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9Dec/100

2010 Year-End Wish List

Since technically, I don't celebrate Christmas, I'd like to call it a year-end wish list rather than a christmas wish list. So, any gifts that I will receive this time of the year will be considered as offerings to the mighty Cleve celebrating the end of a productive year.

This is an official act of communication and plea for my friends and to other people I know to actually give me things as gifts things that I like. So, hey, pick one.

---

1. Personalized Name Stamp

I would like to receive a name stamp, of course, with my name in it because I want to name all my readings and other priceless paper possessions. Look for it! Not pricey, I think. It should be small like this and I don't want the rubberized manual-type of name stamp. I already have a rubber stamp.

2. Sidewalk Surfers from Sanuk

I want to have one of these cool footwears. This is a bit pricey, I know. But this is my wish list. I know someone financially able can give me one of these Sanuk wonders! But hey, could be any other cool footwear.

3. Plain V-Neck Shirt/s

It should not be any other shirt. First, it should be a shirt. Second, a v-neck shirt. And lastly, a plain v-neck shirt. Any color would do. This is not expensive, guys! C'mon, I know you can buy a plain v-neck shirt for me! You just have to visit the nearest department store to you or any other clothes store and you can already find one. I actually like the plain V-neck shirts from Oxygen. But, I don't mind, any plain V-neck shirt would make me happy for a day ( or for weeks).

4. Slim Automatic Umbrella

I saw this at an SM department store. This is very practical and very helpful. If you know me, I always use my umbrella, mainit man o maulan. So, if you want to give me something that I will always use, this can be it. I like this particular umbrella in the picture. It's very thin or slim and it's automatic. Sleek! Any dark color! We can walk and use this umbrella. Just if you want.

5. Green Tumbler from Starbucks

This! I want to have a tumbler because I would like to drink more water for next year. Part of being healthy shizz. I want it to be green because it's an awesome color. And I like this green tumbler from starbucks. But I don't know if it's still available. I think it's pricey because of the fact na starbucks siya. So, any green tumbler! Plain, simple, sophispicated.

6. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

For the record, if no one is willing to give me this book as a gift, ako nalang ang bibili. Michael Crichton is my favorite author and this books is actually one of the remaining three works of him that I was not able to read yet. But if you love to read, you know how much this will mean to me as a gift. Buy me this book!

7. Leather Phone Case

Under the assumption that I will have a new mobile phone before the holiday season, I want to have a leather phone case similar to the one displayed in the picture. I'm not a good owner of anything especially cellphone. So I want to have this to protect my cellphone from myself. Are there other colors for this? But black is fine. This one is relatively cheap compared to my other wishes. But hey, quality control guys.

8. Dinner and Movie Date

I want an awesome, cool, amazing and epic end-of-the-year date with someone special to me. It can be a friend or someone more than that. But the only thing that would make the date awesome, cool, amazing and epic is the person that I want to date. I know, this might be too early. We need to step back, don't rush and all those shizz. But this is like the end of the year. Any chance you might want to spend a night with me? Can someone ask the person to actually spend the night with me? Seriously, I know a friend can do it for me.

9. Doodle Notebook ala Moleskine Ruled Notebook

I can use Moleskine first class imitations especially if it's green. But what I just want is a decent doodle notebook. If you could look for a PAGEONE notebook, that would be awesome. But I'm having a hard time looking for it. So, any cool but not that artistic notebook. It will work. I just need a notebook for my doodles.

---

Because it's in this time of the year that our materialist tendencies are re-energized and that consumerism is at its peak! So, why not channel your materialist tendencies and feeling of consumerism into shopping gifts for me? Why not? But if you could re-channel those tendencies into a year full of support to the mass organizations and student council campaigns, I can and will forgive you.

Happy end of the year! May the capitalist earn double this time of the year!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tagged as: 2010, arguelles, end, list, personal, wish, Year No Comments

21Oct/101

A Long Sem-Ender Entry for A Long Semester

A Drama Mix

This semester has been the most productive semester of my entire college life. I never imagined that I could do all these (as in all of the first semester shizz that I got into) in just one semester. This semester is amazingly wild. Juggling stuff, pursuing deadlines, extending limits, multi-tasking hundreds and thousands of tasks and managing the limited twenty four hours of everyday life--- I wouldn't be learning all these things if not for this semester. Despite all the associated toxicity of this semester, I met new friends, rediscovered old friendships, deepened and strengthened existing relationships. But mind you, this semester was not an easy ride. I also lost some friends, missed some important events, lose in a game, and frustratingly experienced a one-way romantic affection. This semester is a complete season 1 of a drama television series. Seriously, I had a lot of drama for the first six months of my college junior year. And when I talk about drama, I mean real drama. But this semester ended with a cool and awesome mixture of sweetness, bitterness, happiness and calmness hoping that it would not be something like calm before the storm (hello impending November storm).

So Much For An Octopus-type Multi-Tasking

On Academics

No worries, except for those professors with grading systems guided by the favorite Irish Pub game (hello darts!). This semester’s coursework is quite stressful but I’ve learned many things. Aside from the fact that my courses this semester are inherently interesting, I’m fortunate enough that the professors who handled these courses are excellent in their fields (there are exceptions—emphasis on exceptions). My Political Science courses for this semester are five percent short of being perfect. I took up Comparative Governments of Selected European States (mainly comparative aspects of European politics and governments and European Union) under Prof. Carl Marc Ramota, Political Dynamics (lectures and readings on the State and Civil Society plus analytical approaches) under Prof. Risa Jopson, and Human Rights (all-encompassing discussions on human rights, theories and realizations) also under Prof. Risa Jopson. Then I had three non-Political Science courses for this semester. I took up Microeconomics (all that Gregory Mankiw shizz) under Prof. Allan Mesina, Science, Technology and Society (disappointing because of its bias to the capitalist school of thought) under Prof. Del Rosario and Life and Works of Dr. Jose Rizal (what? I thought this was a creative writing course?) under Prof. Benjamin Mangubat. I have to admit that I enjoyed all my Political Science coursework for this semester especially the lecture about United Kingdom, European Union, social movements and almost all the lectures regarding human rights. However, I also have to admit that I was disappointed with two of my non-Political Science courses (that of STS and PI 100).

Now I Know What The Hell This Flag Is

On Student Council

This is my first year in the college student council, well, my first year in a student council. I was elected as the college Vice-Chairperson and I’m tasked with a lot of things contrary to the customary definition of what a Vice-Chairperson is (the one who just relax until he/she can assume the position of the Chairperson). Well, I’m the head of the Organizations and Community Welfare Committee of the council which is basically the coordinating arm between college organizations and the student council. I tried to introduce new stuff regarding organizations and council integration and governance stuff (Council of Student Organizations) but there are still lots of things to do-emphasis on a lot. I’m also the head of the Oblation Corps which is the volunteer arm of the council. I recruit, train and assign tasks to volunteers. We now have a lot of volunteers; I just have to find ways to maximize their talents and potentials. Also, under the new Constitution, I was also assigned as the Executive Council Secretary which is the most stressful administrative job inside the council. I have to monitor attendance, encode minutes, document things, file council shizz, regulate incoming and outgoing correspondence, schedule assemblies and all other secretary shizz. (I was thinking if I could apply as the University Secretary or the Secretary of the UP Board of Regents. Well, apparently, I can.) Aside from those tasks, I'm determined to assert my usefulness as the next officer in line, and I can safely say that this has been the most productive CAS student council since my first year in the college. We've been successful in our plan in reviving the student council and transforming it into a campaign, activities, and service-oriented institution. Good job for the first semester! Agree? :)

For a more responsive, student-centered and pro-people student council next semester! Cheers!

Campus Strike by the University of California, Los Angeles (After a 50 percent cut in the budget)

Still in UCLA

On Activism

There are notable changes in my productiveness as an activist but there are also few problems that I've encountered this semester. First, this semester is a difficult time for any activist. What we have to do for the whole semester is to expose to the majority of the people that the new government of Aquino III is not different from the past governments. It takes courage and ability to do that. Talk about persuasive ninja skills. Well, people are still disillusioned and/or are somewhat hopeful that Aquino III will deliver some changes in the way that this country is being run. But, guys, no radical change will happen. Do I really have to tell people that corruption is not the root cause of poverty and underdevelopment in the Philippines? Do I really have to? This is a challenging task and I'm willing to take the challenge. Secondly, UP, which happens to be my school, is receiving its highest budget cut in its history. This is a serious problem for a university that is striving to be accessible and yet having limited financial capabilities. You don't have to study the budget statistics to know that UP has limited budget every year, and it is getting smaller year after year. And the university has no other choice but to compromise the public character of the university. Opposing the railroading of the WB and IMF-led commercialization of education in the Philippines will not be an easy fight. It will be a tough fight! But we'll not let this budget cut slide, right? Not without a fight! Prepare for a strike! Lastly, I've noticed that I was not able to attend any educational discussions for this semester. And I will change that next semester. FYI, activists spend most of the time not in the streets but studying in groups. We have a lot of materials to study covering historical, economic, political, social and cultural aspects of the Philippine society. Do you want to join? Let me know. :) But seriously, there's still room for improvements for the activist me.

Walkout Against Budget Cut in University of Califonia, Berkeley

Our September 24 Walkout Against SUC Budget Cut

On Relationships

By relationships, I mean all types of mortal (a relationship with a Supreme Being assuming it exists or with an imaginary ghost friend does not count) relationships. Friends, family, foes and even that special someone falls under this catch-all category.

I can say that this particular sphere of my life has been the most unpredictable, challenging and stressful (emphasis on stressful) part of my first semester. The relationship problems I've encountered for this semester are those that cannot be solved merely through an emergency meeting ala student council or a plan ahead of time. Problems in relationships are more complex than how-can-I-get-a-perfect-score-in-this-examination-problem or how-can-I-convince-student-organizations-to-attend-meetings-problem. It takes a lot of creativity, effort, courage, thinking and a whole lot of feeling.

I became closer to my friends, especially to my barkada. Our barkada faced many challenges this semester but we all got through it---but not easily though. The scars that we got through these challenges will always make us remember how stupid we are for letting some thing or some issues get in the way of our friendship. Ewww, cheesy.

In the case of my family, they are still the static, non-dynamic and passive aspect of my life. A pushy mom is not a problem, right? Or not. But I have to say that I'm getting used to it. But I'm still experiencing wavelength issues with my siblings.

I have a special someone, (ayiee)---though I'm sure that I'm not special to that person. I've developed something new this semester in terms of having romantic affairs. It was my first time to try to reach to another person and ask for affection. Well, it feels different to be at the other side of relationship. I have to admit that this has been the most stressful, major major challenge that I've encountered this semester. But almost all of my friends believe that this problem made me change for the better. I agree. And that's more important. Lessons from mistakes. Check! Perfect.

Relevant

Next Semester

Hey, Mr. Next Semester! Be cooler and more awesome, kay? More challenges and more lessons! I want another season of TV drama with lots of twists and unexpected changes. Promise me, you’ll never make me bored. Challenge me! :)

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tagged as: Academics, against, allan, arguelles, break, budget, Campus, carl, civil, council, cut, ender, entry, european, human, jopson, mass, mesina, microeconomics, movements, personal, political science, ramota, rights, risa, semester, Society, strike, STS, Student, union, walkout 1 Comment

9Aug/105

Pagpapalit

Madalas ang dali lang sa atin ang magpalit ng mga bagay-bagay. Mabilisang pagpapalit ang ating ginagawa. Nagpapalit tayo ng damit, bumibili ng bago para sumunod sa uso. Nagpapalit tayo ng DP sa Facebook para alam nila ang bagong hitsura mo. Magpapalit ng cellphone para may Wi-Fi. Magpapalit ng laptop para mas mabilis. Magpapalit ng crush para mas kiligin. Magpapalit ng kaibigan dahil kailangan. Ang hindi lang madali sa pagpapalit ay yung mga bagay na ipinagpapalit.

Ang Kapalit

Ilang buwan na ba ako sa konseho? Ilang buwan ko na bang ipinagpalit ang mga magulang ko para dito? Ilang buwan ko na bang ipinagpalit ang mga lunch at dinner dates with my friends para dito? Tama bang ipinagpalit ko ang labor day rally sa planning ng konseho? Tama bang ipinagpalit ko ang walong oras na tulog kada araw sa pagbantay sa opisinang laging kinakatok? Ilang buwan ko na bang ipinagpalit ang hobby ko ng pagbabasa sa pagtytype ng minutes ng konseho? Ang sarap sana tumira sa mundong wala kang kailangang ipagpalit.

Minsan, gusto kong maniwalang wala naman akong ipinagpalit. Gusto kong maniwala na pinagsasabay ko lang silang lahat. O kung meron man akong ipinagpalit ay tama ang aking desisyon. Ngunit minsan ay hinaharap ako ng mga kontradiksyon. Papalit-palit tuloy ang isip ko sa mga bagay na dapat kong ipagpalit.

Sana wala na lang opportunity cost sa lupa ng Peter Pan economics. Sana wala na lang konsepto ng pagpapalit o kaya naman ay trade-offs. Sana pala hindi ko na lang kayo ipinagpalit. Hindi rin.

'Di Ako Pinagpalit ;)

Sapat ng malaman ko na kahit ipinagpalit ko kayo ay nandyan pa rin kayo. Hindi ako ipinagpalit.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tagged as: #tuks, council, personal 5 Comments

21Feb/1013

ASAP-Katipunan

AK Logo

Ang Tunay, Palaban at Makabayan.

The red, yellow and green in the logo represents the core values of AK. Red for being pro-people, yellow for being pro-student and green for being pro-environment. For its 11 years of existence, this has always been the framework of ASAP-Katipunan.

Alternative Student's Alliance for Progress-Katipunan ng Mga Progresibong Mag-aaral ng Bayan (A-K).

WHY A-K?

Dahil ito ay TUNAY. (Genuine alliance for the Students that genuinely represents their interests)

A-K (the only alliance to) stood against the imposition of TOFI which implemented a 300 percent increase in tuition and other fee. There were mobilizations, protest actions and room-to-room campaigns to mobilize students against this anti-student tuition hike. WE ARE AGAINST TUITION HIKE.
A-K is also (the only alliance that is) standing up against the PAASCU/PACUCUOA accreditation which will probably end up in tuition and other fee increases (historical).
A-K lobbied for the inclusion of pro-student and democratic provisions in the 2008 UP Charter.
A-K (the only alliance that) has been lobbying for a HIGHER state subsidy because we believe that EDUCATION is a RIGHT. It is just logical that the government should provide higher subsidy to allow more deserving students to study in UP.
A-K (the only alliance that) defended our one and only student representation in the Board of Regents by being part of the DEFEND THE OSR ALLIANCE. A-K is the only alliance that campaigned for YES to the CRSRS referendum ensuring that we will have a Student Regent. We fought for our right to be represented in the BOR.
A-K lobbied and joined the mobilization to ensure that the current Student Regent, Charisse Banez, be recognized by the BOR and be seated. WE ARE FOR THE STUDENTS.

Dahil ito ay PALABAN. (Militant struggle for the advancement of student's democratic rights, interests and welfare)

A-K consistently called for the rejection and scrapping of TOFI. Others again use their defeatist logic and asked for the revision of TOFI. A-K lobbied in the BOR meeting for the scrapping of the TOFI via TOFI Policy Review. WE WILL NOT BEND TO ANYONE, ONLY TO THE WELFARE OF THE STUDENTS.
A-K ensured that democratic provisions be included in the UP Charter.
A-K advances the idea that EDUCATION is a RIGHT and not just a PRIVILEGE of the few. We are militantly struggling for this by attending protest actions, mobilizations and organizing walk-outs for higher state subsidy.
A-K continuously opposes all forms of campus repression and commercialization of UP education.
WE WILL COLLECTIVELY ADVANCE OUR RIGHTS.

Dahil ito ay MAKABAYAN. (Service not just to the student, but to the People. The True Iskolars ng Bayan.)

A-K recognizes that the problems of the Iskolars ng Bayan are not different from the problems of the people. WE ARE ONE with the PEOPLE.
A-K stood against PGH budget cut as we believe that is the prime duty of the state to provide free and quality health care services to the poor.
A-K joined the mobilization against UP President Emerlinda Roman's memorandum to unseat the duly-elected new PGH director Dr. Gonzales. It was a success. WE ARE ONE with the UP-PGH Community.
A-K is continuously supporting our peasant brothers and sisters by advocating and lobbying for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and by conducting Basic Masses Integration wherein students will be immersed in a community of peasants, workers or indigenous people.
A-K is continuously supporting workers by supporting across the board wage hike, by joining them in their picket lines, creating multi-sectoral alliance, and by lobbying for measures that will help the poor like the scrapping of EVAT and the OIL deregulation law.
A-K is continuously supporting the sector of the women by supporting GABRIELLA with its policies and advocacies.
A-K created a multi-sectoral alliance dubbed as REV-UP Manila that is composed of All UP Workers Union, All UP Academic Employees Union, Health Alliance for Democracy, ASAP-KATIPUNAN, GABRIELA and NNARA-Youth. WE ARE ONE with the Health workers, with the Professors, with the Students, with the Women, with the Peasants, with the Workers---with the FILIPINO PEOPLE.
WE CONDEMN THE ILLEGAL ARREST AND TORTURE of the 43 HEALTH WORKERS. We are one with the various sectors of the society that calls for the immediate release of the health workers. SERVICE to the PEOPLE.

Tayo Isko, Para sa Pagbabago! Tumayo Isko Para sa Pagbabago!

Leadership guided by the three principles of being pro-student, pro-people and pro-environment through collective action, consultation with the students and service to the people. THIS IS ASAP-Katipunan.

Now, you can quit asking me in my Formspring why I'm with AK and not with the other party. Because I chose to be one with the students and one with the people. You can't choose a party based on winnability dahil ang party hindi lang pang eleksyon, it must be active all-year round serving the students and the people.

Dahil ang Pagbabago, Dapat MAKABAYAN! Tumayo ka Isko Para sa Pagbabago!

*adopted from redstudentswill

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tagged as: AK, arguelles, ASAP, Isko, Katipunan, manila, Pagbabago, personal, Tayo, up, why 13 Comments

15Nov/0921

The Launch: CleveArguelles dotcom

Yes, you heard it right. I mean you read it right. You're here in my own share of space in mainstream blogging (mainstream, FTW!). Welcome to CleveArguelles dotcom!

I started blogging November of 2008 and never expected that I’d be able to break into mainstream blogging this early nor have I ever planned to have my own domain and site. But now, we find ourselves here, my new home, that of your very own Ilustrado. CleveArguelles dotcom is destined for greatness (Woah!). Seriously, I’m so excited and overwhelmed by this. You know how much egotistic I am. I so love this because I now have my own domain. I love the fact that it is named after me. You know how much I want to be different things’ namesake.

Of course I didn’t do it alone; I was able to receive a lot of help from my fellow bloggers (Yes, fellow bloggers!). The two people behind this greatness and awesomeness are Kuya Tonyo and Kuya JC. It’s just right to acknowledge their efforts in helping me break into mainstream blogging. Kuya JC (or John Carl, I just learned recently that he’s quite older) gave me a domain. Yes, he gave me that clevearguelles.com! I’m not a fan of computer codes and such and he’s also always there to provide me helpful information regarding this very mainstream blogging. Thanks for the patience! Kuya Tonyo, on the other hand, gave me a share of his space in the web (or webhosting) for free. I can’t believe this kind of people still exist nowadays. Aside from them, I would like to say thank you to Des Santos, Ashley Astibe and Kuya Alps for helping me directly/indirectly improve the contents and the layout of this site. You know how much illiterate I am in English grammar and layout designs. Also, thank you to Kuya Robert for making a banner for me.; unfortunately, I will not be able to use it. Thanks, anyway.

It's hard to say goodbye to my old partner. (See the top blogs counter)

But CleveArguelles dotcom will be my new partner. I hope that I will be able to enjoy its company and hope that you guys will be able to enjoy it too. Plus, if you’re bored, you can always click the ads displayed here (LOL). This is still a personal blog, just with a new partner! I promise to make this site a habit for me and for you guys, too (Naks!). Please appreciate my theme, I spent half of my life looking for a decent fitting theme. It’s really hard to choose a theme and customization is a fail for me!

Spread the word!

CleveArguelles dotcom, your bite-sized pieces of awesomeness. And oh, please! Link please! Update your links! :)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tagged as: alps aguado, arguelles, ashley astibe, blogging, clevearguelles dotcom, clevearguelles.com, des santos, jan robert ramos go, jc gozun, launching, links, mainstream, new, personal, tonyo cruz 21 Comments

26Apr/098

006-010

006. Student Assistant

I'm currently a Student Assistant in the best department in UP Manila, Department of Social Science. (Hahahaaa! :D) Its not that hard naman though ang haba ng working hours. This is for summer lang naman, hopefully. I have to answer the telephone every now and then (which is so fun!), to distribute/release class cards to those who are so masipag to get them, to deliver outgoing files to their right places, to inform professors of something or sometimes everything, to supervise/manage the reservation of DSS' equipments and of course, to do anything that they want me to do. I applied for the student assistanship because I will be in school rin naman for most of the summer dahil FBC na ako. :D

007. FBC

Yeapp. I'm a Freshman Block Coordinator na. I'll be handling the BioChemistry block (WTF!) and i'll also help them adjust to college life (Awww). I will also help them finish their Physical and Dental Examination and their Enrolment. In short, I'll be with them most of their freshman days. Hahahaha! :D What a punishment for them! Hahaha. XD

008. CS

I'm so happy that I finally achieved something after my elementary days. Hahaa. This is a surprise for me because I got 4.0 in my Math 11. Luckily, I've passed the removal exams. At parang hindi pa ako masaya, ginawa pa akong CS. To all those na non-UP students, CS stands for College Scholar which is the same as the Dean's Lister in other Universities. :D Am i over-celebrating?

009. The Effing 'Fourth Way'

Eff. Talagang walang kinabukasan ang Pilipinas sa set of legislators natin ngayon sa House of Representatives. WTF! House Resolution 737 and 1109 are craps. I understand a handful of things naman. Hahaaa. Changing the economic provision to benefit the foreigners is not a good idea, its like selling the Philippines to other countries. Soon it will be Philippines run by the Japanese or the Americans. (The Republic of the Philippines by the Government of Japan/America) Hahaaa. XD As if hindi pa bad idea ang pag-change sa economic provision, gumawa pa kayo ng FOUTH WAY. Eff! Bicameral ang Congress natin. Elementary pa lang, alam na yan.

010. DLSU College of Law

Let's see after five years. :D Maganda naman ang roster of faculty.

Popularity: 2% [?]