Destination Unknown

This, I Love

In a mellow tone (Ben Webster)

In a mellow tone
That's the way to live
If you mope and groan
Something's gotta give

I was at the coffee shop (why is it always at a coffee shop that I hang out in lately?) with this really cool girl yesterday. She knew I liked this coffee shop. She knew I liked the couch that she intentionally avoided sitting on yesterday. She knew I really like that indecisive moment when I was taking my order because there were just so many drinks to choose from. And as we conversed by the table, I confessed something I’ve kept with me for years already.    

I told her - and this was when a very romantic song was playing - I told her, 

I am madly in love with saxophones.

    

I am so in love with it, to the extent that I ask myself, what won’t I give just to turn back to when I was at a younger age and learn playing it? Sure, Kenny G’s been using it pretty horribly and I don’t fancy Dave Koz’s music either, so let’s just classify them under anyone’s list of “people let’s forget exist”. What’s not to like about saxophones? Jazz giants played saxophones! John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, the list goes on and on. 

*Nightdreamer closes his eye and plays air saxophone while doing a duck mouth, which makes him look incredibly stupid*

 

 

Sure, I’d also love to rewind time and then learn piano and trumpet too as they’re another two of my favorite instruments, but the saxophone’s lure is unsurpassable. How? Did you notice how it’s built like a tube that slopes downward, and then sveltely goes up again? That has an effect on how it sounds, and it sounds enchanting. Enchanting in many ways like, whenever a note like, say, re, is played, it becomes more like a re-flat transitioning to the natural-re. Like, how when in different volumes it sounds like two differing instruments - soft and it’s like a cat purring, loud and it’s like gospel musicians’ bordering-on-raspy singing. It’s just about the only instrument I can think of that be crooning one minute and then ferocious the next, and in both times be sensual. No wonder it is commonly associated with lovemaking - in a blunt and pithy manner it depicts the different moods taking place when two bare bodies exchange odes with their fluids. Okay, that metaphor was horrible.

  

So, did you listen to Ben Webster’s “In a Mellow Tone” that I uploaded and posted above the writings? Beautiful, isn’t it? Which reminds me, I need to do a next post on my All Jazzed Up series. So how about you? Do you have a favorite musical instrument?

My Writings Ever Since I Moved

What have I written about since I last posted here?

Advices - Love or Hate Em?
I believe the most prideful ones like to dispense advices, and that a writer’s pride is peerless. Writers gloat when they can express their thoughts so cogently, their words rock everyone’s perspective. They fancy being so perceptive, that they can plough through all hardships - even those not their own. Advising may be a writer’s nature. I defy you cite an exception. (read more)

Babe Watching
I first saw Babe when I was 11 years old. Although I enjoyed it then, I only had recollections of how cute it was. So, aside from needing a respite from my brother’s obsession to heavy ass movies, I watched it to see if I’d still like it. (read more)

Of Chimps and Charlatans
I’m undecided about paid blogs. Yeah, it sounds spectacular - what’s more spiffy than earning without leaving home, typing while at the spacious comfort of your own sofa (if you have a laptop, that is) and not worrying about travel expenses, smog, pickpockets and traffic? You can even download movies (shh!) while you toil away. On the other hand... (read more)

Mag Shot
Somebody gimme clues: what external forces could have propelled me to blow P250 yesterday on a couple of magazines. Boredom? A need for new insights? Or are you gonna be so lowbrow and say "the cover girls"? (read more)

What's Keep'n Me Busy?
I don’t claim that to be the best thing I’ve ever done all my life, but it’s been a while since I’ve accomplished something like that. And boy, must I say, that felt truly inspiring. I feel vaguely happy. Not exactly the giddy-giddy-jumpy-jumpy kind of happy, but more like I have a smile that won’t leave my face whenever I think of what I did. (read more)

My Cherie Armor
I wasn’t thrilled by Iron Man’s movie trailers. Although the 3d-preened armor was attractive, scenes of American soldiers being self-congratulatory while at Afghanistan, of Iron Man flying with two F15’s (?), and of Tony Stark - the guy who wears the Iron Man costume – fooling around with some chicks, weren’t. Oh, great, another American Flag-waving flick! I bet the world can’t wait for more! So, I went to see Iron Man just to mock it, much prepared to curmudgeon it at lengths. (read more)

Kevin Garnett Sucks Meatballs
I am so sick and tired of his obnoxious yelling, chest-beating, angsting and frontin, and I am so sick and tired of the press falling over themselves to praise this guy. (read more)

I'm Hopelessly Clueless
People who have only been with me in my college days will say "preposterous" after hearing this, but I’m very shy around women. And you know what’s funny? I didn’t use to be like this. I used to be confident, and I wouldn’t hesitate to approach those gorgeous women who are coming down along the road, just to say hi. (read more)

Message from a Disillusioned Blogger
You are getting tiresome. You were cute back when you were a kid. In each waking moment your curiousity is peerless, and you spent each day wide-eyed, full of energy to hear what others have to teach you. (read more)

May is the Magic Word
In a conversation I had with one of my old friends, I jokingly mentioned that this May ain’t May enough, and my life ain’t May enough either. If I am to write an autobiography, this month of 2008 would, hands down, be recorded as the nadir of my life. (read more)

My Encounter with Rabid Paolo Coelho Fangirls
But I merely have to overhear small parts of their yapping, to realize that they’re determined to buy only one author’s books, and I can’t recommend any of his books at all. And of course it was Paolo Coelho’s, whose books seem to be regarded as the must-read for every caffeine-consuming and coke-sniffing college undergrad. (read more)

Heart of Mine, Be Still
I resent that despite my insistence to not think much of you anymore so I can let go of bitter memories, you are some of the things that have clung to my recent musings like barnacles to barge. (read more)

You Gave Me the Mood Indigo
Did you notice, the moment you held my elbow, that I was incapable of talking, incapable of thinking straight besides wishing that this moment lasted longer? Did you count how many times I said something very random and how I would get embarrassed after that? (read more)

Huh?!
I can totally hear it, my haters laughing diabolically and shouting "YOU SAID IT! I TOTALLY AGREE FOR THE FIRST TIME WE AGREE AND GUESS WHAT EVEN IN AGREEMENT I’M PATRONIZING YOU!" (read more)

Cast My Fate to the Wind
I felt a sense of loss, a loss of vibrancy in my already dreary life. It only proved one thing that I was all along too hesitant to admit: I felt strongly about you. (read more)

All here, at Night Dreamer, where the evening is always full of light.

Elsewhere

Go to my more active blog. It's more fun there.

http://nightdreamer.i.ph

Isolation

"Save the earth" said the newly purchased notebook. I bought it neither for its message nor for its viridity. I bought it because I just wanted to scrawl. Back in high school, I would end the day curled on my bed, scribbling on a notebook. I paid little attention to words, but I delighted at the marked union of pen and paper, like lissome twirlings of ballerinas. Presently, I am spoiled by the amenities of word processors, and I rarely willed to do manuscripts. But today, I wanted to redo manuscripts. I wanted to relive the days when writing was less slapdash, for corrections were salient and looked like punishments.

I have a favorite spot in Ortigas Center. It’s the Ortigas Park. Though it is as small as a bum’s bum, it is calming for its greenness, distinct from neighbors of gray skyscrapers and orange lamps. It’s at the middle of a commercial district, but is isolated from activities. It also has a coffee shop - Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf - where I loll at when I need reposes. And today was a day when I needed reposes, for getting away from noises of shoes-clopping and cars-tooralooming will bring peace of mind. I was alone. I seated at a sofa, coffee mug at hand, notebook at the table, drowned by the rhythmic hums of coffee blenders and fragmented yaks of other customers, each having a different story of being here.

When I had just arrived, I was forcefully filling my notebook with words that only made sense to me. Three persons - a guy, two girls - were at the table next to mine. They had a laptop up and were, to their surroundings, oblivious, as I momentarily was to them. The guy did legerdemains. Card tricks. Coin tricks. He could be doing that to impress the chicks, which he’s quite successful at, for he was applauded. He even taught few of his tricks to his friends, and, though curious, I was too shy to look their way - for they were strangers - long.

And then he played a movie on his laptop, showing a video he recommends his girl friends (that bastard) to watch. It was in Japanese, so I didn’t understand what was happening, and I went back to writing (or the pretense of). But then, I heard Ludwig von’s music, played so passionately the thespians bickered about it. And then I recalled an anime with the same premises. I peeked, and sure enough, I knew what was being played. Nodame Cantabile, live version. I knew this! I was just as dorky as that guy. Oh my God.

They ended their jolly meeting and they parted ways tearfully. They seemed like they had kinships, but had long been absent from each other. And then they disappeared, resuming a life comparatively plebeian. I was left at my seat. I thought, these people were pretty swell. I could have sought their friendship and we would get along. But, I was too reticent, and all I did was look from afar, yearning to soon claim possession of a glee like theirs; yearning that I, too, would soon converge with my faraway friends and catch up on each other’s life.

It’s funny how much I empathized with these strangers.

Banality

I don’t know what’s happening to me. Last week I could still be awake at 2 AM without feeling a hint of drowse. But since three days ago, I’ve been sleeping early. Like, from 9 PM all the way to 6 AM. Having a day of long, uninterrupted sleep is fine with me, but three days of that and I get irritated. I feel like I should, instead, spend two more hours doing more productive things, like, I dunno, surfing the net! Or playing videogames!

I don’t have the data, but I’m think most people of my generation dislike sleeping early. At least I can attest such claim whenever I look at my brother, who often retires later than 12. He usually draws, makes 3d arts or read books until then. Maybe it’s not good for his health, and maybe he should stop drinking too many caffeinated drinks to keep him awake, but at least he does finish a lot of stuff. The only thing I have accomplished since 3 days ago is outline a report, which I really should make more elaborate. To make things worse, I’ve been waking up not on very high spirits since this week. I feel that way because of not having anything to look forward to.

So, few days after Holy Week vacation, I’m bored again. It’s not good to have nothing to look forward to during summer, because at least back when I was a student, summer was always the time for celebration, for relaxation, for going to beaches or for going to foreign lands. I’m two years out of school now and this is my third summer as someone who works, but it’s only this year when my summer has become so dull. There’s not a word of having a company outing. I won’t to see the girl I met in Bora last year. My sister’s not coming back from US (but since when has she come back since she left, 7 years ago?). I’m out of touch with some of my closer friends. I’ve been overspending on cheap thrills and not receiving any satisfaction. I’m having a reader’s block (err, it’s like writer’s block, except it’s more of losing the capability and the desire to read). The further "urbanizations" of my immediate surroundings have become blase. I’m only 24, but fate seems determined to claw away all my youthful energies.

I miss my passionate self! I miss waking up everyday with the "I’m ready to take the world by storm" swagger. Cliche and obnoxious all these successful people’s pep talks may be, there’s something about their optimism that I admire. I don’t feel that being passive while maintaining these bleak outlooks will do my sanity any good. I need a stimulant. I need activity, and not one that’s overfamiliar.

And you just read a blog post that goes nowhere. Durrr

My OST!

This is totally ramblingvirus’s fault. He didn’t tag me but it was such an awesome meme I can’t help not stealing it, kind of like a kid in the candy shop. If anyone starts talking about music I light up, even if it’s "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Nipples and Potatoes". Anyway, if you think tagging games are faggotry then you can come back some other time when I will write deeper analysis of faggotry. If you pronounce meme as meh-meh (just like I do) just to mock it then you can, of course, also come back some other day. But the rest, the rest of you who want some unadulterated sexy (what the hell is unadulterated sexy?) and insightful analysis of my relationship with my ipod, read on.

Lyrics are in italics.

The RULES:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Media Player, iPod, Winamp etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question/subject, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to the next question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and pretend you’re cool.

*************
1. Opening credits:

Return to Forever - Chick Corea

What the, just the beginning and already I'm going to return to forever? Awesome song though.

2. Waking up:

Turn Me On - Norah Jones

Oy. It's only morning!

                                                 Like a flower
Waiting to bloom
Like a lightbulb
In a dark room
I'm just sittin here waiting for you
To come on home and turn me on

3. First Day of School:

'S Wonderful - Joao Gilberto

Not bad, although I doubt I was this optimistic when I started school.

S wonderful, s marvellous
You should care for me!
S awful nice, s paradise,
S what I love to see.
Youve made my life so glamorous,
You cant blame me for feeling amorous!
Oh s wonderful, s marvellous,
That you should care for me!

4. Falling in love:

Johnny Came Lately - Joe Henderson

What on earth?! I ain't gonna fall in love with no johnny!

5. First song:

Peace - Norah Jones

Cool!

There's a place that I know
Where the sycamores grow
And daffodils have their friend
Where the cares of the day
Seem to slowly fade away
In the glow of the evening sand
Peace when the days stand

6. Breaking up:

Little Melonae - Miles Davis

I don't even want to analyze this. Who, who is Melonae?

 

7. Prom:

Up From The Skies - Jimi Hendrix

Yeah! Though there would be very deep questions to ask your prom date, eh?

                                                 I just want to talk to you
I won't uh, do you no harm
I just want to know about your different lives
On this is here people farm
I heard some of you got your families
Living in cages tall and cold
And some just stay there and dust away
Past the age of old.
Is this true ?
Please let me talk to you.

I just wanna know about
The rooms behind your minds
Uh do I see a vacuum there
Or am I going blind ?
Or is it just uh, remains of vibrations
And echoes long ago ?
Uh things like "Love the world" and uh
Uh "Let your fancy flow"
Is this true ?
Please let me talk to you
Let me talk to you.

8. Life:

Happy-Go-Lucky-Local (Night Train) - Oscar Peterson

Seems apt at least, but I never found myself that carefree.

9. Mental breakdown:

millionaire - musiq

That really doesn't make sense.

 

10. Driving:

There is no Greater Love - Richard Groove Holmes

There is, though.

11. Flashback:

Seven Years - Norah Jones

As much as I love the song (it's my favorite Norah Jones's song), I don't think it makes a lot of sense. My past, for one, does not include little girls. ^_^

                                                 Spinning, laughing, dancing to
her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
Is all alone

Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along

Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin to the ground
Without a sound

Crooked little smile on her face
Tells a tale of grace
Thats all her own

12. Getting back together:

Say Your Prayers - Gang Starr

The lyrics is all kinds of awesome, and I'd definitely say that to my ex. Wait, what? I have an ex?!

                                                 So many things will happen that one can't explain
You find yourself saying "who me", time and again
They say what goes around, comes around
ahun, so think about it while you're messing up clown
A mother's love and a father's concern
Here is the reason you should listen and learn
'Cause quick schemes and fast living can kill ya
I know how the excitement and danger can thrill ya
But take it from somebody who knows
'Cause after all the highs, you're gonna feel all the lows
This is why knowledge of self is essential
'Cause if you don't have it, you may simply go mental
See, life is not a thing to be toyed wit
'Cause every second, another dream is destroyed wit
The systematic plan devised to erase us
And straight to hell is where they're trying to take us
But never fold and hold back your fears
Have a strong mind and try to say your prayers

13. Wedding:

Solitude - Sonny Rollins

I see it this way: When we marry, we're gonna be alone facing the world. It wouldn't be so bad.

14.Birth of a child:

Blues for Mama - Nina Simone

You ain't gotta blue when you give birth, yo!

Hello to mama, I heard you wasn't feeling good
You spreadin deadly rumors all around the neighborhood
They say you mean an evil and don't know what to do
That's the reason they have gone and left you black and blue
Baby, tell me what you gonna do now?

15. Final battle:

Christmastime is Here - Vince Guaraldi

If that's gonna happen in Christmas then my enemy must've been really vile, being meanspirited even on Christmas.

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer

Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here
We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year...

16. Death scene:

Cold Turkey - Freddie Hubbard

Ok, to give it credit, it does sound dissonant.

17. Funeral song:

 

Our Love is Here to Stay - Natalie Cole

Aww how sad.

It's very clear, our love is here to stay
Not for a year, but ever and a day
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies, and in time may go

But oh my dear, our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long long way
In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay

18. End credits:

Visions - Stevie Wonder

Simply the most beautiful way to end.

                                                 People hand in hand
Have I lived to see the milk and honey land ?
Where hate's a dream and love forever stands
Or is this a vision in my mind ?

The law was never passed
But somehow all men feel they're truly free at last
Have we really gone this far through space and time
Or is this a vision in my mind ?

I'm not one who make believes
I know that leaves are green
They only turn to brown, when autumn comes around
I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending

But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to find our wings and fly away
To the vision in our mind ?

I'm not one who make believes
I know that leaves are green
They only change to brown when autumn comes around

I know just what I say
Today's not yesterday
And all things have an ending

But what I'd like to know
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful
Or do we have to take our wings and fly away
To the visions in our mind ?   

Still, I’m bummed that Night Dreamer by Wayne Shorter didn’t show up.

The Love Post

A mushy post, from this angst-y guy?! Before you find yourself unable to comprehend why I’m writing this, and before you go hit the back button, hear me:

This is another past-story post.

Yeah, I know, I’ve been overdoing the retrospection. My Feb’s not fab unlike the past few days in New Orleans, but more fab than GMA’s devoid-of-funk speeches. I’m so bored to the point of reading my old blog, rewriting them, and posting them on this blog for the first time. I know, I know, get off me; I wouldn’t be doing this have I a social life. Anyway, this will be bittersweet - that means some bitterness will counteract with the supposed sweetness you get when you hear "love", and that means you’re going to get through this without needing to visit the dentist. I hope.

I’m starting to believe that my disdain for Murakami may be because his protagonists remind me of me. In a fitting homage to his books, why don’t we put a beautiful jazz song before we go?

My Little Brown Book (Duke Ellington and John Coltrane)

Note that I combined my past post with something recent, so this isn’t verbatim of what I wrote 3 years ago.

There’s this girl, who I’ll call Lanie. She ran for student council, and the first image I saw of her was from a campaign tarpaulin. She instantly reminded me of another girl I had been very attracted to. Doesn’t help (hurt?) that they share the same uncommon surname.

I was like “Wow, cute! I wonder how she looks in real life” but that was it. I wasn’t expecting anything else because pictures tend to depict real appearances inaccurately. I even added her in Friendster, for whatever reason. This was 2004 after all when everyone went around adding people they haven’t met, to realize later that they’ve been adding douches. That last word is my bitter touch, yo! It gives this post edge!

I’ll be a little anachronistic here: she’s been appearing on my dreams since I have first seen the tarp, at the most haphazard times. I haven’t seen her for years now but she doesn’t miss the casting call when people audition for my dreams, and I just reckon that I said the gayest phrase. Audition for my dreams? What weed did I smoke when I wrote that? The only thing more peculiar than the dreams with her appearances is my remembering their details. The first one had me on a fictional school, practicing piano while she wasn’t noticing. One month after, this dream had a sequel where I was on a recital on the same fictional school, and she came close and smiled at me. Both of them were strange because I never was a piano virtuoso. Almost a year passed, I dreamed of her jogging at Central Park; with her back turned on me I was trying to chase her all the time while countering the heavy force on my feet. I woke up with blisters on my feet the next morning, at my sister’s apartment in Manhattan which, I imagine, was half a world away from Lanie. And then just a few months ago, I dreamed of being back to school doing campaigns with Lanie, even if I’ve never been a member of any political orgs in my college days. I think I also dreamed of spending a day with Lanie at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, but that’s hard to remember, which you’ll understand if you’ve ever been to the Met.

Oddly, we only almost knew each other.

It happened in the young hours of the night. I finished my exam and was about to leave on our school’s North gate - which is called that because I heard that it aligns with the north star and I’m not sure if I should take that on face value or if there’s a clue in there somewhere leading to the treasures of Triforce. I saw her standing there in all her resplendence. Forget the tarp: if she looked anything like that, Nightdreamer could’ve been a normal guy instead. Her beauty had such an effect on me that basking in insanity was my most novel idea of the day. But wait, she smiled and waved. My sweet lord, it’s the 1000-watts smile plus a waving, there is not a supermodel posing as a Wii gamer that could compare to that! I looked behind because I thought she was greeting someone behind me, but nobody was behind me, so my conclusion was that she was greeting me. I also took it for granted that she didn’t see apparitions, and at least based on her reactions I think that’s true.

So put yourself in such position then, what would you do? This girl you like is in her lonesome, smiling and waving silly at you. There’s a bench nearby where you can sit and have small chats. People say you’re a deipnosophist. What would you do?

You wouldn’t give her the cold shoulder, would you? Well, that’s what I did, out of being too stunned to do anything logical. I went home cursing myself over and over again for what I did there, folks, because that’s quality incompetence I showed there! College student, and still torpe (closest translation: clueless about how to meet women) what the hell, and this coming from the same guy who effortlessly introduced himself to Sam Oh  few years before and to Shaira Luna few years after this fiasco! Seriously, slitting my wrist wasn’t such a bad idea for me then because I couldn’t live with that shame. I bet you’re laughing at me; I deserve it, for once.

It also didn’t take long for her to be in a relationship after that. I think it’s still them, now.

About the only time I ever talked to Lanie was when she re-elected and I wished her good luck. Her “thanks” resounded so much I still hear it now. That’s what happens when you hear a sincere gratitude from the person you’re infatuated with.

The last time I saw her was year 2005, so why am I still dreaming of her now when every trace of her in my memory is so bittersweet?

Right now I want to eat halo-halo.

 

Connection? Confectioneries. I’m craving sugar, which explains why this post is so cloying. I’m so fired up to play Apollo Justice (it’s a lawyer game) that I’m now cross examining my own words. Durrr.

(Image courtesy of ourawesomeplanet, which is just the place to go if you want more info about halo-halo)

Influx of Hodgepodge

Sounds like the title of an awful rockband, doesn’t it? I feel the same way about "Quantum of Solace", by the way.

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How about a jazz song before we begin?

Deep Night (Sonny Clark)

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First, a shout-out, yet again (well, two). I found a blog called "Voice of the the Filipinos". It is unrelated to Chavit Singson, incidentally and thank-God-a-lly. Go and bookmark it. Better yet, memorize the link. It’s simply www.tingog.com. Amazangly easy to remember for those who know that Tingog is the vernacular for voice. Ilonggo in particular. Bisaya too, perhaps. Man, me and my unnecessary rodomontades. Anyway, it’s an newspaper’s editorial kind of blog, which means the author, nick, writes the current events of the Philippines and his thought about them, duh! The same thing applies to another one with a hilarious title "Tongue In, Anew". Unfortunately, the latter’s updates are few and far in between. I’m not a fan of the "update your blog everyday" mindset (really, that’s stressful), but, for an author as well-spoken as Tongue’s, he sure could post his views more frequently. Like, once a week.

Anyway, both blogs are in my dope list. Why? Coz they dope, yo!

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I also frequently visit Ramblingvirus’s blog. I’m sure this is a description that will incite the cringing from all blogosphere cracks - collective idiots in other words - but I sure do like to make people suffer, so (PLEASE DO NOT CLICK THE BACK BUTTON): He’s kind of like a more levelheaded me. Hahaha! Or am I merely a more colorful he? Well, one thing is for certain, I ramble on for far longer than he does, for better or worse. Or should I say, nolens volens? Damn Latin words sure do make people sound smart. I’m being facetious.

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Which reminds me, dictionary.reference.com, a site that I frequent, told me of some new killer app they cooked up: The reverse dictionary!

The reverse dictionary lets you go from a concept/idea/definition to words and phrases used to describe that concept. You can enter a single word, phrase, or a few words and hit the "Reverse Search" button.

Alas, it’s not as killer as I hoped. For one, I don’t get results when I reverse search "monkey’s ass", "superman dat ho", "ninja", "zombie", "douchebag" and "light sabers". Lamers. Heck, I reverse searched "crime" and didn’t get PGMA as a result, and not even Dubya. Good grief, anyone who don’t tag "crime" with them are LEARNING IMPAIRED! Bah, Urban Dictionary ftw!

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It sure do sound like a happy day for me. It is. I mean, I don’t have a lot of reasons to be happy and perhaps not having a date in Feb 14 should make me bitter, being enmeshed in the season of hearts alone yet again and all, but I’m just happy. The simple reason being, I slept early yesterday. Yay! Sleeping early is always a better way to revitalize, better anyway than drinking tons of caffeinated drink so as to operate like a zombie-panda with the breath of Raul Gonzales and Miriam Defensor Santiago (damn, that oughta be fragrant!). I hope everyone still remembers that.

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Get a Play-Doh and bring it to work. It’s cheap (P20 only) and it’s good for you - what better way to relieve stress than to apply pressure on such protean plaything?

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Lastly, here’s a pointless IM Conversation:

Me: I just went to Shanghai.

Dude: What’s that?

Me: (SERIOUSLY??!! but, kept composure): It’s a city in China.

Dude: O.

Dude: So did you get to see Shaolin Monks doing kung fu.

Me: No, no fancy kung fu for me.

Me: The thing I’ve seen that came closest to that was some fancy Crouching Tiger flying.

[Note: I’m not lying.]

Dude: Awesome!

Me: But too bad, I didn’t get to see bald guys breaking stuffs with their head

Me: And getting chronic migraine for the rest of their lives.

What Are You Reading Right Now?

All right, before I start, allow me to explain why, lately, I post infrequently. I’m sure my readers want to know what’s happening to my life. It’s… not so great. Actually, it’s pretty bad. My home’s desktop computer was busted. A tire ripped while I was driving. My friend’s mom’s blood pressure rose. My office’s desktop computer’s (what I’m currently using - yeah, today’s an idle day. What can I say?) keyboard was busted, and I got an awful one as a replacement - and by that I mean the keyboard that wouldn’t write unless I pound it. I’m also pretty broke.

About the only good thing was that I’ve finished reading a few books last week.

Actually, I don’t know if I should call that "good" news instead of "normal", which would then be cancelled out by those predicaments I’ve been going through. One of the lofty goals I have planned for this year is to finish 52 books; that means I need to finish 1 book per week. Six weeks have passed, and I’ve finished six books. I don’t see what’s so great about that. If I’ve been a book or two ahead, that’s what I would call good news.

Additionally, I’m currently reading Odyssey. If you’ve read my "10 things" post, you know what’s to come next - a 900-paged, notoriously unreadable book that disregards everything you’ve learned about English, and yet is heralded as one of the most essential texts. I’m getting a mixed feeling of anticipation and apprehension.

Now for the first time, I’m not starting my paragraph with letter "A". I like doing that back in college so as to remind my professor that that’s the alphabet my grade deserves. I heard the effect is sublime, although I don’t think that ever worked the way I wanted. Anyway, this is not a term paper, and nobody’s doing any grading. Let’s get to gist of this post now.

I read Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) and Foundation (Isaac Asimov) simultaneously, but I end up finishing Things Fall Apart a day earlier. The title should give you the clue that this is a fall-from-grace story, and it is. It details the life of Okonkwo, who, in enduring many hardships, rose to become a person of high rank. His ego was as massive as the respect his village people paid him, and he ruled his family with iron fist, often resorting to violence. He eventually fell, but I’ll let you find out what led to that. I enjoyed Things Fall Apart very much, particularly how it paints the norms and the traditions of Africa, and although some of Okonkwo’s shortcomings leave a lot to be desired, I still find myself sympathetic to him. I also like Chinua Achebe’s writing style: it is simple yet crisp, and despite the relatively low verbal proficiency the book required, it never sounded dumbed-down.

Foundation takes place 10,000 (some) years ahead of now. By the powers of math and psychology, Hari Seldon predicted that in 200 years the Galactic Empire would fall. So he gathered a few notable scientists and built the Foundation, so that he can mitigate the effects. To think that math and psychology can predict the future is to oversimplify theories of divinations, but whatever, I still think the idea is sound. Sadly, I’m indifferent to whatever the hell is going on with the Foundation, and that’s because of the plot and the writing. Basically, there’s more talking and yapping than any movement, it’s like reading a boring dossier. It wouldn’t be so bad if the characters were interesting. They weren’t. Everyone was either the interchangeable manipulative intellectual powerhouse (Seldon/Hardin/Mallow) who always wins and who talks like he has rehearsed his every dialogue, or the also-interchangeable inept pseudo-intellectual "thinks he’s the shrewd devil" cannon fodder who always loses and who also talks like he’s rehearsed his every dialogue, except with more venom. And notice the choice of pronoun? That’s right, there were almost no woman, as if a woman is insignificant in politics (a bizarre belief if, while reading foundation, you’re in a country where a woman perverts democracy). I also think that the wins were done in a very annoying way - what I call the "Knew Ex Machina", which is the "I KNEW THIS ALL ALONG HOHOHO!" plot device. The readers never could’ve learned beforehand how a person could possibly overcome an adversity, then it just happens and that person discourses a whole chapter about how awesome his wit is. Such cheap storytelling! The setting is also irrelevant: I don’t know why this had to be in the future, because the description of such future was so sparse. It could’ve taken place now and the story wouldn’t alter. Heck, Asimov could put a lolcat in there and it won’t matter (like, "V10L3NZ D LAST PWNAGE 4 INCOMPETANZ!"). I heard that the latter Foundation books are better. I sure hope so, because the first book is bust, despite the good premise.

So that wraps my post for today. Anyone read any good books lately? Want to make some recommendations? Want to comment on my opinions of Things Fall Apart and Foundation? Then cram my comment box to your heart’s content!

10 Random Things

1. I’m a vegetarian, and I don’t intend to renounce that.

2. Night Dreamer is actually a song by Wayne Shorter. Now will you please listen to it?

3. I was extremely busy last friday. I had to create a flash presentation, and as if it wasn’t bad enough that I had to submit the next day, I was told just then that I had to submit 5 hours earlier than the original proposed time. I  worked until 4 AM, slept only for 3 hours, then went to see the guy proposing such torture, only to receive word that he was sick and had postponed the submission to next week. Gee, all my losing sleep for this?

4. And yet, instead of going home immediately, I stayed on that venue, borrowed a computer, and did some tweakings on my flash. I wouldn’t stop doing it until my head was searing. AND YET, I didn’t feel tired. My flash teacher was also with me then, and we spent hours chatting. And that was fun. There’s nothing that energizes me more than an intellectually stimulating conversation, and it’s been a while since I talked to someone for that long.

5. In case you don’t know about this, my real life self is the most apart to my persona as Nightdreamer. I’m tongue-tied, am quite shy, and am vaguely nice. No, really, I kid you not.

6. Also, I seem to be more interested in talking to people who are more artistically-inclined (which is one way I describe my flash teacher). Perhaps it has something to do with having a pianist as a sister and a comic artist as a brother, but something about the way artists perceive the world never ceases to amaze me. At least, I find creative-thinkers much more fun to be with than those typical social-climbing frappe-swirling yuppie scum garbage whose conversations - most of which are done on Starbucks - only involve cars, celebrities and fashions.

7. I was supposed to write items 3-6 on a seperate post, but my head aches and I couldn’t express them eloquently.

8. I like to nitpick double standards.

(And one of the most recent double-standard that I’ve spotted, unfortunately, come from sports journalists. NBA ones, in particular. Just last week, Boston defeated Minnesota by one point, and I expected to read that Minnesota does not actually suck that much. Instead, the journalists recounted this like Boston did the most awesome thing ever, and was gushing Kevin Garnett as if he sends these journalistic jesters free passes to the local strip clubs. The irony is that KG didn’t even do well on that particular day. Also, a day before this one, Miami lost to San Antonio by one point, and the recount sounded like Miami was the stupidest team ever even if they were only a point behind last year’s champion. And you know what this reminds me? The Kobe-Lebron favoritism bull. That is, if Lebron scores 50 points people would go "OMG he rulez!!!" but when Kobe scores 50 points, people would go "ay, bwakaw yan!" [translation: he’s a ball-hog].)

9. My office desk contains a lot of weird trinkets. Art papers, origami-folds, novels, Transformer toys, and play-dohs.

10. When I’m done with Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, I’ll be reading Odyssey, and then Ulysses. Actually, it’s Ulysses I’m most preparing for. It’s a heavy read.