Dapat sana today ako bibili ng PC.

Di lang pumuwede ang kasama ko kasi lasing daw siya. Haha. Next na lang. Ngayong nakaluwag-luwag na ang family ko sa gastusin, at ung itinatabi kong pera para sa operasyon ni Marigie ay puwede nang gamitin, ayan, PC ang una kong bibilhin. Excited na ako!

Mood :: thankful

Anything?

Alam mo ba sa sarili mo kung ano-ano ang good at bad qualities mo?

Maisusulat mo ba ang lahat ng ito sa papel? Magiging impartial judge ka ba ng sarili mo? Kanina kasi, sinabihan ko si Xam na gawin ito para ma-weigh niya ang mga good quality niya over the bad ones. Puro daw kasi nega ang tingin niya sa sarili niya. Ipinagawa kasi sa amin ito nung high school kami, sa subject na GMRC. Although ako mismo, sa tingin ko ay hindi magiging impartial ang sarili na mag-judge ng sarili niya. Still, I think it is a good exercise of faith sa sarili mo. Faith in yourself, a good way to start changing for a better you.

Pakiusap: Kung me makababasa nito na friend ko talaga, pakilagay naman sa comment ung good at bad qualities ko. Salamaguchi.

Book :: The Seconds - Linda Bierds
Show :: Lobo
Mood :: thankful

2 Said So

Napanood ko na ang Hairspray.

Masisisi mo ba ako kung panay ang kanta ko ng "Good Morning, Baltimore"?

Masisisi mo ba ako kung magsasayaw at magkakanta ako na parang nasa "The Corny Collins Show"?

Masisisi mo ba ako kung pangarap ko na ang maging Miss Hairspray?

Anything?

Sa wakas, nabili ko na last Sunday ang pinapangarap kong PC.

At hindi ko alam kung bakit, pero kung bibigyan ko ng pangalan ang PC ko, ang ipapangalan ko ay Lorca. Later naman ay ikakabit na ng SmartBro ang internet connection. Sabi pa naman nila ay three to four days daw after application bago i-install ang linya, pero pagkauwing-pagkauwi ko, tumawag na sila at ikakabit na nga daw nila by Tuesday. Siyempre, tatanggi ba naman ako? So good luck sa amin sa ilalaki ng MERALCO bill namin, at dagdag gastos ang internet connection, pero keri na.

PS. OK na ang SmartBro connection ko! Yipee!

Mood :: thankful

2 Said So

Naka-YM ko si Kath (ng Pinoypoets at LIRA) kahapon.

Itinanong niya kung pupunta ba ako sa Sabado para sa LIRA event. Sabi ko pupunta ako (sayang at hindi ko makakasama si Kuyatot kasi whole day daw sa Saturday ang Hands-On Manila). Itinanong naman niya kung me tula na ba daw ako. No poem, no entry kasi ang kondisyon ni Ser Rio para sa event. Sabi ko wala pa akong poem na ipakakatay sa mga diyos. Wala pa din daw tula si Kath.

Dapat na daw bang matulog na lang siya? Un daw kasi ang sinabi sa lecture ng the late Rene O. Villanueva sa LIRA. Kung hindi makasusulat ng tula ang isang makata (o isang manunulat), dapat na matulog na lang daw. O maggantsilyo.

Minsan tuloy naiisip ko, ang mga makata ay mga normal na tao lamang, na nagtataglay ng isang sumpa. Ang sumpang makaisip ng magandang ideya na kailangang mabuo bilang isang tula. Dapat nga daw na sumulat, sumulat, sumulat palagi ng akda. Walang excuse na me writer's block. Katamaran lang daw iyon.

Ako bilang sumusulat ng tula (ayoko pang tawagin ang sarili na makata, napapangiwi ako) ay madalas na natutulala kapag may nakahaing papel sa akin. Nagigimbal ako sa tuwing lumilipas ang oras na walang nabubuong magagandang berso sa papel na ito. At nadaragdagan lamang ang pressure ko sa sarili sa tuwing naiisip ko na nasasayang lamang ang ipinahiram sa akin ng Maykapal kapag wala akong nagagawang tula.

At naiisip ko palagi ang sinasabi ni Maria Sharapova tuwing nananalo siya sa tennis competition na sinalihan niya, kailangang gamitin at mag-excel sa talent na ipinahiram ng Maykapal.

Kailangang- kailangan.

Book :: The Profile-Makers - Linda Beirds
Show :: Marimar
Mood :: uncomfortable

Anything?

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Ayon sa Chinese zodiac, ako ay isang Water Dog (although fixed element ko ay Metal). Sang-ayon sa Wikipedia:

Like his animal namesake, people born under the sign of the Dog are very loyal. The Dog is the one who people are most likely to turn to when they need help. The Dog person will come through every time. That is because he/she is sensitive to others and empathizes with them, particularly if someone has suffered an injustice; he/she reacts quickly with the same feeling as though he/she had been personally offended. Friends know that they can rely upon their Dog friend to keep a promise or remain cool in a crisis. Dog types are honest, intelligent and straightforward. They will take on any responsibility that is given to them and you can be sure that they will do their job well.

People born in this year tend to be difficult, upset and shocked more often than the other signs. Dog types do not tolerate weakness. They will work to push the weakness or the whole person with weakness out of their lives (or the pack) if the behavior continues.

The dog is loyal, unselfish, and idealistic. They can sometimes be worriers and overly critical. Dogs go best with Tigers and Horses. Their friends are other Dogs and also Rabbits. Dogs get along worst with Dragons, whom they perceive as arrogant and all flash with no substance.

In the West, the Dog is man's best friend, but in Chinese Astrology this Sign is a little more unpredictable than that. Dogs are loyal, faithful and honest and always stick to their firm codes of ethics. However, this Sign has trouble trusting others. It's generally quite trustworthy itself -- except for the occasional little white lies the Dog tells in order to make things go more smoothly. The Dog makes a wonderful, discreet and loyal friend (despite any white lies) and is an excellent listener. This Sign tends to root for the underdog and its keen sense of right and wrong makes it duty-bound to the core. The Dog's mantra seems to be, Live right, look out for the little people and fight injustice whenever possible. Dogs can also be rather dogmatic, too. They don't go in for light social banter; instead, they go straight for home, expostulating on the topics that are most important to them. At these times the Dog's narrow-minded or stubborn side can become apparent; this Sign has trouble staying light and calm when an important issue is at stake. This Sign can also be very temperamental; mood swings characterize its emotional life and often the Dog needs to run off to be alone in order to recuperate. Part of the problem is the result of this Sign's load of irrational fears that turn into niggling anxieties that turn into hurt feelings and occasional grouchiness. This sensitive Sign needs to warm up to others over time and gradually learn to trust them. Without that trust as a foundation, Dogs can be judgmental and coarse. The Dog's discerning nature does make it an excellent business person, one who can turn that picky, guarded nature into a keen sense of the truth of another's motives. Where love is concerned, Dogs often have a tough time finding the right match. They can be so anxious and overwrought in the romance dance that they'll stress their partner to the max! In any forum, this Sign is happiest when able to be quite physically active; at home or at work, the Dog will always be constructing something new or cleaning something up in order to make things better. Dogs need to work on controlling their irrational worries and would also be well-served to relax their mile-high standards, which can sometimes wind up alienating the ones they love.

Ideal Dog jobs: politician, detective, musician, teacher, writer, movie director, lawyer, actor.

(Ung nasa pix ay ang alaga naming si Luna, Black Labrador. Salamat sa kapatid ko for the pix.)

Mood :: sleepy

Anything?

Habang tuloy-tuloy ang Senado sa pag-iimbestiga sa ZTE deal na yan, habang tuwang-tuwa ang Tatay ko dahil tuloy-tuloy niyang napanood ang Senate hearing sa ANC (kakapakabit lang ng prepaid Skycable namin, goodluck naman sa MERALCO bill), ito lamang ang tuloy-tuloy kong naiisip:

"Emily Dickinson assembled two collections during her lifetime: one was her assortment of poems, the other a sixty-six page book of pressed flowers that she collected herself. Having studied botany from the age of nine, as a teenager Dickinson pieced together a herbarium consisting of 424 pressed specimens in a large leather volume. These flowers were classified using the Linnaean system with handwritten labels. The garden at the Homestead, which Emily personally tended, was well known and admired locally during its time. It has not survived and Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but its layout and what was grown in it can be gleaned from letters and the recollections of her friends and family. One niece, for example, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distraction?a butterfly utopia." In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets." Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".

[Salamat sa Wikipedia]

Show :: ZTE Senate Hearing sa ANC
Mood :: touched

Anything?

Nakapag-oath taking na ako sa LIRA bilang isang bagong kasapi. Huhu, pressure mula kay Ser Rio. Eto ung mga pix sa event:

En at Dai

Pau at JC

JC at Phillip

Ser Joey, the birthday boy

Ser Rio, ang me pakana ng lahat

Group photos naman:

2 Said So

We call our samahan "Familia." Not because we favor Channel 2 (although most of us are currently enjoying "Lobo", the Piolo Pascual and Angel Locsin serye), but because we treat each other as a member of a family.

8 years of friendship, and counting. Madami mang nalagas sa samahan, still, me mga natira pa rin na subok na ng panahon. Subok na subok.

Kahapon, we just decided na magkita, pre-Valentine date ng grupo. Dumating si Rizalene Carmelo, Christina Marcelo, at Paul Allan Martinez. Siyempre, kasama ko si Kuyatot bilang honorary member ng grupo. First time lang din siya mami-meet ni Paul, na bestfriend ko through all these years. Sobrang hectic kasi ang sked ng diyosa, kaya ayun, now lang uli siya naka-attend ng Familia gathering.

Masakit ang lalamunan ko dahil non-stop ang kuwentuhan ng grupo, updating each other sa nangyayari at mangyayari sa career, karir, at family. Feeling ko tuloy, ang tanda na namin. Hopefully, wiser na kami.

Eto ung mga pix kahapon, nasa SM Marilao lang kami tumambay until past 8 PM.

Habang hinihintay si Paul Allan.

Pose muna habang hinihintay si Paul Allan.

Inuusisa ni Tina ang gamit na cel ni Paul Allan.

Si Rizalene naman ang inusisa niya.

Rizalene, Christina, Paul Allan, Rhodge

With Kuyatot naman.

Kuha ni Paul sa amin.

Anything?

Nakapanood ako kanina ng The Swiss Family Robinson na cartoons sa Channel 2. Kailangan daw nilang magtanim ng tubo kasi naubos na ang kanilang supply ng auskal. Me nakita ung anak nilang si Jack na lugar sa isla na maraming tanim na tubo. So nagkatas sila ng tubo at pinakulaan nila para maging syrup.

Naalala ko noon na may tindero ng tubo na tulak-tulak ang kaniyang kariton tuwing hapon. At kami namang mga bata ay unahan sa pagbili sa kaniya ng putol na tubo. Sarap kagatin at katasin! Noon hindi pa kami nag-aalala na baka mabungi kami sa tigas ng kinakagat na buto, or baka marumi ung tinda niya. Basta, masarap ang tubo!

***Bukas ay Valentine's Day na! Magbigay ng tubo sa taong minamahal mo.

***Birthday pala ng aking sister na si Margie Lyn! 24 years old na siya. Sana me handang spaghetti mamaya!

Mood :: pensive

4 Said So

Sinundo ko sa office si Kuyatot.  Hindi siya makapaniwala na nadun ako, alam niya kasing kakauwi ko lang halos from work at me pasok ako ng 12 MN. Dapat kasi e magbe-breakfast kami pero di iyon natuloy. Ayoko namang palagpasin ang Araw ng mga Puso na hindi kami magkikita.

At talagang nag-red si Kuyatot. Hehe.

Mood :: happy

Anything?

Mood :: pensive

Anything?

Kailangan kong mag-undertime kasi sasamahan ko uli si Marigie sa UST. Regular consultation niya ngayon with Dr. Honolina Gomez. Mukhang OK naman ang diagnosis ni Doc sa kanya. Tuloy-tuloy lang daw sa gamot. Sana nga at tuluyan na siyang gumaling.

Napadaan naman kami sa National Bookstore sa Gotesco Grand Central nung pauwi na. Sale pala uli ang mga NB outlets. Nakabili tuloy ako ng dalawang libro: Strange Pilgrims (stories) ni Gabriel Garcia Marquez, at Mary Magdalen: The Essential History ni Susan Haskins.

Wala pa akong nababasang Garcia Marquez na libro. Paano kasi, me promise ako ke Reinaldo Arenas. Pero mukhang mababali ko na ito. Gusto kong basahin ang mga gawa ni Garcia Marquez para pag-aralan ang mga ito. Sana hindi ko sila maging paborito.

***

Sa Pandi naman ang destinasyon namin ni Kuyatot nung hapon. Overnight kami sa bahay. Ipinagluto niya ako ng spaghetti, the best sa buong mundo! Sobra!

Mood :: rejuvenated

Anything?

Pagkauwi ko galing UP, sumadya ako sa NBS SM North para mausisa ang mga naka-sale na libro. Wala na akong makitang maganda. Mukhang napili at nabili na lahat. Pero OK lang kasi naabutan ko pa na nagsa-sign ng posters at CDs ang idol kong si Kyla. Pagkasuwerte ko naman talaga. Hehe.

Masaya akong nakatulog.

Anything?

Ngayon lang ako nagka-chance na panoorin ang pantasya ni Brillante Mendoza.

Ipinahiram ito sa akin ng officemate kong si Ate Marissa. Bigay naman ang kopya sa kaniya ng jowa niya na isa sa stars ng pelikula. Taray di ba, me jowa na artista! Kung napanood ninyo na ang pantasya, ung jowa niya ung isa sa telephone line men, ung semi-kal at me tattoo. Pagkasuwerte-suwerte naman talaga ng lola mo. Hehe.

Nitpick lang sa pantasya. Hindi ko type ung narrative ng mga bida kada istorya. Istilong poetic kasi ang pagkakasulat. Dapat nababagay sa karakter ung dialogue. Halimbawa, sa unang "kabanata" na biyahe, taxi driver ang nagkukuwento sa manonood. Dapat ung natural na boses ng taxi driver ang maririnig mo. Pabalbal ba dapat? Mukhang out-of-school youth ung taxi driver e. So dapat ganun ang "voice" niya.

Natutuwa naman ako sa mga pantasyang featured sa movie. Typical fantasies ng mga bading: estudyanteng bading at isang tax driver, na sa taxi nila ginawa ang romansa; bading na nakatira sa isang condo unit na nagpagawa ng sirang linya ng telepono niya sa dalawang linemen (threesome ang eksena); isang bading na basketball ang trip na nasaktuhan ang mga manlalaro na nagjajakol sa shower room; isang gay yuppie at isang pizza delivery boy; isang gay artist na nakipag-away sa jowa at nakatagpo ng romansa sa isang sekyu.

Napansin ko, magaling pala si Mendoza sa pag-create ng environment/setting ng pelikula. Ganito rin ang istilo niya sa isa niyang obra maestra, ung Masahista (syet, Coco!). Minsan nga lang masyadong artipisyal ung mga eksenang napipili niya, pero OK pa rin naman.

O ayan, panoorin na ang pantasya. Sabi nga, "fantasies are made of these..."

Book :: Ya-Yas in Bloom - Rebecca Wells
Mood :: thirsty

Anything?

Inihinto ko muna ang pagbabasa ng Ya-Yas in Bloom ni Rebecca Wells dahil nakaka-tempt na basahin ung Mary Magdalen ni Susan Haskins.

At hindi ako nagkamali sa pagbili ko nito. Magaganda ang insights ng book. Wala masyadong explosive or controversial topic dito, puro naisawalat na sa mga ibang book. Pero well-researched ito, siksik talaga sa pag-aaral tungkol sa maalamat na existence ni Mary of Magdala.

***

Friday hanggang Monday nasa Baguio ako, with Kuyatot siyempre. Panagbenga kaya exciting. Siyempre, honeymoon ito. Hehe. Post ko ung mga pic pagbalik ko.

Mood :: productive

Anything?

Isa niyang tula, i-share ko lang. Salamat dito.

The Faithless Wife

So I took her to the river
believing she was a maiden,
but she already had a husband.
It was on St. James night
and almost as if I was obliged to.
The lanterns went out
and the crickets lighted up.
In the farthest street corners
I touched her sleeping breasts
and they opened to me suddenly
like spikes of hyacinth.
The starch of her petticoat
sounded in my ears
like a piece of silk
rent by ten knives.
Without silver light on their foliage
the  trees had grown larger
and a horizon of dogs
barked very far from the river.

Past the blackberries,
the reeds and the hawthorne
underneath her cluster of hair
I made a hollow in the earth
I took off my tie,
she too off her dress.
I, my belt with the revolver,
She, her four bodices.
Nor nard nor mother-o’-pearl
have skin so fine,
nor does glass with silver
shine with such brilliance.
Her thighs slipped away from me
like startled fish,
half full of fire,
half full of cold.
That night I ran
on the best of roads
mounted on a nacre mare
without bridle stirrups.

As a man, I won’t repeat
the things she said to me.
The light of understanding
has made me more discreet.
Smeared with sand and kisses
I took her away from the river.
The swords of the lilies
battled with the air.

I behaved like what I am,
like a proper gypsy.
I gave her a large sewing basket,
of straw-colored satin,
but I did not fall in love
for although she had a husband
she told me she was a maiden
when I took her to the river.

Mood :: surprised

Anything?

Hay, grabe the weekend that was. Umulan, umaraw sa Baguio, the City of Pines. Madami pa akong kuwento, pero mga retrato muna ang ipo-post ko. Nag-enjoy talaga kami!

Nag-aabang sa Streetdance parade.

Sa Grotto naman:

Ung Float Parade:

View mula sa SM Baguio:

Pauwi na, sa Victory Liner Terminal:

Marami pang naka-upload na pics dito.

Super excited na sa Panagbenga 2009, 100 years ng Baguio!

Mood :: thankful

Anything?

9 Said So