A Better Tomorrow

This new post series entitled "Main Events" lists all of the main events that I have planned for this particular month. I'm already halfway into February, but, hey, there's still time for me to join and make events. And so, I present the events I have planned for February.


The major event I have planned for this month is the Hackathon! Three others and I are planning to attend this overnight hackathon competition at Microsoft Philippines in Makati, and I'm super psyched for it! First, it's the first coding/computer/programming-related competition I've ever joined, and it's overnight! At Microsoft! How cool is that? I'm DYING to go there and, hopefully, my team can manage to come up with an idea so that we may enter.


The second "main event" I have for February is the art showcase! I've been wanting to show off my skill in different Adobe products for quite some time, and I believe this is the best way to showcase it. I'll be showcasing the different artworks I have made recently (or, if it's that good, from the past year) here! I'll try to fill it up and make some new artworks for next month as well.


I've (finally) decided to showcase the stories I've written. Sure, I admit, I'm not that good in writing stories, but I do love dreaming about them and I've always wanted to write stories. I'm sure that my blog and my Wattpad account is the perfect place to showcase the stories I've been coming up with.

Hopefully, I'll be able to fulfill all of these main events this month—especially the Microsoft one. I'm quite psyched to show off all of the potential I have in me this year. Even though it might start out bad, I just hope that I also have the potential to chase down these talents of mine and improve on them. As for the art showcase and Story Time, these are the first showcases of my talent in other fields, so don't expect much. I do aim to improve next time, and I'll strive to work on those talents of mine. So expect that the art showcase and Story Time for December will be far better than the ones in February.

I still have a long way to go, and a lot of main events planned for the coming months, and I'm quite sure they'll spice up my 2017. That'll be all for now, see you when the art showcase or Story Time starts!

If my first month of 2017 was filled with changes, then the second month should be filled with even more changes or, at the very least, improvements to those changes, right? Well, you guessed correctly. My first month of 2017 was filled to the brim with changes—and not just "small changes," I mean HUGE CHANGES. Changes that would soon impact almost every aspect of my life. After giving it much thought, I suppose implementing changes on a per-monthly schedule might be a good thing. I've always wanted to shake things up in my life. With that, here are some of the changes or, as I like to call them, updates to my life in February 2017.

• Updated and repolished blog theme.
• Changed daily routines.
• Improved money-saving algorithm.
• Minor corrections to sleep/wake cycle.
• Learn 2 new design trends or art styles + showcase

Updated blog theme

It might look good to you but, to me, my blog's theme still looks very unpolished. Although I've come far from the original design, I still believe it's not good enough. Sure, I've made strides to polish and perfect the current theme time and time again, but I think it needs a little more polish to it. What I basically plan for the blog's theme this month is to tweak it over the following days. Improve the color contrast, increase readability, decrease strain on the eyes, and so on and so forth.

Changed daily routines

As of right now, my daily routines are killing me—both mentally and physically. Waking (trying to wake) up at 5 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and then arriving home at 8 p.m. is a physically grueling experience.

What I hate about my schedule is that there's too much, I believe, "dead time." I have a 4-hour break every single school day. What's annoying is that I only use, like, an hour of that 4-hour break, so it's a huge waste of time.

In a nutshell, what I plan to do is figure out a way for me to maximize the hours used in a single day by lowering my downtime. I'm going to find out what to do on those boring break hours and how to get home earlier and quicker.

Improved money-saving algorithm

I just need to save up more money, period. My daily budget isn't much, but it's enough to get me from point A to point B and make me stay at point B until I go back to point A without feeling hungry. There's nothing bad in having some spare change to (eventually) buy that Arduino clone I talked about :^)

Minor corrections to sleep/wake cycle

Ugh, this is one of the things I need the most, to be honest. My sleep lasts for around 6 hours or so, and it's killing me in my morning classes. If I could bump the time up to 7, then I might have that extra "boost" for me to go through the entire day without drooping (yes, drooping) onto the floor.

Learn 2 new design trends or art styles + showcase

Finally, this. I also want to state that I plan to make an "art showcase" for my blog every month or so. It's sort of a "culminating event," but for myself. I'm not sure if I have the necessary time to do one this year, but I do hope I may be able to make showcases in the succeeding months, consecutively. But yeah, I seriously want to learn a new art style that's not minimalism.

Those are all the updates I plan to make this month. Take note that I have more updates planned for me this term, but I didn't include some for personal reasons. I hope I get to implement all of the updates stated above this month.


P.S. Why, yes, I do have a date this Valentine's Day and she has the most beautiful name I've ever heard in the world. That special lady is called Overwatch :^)
pls send help i want to find a girlfriend hahahuhuhuhuhahahaha

Remember that checklist of goals and accomplishments I want to achieve this 2017? I hope you do because that list is going to be revised—thoroughly. You see, I made that list when I was extremely depressed from not studying in APC anymore. If you take a look at the original checklist, it includes things that I would do if I wasn't studying in APC, such as having a job. However, as I've said before, I am now studying in APC again (thanks to those people, again), and it seems I need to revise that list.

So, without any further ado, here's the list and an explanation below:

• Get a GPA of 3.0 or above.
• Learn how to draw (and learn more art forms/styles).
• Lose (some) excess fat and build (some) muscle.
• Learn how to properly proofread works of literature.
• Learn how to read, write, and speak in Korean.
• Become a better graphic designer.
• Have some kind of romantic encounter, go on, at least, 1 date, and try to court someone. (Romance!)
• Write a good story that I know I've put my all in.
• Go on a trip to somewhere outside of Metro Manila.
• Build the "LifeHub" program or build a somewhat-working prototype.
• Buy an Arduino clone and use it.
• Play Overwatch competitively.
• Make a new series for this blog.

Get a GPA of 3.0 or above

I'm pretty sure this one speaks for itself. I've always wanted a GPA of 3.0 or above ever since the all-English term ended. It's been hard to get a GPA of 3.0 ever since then because my terms have been bundled with subjects that I'm not really good at (like math), and subjects that I'm having to learn and apply (physics), but I'm going to try my best to get a high GPA this term or, hopefully, in the succeeding terms.

Learn how to draw 

I love seeing people draw! I love seeing drawings and sketches! Oh, and I love learning about new art forms/styles in Photoshop! Ever since I was in my 4th year in high school, I've always wanted to learn how to properly draw and illustrate in Photoshop, but I've always had trouble doing so. I hope that I may properly draw something this year. Also, I wish I can learn about some kind of new art form/style aside from minimalism. Learning minimalism is good, but I know there are more art forms, and sticking to 1 art form all the time is boring. Trying out new stuff is good. Sometimes, branching out can be a good thing.

Lose fat and build muscle

This also speaks for itself. I don't want to be the semi-fat guy in class and I absolutely hate having a somewhat-bulky body type. I don't like it, and, since I'm the sole owner of this body, I believe I can do what I want with it, and the first order of business is to burn the fat—and to use it to build the muscle.

Learn how to properly proofread

Whether they're my works, or the works of others, I want to be highly proficient in proofreading. It's an extremely important skill to learn, and people should always strive to improve upon this skill—even those who are already fluent in the English language (such as I). I make slip-ups every now and then, and, hey, a little knowledge in proofreading isn't quite bad.

Learn Korean

I want to learn the language just because. I don't care if I might never use it in the workplace. I just don't want to pull up the translation file for every SNSD song I play :^)

Become a better graphic designer

Like I said about drawing, I highly want to improve upon this skill. Not a lot of people in my field (or, at the very least, in my class) is good in this field, and I'm sure as hell I don't want to hire an ABMA student to make the GUI of my program. Plus, being a graphic designer was one of my goals in life—before I went down the path of computer science. I can still become a graphic designer, and hopefully I'll become a better one this year.

Romance!

It's extremely cheesy for me to say this, but I want need to have some kind of romantic encounter this year. I've never had a romantic encounter before, to be honest. I'm not really looking for a relationship lasting for years, but, if she's the right person for me, then why not? But anyways, I really just want to have some kind of romantic encounter this year—a successful one, hopefully.

It's hard to actually admit it, but I am lonely. There are nights when I'd wonder what it would be like to message someone good night, or greet them a good morning and, well, tell her I love her. Plus, I'm curious. I want to experience the feeling of finally being accepted by someone, holding hands with someone in public, watching a movie with someone, kissing, and all that romantic stuff. Even for a while. I'm not made of stone, and, sometimes, I just want to be in the comfort of someone who loves me.

Write a good story

I had tonnes and tonnes of ideas for stories/novels when I was in high school. Some of them were ideas good enough for me to pursue and publish on my Wattpad profile, and some died the moment I thought of them. It's 2017 now and I haven't published a story in almost 2 full years. I also wanted to be some kind of author or writer (an author who publishes stories! Not an author who publishes technical documents!) when I was in high school. I suppose I owe it to my high school self to write a story and publish the entirety of it online—plus points if I make the cover art and back cover of it by myself.

Go on a trip

I'm highly sure this will be fulfilled in some way this year. This is obviously the mostly likely one to be crossed off this list as I have several appointments that are supposed to take place outside of Metro Manila (like Camp Calye, for example). I can't wait to get out of the city and go someplace new, seriously.

Build the "LifeHub" program

"LifeHub" is a program I just thought of recently. It uses several APIs and links them together. It's a cool idea, to be honest, and I can't believe that nobody has developed something like it before. I can't wait to actually start working on this.

Buy an Arduino clone and use it

(For those who don't know, an Arduino or other similar devices, is a kind of single-board computer that has a basic functionality and requires extra modules for extra functionality. You can use it to build a lot of devices such as alarms, water gauges, etc.) I don't really mind if I get a Raspberry Pi, Intel Galileo, ASUS Tinker Board, or any other single-board computer, but I'm happy getting a 700 Peso Arduino knockoff at some shady Philippine store. If it works and if it has installable modules, then it's good for me. I just want to build something myself and use it.

Play Overwatch competitively

I LOVE OVERWATCH! Overwatch is my new bae. CS:GO is old and dead to me, and Overwatch is the hero that saved me. I stated in a previous blog post that I acquired Overwatch for free online, and my only problem right now is not having a place to properly play it. My laptop literally can't run it (I get the "no compatible video card" error) and my only viable option is to play it inside a computer shop. I love the game, and everything about it, and it's the only game I seriously want to be good at (aside from SHENZHEN I/O). My current SP rank in the game is 700 (gross, I know), and I have a long way to go until I get to gold or platinum

Make a new series for this blog

Finally, I want to make a new series for this blog. Whether its tech reviews, Korean pop music reviews, stories about life in the Philippines, or something, I just want to make a new series for the readers of my blog. I'm sure as hell I don't want to fill this with posts about my problems alone. I want to show people my other sides—that I'm more than just a programmer/aspiring graphic designer/weird, shy kid. I've barely shown people who I really can be and who I aspire to be, and I believe that 2017 is the year I start showing my true colors.


Those are all the things I want accomplished this 2017 and, like the list before, I know this is a hard list for someone like me to fulfill, but I'm a small man with large dreams. Sure, I'm highly aware that I might not entirely cross out all of the things listed above, but I have hope. I trust myself to do my best and to cross out most of the things on this list—and I'm not letting anyone stop me from doing so. Well, here goes nothing. At the end of the year, I hope I have already crossed off most of the things there. Now, excuse me, I have a checklist to fulfill.