Just read.

Read.
Read books old and new. Read books obsolete and mainstream.
Read books from fiction to non-fiction, from children's to memoirs. Have a taste of different genres.
Read good books. A whole lot of 'em.
Read bad books. Hopefully not as much. And when you come across a book you deem to be worse than the last bad book you held, think about how it'll make you appreciate the good stuff more.
And then read even more good books. Read fantastic ones.
Choose several favorites. You can never have JUST ONE. Today you may prefer this, tomorrow another. Yesterday's favorite may not even be one of those.
Read. I beg you.
Just read.

--note to self

. . .

Buying or not, I almost always stop by bookshops whenever I'm at the mall. It feels nice going through the aisles, looking for new titles to add on my list, touching books big and small, looking at the covers, checking the availability of items from my list etc. Lately though, I've been feeling a little guilty of my book expenditures. Don't hate me, but I feel like it's been more of an extravagance on my side, especially because I'm unemployed. It's like a sin. I don't need it yet I've been emptying out my wallet just to take home that shiny (really?) book or that one which randomly caught my eye. Secondhand shops doesn't make much of a difference since I tend to always hoard.

But, still, I buy. That guilty feeling doesn't have much effect on me so you're free to give me a pat on the back. Who can possibly stop buying books? I mean, seriously. And why deprive yourself of something that makes you happy? So long as you don't go overboard (walking home from EDSA going south; fasting for one week), then you're fine. AND HAPPY. So, you know. JUST KEEP READING. (to the tune of Dory's "Just keep swimming")

Flying books and reeling words

Don't you just love Vimeo? It's impossible not to like (or even love) 4 out of 5 random videos you view. I saw this video, however, from a blog over at Tumblr. I'm so glad I found it.

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards ®.
Film Awards Won by “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
To date, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” film has drummed up fans all over the world taking home the following awards:
· Cinequest Film Fest: Best Animated Short
· Palm Springs International ShortFest: Audience Favorite Award
· SIGGRAPH: Best in Show

I have not much to say aside from THIS IS GUHREEEAAT and IT ALMOST MADE ME CRY. Book lover or not, I'm certain that you'll like this as much as I did, maybe less, maybe more, THE POINT IS YOU WILL LIKE IT. Get it? Now watch.

Bill, what's happening out on the street today?

I've been seeing raves about the documentary Bill Cunningham New York and, though I had no idea who he is or what he does (that is, before I saw them blog posts), decided to watch and see for myself what the fuss is all about.

The "Bill" in question is 80+ New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours."

Bill is such an amusing and fascinating man! He is funny, quite shy, but definitely has an eye for fashion. His lifestyle is very simple and far from the fancy world in which he moves. He admits to loving clothes and can be quite obsessive in what he does, but he himself does not care for donning expensive garbs. He is well-known among the high society circles which events he often chronicles, but doesn't give a damn about money and paychecks (more than once did he rip his paycheck). He doesn't get fazed by them younger photographers with their digital SLRs and 200mm lenses huddled in a certain spot (as seen during the fashion week part of the film), clicking at every single model strutting down the runway.

He moves around the city in a bicycle, his 29th (he already had 28 bikes stolen), with an old Nikon dangling from his neck. When it's cold, he has this dark blue jacket over his signature street-sweeper-blue-shirt. And when it rains, a black DIY raincoat is always on hand. His room at the Carnegie Hall is full of file cabinets of his work. I really really admire his humble, simple lifestyle and his being down-to-earth. I guess you don't see a lot of that in New York, especially if they're as famous and respected as one certain chap of the name Bill Cunningham.

This docu is entertaining, very amusing, and at times heartbreaking. He reminds me of James Nachtwey in the sense that he is a loner, dedicated his life to his craft, and didn't have time for romance/starting a family.

I do love documentaries about photographers. Which reminds me, I have yet to finish the documentaries on Henri Cartier-Bresson. Might get to that later, I think I'll re-watch this first.

Coffee

You wake up in the morning and start for the kitchen. One cup of coffee to start my day right, you said. You didn't even wash your face first or drink a glass of water. You finish it standing up, with thoughts filling up your drowsy mind.

You walk about the kitchen slowly, as if every step should be well thought of. Patting the heads of your energetic puppies, your face curls up into a sad smile declaring: Here's to another day of aimless breathing.

You stood up upon feeling dizzy from the rush of blood from your head. You still held your cup and, upon finding it empty, started to make your second dose of caffeine.

You let out a loud, gratifying sigh. As if only one as loud as that could make you believe you're still living. Downing your drink as if it were ice-cold water in the searing heat of summer, you push away things that's been living in your head for too long. You fail. Miserably.

Upon finishing your second cup, your eyes start to well up with tears. You made your way back to your room as soundless as when you went out. Lying down on your unmade bed, you close your eyes, while thoughts swim in your drowsy mind.

Lately

- Finally done with Austen's Emma, after more than a week (more or less) of struggling to finish it.
- Mind is full of family-related issues.
- Work, or lack thereof. I don't know how I can still be so choosy at this point. Or useless. Or worthless. With all the fuss about money and my siblings' schooling, how can I still be here? So freakin' stagnant. I have yet to encounter something to motivate me.
- Allergies. Every single friggin' type of allergies I have.

No pleasant stuff on this part of the intarnets. Sorry.

Just a thought

I'd like to own a small café which is also a bookshop. It may be a mini-library where customers can check out books or a secondhand bookshop. It can also be both.

I see a lot of similar concepts in other countries (through Tumblr) and I love the abundance of independent bookstores in these places. That's not really common from where I live.

I won't mind manning the store myself.

The one who has no dreams (still)

Is it possible for a person to have no dreams? No personal goals? No life plans?
I don’t know what I want to be.
I don’t know where I want to be.
I don’t know who I want to be.
Just what the hell am I going to do with my life?

. . .

Those are the opening lines of an entry in my old blog dated August of last year. I've been able to catch up with a friend these past few days and since we've already both graduated from college, talks about what we wanted to do came up.

She wants to study IT, and have already processed some papers. That's another three or four years but her parents don't mind so all's good. It's quite far from her first course (i.e., tourism), and just as far from the flying course she took afterwards. And while she's preparing for this IT venture, she's looking into visa applications for Australia. She says she wants to live there someday and probably study, too. I admire her for being interested in a lot of things, being very talented and an academic achiever, and good at whatever she does. She's determined to pursue her dreams (and she claims to have a long list), and that's great. I am genuinely happy for her.

Naturally, we talked about myself as well. What I wanted, my dreams, goals, and such. I have none. Five months after I first declared to the world wide web that I am a "dreamless" creature, here I am, reminding the interwebs of the existence of one such earthling.

She says it's impossible to not have even one dream. There's got to be something I wish to be, or have. She told me to ask myself, to find out once and for all what dreams lie dead in my heart and mind. I've done it a million times. And believe me when I say I truly, genuinely want to know. I still don't.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: It scares the hell out of me. It's like I'm walking in the woods, which never seems to be penetrated by the sun's light, never knowing which way to go.

I just hope and pray I'll be able to get past this dreamless phase. Because I would very much like to have dreams of my own. Then maybe, just maybe, I would chance upon a path where I can aim my anxious gaze.

I read a lot of blogs every time I go online and I often find myself looking through several pages of posts. I admire those who can easily articulate whatever's on their mind, and I find myself asking what the hell am I doing with my blog.

With transferring to Blogger from Wordpress, I promised myself that I would do more personal posts. Reading the blog, I find that everything here just seems superficial. It's either I have nothing better to say/nothing on my mind or I just find it hard to put 'em thoughts into words, which is often the case. I long for the days when blogging (for me) is spontaneous, high school days when everything and anything that pops on your mind gets instantly published. I wish I could be like that again, only better at writing.

This blog needs a change.

LOTR awesomeness

Visited several random blogs and saw this at Geek Out!:

These locally produced sets have exactly the same content as those that were released in the States when the DVDs first came out. Each 4-disc set has the feature films on the first two discs with commentary, a third disc with feature documentaries about the per-production of each film, and a fourth with documentaries on the making of the movie, post-production, and the release.

All in all, there's something like 15-16 hours of extras here, on top of the the extended cut of the films which watched end to end , would run about another 12 or 13.

Be sure sure you include a bed pan and some soda and chips when you gift these (available at Astrovision for about Php 900.00 each) and be prepared not to see your loved one for at least a weekend.

It's one of items listed in their 2011 Christmas Guide for Geeks and boy, am I glad I stumbled upon this. I don't usually visit the blog because it's mostly comics stuff but I searched for something LOTR and that led me to this.

Ah, you'll be mine someday. Just you wait.

Book shopping spree!

B gave me NBS gift certificates as a late Christmas present. I'm gonna get me some yummy books!
. . .
. .
.
Ten seconds later...

Top to bottom: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Heehee. I was supposed to buy The Bell Jar but it was out of stock so I opted for Bulgakov instead. One thing about having a long to-buy list is that you have alternatives when certain books are out of stock or nowhere to be found! Also, I was supposed to buy only 3 books and some pens for the remaining credit but I'm really glad I double or even triple check each shelf for hidden gems. Happy to find Dorian Gray (which is nowhere to be found in some branches)! That's 4 books crossed out from my to-buy list in one go! Total amount: P1,068.00

Ruminations on "Blindness" by José Saramago

I've been eyeing this since I first saw it on Booksale last December. There were at least 5 books in the two branches I frequent so I didn't buy it right away. I was also trying to refrain myself from impulsively buying books that are not in my to-buy list, so I decided to check some reviews first. Finally bought it last week.

Survival. The story revolves around an ophthalmologist's wife who was spared from an instant epidemic called "white blindness" that struck the whole country, and how she alone carried the responsibility of looking after those no longer capable of doing so themselves. The story is set mostly in an asylum where the first victims are quarantined (she pretended to be struck blind as well just so she could stay with her husband)--where names became irrelevant and your voice is your identity. It's a story of survival, compassion, and just how much (and for how long) one's spirit can endure.

This book is so good, though I'm not satisfied with it's ending. It made me wince, smile, almost want to cry. The living conditions depicted in the book is unimaginable, and the line between what can be considered humane and not seems practically erased. Survival of the fittest is definitely in play here. It's dystopian, and it's frightening because it seems possible; one moment everything's as it is, then BOOM--you're flung into a world you only see in nightmares. It is creepy in a way, and it made me cringe more than a few times when certain things are described and my brain supplements it with visions of the things I read. No thanks to you, imagination.

On one hand there's the harrowing condition in which the people are subjected to, on the other there's the strength of a woman who is not willing to turn a blind eye on her surroundings (pun intended)--though several times she wished she couldn't see--and take responsibility in striving for what little order and  justice she can do or give. It's so easy to give up and give in to depression and whatnot (it is even understandable to end your own life), but she cannot find it in herself to let things go as it is and let things happen knowing she can at least try to change them. This is the story of how the heroine, along with a band of companions gathered around her, struggled in a world far from what anyone could ever hope it would be.


There's a line in the synopsis that says, Blindness is a powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses--and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. And I think it is. It truly is.

Ah, less than a week into the new year and I have already acquired four new books. Why do I even have a to-buy list when all I purchase are random used books that happen to catch my eye? This addiction to Booksale proves difficult to cure.

Already done with the first two. (I would love to write some reviews but I have 0 book-reviewing skills.) Emma is my first Austen (yeah, I know). I was already on my way to the counter when I spotted Anne. It was a bit expensive, but I know that it's very popular and highly recommended plus I really like how it looks so, here I am, blogging about it.

The only book I planned to purchase was Blindness. I've seen several copies in two Booksale branches and can't resist it, after researching about it on Goodreads. The rest are impulsively bought. I wish I could've resisted buying those, but then they are books. Good books at that. Oh, well.

2012 movies that make me giddy!

The Secret World of Arrietty, February (Japan release: 2010)

The Hunger Games, March

Men in Black III, May

Brave, June

The Dark Knight Rises, July

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, July

Rurouni Kenshin, August (Japan)

The Hobbit, December

When I first read The Hunger Games Trilogy, which was December 2010, and learned that there will be a movie adaptation this year, I thought that I could never be more excited for a movie, ever. But when I found out that there will also be an adaptation of The Hobbit, I can't...I just can't possibly contain my excitement! Yes, I seem to be more giddy about the latter (at least as of the moment). Don't judge haha. It might be because it's one of my most recent reads, and the time I'll have to wait 'til the movie is released is relatively shorter.

My sister recently bought these used crime-related books. I ended 2011 and greeted the new year reading these.

No, I won't be a serial killer anytime soon. Haha!

I. CAN'T.

I absolutely cannot contain my excitement over THIS:

It's impossible, I tell you. I have been restraining myself from purchasing a copy (secondhand) of The Hobbit for months, and finally this December, I gave in. More than any other piece of clothing I bought, this book was my ultimate gift-to-self this Christmas.

It was an accidental discovery. As I was browsing one of the book blogs I frequent, a photo post's caption caught my eye:

To make work more fun today I made myself a little book pile of rewards. Everyone’s re-reading The Hobbit now the trailer’s out, yes? Yes.

My heart skipped a beat, or two. I kid you not.

I was constantly thinking about why nobody made this wonderful story into a movie. I watched the trilogy right after I finished the book. (I started reading it during the first hours of Christmas. I've been constantly tempted to re-watch LOTR again as soon as it was through. YES. UNTIL NOW.) I don't think it's anywhere near the trilogy in the action scale, but it's definitely one heck of an adventure! And now, I am so freakin' glad happy joyful whatever!!! WAAAAAH!

Ahem. Trailer please.

I shall wait for you, December 2012.

. . .

Hunger Games + The Hobbit? Oh my. I love you 2012.

The year that was

Noteworthy happenings of 2011:
- A first, on the first (January)
- A celebration (February)
- Finished college (March)
- Bought my first film camera: a Bell+Howell BF35, 35mm toy camera (April)
- Bought my first SLR: a Minolta SR-T 101b (June)
- Started buying a lot of secondhand books a.k.a. the time when I developed a Booksale addiction (September)

Blah moments:
- I'm still unemployed (ugh)
- Although it's the year I got started on film photography, or photography in general, I haven't been taking photos as much as I hoped and thought I would. Unemployment is one contributing factor. Also, I tend to take photos of the same things over and over as I don't really go out much. I have a total of seven rolls of film waiting to be processed.
- I only started reading profusely by mid-year
- Started some things that were never updated or continued
- I had so much time to do a lot of different things (both old and new) and yet I didn't really accomplish anything

All in all, 2011 seems to be a "hibernation" year. It's a shame I never really "went out" or did something new, different, or worthwhile. I mostly stayed home, read, stayed long hours on the interwebs almost daily... I won't be able to have this much time once I start working and yet, this. It's... a bit sad.

Oh, well. Let's make 2012 a more fruitful year, shall we? :)