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Virtu et Fortuna

Alps — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:01:00 +0000

I and Noemi wanted to approach a professor and ask him/her to change a specific policy for a project.

aLps: Can you assert your virtu to Sir/Ma’am ****?

Noemi: No, I can’t assert mine. Can you?

aLps: I can’t! Let’s just adhere to the original policy then.

Days later, the professor changed some provisions of the policies satisfying our original proposition for revision.

Noemi: Alps! He/She changed the policy! And it is what we wanted!

aLps: Yeah! This, is called fortuna. :D

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Fortuna, The Roman Goddess of Fortune (Obvious much? Haha)

So what’s virtu and fortuna? Our SocSci2 (Western Political Thought) professor discussed it in the simplest way possible. The concepts of Virtu and Fortuna (Niccolo Machiavelli’s) is like a compromise between

Those who believe that we are the masters of our fate (and captains of our soul).
and Those who believe that we have a predefined fate.

Some people have powerful virtu that they can alter their fortuna.

But, there are some people who have powerful fortuna that they can reach what they want without necessarily having a high virtu.

So, virtu is the efforts that we make to reach a desired end.

On the other hand, fortuna is our fate, most of the times, cannot be altered except if you have high levels of virtu. :D

Plurkin’ Goodness

Alps — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:16:52 +0000

My Psycholinguistics professor told us something about grades:

Grades tell your performance, not your ability (Yu, 2008).

Hear, hear I say. I’m not getting gaga over grades but as much as possible..

I strive so that my ability would reflect my performance (Aguado, 2008).

But (Yeah, I’m a bench-sitter!) as much as I want to have good grades, I am not as conscious as other people. Haha. I like doing many non-academic, leisurely, unproductive and time-wasting endeavors like watching Grey’s Anatomy, playing with my Labrador for at least an hour, staring at the boob-tube, stalking her and other things that prevent me to do homeworks. I told myself once that I am a person who is so mature that I have the longest attention-span for my age. But hey, I’m freakin’ wrong. I wonder if people with short-attention span know that they have such! Since they can’t think and reflect about it since they have, err, short-attention span. Haha. Anyway, having such condition really sucks, I can’t concentrate on a single activitiy! No, I’m not multitasking, I’m simply not doing my tasks!!

Self-distraction is self-destruction (Aguado, 2008).

I’m always pushing my self-distraction button that is activated together with the self-destruction option. I’m re-watching some parts from the Movie Love of Siam over and over again, only to realize that I have to re-write a lot of technical writing papers over and over again. Hai. But this is one thing I have learned from the movie:

Separation is worse than rejection (Aguado, 2008).

I came to this conclusion through this rationale: Feelings are not yet that invested prior to rejection, but feelings are already invested big-time and preserved prior to separation. Well, some have disagreed. I respect them of course, we live in world that respects relativism.

I think everything is painful (de Asis, 2008).

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I fear rejection more (Calderon, 2008).

Then I told them that the combination of rejection and separation would be the worst thing.

If both of them happen at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt that much. If you are rejected, separation would be easier (Villanueva, 2008).

Yay, I have sewn Plurk one-liners in a cohesive blog entry. Haha. For more one-liners, visit/follow me at Plurk!

I’m a person who regards randomness as a perfect order (Aguado, 2008).

http://www.plurk.com/user/alps

Best of Both Worlds

Alps — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:34:15 +0000

Jo-ann: People often wish for the so-called “best of both worlds” thinking that the possession of such will make them happy. Or in some cases, happier. But once you get the best of both worlds that you’re pinning for, do you really become happy?

aLps: No. Because together with the best things are the worst things of both worlds. ∞

Perfectionist

Alps — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:06:23 +0000

aLps: Why do perfectionists exist in an imperfect world?

Mita: Because they can’t be perfectionists in a perfect world.

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Image courtesy of http://www.notthebiggestloser.com/

Reality Check

Alps — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:05:18 +0000

Vianne: I have read it* already. BITTER. Haha. And i saw a lot of guys agreeing with you. Haha, natatawa na lang ako. You’re blaming Edward because you guys hated the ideal guy that edward is. Because.. I should not continue.. Too bad words.. Peace!

aLps: I’m not striving to be ideal, to be perfect, and I am happy I am not Edward Cullen. Girls would be girls. And hard it may seem to be, boys let them be.

So let the boys be themselves.

*http://infinity8.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/nonexistent/

I Love You

Alps — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:08:42 +0000

Rish: Alps, do you say “I love you” to your guy best friend?

aLps: What?! No!

Rish: JM’s* guy best friend says “I love you” to him.

aLps: Aww, I think guy-friends take that more of a joke rather than a serious one. It may be half meant but it is still packaged to be funny.

Rish: No, he tells that in a serious tone. Like in comments in Friendster or in his text messages to JM*.

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aLps: Where’s my cellphone? :O ∞

*JM is Rish’s boyfriend.

Ang Edukasyon ay Mapagpalaya

Alps — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:35 +0000

L. Estancio: I am the teacher, you are my students. If you say something wrong, I have to correct you. If I say something wrong, you have to correct me. There is no someone higher when it comes to student-teacher relationship. Education in this university is liberating (Ang edukasyon sa pamantasang ito ay mapagpalaya).

aLps: :O

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P. Yu: You may do whatever you want. But I would still make the rules. I am the professor, you are my students. In this relationship, I am higher. And that’s life.

aLps: :O

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This is why I love UP professors. They are so diverse that they can contradict each other. Haha. Academic freedom afterall knows no universal standards. ∞

Perspective

Alps — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:07:26 +0000

aLps: I don’t like Kobe, he is such a show-off. And sometimes, he plays harsh, hardcore. Kobe wants the ball so hard.

Ethel: He is just selfish.

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aLps: I don’t like Kobe, he is such a show-off. And sometimes, he plays harsh, hardcore. Kobe wants the ball so hard.

Vin: He is just good.

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I do not put comments under my Conversations entries. But I will state a rationale–this is the reason behind my love for conversations, I get diverse responses! This is what I learned this time–Kobe could mean two things, either he is really damn good, or he is really damn bakaw. Ooops, he could mean both too. It is just a matter of perspective.

Prejudice, for me, is an instinct. ∞

Apparently, Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Yay!

Risks

Alps — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:00:12 +0000

aLps: I am a person who is afraid to take risks. I always play safe. I am afraid of rejection. I always settle for what’s there and be indifferent about what’s out there. But you know what? I have realized that risks are worth taking. Whatever the outcome may be, the journey itself is the reward. A positive outcome is only a bonus.

Janelle: Wise words. I’ll do well to keep that in mind. I play safe too. The risk I was talking about was purely emotional. I’d never so much as given him the slightest hint about what I felt. Which was quite prudent of me, I’m proud to say. It saved me from greater humiliation at least. Unfortunately, that hadn’t saved me from the “what if”s that plague me now.

The Hidden Motive

Alps — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:49:52 +0000

Eki: School is not for getting grades, not even for learning.

aLps: I understand it’s not for getting grades, but, not even for learning?

Eki: We follow school rules, we strive to pass our subjects and we want to stay in school just for one thing.

Eki: We want to stay with our friends. ∞