Soft seats

Hello.

Welcome to the unedited, conversational edition of the last-minute madness, which only I, Sonia, erstwhile Med-School Thera Group Presentation Amazon Princess character can do with typical Sonia style.

It is actually 2:30 in the morning, but for some reason (and probably because earlier, I had napped on the couch while my friend Loreen worked on her thing on the dining table :-)), I cannot sleep anymore. I haven't the energy to do more thorough reading of my Schizophrenia notes, which I really should, so, I decided to just have another couch sessions conversation with my loyal friend readers.

Hmm....

What fun stuff did I do today?

1. I got to taste Baklava from Greece, which, I have to say is quite an experience. It's got chocolate, lots of sugar, and flaky pastry. My friend Gen Yap was giving it away as one of her souvenirs from her very recent Grecian cruise holiday. Oh, and she got me a key holder...a silver teddy bear with the Grecian flag stamped across its chest. Pretty cool. :-)

2. I pretty much spent much of the evening with Joe and Gen, and we watched "One Day". It was a good movie (and Joe couldn't give a correct assessment, as he said, he was biased 'cause Anne Hathaway was in it.), and apart from the kilig moments that went on, I have to say it was an absorbing film. Well, like any other girlaloo, i'd want the characters to end up being happy together, making babies and all that...stuff. :-p Well, it was a love story almost 15 years in the making...a veritable tug-of-war of emotions (gosh, I love these troubled characters) until, of course, the love affair climaxes, but not quite.

*sigh*


No spoilers here, of course, unless you really want to watch the movie for yourself, I will keep my thoughts on the scenes to myself.

She, Anne Hathaway's character, always knew from the start, that she wanted the guy. He didn't. It had to take him a long long time to realize that he needed her, loved her, even. (I suppose girls are infinitely wiser when it comes to matters of the heart, then? :-p) Jim Sturgess, the guy, was cute. adorable. and all that stuff you would want in a guy. but he was slow. he tried to make things work somehow, but it didn't really work.

Of course, I cried my usual (secret) tears at the end of the movie. I don't really know why I still do these things...movies are movies, escapist fare that we all engage in to feel better, or to have fun. I suppose I cried because I felt for them. (I always do.) Unrequited/Unexpressed love for years, and then when everything does happen, something happens to her.

:-(

(Anyway, in the UK, unrequited sounds like the Kwai in the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai, whereas, in the States, it sounds more of the quit in quitting. :-p Just sharing a little factoid.)

3. I hung out with Gen and Joe and we had a great pasta dinner at Ravioli , which is a pretty good pasta place at the midtown wing of the mall. I suppose I'll be going back there every so often. The herb chicken was pretty good.

Speaking of herbs...i sort of postponed a movie date due to schedules. And I suppose "Crazy Stupid Love" was not a good movie to watch with a boy. I chose Conan the Barbarian instead. I don't suppose I want to watch a chick flick with a guy, and not even to send a message. In my [humble] opinion, chick flicks are better enjoyed with your girl friends, or in the privacy of your own room so you can bawl like a kid whose super colorful sticky-sweet Halloween/Valentine candy got taken away from him or her at Christmas. (lol....)  Well, you get the idea. It kind of sends the wrong message too. Watching a chick flick doesn't have the Cupid's arrow effect, not even of suggestion, at least not for me...I have a pericardium of steel...but with marshmallow soft centers. haha:-)

So, Conan the Barbarian it is. :-)

I just found out (because he told me) that one of the interns who rotated in Psychiatry some months ago, yup, Jim with the [*sigh* beautiful] fountain pen is probably going to be assigned in my hometown, or if not there, in Cebu, at least. He asked me about the places in my province, and said that maybe he would want to start a career there. It was funny, here I was, seeking new places to train, and to have an adventure, and here comes this guy who wants to go back there to have his own adventure...

LOL. I'm getting a flashback of that book I read back in grade school which was so popular....the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series? The ones where you get to pick where you want to go next and continue flipping pages until you either die, or win? :-p I hung out in the grade school library for hours on those kinds of fare, and what-not.

Anyway, I must be boring you. It's late...no wait, early. It IS 3Am after all...and I have to go to work in a few hours.

You've been a great audience. Gnite.

Love,

S.

P.s. I wanted to apologize to someone for doing something that wasn't very nice. And, my friend Joe tells me that I've grown so skinny, I was even cachectic. eww. But I am so not. I think.

“Tender is the night”

…is the F. Scott Fitzgerald book I found at the National Bookstore sale pile earlier tonight when I was getting  supplies.

It only sold for Php 20.00. This has got to be the cheapest book purchase I’ve made yet…not counting the time that I bought a compendium of essays for, get this, 5 pesos.—honestly, I don’t know how they price books these days.

Granted, it was a hardbound copy, but ever since I’ve read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, I’ve been an admirer. This work of his, although not a commercial success, is a particularly memorable one, as it is loosely based on the life of the author and his wife, when she was diagnosed with a mental illness. I can’t help but be drawn, because it is a topic particularly close to my heart.

On top of that, I finally found myself a copy of “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” as well when I was out looking for blank CD’s. I don’t pride myself on being easily drawn by these cheap little modes of entertainment, but this is kind of a good thing too. I remember my father telling me about this Jack Nicholson film when I was a kid, and I think I even made him tell it to me and my brother as a bedtime story.  

Anyhoo, someone I know has both read the book and seen the movie, and claims that as a psychiatry resident, I should have already been able to see it, which makes this a lucky find (it was 25% it’s original price, can you believe that?)

Oh, and last…another find, a non-fiction book, with a Sybil type of theme, although this one has a different flavor. I’ll tell you one thing that’s for sure, though, I won’t be reading this at night, when I’m alone in the house. I scare easily. lol.

Speaking of Sybil, guess what…my supervisor (i,.e. the consultant who sees to my training), in one of our conversations told me that her brother-in-law was the actual lawyer who was mentioned in the book.

Pretty cool, huh? Talk about six degrees of separation…

I’m happy with the finds, though, and I spent less than 300 pesos for the whole shebang. (I’m currently watching the Jack Nicholson (my, he was a dish when he was younger, even the “evil eyebrows” are still pretty cool) movie, and will be reading the F. Scott Fitzgerald book in between work periods.

Good night!

Love,

S.

"First Class" First Class

I got to watch X Men First Class last night with my cousin greggy at the mall... it was like, wow.

I've always loved (ALWAYS) Superhero movies, but this one tops them all. Such a cool movie...

(But don't take my word for it, I'm sort of biased in that I love these movies anyway.)

When the movie credits came on, I was even clapping. (To which my co-resid.ent, Mer said, Kadiri ka talaga, Ling." Haha.) I don't know, I guess I was just totally excited about the whole concept of the X-Men and what they could do and the whole fantasy of it all that I could not help but get carried away. This is, hands down, the best Xmen movie ever

And, of course, I've developed a bit of a crush.

Brainy boy Professor Xavier is my choice for Mutant of the Night. :-)

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When we were in growing up in my hometown (we were in grade school that time),we didn't have cable tv, and the only way we could get to watch a relatively clear version of the Uncanny X-Men was to go over to my cousin's house on the other side...they lived up on the hill ( we were near the river, and it was lower so the tv reception wasn't so good.) And we'd be all excited, chatting happily about the past week's episode and stuff. We also had popcorn and stories.  My brother and I would troop over to the big house, and my cousins Greggy and Popoi would be there waiting. And then we'd do that again Next week. 

If I do remember correctly, I was Jean Grey, Popoi was Storm (yes, he's happy.), Donskie was Cyclops and Greggy Boy was Gambit. :-) Anyway, Greggy paid for the movie, which made it cooler.

(I got my pictures from this article.)

Movie: Little Manhattan

I was watching movies last night in bed.
:-)
This one is simply too cute for words.
The little kid described having a broken heart as "The pain with no name...." so adorable. :-) 
I agree though, love does suck, but in the end, it does leave you with incredible memories anyway.
(Barbra Streisand's character in that movie with Jeff Bridges said something about how even though love hurt like hell, people still fall in love...because it's still fucking great. [sic..]. )


:-) 


Good night, everyone.


Love, 


S.
 P.s. a link to the site, just in case, the embedded one doesn't work.

The "Eff" word (and other stories)

It’s a dark, gloomy, overcast day in Manila… it’s one of those Saturdays when even though you’ve just woken up at 6:30AM, you won’t want to do anything until noontime except of course, watch The Big Bang Theory, or watch a movie one after another.

Well, I did. (So that’s the reason for this entry.)

The sun is bright enough to wake the sleeper even at 5:30AM in this room I’m staying. The big window draws in all possible forms of bright, sunshine-y quantum energy to tell you, “hey, it’s a new day, and it’s definitely time to get off your lazy ass, sweetie…”

J

Well, this morning anyway, there was too much cloud cover and the smog pretty much made the day all dark and gloomy. So I stayed in. And had a good laugh over Sheldon Lee Cooper and his shenanigans (just a couple of episodes really, fresh episodes that I copied off Mer when my groupmates were here for dance practice.)

Anyway… it was a busy week (relatively), and apart from the party that Dr. L invited all the residents to, I’ll have the whole day off tomorrow (to go house-hunting, among other things.).

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I like how The Big Bang Theory is…it’s a brainy “no-brainer” (relatively),  it’s fresh, and most of all, I like their witticisms. It’s just terribly amusing, how they poke at each other’s idiosyncrasies…and with geek-speak to boot.

I like it a lot.

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I saw a South Park episode too…the one where Eric Cartmann freaked out about KFC being banned one time, with a medicinal marijuana outlet opening up in its place. His dad gave himself testicular cancer using  a microwave and then got all his jutes legally (with a doctor’s referral form)…and didn’t mind “hopping” his way everywhere on his…balls (which, apparently, the women in their community thought was a hell of a big turn-on). Cartmann became a drug lord’s equivalent (he was dealing contraband KFC).

:-p Of course it doesn’t seem all that funny by the way I’m telling it, but oh my gosh, it was decidedly so. It was so absurd, a smart social commentary and they didn’t hold anything back that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud (even while the others were sleeping on the couches last night after practice.)

(Now I know why. :-p)

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Ooh, I saw Going the Distance too, this morning (the last movie I saw before I decided it was time to get on with my life before the day was through). They had posters of it all over a few months ago, and I don’t know if it was a box-office hit, but it was a nice enough movie to watch. It was a bit cheesy, but it was good enough…and dealt with one of the age-old topics, Long Distance relationships. 

Drew Barrymore was her usual, winsome, charming Ro-Com self, and Justin Long was simply adorable as her paramour. The story was about a couple (ok then, no spoilers) who were perfect for each other, but were long-distance lovers who underwent the usual troubles (i.e. different time zones, trust issues, new job decisions, moving, seeing each other, travelling back and forth, etc.), but in the end, someone had to give way…but not after they each got what they want.

I felt for that, of course. Who doesn’t want a happy ending?  (I know I do. :-p).

Anyway, I pretty much am the type who would say that if it works for you, it’ll work for you. Long-distance relationships are a lot to handle, and it takes a lot of effort from both parties. (I should know, I tried it once. It ended up as a big fiasco, but hey, there’s no sense in bashing it. It is simply just not for me.)

I suppose a real relationship involves two people being physically together most of the time, but I don’t mean like, in sex. To really get to know someone, you’ll have to see how they’ll be like in different life situations…and you can’t do that as effectively if you’re just talking to them on the phone, or just emailing.

(lol…like I said, it’s a case to case basis. That’s my disclaimer.)

Anyway, I suppose I’d learn to love someone more if I knew more about them, and knew every little nuance about them.  Routines usually get me all fidgety, because I don’t like doing the same thing over and over, but I wouldn’t say that I was the type who would keep changing lovers over and over just because I was bored. I meant that if I was with someone I was crazy about, I’d love to get to know everything about them, and make every effort to keep things fresh.

One of my good friends from med school, who’s now married to a guy she was friends with before he became “her man” said that he (the guy, who’s also a friend of mine) said that to make a relationship work, there must be effort from both parties to make it work. 

(Haha, I love the guy, and his whole declaration…and maybe my new favorite word these days would be effort from now on. LOL)

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In one of our “boy-talks”, my father mentioned that a guy, if he didn’t care anymore about the girl, wouldn’t make any effort * at all to do anything for her. He’d just stay away until it all dies down…and eventually. Aghast, I was like, “Why pop? That’s so cruel…” He said, “It’s a waste of time. Most men do that.”

An insider’s tip that was useful, but not necessarily very good to know. Can you imagine (if you’re the girl) believing that everything is all fine and dandy one moment and then just having the rug pulled out from under you the next, when you find out that he doesn’t like you anymore?

(It is very shitty, indeed.)

Anyway...

(I’ve digressed. I thought that I was plainly going to tell you all about the movies/ TV shows I’ve seen this Saturday, but instead, I’ve somehow added in my own personal foibles to the mix. :-p I apologize. That was wearing my heart on my blog sleeves once again...)

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I rest my case. For now. J

Have a nice day!

(* the magic word)

P.S. I define effort as something you wouldn’t normally do if you could help it…and in my case, it’s probably cooking for someone when you know that you can’t, but try anyway, and just hope for the best that your eggs won’t be too salty to cause instant death. ;-)

(I better practice, then, for WHEN i'll make that effort..)

 Love, 

S.

Video: Shutter Island Trailer

Watch this with me? :-)

Movie Clip: Nights in Rodanthe

     I was watching Nights In Rodanthe at around 4AM earlier today because I couldn't sleep yet...

     At first it wasn't my cup of tea...it was just a so-so thing, but then I surprised myself by bawling at certain scenes in the movie. Bawling, as in literally crying, with tears and a red nose. I was all alone in the living room and everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't stop myself from being a total spazz.

     I got a vid from youtube, a clip, but since this one shows mostly semi-torrid love scenes and mush, I'd like to [painlessly] direct you to the particular scene that made me cry...4:01, and so forth. I reckon I was never good with goodbyes, and I guess it was easy to relate how you would want to keep being with someone who, as Diane Lane said, give you the kind of "love that makes you feel that you can do anything..."

     She lost him in the end, you know. He died in a foreign country, a South American jungle in a mountain accident. All they had together was a weekend in Rodanthe, where they fell in love...and when they separated, they wrote each other letters and got to know each other better. He'd write, "When I'm writing, I can feel your breath, and I hope you feel mine...(etc etc etc, all those sweet-ish nothings that lovers write about*.)

      His son, who was a doctor in that South American Jungle, came to visit Diane Lane's character to tell her that his father had passed on, and that he wanted to thank her for saving his father. And then she said, "No, he saved me..."

     (and you can pretty much guess who ended up bawling some more at this point in time.*sniffle* ;-)

     My theory about all this, is that, in life, people come and go, for reasons we may or may not know...they may stay a while, a few years, a few months, or they may just leave. But when they do come, they teach you something valuable, and help you put your pieces back together, until you're good and new and whole again. The funny thing is, they may or may not even realize of this, but they are an opportune blessing...

One that gives you the courage to be better than you are, not less than you are. One that makes you feel that anything is possible. I want you to know that you could have that. I want you to hold out for it. 

------ (and it was at around this time that the lights went out and I had to abandon this blog entry.)----- 

People only react to a certain movie/media if they've ever had any experience related to it. Maybe I just have my stories too... Boohoo...

    

* although i doubt it if they had, "I will now park my pen..." in any of their letters. haha

Holmes, Watson, and Cute Couplehood

Guy Ritchie's version of my favorite detective blew me away. :-) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time... His version of Holmes as a scruffy but sexy, hypersharp sleuth with the keenest sense for miles around was a run ride, so not at all like the suave gentleman from Baker Street that I have often read about.

(Although, watching the movie has made me want to purchase this book, finally...)

...which, I believe, will be chock-full of Holmes stories and adventures that I have always loved. :-) I like Adventures, and Superhero stories, so Holmes in his almost supernatural "powers" of observation is as much of a superhero as they come.

Arthur Conan Doyle was a physician, and he employed his experiences in physical diagnosis to make Holmes come alive and be more realistic when it came to solving crimes, a very clever combo, and I might add, a very impressive way of coming up with stories.

Rachel McAdams certainly held her own, but...

it was Holmes and Watson (the good doctor) who made a cute couple. haha. It was such fun watching them exchange banter. It's like, you become too familiar with someone, everything else becomes routine and you start to know what the other person needs even without them asking for it.

Hence, the cute couple effect. :-p

Still, I think Robert Downey, Jr. was a good choice as Holmes...I never did think of Holmes as being too uptight and hoity toity a man...he was bound to be rough, ruggedly handsome, wise in the ways of the world, but still, with a charming vulnerability that was almost very covert, thinly covered by a sheen of sarcastic humor and dry wit.

Loved him. Especially the parts where Holmes explains things. It made me give out an intellectually pleasurable, "Aha..."

(And might I mention that Jude Law has the sharpest cheekbones of any Watson I know? I always thought that Dr. Watson was a roly-poly little character, with chubby cheeks....and certainly not matinee idol bone structure. ;-). I'm not complaining, though. Nuh-uh. ;-))

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On another note, I had some hash browns this afternoon, after a bad craving for it last night. lol... yummy. potatoes just the way I liked it. :-)

 

Video: Somewhere Only We Know

Theme music time...

Just finished "He's just not that into you".

Romance...

Is just urban an fairytale.

In real life, we get jaded more often than we like.

tsk tsk... :-(

Tonight's movie...

Tonight's Movie fare. Will be out for a few hours. Feel free to drop me a line.

In the Pursuit of Happiness

(Disclaimer: It would be better if you saw the movie first, if you haven't yet, so you won't think I'm a whiney, rambling movie-watcher. But otherwise, it's the usual fare. :-))

On a whim, I decided to check out this movie I had heard about last year, Revolutionary Road ,(please be forewarned, clicking on the link will lead to spoilers) which stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Perhaps it was not the best time to watch it, as I was feeling a bit tired and down (and not my usual peppy self) when I popped it in the player...

The theme was about the danger of unfulfilled dreams and sinking into the depths of despair because of them...all aptly set in suburbia and the humdrum of the (then) corporate grind of the 50s.

The movie started with the two of them meeting at a party...with casual glances here and there, and a few scenes later, they became a young married couple ready to move into a suburban household (with the "white picket fence" ideology) and ready to start having a family.

At the start of the movie, April (Kate Winslet), who was studying to be an actress, was in a play that wasn't well received. Many people were commenting that she wasn't good enough, and Frank (Leo) was within earshot. When he saw her backstage, the first thing he said was something like, "it wasn't stellar", and patted her on the back.  And then he goes on and on about how she wasn't the only one in the play (which implied that if it sucked, she wasn't the main reason why the play was terrible...in fact the other actors were terrible, as well). When she sniffled and would not talk anymore, he got mad and said that he didn't want to put up with her "bullshit" and ticked off four, maybe five points about how he was right and she was wrong.

(Honestly, I've never seen another male husband character who was so daftly stupid.)

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Now, I suppose this is going to be a long-ish entry on my thoughts regarding the movie, because I have not had the chance to discuss it with anyone else so far... But for what it's worth, I'm summing the movie up as one of being about relationships, marriage, "conjugal dreams", future plans, and essentially, choosing to live life, and not just to exist...

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were really very good in this movie...two very talented people who played, yes, the very normal suburban pair (who would've thought it would take two award-winning actors to play such a normal role?) who had to struggle with choices to be made, and dealing with life on a daily basis (they made it look so stressful and difficult, I might add, I'm almost scared to be a suburban housewife, .. I read on wikipedia though, that this mentality was common in the 50's...).

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Since one of my favorite things to talk about is the human condition, I certainly have a number of things to say on some things. Work with me now... :-)

"It wasn't exactly stellar..." - was what Frank said to April when he went inside her dressing room after her very disappointing performance, and to make it worse, he patted her on the back... Any self-respecting (and loving) husband would try to soften the blow first, by being more appreciative of her, and maybe comment on something else, say something nice. (And yes, if a woman doesn't want to talk about something, then she doesn't...although she will,eventually.)

"Let's go to Paris..." - was what April suggested they do when she saw how terribly boring and routine their lives were, and because she remembered him saying the first night they made love, that "Paris was the only place where he really felt things..." She thought that they would take up their stakes and just leave...just go, start a new life somewhere new. Although it didn't sound particularly, well, sound, the idea of them leaving for Paris in a couple of months really made them both happier and gave their marriage a lift...she was happier, and he was doing better in his job.

I would agree, you know... having something to look forward to would give anybody an extra bounce in their step. It is human nature to desire relief from pain (of boredom, and the daily grind), because realizing and not having any prospect of release from a very stifling situation could really break anyone's spirit. Leo's character was just another grey suit on the constantly going morning train that carried other grey suits and delivered them to their cubicles where they would work their daily 10 hours, on and on and on until, well, they retire. And they don't even love their jobs! (How can you expect to live life like that?)

However, on the other hand, responsibilities are to be weighed with the desire to go off into the unknown. Under normal circumstances, we can't always have what we want, and as much as we just want to "just get up and go", it is almost impossible. Why? Because we are tied down...there are other people involved who we have to think about. A friend of mine, R., had this to say when I said that I loved being in Manila, "So why don't you just go?" Of course, it was easier said that done, I had to tell him.

"We can always have the baby in Paris..." In desperation, she had tried to abort the baby (their 3rd, and "accidental") but Frank wouldn't hear of it. She must have been really unhappy to contemplate murdering her unborn child/fetus. And that sealed the deal...Frank was able to convince her that she wasn't thinking right, and that maybe the idea of going off into the unknown and Paris wasn't such a sane idea after all. (He won that round. They stayed.)

" I Love You..." - was what the couple's friend Shep said after  he and April did the deed (after getting drunk and some suggestive dancing in the club), a hurried one, in his car.  That was so silly. Which got me to think that maybe he had a really boring life...

"I loathe the sight of you..." was what April angrily said to Frank when he told her that he would try to make things better between them, even though they weren't going to Paris anymore. I think she was so full of getting disappointed that she figured she didn't care (that he had an affair), and that she couldn't take anymore of his promises when he couldn't deliver.

After which, he became such a terrible nag...going after her, trying to ask what was wrong. She was so mad and you could see how terribly frustrated she was that he didn't get that it was all his fault and that she didn't have any choice left.

It was a weird twist to see her act as if nothing happened in the morning after their big fight, and he should have suspected something was up, but he didn't. He thought everything was back to normal. He happily went back to his work as a salesman in a grey suit, oblivious to the fact that she was just putting on a pretense.

My heart went out to her, you know, in one of the final scenes where she tried unsuccessfully not to cry while she was doing the dishes. In a last attempt at salvaging her chances at what could have been, and in desperation, she tried to abort her fetus herself. she ended up bleeding to death, and dying...

Which made for a very sad ending. In the closing scenes, we find Frank, the husband, sitting on a bench, smiling, looking on while his two kids played in the swings, with a sad sad look in his eyes.

Regret? Maybe...

His boss, who was impressed with his work and wanted to promote him, tried to make him see that there were probably only one or two chances in life where he could possibly become big. Successful. All that jazz.

Well, in retrospect, maybe going off into Paris was probably one of those chances. It was an uncertain future, but who knows, they would've made it together... and everyone would have been happier.

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Lesson learned? Everyone is entitled to his or her own happiness, and oftentimes,it takes a backbone to go after what makes you happy (in the same way that it takes  a backbone to stay and be responsible.), too. A life not well-lived is no life at all.

People, even if they try not to, will always disappoint you in some way or  other., they'll break your heart. Maybe it would be prudent not to depend on people to supply you with the happiness that you need all the time. * sigh *  (Helplessness and Hopelessness, and being brave enough to admit it, too.)

Oh, and another thing...there was this one thing I failed to note... In one scene, Frank confessed that yes, he had been seeing a girl, and that yes, it was definitely over. And April asks him why he had to tell her that, when it was in fact over. What good would it do her? And he says, "I want you to tell me how you feel.." (Duh.)

Haha. Cheating... If that were me, I'd say he didn't have to say it. (In the past, I was cool with hearing about "stories about the past", but now that I'm older, I prefer only "necessary" disclosures. I don't know, that's just me realizing it now.)

Cheating.

She used the word "Loathe".

(Which I said, in the same breath, could mean, detest, abhor, hate.)

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All in all, a thought-provoking, discussion worthy, "bloggable" movie.  And I'm not the only one who thinks so, even Kurt Vonnegut put in his two cents worth on the book this movie was based on...

Good night!

~  S.

New Moon... and the friend and lover archetypes

             Since I was in Cebu for a couple of days, I decided to catch the much-hyped “New Moon” installation of the Twilight saga in Ayala.  It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and because my father went with me, I could very well say that my chances of dating a cute guy, or any of my Cebu-based friends for that matter for the day’s Last Full Show were zilch, nada.

            So, with father in tow, I went over to Ayala and got our tickets. Pops was asking why so many people were into watching this movie (he would eventually ask me repeatedly what the fuss was all about in-between periods of “sleep and wakefulness”. Haha.)

            I spotted my grade-school classmate Farah (Farah-noid, :-p) who yelled out to me, “Steph!” while we were going up the ramp into the theater (or rather, she spotted me.).”Eeek!,” I went, “You’re here!” And we hugged. It was a good thing I got to see her, she said she was moving to the States with her husband Galen very soon, for good. “I’m rooting for Team Jacob,” she told me.

            I just grinned, and then went, “We’ll see…” Honestly, I didn’t really have any picks. I went to see the film because I was curious, and not because I was swooning over RPattz’ romantic lines, nor fawning over Jacob’s fine, fine muscles. Yet.

            Book = Movie. They stayed true to form in their adaptation, I believe.  All the fans knew what was going to happen so it was pretty predictable. Of course Edward was going to say those lines from Romeo and Juliet perfectly and to the letter and of course Jacob was going to just spring out on screen, transformed from being Jake, a gangly (sort of) 16 year-old to being Jacob, the hot Man-Wolf in all his ripped perfection. *drool*

            Like in the book (New Moon is the 2^nd book in a set of 4 in the Twilight Saga), Jacob becomes Bella’s best friend/therapist/mechanic/co-thrill seeker after Edward gives her the [very] harsh, “You’re not good for me,” which of course, plunged her into months of uncertainty, melancholy and listlessness. [ Seriously now, why can’t “dumpers” give the real reason to the “dumpees” when they want to break things off? Having thought about that, though, saying “ Hey Bella, I’m afraid my vampire brother (or family, for that matter) would rip your throat open to feed on you, so I’m going to run off to Pompeii to brood, but I’ll certainly be spying on you from time to time, don’t worry... ” isn’t really going to help the story along, right?

            Right.:-p

            So anyway, Jacob and Bella go through the veritable cha-cha of dating and relating… i.e. He comforts her, makes her laugh, shows her around, protects her from Laurent, the vampire in dreads, watches a crappy B movie with her (i.e. Face Punch), [superhumanly] tries to kiss her (but in vain)…and in the end still gets the slap in the face when she finally tells him, “I love you, you’re my best friend…” (OUCH.) And to top it all off, there was the unforgiving, “It has always been him…”

            No wonder he went running around the great United States and all the way to Canada besides, after that. (Other guys would probably drown their sorrows in voluminous amounts of beer and liquor, but that’s probably ‘cause they don’t have the wolf genes and have the power to break the speed limit running for days at a time. :-p)

            Poor Jacob…just because you’re a great guy with a hot bod doesn’t mean you’re going to get the girl in the end. Girls are complicated creatures most times… Although Bella wasn’t entirely so, she just had a one-track mind. If she were a CD, she’d be playing “EDWARD” tracks all day long. With those blinders on, the ripples of your pecs and abs are not going to sway her so easily.

            Edward, on the other hand, capitalized on the fact that he was a 109-year-old tall, pale, handsome ladies man with a lot of dough…who was going to be around forever. Women like that kind of security, I suppose. (LOL). Let’s face it, he knew all the right things to say, read all the right books, drove all the right cars, heck, he evens spoke all the right languages (AND knew Shakespeare besides!). His downside was that he was a brooding, moody, overprotective boyfriend who thought that everything needed to be done in extremes.

            I mean, “You’re not good for me.” – what gives? Surely there must be a better, more ego-syntonic reason than that, Mr. Vampire Guy…with the beautiful eyes, full lips, razor sharp cheekbones…Er, right. Moving on…

            I think the real question is, who would Bella (or any woman in general) want to be with eventually…Jacob, the hot (literally) Wolf-Boy, or Edward, the handsome pensive Vampire Man?

            Which once again brings us to the age-old question, “Who would you marry…a lover, or a friend?”

            Of course, with Friend = Jacob and Lover = Edward.

            (Mind you, the last scene of New Moon was that of Edward saying the words, “Marry Me” to Bella. There was a collective gasp in the audience and then the lights came back on (after which, of course, my father got up and declared that it was a crappy movie all along. Haha))

            ---------

            On a side note, I’ll tell you who Bella (a.k.a. “Everywoman”) will pick… it’ll be Mr. Lover-slash-Mr.Vampire-Man-slash Mr. Perfect, ‘cause that’s what the books are going to say (In case you haven’t read it yet, I’m sorry for spoiling the surprise, but in case you have, you’ll know that everything will end up happily ever after (i.e. they have a cute little vampire baby, a snazzy house-and-lot set-up, a great sex life, and eternity to keep the number of Mountain Lions/Bears/Caribou down to a sound level to protect the delicate North American ecosystem.

            The end.

            ---------

            This entry was inspired by Farah, who asked me which team I was rooting for, Ron, who asked me why girls were so into Edward, when he was so pale and skinny, and D., who said that he’d pick the lover, because they’d be friends later, anyway. :-p.

            --------

            Go Team Carlisle ! ( I’m rooting for the Doctor Guy.) :-p

            Haha.

~ S.

           

The "Immortal"

Keanu Reeves as an immortal...

This video has got to be one of the funniest ideas I've seen in a long time. lol...

It's very conspiracy theory-ish, alright, but very very funny.

Tonight's movie date

Tonight's movie date. :-) I'll be online, but totally absorbed. If you want to get in touch, i'll be checking my email afterwards.

The Godfather is said to be able to answer each and every one of life's questions. :-p

(ok, who am i kidding here? :-p)

~ S.

"Dissolving into Molecules"

           I found this while looking around Youtube on my off-day. Richard Linklater's Before Sunset is one my favorite movies. This scene is close to the end of the movie, where the protagonists, Celine and Jesse confront each other and finally get honest.
           In the first film, they spent one night together walking the streets of Vienna and they fell in love, and promised to meet at the same spot 6 months later. However, something happened, and they didn't get to meet as planned. Before Sunset is set 9 years after the first movie, when Celine and Jesse are older. He had written a book and was on a world tour. While he was in Paris, she came by, because she found out that he was speaking in her favorite bookshop. Serendipity. And then this movie is a pick-up from where they left off. The audience is also left hanging in this ending, because it doesn't finish quite right away, there is no happily ever after, everything is just implied...(assumed?:-)).

           If i thought it true before, I still feel the same way now. I could probably just imagine myself doing the same rant she did in this scene...(and I can talk as fast too, but sans French accent, of course.:-)) And yes, I agree, "the concept that we can only be complete with one person is evil." But, having that one, The One person would of course, make all the difference.
           I'm not jaded, no, and what she says may not necessarily reflect my feelings for just one person, nor do they talk about a single incident in my life, but...since I can be a very hopeless romantic most times, I'm drawn to characters who shine despite their vulnerability.
           (Like I keep saying, I'm easy to please.)

          Sometimes life puts us in situations where we get to experience something real, or close...we may want it to go on and on and never ever end, but if it isn't the right time, it will fall apart, pushed and ragged, wasted before it was even beautiful.

           I first read about Before Sunrise (the prequel) from a Time magazine (I think) I spied on a friend's magazine rack...it was a Corliss and Ebert review of the "intriguing" little film about a French girl and a young American who met on a train and go around Vienna. They said that aside from the great dialogue, Julie Delpy was great in it because she was gorgeous and "swears in three languages."

           I saw the film finally some time after reading the review, and I was immediately taken, touched, and convinced. Maybe I don't want a "knight-in-shining-armor", nor a tragic, lovestruck hero who'll promise me the moon and stars and swallow poison for me...perhaps, I want something and someone much, much simpler. 

           My life's love story doesn't have to be made of dreams and stars and pomp, nor tragic music...I'm perfectly amenable with my life not being movie material. The less complications, the less tears, the less deceptions and lies, the better... Unlike the characters I like to read so much in books, I want my own love lifestory to be interesting, but delightfully safe and secure. 

            Don't get me wrong, I am not patterning my life after this  but I'll be honest, if I were to fall in love, it will be with the unassuming protagonist (mysterious or not) that I could talk to for hours who shared the same interests, be it around Viennese/Paris streets or anywhere else, for that matter. I'd be well and happy with that.

--------------------------------  

In this scene, the were just about to say goodbye.

Celine: So, I want to try something.
Jesse: What?
Celine: [hugs him] I want to see if you stay together or if you dissolve into molecules.
Jesse: How'm I doing?
Celine: Still here.
Jesse: Good, I like being here.

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(Yes, I liked being there...)