From the monthly archives: August 2008
A little over a month after I posted this, and after spending so much time looking at the store’s window at work longingly and looking at the prices of this online for the best promo I can find, I did some computations and projection of expenses and I finally gave in and bought this pretty, pretty thing:
Tadaaaa! Meet Ashley, the pink Canon Ixus 80IS that I will pay for with my blogging money. :D Note the future tense in that sentence, that is because I used Lizzie, the HSBC credit card, to pay for this first and I will pay for it in 0% interest plan for the next 12 months (or less, if I suddenly feel like paying for all of it all of a sudden). I know I could get it cheaper for cash, but for one thing I don’t feel like shelling out that much cash in one sitting, and I used my HSBC Mabuhay Miles card, so there’s miles in exchange for my use. Sayang ang miles! So, what I will use to pay for the bill for this one is my blogging money.
This is the first time I spent for myself like this. Sure, I paid for Aslan the MacBook, but this is the first time this bill is under my name, so it’s thrilling and stunning in a way. Thrilling that I actually “paid” for this with my own money and stunning because I’ve never swiped my card so much in one purchase (and don’t ask how much else I spent after that :P).
I’ve been using this camera a lot for the past week and suffice to say, I LOVE IT. I miss being able to take photos anytime I want, capturing moments and sharing the photos to my friends at the end of the day. I love playing with its effects and seeing how the photos would come out. I love how small and handy it is that I don’t have to worry about it as much as I would worry about Chimon, my brother’s 40D. Most of all, I love that it’s PINK. :D Pretty, pretty thing.
I named it Ashley, from the protagonist of Kristin Billerbeck’s Ashley Stockingdale novels. It’s the first girl gadget I have — all others are considered male. :D
Now you see why I seem to be blogging a lot lately, because I’ll be paying for this one. :P I hope my busy schedule next month could still give me time to blog, even if it’s just about book reviews, random stuff and a/c compressors. I must find time, yes?
Anyway, speaking of time, I’ve got to start working on the stuff I need to pass on Monday. Expect more photos to be uploaded in my Multiply and posted here, much thanks to Ashley. :D
Rating: 
Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything”—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
I picked this book on a random book splurge. I think I wasn’t in a good mood then, so I browsed around National Bookstore and waited a bit before deciding to buy it. It seemed very interesting among all the YA books I saw in the bookstore, plus I remember seeing some of my friends recommending her books…and so I bought it. The last time I bought a YA book (I think it was Private by Kate Brian), I was really disappointed, so I hoped this one won’t disappoint.
And it didn’t.
Just Listen is about Annabel, a seemingly perfect girl on the outside who needs no treatments for acne, but a lot devastated on the inside. The novel talks about her family, her friendships and her growing relationship with Owen, the music lover who always says what’s on his mind. Annabel, on the other hand, prefers to keep things inside her, especially if she thinks it would disrupt the “peace” that other people have. It’s not about keeping a reputation, but just looking out for them in a way that she could and at a cost.
The novel is very realistic, and it deals a lot about eating disorders, complicated friends and being true to yourself. I loved how I can still relate to it even if I’m way above the YA age (or not :P), how I managed to see myself in Annabel as I read the novel. While reading Just Listen, you’ll find yourself rooting for Annabel (and Owen) and hoping that things become okay with her. The flashbacks were seamless, almost like you were really looking into Annabel’s mind as she recalls them all.
This is the kind of fiction I love. It kind of reminds me of those YA/Chicklit books written by Christian authors that I buy, but this one is more mainstream and doesn’t talk of God. However, the lessons that the story has is very valuable, and this is something teens should really read.
Two things I wish that would happen (spoiler alert): I wish to know how Clarke lost her allergies and I kind of wish there’s some kind of resolution for Annabel and Sophie, other than them not talking anymore. Or at least, some kind of encounter. But then I guess that part is left open to interpretation and possible spin offs. :)
If only there were more Dessen books available in Manila! I found one in BookSale, which I will hunt down soon, and then I’ll look for some during the Book Fair. :D If all else fails, I’ll ask my dad to get me her books. I’m definitely a fan. :D
Life’s interesting. And hard all at the same time.
After posting my blog entry last night and while getting ready for bed, my mom and I got to talk about some family issues that she has heard recently, which, when I heard, kind of frustrated me too since the situation is just so wrong. Well, okay, not that wrong, but you know, things could be better. My mom and I agreed with what should be the right thing to do, but at the same time it made me think — is it really the right thing to do?
One of the things I’ve learned to understand as I am growing up is that I must always face the consequences of my actions. It’s quite harsh at times and painful, but I realized that this is the only way to grow. Well, okay, maybe not the only way, but one of the best ways. I’ve learned (and still learning) that one way of maturing is to face whatever is the outcome of what will happen.
For example. A guy gets a girl pregnant and they haven’t finished school yet. They decide to have a baby and the parents agreed for them to live together, under the assumption that they’d be taking care of the kid and take more responsibility, such as getting a job and paying for their share so that their family would survive. Ideally, that’s what should happen, but what if the new parents do not do this and instead, continue to be what they were before they had the kid? Like, instead of helping out in the house, they just sit around and do nothing? What if instead of saving up for the kid, they keep on spending instead on other things that would not help but instead will just satisfy their personal needs (like Las Vegas travel, but that’s a bit expensive)? What if they don’t understand the gravity of what they are, especially with the kid in their midst?
I don’t know, but I find it very frustrating to see people like that, who fall into holes that they have dug for themselves and do nothing to get out of it. Especially when you try to help them but they don’t help themselves.
But then again…who am I to judge? I’m sure I’ve done that myself more than once (not that I’ve ever had a kid, but you know, digging my own hole and falling into it). And not only that — with all my sins and darkness in me, God could’ve just chosen to turn away, leave me where I am. But He didn’t.
That’s grace, I know. And I’m more than undeserving. But God didn’t exactly give me everything I wanted after that; He changed my way of thinking which in turn helped me get out of the hole.
But what if the person’s not willing to do that? What will you do? What will I do?
Ah such heavy thoughts on a Wednesday morning, and I’m not even sure I got them all out right. I just found myself thinking of what I will do in that situation, if I were to be asked for help. Should I help? Or should I exercise “tough love” and let them learn the lesson on their own?
What is tough love anyway?
Today was sort of an extremes day. I was extremely stressed at work (well, okay, not that stressed, but stress levels were high), and what was really annoying was I was stressed at the end of the day, the worst time to be stressed ever. Bah. I’d rather not elaborate on that, but I swear, I am looking forward to my leave on September, and I will not let anyone stop me (hello, flight’s booked and will be paid tomorrow, plus we found an awesome place to stay among all the hotel deals). De-stress! I need it!
On the upside, I had dinner with my family tonight (by family, it now includes my soon to be sister-in-law. Which reminds me, I haven’t blogged about my brother’s engagement heh), and because I was the one who asked for the dinner, I paid for it. After picking up Ashley (more to her in another post!), I treated my family to Pasto and we ate and talked (about ghosts, of all things!), then went to Dairy Queen to eat dessert and finally home. It’s my dad’s last week for his leave and he will be back to Saipan soon, so there’s some kind of separation anxiety going on (at least for me, and probably my mom).
Even if I splurged today (and believe me, I really splurged), and I’m still somehow stunned with all my expenses today (and in the coming weeks), I’m actually happy. :D Maybe it’s retail therapy talking and I’ll regret it soon, but I realized, after missing Sydney and all the other stress I’ve had for the past weeks, I deserve this. And because my Sydney trip was postponed, I also believe I deserve my upcoming trip, yes?
Please just help me not to lose focus on the other important things I need to focus on, not just my personal life. I must strike a balance.
Whew.
Tomorrow’s a looong day at work so I better call it a night (and did you notice how many parenthetical comments I have in this post? Major writing no-no, I know). Good night!
Rating: 
In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want — husband, country home, successful career — but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to exmine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.
After almost a month of reading, I’m finally done with this one. To some that might be normal, but to me that’s kind of strange, because I’m a normally fast reader, and I really liked this book, which should have made me read even faster. But there were some distractions that stopped me — like work, and Breaking Dawn — which made me read this slower than usual. But really, I’m not complaining, as this book is probably one of the nicest, most feminine and most honest non-fiction book I’ve read among all that I own (coming very very close to Flashbang and Blue Like Jazz).
I’m not a big big reader of non-fiction, really, and the only ones I’ve read are usually by Christian authors. I picked this one up only because of what a friend posted in her blog, and I’m a sucker for quotable quotes/passages in books (hence, this post). Eat, Pray, Love was like a chicklit non-fiction. It was both light and deep at the same time, often very funny as the author makes fun of herself a lot, and a lot touching as Ms. Gilbert opens up her life and heart and thoughts during her year of traveling (and even going back to her childhood) to the reader.
In a way I think that even if she wrote from her own experience, there’s a general common thread in her experiences and realizations that run through all of us, especially for women. I honestly couldn’t relate to her experiences as being a divorced woman, but I can sort of relate with her feeling lost, feeling sad, needing peace badly, and even being broken hearted (in some sense, that is). Ms. Gilbert managed to touch on what I think are universal themes in a woman’s (and maybe even in a man’s) life.
Each section of the book is a gem in its own. I loved her food adventures in Italy (EAT) and it made me want to really enjoy my food (I even managed to make my own Eat Pray Love meal, haha) and visit Rome and all other places she visited just to see it. I especially loved her reflections and learnings while she was in India (PRAY). I don’t necessarily agree with everything she believed in and talked about in that particular part of her travel, but there were a lot of stuff there that I think are also what Christians need to learn. In fact, there was this part of the book where I learned something really important that helped me make my choice a few weeks back. As for her Bali (LOVE) adventure…it’s probably my least liked one mostly because I really couldn’t relate that much on the last parts, but I have to agree that I loved the people she met there, and it thrills me to know that they really are real people, as shown in the photos here (just look at Tutti!).
The book isn’t preachy, but instead it feels like Ms. Gilbert was actually talking to you and telling you all these stories over a cup of coffee (or a bowl of pasta ;) ). It’s a comforting read — not something that you’d lose sleep over, but definitely something you’d share (or recommend or even buy instead of medical id as a gift) to everyone you know. :)
After a series of two long weekends, it makes me wonder if those two long weekends were worth it. Interestingly, right after last week’s four-day weekend (which I enjoyed very much), I got back to work and saw…there’s more work. :| And I really wouldn’t be surprised that I would be faced with even more work when I get back on Tuesday.
I wouldn’t sound this sarcastic and stressed if I was only dealing with normal work. But for some reason, life started wooshing in after this (sort of kind of) big choice I made last week, life suddenly started wooshing in. Hay life, so ironic. On top of work, there’s a presentation I need to work on and deliver next week, meetings to attend to, extracurricular things, and personal stuff I need to plan and go to — dinners, trips, etc. And I know that a few weeks ago, I’d sacrifice all the personal stuff, such as Vegas vacations and going home early, so I can finish work. But ever since I told myself I’d give time for myself after the weeks of busy-ness, I’m so ready to put my personal stuff first before anything else, yes, including work.
Talk about change. :P
But I must strike balance. Yes, balance. Work-life balance, oh yeah.
But just take a look at this calendar:
Crazy huh? And there’s still more coming, I can feel it.
But I will not think about it too much, especially since I have one more day of weekend left for tomorrow. :) I’ll get through this last week of August with flying colors. By God’s grace. :) And come September, I’ll be able to start sort of a new. :D Happy Sunday, everyone!
In our line of work, not everyone follows whatever holiday the government declare. Since most of the people at work follow different clients/timezones/countries, they’d have to follow what their client/timezone/country calls especially with holidays. But, since we’re servicing global clients, our team follows Philippine holidays, and because our country has so many holidays, you know what that means. :P
Yes, I love Philippine holidays. I don’t really agree about moving the holidays to Mondays and all, but I admit that I love having long weekends. :)
Let’s take this four-day weekend for example. Friday night was movie night at work, and my friends and I watched Wall-E, which was a really cute movie. :D It was followed by dinner with some friends and then preparations for the next day’s outing, a first for my team. There weren’t too many of us that we’d need to buy a bus to transport us all there, but there were a lot of people who came, which made it a fun event still. :D
Saturday and Sunday was a trip to Laguna with my teammates and other friends from the account and friend of friends. Fun times playing cards, videoke, billiards, swimming and of course, drinking. :P It’s been a while since I did this; and last summer outing doesn’t count because I was the organizer and this time I was just a participant. :D Got home Sunday with a major headache (haha), and slept it off until mass time.
Yesterday, I spent the day at Shang, roaming around looking for clothes and books while waiting for my best friend who I was supposed to meet. It was fun meeting up with her again since the last time we saw each other was last…May, and we hardly talk lately because of our busy schedules. Yummy (but expensive) dinner at Green Tomato, but good company, so it makes up for it.
Today, the last day of my long weekend, is the day I am supposed to do some extra curricular stuff at work so I can get a headstart on them. Of course, lazy me hasn’t started yet, but I will…in a while. :) I’ll be doing some baking tonight too, just for kicks and for a friend’s birthday this week. If this goes well, I’ll probably be baking this for the holidays too.
So that’s my long weekend. :D How was yours? :)
Rating:
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?
Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”) and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille”) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL-E.
After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.
I’ve been curious about Wall-E ever since I’ve seen the trailer, and I’m really glad that we got this movie for Movie Night at work. :)
Wall-E is pretty much a silent movie, and the first thirty minutes or so of the movie showed what Wall-E was doing in a very deserted and polluted Earth. Together with a cockroach friend, Wall-E goes by his everyday life doing what he was programmed to do (his directive) by compacting trash, but also doing some searching and collecting of random odds and ends he finds in his beat-up lunchbox. At the end of his day, he goes home, sets aside all his collections and then watches his favorite old movie Hello Dolly, trying out their dance moves and wishing for someone to “hold hands” with.
Then comes EVE, an advanced robot (with more computer memory than Wall-E) from the Axiom, where all human beings are staying because of the polluted state of the Earth. She’s an interesting robot, one who we thought was pretty but had anger management issues and is far from demure. :P Eve pays little attention to Wall-E at first, who was smitten with her and tries to win her attention. It wasn’t until she was saved from a sandstorm that she finally paid some attention to Wall-E, who tried to win her over by showing her all his random collections (including a VERY cute dance number), but it wasn’t until he showed her the plant he found that she went into hibernate mode, waiting for the mother ship to pick her up.
After the disappointing read that is also known as Breaking Dawn (sorry, I still can’t help but kind of mourn over that book, as what Toni also did), I’m back to reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite books. :) I can’t wait to read the rest of it but I’m taking it slow since it’s not for fast reading — this book is meant to be read slowly, page by page, just as how Elizabeth Gilbert enjoyed her food in Italy.
I posted this particular passage over at my other blogs and I thought I’d post it here too since it’s really, really insightful and interesting. This is also the passage I read from a friend’s Livejournal which made me want to buy the book. :D
“What’s got you all wadded up?” he drawls, toothpick in mouth, as usual.
“Don’t ask,” I say, but then I start talking and tell him every bit of it, concluding with, “And worst of all, I can’t stop obsessing over David. I thought I was over him, but it’s all coming up again.”
He says, “Give it another six months, you’ll feel better.”
“I’ve already given it twelve months, Richard.”
“Then give it six more. Just keep throwin’ six months at it till it goes away. Stuff like this takes time.”
I exhale hotly through my nose, bull-like.
“Groceries,” Richard says, “listen to me. Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best possible place in the world for it — in a beautiful place of worship, surrounded by grace. Take this time, every minute of it. Let things work themselves out here in India.”
“But I really loved him.”
“Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don’t you see what happened? The guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching. I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that’s just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. That’s just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. Heck, Groceries — you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. It’s your destiny. Don’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing.” I was actually crying. “And please don’t laugh at me now, but I think the reason it’s so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate.”
“He probably was. Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. It’s over, Groceries. David’s purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life , then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over. Problem is, you can’t accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life. You’re like a dog at the dump, baby — you’re just lickin’ at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you’re not careful, that can’s gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it.”
“But I love him.”
“So love him.”
“But I miss him.”
“So miss him. Send him some love and light every time you think about him, and then drop it. You’re afraid to let go of the last bits of David because then you’ll really be alone, and Liz Gilbert is scared to eath of what will happen if she’s really alone. But here’s what you gotta understand, Groceries. If you clear out all that space in your mind that you’re using right now to obsess about this guy, you’ll have a vacuum there, an open spot — a doorway. And guess what the universe will do with that doorway? It will rush in — God will rush in — and fill you with more love than you ever dreamed. So stop using David to block that door. Let it go.“
- Eat, Pray, Love: A Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert, pp. 197-199
Beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve already dog-eared a lot of pages in this book because of all the quotable quotes I found, which I will copy in my journal for easier recall. :D Yeahba.
Anyway, it’s another Monday and I’ve already got two meetings lined up for today, a card design to finish and a cash advance that I really need to process. Busy, busy day, no time for any other things like reading or PS3. By God’s grace, I’ll go through this day with flying colors. :)
Happy Monday everyone!
Rating:
When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?
To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife to reach the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.
So the series ends. I’ve read and reviewed the past three books and I can say that they grew to be one of my favorite and most recommended series for this year. Although I’m not as big of a fan as other people I know, I liked the books. I liked the characters (most of them, anyway), and I was very, very curious at how Stephenie would end the series.
(WARNING: Minor spoilers in the next few paragraphs)
Breaking Dawn was…interesting. There were a lot of unexpected moments, but there were also a lot of expected moments. I didn’t exactly like it that much, mostly because it seemed to have lost the conflict that was shown in the first three novels. The only palpable conflict I got there was Jacob’s when he was agonizing over Bella’s safety and humanity…but the rest of the “conflicts” were put into neat little packages that didn’t sit well with me. It’s just too…perfect. Where’s the danger? Where’s the tension between the tribes? Seriously, the blurb at the back of the book did NOT fit the novel at all.
In some ways the book was entertaining, but I felt that it totally deviated from what the first three books were about. It’s both fast and slow, and everything fell into place too perfectly that it’s not relatable anymore. One may identify with Jacob’s agony at losing Bella, but even that was watered down too. Bella became even more clingy and selfish, in my opinion, and Edward…well, to be honest, I hardly felt him. It was all, “Bella, Bella, Bella.” No wonder Bella turned to be a bit self-centered, yes? Oh, she hated hurting everyone, yes, but she still ends up doing so because of her fixation on Edward.
Saving graces of the book? I loved the Jacob parts, but the real winners in the book for me were Emmett and Seth. I loved all of Emmett’s lines (I can actually imagine Kellan Lutz being Emmett in the book now) and Seth’s childlike attitude and eagerness to help his friends and be of service to the pack (kind of like reminds me of an over-excited dog who takes pet supplements). Oh, and in a way, I was amused with the Romanian vampires who showed up, and the new vampires are interesting, but they were too many introduced at a short span of time, and it feels to convenient that they’re all “at peace” with each other.
So, all in all, although I was quite amused with some parts of the book, I really didn’t like it as much as I thought it would. It’s just…too much. Harry Potter did have a happy ending, but it took a lot of hardships (and death) before he got there. Harry managed to mature even more in the 700+ pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I was hoping Bella would do the same thing within the 700+ pages of Breaking Dawn, but…no. Oh well.
If you’re a Twilight fan, you might still want to read this, but if you’re not a huge fan, I’d suggest you stop at Eclipse. The ending of Eclipse seems much more satisfying than Breaking Dawn‘s. Plus I wouldn’t recommend this book for any of the young girls given its content.
More comments under the cut, but be warned, these are major spoilers.
