2009-02-24

the graveyard book by neil gaiman

because i got the book at the same time that i was doing a major paper for school, i ended up finishing it more than a week. but i know i could have finished it in one sitting if i had the luxury of time and not just snatches.

the story is about nobody owens, or bod, who unknowingly escaped a murder plot against him by the man jack. his one and a half year old self ends up at the graveyard where many spirits from time past reside. the book tells about his adventure in and out of the graveyard until he turned 15.

after reading the book, i felt... whoa. wow. whoa. wow.

there has been an interesting debate as to whether it is a children's book or is it a juvenile book. though it being granted a newberry award puts him in the children section.

but at usual, gaiman uses the richness of his imagination thus making the story hard to define. i felt all sorts of emotions reading the book. at first i was giggling and amused, then worried, then relieved, and then worried again. and at the end, i was sad and happy at the same time.

as usual, gaiman has crafted another array of interesting and lovable characters, he makes it difficult for you to choose which one is your favorite. i loved silas. i loved lisa hempstock. i loved caius pompeius. i loved everybody! i disliked the jacks, but they are not meant to be liked.

it was worth the 18 euros i paid for, especially with the signed copy. definitely worth it!

online shopping: virgin no more

so i did say i finally redeemed by $100 gift certificate for amazon.com from igougo.com for writing travel reviews.

initially i wanted to get a camera bag for dixie as well as lens cleaners. there was this watch that meant something to me that i lost so i wanted to replace that. unfortunately, they won't deliver the camera stuff here in the netherlands or in the philippines. i would have waited until someone was going to the philippines from the US. but i wanted to run away from school work so much that i busied myself with online shopping.

apart from the watch, i ended up with a neil gaiman books buying spree.






and also ended up getting 'neverending story' by michael ende suggested by jovan, which i have always known to be just a movie.
total purchase was just around $66.oo but the shipping cost half of that. bummer! still it was not money that i had to work for with blood, sweat and tears. i did also enjoy the experience and the fact that it helped me run away from important homework which i should be attending to.
my next $100 gift check, i will make sure will just end up with purchases and not shipping. heehee!

2009-02-22

jan's team photo is one of those that flash in the ateneo basketball league website. woot!

i think i'm crushing on him there. tee-hee!

note: kelangan na naming magkita... kahit pawisan siya naku-kyutan na ako. delikado na to. hehe.

2009-02-19

oh, yeah! $100 amazon gift check

woooot!

i was finally able to claim $100 amazon gift check from igougo.com! after 14 journals and 43 reviews, i made it to 24,000 points. i could have actually claimed gift certificates when i reached 6,000 points which was worth $25 or the $50 (12,000 points). but why settle for less? and now i have $100. woohooo!

thanks to rowie for showing me this website.

what to buy? what to buy? (actually i know what to buy...)

time to work on another 24000 points again! :D

2009-02-17

good luck, jan!

visa interview at 10AM. i hope the netherlands embassy does not give us so much of a hard time! three months max is all we ask. just so we can spend our wedding anniversary together. *fingers crossed*

2009-02-16

psyching up

for the week to feel like this.

i'm really, really starting to miss the sun and the beach now. sigh.

25 random things

i already answered this in facebook. except i want to do this again at 2:28AM. i want to write and there is nothing in particular on my mind. this is the perfect moment for stream of consciousness thoughts. nobody seems to read my blogspot anymore, so i can be as candid as i can be, right? i just hope i can catch the cross-post in multiply before any one else does. or maybe nothing too embarassing will come out of this.

so here goes:

1. my room is almost back to the mess that it was a couple of entries ago. i could have cleaned my room today except i was too lazy and indulged myself with a lizzie maguire marathon. i'm still waiting for the episode when lizzie and gordo finally discover they like each other. and oh, sylar was guest in one of the episodes.

2. i sometimes wish i can take home a merit or distinction written on my diploma. except the desire to relax and enjoy life as a student overpowers that desire. besides, there are smarter and more diligent people out there that deserve such an addendum to their diplomas than i do. seriously.

3. i am getting more and more excited with the prospect of seeing jan soon. i pray to god that his visa application get approved.

4. i worry a lot about my financial capability to have a family. but in my heart i know god and i and jan will work together on this. di niya ako pababayaan. i am sure of that. and neither will jan. but i still worry.

5. i dream of seeing as much of the world as i can. there are so many opportunities right now except i do not have the financial capability.

6. as much as it would be fun to be a single person here in the ISS and get a chance to meet and date people, i really don't mind having come here as married. i am in a way scared of how wild i can get without the commitment.

7. i don't drink. i don't smoke. i don't do weed. but i have tried them all here. i really don't think i'm missing on anything. i prefer the natural high of just being myself and enjoying every moment sober and aware. i do enjoy seeing other people having fun that way... it's always nice seeing people enjoy themselves. as always, each to his own.

8. i have a fascination with friday the 13th.

9. i really honestly believe in God and his goodness. i think faith is a good thing to have. it doesn't hurt to believe in something outside yourself. it actually makes life worth living. some say more bearable, but life is not something to bear with but something to live for.

10. i believe that life is good. you just have to believe it and it will happen. it's all a matter of perspective.

11. i wish people believed in goodness more. if each person did, then the whole world will be much better.

12. last thursday's paulo freire reading on pedagogy of the oppressed affected me personally. thank God for jesuit education and liberation theology that i feel obliged to do as much as i can for the greater good. if i die, i know i did as much as i could to be good. i like being good, i just realized now.

13. i am so addicted to facebook and blogs. i hardly read news sites. i mostly frequent fb, multiply, friends' blogs, postsecret and neil gaiman's journal. and plurk. and those can already waste my time so much.

14. i still wonder why i am in social development work. i don't know the great social scientists. even marx, i still don't have a total grasp of what he is trying to say. but maybe the world needs more people who think with their hearts because there are already a lot of people thinking with their brains.

15. jologs ako. i love being baduy. i thrive on star cinema chick flicks. i'm a fan of john lloyd and bea, judy ann and piolo love teams. john lloyd and sarah geronimo ain't bad either.

16. i cry so easily. i cry when people win reality shows i like like american idol, america's next top model and if the winner of project runway cries. if s/he doesn't, i'm just happy. i like it when people win. though i hope i win in their place.

17. i have a crush on jamal's older brother, salim, in slumdog millionaire. i find him bad boy sexy.

18. i am thinking i took up so much time for this random things thingie again. and it is making me fall asleep which is good because i want to be sleepy.

19. judy blume was my first favorite author. i have to thank my sister for giving me superfudge when i was ten.

20. i can watch ten things i hate about you over and over. i was sincerely saddened by the loss of heath ledger and hope he wins the oscar for his role as joker.

21. if it is possible, i would want to be a stay-at-home-mom. i would want to be the one to teach my child about life. make sure he keeps his wonder because school sometimes tend to wipe that away.

22. if i were to teach my future children something, that would be to BELIEVE. i know it sounds like an ateneo chant for a uaap game, but i believe in BELIEVE. i think God knows what we want, but he just wants us to figure it out for ourselves before he gives it to us. because if we know we want it, we will take care of it more. but we really, really have to KNOW for sure.

23. i think i may have been a matchmaker in my past life. not matchstick maker, matchmaker. i tend to have a sense of people who would work fine together. or not work fine together. i can say i have good batting average. not perfect, but good.

24. i have a regular prayer. safety and good health of me, my family and jan. if i mention that before i sleep, then that counts as my prayer already. my prayers lately included: safe pregnancy and delivery for rowie (it worked), toni to get pregnant (it worked), safe pregnancy and delivery for toni (it will work) and for joel's peace. i forget to pray for the people of the world. but sometime's i remember to say, please take care of all your people. so i hope that counts.

25. best gifts of my life: my family, lhc, jvp (mindoro and bukidnon), ateneo, jan, iss/nfp scholarship. major turning points of my life. people and places and events that made me and is making me who i am.

if cleanliness is next to godliness, part ii

then i'm on my way out of the nine circles of hell.


and maybe i can have my angel wings and halo back. except i don't think i ever had them in the first place. hmmm....

2009-02-06

if cleanliness is next to godliness...

then i'm the devil...

i'm just too stressed to even pick up my socks and put it inside the cabinet and put my readings on the table.

i'm usually messy, but not this messy.

blah.

2009-02-04

little things that can make your day better

it's just one of those days when things aren't going the way you want it to go. you are tired from not getting much sleep. not getting enough sleep from thinking too much. basically, it's a blah day.

and then something happens that lightens your mood a bit. like having a friend get you the book you hoped she can get from London. and she got it from one of those quaint bookstores...
Hatchards. and the book is Neil Gaiman's 'The Graveyard Book'

and then things get better. there is a little band around the book that says:

and then you think it's not for real. how could that be? neil wasn't there. but then you open the book's page. catching a whiff of the smell of new paper...


that it's true. which makes your day better for at least ten minutes. and then it's back to being blah. still! a signed copy of the graveyard book! woot!


2009-02-02

snow again!

the snowflakes are dancing, whirling in the air. as if minute angels uncertain where to go. this way, that way, any way the wind takes it. its beauty overpowers the cold.

lovely, lovely snow. it feels like magic at work! i hope this keeps up enough to cover the ground and have a snowball fight! and make a snowman and snow angels!

(and i may be saying this as i have not experienced flurries yet. haha)