x] When I was three, I was accused of a perfidious crime, and that is MURDER. I killed three pregnant goldfish. I slaughtered them by flooding loaf breads on the fishbowl. Ayun, di cguro kinaya ang tinapay, namatay. Boink. Strike two.


[x] I used to be “suplado” (until now, but minsan ‘pag wala sa mood). The story goes like this. My mommy (grandmother) fetched me at school and she brought along some of her friends. One of her friends asked me in cutie-cutie-gootchie-dada manner, “Uyyy, ano ang name mo? Ang cute cute mo talaga!”, then I uninterestedly replied, “Tingnan mo nalang ID ko, nanjan ang name ko (Just look at my ID, my name’s inscribed on it).” Then she commented, “Ay, ang suplado! Hahaha. Kanino kaya nyan nag-mana?” and my lola just replied a big smile. Then off we went to McDonald’s to eat and buy ANOTHER SET of happy meal. I used to be a spoiled brat to my grandparents when I was young.


[x] I was born in this filthy world with a thick face. That’s right! Since birth, makapal na talaga ang pagmumukha ko. It goes like this. When I was celebrating my second birthday, we were still at Zamboanga and we attended a fancy program at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s auditorium. The show presented mascots of various cartoon characters of which I love and adore like Tom and Jerry and Ninja Turtles. Due to sheer exhilaration and anticipation, I ran towards the stage in the middle of the program. The program was on a brink to failure because I ruined it. I was the center of attraction because I danced like a fool. They just laughed on me, and I don’t really care. I just enjoyed my shining moment at that time. After that, I went down the stage, people gave me applause and sat down on a chair beside my mom as if nothing happened a few minutes ago. I was even featured on TV (TV Patrol Western Mindanao)!


[x] Aside from being talkative, I’m fond of inventing words - words of my own language. Kulang nalang may RENZY language na sa world and soon I’ll publish my very own dictionary! Words like Gatchanparry, Bagul, Loolooness Asimpiyu, Bugo, Utan, gusto (I prounounce that word as JUSTO), MMMbelt are products of my wildest imaginations. Gatchanparry refers to a house, Bagul of Bugo to slippers, Loolooness Asimpiyu to Looney Tunes, Utan to idunno (haha, nalimutan ko na), MMMbelt for “asan ang belt ko?”.


Haaay. Now I realized why I’m such a silly, big monster ‘til now.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

SATURDAY night FEVER

After last night's Kasadya Festival 2007, which we had our exchange of gifts, we decided that the gang should have a Christmas Party - a party that everyone can enjoy. Initial plans were quite expensive (KTv Bars and etc), so we ended up on the idea of a cool house party which will be held at Mon's house. His parents agreed so we planned to meet at the Convenience Store located near the entrance of SM Village.

Saturday came and I was not that excited. Seems like an ordinary day for me. Then when I arrived, I saw the folks, and after that, we headed straight to Mon’s crib. YAHOO!

Well, all we did was to play, and play, took numerous pictures on our digicams and cellphones. Some played the body twisting game, which is the TWISTER (I played this strenuous activity which I enjoyed the most), some played the tic-tac-toe, Ina, Cha and Lianne (with the help of others) prepared and cooked our dinner, Mon and Mark together with Yuri played the PS2 with the game Naruto, me playing Mon’s piano and others just talked and talked and talked in an endless manner.

Mga Reyna ng Kusina


Busy sa laptop.


THE GAME OF TWIST and TURNS


Picture before dinner


Me, playing the piano - APOLOGIZE


mga addict sa NARUTO


TIC-TAC-FLOWER


It's pretty obvious that we’re totally diversed! May sariling mundo ika nga. Haha. Parang otistik. Naks naman. But take note, we’re not. Absolutely not.

Good thing, Mark brought his Magic Sing Karaoke Set and we sang ‘til the rain fell so hard for a short period of time. But due to certain technical problem, we didn’t used nor abused Mark’s Magic Sing.

We ate in a constant manner, like those junkfoods and by 6.30, dinner was served. Obviously, we didn’t serve pork since Mon is a Muslim. We just ate chiken adobo and pancit. Yumyum. It was so delicious. I was full and may fruit salad pa! Wow. Talking about the tremendous, big appetite of thriving and stressed teenagers like us!

We also watched a funny and light movie, Bring It On. We all just laughed until the movie ended.

There were no dull moments in our party and everything was in a smooth pace. By 10 in the evening, we decided to pack our things. We bade goodbye, greeted each other a happy Christmas then off we went to the waiting shed where we waited for our respective jeepneys. Actually, there’s a waiting shed but we didn’t used it at all! Wala lang, since di naman umuulan, so I guess it’s pointless to use that thing. Anyways, we had a hard time to find a jeep since it was already late. God, nakasakay pa kami and I went home safe and sound.

As I was driving the HH, I gazed at the twilight sky and was awestruck by billions of stars twinkling and shining in an endless manner. I remembered that my friend once told me that real friends are like those stars in the night sky, which keeps on watching you and they’re significant in our life. For the last two months I was on the verge to transfer in UP Manila/Diliman, of course with the same degree. But because of them, I found a place in which I could share my thoughts, laughter and cries in a carefree manner. Of course, I would NEVER, EVER FORGET my almost 13 years of stay on my previous home, SMAD.

Haay. 12.14.07. Saturday. Sabado. Surely, I will never forget this wonderful day.

Home Sweet Home.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tatlong Araw

Tatlong Araw.

Three days.

It's been a while since my last post. Well, it's been a long, long terrible yet exciting day. Why?

Let's start with Tuesday. It's my 1st long exam on Biodiversity (Bio 3) and Trigonometry (Math 14). Since I didn't study in an extensive manner (I just surfed the net then study, then net surfing again), I'm not that confident to answer those exams. We took the Math exam first and luckily it wasn't that HARD.

On that day, I didn't expect that we would dissect a frog (I thought It's on Thursday). Good thing, Joie lent me her lab gown. Yehey. So, we took the "surgery-like" scissor, a some sort of wax plate, our respective scalpels and our main subject for our autopsy este experiment, OUR FROG. We named her MARIMAR with no VALID reasons. Wala lang. Trip lang namin siyang ipangalan kay Marimar. Hahaha. Afterwhich we cut and tore off the rough, wart-filled skin of our specimen. Man, I really enjoyed this experiment. I feel like a surgeon! Hahaha. Oh well. (Please refer to my album for MORE pictures on this experiment. Thanks).

We were dismissed early on our Bio 3 Lab, so we headed to the canteen. BUT WAIT! It was RAINING so hard at that time and boy, I didn't brought my jacket. I just brought only my crappy umbrella with me. So we ran, nakishare ng payong with Aidz and Ralph, jumped through those pesky puddles, nag-agawan ng payong para hindi mabasa, ate our lunch, then went back to the campus again, bravely ventured the rain and finally, got soaked with the rain (sa sideways nga lang because tatlo kaming nag-share sa isang napakaliit na payong ni Aidz).

Oh well, I had no choice but to cram. It was 5 minutes before our long exam on Bio 3. Boy oh boy, If I indulge myself to Campbell, I should memorize all these facts and etc. Okay. Bahala na si batman and Bathala. Stock knowledge nalang ang gamitin =(. The exam was moderately hard. During the exam, I should answer the easiest questions before I proceed to the more difficult question. Strategy, ika nga. Shoot! I only answered 3 out of questions on the multiple choice portion and only 3 out of ten questions in the essay SLASH enumeration portion. Mycorrhiza, Lichens, sino ka??? Haay. Luckily I remembered both of them after a few minutes of thinking and pondering to the wall. I managed to answer all questions in the exam. But I was quite dissapointed with the Bonus portion. I know the answer but I'm doubtful with its spelling! Haaay. This is a fact that I should remember throughout my lifetime - Poinsettia spells THIS way not POINSSETTIA. What an ass! Tuloy, wala na akong additional 5 points nang dahil sa isang S!

Oh yeah, the result for the Nat.Sci I exam was released on this day and I got 91/105. Haay. If only di ako nagpakatanga sa answer ko, I should get 96/105. Oh well papel. At least line of nine pa rin. =) And due to heavy rain, di ako makauwi. So me, Ralph and Sheara decided to join the Nat.Sci 2 class (MST 2). Naki-sit in lang kami sa kanila and the subject was an interesting one. Maybe I should take this for the next semester. HOPEFULLY.

I had only 3 hours of sleep, but guess what?? I drank a glass of cold cappuccino. That was the most delicious cappuccino that I've ever tasted. My aunt gave me one sachet of Korean Cappuccino. Haay. But hell, the effect of caffeine worked for 5 hours or so, then I'm getting sleepy and tired. I need to sleep. Pronto. Huhu. I just studied my Chem 17 for just 2 hours, and mind you, kulang pa yan! Oh well. Bahala na talaga.

Yes. The day had finally arrived. Long exam ng nakapapraning na subject (though I really love chemistry but the lesson's get more complicated, but nevertheless, I JUST LOVE this subject. That's all). Okay okay. Thank God. The exam was EASY. DAMN EASY. It's my second time na nakatapos ng long exam sa chem. Haay. I retrieved my Chem exam result moments ago and I got 75%! YES. OH YEEEES.

Haaay. Supposedly walang klase today because of the Nationwide Strike, but di naman kasali ang HH drivers, so tuloy pa rin ang academic life dito sa UP. =) I had only one class today and the rest of the subjects, puro "see you next year" ang drama =). Hahahha.

I could hardly wait for Christmas. But I'll still be busy this Christmas break since we had a LONG QUIZ on Chem 17. Break a LEG to myself.

Have a Happy Christmas everyone!.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Starbright, Starlight, STARDUST



Last night, instead of studying Biodiversity, Chemistry and Trigonometry, I chose to watch STARDUST. I've heard this movie from my friends a month ago and they said that it was a great movie. So I bought a pirated dvd of this movie and yes, my friends were right, DEFINITELY RIGHT. It's not your ordinary fairy tale with a typical plot and ending, it was categorically an EXTRAORDINARY FAIRY TALE.

Okay so much for that. I need to get back to my super nerd lifestyle. Exams would be this Tuesday and Wednesday and I haven't started yet; I didn't dare nor care to read those thick books of mine (though, I've read them last week). Hopefully, I'll start by 1.30 pm.

And what am I doing right now? I'm DOWNLOADING the whole OST Soundtracks of STARDUST. Hahaha. I haven't eaten my lunch nor took my bath yet (yuck). Oh my.

Man, is this ME?

Friday, December 07, 2007

ONE Smell - Oh - Rama Day

Thursday.


We didn't have our lecture on our Math 14 Class and our professor didn't gave us ANY exercises or whatsoever notes in his bulletin board. I checked the Department of Physics and Mathematics and Computer Science's (DPMCS's) bulletin board - and there was nothing! WALA!


He only gave an assignment to his CMSC56 (ComSci 56) class. Oh well. All we did was to talk and talk and joke and talk again and then draw those protists and then talk in an endless manner. We just stayed sa labas ng lobby ng CSM. haha =)


Then Ma'am Pakdat arrived and pinahiram ko siya ng 10 pesos due to the "change **slash** coin" scarcity of Manong HH driver. Haaay.


We had an experiment in our Bio 3 Lab and yeah, we just drew some of the plants given by our lab teacher. July took a picture of herself and out of nowhere Ma'am Pakdat joined her AND SO DO I. WE'RE CERTIFIED CAMWHORES! yahoo! and this is the product of our "kabulastugan". PRUWEBA!



That's July on the left, ME at the center, and Ma'am Pakdat on the right.

Alright. Due to intense boredom, The two M&M's - Mark and Mon had this brilliant idea:


They literally cooked the Calachuchi flower, the Zea mays seed AKA corn /slash/ mais and a pinch of rice grain in a laboratory broiler (I forgot the name basta it looks like a typical broiler sa inyong kusina).


Man. The smell. THE AROMA of the popcorn makes me feel hungrier. Then we had lunch. I ate two cups of rice and pork-pork something viand. Basta, I didn't care kung ano ang ulam ko, all I really need was to EAT and EAT and EAT. Then poof! Nalibre pa ako ni Ma'am Pakdat ng LUNCH! I thought she'll just repay me the 10 peso-coin, but instead, nalibre pa niya ako! WEE.


Then we had our Bio 3 Lec. May God. 1:00-2:30 pm makes me oh-so SLEEPY. Good thing I read the lesson in advance and our professor would send us the handouts for her lectures anyway, so I decided to sleep. Ayay! Tinulugan lang ang Biodiversity. Togsh. At the middle of Ma'am Novie's lecture, I smelled something that is QUITE unusual. A foul, malodorous and fetid smell. Somebody inflicted a putrid, odorous smell in an air conditioned room! My God somebody FARTED and it smelled bad - REALLY BAD


Shyyeet.


ANG BAHO! We all just laughed and kung sino man ang umutot kahapon, MAHIYA KA!


Well, next class was AH3 / Comm3 - and I REALLY WANT TO SLEEP NA! I NEED COFFEE! PRONTO! Then Ilearned that there's a free ice cream for everyone! Weee. I felt alive after I consume the entire ice cream! At ako'y nabuhayan ng dahil sa ice cream. Aba. Aba! Does ice cream nowadays contain caffeine? Nah. It's just a placebo - a mere psychological effect. IMAGINATION. Nananaginip nang gising.


During the Comm 3 lecture, all I did was to review for our next class' exam - MST1 or NatSci 1. Ay ewan ko bah. We just had a lecture abuot those communication stuffs. (peace to Sir Dennis! =])



And yeah, we took the exam and it's pretty easy but I made a simple mistake. Aynakungbataka!


Then, the WHOLE BsBio family went in a certain laboratory para gumawa ng isang kakaibang obra-maestra -- A CHRISTMAS BELEN! This was made for our upcoming Kasadya parade this coming December 14.


I didn't the group since I don't like the smell of rotting newspapers and the place was quite dusty and I'm so allergic to it. So I went to the Admin. Building to celebrate Chippy's AKA Krista's 17th birthday. Weee. God. It's my first time - first time to be drunk and tipsy. I don't like the feeling. It's not because of any alcoholic drinks, but because of those tremendous, uber delicious Red Ribbon Cakes! My God! I ate 4 slices of red ribbon choco-caramel cake. We also drank Welch's grape-flavored carbonated juice. Yeah.


When I went home, I just took a quixk shower then I immediately went into deep slumber. 8:00 pm - TOO EARLY.


Then, kanina lang, at 5:00 am, I smelled another intriguing aroma. No it's not the aroma of popcorn nor the aroma of the natural FART (eeeww). Yep! It's the smell of burnt plastic. Haay kawawa. It goes like this:


My dad was still sleepy and groggy when he reheated the viand last night nang dumikit ang isang plastic thing. Ayun. The entire huose smelled like a plastic factory.


Haay buhay. I smell something fishy right now. It's 6:08 am and two and a half hours from now, I'm gonna report for our PPT presentation in our Chem 17 class. Oh yeah. No Chem 17 lab for this day! So, my class would only be 8:30-10:00 am (Chem 17 lec) and 2:30-3:30 for my PE 2 Table Tennis. Yikes. I-absent ko nalang ang PE. Tinatamad kasi ako eh. HAHAHA.


Hopefully, this would be my first and last absence on Super Mario's PE class. Haha. =)

Monday, December 03, 2007

bloody wednesday


First of all, I shouldn't have written this blog post.
I should have studied my lessons, finish all those crappy home works and sleep for at least 8 hours.

But what motivates me to do such crime?

It's because of one certain subject. I mean, yeah, I had no choice but to search and skim those distracting websites, endure the searing brightness of the LCD monitor for almost 10 hours and suffer from sleepless hours.

I feel like a robot today.

I'm typing this post in a hasty manner - 1000 words per second, literally. So if you found some of my sentences contain MINOR grammatical errors, just leave them. What’s important is that you can STILL comprehend my sentences, from its simplest tenses, to verbs and its structure. Got it?

Well, enough of that disclaimer thing.

I just realize that whenever I log on to the cyberworld, well for academic purposes, I don’t go directly to Wikipedia or to the google/yahoo toolbar. Instead, I usually open my Friendster account, multiply account, Blogger account, Imeem, Limewire, Bearshare, shocks ang dami!

I can’t help myself. Tao rin ako. And it’s quite strenuous and demanding if I just open those IMPORTANT things in the cyberworld (when I say important, it’s REALLY REALLY important; more on needs not wants). But what am I doing today? I’m blogging just to release my tension, anxiety and stress that had kept on battling my adrenaline cells for weeks already! My God! Fortunately, I’m done with my three difficult assignments in Chemistry; I had only one left to finish ‘til tomorrow night – Power Point presentation of our report (and we had the most difficult topic in the class).

And what’s with Wednesday? Think again! Every Wednesday and Friday, from 8.30-10.00 am, we suffer from mental cataclysm. Yes, and I really mean MENTAL CATACLYSM. Why is that so? I dunno.


The sinister-like presence of room 112 makes our nerves and adrenaline to work harder and harder until our hearts palpitate because of sheer antagonism, animosity, tenseness and uneasiness.



Fortunately, naubos na yan lahat. Right now, we feel cold, a very cold soul as if we had no hearts and feelings. An alien-like behavior; so disturbing!

And why I’m writing this? It’s simply because I’m perplexed with my own self. Everyday, I just kept on pondering if I could surpass these challenges. I don’t know. I’m optimistic, so kaya ko toh!

A glass of cold homemade frapuccino could make me relaxed – relaxed as a calm, tranquil wind.


Serendipity. Serenity. Ako’y nabighani sa liwanag ng parisukat na buwan. Crazy.

DAMN CRAZY.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

i am waiting



COLORS OF CHRISTMAS
**please click the play button**


Traveling down the silvery street
Wrapping around and around while we sing
There's not in there lights it's so lovely to see
They're like beautiful stars on a Christmas Tree
We're stringing the popcorn
So yellow and yummy
Bring the red santa with the jiggling tummy
Here's a white angel, as pure as a snow
Bells and porridge in gold, are hanging below


The colors of Christmas
I'll wait for them every year
The colors of Christmas
are so beautiful and clear
The colors of Christmas
I pray for them that you'll see
But the prettiest colors of them all
Around on your Christmas Tree


Take a look down the neighborhood street
See the colorful smiles and the people you'll meet
And for every window or every wall
They're dragging the tree, like we did on our home!
Pink, purple, brown, black, yellow and gray
A rainbow of reindeer, a silvery sleigh
Every different kind of color you'll see
Live together in peace on our Christmas Tree


The colors of Christmas
I'll wait for them every year
The colors of Christmas
are so beautiful and clear
The colors of Christmas
I pray for them that you'll see
But the prettiest colors of them all
Around on your Christmas Tree


Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree, our leaves are so unchanging
Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree, our leaves are so unchanging
Your boughs are green in sommers glow, and do not fade in winters snow
Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree, with faithful leaves unchanging

The colors of Christmas
I pray for them that you'll see
But the prettiest colors of them all
Around on your Christmas Tree
Around on your Christmas Tree..


Twenty four
divided by two is twelve.
Twenty four days before Christmas and still counting.
Two weeks before the Christmas break, and I can't hardly wait.

169th post on blogger, 325th something on multiply.

Since almost everyone had posted some melodramatic (heehee ^_^) christmas list, I shall made my own list. Hindi rin ako magpapatalo noh! Well, here it is:


I WISH THAT / FOR:


[x] an MacBook Pro or any Compaq laptop. I badly need this thing. (Though, mom promised me that she'll buy a laptop for me probably next year, and I can't hardly wait).

[x] a power to manipulate the mind of those terror professors. (I think s/he's only my problem)

[x] I have the time-traveling gadget of Hermione. Ooooh. If I could turn back time, I shall fix those dilemmas that shouldn't be happening today in my life.

[x] Money. I really need money. Oh please mom-oh and dad-oh! Gimme some cash!

[x] Snow. It is believed that because of the movement of the Philippine plate, the Philippines will move gradually into the direction of northeast and for the next 50 million years, the location of the Philippines will be situated near the coast of Tokyo, Japan. Enough of those dorky facts. Pfff.
[x] I could Speak French, Italian and German FLUENTLY.

[x] my blog would be famous WORLWIDE.

[x] WORLD PEACE. Duuh.

[x] to be TALLER. A hundred sixty-eight centimeter frame is not ENOUGH for me. Haahaa.

[x] to be like Rainman.

[x] INDEPENDENCE and SOVEREIGNTY.


Christmas is coming. And I feel tormented right at this moment. Inggit ako sa kapatid ko, because he's sleeping, and he's snoring. Mabuti pa siya. He still have two and a half years before he will suffer this kind of situation. Being tortured academically, socially and mentally is not advisable for happy teenagers and/or college students like me. There's no learning process for it though it motivates you to strive more. Besides, professors in my university are impress with no one EXCEPT if you have an excellent thesis - excellent in a sense that your thesis would be delivered to different parts of the world like Hawaii, California, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland.

Coffee, coffee, baloney. God help us.