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I was inspired by a late-night show my sister and I watched last Sunday night. I forgot the documentary’s title or even channel (maybe it was Channel 2), but that’s irrelevant. What’s important are the “pearls of knowledge” it shared with the few viewers who stayed up late.

Success is not measured by wealth, prestige or other achievements. Success is when we feel happy with what we are doing, when we reach our dreams, and when we make other people happy too as a result. The more people we make happy, the more lives we improve, and the happier we are with the results, the more successful we become.

It isn’t easy to measure, but the beauty of it is that it makes success achievable by every person. Moreover, success becomes something that multiplies when shared, never diminished. A successful person also makes other people succeed in their lives.

Success is a state of mind turned reality.

I don’t think I’m successful; I haven’t reached my dreams yet and haven’t even made a dent in the lives of the people I want to help. But, in fairness to me, I am happy with what I am doing and with the path I have chosen. It’s not a yellow brick road to greenbacks; it is the road less traveled by. I did not chose this because I consider poverty as a virtue (if I were poor I wouldn’t have much choice in the first place). It is simply because I don’t think I could achieve anything when I feel bad with what I am doing. When you feel bad with what you are doing, when you think that everything is just about surviving this or that, your human potentials are reduced, and you’ll realize that what you have done is just to exist, not live, as what human beings are supposed to do. I would rather die than merely exist.

Many people in our country (and the world) merely exist, living miserable lives brought by the lack of choices and opportunities. Most of them die without even pondering about success, their lives circumscribed by the daily imperatives of hungry stomachs, weary muscles, itching skin and gloomy eyes. As people with choices, do we choose to keep the freedom to choose to ourselves or, by the best of our capabilities, share it with others?

The first question to the paths to success is to choose which path to follow. The second is to ask who will join us towards our unreachable destination. And the third is how willing are we to go on.

My late godfather (not the mafia boss!) was a commercial pilot and used to send me trinkets he collected from the countries he goes to. He was among the few people who influenced me to love the social sciences, especially geography. Though I never considered a career in flight, I always dreamed of reaching for the skies. When I turned twelve, he sent me several books on paper folding, and that became the start of my passion with the different paper folding arts, among them paper plane folding. I was quite old for paper planes and I ran (or rather, crashed) into a series of unfortunate events with my teachers. Probably that’s because old teachers believe that paper plane aficionados are not the type who will pass exams with flying colors. I beg to disagree. A paper plane is more than every teacher’s nightmare.

Prof. X, classmates, allow me to defend my passion, the art and science of paper planes.

Paper planes are works of art with their origins in China. No, the Chinese weren’t the first people to invent the airplane, but they were the first to make paper. Chinese paper made its way to Japan where, combined with religion, it blossomed to the uniquely Japanese art of origami. Buddhists made origami birds as a form of meditation while Shinto priests made ritual pieces. Later on origami lost its religious connotation and became a recreational art. In the 1960s, because of the efforts of several Japanese and Western origami masters, origami diagrams became standardized and more accessible to the world.

Paper planes used to be simple but, with origami techniques, it became more sophisticated. Paper planes are modeled after real airplanes, and shares with them the same aerodynamics principles. Lift pushes the plane upward, drag opposes forward motion, gravity pulls the plane downward, and thrust propels the plane forward. A paper plane must be of light yet strong construction, which is why some kinds and cuts of paper are better than others for paper plane folding.

Essential to paper planes are the folds. If there is one word central to paper plane folding, it is symmetry. There must be symmetry or the plane will roll or curve to one side. Folds must be clean and dry. Folds must be crisp, sharp and accurate. A small mistake is multiplied with every fold. Like real airplanes, mistake-fraught paper planes can be costly when allowed to be flown. Usually these can be corrected using flaps, soft folds, or taping the problematic part.

The folds determine what kind of paper plane will result. There are sleek darts which are meant to be fast, stately gliders, looping jets, and eyecatching models like starships. Every kind of paper plane is launched differently, depending on their classification.

A finished paper plane is not just a function of Japanese art and American science. To a person who has seen many paper plane flights and crashes, a paper plane is an important expression of one’s personality. One of my former classmates, now a civil engineering, aced in paper plane folding; he had the rare skill of being able to make his own models. Like me, he had nimble fingers and a curious mind put into more respectable, though often unappreciated, uses. A career in paper folding involves the virtues of cleanliness, creativity, attention to detail, foresight, and patience. The lack of patience has led to numerous crashes and deaths of ambitions. Not all paper planes are folded equal, but you can be sure that the best ones are made by virtuous people.

In summary, paper planes are not just the nasty nuisances teachers confiscate. Paper plane folding is the fusion of Japanese origami, Western technology, and an individual’s skills and passion. A good paper plane must be built from the right materials, shaped with the right folds, and launched with the right speed and from the correct angle. And of course, a good paper plane is the reflection of an adept and virtuous paper plane folder (hopefully, I’m on my way on being one).

Paper planes may be the first step towards your high aspirations. An apple was the beginning of Newton mechanics, a bird was the inspiration of the Wright brothers. Paper planes might be the runway for your contributions on space pharmacology! Aside from that, more realistically, paper planes are a good way to express your boredom with your out-of-this-universe Chem 14 professor, or impress your date with cheesy lines on air. Create, experiment, launch, crash and launch again. Fly high my friend, and reach your dreams!

References:

The best paper airplanes you’ll ever fly. Palo Alto, CA: Klutz, Inc.

Morris, C. Advanced paper aircraft construction: Easy-to-follow instructions for 14 flyable models. Angus & Robertson Publishers.

Morris, C. Advanced paper aircraft construction Mk II: More easy-to-make flyable models. Angus & Robertson Publishers.

Morris, C. Advanced paper aircraft construction Mk III: 12 high performance models and why they fly. Angus & Robertson Publishers.

Robinson, N. (2008). Origami kit for dummies. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

* This was my Speech Communication speech manuscript for my extemporaneous speech last 13 October 2009. Since the speech was supposed to be extemporaneous, I wasn’t allowed to use a manuscript, but my delivery was faithful to the manuscript I made (I read and rehearsed for 14 times, would you believe?). I overshot the maximum time limit of 5 minutes 20 seconds by 2 seconds, but, overall, I thought my performance was satisfactory.

I don’t know if it’s my kit or anything else, but my Smart Bro sure is expensive, slow and more erratic than dial-up here in Bacoor… I really hope to get a faster and more reliable broadband connection before my 22nd birthday (yes, VZ, I’m turning 22).

*****

I’m getting a lot of problems with my STS magazine article. I have all the materials at hand and even have a well-constructed sentence outline but I still find it difficult to write. Probably the trouble is that I don’t have much quotations to put (magazine articles are full of quotes) and I don’t know how to make my sentences and paragraphs shorter. It’s just now that I realized that a good magazine article is so different from a research paper, and my training hasn’t readied me for the journalistic style of writing.

I should try to surmount this problem. According to my most eminent professor (VZ don’t ask me who he is, he might well be your idol too!) a social scientist should be a good writer too. A good writer does not only write social science research papers or monographs – he must be ready to produce essays for editorials, student-oriented magazines, anthologies, etc. In short, a social scientist should be able to speak to different people. After all, social scientists (per my social science research term paper) should be with society, a service provider or frontiersman, not a tenant in an ivory tower.

*****

The best professor isn’t someone who is always correct, but someone who is open to corrections.

The best professor isn’t someone who tells you things as they are, but someone who transforms things. The best professor transforms knowledge and transforms society, one mind at a time.

The best professor isn’t someone who believes in an ideology, but someone who has faith in the people. The best professor supplies the people with best tools and options he knows.

The best professor’s greatest skill is not in writing, speaking or listening. It is in making people think.

The best professor isn’t a professor at all, but a fellow learner too. The best professor does not aim to be the best himself but cultivate students who’ll become better than him.

*****

My digital library is going to undergo a major operation next week. I’m cramming the basics of library science so I can organize them. 1,000+ e-books, e-magazines and e-journals are not that easy to manage.

After that I’ll have them burned into DVDs for posterity and possible (free) distribution to trusted customers.

*****

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, AD 200

This would be too immodest of me to say, but I have never ever been irresponsible when working with a group. I always try to be dependable. I hate letting people down. So, as much as possible, I do my best, delivering what is required of me. Of course, it took a toll on my health; too much work aggravated my hypertension. I thought I can relax a little and collect what I owed from Fate, this should-be last undergraduate semester of my life.

But nothing’s fair in life.

It’s too painful to think that I may not be graduating this semester because of one failed subject. I’m not overly-grade-conscious, but I do value my reputation. Despite the many difficult courses I have taken, the only academic subject I failed was CS 11. I’m not a bright student, but I take my studies seriously. I have always demonstrated the resiliency and diligence expected of me, though, personally, it was far below the level of most of my former classmates.

There’s a limit to how much I can blame my misfortune on others; ultimately, the fault is mine. I should have not let others handle such an important project. I should have taken up the leadership position from the start and not sit around, expecting someone else would. Some people are yet to learn that their actions or inaction go beyond their lives. Not all UP students know what the words “honor” and “excellence” mean in their personal and social lives. It’s not too late to learn (and this may well be the most important lesson for you). I should have been wiser.

Periculum in mora.

* I was being too OA here. There’s still a slim chance of passing the subject in question, that is, if I ace the final exam. 

*****

More on the unfairness of life… I got a 1.00 from my favorite prof! (Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t use unethical means to get this grade).

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything lower than that.

[video align='align-center']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlHv3BbBv6A[/video]

*****

Binabati ko ang sarili ko sa pananatiling buhay sa kabila ng di-pagtulog ng tatlong sunod-sunod na gabi, sa di pagbuwal sa kabila ng paglaklak ng mahigit 15 tasa ng kape, sa di paglalaslas sa kabila ng mga patong-patong na eksam, AVP shooting, extemporaneous speech, at final papers. Hindi matatawaran ang aking katangahan at sakripisyo para maisalba ang lugmok na reputasyon, maiwasan ang kahihiyan ng di-pag-graduate ngayong Oktubre, at maabot ang matatayog na pangarap na world peace.

Nawa’y ito na ang huling pagkakataon na gagawin ko ito. (Aking mga giliw na propesor, nagsusumamo akong ipasa ninyo ako!)

Maraming salamat sa aking sarili! Mabuhay ako!

* Maraming salamat din sa aking mga sponsor: Nissin, Kopiko, Nescafe, Tylenol, Microsoft, CD-R King, Meralco, Shell Philippines, Yamaha, Google at United Home.

** To VZ: Nanood pa ako ng Y Tu Mama Tambien sa lagay na yan! Sa’n ka pa? Kontra sa payo mo, ginawa ko siyang family affair. Use your powers of imagination na lang.

*** To others: Ang di-pagtulog ay rite of passage. Di nnyo ito maiiwasan.

[Narcissistic speech]

NS 5

The worksheets required are fairly easy, and except for the groupwork, I think I can pass the course without much frustration.

Comm. III

This one’s definitely the hardest. I have four big things to prepare for: an interview, a panel forum, an extemporaneous speech and a one-time exam. Given the sheer weight of these requirements, I have no other viable recourse but to depend on my group as a freeloading member. Early on I have given up hope that I’ll get a high grade from this course.

For the extemporaneous speech I have created a rough exploratory guide for the topic lying and deception. I have one persuasion topic, about animal liberation, but I don’t have an idea how I can make the topic manageable for a 7-minute speech. The other topic (I am supposed to prepare for three) is still open. Do you have anything in mind?

DS 123

This course is so unpredictable , but if there is anything certain, it is going to be hard. As in the past, I’m only banking on the thought that my past performance has earned me enough credits to pass this course.

STS

I have finally found a manageable topic regarding our magazine article for STS. It has the tentative title of “The Search Paradigm: Knowledge Evolution at a Time of Internet Revolution in the Philippines.” I will be relating the various changes regarding the way Filipinos generate, transmit and receive knowledge from the internet and how this is likely to cause a paradigm shift in the field of education. This is going to be the best opportunity for me to mix what I have studied regarding evolution, the history and philosophy of science, information technology, revolutions, social research and Thomas Kuhn. My greatest problem here is that I have so much material to digest and yet have so little time and available energy. I am not confident that I will meet my personal deadline of finishing the first draft by 4 October, and the revised final output by 7 October. There are many things that can upset my personal timetable. It’s a good thing I was given a marginal role in our group’s short film (something inspired by Final Destination and CSI) and booth exhibit (Great Britain).

I was tasked to contribute regarding the culture of Great Britain. Well… the only thing I think of is music. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were from Great Britain, right? The booth can assume a 1960’s rock-and-roll theme. I’m cautious of a Harry Potter-like thing because it might look so childish and inappropriate for something that is supposed to be featuring science and technology (though, of course, it has the relevancy and ‘pop culture’ element). Timeless and safe is the Victorian theme or ‘Industrial London’ look. Or I can look at the London 2012 Olympics website and draw inspiration from there.

NS 50

A tedious exam and a debate regarding stem cell research or mining (prepare for both although we will actually be debating on one).  I don’t have debating experience; our countless family quarrels rarely appeal to reason and fairness.

*****

All of these make me appreciate Lady Gaga more (and more):

[video align='align-center']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrSv7vCKr5k[/video]

[video align='align-center']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvzhgpvLEr0[/video]

This song is so BEAUTIFUL! I love it, hahaha! But I don't like the name they took (Disney's Friends for Change).

This is so not-me... I can't believe I posted this sort of stuff... Writer's block.

*****

This blog isn’t dead. There is certainly something to look forward to regarding my blog come October this year.

*****

I’ll vote Sen. Noynoy Aquino for president come the 2010 elections only if he solves the Hacienda Luisita problem. Only then would I be assured that, if he does not have the sincerity, then at least he has the will to effect change (whatever that is.)

I don’t buy the concept of “war of good versus evil.” It has “drama” value but, when you really think of it, it’s an arrogant claim. Politics is not a war of good versus evil. In our country, it is a war between moneyed elites, between family members, between evils and lesser evils.

*****

Career plan in brief:

1. Work for the govenment, a non-government organization related to social research, or an educational institution for 2-3 years.
2. This is just so secret.
3. Apply for a scholarship in a foreign university.
4. Make life better for all Filipinos (woohoo! nationalist chorva!)

*****

Taylor Swift deserves her award.

Beyonce is so great too! She deserves an award for that.

Kanye West is a jackass. Haha!

*****

[video align='align-center']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZMIOfv5LDk[/video]

These are the movies and TV series (except those I am required to watch for class) I watched this month. By the way, I graded them based on the UP grading system. 1 is highest, 3 is passing, 4 is conditional failure, INC is incomplete and 5 is FAIL. Looks like I'm not a good critic of movies... but that's that!

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