CandyMag.com

In our school, it is a yearly tradition for the juniors, sophomores and freshmen to “SURPRISE” the seniors with a farewell-good luck party. It happens early in the year, just before the UP College Admissions Test. Since it such a small school (around 300 citizens in the high school) we are very close. So it really is touching to see your fellow schoolmates pour their hearts out in wishing you the best in college life.

I must admit I was quite the party-pooper. I had a hunch that the “surprise” was going to happen and I told my friends about it. I was right, of course! And when we came back from our Physics class, we found the whole student body crammed into our classroom.

The freshmen gave us cards filled with notes and wishes. The sophomores presented us with a cake, cookies (which were personalized according to our name), candies and other goodies to tuck away. While the juniors began with:

Juniors: You know that ghosts are truly scary, right?
Seniors: Yes. . .
Juniors: You want to know what’s even scarier?
Seniors: What?
Juniors: Losing YOU in our lives.
*insert laughter, “aww’s” and “corny!’s” here*
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Red-Letter Days | 3 Comments »

I’ve been pretty stressed lately, mainly, because of school. You know how it is when we’re busy, we’re so caught up with things and it’s pretty difficult to make time to think and ponder why we’re doing what we do. I mean, seriously, what is the purpose of a lot of the things we do in life? We don’t calculate our every expense to the nth root; neither do we attempt to discover the history of our toothpaste.

That being said, I have, noticeably, been victimized by the enemy that is STRESS and this time, I’d like to pause for a while, take a breather, and recall the things in life that inspire me, and some of the reasons why I do what I do. Here goes:

1. I want to graduate and get a good life for myself
   I don’t want to be dependent on people my whole life. I want to be able to stand on my own someday and know that I’ve accomplished this much and I can survive in this world given the skills that I have been equipped with – my education. My knowledge. Main point: I want to rule the world. Uh, no. But I do want to take control of my own life.
2. I want to graduate and get a good life for my family
   They’ve given me so much. They’ve helped me through a lot of things. I’d obviously have that desire to give back to them. I want them to live in an amazing house, with lots of beautiful cars. I want to give my mom and my sister trendy clothes and my dad and brother… whatever guys like. Haha Main point: I just want to be close to them, I’ve been far from them too long, that’s so not good for me.
3. I want to know about children
   One of my many passions is children. I love kids. I love making a difference in their lives. There’s something about those little ones that decrease my stress level from 100 to 1.

Take it from me Candy girls, if you want sanity amidst life’s hullabaloos, pause a while. Take time off, even just 5 minutes, to lie on your bed, close your eyes and think of the reasons why you do the things you do. It may be shallow, like, “I want to buy this bag” or “I want my crush to notice me,” I mean, hey, at least your doing it for something. That’s a start.

As for me, I have to list down, maybe 20 more to get my mind off my history report! Aaaaaaaah!

Nonetheless, smile.

Grace Under Pressure,
Crissy

Posted in Lists, Reflections | No Comments »

Hi girls! I’m pretty sure none of us are pushing thirty yet, but today I want to share with you Pamela Redmond Satran’s list of things that every woman should have and should know by age 30. It’s an updated version of her 1997 Glamour article on what every woman should have and should know, which is now widely and wrongly credited to Maya Angelou.

By 30, you should have:
1 – One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come.
2 – A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.
3 – Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.
4 – A purse, a suitcase and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.
5 – A youth you’re content to move beyond.
6 – A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.
7 – The realization that you are actually going to have an old age—and some money set aside to help fund it.
8 – An e-mail address, a voice mailbox and a bank account—all of which nobody has access to but you.
9 – A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded.
10 – One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.
11 – A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill and a black lace bra.
12 – Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.
13 – The belief that you deserve it.
14 – A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.
15 – A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship and all those other facets of life that do get better.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lists | 5 Comments »

Last week, I attended a four-day seminar of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) in the Manila Hotel.  Professionals, media practitioners, policymakers, civil society organizations, professors and students all over the world, attended it. The speakers were from India, Japan, Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and a lot more countries. I felt so cultured after hearing the speeches of the speakers. Hehe! Oh and because we attended the seminar, we didn’t have regular classes from Monday to Thursday!

The theme for the conference was “Changing Media, Changing Societies: Media and the Millennium Development Goals.” I found out how active media is in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). MDGs are eight goals that various nations hope to achieve by 2015.

However, some of the speeches and presentations were boring, hehe! But still, I would have to say I learned a lot and realized many things. The speakers spoke about media and the MDGs, media and the youth, media, and conflict and crises, media development, media and gender, media and culture, journalism education and a lot more- media and communication related. Hehe! I’ll stop enumerating because there were a lot of speeches. Hehe! But basically, the speakers opened my eyes to various perspectives in approaching and analyzing media concepts and situations.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Etcetera | 2 Comments »

When I watched Ironman and Incredible Hulk, I thought that Dark Knight would probably be the same superhero film that has been wreaking havoc in the movie industry. I wasn’t one of those I-must-buy-that-dark-knight-shirt or I-must-be-able-to-watch-the-premiere-showing people because I wasn’t expecting all that much maybe except to witness Heath Ledger’s final movie.

But… I was dead wrong.

Oh-My-Gulay! I give the movie a gazillion thumbs up! I was in awe the whole time I was watching it. Even if it’s almost two and half hours long, it was worth it. The one hundred seventy pesos I paid were worth it. If I get invited to watch it again, it will be worth it. Let’s all give a standing ovation to Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, and even to Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Probably besides the creative story, the movie became even more extraordinary because of the cast. Each one of them played their roles very well! I would like to give a special mention to Heath Ledger. I know it’s would be a challenge to play Joker but he played it in a way that I saw effortless. For a final film, he blew the house away. Usually, I hold grudges with actors who play the villain but with him, I just felt pure amazement. He was a talented actor.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Etcetera, Red-Letter Days, What's In | No Comments »