Really sorry about the lack of updates.. I've been selling Gmail invites these days, and I guess its been taking up a lot of my time. I'm finally out of school now, a senior to say the least, although the atmosphere is definitely not one of jubilation. I dunno, its so weird how things go here.. usually the last day of school there's tons of people milling around saying goodbyes, and yet there weren't much yesterday. Probably because most seniors get to see each other at graduation, but still, when I graduate next year I'd be sure to come back to school to say my farewells to the lower classmates..
Today I went to Champs Elysees to catch a glimpse of the runner with the Olympic flame.. I got a few great pictures while they were waiting to go around the Arc de Triomphe, and I ran down the Champs to get another picture. I think I might pursue photography as a hobby. I mean, not that I'd be able to do half as well as this guy.

Post your comments Written on Friday, June 25 at 4:14 PM

"Eyesight sees what is on the outside," Murray (pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church, where Ray Charle's funeral was held) said of [Ray Charles], pianist and composer. "Insight sees what is on the inside."

That's what I want to be able to do.. and I'm striving to do it.. not to become anyone great as he was, but to simply be able to have a simple thing called insight. People nowadays care about the outside, or say they do care about a person's heart, but you can always tell people fall for looks, fall for what they can see... and I guess its expected of people, because its the easiest thing to do. What's harder is to have the ability to see a person not through the outside but the inside... its become so cliche that "Don't judge a book by its cover" seems silly to hear. But if it were actually possible to compare people with books (and I know I shouldn't), and if we were to get rid of all the "covers" of every book, I wonder if we'd see the person next to us in the same light as we do now?

Post your comments Written on Saturday, June 19 at 4:46 PM

A recant on my last post.. anyhow somehow or another my life is marred with conflicts... both in my house and out. Lately its been more of a case of the invisible wall thats been erected in my home, and I'm really worried that things are going to deteriorate from here. Its always a case of a seemingly harmonious relationship between my parents that, with the presence of one small word, can shatter the whole wall of hope that I had. Its an icy comment (often attached as an end-thought) that just reveals how things are hardly better than when there's a full blown argument. And I just can't fathom the thought that my parents would live apart. Until now its been a patchwork quilt that's been sewed by the fact that I was still young, but next year when I'm off to university, I just can only pray that the lack of my presence might bring conflicts to an end, cause sometimes arguments arise from a discussion involving me. I can only pray...

Post your comments Written on Sunday, June 13 at 8:08 PM

I just wanted to say that I'm going to have finals this week so I'm not exactly going to post. Of course, those who know me know that I live in procrastination, but then again an initiative to move out would be a step forward. Just a note to Happy: Congratulations (yet again). Oh and I (think) my email will be at xanadu(at)gmail(dot)com. Here's a section of a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (yes, yes, I know its not original, but my brain is a bit on overload right now.. =) The rest of the poem is here. Until Saturday, g'day to ya'll...

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery...

Post your comments Written on at 6:04 PM

Just found out 5 minutes ago that Ray Charles passed away at 73... although I admit that I'm not the world's greatest fan of R&B and Blues songs, Ray Charles is a name I know cannot be ignored.. I saw on TV some of his greatest concerts, singing Georgia on My Mind and the like.. My hats off to him and his great musical soul, and may he rest in peace.

read the news article here

Post your comments Written on Thursday, June 10 at 10:15 PM

Happy Weblogger's Day!
I never thought that I would come to say these three words, and certainly not any of them together, two years ago. It was out of the question to put anything remotely personal on websites, let alone even divulge one's own thought or even a name for fear that "stalkers" would come knocking on the door. Or so that seemed for me, at least. It was inevitable passed down through my parents, and I am well aware, thank to them, of the dangers and fears of lurking "personality" theives. But that hasn't stopped me from making my own websites, divulging (part) of my name, the city I live in, and my age. And it certainly didn't keep me from coming up with an idea that I immediately knew was something that needed to be concieved, and the only fear I had was that it already had been. Countless were the days where a splendid idea would be shattered by the thought that someone already had thought of it. Such it the marvel of originality.

I came up with a very primitive weblog early in 2002, when I came upon Moby (the singer)'s blog on his website. It gave details about the snippets of his life, his voyages hopping across the world, as well as his thoughts. I promptly stole his HTML code and altered it beyond recognition, and pasted it into my nifty Geocities webpage editor. Every time a bright thought came whizzing through my restless brain, I copied and pasted the code, and manually added a few lines of a meagre pensive note. One sleepless (and undoubtedly hot) night in Brazil I came upon the realisation that the web-forum that I had set up for my class website had exactly the similar template as a blog: all I needed to do was make sure that I was the only one who could post, and that my post would appear on the front page, rather than a normal, forum-type subject and author. Thus my first "automated" blog coded in Perl was born, although it underwent many modifications until it became what it was in April 2004. Sadly the transition from text-style blog to Perl and archived-style blog resulted in a mighty loss of archived material, and thus what remains now dates only back to May 2003. In April, upon the realisation that my archives were sopping up space in my prohosting web account, I moved to my present residence, Blogger, and realised how much I had missed out on "Push-Button Publishing". I have to admit it was also a transition based on the fact that I might get a Gmail invitation. but I do miss the fact that I could proudly claim it was the world's (possibly) one and only weblog coded in Perl that boasted an integrated commenting and archiving system.

What set me on the path to blogging (and to some, revealing the unneccessary tedium and boredom in my everyday life) was the realisation that I was not required to write something personal in order to have people read it. Personally I find it more fun to have people read a blog than to keep it entirely out of the public eye, not unlike a sort of open-ended conversation that invites a personal response. But it is true that writing for the sake of someone else can more often than not take out the shine in a weblog's appeal. Weblogs are nonetheless a great medium for communication on the web, a 'movement' that sort of spontaneously evolved because of the personal satisfaction one can get from releasing one's thoughts for open consideration. I guess I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said many people now spend time online because of their blog. And rightly so, because every blog is unique. Even the mundane blogger template (grey on black, white on blue) has its touch of originality. And webloggers also force people to actually read, because unlike books, some entries don't have a direct 'plot'. I've realised it one too many times after skimming through a seemingly boring blog, catching my eyes on an interesting entry, reading it, and then immersing myself in the whole blog. If people have one more good reason for spending more time online, at least no one can argue against weblogging.

Post your comments Written on Wednesday, June 9 at 8:33 PM

I've committed weblogger blasphemy. Well not really, but I did delete a post, and I've seen enough blogs to know that such a thing is most likely unacceptable. Some hecklers even cross out instead of delete sections of their post so that it even seems more like a diary. And if anything is changed, its almost always preceded by an "update:" notice. Oh well.

Life is as usual, if not quite askew. I've been listening to "Pomp and Circumstance" at least 23 times now, primarily because I was asked by a teacher to cut a snippet out from a CD (you know, the Taa-tadada-daaa-daa part, if you know what I mean). Its one of the songs that stick somewhere in the annals of your brain like a long-forgotten Post-It note... and before you know it you're humming it on the way to school. Sorta sad, because I'm not even the one that's graduating...

Its sweltering hot. I heard it was at least 30°C out there, and considering the fact that our school is the only one with specialised heating during summer, it isn't surprising that the majority of our school completely disregarded the school uniform and wore tee-shirts. (Wait, were you thinking something else? hehe) Miraculously most of us had the dexterity to put back the uniform on for the moments when the headmistress passed our way through the hallway.

Post your comments Written on Tuesday, June 8 at 9:00 PM

I have a thing with styrofoam and the glossy film that's used to wrap flowers. I dunno why but they irk me a lot when I hear them, just as one would shudder hearing chalk skidding across a blackboard or a knife slicing away on a dinner time plate. I really hate the fact that it annoys me, when I see everyone unpacking the new stuff from styrofoam boxes and I cringe everytime I hear styrofoam grating against a cardboard piece. I guess it would suffice to torture me without using a water bath or a drip of water on my forehead-- a styrofoam box would do. Which, consequently, is why I hate moving. Well not exactly. I hate moving because I have to leave my friends, my acquaintances, everything that I had gotten used to, all such things behind. Not that I'm moving anytime soon; just thinking about all the seniors graduating tonight at PACA. *feels left behind* well no real reason to. Its not like I was supposed to graduate or anything (well in reality, yes, because I was 'forced' to take 5th grade twice because I skipped first grade). But its more that I have more friends that are seniors now. Or rather, graduates now. um. Mackie? =)

a scuffle and a shuffle and its all quiet
a page turns here, a sigh permeates the air
and fingers dance frantically over buttons
silent numbers stare back as if nothing's wrong
and yet its anything but
minds and numbers in a chaotic race
words that seem right the wrong way round
numbers that play tricks before your eyes and
meanings that fly off the pages
with a taunt or two
and while you're at it empty his mind
so that he leaves light-headed
light-hearted
only to realise its starts over
only to realise it never ends
a scuffle and a shuffle and its all quiet...

Reminiscing over the SAT...

Post your comments Written on Saturday, June 5 at 7:45 PM

My humour-filled contribution to today's entry:

You know you've had too much math when you hear that Trotsky was a significant figure and you ask yourself "How many?"

Just an inspiration that arose during my various dream-filled escapades during history class. And perhaps to dig into the fact that many of my friends who are seniors happen to graduate this Saturday, here's a bit of facts about my schedule. (Yes, I know, theres less than 20 days left of school): I have 34 hours of class per week (for those of you without a calculator, thats 6.8 hours a day.) So theoretically if I were to start school at 8, I would be done at 3, including a generous one hour for lunch, right? No... my school has to spread that out from 8 to 6, so that I have gaps of free (supposed-to-be-for-homework-but-entirely-useless) hours here and there. So yes, where I could end the day at 3, I come home disheveled and miserable at 6. But I shan't complain. I complain too much, or so people say. I guess that's sorta true, although I've made a conscious effort (like the one at present) to prevent myself from complaining. Its ironic because I don't really like people who complain a lot. I guess I should record my whole entire day on video and look at how many hypocritical things I'm doing every day.

As I dutifully promised, here's a dedication to all my fellow friends who might be graduating in Sao Paulo, Brazil this Saturday (it was written a while ago hence the reference to going to school):

To all the seniors and grads:
Congratulations Class of 2004! I know its strange for me to be saying this, but I know the time you've all been waiting for has finally arrived, and its becoming harder and harder to come to school-- not because you don't like the classes, but because you know that every hour passed is one hour less together with the people you've come to know as the best of your friends. More like brothers and sisters, no doubt. I'm sure that you all are the best of the best, and it pains me to know that I won't be able to attend your graduation. I was at PACA long enough to know that wherever in the world you may travel to, wherever you may study, your Christian faith, and the wonderful relationship with Him that you established at school will guide you. And I was at PACA long enough to know that yours is a wonderful class, one that consistently shouted "Juniors" last year when you were supposed to be following the cheerleaders at the assembly. Its a pity I couldn't get to know you all too well, save a few that I was priviledged to know, thanks to the long bus rides and StuCo.
I will keep this brief, but my well-wishes for you all will continue in my prayers for your class.
If anyone passes Paris during the summer, I'd be more than happy to guide you around! Just email me in advance or call me once you get there.
May God bless you all,
Rio

Post your comments Written on Thursday, June 3 at 8:38 PM

I've downloaded some of the songs of "Borrowed Heaven", the new album by the Corrs (yes, that is copyright infringement, I know, but is me not downloading the songs going to change anything? I'm going to buy the album, no doubt about that). The songs are great, a whole new Corrs style, fresh and clean cut. Seriously, I completely agree with the fact that peer-to-peer sharing increases the desire for one to actually buy music, especially since the quality of music in mp3 form is limited. Well whatever the reason, I still think downloading music from the internet should not be a punishable crime, particularly because no action can be taken against all the millions of those who actually do. Targeting or singleing out a few unfortunate souls is definitely unacceptable. Oh, and the song "The Reason" by Hoobastank (recommended by Kathy) is simply great. Turn up the volume when you listen. lol.
Anyways, good news in the fact that International Weblogger's Day is finally getting somewhere (we crossed 130 people who signed up and 5000 hits and 25 countries!) There's also a bloggers meet planned on June 9th in Penang, Malaysia, which is truly exciting. If only they all knew this thing was thought of by a 17-year old teenager. They'd probably think all of this is a hoax. Luckily its not. Only 8 more days to go, by which time the seniors at my old school (including many of my friends) will have graduated, and by which time I might have done my second SAT (Going as stand-by). Anyways, am awfully happy that things are going well, except that all the seniors are going to leave... I'm going to post a long entry soon about them.

My sky is grey with rain and sighs
but if your paintbrush tips the skies
then instantly its cobalt blue
or deep sea marine or some other hue

because I know that we see
the same endless heavens
the same powerful sun
at night it can only be that we see
the same distant moon
and the same shooting stars
that beckons us from afar
to tell us that

One can only be so distant
to realise how one was so close
Its only when its dark
that lightness seems so necessary
It only takes me to lose you
to realise you're the one I need

The reason is you. To kathy.

Post your comments Written on Tuesday, June 1 at 8:37 PM