From the monthly archives: May 2009
Rating: 
Ruby can take care of herself.
She’s usd to counting on no one and answering to nobody. But all of that changes when her mother vanishes and Ruby is sent to live with her older sister, Cora. Now Ruby’s got her own room in a fabulous new house, she’s going to private school, and — for the first time — feeling as if she has a future. Plus, there’s an adorable and sweet boy next door, Nate. Everything should be perfect. So why is Ruby so wary? And why is Nate keeping her at a distance? Ruby soon comes to realize that sometimes, in order to save yourself, you’ve got to reach out to someone else.
Don’t you think that’s such a pretty cover? There’s really something about Sarah Dessen‘s book covers, and I know how much it appeals to its target audience.
Lock and Key is about Ruby Cooper, who moves into her siser’s place after her mother left her behind to fend for herself. Ruby has gotten used to taking care of herself ever since her sister left and her mom could hardly be counted on. She was so used to not owing anyone for help that when she moved to her sister Cora’s place, all she wanted to do was go back. But her new family was insistent on letting her stay and taking care of her, especially Jamie, Cora’s husband, who wanted to provide a good future for Ruby. Ruby is stuck, and despite all good things happening to her, she couldn’t help but feel wary of all this good fortune. She knows that Cora’s world isn’t her world, but she knew she couldn’t count on her mother anymore. But can she really learn to trust all the other people that’s coming in her life?
All the typical Dessen elements were in the story: Ruby, the sort of troubled child who’s left to fend off for herself; Nate, the cute neighbor who Ruby falls for but then has a secret of his own; Olivia, her classmate who she didn’t really like at first but then became friends with; Harriet, her boss at her job who was even more of a control freak than Ruby. There are also old friends who are only in the book to appear that they’re not really “friends”: Marshall, Ruby’s sort of boyfriend and Peyton, the closest thing she had to a best friend. Though not set in the summer, like other Dessen books were, this one still spanned a couple of months, almost half a school year if I got it right. There’s a lot of looking into the past, and backstories and family events and little symbolisms that made the story poignant.
I liked how Dessen was descriptive with Ruby’s past and everything around her — from Ruby’s new room to the key that she kept hanging around her neck. The thing about Lock and Key for me, however, is that it read too much like Love Walked In by Marisa Delos Santos, with the mentally unstable and possibly a drug addict mother (who would probably pay for appetite suppressants over her daughter’s needs) leaving the daughter to fend off for herself and someone coming in to save the daughter. I couldn’t help but recall that other novel while reading this one. It’s not entirely the same, but the similarities just feel a bit odd.
But if you’re a Dessen fan, you’ll love all the Easter eggs in this novel. You’ll find a character from almost all of Dessen’s past novels. I especially love it when Kristy and Bert from The Truth About Forever showed up in one scene. :D
Lock and Key is a good read, but I think it’s not really as good as The Truth About Forever or Just Listen or This Lullaby.
So it’s a not-so ordinary day at the office, and suddenly, my teammate plays a very familiar song.
I’d go anywhere for you,
Anywhere you want me to,
I’d do anything for you,
Anything you ask me to…
Ah yes, Backstreet Boys. How I miss thee.
So, on another boyband whim, we started playing and singing random boyband songs from her iPod. There was Westlife, 98 degrees and 5ive. Haha, talk about memory lane. I remember I went on a boyband mode a couple of weeks back and I could not stop listening to BB Mak’s album and LFO’s Girl on TV, and I spent like half the night looking at Youtube videos of those two bands as well as Code Red. Wohoo, teenybopper mode! (And just to add to the loserness, I have 98 Degrees’ Because of You on repeat right now. How about that.)
Anyway, so onto Youtube, I started looking for videos of the songs we sang to, and I found this:
This is probably the only 5ive song I really, really liked, and the only one in my iPod. This songs brings a lot of high school memories, even if it’s not really something I could relate to.
But the point of this entry is really not the song but what the music video meant. If you watch the entire video, it starts with two girls gossiping by the stairs about Rich (sp?) and this girl and another boy and how Rich must be “gutted”. Rich is the guy who first sings in the song, the one who’s watching so emo-like out the window while everyone else was enjoying. Then there was a shot of this other guy (is it Scott or Sean?), who seems to be flirting with this girl and then looking around the place until he spots Rich outside on the stairs. The shot goes to the other band members who seem to be having fun at the party, and then back to the two guys with Scott/Sean making funny faces at Rich and then finally going in to join the others.
I never really paid much attention to the video then because I was more focused on the song (plus any video that is not a Backstreet Boys video is really nothing to me hahahaha), but today I actually found the time to appreciate the video. I figured the real story of the video goes like this: Rich and his girlfriend broke up, and then the girl shows up at the party with another guy, which devastates Rich so he goes off on his own and does not enjoy the party. Now Scott/Sean, notices he’s gone so he talks to one of the girls (but why do they look like they’re flirting? I kind of thought he was the rival there…and that girl is so thin, she must be on diet pills) and then goes off to look for him. He sees all his other friends busy with other stuff until he finally sees him outside and tries to cheer him up, and so Rich decides to move on (I think) and joins his friends and they have fun.
Or wait, maybe the girl Scott/Sean talked to was Rich’s ex?
Haha I know, I just wasted some time on that. But it’s nice to be reminded of the good old 90′s. And to think of something not so serious, you know? How would you interpret the video?
And for your viewing pressure, I’ve got some more boyband/teenybopper/90′s music videos under the cut. See what you’re familiar with. :P
I’m taking a break from all the preparations we’ve been doing for the past few days for tomorrow’s General Assembly for our work. I figured I haven’t written anything not book-related for the past few weeks, and yes, I do feel guilty about that, at least on my blog’s behalf, that is.
So…let’s try a personal post. Hodge podge, yet personal. If you need term life insurance…well, you won’t find it here. :P
So now I’m typing this entry on my sorta brand new office laptop — a Lenovo Thinkpad T400. It’s kind of nice to have more space on my desk and to not worry about leaving any files at work and not getting access to it until I get home. Plus it’s always nice to have a new gadget, even if it’s not really mine. However, it can be kind of a pain to carry a laptop to and from work every time, and I can’t say that it doesn’t make me a teensy bit paranoid on my going home so late at night during weeknights. Now see where most of my money is going: cab fare. Hmpf. Good thing I managed to score a pretty nice laptop bag — a gray and blue Belkin Slim Backpack. It’s pretty and very comfortable to bring around, although it’s not as huge and spacey as my old laptop bag. But it’s nice. :)
I still haven’t made a Hong Kong post, and it’s been almost two weeks since our trip. Sorry about that. I just realized that with all the out of country trips that I’ve been to, I didn’t really make a proper post about it. Thailand, Saipan/Guam, Singapore and Hong Kong. Maybe it’s because I didn’t take too much pictures of myself? Or maybe because I’m just tired? Don’t really know. But I will try to write about it — I have a lot of stash to write about. Haha. :P I just hope I remember everything. ;)
Right now almost all TV shows I’m watching are now on season breaks, so now I’m watching other shows I have ignored, but are unfortunately close to cancellation/cancelled. Like Kings. I’ve always loved re-tellings, and I never thought King David’s story could be so political. Interesting. Too bad the series has been cancelled, and there’s only six episodes left. What could be done to have long-standing series anyway? Hm.
I can’t wait for May to be over. Not only because tomorrow means the GA is over, since it’s been causing us quite a bit of stress. However, June coming means half of the year is almost over…and where did the first half of the year go? I haven’t even been to the beach for the past few months! Eep! The first week of June should be a bit light on me, though — I’ve got training from Tuesday to Thursday. Finally.
There’s a lot more I should be writing about…but I really should focus on work. And do the calls I need to do. So now…I work. More later….or thia weekend. Ta-ta! :D
Rating:
A LONG, HOT SUMMER…
That’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the loss of Macy’s father.
But sometimes unexpected things can happen — things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister’s project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the boy who could turn any girl’s world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?
The blurb does not do justice with the whole book. It says a lot about the story, but nothing about the amazing characters.
Macy Queen strives to be perfect. Not because she wanted to, but she felt like she needed to. After the death of her father, she started hiding inside herself, convinced that her mother needed her to be strong. Macy tries to get perfect grades, gets the perfect (and smart) boyfriend, and is prepared to face the long summer with the things expected of her.
But with anyone who tries to avoid the proper stages of grieving in losing a loved one, it always catches up on you. That summer, Macy’s world turns upside down when she meets the Wish Catering crew. There’s Delia, the very pregnant owner of the business; Kristy, the fashionable girl who befriends Macy and gets her to go to the parties they go to; Monica, Kristy’s sister who barely utters a word (and probably can’t say a word about weight loss pill); Bert, the Armageddon-obsessed dorky guy who drives an ambulance; and finally, Wes, the guy with the past (as the blurb mentioned), and probably the hottest fictional guy I’ve ever read about. :P Seriously, there’s something about how Dessen wrote about Wes that makes me crush on him. :P
The cast of characters is one of the things that make this book interesting. I can’t imagine not having any of them there, even the two snobby girls at the library that Macy hates. Their reactions to the plot felt so real that I felt like I was there with them while reading it. I don’t think there’s any catering company that has as many disasters as the Wish catering crew did, but it’s that chaos that makes them who they are.
Story wise, it’s pretty straightforward. The things that happened aren’t that unexpected, really, like Macy’s mom’s breakdown or her leaving the job. It’s what you’d expect to happen in a storyline like this, and even if it is expected, it worked. The characters managed to carry the whole book through and leave an important lesson about grieving and imperfection.
And again, on Wes: I agree with what Sarah Dessen wrote in her book info:
I think that in a lot of ways, he was the kind of guy I was always looking for: one who wasn’t so interested in the “perfect,” girl, whoever she might be. A boy who likes flaws, who sees potential in everything. While Delia’s company may represent chaos, Wes to me is hope. To him, nothing is ever finished, or broken. It’s just waiting to be incarnated, to begin as something new, again.
Now who wouldn’t fall for a guy like that? :P
This is the type of book that I will re-read every year, just to get that tingling and fluttery feeling whenever Macy and Wes would start getting close. :) This is certainly one of the best YA books I’ve ever read. And if you’re into YA, I suggest you read it too.
In the light of The Great Book Blockade of 2009, I thought I’d answer this week’s Booking Through Thursday, since it’s highly appropriate (plus it’s actually quite easy to answer).
This week we have:
Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?
YES!
Yes, I am guilty of book gluttony! I still have about 20 or so books in my to-be-read list, and that’s not stopping me from buying new books. It started on the first time I went to MV Doulos, where I got so many books which I haven’t even started reading yet. I think I only read 1/2 of the books on the list there. Then I went to the Manila International Book Fair and bought more books and then I got a new job and got more books…and more books…and more books. Eeeh. One of my simple joys is visiting the bookstore near my office and I almost always get something there, especially if it’s payday (which is today!) or if I am past my credit card cut-off.
Not only that, but I acquire ebooks in a flash too. My ebook collection isn’t as enough to fill in compact flash cards but it’s enough to have a reading backlog. I have about 12 or so in my iPod Touch that I have yet to read.
Yes, I’m a book glutton. Once I declared a book ban — where I told myself not to buy books for at least five months at least until after I made a dent in my reading list. I…didn’t exactly fail miserably, but I didn’t make a huge dent in my reading list. Hee. One thing I found effective to stop myself from buying books is actually hiding my credit card from myself. I only buy books using my credit card because of convenience, so that stopped me. I also made conditions for myself, like I can only buy this book I’ve been wanting to buy if and only if I finish reading this other book that I have been planning to read in ages.
But I can’t help it. I love books.
Putting import duties on them might ruin my buying though, since it’s going to be more expensive soon. :|
I haven’t bought anything in the past few weeks though, because there’s really nothing that I have been wanting to buy for so long, but then visiting the new Fully Booked in our area might change my mind. Let’s see. ;)
Remember this?
I hate the way you talk to me,
and the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car,
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots
and the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick,
it even makes me rhyme.
I hate the way you’re always right,
I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh,
even worse when you make me cry.
I hate it when you’re not around,
and the fact that you didn’t call.
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you,
not even close,
not even a little bit,
not even at all.
One of my favorite high school movies (way before I knew of treadmills) was 10 Things I Hate About You, mainly because Larisa Oleynik played Bianca, the younger sister. I was such a big fan of her that I’d watch The Secret World of Alex Mack religiously, and try to catch her one episode appearance in The Adventures of Pete and Pete. 10 Things was one of the movies that I don’t think I’d ever tire of watching even if it’s already how many years old.
And boy am I glad to know about this:
Yes, it’s a 10 Things I Hate About You TV series! I can see so many familiar faces in the series: Lindsey Shaw (from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide — it’s Jennifer Moseley!) who plays Kat, the older Stratford sister; Meaghan Martin (from Camp Rock, Tess the Diva) plays Bianca, the younger sister; and Nicholas Braun (from Minutemen and Sky High — he plays the glowing sidekick in the latter) as Cameron, the geek who crushes on Bianca. I’m kind of not used to Lindsey being not Moze, but I think it fits her.
The pilot airs on July 7, 2009 on ABC Family. Guess who’s definitely watching this show. :P
Here’s another sneak peek of the show:
I meant to post this one earlier, but as usual, work got in the way.
Now, if there was anything that I know I love and will spend for (aside from my family), it’s books. I’d honestly rather spend on books than on clothes, really. And from all the book reviews I post in my site as well as the posts I write about books, it’s really obvious, right?
And this post is about books as well, but it’s really something that pissed me off when I first read about it, that I can’t believe it’s actually happening.
To make the long story short: we all know how hard it is to get stuffed imported in here from another country, unless you know someone from Customs. I’m not generalizing, but I’ve been a victim of this once, with an Amazon packaged purchased from my wishlist. I know that postal service sucks (for most part) in the country, and I am thankful to have been spared by it from the past orders/deliveries I received in the past months. But still, you know, there’s always the possibility of having a package I ordered being held up at the post office because I have to pay some kind of fee before I get it.
Now, apparently, early this year, there was this huge order on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer that reached the Philippine shores. Being very successful (ahem), it attracted the eyes of some customs officials and they demanded that duties (taxes) be paid for it.
Honestly, if I were to order something from outside the country and I’m really not in the mood to be hassled just so I can not pay those taxes, I’d probably just go ahead and pay it. Of course, we all know that’s wrong, especially when there’s no valid reason behind the additional fees, but again, who wants the hassle, right? And if you can afford it, why not?
Now the issue could have been just settled at that. I need my order of Twilight because my customers need them, so just so I won’t have to be hassled with trying to get away from the taxes and to pay for storage, I’ll just pay and get it over with. However, there is apparently a law that states that books are supposed to be tax-free. This law is called the Florence Agreement, a UN treaty where the Philippines was one of the original signatories.
I’m not much into law or any legal stuff (honestly those things make my head hurt), but I can understand that clearly enough. The Florence Agreement guarantees the “free flow of educational, scientific and cultural materials.” The reason why that shipment of Twilight was taxed because it’s not a textbook, ergo, it’s not educational. Tell me, when are books never educational? Regardless if it’s fiction or non-fiction? Or cultural, even?
Anyway, there was a lot of ruckus with interpreting the Florence Agreement (more of which you can read here), and eventually this came up: 1% tax on educational books and 5% tax on non-educational books. Who would decide if it’s educational or not? Why, the government, of course!
And again, when is a book not educational? (This really baffles me)
So anyway, there’s a lot more to this issue, and it’s really frustrating to know how this would affect us. Books would become more expensive, and because importing them would be a lot more expensive now (especially if it’s not “educational”), I predict that only the popular books would come in, and not the slightly less popular ones that are just as good. Again, books would become more expensive, and people would just resort to looking for free ebook versions instead. Or, okay, buy the ebook versions…unless someone finds a way to tax that too.
I’m being sarcastic, I know, but that’s just my ire, so forgive me. Again, I’m not too well-versed with law stuff, so I better leave the more nitty-gritty details of this to the people who know better. But please, spread the word. This entire thing is really preposterous (if I might borrow that long word :P), and we need more people to know about this issue.
Join the Cause on Facebook: Filipinos Against the Taxation of Books by Customs
The Great Book Blockade of 2009 by Robin Hemley
- The original article that started this all
Philippine Genre Stories on The Great Book Blockade of 2009
- by Kenneth Yu, with lots of reactions in it. This is a pretty long read, but it’s very, very informative.
The Long View:The Great Book Blockade of 2009
- by Manuel L. Quezon III
Essay: Clarifying the Great Book Blockade of 2009
Essay: More The Great Book Blocakade of 2009 Fallacies
Robin Hemley Responds
- All by Charles Tan — read it to calm yourself down a bit :P
A Taxing Matter
What is the street value of being human? (via Philippine Star)
- by Jessica Zafra
We Ain’t Taxing Books Here: Bookbigayan 2009
- An actual event sponsored by Rock Ed that protests against taxes on books. It’s not a rally, but rather a book giveaway. It’s on May 24, 3pm onwards at Roxas Blvd. You may donate books and get some free books — all free of course. I’m not so sure if I can attend this, but I will really try.
The Great Book Blockade of 2009 on Bookmarked!
- By Blooey Singson, and it details her dealings with MCPO and Customs.
Letter to the President of the Philippines from Rep. Teodoro L. Locsin concerning the imposition of Customs duties on imported books sent May 11, 2009
The Stupidication of the Filipino – This and That and Whatnot
- by The Jester in Exile
The Great Book Blockade of 2009
- Comic strip c/o Beerkada
Espele Sales: “Books are non-educational”
- by Jayvee Fernandez
Binay: BOC should go after smugglers, not taxing books
- From Business Mirror
‘Book Blockade’ irks Miriam; Senate Probe Sought
- c/o ABS-CBN News
GBB: Dissecting BOC’s FAQ and DOF Guidelines
More Senators question ‘book blockade’
- c/o PhilStar
Duty-Free Books
- by Dennis Gonzalez, National Book Development Board Chairman
Today in Philippine Twittersphere: fighting the Book Blockade
- by Ia Lucero
If you have an article about this issue, leave a comment here so I can link you too. :)
Rating:
A murderer is loose in New York City…and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary’s father, may be behind he killings. But if he is the murderer, then what’s his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary’s brother, Jace.
Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy.
And finally, I got to read this book. Talk about resisting from buying the hardbound version and searching high and low for the paperback version just to read this book. :P
City of Ashes picks up some time after City of Bones ended, with Jace trying to forget what he found out and Clary trying to start her life again with her best friend Simon. But being who they are and everyone knowing is not easy, especially when the Lightwoods arrived at the Institute, driving Jace away and Clary coming to his aid, even if he didn’t want to.
I’m going to stop there because if I continue saying anything else about the story it would be a spoiler already. The second book of the Mortal Instruments is just as much as a wild ride as the first one, maybe even better. There were new characters introduced such as Maia, a werewolf, and even fairies who are also tricksters in Cassandra Clare’s world. We meet the ruthless and sort of crazy Inquisitor — who’s really a she, so it may be a typo on the blurb up there — and Max, the youngest Lightwood. There are also the old characters: Magnus Bane, Luke, Raphael the vampire.
There was a point in the novel when it started to feel like there’s so many things happening and that it’s taking too long to get to the actual climax of the story but after a while, it starts to get faster and we get somewhat of a satisfying fight scene with Valentine. We also get to know a bit more of what Clary can do, and I kind of wished she did it more in the novel. Oh, and there was a lot of angst, too, but it wasn’t too much that I didn’t want to read it anymore. The ending was surprising, heartbreaking and yes, very hanging, which is why I don’t know if I can wait for a year before getting a paperback copy of City of Glass. :P
The series shows great promise, and I’m really excited to know what would happen next. :) This series seems a real keeper, and I think I may start to rave about it now since I liked what I read for the past two books. I wonder if someone will ever pick this up to make a movie out of it…or maybe offer some tv deals, but I honestly think it would be hard to give proper justice to the book once it’s made into that. So I’d really rather read the books. :)
