Gaiman's effect

Reading The Ocean At the End Of the Lane reminded me of the reason a started devouring and loving books. There is this special privilege given to people who, book in hand, get transported to another dimension, another reality while safely curled up in bed. I especially love Neil Gaiman for bringing me to the realms of dreams and nightmares with just a turn of the page.

Review: Return to Ribblestrop

Return to Ribblestrop continues the confusion, weirdness, friendship, suspense and chaos that Andy Mulligan started in Ribblestrop. The series is about a strange boarding school– quite an understatement, really– established by a quixotic Dr. Giles Norcross-Webb with even stranger students in impossible situations. In Return, Mulligan adds several big cats and reptiles to the school.

Honestly, I do not know where to start with the summary (or the review even!) of the novel. With the amount of characters and each his (or her) own sub-plot, it is a dizzying tale. Try keeping mental images of the students: Sanchez, Millie (the first and only girl student of Ribblestrop High), Sam, Ruskin, Miles, Henry, a dozen or so orphans (sorry, I lost count); and several grownups, while following the plot twist and turn into oblivion and finally resolution. Plus the geography of the Ribblestrop – the towers, the tunnels, the lake and the hills – adds to the confusion. But, I believe the complicatedness and Mulligan’s masterful presentation of it are the major factors that make the book unique and enthralling.

Modernizing Classics

Reading classic works such as those of Verne's and Alcott's is a tedious process, especially that I find their style and use of language far from what my tongue is used ti. Yes, I have enjoyed the stories but it takes me a long time to finish reading the book. Searching polysyllabic and mostly archaic words in the dictionary, many of which I have not even heard spoken by any of my friends or acquaintances fluent in English, or rather, has English as her first language, adds to the time I spend on a book. Complicated words makes it more difficult to understand the meaning of paragraphs, let alone a sentence. I keep losing my concentration when I read classics because I keep losing my interest, too.

To prove a point, I was able to finish a young adult novel by James Patterson in one afternoon. Simple language for the single minded me. And a book being about people my age is added interest. On the other hand, I haven't finished Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I started last November. And before that, it took me more than a week to finish his Journey to the Center of the Earth. I blame the Icelandic names of places and things and scientific descriptions every or so paragraph.

Book Adventures

There were power failures in the afternoons for almost a week now. As if on cue, the website I'm in would fail to load and the electric fan would stop spinning. Then my laptop beeps, which supposedly meant that it was unplugged from a power source.

Disappointed and irritated, I would turn off my laptop having nothing to do with it anymore. But then I start feeling grateful. I finally have time to get back to the printed pages of a book that I have left for cyberspace.

With a book at hand, I would open a door that leads to open air above a rooftop. (A porch wasn't built but the door stayed.) Having no electricity meant no electric fan to move cool air around. Fortunately, the afternoon breeze would be cool enough to keep me from sweating like a pig. I would set a throw pillow by the door ledge and sit on it cross-legged. Then, I would dive into the book ready for some adventure.

Summer Plans

After almost an hour looking for taxi, my sister and I were able to bring home all my stuff from the dorm. It took us 2 cabs riding in convoy to take all the bags full of my clothes, school supplies, more bags and what-not to her apartment. Plus my bucket and electric fan. Packing them all was both tiring and shocking. I was overwhelmed by the amount of things I kept in my room. You see, nothing must be left behind. I was kind of embarrassed by all my huge baggage that I paraded from my room to the lobby and out of the dorm.

I packed my whole house. Ha!

So there you go. I was cleared and I left the dorm. Goodbye, Kalayaan Residence Hall. I will miss you and all the adventures and mishaps that occurred within your walls. I am a freshman no longer.

The good news? Summer vacation officially started! And since I won't be taking any summer classes in UP, I can do LOTS of things in the upcoming 2 months.

Book-sale

Our house is a library with volumes of encyclopedias, textbooks, novels and self-help books. It's a wonder why I only started to really fancy books after I graduated from elementary. But when I did, I started my own collection of books, adding to the rising piles at home.

It started with Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix. The fifth installment was sent to me as a birthday present from my parents' friend. I only knew the HP movies back then so my sister told me not to read it. I should start with the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone, though I have seen the movie. So she gave me the first two books, then I bought the next two, all in paperback. When the sixth and seventh installments were released, we bought them hardbound. That's when I really started, not just to read, but to collect books, especially novels.

Of Love

Yesterday, I finished reading Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It has similarities with the movie Love and Other Drugs starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhal. The book must have been its inspiration, but I won't dwell here.

Of Love and Other Demons is about a tragic love story between a rebellious, copper-haired girl, who was raised by her family's slaves, and a bookworm of a priest, who was sent to "fix" her. This happened in the coastal tropics of the South American seaport during the colonial times.

Kudos to Mia

Summer is the time to enjoy the sun. It is when many families go on vacation trips around the Philippines and even abroad. Children play with neighbors and friends and make the streets their playground. Youth my age would go out with peers to the malls, restaurants and just around the town. Of course the computer gaming stations will not be left unmentioned. Yes, enjoy your freedom, guys. It's vacation time as it should be.

Normally, my summer is spent in front of the computer updating with friends, writing random blogs, posting pictures in Facebook, blah blah blah. Other times I surf the idiot box for a good watch. They are all for killing time. Yes, I really have to get a life. But wouldn't it be great if you've done something productive this summer? Like, I don't know, create an article and win a writing contest held by a newspaper that's being published nation-wide?

Someone I know sent her article to the Philippine Star and it got published today. I just want to shout out a big congratulations to Mia Judicpa for a great job! It proves that us Philippine Science High School students do not only have the scientific intellect that we are being praised for, but also the capability to write our hearts out and be heard. Again Mia, congratulations and I hope to read more of your works in the printed publications. ;-)

Here's a link to Mia Judicpa's article - Caught in the Rye