So I watched TV

I bummed on the couch in front of the TV after dinner. Juan dela Cruz was on. They were already having a countdown to its finale: five days left. About time, I thought because I wasn't really a fan.

Tonight’s episode was, I believe, the turning point of the whole series – the major battle between the forces of good and evil. As the pawns of the evil side started moving through the dramatic fog, the good guys all get tensed up, until the lead man, Juan dela Cruz himself, yelled “CHARGE!”

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.

Four Sisters and A Wedding: Not Just Comedy

Four Sisters and A Wedding was unexpected. Although I was told beforehand that the movie was “dramedy” (mix of drama and comedy), I thought it would portray the family on a light note, cracking jokes and witty comments in every scene, like with any Filipino feature film. Boy, was I partially wrong.

I said “partially” because the witticisms are still intact but the story about the family dynamics and the relationship among siblings brought the heart-warming, tear-jerking and effective drama into the screens; it drove me, and the rest of the cinema audience for that matter, into tears. As I am writing, my eyes still burn from crying for half of the movie.

So what’s with the drama, really?

This semester's anthem

Imagine Dragons's Radioactive

Not just Radioactive, but the rest of the songs in the Night Visions album. I have enjoyed, and am still enjoying, Imagine Dragons's music for three weeks now.

Among the songs, though, Radioactive struck me the most. Probably because of my bias towards the chemistry-related title (chemistry major here!). But I think it was Dan Reynolds's breathing in the first part of the song that hooked me to Radioactive. It was so intense. I felt the exhaustion and exasperation. I may not be experiencing stress right now will make me exhale so bad like Dan Reynolds, but it will come. After all, school just started.

The music video is a different story. Here's one more reason to love Imagine Dragons.

Thunder

Perspectives change, and here's a very good example.

Age 4: That was a very scary sound! I never ever ever want to hear that again. MOMMY!

Age 7: Dad said the gods are playing bowling in heaven. Thunder is when the ball hits the pins. He said that lightning is because of celes– heavenly cameras with flash taking pictures of the game.

Age 10: My aunt said that when God sees people doing bad things, He gets angry and lets out thunder and lightning to scare evildoers. I'm not scared of thunder and lightning anymore; I'm no evil.

Age 12: So here's what really happens: when particles bump into each other, energy is released and it is perceived as lightning (light energy) and thunder (sound energy). Science.

Age 16: OMG! It's Thor! The god of thunder has blessed us with a show of his magnificent powers! THOR! *fangirl squeal*

Age 18: I'll just be warm and cozy under my blankets and sit in a corner of my room and let it– HOLY FREAKING GLOB THAT'S LOUD.


Context: There has been rain with lightning and thunder (I'm not sure if it can be categorized as thunderstorm yet) every night since the start of the week. Some loud bang like glasses crashing and gunshots woke me up one night, and, thus, this.

#ThrowbackThursday: Galaw-galaw sa Tag-araw

Time for some Throwback Thursday! (I know, but a little mainstream once in a while won't hurt, right?)

Last push for summer! Here's a video of my friends and I dancing to an old summer TV station ID four years ago during a summer internship in a local college as a requirement in high school. (No, the video was not required of us, but rather, a fancy among friends. The internship was required, though.)

Shout out to Ayanne Aborka, Nicola Alcanzo, Sri Anabo, Charisse Gasataya and Faith Marcelino: I hope you don't mind me sharing this little, uh, adventure we did, and sharing your names here as well. May I ask, though: do you cringe when watching, or even remembering, this?

Acknowledgement to Mark Marcelino for shooting and editing the videos. It was fun!

Pat's Diary: What is happening to my friends?

Dear Diary,

My friends were acting really funny today.

At lunch, Jane talked in her whispering voice. She told us that she finds Ed very cute and made us promise not to tell anyone. Sophie raised an eyebrow, but agreed. Candy and I nodded, but Jane was not assured. So we did our best-friends-only pinky swear. Candy said she thinks he’s cute, too, and Jane glared at her. Then Candy clarified that she finds David handsome, which is better than cute. Jane was frowning at Candy, who was batting her eyelashes as she thought of David dreamily.

Taekwondo Day 23

New skills: roundhouse kick, full moon kick, neck chop attack, taiguk 1 and a little bit of taiguk 2.

And a stuffed toy? No, scratch that. Two stuffed toys.

My brother received stuffed toys from his ates in the class. His older girl classmates are fond of him. They think he's cute. I think they're babying him a little too much. Antagonistic as it may be, I want my brother to return the stuffed toys because he has asthma and he's too big for stuffed toys (no matter how cute the teddy bear and the cow can be). We just do not tolerate spoiling him at home. And then there's the feeling in the pit of my stomach that there's more to this and it worries me. Sister's instinct, maybe?

And still no pictures.

Taekwondo Day 21

So here's an update: my brother is a low yellow belt. He has been for a week now. Crazy, huh?

After three weeks of training as a white belt, he got promoted, along with other white belts, into yellow last May 19. I have been mentally kicking myself for not charging my camera's battery the night before his promotional test, hence, no pictures.

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.