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OK. So, I'm posting something I did for the first three weeks of the semester for a multimedia writing class. I want to digitize my work so I don't have to keep the paper version.

Anyway, we got paired up and had to do a cover for our interview with each other. We weren't told how we should write it or what media the script is written for. So I had a really long, open-ended, playful tone for my first draft, which is not graded, and here's what I got for my final, which can be good for a TV production, but not necessarily on Radio. Probably best for the Internet, so here goes:


Soon-to-be screenwriter Darryl Lopez is taking Writing For Multimedia at the Academy of Art University this spring. At 25, he has spent his adolescence making sketch comedies, parodies, and other entertaining short-form productions. With all its satirical portrayals of the modern-day quarter-life crisis as we know it, I was thrilled to get to know him better when he said that he's following the footsteps of Judd Apatow, the funny man behind box-office hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Funny People.

After three years studying film at the Academy, Lopez realize that his passion is about telling stories that are personal, yet at the same time funny. Using comical elements to its advantage, with a twist of irony, he's determined to create funny yet witty films that people can easily relate to. I recognized that drive behind his serious facade - although stars are glimmering in his dark brown eyes as he was speaking. The more he talks, the more I noticed the darkness of his curly hair, and the more he looks like Seth Rogen.

Except - he's not blonde.

He's very approachable, though. His face was beaming whenever I asked him questions related to the film and entertainment industry, as he's "hoping to make it big" someday. Taking aside overrated moments on the red-carpet, Lopez prefers watching The Onion on Comedy Central than getting the latest updates form the Hollywood buzz, or watching Steve Carrell fooling around in the daily inanities on The Office.

Like most of us,  Lopez practically grew up with American TV sitcom favorites, such as Seinfeld and Friends. I wasn't surprised when he told me he's born and raised in sunny, laidback San jose. Which is cool.

What's cooler is that his dreams are starting to become reality. Recently, he got together with his production partner for an independent feature project, working it all to meet their $5,000 budget. And, by the way, this is the first time they're financing themselves. Still, they have high hopes for making it to the local film festival after its release scheduled this summer.

This feature is going to be about the coming-of-age story of a boy into his manhood, struggling to find his fit in the world outside college. Would he and his friends survive graduating with "traditional majors" that clashes with the modern society's need for innovation today? Are college degrees going to help him earn a steady job that provides sufficient income, guarantees his insurance, and also make the most out of his life? How can he connect these dots with an urge to live out his true passions? Don't we all need to stop saying, "I hate my job" in this economic downturn?

Plus, everybody deserves to live to the fullest.

Is Lopez crafting this believable character as his fictionalized self?

We'll see. In the meantime, let's get to know him a little better as the semester goes, shall we? Let's watch him carefully turn his dreams into reality.



Instructor's Note: Good pace, good focus. 19/20



Just in case you aren't informed or you didn't listen to your Biology lectures in high school, testosterone is a prominent hormone that keeps the male breed functioning. It gets them excited like a dog, it lets them wail their tails when they see a Victoria's Secret model, and it's responsible for the development of healthy sperms fishing around to fertilize your egg, ladies.

Here's the thing. I've got a confession to make. Last month, I visited a gynecologist for the first time, and had the first Pap Smear in my life. Why? Because the last time I had my menstrual cycle was about 4 months ago (from January 2011). I can also tell you something even more outrageous: I only had my period twice last year.

Sounds weird enough? Well, after doing my journalistic research online, I now found out why.

It's not only men who produces progesterone. We do too; just like many other animals. Only that men produces them 10 times more than we do, and that we are more sensitive to the hormone.

There's also an explanation behind why I tend to be very clumsy, careless, ignorant, impatient, afraid of commitment, and like to talk about sex. It's the natural gene I get from birth, that I have a high testosterone as a woman. And probably the fact that I love to play violent pranks with my two older brothers. And that my mother keeps telling me, "You're a girl, not a boy." And that I love to wear shorts and jeans better than skirts. And after all the testosteroney days, I would cry helplessly because I can get very sensitive if emotionally hurt. In other words, imbalanced hormones.

Which is part of a make-up for my personality, with neuroticism high and conscientiousness low out of psychology's Big Five.

In a nutshell, our hormones play a big role in making each of us and our personalities unique.

Anyway, my high levels of testosterones is relatively responsible for my imbalanced menstrual cycle. I mean, they never come at the expected dates each month ever since I hit my puberty. And ever since I changed my physical body into that of an athlete, i.e. body fat percentage 12% last year, I practically skipped one to three periods in some 16~18 months. (Yes, boys are adrenaline and endorphins junkie, aren't they? So am I.)

Then last year, due to personal life reasons, I got into episodes of mild depression and high levels of stress, i.e. cortisol, and gained back some body fat, which is responsible for producing the female hormone oestrogen. I gained so much more body fat just in one year, which is why my progesterone levels were greatly reduced. And I wasn't born this way. I wasn't myself. The progesterone and oestrogen are two main components during a woman's ovulation period, which will determine whether her uterine lining will shed or provide support if an egg is fertilized by a lucky sperm.

Luckily, I have no need to fear more dangerous clinical abnormalities if I'm sexually active for the last 12 months (That's fancy speak for innocence. I mean flower. I mean virginity. Oh my, can't believe I'm saying this out loud. But hey, there's a good reason). My doctor gave me Medroxyprogesterone. Now, progesterone is known as the "pregnancy hormone", and it is released during the body's production of testosterones. My shocking reduction in the levels of testosterones, really, was given a kick in 7 continuous days, popping the pills every night, so that the progesterones can synthesize to line my uterus to prepare for pregnancy, which then I didn't accept any sperm fishing about, which then breaks down into drops of blood, and there I had the period, FINALLY.

Right now I'm still getting readjusted to my usual self. Last year taught me well, even if I decided to be a journalist, using sensationalism or not, I still have to be myself and fulfill the need to satisfy my natural curiosity and to express my self, which is part of the self-actualization needs according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

And I do feel that my testosterones are pumping up again, because my muscle mass is increasing again and my body fat, at least around my belly and waist, are almost nonexistent again. My bones feel strong again, and my hips and legs feel like a cheetah again. Oh, and part of having a good short hair-do is feeling androgynous 24/7. Which is beneficial for both sexes, because then you can relate more, and you communicate better, and you'll get great relationships.

My doctor also said that if my period's not coming again this month, I've got to get a blood test. Which is very troublesome. I workout often to keep my endorphins pumping and satisfy my testosterones. Currently that's the only way to meet my physiological needs. But the symptoms followed by the missing periods last year... I'm still struggling to get through them. Things like:


  • IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), according to my gynecologist after my Pap Smear test
  • insulin resistance (which correlates to IBS)
  • balance of circadian rhythm, stabilize my biological clock
  • reduced libido (which I'm now maintaining by watching Ok Taecyeon, Jay Chou, and moving into my new apartment that has lots of hot guys)


Meaning, I'm watching what I eat, when I eat, when I exercise, how I exercise, why I love these guys, when I'll meet a lucky sperm, and waiting for my bloodstream to stabilize... Because if it doesn't, woman, you can lead yourselves to infertility!

And, woman, we are not so different than the guys after all, you know? It's good to be androgynous, because hunger, thirst, and sex are the three most basic needs of every reproductive biological organism. We're animals after all, just that we're sapiens. We have the limbic brain working together with our reptilian brain. Now, before I go off topic, let me just close off with why you should keep your hormones in balance by fulfilling your basic needs: They keep you healthy, so don't be shy!


Read more: WebMD: Normal Testosterone and Oestrogen Levels in Women



Hey! What do you know? Turns out that the most attractive feature of a woman is their hair, not a supermodel's neverending legs.

OK. Honestly, the main reason why I chopped off my long, long, long, long hair (up to the top of my butt) was because it's hard to maintain, takes a lot of time to blow-dry, heavy to carry around, always stuck between my layers of clothes, and the fact that I have to keep tying them up (which explains why I always have a hairband around my wrist).

After I cut my hair 3-4 months ago, for the first time since my last short hair-do (2-3 years ago), I feel that I'm wearing the short hair happily, instead of the short hair wearing me. And I just know that I'm going to keep this length for long.

I know it sounds corny, but a woman's hair is so much connected to the woman's emotions more than anyone can think of. Any woman can agree with that. Which is why the salon business is huge. And for that matter, I go to the hair salon once every year, unless there are special occasions that I have to attend, or whatever.

Anyway, the Pantene report concludes the following statistics:


  • 74% of men indicated that they notice women because of their hair.
  • 44% of men surveyed said that hair is the first thing they notice about a woman, more than her clothes (26%), legs (25%), or makeup (4%), and most men surveyed would be more likely to approach a woman at a bar with great hair than a woman wearing a low-cut shirt.
  • 82% of men indicated that sexy hair is a key element to a woman's overall sex appeal.
  • 60% of men surveyed say they would rather date a woman with great hair than a woman with big breasts.
  • 78% of men surveyed consider healthy hair to be a turn-on.



So, you see? From the Martians' point of view, above all the makeup and furry clothes and bling-bling bags and Louboutins, the hair is the most natural feature out of the most obvious things you can spot just by glancing at a woman.

Oh, and one more thing, ladies: Your hair is the only thing out of all those things that is not perishable. Unless you have great quality leather handbags. Or you decided to go bald or something.

Doesn't mean you've got to spend one hour doing your hair! Hey, one thing I love about having some extra air flowing above my neck and on shoulders now is that I'm saving so much time getting out of the bathroom. Which you can use as a 15-minute quickie with your husband or something.

Just kidding!



As promised, I cut my hair. Oh, how even colder it felt, but happy I am, because I can feel easier controlling good posture without heavy hindhair slouching my shoulders.
So Keiko cut my hair again, and I showed her some celeb photos I want to imitate for my cut, though I didn't show pictures of Yamada Yu because I wanted the side-swept bangs.


It was meant to be a wide bob, like this:


But my layers haven't grown that long, so this is the widest I can get. Besides, I won't be liking it that much if it widens my round face. Which I loathe.


Anyway, once it grows up to shoulder-length again, I even already have something else in mind. In the meantime, I want to get some sleep and hibernate throughout the weekend while unpacking the mess in my background, all the stuff I brought since I moved in.

I don't want to be lethargic by next week, when I turn 21. Which I wish is not a big deal. But 21 is a pretty big deal. Oh boy.



Been a year;
Missing homelands.
The end is near,
Where is my home?

Always in transit;
Lived a third of 21 years
in the airport.
When is my next flight?

The whole of me
builds castles among clouds.
Bits and pieces, I have
built.

Why am I here
and also there?

The skies open
endlessly.
I am just
lost in the unbroken.

My home is everywhere, nowhere.
How do I get there?

No, I'm not mad
I'm just a nomad.
A soul left displaced.
What is this place?

"Welcome to Jakarta,"
said the attendant. "Goodbye!"
I stop running
My castle left unfinished
yet again.

If this is my home,
Who's coming?
And who's going to be there?