A little rewind before I neglect to mention these events:
Saturday
After sleeping in a little after the marathon mass in the plaza prep the previous night, I headed over to Interfaith to check out the choir practice, figuring I was too late to sing for choir, but I had nothing else to do really. My sister called me earlier that day and told me she was coming up, but I didn't know when. When it finally came time to practice Tanging Yaman, my sister called and told me she had been waiting for a while already at University Center. Oops!
I gave Chris a ride there as he didn't want to go home yet. Melissa called me about the HSO planning meeting we were supposed to be having, but I told her I had to reschedule and to tell Vanessa the same... and as it turns out I got to tell her myself a minute later. We finally found my sister and headed off to Goro Sushi. It was a little weird, since I never hung out with my sister before. There's always a first time though.
We met up with my sister's friends (whom I don't believe I've been formally introduced to before, despite going to the same high school) and Mustard Seeds was at the table right next to us, straight from choir practice. My sis busted out her album from her trip to Europe. I kept thinking about how I haven't been using my camera lately (partly because Em still has it, and lost my lens cap, which I just found out today) so now I have an urge to go picture crazy again. She went to Italy, Paris, and London. I hope I can do something like that next year maybe. All I need is a couple grand... She said round trip flights are running at $300 right now. Damn, I could sell my bike and go to Europe twice. Dufran could too...
Dinner was great, and Mel, Joyce, and Khristine showed up too. I remember yawning a lot because I was so tired, but it would have been awesome to just chill forever and talk. One my sister's friends (Marissa) actually lived in Joyce's dorm. Small world. The rest of us were roommates at some point or another, except my sister's other friend (Cathy). Everyone came back to our place to chill a little longer. Sis waited until her ebay auction for Radiohead tickets ended and we showed each other some pics online.
Sunday
And pretty soon, I was asleep on the couch and everyone was gone or asleep. I woke up a little disoriented in the living room with the lights off at midnight, tried not to think about anything, then woke up again at 6, freezing. No blanket. I donned the comforter chilling on the floor and finally got tired of sleeping around 7. Mark Anthony gave me a call to see if I could help set up chairs for mass in the plaza, so I got dressed and rode over to campus, somewhere on the way losing my cell phone. Damn. I still haven't found it, enough though I've retraced my path more than 8 times already the past few days. I think all hope is lost.
Setting up chairs was a good workout. I was surprised to see so many people helping out, but then again, 10 am isn't that early for the vast majority of the world. It is for me though. I went back to the apartment to look for my phone. Man, I was tired. I sat at my computer and fell asleep in my chair, even though I was supposed to go back to practice at 1. Around 3:30, I jumped into the shower, threw on my clothes and left, feeling incredibly unprepared. All turned out well though, and the mass was really amazing. Props to everyone that helped out. I was starving the whole time, but the food tasted better after all the work was put in. There were a lot of peeps there that I usually don't see, so it took forever to leave and clean up, but we did, and when the plaza was finally clear, I was exhausted. Having that many people around makes me wish I was more outgoing though. Being shy always means there's less to talk about, or something like that.
Late that night I went to go look for my phone again, with no luck. I went late to PUSO Beat practice, and I wasn't even that into it, but I still stayed until 2 am so we could talk about some HSO stuff.
Monday
The day started really slow until around 4, when I went to eat and work out, then headed back to the apartment to help the roommates move some stuff back in (even though they were already on their way back when I got there), then it was off to LOG prep for first meeting, then PUSO Beat practice (which I just missed) and finally PUSO board meeting. It's a definite change from the spontaneous nature of LOG, but things have to balance out somewhere. We got kicked out by the janitors, but still practiced our skit outside until almost midnight. Back home again and it was over. I was damn tired.
Tuesday
Mosquitos were eating me alive so badly I couldn't sleep anymore. I woke up around 7:30 and stayed up until it came time for my first class at 10:30... but being the lazy ass I am, I went late, so when I saw the room was full through the window, I didn't want to disturb the class. I went in as everyone was leaving and asked the professor for a syllabus, but the professor flat out denied me. Just straight up "NO." If there's one way to make a student feel like an ass, he knew it. He said I wouldn't be able to take the class. I told him I was enrolled. He said I would be dropped. Damn. There goes my only class. I have to drop my other class because of time conflicts with work and geez... I only had 8 units to begin with.
That was the start of my frustrations. I still hadn't found my cell phone either. I went back home and passed out in front of the computer, so by the time I was leaving for work it was a little past 3, and I had to pick up Scott around 3:05 or something. So I was late. And if I didn't realize it, Scott let me know. Damn, I hate being late for work. It makes me feel so irresponsible.
In the eight hours total I've been watching Scott since I've started, I've only really got him to do an hour's worth of homework, which is my main responsibility. This time we but open a baseball, got some tuna to eat (although he never ate it), started fooling around outside, and then got a phone call from his parents (who are currently on vacation). Scott wanted to go his best friend's sleepover, but his dad wasn't going to let him miss his soccer game the next morning or he wouldn't let Scott play soccer anymore. Scott started bawling and I wasn't exactly sure what to tell him. He said he hated his parents, but it's understandable. At least his dad let him have a choice to go to both. At his age, I couldn't do either. Deprived, I was.
I left a little later than I wanted to and had to get to the PUSO meeting, but I have no parking permit so I went back to the apartment to get my bike. Unfortunately, the Rosie-nator was pulling into her garage as I was walking to my garage. She doesn't know I live here and she hasn't seen me arond yet, so I wasn't about to give her ideas that I'm living here. I waited for her to leave, but she was just talking and talking to one of the other neighbors for at least 10 or 15 minutes. I couldn't take it anymore so I ended up driving to school. The first meter I parked said "FAIL" so I had to park again. "FAIL" again. Stupid ass meters. I hate parking at UCI. The thrid time I made sure the meter worked before I moved my car. And the minutes ticked away...
... and I got to the PUSO meeting as it was winding up. Son of a... I might as well just have stayed home and taken a nap. I didn't even feel like going to the afterevent anymore, so I went back to my apartment again to get my bike, then rode over to Interfaith, parked my bike, and sat on the steps across the way at one of the computer labs just to gather my thoughts a bit and try to put things in perspective again. It took a while, and I was still feeling pretty out of it when I decided to go back inside. It was one of those days when it seems like you can't do anything right. I remember as a kid, there were a few days when I'd go shoot around and damn near every shot missed. Now I'm in college, can't keep on top of my classes, can't get to work on time, can't make a kid do his homework, can't make it to the meetings I help to plan... it was damn frustrating.
Leave it up to Liwanag to smooth things out. Thank God for those crazy Loggers. The turnout was great. There were a lot of new faces, even though there weren't that many freshmen. It was different that years past for me, being more of an active participant than I remember being just taking pictures and whatnot. I wasn't able to take any pictures though, something I've been doing for the previous three years. Of course, it didn't help that Em still had my camera. But it was all good. It never is quite the same experience in Liwanag.
After all the songs, prayers, hugs, chips, dip, laughs, and jokes, I forgot about the troubles in my head. And even though I still had some moments where I felt like the awkward outsider, I found it comforting to just sit back and see how LOG has grown. Beautiful.
The bike ride home was a lot better then the ride to school. I raced Cristina downhill (I hit something like 35 mph) and I actually got a nice wheelie going... three pedal strokes. Kinda scary because I almost ate it, but still lots of fun.
Peace.
Saturday
After sleeping in a little after the marathon mass in the plaza prep the previous night, I headed over to Interfaith to check out the choir practice, figuring I was too late to sing for choir, but I had nothing else to do really. My sister called me earlier that day and told me she was coming up, but I didn't know when. When it finally came time to practice Tanging Yaman, my sister called and told me she had been waiting for a while already at University Center. Oops!
I gave Chris a ride there as he didn't want to go home yet. Melissa called me about the HSO planning meeting we were supposed to be having, but I told her I had to reschedule and to tell Vanessa the same... and as it turns out I got to tell her myself a minute later. We finally found my sister and headed off to Goro Sushi. It was a little weird, since I never hung out with my sister before. There's always a first time though.
We met up with my sister's friends (whom I don't believe I've been formally introduced to before, despite going to the same high school) and Mustard Seeds was at the table right next to us, straight from choir practice. My sis busted out her album from her trip to Europe. I kept thinking about how I haven't been using my camera lately (partly because Em still has it, and lost my lens cap, which I just found out today) so now I have an urge to go picture crazy again. She went to Italy, Paris, and London. I hope I can do something like that next year maybe. All I need is a couple grand... She said round trip flights are running at $300 right now. Damn, I could sell my bike and go to Europe twice. Dufran could too...
Dinner was great, and Mel, Joyce, and Khristine showed up too. I remember yawning a lot because I was so tired, but it would have been awesome to just chill forever and talk. One my sister's friends (Marissa) actually lived in Joyce's dorm. Small world. The rest of us were roommates at some point or another, except my sister's other friend (Cathy). Everyone came back to our place to chill a little longer. Sis waited until her ebay auction for Radiohead tickets ended and we showed each other some pics online.
Sunday
And pretty soon, I was asleep on the couch and everyone was gone or asleep. I woke up a little disoriented in the living room with the lights off at midnight, tried not to think about anything, then woke up again at 6, freezing. No blanket. I donned the comforter chilling on the floor and finally got tired of sleeping around 7. Mark Anthony gave me a call to see if I could help set up chairs for mass in the plaza, so I got dressed and rode over to campus, somewhere on the way losing my cell phone. Damn. I still haven't found it, enough though I've retraced my path more than 8 times already the past few days. I think all hope is lost.
Setting up chairs was a good workout. I was surprised to see so many people helping out, but then again, 10 am isn't that early for the vast majority of the world. It is for me though. I went back to the apartment to look for my phone. Man, I was tired. I sat at my computer and fell asleep in my chair, even though I was supposed to go back to practice at 1. Around 3:30, I jumped into the shower, threw on my clothes and left, feeling incredibly unprepared. All turned out well though, and the mass was really amazing. Props to everyone that helped out. I was starving the whole time, but the food tasted better after all the work was put in. There were a lot of peeps there that I usually don't see, so it took forever to leave and clean up, but we did, and when the plaza was finally clear, I was exhausted. Having that many people around makes me wish I was more outgoing though. Being shy always means there's less to talk about, or something like that.
Late that night I went to go look for my phone again, with no luck. I went late to PUSO Beat practice, and I wasn't even that into it, but I still stayed until 2 am so we could talk about some HSO stuff.
Monday
The day started really slow until around 4, when I went to eat and work out, then headed back to the apartment to help the roommates move some stuff back in (even though they were already on their way back when I got there), then it was off to LOG prep for first meeting, then PUSO Beat practice (which I just missed) and finally PUSO board meeting. It's a definite change from the spontaneous nature of LOG, but things have to balance out somewhere. We got kicked out by the janitors, but still practiced our skit outside until almost midnight. Back home again and it was over. I was damn tired.
Tuesday
Mosquitos were eating me alive so badly I couldn't sleep anymore. I woke up around 7:30 and stayed up until it came time for my first class at 10:30... but being the lazy ass I am, I went late, so when I saw the room was full through the window, I didn't want to disturb the class. I went in as everyone was leaving and asked the professor for a syllabus, but the professor flat out denied me. Just straight up "NO." If there's one way to make a student feel like an ass, he knew it. He said I wouldn't be able to take the class. I told him I was enrolled. He said I would be dropped. Damn. There goes my only class. I have to drop my other class because of time conflicts with work and geez... I only had 8 units to begin with.
That was the start of my frustrations. I still hadn't found my cell phone either. I went back home and passed out in front of the computer, so by the time I was leaving for work it was a little past 3, and I had to pick up Scott around 3:05 or something. So I was late. And if I didn't realize it, Scott let me know. Damn, I hate being late for work. It makes me feel so irresponsible.
In the eight hours total I've been watching Scott since I've started, I've only really got him to do an hour's worth of homework, which is my main responsibility. This time we but open a baseball, got some tuna to eat (although he never ate it), started fooling around outside, and then got a phone call from his parents (who are currently on vacation). Scott wanted to go his best friend's sleepover, but his dad wasn't going to let him miss his soccer game the next morning or he wouldn't let Scott play soccer anymore. Scott started bawling and I wasn't exactly sure what to tell him. He said he hated his parents, but it's understandable. At least his dad let him have a choice to go to both. At his age, I couldn't do either. Deprived, I was.
I left a little later than I wanted to and had to get to the PUSO meeting, but I have no parking permit so I went back to the apartment to get my bike. Unfortunately, the Rosie-nator was pulling into her garage as I was walking to my garage. She doesn't know I live here and she hasn't seen me arond yet, so I wasn't about to give her ideas that I'm living here. I waited for her to leave, but she was just talking and talking to one of the other neighbors for at least 10 or 15 minutes. I couldn't take it anymore so I ended up driving to school. The first meter I parked said "FAIL" so I had to park again. "FAIL" again. Stupid ass meters. I hate parking at UCI. The thrid time I made sure the meter worked before I moved my car. And the minutes ticked away...
... and I got to the PUSO meeting as it was winding up. Son of a... I might as well just have stayed home and taken a nap. I didn't even feel like going to the afterevent anymore, so I went back to my apartment again to get my bike, then rode over to Interfaith, parked my bike, and sat on the steps across the way at one of the computer labs just to gather my thoughts a bit and try to put things in perspective again. It took a while, and I was still feeling pretty out of it when I decided to go back inside. It was one of those days when it seems like you can't do anything right. I remember as a kid, there were a few days when I'd go shoot around and damn near every shot missed. Now I'm in college, can't keep on top of my classes, can't get to work on time, can't make a kid do his homework, can't make it to the meetings I help to plan... it was damn frustrating.
Leave it up to Liwanag to smooth things out. Thank God for those crazy Loggers. The turnout was great. There were a lot of new faces, even though there weren't that many freshmen. It was different that years past for me, being more of an active participant than I remember being just taking pictures and whatnot. I wasn't able to take any pictures though, something I've been doing for the previous three years. Of course, it didn't help that Em still had my camera. But it was all good. It never is quite the same experience in Liwanag.
After all the songs, prayers, hugs, chips, dip, laughs, and jokes, I forgot about the troubles in my head. And even though I still had some moments where I felt like the awkward outsider, I found it comforting to just sit back and see how LOG has grown. Beautiful.
The bike ride home was a lot better then the ride to school. I raced Cristina downhill (I hit something like 35 mph) and I actually got a nice wheelie going... three pedal strokes. Kinda scary because I almost ate it, but still lots of fun.
Peace.
