Time vs Distance (a poem)

Time vs Distance

Time is more cruel than distance

as distance can be overcome

But time can never be brought back

Time slowly eats away

the people we once were.

Time changes us, 

Distance does not.

Time, the wretched human concept, 

Has created a distance

that no boat can sail,

that no bird can fly,

that no horse can gallop through.

Time has changed

what has become

of you & I

-P.A.A.G

On Computers

As I'm writing this entry, I am sitting in my school's computer laboratory, leeching free internet. Apparently, the only reason why I'm writing this is because my university blocked the other fun websites and the only thing enjoyable to do is to write a blog post. To be honest, the mere thought of using flat screen computers equipped with the latest software excites me. I blame my high school for giving me this feeling.

I don't hate my high school. In fact, it was a very good school for my little island, and it gave me very fond (and not-so fond) memories that I will probably cherish for the rest of my life. However, it was quite financially deprived, and had to find ways on how to maximize their budget in order to give quality education to its students. I'd like to believe that they stuck to the 'quality over quantity' mantra, but I guess when you're running an establishment, you have to make sacrifices.

Apparently, they chose to sacrifice our Computer Science education.

The computers in our computer lab were not of the best quality. They were ancient, boxy machines with screens that somehow seemed to bulge a bit. The keyboards were of horrible quality, with the keys so hard that you had to jab them with your finger before a character appeared before you. The software, although supposed to be fast, hanged up and had numerous glitches. I could write about all of the struggles I experienced with computers there, but then that would be too long, and besides, we somehow managed to get through with it anyway.

Probably staying in a room full of lag-y, boxy computers made me long for a computer whose screen wouldn't turn yellow after five minutes. Probably looking at something that was big and ancient made me appreciate the ones that were thin and sleek.

But maybe that's just me.

16 Things I Should Have Done When I Was Sixteen

I was watching The Pacifier and then there was this scene where one of the kids is part of The Sound of Music. He plays Rolf and then sings a line from 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen'. Listening to the familiar beat of the song actually perked something inside me, like it was something I should remember. The song was basically a soundtrack of my last six months being sixteen, and almost every seventeen year old girl quoted a line from that song in their Facebook profile picture that celebrated their seventeenth year on Earth.

Which makes me ask the question: Was I too excited to be seventeen that I forgot to enjoy my sixteenth year on this planet? Maybe I was, or maybe I wasn't. I don't know that for sure. But I will post sixteen things I'm sure I wish I did back when I was sixteen so that some sixteen year old girl will try her hand on these things (but it's alright if you don't, though I'm sure you'll wish you did when you're seventeen).

1. Wear trendier clothes. Because when you're sixteen, dressing up like a ten year old is not the least bit cute. Nuh-uh, not at all.
2. Watch American TV shows like Glee, The Vampire Diaries, 90210, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge, and the list goes on and on and on...
3. Get piano lessons. Just because.
4. Learn how to socialize with others and not stick to the room's corner/wall/couch/soft drink dispenser.
5. Learn how to eat like a human being and not like a dog disguised as a person.
6. Buy a shoulder bag then learn how to look good with a shoulder bag. If you're going to stick with a backpack, you HAVE to wear only one strap and make the other dangle from behind. Wearing both straps will make you look like a nerd. Also, do not put much inside your bag, even though you know your bag is capable of carrying a number of things. A bulky bag makes a nerdy and awkward student. You do not want to be nerdy and awkward.
7. Finish one big tub of ice cream. By yourself. Brain freeze is acceptable.
8. Wear a bikini because when you're old you'll have wrinkles and then wearing a bikini is just darn disgusting.
9. Talk to boys. Gosh, they're not some foreign, alien creatures. They're just the opposite sex.
10. Sing 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen' with me as Liesl and a guy friend as Rolf. On video. No ifs, no buts. If he refuses, then friendship over.
11. Spend less time on Facebook and more time having fun.
12. Join Sinulog and have fun with the street party and get paint and dirt all over me.
13. Have a karaoke contest with friends.
14. Tell that one person you like since forever that you like them and not care if they'll reject you or not. If they like you, it's cool. If they don't like you, it's cool.
15. Have a Disney Princess and Nicholas Sparks movie marathon in one setting. 
16. Trust someone. Don't overthink, don't overreact. Let them take care of you, and if everything goes wrong, it's OK. It happens, life happens. It's better than haunting yourself with the possibilities.

The Janine Tugonons of the World

A goddess. That's what Janine Tugonon is to most people in the Philippines. She's both beauty and brains, having placed first runner up in the Miss Universe 2013 pageant, winning the hearts of Filipinos all over the world with her witty response in the Q & A portion, photogenic face, and- let's admit it- her super hot, ultra mega sexy body.

But even though she is a goddess, she dated a mere mortal. An ordinary guy, who wasn't really what you would call the most conventional type of handsome. Yet they were together for a year. It was like a Cinderella story, only male version. Cinderello. Hahaha. Okay.

But their seemingly love story came to an end when an international band member of The Script, probably Janine's all-time favorite band, came to the Philippines for a concert. Being the big The Script fan that she is, she obviously went and even met her idols! What's more the lead singer asked for her Twitter. Aw, how cute. 

Janine then breaks up with her boyfriend because she and her idol are sending each other direct messages in Twitter and she realizes that she's more attracted to her idol that she met only once than the boy she's been with for one year.

And that was how their unconventional love story ended.

I'm not going to chastise Janine's actions that much. Most of the people in the internet have, and I think this Facebook page's photo perfectly expresses what I really feel of the issue (it's in Filipino though, so if you can't understand Filipino you could always use Google Translate or whatever). I guess I just can't really be mad at Janine because of two reasons.

1. I don't really know her except that she is a beauty queen and a goddess.
2. I know people who are like her. She's not the only one who's like this.

People judge Janine for what she's doing to her boyfriend, but I think the main reason why she's receiving so much backlash is because they realize that they have met somebody similar to her.

There are girls (and boys!) who make you feel like you're the one, but leave when they've met someone better. They break your heart into tiny little pieces, then crush them on the ground, then expect you guys to still be friends. They tell you about their latest eye candy how wonderful, loving and cute they are together without even batting an eyelash.

They tell you they love you, but you know that deep inside they love themselves more. And you can't do anything about that. You're the one who'll have to love more because they know that they are wanted. They know that everybody loves them. You tire yourself out trying to catch up to their needs and expectations, only draining yourself out dry and realizing that your efforts have gone to waste.

You can't really win when you're in a relationship with one of the Janine Tugonons of the world. 

It Will Pass

Just because you'll try to understand somebody doesn't mean you always can. There will be a time when you will get tired of understanding others when no one understands you. You try to give without asking anything in return until you're flat out empty and drained physically, mentally, emotionally.
So you try to understand them some more, giving out a piece of yourself every time you do, hoping that someday, someone will understand you the way you understand them.
But that never happens. And you've given yourself away so much that you've become a ghost. A ghost of a person they used to know. You can't regain what you've lost. So you deal with it, hoping that it will pass.
But will it?

On Vday

Usually, when people know that you're single on Valentine's Day, they automatically assume you're bitter and ask you to join the Anti-Valentine's Day Movement.

Well, I've been single on Valentine's Day for seventeen years, and I've never really felt bitter about it. Maybe  because I like the holiday. I may not receive sweet nothings, chocolates, and other tokens of a person's affections, but I like looking at people who do receive them.

I don't know. Just because you're single, you don't have to hate on people who aren't. And just because you don't have a Valentine, doesn't mean that Valentine's Day is going to suck. It's a fun holiday, with love all over in the air. The least you can do is enjoy it while you can.

And if you don't, well, just boycott VDay altogether.

Happy Valentine's!

On Filipino E-books

I guess you've all heard of Wattpad.
If you haven't, it's a website that hosts stories made by their members, whether they be original or fanfiction.
Basically, everybody who's been on Fanfiction.net moved to Wattpad, so thanks to Wattpad, Fanfiction.net is pretty empty.
Anyway, a large number of Wattpad users are, not-so surprisingly, Filipinos! They've coined the term 'Wattpaders' for themselves, and most of their stories are written in popular Tagalog/Filipino, the kind of language used in everyday conversations.
Most of the stories are actually read via phone and are called 'e-books', which are actually just different text files (like PDF, .doc, and .txt files) of the whole story. They are then read via cellphone or whatever electronic device available.
How do these stories become so popular? Simple. They're shared via Bluetooth to one friend to another until the story gains so much popularity, it hurts.

Anyway, I actually have a thing for these Filipino e-books. They're kind of like a guilty pleasure of mine.
The stories are so light, and the narration so relatable, you can't stop reading.
But then there comes the part where authors need to have an editor for their stories.

I recently finished one e-book that I honestly thought was amazing until the ending. Everything was so good, so real and relatable, then- BAM! Stupid cliche events. Stupid plot twists that don't contribute to the growth of the story at all!
I felt so cheated! I was actually thinking "Man, these e-books are pretty funny. Sometimes they're better than all those really pricey novels", but I was so wrong! Just when I thought that I had found an alternative to my craving of Meg Cabot-ish chick lit, I was wrong.

These Filipino e-books are actually nice, if you turn a blind eye to everything cliche in them, and if you want a light read when you're commuting home. But trust me, if you're a fan of the written word, don't trade your novels for these babies just yet.

badum tss

Isn't it scary how hours become days, days become months, and months become years? You know it happens, how time slowly slips away from your fingers, but you don't really realize it until suddenly you're pretty much left with no time at all. You tell yourself "I'll do this tomorrow" or "Let's do that later", yet tomorrow never comes, later never really happens.
We keep on putting things off because we think we have time, when we never really had time in the first place.

So, this blog pretty much exists to document thoughts about certain issues in certain times. This one is going to be a bit more public, a little bit more formal. But if you've read my blog since who-knows-when, then I guarantee you that it's still 100% Pat Gallardo.
Or what remains of the Pat Gallardo you knew.

Because I want to look back in this blog five years from now and laugh at myself. Laugh at how young I am as of this writing, and laugh at how much I've changed and remained the same.
Five years is a long period of time. But it doesn't really feel that way when you think about it.

So I hope this blog does its job: being a keeper of the thoughts of a growing and changing person.
Because if it doesn't, well, dang.