Also, BUTTERFLY L’ARC~EN~CIEL ASDFJKL;

I’ve been spamming my blog with tl;dr posts lately so I’ll stop right here.

Edit: Read the entry prior to this to get the point of this entry. XD

Okay, on to the real blog entry. I want to expand my horizons. And I’ll start with reading books. Just some background, After a meaningful conversation tonight (Sup, you know who you are though I’d like you guys to discover this blog entry yourselves XD), I realized that I have been perhaps too boxed with the interests I’ve been accustomed to. Sure, I’m mainly a musically and technologically inclined person. But of course, I’m much more than that. Everything is interconnected and maybe getting into other things like reading would help me become better in my primary interests.

Why start with reading though? Since sixth grade, I’ve always enjoyed writing stuff about random things I encounter in life. In second year high school, I set up this blog and began writing more about my personal life. It was not until fourth year that I really realized that I do love writing. I actually consider myself a fairly okay writer. Not really THAT good. I think I can really improve though.

Now that I’m in college, I began to wonder why I’ve always been writing when I do not even read books for leisure. Well actually, I need to be more specific. The books I’m referring to, apart from literature I’m required to read for school, are novels of different kinds. Back in grade school, I collected K-Zone magazines, mini-Atlases, tech-related magazines, and the like. I was always fond of short reads. But I always couldn’t stand reading all these long novels my friends love.

This may sound weird, but I always thought the reason I didn’t want to read novels was because I’m hypoglycemic. If there are people who are “high on sugar,” so to speak, I’m the complete opposite. I need my sugar. Otherwise, I’d be, well… “sabaw.” (Soup. Brain Soup. I don’t know how else I can say that) That’s a reason why I can be really quiet, though I’m not exactly anti-social. I enjoy being with people. I love being in crowded places like arcades and concerts. Anyway, back to my rationalization. I can’t stand reading because my state of always being low on sugar makes my attention span really, really short. Even though I am enjoying a book I’m reading, I’d quickly end up being too dizzy and/or lazy to continue reading. I then lose the drive to actually continue reading.

I think I’m over with that phase though and I’m slowly considering giving reading novels a chance. Sure, writing in a way can be more relevant to a person if he is writing about himself. (And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing) Reading novels though will allow me to have glimpses into stories of other people, whether fictional or non-fictional. I’ll gain wisdom and understanding about how minds of different people work through the words that the authors of those novels give their characters. And this is how I can expand my horizons. By reading, I’ll gain new insights on so many things. It will definitely motivate and inspire me to pursue my current interests and maybe even other interests.

What about having a short attention span because of being hypoglycemic? Seriously, if I’m not the type of person who can read novels on one sitting, then so be it. Why lose motivation to read right? I should take momentary breaks from reading and have a Kit Kat. For one, “Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.” Second, Kit Kat has sugar. It will help me from being low on sugar. See what I did there? xD

Okay, on second thought, maybe I am still kind of inebriated. Crap, I need to get to sleep, it’s 4:18 AM. XD

Yesterday was a very, very fun but tiring day for me. My English blockmates and I went to Enchanted Kingdom to make feature articles about the amusement park. Rode Space Shuttle MAX thrice in a row. XD Anyway, that’s not what this blog entry is for so I won’t ellaborate on EK. I’ll save that for my feature article.

After EK, I had another agenda. Go to Bonifacio High Street at around 5:30 PM and meet some classmates and a friend who’s gonna go abroad for his college studies starting next week. I asked one of my English blockmates to drop me off from EK. The problem was that that friend had to leave at 7 PM for a family dinner and we left EK at around 6 PM. We arrived at Bonifacio High Street at around 7 PM. So, I didn’t get to see my friend and the dinner with classmates was already over. That’s not the bad part of the day though. (Thankfully, there’s still a chance of seeing that friend on Tuesday) Minutes before I arrived Bonifacio High Street, I was wondering why I haven’t been receiving text messages from anyone I texted. And just before I got off the car, text messages began to spam. I swear I received around 15 messages from different people. Dammit [censor-network-provider's-name], why u malfunction at a time my day is fully booked with plans? e_e

Because of the malfunction, things got screwy for me. I just found out a friend asked me to go to Market! Market! after Bonifacio High Street. Good thing I also found out that the plan then got cancelled. o_o Parents got worried because of them not getting any messages from me regarding leaving EK immediately. Plus, I wasn’t able to text my friend that I would not be able to arrive on time. The worst part was only finding out that not much people went to the dinner thing only when I arrived the place. And those people who went opted not to stay after the early dinner. In other words, the night was over when I got to Bonifacio High Street. Luckily, I bumped into a classmate who was on his way to Centris. Thanks to him and his dad, I didn’t have to ask my dad to fetch me all the way from Fort Bonifacio.

This experience made me think. Perhaps, text messaging is becoming less and less reliable with telecommunication networks getting clogged with users from what is considered to be the texting capital of the world.

On a side note, as I was in a hurry to leave the house to meet with my English blockmates, I forgot to wear my watch. Relating that to my crappy network experience, I wonder how people of today would live without technology? No cellphones for calling or texting. No watches. None of any of those. To think that people in the past didn’t have to rely on most of the new technologies that began to exist in the 21st century, is it or is it not our fault that we have become so dependent on such technologies?

Well, that’s it for some fresh way of blogging. A food for thought that I usually don’t put up on my blog. XD

Time for some brief history. A year ago, I was able to play DrumMania for the very first time in our 12th annual school fair. (For those who care, it’s “12adioactive”; Well, they know what I’m referring to) Yes, I wasn’t much of an arcade gamer back then so I didn’t know about it. I was curious about the game but I hesitated to to try it out due to the fact that a huge crowd was watching people play the game. Through some encouragement from my friends, I actually tried playing it and the rest… well you’ll know more about it.

I continue playing DrumMania for enjoyment and also as a means of learning drumming. (Although I also have experience in actual drumming) One thing that makes me continue playing the game is a promise that I made to a friend. On the day that I discovered the wonders of rhythm games through DrumMania, I promised my friend that in 2 years, I will finish The Least 100 Hundred Seconds (Hence, the name of my blog) on Extreme Difficulty in DrumMania. I will do this in the 14th annual fair of our school, assuming that there would actually be a DM machine in our school on that day. o_o Plus, The Least 100 Seconds is the hardest song in DrumMania as of today, from what I know. I wish myself good luck. XD

And so a year has passed and I have another year to go.

My name is Carlo and this is my story. Let’s see how I’ll be able to improve on my playing. =D

About Page, February 7, 2009 (The Least 100 Blog)

Last Saturday, I auditioned as a solo artist for the Ateneo Musician’s Pool, my school’s official music organization. And I must say, playing drums for the auditions, seeing high school bandmates, and watching other people audition for the org gave me this burst of good vibes, the same emotions that I felt back then when I started going to arcades to play DrumMania. I’m talking about that feeling of mixed excitement and anxiety as you venture into trying out fun, new activities.

What I felt during and after my auditions makes me look back at all the good musical memories that I experienced in my whole high school stay. And now I’m typing away this blog entry that will look back at everything that happened the past years that made me love drumming and everything percussion-related. (In the school library, with the setting sun visible from where I’m typing, while listening to DrumMania songs on my iPod, hell yeah)

The block quote above pretty much sums up my motivations for playing DrumMania. Although the promise I made to my friend, rtnario, was a huge factor that really made me strive to become good in DrumMania, the biggest reason why I play DrumMania, is simply because I enjoy drumming. Of course, I would focus on the promise I made to my friend for this blog entry because I’m putting a closure to that here. So, without further ado…

The Least One Hundred Trials (February 2008 – February 2010)

Really, this is just how much I embraced DrumMania into my life. I’ll explain the whole “evaluation” concept that stemmed from the promise I made. Since I had 2 years to hone my skills, I divided that period of time into 4 parts. That would be 6 months per part. Each of those 6 months had one day in the arcade with family or friends where I evaluated my skills. An example of an evaluation day I had is this. That was the 2nd of the 4 evaluations. Well, that’s how it was supposed to go. At the supposed moment for the final evaluation, the end of the 2-year period, I had the heaviest academic load in my hands. I also realized then that having another DrumMania in our school fair was very unlikely with the lack of a good arcade sponsor. I wasn’t even ready to play The Least 100sec. In the end, rtnario and I extended the “trials” for another year. Now you know why this blog is called “Least One Hundred.”

OVER THE LIMIT (February 2010 – July 2010)

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m going all out with this blog entry. This is everything, explained bluntly. Yes, bluntly. XD I’ll eat the scroll bar if I do not limit my typing. (Figuratively dammit XDDD) OVER THE LIMIT is the 6-month period after the original Least One Hundred Trials. The name is a reference to the song in V6. During this period, I got into playing more guitar and DJMax Technika. I won’t go into detail with that.

The Least One Hundred Trials: Finale (August 2010 – May 2011)

I won’t go into detail with this as well. Cause really, I think my past few blog entries indirectly reference what was going on with my life during this period the most. I finally had the postponed 4th evaluation prior to this period.

The Promised Day (June 6, 2011)

Yes, that term is a reference to Fullmetal Alchemist. XD Last month, rtnario, along with another friend, went to the mall (Trinoma) in order to put a closure to the promise I made with this 5th and final evaluation. It was a day spent in the arcade, and not to mention, in the food court and Burger King. (We were on a food trip too XD)

After playing songs on DrumMania to demonstrate my current skill level to my friends, I finally took on the real deal. The Least 100sec. On Extreme difficulty. Needless to say… I failed. So much for the epic build up huh? HAHAHAHA. XDD That aside, I was suprised I actually went a few seconds past the difficult solo part. In the end, finishing The Least 100sec did not matter. What mattered most was the experience of playing the game for 3 years. It wasn’t about the destination. Rather, it was about the journe– yeah, cliche right there, but cliche for a perfectly apt reason.

The past 3 years of playing DrumMania has really changed me as a person. I did not only spend countless hours playing the game. I formed bands with my friends and played music with them. I learned to love music. I learned to love the music that people create. I learned to express myself and interact with other people in so many new ways. Learning to love and understand music made me do the same for life.

NP: Locofrank – CROSSOVER

After the auditions last Saturday, I had a chance to play DrumMania V7 in Trinoma. It was really nice to see how people were crowding over the DrumMania machine again like in the past. I mean, just look at that picture below.

That was the number of credits before I swiped. More people actually swiped after I did, which is really not surprising seeing as how DrumMania lives in Trinoma once again. XD

The Least One Hundred Trials is over but it will live on in my heart as a unique experience that wouldn’t have been possible if not for the people around me. Surely, college will bring about new opportunities for me to explore my drumming even more. There is more music to create, share, and love.

Of course, I’ll still play DrumMania. And someday, I’ll have a video of myself finishing The Least 100sec, like a baws. 8]

Okay, now I dunno what to put lol. Last Tuesday, I visited my high school, went to the cafeteria, and wrote a 3-page journal. Not something I’d do often but I felt like doing it. College’s been very different from high school so far. (Well of course) Just felt like saying that to make my blog look alive. I noticed the last 2 password-protected entries have repelled people from viewing my blog lol. Not that I mind. XD

Hmm, I really don’t know why I’m still forcing this blog entry. XD There’s so much I’d reflect for the past 3 weeks or so of college but I won’t even bother elaborating on those. Grades, social life, lov–*shot*, etc. Bleh. XD

I guess the lack of journal entries in between the rest of my summer and college just goes to show how I’m trying to just live in the present now. (No, actually I was just killing time on the web and playing WoW until summer vacation ended XD) Blogging, in a way, can be considered looking back at things that happen to you in the past. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s just that I’m the type of person who contemplates about the past.

On a more serious note, I’ll be posting an entry to put a closure to this. After that, who knows what substantial content this blog will have really. XD Still haven’t launched that FULL CYCLE solo music project I plan on pushing through with. I’m busy with school and extra-curricular activities like my extra programming classes… I’m busy with college.

I should really study now…