Crunch

A butterfly was fluttering around my ankles this morning. I watched it distractedly as it drew wobbly loops around my left leg. . . . . and promptly crushed a snail underfoot. So much for appreciating the beauty of nature.

It's raining now as I say a silent prayer of apology to its little snail soul while its guts and shell fragments are being washed off the walkway. Seriously though... I blame the butterfly.

Woke up this morning...

...with a constipated look on my face after having a nightmare for the first time in years. It was almost 8 in the morning but since I'm in the dorm's west wing (char) it was still dark and rather cold from yesterday's rain and my turbo power fan whirring away from where it sits on my desk. I got out of bed and wandered over to the sink where Mylene was brushing her teeth. Most of the dream had slunk off back to whatever twisted part of my subconscious it had come from but the last few minutes were still fresh. And I wanted to get it out of my system. Mylene was a convenient dumpee and very understanding about it. Plus she couldn't complain since her mouth was full of toothpaste foam.

There was a narrator. He had a calm level voice with a moderate timbre, good for telling serious stories. His voice came from blow and to the left, as if he was crouching next to me, only that I never managed to see him. Then there was a girl. Very pretty. Fine, perfect features of Caucasian persuasion and rosy red cheeks. She was wearing a red dress that went perfectly with her jet black hair in the most clichéd color scheme imaginable. Her hair was wavy leaning heavily towards kinky but fine and soft. Of course, there was a guy. Probably handsome in the same clichéd manner that the girl was beautiful. They were married or something like it, giggly and in love. I don't remember a lot about him because he wasn't around for most of the dream.

At some point he just disappeared. The girl went around looking for him through the complex inner courtyards of a castle like structure calling to him with a voice I couldn't hear. Eventually she made her way out through a small wooden door, the kind with country-home-esque wrought Iron trefoil hinges and studded detailing. She made her way over a small green hill, the long-ish grass rippling in the wind around her ankles, and down into a cemented structure with a terracotta roof. You could see a field from the single window on the east wall that looked suspiciously like a cross between the soccer field in Sci-Hi and the quadrangle behind Mateo Rici. On the north wall there was a calendar and the girl stopped in the little hut and stayed there while the pages of the calendar started flying off one by one.

Someone was sending her information about the guy, for a price. The view panned out until I was standing some 5 meters away from the house apparently floating. The narrator rattled off what the calendar people were offering her and how much they were charging for it, the numbers printed in clean yellowish ink on the pages of the calendar as they flew into my field of vision. The tidbits got more and more expensive and I was wondering when she would get fed up with the extortion and forget about it. She never did.

The last page of the calendar had a huge number with an 8 in it and they were offering to bring her to where the guy was supposedly being held. They took her away in a tank like vehicle. It seems that the drivers were women. Two of them perched on the roof with the girl who was standing on the nose of the vehicle smiling in excitement, not really worried at all. One sat on the hatch as the other stood behind the girl with her gray robes covering her face in the manner of a Muslim woman's burkha. Her eyes were a very light shade of gray or icy blue. They drove for a long time over vast terrain as the narrator explained where they were headed. They reached a dirty brownish gray territory with twisted dead trees flanking them, growing out a sandy loam. Then they got to a lake.

The water was black and the tank rolled right in, being apparently amphibious. In the middle of the lake there was a building that greatly resembled a colonial school house with white wash walls, a dull blue roof and of course the little steeple with the school bell in it. The building was sinking into the lake, its black, strangely ripple-less surface casting a reflection of the building as it went under. Yellow orange tiger eyes looked up at them from beneath the surface as well. The woman with the cold eyes told the girl that her lover was being held captive in the building. For the first time panic marred her perfect features and the girl spun around quickly, intending to dive into the lake and try to rescue him. Three shots zipped past her ear and into the tiger eyes in the lake as she pulled her arms back, gathering momentum for her jump into the unfriendly looking waters. The older woman had pulled out a gun and was now pointing it threateningly at the girl.

Next thing I know, the girl has been shot and is falling into the water, the blood flowing out quickly and making the water the kind of black that’s really just a terribly dark shade of red. The narrator starts to explain, saying something that I don't remember in a disconcertingly calm manner. Then the girl is being dragged out of the lake, screaming in soundless agony, her pretty red dress now in tatters and stained the color of the water. Her face is ashen and her hair has become white and wiry; sticking out from her head like she'd been electrocuted. They keep dragging her in and out of the lake, something about putting the blood back in and getting the right amount. She lies on the shore screaming. Then for the first time in the whole dream, I hear her voice.

And she's screaming for me to kill her.

Awoooo...

... goes the kiwig.

Okay so news of the day: I have been invited to contribute an illustration to the litsoc's Philippine Horror Anthology. :D keeewl. This effectively tripped my happy switch for about half an hour and I was bouncing around the dorm room on an endorphine high. (people who are this easy to please don't need heroine). I find the prospect of doing a project---a real honest to goodness one, not the ones I do just for myself... and usually don't finish *looks guiltily at the 4 half used sketchbooks on my dorm bookshelf*--- EXCITING. *Enter patented maniacal grin*

The kiwig, ladies and gentlemen is basically the Filipino equivalent of a werewolf. Specifically a she-wolf. This is all the information supplied by the project liason regarding the creature at present. My personal initiative's initial research revealed basically nothing. And no google, I did not mean kiwi. I guess it was rather naive of me to think that google would hold all the answers, even though it has never failed me before... Okay so maybe it has, but I can't remember what it was I was looking for in the first place so it probably wasn't that important... Turning from that which had forsaken me I went to another staple online source but wikipedia didn't have any love for me either. And by love I mean she-werewolf. hey that's a brand new definition of love O.o what do you say to that Sir Asis? Probably nothing since he doesn't have any information on kiwigs either I'll warrant.

When I rolled a knowledge check I remembered this book I had about Filipino monsters when I was little. One page per entry, with concise, matter of fact like statements and an illustration to go with them. I loved that book in the way that all small children love books about strange mystical creatures and beleive every word. There was an entry about Kapres and their penchant for tobacco sessions in mango trees. I watched the neighbor's scrawny carabao mango trees like a hawk for 2 days before my short attention span betrayed me. After reading about Santilmos I made a mental note to strip and turn my clothes inside out the next time my parents lost me at the mall (that's right Gani, blame the parents) and I harbored a deep mistrust for white chickens for a very long time. I still don't trust them but that has more to do with their beady little chicken eyes and little things like bird vermin than any realtion they might have with the occult. Unsurprisingly nothing kiwig related came to mind. (I probably rolled a 6)

Then I wised up and typed Philippine mythology...And got a whoping 3 viable links. Oh joy. And out of the three only one was an official paper (though I did appreciate Ms.Anesthesia Lambayoga's extremely informal (but very informative!) blogish type thing.) For such a potentially interesting topic, its disappointing how little information they have online.They have hundreds of thousands of porno websites on the web but next to nothing on Philippine mythology. and I'm not just saying this as someone who needs the info. Though that does greatly contribute to the reason... I mean, there is a deadline for this so I do have to get my hands on some good descriptions oh around nowish, please.

Which brings us to the other thing that was niggling at the back of my mind. It bothered me to think about how much I depend on google and resign myself to the results of this online search engine for my random information needs. And when it didn't yield immediate results I was disproportionately frustrated. I suppose It comes from being in an age hinged on immediacy and instant access. Don't get me wrong, I'm not averse to book hunting in the library--in fact I've been doing a lot of it lately as a beadle--but I'll also be the first to admit that had the google results not been so meager, I probably wouldn't have bothered with this time consuming alternative.

These days our patience is inversely proportional to the speed of the fastest available internet connection. We need to go here, do this, see that, hear it, know everything right this minute and -insert name of internet provider- be damned if it's going to get screwy on me again! Everything is saturated with a sense of urgency and caffeine crazed shreiks of now, Now , NOW ringing in our ears. There are still 24 hours in a day but so much more that you can/think you should/ feel you need to be doing. Then one day you take a step back and realize you've been running around like one of those iffy white chickens, your head shoved snugly between your buttcheeks, or long lost to a low hanging branch.

... from which a kiwig may or may not have plucked it but I wouldn't know since there isn't enough information about it on the internet. We do know that it can be killed with silver bullets just like a western werewolf, but who are we kidding? We're in the Philippines and we're too cheap for that shit. And anyway none of this helps in terms of coming up with a proper drawing of the thing. I want to do this right. Does it have unusually long claws? or long arms that go with the long claws? Is it extremely muscular perhaps? any strange furry protrusions? Is it even very furry at all or jus enough to be PG 13? I don't KNOW.

I will be in the library tomorrow trying to rectify this.

Beadle Beadle...

..be me. I'm the Beadle for my PolSci class. I'm not sure whether or not to feel sorry for my classmates :D lol. I actually spend more time making posts for the yahoogroup than I do making blog entries for my multiply. O.o but they're just as loopy. Just to give you an idea of what kind of beadle I am (and because I don't really have anything more interesting to post at the moment)... here's this weeks update post.

Hey people,

More polsci related things for you to muddle over :)

First of all, the Fieldtrip Group updates: Don't forget that Sir needs to sign
your letters to the gov agency and the Polsci dept before you send
them out. Don't forget to address the dept letter to the Dean of the dept. her name is Mrs. Alma Salvador.

HoR (never mind how it sounds when you read it):
August 6 Wednesday, 3:30 pm.
Senate:
August 13 pending the approval of the Senate
S.C.:
Wednesday or a Friday in August pending approval
BIR:
July 31 Thursday pm----SCHOOL HOLIDAY! (St. Ignatius Day in case you
were wondering. Thank you Mr. Dead guy!)
Q.C. Gov:
Coordinating with the office of the mayor and/or the city council

For Tuesday (July 22):
We need to do a lot of things.
1. Read the Rebullida and Migdal Readings.
There are still copies with Ate Alma (I went back and left mine for
those who didn't get copies earlier this week) but they will be gone
by tomorrow cuz I kinda need to read them :P just text me nalang if
you still don't have a copy by the end of the day. That being said,
please DO have a copy at the end of the day. Save yourselves the load
and the hassle of having to hunt me down. It won't be easy. *hides behind a tree*

2. Read Sir's case files. Supposedly he'll be sending links so keep an
eye out for them.

3. Since we'll be discussing the separation of Church and State it is
highly advisable that you read through Section 6 and memorize the
little bold bits. Sir always announces quizzes but apparently his grilling-este-
recitation schedule follows no such constraints. Take today for
example. >_<*

4. Write your 2 page reflection paper.
Again, readings based reflection on "Is Democracy good for the
Philippines?", 2 pages, TNR, double spaced, font size 12. It's a great
chance to make up for the quizzes apparently.

On that note...

Entablado is presenting "TARONG: Tatlong Dula ng Pagtawid" They will
still be showing it next week and it's another opportunity for a bonus
paper. Dates for showing are 22,23,24,25 and 26 at 7 pm, with a 3 pm
showing on 26. I will be watching the show on the 25th. If you can't
go on the 25th (or if you just don't want to, because... DUH its a
FRIDAY NIGHT...) Don't worry, you can always make your own
arrangements. Or not. I mean, its not required or anything.
For those of you who wish to accompany me (char) Text me by Sunday and
I'll try to buy the tickets in bulk. And maybe we can have dinner or
something after. It is a Friday night after all ;P

Next, on July 30 Wednesday at 4:30-6:00 pm, there will be a plenary
session at Leong Hall entitled "Re-imagining Philippine Elections".
Unlike the Entablado paper this is REQUIRED. I don't know what they
can do to us if we don't go, but do you really want to find out? *cue
foreboding music* O_o;

Lastly, to Steve and Kurt: I have your quizzes. Just to satisfy my
inner pyromaniac, I plan to burn them. If you want them (or if you
want to burn them yourselves) text me by tomorrow night.

And just cuz I don't really know how to give this post a proper sense
of closure uuhhhh... Congratulations on surviving 6 weeks of polsci!
hahaha labo. @.@

Have a nice weekend guys :D

-GaNi-

Your Personality Type: The Groundbreaking Thinker

Your Personality Type: The Groundbreaking Thinker

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Feeling introspective or...

Trying to avoid Tagalog philosophy readings? Can't it be both?