Baccalaureate Mass 2012

I know I should've blogged about this over the weekend but I got caught up in watching Friends, it's getting really, really good that I couldn't stop. I'm almost finished with the 8th season now. Anyway, so last Friday, my last day as a student, had to be the longest day I spent in UST, and we weren't even there for classes. In the morning we had the "Meet the Parents" activity which went really well, and in the afternoon was our baccalaureate mass.

To be honest, since we finished our final exams, I've been feeling indifferently about my oncoming graduation. I don't know, I guess, I feel like there's a huge chunk of my life that's suddenly not going to be there anymore. I remember feeling the same way when I graduated in high school. I wasn't really emotional during the ceremony but when I came back to my school like a couple days after, that's when the sadness hit me.

Now, thinking about the last time I'm going to be in the same room with all of my college friends and the last time we're gonna be singing the UST Hymn just makes me feel... kind of lost. Besides, I'm actually really gonna miss UST. I mean, I know it's still only one jeepney ride away from where I live but, you know? It's going to be different, going there from now on will just make me a visitor... It'll no longer be a "home."

But hey, it has been an amazing 4 years of my life and I'm surely gonna be keeping a lot of memories from my stay in the Royal and Pontifical Catholic University of Santo Tomas, the Catholic University of the Philippines.

I'm surely gonna remember literally running through the Arch of the Centuries with all of my classmates as a mark of our finishing our degree. Being with this class has been the most fun I've had throughout college. I love you forever, 4CSC!

It's a Smash

Starting to watch a new show can be thrilling but what makes it so much more fun is when you reach the turning point -- the time when you obsessively love the show already! And what's even greater is when you have friends who enjoy the same show as much as you do!! I love musicals and Katharine McPhee (yes, from American Idol) so put them together in a TV show and you'd be sure to find out I'm an avid fan.

The show is called "Smash" and it's about building a broadway musical centered on the life of Marilyn Monroe. When I tell people about this show, the first reaction is always the same: "Is it like Glee?" Well, it's nothing like Glee. For starters, it's not about a high school Glee club. Smash is a different kind of musical. It's about real life, about broadway people and the experiences they go through when starting a new show. You may say it's how a Rachel Berry spin-off would be like once she graduates from a performing arts college. That's probably the closest relation it has with Glee.

So, as I've mentioned, Smash stars Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright. She auditions for the role of Marilyn but another character, Ivy Lynn (played by Megan Hilty), gets the part. One of the things I love most about this show, besides the amazingly good music, is how great the characters' chemistry is together. I just adore all of them. So far, I'm loving Julia (Debra Messing, Will & Grace) and her storyline, but not because of the whole adultery thing (you'll have to watch it for yourself!), it's just that I adore her and Michael Swift (played by Debra's real life boyfriend, Will Chase) together!

Now on to the music! So far there have only been 6 episodes so let me give you a taste of the wonderful songs that were featured on the latest episode of Smash, which are definitely on my favorites list:

And just for kicks, go and listen to the first original song aired on the show, "Let Me Be Your Star," I swear to you that song will convince you to watch Smash, if I hadn't done already. ;)

Hugo

I started this one-movie-a-day thing on Twitter (I use a hashtag) the other day just out of the blue since I have to catch up on the latest movies I failed to see in time due to my fully-booked schedule ever since the year started. Now that the school year is over for me, since I'm graduating (yes, by the end of the month!), I figured I should keep myself occupied by doing things I enjoy after working so hard to finish my last semester.

Anyway, my movie for the day was Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," a film set in 1930s Paris about an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a train station and is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. After watching and enjoying the film, I now know why it earned Oscars for Art Direction and Cinematography, among others (the movie won a total of 5 Oscars and was nominated for another 6). I absolutely loved everything about the storyline of the film. I think what made me appreciate it so much was because it's a story wrapped in another story, and they sort of intertwine together through the main character, which is Hugo.

But it was Chloe Moretz's character, Isabelle, whom I loved from the very beginning. She loved books and using big words, and going on an adventure, which was how she initially became associated with Hugo.

One of the messages the movie was trying to portray is something along the lines of having a purpose in this world. These lines from the movie that depict that message specifically struck me:

"Machines never come with any extra parts. They always come with the exact amount they need. So, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't just be an extra part. I have to be here for some reason."

That certainly gives a soon-to-be-a-graduate like me more than a strand of hope that I am here to make a difference. I mean, I already believe that everything happens or is here for a reason but I guess, sometimes, little reminders like this are just what we need to strengthen our faith. And also, it gives us just that little push we need to figure out just what we are here to do.

No, you didn't have to cut me off

I found out about this song from one of my friends who shared it with me maybe several days before it sort of got its commercial success. I'm actually really curious about how or why this song suddenly became so well-known since it's an old track, the music video was uploaded on YouTube on July 5, 2011. I don't usually listen to this kind of music but I do appreciate it, it's actually a really good song. And there's just something about the first line of the chorus that hits close to home...

But you didn't have to cut me off

Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

I don't even need your love, but you treat me like a stranger

And that feels so rough

No, you didn't have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records

And then change your number

Guess that I don't need that though

Now you're just somebody that I used to know