This morning, we had a council meeting to decide some matters regarding funds. I didn't get the vote on my proposal. It was OK, but I fear that my bringing up of the issue sort of decreased the morale / team spirit of the group. If I had known, I shouldn't have brought it up. I proposed something that would hopefully have a uniting effort between the council and the batch councils. This morning's meeting was proof enough that money can sometimes be a reason for division. Let it be and let go. This will once again be another challenge on my part. Michelle made yaw-yaw to me the other day about being the president of JPPhA. I told her that as president of my council, I too had a share of those frustrating moments, but somehow the challenge propels me to shrug off the problems and just focus on what is to be done. She raised again her point about my fighting spirit. Hahaha!.. I was impressed there. She remembered again for the 2nd time. Today was one of those low moments and I believe things will just fall in place soon.

I met up with a high school friend of mine after the meeting. We had lunch at Tagala's and kept touch for all the years we haven't seen each other. Time does fly by and I sometimes wonder how much I have done with the time given to me. I heard of news of some of my classmates before who are now so prosperous with their businesses like Jerwin See with his booming Bel Air and his Club Ultima. He quit school and went around the country to do some entrepreneurial jobs. Now he's self-sufficient and the time he spends on something earns him also something... a lot something that he could by cars and his own condo or house using the money he earns. He has networks that stretch to Mindanao, Luzon and even Taiwan. Ho hum... some people can be very lucky.

Reminds me of what my mom told me before, when we got into serious life talk. I was driving then and the red light at Starmart took eons to get to green, so I gathered some guts to talk to my mom about LIFE and school. Surprisingly, she told me of how she viewed life to be when she was studying in college and how life is NOW. As good as it gets, reality does bite! I was scared and dumfounded with what she told me. I was unaware of the traffic light. It already went green and the car behind had to honk the horn to snap me out of it. I drove silently from the corner all the way to the gate of the house. Life can sometimes be very cruel and unfair... That night I drew a tear on my pillow, knowing that I can't change what happened for my mom and perhaps when the same thing happens to me (which is very likely), I might be rendered helpless too. Life can be so unpredictable. They say that's the beauty of it, because if everything were so predictable, then there's no point living at all. I'm a bit convinced on that, but still life can be very harsh at times. Makes me really struggle to believe that there's really Someone up there.

When I went back to the TC campus to watch the rehearsals for tonight's pageant, I took some time to walk on the empty corridors of TC. Just me, the floor, the walls, the vacant rooms and the clouded sky. I said to myself, "Why am I spending my time here? What for?" Answer: Just for a nonsense piece of paper that tells employers that I have satisfactorily completed... blah blah blah. Forgive me peeps. There are just some days that I wanna lash out at this hope-forsaken world.

So I went back to the room where we had the rehearsals and Masi called to ask my help regarding a laptop not displaying on an LCD projector. So I went to the seminar area at Pharma and did some quick fix its. I thought the LCD projector was being difficult with me, but later I realized it was the laptop. So I did some configurations and in no time, the speaker was able to use it for his Powerpoint presentation. As I was fixing it, the speaker was talking about his past life... "Argh... spare me please", I said to myself with arrogance, sarcasm and all, knowing the disappointed mood I was in. Then the speaker, Adrian Ding, mentioned stuff about B-G relationships, so I asked Michelle what the seminar is all about pala and she said it was a Personality Enhancement Seminar. I raised a brow there... "oh...." So on I went with clicking the laptop here and there and then the speaker says, "You know girls, it's tough what you make us guys do?" I looked at Michelle, and when I looked, she was already looking at me. She then gave a very unusual smile (none of the smiles I've ever seen her wear before), which until now I'm clueless as to what it meant. I wanted to smile back, but I was such a speechless, motionless, incapacitated, handicapped and physically impaired moron that I couldn't even recall what my facial expression was. If only I could have held time there and figured out what she was thinking... hmm. My memory cam captured that very smile at that very moment... here's one for the memory banks. When I was done, I inched my way through the audience, since the room was so full of people. I was unaware that Michelle was following behind me and when I reached the exit door, I heard my name and when I looked back it was her... in her nice baby blue polo, dark blue jeans and that nice necklace she wears with her name "Michelle" engraved between two design ornaments. She thanked me in that very sincere "Thanks jud kaayo John, as in. Thank you." (verbatim) she always does, with her hands together... like how the Thais give their thank yous. "You're welcome", I said. Now I remember that. After that surreal moment, I was skipping all the way back to the Eng'g bldg. I was halfway there when it suddenly drizzled. Oh please... not again! Hahaha!

So now I'm home to get some props for tonight's pageant. By 4:30, mom will bring me back to school 'coz I'll be watching the pageant to support our 2 contestants. Hope they win! Till then, hope you have a colorful and blessed weekend.