however, that didn't work too.
don't ask me why. (",)
27.11.05
'twas monday, science week-day 1, and everyone in avogadro-4 were... either reading Lord of the Flies or El Filibusterismo, playing cards, or lazily dozing off -
hey, wait. tap, tap, tap. backspace, backspace. that was thursday, science week-day 4. flashback...
during day 1 of the aforementioned science week, everyone in avogadro-4 were scurrying here and about, passing and borrowing tools and materials, chattering about tasks, tasks, and more tasks...
"hazel! tapos na ba yun pagtatahi diyan?" "uy jason, sukatin mo nga ito..." "sinong magpipintura ng cups?" "wala nang pintura! paalam kayo kay ma'am, bili kayo sa sm.." "syet, natahi ko yata sa polo mo jason! sorry!" "hay, pagod na ako! ikaw muna!" "aray! buti walang dugo dun sa natusok ko..." "syak, kelangan ko pa palang bumili sa SM ng LED para sa headgear!" "guys, bilisan natin, eliminations na nito bukas! dapat magcooperate tayong lahat!" "toki, anong oras ba pwedeng umuwi?"
these were the sights and sounds during that fateful monday. as you may have heard, we've been preparing for the science mascot-made-from-indigenous-materials contest; the elimination round was to be held the next day, thus the frantic behavior of our dear "leaders."
at the end of that day, we were able to procure an outfit: an exterior silver clothing intended as a space suit, was masterfully support-stitched by... well, stitchers and knotters, me being a part of that contingent... some designed his belt, shoes, and... equipment, all sporting a silver-and-gray motif.
everyone stopped working by 5 pm. obviously it was not finished yet, so we had to do a "bit" of cramming the next morning - a few hours before the elimination proper, which was scheduled at 1 in the afternoon. so it was more of the day 1 scenario until 12 noon.
we looked at our masterpiece [in the form of jason irving rombaoa]: gleaming silver, equipped with an LED-decorated helmet and headgear which covered half of the superhero's face. the body was stacked with [literally] a bunch of junk.
it consisted of an electric fan blade, strips of carton boxes "accentuated" by assorted "tansans", another carton box painted with silver that supported the blade, and a malfunctioning wall clock with punch holes for straw ropes. in one hand he held a computer mouse, arguably his primary weapon...
going lower, we have the superhero's belt around his waist, with a big "A" in its midsection, stuffed with silver plastic cups. in his back are two pairs of multicolor wings from used cellcards, callcards, and credit cards. all these stuff seemed to add heavily to jason's personal weight, thus hindering comfortable mobility...
finally, his limbs were covered by white jogging pants, which was also partially covered by draped silver clothing; his feet were forced into a pair of tansan-and-and-cardboard-and-cloth-tailored rubber shoes, which obviously did not fit into him.
thirty minutes remaining.... everything seems perfect.. but what do we call this one-of-a-kind mascot?
"kailangan letter A ang simula... kasi A yung nasa belt nya ehh..." "avo?" "astro...?" "astroboy!" "nyeh, ano ba yun, ang corny!" "eh kung 'a.vo'?" "aaargh! pano na to?"
then someone arrived at the suggestion "astromon voyanazar, a.k.a. a.vo." due to lack of time, everyone accepted the moniker. now it was time to prepare for a short [10 min.] presentation that we, at first thought was unnecessary, but in truth was a "requirement." we didn't have time for a rehearsal because we were only notified about it an hour before the judging...
whatever. the judges then came: ms. aquino (research), mrs. osorio (chemistry), and mr. almendarez (environmental science); we had to present, rehearsal or no rehearsal. so smoothly it went... i believe...
"the world is broken... " came the ever-so-excellent drawl of our ad lib champion gerald *reminiscent of ramayana, avo-2* "...it was the year 2013."
enter three girls, all carrying books and wearing glasses. "hey, have you ever heard of asthrowmon vooyuhnuhzuhr?" said one.
"stop, stop, stop!" said another in a fairly british accent. "its astromon voyanazar, not asthrowmon vooyuhnuhzuhr..."
then comes the villain, who mocks the threesome and then transformed them into immobile. meanwhile, a young lad silently stood witness to the sequence of events... who then enters... upon realizing the gravity of the situation, he shouts aloud "petrucci!"; a book appears to fly from the audience to his hands... then the guy transforms into...
"astromon! voyanazaaar! astromon! voyanazaaar!" chants the supporting crowd... suddenly empty carton boxes were flying in all directions as astromon voyanazar barged through and knocked down the fragile barrier. quickly, he turned to face the enemy...
freeze.
"through research, chemistry, and environmental science!!! we present to you, astromon voyanazar!!!" came the flawless voice of he-who-explained... after drawing numerous cheers from the crowd, he routinely backs off, as astromon starts to move, and swing his "weapon" in circular motion...
"unnh... unnh... beam of knowledge!!!" drawled jason the great, as he laser-beams the villain (adam) by touching the blinking LED. meanwhile, faces in the crowd were starting to worry...
"waah, yung pakpak, matatnggal yata!" said one, pointing at the heavy pairs of wings barely dangling at the mascot's back. "tignan nyo, natanggal yung sapatos!" pointing at the detached left shoe, which had a hard time being forced into jason's big feet...
"unnh... unnh...advancement punch!... unh... hayaaa!" the mascot then kicked the shoe to the enemy's direction. the flying shoe hit adam smack in the face. the crowd cheered all the more... until finally, the villain was defeated, and mr. astromon started shaking hands with the judges *clearly an unprecedented act...* it was over, for that time being. every avo student was screaming over the apparent success of the ad lib presentation.
after watching other mascots and their respective presentations, the results were announced, and hurrah, we got into the finals *should i retell how hard we screamed upon learning the good news?*, to be held the next day. other finalists were from becquerel, curie, and edison four.
the next day came as quick as ever, and we were doing bits and pieces of retouches and reinforcements, hoping to better the previously good presentation *though most of us stole naps 'in preparation' to the big event.... (",)*. one o' clock afternoon was the start of the finals, and a lot of changes were clearly seen. minutes before, we held hands in tune to a group prayer.... then after, i was called for that sci-dama event, ending any hopes of me seeing the whole thing work out whatever...
g_b got tired of senseless ranting by 21:12. |
it was just about now when i noticed that people write things about themselves in the profile section of their online diaries. then i looked at my former blog sites, and, it was like... whoa, am i really that weird?
so maybe it's time for a bit of change, a touch of conventionalism. for once, at least.
well, you see the guy in the picture? yeah, that spectacled boy running in haste? that's supposed to be me, j. gabriel de leon y limpin... what does j stand for, you ask? it's for me to know and for you to find out if you still don't know.
i'm a 16-year old boy who wears a pair of glasses, sports unkempt hair, and usually dons loose clothes. i might look a bit plump in the drawing, but in actuality i'm a tall, dark, skinny, frail guy who always forgets to drink his milk and take his breakfast. up to know i still wonder how come i stand at five-feet-eight-inches but weigh only 102 pounds...
way back then, i was a small, plump kid who showed a lot of promise. during parties, my mom and dad would usually strut around and boast of how intelligent, how healthy, how handsome i was. for eight or so years, that had been the case. i got my share of respect, like this little prince...
then came a heartbreak, and high school.
inexplicably, i suddenly became a complacent and idle guy who fell in love with my personal computer too much, even to the point of forgetting if i already had dinner. i was transformed into a student ridiculously full of potential but never getting to use the stuff. i developed a very healthy sleeping habit that made me garner the honorable distinction of being the student earliest for the nth class.
high school went on, heartbreaks pursued at will, and down to oblivion went that once promising young kid. so much for the pride of my parents.
today, i still look back to him. in fact, i'm trying to revive him, after four years of dormancy, or something more like stagnation. impossible, yes, but it's worth a try. too late, maybe, but i'll prove that it's not.
