Czanguine

So be thankful, for all the blessings. Even for the pain, which...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:29:51 -0500

So be thankful, for all the blessings. Even for the pain, which may be a blessing in disguise without your knowing.

Be thankful for everything.

Love these heeled boots. So industrial, yet classy.

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:29:06 -0500

Love these heeled boots. So industrial, yet classy.

How To Prerog in UP Diliman

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:19:00 -0500

How To Prerog in UP Diliman:

Friendly tip: A map would come into good use for this endeavor. (Map of UP Diliman, via Google Image Search)

So you were unable to get those subjects you wanted, and now you’re forced to prerog. You’d very much like to, except you don’t know how. To make things worse, some trippy senior might have even told you a horror story of how prerog is likenable to having to stand before snarling teachers (aka executioners) who don’t appreciate the fact that everyone’s already at the gallows and you still have to set a schedule for the torture chamber, and having to scream “Abracadabra” before a wall that you just saw slam shut in your face. In reality, prerogging is easy if you know the procedure (and if you’ve got a hint of strategic spark in you), and through a short series of steps I will show you how. This article assumes two things: that you are currently a student in UP Diliman, and that you were unable to get the subjects you had indicated on your pre-enlistment “survey demand form” during the first, second, third, fourth, on to infinity batch run.

(For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term “batch run,” it is a multi-leg marathon scheduled weeks before the scheduled enrolment date wherein UP students are assigned numbers and made to race to the finish line. At each leg of the race, random numbers are picked as winners. Not literally, of course, though I would personally argue that there is a great amount of accuracy in that description.)

First of all, let’s get down to a definition of terms. “Prerog” is short for “prerogative,” a term in the English language which means “an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege” (Merriam Webster Dictionary), because Filipinos love word contractions and UP students like to provide nicknames for commonly used terms such as “Isko,” for Iskolar ng Bayan, “Oble” for Oblation, “Acad Oval” for the Academic Oval, “Peyups” for UP with an 80s twang, and other terms that are supposed to sound mighty cool and give the impression of UP students having some kind of a Parseltongue of their own. As a matter of fact, they even give pet names to their much adored subjects under the assumption perhaps that these subjects would love them back: for instance, Eng’g (pronouncedsimply, eng. Say it twice and that’s what you are when sitting in class). In UP, to “prerog” means basically “to sign up for classes that have vacant slots, or that haven’t been filled up yet, at the college offering them or from a teacher who can create a slot for you if you got that swag.”

So how do you prerog (and enrol)? Follow these easy steps and you’ll find doing so is as easy as falling asleep in your seat.

Things Needed

Enrollment requirements (Form 5, ID, Other Documents Needed for Assessment)
Food
Leisure activities that do not require vast spaces or athletic courts, but are guaranteed to help pass time
Tent

Steps:

It is understandable that you are still in summer/sembreak mode, but this is a special occasion and you must get to campus early on the date of enrollment. (How to know if you are on time? If you see a star in the sky that is not the sun, you are just on time. If it’s impossible to tell because if it’s cloudy outside, another way to tell is if Manong Guard is wearing a navy blue uniform or he is in a dormant state/not even there at all)
Set up camp. Installation of tent is optional, depending on which college you are camping by. Bonfires will not be allowed so if you brought marshmallows you will have to eat them unroasted. Take in a substantial breakfast that is heavier than a pack of marshmallows.
While waiting, know the subjects you were not able to get and make a mental list of what you want to take as replacement. (Tip: do not take a GE that unknowing freshman clamor to get; you’re not likely to be accommodated. Try for subjects with less “popular appeal” for sure slots, and a less mainstream peg altogether. If it’s a PE you’re lacking, you might have better odds and less stress all throughout the semester if you opt to take mah jongg, birdwatching, or Scrabble.)
Follow the procedure for enrolment determined by your college, and get your CRS subjects validated at the Office of the University Registrar (OUR). What you will have now is your (incomplete) Form 5A.
Your journey begins. Make a dash in Olympic record-setting time to the college offering the first class you intend to prerog for. (Tip: prerog first for the more appealing/high-demand subjects because slots are likely to run out sooner! Duh.)
Follow the signs indicating the procedure for prerogging, assuming you are a UP student and can follow directions. (Note: you will not see the word “prerog” anywhere, but you will be aptly guided). Lines may be long, so make sure your camping equipment is ready and food supply remains high.
The last (and likely the only) step you’ll encounter will be the e-prerog. This is the moment of truth. On a computer screen you will see which classes have vacant slots and all the info corresponding to it. If the schedule fits yours, just your luck. All you’ll have to do is agree to sign up.
If all fails, your last option is to hunt down a teacher. Sometimes it is okay to wait. Beware of monsters. They are really more afraid of you.
Repeat steps 5-8 for the next subjects you will be prerogging.
Check the time. Is it past 7AM? Better think of things to do and places to go to pass time, for the guard at the OUR will tell you to come back in the afternoon. Is it past 3PM? No hope, come back the next day.
Get a number, line up patiently, fall asleep in your seat.
When it is your turn at the window, submit your Form 5A, now adorned with the subjects you have prerogged for. Your blood and sweat, your pride.
Sit down again and wait for your name to be called. By the time you have to go to Window 5, your Form 5 will have been printed.
Proceed to payment at the designated center, which will be in any building except for the Cashier’s office. You may now take all the time in the world. A newly introduced option to pay online (aka at a bank) will significantly reduce the emergence of unwarranted campsites.
Congratulations! You have now managed to prerog and enroll!

DISCLAIMER: Procedure may differ in some respects depending on which college you belong to. I happen to be a student at the OUR, or a cross-registrant from some other campus too cool to be taking any subject there.

I was supposed to have packaged this off as an actual “how-to” article and submit it to a genuine How-To site, but then I thought against it because apparently it would be too cool for one as well.

No Tumblr in a long while makes Cza just fine

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:01:43 -0500

Hi :D

Found this lying around on my desk. Just a little reminder :D

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:01:01 -0400

Found this lying around on my desk. Just a little reminder :D

I just love bananas.

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:20:05 -0400

I just love bananas.

My obtaining of an unassuming Sheaffer ballpoint has warranted...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:32:23 -0400

My obtaining of an unassuming Sheaffer ballpoint has warranted an equally simplistic review.

I would willingly write in cursive at every instance called for.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:24:08 -0400

I would willingly write in cursive at every instance called for.

Things in life always get better when seen from up close. :D

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:38:00 -0400

Things in life always get better when seen from up close. :D

Stainless steel Parker Jotter. Presumably a 1996 or a 2004...

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 07:54:55 -0400

Stainless steel Parker Jotter. Presumably a 1996 or a 2004 model. Food for the luxury-loving creature in me. :)

Purchased just last week (entirely at random); didn’t...

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 07:51:58 -0400

Purchased just last week (entirely at random); didn’t realize that I may have just gotten my hands on a nearly-vintage piece! I treasure it so much, regardless!

Flower child. :D

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:32:36 -0400

Flower child. :D

Random personal dilemma

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:23:42 -0400

…because I couldn’t post this elsewhere. Twitter would cause the message to be fragmented, and my blog just doesn’t seem appropriate.

The problem with you is, I knew you since childhood. You had been the guy who always threw temper tantrums. Yet we were close. On the outside, I see you as someone who is immature despite being a year older than I am (not that I consider myself completely mature, either, emotionally and intellectually), but somewhere deep down I seem to know you are someone I can trust. Someone who could at least keep my secrets and help me rationalize my feelings and thoughts. At times it seemed as if you were the only person who truly wanted to get to know me, or who I’ve become after these changes I’ve gone through. You actually appreciate me for what I am today though I’ve never bothered to tell you the whole story — for fear, perhaps, that your opinion of me might change. Or that you may not be interested in things beyond the superficial. Something deep inside tells me you could be better, yet I keep judging you for (still) seemingly liking the things I did when I was 13 and had outgrown since, asking me questions about other girls, not knowing how to drive, and so many other things. I know you could be different, I just don’t ever give you the chance to prove it to me for fear, perhaps, of being wrong again.

Thoughts After the Unnamed Big Storm (from my WP)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 01:45:00 -0400

Thoughts After the Unnamed Big Storm (from my WP):

“These past few days we have stood witness as Metro Manila was battered by intense rains in an event similar to what was arguably the worst storm of our time, Ondoy (known as Typhoon Ketsana internationally).

An unnamed tropical depression had raged since Monday morning, bringing with it huge volumes of water that resulted in the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City overflowing and flood alerts all over NCR to be raised to code red. It was only on Tuesday morning, however, that it began to release destruction in the form of extreme floods which rendered most highways in the metro impassable, and effectively flooding the streets in front of our house.

As a kid, I used to think that only the flood-prone areas of Marikina, Malabon and Navotas could experience a disaster of this degree, and back then this may have been the case, but nowadays it is different. We cannot deny that our environment today is changing. As humans continue to alter the face of our planet, we will continue to experience the wrath of Mother Nature’s anger…”

(Read more)

Tools of the trade <3

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 22:06:50 -0400

Tools of the trade <3

“You’re not making any scents.”

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 05:36:55 -0400

“You’re not making any scents.”

lastwizard4: 23 July 2012 [Fountain] Pen Cleaning Day! After...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 03:19:11 -0400

lastwizard4:

23 July 2012

[Fountain] Pen Cleaning Day!

After almost a week with my beloved, Pilot 78G fountain pen, I decided to clean or “flush” it. The usual way of flushing a pen is dipping it in water then use the converter to suck the water inside and flushing it out until the water flushed is almost clear. But Sir Jonathan told me that the usual method is boring and it will take me around 10 minutes per pen. He told me that Pilot 78G parts can be disassembled to make it easier to clean. YAY! :D

So, here’s how I cleaned my pen.

Before everything else, find an area which is fine to be dirtied. Or, you can place a towel on it. Prepare some tissue and paper towel aswell.

Step 1. Remove the ink inside the pen. In this case, I returned the ink to its original bottle. Doing this is like refilling your pen but you’re not dipping the nib.

Step 2. Disassemble the inside parts of the pen.

Step 3. Wipe the nib, nib, and all parts using a paper towel. With my dropper type of converter, just dip in water or wipe the inside thoroughly. Let it dry if your used water to clean it.

Step 4. And you’re done!

Took me more than 10mins. as I experienced some problems.

I wanted to assemble it again but the converter is still a bit wet so I used a cotton bud to clean the inside. Unfortunately, it was stocked inside. But I managed to get it out of the converter without doing much damage to it.

Here are some before and after shots:

The nib and feed.

Here are some more:

Whoa. I can sense that my 78G is dirty, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do this! Damn, I should definitely try. :)

Fortunately, my current notebook, Corona, works fine with my fountain pen (Pilot 78G) inked with Hero Black. Corona’s paper is smooth and thick enough so the pen won’t scratch it or blot. We do have school uniforms but everytime we’re allowed to wear civilian, I’d definitely bring my plain polo shirts. HAHA.

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 02:59:00 -0400

I’ve read a lot of great reviews about Corona’s notebooks too. They cost a little more than the average school notebook; thankfully they aren’t as expensive as Moleskines or Schutzen’s! The price difference is huge, haha. So how many fountain pens have you got now? I have a 78G too, Red F. Got it from the same Pilot store in Manila. Just curious, where do you get your pens?

Btw, are you from UPIS? :)

srhbrnc: I can see the house from here. WHALE TRAIL. OMFG...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 23:10:26 -0400

srhbrnc:

I can see the house from here.

WHALE TRAIL.

OMFG don’t I just love this game.

Play it with me. I command you.

Do you have a full body picture of where you are 92 lbs? Thanks, cause that's kind of my ultimate goal right now! x

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 23:09:01 -0400

I’ve gained weight at the moment. The first two pictures on the left are of me at 92 lbs, on the right is me now at 99. Not much of a difference, I didn’t go up a single size, since I believe most of what I gained back was muscle weight. Not exactly my ideal, but I’m healthy, I don’t have any problems whatsoever right now like I used to with my period and all, so it’s good for me! My BMI is 19, I intend to stay this way and I also strongly suggest that you consider what is good for you :)