The Law and Economics of Lust, Love and Life

All I Want For Christmas is... este, ARE...

Attention GIFT-GIVERS!

Peace of Mind (priceless)
Contentment (priceless)
Sex and the City Trivia Game (P1000+)
Human Warmth (priceless)
Any Metallic BIG Bag.
Ateneo Law Jacket (1000+)
Tarot Cards. Tarot decks vary from the more traditional Rider Waite pack, to the more eclectic such as The Egyptian Tarot, The Buddha Tarot, The Celtic Tarot, and Gothic Tarot of Vampires.
really cute pair of wedge [size 9]
bean bag (600+?)
contact lens [hazel, brown... wag lang blue] 100 ang grado... (600+)
white pumps (size 9) 300 - 500 lang sa Fashion Market (Market Market!)
Pashmina shawl GOT IT! Thanks Yvie...
Summit Media : Who Stole My Magic? by Jenny Manuel,Between Dinner and the Morning After by Tara FT Sering,No Boyfriend Since Birth by Claire Betita [150 each]
Aviator Shades from People are People
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Nicole Krauss's eccentric and haunting second novel, The History of Love
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

Gazillions of Toffee Nut Latte's Later

Just got home from Simbang Gabi with Leida.

A li'l earlier:
Just got home from a refreshing nightout with my high school barkada.

Realized that all of 'em managed to lose weight which completely emphasized my "contradictory" situation of successfully gaining weight while claiming to be the "most stressed one" thanks to law school.

Survived JC's kaasar-to-death question, "Anong nangyari sayo?" sabay attempting to pinch me in a "stuffed-toy"-like manner by bullying him into buying my nth cup of Toffee Nut Latte for the day and killing him through guilt for showing up late and having the nerve to be the earliest one to leave.

Planned a highly-anticipated Christmas get-together with the highlight game of BASAGAN NG PALAYOK as suggested by Mirla.

Made fun of Ahyen after she suggested that we come up with NAUGHTY PARLOR GAMES by reminding her that we all are CLOOOOSE friends and that NAUGHTY GAMES are for people who look at each other as romantic prospects. Friends who are like brothers and sisters don't play "BASAGAN NG ITLOG". They just don't. It's a rule.

Teeny weeny bit earlier:

Met up with Chubs after he "got drunk" at his law school's Christmas Party in Shang. Made him promise an INUMAN SESSION with him as the "TAYA".

Much earlier:
Just came from a "tambay session" with Ces and Carlo...

Much, much earlier:
I got called to recite for my Criminal Law class, crossed my fingers and "charmed" [or at least TRIED TO CHARM] my way through it.

Sooper dooooper earlier:
I had a blast hosting the Ateneo School of Law Staff Christmas Party. I am now a celebrity amongst the staff. Saya.

EVENTFUL DAY? understatement.

Ano ba tayo?

Sirit na 'ko.

Joke ba un?

nag-Knock, knock ka ba?

Ang tagal naman ng punchline. Wag naman PUNCH lang.

Sige kahit na knock-knock pa lang... SIRIT na'ko.

The Lantern Parade became a Charade.

It's depressing.

Ilang words? Ilang syllables? English ba o Tagalog?

Just like a charade, people act out what they think is the best rendition or representation of the object that has to be guessed or interpreted by a TEAM MATE. The problem is, we perceive things differently. That's the beauty of the mind. The UP Students and the Board of Regents are supposed to be teammates.

Minsan nga lang nagkakapikunan din ang magkakagrupo. Pare-pareho man na gustong makatulong sa UP, iba-iba nga lang ng paraan na naiisip.

Poor students, poor excited Lantern Parade ex-spectators. Poor UP.

CMO Christmas Party

... Unbreak My Heart is my "NEW VIDEOKE SONG" just because I'm through with being Jaya. =P
... FAME never fails to make everyone sing.
... All CMOers are currently broken-hearted. Or at least all those who got hold of the Magic Sing are either broken-hearted OR hopeless romantics. Either way we scream CHEESY.
... Killing Me Softly + Dancing = Confusion
... I therefore conclude that I LOVE PARTIES. Christmas Parties. Christmas Parties with Magic Sing.
... It is a bad idea to sing "Darna" in front of people you don't know. They often wonder why the hell you're in law school because you know a Janine Desiderio song. Haha. And yes, "Darna" is the Tagalog version of "Superwoman". And FYI, Kamikazee's song is NARDA. Just in case you got it all mixed up.

I Think I'm Going to the Ball...

Just because I miss being in high school. I miss dressing up. I miss dancing. I miss having clean fun. I miss being carefree. I miss my fairytales. I miss my prince charming. Wait. I dont have a prince charming. Fine. I miss dreaming of a prince charming.

I miss being a "Miss".

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image from POST SECRET

Man and Woman

Warren sent me an sms with this wonderful message and i felt compelled to share it to everyone 'coz i luuuuurve it. Thanks Chubs. =P

Man is the most elevated of all creatures; woman is the most sublime of all ideals.
God made for man a throne; for woman, an altar.
The throne exalts; the alter sanctifies.
Man is the brain, woman, the heart.
The brain enlightens; the heart loves.
Light illimunates; love revives.
Man is the genius; woman, an angel. Genius is immeasurable. An angel is undefinable. A genius contemplates the infinite; an angel attains the unattainable.
The aspiration of man is supreme glory, the aspiration of woman is extreme virtue. To obtain glory, man does what is grand, to acquire virtrue, woman does what is divine.
Man has supremacy; woman the preference. Supremacy signifies strength; preference represents right.
Man is the symbol of heroism; woman, of martyrdom. Heroism ennobles; martyrdom sublimates.
Man is the code; woman, the gospel. The code corrects; the gospel perfects.
Man is the temple; woman, the sacrarium. To the temple, we reveal; to the sacrarium, we kneel.
Man thinks, woman dreams. To think is to recollect the past or to reason the present; to dream is to anticipate the future.
Man is the lake; woman, the ocean. The lake contains the poetry that dazzles; the ocean contains the pearl that beautifies.
Man is the eagle that flies; woman is the lark that sings. To fly is to dominate the space; to sing is to conquer the soul.
Man pursues the goal of conscience; woman follows the star of hope. Conscience guides; hope preserves.
Lastly, man is placed where earth ends; woman is placed where heaven begins.

Victor Hugo

‘Trapo’-like spins on UP tuition hikes

GET REAL
‘Trapo’-like spins on UP tuition hikes
By Solita Collas-Monsod
Inquirer

Published on Page A12 of the November 25, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IT IS neither accurate nor fair to associate all students of the University of the Philippines (UP) with the so-called boycott of classes that was supposed to have taken place this past Thursday in protest of proposed tuition and other fee increases. What is accurate to say is that there was no boycott, or the boycott attempt failed. Why can one say this? According to information from all the colleges on campus, the classes proceeded as usual -- none were cancelled for lack of attendance. And this was buttressed by my own personal experience -- I teach two lecture classes on Thursdays, held in an auditorium because of the large class-size, and both were well attended. Definitely, there was no diminution of attendance that would spell “boycott.”

What is accurate to say is that what occurred was a rally/demonstration, attended by anywhere from 200 to 400 people (whether they were all from the UP community, one could not be certain; neither was it certain whether the students at the rally were all UP students), per eyeball estimate. One cannot really tell from the pictures because they were all “tight” shots -- almost close-up, giving the viewer no idea of the magnitude of the crowd. Which is in itself a dead giveaway, because if the crowd was large, the pictures taken would have been panoramic.

Moreover, as anyone familiar with the Diliman campus knows, these rallies/demonstrations are commonplace, and are generally organized by the same groups. Nevertheless, in the spirit of academic freedom and freedom of speech, they are allowed, defended, and even encouraged by the UP authorities. In effect, a rally of that size is no big deal.

A logical question would be: Why were there relatively few participants (considering that there are more than 25,000 students on campus, not to mention about the 1,500 faculty and 2,200 other staff)? One reason for this could be that, in the main, the students were indifferent -- probably because they will not be affected by any tuition fee increase, since this will only be imposed on incoming freshmen. The principle underlying this is that there is an implicit contract with students who had entered under a particular tuition fee structure that the structure would remain unchanged until they finished their studies. Doing otherwise would be like perpetrating a hold-up on their families, who would have very little choice other than to pay, because it is difficult to change schools.

But another reason -- which is not considered by many because of the perception that everyone in UP is a leftist/radical -- is that the students, studied, with no preconceived notions, the De Dios Committee recommendations (the report was released over four months ago) and found them reasonable. They refused to be carried away by the slogans and buzzwords that they were being inundated with.

A stretch? I don’t think so. In my years on the faculty, I have found that UP students, for the most part, have more important priorities than to wave banners, throw eggs, or scream epithets. But the latter is the kind of behavior that gets the publicity, and gives rise to the perception (including, that of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who should know better), that UP is a waste of public money.

Everyone has a right to his own opinion, of course. I do not quarrel with that. What I find disturbing, however, is a certain similarity between some campus leaders and their national counterparts: the tendency to take liberties with the truth. Putting their own spin, as it were the facts, until they are unrecognizable. The youth hate the “trapo” [traditional politicians] for doing it, but they seem to have no problems doing it themselves, if it helps their cause.

Take for example (if newspaper accounts are accurate) one UP student leader quoted as saying: “Can you imagine? From P6,000, you’ll suddenly have to shell out P18,000 a semester?” This young man must have known (unless he didn’t do his homework, in which case he is even more like his adult political counterparts), that only (incoming) freshmen whose annual family income is more than P500,000 a year -- i.e., those belonging to the top 5 percent of families in terms of income -- will have to pay that amount. Since it would be silly to waste his sympathy on them, or on those who will have to pay P30,000 a semester because their family annual income is over P1 million, he makes it appear as if all students have to pay that much.

Not content with that, he then expresses his concern that more and more indigent students would not be able to get into UP for the simple reason that they could not afford it. Excuse me? Again, he completely ignores (or just as bad, is ignorant of) the Student Tuition and Financial Assistance Program of UP. Under this, the poorest students are not only exempted from paying the tuition and other fees, they are also given stipends of P12,000 every semester. As I mentioned in last week’s column, even the not-so poor (with incomes of P70,001 to P135,000 a year) will not experience a tuition fee increase at all, because they will be given a 70 percent discount from the new fees. In other words, UP is definitely taking care of its poor but (intellectually) deserving students -- it has been doing so since 1989.

Intellectual dishonesty or incompetence has contributed to the nightmare that is Philippine governance. That it has started in one so young, an “iskolar ng bayan” [people’s scholar], and a possible future leader of the country, is a shame.

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i guess it's obvious that I agree with what's in this article. It's about time that the "silent majority" be represented by a not-so-silent smart woman, thank you very much.

People are Crazy

"ETHICS" will never be the same again. It's all Ces' fault. She just had to point out that "ETHICS" sounds like... uhmm, YOU KNOW WHAT. So the sentences, "May ethics ka ba?", "Ano meron sa ethics?" and "Ni-review mo na ba un ethics mo?" will be barred from our conversations. JUST BECAUSE. So I will just say... "Si Hazel may Ethics." at "si Ces mahilig sa Ethics." for the heck of it.

In line with our "ethics" running joke on my way home a carinderia caught my attention and got me into a looooooooong laughing streak. The carinderia's name is [drumroll please!] "Beth's Silog" .. I was like, you have got to be shittin' me.

Lastly, I was browsing through some profiles in Itzamatch and saw this one liner... "I'm not handsome but I have a heart-warming." Whatta way to end my day. Need I say more?

SAKTO

Something that is important to you is changing, Eunice, and you are beginning to doubt whether there's a future in it or not. It may be a career field, or it could be a romantic relationship. Confusion may dominate your thoughts throughout the day, and you aren't one to be comfortable with an uncertain future. You need to give this a lot of thought before coming to any decision. Hang in there.

Practicality can be your best tool in the search for love. After all, what's the point of falling for someone if the situation turns out to be unhealthy or destructive? Shouldn't love improve your life?

Leave My Tears Alone

They do not flow for you anymore.
They just flood my eyes and wait
for the exact moment where i'll blink.
Yet I refuse to blink, to close my eyes
or to just leave it half-open.
I refuse to let them wet my cheeks
that are aching to feel a smile.
Leave my tears alone, leave me
with nothing but flooded eyes
so that they'll shine from afar
when light comes and illuminates
the pond of loneliness.
Leave my tears alone,
they do not flow for you anymore.