All Things Are Made New

This weekend was rather full - the Ateneo Rizal library tour on Friday, the batch dinner of the seniors on Friday, the death anniversary of my grandfather on Saturday, and the school's varsity basketball games and church on Sunday.

The Ateneo De Manila Rizal Library

The funny thing is/was, I was revitalized come Monday. These were activities that filled my mind, my heart, my spirit. It's a great week to come, it's a great life ahead.

Why Do I Have Three Blogs?

Actually 6 if you count the other two floating around the Internet that I've allowed to rot in obsolescence. It may have to do with my split personality. We all have it to some degree, right?

It's just that I need to be able to organize and edit myself. Each personality, with their own web space. One is a formative, have-it-together-teacher, bemused by her everyday experiences. The other is the gypsy nomad, and this last one right here, is the book and film and music lover that falls to pieces occasionally.


And they say girls can't compartmentalize.

What's your favorite genre of music?

Indie Pop.

Ask me anything

If you could have been the author of any book, what would it have been?

I would love to have been the author of The Great Gatsby,

Ask me anything

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A detective like Nancy Drew.

Ask me anything

If you had to perform at the circus, what trick would you do?

The tightrope.

Ask me anything

Old Habits Die Hard

I discovered She and Him, the indie folk band with Zooey Deschanel through my cousin Stephen several years ago. He was one of those relatives I never knew I had. And the only one I felt any sort of kinship to -- musicwise. He was into the indie music scene, would watch live performances at NYC's The Bowery Ballroom and at one time, interviewed The Strokes for Spin magazine.

She and Him - M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel

Anyway, he would intermittently mail me "mix tapes" of some of the new stuff he'd listen to -- most of them, indie bands I've never even heard of.

One of the songs was "Sentimental Heart," which became an instant favorite for me. That line - "Old habits die hard, when ya got a sentimental heart," with Deschanel's syrupy, sad, lilting voice was perfect for the rainy August or cold December days I am ever so fond of.

It's my soundtrack every time anything that has to do with P. comes up. Just like last night. Anything to do with him usually sends me crumpled and sad and inconsolable. There is a catalogue of hurts and tiny heartaches and an ocean of regret, and I can not bring myself to get over the entire thing.

Alex The Apache

Inglorious Basterds premiered on HBO last Sunday. In that scene where Brad Pitt, as Aldo the Apache spoke in front of his Jewish recruits (I never thought I'd say this, but), he looked just like my dad.


My mission now is to look for a picture that proves my point.

I HAVE A CAMERA!

and I'm going to Vietnam.

Speaking of books..

Our school librarian chose me as Reader of the Month for August. And I chose one of my all-time favorite books - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm not sure if our high school students will appreciate this, but...

"Never Let Me Go is by Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japanese-English writer best known for his novel, The Remains of The Day. It revolves around three students – Kathy, Ruth and Tommy – who seem to live an idyllic life in a sunny, upper class English boarding school. We witness them go through the typical experiences of adolescence – peer pressure and insecurities, love and heartbreak.

But as the story unfolds, Ishiguro reveals from one sinister scene to another, how Kathy and her friends’ lives are anything but normal. In fact, the very idea of their existences makes even their teachers and guardians recoil in horror.

Ishiguro writes this macabre story masterfully. Part sci-fi, part horror tale, part love story, Never Let Me Go is replete with scenes that are normal and innocent on the surface, but are throbbing with knotted tension and heart-in-your-throat terror. There is one particular scene near the end, where Tommy and Kathy confront their old headmistress, Miss Emily, which still haunts me at odd moments and sends shivers tingling down my spine.

In the end though, the story is more sad, rather than scary. And because it is set in a believable, relatable environment, with very real, very human characters that you will come to love, the ending is all the more tragic and heartbreaking. "

I heard that there's a movie coming out this year starring Keira Knightley and Cary Mulligan. I hope it's good.