Blonde... James Blonde.

This definitely is the
most hilarious blonde joke
you'll ever read!

Your place or my place?

Last night, naka-score ako kay Paopao (looks at Yves! hehe).

I went "dorm-hopping with two of my now favorite guy friends Pepe and Paopao. I dunno what got into them but they just felt the need to check each other's place out. [Ehem, did I interrupt something? =P] First stop, Pepe's crib. I've been outside his dorm a couple of times but t'was my first time to actually go inside his "____-haven" (supply whatever word you deem to be appropriate, i.e. sex?Just kiddin.) The first thing that I thought of was, "Kaya pala aral na aral lagi si Pepe, talagang yun lang ang magagawa mo sa dorm nya." which I actually meant to be a good thing. He has a cutie ref, and lotsa lotsa "law books". His place screams VERBATIM. Hehe. Nice place. I found out that most of the people who live ther are also from Ateneo. Pepe's surrounded by his "idol" law students. Haha. Di halata na maraming mga kasalanan na nangyayari dito. Paopao ang I still think that he was hiding a naked woman somewhere in his dorm. We just weren't able to find her, magaling si Pepe magtago e.

Then we hopped to Paopao's sanctuary. All I can say is that his place is huge! At least for a law student who lives alone. I sooooo love his mini-library because there are a lot of really interesting books there. Plus, he practically has more books in Economics than a "poser-economics grad" like myself. Nakakapanliit. But wait, there's more! (tonong pang-Home TV Shopping) He also has books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Umberto Eco, Oscar Wilde... hay heaven syang talaga for a book enthusiast/ feeling intellectual na loka-lokang katulad ko. Atig si Paopao, may potential pa un place nya na maging mas ok, dapat talaga mag-hire sya ng interior designer. Hehe. What's the best part about his place? He literally has a "some kind of a gym". The works pare! Grabe pao, mahal ka na namin lalo. At sikat sya sa mga kachokaran nya sa labas. I wouldn't be surprised if I'll see "Attorney Pao" having a drinking spree with 'em one of these days.

I totally enjoyed my sorta adventure with Pepay and Paopao whom i shall now call the the P Brothers for lack of more creative ideas. Thanks mah-P bros for the ride home y'all! Oo na, I cant really pull off my talking the ghetto way. I'll stop.

P.S.

I got to recite na for ObliCon and I feel good about it. For the first time in ages it felt like I got to answer quite a number of her questions, may sablay sa dulo but it's all good... I'm beginning to get the hang of it. As in seryoso.

Koko, I miss your being a source of joy too!!! But don't worry, Paopao's doing a great job filling in the loss that you created when you left. Obviously, he's now No. 1 in my Source of Joy list. =P But you're already in my "Wall of Fame" for being an Honorary Source of Joy. You're always with us naman in spirit. Ehem, invite us to go to Davao... willing kami magbakasyon. Haha.

What is an Atenean Lawyer?

[A Legal Writing Exercise]

How does one define something that she’s just beginning to understand? How do people come up with a definition that’s all-encompassing when nothing really in this world is definite? In my opinion, the best way is to look at a word’s etymology to fully grasp the story behind a word or in this case, a phrase. The common noun, lawyer is defined as someone who has the privilege of practicing law. There really is no contest about that but the crucial part of the phrase is the word Ateneo. I tried to look at its etymology and I found out that:

The word "Ateneo" is the Spanish form of "Athenaeum". An “Athenaeum” is a Roman school named after the Greek word Athenaion, which literally means the temple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom.[1]

I therefore conclude that an Atenean lawyer is someone who acknowledges the importance of wisdom. Someone who does not have interest in being labeled as the best but is more focused on contributing to the betterment of the society. An Ateneo lawyer isn’t afraid of change because he looks at it as an opportunity for growth. He does not run away from challenges but instead eagerly waits for tough times because it is during these times that he learns. An Ateneo lawyer is like “salt”, because unlike sugar which draws attention to itself, salt brings out the best in all the other ingredients.

An Atenean lawyer does not hesitate to hit rock bottom because he knows that there is no way but up after the collision. An Ateneo lawyer is the synergy of justice and compassion. An Atenean lawyer thinks and feels. An Ateneo lawyer is human… but he draws strength from the ultimate judge that is God.

---

[1] Yahoo! Online Dictionary [Online], URL: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/athenaeum (Accessed January 8, 2006)

From Postsecret ...

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images from PostSecret

Don't Give Up On Us.

Today's the day that my family chose to watch the Piolo-Judai flick over Narnia and Family Stone. Piolo's yummy, 'nuff said. No matter how gay he is and no matter how loooooong his hair is, I still think he's one sexy papi. About the film? There's nothing really to talk about, the film's basically everything you saw in the trailer. No twists, no attempt to be original. It's a typical Judai-Piolo, Judai-Wowie, Judai-whoever extravaganza. Come on, do you really expect the film to be of substance? My family didnt. We just have our jologs moments.

The Metro Manila Film Festival made my day when I found out that Jose, (Wangbu, that guy in Eat Bulaga who never fails to make me laugh, more like Bayani Agbayani before he became really popular) won the Best Supporting Actor for Enteng Kabisote. Wooohoooo! Belat.

I should be studying for Obligations and Contracts tomorrow. I SHOULD BE but i'm here. I miss blogging. I've been sleeping like crazy these past few years. I'm beginning to think my sibs are drugging me so I'll stop bugging them to watch Star World with me, haha.

Btw, we went to Market! Market! last night. Duhperm decided to have dinner and to go window-shopping after our Saturday class. Masaya naman. Although we literally walked past the shops and didnt really stop to LOOK. Masasaktan lang kasi kami e. But I bought Veet because the reason why I havent been wearing skirts these past few weeks is that I havent waxed my jungle-like legs. I also colored my hair brown. It's not really that "halata". Since i colored my hair, i couldnt get curls until a month after. Payn, titigil muna ako.

I found out from Japhet that Sam has her own condo na. Shala! I was supposed to go there but i wasnt able to because I dont know how. Ang risky naman if I'll take the cab uli... kulang na rin ako sa pera. Plus, late na rin ako nakaalis ng Rockwell. Oh well.

I'm just gonna sing... "Dont give up on us baby... " and dream of Piolo. Woohoo!

Start the Year Right Doesnt Apply to Me.

Imbyerna/Funny conversation no. 1:

Haze: Euns, wag ka magagalit pero... tumaba ka.
Eunice: Ayun. Thanks a lot. haha.

Imbyerna/Funny Conversation no.2:

Pi: Euns, bakit ganun un blog mo? Di na witty. Nakakadiri.
Euns:Point, point. (tono ni Shem) I know na may sudden shift from teeny-bopper/chick lit/atrabida ang tone ng aking blog to scientific/ patriotic/ geeky. Sorry na. Hehe.

I woke up at 6 this morning and I was so glad to start my day early. I told myself that I wouldn't go back to bed so that I can read and review more. At 7am, I made the mistake of lying on my bed and closing my eyes for a split second... Naidlip ako. My idea of a "NAP" is a 5-hour sleep. Ayon nga kay Pi, COMATOSE. I woke up at 12 noon, panicking, i took a shower and got ready in 30 minutes. T'was a good thing that my parents were still at home so they dropped me to school. Saved by the bell. Buti na lang medyo late si Ma'am.

Father B made my day. We were kind of anxious because there was a confusion as to until which Article we shold've read for today's class. Some were saying until Article 9 but the majority knew that the assignment was until Article 7 only (though im not sure if that was because it's most beneficial for us to unitedly believe that it's only until Article 7). We waited for him and got ready for the recitation but to make everyone happy all he needed was to ask us, "Do you really want to have class today?" and we eagerly and should i say, honestly replied, "Nooooooooo." (fading pa with feelings). That was all Fr. B needed to hear. Kumbaga sa judge, "Reset the trial to Friday." ang hatol. Aprub.

We had dinner at Jollibee because we didnt want to end up eating at Mongkok after a few weeks of not eating there. Kababuyan moment nanaman dahil full meal kung full meal. Kwentuhan. Then we went to Starbucks to "study". Study? Translation, we went to Starbucks to talk about what we did during the break, which was nothing really since I spent most of my vacation sleeping or watching DVDs. Duhperm specifically Shem (and her girlfriend, Yvie) had another issue to discuss with us. OUR TRIP TO BORACAY. Sa wakas. Pagkatapos ng maraming napurnadang plano, sa tingin ko seryoso na ito. Ang aming target money, 10,000 each. So I'm supposed to save 150 daily. Astig. Papayat na ko makakapunta pa ako ng Boracay. Yahoo. We shall call our new eating regime as the "Sky Flakes diet". Let's go DuhPerm. A week in Bora? J'adore.

To end my first day in law school for the year 2006, Ana had to remind Pepe that he owes us a Sentro dinner. Pepe said sure. He was willing to treat us PRONTO. Since he's going to Banawa tomorrow to do some pimpin for his car, we ought to say yes to his proposal of treating us tonight. Mahirap na, baka mapurnada nanaman. So we went to Greenbelt. Kahit na nag-dinner na kami, tumuloy parin kami. We ate at Babba Gump instead kasi as usual mahaba nanaman ang pila sa Sentro... Lumalabas nanaman sa ilong ko ang lahat ng kinain ko dahil sa kabusugan. Astig na first day. Perfectly imperfect.

WAR?

Every gun that is made,Every warship launched,Every rocket fired signifies in the final sense,
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
Those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone
It is spending the sweat of its laborers,
The genius of its scientists and The hopes of its children
-- Eisenhower

War, no matter how noble the cause will always be a reason for grief, hunger, fear, and proliferation of evil in all its forms. I cant help but think of the not so recent US-led war in Iraq. I must admit, I was very open to the idea of war, I even thought it was a great idea to finally force Saddam Hussein to let go of Iraq and let them be. I was ok with it because I thought that the end will justify the means. But I realized that one major reason why I was ok with it was the fact that there is little possibility that I will be directly affected by such a war. By merely watching CNN and watching all these documentaries about the war, I began questioning if it’s really worth it. Is “freedom” really a long and painful process? will the emergence of democracy in Iraq be worth the lives of not only the soldiers from both sides but also of the innocent people who happen to be caught in the middle of these dark days?

There is a trade off to everything, besides the lives shed, I believe that it really snatches away the opportunity from people who would want to be in school, of unemployed people waiting for help from the government, of production. As an economist, I have always been firm with my decision, WAR is inevitable but its advocates should ensure the people that its reasons are valid. And that in the future, when we look back, we will all nod in appreciation at the thought that we made the right choice in the past.

Gene Therapy

I strongly believe that the betterment of lives and prevention of death are two most important goals that we should all have. In the controversy regarding gene therapy, I have always believed that there's nothing immoral to anything which aims to cure. I do understand the moral dilemma in which a lot of the people who oppose the said therapy are clinging to and I feel that they might be getting carried away by limitations that they have set for themselves. For every innovation, every advances in technology give way to the emergence of more risks and unavoidable repercussions. But I think that once again, “Fear should never paralyze us into inaction.”

Only, there is one fear or I guess dilemma that I would like to be addressed regarding this.. I just hope that if ever that there will be a massive success in the improvement of gene therapy, everyone will be given the chance to avail of such cure. I hope that it will not result to another divide which will affect the structure of a lot of societies. And though there are experiments that should be carried out, I hope that the doctors will not take it as a mere gamble but a a conquest.

HAPPY NEW YEAR PINOYS!

I have always been fascinated with Rizal and the things that he was able to come up with back when Filipinos weren't expected to excel. His ideals, theories and suggestions have been proven to be very useful and true not only in the past but also in the present, it’s amazing how he was able to predict a lot things that we are still experiencing now. It’s not a surprise to me that he has talked about how Filipinos have been in a way very individualistic with respect to progress and development. It’s quite obvious that we all are aiming for the development of our country in all aspects but we all move without thinking of how it will affect other people. It’s saddening because we have always been proud of our close family ties, our ability to survive no matter what, still, the simplicity of being united isn’t present in our society.

Just like the old times, when the revolts in the Spanish Era were motivated by mere personal motives, we will fail. We can only realize our dreams if we will try to be more conscientious of other people. We all are skilled, we all are intelligent, but moving as individuals is a disadvantage. We must lost that “one man for himself” attitude and instead focus on how we can contribute. Apathy will not get us anywhere. We must move as one, that’s why we’re called Filipinos, we all are under this nationality, we all are instruments of development and progress.

In the end, one thing is clear… The government cannot make changes happen without our help. The more we try to be overly dependent on what the government can do for us, the more our country will sulk in this slum we are stuck in. Actions will be more effective if only we are UNITED. Our economy’s growth will not be a question of who the president is, rather, a question of UNITY towards ONE GOAL. I am urging everyone to be more vigilant, concerned and sensitive of what each and everyone of us can do for our country. It is time to make a difference and to show the world what we have.

I may have started from behind but I am more rapidly catching up,
I may not finish first but I will finish the race with pride.
You don't have to run, Eunice. Just walk. You will get there.

On Emergence and Artificiality

Ar’ti-f’cial, a. 1. made by man; not natural. 2. not genuine; affected.
ar’ti-fi’ci-al’ity, n.
E-merge’, v. Come out; appear. - e-mer’gence, n

Whenever I’m given something that I should react to, one very big concern for me is to know how certain words are defined in the dictionary. It’s not because I don’t know exactly what they mean, but I wanna be able to just figure out which of the people’s perceptions regarding a certain statement or regarding certain words have basis or are just results of their own process of figuring out the appropriate meanings. In this particular situation, the two essential words are artificiality and emergence, the meanings of the words in the dictionary are stated above. With respect to emergence, I didn’t think there was something problematic with the meaning because it’s simple as it can be. I only had certain issues with artificiality.

My dilemma with definition lies in the part where artificiality is defined as “not genuine”. It is problematic because I feel that what is real is something which exists, and to say that something artificial is something unreal would have no logical reason to back it up. I really think that this topic is very relevant because in a world where everything’s changing due to certain innovations, artificiality has become a part of life. The process of finding meanings for artificiality and emergence is a process which will be ongoing until life itself exists. My reasons for such a claim will be discussed later in the essay. I will thoroughly look into the claims and insights expressed in the essay by Ghasempour and try to analyze how it led to such conclusions.

I do agree with Ghasempour that debates on issues regarding artificiality and emergence have always been present in every single generation. These debates, I think, are attempts to decipher the unexplainable through possible exchange of insights and formulation of certain conventions regarding which explanations are to be accepted or not. After reading the essay, it made me think of some opinions or insights expressed in the essay which I disagree with and some areas which I think have become problematic. I will also be looking at all these inconsistencies, critique them and make the most of whatever I found out in the process of my research.

In the first paragraph of the essay, the concept of emergents as results of some organic evolution introduced the author’s idea of how we are baffled about the reality that we have always held true. This statement reminded me of something a representative from La Rouche told us about how all these economic theories we’ve been studying are all mere manipulations of the “more influential” part of the group of economists. He pointed out that the reality that we have grown to accept are just manifestations of who won in the battle for truth in the centuries. I get the point of how we all become confused with certain “alleged truths” which we’ve been taught right from the start everytime we would encounter something which opposes the things we believe in. it maybe attributed to the fact that the things we believe in serve as foundations for the more complicated tings that we encounter which are also vital for our growth or development. What bothered me in the statement given by the author of the essay was her question on spiritual realms which science cannot permeate. I don’t think that spirituality or the spiritual realm per se should be compared parallel to science because they are of different levels. The context in which the spiritual realm was used, for me, was foul because it exudes the message that scientists always have the easier way out by attributing the unexplainable (as of the moment) as spiritual stuff from the spiritual realms. The long standing conflict between the side which looks at emergence as a spiritual thing and the side wherein emergence is explained as a result of evolution or any natural process is in a way useless because I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. Physical laws can give explanations and so can non-scientific theories but the point will be not of making them totally opposite each other.

I also believe that there are a number of things that we can learn from the past and that these backward linkages may not directly point out such answers but they sure will serve as guides to trace what humanity has achieved so far. Still, I don’t agree with the statement that “..the future is geared towards artificiality” because I don’t wanna see artificiality as a destination but a means or an instrument that can lead us to our ultimate goal to seek the betterment of everyone and everything which exist. I believe that artificiality should not rule over our lives but we can use it to make our ways of living better than it is as of the moment.

In the next paragraph, it said something about the claim of science that everything has a logical reason behind them. Looking at the meaning of logical in the dictionary, it just means “ something used in LOGIC” and logic is defined as the “art of reasoning”. So in a way, what maybe justified by mere manipulation of reason could be considered logical. Furthermore, if one believes that our existence is just superficial or that we are just imagining this world that we are living in (think of Matrix) and he can back it up with something really convincing like, we don’t even know what happens if we die, therefore we cant grasp the whole truth about our existence and anything that we see today may just be a part of the whole play which is only revealed after our “supposed lives”. And that if the game is over, we can choose whether we wanna try again or just rest. It’s logical, but all we can do is speculate. I say, it’s not in our limitations of our cognition but in the limitations of our means of using our cognition. I agree that artificiality should become instruments for the improvement of life as a whole and that the process in which we understand is subjective and personal. Trying to explain and find out things through mere biological processes would be, in my opinion, atrocious. It is because we all vary, and we cant hold everything constant not only in our ways of thinking but in our biological processes as well. However, regarding the author’s statement on the Emergent Theory of Mind’s being useless because it merely explains the process is unacceptable because the key to being able to analyze something and to arrive into a breakthrough starts with the understanding of the basic processes and the basic events which happened along the way.

I also agree with the claim that there still are a lot of things which remains as mysteries to us, but to call the actions of modern empiricists as attempts to “RECREATE NATURE THROUGH ARTIFICING” would be dangerous and in a way, problematic. Artificing shouldn’t aim to recreate nature because recreation is a process which should happen without interference from us, but instead artificing should aim to IMPROVE and ACHIEVE the betterment if not of everyone but of at least the majority of the population.

It was in a way hard for me to grasp this idea of reality being “…independent of any possible knowledge and any actual encounter with it”. I’m afraid that through this definition, reality has become something merely imagined. If there is such a thing as accessible and inaccessible reality, then how do we verify it? What is real? Genuine? Who verifies it? I think it’s once again a matter of convention and influence. Just like the old times. The politics of reality will be at work.

Fear should never paralyze us into inaction. Every decision that we make has its intended and unintended consequences. Like what I learned in Economics, everything has its trade offs, its opportunity cost, and the knowledge on being able to imitate reality and understand emergence may cause some bad consequences. But I believe that though there are risks, it shouldn’t hinder us from wanting to know more and to discover things which in the end will offset whatever negative effects it may have. Even the cleanest of all intentions can result to serious negative effects but it shouldn’t stop us from trying to achieve more and from learning. Life is a process of learning, it’s a continued pursuit of improvement of being better. Yes, we do evolve, and learning more about reality, artificiality and emergence is a positive evolution regardless of what repercussions it may bring with it.

I like the concept in which we see our own lives to be artificial. Artificiality introduced as a way of life is a positive way to look at it. It drives me to a very important issue I wanna raise, why do people have this idea that anything artificial is not as good as the original and that it’s not gonna be good enough to satisfy something which is natural? Should there really be conflict between what is artificial and what is natural? Shouldn’t there be like a mutually beneficial relationship between them? Shouldn’t the artificial and the natural just complement each other? Are they supposed to be separate entities? I believe there shouldn’t be a clash between them.

There shouldn’t be a mere pursuit of artificiality, but instead, there should be a pursuit to improvement. Artificiality should only be one of the means to achieve improvement and to know more about the natural / real world. In STS, I learned to see the irony in defining science as something exact and systematic. It is because just like this issue addressed in the essay, science need not be uncompromising. In fact, Science is overly compromising that it welcomes even the most deviant of the deviant hypotheses. Just like the innovations we studied, artificiality shouldn’t be seen as a threat which will make life miserable for humanity but instead look at artificiality as a wagon that will bring us to a better world. A world where the artificial and the “real” live harmoniously with each other. A world where there will be not gap between people.