Birthday month splurging; slice-of-life blogging

November is - without a doubt - the most expensive time of the year for me. It isn't surprising because it's my birthday month, first of all, and it's the month before Christmas. Of course, if I do my math, December is definitely more expensive than November, but due to (of course) 13th month I have more cash on hand after all the holiday spending is done.

Two weeks ago, I bought 1Q84 (I have yet to read it - still finishing Norwegian Wood). This weekend, I splurged on jewelry. The last time I spent money on the same kind of items was...July? And they were small earrings with prices that were extremely marked-down. Since November to December is the time when most bazaars are organized, I went to World Trade Center to check out what I could buy.

Before today, Mama already bought me three earrings from the same bazaar yesterday (technically, she didn't buy it for me - she bought a bunch of earrings at wholesale and she gave me the opportunity to pick out the pairs I liked). From that bunch, I picked three. Then, she convinced me to go back with her the next day - and so I did.

I'm very happy with the stuff I bought. I did go over budget though. /facepalm This weekend's damage finds are the following:

• Escada Ocean Lounge
• Four earrings
• Two rings
• Skechers sandals

If there's any piece of jewelry that I'm willing to spend a lot for, it will have to be the ring. I think my rings are more expensive than all my earrings (bought mostly from tiangges) put together. For instance: when I got my DVD copy of the fullscreen edition of The Return of The King, it came with brochure for LOTR jewelry. It included *drumroll please* The One Ring in gold and silver versions, complete with the Elvish inscription One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to find them all and in the darkness bind them! I really wanted to buy one for myself, but the dollar amount was so darn high that it would take a miracle for me to afford it with my college allowance coupled with my then-part time job. Anyway, I digress. I bought two rings - on my pointer is a handmade amethyst ring, and on my pinky is a ring made out of bone (from what source I didn't ask XD. I only know that it was imported from Vietnam). 

  

Here are two of the four earrings I got. I finally got my first pair of feather earrings. The ones I've been seeing are too expensive (my expensive for earrings is more than Php150 - wahahahahaha!), and this pair only cost me 75 bucks (yay!). The other one is again, Bohemian-inspired (my favorite style for earrings).

I cannot wait for the next payday (which is this week, HURRAH!)

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I don't follow a lot of blogs, except of course those that are written by my friends. I do read blogs of non-friends, and it's not the typical movie or fashion blog...I actually fancy people who blog about themselves and  what happens in a day of their life (weird, huh? parang stalker tuloy ako...wahahahaha!). I like it more if they relate their stories in a way that is effortless - like they're not trying hard to be eloquent, and yet their writing style is very fluid. I actually follow a blog of this person who's living in Scotland who does a-day-in-her-life posts like it was copied from some novel. I'm a sucker for those kind of things. 8)

I have come across some blogs that do slice-of-life who try to be profound, but their profound-ness (for lack of a better word) is really crappy. I could sense if a blogger is trying hard to write in a way that is different from the manner he speaks (and I know this isn't just me, cause I tried showing a gadawful blog post I found to an officemate, and she concluded along with me that said blogger is trying so hard to be eloquent that he achieved anything but eloquence). I don't exactly know how to quantify how I sense this...but here's my best try at it: if I feel uncomfortable reading a blog post, then it is highly likely that the blogger wrote it in a manner that he isn't used to.  

I guess...the reason why I'm saying all this is that if you really want to talk about your life online, and you want to be believable, then the best way to do it is to write the way you speak. It adds to the authenticity of your post, plus you won't come across as some poser. If you'd like to think otherwise, even Grace D. Chong, who won a Palanca Award, blogs in a very down-to-earth way. 

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And so ends November this week. It is (soon will be was) a very tough month, but I know I'm learning,  growing, and healing. =)

If you know what I'm going through and you've felt the brunt or the worst of it but responded with patience,  thank you. It will take some time for me to heal, but I'm getting there.

a time to work, a time to blog

Inasmuch as I'd like to post something here, nothing extraordinary has been happening that's worth a post...everything that I'm occupied with has basically consumed me - so much so that I can't differentiate Tamahome from Tasuki anymore (if you follow my Tumblr you'll understand).

Just to give you (and myself) an idea...

December 3

• School: I have a reporting on product placement, specifically in movies and games. While I was reading the material, my top-of-mind examples were [1] the Panasonic phone that Cloud used in Advent Children and [2] the futuristic Nokia smartphone that was installed in the car that young!Kirk was driving. This isn't really hard, but there's pressure involved because there's ...
• Work: I have to manage an afternoon-to-night event for aspiring authors, which is happening in Makati. I'm really excited about this event since I get to meet authors who have won the Palanca...plus a person that I have idolized before I took up marketing in college (rubbing elbows kind of interaction, oh the perks of this job). I have to take off early from class to go to the venue. Hay, the wonders a working student can do. #bibidibabidiboo

December 9

• Work: I've got a golf event to manage. I know NADA ZILCH NIL about golf, and this event has not made me a convert. I'd rather play jackstones than golf. Or read Twilight than golf---OH SNAP! (LOL) The event will begin during the wee hours of the morning towards very late in the evening. This is a very big problem because on ...

December 10 

• School: IT'S FINALS DAY. HOLY MOLEY GUACAMOLE. Seriously. I don't know how I'll survive. I have to make up a strategic plan for some make-believe company with make-believe market conditions within two hours. And as if that's not enough I've got a ...
• Raket: I have to sing for a wedding in the afternoon, and it's a Lea song. And I haven't practiced for it.

After all of this, I seriously need some time off. /le sigh

Once all of this over, I'll be back posting again. =)

Boo

I have not been updating. I am sorry. *facepalm*

This sorry state is about to be remedied.

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I turned 26 two Saturdays ago. Twenty-six is a good age (I think I don't look 26 - I certainly don't act like  26!), but it's a few years shy from 30. Not so good. =/ I don't think I fit into the "thirties' mold right now, or anytime soon...

Anyway, I decided on a Guy Fawkes birthday theme this year. Apparently, not too many people in my circle of friends knew about Gunpowder Plot Day/Guy Fawkes Day/Remember, remember, the 5th of November day. I keep on telling people in the days leading to November 5 that it is a holiday declared in my honor and that they should page homage to me by sending cash gifts or in kind. They simply knew my Guy Fawkes mask as the V mask from V for Vendetta, which is close enough.

I cut up a bunch of Guy Fawkes masks and gave it to the people whom I was with during the day, and I shot photos of people, including myself, wearing the mask. It's kind of like a mature children's party, if you will - wala nga lang party hats. I decided on not having pasta for my birthday dinner. Instead, I had some risotto and fish & chips. *shrug* 

The only major detail I missed was the bonfire. /tsk

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I finished reading this book last month. It took me a whole frigging month to finish it. /le sigh Things haven't exactly been smooth-sailing the past two and a half months, which explains the whole hiatus/drought of posts that this blog had experienced. Kafka is a good writier, although I feel that his writing style isn't engaging enough. 

The Hunger Artist remains to be my favorite Kafka story, as well as this other short story included in this collection, the title of which escapes me at the moment. In the Penal Colony was nice in its own disturbing way. I usually am very partial to those kind of stories but my imaginings of the Bed, the Designer and the Harrow were too detailed. By the time the climax happened, I was cringing.

Now, I'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase by - you guessed it - Haruki Murakami. This is the first of three Murakami books that I bought during the MIBF, and on top of this I've got other readings for school to do...but the great thing about Murakami's books is the way his stories draw you in, that you don't realize that you've read this many pages until you glance at how many pages you have actually read.

After this book, I still have Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun from my MIBF stash to read. After that, I will move on to to this ...

1Q84 BABY!!!!!! ZOMG KEYBOARD SMASH ASFOPHSDIOCVNASDHV9PAWEYFHP0IO!!!!! All my kuripot-related arguments have become invalid. /le sigh

Already I'm getting requests if this book can be borrowed after I'm done reading it. I'm okay with lending, but I'm not really sure when I'll be able to lend it. This is the thickest Murakami I've ever laid eyes upon. It doesn't help too that I've got other Murakami books in the pipeline, plus real life and everything else in between.

On the subject of lending, I think I ought to be making a list of the books I have here so they can be lent out. Hmmmm...that might be a good project. 

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This year, I am officially grandparent-less. Tatay and Nanay (side ni Papa) passed away just over a week apart last month. It's really sad, and for a while the family was in a state of funk. 

On both occasions, I was asked to look for a solo picture of both of them to be displayed during the wake. Looking for a good photo wasn't hard, but when I did that I realized that I have no recent photo of me with my grandparents, or even with one of them beside me.Ako kasi lagi ang tagakuha ng picture. That really depressed me for a while. But, when I shared this to one of my titas, she chastised me: "Hay naku, JC. Kung hindi dahil sa iyo, wala tayong magandang picture na maipapakita ng sa Nanay at sa Tatay, at wala rin kaming  magandang kuha kasama sila kung hindi dahil sa iyo." Though the thought of that was quite relieving, I still wish I had a recent picture with them.

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A few years ago, sinabihan ako ni Tatay na bilhan ko siya ng libro. I always knew that he loved to read - kadalasan nga mas updated pa siya sa showbiz happenings kesa sa akin. Mwahahahahahaha. 

Tinanong ko sa kanya kung anong klaseng libro ang gusto niyang bilhin ko. Very specific ang sagot niya - gusto niya yung mga biography. He wanted to read the life stories of the likes of JFK, Nelson Mandela, etc. I was fully intent on buying him a brand new book (as in hardbound - I remember even looking for a good enough biography, choosing between JFK, Winston Churchill, and I think even Adolf Hitler) but I was convinced by the parental units to try my luck at second-hand bookstores.

That's where I found that book - the unauthorized biography of Frank Sinatra as written by Kitty Kelley. It was the perfect book - laging kinakanta ni Tatay ang My Way (aka second national anthem ng Pilipinas) at New York, New York tuwing magka-karaoke. I bought it without giving a second thought, and gave it to him nung sunod na uwi ko sa Calumpit. He was able to finish the book within days. When I went back, kinuwento na niya sa akin ang buong libro (it fascinated him that Sinatra was part of a mafia of some sort, but admittedly, I don't really care about the mafia, I just like listening to his songs XD). 

The book was damaged because of Pedring, hence the not-so-good condition in the photo above.

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Nung namatay ang Nanay (nauna siya sa Tatay), ramdam mo kaagad na wala na siya. Lagi kung umuuwi kami sa Calumpit, pagka-mano mo pa lang tatanungin ka na kaagad: "Nag-merienda ka na ba?" or "Nasaan si [insert name of kapatid/pinsan/tito/tita na absent on that day]?". Nung umuwi ako for the first time since namatay siya, walang nagtanong sa amin nun. It was downright depressing.

One of the reasons why Ondoy became bearable was because pinahiram niya kami ng maisusuot. Actually, na-enjoy kong suotin ang duster niya. Hahahahaha! Tsaka, we were very well fed for a storm like that. As in walang de lata or instant noodles kind of food - we had real food that day (birthday celebration kasi ni Tatay kaya maraming pagkain, but I think even without the birthday we'd still be decently fed). All of the beds available in the house had mosquito nets over it because of her. Lahat kami nagkaroon ng unan nung matutulog na kami because she prepared our beddings. Sa umaga, meron kaming sinangag at hotdog dahil maaga siyang nagigising. Or, during very special days, may gatas ng kalabaw pa. Haaaaaaaay. 

She was the one who told me to put ice on my skin asthma in order to relieve the itching. I got the idea of putting my arms/legs/face in front of the aircon whenever I have a skin allergy attack from her. Naiisip pa nga niya at times, lalo na kung may ulang na ulam kung may dala pa akong gamot (at naalala niya pati ang pangalan). Hardcore. 

I guess that pretty much explains my hiatus of sorts. There's nothing really "happy" to post about. For a while, everything was in shades of gray, and if something were colored, the hues were faded. I wasn't also in the mood to meet with people - even for birthdays. Heck, I even toned down my own birthday celebration (I didn't have a bonfire XD). It's just...le sigh. 

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I know, November is NaNoWriMo, but I haven't got time for that - add that to the fact that every time I joined NaNo and crossed 50K I have to have MAJOR THERAPY done to my back. Not good. 

Plus, I don't really know how to do 50K with my workload + grad school + everything else in between. It's next to impossible right now. 

Most importantly, I don't have a plot. So yeah.

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I want a new header image. I was doing a vector awhile ago but scrapped the idea. Whatever it is, I know it will come sooner or later.