Marco said that he only feels the Christmas sparkles (he didn't say sparkles.he said spirit. But I kinda liked sparkles) when we all get together. I love when the balikbayans fly in and we all celebrate - traffic be damned! The last week has felt especially Christmassy. ACS carolled at a few houses (and of course one has to be in Alabang - it isn't Christmas if we don't brave the traffic to Alabang to sing for a few minutes, be fed pancakes, and then drive all the way back to the Katipunan end of the world), the college barkada had a wine and cheese Christmas party at Des' (soon to be Carl and Des' whoopee!!) aaaaaand.....

Hannah came home for the holidays! Yehey!

I don't care how corny it sounds. My friends will always be Christmas to me - with ACS songs as the soundtrack (chiz ;p)

***

On another note - I can't wait for the new Doctor Who!

Re-posted from Mimi's site. Feel free to post the information here in your sites as well. Thanks! :)

Sometimes I take myself far too seriously, which is why the resurgence of geekiness in the past few weeks have been so much fun :) So many new things to love! And so many old loves to say hello to again :)





And now I come to the end of this self-serving piece. Nerdy gush-fest na walang patutunguhan - fun lang ;p Don't worry, this is only partly what I'm up to. I truly DO do more than this every day. And I just realized that having fun stuff like this in my life fuels everything else I do :) It really is important to have down time every day. Joy.

How could I resist a title like that?

Starring Neil Patrick Harris (cue Doogie Howser theme), Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal of Firefly!), Felicia Day (of The Guild fame - a hilarious look into the lives of gamers) and created by Joss Whedon (only one of the best writers of our time)  *hearts*

This internet musical extravaganza will be released in three parts for free *yay* on the following dates:

Act One: July 15

Act Two: July 17

Act Three: July 19

Looks like fun :)

 

Rules:

Post 10 things that give you happiness. Then tag 12 people and oblige them to post this in their blogs.

This is in no particular order (except number 1 - that's really number 1 ;p):

1. Ramon :)

2. Waking up in the morning and then 10 seconds later, feeling my dachshund Chloe burrowing her way out of the blanket and then greeting me good morning with a wagging tail and barely contained exuberance.

3. Spending time with my dogs. (Walking Bailey or Oreo in Boni High Street, petting Daisy in the kitchen, working on the computer with Bluebell at my feet, playing chase with Chloe, the list goes on and on)

4. Breakfast in Chateau or Portico with my family.

5. The smell of freshly baked bread.

6. Freshly brewed coffee and all the good times that go with it (reading a good book, writing a paper or a story, brunch with the Oz girls or night cap with the Seaforth family, snarky-fun-loving moments with my girlfriends, resistensya and/or relaxation with ACS...)

7. Hanging out in bookstores and libraries.

8. The beach - especially Boracay with the family.

9. Singing with ACS - and traveling with ACS. The best experiences ever!

10. Walking, eating and experiencing another country and discovering their stories.

I tag: whoever wants to do this - but I'm especially hollering out to Annelyn! ;p

Too cute :) If only my doxies looked half as elegant.


They're more likely to look like this.

And this.

Maybe if their owners wore posh pambahay (hehe oxymoron ata) instead of the usual dusters and if they were given vintage suitcases with pretty mattresses to sleep on instead of old gift baskets and old towels, they would have half a chance. Hehe.

 

Taken from lalaorange
SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into a new bulletin. When you are done, send it on. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.


What is your name?
Katrina / Gutsy

4 letter word:
Kiss / Guts (hehe)

Vehicle:
Kalesa / Go-kart

City:
Krakow / Gotham ;p

Boy Name:
Karlo / Giles

Girl Name:
Kassandra / Gia

Alcoholic drink:
Klingon Blood Wine / Grappa (thanks to facebook)

Occupation:
Kite-maker / Go-go Dancer hehe

Something you wear:
Korona (is this cheating? too tired to think) / G-string (anoba)

Celebrity:
Kate Bosworth / Gina Alajar

Food:
Kaimito  / Grapes

Something found in a bathroom:
Kleenex / Gilette

Reason for Being Late:
Kissing (can you think of anything else?) / Garbage truck blocked the road (waaaah...anoba)

Cartoon Character:
Kermit! / Gonzo

Something You Shout:
Kiiiiillll!!!!! / Gaaaaaaah!!!!!

Friends you're tagging to do this survey:
larochKa, chocKwit / anGelthorn (now this is cheating)

Goodnight!

http://choralmaster.multiply.com/video/item/1/ACS_Live_Tolosa_Competition_Folklore_Category

Eleven months ago, my choir, the Ateneo Chamber Singers, was invited to compete in one of the most prestigious competitions in Europe (ehehe nagbuhat ba ng sariling bangko). This was in Tolosa, Spain. We won first place in the Polyphony Category. This is the Folklore Category (which we lost). As Sir Jojo said, you be the judge. I think it was quite good, actually, and was just a matter of the judges' taste at the time.

Many thanks to Sir Jojo for sharing this :)

I love witnessing Spring. I love walking past the little patch of jungle in our backyard and seeing the wild orange sunbursts and passing by the cascades of lavender, periwinkle, lilac, pink and white flowers flowing from the neighbor's garden. I like how the breeze brings their perfumes into my room at night.

***

So this weekend was time spent with more flowers. We Sydneysiders decided to spend the Labor Day Long Weekend in Canberra to attend the Floriade and to visit Den. We tiptoed through the tulips (does anyone else know that silly song?) and spent time among "our people" as Len called them - the Garden Gnomes. The tulips were beautiful, like pieces of the sunset that fell to earth.

But the best flowers were those of the people variety ;) The weekend was a good opportunity for us girls and Erwin (our mascot hehe) to get to know each other better. In typical Pinoy fashion, we nourished ourselves with food and conversation, enveloped in an aura of happiness due to the trials and tribulations of Inday and a precious piece of Korean glass :) Tuloy, we got free dessert and a huge discount on the wine we ordered with dinner. I think it's because of trishawisha's winning smile (naks!). Or maybe it was because of lalaorange's pang-FAMAS acting. Then again baka type niya lang sina Erwin at Csaba (kinindatan niya sila).

So anyway, here's to LJ for bringing good people together :) Thanks for the fun weekend everyone!

Been gacking a lot of memes lately! This one's from Lars:

You scored as Elephant, The elephant guides you. Due to this it is likely you keep grudges for a lengthy amount of time. However you are very friendly and less overwhelming than people believe you to be. </td> Dog 75% Elephant 75% Owl 69% Stag 56% Dolphin 56% Tiger 44% Cat 44% Peafowl 19% What Animal Guide Would You Produce If You Could Cast A Patronus? (Harry Potter - Updated With Additional Results) created with QuizFarm.com

Today I ended up making a trek to the city's Korean supermarket with Gyeyoung and Jacques. It was supposed to be just that, but we ended up being steered into the Forbes Pub for an 'aperitif', which Jacques insists we have every night. Rodolphe a.k.a. Rod the Rocket a.k.a. Not Another French House Guest joined us as well, and we had a nice conversation on Kris Aquino's favorite topic: "So, tell me, kamusta na ang love life mo?" Of course that was just my Inner Pinay speaking so Kris Aquino-ly, but I was the one who brought it up. Chismis is our country's favorite sport after eating :)

So anyway, it was really nice to finally hear some background stories. It was sweet and funny and Jacques totally reminded me of Marco, except that he can cook.

But the best part was in the bus. We ended up standing around an Aussie girl named Aline, and Gyeyoung started to talk to her, at first in an effort to get support against the boys' cooking method (they were having a tiff about the temperature at which to pre-heat the oven for a roast we would cook when we get home. Anyway back to the story) and then to our surprise and great amusement, she started to pimp the boys. It was really funny. She told Aline, "See here you have many choices. This one (Rod) is partly taken, this one is not taken, and we have another not taken at home." Aline didn't stand a chance - she ended up giving us two business cards and getting the cards of the boys, and knowing our address. An elderly couple who sat across from us were highly entertained, injecting their own comments about the boys.

I never, NEVER thought that we would be pimping in a bus.

Then after all that effort, as soon as we got off at our stop, the boys turned to Gyeyoung and said, "That was very good. VERY good. Except...she was not our type." It was hilarious! Gyeyoung kept insisting they were stupid not to think she was pretty and they kept shouting back that she should have asked them first what kind of girl they like, and also she should have talked up two girls at least.

It's their turn to find a new 'friend' for Gyeyoung. She's quite afraid. Haha.

EDIT at 10:48 PM:

We have still not eaten dinner. It was Jacques idea to cook a pot roast tonight, but since we had a drink before we went home we started cooking at 9PM - which meant the roast went in the oven at 9:15. The smells of delicious pot roast in a bed of apricots and apples. French boys DO know how to cook. If only they could do it before they had a glass of wine.

Following in Lars and Annelyn's lead :)

Get Your Monster Name

Get Your Monster Name

I finally watched Stardust today. It was quite pretty, and sweet, and like all movies based on books it was similar yet very very different. It was fluffier and more romantic - it was really quite romantic. And I guess that's where it split from the book the most for me, because the love in the book was more adult (and without a single hint of sex too). Love in the movie was shiny and bright and glowing - like how Yvaine glowed so pure and white and silver. That's how she talked about it too. 300 years of watching the earth and I would have thought she'd have much more to say about love. In the book, love  was deeper, like how the sea is deep and mysterious and dark and beautiful and terrible and terrifying.

Don't get me wrong. I really liked the movie. It just made me think. Neil Gaiman did say to treat them as separate stories.

Thinking of it inevitably makes me think of The Princess Bride, and how 'True Love' is also 'Twue Wove' - the earnestness in the silly, and the ridiculous in the serious. Hmm. And that is what love is.

Brilliant.

***

Anyway enough nerdiness. Chat with Therese today:


Therese:we were just talking about you last friday!

I love love love dachshunds! This is so adorable ^^



"Wiener dogs take part in the "Running of the Wieners" at Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati for Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati."

See how easy it is to make me happy? Hehe. Thank you angelthorn! I labyu!

Last week, I found out that Madeleine L'Engle died. If Lloyd Alexander made me fall in love with fantasy, she made me see the intricacies of space-time-travel. I remember when and where I read each of the books in The Time Quartet. "The Wrinkle in Time" was the first book I remember crying over. Balsy and I became great friends because of those books, and they form a part of the bond I share with my sisters. Her death made me sad and surprised me a little, but it was still a good time to end the journey.

Today, though, I was shocked to learn that Robert Jordan, the author of "The Wheel of Time", died yesterday. Apparently he had been sick for quite a while now. I felt so selfish because the first thing I thought was, "Oh no! Who will finish the Wheel of Time now?!". But then that shows that he's made his mark in the world - an epic fantasy that we long to have a happy ending. Well, I want it to have a happy ending anyway. I may have disagreed with how the series was going after Book 5, but  his books are still a major marker in my life. The WoT is the first epic high fantasy journey I've been on, shared by Honey, who I met in college and has become one of my best friends.

I read the last entry he wrote himself. I felt like a hand squeezed my heart! It was so full of hope and determination to get better! And he was writing, writing, writing, trying to get the next book out as soon as possible. It looks like he was writing until last week.

What a year. So many authors I love dying!

***

On a happier note, I watched Tori Amos last Friday! She was fantastic!! She performed at the Sydney Opera House, which multiplies the amazing experience factor by a hundred! It was thrilling to hear her play the piano - and then play two pianos at the same time, stretching out behind her, always finding the right keys. She seemed to be suspended between the two sounds, held together by the harmonies.

 For those familiar with her latest album, American Doll Posse, the songs are divided into personas - a certain kind of woman-aspect sings/writes/performs a certain song. Each concert is opened by one of those personas - it's always a surprise who will - and then the second act is 'taken over' by Tori. Pip opened the concert I watched, and I was glad because her songs were the ones I liked best in the album. It was so energetic and in-your-face! Ang galing talaga! And then when Tori came on in a sparkling green jumpsuit and with her flowing red hair looking so much like a mermaid I knew she was going to sing "Silent All These Years", one of my favorite songs ever! Lucky me, she sang a lot of my favorites!

Here is the set list according to undented:
 


Act I (Pip)

    * Cruel
    * Bliss
    * Fat Slut
    * Smokey Joe
    * Body & Soul
    * Waitress

Costume Change

Act II (Tori)

    * Big Wheel
    * Crucify
    * Bouncing Off Clouds
    * Cornflake Girl
    * Bells For Her
    * Siren

Solo

    * “I will be finally free of him” improv
    * Silent All These Years
    * Marianne

Band Returns

    * Your Cloud
    * God
    * Code Red

First Encore

    * Precious Things
    * A Sorta Fairytale

Second Encore

    * Hey Jupiter

I was planning to call Toriphiles in the Philippines during certain songs, but the hi-tech Sydney Opera House jammed the signal as soon as Tori came on. I've got videos but it's taking forever to load! Will upload them soon on my multiply :)

This is my bench



And this is what I see



On sunny days when I don't have to go to uni, I walk around Seaforth and breathe in the scent of green mixed with salty blue. I came upon the bench not far from the house, on Edgecliff Rd.  I sit there and stare at the water and the boats, or read the latest book on my reading list. It has become my time machine. On it I follow the adventures of a philosophizing robot named Eager, escape from Hungry Cities with Tom on the airship Jenny Haniver, walk around New York again with Holden Caulfield – whose changed but not really because I’ve changed but not really –  dreamily go through life with Bilgewater, comparing it with chess, equations and Camelot, and dig for treasure with Stanley Yelnats.  When I blink those worlds and times away and look back at the water, it's as if nothing has moved, no time has passed, but so much has happened.

It’s a strange kind of changing and growing, moving and not moving. Moving inside but not outside.

I hope the magpies don't come.

***

A few weeks ago I stepped into a bus and was surprised to hear the soft, sweet, melancholy strains of a guitar. It has been so long since I’ve heard classical guitar. The guitar player was a few seats behind me, long-haired and somber-eyed. I smiled and he nodded and went on playing. When he got off the air felt empty.

I love being surprised by little joys like that. They come out of nowhere, Some spin you around and leave you dizzy and delirious, and some wrap around you like a warm blanket. This was the warm-blanket kind, and I carried it inside me the whole day.


***

Last Saturday I was the lucky girl who was able to watch the John Butler Trio through the kindness of Fiona. I don't know them very well, but as I listened to them I wondered WHY why why I didn't! They are totally my kind of musicians. They remind me of GP (I MISS YOU BUDDY!). Their musicality was amazing. They weren't making music, they were letting the music work with them. John Butler was totally enjoying himself, you could tell.

***
I love school. I get to watch anime and count it as studying *yay*

...there was Pre-Teen Raider. This is really quite adorable. School girl Lara Croft in training (and it looks like certain parts of her are in training as well -_^)


Doesn't she look cute? A snotty British Kim Possible hehe.

You can watch pre-teen Lara as the quintessential boarding school rebel get the better of her stuffy headmistress here

It's a lot of fun! Promise.