I am now completely ecstatic about the fact that I'll soon be a Literature major. For all you know, Literature is not my first choice of course, but it is surely just few quills away from my desired field- Creative Writing.
Sure enough, I will be dealing with lots of writing activities, which in my case, isn't such a burden because writing has always been my passion. But this fact doesn't just go because I have a writing course, everyone, even those who aren't in college, will encounter requirements and activities that will require a puddle of paper writing at all sort- quizzes, major exams, weekly requirements, and behold, the greatest of all: term papers.
I remember when I was still in grade school, my impulsive reaction upon paper writing have gave me some bucks. I used to make a deal with my classmates that I'll write all their biographies provided that they'll give me 15 pesos and they shall treat me any food I want. My illegal job didn't last a long time, since my teacher noticed that all our biographies sounded like it was all monotonous as if we all had the same life, only with different figures.
I continued my gamble when I was on high school, but since I have learned from my experience, I only accept orders from my friends, ten as the maximum quantity. At that point in time, I have learned the magic of highfalutin words that will prevent us from being caught. I, as a smarter businesswoman, took the stakes higher and even made some bizarre deals: minimum wage is at 50 pesos but if you would like to have a higher grade, I am open for some added payment.
Right at this very moment, I haven't still let go of that misdemeanor; I still accept few orders of paper writing occasionally, only if I have time to comply with it. Also, needless to say, I do sponsored reviews here in my blog for some sites, products and companies. But, as more matured and concerned citizen, as much as possible, I refrain from doing the whole writing by myself, I now tend to just give them a gist to what they can do on their project.
Term papers are but a dime of a dozen, though it has the biggest chunk in our ladder of education, there are still some writing activities we shall not neglect. Hence, as what is obvious, term papers are really hard to promulgate, and I myself would decline a paper writing order as such. But, as the world is growing more and more fast-paced you will decipher someone or something that may help you get through the deliberate pain paper writing might concur to you.
But above all of these things, we all are an excellent writer ourselves. With a good parchment, a pen and a handful of ideas, we all can fall to the brim of being caged in paper writing.
There was a time when I missed putting on my headphones in my iPod and my playlist has been widely heard by everyone around me, and right then and there, I got a bucket full of criticisms and eerie judgement.
My peculiar taste in music have brought me lots of queer eyes. Some of them said that I am pretending to be off the hook so that I'll look cool; some said I may have been a part of an occult group some point in my life, and that our chants have been stuck in me; some said I am but a crazy person; and, the most dynamic of all, would just slowly walk away from me because they can't understand everything I am singing (or is it just because of my equally dreadful voice?).
Indeed, I am somehow throbbed. Even though I pretend to care less about what they're saying,a part of me really wants to verify I really am an insane person. Okay, I know for sure that somehow I am... but my music to take in consideration? I don't think so.
Behold, the outrageous playlist. Listed in a chronological order, number one being the most played of all.
6. Wonderwall by Oasis I am an Oasis deranged fan, and I admit that I haven't yet moved on with their tides. I still consider Wonderwall as the most romantic song ever, and I bet it'll still a century from now. No direction can ever beat what the shores of Oasis have made me feel.
"There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how..."
5. You Make my Dreams by Hall and Oates None of my high school and college classmates know who, and what, Hall and Oates is. Some of them thought that it is a title of a movie or a book, which is quite too aesthetic of them to think. Okay, mocking aside, at the back of my mind I was all like: You serious people? You have never heard of anything from this awesome band?I will admit to you that I have first heard them because of 500 Days of Summer, since then, I never grew used to their bizarre music.
"What I got, full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter; And you put them all together..."
4. Somebody to Love by... Leighton Meester Do you actually thought that Justin Bieber will get in this blogpost? The song simply speaks right through me. Every word is just too accurate. The beat of course, is a plus point too, it seems to be as if it's all talking about drugs and sex while in fact it's talking about trying to find love all over the most obscured places. And it's by Leighton Meester. Leighton Meester... how can you even handle that?
"They say it's hard to achieve, but can a girl believe/ Is there somebody who still believes in love?"
3. Mushaboom by Feist Talking about the Feist phenomenon that once teemed the online community. Again, I find it really preposterous how no one whom I personally know have already heard a song from Feist. Mushaboom was that first song that struck me upon watching 500 Days of Summer (yes, I am this obsessed with the film). Its tune was the thing that really caught my attention, then when I searched for its lyrics, I never thought it was actually talking about a very simple yet forever timely problem of each and everyone of us... simple yet happy living.
"Maybe it isn't till one day, my dreams would match up with my pay..."
2. This is Not a Test by She and Him We all know who Zooey Deschannel is, but I guess only a few of us know that there's more to her than what you can see with Jess in New Girl and what you have seen in Summer in the 500 Days of Summer. She is a musician, she composes her own songs along with her band She and Him, such a petty way to name a band, but just like her, there is more than what meets the eye. All their songs are very brightly arranged and are all possessing the magic of poetry, which I guess, have been really disbarred at this point of time. Their first self-titled album has more awesome songs compared to all the albums of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus combined.
"Summit doesn't differ from the big, dark valley; and the valley doesn't differ from the kitchen sink..."
1. Three Wishes by The Pierces Sure enough, I have had an overnight paroxysm while thinking of what song should claim the top-most spot, but at the end, I trusted my iPod. I am very certain that it will be The Pierces who will claim the position, since they have been my favorite band since I have heard of them back from 2010, and in fact, they should have also got the third (Kill! Kill! Kill!) and the fourth spot (Sticks and Stones) , but I decided not to overly prick you with their greatness. I downloaded their whole album, The Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge, and I can say that none of their songs, as in completely none, is worth deleting. They sound a bit creepy, I admit, but if you'll compel with that first impression, you'll realize that they are talking about the reality about love and life as a whole.
"We'll be so less fragile if we're made from metals and our hearts from iron and our mind from steel..."
I am not that hideous when it comes to music right? It is just that I decide no to go out singing gay songs and auto-tuned love poems. Other people are just so plain and seasonal, that's why maybe, I came out overly crazy music lover.
My sudden scram from Tolkien's The Hobbit to Paulo Coelho's The Zahir had indeed made me feel a bit of nausea.The first one got me stuck with wood elves and meadows, while the latter one taught me the uncanny life of a self-aggravating, yet highly successful writer; the first one made me climb mountains and brood my way to caves, while the latter one made me walk into an infinite looking steppes in search of true love; and The Hobbit gave me a glimpse of what nobility means while The Zahir taught me nothing about love and its different deities. They both have nothing in common, I may say, except only for the fact that they are both known to be a part of the modern literary success.
BOOK- BUFF MANOMETER: 6/10
It was as if it is but another trash that talks about the all-time favorite topic, love, but I assure you that Coelho struck the topic at the part where nobody have already did. With Coelho's strong command of language and an innate wisdom about life and its lackadaisical means, he built a tale that will not let you imagine what is happening between the pages, but will make you realize some things about your life itself which have been obscured all along. It didn't talk about a man and wife reconciling with each other from a dreadful marriage through sweet words and actions, but it discussed love as a divine energy on which every body can and is possessing, but isn't making the most out of it, and is often embezzling every dimension of our lives.
SYNOPSIS:
The narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in France and enjoys privileges his money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover. Was Esther kidnapped murdered, or did she simple escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers but has plenty of questions of his own, though he doesn't know where to start looking for Esther, or if, in fact, he even wants her back. Then, one day, Mikhail finds the abandoned husband and promises to reunite him with his wife. And in his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator will discover something unexpected about himself.
I have this weird habit of folding the upper part of the book in the instance that I'll find a sentence or two that may be worth quoting, and I didn't realize that I've fold almost half of the book.
THE WOW's:
Paulo Coelho had made it certain that he will connect to his wide range of readers, juvenile or adult, loveless of love-lots, and the whole concoction of what a man can be. Regardless of your status, you will surely find a quote that you will keep for the lest of your lives, or might as well may even stand as your new principle in living.
THE BOO's:
The downside of The Zahir, on the other hand, was that it was a tale of different tales, which made it somehow confusing I may say. The way Coelho presented the protagonists feelings and realizations was through inserting some excerpts from some famous stories and through stating its images.Yes indeed, it was highly informative and entertaining at some points since it didn't just stick to its theme, which is love, but I wish Coelho didn't overly saturated his masterpiece with too much knowledge; I reckon novels are made to entertain people, not to inform them, settle on informative writing then.
At some points I felt giving up on finishing the book since I somehow felt that Coelho elongated the story too much. It seemed to me that there were some parts where it should have ended right then and there, but it didn't, and the protagonist and his psycho friend continued garnering new adventures, away from the true heart of the story.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
"What we need to learn is always there before us, we just have to look around us with respect and attention."
"I believe in signs. I believe in fate. I believe that every single day people are offered the chance to make the best possible decision about everything they do."
"In order to love, they must cease to be who they are."
"It only takes a little knowledge to be somebody."
"Love is an untamed force, when we try to control it, it destroys us.
"Love is a disease no one want to get rid of."
All in all, Paulo Coelho's The Zahir is good, but not brilliant- for me. It is highly recommendable to those people who too are searching for true love, especially if you already reached the point that you feel you're going down an infinite abyss of nothingness. Love is a divine energy you can find anywhere, anytime, from anyone, and Coelho can be the best man to teach you its perks and peeves.
Our Academic Reading professor gave us an activity wherein I almost drooled out of happiness: obliging us to come up with our original story and think of an aesthetic way to present it in the class. I, as a very impulsive writer wannabe, took the driver seat for our group and wrote the story which they have formulated. And this is how my short story have gone:
Phileo, Eros and Agape
The haunting sound of my lamenting cry that night had never left me up to this time. I myself really didn't know where I got such strength of pleading that loud and continuously. All I knew that time was that I am doomed, I am wasted, I am tormented, and I am but a woeful trash in a cringe-some scenario.
I am Chastity... and I never stood up for my name.
"It's prayer time Chastity!" My mom, Jubilee, shouted from our living room.
"Mom, can I pass?! I am working on my English report!" I shouted back, trying not to sound too impolite and disrespectful.
That was of course, a big lie. I was not working on to something nor do I really have a written report in English, but it was just the first thing that struck my brain. I really didn't get the point of afternoon prayers, even though all throughout my whole existence, 16 years to be specific, I was trained to wake up from my afternoon siesta just to comply with this religious ritual. I once asked mom why we had to do it, but all she answered was that it'll save us. Save us from what? Hell? Devils? Bad spirits? Misfortune? Problems? Or will it just save us from all the guilt we will muster if we didn't do anything?
"Chastity, stop everything you're doing. Go down with me. Now!" my mom demanded while making her insidious entourage upon my room.
I tried not to go blusterous; I fought with the inner rebel that had been there all along... waiting to be unveiled. If I was not mistaken, I have held my breath for about a minute, I guess, thinking that it'll restrain me from answering back to my mother.
"Chastity, go down now or else..."
"Or else what?" I hindered. I have had enough of these hideous scenarios.
"You'll pull me down to out living room? Grip my hair? Cut my allowance? Curse me? Mom, you know I've gone past all these things before and I have overcame all of them, especially the cursing one, it has been your diurnal routine, remember? I am more of used to all of that!" I shouted.
"Chastity pray down there..."
"Pray? Pray for what?! Salvation? Eternal life? Miracles? Healthy and happy living? For goodness sake! You and I bot know that our family is on the verge of separation. Remember, father was saying other woman' name when he got home drunk? I doubt if you are really committed with the faith you keep on insisting to us, or worse, if you really know what faith is. " I yelled, and this time, with all the concoctions of emotions I've always had.
My mom impulsively slapped me with all the strength she had. I burst out in tears and came running down from my room, not towards our living room to pray and give up to what I had fought for, but to go to my rock, who lived five blocks away from our house.
"Babe, what's the matter?!" Christian welcomed me with all the consoling power he got.
Christian was my boyfriend for five weeks that time, the longest one I had. He was introduced to me by my best friend, Felicity. She said he was just her friend, but I honestly doubt that, since I once saw them in our classroom... alone. But that didn't concerned me. I have him, and that was all that mattered.
I didn't answer his trivial question, neither have I blurted any of my grudge. I just continued crying, crying, and crying.
I was completely out of my mind that night, all I knew was that I did a wrong thing, well, a right thing in a wrong time. I was scared, no, I was more than scared, I was bewildered. Bewildered with the thought that I may lose my family, my house, my life, my mother, and everything...
Everything I haven't savored yet.
While i was trying to consolidate my consciousness, I realized that we were no longer standing in the threshold of Christian's house... we were both lying in bed, together. I was exhausted because of all the weeping I did, so exhausted that I got no energy to say no or to show any movements of reluctance. I let him devour my whole frustrations... I let him devour my whole being.
It was a double kill for me: i messed up with my mother, and I let a guy whom I barely know, intrude my treasure- my chastity. I stayed at Christian's house for a couple of days and pretended that sleeping with him was a normal thing, and that I was not troubled with it.
But the truth is- I was.
Every part of me was in agony. I knew that I did something terrible and nothing, and no one, even I, can take back what I have lost. For once in my life, i have considered thinking about miracles- the thing my mother taught me with our afternoon prayers.
I started feeling nausea during the morning, and my weight started increasing gradually, which was completely ironic since I've lost track of my normal diet because of all the worries I have in my mind, and also, because Christian was just giving me morsels of their monthly food.
Together with all the obfuscation a person may have, and even though a part of me really knew what was going on, I considered going to a clinic and have myself checked by a doctor.
"You seem troubled. " the doctor, Archie for Archangel, had probed.
I didn't answer, he seemed really treacherous for me, but a part of me want to rant every sorrow I have.
"I'll share something to you, which can be new to you, but for sure, you have always have It, well, Him all along."
'Is he saying riddles to me?' I wondered. The normal Chastity would have walked out of the room right then and there, or even worse, would have said hostile words in front of his face, but a certain force within me wanted to listen and decipher the mystery he was about to unfurl.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gist of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23"
It has been two years ago when the dreadful night happened.
The haunting sound of my lamenting cry that night had never left me up to this time. I myself really didn't know where I got such strength of pleading that loud and continuously. All i knew that time was that I am wasted, I am tormented, and I am but a woeful trash in a cringe-some scenario.
I am Chastity... and I never stood up for my name.
But someone stood up in my behalf.
God.
Archie continued to be my spiritual adviser and he helped me reconcile with my mother and guided both of us towards the light. Archie had also replaced the hole Christian punched right through me. He accepted me, guided me, and loved me... the thing Christian didn't do.
Archie had also succored me on raising my own angel, Hope.
By this time, Hope had already stood up for her name.
We did a speech choir for this short story, and we scored 48/50 points, the highest score among all the groups (naks!) My professor said that the story is but a cliche, but the way it was written had striked a whole new different ambiance. (naks agen)
If I am to score my work, i'll give it 5/10.
I am not travestying, nor am I being humble, but I just find it too amateur. I have been reading lots of short story and I can say that I am but a toenail compared to all of it.
Okay, you got, I am really having a hard time pleasing myself in this field.
PS: Just in case you don't know what the title is going to, it is the three manifestations of love. Phileo for family, Eros for erotic/ romantic love, and Agape for true love.
The thing with an athlete's foot is that it won't go away. The calendar have struck March already, and with the mere hearing of that you can conclude that i am now teeming with requirements and projects to comply with. I have neglected several united Football League's games, which pretty much made the itchiness worse. Good thing I had the chance to scratch the urging itch away, through watching the friendly game between Philippine Azkals vs. Malaysian Tigers last February 29 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
As you know, the Philippine Azkals hadn't built its grandeur yet in the international footballscene, except from its qualification in the semis of AFF Suzuki Cup last 2010 and beat thepowerhouse Vietnam, which pretty much considered as the greatest shock in Asian football thatyear. The Malaysian, on the other hand, have surely took the hold of the spotlight ever since. Onthe same Cup, AFF Suzuki, they were the ones who grabbed the throne, and needless to say,have won several premiere football games in and out of the Pacific. This friendly game, for myown opinion, was like setting up a blaze into what was impossible: beating the country which had once beat you.
Me and my mother (yes, my mom was with me) started our girl bonding with a heavy lunch in McDonalds, which seemed to be the headquarters of all the Azkals fans. I had seen loads of people changing their shirts with Azkals apparels, preparing their cheering paraphernalia and giving their fearless forecast of how the game would end.
Outside the fast food chain, the Kaholeros, were also steering up the noise while they werepracticing their prepared chants to uplift the energy of the game.
I have recognized some faces from the Kaholeros, all because they were my Ultras Kaya family.Raffy Villanueva, I think he was leading the cheers too:
My mom gave me another treat, a new headdress for me! It is now my 11th :D To those who are interested in buying a cap like this, don't try going to legitimate Azkals apparel sellers, as far as I had seen, the couple who sell me this... well, are just informal sellers.
The Kaholeros gearing up before the kick-off.
Another set of Ultras for the Azkals. I myself was quite pissed with the fact that they refused conniving with the Kaholeros. As far as I knew, they got the same goal to, which was to show their support for our national players... I think.
Malaysian Tigers warming up before the match. They reminded me so much of UST, you know, yellow, plus they are tigers.
The National Team Philippine Azkals warming up too. It was Neil Etheridge (the great?) who took the place of the goalie that night, which I guess, added an approximately 100 fangirls scattered on the crowd that night.
Kick-off with the FIFA emissaries and the crowd.
The first half.
Dennis Wolf scored the first goal through Jason Sabio's throw in. The crowd truly went wild including me, my sister and my mom. My phone even ventured its way down three rows while tumbling because I lost track of all the things I was holding.
During the half time break, my queer eye wasn't able to stop itself and noticed some nearly peculiar things in the crowd.
The businessmen, of course.
The bouncers. For me, they have the hardest job ever, even harder than a slave wiping the buttocks of his master every after taking his poo (sorry for the metaphor). There they were, standing in front of the crowd and can't even have a glimpse of what was happening during the game. It was like a death sentence.
The second half was a bit of a woeful scenario for me. The Malaysian Tigers scored a goal during the stoppage time when there were only a couple of minutes left. So, as you may say, it ended up with a draw.
The mad Etheridge
The final score.
After the game.
The Ilo-ilo fans giving honor to the late Paulino Alcantara, a player of Barcelona in Liga BBva, who had made a history with his 357 goals in 357 matches.
The National team doing their courtesy walk.
Our National Team had undeniably showed a good performance. there were of course, a bit flaws, which was expected since they were but humans. But all in all, this is by far one of their best games I have watched after the Suzuki Cup.
MEN OF THE MATCH: Neil Etheridge and Ray Johnsson
It can be a bit surprising, but yes, I didn't include Dennis Wolf who scored the goal. For me, his goal was not that surreal, it was more of the Malaysian goalkeeper's fault. Neil had of course, guarded up the walls that lead to only a single damage and Ray Johnsson had surely manifested a great rook defending their side.
It was a fun experience, especially with the fact that I happened to drag my mom with me. Hopefully, next game, I would be able to drag our whole family and our whole neighborhood.
