Buddy System

In WWE NXT (yes, I'm gonna throw a few wrestling references here and there), I always liked the concept of the "Pro and Rookie" where one established WWE Superstar would be the mentor of a wrestler who the fans aren't aware of. The Pro is supposed to help out the Rookie and give him pointers (in storyline, or maybe even backstage).

Here we have WWE Superstar R-Truth with NXT Rookie Johnny Curtis. Okay, so none of you get this reference. Moving on...

I'm not entirely sure if I gave my organization, TomasinoWeb, the idea for the buddy system where senior members and officers would be hang out with new members and trainees. I'm really sure I didn't and I don't take credit for anything at all but I actually like the new system since the new members who want to stay in the org have to interact with the senior members.

In my time, I didn't have that (and yeah, being in an org for one year makes you senior since one year is a quarter of your stay in college. One-fifth if you're taking up something like Engineering or Architecture). When it was my first year in the organization, I didn't know anyone. I only knew one person (the one who recruited me and made me aware of the organization in the first place) and I wasn't even as close with her. I had a classmate who joined the organization as well but she had friends of her own.

Hell, in the first GA, I was already panicking inside while maintaining my composure. I was saying "I don't know anyone here, I don't know anyone here. I'm gonna die here" in a complete loop for 20 minutes. I know I overreacted inside but I wasn't much of the social guy back then so I didn't have the initiative to say "Hi, I'm Ralph. I'm a new member here." I only got lucky because of the team building but that was after the first semester had ended so that was like 3 months worth of socialization down the drain.

Before the team building happened, I wanted to test how well the organization tolerated bullying (well, playful bullying, not the actual kind) so I decided to bully the president at the time by making fun of how she smiled like someone who's plotting something. It got a good reaction from the officers and they finally knew about me so that was good.

One of my few regrets in the organization is not being able to actually talk to every one of the officers at the time. Scheduling conflicts were probably the main cause of that. When I was in the org room, they were probably in class or doing something else. It's not anyone's fault but I just wish I got to know more of those officers back then.

Now, the new members are privileged because they're stuck with the current officers of the org, including me. Okay, that sounded bad but that's the point. They're forced to interact with us for better or for worse if they want to stay in the organization.

I don't really see myself as a likable person (Try asking certain tourism girls along with other people) but somehow, these new members are still naive, hence they see me as funny or "respectable" (No! I am not respectable in any way!) And the best part here is that they're willing to hang out with me. I think they're doing that because they're required to and I'm flattered by the comments about how I'm funny and "respectable" (that's never a good word to describe me).

So, technically, I'm required to hang out with these members who are also required to hang out with me. It's like a legal contract. It's not actually a bad thing. I really appreciate this whole WWE NXT-like system that I mentioned earlier. I'm the pro and these new members are my rookies. I'd love to somehow teach whatever I can to these people but for now, I'm still that asshole executive who does nothing but still has the gall to hang out with these regular members as if I'm saying "Yeah, you do the hard work while I do nothing and look good." I'm an asshole like that.

...but I look good being an asshole.

So far, my "buddies", as we executives call them, have been surprisingly friendly. So far, none of them have given me a reason to be pissed off or disheartened and I like that. I wish it'd stay that way.

My plan is that I want none of my buddies to quit the organization. The reason why I'm still in the organization is because the president, the editor-in-chief, and the blog department head, among others, welcomed me in the organization. Slowly but surely, I gained their trust and they treated me nicely. I don't really want them to gain my trust or anything like that but they should at least feel like they're part of the org.

I've seen a lot of people quit the organization because they didn't feel welcome or weren't really noticed because they didn't speak up. I consider myself to be lucky to have met them because they actually embraced me as a temporary member of their group of friends.

"Why did they bring their dad and did he just get off of work?" asked students who didn't know who we were.

(Temporary because they graduated a few months later.)

Anyway, I want my buddies to feel welcome in the org and that they have nothing to worry about because I don't ever want them to feel like they're on their own in the org. Several past members have felt that and they didn't renew their membership. I nearly quit because I felt that for a time but again, I was lucky enough to have met those officers who made me feel welcome.

I'm actually trying my best to make my buddies feel like they're not on their own in the org and that I'm actually rooting for them to succeed. I actually want them to take my position as an executive in the organization because I'm leaving in a few months. I actually want them to feel the way that I did back then.

If one of my buddies actually becomes an officer or stays in the organization because of me or at least partly because of me, I did my job. That's all I want.

I Don't Believe

I don't believe in all of these feelings, infatuation, affection and the like. I can admit that I'm just jealous.

I'm jealous because of all these couples but sadly, I'm still traumatized after what the hell happened last year when I thought I was doing something great for someone who I thought I should care about (Turns out everything I thought was bullshit).

All of that gave me a perspective that no woman (sadly, I generalized) is ever emotionally truthful to someone who's nice. All they want is the attention. They don't pursue the nice guys. They pursue hot guys who don't and will never care for them.

I'm open to be proved wrong but until now, I haven't found a good enough reason to change what I believe it. I don't believe that what all of these people feel is real. I don't believe that there is such a thing as affection and that what people feel for others is an emotional need to fill something that isn't there. They just want to use you for their emotional crutch and that there is no such thing as love or whatever you people call it.

Things I See - Perversion On My Mind

Is something wrong with my friends today? They're hilarious today.

Well, yeah, I do. I'm a guy. What's not to like about boobies?

Now why can't my crushes tell me that?

Redundancy

Something that should be kept in mind when writing is the value of something you create. If you do something, you want to make sure it has meaning and impact. Now, “impact” doesn’t really mean that the story has to move the audience but rather, make them appreciate whatever you’re trying to do. Too much of something loses its meaning.

In poetry, the rule is that every word would have to contribute to the imagery intended by the author as well as the meaning intended. Poetry is the right words used in the right place and if that is followed, the poem would have impact to the readers. Each word has meaning and purpose.

This doesn’t solely apply to poetry. It applies to the shows that we watch, the books we read, and the things we do.

I remember watching a play in UST recently (but I don’t really care for the title because it was a bad play if you have your brain on). At first it was good since the first act was with two friends asking each other 20 Questions which meant room for character development. However, when the girl asked the guy if he’s still a virgin, that’s what struck me the most because that’s where the conversation turned into something else entirely. It had me thinking “Okay, so that’s the sense of this play. I can deal with that...” but the characters constantly talked about sex and threw character development out the window.

I can’t forget this line as well. “A lot of guys penetrated me but no one had ever penetrated my soul”. Was that supposed to be sweet? It wasn’t because all sympathy had gone because the script focused too much on having sex and the guy’s virginity which meant that developing them was meaningless.

The next act was way worse. It involved four people waiting for the results of a job interview. The acting was purposely driven over the top for the four characters but the problem was that only one was sympathetic. The first girl was over the top but had some sympathy because she wanted to work for the sake of her family. The first guy was mentioning sex and blowjobs for his purpose. The second girl wanted to work for drugs. The second guy was a gay pervert who was constantly becoming perverted and mentioning sex and blowjobs as well. (Like rape, I blocked out some of these parts so I forget.)

When the play ended, I was offended not because of the content but rather the overreliance on sex. Yes, the concept was suppressing emotions. That was good but the reliance on sex and meaningless perversion was made the entire thing pointless. What was the point of the perversion? Nothing. They could tell me “Oh, that’s what we all are hiding. Perversions!” Yeah, that’s true but somehow, we could’ve done it without putting that aspect on stage. Everyone has something to hide such as naivety, innocence, constant fear, but no, the play chose to sensationalize everyone’s inner perversions. It would’ve been alright if it hadn’t been played for laughs and just portrayed in small doses. Some sex is alright, if done correctly. If it’s done too much, it loses its impact and would later be meaningless. Eventually, it will rely on sex. The play was alright but only as momentary entertainment for others. Would people be talking about it? Not for long. Why? It had too much meaningless perversion.

The concept of inflation could be applied to what we watch. If something is done in small doses, it will have more impact. For example, a generic romantic movie would have two characters fall in love but somehow, they don’t kiss yet. After plot development and constant buildup, when the two characters finally kiss, the viewers are driven to tears or at least touched by the scene. They love it. They believe it.

Another example, How I Met Your Mother has Barney Stinson who constantly sleeps with women through devious ways and he does so in 4 seasons. When the people were ready to give up on the character, he finally shows real emotion and falls in love with Robin. That had impact on the viewers. Sure, he’s portrayed as a perverted womanizer but he was given a human side. That made all that sex meaningless. The writers used that to develop his character in a good way. The difference of this and that perverted play was that there was a payoff to it. It had impact and value.

However, if something is done too much, it loses meaning. For example, if a comedy uses the same joke over and over again, it won’t be funny. It would be tedious. Why? Because the joke had already lost its value. It was hilarious at first but then it would be redundant and you just wish the characters would just shut up about it.

Last example, in the 90’s, hardcore wrestling became popular. This is where wrestlers would use weapons like chairs, tables, barbed wire baseball bats, and thumbtacks in their matches. People have enjoyed this so much that they have been desensitized to simple matches. One shot of a chair seems to week now. Back then, that would usually end the match, but the constant use of violence had lost the meaning of the simple usage of weapons in professional wrestling, even though wrestling isn’t about weapons to begin with.

Again, if you’re going to do something, make sure it has meaning. Too much of something will make what you did meaningless if it once had the impact you intended to get. You would turn people off with the constant use of your aspect. If you’ve used that aspect too much, doing something different would have impact. Otherwise, your audience would be apathetic.

If I were to be a blog editor

My first choice for a position I wanted to have in this organization was the blog editor. Yes, I know an executive position is more than enough but it wasn't what I asked for but I don't want to get to that now. That's for a future post. Anyway, I had a few plans for the blog section of the TomasinoWeb website.

Simply put, I wanted a few bloggers to work with - five at the most. Since not everyone wants to type their emotions and thoughts in a word processor and would rather cover fun events, the blog section isn't really that sought out.

Let's say the organization accepted five bloggers and five trainees. I wanted to find out what those five bloggers main interests are whether it'd be video games, TV shows, comic books, professional wrestling, dramas, and anything they're interested in. I would've told them to write articles on how the campus is a comic book, a drama or a TV show because it's light reading, not a thesis. It should be mildly amusing. We could have reviews of video games or comic book series that the students might enjoy. Basically, I wanted them to pick something they know a lot about and make them write about it in various ways, including how to make the common UST student to relate to it.

As for the trainees, I wanted to copy the developmental system of WWE where wrestlers who aren't ready for the main roster can hone their skills. I want them to try and work on their blogging skills while giving them a few tips on how to improve. For that to happen, I wanted to try and have a different blog just for the blog section. A little odd but it would give these trainees to develop their writing skills and get feedback from people. I wanted to show that these trainees have skills that need to be a honed a little and they may not be TomasinoWeb website ready but I'll make sure they are.