Liebster Award

Awww shucks. My friend Joelle of The Meraki Life just nominated me for the Liebster Award--an online badge given to people with a) a great blog and b) less than 200 followers. This badge, more than brewing competition between bloggers actually does the opposite: it helps good blogs get on more bloggers' radars (repeat cycle about 500 times), etc. etc. 

The Rules:

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 

11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to. 

3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers of course) to 

pass the award to and link them in your post.

4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award. 

5. No tag back!

Don't Rush

The past few days have been crazy busy. I've been hopping around from the south to Taft to QC to Paranaque, doing all kinds of things like hanging out with friends and going to meetings and heading out to art events. :) It's been fun but extremely, extremely exhausting. And I'm still not done with my Trig homework.

Photo by Keavin Mutuc

As tiring as today was, it was also great to be able to catch up with my girls Marz & Joy tonight; I haven't seen them in forever. We spent the night just talking about life (work, projects) and how exhausted we were--I figure that sometimes I get so caught up in the belief that I will sleep when I'm dead that I forge to take a step back and just enjoy. Goodnight, world! 

One Day & The Graduate

Today, my friend Joy came over and we spent the day hanging out and watching The Graduate. It was the first time for both of us to see the said film and I really, really liked it. Or, well I liked it as a whole but there were certain things about it that I just really didn't like--like, for instance I really, really hated Elaine. I see how she was endearing and all that but I was pretty upset over how she just couldn't make up her mind and it seemed like she'd be discontent no matter what happened to her. Benjamin or that annoying blonde frat boy, she'd just want what she didn't have. She was very, very beautiful though. 

I found myself relating the most to Mrs. Robinson--what that says about me, I'm not sure. My favorite scene is the hotel room scene where Benjamin says he wants to talk and not just jump into bed together and she brings up the subject of art. Then Benjamin asks what about art interests her and she says nothing--it's absolutely boring. And then later on, after they talk about her family and the general situation of her life, when Benjamin asks her what her major in college was she looks away and says "art". It just broke my heart. She is crazy, yes but I feel like she is a deeply sad person and while it doesn't justify any of her actions, I guess I know what it feels like to feel selfish about someone's affections and just want to prevent anything and everything from taking it away from you.

So yeah. After watching this, Joy and I had merienda and then headed over to the Cuenca soccer field to hang out and have an Anne Bancroft-like smokey.
After Joy dropped me back off at my house, I decided to finally watch the movie rendition of One Day and I was pretty impressed. My hesitation toward watching this comes from me having read it as well as my fear of Anne Hathaway's british accent. But I think they got everything--from the treatment to Anne's accent to Jim Sturgess's a-hole charms--down pat. :) I liked this very, very much.It was done in a way that reminded me of the 90s romcoms and I love that. It was well-written, very intelligent and pretty damn funny. :D Two thumbs up.

To be honest, I've been feeling pretty melancholic lately and I'm thinking it might be the weather or PMS or just bloody circumstance but yeah. Now, more than ever I can relate to that line in this song Divided that goes, "I wanna shave my head and lay in bed. All day long."

Brightside Entry | Pages & Pistachio

So, yesterday was pretty fun and was surprisingly productive. I usually have to lock myself up to be able to get things done but yesterday went well in that I got to go out--I had lunch out with my brother and then went on a mini-self date--and I still got to write a lot.

One of the things that really made my day was picking up this book called The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. The title got me really curious but I was also very hesitant because I don't really like animal-books. I know this'll probably be a pretty unpopular opinion but I just couldn't get through The Jungle Book. I picked it out for my fifth grade book report--this was when I was obsessed with reading the classics and liked to name drop a lot, being a very pretentious 11-year-old so I guess I kinda deserved it--and I only made it around a hundred pages in. I just couldn't stand it. Anyway. Yeah, I read a few pages in at the bookstore and wow. I was sold. I really like the pace of the narrative and how the animals and the metaphors are worked into the grittiness of real life. :)) I got the second-to-the-last copy but if you wanna go check elsewhere, I'd definitely recommend you get a copy of this book. Tea Obreht has a really nice way with words. It's written very simply but the words are chosen so well that it seems there just isn't any other way to put it.

 I read on her site that Tea Obreht was born in the former Yugoslavia, spent some time in Egypt and then eventually moved to the states. I found this really interesting, given the way that superstitions and religion are dealt with in this novel. :) There is something distinctly un-American about it but also something distinctly skeptical as well.

I think a lot of you will find that you can relate with this description of how religion was for the protagonist's grandmother because I find that this is how a lot of the older people in my family (and perhaps in our country, given how seriously religion is taken in our culture) view religion.

"For her the forty days were fact and common sense, knowledge left over from burying two parents and an older sister, assorted cousins and strangers from her hometown, a formula she had recited to comfort my grandfather whenever he lost a patient in whom he was particularly invested--a superstition, according to him, but something in which he had indulged her with less and less protest as old age had hardened her beliefs." (Natalia from The Tiger's Wife)

I also really liked the opening line of this book, which I underlined above. (And yes, I'm aware this might irk a lot of ya'll but I really like making my books my own in that I write on them and stick notes on them and after I'm done with a book, it looks really, really beat-up) I'm very fond of imagery that employs stones and baldness. It's just so fucking tragic; I'm a sucker for that type stuff. 

On a lighter note, I'm also a sucker for Pistachio ice cream and I had some yesterday at Amici. This was before heading over to Mary Grace and reading this book outside. It really helped me cool off (yesterday was extremely hot right before it rained). I'm not a fan of air-conditioning (except in cars) and I like to sit outside most of the time, so something cold is always appreciated on these self-date things. :)) This goes for P75/cone (2 scoops), by the way.

I hung out with Joy later in the afternoon (post-self date) and we spent the day watching a Tegan & Sara DVD. The Quin twins are so inspiring and really seem like such smart, funny people. I also love that they like to read because not all musicians do. And yeah. I can really relate to a lot of their music. Anyway, later in the evening we met up with Ina, Nico & Steph for dinner and that was fun as well. Then when I got home Keav and I burned my Globe Combo call credits and talked about the silliest things--the perfect way to end the day, methinks.

Brightside Entry | Freedom of Sorts

Finals today were killer--and I mean that the test (departmental, sadly) contained so much information we hadn't taken up in class, it was kind of ridiculous. But I am one of the most zen people when it comes to stuff like tests because a couple of years in a pre-med course will teach you one thing: you can't freaking control everything. So yeah. Despite this terrible curse of a test, I still had a pretty good day. The test is over and the term is over and goodness. I can sleep in tomorrow morning. I have every intention of waking up no earlier than 10 am. And then I plan to have a long, slow breakfast and finish an episode of TMZ.

 Keav came to Taft today and we spent the day together--we had lunch at around 11 and he waited for me until after my test and then we just spent a lot of time in the Agno chicken chop place (which I swear, doesn't have a name as far as I'm concerned except "sa loob") goofing around. It was such a relief to have Keav with me. I'm a very paranoid person and a lot of the time I find myself having these terrible morbid fantasies about Metro Manila being split in half by a gigantic earthquake and not being able to make my way to him. Silly, but you know--these things keep me up at night and I have enough trouble with insomnia as it is. :) So, yeah.

 John Green is pretty fucking amazing. I bought this book last week (good thing too because all his books are now sold out everywhere I've checked--National Bookstore Taft, Alabang & Greenbelt + Powerbooks Alabang) and I wasn't too into it at first just because it was too adventure-like for my taste. As much as I like thrilling things I'm a person who looks for a sort of mundane, slower pace when it comes to stories that I enjoy. I liked Looking for Alaska's treatment better, I mean. This doesn't mean nothing interesting happens--I thoroughly enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry and that scared the shit out of me. But it's just that when I read something, I look for submersion in the mundane things: the character's apartment, their car, a childhood memory. And there wasn't a lot of it in this book at first but now that I'm about halfway through it, it's gotten a lot better. The headlong plunge into adventure that initially irked me seems pretty justified now. Hrrrm. Let's see how this goes. So far though (all that said), I'm enjoying this book quite a lot.

I'm going to spend tonight writing again, working on this pet project of mine. It's exhausting sometimes, waiting for everyone to fall asleep. I can't focus properly when there are people in the house or when it's noisy so I wait for everyone to head to bed before getting to the meat of what I have to do. :) Le sigh. That is counter-productive and a huge waste of time but I do my best. Hope everyone had a good day! :D And goodluck to everyone else who has finals!

Brightside Entry | Journal Snippets (1)

Hi, everyone! :) Since lately, I've been very busy with school and working on things both for my writing and for the store, I thought I'd do these journal snippets on days when I don't have time during the day to take out my camera and take photos of the things I've been doing. I hope that you guys enjoy these. They are, after all snippets from something a bit more naked and a bit closer to the heart, I suppose. :) This is a little snippet from something I've been writing so no, this is not directly about my life. :)) This is from a piece I hope will be up and finished very, very soon.

"...it felt odd but we did it anyway--maybe to see if there was or wasn't romance or feeling. And there was both of those things--both the presence and absence of whatever it was we were testing. It was there in the wanting of it and absence in the waiting like breath held when waiting at the edge of the ocean for a tidal wave, only to look down and find yourself already ankle-deep in sea water that is salty like tears."

Also, that photo up there is by my bestfriend Marz Llave; you can go check out her photography/order prints from her by clicking the link to her name. :)

Brightside Entry | September Starts

I just love it when September rolls around and the weather gets just-chilly-enough. I feel like I can smell Halloween--which is hands down, the best holiday for me. I get to spend it with my friends, I'm not forced to do anything I don't want to and as long-standing tradition goes, I get to go to someone's house and goofball-dance the night away. Anywho, I had a pretty good first of September yesterday. In the afternoon, I went with my brother to his guitar guy in Sucat and then headed to my friend Marz's house in Merville with my friend Joy to help her fix up her place/have a pizza party/girly time. Sadly, our friend Trish wasn't able to make it and we missed her terribly. But yeah, on the whole the first of September was pretty rockin. Here's to more good things to come, I'm hoping.

P.S. The winners of the ShoeShoeShoes giveaway are as follows:
Congratulations to Jen Destura for winning the brown wedges!
Congratulations to Donna Pelobello for winning the glittery MJ-inspired shoes!
(Please send me your contact number, name & shipping address via e-mail at gmd.puangco@winawonders.com)

Also, congrats to Ms. Catherine Paula Dela Cruz for winning my Pages giveaway! :)
(Please send me your contact number, name & shipping address via e-mail at gmd.puangco@winawonders.com)

And to the winners of my two previous giveaways, your locations were both a little far so the courier has been delayed by a week due to logistical complications. :( Will get everything sorted out by tomorrow! Apologies for the lateness of the packages!!!

Brightside Entry | All the Wine

Last night was one of the most fun nights ever. Some people get a rush from dancing or whatever; I get a rush from laughing. And last night, I laughed so hard that when my friends Ina & Nico headed home, my stomach hurt terribly so that I spent the rest of the night watching shows on my laptop, curled up into fetal position. 

Let me tell you one thing about living in the south: there's not a lot to do on a Friday night. Not that I mind, since I've never really been a club person but I think that anyone living in the Alabang area will tell you that when you live here, going to McDonald's to celebrate your cash out isn't rare. Sure, there are other fancier places to head to but nowhere with free parking and 24 hour service, so Mount McDo still wins. 

Anyway, yeah--Ina, Nico & I headed to McDo for some McFlurry magic and while we were in line, I turned around and lo and behold! T'was my friend Ron who'd just gotten off a bus from Taft. :) This was such a funny coinkidink because I've run into Ron at a lot of other places too before--like the Seattle's Best in Greenbelt and Hollys on a holiday. :)) Anyway, after talking with Ron for a bit, he decided (such a kind heart, this one) to give us the bottle of wine he had left over from his night with our friend Franny. And you know...when someone gives you a bottle of wine, the only thing left to do is go buy another bottle.

 We hung out at my house in the terribly unkempt outside patio thingamajig (our house is being renovated) and sat there for a couple of hours drinking the best wine drink combo that I've ever tasted. For some reason, Nico decided to mix the red wine into the sangria and while initially Ina & I thought he was crazy, we tried it anyway. And wow. Two rights make an even better right, turns out. We moved back inside later and near finished both bottles. Then we hung out in the park and started talking about the most ridiculous things--we When Harry Met Sally-ed it up and talked about whether or not guys and girls could be bestfriends without intent (I won that one, I think although Ina is still looking for an example to debunk my theory that there is no such thing as an opposite gender bestfriend who you don't want to bone). Then we started talking about slightly more serious things like loneliness and stuff like that. And  because it seemed like the right thing to do to anyone who takes their shoes off in the park, I threw Nico's shoes in the bushes. HUZZAH! Ina and I were laughing like crazy. :) After that, Ina and I started obsessing over Awkward and Matty McKibben and decided to call it a night so we could go home and catch the latest episode.

Also, because this blog does cover fashion and these shoes are almost the exact color of Sangria, my friend Ina got this pair at BAYO and they looked incredible! Ins started a Favorite Things blog because she likes  going (window) shopping a lot so yeah, go check that out if you'd like. :)

This song (this'll be linked to my next post, you shall see) was playing in my head all afternoon yesterday and after laughing like there was no tomorrow, I think that this was apt for yesternight. :) I hope ya'll enjoy this song--it's by The National, one of my favorite bands in the whole wide world. For those who like Game of Thrones--it was them that sang The Reynes of Castamere; chills all around, I know. :D Hope everyone's having a great Saturday! Happy weekend!

Brightside Entry | It Will Change Your Life

That's the line Sam (Natalie Portman) tells Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) in Garden State when she lets him listen to this song, New Slang by The Shins. And I think she was right. This song did change my life although not in a big, I'm-now-a-multi-millionare way. It just provided a lot of clarity when I was in a very tumultuous period in my life. :) This is one of the few songs I've been listening to since 2005 and just never gets old.

So today (obviously, with that intro) I thought I'd do a post on music and music-listening habits. I find that the only thing that makes commuting bearable is music so I do a lot of my listening on buses and jeeps or while walking. But also, I do a lot of listening late at night (while staring up into the ceiling or occasionally, cracking open a bottle of wine and slow dancing with myself--yes, call me a hipster I would not deny it) and when I'm writing. I can't seem to concentrate when things are too quiet. And I've been very curious about this because my childhood bestfriend Peluchi had this theory that music is mostly listened to while doing something else--writing, surfing the net, driving, looking at pictures--as opposed to just listening to it. So yeah. I'd love to know about your music-listening habits too.

While I have a more practical pair of earphones (clip-on buds) for commuting--because I'm not that hipster and because they take up too much space in my bag--I keep this huge pair at home for more intensive listening. I bought these for really cheap at National Bookstore two Christmases ago (yeah it lasted longer than I expected) and taped over the skulls with these kooky stickers Trizha gave me--both because I like the stickers and skulls don't really seem to be my style. xD

For the most part, I use my phone for listening (because I don't have a radio anymore and my laptop gets really slow when I play music, which is odd because it doesn't do that with videos). And I like to make Playlists based on the occasion--so far I have Bus, Sleep, Uber Sleep, Rainy, & Nice Rainy. How do you organize/listen to music you love? :) Let me know below!

Brightside Entry | Stop, Look & Listen

There are a lot of good things that happened to me today and leaving any of them out seems to not do this day justice. On one hand, I'm exhausted because I haven't gotten any decent sleep recently on account of always having somewhere northward to head to. But on the other hand, these adventures are definitely always worth it. 

Today, I headed to school to give my friend Akire her advanced birthday gift (since it's already "sembreak"--which is like, a mini long weekend, really) and hang out with Lorri. Usually, hanging out with people stresses me out or scares me just because I always feel like I have to be on guard but today was very nice. :D Lorri, Joelle & I had a very nice conversation about dear friends we lost and about how life goes on and how we deal with things and strangely enough, about Ursula's fetishistic movements + Jafar's odd sex appeal. :) We hung out at Exile on Leon Guinto, which is quickly becoming my favorite place to sit outside in. I've always been a fan of al fresco dining but I really like the chairs in their garden patio thingy. Plus the kitty there is adorable. Before Lorri & Joelle (and the rain) arrived, I was sitting there with my fill of calamansi iced tea, reading Looking for Alaska and enjoying the sunshine. It was such a pleasant afternoon, it was really difficult  for me to leave.

It's a good thing I did though because it really started to pour when I got on the jeep--a few minutes later and I would've been drenched head to toe. Oh, Manila; you tease me with sunshine and then pour water on my head. Another great thing about today was that while waiting for a bus along Osmena, I saw this old chinese-looking man who was wearing a crisp shirt tucked into slacks and suspenders. He was walking toward the bus stop, holding an umbrella and paused as he tried to get on the sidewalk. The way he walked and dressed reminded me so much of my dad. He stopped and tentatively raised his leg, as if testing whether or not he could get onto the sidewalk. And so I reached out my hand and helped him up. He gave me this huge smile and said "Thank you," so sincerely that part of me wanted to give him a hug. I really hate seeing the elderly ladies and gentlemen commute because they remind me of my parents--and even if we have our disagreements, I think my parents have worked hard enough to deserve to at least travel comfortably. Life isn't easy and so I really hope that dapper old man today was able to catch a ride where he got to sit down. <3 p="p">

I hope everyone's doing well today! We're halfway through this week! Woot, woot.

Brightside Entry | To Be Loved

Alright, so I cut the title of this post just so because it is sweet to be loved--not just by your boyfriend or significant other but also by your family, friends and (perhaps most importantly) yourself. Today was pretty well-balanced for me and it really helped me appreciate the great people around me. :D Today began with me dropping my mom off at Makati and being accompanied by our dear driver Kuya Will to my job interview in QC (right at the edge of NLEX, I kid you not). Because my family isn't usually the kind of family where free rides are given often or assistance is lent you when it comes doing what you want, I was thrilled that my mom allowed me to be driven to my interview. I was not relishing the prospect of arriving via train to a place I have no idea how leave, to head to a place I've no idea how to get to. I'm also super thankful to Kuya Will,who's been with us since I was three years old. He was uber patient despite the traffic and kept cracking funny jokes even if I a) forgot the piece of paper the address was written on and b) brought the tiniest map ever made.

My interview lasted around 20 minutes and then poof! I was free a whole hour or two before I'd expected to be so I called Keav up and we decided to meet at Greenhills. After Kuya Will dropped me off at the Promenade in Greenhills, I decided to treat myself to coffee and macarons at Bizu. And while I used to like their macarons, I don't think they're as good as the ones from La Vie En Rose Sweets; these were more expensive and just not as tasty. The coffee was alright as well. While part of me is tempted to regret buying the macarons, I'd like to believe that time shouldn't be wasted on regret--especially over passable macarons.

I spent the better part of an hour reading Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book is pretty good so far. I like John Green's language and he's made a character that is angsty but is innocent and vulnerable too and that's definitely something I like. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of Perks of Being A Wallflower in that they both deal with the same things--being thrust into new friendships, disenchantment with love, etc. But of course, I've yet to finish it so I don't quite have the material to form a solid opinion yet. :)

Keav arrived after a bit and we spent the day together--this was wonderful for me, as we'd been apart all of last week and most of this week and I really, really miss him during weekdays. It was so much fun just to goof around and catch up and tell stories of the things we'd been doing while we were away from each other. :) Later in the evening, we also hung out with our friends Karlo & Flexy, who just got enganged--congrats Karlo & Flex! It was so nice seeing them again and being able to hang out and laugh at funny internet stuff even if I could only stay for a bit because Alabang is a pretty long commute away from San Juan.

Brightside Entry | Dance, Dance

No, this has nothing to do with that old Fall Out Boy song--although I do quite like that one. :)) Today, I hung out with my bestfriends at Johnny Rockets in Town; we had a pretty awesome merienda of fries + rootbeer floats. It really put me in a good mood that they danced around to oldies songs and that you can pick songs off the jukebox. Plus, it's been a while since me, Joy, Marz & Trish were all together. These peeps really help me stay grounded and not go insane (I live in my head a lot) around the soul deadening-ness of the world.

Plus, today didn't turn out as bad as I'd thought it would--while the test was the equivalent of being slapped in the face with a spiked cucumber (what do I do with this?) it happened pretty damn fast and I was able to have a great lunch with my friend Akire + get back to Alabang in time to hang out with 'ze girls.

We spent the afternoon laughing about tattoo ideas, ridiculous things and things we're excited about. We also went furniture window shopping for Marz's new pad which she's furnishing and moving into this week! Whopee! :) After Joy and Trish went home, Marz and I made like old times and sat in the ruined (old) part of Town Center and talked about life--our insights, the things we've been feeling lately and how our perspectives have changed in the past few months. Growing up, Marz and I used to take the jeep into our village together a lot and I really felt nostalgic hanging out with her again. Since she moved residences, we haven't been able to hang out as much and it was such a relief to get to talk to her about life things and really catch up. :) 

I've got a big interview tomorrow and I really hope it goes well--it's all the way in QC though and every time I head up there I get kind of nervous (just because it's so far away which means more time for traffic to f up your day) but I'm definitely hopeful it'll go well. :D Hope everyone's starting the week right!

 The Johnny Rockets interior is really homey--it compensates for its high ceilings with cozy chairs and very roomy booths. Also, the music selection was brilliant; I'm a huge 60s/70s music fan so I just swooned when they played The Everly Brothers' All I Have To Do Is Dream and followed that up with Spiral Staircase's Broken Hearted Man. Heavenly.

One of my favorite things about the Johnny Rockets interior are these vintage posters that they have tacked up onto the wall. They're so pretty and really give the place a hangout-friendly feel. Plus, the women on these 50s posters are always so beautiful; that elegant, understated glam has always appealed to me. :)

 It was really great seeing these girls again--and all together at that. While we see each other individually, it's never quite the same as when we're all together. There's definitely some Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants shiz going on here--minus the pants and travel money.

 Everything in Johnny Rockets seems well thought-out and that's something I really appreciate. Even the promotional brochure saying they host events is done up very well.

Brightside Entry | The Bane of My Existence

This will be short because I have a lot of lab reports to write, orders to list down and a whole chapter of Chem to review for but I must talk about this in an attempt to convince myself that it can be conquered: I hate Chemistry. I hate it with a passion. And yet, it seems to balance my life out. There are so many things that I'm grateful for and a lot of the time I feel like I don't deserve these things. I've noticed that a lot of well-off people will talk about how their success was hard-earned and a lot of less fortunate people will talk about how they don't deserve where they are but the truth is we all get some good things we don't deserve and fail at other things we work hard for. Sometimes, we don't deserve what we get and that's why everyone is so angst-ridden. Anyway, the past year has been wonderful and a lot of the time I feel like I don't deserve it--I have this blog and my store (I get to do what I like for a living, in short) + a loving boyfriend + great friends + I still have to write (the love of my life)--because there are a lot of people out there way more talented than me who are working at Mc Donald's or ringing up bags at the Department Store so yeah. Even if I hate Chemistry, it makes sense that it exists. 

Thankfully, I drank a lot of (great) coffee this morning--it doesn't look like I'll be heading to bed tonight, what with everything that I have to do. Wish me luck! To everyone celebrating National Heroes' Day tomorrow--have fun! To my fellow Taft-goers (both LaSallian and Benildean, if it applies) goodluck with everything and I hope we make it through these coming weeks of hell.

Brightside Entry | Clarity

It's amazing how confused people can get about life sometimes. These past few weeks, I've been feeling really uneasy and just a little bit confused about certain things in my life--I'm very concerned with things that I find a lot of people might think are silly (just because they're so difficult and seem like futile attempts). Ever since I was younger, I've been very concerned with meaning what I say. I don't mean that I say everything that I mean (that would cause infinite amounts of trouble) but that I won't say something (or will try not to) unless I absolutely mean that thing. I'd like to be thorough with my explanations and careful with my words but so often this renders me unable to say anything, especially when it comes to matters brought up by people that I don't agree with. And so often that silence is taken for agreement and I berate myself endlessly with you should've said something or you shouldn't have said that and those things can drive a girl crazy. There are also times when I feel uneasy about the success I'm having--not that I'm complaining but honestly, I don't feel like I deserve it sometimes. I know I do work hard and it's not like I just slept and woke up and poof here all this was but I know so many people who seem better at this and who are nicer and sometimes I feel like life is unfair in that respect. 

Now, while I realize that this is kind of bonkers, I do also know that my responsibility as someone who has it easy is to help people out and I hate feeling like I'm letting myself off the hook sometimes when I'm not doing anything. I was talking to Trizha about this yesterday--a sort of survivor's guilt, I suppose. I don't know.

Anyway, today was very restful for me. I opened our latest collection at the store, checked a bajillion e-mails and watched a couple of episodes of Barbie with my niece and it's been very therapeutic. :) I suppose there are times to help others, and other times to just be happy for yourself. I think that's okay.

Brightside Entry | Talking Talk Is Not Just Talk

So, as mentioned today I gave a talk about how to incorporate your beliefs/ ideas on spirituality in your writing. It was a pretty fun 2.5 hours, after I got over my initial nervousness and stuff. After my term as Prose Editor, I felt extremely exhausted and like I could never talk about writing or literature to people ever again but today proved me wrong. It was a very fun discussion and I'm glad that I did it. We were all able to share our ideas about faith and spirituality and keeping afloat (positivity and all that) without ignoring questions we needed to ask and doubts we had about the things that people say or the way people are.

I met some of the most interesting people today--this is a huge shout out to the lovely people in the photo below (Lanz, Silver, Rach, Jeffrey, Jansen, Angie & Sean) and those who weren't able to stay throughout the whole session (Anya!); I really hope you guys enjoyed/learned a lot this afternoon!

Thank you, WG (Angie, specifically) for having me! :) It was great to meet ya'll!

Thank you also for the wonderful token! (Lanz and Silver, you guys did a great job picking something out) Sadly, I have no photo of the blueberry muffin that this pretty bag contained but I assure you it was delicious. :D And coincidentally, Coffee Bean is one of my favorite cafes. 

Also, I've got to mention that I had a great dinner with Angie at this new shiny place with glowy seats (I kid you not). :)) Thank you for the convo, Angie! I really had a great time. :D

Brightside Entry | Handwritten

There are very few things that really stick with me--I can be very extensive about reading, film-watching, music-listening but of those things, there are only a couple of records, only a couple of books,just a few films that really stick and really make me feel every time I listen to them. 

And once something strikes me, I like re-witnessing that thing over and over again until I feel I can remember it properly. I am a very forgetful person and so it really means a lot to me to remember things and I would like to do it well.

One of the few bands who have made a huge impact on my life with their music would have to be The Gaslight Anthem (feel free to check them out if you'd like). Their past two records The '59 Sound & American Slang were instant hits for me--I loved everything: the rhythm, the melodies, the lyrics (Brian Fallon is wonderful with words)--and I memorize almost every song on each of those records. So when their latest album, Handwritten came out, I downloaded it immediately, expecting something like the stuff of their two previous albums (which are equal parts melancholic and resentful, to be honest). When I listened to the singles from this album the first few times, I absolutely abhorred them. I found the themes of the songs too positive (as I've mentioned a lot of times on this blog, it is a continuous struggle for me to stay positive) and alienating. 

But after I gave the record a couple of listens, I found a very, very deep emotional connection with a lot of the songs on the record and the one thing on this record that I haven't found on a lot of other records (even their past efforts which I love) is concern. There is a  deep sympathy in this album for loved ones: whether past or present; I don't just mean sympathy in the want to be loved but sympathy in the sense of genuinely wanting someone to be happy. 

Here is my favorite song from the album, called Too Much Blood.

You can view the complete lyrics here, but these are my favorite lines from this song:

What can I keep for myself if I tell you my hell?
What would be left to take to my grave?
And what’s left for you, my lover to save?
What’s left for only you to take?
If I put too much blood on the page
If I put too much blood on the page
And if I just tell the truth are there only lies left for you
If I put too much love on the page?

Being someone whose passion is writing and who keeps a fairly public blog like this, I can relate to the worry of this song--how those of us who talk about our lives and create work around our experiences leave the people we share those experiences with with nothing to say if we say it all. I think for the people we love, we take some things--some blood, some love--to the grave. :) 

Brightside Entry | Sunday Sweetness

Sweets are my guilty pleasure. Ever since I could remember, I've been an absolute fool for sweets. However, I've never let myself go when it comes to sugar because my dad is diabetic and only time will tell if I've inherited that or not. But every once in a while, I let the craving take over because I am human. :)) So, yeah. Today I ordered macarons from La Vie En Rose Sweets again to satiate my love for sweets. :D These are the absolute best macarons I've ever tasted (the worst were from Tous le Jours, if I'm being completely honest) and they're always baked extra fresh. Nomnomnom. Since I spent the whole day at home chilling out with myself, these sweets coupled with a good book definitely made my day.

Brightside Entry | Self-Dates & Friend-Dates

So, as I mentioned yesterday I went out on a date with myself while waiting for a couple of friends in Town. That was great--I think I'll be setting some alone time for myself (ironic since I spend most of my time alone anyway, but you know what I mean) every day to just sit down somewhere with a drink and write about shit. 

 After that, I met up with my friends Ina & Nico and we just walked around and spent a couple of hours laughing in the department store while Ina did some serious shopping and I convinced Nico to pretend to be a girly man. We also ended up hanging out with a couple of friends who we (or I, anyway) haven't talked to in ages--Dom & Steph, it was great seeing you both--and that was ultra fun. :) We had drinks and a long conversation about things--both silly (Lumpy Space Princess, spicy chorizo, faux-vegetarianism) and moving (love, hate, hope). :D It was a great day/evening, all in all. :)

Brightside Entry | Home Sweet Taft

I've been looking at my past entries, and there is not one week where there isn't a picture of a coffee cup. But well--I love coffee, so there isn't much I can say in defense of that except that my coffee-cup posting blossoms from that love. Anyway, today I spent the day in Taft--I had breakfast with my friend Ron and talked about certain exciting endeavors. We also hung out with Akire, who I haven't seen in the longest time!

 Another thing I realized about myself is that I complain about Taft Avenue a lot--it's polluted, it floods easily, there are muggers 'round every bend, people there drive like maniacs--but I love this place. I've been here for 5 years so, yeah: the place can be terrible and a part of me does hate it but it sure feels like home. I find there's something comforting about places you know (even if you don't necessarily like that place) and I find it extremely soothing that if I fall asleep on the bus, I always wake up right as we hit Taft Avenue and that I know where everything is. The thing about being a senior is that most of the people have left but the place is always there. 

 Because this is (if all goes well) my last year, I think I'm starting to appreciate Taft a whole lot more. For all it's drudgery, I think that it's a great place to grow up. Coming from Alabang, where really you're pretty sheltered from the world, Taft really taught me to be street smart and that's something that no other (cleaner, less dangerous) place can give me. The city. Ah, the city.

Taft Avenue this morning--not so hectic yet. Taft Avenue just starting to wakey wakey. :)

Brightside Entry | Snacks!

Ever since I was a kid, I've never been the type of person who particularly enjoys set meal time--it just doesn't make sense to me; why do I have to eat when I'm not yet hungry and why do I have to eat so much? I'm the kind of person who likes her eating spread out throughout the day. And today was a great lazy day for me--I got up at 10, had breakfast, read Storm of Swords the whole day, fell asleep at 4 in the afternoon and woke up at 6. I completely skipped lunch and almost went without dinner, but thankfully my dad decided to treat me and ate Audrey to a little snackaroo this afternoon!

 I found this awesome sandwich place that allows you to substitute meat for cheese! One of the hardest things about going vegetarian is finding something to eat at the mall but this place was great--that's a premium cheddar + lettuce + cucumber + tomato sandwich. I already ate half when I realized I wanted to take a photo though, so apologies. :)) It doesn't quite look as appetizing as it was in real life.

 My dad had some salmon sashimi, one of his favorites that are actually good for him. Ate Audrey and I split the kani and california maki--I don't feel bad about eating the kani because it's not actually crab; not that that makes it any healthier but it makes me happy no animals were harmed in the making of my food anyway. 

 I also decided to buy myself Soft Batch cookies, which I haven't had in the longest time. I heated these and found myself reliving my childhood as I bit into the beautiful, fall-apart goodness of these cookies. Crazy. Sweet tooth, satisfied. :)