Breakfast

It's the first time in a long time I ate breakfast. Pretty good, but I actually ate lunch. ^_^

Song in my head: Wham!, "Careless Whisper". I sure wish I can hear the Freedom Fries version.

Creativity

A few days ago, I took stock of the things that I was busy with. Other than my three jobs (at Colleague, the Super Paper Patrol, and the Staircase), my home responsibilities, and my classes in school, I am involved in twenty-six side projects, of which fourteen are being actively planned or developed.

I came upon this because I was planning on making a web showcase of these various projects. But when I saw the number, I quickly decided not to.

A few lessons here: It's very easy to start something, but it's difficult to finish it! Most of the these have been projects since my sophomore year in high school... the oldest one started when I was in the eighth grade. ^_^ The reason I still stick with them? I don't know... maybe I recognize that it would be really cool to see them to fruition. I recognize a spark of myself in them, and if they were to be disseminated and available, people would understand who I am.

Another lesson: sometimes it's easier to finish something if you're collaborating with other people. Of course, this isn't always true: one of my only finished projects I worked on alone, and two of my collaborations are stuck in planning. But having other people concerned with the project as you are really helps when it seems you have nowhere to go. And it's infinitely easier to push a collaborated project a step forward: have a meeting. ^_^ With introspection and self-dialogue, inspiration is hard to come by--it's like stirring water. Nothing happens; it's still water. But when thoughts combine, the end result is always different. Like water and iced tea mix. Or water and vinegar. The point is, after the meeting, the project will (hopefully) be in a different place than where it was before.

Like Sassoon and Owen collaborating in Regeneration (it goes without saying that I think you should read the book; it's really good ^_^) creativity is less about inspiration than about the follow-through work one must put in to carrying out the project. The book can be seen as a critique of the Romantic view of inspiration and creativity; so was Frankenstein, and, I guess, so is this post. ^_^

Thanks for reading. And create something today, will you? It'll make you feel better.

Song in my head: APO Hiking Society, "Doo Bidoo".

Fake chemicals

OK, so here's a really simple yet addictive game you can play in Wikipedia. I'm going to call it "Fake Chemicals".

1. Go to the Wikipedia website.
2. Think of a possible name for a chemical. Maybe you've heard generic names for drugs on TV ads, or the chemical name of some popular recreational substances, or industrial cleaners, stuff you put in your hair, etc.
3. Type it into the search box.
4. If there is no Wikipedia entry for the chemical, give yourself 2 points and write it down somewhere (I use a Notepad window).
5. If there is a Wikipedia entry for the chemical, give yourself 0.5 point.
6. Stop doing it when you're tired of it, or if you're not bored anymore.

My list of fake chemicals? I scored 28 points!

• Cycloparaben
• Isoquinone
• Pentathone
• Hydroxycalbutenal
• Dimethizone
• Lamic acid
• Hydrokeratinol
• Pentaphthalate
• Stereoxanthylline
• Metrocyanibinol
• Polymethylacridase
• Propanodione
• Multidecanine
• Hydroproxin sulfate

As an option, try scoring your chemical names Scrabble-style, by adding up the Scrabble values of the letters in the chemical. That means q's and x's and the like would score very high.

What can you do with your list of words? Nothing, really... but if you're a science fiction writer (or know someone who is) this list may come in handy someday. ^_^ Oh, and advance apologies to any Biology or Chemistry majors whose sensitivities are offended by this kind of nomenclature-wrangling. ^_^ It's all in fun, I promise. And tell them the Math Wizard thought you'd have a laugh for it.

I watched my old school's rendition of The Little Mermaid tonight. It was great, as their productions always have been. The parents section went wild when my sister's class appeared on stage; hey, my sister and her friends were celebrities in their own right. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Regine Velasquez' version of "Harana".

P.S. OK, found one more... Phosphydactilone. This is addictive... ^_^

Nothing, and To kill a mockingbird

Yesterday was a good day to do nothing.

Now don't get me wrong; I did something, but in this case I think that the sum of the things I did amounted to much less than the individual things I did. I mean, sure, I watched TV, and ate lunch, and sat around at home. But I had no net output.

...you know what? It felt kind of good. ^_^

And, I guess, good for nothing.

OK, but I did read a few more chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm enjoying it mightily. I cannot remember what I was doing the same day lat year, but I am fairly certain that I didn't read any fiction. I'm thinking that this English class is reawakening something in me that I thought was dead for a long time.

When I got to the second to the last page of Regeneration by Pat Barker, I put it down, uneasy. There they were, Rivers writing a report about Sassoon's progress in Craiglockhart, and I was keenly aware of the fact that if I read any more paragraphs in five minutes, Rivers would cease all conscious, observable thought, action,--change. In a sense, he would die, together with Prior, Sassoon, Burns, Anderson, Bryce, Sarah Lumb, and all the other characters. And I would kill them, they whom I have resurrected in my brain so that they could play scenes for both my escape and edification. Pat Barker, like Charles Dickens and Mary Shelley before her, made the dough, but I baked the characters in my own mind. And as a result my Rivers and Sassoon would be different from Jesse's Rivers and Sassoon and from the Riverses and Sassoons the thousands of other readers would have had.

I felt a sense of thrill in this co-creation, this amazingly intimate, unique collaboration between author and reader. In the last four years I have not read a single work of fiction (OK, that's most probably not true, but I cannot remember any) because I thought for a long time that my imagination is dead, or at least broken, and I didn't know how to fix it. As a result I read mostly nonfiction works, like textbooks and instruction manuals. But now I'm thinking about writing a reading list, and commenting on my latest characters.

If this tirade is a bit long, blame Kim. She gave me the questionnaires that gave birth to these thoughts. And I'm glad she did; I hope that this Summer doesn't halt my reading activities. And I guess I'm also glad that Elaine and Jesse own so many classics. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: James Taylor, "On the 4th of July". I thought of this song when I read about Prior and Sarah having their moment in the bushes in Regeneration.

P.S. You should really try reading fiction aloud. Sure, it can get tedious, but you're rewarded by hearing your characters talk. I credit To Kill a Mockingbird with bestowing my normal speaking voice with an Alabaman twang for the time being. ^_^

Seventeen syllables, No. 1

I'm getting into haiku, guys. Check this one out.

Cold water ripples
Inside a white plastic cup--
A pen is moving.

Laughing all the way

What was I doing at 4:20 at 4/20? I was driving.

Song in my head: The Pillows, "Sha-la-la-la".

P.S. OK, more things happened yesterday, but to make it clear, I didn't participate in the festivities. ^_^

Fansub

One of the advantages of getting cable is being able to watch some Kapamilya shows when I need a fix of Tagalog in my day. This latest craze is pretty shiawright--a teleserye (soap opera) called "Rounin," something that is currently being described as an "anime-serye". And the description is apt... lots of fantasy action in this show (much more than you'd see in a run-of-the-mill Filipino soap opera), a slightly dystopic, post-industrial world where everyone speaks Tagalog (and lots of really correct, crisp, highly fluent Tagalog at that), lots of good character development, and a decidedly epic storyline. I've suggested to Freshwater that I get a copy somewhere of maybe the first two or three episodes, perform a fansub from Tagalog to English, and show it on a future Anime Night. Now that would be a worthy undertaking.

Does it ever occur to anyone that we do some fansubbing ourselves unconsciously as well, whenever we talk? Language differs from person to person all around the world. The depressing conclusion is that we will never be able to communicate at all with anyone else. The optimistic conclusion is that miscommunication is to be expected and forgivable. So if at first you misunderstand, look for a fansub. ^_^

Thanks for reading. I promise I won't tell anyone what you inhaled today.

Song in my head: James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma, "Benjamin".

P.S. You know, yesterday Jesse and I felt as if we were struck by lightning.

Having a video capture camera

The hardest thing about joining YouTube is deciding what to contribute to it.

Song in my head: The Math Wizard, "Two Twenty-One".

Like a sudden alignment of planets--

Today I spent some time with Madge playing some pool. I haven't played it for ages, but I was glad to realize that I am just as poor at it as I was when I first started. ^_^ But pool is one of those things where if you aren't having a good time, you might as well quit. So it was quite a favorable bellwether that Madge and I played four games, much to the hilarity of both of us. "That's got to be the most fun I've had playing pool," she said.

Hey, I can't take all the credit, can I? I mean, I can't help but laugh at a game where you take turns hitting balls with thin sticks. Again, if you're not having fun, why are you still doing it? ^_^

Then there was some FFFFF afterwards. I didn't know you could walk up Happylanding Road, albeit with much exertion!

Here's to more matches in desolate pool halls. And score one for the random guy in a bike, wearing a black hoodie and Pringles in his pocket.

Thanks for reading.

50 Cent, featuring Lupe Fiasco, "Touch the Sky".

Horizon

Is this finally the lighted passageway out of the three and a half year old ditch that I have been occupying? My mood: cautiously optimistic, as always.

Song in my head: Neocolours, "Tuloy Pa Rin".

P.S. I'm thinking that I should import the blog posts from my past journal to here. That's a lot of work, but it may be worth it. Thanks again for reading.

Asleep

This book I'm currently reading, Regeneration by Pat Barker, is easily the heaviest book I've read so far. It's about a war psychologist serving during the First World War. Its depiction of the fall of the old Victorian order and subsequent de-Romanticization of war and idealism is represented so effectively in the soldiers sent to Craiglockhart mental institution, trying to deal with their past. Very heavy work, but I am enjoying reading it. Makes me think about what they had to go through.

I'm pretty tired right now, and just as well. I have an early dentist's appointment tomorrow. So maybe I'll choke down another chapter of Regeneration, play a round of Tetris (I bought a handheld version this afternoon ^_^), and then go to sleep.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Phil Collins, "Against All Odds".

Golden hour

I drove down Airport Road yesterday at about a quarter past six in the evening. Since Spring is now with us, the Sun was still peeking through some clouds, not content to leave the show just yet. What I saw was spectacular--the Sun shimmered on everything it could get its rays on. Everything from the coconut tree fronds swaying in a lazy wind, to the buildings that consequently looked like they were all made of gold, shone in the Sunlight. It was Guam's Golden Hour--and I saw it in the fifteen-minute drive from the Plantation to the Vestibule.

What a coincidence. Had I delayed in getting ready that afternoon, or otherwise not done any of the chores I accomplished that day, I would have missed the very narrow window for the Golden Hour. My day must have been progressing the way it was supposed to.

And I wonder how many of my fellow motorists noticed. Maybe they were too busy driving. But then again, so was I.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Easter, everyone. And welcome back, Kim.

Song in my head: Shamrock, "Paano", originally by the APO Hiking Society.

Spring break

It seems like a whole week passed between my last post and this one. So much has happened in the last weekend, and it will be a challenge to make this one short. But I shall try.

It has been a pretty medical weekend, what with me getting my blood checked and my leg filmed in X-ray. I hope that it is easy to send developed X-ray film to the Philippines. I was happy with what my lower leg looked like on the film, and I hope that my orthopedic surgeon would be happy as well.

I'll be aiming to stay home more. So far I'm succeeding, leaving the house only when necessary.

I was aiming to disconnect from the Internet this Spring break. Well, you know how that's turning out. Maybe Friday I'll disconnect.

The youth retreat earlier today was a lot of fun. It was the most spontaneous one I've ever been on.

That's all I have to say for now. Thanks again for reading.

Song in my head: The Pillows, "Carnivore".

Hi guys! or, The cheapest hoax ever

Hey there! Guess what?

It's not April Fools' Day!

Heh. ^_^

Happy April Fools' Day. Oh, yeah, and a blessed Palm Sunday to all as well. I'm contemplating disconnecting from the Web for Holy Week.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Kushida Akira, "Hallo! Shaider". I'll post the lyrics tomorrow.