the star parade.

Dear Star and Trinket,

I’m absent from school today. :( As much as I wanted to catch up with everything I missed, all the activities I had to go through last week drained my energy. Busy week, wasn’t it? Even last Monday, which was supposedly a holiday, I had to go to school for a short meeting for the school paper. I had to write an editorial article for the column Sir Fil granted me (I’m so gleeful about it!) but because it was my first time, I think I failed miserably at the attempt. More often than not, I can’t classify what I write into whatever categories are there. *sweatdrop*

After that, I went to the dentist to have my teeth checked. I still have to wear orthodontics elastics till my upper set goes in. It’s still a long time before that happens—probably a year, more or less. My rubber was changed too. I chose red for the upper set and green for the lower set. Christmas is just round the corner, after all. :P

Albeit having such a fun week, I can’t deny the fact that these type of things tire me to no end and that I need at least a day of rest without leaving the house to fully recover my drained energy. Having that in mind, along with my mind’s inability to cope up actively with the classes I’ve attended in the past two days, I asked my parents to let me be absent for the day to get rid of the stress.

I don’t have an active mind and body. I get tired too easily and I’m very weak in terms of physicality. Still, I try to not get sick because I don’t want to face those medicines I hate. It might be in your interest to know that up until now, I still don’t know how to consume tablets and capsules. *whimpers* I’d rather eat a ton of vegetables and fruits than be forced to consume chemical healers that have flavors which make me vomit. x(

Sigh. I’m also sick because of my sore throat. This happens often and I really hate it when it does. I have a case of acute bronchitis, and Mom even comments that something is always wrong with my throat whenever I get slightly feverish. I don’t even speak that often and frankly speaking, I’m much more talkative online because I don’t need to use my voice. Still, it’s very much discouraging to recite during class because my throat hurts and I prefer to drink water and keep my mouth shut.

Maybe I’ll fail in this quarter, not the previous one. :(
God, please help me.

I was supposed to have three quizzes today, plus it’s the deadline for our TLE Christmas project. By the way, it’s a portable and folding star lantern. I’ve finished cutting but I don’t know how to paste it all together, so I plan to come to school early tomorrow and finish it then. I’ll decorate the bits later too. For now, I just wanna blog about how miserable I’m feeling.

Speaking of negative feelings, allow me to rant about how the bonds of my friends are being broken because of a certain jerk who’s so immature that he’s dragging everyone else around him.

You know who you are, and if you’re reading this, then you might as well know what’s going on.

You are an immature jerk who can’t think of anything else but murder. What’s even more childish about it is the fact that you’re under the influence of your obsession with video games.

It’s thanks to you that *Ai was absent for a week because of insomnia. You have no idea how much she wants to dump the idea of the friendship she had with you because you’re not worth it. Have you ever taken into account that she’s only friends with you because another close friend is still friends with you and she doesn’t want to break that friendship along with it?

She’s worried about *Jo because you might use her. That’s the only reason why she hasn’t even cut the string of bonds with you.

*Na is angry with you because of your immaturity, not to mention that you encourage things that shouldn’t be. You’re making things worse day by day, and honestly, the chances of you changing your idiotic, cowardly personality is zilch.

You are not worth anything. Even a mere ant, fly, louse, cockroach, or as far as a speck is worth more than you.

Why do you even question that they can’t accept you for who you are? You are an insensitive and coward jerk.

I have no care whatsoever if you have other friends that may support you. It’s up to them if they can endure having you, someone who isn’t even as worthy as a speck, as a friend.

It might also be in your interest to know that it’s also thanks to you that *Ha experienced something she wasn’t supposed to because of your rude pride. Also adding the fact that *Ra hates you as well because of your infantile attitude.

As for *Jo, if she decides to side with you, then I’ll let her be and wait till she sees the jerk that you really are.

Your existence is troublesome. Really, I can’t wait till you transfer schools and we don’t have to deal with you anymore. You’re a blind, insensitive, rude, too-proud, infantile, selfish jerk who’s not worth anything at all.

And because of the influence of damn video games? Sheesh. How much more worse can you get? Oh yeah, you’re still aiming for the worst, you violent freak.

Normally I wouldn’t post stuff about you because, as I’ve said, you’re unworthy and negatively priceless. However, it’s thanks to you that my friends are having a hard time.

If you would even bother spouting that I have ignored these friends I speak of, then you should very well know that I have a clear reason that they already know about and we have made amends. If you still would bother even asking what that reason was that I decided to cut connections from them for a while, then it’s only a one-worded answer—you.

You’ve caused enough turbulence. Do you really think that if you apologize and promise that you’d change, they—or we, for that matter—would forgive you? Pfft. As if.

You may haven’t noticed, but you keep doing the same thing again and again after being forgiven. Are you seriously still hoping that there’s still trust, the basis for any bond?

Really, just go away. Whether this has anything to do with what happened last March, the death of your home’s light, it isn’t sufficient reason of your attitude.

If you wanna know what you can do to make things better, being so blind as you are, then do us a favor and transfer schools to somewhere far away and cut all connections you have.

After all, you’re the insolent jerk that started all of this in the first place, and if asked to me, there’s not even a single way for things can be amended at this rate.

* Note: Names have been changed for privacy.

That’s about it. Sorry if I scared you guys, Star, Trinket. I figure he might look at my blog, so I just wanted to leave this message for him. Mah, it’s up to him. I absolutely have no care with what he plans to do, as long as it doesn’t trouble me or my friends.

Well, I’ll be off watching Pandora Hearts Special Episodes now! I finished the series last week and I’m utterly disappointed with the ending. I’ll check on the manga a bit later when I’m in the mood. :)

Hugs and Kisses,
Danielle

Danielle Mari Quico. :) Yes, from me. ;)

Ree-chan’s gift for me. Thank you so much! <3 *posted late again* :)

From Ruru-chan. <3 Isn’t it just adorable? x) I love the fonts she used. Thanks so much again, Ruru-chan! *glomps on you*

Efren Peñaflorida, CNN Hero of the Year 2009

Dear Star and Trinket,

This week has been crazy. As in, really crazy. Mah, as should I expect of my birthday week. Nonetheless, I can’t deny the fact that it’s been tons of fun and the best week I’ve had this year. XD

I should start telling you guys about it now, ne? Let’s start with Monday. Nothing much interesting happened—just normal classes with tinges of excitement because of the field trip the next day. After classes, I had to attend the Second Quarter Spelling Bee. I was utterly thrilled to see that Anna-chan was there too! And maybe she really is my lucky charm. Why? Last year, I won third place in the Third Quarter Spelling Bee because she was there and I was relaxed.

This time, without any expectations at all, I won first place! YAYYY!!! *jumps up and down* Can you believe it, Star? Trinket? My second win in another quiz bee this school year and it’s gold again! I hope to grab the certificate soon. Anyways, this means I’m qualified for the finals in Fourth Quarter. I’m not after a win in the finals, rather, I’m just happy to grab the award. XD

I didn’t even feel winning. I only got one mistake in the easy round—should have stuck to my first answer on the first word. Note to self: Accommodation has double-double letters. I don’t remember the words I got wrong on the average round, but pretty much, I got eight out of ten right. ^^ As for the difficult round, it really was difficult. *sweatdrop*

Thanks to God I knew the spelling of lackadaisical (meaning easygoing, apathetic, etc.) because I crossed paths with the word tons of times whenever I browse the dictionary. I didn’t know the spelling of acquiescent, but I did know its root word and just guessed. I’m glad it was right. :))

The scores were tight. I only got a one-point lead and the next two had to have a tiebreaker. Scary, really. Still, thanks to lackadaisical and the lucky guess, I got first place. XD It definitely brightened up my day. ^^

Next day, Tuesday. 24th of November. Dad’s birthday. He came home late the past night, and this day too, so I only got to greet him in the morning before we left for school. Well, that’s in my sisters’ case.

I had my field trip that day. :P

Upon arriving at school, I was already talking to my buddies and having fun. x) When we got to the bus—my partner was Bea-san, by the way—we took pictures and already began eating. :)) Talk about appetites. Of course, we paused when we prayed for safety, and after that, the tour guide began talking. I wasn’t really listening since my ears were plugged and I was soundtripping with the anime theme songs I’ve loaded in mom’s phone. XD

Oh yeah, Bea-san and I were taking pictures of ourselves every now and then. I have a few of them, from my mobile. Well, technically, it’s mom’s but you get the point. :P Couldn’t get too much decent pics, but I love the blurry and lighting effect. It’s sort of something new from the usual, good ones. Well, I’ll get my camera next year—I’m set for the Canon G10—so I’ll start learning photography when that time comes. ^^

I won’t post pictures for now. I’ll just stuff them all in Trinket’s book when Bea-san uploads. x) Same with the pictures from the 21st. I’ll get them by Wednesday, hopefully.

Moving on, we only had three itineraries. I don’t know why we couldn’t go to GSIS, but it was a total rip-off considering the amount we paid. Something happened and the school couldn’t get refunds. Grrrrr.

We first stopped off at Central Bank of the Philippines. We first watched a short film about money, and we were all looking the guy talking because our biology teacher spoiled some stuff for us. Apparently, she first found him familiar, and when the name appeared, she realized he was the brother of one of her ex-boyfriends. She told us how she was laughing like a weirdo and how her students raised an eyebrow at her. :)) Talk about unbelievable fate. :))

After that, we roamed around the different sections and saw this really, really, really huge Php100 000 bill plus coins worth Php2 500, Php5 000, and tons of others bills and coins from everywhere. x) Couldn’t really concentrate because Sky Cable was texting and I had to forward this and that to mom’s other mobile. Ah well.

When we got outside, we took a few more pictures before going in the bus and heading to Fort Santiago. I opened up my pack of Kisses chocolate and began sharing. Eric saw me and asked for some, and I was about to ask others to pass it to him since he was in the far back when he told me to just throw it.

Before I knew it, I was throwing a few bits of chocolate and laughing. :)) Suddenly, Sir Romy, our adviser, approached me. I was a bit nervous since he might scold me, but then he said, “I think you forgot about me,” and put a hand out, asking for chocolate himself.

We all laughed. :)) And of course, I gave him some. He is, after all, my adviser. XD It wasn’t long before we reached our second stop, Fort Santiago.

I know it’s a common spot and even I agree that it’s sort of childish for high school students to go there, but the place remained to be beautiful and it was where I got tired the most. No, no games and all that.

Just hundreds of pictures.

Class pictures, random poses, serious shots, wacky snaps, jump shots—you name it. We definitely used Bea-san’s camera to the max. XD She doesn’t go online often, and she still had pictures from the MangaHolix Convention so uploading really will take a while. No worries—I’ll post the best ones here when I get copies. ^^

After a tiring walk around the walled city, we went back to the bus and rested. By the time we reached SM Mall of Asia, our third stop, we halted by one of the gas stations and ate our lunch. XD

Sir Romy roamed around the bus and I played the anime theme songs on my sister’s PSP on speaker. I played the songs that my classmates knew and Bea-san was singing to most of them. At times, I would join her too. :)) We were sitting across Michael and Neil, and they kept commenting how obsessed otakus we were. Sir Romy even said, “This—this is what our top students prioritize,” with a chuckle and teasing grin. I just laughed along. :))

It was about 2 PM when we went to the Science Discovery Centre, and we waited there for almost two hours, just sitting around. Utter boredom. :| When we got to go inside, we first went up and met Mr. T, a visual fish that answers everything you ask with common sense. I don’t know if someone was behind it, but the name reminded me of the toilet—you people know who you are and why I said that—and just as we sat in the big dome thingy, the lights were changing and we took pictures. :))

I honestly thought it was a planetarium, but it was actually where we were supposed to watch a short film. We watched The Future is Wild and albeit I didn’t really believe in the theories showed, it felt like you were flying and the place was circling because of the rotations and all that. x)

After the film, we were allowed to browse around. There were tons of virtual games, one of which had the camera scan your picture on the computer and you get to play volleyball against it without touching a thing and just paying attention to the screen. It’s hard to describe, but it was fun nonetheless! XD

I don’t remember much of the other stuff, and I think it’s better that way than for me to spoil everything here. :))

We went back to the bus at around 5:30 PM—the sun was already setting—and got to school around two hours later. Along the way, we—or maybe they is more suitable—watched gore movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which our adviser asked to change a bit later because of the gore overload, and Zombieland. I soundtripped and slept a bit the way back home.

That ends the fun I had last Tuesday. On Wednesday, our rest day, I went along with Mom to her office because I wanted to scan a drawing for our layout but since I’m still a miserable failure, I’ll be using a different theme instead. Sorry to say, but it looks like the stars would have to be used another day. :(

I’ll work on the layout after I finish all the stuff I have to do with our school paper, okay? It’ll be done before Christmas, I promise. :)

Thursday was a normal class day. Well, half at least. I was pulled out for training at around 1 PM. Why? The Secondary Schools Press Conference Regional Round was to happen on the next day, my birthday.

I pretty much had a mind block that day, but it was fun seeing my seniors again, even though the atmosphere was a bit worry-filled and sad. We didn’t know if Savyna-senpai could make it, and she’s one of our best chances for a top spot. She’s amazing in editorial cartooning. Just amazing. ;)

Skipping that, let’s move on to the day of my birthday. It didn’t feel like it, really. I guess the fun was already spent, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t able to enjoy myself that day. In contradictory terms, I had fun. ^^

In the morning, Mom woke me up and I blew my candle. I’m surprised she bought me a cake. Mah, I guess that’s how parents are. ^^ My cake was from Estrel’s, and as usual, their caramel cakes were scrumptious and sweet. XD

The regionals were held at St. Mary’s Academy in Pasay City, so we had to go there early so we wouldn’t be late. We were left with live streaming because the auditorium was already filled, and it’s not really a big school. Nonetheless, it was clean and the atmosphere was good despite its outskirts. Cramped space.

I got nervous upon hearing that there were more than a thousand delegates. Scary if you think about it, but I just did my best even though the topic was extremely unexpected. I was the only representative in the Feature Category for my school, so I had and wanted to do my best. No, it’s nothing special. The rules only allowed one student from each school for each category. We were all researching about the Maguindanao Massacre, and most of ours topics were related to MDGs. Rawr.

The Division Round barely had the theme in its topics, so I was kinda annoyed that they suddenly bring it up now. Sir Fil told us that they probably did it on purpose to really test us. Well, they succeeded.

What’s my topic, you ask? Trinket, you’ll definitely pause with flying when you hear of it. I won’t go through any more curved paths, so here’s the really hard topic.

Campus Journalists as Critical Advocates of Universal Primary Education which is a Crucial Component in the MDGs.

…yeah, I know, I was speechless too. I even noticed that most of us stopped to think first before writing. I didn’t know what to do, so I just wrote what I thought I should. I think I got sidetracked, so I definitely know that I won’t win. Still, I can’t stop hoping. x) Wish me luck still, please? :)

Nothing really interesting on the part while we waited for the others to finish with their contests. Before going back to school, we dropped by a nearby Jollibee branch where we were treated with fries, cheeseburgers, and coke. x)

They sang me “Happy Birthday” and I was just speechless, but of course, I didn’t forget to say thanks to them. ^^ I’ve gotten closer to my staffmates this year than last year’s, and I’m just glad to have spent my birthday with them too. :)

On the way home, around the time it was getting dark, we began exchanging ghost stories somehow which gave me shivers because it was evening already. *sweatdrop* I usually wouldn’t be scared, but the way they told them was so serious that it was really convincing.

Speaking of which, according to Reader’s Digest, out of 200 dead patients in the hospital, you cross at least one of them every day. How to figure if they’re alive or not? If they have a red tag, then that means they’re dead.

I’m pretty much apathetic to ghosts. Whether they pass me or not, I won’t really notice. :)) Well, that is, unless they’re really evident and all that.

Anyways, off to yesterday’s event. I didn’t attend MTAP because we went to SM Mall of Asia due to two reasons. First, to shop at somewhere else for a change, and second, Dad had a game of billiards with his company.

The place was huge, and trust me, we haven’t even fully circled the whole thing. We first stopped at the Bowling Centre where Dad was to be left, and then it was shopping for us. Before that, I had my haircut at David’s first.

I know my hair’s already short, but I didn’t had a do too short. I just wanted bangs after seeing how huge my forehead was in one of the pics we took during the field trip when the wind was strong and my hair was ruined.

So, this is what I look now. I took this with the PC’s webcam. I based the bangs after seeing Dominique Tiu’s in Tricia Gosingtian’s (both are famous online in deviantArt) Bunny Headbands picture. Well, you could say I pretty much have the same as hers in some way too. x)

This is the only pic I can provide you with today. *sweatdrop* The first was taken with my hair in a ponytail, to emphasize the bangs. I look cleaner that way compared to what I look like in the second photo. *sweatdrop*

One thing I know for certain after receive two nods from my dearest online buddies: I LOOK YOUNGER WITH THIS HAIRDO. *overjoyed* :)) I look a bit like Jan Di of Boys over Flowers, and a bit more anime-ish than before. This change was better than I thought it’d be. ^^

Moving on, after that, we went around and hunted for clothes for our Christmas Party on the 18th. My feet were a bit sore but I didn’t really notice it. My sisters’ choices were a thousand pesos cheaper than mine. *sweatdrop* I couldn’t resist buying this cute double-pleated jacket from Bossini, and even though I knew it was going to be hot wearing it and that I couldn’t use it often, it was the only thing that had tons of appeal to me. Well, actually, I saw a red coat from Mango and wanted it badly too, but it was too expensive.

I’m not gonna spoil what I’m going to wear, but I’ll give hints. The whole outfit is like one of the combinations from the movie The Clique. I still don’t have a red top for under my jacket, thick white stockings, and boots, but mom says she’ll be the one to find them. ^^

Around the afternoon, we went back to the Bowling Centre to rest a bit before Mom and I took a trip around the computer area to hunt for laptops. We haven’t bought one yet since we were saving up for something worth it, and after going to this certain store, I was overjoyed upon hearing that Mom wanted what I wished for too. XD Only Yuna-neechan knows as of this moment, but I’m not going to tell it publicly yet to keep it a surprise.

All you can be assured of is the fact that even though it’s small, it’s worth more than a normal-sized laptop and very, very satisfying. XD And yep, it’s gonna be original too! I can’t wait till we have it! XD

I’ll end that day here, since nothing much really happened afterwards. We went to a family friend’s house for dinner because we were invited, but I was already sleepy and tired by then. This morning, we went to school again because Denise had her Family Day. We left before they even had lunch and headed to the mall. :P

Oh yeah! Just earlier, we bought stuff from Comic Alley. I wanted a CD of Kanon but they ran out, so I asked for Kuroshitsuji, but then the same thing happened. In the end, I asked for a Toradora! CD set and bought it. XD Have I mentioned that we also purchased a poster of Kuroshitsuji with Ciel in his girl form in Episode 4? KYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Plus, they were on sale with the stickers. Buy One Take One. I got two sticker sets of Kuroshitsuji with my adorable Ciel on them! How awesome is that?!

Well, I’ll end this post here. x) I think it’s already too long and I wanna watch Toradora! more intensely now so…catch up with both of you later! ^^

Hugs and Kisses,
Danielle

Lacie by Yuki Kajiura