RT 2012 book 5: before ever after

I found out about this book over the internet, because a lot of people were raving about how good it is. Well, that and the reason that she's published internationally. I am not sure if she's the first Filipino author who is based here in the Philippines who's published internationally, but still I am very proud of her and her book that's deemed fit for global consumption. Though I'm sure marami ring local publications that are equally good but just didn't have the opportunity.

But what really got me interested in the book is that it was inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife, which I loved tremendously. Unfortunately for Before Ever After, it has the aforementioned book I will compare it with and that means I have super high expectations for it. You know naman me and my high expectations~

Six Things about Before Ever After :

1. Before Ever After subtitled, Ikaw Na, Max! Really. As I was going along the book and as I kept on finding out about his past lives, I can't help but just bitch about how this man's so great. I mean, he's good-looking, rich and apparently, also kind-hearted. Hell, he could speak French, English, Spanish, German and Slovene fluently. And during almost all his lifetimes, he was some sort of hero in this part of the world. Well, maybe because he was telling his story, from his point of view kaya he's always the bida. Parang he's not capable of doing something wrong, everything's always because it had to be done like that one time when he slit someone's throat. I mean, can't you be bad even for just one lifetime? Total you'll rise from the ashes din naman, hehe. It was annoying how we kept going back in time. Akala ko we'd go back as far as the story of creation tapos siya pala si Adan. Max... ikaw na!
2. And I was annoyed by how Max's use of the word, 'luv.' Of course, it doesn't affect the story but I'm just annoyed at its use. It's so jeje. Haha. As if. Charkey!
3. What's with the obsession over chickens? I don't know if it's cryptic, if the chickens were meant to symbolize something which I didn't get. Or maybe chickens and eggs were the only constant things in his life. I started reading this book where the author wrote that 'we all need some material things that provide continuity to our lives and by always being there and always being the same.' For Max, it was the chickens. Unless, they were meant to stand for something else. 
4. Kaya ba siya Max kasi mahilig siya sa chickens? Max's fried chicken? Wala lang. 
5. Although it wasn't meant to be tragic, I was somehow looking for that feel from the story. It was a cute story but it wasn't beautiful. The Time Traveler's Wife may have been tragic but it was beautifully tragic. As in I could feel the distress, the despair of the characters. But with Before Ever After, the main feel of the book was... lust. Promise! You'll always come across parts wherein Shelley wants to rape Max. Joke! Basta, marami siyang makamundong pagnanasa kay Max. 
6. Literally, they got to live happily ever after. I just find it corny.

I guess it's a bad thing that I found out that what inspired her to write this book was her disappointment with The Time Traveler's Wife's ending. It was a sad ending but I was pretty contented with it because it such a beautiful story. I mean, that's the essence of its appeal~ that Clare spent all her life waiting for Henry. I'm not dissing Before Ever After because I still think it was okay. It still was a page-turner with me wanting to find out what happens next, how would present-day Max would react when Shelley finally finds him. Dapat next time talaga no expectations na. 

"Look at it, luv. It is the closest we can come to grasping what time really means. 

It moves on whether you  wind it or not. It doesn't have a snooze button 

you can hit to bargain for an extra five minutes. 

The earth turns, the sun rises and sets,

 and there is absolutely nothing you or I can do about it."

nakakaloka

Hindi kinaya ng powers ko at talagang gusto ko siyang i-post. I guess he is not the only one afflicted with Subject-Verb Agreement Deficiency Syndrome. Masakit sa bangs! At wala pa akong bangs sa lagay na yan. Kaloka!!! Takte, nagkaroon siya ng 'confident.' Ano yun, yung feminine wash?  

Okay, fine... hindi naman perfect ang grammar ko at malamang marami akong grammatical errors sa blog na ito pero pare, hindi naman kasinglala nito. At least, I know my basic subject-verb agreements. I'm sad because even those who went to good schools still don't have their S+V agreements down pat. Pare, napaka-elementary ng is/are. Tragic.

my event on a friday night

journaling.

I love notebooks and I also enjoy writing in them. Never mind that what I write about is mostly nonsensical things. There's a thrill I get whenever I'm starting with a new notebook and also when I'm writing on the last page. It's more intimate than a blog because in my notebook, I can write about anything and everything under the sun- kaya naman I seal all my old journals inside plastic bags.

So iwan ko muna kayo (kayo= my 3 readers) while I catch up with my journal. Toodles! xoxo

project 102: unofficially yours

If it's a John Lloyd movie, you betcha I will be watching if not on the first day.... anytime during its first week. Fangirl much?

In the absence of my usual movie dates (AB, Ycel and Juno), I was in search of my new movie date and found her in the person of my ol' friend, A. Last Saturday while we were watching the Rachel-Dingdong free concert at Eastwood, I made her promise to watch it with me. And so we did watch yesterday at Megamall (btw, they have this new ticketing system which I don't really get the logic of but maybe so they could better track the number of people who watched the movie but then again can't they do that in their computer systems already? just wondering) And in fernez ha, considering it's 4pm on a weekday, the balcony section was full.

Gaaahd, sobrang benta sakin si John Lloyd, I swear! I might have annoyed A cos I kept on telling her "ang cute cute ni John Lloyd!!!" na kilig na kilig. To which she also kept replying with, "cute umarte. sa movie lang." Okay, fine. I will not refute cos sources tell me that he's actually masungit in real life and I question his taste on girls (Ciara Sotto!!! Shaina!!! que horror!) Whatever.

So here's are my thoughts about the movie:

1. Medyo cliche. Formula na and very predictable. [But who cares? I am only in it for John Lloyd] Actually reminded me of Matty & Jenna. But anyway, it still was a nice watch. 
2. Finally! A Star Cinema movie without wigs and a song title as its title. FINALLY. Though I bet Angel has hair extensions which is perfectly okay and I am actually envious of her locks. How can I get my hair to look like that? 
3. I'm not so sure if my observation is correct but I've noticed that in almost all of his movies, JL is the kawawa party. Maybe except for two movies with Sarah G. But really, he's so good at it... being kawawa, I mean. 
4. Which makes me wonder- are there guys who are like that? Because I am not in the know with matters like that but from stories, I deduced that the guys are always the reason for break-ups. I hate it that movies like this make me assume there are still good guys around. Not that I am still hoping because right now, at this time of my life, I'm up for whatever life throws at me. Make lemons into lemonades nga diba? But let us modify whatever. Whatever that still lies within normal hehe. 
5. The Tabing Ilog connection! Patrick Garcia and John Lloyd together in a movie takes me down memory lane. My Sunday afternoon habit, right after ASAP. Haha. Oh childhood... 
6. Ang cheesy! And I got that right out from a JL pizza tvc, haha! But omg, do people really use lines such as "Hindi naman sa hindi ako napapagod masaktan, hindi lang siguro ako nagsasawang magmahal." Diba? I just can't imagine anyone using this line. I just can't.
7. They didn't give me an ending. Technically, they did but I want to know if Cess (Angel Locsin) still pursued the Singapore post she was offered. What I don't get is Singapore's pretty near and with Cebupac's piso fares, I guess workable naman ang long distance relationship. Plus, if he really wants to cheat, gagawa at gagawa nang paraan malapit o malayo man. 

So there, my two cents on the movie. Just my personal chukchakchenes. I'm excited for the rumored John Lloyd-Sarah movie this year. 

happy ♥♥♥ day

As my tribute Valentine's day...

tutorial here

DO NOT ENLARGE IMAGE for you will see how imperfect and amateur the job I did on my nails. But nevertheless, I love it! I really find nail art tacky except when you did it on yourself. That's just me and my opinion on nail art.

And oh, our dog gave birth to four pups last Sunday, Feb 12 2012- eleven days before Sunday's 2nd death anniversary. And because we have 4 pups, they will be named after the most awesome team for, like, evarrrr- Chuck Bartowski, Sarah Walker, Morgan and Casey.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, LOVES!

xoxo

project 102: blue valentine

Learned about the movie while perusing the pages of W Magazine. While I like Michelle Williams as an actress, dating way back during her Dawson's Creek days (pro-Jen Lindley here because I super detest Joey Potter), I didn't really follow her career and watch her movies. The article was a joint interview with co-star in the movie, Ryan Gosling. Not because it's Valentine's Day tomorrow but the article was pretty effective which led to this pseudo review. Hehe.

Love conquers all. Apparently not, according to the movie. Maybe because they didn't really have a foundation. It all started with a one-night-stand-ish thing when one thing led to another, et voila, girl got pregnant and boy stood by her. Though in fernez to the boy, he was already smitten with her the first time he saw her and even until the end I am convinced that he loves her very, very much.

But can you blame the girl when he started looking like this

then he ended up looking like this

He looks creepy, no? 

So aside from that superficial reason, I guess Cindy (Williams) fell out of love that easily because she lost respect for him. Okay, it's sweet when Dean (Gosling) told her that he doesn't have any goal or ambitions nor he never really thought that he'd get married one day and have kids but now that he has a wife and a kid, it's all he ever wants to be right now- a husband and a father. But would you really want to be with someone who doesn't have dreams and aspirations? One thing I learned (from observations), love will not keep you alive but money will. 

Another reason why Cindy may have resented marrying Dean was she wasn't able to pursue her own dreams and ambitions as well. She wanted to become a doctor but that has become a distant dream. She felt she had so much potential, that she could have been a good doctor but having a child, getting married got in the way. 

Well, I don't really respect guys like Dean who doesn't have goals and ambitions but he is a good person and I feel he genuinely loves his family. Science says that love only lasts for a certain period of time and then it fizzles so after that love becomes a decision. And effort, imho. But when you're both a hindrance to each other, maybe it's really time to let go so they can both reach their full potential. 

It's ironic how everything began and ended with tears, an embrace and a kiss.

It's a beautiful movie. Sad but beautiful. Not really what I need on a gloomy and rainy Monday but feeling depressed for an hour and a half is well worth it. 

In fernez, interesting... but will it be able to hold my short attention span?

wanted

i realize not only my anastasia tweezer is missing...

this one also-

I really need to organize my stuff and have a container for everything. I miss these two :(

FOUND THEM! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU~

distraction is key

Ermitanya mode starting today.

Remember that botched up facial I got last Saturday? My face is swollen. Well, not my face but the zits that were pricked. My sister has this "miracle" med and she claims it is a cure-all- EVEN PIMPLES. So I put the miracle oil on the inflamed pustules, hoping they'd dry up in the morning. I was wrong. It got worse. As in way, waaaaaay worse. Dumami lang naman siya. I guess the oil got into the open pores and now super mega dami galore niya. Never again will I say it's okay if I'm pangit because the universe is listening and look what it did- it made me even more pangit. Bah. Sige na magfi-feeling maganda nako at baka sakaling nakikinig uli si universe >bats eyelashes<

Oh well, this also just gives me an excuse to not go to work. But in fernez to me, I did go out yesterday to buy supplies (because I have another order for delivery on Sunday! Woohoo!), I just splattered whatever I can find on the dresser- Neutrogena's Acne-Clearing Foundation, bareMinerals foundation and Human Nature mineral pressed powder. If sorta worked because the abomination that is my face didn't look as bad without the cover-up but I reckon all of those will irritate the zits more so I will just stay home and let the zits sit there in all their glory. Boo. But this gave me an excuse to watch my favorite tv series and sleep in the afternoon (gahd, it's been ages since I did that and it feels refreshing. Funny how as kids we hated sleeping in the afternoon but would do anything to do so now).

Speaking of yesterday... before I went to the supplier, had lunch with AD. We had lunch at Cyma, my treat. Bonggabels! Haha. Anyway, I owe her that with all the help she gave me- driving me around, helping me with the booth, etc. We had tonno salata and pork tenderloin kebab- super busog! Dessert at Conti's- mango bravo. Yummeh! While gallivanting around Greenbelt area, saw Cris Villonco, Patty Laurel, Nicole Hernandez and friend. I'm so showbiz and I get all excited when I see celebrities in person. Sabi ni ate masaya na naman ako, LOL. But nothing makes me happier than good food :) #thisiswhyimfat #fml Did I just use hashtag in blogger?

While going around the mall, I saw stuff I can add to my wishlist...

this

and these

But I am master of delayed gratification so I'll get them when I'm financially able to spend on nonessentials. And oh, I also need a new pair of tweezers because I lost my light pink one that came with my Anastasia brow kit.

Oh gosh. Whatever. I just want my pimples gone already. I look like a frakkin strawberry.

sa mundong mababaw

Only 8 minutes til the weekend ends. Technically, Monday is still weekend for me as I don't have work tomorrow. Technically-technically, everyday's either work day or rest day, it just depends on my mood or if it's a matter of urgency. Lucky me ♥

The start of February was good. Orders started coming in although Nail Spa's sales were below target. Which reminds me I need to finalize my February promo and to practice more with waxing and massage. I am in love with waxing... as in hair removal waxing. I can do it for hours and never get tired of it. I am that addicted to it. Maybe because I think I'm so good at it that I love doing it over and over. Which is good actually, because practice makes perfect ;)

Had lunch with mis compañeras last Saturday at Rockwell. Almost perfect attendance. Everyone's present except for Mama Lourdes who was sick. Fun catching up with my Saturday morning habits aka the classmates although I can't really hear most of what they're talking about. Sorry naman at nabibingi na ako. J recommended we eat at Achiote Taqueria. Sosyal ang pangalan... atswete lang pala yan LOL. I can't say the same for the others but my food was yummeh! J* and I ordered achiote chicken quesadilla. I loved it! I love cheese ♥ After lunch, they had coffee at one of the coffee places there while P looked for swimsuits while I bought Happy Lemon poison. In fairness, hindi masungit ang staff sa Rockwell, but while drinking my coffee with rock salt & cheese, that I only like the taste of the rock salt & cheese on top of the drink and I feel that a hundred's a pretty steep price to pay for cheese & rock salt. Never again. Gong Cha FTW. Or Chatime.

It was time to go home. Hitched a ride going to Shang. MRT ride with P going to Cubao. I could take the FX going home in Mega but since I want to get a facial because I needed it badly, I went to Cubao to mu suki sadista aka blackhead/whitehead extractor aka aesthetician. And here I am with lots of peklat on my face. Minurder niya lang naman ang fez ko, most of the whiteheads she pricked are now inflamed. I should go back to my ol' trusty (AND CHEAP!) combo- clindamycin + benzamycin. I feel that the main culprit for the sudden proliferation of blackheads is the Mario Badescu special cucumber lotion/toner, but then again it could also be the local mineral make-up pressed powder I bought from Beauty Bar or the make-up I forgot to wash off after attending a wedding or because my hair was always in disarray. Boo! Takte, ang hirap maging pangit! Haha. Anyway, I therefore conclude expensive does not mean effective. I learned my lesson the expensive way. I should've bought Murad which I know for sure works.

So kamusta naman ang rant ko about puds and fez?

I am hoping for a great February ahead of me ♥
Please, be awesome for me.
I am actually very easy to please.
Many orders + High sales + my TV series = a very happy me