Sunday Currently #1

Jolens9 Comments

Today’s a Monday, I know, but this is my blog, so let’s follow my rules. (And I’m sure the creator of this tag wouldn’t mind? Or at least I hope they don’t).

Anyhoo, I am currently

reading America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo, and it’s hitting way too close to home;

writing this post and a thinkpiece (charot) on OPM and migration. The second one doesn’t seem to be taking shape though — I just don’t have the discipline to do research, prfft;

listening to Eraserheads’ “Sino Sa Atin” off the under-appreciated “diket-diket” album Natin99;

thinking that I really do like Natin99. Legit, beh. Enjoying this album comes with age, I think; I just never cared for it when I was younger. But now? Dude. “Kahit Ano” is the barkada anthem. “Tama Ka,” “Maselang Bahaghari,” “Pop Machine,” “May Sumasayaw” — damn solid bangers, I’m telling ya;

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Of speeding tickets and music habits

Jolens6 Comments

It’s been a long day.

I left the house a few minutes before 7:30. My goal was to be at the new work site by 8 am, and according to Google I still had enough wiggle room to get there right on schedule. I was cruising through 118 taking my sweet-ass time when I sensed a bright, white flash — a speeding ticket!

I couldn’t understand why I got flashed. I was only going a little above 60 — definitely under 65 — so, what did I do wrong? Maybe this was a 50 road, I told myself, but I wasn’t even a block away when I saw another flash. Wait — was I ticketed twice? Was there another hidden camera? Why would they set up two speeding flags so close to each other anyway?

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In The Mood for ‘Shrooms

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Two weeks ago I bought a pack of mushrooms, the non-hallucinogenic kind. They’re not a lot, but they’re still a sizable amount that when my mom told me they’re about to spoil, I couldn’t ask her to just throw them out.

That was enough to force me out of bed on a chilly Sunday noon. Not that I cared too much about my mushrooms, but I really needed a reason to get up and quit lazing around.

The decision to hang in the kitchen was borne out of necessity, as usual. When I used to live alone, the only sensible recourse was to cook my own food and not waste money eating out. Same thing when I decided to stop eating meat — there’s no way I would force everyone in my life to go vegetarian just because I wanted to be one.

Sometimes I also feel an uncharacteristic desire to cook, usually because I want to try a new dish, or I want to re-create a dish that I previously enjoyed. This is a rarity though, because I am very lazy and I always let big i Indolence get the best out of me.

But today I blamed the mushrooms.

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Bedflix and Chill

Jolens12 Comments

I had a wisdom tooth removed a few weeks ago, which meant that I had a fuckton of free time to do absolutely nothing. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t exercise, and I couldn’t go outside lest the world discovers my sore, swollen face worthy of a Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho feature (“Kilalanin natin si Jolens, mga kapuso, ang babaeng kalahati pisngi, kalahati noo!”).

I was stuck in bed the entire time so I plopped the laptop on my chest and did my favorite slacker hobby: I watched movies.

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Shuffle the Music

Jolens4 Comments

I couldn’t bring myself to write a proper post so I’m doing another tag that I found via the search bar. This time I’m supposed to shuffle my music library and comment on the first 15 songs that come up.

I couldn’t bring myself to write a nicer intro or a better transition either so, um, voila:

Tokyo – Lianne La Havas

Love these lines: “all I’ve ever known is / how to be alone / it comes naturally.” Sometimes it bothers me how comfortable I am with being alone — a self-fulfilling prophecy, correct?

Beautiful Girl – Jose Mari Chan

Mama explained this song to me when I was a kid and was way too young to understand English. Maybe this is why I never really had a problem with the phrase “love at first sight.”

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Book Tag #1

Jolens1 Comment

books

I found the tag here and I thought meh why not:

Find a book on your shelves with a blue cover. What made you pick up the book in the first place?

Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. Was (still am) interested in popular science.

Think of a book you didn’t expect to enjoy but did. Why did you read it in the first place?

John Grisham’s A Time to Kill. Was intrigued by the premise.

Stand in front of your bookshelf with your eyes closed and pick up a book at random. How did you discover this book?

James Corbett’s England Expects: A History of the England Football Team. Discovered in a thrift store; bought because I love football.

Pick a book that someone personally recommended to you. What did you think of it?

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Loved it.

Pick a book you discovered through book blogs. Did it live up to the hype?

Mia Alvar’s In The Country. Yes.

Find a book on your shelves with a one word title. What drew you to this book?

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Is popular among lit kids; has one of the best opening lines.

What book did you discover through a film/TV adaptation?

Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale (translated into English by Nathan Collins).

Think of your all-time favorite books. When did you read these and why did you pick them up in the first place?

Two of many: Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and Edgar B. Maranan’s Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Lent to me by older high school roommates; read for the first time during sem-break of first year high school.

Flying at Night

Jolens6 Comments

It’s 2am and I refuse to sleep. There’s nothing much to share, really, but here, a poem:

Flying at Night
Ted Kooser

Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.
Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies
like a snowflake falling on water. Below us,
some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death,
snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn
back into the little system of his care.
All night, the cities, like shimmering novas,
tug with bright streets at lonely lights like
his.

The featured image is Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.