In no order:

1. Awakened my long forgotten childhood crush on Joseph Gordon Levitt, the then-little boy who made me believe in Angels (in the Outfield), and made me wish I was Larisa Oleynik in 10 Things I Hate About You.

2. Made me doubt my gender, at least for 2 hours, especially whenever Zooey Deschanel looked straight at me the camera through her long eyelashes, or sang a song (*to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die*), or smiled, or laughed.

3. Left me hanging on my seat until the credits ended, partly because I wanted to see the titles of the songs that were used in the movie, mostly because the entire 2 hours made me feel like I needed extra 15 minutes to absorb what just happened there.

4. Made me download The Smiths,

5. the entire (500) Days of Summer OST,

6. a (500) Days of Summer wallpaper,

7. and Ringo Star’s Octopus’ Garden.

8. Prompted me to schedule a trip to the mall as soon as it opens tomorrow later to finally get a bed frame and Christmas lights to put up in my bedroom. I don’t know why I’ve put that one off this long.

9. Made me want to sit in a crowded park and scream words I don’t dare say in front of our Pastor. And my Mom.

10. Made me want to watch it alone. No, wait. Done that.

11. Made me google photos of Zooey’s pretty dresses, skirts, vests and jackets. (And think about when to go dress-shopping again.) ♥

12. Made me miss riding buses and trains.

13. Made me want to laugh like no one’s watching and say with confidence, “Who cares, I’m happy.”

14. Inspired me to appreciate beauty in random places (like old buildings and empty park benches and cheesy greeting cards).

15. Inspired me to be like Summer, who knew when to give all or reserve some for herself, who had the courage to decide when to step back or take the leap, who knew when the answer was “no” or when it was time to say “yes”.

16. Made me want to be someone’s Summer, to feel how it’s like to be someone’s obsession again.

17. Inspired me to be like Tom, who loved like he’s not scared of getting his heart broken, who found strength to get out of whatever rut he’s in to find (and fight for) what made him happy, who had the courage to love, to get hurt, to feel.

18. Made me accept the grim reality that I’m uncool (because watching romantic comedies are, to me, life-altering experiences), a masochist (because I enjoy movies that end with broken hearts), and a closet romantic (because movies like this *points to the photo* make me like this *points to myself*), rolled into one misunderstood human being.

It’s quite a relief to blurt these things out. You know.

Last Friday, I had a wishful thinking. That bookstores were open 24/7 like convenience stores and watering holes, so that anyone could easily satisfy sudden cravings for the smell of books in the middle of the night the same way MiniStop and 711 have faithfully satisfied our after-midnight instant fixations. Such is what happened to me last Friday. I thought I’d prefer to stay in after a long tiring day doing work errands, but sometime past 11:00PM, my Friday night sickness kicked in and I knew I had to go out and find.. a book store.

After a few calls and texts, I was able to confirm that Fully Booked is open until 12:00 AM. I made it there an hour before closing time.

And there it was, the highlight of my week, my 45-minutes of solitude away from life. That short moment when nothing — not the deadlines, bills, thedreamerie stuff, my boss, that pile of unwashed dishes by the sink back in the condo — is as important as wandering aimlessly through rows and rows of non-existent characters and made-up worlds.

Took a Jane Austen book from the classics section, held it for a few minutes, made a quick decision whether to purchase it or not, then placed it back in the shelf. Went past the Shopaholics series and did just that — went past it. Went past the new titles by Cecilia Ahern, too, and wondered how come she’s still writing books after what I thought was a failed first attempt. And so is that Lauren Weisberger woman. I think Ahern and Weisberger should shift their careers to movie script writing. P.S. I Love You and The Devil Wears Prada were better off in the big screen than in 3-inch think novels.

Found a stack of Sidney Sheldon titles and lingered for a moment, smiling as I remembered those days in high school when my classmates would trade Sheldon books with each other, read them during class under the desks, and discuss them during breaks with a passion. Found Nicholas Sparks’ section, and, embarrassed as I am to admit, got a copy of The Wedding and A Walk to Remember, two titles I’ve already read a couple of times in my younger years but I thought would come handy when I want to read without thinking too much.

Stepped in the Murakami turf and thought I’d give the Japanese author another chance, after my failure at reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. The thought of the missing cat made my head spin, I stopped reading at Chapter 3. Thanks to Joni’s expert advise via text, I was able to confirm my decision on which Murakami title to buy. The one with the least number of pages, please, thankyouverymuch. But hey, like I said, I’m giving Murakami another try.

Paulo Coelho was my last stop, I ended up taking 3 titles in hopes of having his artistic prowess rub in on me. I’m so excited to read Veronika Decides to Die. I feel like I have a lot of things in common with that woman.

So with all my Friday night picks — 6 books plus a couple of cutesy pens, a leather book cover, and a notebook I don’t really need but couldn’t resist putting in my basket — I went to the counter with the smile of a little girl who just got out of a candy store. Warning to my readers: don’t do this if you don’t have a Fully Booked discount card. If anything, the few hundred pesos off your bill will at least make you feel less guilty.

I went home to my bucket of Maltesers and read the night away.

I don’t mean to bore you with how I spent my lousy Friday night. I just thought an almost-perfect 45minutes doesn’t happen everyday, I might as well blog about it.

Hi. How are you? :)

I can’t sleep.

Hi. How are you? I haven’t blogged in a while. Between work, and the shop, not to mention the Ondoy+Pepeng aftermath, and Grey’s Anatomy, and Gossip Girl, and Glee, finding time to blog is a real challenge lately. Which sucks. Because this blog is like, my probono therapist. And not getting my regular therapy sessions is starting to make me kwaazy.

So here’s a quick blog about nothing, really, before I call it a day.

So where were you when electricity in the entire Pasig City (and 7 other cities) was shut down around 9-ish last night? I got texts saying that the power outage will last until the morning, and I was already preparing myself for a looong night without electricity and internet. Thank God texts are often unreliable sources of information! :P

BTW, how are you? Oh yeah, I asked that already.

Every night when R and I would have dinner, I would ask him how’s work and how his day went, and well, I usually don’t get any exciting answers. I’d be thrilled enough when he gives me more than the usual, “well, it’s okay“s and “uhm, not much“s. Like the other day he told me he took a short drive to Ministop to buy chocolate siopao with Mikey. And I was like, “Yay! that’s something new! I’m so happy!”

I’m not sure why I’m saying this.

Maybe because I was kinda hoping someone would, you know, take time to ask me how I am. Haha.

I think I should really start hiring a professional therapist.

I think this is Grey’s Anatomy’s effect on me.

BTW, did you notice how pregnant Meredith was in the first 3 episodes of GA and how they managed tried to hide her huge pregnant belly?

And did you notice how Glee is being infiltrated by supernatural beings from Heroes?

Life. Is. Groovy.

The Filipinos’ voluntary and immediate response to give whatever help they can give to those who lost their homes and loved ones over typhoon Ondoy still gives me goosebumps. Along with the outpouring of rain in the past few days came the outpouring of compassion among Filipinos.

Empty shelves in Supermarkets are signs of, not panic-buying, but people hoarding boxes of canned goods, instant noodles and bottled water to bring to evacuation centers and establishments where relief operations are being held. #Ondoy and #Philippines being trending topics on twitter shows the concern and active participation of the youth in disseminating information online. Everyone just wants to sympathize, to be counted and to extend help.

Sure, many have given up on the Philippines already, but it is in times like this that I feel most hopeful. I see it as another opportunity for us to be united as a country, to rise above the situation, and to trust that God knows what He’s doing in our lives.

That’s my feet, in the photo, as I stood beside a batch of relief goods that were gathered and repacked this week in church to give to typhoon victims. I know my individual efforts are minuscule, but collectively I’m confident that we — all of us (anywhere in the Philippines and in the world) who took part — made a difference that we wouldn’t have achieved if we all chose to just stay at home, watch the news and do nothing. (Come to think of it, if you’ve been watching the news, you just CAN’T NOT do anything).

How about you? Where have your feet taken you lately?

[This photo was taken as part of the Unravelling E-course I'm taking for the next 8 weeks, how timely it is that the e-course started on this very week.]

* * *

A lot of Filipino families are still trapped in their homes that are still drowned in mud and flood. And that’s on top of another super typhoon, that’s currently in the Philippine territories at the time of this writing, which will surely leave more people devastated. We need as much help and prayers we can get.

To those of you who find it in your heart the burden to help these victims, posted after the jump is a list of establishments and organizations that are currently doing relief operations for Ondoy victims. For donations through Paypal and Credit Card, you can course them through Philippineaid.com.

(more…)