Category: personal

hey weekend

No work on Friday! We have planned to go to Tagaytay or Baguio, but logistics problems prevailed, so that will have to wait till we enter my birth month. :)

Speaking of my birth month, J got me some early gifts, including this pair of earrings. Whee.

J’s ma got home from a long vacation in the US. We got bagels. This is turkey ham, sun-dried tomato cream cheese, carrot and pineapple cupcake. Boom. Calories.

Have you tried Sebastian’s crazy awesome crazy-awesome flavors? Try Green Mango with Bagoong (fish paste; this is actual bagoong on the green mango ice cream) and Balsamic Strawberry (strawberry ice cream with balsamic vinegar syrup).

Lovely sky from Sunday afternoon. Look.

Don Jaucian talked to some horror writers and asked them what local stories they find scary. Answers from Yvette Tan, Ian Rosales Casocot, Karl De Mesa, David Hontiveros, Douglas Candano, and moi. Read the article on the Philippine Star.

The Book Depository is giving 5 percent off on one book order, so I finally got Leningrad by Anna Reid.

scenes from the 17th

October 17th, our third anniversary. Saw this at Powerbooks (Greenbelt branch). My book at a window display! And displayed along with horror books. This made me happy.

While waiting for Looper (which you should watch) to start, I saw this cell phone-encrusted robot by Nokia on display.

Robot looks so sad. I’ll sit beside you, robot.

Looper is set in the year 2044. In 2074, time travel has been invented but is outlawed, which pushes its use into the black market and the hands of organized crime. The mob uses time travel to send back anyone they want killed to 2044, and in 2044, in a field in Kansas, a Looper named Joe waits with a blunderbuss, and shoots anyone who is sent back from the future. In this way, no body appears in 2074 that can be connected to the mob, and Joe kills someone who, in effect, does not exist, and gets a good sum for it. But what happens when the mob wants to end your contract, and sends back your own future self? Will Joe be able to pull the trigger?

Don’t read any of the reviews. The fun of the film lies in discovering the secrets along with the characters.

We ended the night with wine. Cheers.

I have two stories that will be appearing in two fine publications:

  • My story “Maybe Another Song at Dusk” will appear in the Literary Section of Monday’s issue of Philippines Graphic. Grab a copy!
  • My story “A Fire That Cannot Be Touched” will be appearing in the 8th volume of the Philippine Speculative Fiction series! This will be edited by Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar, and will be available via Flipside Publishing in 2013.

three years

The poet loves with a most violent heart, says Heather Bell. She is frightened of you – realizing you could have been loved better or harder or with real words. 

Happy third anniversary, J. :)

back from the bug

Hello all. I don’t know what it was that got me, but for two and a half days, everything I ate I just threw back up. Horrible. I hope I lost some weight from that ordeal because then what’s the point?

My thanks to J of course for buying me bananas and Gatorade and nursing me back to health.

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I was able to check my mail/Twitter/Facebook yesterday (and we were able to livestream the Obama-Romney debate), but not my blog, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive a message from blogger Nancy Cudis, who wrote a bit about A Bottle of Storm Clouds here.

Have you experienced buying a book for what you thought it is but it pleasantly turned into something else? A Bottle of Storm Clouds by Eliza Victoria is like that with me. I thought it is a short story collection about, given the cover, Philippine folklore flawlessly interspersed in a contemporary setting. It turns out to be what its title says—16 stories about individuals with bottled-up storms that change them in so many ways.

The storms come in different disturbing forms but oftentimes, the ending is the same: death. I have already read eight of these stories and so far, I have gotten the drift of Victoria’s admirable writing style—simple yet powerful words, short yet intense sentences, suspenseful flashbacks, and lots of dramatic dialogue. Each story evokes similar yet different emotions—do you understand? All stories I have encountered so far are sad ones subtly, others directly, covering a multitude of personal issues—abandonment, death of a loved one, fear of being left, fear of the future, and inability to move one. But the degree of sadness of the story can only be determined by how relevant it is in the life of the reader.

In my case, my heart was very heavy—still is—when I finished reading Earthset, the eighth story I have read (and mostly accounts for the reason that I could not move on to the ninth story yet).

Read more here. She says the collection is “highly recommended”. Thank you very much, Nancy!

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Cloud Atlas also accompanied me during my illness. And lookie, another book!

It’s a big-ass book.

buffet by the bay

We went to Vikings on Sunday. Felt like pigging out for lunch. They have a good spread, caviar and the works. Just a bit pricey. Minsan lang naman.

The bay, sun behind a cloud.

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Or: I’d sleep and still wake up tired. I missed work on Monday due to a raging headache. I haven’t been writing. I feel like I’ve lost my fire.

I need a new bay to look at. A beach. White sand. Good food. Warm bed. Ten to twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Everyone can benefit from that.

Yikes, what is this post. How are you? I hope you are doing better than me.

movie mini-reviews; the weekend

Snow White and the Huntsman. A beautiful film, production-wise; you can’t go wrong with Colleen Atwood (costume), Greig Fraser (cinematography), and James Newton Howard (musical score, plus Florence & The Machine’s spirit-stirring closing song). My personal favorite is the fairy garden – it’s a visual delight. Not to mention that Charlize Theron is sublime as the Evil Queen.

But two things stick out like the thorns on the rose plucked by Snow White’s mother. One, why would Snow White pray “Our Father” in this fantasy setting? You give us dwarves, fairies, phantom armies, and a beautiful song, but cannot give us a believable pantheon, or even one made-up prayer? That pulled me out of the world I am trying to immerse myself in.

Two, what is the white hart from Princess Mononoke doing here?

Yet another rip-off scene that ruined my viewing.

I liked the brief background shown about the Evil Queen’s family, but I wished the writers explored the meaning of blood in Snow White’s universe. There is use of blood magic; the Queen can be undone by “fairest blood”; and Snow White is the destined, the life(blood) itself of the entire kingdom. Why? Exploring this would have given us a more three-dimensional Snow White.

Men In Black 3. Loved the first film, disappointed by the sequel. The third film redeemed the franchise. It’s a fun ride again! Griffin just may be my favorite MIB alien yet, next to the coffee-loving worms.

The Five-Year Engagement. Sweet, hilarious, and never feels false. Another home-run for Judd Apatow (producer).

The Dictator. I am a fan of Borat. I think it’s genius. Bruno was too much for me. Tried twice but could never finish it. When I heard that The Dictator is no longer a mockumentary,  I was worried Sacha Baron Cohen might crash and fall since he now had to juggle the jokes with a plot. No worries now. I still hate the toilet humor but this is laugh-out-loud fun.

Chronicle. The film features one of the more organic uses of the found footage format. Three high school students discover an alien artifact and develop telekinetic powers. Could have gone old fast but this an engaging story.

The Adjustment Bureau. First thought: This is based on a Philip K. Dick story? I thought it’s a rom-com! The film presents an idea that is neither new nor groundbreaking. Probably groundbreaking in ’54 but not now. The insight and premise could have been stirring, but the filmmakers went the cutesy, hokey route, making the story lose steam in the end.

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The team went out on Friday to celebrate the boss’s birthday in this bar near the office. People got ridiculously drunk, and the boss’s bar tab got ridiculously high (so I heard.) Left early because someone drunkenly poured beer on my foot. That’s my cue to leave haha.

I went home and as expected the rain fell, the flood rose, and there is once again water inside the house. Sigh.

Have a blue-eyed kitten.

J and I have been together 35 months! Never mind the sad-looking guy in the back.

How was your weekend?

weekend news + recommendations

Came home this weekend for my father’s birthday.

I can’t do any writing when I’m at home (too lazy? too comfy?), so I just spend the time on my back watching whatever show’s available, or reading. I recommend:

21 Jump Street

(Shot of goths.)

“These are the goths”

(Shot of nerds.)

“These are nerds.”

(Shot of hipsters.)

“I don’t know what these are.”

The smart nerd and the cool jock from high school end up in the police academy and become best friends. After an arrest gone wrong, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street, where they are assigned to do undercover work as high school students. Based on the series starring Johnny Depp. I don’t know how this film adaptation compares to the series, but this wins plus points for me for all the action film meta-jokes and the film’s acute awareness that the high school of ten years ago is very much different from the high school of today.

Take Shelter

Curtis lives with his wife and hearing impaired daughter in the Ohio countryside frequented by storms and tornadoes. He starts having nightmares about rain that looks like motor oil, birds flying in strange formations, and his dog and neighbors attacking him and his child. The nightmares start bleeding into his days. He has a history of mental illness, so fearing he is developing schizophrenia, he reads books, sees his mother, and talks to a counselor at the free clinic. But he also takes out a risky loan and starts repairing their tornado shelter, to the anguish of his wife. Is Curtis insane, or a prophet of dire days to come? This film is highly recommended. (And Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain should have received Oscar nominations for this! What the hell?)

Shawshank Redemption

This is a rewatch. If you haven’t seen it – what is the matter with you? This is one beautiful story that stands the test of time. It’s still as good as ever.

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Contains four short novels, three of which were adapted into films (Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, Stand by Me). All four stories are absorbing reads.

ALL OF THE BATMAN

I am particularly interested in the Dick Grayson storyline within the Batman universe. My only exposure to the first Robin is through the films (all meh) and the brilliant animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Recos? I already have Robin: Year One, but I have read Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller! Brilliant!), and a bit of the All-Star Batman and Robin series. (Frank Miller! What the fuck is this shit?)

Went back to the metro on Sunday and played with J’s cute nephew.

Well? What have you been up to? :)