Earsplitting Volume

iPod touch med grön Apple-sockaEven though I have an iPod touch, I’m not one of those people you see in public places especially in public utility vehicles and malls with their earphones on and listening to music. I love my ears more than music and I don’t want to be deaf and use hearing aids.

The volume on my iPod is currently set on 25%. I usually don’t go beyond that point except for attacks of the LSS. The engine of the vehicles and other roadway noises simply drones the music that comes from my iPod, so instead of increasing the volume, I simply turn it off. Besides, there are other things that I can do during my jeepney rides. I usually study my lessons while waiting to reach for my destination. Sometimes, I read books to avoid boredom or if I’m with somebody that I know, I chat with him/her about various things: demanding and perfectionistic instructors, how I miss my high school life, insensitive blockmates, and toxic subjects.

Okay, back to the subject…

So when do I use my iPod? I use it whenever I’m in my favorite place in school: the library or anywhere there isn’t much noise. The library has been my cradle, it’s where I feel at peace. Hu? What am I talking about? Well, if you had very noisy blockmates with mouths larger than a car’s tire, you would know what I mean. There are times when I even go to the library just to listen to music. Lol. I’m really thankful that the library is just a few steps from my room.

And oh, lately, I’ve been listening to music during my Rizal class. Everyone in the class couldn’t hide their boredom. Some talks with their seat mates, some are busy pressing on their phone’s keypads, others would even dare to sleep. Good thing my professor sits on the back of the room while listening to the reporters. That’s why I dare myself to listen to music even though my class is going on. And I’m pleased to tell you that I wasn’t caught… ever. Actually, during my last three Rizal classes, I was not only listening to music but also reading a book that has nothing to do with the Philippine’s national hero.

While on the subject, I just want to mention that I really don’t know why we have to study Rizal’s very detailed life. I think, the authors of the book that we are using included all the information that they could get about Rizal. I don’t know why almost everything has to be precise. Some of the not so important events that happened to Rizal were also well documented. As a matter of fact, there are times when the book mentioned not only the date but also the time when this and that happened. Aren’t the basics enough?

Take the following excerpt as an example:

… the two tourists [Jose Rizal and his friend Maximo Viola] went to Brunn. According to Viola, “nothing of importance happened” in this city.

Why add that if “nothing of importance happened”? Duh. And now… I’m bombarded with unimportant dates, names, places, and events that I’m not even sure if I could and how I would apply them once I landed with a job. Haha. (I’m not saying that RA 1425 aka Rizal Law should be abolished. What I’m saying is that the basics are enough, we don’t need to know all the places Rizal visited during his lifetime. Besides, what sense of fulfillment would you have if you memorized them?)

Before I close this entry, I just want to talk a few things about Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album: Narrow Stairs. First, I want to say that it’s a nice album, but not as good as Plans. My favorites from the album are: Your New Twin Sized Bed (I can’t get it out of my system), Bixby Canyon Bridge, No Sunlight, I Will Possess Your Heart, and You Can Do Better Than Me. And oh, have you seen I Will Possess Your Heart’s music video? Well, Death Cab rocks!

Well… you look so defeated lying there in your new twin sized bed. XD

PS: Yesterday, iTunes mistakenly recognized my iPod touch as an iPhone. WTF.

18 Comments

Facts ‘Bout Me

I decided to rewrite my “About Me” page. I started from scratch again and I come up with an seven-paragraph introduction to myself. I decided to post it here so that it’ll get the attention that it will need. The front page is always the best part where you can put stories that you want your audience to notice.

*****

During the year I started blogging, my answer to the question “What’s your ASL?” was 14/M/Pampanga. Now that almost four years have passed since I first encountered that question, my answer is still the same, except for the age part which you have to add to four (that’s equal to 18). But of course, giving you a two-digit number, a letter that stands for “male”, and the name of a province here in the Philippines is not enough for you to know me. So the purpose of rewriting my short description of myself is for you to visualize me better on your head. Feel free to make your own image of myself. I’ve also provided links to my previous posts, that you can freely read (minus those password protected entries) which can help you know more about myself.

I was born three days after Christmas in the year of 1989. December 28, 1989 was the start of my journey here on earth. Eighteen years later, I’m already 18 years old, obviously. Kidding aside, I think, I’ve achieved a lot of things but there are still many things to conquer. Currently, I’m a college student but I still have to learn how to love my course and I still think that college is synonymous to hell.

Reading books has been my main source of entertainment since sixth grade when I first read JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Since then, I have read more than 50 books which include the whole Harry Potter series, two of Dan Brown’s controversial books, reads by Mitch Albom which are all talking about death, and even books that are more disturbing like Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner which is my most favorite book, by the way.

Other forms of entertainment that I enjoy include watching American TV shows especially Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes and The Amazing Race, ridiculing incompetent teachers, sleeping, surfing the Internet, and most recently, listening to indie music by Feist, Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, The Postal Service, Hellogoodbye, Jack Johnson, and many more. As a matter of fact, because of my obsession to indie music, I named my iPod touch as Gibbard, in honor of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service’s singer: Ben Gibbard. Just visit my Last.fm account to know my listening patterns.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also love writing. I was actually the news editor of our official student publication for two consecutive years back in high school. But until now, I still don’t know how I was able to get that position because of my faulty grammar. I know, my grammar sucks. And if it were not because of Firefox’s spell checker feature, I would have committed lots of misspelled words. I need an editor, really. Haha. But despite all of those reasons I’ve mentioned, I’m really thankful for my adviser who trusted me. Writing news never gave me pleasure. You have to be specific with the facts and you can’t give your own points and using adjectives is a big no-no.

Now, I want to tell you what I’m not: I’m neither a singer nor a dancer (I suck at both). I’m not also a cellphone and SMS addict, I can leave even without a phone. I hate PE classes (I’m just glad that I will not wear my PE uniform ever). And oh as some of you might already know, I don’t have the ideal body weight (take a guess if I’m overweight or underweight) and I don’t look like an 18 year old student (I look younger… lol).

I’ve got more things to tell you but I guess, I’m already boring you. Just watch out for the next version of this introduction to myself to know more about me. But if you need something or you just want to leave your two cents, feel free to contact me.

*****

DanHellbound and Dre tagged me to post facts about myself. BTW, Mr. DanHellbound tagged me way back in December of last year. Dan says I should post seven facts, and Dre says that I should post eight. But obviously, I broke the rules. Lol. And oh, I didn’t make this post because of these memes. It’s just coincidental. Of course, everyone is invited to post random facts. Yeah, I’m tagging you everyone!

16 Comments

Indie Playlist

The Postal Service Death Cab for Cutie
Augustana Snow Patrol
Gomez Imogen Heap
Feist The Fray
Hellogoodbye Regina Spektor

The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Augustana - Boston
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Gomez - How We Operate
Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
Feist - 12341
The Fray - How to Save a Life
Hellogoodbye - Here (In Your Arms)
Regina Spektor - On the Radio

You can see more of my favorite indie music in my Last.fm account.

*****

Thanks to Ate Rachel for giving me an award. I’m glad to hear that you appreciated me visiting your blog. It’s really nice reading your blogs about Yohan and your adventures as a mom.

PS: Forgive me for the very nonsense entry. This is just for the sake of updating my blog. Haha.

  1. Try to watch its music video, it’s so funny []

11 Comments