Potter and the USA

After a month of state-hopping on the west coast, Mom finally rode back to Vancouver from Seattle. She’ll fly back here in the Philippines on September 22nd. That’s Carlo’s birthday!

So I made one last request to Mom. Now that I’ve finished the final installment of the Harry Potter series, I feared of being inflicted by the Post-Potter Depression, a recently discovered psychological disorder that inflicts numerous HP fans with the fact that it’s all over and that there will no longer be any HP books to look forward to.

As to immunize myself from this threat, I requested that she purchase Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They are unavailable in the bookstores here so I’m deeply hoping they’d be displayed in Canada. After all that’s where the British editions are printed using recycled materials.

It has been quite a ride for Mom having stayed in Vancouver the first week, Seattle the second, Phoenix the third and Oakland the fourth, then it’s a roundtrip ticket back to Seattle then finally to the point of origin; Vancouver.

Mom has always described the US as a nice place to live. But despite being surrounded by lavish choices and sophisticated foreigners, nothing could ever vaporize the loneliness that afflicted her. So it’s true that happiness isn’t for sale. The only ones who can give happiness to you are the ones you love and who love you.

Treadmill Dance

Just an extraordinary video I came across in YouTube.

I personally find this better than those outrageously popular dancing inmates from Cebu. At least this video is…one of a kind. Not replicated from any popular material.

Slither

A horse doesn’t know its face is long. A monkey doesn’t know its butt is red.
-Chinese Saying

In other words, you don’t know your own shortcomings.

Two weeks ago when Pops came here, I bought a Chinese phrasebook called Making Out in Chinese. It features Mandarin as it is spoken by everyday locals. It was a good buy even if it was a thin bundle of paper worth almost Php 500. Who would want to sound like a textbook? I did back in elementary when Lao Shi (Mandarin for “Teacher”) would let us read sentences aloud then have us memorize it.

If not for that phrasebook then I would have rotted from boredom at home. The PC’s busted thus no Internet or blogging, I’ve read and reread all Harry Potter books (except Deathly Hallows which I’ve read only once), I’m tired of reading Paulo Coelho over and over again and for some unknown reason, I’ve lost a whole heart in playing video games particularly my PlayStation 2.

I talked to Pops about it. He simply told me that there comes a time when our interests begin to cease. Even when Carlo lent me his copy of Valkyrie Profile II: Silmeria two months ago, I still haven’t gotten past the first area. Maybe I could blame it on my not having played Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for the PlayStation.

Now he lent me his Star Ocean III: Till the End of Time. I just played past the opening scene when I just turned the PS2 off and shook my head. Now that is surprising since I’ve waited like an impatient kid when I first heard its release. I played and replayed Star Ocean: The Second Story years ago. I’ve beaten it when I was a wee 11-year old tyke.

I don’t know if I’m supposed to make predictions about myself but maybe my interests just tilted heavily back on writing. Now that I’ve made a completely fresh and raw start here in WordPress, I feel my creativity surging back in. Now it feels like four years ago when I’d write an average of ten scraps a day, one poem a week and one or two chapters of fan fiction a month.

Now I finally I’ve just drafted the prologue of my first ever novel attempt. And I’m seriously considering to have it published, probably be the local version of Nicholas Sparks and even J.K. Rowling! Weee!! And I’m seriously dreaming of becoming a New York Times bestseller. Haha!

Independence

September 20, 2007. That’s the day Mom and Malud arrive from Vancouver, Canada. It’s like it’s never been so long. It felt only a week ago that Mom got bumped off for three days before finally hitching a plane to Canada.

It wasn’t really a challenge being on our own at home. There’s hardly any cleaning to do and we just had to do extended hours of babysitting for the two brats. In fact it has been much better without Malud around. It sucks living with a despair-ridden, fault-finding, attention-hungry grandma on the brink of senility. I just hope one day (at least before she dies) she’ll finally realize that more and more people (even relatives) are starting to dislike her attitude.

I wonder. Will my “dear” grandma have another surge of blood pressure once she reads that paragraph? The truth hurts after all.

I’m only staying in Las Piñas enduring gloom, boredom and tripled travel time and fare just to keep my two little sisters company. If I leave, they’ll no longer have any first-degree family to be with. I guess my instinctive responsibility as a big sister just kicks in naturally.

The day Mom arrives, I’ll be packing my bags and move back to my Uncle’s place in Midtown at Paco, Manila. That way it will take only thirty minutes to get to school and merely P12 jeep fare. I’ll have a bundle of time and money to save for Photography, GBAdvance game cartridges and other hobby purposes. Hidalgo will just be a tiring walk away and I’ll be able to stock up on Kodak ProImage 135/36 for my Canon AE-1.

Photojournalism and Event Coverage has been constantly draining my energy and wallet. It all could have been tolerable if my professor doesn’t require our plates in 5R size. Our current assignment is to take candid Black-and-White photos of squatters’ structures. B&W film may be quite pricey but at least developing won’t be a financial problem. We are to manually develop them in our photolab, equipment and chemicals provided. They are part of our miscellaneous fees after all.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Speaking of Photojournalism, I just ditched my “partner.” She isn’t necessarily my partner and we’re graded individually yet since she doesn’t have a camera of her own, she’s grown far too dependent on me to a point that she can’t even go to class when I’m not around. She’d even bug me through text messaging asking if I’ll attend classes or not. She even has the nerve to wait for me by the stairs.

I didn’t mind sharing my camera with her at first but it just happened. She’s grown too comfortable around me and thinks I can just lend her my camera anytime. Plus I don’t like not being able to move properly with someone clinging on you. I just called it quits.

It is partly my fault after all. I was too nice to her. Good fences make good neighbors. Maybe I built my fences too low so she can just hop over it anytime.

And I’ve learned how to spot and avoid fair-weather friends.

For more than two years I’ve been looking after myself. I don’t mean having a job and being financially self-supporting. It’s living without your parents and siblings around and with only your Uncle to back you up. It wasn’t easy with Pops no longer around to give me pocket money whenever I want it. It was the first time I had to manage my own money to fit into my struggle for survival.

I may not be an anak-pawis but I’m definitely not a spoiled urban princess dependent on daddy’s big fat bank account. Sometimes I wish those rich kids suffering from superiority complex soon realize that they are what they are only because of their parents’ money.

Beauty with the Beast

Now I can’t even update this new blog regularly. I can’t even promise myself to write everyday. Speaking of writing, I finally updated my Final Fantasy X and Beauty and the Beast – based fan fiction, The White Mage and the Slasher.

Synopsis: Alternate Universe [AU]: Based on Beauty and the Beast. Tidus is a coldblooded slasher and soon receives a painful punishment. His dark days continued until a humble White Mage named Yuna ended up as his prisoner, not knowing that she’ll be his ray of hope.

Its original title was A Ray of Hope but the search engine yielded too many stories with the same title. Of course I want mine to stand out so I had no choice but to change the title. It may sound fairytale-ish and quite cheesy but I personally think it suits the story well! If you’re a fan of both, care to read it at FanFiction.Net 

I also plan to write a Tidus/Yuna lemon (fan fiction term for something with sexual content). It will be my first attempt to an adult romance genre so I’m wishing myself luck. I’m also cooking up other story ideas in my head but I’ve now decided not to amalgamate them with FFX. I might as well write my own concept for those.

Back in my animaniac days I used to write pieces for Rurouni Kenshin and Card Captor Sakura yet I believe fan fiction has gone out of fashion nowadays. I no longer get the same amount of reviews as before. Plus FanFiction.Net has been weeded by mediocre writers who can’t even tell the difference between “its”and “it’s,” “your” and “you’re.”

Ultimately I’ll finally begin my first ever novel attempt which I’m seriously considering having published here in the Philippines. But with our setting, it might even be pirated first before it even gets displayed in bookstores.

Ohana

Ohana means “Family.” Family means “Nobody gets left behind.”
-Lilo and Stitch

It’s been exactly a week since Pops flew here with Pauline from Palawan to give Christine, the two brats and I a visit and shopping trips to malls. The last time I saw Pops and Pauline was two months ago. It didn’t feel like a very long time.

Of course we celebrated like any other family reunion; going to the mall, SM Manila particularly. We fed up on KFC first thing. It was a blast! Pao and I wasted a handful of tokens on those blasted UFO Catchers. Christine chased the brats around who were hopping from one kiddie ride to another.

The following day Pops invited Carlo (my boyfriend) and Noel (Christine’s boyfriend) for an all-man drinking session. I couldn’t help but visualize a dear old dad drinking and fooling around with his future sons-in-law. But then again I haven’t even met my future in-laws yet, not that Carlo doesn’t want me introduced.

We spent the final day together at the most likely place to spend any lollapalooza: SM Mall of Asia. We first headed to Island Photo to have a family picture package. The price was P250 for two poses of one 8R, two 4R’s and four 2R’s. Of course the grand 8R depicted all five sisters with Pops. If only I have a scanner then I would have posted that nostalgic pic here.

It was more of a chore than a celebration though since I had to chase the brats all over Toy Kingdom. We ate away next at Yellow Cab. Then we headed to Island Photo to retrieve the pictures and went straight to Las Piñas.

It was such a tearful farewell. Christine, Pao and I couldn’t help but cry when Pops hugged the two brats for the last time. It was also the last time all five of us sisters will be together. I decided to repack my bag and spend the last night with Pops at Midtown.

Before going home though I suggested a last trip to SM Manila. I bought a pair of Dupé slippers (better quality than those overrated Havaianas for half the price). Pops said it was a good investment. At least I won’t have to spend P100 every half a year just for a new pair of slippers. Mine tend to wear out easily. Pao went crazy over California Maki from Kitaro.

We spent the last night drinking; Pops, his brother Tito Davy and me. It felt good to be drunk. It made me unaware of the sadness I had to endure the following day…

Augusts 10, 11 and 12. Those will be the happiest three days of my life. All of us five siblings reunited after a long year of separation. We were able to sing our family song again, We Are One Big Happy Family. When was the last time we sang that together?

Commence

So I’m giving birth to a new life as a blogger again. Blame it on my mind that can’t make itself up. I would have continued my overflowing emotions in my Vox blog but I found the host too suited for personal blogging instead of topics of general interest. Back when I first started serious blogging with Blogger, I felt my fire for creative writing was at a thousand degrees. Yet the host was far too user-unfriendly for my tastes. Vox in turn is far more malleable than Play-Doh.

I’ll commence this time an even more meaningful netizenship. I can’t say yet for sure but this won’t be my first “real” post yet. And I won’t advertise it to the cyber public yet. Like real life, there are too many sickos and cyberbullies loose. But also like real life, they’re merely like filthy little insects that could be easily ticked away.

Speaking of netizenship, I’m reminded of my duty as a fan fiction author. Golly. My readers ought to be screaming for updates now.

I suddenly remember this certain individual who for some reason loathes me as much as anyone would hate Hitler. I’m not down though. On the contrary I feel quite pleased. Someone I’m not even close to actually harbors such intense emotions for me! Well s/he even dedicated a blog entry and a song for me! That was one of the times I felt so deeply touched. Maybe s/he should lighten up by doing “other” things.

If s/he happens to find this little new blog o’ mine, it only means I mean so much to that individual. S/he even took the time and effort to know more about me and what’s going on with my life! *Sigh* It’s so nice to know that people care.