being eighteen

1:47 AM. My body clock has conked out and probably my grammar and coherence are gone as well. Maybe this is why majority of my blog posts are strange and nonsensical - because they were written at one in the morning. Does this make me a morning person now? Lolsies! (Kidding. I never say losies. Ever. I swear. Please believe me. Please. Please?) All lameness aside, so much has happened since I last updated. I'll get to the important bits in a while.

What have I been up to this summer? I think my brother's Facebook status sums it all up:

(sad kind) yay

Yeah. I suck. As a sibling, I mean, not as a tetris player, because I'm doing all right at least in that one bit of my life (or lack thereof). I'm sorry, Jigs and Cait. I really should get off the Internet. It's a good thing that aside from playing Tetris Battle on Facebook all day (<--- don't worry, this post doesn't get any sadder than this), I've been working on finishing this bucketlist of films that Gael, the Loyola Film Circle prez~, compiled:

1. 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959)
2. Amores Perros (Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000)
3. Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
4. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)
5. Billy Elliot (Daldry, 2000)
6. Brokeback Mountain (Lee, 2004)
7. Chinatown (Polanski, 1974)
8. Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore, 1988)
9. Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
10. City Lights (Chaplin, 1931)
11. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, 1964)
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Stoller, 2008)
13. In the Mood for Love (Wong, 2000)
14. Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008)
15. Batch '81 (de Leon, 1982)
16. Mary and Max (Elliot, 2009)
17. My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988)
18. Memento (Nolan, 2000)
19. One More Chance (Garcia-Molina, 2007)
20. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
21. Quiet City (Katz, 2007)
22. Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
23. Reprise (Trier, 2006)
24. Show Me Love (Moodyson, 1998)
25. Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (O'Hara, 1976)
26. This Is Spinal Tap (Reiner, 1984)
27. Fight Club (Fincher, 1999)
28. The Graduate (Nichols, 1959)
29. Groundhog Day (Ramis, 1993)
30. Dazed and Confused (Linklater, 1993)
31. ("Bonus" films:) Todo Todo Teros (Torres, 2006) and
32. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Weerasethakul, 2010)

Err I didn't actually ask him if it was all right to post this, but I'm hoping it is. Heehee. We're supposed to watch at least thirteen of these before the end of June, and so far I've seen seven (two I'd seen before, and the other five I watched during this break). I saw One More Chance just this afternoon and... Well, go see it for yourself and decide. If you've seen it already, did you like it? (If you wanna keep up with the list, the next movie we're watching is Fight Club!)

As you can see it's a very... mixed mix of films (you can tell because a Garcia-Molina film is in it alongside Pulp Fiction), and the purpose of it all is to broaden our horizons~. Lolsies! (I will stop that forever now.) And yeah. My horizons have broadened all right. (Pulp Fiction, Mary and Max. @o@) EVERYONE JOIN LFC IT IS MOST AWESOME!!!

(click to enlarge the almost-cutesy)

This is my trying-hard-to-be-cutesy schedule for the first sem. Online enlistment for Ateneo sophomores was two days ago, and I was in the third batch this time (which I think I deserve, since I got first batch last summer... BUT WAIT HOW COME SOME PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN FIRST BATCH THEIR ENTIRE COLLEGE LIVES!? I remember Sir Unsay telling us that random numbers aren't all that random. *shifty eyes*) Anyway, as I was working on my schedule, coloring in the hearts for my <3 free tiemz <3, I realized that even though I want some more time to spend tetrising and watching films and practicing taking pictures (I'll explain later) and doing nothing x 10000000000000000000000000 (sad kind), I'm very excited for school. For the following discussion, please refer to the schedule (see above).

Notice the two Science subjects, Biology and Organic Chemistry. And see how both of them have four-hour laboratory sessions, the one for Chem being the first thing on my schedule on a Monday morning. And then notice how I have basketball as my P.E. And then NSTP on Saturdays. I hate my life.

Kidding. I really don't hate my life. My schedule is pretty good, compared to what other people got stuck with (hi Andy, who has five classes STRAIGHT). For some reason I'm not scared of having Chem AND Bio at the same time. The upperclassmen in Health Sciences all tell me it's gonna be hell. I might end up eating my words later on, but right now I'm feeling pretty confident that Science won't ruin me. Basketball, however... o.o

Remember what I said about practicing taking pictures? Here's the camera I've been practicing with. Meet the Nikon D300, the camera I found inside a box wrapped in gold during my birthday last week. I've named it Cam (short for Cameron). I don't think it is a very original name or idea (it's about as original as naming a stuffed bear "Teddy"), but hey, is anything really original anymore?

I love Cameron, and I'm really thankful for this gift, but I can't help but feel pressured to take mind-blowingly awesome pictures now. *sigh* I'm not even halfway through the user's manual. Hopefully by the time the LFC film competition rolls around I'll have mastered it enough to shoot a decent film.

While we're (partially) on the topic of birthdays...

The day before my eighteenth birthday, my awesome block had a sportsfest at Cervini field.

XX Girls. URGH. AREN'T THEY JUST THE CUTEST!?!?!?!? LOOK AT THEM GRRR SO CUTE

XX Boyz. Meh.
KIDDING THEY'RE ALL SO ADORABLE WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT THEY'RE SO DARN CUTE

If there is an end to the awesomeness of this picture, then I know not of it. CUTE. GRRRRRR. CUTE.

Anyway, I loved the sportsfest. We played badminton. And frisbee. And we literally rolled around on the grass. It was awesome.

This is my XD face.

And then my day got even more awesome.

This is Cheryl's XD face! 

Block huuuuuuuuug

Hawt.

The block threw me a surprise birthday party. ;_______; THEY ARE THE SWEETEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ASDF JAS;DF JASF A;

Speaking of sweet... Andy Europa has got some pretty sweet photography skillz.:))

Here's what I wrote in a Word File when I got back to the dorm. (In all my excitement I forgot to publish it. NOTE: The version you see here has been edited for public viewing.)

1:35 AM. I want to remember everything, so I’m writing this as fast as I can, because my heart is still racing and the words are getting all jumbled up in my brain - words that I just couldn’t bring myself to vocalize when you guys, my blockmates and friends, asked me to give a speech earlier in Rap’s living room. I cannot thank you guys enough. It was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had, and the first surprise birthday party anyone’s ever thrown for me. Does that mean I lost my surprise birthday party virginity to you guys? Feels pretty awesome, doesn’t it.) I’m one of the happiest girls in the world right now. Thank you. Thank you so much. With the sincerity to end all sincerities, and from what phrases I manage to make coherent, thank you.
Some of my favorite moments from tonight: 

1. When Rap called to say “Aimee, where are you? I’m outside your dorm na, get over here, I look like an idiot,” and finding out why he thought he looked like an idiot – he looked like he was dressed for prom. With a lovely bouquet of flowers to match.
3. Being led blindfolded into the “fancy restaurant” and hearing people go “It’s her, it’s her” and “Shhh she’s here” (yeah totally smooth, you guys!).
4. Having my blindfold untied, and then looking up and seeing all my friends! They pelted me with paper airplanes! And when they came down I was so happy to see that they were there – even Cheryl! WOOHOO! And Andy who was supposed to be in Singapore! WOOHOO!
5. Crying in front of everyone because it was all so overwhelmingly amazing and crazy and beautiful and omg I think I’m gonna cry right now… OKAY I’M CRYING RIGHT NOW THANKS YOU GUYS ;_;
6. The food was amazing. Did I ever tell you that it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to eat cheese from a cheese fountain? ACHEIVEMENT UNLOCKED. Oh, and there were Krispy Kreme donuts, and a beautiful pie-cake (which, Rap tells me, came from you, Andy. THANK YOU!) +9 HAPPINESS.
7. I heard “Bruises” by Chairlift playing from the speakers upstairs, and I was surprised because the only other person I know who likes the song (besides me) is Jethri. So I asked him whose playlist this was, and he went, “Yours.” AND THEN I CRIED AGAIN. (I think there is a direct correlation between age and sissyness.) And then I heard some more of my favorite songs, and I felt so happy because it was all so… thoughtful. Thank you, Jeth and Rap. +9 WARM AND FUZZY FEELINGS
8. When Karina wished me a happy birthday and gave me a birthday card with a handwritten note to match. I CRIED AGAIN.
9. Getting a small tour of Guatemala Street n_n
10. When it was 12:00 AM (and officially my birthday) and everyone sang happy birthday to me and group hugged. ;____;  

Of course the list just goes on and on. It’s just that some things are better left unspoken. Haha. Thank you again to everyone who helped out with the surprise – YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET AND THOUGHTFUL AND CARING AND SUPPORTIVE. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. I really am so blessed. I can’t wait to see you guys in June. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH YOU’RE THE BEST EVER.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any more awesome, Rap texted and told me to check out http://beainadulthood.blogspot.com. I thought of waiting to open it until I got to the airport later on, but I couldn't resist, so I went ahead and opened the link. And, well, let's just say I was crying so hard that the dormers in my hallway probably didn't get to sleep very well.

 And then Jason and Larz and Gerard and Daryll sent me this video they made containing explicit material. And then Jason sent me another video he made with pictures of me and stuff. And then when I woke up later that morning my eyes were puffy from all the crying, and I didn't think I could be any happier.

Needless to say, it was the best birthday ever. Thank you to everyone who greeted me in person, through Facebook, or through text. And to the ones who didn't... Don't expect a n_n from me on your birthday. *shakes head in disapproval* KIDDING. Thank you still. n_n 

. . .

So I'm eighteen now. Woohoo! That means I can legally drink alcohol, drive a car, watch material containing explicit material (such as Jason, Larz, Daryll and Gerard's birthday video), vote, and enter into a binding contract. They all sound pretty cool, but right now the one eighteen-year-old thing that I'm most excited to do legally is the one thing my brother Jiggy told me I am now permitted to do: curse. And here it is, my first legal curse: Avada kedavra. 

Kidding~!

And I am now ending my blog post. Good night. :)

Damn. :)