Maia's Deck

Monday, January 30, 2006

There really is a world outside the one I chose to live in.
There is a world outside of basketball.
You only really begin to realize it when you're out there.

Just recently, I wrote an article about mining malpractices in marinduque. I never realized how much was going on until I finally stepped out of that world.

posted by The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 2:45 AM

The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 2:45 AM

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Sunday, January 29, 2006

Finally, our computer is free of spyware, viruses, and what have you. I spent about 2 hours installing programs. Plus, I put reminders re: PC use on the wall paper. Right now, I'm surf-shopping for a cheap lap-top. I think that would be my gift for myself when I graduate. Plus, I might work part-time in a call-center so that I can afford such a gift for myself. If I can't buy my own lap top, I'll by my own power-packed PC. I'll hook it up to the internet. And put firewire, TV tuner, DVD Rom, DVD RW.. the works. I know where I can buy it for only about P25,000. If you want to buy one... I can help you (whoever you are).

I have been attending the training of the UP team again lately. I figured, if they need my help, I should help. I can see why they need help. They need an adult in the court. The kids are well, kids.

I swear, when I purchase my own lap top or my own computer.... I'd update more often. I just finished an article for the PHilippine Collegian, plus my short story so I'm practically dried up.

posted by The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 3:23 AM

The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 3:23 AM

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Sunday, January 08, 2006

I remembered just now that my friend's sister can unwittingly flash a bad sign. Yup. That's what the world has come to.

Right now, I'm reading Atlas Shrugged. It must be some sort of record for me to even get through 258 boring pages in two days. I think I still have over 600 pages left. I swear to got, the detailed description of everything that's going on, even those things inside the character's mind, its boring. But the general direction of the novel is interesting.

So who IS John Galt?

He was the man who tried to stop the world and did.

I wish I'd be done reading before I have to begin writing my Collegian article.

posted by The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 5:03 AM

The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 5:03 AM

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Friday, January 06, 2006

I remember how when I was starting out, I often complained about writer's block. Now, the ideas are practically shoved up my throat and I have no choice but to write them.

So for The Philippine Collegian I have to write about Marinduque mining thing-a-majig. No idea yet but I guess I could say I'm looking forward to it because its something foreign.

Then there's my Bioehtics thesis. My Thesis professor is good in that he actually replies to my questions regarding the thesis and he gives me advice. When it comes to writing however, its a bit sloppy work. I just by march, I'd be ready to write a full-length thesis.

My thesis question is: Who has the right to decide if life-prolonging treatment is taken off, in the context of terminal illness.
To other people, this sounds like a very difficult topic. Too much specificity can hurt sometimes. But because my mom happens to be an expert on this (Note: My mom is a Palliative Care Specialist), I practically have all the reading materials I would need. The trouble with that is it is rather difficult to demarcate relevant from irrelevant information, especially for a topic as alien as this.

I'll start writing my short story soon. I'm thinking about really probinsyana and probinsyano names.

posted by The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 4:30 AM

The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 4:30 AM

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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Seriously, I have been racking my brain just to find a near-decent theme for my Creative Writing 110 (Fiction). I don't want to write a "quiet" story. I want something hilarious. So I try. I write about this family who goes to a house on a Christmas morning and watch the HBO docu-fiction Asteroid. The family panics upon watching it, frightened for the lives of their relatives in the US where the Asteroid first hit. The family calls up relatives who then calls their other relatives LONG DISTANCE. The mother pages the father who was not there, and she tells pocketbell about the breaking news. Pocketbell, frightened that they might be the last to send the news out send it without confirmation. After 1 hour, the mother gets a message from the friend they just visited that the show has ended and what they were watching was HBO.
Its hilarious, really. The problem is, it only has one level. So now, I don't know if I'd go with the quiet version of the story which is:

A Carnival owner in Pangasinan buys a new cable ready TV using the Christmas bonus of his carnival workers. He confides with his favorite, the motorcycle man, and the motorcycle man told him that no one would buy his reasons for buying the TV unless he allows the workers to watch for another two hours before the carnival opens and after everything is set for the night. The owner agreed. Previously, the setup was that the workers were allowed to watch the first part of Wowowee for siesta. Now, the workers were allowed to watch from 12-1:30 and 4-6, depending on whether all rides and booths are ready for the night.
The day after christmas eve, at noon, motorcycle man comes into the owners office to watch. Everyone came in late, one by one, lazy after such a long midnight celebration. They were shocked at what they saw: Motorcycle man had not changed the channel because he chanced upon the docu-fiction ASTEROID. He thought it was true. He did not know what HBO was.
Each person's perspective changes because of the show. The snake woman runs home to her family to tell them of the news. The family goes to the carnival to watch.
The mermaid who was cleaning her mermaids tail, throws the brush to the wall and realizes that she shouldn't play people for fools. The carnival owner hands out the christmas bonus, admitting to everyone that he had bought the television for a measly P1,500 from a member of an akyat bahay gang. The motorcycle man recalls how once, he had a chance to study in Manila, when his father was still working as a barber and his mother was a cook at a school cafeteria but he decided he wanted to become a motocross racer like monching de leon. He never got that far so he ended up as a motorcycle exhibitionist at the carnival.
Lenita, who has been bothered by a lump near her groin finally summons the courage to tell her son and to retire from working at the ticket booth.
Makoy, a burly man of 53 cries for the first time since she lost his wife and his daughter who died in a fire almost three years before. Both had been maids in a house at a subdivision. He regretted being unable to support his only family.

At the end they find out that it had been a docu-fiction but none of them, even Makoy the clown could laugh. No one ever thought that such a possibility existed and now, on Christmas, the possibility gripped them by the shoulders and shook them.

At the end, everyone walked away from the Carnival, and decided they should have enjoyed life.
The irony that I want to send out is that all of them worked at a carnival but none of them truly enjoyed life. The carnival symbolised what a factory symbolised to a factory line worker: A deeply dug hole with no way out. The Asteroid was their only chance to walk away, realizing that no matter how secure they become with the routine of their lives, they still walk through it blindly.

posted by The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 11:38 PM

The Lonely Joker who stares too deeply & too much at 11:38 PM

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