Happiness in a new feed.

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It's here

WHEREAREYOULEO.blogspot.com is the new address!!

I promise, it will be better.

Three hundred sixty posts later....

I decided to make a new blog. And this is the 361st post. Of course, out of sheer sanity, I won't delete this one. Those 360 posts couldn't be recreated in one day and I value my time. I won't throw away a few year's work out the window for moving out.

To make this somewhat abandonment less literal:

Lets pretend I'm insanely rich. I'm just buying a new house but not selling the old one. Being insanely rich, I won't bring anything from the old house to the new one, instead, I'll buy new stuff for the new house. Sounds appropriate.

The important thing is I'm putting up a map here so it won't be hard to drive to my new house.  The question is when.

Soon enough. After I actually buy the new house, fix the papers and know the address.

(It could have been easier if it was less figurative but where is the fun in that? It would be sadder saying "leave this blog" "moving to a new blog" "away from this blog" rather than "buying a new house" "living in the new house". I'm a genius at dressing up sad news. I need a TV show!)

I'm so bored

because everything is so boring. I can't find anything to blog about.

in house arrest

I'm having a horror of a headache, sore muscles and numb eyes. I look like refuse from a war but the only thing I have been physically fighting with are my pillows and bed. It has finally came, the paralysis of anticipation.

Weh. I just made up a name for the increasingly frequent days of being in house arrest. I just spent more than a standard day under the roof of our dwelling without any desire to get out into the sun. With an internet connection, who needs the outside? Well, actually, I do. The headache must be punishment from too much rest, sore muscles from being as playful as a dead log and the numbness around the eyes must be from the marination in radiation courtesy of my laptop screen.

College will be arriving in less than two weeks. Two whole weeks will not be able to prepare me for several years in college. The beginning will come and after it, a lot of years being in the middle. I can't be blamed for turning myself into a caveman. This is excitement and fear taking over.

BTW: Tomorrow, I will be heading out into our dwelling deep in the boondocks. I will be sorting out the rest of the things I will bring with me to the capital city. My mother has contacted a brave soul who will refine my driving skills. Let us all hope for patience from him. 

The Bipolar Fingers of a Warring Mind

Please don't read previous posts. My attempt at writing without inspiration are utter failures that reading those posts myself makes me want to cover my face with a bag. The way I write can be extremely bipolar. On one post, I'm very happy and humorous then dead serious on another one. I hope this is just a phase and I'll get over it - or at least the shift in mood occurs with a pattern. Moody Mondays, Serious Sundays, Funny Fridays, Trashy Tuesdays etc.

I've been reading the Life of Pi for the past few days and my mother made me promise I read at a slower, more stable pace. If given time (which is presently abundant), I could read a book in a day and instead of resting after an ending, I crave for another book. Of course, a financial burden. I am deeply sentimental. If I finish a book, my head turns into mush if I don't digest another one. Its like eating Shakey's Mojos and thhe basket suddenly runs out of supply so the mind goes into a state of delusion. This happened when I finished "Catcher in the Rye". I was trembling, looking for something to fight the post-book, cranial turmoil with (which temporarily was Hyperion by Dan Simmons). Just another proof of my broken sanity.

I also have weird thought patterns when it comes to purchasing. I want something and start imaging how hard my life is having to live without it, further convincing myself into needing. Then I ask for funds which I would have to wait for. While in the wait, I fantasize about how life would be so much more wonderful after buying the thing which by now, I could have needed just like everyone needs being loved. Then when I get the money, I get a last look before the purchase, all the wanting turns into cautious worrying. What if I buy this and its not worth the money? What if my financiers' support meant pain for them? What if I'll get tired of this item which a while ago I needed so much? Now, this proves a broken sanity is optimism.

My mother allowed me to drive the car from our small trip to the mall. By then, I was pretty confident with my skills in driving. In first gear, I nearly bumped into a lifeless car parking a few meters away from ours. I spent the standard few hours in driving school. I think this figures I need at least a decade worth of driving practice. Very, very sad.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

To continue the trend of reading books repeatedly suggested then ignored, I bought the book Life of Pie to ward off boredom for the next few days.

Six millions copies in print. International acclaim, popular in over than 40 countries. 2002 Man Booker Prize winner. Probably one of the books where I end with, "Damn, I should have read that a long time ago!"

Kung Fu Panda 2

I watched Kung Fu Panda 2. After the movie, I was confused whether I watched the movie because I wanted to see it OR because I wanted to try the cool mobile phone-scanning ticket printer.

The movie’s screening schedule wasn’t so convenient that if I will avoid buying the pricier, 3D seat (which often entailed serious migraine afterwards), I had to either skip taking a bath or come home the next day. My eyes weren’t so happy when I decided to buy tickets for the 3D version. 

The thing is I don’t really enjoy cinema in 3D. Instead of being realistic, they just look slightly ‘cooler’. It looked more like a diorama than a scene actually happening in front of you. I’ve seen movies especially made in 3D in Singapore and Indonesia. They were usually shorts and it’s there you actually experience having virtual objects thrown at you all the time and there is way more action than the dioramas in cinemas.

WHAT I THINK ABOUT KUNG FU PANDA 2:

It wasn’t completely a waste of time if I wanted to waste my time in the first place. Although I didn’t expect much art from a movie set in historical China where all society figures were zoo animals, I also didn’t expect shallowness. 

It is hard to imagine they are all Chinese. Photo from here.

A lot of animation films have scripts suited to cater to an extremely wide age bracket. That is how they become successful and appealing. If you watched those films as a child and watch it again as an adult, its almost as good as watching two different movies. KF Panda 2 (I can’t even be bothered to type in the full name all the time) wasn’t like that.

It was a little too shallow although they were parts that made me laugh. But when the laughter dies down, I go back to the flat, comatose state.

Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care

My first Picoult experience was watching My Sister's Keeper, a movie made from one of her bestselling novels. A friend suggested I read another book by hers called "House Rules", a story about a boy with Asperger's syndrome being tried for homicide. I was at the shelf, holding a copy of that book when my gut-feel replaced it with Handle With Care, still Picoult's.

For one, Picoult has a fascination with stories revolving around families with someone severely disabled in them. My Sister's Keeper, House Rules and Handle With Care all deal with sickness. Come to think of it, its easy to understand why.

Disabilities in children are no one's fault. You have a problem but you can't really find a definite beginning or end. Its given to you and you just bear it, you can't complain or find a solution because it won't bring any good. Its painful, dramatic, complex and touching. Its a perfect formula for an appealing bestseller -- but I am not saying that it is an easy formula to brew.

Picoult is a very good writer. Her ability to imagine her characters, give enough backbone to them and make them all seem real is just exceptional. There were parts of the book where I would sigh because of heartbreak. She writes so well, simple and very human that along the pages you forget it  is all just fiction. But that is what makes a good fiction writer, the ability to make everything so real.

The book is about Willow, a child with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). It is a very rare congenital disease caused my mutation in the genes. Its no one's fault, not even genetics. It just happens. Willow is a wonderful character, very young, but can't be normal because OI has made her bones severely brittle, a simple bump will cause a fracture. Everyone loves her, especially ridiculous hospital bills.

Desperate to achieve her desire of giving Willow a comfortable future, Charlotte, her mother, sues her obstetrician, coincidentally Charlotte's best friend, for money. The law suit becomes a huge controversy and begins to question everyone's beliefs and ultimate desires.


The book is presented in a way understanding each character's view clearly is extremely easy. Appropriate because in stories like these, there is a lot of understanding to do. Willow's father, older sister, mother, the obstetrician Piper, her husband and daughter, going through a tough time because not all children are born perfect to the world, but each one is born perfect to a mother.

****

The story is good, the method of storytelling is exceptional. I can't imagine how the characters could have been introduced or built better. I fell into the world of the story. It was heartbreaking and its a very bad book if you can't handle the tough side of reality. Its also a big book, perfect for lazy summer days.

Well, it wasn't really fun given the whole plot. Everything you expect from a book with a suffering child is there - but there is a lot more. When you buy it then read it, its really easy to understand why it is a bestseller.

Lucky, Lucky Me

I went into Starbucks (Iloilo) today to get a caffeine kick and something to chew while I read Jodi Picoult's "Handle with Care". I was pleased to know they can use soy milk for brews for a small fee. The cashier smiled when their machine's printer started spitting out a long receipt for my routine Caramel Macchiato for "David".

"Congratulations sir. You won a coupon for a free drink next time you come around. Just go to our website..."

Her voice trailed off as I contemplated on how the cosmos had been especially kind to me for the past few days.

"These coupons come up randomly and rarely.Congratulations again, sir!"

I felt the Starbucks crew was almost genuinely happy for me. Its just I have been very lucky lately.

Just like dogs

My favorite favourite band.

500 Days of Summer

To save myself from breaking my sanity against the eccentricities of psychological thrillers, I sometimes dip into the genre of love. Romance isn't really my thing as I have sworn to celibacy, that is until I finally get the hard kick of needing a partner. As of now, the internet, coffee and good friends keep me full and content. Well, most of the time.

I have heard of 500 Days of Summer a couple of times already. I'm the type of person who dips myself into a lot of communication, usually paying a brutal amount of attention, then having less than the required inspiration to actually do things - things like watching films plastered with good reviews. 500 Days of Summer appealed to me only when I saw a link for the trailer on YouTube (bizarre, given its not really new). On the trailer it said it was an entry to the Sundance Film Festival. That hit me. I enjoy festival films. 

So I got a copy and started watching it. What I had in mind was 500 days of courting, blah blah blah, a calendar-based pointing out of how a boy learns to love a girl and how 'love' is so incomprehensible. But no. It got straight to the point. Boy falls in love with a girl who doesn't give a damn about the relationship. Boy thinks they could get over a  break-up, girl ends up marrying another guy. All the while, the girl is perfect. So the boy is the loser. Well of course, until the last part that is.

I imagine it as the ideal break-up movie. If you and your future life partner suddenly had to walk on different paths, to never meet again, it would be heart breaking. I find sitting in front of the TV, watching this film beside an Everest of tissue paper, digging in a pail of ice cream or/and chugging down a city's supply of alcohol the sanest way to get over a relationship. I've never been committed then broken enough to do this but thanks to this movie, I already have plans.

Lesson learned: Skip the drama. Be rational. Know where you are standing and if the ground falls apart, look into the dark side. Its a mind thing. Every wonderful nice girl has another angle (except, maybe, Drew Barrymore and Georgina Wilson). In fact, everyone has a side that stinks. So if someone gives you shit and you think fighting back is futile/immature/too much physical activity, just shatter their image in your mind. Again, the brain is powerful. A little tweaking can really make you happy. Perspective, perspective.

About fate, I'm not really sure I believe in the power of the cosmos. Coincidence must happen once in a while, doesn't it? 

Have you seen my COPY? HAVE YOU seen it?? Have you!?

I read the book in a span of two weeks. Its a vivid, infinitely-detailed telling of a small fraction in the life of Holden Caulfield. A character so odd that it took me the whole book to realize that we have more similarities than I imagined. He is either representing a phase or a layer that exists in all of us all the time.

After I read the last lines, I was sent into this whirlwind. I wanted to throw up, I was shaking and felt very uncomfortable. I felt like my insides were scooped out and replaced by a whole begging for something. I went to the mall to find another book to get rid of the hangover and all the time, my eyes were out of focus and it felt as if half of me does not belong to the world of my senses. It was really weird and for a while, I feared that I'll become obsessed with this book. I feel like the chances of me waking up tomorrow hugging my copy isn't very slim.

In my present state I can't really make a review so here is a link. Its my friend's article on the Philippine Star. The book has been repeatedly suggested to me by a lot of pop culture references and friends so when I saw her get one, I finally complied.  

Now on to Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care. Its my first time to actually read something from her. In the store, Handle With Care sat beside House Rules, also authored by her. Both deal with children who have diseases. I think I'll enjoy the emotional roller coaster she can deliver. I don't understand how in evolution, the enjoyment of melancholy by fiction became entertaining.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

A real world conversation between an honest mother and a son:

Son: I want to be an actor, mom.

Mother: Well, you can be an actor! Just work hard for your goal.


Son: I want to be someone really good. Someone like.... Johnny Depp.

Mother: Oh! You know what? I think the family needs a doctor. Go wash the dishes while I fill up your applications for med school!
 

I am a fan of Johnny Depp. If you can give flesh and heart to a character I can hardly imagine exist, you must be a very good actor. 

I just watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth of the series, and I couldn't be more happier. First of all, I'm not a Pirates fanboy so I don't have a lot of context to work with. For me, the film was terrific. There was a fight scene coupled with wonderful score that kept me seating at the edge of my seat. Almost impossible because I grab all the comfort I can in movie theaters.

It was a good movie. The same formula: astounding visuals, beautiful musical score, wonderful cast and a good story.

Things I need to note: (can be a little spoiler)

Astrid Berges-Frisbey

She will be a captive mermaid. Her face, her voice and her acting will all contribute to a wonderful, heart-piercing character.And she's French. Although the mermaids were shown as monsters, I had new-found respect for them because of her.

Gemma Ward

Also a mermaid. The scene where she appears, be prepared to see goosebumps all over your body. Beauty all over the screen. And horrific screaming comes afterwards. We all love supermodels. But at first I thought she was really Amanda Seyfreid.

Although I had thoughts of delivering a shovel of popcorn into the throat of this cocky, conceited teenager who just had to tell everyone around him what is happening on screen. It was lucky that he went in to see a very good film with me. If we watched "In The Name of Love" together, he could have went home an Avox. Those type of people should be banned from cinemas.

Parents are amazing

My family's routine has been the same for the past few days. To save on electricity, we all migrate to SM City and immerse ourselves in the mall's free air conditioning. 

My parents have been seriously busy for the past few weeks and these are the times when they can unwind until another set of tasks come up. My father is in Manila for one of his favorite 'shows' in Araneta.

Yesterday, we left at around 8:30 AM for our 2-hour trip towards our dwelling in the boondocks of Sara. We reached our destination at around 6:30 PM because my mother had to go to several places for errands. There were times she looked awfully tired and declared her intentions of sleeping soundly the coming bedtime. Traveling is a big part of my parent's job.

After we arrived at our house in Sara, a call came up and we needed to return to the city the next day. Of course, it didn't sound too good. I do not really fancy traveling by land but we all had to go. So we arrived at the city, went to the mall, mailed my dorm confirmation to Ateneo, and cooled off at a resto. 

While on the car she was telling me she knows that her schedule can be very hectic and she can be very tired sometimes, but she also told me she enjoys being that way. If there is one thing in this world she dreads, it is staying at home, doing chores. 

I find that amazing. While I'm a sloth crawling on the bed, to my laptop and sporadically eating, she is running around to do things that actually matter. Still, I'm the one complaining all the time. I haven't even finished Catcher in the Rye!

This is my example on the gap of understanding between the offspring and the offspringer.

Also another thing:

Coco Mademoiselle by CHANEL

The perfume above was given by one of my mother's friend. Coco Mademoiselle was endorsed by Natalie Portman in a wonderfully neat film about women. This bottle is still full. Everyone enjoys using the Bench Daily Splash perfume instead which was once, unfortunately, endorsed by Willie Revillame. 

Now, let me mine for explanations.

The Sloth and Acronyms

These are from a few days ago. Pictures coupled with a dose of sloth often leads to late blog posts.

May 12, 2011 - I bought a national daily and in the front page:

A reminder that fangirling conquers all, even giant differences in age.

Kudos to the girl. The national paper! Wow. Cheering for a teenage pop star can never be more rewarding than having your photo end up on the front page of a national newspaper, with your fingers snapped in a twisted Asian pose. True expression of admiration, delight and of course, culture.

While reading the paper, I received a text message from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Of course, I was humbled.

They made a raffle for something as trivial as getting your receipt after purchase. So the only way out of poverty in the Philippines is hard work -- or you can join the boatloads of raffle draws available.

La Mesa Grill - Iloilo

My brain can't think of anything to write about so, to avoid anymore failures to blog, I present dinner at La Mesa Grill.

La Mesa is a wonderful place - if you belong to a group of noisy, meat-eating friends. 

Its not for intimate dinners or for banquet celebrations of someone's baptismal. Its a place for dinner-before-getting-wasted and reunions. The food, which are all local favorites, are excellent and the menu variations, pricing etc. are well done.

It was someone's birthday and opening it with your declaration of being vegetarian, in a place who prides itself of grilling meat, isn't really a good idea (and this is the spot where some vegetarians are seen as rude and preachy.) I had to eat meat.

So I focused on the seafood. I had little bites of chicken and pork but the volume I consumed of the two combined can still be dwarfed by a 5-year-old's thumb. It was more of tasting than actually eating, just checking if what I remember are still true.

So overall, its a noisy, boisterous restaurant where loud fun will be welcomed. The food is great and the service is not bad either. The place is also cozy but I forgot to take pictures. Simply put, its not worth missing.

La Mesa Grill is open daily, sandwiched between Starbucks and Moon (or is it Mooon) Cafe in SM City Iloilo SouthPoint. SouthPoint is a very tricky name given the building doesn't resemble a point, standing between Plazuela and SM.

I never knew I would be saying this

but I would love to be a pig. I need protein!

The picture above was taken at the arrival area of the Cagayan de Oro Airport. The perfect way to lure tourists is through roasted pig versions of wagyu, they must have agreed.

No one asks but I answer anyhow

I was at my favorite local cafe today. You can see on the back one of the number of shelves filled with wonderful books available for reading. Click this link and on the lower right corner you will see the location of this coffee house extraordinaire.

 

I was at the coffee shop to reunite with on of their books I fell in love with and to meet a friend who is going to lend me the last book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. The second book has been with me for over two months already but I actually just finished it one and a half hour after midnight today. I have read two or three chapters of it over five times already because I have been trying to read the book but then I end up forgetting about it. A few days later, I would remember then forget again.

I am not really a bookworm. While a lot of people find entertainment in reading, I consider it a chore. It takes me some active effort to read - but reading is worth doing when the material is precious. So I am very selective and my taste is very specific but inconstant. When I get tired or lose interest in a book, I don't feel guilt letting go of it halfway used. The Hunger Games trilogy, in one of its final twists to become a political drama in a dystopian landscape, revived my desire.

So why even bother reading when it is a chore? Because I still feel like a kid with a new toy every time I learn something new. You could imagine me as the weirdo who smiles sporadically in front of a book. I feel happiness and awe every time I spot a clever idea. These ideas usually deal with the real world and when I agree, I start recalling personal empirical proofs. My brain goes "Aha. That's right, girl/boy!".

I'm sure there is something more specific a term than bookworm for people who look into books as hope for their sanity. Without books, I couldn't have realized that I am not entirely unique, that it is possible I am living in a world where my brainwaves do not necessarily have to crash with all the others - that there are those who think parallel. Its not because those whose brain works similar to mine are good writers and are strong with words, its just there are those who are good writers and are willing to tell every other one like them that they are not alone. And that their comfort comes during a chore

 

I'm off reading the last of the Hunger Games and I'm looking forward to the film adaptation. 

 

I had several reads that became movies. People often whine about the movie ripping off the book. Technically, you can't really rip a movie.

Protein deficient in the Garden of Eden

Excuse the nudity. I was just actualizing my visions of the Garden of Eden and I am pissed off. I'm afraid the shirt I was wearing would go up in flames if I didn't take it off and we must admit that we enjoy the comfort of bare skin when we are alone.

My haircut sucks. I looked into the mirror and I see history staring back. I look like an infusion of a Nazi and an extinct mammal. My vision of clean sides and extreme top backfired into a membership to a political party. Back in the barber shop, when the barber declared proudly that his work is done, I restrained myself from scalping him.

If you are vegetarian, you will probably die of muscle atrophy in Iloilo. I looked for vegetarian protein supplements. I particularly wanted Rice Protein but the store suggested I take a weight gain milk mix. For the second time today, I had to restrain myself from doing something illegal (arson).

I don't have anything to say anymore.