On the background: Hell Looks by Wolfgang

I just had to sit down and type this :)

Do you have those moments when you feel as if everything seems just...right?

I was alone here in our home (I didn't go to school. Was lazy. Heehee.), and by afternoon, it was starting to rain like crazy. I went up to my room, grabbed Leo Buscaglia's "Love", put my Blank White Wall cd on the player (Blank White Wall, btw, is a friend's band. They absolutely rawk.) , positioned myself beside the window, read the book and listened to the raindrops.

Mmmm. Heavenly.

Rain has that lovely effect on me: the tiny rain drops racing against one another, the sweet, hushing music it creates, the soft wind that dances along with it. Back in the 1940s, an American said that a rain in the Philippines is "so beautiful, it's as if God's shedding tears". My thoughts, exactly.

So there I was. With Blank White Wall serenading me, and Leo Buscaglia keeping me company, and the rain in full bloom, I felt great. Blessed, and great. It is one of those moments when I shove all those other problems aside, and simply celebrate the beauty of living; when there is nothing to feel but happiness...

Babaw ko noh? ^_~

...Or maybe not. For life is really all about taking notice and falling in love with the simple things. Like the beautiful rain. :)


"You have your brush and colors, paint your paradise, and in you go." - Nikos Kazantzakis

On the background: Magic by Ben Folds Five

I looove "Amelie"!

You must have heard about this French film showing on selected moviehouses in Metro Manila. I first got to see it from Review Night in Cinema One, and the critic gave it a positive review, and me being such a French lover, had been jonesing to watch it. Lucky me, because our Film100 professor required us to watch it.

The nearest cinema having "Amelie" was Shangri-La Mall. So off we went there, me and my college sis, and to our surprise, there were only the three of us inside the moviehouse. (After a while though, someone came in, so that made us four.) Heehee. And to think I was incredulous when my professor the other day told us that there were only ten of them watching "Utang ni Tatang!"

Basically the story's about Amelie, a highly-imaginative young lady, who, in her desire to overcome such sad childhood and have a change in her life, decided to be a do-gooder. Not your ordinary do-gooder there, though. She searched the whole of France to look for a certain old man, that she may give to him his treasure box, which he had during his childhood, and was just recently discovered. She made up a letter to send to her concierge, which was supposedly from the concierge's husband, just so she would be led to believe that he didn't really cheat on her. She stood up and had revenge on a nasty fruit vendor for picking on his meek employee, by exchanging his toothpaste with footcream, setting the alarm clock to a ghastly early time, and messing up with his house's electricity. You get the picture.

The flick had me right from the start. The pace was incredibly fast, which was a major thing for me, because usually if I don't dig the first few minutes of the movie, I'm all set to yawn and forget about watching the whole damn thing. The movie kicked off with a fastforwarded sequence of dancing cups, wriggling sperms and a baby Amelie sprouting from her mother. Definitely interesting materials you had there. All throughout such display of interesting characters, objects and situations was sustained, like talking photographs, heart on embers, literally melting Amelie, and many others that challenged the imagination. It was fabulous, that for a while there, I felt as if I were really trapped in Amelie's world.

Amelie's world. There's a nice ring to it, because the movie wasn't just about Amelie, but the world, the environment she was living in. It wasn't just her story, but there were people in her community whose stories made up for wonderful footnotes.

Then there's the lovely love story, which was the main highlight of the entire film. The seemingly endless chase of Nino and Amelie which of course, just like your usual fairy tale, ended up in a "happily ever after".

It was too imaginative of a movie. An absolute fun, it was injected with lots of good mush and humor. It's just sad though that only four resonating laughters were heard on that moviehouse. But then, when the credits rolled, and the lights were on, I found out two more persons were with us. Not bad! :)

On the background: Pattern Against User by At the Drive-In

Things I Learned/Discovered/Realized This Week:

* Producing a ten-minute newscast production is so tough, it takes 2 weeks of preparation.

* That's why I am not considering it as a career.

* I am considering law, though.

* Just kidding.

* But it's fun sashaying along the hallways of UP College of Law, with all these law books on my arms, and people thinking I'm actually a law student.

* We look up at the Americans too much. We adopted the US Constitution without considering the U.S. background and conditions, e.g., the president and the vice president always come from the same parties.

* In line with that, we shouldn't have a bicameral congress. Just look at the brouhaha.

* Jose de Venecia is one nasty, old, traditional politician.

* No, I insist that he does not look like Garfield, like what my mama told me.

* My mama is so cool, playing brick game and all.

* The term "O.K" came from "Ol Korek", Andrew Jackson's incorrect spelling of "All Correct." He is said to be the dumbest American president.

* I don't know if that's true, though. Our prof just told us.

* I am turning twenty next year. Oh my God.

* But then, so are my friends. Hehe.

* My virginal experience with Anne Rice is exquisite. I have just started reading the "Violin".

* Leo Buscaglia writes about love so...lovingly.

* I have to reread "The Catcher in the Rye." Holden Caulfield is still the bomb.

* I should've done...er, forget it.

* "Living in Oblivion", the movie we watched for our Film100 class is sooo funny. You guys should watch it.

* Sometimes, it's nicer to watch experimental/alternative films than the mainstream ones.

* If you know how the proprietors operate and manipulate their newspapers (for eg., Emilio Yap on Manila Bulletin), you wouldn't want to read them anymore.

* My journalism class under Sir Arao is ,thankfully, not boring.

* I have this (fleeting) desire to shift to Creative Writing.

* I miss writing.

* I just have to accept things as they are. Painful, yeah, but well, that's how life goes.

* I am still stubborn to comply, however.

* There is no money in FM Broadcasting.

* But I am still going for it, anyway.

* My Winamp's not busted after all. Just had a minor prob with the panning bar. (To think all this time I thought I have to uninstall and reinstall the whole thing.)

* There's nothing like a surprise telephone call to perk your week.

* Last Wednesday's rain was really therapeutic.

* God gives you signs when you ask for it :)

* I need to move on.


***************************

Peyups, the UP Online Community, presents "Rock Enroll", a rock concert at the UP Bahay ng Alumni. Go, watch it! :)
I am not sure if I can make it, as Erwin, a.k.a my constant concert companion and mosh pit guardian, has yet to confirm if he's going. I am supposed to meet up with (kuya)Karl, the administrator of the site, so he can introduce me to people who can give UP gigs to Setenta Nobenta. Yipeee.

On the background: The Dolphin's Cry by Live

A poem I created a week ago. Wanted to post it in the mainpage but I figured out, na-aah.

When Love Doesn't Feel Like Love At All

Empty. Two hearts touch themselves and feel...nothing.
Pound a million times. But each beat renders a sting.
So the hearts decide not to dance for a moment
Hide in their cocoons. Then everything is silent...

She reads her diary and the memories fly
From the pages. Then she gazes up at the sky
If the diary can contain the sweetest past
Why not her, the writer of her love, make it last?

He reads his diary and ruefully shakes his
Head. The diary's about the kiss, the bliss
Of first dates, first dance, sharing dreams and holding hands
Of memories, nothing but memories. He stands.

And picks up his diary and goes for the door
His feet, cold and bare like his heart, frighten the floor
A walk in the park to clear his head (and hush his heart)
On his way, he tries to ignore the house athwart.

It is her house. And she sees him walking, head down.
Look up, she whispers, I'm pretty on my night gown
But the wind ignores her whisper and her sad tears,
That drop all the way down to the diary's dog-ears.

He clutches his diary close to his chest, who knows
Maybe by doing so, the words will rouse the ghost
Of her. Of her sugar smile. Of her lovely face.
He welcomes the ghost and his one last taste of grace.

She looks at him from the window til he's gone
She wants to follow him. The courage to do so? None.
For why follow someone who's not there anymore?
Rejection is more bitter than the sorrow she bore.

The ghost of her is far from enough, he believes
As he listens to the song of the rustling leaves.
Win her back, it says. But he shakes his head once more
Why win back someone who is not there anymore?

...All throughout, the hearts remain passive and reserved
Asking themselves if the nonchalance, they deserve
Will love find its way back to where it was once before
Even when love does not feel like love at all?

Footnote: Someone commented that my verses, being stuck in rhyme, are too limiting. Not quite natural. Too thought-out. I know she meant well, and I believe her.

That's my problem in attempting to create poetry: I do a lot of rhyming, that I forget to concentrate on the message that I want to convey. I want it to sound good at the expense of it not *being* good. Hmm.

This calls for a challenge, I reckon. I am not great in experimenting with free verse, but hey, I'll try :)

If you want real poetry though, check this out. Now, he's the man.

***************************

School just started the other week, and now I want vacation.

If ever you know upcoming gigs which are in dire need of an amateur band, at no cost at all (!!), please let me know. I am semi-managing a band, Setenta Nobenta, and we are desperate for exposure. Hehehe. :)

On the background: Sunshower by Chris Cornell

I was supposed to download the following songs: "Camera One" by Josh Joplin Group, "Run Like Hell" by Kittie, "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional and "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore (told yah I am mad about the movie). To my dismay, though, Audiogalaxy is not available for downloads anymore. Waaah.

On the background: Denmark by The Ocean Blue

There was this community somewhere in UP, a place called Baranggay San Vicente, where people from the lower class of the society lived harmoniously and peacefully.

Until May 13 came.

On that fateful day, most of the houses from the baranggay were demolished, leaving thirty five families homeless.

Eight-year old resident, Cecilia, died from a heart attack, after witnessing such monstrosity.

The struggle to reclaim the land has yet to be won.

We went to Baranggay San Vicente this morning, checked out the site, videotaped it for our newscast production, and interviewed some of the residents. A student-activist, Jon, from the UP Diliman-Anakbayan told us everything about the situation, from the history of the baranggay to the latest goings-on in the court. Then Mang Francisco, the spokesperson of San Vicente, let out his sentiments, particularly stressing the fact that the land belongs to them. Other student-activists (Anakbayan has their own outpost in the area) provided more information.

It was almost appalling to hear that demolitions indeed happen. It's different when you get to see them from TV, or read them from the paper (I myself was a bit nonchalant when I read about the San Vicente demolition from the Philippine Collegian). But when you're in that exact place where houses used to stand, and get to talk with people who used to live in those houses, it's all too humbling.

On the background: Silence.














Oh boy! Oh boy! Garfield is 24 years old today..whooopeee! Haha, as you can see, he ain't that happy about it :9

I adore that cat. I positively, absolutely, definitely adore that cat. He's stuck inside of me, and there's no
way I can shake him out. I don't know what I'll do without him. That's a sappy remark, that previous sentence, but no kidding. I think I have almost anything Garfield in my room, from shoes to the extension phone I just bought last summer. Garfield is not just an animated character for me, he's more than that. He's a real, fleshy, tubby, orange-striped cat full of angst and sarcasm, but endearing and darling, nevertheless. Garfield is probably the only one I can think of who remains adorable despite the mean demeanor.

I have to applaud Jim Davis for creating Garfield. I don't even want to think of Davis getting old, and having to die like Charlie Brown's Schultz. Morbid thought, I know, but I can't help it.

There is just so much about Garfield. From his anti-mailman, anti-Nermal campaigns to his clamor for his bear, Pooky, you can't go wrong with him. He is not boring, and not a bit hypocritical. Hey, we can even relate to his Monday blues, his passion for coffee, and even - gasp - his atrocity against diet!

I love him soo much. And I know, forty, fifty years from now I'll still be that girl who goes giddy over the sight of the big, fat cat that is Garfield.