Writer's Retreat ramblings: Astronomy (part 2)

Still on the same prompt: When I grow up. This is a different take because it has to fit the "book" I am working on. Like before, the exercise had a 10-minute time limit, so it ended kind of abruptly.

“When I grow up, I want to be an astronomer.” I thought I had the coolest ambition ever. I haven’t heard any of my classmates give that profession when we’re asked in grade school – all of them wanted to be doctors, nurses, stewardesses, princesses (it was an all-girls school). So, when I said I wanted to be an astronomer, my classmates looked at me, the expression on their faces was a mixture of confusion and disbelief. My teacher asked me, then: “Why don’t you want to become an astronaut?”

Writer's Retreat ramblings: Astronomy (part 1)

Today, we were given a prompt: When I grow up. Immediately, I thought that the best way to attack this was to tap into my Grade One self. It was a lot of fun. 

When I grow up, I want to be an astronomer. Everybody else wants to be a doctor, or a pilot, but I want to be an astronomer. I have books at home that talk about space, the possibility of life outside Earth, and the vastness of the universe. They have pictures of planets unlike Earth – which is pictured as a massive blue marble. My favorite is Saturn, with its rings crowning it, next is Jupiter, because it is the largest that even the Earth is a puny planet compared to it. There is also Mars, which is as red as the Earth is blue; and Venus, which is said to be Earth’s twin, but aren’t twins supposed to look like each other? Venus doesn’t look appealing to me at all.

On fandom in general

Kinda TL;DR but I have to get this off of my mind.

Hello.

I am back. /epic flailing

Actually, I have been up and about (in case this, this and most recently, this weren't sure signs of me still living a life). It's just that with the forced hiatus (due to stupidity on my part), plus life for the past two and a half months flew by at breakneck pace that it was impossible to have done a decent blog. Nope. Nu uh.

So, this will be like a monster posts of sorts, just to tie in the past two and a half months to the present.

Here goes everything.

Monster randomness post | Hiatus

Hello people of the intarwebz.

Updates are really hard to come by, being UNBELIEVABLY BUSY the past weeks. But, as usual, Tumblr and Twitter have been updated religiously, but nothing beats a blog post. I'm about to do a monster update.

The first term has been overcome...with a 3.5 on both subjects. Considering how hard this term was together with the workload outside school, I'm very, very happy with these grades. =D

The second term began last week, with Media Planning every Thursday and Public Relations every Monday. Based on inside info I got from my classmates, I have a strong feeling that this term will be very reminiscent of undergrad classes. HAHAHA! I don't know if that's good. I hope it is. XD

Also, I won't have any class at RCBC. THANK GOODNESS. I don't want to have another class at that campus again. Death by aircon lagi.

 

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I did my MIBF shopping yesterday! =D

I love MIBF. The atmosphere is soooo good in spite of the thick crowd. Oh, and the books are pretty cheap, too.

This was the damage, este, loot this year. I lost my small NASB, so I bought a compact thinline NIV. I've seen this in bookstores before, but didn't buy it because I thought P1,550 to be too steep. I found this particular copy (IN PURPLE) in the fair, its last price was *drumroll please* P945. Without a doubt, this year's best buy.

The Elements of Style is a recommended required reading for our Copywriting class. I got an ebook last term and read through parts of it, and realized that this book was too good that a physical copy was a must. The version I bought was illustrated and printed on glossy paper. It looked like a woman in a LBD. Last price: P479.20.

I heard Any Human Heart was good. It must be, because Fully Booked had to transfer its last copy from its Rockwell branch for me to purchase at the MIBF.  I love you, FB. Thank you, Lucy. Last price: P502.40.

I have read The Hobbit when I was in college, but never owned a copy. This one, like The Elements of Style, had illustrations, was LARGE (fairy tale book size) and printed on glossy paper, for a very reasonable price of P576.

Hay, new books. Too bad I can't read them until November 15.

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Bad decisions make good stories. In lieu of which, this blog will be on hiatus effective today until November 15. Other haunts (Tumblr, Twitter, and yes...even FB) will be inactive as well.  =D

It's for the best, really. I think I'll do the occasional reply to @ tweets, but nothing out of my own volition.

So, until November 15, then. =D 

By the way, my birthday is on November 5. OHSNAPWAIT

"And so it goes with God."

I was finally able to finish Life of Pi last week, and I must say that unless another book of this caliber ends up on my shelf (whether part of the loot of the upcoming MIBF or after), this will be my favorite book for the year. I was in tears when it ended.

The title of this blog post came from that part where I lost all composure. I don't want to spoil anything, but that answer made sense of the impossible, of the incomprehensible.

My copy of this book came with a reading group guide, and one of the questions was this: How does it (the last few lines of the story) relate to the claim that this is a story "that will make you believe in God?" My answer to this is quite simple - this book will make you believe in God because it is an impossible story, and God is a God who makes all things possible.

One thing common about the religions dabbled upon in this book is that each of them had its own story, and with these, they brought to the table its own unique traits. Hinduism was about continuity and connectedness. Islam was all about brotherhood and devotion. Christianity was about love and undeserved grace. All of these elements were touched upon in this book, and in my perspective, did not give one preference over the other.

For me, that was the beauty of Life of Pi. It wasn't a "religious" book, for what I saw was a guy who got stranded on a boat with a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan (plus some rats and cockroaches) who knew well enough that he wouldn't survive the ordeal. But instead of giving up, he surrendered his life to a Higher Being, and made use of everything in his surroundings in order to survive. What was put on a pedestal here wasn't the religion, but rather, the relationship that person had with God. And in the end, it was never about religion. It was all about the relationship.

This was a story of faith - that even if it's the size of a mustard seed, we could command the Bengal tigers of our lives into submission. This was a story of waiting on God, knowing that what had been promised will come to pass; a story of expectation - that we could have such wild hope over something that was unseen. This was a story of love - that we could love an unseen, and yet true God, who loves and cares for us more than what we deserve.

I SUPER TO THE DUPER HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. =D Oh, and even better, the movie comes out this year. =D

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I watched The Phantom of The Opera last Saturday. And like with Life of Pi, I CRIED.

It was AWESOME. The only coherent thing I can say about it now is that it's worth every centavo. Just GO AND BUY YOUR TICKET, and don't fret over the price, because it won't disappoint.

My favorite part, as I have already raved on FB, was when "The Phantom of the Opera" was sung. It was EPIC - stage design, vocals, acting, the orchestra (HNNNG THE ORCHESTRA) - everything. When the song ended, I wiped my tears and let go of the railings from which I've been holding on to furiously. 

I wonder though why I didn't cry in the finale. The people whom I've talked to who have watched this told me that that part got to them so bad. Apparently, another part got me. XD

I truly hope this won't be my last Broadway show. When Les Miz comes here, I will DEFINITELY WATCH, being my namesake is there. =D

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Here are some other awesome things that happened since I last posted:

• The Project Wendy photoshoot happened. If you're in the Tom Hiddleston fandom, you'd know what this was for. We had so much fun. Personally, I've never been more proud of the photos I've taken with this shoot. I also finally got to go to Paco Park (being the Rizal fangirl that I am, it would be an absolute TRAVESTY if I didn't set foot here), which was OSAM. 
•  THRANDUIL ELVENKING WAS FINALLY REVEALED. I was a mess last Friday. I was weeping (sincerely!) from all of the emotions. Lee Pace looked so bad-ass and ethereal at the same time. Just. HNNNNNG. He will definitely be something to look forward to in this super extended movie version of The Hobbit. I wonder though, if Thranduil will be on all three movies. Hmmmmm...
• Finals for me will officially end tomorrow with our presentation for E-marketing. I'm preparing myself, in case we have to dance GANGNAM STYLE to get the attention of our panel. I hope that this won't push through (LIKE HECK YES PLEASE SANA NGA)
• I've been writing my book. =D
• I'm on leave from stage ministry.

And...that's pretty much it! 

"I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset!"

I was FINALLY able to watch Brave last night. With company. (You win at life, EK. Slow clap for you.)

This is my favorite movie this year, after The Avengers. However, I must admit that I was kind of misled into believing that this movie was an adventure of a warrior princess that was of epic proportions, and that the theme of the movie is to create your own "Brave" story. For me, it was hardly that, but something more raw.