Hard to Port

Or in Filipino, biglang kabig sa kaliwa.

It starts today.

The life.

The fight.

The celebration.

And what this blog was supposed to be all about.

I've had enough of myself.

Betwixt and Between, Celebrations and Daring-do

I have a new favorite winning scene: Full Metal Panic TSR's last episode, when Sousuke delivers the final blow that just trounces the enemy. Loved the way the music and his words come together:


"I am a student of Tokyo Jindai Municipal High School. Second year, class four. Student number 41. I am in charge of taking out the garbage and recycling. And my name is SOUSUKE!"


Okay, it's not really obvious for the uninitiated why those lines are funny-great :) You simply have to have watched the series.

And I love how his team just stared, thunderstruck, at how he beat the enemy.


This is how it looked after. That trench behind that gray mecha? That used to be the bad guy.

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In other news, I'm enlisting in a neuropsychological assessment class. Continuing to expand my field of experience. Translation: I'm checking out if clinical work is for me. I need to know this. So, Jon Ray, looks like I'm going the stupid way and listening to my heart.


Let's see how it all turns out.


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**** is offering me a post in the **. It's a strange coincidence. Best left talked about in person though. It seems a little insensitive to write it down for everyone to see.


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This is the most disjointed blogpost ever, isn't it?

I'm Gonna Find Another You

... or not. (That's a John Mayer song title up there. Are you proud?)

...

... I don't know where to start.

There are days when I'm ok. And there are days when I am not. Today is one of the 'not days.'

I knew back then that quitting was the only thing about us I could control, so I went down that road. I was afraid that it would only end up in heartbreak for me to wait for you to make up your mind. So of course I end up heartbroken anyway and 5 months after that night, I'm still crying.

...

I'm such an idiot. How could you ever like a tanuki when you've always been surrounded by swans? And "carabaos"?

Sun, sand and a few earthquakes

Our recent trip to the beach...

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

The Thief

Remember the mental ice cream I bought? Well turns out the Newberry Honor book was great: Megan Whalen Turner's 'The Thief' series. The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. My heart has been stolen!

The setting is pseudo ancient Greece, in an alternate sort of planet Earth. There is no electricity, and the heliocentric theory is still fairly new, but watches and guns are already in use. The stories revolve around a boy (we don't know how old he is, at the start probably 14-16 years old) named Eugenides. The first book opens with him in prison, for boasting that he can steal anything... even the King's seal. For this, he is thrown in jail (both for the bragging and the actual stealing). And then one night, the king's adviser approaches him with an offer he can't possibly refuse.

And so the story unfolds, with Gen narrating from a first-person-point-of-view, and we are treated to his sharp-eyed observations, acerbic opinions, and often irreverent sense of humor about everything that goes on around him. He is a surprisingly engaging character; at first I had my doubts as to whether I would like the book, but I ended up finishing it a few hours after I got past the initial slowness of the first few pages. Because I was seeing events through Gen's eyes, and he's a very entertaining narrator.

In fact, Gen's narration is one of the more ingenious narrative devices I've come across in a long time. Although we read the story from a first-person-point-of-view, the author successfully skirts around the question of who Gen really is (oh drat, now I've blown the cover) without appearing to hide anything in particular. And so the final surprise, the final twist to the plot at the end is both wholly unsuspected and yet not wholly surprising either. We know there is something more to Gen; we just didn't know how much more.

So I suggest for those of you out there who like reading 'kids' books,' to read this one. The 1996 Newberry Honor award recipient: The Thief. And for sheer pleasure, move on to the two sequels: The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. The series doesn't look to be over; which is a good thing, except that I would probably have to wait another 4-6 years before I see the next story. The gap between books is about that long. Sigh.

Go! Go! Go! Read!

If It Would Hurt This Much...

... then why did we have to meet? --- Kagome, in tears

I thought Inuyasha and Kagome's romance had lost the power to reach me.


I guess not. Must be of a piece with everything else that's happened.


Maybe it's the feeling of being second-best. Maybe it's the feeling of never being enough. Maybe it's the knowing that no matter how much you might love someone, that you will never be first in their heart because that place is already taken...


Their story is simple, sweet, maybe even childish. But occasionally, I still find it wrenching.

"Someday I Will Love Somebody...

...who will not expect me to save the world..." --- Andrew Wiggin, THE Speaker for the Dead


Highlights of the week:


1. Monday: Worked like a horse.

2. Tuesday: Skipped class. To continue working like a horse.

3. Wednesday: Went home early. To work like a horse at home. But I couldn't solve my systems of equations. Boohoo.

4. Thursday: Mad scramble to finish the work I've been working like a horse on. We print a draft copy for the VP to see. I go off to class, with my unfinished homework. The prof kindly agrees to give an extension. Thank God for small miracles.

5. Friday: My outfit for the day was a hit. With a motley of comments ranging from: "Nakakamangha!" --- from Janet, to "Ang sexy naman!" --- from, well, various people, to "Lady'ng lady" --- from Mark, and the funniest, "Parang gusto kong pumalakpak!" --- from Rex.
On the other hand.... the work I cut class for? The VP basically didnt like how we (ahem, I, ako nga pala mostly ang responsible dun) had organized the report. But we submitted to the client anyway, and will probably be submitting another one more to the VP's liking.

So yeah, despite the dress comments, I'm broken-hearted.

Bought 2 pocketbooks (1 Newberry Honor book and its sequel), 'coz I couldn't get the pedicure I wanted. I needed some kind of mental ice cream.

6. Saturday: Attended an HRD seminar for the pet project. I'll blog about that separately, or not, depending on my mood. And I miss you. I'm depressed about the fact that I do. Lately I've been crying the tears I didn't cry the night I decided to quit you. I thought time and distance would dull the ache. It only seems to have poetically magnified it.

So yeah, I'm broken-hearted.

Bought another pocketbook (by Barbara Hambly). Trying to rekindle my love affair with books.



But I feel generally wan.

At least, ear-tweak has put up a scan of "A merciful heart."

"What a strange way in which to resemble his father."

I May Never Come This Way Again

Paul was finally able to upload the 274 (Cognitive Psychology) class picture. I've really been looking forward to having a copy of it. I'm not sure why. It was a good way to end the class.

And... the CEM Anniversary (embarrassing) pictures. (sheepish grin) The theme was Sayaw! And our department got assigned the 60's decade.

And for that effort, we won first place :) The prize money, we've spent on Crispy Pata, Sinigang na Salmon sa Mison, Ensaladang Talong, and Pinakbet from Kamayan. And there's still left-over for some ice-cream some other day. Yeah! Winner talaga. Hahahaha.

And I thought this picture was a good way to end this blog.

Seryoso?

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart. You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer... And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories. As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

And the Diamond-hard Hardness of His Heart Was Transfigured into Light

... That's 2 lines in a row now from the same author! Barbara Hambly rocks.


To know more is to love more. At least that is how it is with me. The more I know about something, or someone, the more I love them. Or the more I love, the more I love. >The harder the fall, the harder the fall? Hahahaha<. I'm saying this now because I'm beginning to realize I'm not so unteachable when it comes to music. And that the more I know, the more fun it is to know more. Right now I know that Phil Collins wasn't the first to do "You can't hurry love." Yes. Let's celebrate my small achievements. And I like Bamboo just because. I like the way they sound.

Shattering into a Thousand Green Jangling Pieces

My body is going into self-destruct. Or shut-down safety mode. I am constantly tired and sleepy, and my eyes if they don't get better may need an operation. Hopefully the antibiotic will work.


I had my sister drop the medicine into my eye. I was supposed to look up as she squeezes a drop in, look down, and without squeezing my eyes shut, swish my eyeballs around to spread the medicine. I was moving my eyeballs in a clockwise direction, while Rudd was making counterclockwise movements with her finger.

Dammit!

"Hey, you're making me dizzy!"


And she starts snorting in hilarity.


Harhar.


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He caught my eye the first time I saw him. Now he has grown in power and is coming into his father's heritage: compassion for those without the power to defend themselves. I knew there was more to him than just a pretty face.


So now it's confirmed. I LOVE SESSHOMARU-SAMA!


Scanlation! Scanlation! Scanlation!

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Interior design is not as fun as it seems. We had the pet project office walls repainted and it took us about an hour (or more) to reach a consensus on wall color choice. Gahhh. The floor tiles would be even harder. But it's gratifying to see the paint job done well and on time. Now the walls don't have mysterious, ugly, sooty handprints.

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I have this classmate in statistics class who is such a sweetheart. I bet he has dozens of older sisters. It's my pet theory. Maybe I should ask him next week.


Oh, why do I think he's a sweetheart? Nothing much really. It's just that he's the kind of guy who would pick up your umbrella when it gets knocked off your chair (even if he had nothing to do with it getting knocked off), simply because. Doesn't seem much I guess. He really had to reach over to do it, you know. The umbrella didn't fall on the side close to him. I dunno. Maybe I'm just touched by the casual kindness. He actually does his part in group works too! (then again, this should be expected since we're graduate students). If I were a guy, he's the kind of guy I would want to be.


Sounds weird I know. But I wouldn't be me if I didn't sound weird.

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Arrgghh. I have to dance the cha-cha on Sept 1. Not that I hate dancing, and didn't I say I >secretly< style="font-style: italic;">