PARTY IN THE U.S.A.! :)

This was at Saint Augustine's Homecoming 2009. My friends are crazy :)

Vignette; Memories of my Uncle

It was a warm, tranquil afternoon. The loud sound of church bells ringing filled my ears. My sister, boyfriend and I were all crammed together on a padded, dark green pew. I was laying my head on the firm shoulder of my boyfriend, as he had his arm tight around my waist trying to comfort me. “Manang, are you okay?” my younger sister whispered, trying not to disturb the mass. I curled my lips tightly into my mouth, and stroke my eyes against my soft, powder blue long sleeve cardigan. I glanced at her and didn’t respond. She reached out for my arm, and gently embraced it.

My eyes had been swollen red from crying for so long. I tried so hard to hold my tears back. I had a rough feeling in my neck as if there was a gigantic stone in my throat, and I was choking on it, trying to prevent tears from coming out. But somehow, they managed to force themselves out.

Just two days before, I found out my uncle and his son were dead. No one really had the story straight, but my family and family friends believed they committed suicide. I didn’t want to accept or believe it. The thought of it was just unbearable. It was as if my heart was shattered and broken into a million pieces, and the damage was unable to be repaired.

Sitting on the pew, I’d reminisce and think back about how he would always come to visit me and my family. Whenever he came out of his car, he had a huge contagious grin on his face that just made you want to smile. He wore dark shaded glasses, and had wrinkles the size of a single finger that covered every area on his face. His daily attire was an array of collared polo shirts tucked in dress pants, and dress shoes. Whenever we saw him, he would always greet my brother, sister and I with, “Hi, kids!”, then pat our shoulders or give us a hug, and smile.

I’d always remember him saying, “Do well in school, kids! Be good to your parents.” These were the words that replayed over and over again in my mind. The deaths of him and his son were my personal motivation to get good grades, and stop disobeying my parents. I related myself to someone who has lost a parent before, and I learned that you truly don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

As I was lost in the memory of my uncle, I woke up to the fact that I was in church. I glanced at the lit up altar with a giant crucifix of Jesus. Below that crucifix, was where the pastor was giving his sermon, and I listened closely. “We pray for the dead that they rest in God’s arms.” were what I remembered him saying.

I never could understand why a man who showed so much joy would ever want to die. In church that day, I’d pray for my uncle, hoping that he would have a place in heaven, in Jesus’ loving arms.



Listen to this song & it's lyrics. :)

Sensory Detail: Sound

Click for sound





It starts off with tune that makes you want to tap your feet. It sounds like an electric piano, then sudden clapping and snapping. The sound slowly fades away as random sounds of what seems to be urinating or waterfalls come in. The tune comes back in and out throughout the whole sound clip, and the dynamics change.

Locker Problem Final

Locker Problem : Third Draft

After testing it out, I've concluded that there will be 31 lockers open in the end. The reason for that is simply because there are 31 perfect squares from 1 - 1,000. Why are the lockers who have perfect squares open? Well, the perfect square lockers have been touched an odd number of times because there is an odd amount of factors for each perfect square (See diagram 1). For example; the factors of 9 are 1, 3, and 9. Compare that to 24, whose factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24. Each number has the factors of 1, and itself. Meaning, each locker was touched by student number one, and the student with the same number as the locker number. So, each locker was touched at least an even amount of times. Since each locker was initially open, in order for it to be open again, it must be touched an odd number of times. For example; for locker number 4, its factors are 1, 2, and 4. It would be touched by students 1, 2, and 4. Student one opens it, student two closes it, and student four opens it. Since there are no more factors of four, it will remain opened.

Diagram 1:

Lockers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
State	o	ox	ox	oxo	ox	oxox	ox	oxox	oxo	oxox

How did I get the answer 31? Well, my strategy was, once I’ve noticed the ‘perfect squares pattern’, I tried to figure out the perfect square closest to 1,000. (See diagram 2).

Diagram 2:

These are the perfect squares that if they are to the second power, they are equal to a number from 1 – 1,000.

12 = 1	72 =49	132 =169	192 =361	252 =625	312 =961
22 = 4	82 =64	142 =196	202 =400	262 =676	322 =1024
32 = 9	92 =81	152 =225	212 =441	272 =729
42 =16	102 =100	162 =256	222 =484	282 =784
52 =25	112 =121	172 =289	232 =529	292 =841
62 =26	122 =144	182 =324	242 =576	302 =900

As you can see in the diagram above, 31 is the greatest square root or perfect square that does not exceed the 1 – 1,000 range. 32 is shown in the diagram above to show that it goes over 1,000.