NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED: Tales of Crazy Possession and Lethal Obsession

It's 7:12 PM right now, exactly 4 hours and 48 minutes before 2008. Working on this entry on the old laptop we've got while sitting comfortably in our living room. It really is comfortable, except for the loud noises outside. NOW people can start setting off their fireworks without worrying about a waste of money. My dad really likes fireworks, and right now it really surprises me why he's not on our balcony right now. Oh well. He's too busy cleaning one of our electric fans. There's an old superstition that says you should finish cleaning your house BEFORE the new year, otherwise all the good luck you've got will be washed and swept away.

Gawd, that kid sure can blow his horn.

Yeah, there are kids outside our home, kids from the neighboring townhouses, blowing their horns just outside our window. We don't have a lawn; only homes in huge subdivisions have lawns. Some people are roaming the subdivision making money by singing carols. They knock on your door if you don't give them money, an indirect way of soliciting bucks. Earlier ago a group of women came to our doorstep singing: "Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano y Felicidad, I wanna wish you a Happy New Year from the Bottom of My Heart." Apparently the song was supposed to say "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas," but these very creative people modified it for the occasion just to have a reason to solicit dough from every home. That's how business is done during the Christmas season. 5 to 15 bucks for every caroler. The same carolers every day.

Well, well, well.

Say, what happened in 2007 that moved my world and made a difference in my a-little-over-a-decade (nearing a decade and a half--woot!) life?

Number 1, I got to join litnet. How did I find it? I remember I was searching for information about the Heidi sequels by Charles Tritten as I couldn't seem to find any elsewhere, and because of my strong yearning to reply to the thread (started by Adelheid, I believe) I joined litnet. It so happened that Litnet was the forums site I'd always wanted to find--and join (in lieu of the AnneToon forums I joined several years ago--I was only ten then--to interact with other kids from different countries. I was one of the top posters when I stopped logging in, and when I logged on after three (?) years I found out that it was gone)! And I'm still participating frequently. Even though my character might change, as it did in the span of three months within this year, from lively-undecided-colorful-vintage-rock-inspired-youth to cheerful-lunar-loving-semi-emo to formerly-obsessed-now-lovelorn-emo to mature-passionate-black-as-a-color-to-express-sophistication-inspired-over-the-moon-full-fledged-emo with brand-new ideas and philosophies,
I am not changing my username and I will stand my ground on being MYSELF and the individual called ME, just like a mineral water bottle that stays the same even though the label is replaced.

(My mother is in the kitchen right now and she's just called to me to ask why I am no longer making my noise with my hi-fi mouth. Yeah, that's how loud I am at home. I told her I was writing.)

What else? Well, I passed for the nation's premier high school. PSHS. Phil. Science High School. In short, Pisay. Though nobody had told me directly, I was aware that they looked up to me as the "flagbearer" of my elementary school when I took the first screening as I was the Top 1 of my batch. The test was NOT easy. In fact I had written in my diary just after the exam (I was writing all my diary entries to my crush then) that I was around 60 percent sure I wouldn't pass. Miraculously, I did; however, with an unconvincing score. Yet I was not discouraged. I studied hard in the summer and had my dad teach me algebra. December 2006, I took the second screening. And man, wasn't it EASY! Seven of us from our school made it. Three people from the waiting list came in too. I enrolled in May and now, here I am, struggling to pass Math which has always been my Waterloo. The good thing about Pisay is that you get a monthly stipend. The challenge is to pass every subject with flying colors, because Pisay is not like regular high schools where you are assured of your entire four years of schooling; you may get kicked out anytime, even right before you graduate. I am now studying my Math in advance, though, and hopefully I can make it to the Director's List at the end of this year. It's not impossible. All I have to do is pass Math.

I will not talk about the bad things that happened in 2007, so I will keep the moon out of this. For those who were not aware about my lunar obsession (a very annoying thing, indeed!), I shall tell you it is the short-lived romantic attachment I had to a guy in my class whom we have christened "the moon"on account of the pimples and chickenpox scars on his otherwise handsome face. The same is referred to by the so-called "My [C]s Romance," a plan for a collection of emo comics I had drawn at the height of my passion for the boy, who is five months younger than I am (yeah, I don't really like thinking about getting tied to younger guys, but I get hooked on them anyway) and VERY immature. I do want to say sorry (another New Year's Resolution of mine: "Quit posting pictures of the boys I like on Impress Presentations and quit trying to tell them "I love you" before they tell me! And avoid obviously unsuccessful romances! Especially one-sided ones!") but afterwards I will move on. Now see how I have broken my promise not to talk about bad things. *Sigh* I promise not to be miserable. I just hope nobody from Pisay reads this.

Okay, I admit. Somehow, 2007 was an unlucky year--for me. Well, not only for me, but also for my country. Damn that coup attempt. Why on earth did it have to fail? What'll become of us now? Three years of sufferig under a president who's so darn... Okay, this is politics now. I ought to stop. Besides, I'm not an expert at current events anymore. In science high, we are no longer required to mind the news. Because of this, many of us are extremely unupdated and don't seem to care about anything but *a particular TV series* and HSM, which, in my opinion, are juvenile. (That movie is for preteens, darn it!) You may have a different view on the subject; I respect that. This New Year, I promise to be good.

Exactly! Again, this 2008 I promise to be good.

Yes, 8 is my lucky number. I look forward to this year as a lucky year to me. And to make the best out of "all that luck," I must prove to the Supreme Being above that I am good and deserving of good things in return. That's the way it works with me. Though some people in my school are experts in picking pockets and stealing phones (ahem!) but still they manage to pass, I will not submit to temptation and be like them just because they are able to get away with it too. I am myself and will be whoever I want to be, and this time I want to be pure... yet still emo. Emo is my life. Optimism comprises my spirit and serves as my driving force to help me get through life successfully.

9:05 PM. Things are different today. People are in a festive mood. Everyone is wide awake. 2 hours and 50 minutes before we give each other the official greeting... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Things have gone very well this December 31st. Except that yesterday our TV got busted and we can't watch the New Year countdown on our favorite channel. Oh well, at least I have my FOB "Under the Cork Tree" CD to play. Wahee!!! Dad's in the bathroom right now. I'll wait for him before I open the CD I bought only last Friday. Unfortunately, our hi-fi is broken. So I'll play in on this very laptop. We'll keep ourselves happy and lighthearted until midnight. Then we can indulge in the fruits... and the spaghetti... and the salad Mom prepared for us!!! Wahoo!!! I must not eat much... I must keep close watch on my weight... I must fit into my stage-play wardrobe on the day of the competition...

9:15 PM Goodness gracious! This entry is getting long. I must end this now... before I run out of time... believe it or not I've still got loads of stuff to do! Must compose a New Year's message for my friends... and say a little prayer... before attempting to apologize to the guy. Or... should I?

Hmmm!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

P.S.
I did a very stupid thing this afternoon... I downloaded an AntiVirus software to my phone and set the installation language to Filipino, and now I can't change the language again... I was planning to uninstall it and download it again, but I don't know where to get the software. Even though I am very fluent in the language as I speak it everyday (for that's what everyone else speaks and I have no choice but to speak it, despite the fact that I grew up with English as my mothertongue and can express myself better with it) I still hate what I did--1) because it reminds me of our most uninteresting teacher who teaches the subject and talks in the same way, and 2) because it's extremely hard to read compared to English which is convenient to the eye. I hope this will not make me hate my phone because really, wanting a new phone almost every quarter of a year is indeed tiring, not only to the pocket but also to the brain, as it fills your mind with discontent and makes it much "bulkier," thus distracting you from your studies or whatever you must do. I just bought my phone last week (warranty ended yesterday) and I like it very much; I want to keep it until I graduate from high school. As you see, coming first in my list of New Year's Resolutions is to stop being so materialistic, now that I know it won't take me anywhere. That is why I bought this phone--to put an end to my dissatisfaction. Now that all I'll ever need to do in order to make my phone "new" again is to update its operating system from time to time and keep it scratch-free, I hope I may now start focusing on other more important things rather than the material goods I do not have. Still, if someone could tell me where I can download an F-Secure Antivirus Application for Symbian OS on S60 Platform (basically ANY F-Secure Antivirus Application) I would be the happiest person on Earth this New Year. Hah, just kidding. But really, I would rejoice!