Sadyah

I realized that watching "feel good movie" is not just an escape from the nitty-gritty of everyday living. If the academician in me used to frown on this (lit theories did it to me), now I find the need to re-examine our attitude toward this, to return to this not as a way of "romanticizing it" or "bringing the ghost of the past" but as a way to be better individuals in the midst of global warming, war, famine, diseases, poverty, etc.

One cannot move on with life being loveless throughout, right.

Loneliness is no longer a desirable topic. Because it is something to be conquered, not something to be avoid of. There is no binary: good vs.bad, light vs.darkness, day vs.night, man vs.woman,etc. They are one.

Why do you think "A Purpose Driven Life" became a hit? I did not finish it. Cannot until now. But I saw Pearl’s copy once, with her notes, that it struck me right then and there that this what makes a bestseller: it has to move people, it has to inspire, it has to make them feel good about themselves, it has to make them realize their potentials, and let them see the endless possibilities of what they can be.

It’s Chinese New Year so I decided to have lunch at Mr. Choi in Robinson. Then I watched "Holiday" and it’s only now that I realized how sexy Jude Law is.

Omigod. Poet pa ang character niya.

Inspired and feling sooo goood like a teen-ager with some extra cash of a yuppie to "reward" (i know, I know, I’m having too much reward and not much of writing) herself, I walked over to the next cinema for "Music & Lyrics." I love Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant gets sexier in time.

Omigod. This time, it’s Drew who has the knack of a poet. How about this for a quote: "All I wanna do is to find way back into love."

Hmm, I’m having post-Valentine girlash thing.At 28 at that, huh!

While walking down to pick up my grocery bags, these thoughts came to me: a great deal of classics and art films thought me that "the heart is a lonely hunter" and love is an illusion and happiness is fleeting and death is the only reality and we are all, actually, alone that all these years, though I’ve never been miserable (precisely because of these reservoir of knowledge that I can choose to draw out from my memory bank a.k.a intellectualization/rationalization whatever you may call it to keep one’s sanity and it did work for me), I have been quite dubious about true love and if ever it exists, it’s always tragic.

A movie with a happy ending - yes, Hollywood - is trash. So why waste time and money. Only if it’s a date. Same attitude goes to popular paperbacks.

Yet in this time of online dating; living-in if not sleeping over; late marriages; infertility; abortion; couples wanting not to have kids; couples wanting to have only one child; single women wanting only a child; no to marriage but responsible parenthood, I find myself wanting to have a family! Yes, a marriage with one or two kids! God, make me pregnant in due time!

Omigod.I am returning to the basics. Like eating more vegetables and fruits. Like walking because it’s good for the health. No more softdrinks for me. Water is the stranger that I love.

Despite of what they always say that,"Baby, at the end of the day it’s all about business," I still believe that it’s good to be good and bad to be bad. Yes, money matters and everything else like Love, Faith, Hope, Freedom, and Courage. I know, it’s very "Moulin Rouge." I love Wong Kar Wai’s "In the Mood For Love" but I’d rather be Julia Roberts in "My BestFriend’s Wedding."

Happiness, after all, is a choice, and the birth of blogging condemned (note that choice of word) us to perpetually write ourselves. Or be insignificant.    

Life these days means when to wake up and sleep, when to shower, what to eat, to go or not to go out. This week so far was lived out with these:

1.Manicure-pedicure (130 + 20 tip; go back to the cheaper one alongside Jollibee).

2. Dentist (this turns to be a Friday thing…few months to go before the retainer).

3. Grocery (ShopWise Harrison sucks: limited choices for fruits and veggies. I’m happier with Robinson-Ermita’s Supermarket. I need a taxi, though, on my way home. And do they say ShopWise is cheaper, more spacious? Ugh…).

4. Laundry (I tried the drycleaning service downstairs for 32 per kilo for handwash;ended up washing doormats and hand towels).

5. Oh yeah, next is Ironing 101.

6. Bathroom Cleaning (I hate muriatic acid).

7.General Cleaning (Sprayed it with Crabtree & Evelyn’s Summer Hill. Note: Buy a big scented candle ).

8.Friendster: update blog, write and reply to messages, give testi, customize page.

9. Multiply: Read friends’ blogs.

10.Inquirer.net. Oh…so it’s election time again.

11. Yahoo mails and YahooMessenger!

12. Fruits and veggies and pizza.

13. Kilay 101 (Putcha, 50.00.Sana ako na lang).

15. Waxed my legs for the first time(Shaving is more convenient but this seems to be more effective).

Ang Sandali ng mga Mata (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2006) ni Alvin Yapan. Ang galing!Kaya hindi ko pa ma-rebyu. Baka hindi ko mabigyan ng hustisya.

Nakakainggit, nakaka-inspired.

Hindi ako nagsisi sa pagbili sa Solidaridad (at hindi ko alam ito, i was there for Myself, Elsewhere ni Carmen Guerrero Nakpil na hindi ko binili. Hmm, hintayin ko na lang sa library:) Karapat-dapat manalo ito ng award.Kahit naman ‘yong At Nabulag ang Tagapagsalaysay, ang una niyang koleksyon ng mga kuwento sa UBOD, natuwa ako.

Basahin n’yo!

The Psychology of Attention (2006) by Elizabeth A. Styles. Truly, this caught my attention. And what is attention? Styles starts with this: “It is the taking possession of mind in clear and vivid form…it implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.” It is scholarly however for the moment and Styles also says there are varieties of attention and to date, there is no single definition to it.

Dealing With Difficult People (2006) by

Roy

Lilley. Easy yet insightful read. Finished it at PanCake while waiting for my appointment in MD. Bottomline: Avoid trouble by talking it out – face-to-face, and always try to be affirmative in giving comments. It’s in how you say it. Ex. “ What you are saying is right, but…” or “I know you are a fair person but what you’ve decided here has caused me real problem” etc. As bullies are in constant search for a victim, never allow them.

An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Ethics (2004) by Mary Warnock

The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry (2005) by Mario Livio

Science in Society (2005) by Matthew David

The Innovation Killer: How What We Know Limits What We Can Imagine…and What Smart Companies Are Doing About It (2006) by Cynthia Barton Rabe. I find this interesting, insightful, and provocative. I learned new terms like GroupThink, the tendency to make decisions that everyone in the group will agree with, and ExpertThink, the tendency to make decision with which the “establishments” (the “experts” in our field) will agree. Rabe says these kill innovation. Thus, companies are bringing in Zero-Gravity Thinker, an individual or group of people outside our field who (will) help us escape the weight of what we know. Rabe says companies can benefit from the “psychological distance” and related expertise that the Zero-Gravity Thinker provides. Rabe also stresses the need for a Zero-Gravity Thinker to have “renaissance tendencies” (yes, a healthy knowledge and appreciation of the humanities and the arts) and knowledge on the basic concepts of the field s/he is going to help brainstorm for that big idea that will increase profit or create a meaningful impact on consumers’ lives.

I love the fact that this book promotes “thinking time” – the need for companies to create and provide ample time for their employees to define the problem/project and think about it. “Please Do Not Disturb – Thinking in Progress.” Or “Quiet Please, I’m having an idea.”It also calls attention to the need to define the problem/project and cultivate a culture of courage, that is, to think out of the box and go beyond the advice of the experts.

How I wish administrators in my university will have the chance to encounter this book.

Friday night and I was in CCP at 8 for "Ang Mga Huwad" - Rody Vera (script) and Cris Millado’s (direction) interpretation of F. Sionil Jose’s The Pretenders. Tony Samson, the protagonist, is played by Romnick Sarmienta.

Thanks to Glenn Mas for the compli ticket.

Catch it if you can. Remarkable staging. Do I need to confess that I got interested to read Jose’s novels only after watching Yul Servo as Pepe Samson, 2 years ago, in the staging of The Mass?

That’s how powerful Joses’ works are that he is a National Artist for Literature and whose novels (Ben Singkol, My Brother, My Executioner) I do require in Phil Lit and yes, students love it.

Saturday passed with "Law and Order" and "Walk the Line."

Sunday was spent with Riza at CCP for "Pasinaya 07" and we got to enjoy Ballet Philippines’ "Don Quixote" and the Wi-fi Independent Contemporary Dance )Myra Beltran, Paul Morales, Denise Miranda? and the Air Dance.