ERIC’S SONGBOOK

The weather is my muse today.  I write of the very inconsistent temperature and humidity.  I have this feeling that summer is about to creep in.  I used to have plans of taking a break this summer.  Considering the fact that I am up for permanency next year, and there is no guarantee that DLSU will hire me as a permanent employee, I might as well take advantage of teaching summer classes.  I could use the extra income and put it into savings. 

As www.wikipedia.org would put it:

The permanent income hypothesis (PIH) was developed by the American economist Milton Friedman. In its simplest form, PIH states that the choices made by a consumer regarding their consumption patterns are determined not by current income but by their longer-term income expectations.

I guess I am just trying to be a rational consumer.  As long as the opportunity to earn comes along my way, I might as well grab it and simply enjoy it.  I am planning to teach 2 sections of BUSCALC (Business Calculus).  I just hope and pray that these sections will be filled.  I find it very ironic that years ago, I would plead teaching loads from other departments (and eventually fail) but now, I have more than enough to give myself.  What goes around, really comes around. 

Next, this song goes out to all fun-loving people out there.  Released in Summer 2002, Soak Up The Sun is the upbeat first single to be culled from Sheryl Crow’s "C’mon, C’mon" album. Actually, I got this CD as a birthday gift from a good friend.  Well, if you’re reading this, smile when I say "Country Waffles".  Here’s to a great rocking summer ahead.

Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow

My friend the communist
Holds meetings in his RV
I can’t afford his gas
So I’m stuck here watching TV
I don’t have digital
I don’t have diddly squat
It’s not having what you want
It’s wanting what you’ve got

I’m gonna soak up the sun
Got my 45 on
So I can rock on.

I have always believed that love is a universal language, just like music.  Being the pragmatic mathematician/economist that I am, I always knew that love is just a raging hormone.  It is just a product of various chemical reactions in your brain.  In fact, the heart is a muscle, it is the hypothalamus of the brain that serves as the seat of emotions.  I don’t understand why people find a piece of muscle (eventually layered with fat in later years) endearingly romantic this time of the year.

110 posts in this blog and counting and I seldom write about my love life.  If I recall correctly, I made a parallelism between my love life and that of a dried piece of wheat toast.  Twelve years ago, I was a short pimple-faced geek and having people rub it in your face that you are not good enough is something I had to deal with.  You know how awful high school can get.  There are mean people out there to get the best of you–sheer utility maximizers.  Yeah, I know I am sour-graping.  But I took it with a grain of salt, I think I am better off now as I proved myself wrong for believing those naysayers in the past.  Just like an old song, learning to love yourself is truly to greatest love of all.  Honestly, if you don’t, no one ever will.  I learned to respect myself and to push myself to limits I never knew existed.  I realized that I am not dumb, that I could be as streetsmart as hell despite this boy next door exterior image I project.  I could take home flat-4 GPAs if I wanted to.  I realized that I am not that unfortunate looking, heck, I used to be an image model back in my college years despite the fact that I don’t live in a posh village down South.  And I never thought that I could provide things for myself that were just in my wishlist a decade and a half ago.  Because of my low self-esteem and self-respect for myself, I used to let anyone, and almost everyone, use me and trample me to the ground.  But now, I realized that I can rise like a phoenix above the singy ashes.   

People are always out there to get the best out of you.  The world outside could be a scary place if you do not love yourself.  This next song is something I would like to dedicate to everyone who ever faced love, and took even the slightest iota of effort to extract meaning from all the madness it could bring.  From the soundtrack of Beverly Hills 90210, I offer you:

Love Is - Brian McKnight & Vanessa Williams

They say it’s a river, circles the earth
A beam of light shining to the edge of the universe
It conquers all
It changes everything
They say it’s a blessing
They say it’s a gift
They say it’s a miracle and I believe that it is
It conquers all
but it’s a mystery
Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
And fades away so easily
In this world we’ve created
Where this place that we lived
In a blink of an eye the darkness slips in
Love lights the world, unites the love that’s for eternity
Love breaks the chain
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain
And turns it in to the beauty that remains
Look at this place
It was paradise but now it’s dying
I’ll brave the love
I’ll take my chances that it’s not too late
Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
And fades away so easily
Love breaks the chain
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain
And turns it in to the beauty that remains

The search is over…well, almost.  If you think I am getting married this February, guess again.  Well, perhaps to my CD player but what kept me on my toes lately, aside from the growing pile of paperwork in school, is bargain hunting for CDs in www.ebay.ph

Recently, I was able to find real good second-hand CDs for less than half the price of a brand new one.  And what’s even good is that these are the titles I have been looking for since my teenage years.  Back then, I have little funds to buy these luho (as my parents would put it).  It feels really great to be living one’s dream, at least as a consumer who is bound to follow a very tight budget constraint.  Twelve years ago, I was living on a measly allowance of P60/day.  Like what I have said before, it is the deprivation that motivated me to push myself hard, to work hard, and expect a little less from life.

www.ebay.ph follows an auctioning system.  Sometimes, it could get irritating when someone outbids you.  So, I jack up my maximum bid.  Think of the demand function most especially the highest price anyone is willing to pay for the product.  Also, one must keep track of items he is bidding on.  Anyway, here is a list of some of the stuff I have so far and they are really in tip-top condition:

• Santana featuring The Product G&B - "Maria Maria" CD Single for P22.00 (a real bargain!)
• Santana featuring Rob Thomas - "Smooth" CD Single for P41.00 (another great bargain!)
• Melissa Etheridge - "Yes I Am" for P250.00 (one of the best rock albums of the 90s)
• Go West - "Aces and Kings : The Best of Go West" for P465.00 (I fought and bid for this CD badly like a Roman soldier.)
• Five for Fighting - "America Town" for P100.00
• Ace of Base - "The Sign (US Version)" for P250.00 (corny, I know but I like the title track so much)
• Matchbox Twenty - "Mad Season" for P157.50
• Amy Grant - "Heart In Motion" for P299.00

On the other hand, here is a list I have prepared which contains CDs I have been looking for the longest time.  Though I have them on cassette, I still want the CD for collection purposes:

• U2 - "The Joshua Tree" (1987)
• Janet Jackson - "Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814" (1989)
• Michael Jackson - "Dangerous" (1991)
• U2 - "Achtung Baby" (1991)
• Paula Abdul - "Spellbound" (1991)
• Sheryl Crow - "Tuesday Night Music Club" (1993)
• Sarah McLachlan - "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" (1993)
• Dionne Farris - "Wild Seed, Wild Flower" (1994)
• The Goo Goo Dolls - "A Boy Named Goo" (1995)
• Monica - "Miss Thang" (1995)
• Janet Jackson - "janet. remixed" (1995)
• Annie Lennox - "Medusa" (1995)
• Original Soundtrack "Boys On The Side" (1995)
• The Smashing Pumpkins - "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" (1995)
• Joan Osborne - "Relish" (1995)

If any of you have any copies which you are willing to sell, please contact me or drop me a message.  I would really appreciate it a lot.  I am willing to pay market price for your CD in good/near-mint condition.

Though mp3s and iPODs are the trend nowadays, I still like the personal touch of having the real original CD.  You have the artwork, the lyrics and the memories to go with it.  Furthermore, I can make a fortune out of it.  I can’t believe that the selling price for the Philippine pressing of Michael Jackson’s Thriller is P8000.00, and that is just a cassette tape.  And to think, I used to own two copies of those as a kid!  Jesus, these memorabilia are beginning to behave like Giffen goods!

As for my brand new CD purchases, I was able to find German pressings of Seal’s "Seal" and Natalie Merchant’s "Tigerlily".  If I can remember correctly, Seal’s "Kiss From A Rose" and Merchant’s "Carnival" were radio staples from 1995. 

Things to do this week:

Monday:  Discuss Economic Production Quantity (EPQ) in QUATECH and Limits & Continuity in COMCALC.  Attend graduate school.

Tuesday: Check papers and do some administrative work.

Wednesday: Administer Quiz #2 in QUATECH.  Discuss Derivatives & Differentiation Formulas in COMCALC.  Watch either Hannibal Rising, The Holiday or The Messengers in Glorietta.  I have always been intrigued by Hannibal Lecter’s character in the previous films and novels.  This installment will explain his beginnings, as to why he is the way he is.

Thursday:  Attend the College Graduation Rites.  The IBS Office will be producing its 2nd batch of graduates this month!

Friday:  Discuss PERT/CPM in QUATECH and Differentiation Formulas in COMCALC.

Saturday:  Attend the graduation in PICC.  Claim the CDs I won from www.ebay.ph