Because we do not own a router, I have to wait in queue for my turn to use the internet while my bratty sister was in her typical cranky self. Storming to my room, I decided to continue reading TH White’s Once and Future King, left unfinished for a week or so.
Bad-tempered at first, I then got lost in the world of fantasy and enjoyed reading about Merlyn’s wisdom, Queen Morgause of Lothian and her other enchanted sisters, of the Old Ones and the early years of Arthur’s rule.
You know how people dig dinosaurs and other bones of prehistoric creatures in places like China and Indonesia, and there are none here. I mean our country has a lot of water in it. Don’t reptiles like that? Meow added that we have crocodiles here: Big crocodiles, and they’re like close relatives of dinosaurs. They should be thriving here like chickens. I mean the environment here (I assume that the proximity we have from the equator would not have changed that much), it’s a habitat that’s good for them.
Bakit ba walang nahuhukay na dinosaur dito? Of course, beside the obvious reason that we don’t have paleontologists here… I think that nobody is interested in looking for dinosaur bones or any other bones here.
Typically, when I don’t like people, I can point out what I don’t like in them. They may be obnoxious, rude, just plain evil or bashful. Sometimes, I don’t like them because they are annoying or have habits that I find irritating. Like the way they use boring in a Filipino sentence or how they hold a slice of pizza, just small things, I know! I am a pretty narrow-minded person… evidently!
But at least, I know what I dislike!
And there are people that just send bad signals to me. They have a quality about them that makes me want to stay away. And they are the people that scare me. They remind me of those evil characters in Murakami books that only you notice and everybody seem to be in awe of. You think you see their true colors even if they haven’t done anything yet. Then you hate yourself because you are intuitive and have no basis for how you feel. You are being irrational. But your guts tell you something that you can’t get over. At least with the people who annoy you, you can stay away from them or place them a good distance where they can do you no harm (or work your way to avoid the situations that gets to you). With these people, it is hard.
I
Naisipan ko magpakalbo ulit. Sabi nila bagay. Mula nang magsara yung dati kong barber, iniiwasan ko magpagupit. Dapat kasi sa akin ay low-maintenance kasi tamad ako mag-ayos ng buhok. So goodbye bad hair days, goodbye hair!
I have this weird superstition. Minamalas ako for the rest of the month pagkatapos ko magpakalbo. I have expelled much of my superstitious beliefs when I was in college but was revived again due to a bunch of coincidentally unfortunate events.
That’s why nagpakalbo ako ng 31st, inisip ko if kalbo ako 9 hours before the month’s end, there will be less probability of getting major bad luck compared sa pagpapakalbo sometime in the middle or the beginning of the month. Sabi ko nga weird superstition.
My parents are not home most of the time, they are still busy. I think they are united now with our other relatives. Unity is a rare thing in my father’s dysfunctional family. Death seems to unite them for now. It’s complicated. A time for me to say something cliché. Complicated.
I feel bad that I have no good memory of my recently deceased grandfather. You know how it is with people you are not close with, you have one good memory of that person, a nice, sweet moment, a tender spot in your mind and it is enough to think of them nicely. Like when my Tita Gemma who I remember having fun before leaving for the US and never showing her face again (that was when I was about five), my Uncle Joel (an architect) who lived with us when I was about eight and showed me things he drew… it’s fun, even some of our relatives I don’t like have their nice tender moments. Things that would be etched on my mind that makes me fuzzy when I remember.
My grandfather did not have any of those moments. He had little to do with me while growing up. He left my grandmother who I though highly of until she died when I was around 7. It was only when I was a teenager that I learned she had a maldita streak but it did not matter because I still remember the days when she picked me up at school and she gave me this expensive candy (that is for a kindergarten student). She had her tender moments.
A lot of people are reading the series by Stephenie Meyer. I have seen The Twilight movie and not really found it very good. They say the book is tons better, I could never be the judge of that because I don’t intend to read the book anytime soon.
I have issues with books the masses love. I guess I want to read a book because I want to read it on my own and not join the bandwagon. And I also don’t like profiteering serialized work that I have no assurance will end (reason why I found respect for JK Rowling for she gave HP a good ending, as my girlfriend raves of the final book), maybe I will check if it ends, don’t want it to be like Robert Jordan’s. Namatay na yung writer, di pa natapos.
I remember when Harry Potter came out. At least I was able to read the first two books before the movie came out. I did not like it that much, it was amusing in a way but not something that I will go out of my way to purchase. My girlfriend told me to read Book 3, that’s when it starts to get appealing for adults. Maybe I will… someday
I am at home right now… 5 hours to go before Christmas. I think most agnostics care for Christmas no matter what they say… not for the symbolism but rather for the same reasons as most Christians do. It’s a holiday that most people take a break and spend time with their family. I spend it with my family but I take more pleasure from being able to be alone.
The past two years was spent at work. Birthday ko na rin sa 27th at nung nakaraan na taon I spent it at work. It is pleasant to have it different this time.
Nung na-approve yung leaves ko, may nag-isip kung di ba pathetic. Sabi ko kasi excited na ako magkulong sa bahay! Yeah, I intend to lock myself at home: Browse the Internet, watch TV, read books, make drawings and eat.
You have to understand that 2007 was a weird year, I thought of myself as a boring person but in retrospect, it was an oddly intense year of alcoholism and other stuff not suitable for younger people. It is a path that I don’t think I will tread again. And I think I am glad. I think in life we should never make regrets, just learn from our mistakes. But I still think it is OK to drink once in a while. Di lang dapat araw-arawin. 2008 is great, it is pleasantly boring and except for me resigning from work and being in a relationship, but it is otherwise uneventful.
Boring is good. Boring is what I want to be right now. I guess it’s great to be solitary again and opening your door only to the people you want it to be open to. There are a lot of good friends that I have neglected and I wish I can bake amends for that.
Merry Christmas everybody!
I have been doing some reading lately. I was able to finish The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (way better than the movie) and I realized na pinanuod ko yung movie nang di man lang naiintindihan yung istorya. Siguro masyado akong naaliw ng mga nagsasalitang mga hayop.
The last book I read is Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of Dog in the Night-time. (Link here) It is a book that Grace loved and two other online chums are raving about.
It follows the story of Christopher Boone, a highly logical fifteen-year-old autistic boy. Strangely enough, I can relate to the guy (but not that much). It is a nicely written book. It is a detective story of how Christopher wanted to know who killed their neighbor’s dog. I was able to know who killed the dog early but what follows is a story of how an innocent kid is surrounded by a messed up surrounding that we as normal people are very familiar of. It is heartbreaking at times but you really can’t blame the guy. And by the way, Christopher’s way of explaining things made a lot of sense.
And that would be last of those kinds of books that I will be reading for a while.
I have been visited by bouts of loneliness, it passes by and it is something that I get over with. I swear from now on, I will not let it stand in the way of what i want.
Last Friday, I went to Medical City to see a doctor. But unfortunately, I got pissed off by my company’s current HMO and to make myself happy, I ended up spending 900 pesos eating sushi with Grace (we had a date in the hospital). Oh yes, I love Japanese food. Gusto ko pag-aralan gumamit ng chopstick! And I tried eating using chopsticks and I ended up gobbling a sushi with one bite. Makes me look like some uncultured mountain tribesman. Ooops! Taga-bundok nga pala talaga ako.
I bought this really nice book about pastel painting and I think it’s my next project. Making art using pastels.
So, I was able to finish Dexter Season One… and I have to say, I can relate to the guy. It’s eerie, I should really be alarmed and I am not saying that because I am one of those creepy losers who want to empathize with a cool TV figure but I do. Like there are episodes about how Dexter has a hard time relating to his friends about sex and how to properly behave in funerals.
I don’t read as much as I used to but my life has been very booksy. I don’t thing there’s really a word like booksy. But that is my life. I go home and read a book and little television. It’s all work, sleep and a book. And I am taking a long time to finish a book and I got two new books as presents from meowy for our fourth month as lovers. I like using the word lovers, it sounds so mature! So many books to finish so little time.
She was rushed to the hospital yesterday, early morning, by her friend. No extra clothes at all.
When I woke up at 4AM, I found 14 missed calls and a message asking for my help. I felt stupid being unable to wake up for that.
I arrived shortly at the hospital where she was admitted. I spent the day with her. She has no job and I am just starting over a new job. I have been spending a lot of money lately so it sucks that we find ourselves in a ward with 5 other people.