bagets
Manila, 9 April—We were at LANY's sold-out second night at the Araneta Coliseum and it was such a good one. It was my first time to attend a concert at the Big Dome, and I was overwhelmed at how massive and engrossing the entire experience was, despite our distance from the stage. Also: I knew I was going to regret missing the Kylie Minogue concert at Araneta in 2011! Ayan: Confeermed.
Anyway. Friday's concert reminded me of concerts past: From the week-long UP Fair 2004 at the Sunken Garden and the blatant disregard for sleep, to the pocket concerts of Kalayo in Saguijo in the mid-00s; to the maddening 2013-2014 stretch of concerts from Stars to Temper Trap at the first Wanderland to Tegan and Sara, to The National; to GoodVybes (Passion Pit! Chvrches!), the F1 concert in Singapore (Halsey! Kylie! Bastille!) and the more recent outings of Oh Wonder and Kodaline at Wanderland.
I'm by no means the concert-type of person; I usually get exhausted easily by crowds and other people's energies, so it's a bit surprising for me to recall how I truly enjoyed coming to these concerts with friends and moving my body in a way that may be misconstrued as dancing. Hehe.
Missed the LANY concert? A friend compiled this Spotify playlist for you
Angry Twitter wrap-up: Boracay closure, VP recount, Aguirre out of DOJ, Uber ends PH operations.
I have always liked Boracay, kahit na hindi ako inaalok ng banana boat ride at laging "ATV, ATV ma'am" ang sinasabi nina kuya kapag ako na ang dumadaan :( Kidding aside, I am angry that the government is fucking with everyone, and that his supporters believe the whole charade about it being an environment issue while conveniently ignoring the whole CASINO in the background.
Anyway: Every time the government does something ridiculous, I am compelled to remind everyone of Bongbong Marcos's scheming machinations toward the 2022 presidential elections, disguised of course as his electoral protest re: the 2016 vice presidential race. Here's a What Went Before compiled by my friends in Research for context. I have this feeling that every other angering thing on the Internet right now, that disgusting Pick Up Academy included, is intended to distract us from paying attention to BBM and his moves.
I think the administration wants us to celebrate that Aguirre is now out of DOJ, but I think the damage has already been done. Mission accomplished, indeed.
Yesterday April 8th was Uber's last day. Or was it? The PCC likes meddling with these things, but I really don't know if there's anything left that can be done. Besides, the government/LTFRB is pretty hell-bent on handing us over to Grab, so.
Last na for my Tita feelings: That Ateneo support group, UPCAT delays, a rejoinder on Doctors with Schedules, etc.
I have not completely worked out my feelings about that Ateneo Adulting Support Group, but so far I have mostly just seen it panned and dismissed from all sides as a group of Helpless Entitled Rich Children. Something about this general derision for it just rubs me the wrong way, sort of. I just think people who want to help people help themselves should be allowed to do so without being needlessly and unkindly ridiculed.
Hindi naman kami mayaman nung una akong dumating ng UP; taga-probinsya lang kaya kailangan ng tulong sa pagcocommute. And hindi rin commonplace sa napakaraming pamilya mag-usap tungkol sa pera. Or if may conversation man tungkol sa pera, it's mostly because of the lack of it, or the stress associated with not having it.
Kaya understandable na meron at merong hindi alam kung saan magsisimula tungkol sa pera, regardless of the amount at hand, or may residual trauma re: money talk (dahil nga ang takbo ng usapan sa bahay e stressed sina parents about it all the time). Naghahanap ka lang ng kausap, kahit sa Facebook lang o sa campus, tapos gaganyanin niyo.
As an older person who has younger siblings and a younger partner, I feel very duty bound to be the adult that my younger self needed. This world has grown too cruel and too unforgiving. Had I been a college student today, I wouldn't have survived it.
Speaking of entitlement: Hay nako nag-init ulo ko sa UP Regent na ito. Spocky 1, Kate 0.
Speaking of entitlement, part 2: All these expectations are insane. Someone (a med student) expects you to be grateful that they're spending time with you; someone else (not a med student) expects med students to not expect their friends to be grateful they're spending time with them. I don't even know what to expect anymore. tldr we should be kinder to everyone, or is that too big an expectation din in the first place?
For the record: I think med students and medical professionals are at high risk of mental illness. They lack sleep all the time (dear ate na hindi med student, I don't think ginusto nila yun, I don't think gugustuhin ng kahit sino na wala silang tulog? like ???), and they're constantly exposed to high stress situations (like people dying on their shift, ganyan). I remember my aunt telling me once how my sister looked like pagkauwi after she lost her first patient—hindi raw makausap, natulog lang hindi kumain, etc. Cutting them off from human contact just because their scheds are crazy and they're always out of reach anyway is cruel, and I believe we should extend more assistance to loved ones who are in the medical field. That's all.
(PS I hope ate non-med student's only med student friend passes the boards because damn she must have pissed off a lot of doctors to-be haha.)
OK that's it for my Tita feelings today, pasensya naparami.