Look, Diana got the shirt I sent her! Looks great, love. :)

Diana’s a great photographer based in Portugal. Check out her work by looking at her website or her Flickr account.

On another note, I think I want to hold more contests over here. Just have to figure out what kind. If you have any suggestions as to what sort of things you’d like me to give away (no grandiose ideas, please! Just fun things that are easy to get a hold of and mail out), please leave a comment or something.

Ever since November 2009, I have been itching to write this entry on Doctor Who. The thing is, I couldn’t because I hadn’t finished viewing all of series 1 (traditionally, series 27) through 4. I was taking a television class under Andrew Ty last semester, and before I knew it, I was hooked. We ended class, exactly, with the last episode of series 2, a two-parter that left me wanting to find an empty bathroom stall and just cry.

THE PREMISE OF THE SHOW: Doctor Who isn’t about any doctors, ironically. In case you are not in the know (which, I find, most people outside of Britain, including me, are), Doctor Who is about an unnamed character simply referred to as The Doctor. He is a Time Lord from a planet called Gallifrey, and he goes traveling in a blue Police Box called the TARDIS, or Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Essentially, it is a time machine.¹ Occasionally, the Doctor has a companion with him. The Doctor’s companions are usually there to help him “operate” the TARDIS and go traveling with him, but more often than not, they end up assisting him in, usually, saving the Universe.

If you’re going to start with Series 1, then the companion you will meet is Billie Piper. (If you don’t remember who Billie Piper is, let me refresh your memory.) The Doctor is played by Christopher Eccleston, who is brilliant in his portrayal of the Time Lord. He is menacing and endearing at the same time, simultaneously beautiful and terrible.

However, the most famous and iconic regeneration (we’ll get to this in a while) of the Doctor in recent years is played by David Tennant, who also played Barty Crouch, Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Before I prattle on and on and on, here are five reasons why you absolutely must watch Doctor Who. In list form, just because I love you.

Why you should watch Doctor Who:

1. IT’S IMPORTANT.
   This is kind of a lame reason, but it’s true. Doctor Who is a British television series that began in 1963, went on hiatus in 1989 and was resurrected in 2005 by BBC. It’s important because majority of the people who grew up in London, grew up with Doctor Who.

   Now, Reason Number One isn’t necessarily a “convincing” criterion, in terms of why you should watch it, but it’s something to be considered. Discounting 7th Heaven (because it is obviously crap but that is a different story altogether), most shows that last this long do so because they are integral to popular culture as well as society. They perpetuate some longstanding legacy, with a “character” that develops alongside the context within which it operates.

   People have been watching Doctor Who since the 1960s. There have been ten (eleven in April) reincarnations of the Doctor, by way of regenaration, which is a process Time Lords undergo in order to somehow “cheat death”. I won’t go into the specifics, but that’s a basic explanation as to the change of casting for his character. Fans have their own favorites, and have dubbed each of them, fittingly as “my Doctor.”

   There are also, in existence, several Dalek (Time Lords’ sworn enemies, basically) costumes, and cookies, as well as recreations and references to the TARDIS, like such:
   

   

   Pretty much, all I’m trying to say is: it’s a pretty big deal. And there’s a good reason why.

2. IT’S FUN.
   Come on! Time-travel. History. Aliens. Bad Guys. Good Guys. Silly Guys. Meddlesome (but somehow charming) Family Members. Running, lots of running. Chaos. Madness. Explosions. Suits. A Police Box Flying Through Space. Space! Seriously, how could you ever have resisted?

   Any way you look at it, there is really just an inherent fun element in Doctor Who. There’s usually a bunch of new characters (although sometimes they reprise bad guys and other familiar faces), new settings, and new old settings in an episode. There is also always some ridiculous element that somehow works to the advantage of the show. The TARDIS itself, when you think of it outside of the context and the developed “lore” of the show, is pretty ridiculous. However, this peculiarity gives character to the show that is so distinctly itself.

   And while Doctor Who is decidedly a science fiction show, which puts a lot of people off because they think that it is largely set in outer space (i.e. Battlestar Galactica), it actually explores and speculates already established historical events such as the fall of Pompey, Shakespeare’s lost play, the origin of werewolves and the disappearance of Agatha Christie.

3. It’s funny.
   I’ve tried very hard, but I can’t put my finger on why Doctor Who is funny, or in what way it is. I’ve chalked it up to the fact that the Doctor is an alien. So he’s naturally funny. (Flawed logic, I know.) But, sometimes, it just really seems as though he does not mean to be funny at all.

   How to describe it? Some of the companions are funny (Donna is my favorite), and they poke fun at everything. Their mannerisms, scripts, speculations almost always have humor. The aliens are sometimes funny (The first meeting with the Ood in a series 2 episode, “The Impossible Planet,” always has me in stitches), as are some of the guest/minor/recurring characters. It’s silly, obvious fun, but never of the slapstick kind.

   If you would be so inclined as to direct your attention to this spoiler-free collection of funny clips that I did not make:
   

   And this other one, just because it makes me giggle:
   

4. It’s interesting.
   Aside from the stuff I’ve mentioned, there’s more to Doctor Who. Loads of themes are explored in the series that are dark, serious and, surprisingly relevant. Although contextualized in an often alien environment, issues like slavery, morality, ethics, existentialism, family, loneliness, technology, the abuse of power, and so on, are actually sort of illuminated very effectively. Even though they’re set in a different context, there is still some sort of familiarity present because they’re tackling issues that could very easily have been experienced by the audience.

   The program also lends two perspectives: a more removed, learned and strange one from the Doctor, and a humanized and emotional one from the companion. Because there is a certain detachment from the issues, we are given the opportunity to confront them in a much different way than we do in real life.

5. It’s not the kind of show that takes itself too seriously.
   Let’s face it: the downfall of a lot of television shows that are currently on these days is the constant pursuit of Being Taken Seriously. Good news is that Doctor Who doesn’t really care whether or not you take it seriously. While difficult themes are tackled by the show in each episode, Doctor Who is not afraid to laugh at itself.

   The show effectively combines humor, science fiction, theoretical physics², drama, adventure, and suspense (I’m looking at you, Steven Moffat) altogether, resulting in a very lovely hour each week. The scripts are well-written, the actors are brilliant, and it approaches each episode with a certain playfulness that doesn’t sugar-coat the dark stuff, but also doesn’t present them in a melodramatic manner, or as an affectation.

   In many ways, the show is like the Doctor, who bears such a heavy burden on his shoulders, has had such a dark history, and has lost a lot of what he holds dear, and yet: he manages to crack up a smile, and carry on.

If you’ve read this far into the entry (meaning, you actually finished it), it means that you are interested, even if only vaguely, in the show. Do yourself a favor and watch it already. Allons-y!³

———
¹ It is also bigger on the inside!
² I might just be making this up.
³ This is French for “Let’s go!” Ten says it all the time.

Unforeseen hiatus due to the sudden onslaught of requirements our teachers needed to compute our grades. But I digress.

Dearest you,

Whoever you are, if you are reading this, and if you have stood by me, and persevered through all the molehills and mountains with me, these past four years. If we’ve stayed up late nights, exchanging frantic messages, whining about ungodly deadlines. If we’ve celebrated victories, cried over losses and hoped for something greater and more beautiful than we could ever have imagined. If we’ve shared stories and laughter, music and things dear to our hearts. If we’ve given each other a piece of ourselves, and if we’ve kept pieces of each other to make us really, completely whole. If we loved life enough to go on, even if the going got really, really tough—

Thank you.

It’s been a great ride. I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss this, but I’m kind of glad it’s mostly over. The world has been so good to me, and God has blessed me so much. I’m so grateful for everything that has happened, because I got hurt and I loved and I learned.

Thank you so much for believing in me.

Love,
Carina

made for school two years ago, but still relevant.
I mean it when I say that I hope you are all happy now.

For Valentine’s Day 2010, I have no plans. I really don’t think much of this holiday. I don’t look forward to it (except maybe for the fact that it is Jamie’s birthday today), and I also don’t really despise it, as some people seem to. Just because you are “alone” on this day, it doesn’t mean you can’t spread the love anymore. There are so many other people you can show your love to. Not just boyfriends or girlfriends or what-have-you.

I showed myself love today, for example, by buying a scarf for myself. I don’t care that the weather is threatening to go to oven-level temperatures, or if people will think I am dumb for wearing a scarf in this heat. I love it, so I bought it:

It’s from Promod, if anyone is wondering.

Tonight, I’m going to show love to my family that I love them by going to dinner with them, instead of being a dork and staying at home, working on schoolwork. In order to do this, I am finishing as much schoolwork as I can before dinner. This practice, I am taking as showing love… to the future of my grades. (!)

Other than this, I am trying to be nicer in general. No more insensitive or overly mean comments out loud (at least I’m hoping). I know that doesn’t really eliminate the negative air and environment in my mind, but it’s a start. I really have been super impatient with people recently, and I think that Valentine’s Day or no, it’s about time that I showed them love in this way—being patient, understanding, non-judgmental—regardless of who they are.

So, those are my two cents. In my whole life, I have only spent one year (out of twenty-one) with somebody, but I’m realizing that being “alone” on Valentine’s Day isn’t really a reason to disregard every other opportunity to express love to other people, even if it’s not the romantic kind.

What about you? Any plans or special insight today?

For the month of February, I’m going to be joining in on Gala Darling’s Radical Self Love. I am not a “playgirl” and I don’t usually do things like this, but I think it might be good for me. In any case, it’s going to be something for me to do, and if it doesn’t work, then I lose nothing, really. I don’t know why, but I really feel like this will do me a lot of good. Or if not a lot, at least a little bit.

Some anonymous Tumblr reader actually asked me who I blamed for my low self-esteem. I didn’t really think I came off that way, but a complete stranger (at least, I’m assuming s/he is one) seems to think so. I’m not enormously bothered by the comment, but this challenge really seems to be a good idea. So there. I’m embarking on this journey for February. There may or may not be updates, but if things get a little silent around here, it might be because of this. Or it also might be because of the fact that I am scrambling to actually graduate.

In any case, here’s to making most out of the current month. I hope you all enjoy and experience yours in the greatest possible way.

Patricia’s Tweet.

Tim’s Tumblr.

On the subject of freebies and giving away stuff: I actually posted a somewhat cryptic post right here, and I am going to update about what went down (haha) and why it was posted, just to illuminate y’all, and I suppose, to let some stuff out.

So, recently, I’ve been posting about the ID Seniors’ Thesis Exhibit, Flux, and I know you’ve only heard good things about it on this exhibit, but some of us were a little disappointed with how some people took the exhibit as. See, a few of us produced some merchandise to go with our thesis projects (mostly badges/buttons/pins and stickers), admittedly to attract people. It was also done partly to help people visualize our projects in the context of actual supplementary output, and also as part of our individual exhibits.

In the middle of the week, we started noticing an influx of people visiting the exhibit, from all over the school. Sure, we told out respective circles (and they were supportive—thanks, bbs) and put the word out on our respective online accounts, but we didn’t really have a solid promotional strategy. So the volume of the visitors were overwhelming.

And then we realized that the freebies were doing their job.

I’m not even going to comment, because it’s such an old topic and it’s stupid to whine about it. I’m grateful for the people that passed by, I really am. It’s just sad to see how the exhibit panned out (in terms of this issue), because we really wanted feedback from an actual viewership, and a few of us never even got any constructive feedback.

I’ll just let the photos do the talking, since that’s what they’re here for:

Kris Caguiat’s.

(The flower corsage.)

Merky’s.

Mark Carandang’s. Someone took his seed packets… even though they were empty.

One of my feedback forms.

And another one.

From our collective guestbook.

Two of the last remaining pins by Derrick. He pinned them on the shirts
because people kept on taking them, even though they were only for display.

From Patricia Magsino’s table. Someone took one even though it was already pinned to the tablecloth.

Tricia Gosingtian’s. This was actually planted by a friend of ours for kicks.

As was this one. (Pats Padla’s.)

And it’s funny because we were apologetic about it at first:

Rich Tuason’s.

Celina Borromeo’s.

Mine.

I hope I don’t sound like an ingrate (because I really am thankful that people went!) but it’s problematic to me because the merch was supposed to be a sort of appetizer, but people didn’t stick around for the main course. (Following my previous metaphor, by this I meant the actual exhibits.) A friend had condoms on his table—for display purposes—and people took those, too! I mean, a condom, really?

I don’t know, I have a feeling I might be overreacting, but it was really disappointing that people only went for the free stuff, and some of them didn’t even look at the actual set-ups or read through our theses or what-have-you. I hope I’m not overreacting, really. I just really had to let this out, because it’s been bugging me for the past few weeks. I’m pretty touchy about it in real life, too. So, if I’m evasive about giving you a pin when you ask me for one, this is probably why. (But if we’re good friends or if I promised you one, then it’s O.K. to bug me about it.)

For the past few weeks, I’ve been meaning to write about something but I can’t seem to get started on it until after I get this off my non-existent chest: I love television. There’s just really something about it that “draws me in,” so to speak. I love it so much that, I took a class on Television as an elective on the last semester of my entire life as a student. (Maybe.) I love it so much that, instead of writing a paper for Political Science due tomorrow, I watched five episodes of a T.V. show that I had already seen. Thank God for afternoon classes, am I right?

I love it so much that even my e-mail seems to know, as in the process of writing this entry, this appears on my inbox:

I know, precious. I know.

I don’t even know where I’m going with this, I just felt the need to write about something that I love so much. I guess it’s partly the fact that the last season of LOST is airing tomorrow (inwardly flailing… as well as outwardly) and also partly because the last episode of Dollhouse, ever, aired last week. It’s a mixture of excitement for something I have waited for for so long, and also of sadness and relief due to the semblance of closure I was left with when Joss Whedon answered all my questions and justified (most of) the mindfrakkery that went along with watching his most recent series.

I suppose, in a way, that’s exactly what I’m setting myself up for, for the sixth and final chapter of LOST. This season is decidedly important because a) it will reveal to the world the secrets behind the island, and b) we finally get to know who (what?) Richard Alpert is. Those aren’t the only unanswered questions, obviously. I mean, considering everything that’s been happening to that show since the first season, I think the writers really have some ’splaining to do. I only wish I had the time to list them all down.

And I just know that when it airs tomorrow, I will be excited and frightened and also, sad, because it’s just another step bringing us closer to the end. And even though I want to watch them forever and ever on my television screen, I know it’s not going to be possible. The wonderful part of being attached to T.V. characters is that you (hopefully) get to see them grow and be the people that the writers and visionaries intended them to be. The sad part is that you really have to let go of them, eventually. (I’m talking to you, 7th Heaven.)

But I still do miss you, Topher Brink.

Someone asked for songs for a lonely February. Here are some sad ones, I guess:

1. Alone Again • Illinois
2. Glue Girls • Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
3. I Don’t Want to Walk Around Alone No More • The Lucksmiths
4. The Lonely 1 • Wilco
5. I Am a Lonesome Hobo • Bob Dylan
6. So Come Back, I Am Waiting • Okkervil River
7. Owner of a Lonely Heart • Grizzly Bear (Yes cover)
8. How Fucking Romantic • The Magnetic Fields
9. I Am Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You • Jens Lekman
10. Loneliness is Not Better When You’re Alone • Hello Saferide
11. Lonely Lonely • Feist
12. Don’t I Hold You? • Wheat
13. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight • The Postal Service
14. In the Cinema Alone • Memphis
15. Skeleton Jar • Youth Group
16. Romantic Comedy • Stars
17. Your Heart is an Empty Room • Death Cab for Cutie
18. Motorcycle Drive By • Third Eye Blind
19. I Always Knew • Tilly and the Wall
20. So Long, Lonesome • explosions in the sky

Here’s the .zip file. Enjoy!

So now, I’ll be werkin’ on a quality post. Maybe. Or, I hope so.

I actually have a post concerning the just-over thesis exhibit you people have been hearing so much about on here. It’s a little rant-y and might attract attention, so I’ll hold off on posting it after I fix bandwidth issues (I’m nearly out for this month) or after this month is over (which, I realize, is kind of far off). In any case, I’m in between pretty grateful and pretty upset.

If you’ve spoken to me in real life recently, you probably know what this is about.

So, I waited for it to come out.

Hi, clouds. You’re real pretty, but get outtatheway!

And then, the sun came out.

Pretty.

———
¹ Lesson Learned: You must bring any sort of recording device wherever you go. Think of everything that you will miss!