Too early for humanity

It's 5:46am and too early for humanity. That's because  slept at 3am doing sketches of people with pencils - something I just learned to do and find it fun. But the baby had to sleep next to me early today because his parents had to go to the market to buy food. So this little piggy stayed home. The baby had this bad habit of waking up and wanting to put back to sleep only if you carry him in your arms and croon him back to sleep. I wonder where he got that idea. LOL. Sigh. So no sleep for me until the parents come home.

Anyway, I wanted to post pics from my Starbucks diary. My sister-in-law gave me this Starbucks Planner last January. It had everything I wanted in a planner - good paper, hard bound cover and enough room to be creative. I have converted it to a notebook, sketchbook, a taskbook and an ideas book while it still continues to be a planner at heart. I've wanted to post pics of what it looks like in the inside but it's taking forever to load so let me just post two and resize the rest of the pics for web to post later. I have to do this now before the boy wakes or else will need to rock him to sleep again and I'm running out of songs. LOL

The Sale tag was created for a client and the bahay kubo sketch was from a drawing workbook I bought in Manila to teach me to sketch. Yes, even in creativity, I tend to be bookish - at least with the technical part. If you can't read my terrible handwriting - it's a note about "Good Performance" -something I pick up here and there on my readings. I copy it in THE notebook so I can remember it since I tend to forget where I read it.

Ooops! The boy woke up and is saying hello to the remote control. Be right back with more pics later.

Misanthrope

I have a new word. Misanthrope. LOL. Blame it on this guy.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk

Wala lang.Haha.

I don't feel like working today with the rain from Pedring making all that racket. But let me just post this one trivial detail. There's a meme going about that says the No. 1 single on the day of your birth serves as the theme for the rest of your life. The No.1 song on my date of birth is George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". For some reason, it's not only hilariously funny, it's also terribly ironic.

I cannot bring myself to work today. Just have too many things on my mind. Maybe tomorrow. Good Night.

Misanthrope. Somebody who hates people: somebody who hates humanity, or who dislikes and distrusts other people and tends to avoid them. (Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

Flee Fly Flew

Went jogging after work yesterday at the Sports Complex. I haven't done that in about hmmmm ... eight months? I pushed for at least 1Km of jogging with at least 1km intervals of brisk walking in between and the usual sprint on the last few meters. It felt good. I miss my jogging buddies. Didn't want to stress myself after gaining so much weight and not much exercise.

Anyway,I'm going back there later today. It's become a more crowded place since I last remember it. I still prefer the Boulevard - for the better fresh air. But with my new jogging buddies, this will do. :)

It's 3am and I'm wide awake.

Astonishing Kiran Rao

Kiran Rao Pictures

Ahhhhh Shit! Just saw the movie Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries, 2010). Written and directed by Kiran Rao, wife of Aamir Khan. And now I think I'm in love with both husband and wife. (Insert expletives here!)

I'm already having a hard time getting over Ghajini and Taare Zameen Par, and now I have another movie stuck in my head. I LOVE IT! I love the screenplay, I love how it was directed, I love the cinematography - the display of colors and culture, I looooooove how the characters were portrayed and revealed. And the music (by Gustavo Santaolalla of the Babel and Motorcycle Diaries fame)  - ahhhhh, I keep hearing it over and over in my mind. It's disturbing! I've been re-playing all Aamir Khan movies since I saw Three Idiots. I think this one tops all of them. I love Kiran Rao! And I love her more than Aamir Khan.

The film will remind you of the movies Magnolia, Jologs and I think I saw a Korean film with somehow similar idea that starred Jung Woo Sung. The intertwining of lives - and how each person affects another in a deep and subtle way. How each solitary soul can somehow connect with another - by just understanding the depths of their being. I love how shots were made with a handheld camera - I think that was a great idea. I love the simplicity of the conversations that deeply lie about the turmoil the characters were going through. I love the windows and the looking in. I love the old woman neighbor and her role in the film as a silent witness. I love the ending - how everything was resolved but not quite. I love. I love. I love.

Dhobi Ghat is a great movie. Hollywood should see it. I think the world should see it.



Ah shit. Now I won't be able to sleep again tonight with the movie replaying in my head. I now desperately want to meet Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao and tell them how I love their art. As difficult as it is to get foreign independent films in this country, I'm gonna try and look for their next projects.

Ahhhh, fucking A! I hated getting wired up over things like this. But shit happens. What else can I do?

Stellar Aamir Khan

I am so happy to hear that Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta are going back to acting again. I loved "Tagos ng Dugo" and "Madrasta" among others and would list them as my top Pinoy films. But this post is not all about Pinoy films, although I think they deserve one and I hope to write one soon. Tonight, I wanted to write about Aamir Khan.

I first saw him years ago in Lagaan (Taxes, 2001), a Bollywood film about a small town trying to save its sad plight from high taxes by waging a cricket match against British Officers during the height of the British Rule in India. I saw it after a series of seminars on "Christ on Film" given to our Catholic community for free by the screenwriter of "Nine Mornings" Ton Sison. It was explained to us why Bollywood films take 3-4 hours and why dances and singing were essential to their films. I normally could not stand to watch a long film - I fall asleep quite easily. But Lagaan got me weeping and cheering for the Indian Team all throughout the movie. I especially loved the part where they worshiped their gods to help them win a game. That segment alone was overpowering to me and reminded me of how glorious it is to be in God's presence in quiet surrender. From then on, I listed Lagaan as one of my favorite movies, next to Amistad, Shawshank Redemption and Children of Heaven (Pakistan). Lagaan was nominated Best Foreign Film in the 2002 Academy Awards.

I didn't know the name Aamir Khan then although I found him quite a handsome young man acting as Bhuvan in Lagaan. A few months ago, I saw Rang de Bashanti (Color of Sacrifice, 2006) about a documentary filmmaker covering a story about freedom fighters during the Indian Independent Movement. This one I fould a bit overdone although I still find the film impressive. The character DJ was now recognized as Aamir Khan, the headstrong Bhuvan.

My sisters and I started to follow his films. You must have heard of the Three Idiots (2009). I blogged about it a few months ago and Aahmir Khan also played the lead role. That story strongly resonates with me - being a college dropout who feels that people have more to offer in life even without a college degree. I also love the script on textbook definitions, the demonstrations re: price of shoes, the speech about following passions - very smart screenplay.

Last week, I saw Ghajini (2008), a total impressive film that first reminded me of the movie Memento but with a different twist. It was about a man with short term memory loss and how he coped with the reason for his brain disease. Aamir played a different man here - a tortured brutal killer - and played in quite well too.

I just finished Taare Zameen Par (Like Stars on Earth, 2007), a heart-warming story about a young boy coping with being misunderstood. All my favorite people are mentioned here: Einstein, Picasso, Edison. I loved how he tells the story and how his characters develop during the film. I think there is quite a bit of exaggerated emphasis on some parts but this seems to be characteristic of all his films. Sort of like a trademark but I love that too, surprisingly, for someone who detests corny. Aamir Khan produced and directed this film himself of which he played a supporting role. Again, the quality of the movie in script, acting, cinematography and direction - stellar.

I now want to marry Aamir Khan - or at least, the roles he plays in his movies. He is  however married to Kiran Rao whom he met in the movie Lagaan.

Let's see. Robert Redford would be my favorite American male actor, Sean Connery my favorite Brit, Jung Woo Sung- my fave Korean, and Christopher de Leon my favorite Pinoy artista. Khan would be my Bollywood idol. Thank God for unreal men in movies.

Oink

I've been eating like a pig. I cannot seem to stop. If I keep this up, I'd soon be qualified for the Pinoy Biggest Loser 2. I don't know if it's depression or stress or just good food. What more, the baby broke the weighing scale by picking it up and throwing it for fun. I don't no how much I weigh and that worries me.

I'm suppose to be on a weight-loss challenge with my friends but it seems I'm going in the opposite direction. I also haven't gone to the gym or walked or jogged for a looong time. I miss my gym buddies. I miss my walking therapies. They are currently losing weight in other countries. But it's been raining and I don't like to get wet. LOL. I have exercise and dance videos which I don't touch. Running after the baby is the only exercise I'm getting. That worries me too.

I finished a whole pint of Rocky Road ice cream by myself last weekend. That worries me the most.

I need to do something about it. But that sandwich looks tempting.

eternal sunshine

I've been working since last night and finally took a break late afternoon. It's been raining hard and after a bath, all I could really do was watch a movie. I started this Korean series about assassins called Athena but didn't have the patience to wait for it to download. So instead I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Again. And yet again, I find myself analyzing every confusing moment of the movie. It doesn't help that my sister is playing classical music in the next room while the baby sleeps. The music is suppose to stimulate his mind in his sleep. So we have rain, a depressingly mind-boggling movie, no dinner and classical music.

All I can say is my mind right now has no sunshine, is not entirely spotless and that chocolate is not helping :\

Maybe I'm just tired. And need sleep. I think I should play Angry Birds. I'm stuck with game 20 and can't go pass it. Dang pigs are depressing me.

Okay enough of this. I'm going to bed early.

Call a spade a spade

There are a few valuable lessons I learned from my father. One of them is to call things as they are. It's easier to solve problems that way. We cannot sugarcoat words just to please people because that deprives us of a clearer view of how things are. And that usually blurs the process of investigation and analysis.

So you call a pirate an opportunist, a wheeler-dealer a manipulator and a bitch a BITCH. Because that's what they are.

Seven Year Itch

My blog turned seven yesterday. Unfortunately, I was in a workshop somewhere in Oton with no mobile signal and no hope for internet wi-fi. But I did get sentimental about my blog turning seven for a whole four minutes. We started singing videoke. Without wi-fi, there's no point of living life in your laptop when you have real people to live life with. So I decided to celebrate my blog's birthday by singing Dianne Reeve's Better Days with a drunk but very appreciative audience :D Life has soo much to offer outside the four sides of my monitor. And it what feeds the writing. I belted out song after song, with duets, solos and and an all-girl group. Without a drop of alcohol. And turned in at two in the morning. Who says you can't get high with life?

I was thinking of writing about the  seven-year itch since this relationship with blogger would've started 1st grade by now. But there is really no point because there's is nooooo itch.

For sentimental reasons, I'm enjoying Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro (With You I Will Leave) as I write this.I searched for the English lyrics, played the song and read the English translation that went with it.  I change the LEAVE word of the lyrics with LIVE. Much more meaningful to me that way.

Sheesh!  Try playing it on surround, dim lights and alone - and see if you heart doesn't threaten to explode by it's sheer power.



Sigh. Is it the song or me getting old?

Harry Potter for grown-ups

I watched my last Harry Potter movie last night on 3D.  I had to do overtime work and left the office about seven pm when I met up with a friend. Unfortunately all we could catch was the nine o'clock show and it was expensively 3D. But I said that to give allegiance to the last of the series, we should not mind the expense. After all, I was a Harry Potter fan for almost thirteen years. Very little people knew about Harry then. And the world didn't seem normal ever since :D

I started reading Harry Potter in 1997. A very good friend, Gjean insisted I read the book,The Sorcerer's Stone. She had to borrow it from a cousin who bought it in London because nobody heard about J.K. Rowling at that time. It was aimed to be a children's book but I loved it. I bought a copy and gave it to my nephew to encourage him to read. My friend and I started following Harry after that, even after she moved to Canada. When she came to visit me a few years later, she even bought me a hard-bound copy of the sixth book.

I went to a lot of trouble just looking for those books every time they come out. I don't usually buy the books I read - because they are all quite expensive. Most of the time I just borrow them from generous friends with some begging and bribing.

There was a time I had to beg a friend, RP, to let me borrow his since there was a long line of borrowers in a single Harry Potter book back home. So he sent the very thick hard-bound (the Goblet of Fire I think it was) from Manila to Iloilo by mail so I could read it. That was sooo nice of him :D

My other friend, Ethel, a lawyer, who buys these books a lot, gives me first dibs because I was the one who introduced her to Harry Potter. Borrowing the Harry Potter books alone was an adventure. I read the Deathly Hallows with an e-book copy in a tiny PDA. No wonder I have very thick prescription glasses now.

The first Harry Potter movie didn't come out until 2001 - ten years ago. Daniel Radcliffe was a tiny boy back then. Look at him now.

Anyway, I have to work today. It's a Saturday but that's ok now that I've seen Harry Potter. I would not recommend you watching it if you're not a fan. You will need a lot of catching up to do. The movie is for fans and it did some justice although I still do wish it would go on and on.



I feel separation anxiety. They are all so grown-up now. Sigh. And so am I. Lol.

Beautiful

Been experiencing several allergy attacks. It's driving me crazy. Can't think right if I'm itching. Will post a more noteworthy note later.

Watched two great movies during the weekend. The first was a French film called "I Loved You So Long". I like the subtlety and quiet of European films - makes emotion so much more intense for some reason. And I love the simplicity of the ending. It stars Kristin Scott Thomas who displayed a powerful performance. Must see.

The other one was also European - Romanian but more disturbing. It was called "Four months, Three Weeks and Two Days" - all about a girl helping her friend get an abortion. The plot was simple but the emotional load - a bit heavy. But I liked it because I kept thinking about it even after it was over.

My friends and I got ourselves a theme song "because we were that girl too". It's called "Beautiful Flower" by India Arie. Check it out.