I’ve been thinking about college.

I’m probably getting ahead of myself—I still have ten more months of high school to plod through. I should be thinking about getting my head straight this school year, about clicking my mouse less and hitting the books more, about the frenzy and delirium of Senior Year.

But I’m worried sick about college.

You see, I’ve pretty much decided to take the career path of print and/or broadcast media. I’ve been dabbling in that field for no less than four years now, and I really feel that that is my strong suit.

While in the shower last night, I planned everything out. (aside: I seem to think best while in the shower.) I will go to school, graduate as promptly as I can, and then get a job in a local media firm (Inquirer? Summit Media? ABS-CBN?). After a few years, when I earn enough money and gain enough credentials, I will seek greener pastures (Newsweek? Time Magazine? The Economist? BBC? CNN’s Atlanta or London offices?) and work my way through the ranks.

Only one problem: The Philippine Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN, Newsweek, Time Magazine, The Economist, BBC and CNN are all old world media outfits. These days, that means that they are effectively the dodo to media’s Mother Earth, the Anoop Desai to broadcast and print media’s American Idol. Newspapers are going to the dogs, all the blogs and websites proclaim, and with the ubiquity of Twitter and the Internet, news networks have found competition in the breaking news delivery market.

So although I am deeply inclined to become a broadcast/print mediaman, my greatest worry is that the market will die by the time I graduate, leaving me with a diploma but without money or a job.

But then again, one can argue that old world media will refuse to die out just like that—it will probably evolve to adapt to the changing times. At worst, they will probably go entirely Web-based. Maybe there will still be a position open then?

If the market shrinks to such a point that I’m financially better off going another way, I’m not closed to the idea of taking up law and working in that field. Lawyers never go out of style. Be it bliss or dissonance, concord or conflict, there will always be the lawyer to rob you of your money standing at the ready. Plus, the many courtroom scenes in movies I’ve watched over the years make the profession seem exciting and therefore enticing. Having the word “attorney” before your name doesn’t sound too cruddy, either.

I wish it were easy to tell where old world media is headed. Were the market much more stable—had Twitter not risen to fame! had Web 2.0 not come! If we were only still filling webpages with marquees, blinky text, and broken HTML markup and publishing them on the soon-to-be-defunct Geocities!—I would have way less to worry about. But since Twitter’s all the rage, since newspapers are losing readership to HuffPo and Slate, I have more than a bit to worry about.

The advice most people give me these days is not to worry about it, to take whatever course I prefer. Do what I love and the money will come. Maybe I should take that advice. Maybe I will.

Maybe I’m too young to not believe it’s going to be okay. It probably will be okay. I will probably end up doing something I love to do and making good money while I’m at it.

Fingers crossed. The future is bright with possibilities.

***

Props for the great photo above go to Demi Brooke.

Hello, all! The summer has been incredibly lazy so far. I’ve been spending it either plurking, eating or sleeping. I’ve been going to bed at around three or four AM and waking up just in time for lunch.

To take a quick reprieve from the boredom and heat, I and a few friends decided to catch Knowing (Alex Proyas) at the local mall’s cinema. (They have a propensity for showing films weeks or even months after they launch. It would’ve been easier to use my torrential powers to acquire a copy of the movie, but the cinema has some damn good airconditioning and I miss popcorn.)

*SKIP THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FIND OUT HOW KNOWING ENDS.*

Here’s the skinny: Knowing sucked. The plot was roughly this: Nicolas Cage’s character obtains a sheet of paper with numbers scribbled all over it. The numbers indicate the dates and locations of major catastrophes but do nothing to help prevent them from happening. The Earth eventually becomes nothing more than a ball of fire, but not before Cage’s character’s son and Cage’s character’s neighbor’s daughter are taken someplace else by weird beings to “start everything over” (read: fornicate like bunny rabbits).

The plane crash and train derailing scenes were exciting and “whoa”-inducing, as was the fiery finale, but other than that, it was a waste of Php50 plus money for one large cheese popcorn and iced tea. I knew we should’ve seen Monsters vs. Aliens instead.

***

The local cinema’s got a big poster with Tom Hanks’s face…which can only mean one thing: Angels vs. Demons. The movie adaptation of the prequel to The Da Vinci Code is set to come out next month and I will be lining up to catch it. Hopefully, the MTRCB and its OA, kulang sa pansin panel will not question the ethics, beliefs, values and whatnot involved in the movie and delay its release as they did with TDVC. (Seriously, the hags over there reacted waaaay too much to The Da Vinci Code. They made it R-18 pa. Neknek nyo, dahil sa inyo I had to wait for the movie to hit HBO. It kinda sucked—wasn’t as faithful to the book as I expected—but still, neknek nyo! Rated 18?! Talaga lang ha?!)

In other news, I have two reviewer booklets for college entrance examinations sitting here untouched. At the beginning of the week, I promised to myself to devote two or three hours a day to going over the booklets. So far, that promise hasn’t been kept. I am, however, still dead serious when I say that I want to devote two or three hours of my day everyday to going over the reviewer booklets. To hell with Plurk Karma (heh, see what I did there?), to hell with Google Reader’s unread count!

*breathes in and out*

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written like this. (Freewriting, I believe it’s called?) I like it when my thoughts just spill out, and although spilled thoughts are often relegated to the care of my Moleskine, my fingers just move faster on a keyboard than with a pen. I’m as tempted as hell to go over what I just typed above and correct any awkward wording, phrasing or punctuation. I must fight the power.

*edits then facepalms*

Keep life Deantastic.

Last Sunday, I had the distinct honor of guesting on the podcast of the Pakbet crew, the non-leaders of opinion, together with Inay Jenny. The recording’s been edited, mixed down and uploaded by podcast meister Rain, so please to listen to Pakbet Podcasts Episode 4: The Jenijenjen Song, nao na!

On this episode (where I repeatedly make sabat, giggle and speak too fast), we talked about:

• The Plurkfiesta at Banchetto
• Update on the Bebigerls
• The Failon Incident
• The boy who killed the cat
• And the world debut of the Jenijenjen Song

The voices on the podcast are those of Pakbet Boys Rain Contreras, J, and Gilbz, as well as “Trainee” Crushie Di, along with me and Jenny.

I’ve begun going to bed during dawn. I’ve stopped going to school. My brother isn’t taking baths anymore.

That can only mean one thing: Summer has finally come! Goodbye, annoying Trigonometry homework! Goodbye, jam-packed, restless weekdays! Hello, sleepless nights! Hello, fun fun fun! For this summer, I’ve decided not to waste my time lazing around all day. Instead, I’m going to make the most out of my two worry-free months by doing all the things I haven’t been able to do thanks to the hectic school year.

Launch DeanTastic.com

Deantastic.com will be my second attempt at entering the crowded technology blogging niche. I’m working on DeanTastic.com as we speak-tweaking the layout here and there but mainly stuffing it with content. My goal is to get ten posts up on the blog before I launch it. DeanTastic.com aims to simplify technology, the Web, and blogging, dishing tips, tricks and news about those three topics from a layman’s point of view as opposed to the old-media-esque manner used by Engadget, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, and Valleywag.

I’m looking at the last half of April or the first half of May as my target launch date. Hopefully I’ll hit that target bullseye.

Deantastic Tech is now live! Please do drop by or subscribe to its RSS feed. (Heck, do both!) There’s also a weekly podcast to go with the site. Check it out as well. I can check off one item from my to-do list now!

Continue tweaking Plush

I’ve been working on the theme used in this blog for quite a while now. Although I think it’s progressed dramatically since its early V0.9 days, there’s admittedly still a lot of space for improvement. Plush version 1.5 and beyond will hopefully be more dynamic, standards-compliant and unbrokinated on smaller screen resolutions.

Begin Reading Again

I can’t remember the last novel I finished, but I do know it’s been a long time since. The hectic school year (and the Internet) offered me no opportunity to flip open another novel and read it from cover to cover and as a result, my to-read list has swelled up. Over the next two months, I plan to begin and finish reading:

• 1984 by George Orwell
• Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I know it’s not a novel and I haven’t gotten myself a copy yet but I’ve been for so long now itching to read this work by arguably the greatest statesman of our time.

Review for Entrance Exams

Shortly after school opens in June, I’m going to have to start looking for a college to go to, and that means taking the daunting entrance exams every high school student dreads. I’m aiming for the University of the Philippines – Diliman Campus (probably a course related to writing, although I’m still slightly inclined to do corporate law), but the plan is to take as many college entrance exams as I can. I have my MSA reviewer booklets here (epistaxis-inducing questions, btw) and I’m planning to enroll in a summer review center, too.

Make some moolah

Hey, it’s a bearish market, and contrary to what the Jatot in the Palace says, the Philippines doesn’t look like it’s going to be immune to the global credit crunch for much longer. A man’s got to make some money. I plan to take freelancing more seriously over the summer and beyond. I’ve already an account at oDesk and take a peek at Craigslist every once in a while. Perhaps I’ll be able to earn the dough I need to purchase all those gadgets I’ve been craving for. Apple’s also poised to release its next iteration of the popular iPhone smartphone come June, so I’d better have some money on hand in case Globe has a discounted upgrade scheme for existing iPhone users.

Fill Up my Moleskine

I am the proud owner of a Moleskine notebook—the legendary notebook used by Chatwin, Hemingway, Van Gogh and Picasso. It’s supposed to be the personal repository of the thoughts I’d rather not have lying around on the Interwho. I find it ridiculously difficult to spill my inner thoughts onto paper. Hopefully, that will change over the summer.

Conclusion

So there you have it—the list of things I plan to accomplish during my two months off. Wish me luck, and hello Summer!