Saturday, October 27, 2007

self-centered

my blog entry titles lack creativity. better work on that...someday

am i self-centered? yes i am. very self-centered. but not because im self-centered means im selfish. i care about other people's welfare and i can be selfless from time to time. i think being selfish is more of an external act while being self-centered is more of an internal thing. not mutually exclusive though. the external act could be a reflection of one's state of mind and the internal...ummm...whatchamacallit may manifest in the external world. point is, just writing this blog entry just shows im self-centered. i could be writing about the presidential pardon given to Estrada. i have a degree in political science and im a law student, i should be affected by it and should be giving some thought on this news item. well, since i brought this topic up, might as well talk a little about it (just a little because i am writing about how self-centered i am. actually not really. it just so happens i cant sleep and i felt like writing about my being self-centered). where was i? oh yeah, the presidential pardon. i have nothing against giving Estrada the presidential pardon as long as Arroyo has a good reason for it. and for me, reconciliation and unity really isnt enough to qualify as a good and jutifiiable reason to give a presidential pardon at this moment. but then again, who am i to say that isnt enough, im not the one sitting in Malacanang feeling the pressure (or fully knowledgeable of the consequences. its not like everything we see on TV is really "everything" or really true). Arroyo cites similar situations regarding pardon in other countries but not because other countries did it means we should follow it. but then again, Estrada's been in detention for six years. so what? well, that is a long time isnt it? but it seems its too soon to give the presidential pardon. it makes the Estrada trial look like a big joke. after six long years of trial, he's free after conviction (so Estrada's lawyer should have opted to finish the trial as soon as possible and not let it extend for six years. but then again (again), maybe thats why the pardon was given, its been six years of detention before conviction). Was there even confiscation of the money plundered? maybe i should read the papers before reacting, the answers might be there. i mean, im not really updated on every detail.

why did i write about my being self-centered? i forgot. the Estrada topic distracted me. long enough to make me forget what i intended to write about. which just shows that i have a short attention span. i think. wait, i got it. im self-centered because im too absorbed and wrapped up in myself. thats it? not really. i lost my train of thought with regard to this topic. isnt this res ipsa loquitur? shouldnt be citing latin terms. im not good with using latin maxims. anyway, to support my self-centeredness, i think the next two blog entries would help. why would i want to be self-centered? because i am and i dont think there's anything bad about it. as long as it doesnt go beyond pissing people off...from time to time. besides, its not like i uncontrollably manifest my self-centeredness. i dont go around saying im such a great person. not the greatest but great nonetheless. nor do i tell people im better off not having good looks because if i was goddamn handsome, i wont notice the other people around me. wait, im not describing a self-centered person, im describing a jackass. im not yet willing to admit im a jackass.

Friday, October 26, 2007

tristan thorn

Tristan is a shy and somewhat awkward young man who can't help but feel that he doesn't belong in the Village of Wall. He dreams of traveling the world and reinventing himself, but most of all he dreams of Victoria Forester: the prettiest girl in the village. (from an article on tristan thorn in wikipedia)

holy fucking crap. after reading the sentence above, i just felt uneasy and a bit dizzy. i dont exactly know why but thats what i felt. did i feel its me? or the description fits me? i dont know. im not really shy, and i dont really use awkward to describe myself but somehow, i would say its close enough. maybe a first impression perhaps. about the feeling of not belonging, of traveling and reinventing one's self sort of hits the target. and of all the names, it had to be Victoria. if only people knew how much the name Victoria means to me. ive fallen in love with the name for 10 years now (maybe more, i know its late 90s. and thats probably why i started to like names that begins with the letter V). and i have a thing for liking the prettiest. just pretty isnt enough. tsk. i dont know if i can change that.

i just watched Stardust a few hours ago and i wont even think im like Tristan Thorn, but well, for some reason, i ended up reading a Wikipedia entry on him (ended up, so i didnt really purposely searched for it on wikipedia, i just saw a clickable link on Tristan Thorn and clicked on it) and well, the part i copied above sort of, well, caught my attention. now im interested in buying Neil Gaiman's novel. or maybe look for someone who has a copy and just borrow it. or maybe look for it in a book sale shop (i saw some of The Sandman comics in a book sale of some sort).

the movie Stardust didnt really catch my attention until i learned there's a character named Tristan (either im just self-centered or im just self-centered. i didnt even know he was the main character until i watched the movie). i dont think ive seen the movie's trailer either. and not knowing it was an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, the movie name Stardust isnt that appealing to me. the word Stardust sounds like a dance show. or an alternative title to Will Ferell's Blades of Glory. anyway, i liked the movie. maybe it ranks fourth, next to 50 First Dates (just saw 50 First Dates last monday in Burger King) Stranger Than Fiction and Transformers. but then again, all of these movies belong to different genres so when it comes to fantasy films, it might rank first. or in live-action fantasy film category because the usual fantasy films i like are anime films. not really much of a "fantasy" type of guy. although i enjoy it i still prefer sci-fi. i would have loved the movie Stardust, even if it was purely a fantasy film, if Yvaine was Rachael Leigh Cook (or maybe Keira Knightley or Winona Ryder). Claire Danes isnt bad but im not much into Claire Danes. she has a nice name though.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

rain

thank God for the rain! i love it when it rains. not that im only happy when it rains because its not impossible for me to be happy on a non-rainy day but a rainy day (or a rainy night more especially) most likely cheers me up or at least puts me in a good mood. of course that doesnt mean i wont be in a bad mood when its raining but somehow, the rain does help in improving my mood (most of the time). maybe its because of the cold weather it brings. also, im not talking about heavy rains. obviously. that would be heartless of me to want heavy rains because of the destructive nature of such rains. but then again i am heartless but not to the point of being inconsiderate with other people's welfare. people lose not only property but also lives with extremely heavy rain. and there is a difference between the two, being heartless and being considerate. they are not mutually exclusive. i mean, i could be heartless because i dont have pity nor feelings of sympathy or compassion but that doesnt mean i cant be considerate. for me, being considerate is more of a rational act. i see it as a knowledge of the needs and feelings of other people and taking that into consideration in one's actions or in making decisions.

going back to the topic, im talking about light to moderate rain or a simple drizzle. lately, it rains whenever i step out of a building, whether it be at home or in school. of course, there are times its a bit annoying because the rain is too heavy to walk under. i prefer rains thats not strong enough to get a person too wet.

i noticed that other people are "afraid" to get wet. sometimes its a very light rain and they still have to grab their umbrellas. i rarely use my umbrella. i only bring one so that i have something to use in case of "emergencies". what are these "emergencies"? if i have paper to submit (which is already due or on the day of the deadline of course, because its really extremely rare or as far as im concerned, really unheard of, for someone to submit a paper or a requirement a day before the deadline) and all of a sudden God decides to put up an "obstacle course". it suddenly rains very hard and there's no taxi in sight for almost an hour. i have to ride a jeepney but the jeepney that takes the easiest/quickest route is also unavailable. so i have to ride several jeepneys instead. and all throughout, it was raining really really hard. an umbrella would come really handy so that my paper wont be a soggy piece of crap when i submit it. why dont i just print it in school? well, God decides to make things more difficult. there was a blackout one hour before the deadline. so i have no option but to bring the hardcopy i already have. another example of an emergency is when it starts to rain really hard and you see a pretty girl that despite the hotness she possesses, cant make the rain evaporate before it hits her beautiful skin and she has no where to run to. so the umbrella would come in handy to rescue her from getting wet. but if it was only a light rain, dont bother. it wont kill her. if she cant stand light rain, she doesnt deserve to be rescued from it. i mean, how weak can a person be not to take a drizzle? ok, fine. maybe some people are too delicate to handle even the weakest of raindrops but still a little rain shouldnt hurt. thats why i rarely use my umbrella unless its really necessary. how about getting sick? maybe ive caught the cold from time to time because of walking in the rain but most of the time, i dont. so, why not walk in the rain? if its because its wet, then thats what i dont get. so what if its wet? maybe i just worry too less.

another thing i like about the rain is its disruptive nature. it disrupts the life of the unprepared. if you are commuting and it rains and you dont have an umbrella, sometimes you find yourself in a place you didnt plan to be or you get delayed. it disrupts the ordinary course of things, for those who didnt take into consideration the possibility of rain. sometimes the rain could make a person spend more either in terms of money (take the taxi instead or eat in a fastfood and wait for the rain to stop or buy an umbrella) or in terms of time (if you are stranded, you have to use your time for something else or well, waste it if there's nothing productive that can be done). so the rain is a disruption of the daily routine or the ordinary course or daily life of the people within the society or particular area who didnt have the rain and its effects in their plan for the day. why do i like it? well, because the disruption makes people stop and think for a while. i mean, if a person is too absorbed in what he is supposed to do or is in too deep in his daily routine, the rain most of the time is effective in breaking that person's routine and makes him think for a while what to do or reconsider stuff. its like a break from the monotony of daily life. of course, if it rains very often, a day with no rain would have the same effect. but since days with no rain is more of the norm, rainy days have more of the effect of being a break from the monotony of daily life. also, the disruption could be of such magnitude that could change the course of one's life. like i said, the rain could send a person to place he didnt intend to be (or be prevented from going to a place he intends to be) or the rain could take one's time and spend it for some other thing (like one's time is re-allocated suddenly).

so aside from the nice weather it brings, the rain is really an interesting thing.

Monday, October 01, 2007

october has landed

ock as in doc ock (short for doctor octopus, one of the famous villains in marvel comics, specifically, enemy of spider-man), tow as in tow truck and bur as in burlap (a cloth of some sort). put them together and we have, ocktowbur.

whenever i hear october, i remember 50 First Dates. why? because there was a part in the movie where Lucy Whitmore was insisting it was october and the way she said it somehow got "etched" in my mind. ock-tow-bur. its like whenever i hear bruce willis, its like being asked to complete a sentence. bruce willis? is a ghost! some people complained about this one. they said the movie spoiled The Sixth Sense.

anyway, i was in the mall a few hours ago (as usual) to eat dinner and check the prices of coffee makers. and when i reached the basement, i was a bit surprised that on the first day of october, the mall was already selling christmas trees and christmas decors and playing christmas songs. this was done only in the basement so the "christmassy" (most likely this word doesnt exist but if does, i might have spelled it wrong) atmosphere wont be felt in the entire mall. i was just there last saturday and as far as i remember, those trees of western origin werent there. so i guess starting to sell stuff for the christmas season was scheduled this first day of october (unless they started it yesterday, september 30. i didnt go to the mall yesterday). why am i making a big deal out of it? its just i didnt even feel september that much. i mean, august as always was unforgettable but i couldnt remember what stuff happened last september. and now its october already and the mall is making people realize christmas is coming. its another year coming to an end! time flies even if youre not having fun. time flies also for those who need a lot of it.

thats it? yep. i just wanted to blog about seeing christmas trees as early as the first day of october. i know i shouldnt be surprised since i think the christmas season starts this early in this country (i think) but, well, i was still surprised that the malls are preparing for the christmas season.