Dispatches by Adrian Conoza

“I may not be where I need to be but I thank God I am not where I used to be.” ― Joyce Meyer, speaker and author That quote finally had made an impact on me at this point of my life. Why is it so? Let me explain. Picture credit: www.the-spearhead.com In the past days I've been writing about my life during my third year in high school, which I've centered around my unsuccessful leadership as the elected president of the section where I was in. I've sought my journals to weave a draft day by day. As I've read through my (almost) daily accounts, recollecting sudden happenings in my life made me reflect how hard life has been at that time, and how much I learned from the year-long burden. My eyes and heart, undergoing an ongoing "coming-of-age", were opened to many things, especially the reality of life. "Hand to Face 1" by Tim Patrick Picture credit: http://www.timpatrick.co.uk/ Among those realities, this stands out: leading is not an easy job, especia...

I thought of this for a long time, and now I'll do it. I'll be straight-to-the-point. To all my former connections last school year, I apologize if I haven't met your high expectations. You've seen me as a good person at the start, but as times have passed, I've failed you . I apologize if I haven't been responsible enough. I apologize if I haven't been the leader you've hoped. It could have been better if we worked together in unity, but things happened and have been done. I'm sorry that I haven't been a good leader. Please forgive me. To those whom I showed a bad, childish attitude, I'm sorry. I apologize for being so silly and so mad due to small things, and for being some sort of unfriendly. I hope you forgive me. To whom(used in plural) it may concern, I apologize for my arrogance, ignorance, and selfishness. We're all human, you know. We all have to learn, and so we do learn from our wrongs. No one is perfect. God alone is. But I...

The countdown continues. On this post, electronica and rock continues to capture my attention and enter my ears. But most of them are discoveries from TV and radio. I hope you'll enjoy the songs from number 90 to 81. Why don't you try listening to them? Here they are. 90. " Sharp memory talks.  I hear around the room." Smalltalk|Ultraista I discovered this track from The Late Show With David Letterman . I stumbled upon this electronica trio, and watched their performance at the show, and found another nice song to insert in my playlist. I like the drumbeat here, which marks their being influenced by a genre called afrobeat. And as an avid listener of electronic music, I like the layers of synths and loops, from beginning to end. The vocals, which also has its own layers, complement those beats and synths. Aside from that, the title is somewhat striking. Small talk is now a part of everyday communication. It is somewhat a bridge, a small bridge, something to pass time...

Third year, for me, came with new experiences, new subjects, new friends, new burdens, new pains, new lessons, and—thankfully—new music to hear. At first year I listened mostly to motown, disco, and rock music, a bit of 70s and 80s, and a bit of current. Then at second year, I discovered the sounds that emerged in the 80s, from New Wave to synthpop to the simple pop. And last school year, I was glad to stumble upon 90s to today's music—alternative rock, indie, OPM, and pop as well—and found myself concluding that today's music isn't all trash and swears. I like some songs because of their well-written lyrics, which made me feel the way I felt at certain circumstances. Some of them I found interesting and pleasing to my ears because of the prettily-weaved composition. But I like most of them because of both. With no further ado, here are the 101 Songs of My Third Year. We'll have these "chart" in weekly intervals until we reach number 1. Here are the first 11 s...