Author: elizavictoria

book swap night, and other random happy things

The Book Depository site says my three books have all been dispatched. If all goes well, they should arrive within the week!

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Speaking of books, book swap with the girls (now also with Almi) at Starbucks 6750 Saturday night.

(Thanks to Andrea for the additional photos.)

Bought a cake and drink for poor Jaykie, who was sweet enough to drive me through hellish EDSA traffic.

Was it simply because it was a Saturday? It was awful! We left QC at around 6 and arrived at my place at 9 pm. We wanted to eat dinner in the Glorietta area, but the drive made us so hungry that we just decided to stop at the nearby KFC.

(I’ll tell you a secret: I had rice. I know! But I was so hungry!)

What went down:

  • I got these books, while I lent Atwood’s The Robber Bride, French’s The Likeness, Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts, and Carljoe’s The Kobayashi Maru of Love. (Andrea’s copy of Jonathan Carroll’s Glass Soup not in picture.)

  • Fruit Ninja! Angry Birds! Nail polish!

  • That very intelligent game where somebody asks a question, gives a page number and line number, and you have to find the answer in the book you’re holding.
  • Example: “Who is your ideal partner? See Page __, line ___.” Me (checks book): “‘woman, right?'” (This actually happened.)

  • I think the people around us were looking at us funny. But this is a book club! I swear!
  • It’s not really a book club.
  • A little girl named Kylie wandered into our corner. Cute kid, probably powered by espresso. I think she liked Jaykie. Big bear! :D

  • The girl sat on Almi’s lap first, so I guess that means she’ll have a baby soon? Hihi.

  • The little girl’s companion (father? uncle? brother) introduced himself and said he does tarot readings in Robinson’s (Galleria I guess?). He also gave us his number.

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The Mothership gave us this commemorative watch (made by Swatch). The company workshop that preceded it wasn’t so bad either.

So shiny! I love it.

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Badminton Friday. On Saturday, I did four rounds around the oval, so that’s at least 8 kilometers. I took an Alaxan after! Ha! I should get used to the pain.

poetry sales

  • Stone Telling will be reprinting my poem “Sodom Gomorrah” in their much-awaited Whimsy issue. My thanks to editor Rose Lemberg. The piece originally appeared in (the now sadly defunct)Writers’ Bloc (Rutgers).
  • Basement Stories will be reprinting my poem “Dreams After the Storm” in their upcoming fourth issue. My thanks to editor James Dent. I sent them an edited version of the piece that appeared in Rocket Kapre’s Ruin and Resolve anthology, which was published to help the victims of Ondoy and Pepeng.

Sooo I’ll just be here waiting for the contracts and editing notes. Will link to the pieces once they’re live on the respective sites.

:)

on japan

What happened in Japan was the worst disaster I have ever seen and heard in my life. An earthquake followed by aftershocks with magnitudes comparable to major earthquakes (a magnitude 6 earthquake marked as an “aftershock” – can you imagine?), a tsunami that swept through the Pacific and reached the coast of California, a possible nuclear meltdown in one of its power plants, and fatalities possibly in the thousands.

The earthquake was so strong that it moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet and shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches.

I can still remember how terrified I was when I realized that wishing the tsunami away wouldn’t do any good because it was already on its way, it was only a matter of time. At least 20 countries were warned and monitored the wave as it approached, like victims bracing for impact.

Thankfully it didn’t do damage in the Philippines.

Thankfully it didn’t happen in the Philippines, or we wouldn’t have survived it. We are so ill-equipped, so ill-prepared, and so stubborn.(Remember the concerns raised after the tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004? When Ondoy came years later we still didn’t have enough rubber boats to rescue stranded citizens. Jesus Christ.)

Thankfully we didn’t revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. One earthquake, and we’d surely be covered not only with rubble but also with radioactive fallout.

I’ve always been against nuclear energy -just so many risks, and where will we stash the waste? – but I didn’t wish to be validated in this way.

Nature operates on the principles of balance and cycle and order – it does not operate on morality. It doesn’t happen to you because you’re evil, it does not not happen to you because you’re good. That’s why to die or suffer from nature’s effects is so painful, because you are not taken into consideration, because you cannot blame anyone, because you cannot ask for mercy.

But I do so fervently hope nature would spare us and allow people to rebuild in peace.

the weekend

Friday! Early lunch at Army Navy and Frutti Froyo c/o Jaykie and family. Burned calories in badminton (where I thought I would win against J, and then didn’t). Off to the mall to buy stuff for the boyfriend, puttanesca and pizza at Sbarro, then home. Got drunk on House (Season 5 and some of S6) and Pretty Little Liars. Slept. A lot.

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Was finally able to watch Tangled with my mother and sister. I watched it in 2D, so I don’t know if it’s more exciting to watch in its intended format. I do agree with Roger Ebert’s contention though that colors appear dimmer in 3D. Not to mention that the 3D glasses are cumbersome and the illusion, albeit nifty, give me slight headaches. I’d like to avoid 3D now.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think much of Tangled when I first saw the trailer. Ack, another Disney re-imagining of a fairy tale highlighting love and cuteness – and it’s not even Pixar-made! I wasn’t excited about it. What else can you change about Rapunzel’s story to make it fresh and interesting?

I was so glad to be proven wrong. Thank you for the songs and the lanterns, Disney. If ever you felt the urge to translate this film onto the stage as a musical (and what a lovely musical it would make! Imagine the set pieces!), I’d see it in a heartbeat.

(And this should have won Best Song over Toy Story 3. Yes, I’m dissing Pixar for you, Disney. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME. I’m a horrible person.)

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Commercial break: My story, “Voyage to Bathala”, will appear in the March 19 issue of the Philippines Free Press, available in bookstands by March 16. :) Do buy and read?

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So I received payment for a story sale via PayPal instead of via a paper check, and I realized, instead of sending back the money and demanding the check, might as well use the funds to – what else? – buy books online. (The first PayPal payment I received was for a poem, and I used that to donate to Duotrope. It’s a very helpful site.)

I’m so 21st century. (I don’t buy things online. I don’t have a credit card. And I don’t even have an ebook reader. And I hate iTunes with all of my being. I’m still not so 21st century, it turns out.)

Books, old and new, are offered at reasonable prices at the The Book Depository, an online bookseller based in the UK, and they offer free shipping to the Philippines! (Exclamation points!!!) So I got Tana French’s Faithful Place, a book that’s already available here but only in (expensive) hardcover, and Lauren Beukes’s acclaimed novels Zoo City and Moxyland, books I can’t find here anywhere. All for around 26 dollars, or around a thousand pesos.

One story = three books. Not a bad trade. Hope the books get here safely, and soon.

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I’ve been feeling rather sad these past few days for whatever reason, but the weekend was able to exorcise all the bad vibes. There’s no place like home.

behind the veil

Leaving this here:

“Veil of Ignorance” by David Barr Kirtley

 

Cool concept, interesting read. Never heard of the thought experiment “veil of ignorance” before reading this story, so thank you Mr. Kirtley for introducing me to it.

black swan

Saw Black Swan last night, after finding out that True Grit has been yanked out of the Ayala cinemas. For shame, we really wanted to see the Coen brothers’ film. But no regrets, the Natalie Portman-starrer is worth its ticket price.

We summarized it thus: Nina should take it easy. Or: Don’t do drugs and dance ballet. But that’s not to belittle this gorgeous film, which I still found gripping and hypnotizing and intense even after seeing it for the second time. Winona Ryder still made me jump, that <expletive>.

In the film, Nina the ballerina grapples with the problem of how to lose control and exude evilness in a dance that requires complete control, and a lightness that should remind one of angels. Finding the solution to this problem breaks her, eventually, because the body and the mind can only suffer enough injuries.

The first time I saw the trailer I knew – just knew – that I would love it: ballet + psychological horror + character fragmentation (+ okay that lesbian kiss intrigued me harhar + Nina’s make-up as the Black Swan is just lovely). Body horror is indeed horrific (“The Metamorphosis”, plus the Philippines’ many legends of transforming sinners, like the “Alamat ng Pinya” – have you ever considered how fucked up the “Alamat ng Pinya” is?), and this film made the ethereal swan look monstrous.

I’ve read a review online saying the film only made the reviewer ask more questions instead of giving her answers and I think: What questions, and why do they have to be answered? The film shows a young girl’s descent (or ascent?) to insanity. It is not a mystery that needs to be solved, it is meant to be experienced.

Why ask questions? There are no answers here.

Was finally able to drag myself out of bed and run this morning. I’ve been having leg pains since the Inquirer fun run (and I only ran the 3K race!) so I wasn’t able to jog on Monday and Tuesday.

But oh, look, leg muscles.

My flabs remain, sadly, for I am fed by 7-Eleven/Mini-Stop/McDonald’s/Chowking/KFC. I weighed myself yesterday, and yep, still haven’t lost a pound since the last time I dropped some (meager) weight. Hay hay hay.

Every time I eat something tasty vile (like fast food) I think, Well, my dear, you get what you deserve.

But that’s not true. There are people who can eat burgers every day and still remain model-thin.

Too bad I’m not one of them. Sigh.