Messy Desk and Scattered Memories

 You might be wondering, at this point, if this really is Arli’s blog or not. I’m certain you guys aren’t really that accustomed to seeing MY blog with PICTURES in it. Real,techni-color collations of pixels by plate. I wouldn’t really blame you, that you haven’t seen much pictures from me. I used to take a lot of them before. And my past blogs had them.

And please don’t think that I’m copying off Gabs. Oh please, plagiarism isn’t my thing.

I just actually got really disappointed with a writer of mine. He’s just a freshmen, so I wouldn’t blame him.

He said that the reason why he copied off my work was because he doesn’t know much about journalism yet. And I could understand him. Not everyone is a writer by nature. And not everyone had training at age nine-and-a-half. But still, he was my greatest bet for Editor-in-chief (I made that bet last year). It’s just that… he doesn’t seem capable enough for it.

 

Now I’m thinking of getting my layout designer as an editor. It depends. Her writing isn’t the best at this moment. And I’m left with a crazy mesh of inexperienced students looking for enlightenment. Hah! As if I have it.

 

See, the difference is that I learned how to write, because I really wanted to; because I gave effort into it. I attended the training sessions that I was so gracefully given. Not only that, but in my spare time, I read journalism books. And I went online for tutorials on them. I practiced my writing daily, and kept numerous blogs. I enhanced my vocabulary by reading, and I expanded my world of thought to different cultures and people that I could meet, especially online.

And I have a book on journalism. Try to spot it.And in case you’re wondering, yes, those ARE Prentice Hall books. That’d be Algebra 1, Algebra 2: Intermediate Algebra with Trigonometry, Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt and College Algebra and Trigonometry. Wondering what the giant pink book is? It’s my Calculus book, The Calculus 7 by Leithold, one of the greatest Calculus textbooks ever. It’s old, a gift from my previous chemistry teacher. That’s why I had to cover it with both wrapping paper and plastic cover. It was quite tattered. Obviously, it was used well. And I’m happy to report that I have both our names on the flyleaf of the book.

 

Here’s proof that they’re all ORIGINALLY Prentice Hall. :]

They really do help. And I plan on keeping all these books for as long as I can, without having them tattered or torn. See, getting a math course can be frustratingly difficult without good resources. Resource is the first gift of opportunity.

 

Speaking of opportunity, does anyone know that it’s one of my favorite words? XD It would be the fault of my Intermediate Algebra teacher. We were having an exam that time, when he wrote “Opportunity favors the prepared mind” on the board. I got good grades on those exams, by the way. But after those exams, I remembered a piece in English class that we were obliged to memorize and recite when I was in—what?—sixth grade? It was called ‘Opportunity’ by James Ingalls. I never understood it, in elementary school. I wasn’t even able to recite it in class that time, neither did I put an effort into memorizing it.

My mind wasn’t prepared. And opportunity did not favor it. So I graduated without honors, when I was in elementary.

And now, Opportunity is my favorite poem.

 

Well by now, you might be wondering about what is up with these photographs. They’re pictures of my desk, at this moment. The first picture was that of a really messy room—one that not even nature, no hurricane, no storm, could create. My books were scattered on the floor, and for some reason, other people’s stuff were on my desk. It was a whole heap of trash on there. And I didn’t use that desk because of it. But I had a writing assignment for English class. We had to write an entry for Youth Writers Asia 2010 (yeah, the one in Singapore). It was really noisy outside, and there’s no place for me to write inside the room. So I had to find my way through it. Tada!

 

Cleanliness. My books were aligned, notebooks were stacked, art supplies on the side, crayons in cups, a mini-speaker over there, and a lot of white, glorious space for me to have writing space. Finally, I can get to work without making the usual excuses that I make daily.

 

 

 

 

 

 And hey, now I have a bulletin board. (Literally, it’s just a piece of corrugated cardboard, covered with purple, left-over fabric. I don’t have pins around, so I used the pins you would normally use for sewing.

 

And I will never forget to introduce to you my Jose Rizal books. :D

These are both English translations of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. The Filipino translations are on the shelf, in the home library (yes we have one). We don’t have copies of the original Spanish novels, though. I’m not sure if they sell them here, since, well, nobody really speaks Spanish. Perhaps, only the linguists have them.

 

 

Back the the topic of messy desks, and things of anonymous ownership:

 

Yes, there’s a printer over there. A Hewlet-Packard at that. (Now is that spelled as Hewlet or Hewlette—or Hewlett?) It’s a good printer, still usable, but it has no place anywhere. The Xeleron desktop has an Epson printer on its desk. The other desktop, the one with the LG widescreen and Dual Core, has an HP printer-scanner-copier-fax-in-one with it. So, really. This friend of mine, the HP, is left hidden behind notebooks, underneath a case of paints.

 

So much color.