Darwin's Theory: Structuring the Unstructured Mind

Poor kid inspires me...

2008-09-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've tried my hand at blogging last year. But work and personal stuff got in the way of my blogging life. And although I've stopped writing since August of last year, I remained an avid blog reader (That's what happens when your best friend is a force to be reckoned with in the blogosphere).

I've read countless blogs this past year covering various interests: technology, travel, entertainment, humor, and personal blogs. I love reading personal blogs the most because they EXPOSE THE TENETS OF HUMAN LIFE! (huh?)

Luckily for me, Aileen introduced me to another force in Philippine blogging: Batang Yagit. I've read some of his blogs (I hear he has quite a number). But the one I constantly go back to is his personal blog. It's fun, exciting, and very informative for savvy techies and non-techies alike.

So here I am, after more than a year of blogging hibernation, once again pressing keys to make one last post: vote batang yagit for best blog.

On second thought, his blog did inspire me to write again. This might not be my last blog after all. Thanks batang yagit!

I wanna hang myself!!!

2007-08-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Got my hair colored. The stylist called it "light chestnut brown". I CALL IT HAIR COLOR FROM HELL!!!
The application itself was barely bearable. I mean waiting 30 mins for the chemical to dry under a hair cap already made me feel stupid. But seeing myself for the first time with that weird color on me was just plain torture!

Well, I guess it's not that bad. My friends said the color looked good on me. Somehow my face lit up and they said I looked younger. I still need more than just their words to make me feel better, though.
Anyway, what's done is done. I might as well make the most out of my "updated look". I still think hiding all that color under a baseball cap all the time is the best thing to do. What do you think? :)

A sad story of COSMIC proportions...

2007-08-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

Found this in my stash of old memories. Wrote it when I was so emotional over "nothing" not so long ago (college days) LOL. Thanks to blogging, I finally get to publish it.

"Supernova"
by Darwin Encabo

Once there were two stars held so close together,
You couldn't distinguish one from the other.
They graced the skies with a unified light,
A light so bright it kept love so tight.

Cosmic beings said they were inseparable,
What one could do the other was able.
They seemed to have a singular thought,
And nothing seemed to keep them apart.

But all of a sudden for reasons unknown,
The bright twin stars waned and were gone.
The light they once shone turned gray and turned cold,
And the emptiness that's left had grown very old.

Through powerful forces of cosmic actions,
One of the stars found new dimensions.
The other one remained in its own orbit,
Yearning for the friend it missed so intent.

In its vast solar system the lone star sat,
And grieved over something it thought would last.
Until such time, this, the star could not digest,
It shattered, it snapped and ceased to exist.

Wake up call...

2007-08-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

Got another wake up call from Aileen.

She was talking about us going somewhere for a vacation while I was whining about not being able to go because of so many things. She said to me...

"Don't let it control your life. It should be the other way around."

I guess she's right. I should go because I want to go.

I CAN choose to be free.

Who is Kyle XY?

2007-08-03T09:30:00.001-07:00

I spent most of my days last week watching ABC's TV drama Kyle XY (just don't ask HOW we got to watch it).

Kyle XY is actually a cross between Dark Angel and John Doe. The lead character is a brainiac with no memory (like John Doe) imbued with superhuman abilities (just like Max in Dark Angel). His origins remain a mystery until the last few episodes of the first season.

I like the fact that they focus more on Kyle's relationships rather than his superhuman abilities. I know most of it is cheesy stuff, but I can't help but love it. The show just has a way of getting to you.

Studio 23 will begin airing the show some time next week. Please do watch it. If you want to watch the entire first season, just ask me how.

Jobless and loving it... (Part 2)

2007-07-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

"Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses. "
-Amy Tan

...READ ACT 1

Act 2: The Book

8:30 PM. My friends and I were at Ayala center Cebu, moving from store to store, looking for nothing in particular. An event we attended ended around 10 minutes earlier and they wanted to do some compulsive buying before the mall closed.

8:45 PM. For our last stop, my friends went inside National Bookstore. I had no intention of buying so I stayed outside and just looked over the titles featured in the window display. Several books were on display: The Harry Potter series, romance novels, decorating books, cookbooks, school books, Rich Dad! Poor Dad!, wait... I went back and read the title again: Rich Dad! Poor Dad! Hmm... Sounds interesting.

8:50 PM. I went inside National Bookstore. And there it was on the anchor area. Several books were stacked on a small platform with the phrase: No. 1 New York Times bestseller!

8:55 PM. I picked up the book, read the back label, and quickly went to the counter to buy it.

8:57 PM. I started reading the book that would eventually change my life.

Waiting... Act 3.

Darwin and His Chamber of Secrets...

2007-07-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

I got tagged.

Aileen is so adamant about me becoming a blogger. I guess this is another one of her "ploys" to get me to write something. Guess what, it's working. So here goes:

Rules of the Game...
-Each player must post these rules first.
-Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
-At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
-Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

These "personifications" are facets of my being that most people who meet me don't always get to see:

1. A Clown. I strike most people as serious, especially during first meetings. But I am, in reality, just a funny person with a serious side (who isn't). Most of my jokes might be corny but I can find humor even in the most unusual of circumstances.

2. A not-really-that-organized person. My co-workers used to think I was the most organized person in the office. Only those closest to me could see how chaotic my files really were. Still, I was doing my job and meeting deadlines. That was enough to keep my boss happy. :) Photo courtesy of NCF.CA

3. A chocolate lover. Maybe my mum breastfed me with chocolate coz it's something I can't live without. Trust me, I can get very cranky if I don't get my daily dose of chocolate. It's funny that I also share same passion with Tappy: EATING MILO. I can finish a whole can of it in just one sitting.

4. An Economist. Not in the technical sense, mind you. It's just my way of saying I'm cheap and thrifty. Kuripot is the right word for it. My closest friends have experienced first-hand how anal I can be about money.

5. A huge Robert Kiyosaki fan. Some people love him, some don't. Luckily, I'm one of those who do love him. Subsequent posts will discuss this fascination in detail.

6. An Insomniac. If I were to choose between sleeping and waking up, I'd choose the latter any day. I just think we could do so much more if we don't sleep as much as we do. Too bad our body can't survive without sleep. Or can it? Hmm...

7. A Pirate. No, I don't wear an eyepatch nor do I have a pirate's hat. I'm no Orlando Bloom nor Johnny Depp either. I only have my computer, internet connection, and an entire global library (pdf files, music files, movies, etc.) open for download. Thanks to Limewire and uTorrent, my stash of information just got way bigger. Hope I don't get busted for this. :)

8. A Homebuddy. They say "home is where the heart is." That's very true in my case. I stay home not only because it's a great way to save money, but more so, because I LOVE to stay at home. It's where I feel most comfortable and closest to my family. Josh Verdes says it best with his song "Home"...

9. A geek. I may not have the stroke of Genius in me, but my sensibilities are certainly those of a geek.

10. A Daydreamer.

My blogger friends have all been tagged, except for one person: Max. Better start sharing your secrets Max! hehehe...

Blogs I read...

2007-07-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Just started blogging last week. Found the following worthy nominees to the The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007.

Criteria for judging:
Writing style : 20%
Content: 20%
Fun factor: 10%
Bribe: 50% LOL

1. An apple a day
2. Mermaid's sneakers
3. Max's French blog
4. Andrew dela Serna
5. NetBusinessblog

Aileen's Hand-me-Downs...

2007-07-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad Aileen finally got a new laptop. The free digital camera that came with it allowed me to have a camera of my own. Well, it's not exactly brand new coz it used to be Miggy's. He no longer needed it, though, since Aileen gave him the new camera which came with the laptop. But it will definitely do for a newbie blogger like me.

Getting hand-me-downs from Aileen makes me feel like her younger brother. But it's nothing new to me since, being the youngest of six siblings, I was constantly at the receiving end of the hand-me-down spectrum.

It's no wonder that in all the years we have been best friends, I have received quite a handful of hand-me-downs from her: pens, throw pillows, notebooks, books, magazines, and her trusty A4Tech SCANNER. Oh yes, that ancient-looking machine still works. Just can't seem to make it work on my new computer, though.

So, what's the next hand-me-down going to be? Her old PC? A laptop perhaps? Or her dad's old car? LOL. One thing's for sure, though, I'M NOT GETTING ANY OF HER CLOTHES!

Jobless and loving it... (Part 1)

2007-07-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

CAN BEING JOBLESS BE THE PATH TO SUCCESS?

Act 1: The Employee
I was totally okay with the life I was leading eight months ago as an employee. I had a paycheck which I got at the end of every month. I would go out with friends every weekend: maybe catch a movie, have dinner at some fancy restaurant (Pizza Hut is fancy enough for me), or drink the weekend away with beer buddies. I was totally relaxed: for 2 days and a night at least.

Then came Monday. The first day of the week and also the worst. I practically had to haul myself out of bed every morning just so I wouldn't be late for work. Can't let anything screw with that promotion.

At work, I did all sorts of stuff just to keep busy. And after doing everything work-related, I would still do stuff to make me LOOK busy. Got to keep the boss happy. It was a good thing my job allowed me to get out of the office whenever I needed to (the NEED can be fabricated if you only know how, hehe). That did a lot to keep me sane all those years.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I loved my job. I liked creating concepts and seeing those concepts come alive. It was a dream job for someone like me. BUT I DIDN'T WANT A JOB! Deep down, I wanted something else entirely.

Then came THE BOOK, and my life made a drastic turnaround.

Read next part: Jobless and loving it... (Part 2)

Reconstruction Project: My room

2007-07-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Since I've finally decided to organize my life, guess I have to start somewhere. And what better way to begin this journey than to clean up my room. I've been planning to do so for the longest time and right now seems to be the best time because:

1. Well, I have the time.
2. I'm motivated.
3. And I'm a little depressed so I know the exercise would perk me up.

Where do I start? Surf the Internet, of course. Found this very nifty tip right here.

The first step to cleaning up your room is to pick up anything that is on the floor. Dirty clothes should go into a hamper or basket to go to the laundry. Any garbage or papers that you no longer need, should go into a garbage or recycling bag. Any books or items that are on the floor should be put back where they belong. If they don't have a special place you might want to either find a place for them (a drawer or bookshelf) or put them into a bag for donation.

Next clean off any surfaces such as the top of dressers or end tables. Take everything off the tops and clean them good. If they are really dirty, use a damp (not wet) sponge, otherwise a dust rag will do.

Make sure the things put back on the surfaces are only things you need on top such as lamps, clocks, radios or the books you are currently reading.

It is important to have a book shelf for your books and a dresser or closet for your clothing and a hamper or basket for your dirty clothes. If you don't, see if you can get something to use to help you organize your clothing, books and other items.

Clean out anything under the bed that shouldn't be there.

Next, make your bed. A room always looks cleaner when your bed is made.

Vacuum or sweep the floor to finish. Then take the dirty clothes to the laundry, the garbage to the garbage can, the recycling to the recycling bins.

Hope this helps. - Susan

I hope so too. Time to clean up the mess... years of it.

Mission Organization...

2007-07-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

I am, sad to say, NOT a very organized person. I may appear so to most people. But the truth is I find organizing things a very daunting task. My bestfriend, on the other hand, is the most organized person I know. She almost always knows where to pluck a particular information from the deepest recesses of her brain. Which is why she is so efficient and can do so many things in so little time. She's an inspiration to me in more ways than she could imagine. This attempt at blogging is another one of her inspirations. To her, it's an effort to show me the lifestyle that has come to grip her. To me, it is an experiment to reign in my creativity and put form and structure to the chaos that is my mind...

Once again, thank you Aileen...