BOOK ASTRONAUT

And I am anxious. No one ever tells you that your first day in your first full time job is also the exact same time your young adulthood ends and your proper adulthood begins. It starts very mildly, and then it snowballs into something really huge that it takes over your life and your being. But you will only see it as a mere milestone--as an ordinary day to celebrate your first day at work (Yay!) when, really, it is a very, very big shift in your life. In your existence. Starting a job for the first time, I haven't got enough experience to actually describe it. But I have a fair share of life events that is like this, inconspicuously life- and status-quo-changing. Off the top of my head, college graduation and passing the CPALE are a few of them. More often than not, the very first layer we see of these milestones is, of course, the surface. And the surface very sparkly only shows that these events are huge achievements that call for celebrations. There is not one sign of the shif...

1 week palang ko sa Digos with Mama, gusto nako mubalik Davao ug magpaka-alone. BV ko pirmi. Low na kaayo akong tolerance to her nagging and sticking her nose all over my business. She's also too controlling and wants everything done her way. Otherwise, she'll whine all day and BV na all throughout the week.

Earlier this morning, at minutes past midnight, the PRC posted a list of names of those who passed the May 2023 CPA licensure examination. I was one of them. Fun fact: During my review, whenever I check my phone for the time, I almost always come across the time "11:11", an angel number. And when you are in the middle of an endeavor as big as this, bisan angel numbers like 11:11, panghawakan nasad na nimo. And ang pinaka-naamaze jud ko kay frequently sd pag magcheck kog time, 8:44 ang time. Which is my number in the list of passers. I am 844th on the list. Truly, bisan unsa pa ka ka-rational, in the most scary points in our lives, mangita jud ta ug comfort from spiritual guides. This was 5 years in the making, and here I am, already a CPA. Isa jud ni sa mga endeavors na dili masukat ang kalisud ug ang mental (for lack of a better word) torture. Mao jud ni ang exam wherein ang imong pinakadako na kalaban kay imong sarili. This version of yourself who has been working hard for ...

Today is the second day after I finished the CPALE examination and honestly, I'm feeling kind of...useless? What a brutal word but there's just no other way to describe what I'm feeling.  Yesterday, I did nothing other than eat and sleep. Although, I did clean my study table. Regardless, it was a very, very, very different day--one that I am not used to. Today I woke up at 11am, with no reviewer to answer, no material to study, and no lecture to watch. It is of course very liberating to be out of the chains of the unhealthy CPALE grind but it's just weird to not be as productive as I was the whole past year when I'm studying the whole day.

Before I completely lose the memories I have of the past three years, I think it would be a great idea to do a recap and recall most of the things that happened during those points in my life. Let's begin in 2020. What a fucked up year that was. It was the year that took my dad from us.  Losing my Dad 2020 was the year of the pandemic, right? Because of that, we had to take our 3rd and 4th year of undergrad online. We had to take our exams online, too, study alone, review alone, with physically no other people who are going through the same tough exams as you.  Anyway, come October of 2020, we were bomb-dropped with the news of having no Prelims and no Midterms, but just one Final exam that will cover the whole semester which we are supposed to take in January of the next year. And so, it was very crucial for us to already start reviewing for that even if it was still October because it's a one-take, one-kill exam. It's your only chance to a good grade with no chance to eve...

I just got back from a 3-day straight CPALE exam. The last day was yesterday and it's D+1 today. My Thanks First of all, I have to say that I am really thankful to God for helping me survive not only the 3-day nerve-wracking exam but also the 1-year review and the 4-year formal education that needed to happen before I get to acquire that prestigious license. I also am very grateful to my Mama, who sacrificed a lot of things. Her support cannot be measured and she never fails to prove time and time again that she is a supermom and the best mom in the world. She just went home today after spending 4 days here in Davao with me and my sister to cook me my meals and the baons I brought to the exam. I could never do any of this if not for her. Her strength is what keeps me going and her support never stops me from making me think that I never have to worry about conquering the world if she is by my side.  My sister, who is a busy corporate girlie but is also there for me. In my months of...

Oh my gosh, I haven't been on this blog for so long! I was so busy building my career that I haven't written anything longer than a paragraph other than formal emails. Gosh, how I miss writing. I even feel like I lost the version of me who writes prose well. I noticed how when I try to write content like this, my sentences are shorter and my thoughts are so disorganized and, you know, just not beautiful at all.  And that is actually the reason why I am back. I want to write again, I want to redo my blog. In fact, if you've been here before, you'll notice I changed the theme of my blog. It's peach now! Just to help your memory and so that you won't forget, the theme before this one was red. The background photo was of red tulips. The font was red, and some buttons were red. I don't really know what's up with my obsession with red at the time. But yeah, I changed my theme. I guess I'm starting to lean on more mature formats, with my big age now at 23! ...

Hi. Life update. There's a pandemic right now, it's the COVID-19. Most of the country--and the world--is on quarantine. Everything is so weird. Our classes have been suspended indefinitely. Our final exams may be canceled. My grades may not be pulled up anymore. I've been working on that for the past months and now the probability of it happening is getting close to zero. Ergo, my life is suspended. Everything about me is everything that happens in school. 90% of my life take place in that university and to have a pause (hopefully, would not be a stop ) in the events of my life is severely affecting me. For one, I'm not used to being locked up in the house with no purpose. Normal is when I'm studying and fulfilling the only reason I'm probably even alive--which is to achieve colorful things in my academics. Anyway, it's a rough week. I'm worried about my parents, my sister, my dogs, my friends, and myself. To be constantly this worried makes me weak ...

I never had plans for Valentine's, nor was it or has ever been relevant to me. It just funnily makes me giddy, the fact that we were in the same place at the time February 14 started. We were at different tables, doing different things, but we were only a meter away and it felt like a foreshadowing of how it is together that we will be welcoming all other 214s.

I'd be wearing your jacket and we'd be eating Marty's while watching an anime you'd recommend.

Hi. I know I haven't been around too much. Just wanted to let you know that I am currently in the state of being lost. I still have to find myself.

Somebody save me.

Okay, just a really random thought.  My beau and I out for a concert of an orchestra for a classical symphony.  The concert ends. We walk out of the hall. And upon reaching the courtyard, we talk about the best thing in the concert. Then he proposes. Under the stars. With the sweeping melodies of the orchestra still in the air. Not faded... and never will.

If I ever meet someone, the first question I am going to ask him is this, "Would you like to watch a live classical concert/symphony with me?" I don't know where we'd go to watch. It could be in any place in Europe where classical music once reigned.  But really, just anywhere where I'd be listening to many instruments with a guy I'd warmly hold hands with while the music fills the airconditioned air of the hall.

Hey! What's up? Nothing much. Just studying for our upcoming stat quiz! These topics keep repeating it's so tedious! 

Hi okay so I'm going to start this new series of blog posts. This is going to be updates on my academic standing in uni.  First update, I didn't get an A in Intermediate Accounting. I only had B+ and I think I'm going to get a low grade in our Cost Accounting, too. I'm thinking B or lower. Anyway, I'm really under because of that. I usually get As. But I'm ready for midterms and prefinals. What I've been doing since prelims, I'll exert twice. I'll make sure of it. I hope I can provide better and more positive updates for IA and CA in the coming weeks. That's all for now. Until next time. :) 👇Sad me :(

Me trying to sleep at 3am after having a cup of Matcha Milk Tea for dinner. Of course, the caffeine took over me. I couldn't sleep so I decided to play with the camera. You know, get it functioning again after many months of no use. Got no sleep at all! I slept at 7 in the morning and woke up at 11 when my Mom arrived. Ugh, the restlessness was brutal. Look at the bags under my eyes.

The scenario in a social drinking session is actually funny. I always thought it was continuous fun but it actually starts with an awkward silence. (As if I've been in one though)

Of course my dream of being an astronaut will never be dead. But at the moment, I want to have big roles in music production. Not as a boss who plans and only tells people what to do but as someone who edits the music, inputs organ pieces, composing. 💖

Nothing much happened. Life is really a beautiful mess. I haven't updated this page for so long and I felt like I owe this world one. Here it is... Everything is fine.

             When I arrived at the AVR-B during the day we watched it for our ethics class, I immediately recognized the film. Of course Remus Lupin is very easily distinguished for the big role he played in the production, especially baby Asa Butterfield who was the reason I watched that movie in the first place four years ago, while in MAPEH class, at the back of the classroom. I was in 9 th grade, then, and it was the era of another book adaptation entitled Ender’s Game . From that film, one cannot help but hype over Asa Butterfield so, naturally, a young girl like me would be very interested in watching other films of his. I enjoyed Hugo and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang but after watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I totally forgot about Asa Butterfield.             It was very easy to be caught by the film since the events focused on the period of Nazi Germany where it’s easy to ch...

            There were three events in my life that happened and existed with a violin. The first one is my first time learning it at elementary school during 4 th grade, the second being the last time I played it and put it in its box in 6 th grade, and the third being the reconciliation and meeting-again between me and my old woody friend as a 1 st year college student, last October 2018. For this reflection, I want to focus on the general event of me welcoming the 4-stringed instrument into my life.             My primary reflection begins with the question, “What is violin-playing?” In its most basic concept, violin-playing is the act of playing the violin. It happens when the instrument is rested on the shoulder of a person and supported by the left hand, while the bow is drawn across the strings thus producing sound. For me, and all other violinists, that’s what violin-playing is. But thi...

I think the biggest truth I want to know is whether or not NASA's pictures of the outer space are digitally enhanced, and if they are, to what extent?

Salutatorian? I haven't heard that name in years.

I'll set this day on stone. Never forget, Sept 20, 2018, the first time you felt dizzy for 3 minutes in the middle of your report.

Our reporting could've been better and much more entertaining if only my groupmates executed it well.

I got dizzy in the middle of the report. I was having my monologue when the world spun. And almost fell out of balance.

There are just profs who are the reason your average is pulled down. And more often than not, these are professors who teach only GE subjects.

Okay so I have this plan for the semester break already structured in my mind. I will have a 24-hour Read-a-thon of the following Kevin Kwan books: Crazy Rich Asians China Rich Girlfriend Rich People Problem I don't have a date set yet but I will do that! It would be very relaxing aaaaaaaaaa <3 I will finish the trilogy in a day, strictly not in more than 24 hours. Typing this now, I am already excited. But prior to all of that, my fingers are crossed for my BSA First Sem fate!

i hate and am embarrassed to admit it but i actually like Prof. Clamor

During the first month of my stay here in the University, learning about globalization and world-systems theories and whatnot in our Contemporary World subject, I have come to realize that there indeed isn’t a strong solidarity that bonds the Filipinos, the government, and its subordinates. For many years now, seeing the nightly news in the television is enough to be settled with that conclusion. However, my further study and learning of the business and economy of the Philippines solidify the idea in my mind. The first point I want to talk about is the exploitation of our natural resources. In our Contemporary World subject, I have learned that according to the world-system theories, the countries of the economic system (basically all) are distributed in a hierarchy. The core—the powerful and superior, the periphery—the subordinates and colonized, and the semi-periphery—the once powerful that moved down the hierarchy. Now the Philippines, obviously is a semi-periphery country, in ...

I am an alpha female I will not cry o ver the butterflies Murdered by a male But I will remember their deaths To teach my exhausted heart  To go to bed One day my heart will rise, Navigate the reaches of the world And with an alpha male it will shine

For the first time in my life, I have become a student of the section that I think is the best one that I have ever had. There's intelligence, determination, and no mediocrity in these people I have spent 10 months with. Fun man gud sila na tao. Fun na mga bright, dili bright na boring kauban and that grades and ranking lang ang pirmi ginastoryahan like sa Gomez. I found real happiness with SH 201. Sa Gomez man gud kay, "Okayyyyy, we've been classmates for 4 years. Let's forcefully make this a section to remember." Whereas sa SH 201 kay spontaneously lang gud mu-arose ang friendship. Nagkauban lang mo sa groupworks or nagtinabangay lang mo for a classroom production kay BAM! friends na imong turing sa ila. Ang problem lang diri is ang temptations na present ani na mga tao. Happy kaayo ka na kauban sila maong keen kaayo ka to go wherever they go and to do whatever they do. And getting into alcohol is the biggest temptation of all. (Thank God for Abby ...

Nganong naa koy mga classmates with freeloader personality na magpost sa Twitter na gikapoy na sila sa acads? Are they the ones tasked to make a 30-minute script for the whole class? Plus, nagatabang diay sila sa ilang research paper? Plus, complete attendance diay sila?

I want to write about the moon the way I want to write about you, Gene. Every emotion I feel when I see the moon, I get when at least your soul peeks somewhere. But just like the moon, you want to be as far away as possible, don't you? You hide behind the clouds and only show yourself to one world. You can't be biased to the cosmos, you know? You're placed in space to be seen by everyone. Where have you been? It sucks that the moon reminds me of you. Knowing that we're both under it, just separated by some miles, makes me feel better. But the mere fact of me having to look at the moon every night along with the memory of you is damning. It's really hard when you're stuck with the feelings you've been keeping for years. So show up, will you? The moon just did tonight. 12/03/17 18:34

Bullshit. The world is bullshit. And full of crap. It's noisy. It's hideous. It's full of toxic. It sucks the beauty of the universe. It's fucking noisy. Fucking noisy. It's noise-polluted. I can't read my fucking book because even the tiniest of sounds distracts the hell out of me; it pulls me out of the world I want to be in! I want to be reading and hearing Harry Potter inside my head without the noise of my Mom skyping with Dad, the TV, my sister watching It screeching every now and then, and my noisy unsettled thoughts. SHUT UP, WORLD! That's all I ask of you! You gave me a hard time first sem and now you won't even give me a fucking break?!

I'm one with the dogs I'm one with the pages of my books You're all a collection of organ systems With no use of brain and empathy You humans suck I think the world deserves your extinction You remind me of the people from my class Who I labeled in my mind as "Squad with Benefits" After you're done getting help You never look back You did everything ensuring you'll get something Because you're basically a swarm of fruit flies Buzz over a corpse, leave after ingestion And fly away like naturally useless creatures That's what humans are You suck and leave So be extinct already

Hi, I'm back. As much as possible, I want to get everything out of my mind and keep all of it in this single blog post. First semester really sucked. I mean, okay, if rounded off, I had an average grade of 98 for the first grading (97.75 organic) and that's probably the ONLY above average thing that happened to me all sem but other than that, HELL. Let me start off with how much I hate most of my teachers. They're the worst I've had. On the upside, they DO teach (but not the important ones; let's get to that part later) and they're fun to have class with and on the downside, their EQ is bursting everywhere. Let's tick each subject teacher off the list one by one (sorted according to schedule). BUSINESS MATH, you're fine, Ma'am. You're probably the teacher who we're under with the most wisdom. You're naturally smart without a hint of arrogance and being a show-off. Although, why do you have to make this rule where we are deducted 1pt...

I just found out, I can never be capable of being in a relationship. Which is a good thing (or bad, maybe, IDK).  Okay, here's one tiny important but a severely significant fact about me--I have a hard time getting over love interests. I swear to the gods, that's a real pain in the ass. Of all life aspects that I could be slow at getting over, it's love interests! Why couldn't it be ended friendships? Or book sales I could've availed had life not been too cruel? Why do I have to carry the shame of being the type of girl who takes time getting over a boy?! HEAVENS IF YOU FEEL THE SHAME I FEEL RIGHT NOW THEN YOU WOULD'VE KILLED YOURSELF ALREADY. I'm fine with Mom pressuring me into maintaining my grades. I'm fine with a heavy rain on a class day and I didn't bring an umbrella. I'm fine with Premiere projects taking days to render and export. I'm fine with a missed quiz or exam. I'm fine with a classmate talking behind m...

Only I can heal myself.

I just want to voice this out. I'm a Grade 12 ABM student. I want everyone to know how explicitly hard it is to transition from a science and mathematics world to a business and accounting world. If, while reading that, you said to yourself "I can do that uii duhhhh", well, I hope you think twice. Because not everyone is open to change. And it's not a poetic or dramatic "change" I'm talking about. It's real and non-drama. This year you're solving math and physics equations, and the next, you're balancing a worksheet. And that's bad, isn't it? Because deep inside, you wouldn't ever want to leave the world of math and science.  For four years, I was a Science high school student. The world of math and science is where I grew up. That's where I developed my skills. And it's what I love. But if your parents can't afford to send you to space because getting into NASA is just an impossible fly to the moon, you would...

17 years of existence and I already understand the gloom that some movies give the viewers. What adds up to all the disaster is the background music, the dialogues, and just everything you can hear from your earphones. And I don’t want to be pressed down too much by the tragedy of it all. That’s why I use subtitles—as scapegoats. (or maybe I just want to clearly know what the people in the films are talking about LOL)

Hey, it's Charlotte. Rayjenn Charlotte. This is not a suicide note or anything, no. I love myself too much to go to such path.  I am writing this on the night of April 23rd of 2017. It's summer break from this time and I have nothing to do. (No, I have lots to do. I'm just underestimating things. That's my life in a nutshell.) See, I am writing this because I want people to know that if in case I die--might be because of a terminal disease, accident, nuclear explosion in my workplace--they will know how to approach the event of my death. Second, I am writing this because I've had experiences of other people's death. Of how superstitious relatives make conclusions out of the dead guy's actions before his death.  "Before he died, he cleaned the house. As if he was bidding a final goodbye to his home."  NOPE. I certainly don't want that. I would never have my family say lines such as  "Maybe she top notched the bar exam bec...

At the moment, the person writing this literary text, is out of words. She has no idea where to start this discussion about her long-term expedition to and in Schiaparelli. All that's in her mind is the necessity to write and add another entry to her blog which has been feasted over by literary and virtual flies for the last two months when she last posted an entry about her Astro-pirations.  (waiting for ideas... waiting for ideas... waiting for ideas... waiting for ideas...) TING. An idea has arrived in the writer's mind. But  prior to this lengthy discussion,  she wants to inform you that this post is inspired by her favorite book and movie The Martian which also inspired the entry before this. That saying, let's dig further deep the Schiaparelli. (Writer's POV)

I woke up with my head throbbing and my muscles burning. Below the canopy of trees where I spent the night, I stretched away all of my body’s soreness that I got the night before, and for the same reason still – running away. My name is Selene, a warrior from the eastern land. My city – Zenith – has long been under the rule of this Dark Lord named Thorne. He turned Zenith upside down the moment his knights ransacked my hometown. He pierced his sword to the king’s head and took his throne. The king was my Father, and for that I seek revenge. Zenith is a lot different now. There’s nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and nothing to keep us warm. Every wealth the city has is all in the hands of the superiority. Along with seeking revenge for my Father, I help my people survive. I hunt the forests for meat and make sure every single native from Zenith will not starve to death. It’s all in me now. After all, I was the daughter of a king. I stood up from the bed of leav...