what a cheapskate.

well i hate to admit it but the symptoms are obvious. i have become a cheapskate.

it started when i learned that my expenses on food and fare won't be "subsidized" anymore, since i earn my own money now anyway. i was so down for a while cos i've already planned how i'd spend it =P but... i decided to snap out of it and that's when i discovered i'm a great accountant. :D

anyway, i save money every chance i get by:
1. having my brother drive me to the MRT (or even to makati) at least twice a week
2. bringing my own lunch (tastes better too)
3. not going out much... and sadly at times, not at all, unless i could hitch a ride home :D

it's kind of sad how poor i've become when i started working. =S it was easier when i didn't have any cash on me - i just ask for things and i usually get them. i remember how my aunt would "sponsor" my starbucks trips so i could study there in peace for the board exam. i miss it. and my other guilty pleasures. =S it's hard having to spend the money that you've worked for... sheesh, i've become... my dad! =P actually raymund told me that. he knows how my dad doesn't like installments, credit cards and the like. well they don't appeal to me too. my philosophy has always been, if you don't have the money, then don't buy it. i don't want to have "more bills than i can pay". but i don't save up just so i have something in the bank. i do plan to spend it next year, and for some people dear to me. so hopefully i won't lose the momentum. and for that, i'll do my utmost to stray from things that might throw me off track. like movies, dining out, and spa... this is the life! *sob*

on another note, i'd have to say that it's just timely to deny one's self of guilty pleasures because it's holy week once again - a time for penance and sacrifice. but as i've explained to a friend before, you don't do it to save money. if someone fasts or abstains to get slimmer or to save up, then he should have rectitude of intention. so why do we do these things anyway? the answer is detachment (actually, i got this from the meditation with the priest just this afternoon :D). so there. :)

anyway, i'm listening to dashboard again, and i just remember that i have this post last year about Lent. and if you're wondering what's dashboard got to do with my thoughts on Lent, then read on. :D ciao! :)

numbers and figures

i suppose everybody thinks of the what-ifs in life. well i do -- countless of times. but the thought that actually keeps recurring to me is this: what if i didn't pass the UPCAT?

for one, i won't be a civil engineer today. i might've gone to ateneo and took up european studies, or to UST and took up biology.

but then, as years passed since taking those college entrance exams, i'm convinced now that i'm exactly where i'm meant to be. and i don't dare think about the what-ifs anymore regarding that matter. why? check these out. :)

my birthday: dec. 16
[on my school] oblation run, a signature event in UP: dec. 16 (unless the date falls on a weekend)
[on my college] eng'g week: 2nd-3rd week of december (usually includes my birthday)
[on my course] our CE oathtaking: dec. 16, 2006

and if you haven't figured out yet, my favorite number is 16! :P
point of info: i'm the 1916th in the list of 2065 november '06 CE board passers. and yeah, 1916's the year the civil engineering curriculum became a BS course in UP (history check here :D).

well, these figures may not mean much but just thinking about all these coincidences makes me feel that i really was meant to be in UP and be a civil engineer at that. ;)

a long overdue OTH post :D

recently, i bought myself a set of one tree hill DVDs. yes, i know i should've bought these ages ago considering i'm a big OTH fan and all but i was kind of hoping that my aunt would buy them for me but she didn't, so... anyway. i've been watching it on weekends, browsing through episodes and... i just don't get tired of it! :D funny thing is, OTH didn't appeal to me AT ALL when i first heard about it. i remember my aunt sending me this WB magazine where they feature the casts from some WB TV series, and she told me to check out everwood (because she knows that i kinda like emily vancamp) and one tree hill. then ETC started airing it. i didn't catch the pilot episode so i couldn't really follow, nor did i attempt to :P i guess that's why i wasn't very fond of it then, i didn't know the story... and that they have such awesome songs! 8D i got the chance to watch the pilot episode when ETC aired reruns and i decided to give it another shot. what really turned me around was this scene where peyton was driving and almost hit lucas because she was grabbing a cd from the floor of her car while hands down [dashboard confessional] was blasting from her stereos (*sigh* i love that song :D) and well, that's what pretty much got me to watch it. :D

anyway, i love peyton, as some people might've already guessed (i posted a pic of her in my friendster account before :D) cos i find her character the one that's most similar to mine, in terms of interests i mean. :P she’s into music and art, which i guess any “punk and disorderly” person would be into as well. not that i fit any of those descriptions… i’m just a bit punk i guess (which i hate to admit even when raymund used to tease me about it), and a bit disorderly, at least when it comes to my room :P anyway, i just think i'm a bit like her. ok, some might beg to differ cos i look like this almost too girly and reserved person but looks can be deceiving too you know. ;) anyway, there's this one time when i've convinced myself that i AM like her. it was family day and there's a contest where the dads were tested on how much they know about their daughters. and my dad was asked what my best talent is and he said that i draw well. (ok, that's already 1 big point for this why-am-i-like-peyton evaluation :P) then they asked him my favorite color, and he said black. and i'm like, no it isn't. it's yellow! hello? i wore a yellow gown on my debut, didn't i?? is there any more of a hint than that? and then i thought about it. why did he think it's black? then i remembered that he used to ask me if something's bothering me whenever he'd find me in my room alone listening to my cds. was it my aura? or maybe it's just because i wear a bit too much black :D ehm... yeah, that might be it! :P

anyway, i'm a jake-peyton fan so naturally i watched those episodes where the two have their "moments" and skipped the others :P the first episode i watched the moment i got my DVDs was don't take me for granted, where i first heard the song 23 [jimmy eat world]. everytime i hear it i remember this scene where it was played - that is when peyton was about to do something stupid (i.e., buy drugs) because she felt all messed up and lonely, then jake came walking along and peyton's face brightened up. 8) i also like the episode unopened letters to the world, where the students of tree hill high were asked to say something - anything - for the time capsule project. that's also when jake and peyton had their first date, which i think is really cute since they've practically been more than friends for a long time but were just about to go on their first official date, and this song do you feel love [people people] just sets the mood perfectly. :)

peyton and jake's lines in the time capsule:
peyton: i lost my way, a little bit, this year. but... lately it's been better. you know, it's pretty amazing how... temptation can be silenced by a ray of hope.
jake: ok, so... i'm a single father... and until recently, a high school dropout. and i'm going on my first date since my daughter was born. am i a great catch or what?

but my favorite episode ever is season 3's everyday is a sunday evening (also the title of my first post in this blog, btw! :D). this is when peyton headed to savannah to see jake. prior to that, i recall peyton's dad saying "promise me that when you pick the boy you're really gonna be with, that he'll be someone who respects you and treats you well. that it's someone who makes your heart race and that he's someone who you love because of what he is, not what he does... that's how i want you to feel one day... use your head and follow your heart." kind of a meet joe black deja vu right there, isn't it? :) anyway, it was a surprise that peyton went to see jake -- the first time i watched it i hadn't braced myself for a jake reappearance in OTH! :D anyway, even with lucas not in the episode, jake and peyton's cheesy moments more than made up for it. well i won't describe the details anymore, you should just watch it... especially that part after their little argument about "every song ends, but that's no reason not to enjoy the music". i swear, i could just melt right then!! *sigh* <3

and with a great episode such as this comes a great quote:
nathan: every once in a while people step up, they rise above themselves. sometimes they surprise you, and sometimes they fall short. life is funny sometimes, it can push pretty hard, but if you look close enough you find hope in the words of children, in the bars of a song, and in the eyes of someone you love. and if you're lucky, and if you're the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back.

anyway for me, the lovely song, that is the jake-peyton love team, has ended. OTH is reviving this lucas-peyton thing and so jake had to be out of the picture. oh well. i'm still rooting for jake though, even if it's already a hopeless cause.
---
from over the hills and far away:
jake: peyton i’m sorry. i don’t want you to go. but your father told you to follow your heart and he’s right. as much as it kills me to say it, i think you need to follow it home.
peyton: but what if you’re wrong? what if i go back and my heart just aches for you like it has for months now?
jake: well then i’ll still be here. if it's meant to be, we'll be together.
peyton: ...someday.

sappy, i know! :D so, is he a great catch or what? :P
*sigh* i wish i'll have my jake someday. <3