lit 104

I Am Not There
The Inconsistent

Take that pen and write
For you have the hands of a writer

Go tell your story and that of others
That I, and them, may find comfort from it

Then don't forget to write for me
Because I- even with a story to tell-
Unlike you, is not a storyteller

I may have your heart,
But never your hands.

ennis

You broke my heart once. You broke it again. You'll be missed.

bloody II

There Will Be Blood.

Oh my God. Oh my God. The experience of watching this huge film is breathtaking. It's like seeing God descends from heaven with His angels while satan and his pack are waiting on earth for the final battle. It felt like the 'end'.

Oh my God.

*******

This is one of my favorite reviews for the film by MaryAnn Johanson.

"...There Will Be Blood slaps you in the face. It’s Joe Pesci in GoodFellas raging, “Do I amuse you? Do I entertain you?” in that way that suggests that it could not give two figs what you think of it. It says, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, sitting there in the theater?” Blood is not contemptuous of you -- it just doesn’t care what you think about it. It is not there for you, for your amusement, for your entertainment. It is there for itself. It is a found object that might well have sprung in its entirety out of the subatomic froth of the universe. In the superbly philosophical vernacular of the moment that encompasses all the randomness of the world into a whaddaya-gonna-do shrug, it is what it is. "

So true.

jun-awe-some

Juno is fun (thanks to the superb screenplay by Diablo Cody) and at the same time, touching and sincere. It's definitely a feel-good movie, and more. It has a heart, a huge one, and it beats beautifully. I can't help but fall inlove with it. I watched it on mute (because I'm at work) yesterday- that's after I have read the script. Some may call it craziness (I mean, me, watching the movie on mute). I call it experience and pure pleasure.

fourth of july

I really thought I would not be able to bring myself back to reading again. I have been busy, very busy, that is, with watching movies (old and new ones) that the thought (or even an attempt) of spending a few hours or even minutes with books (reading) had already seemed almost impossible. But since it felt like I have already watched all the movies there are worthy to be watched, and that I've been reading this Independence Day, on and off, by Richard Ford, for months now (which I realized wasn't a good sign), I decided, finally, last night, to give it another try (just finished reading it this morning). And I believe I have made the right decision.

I admired how Richard Ford depicted American life through the struggle of one of the most unforgettable characters in American Fiction, Frank Bascombe. I have learned to love and respect Frank (and also Ford) since his sportswriting days (read The Sportswriter by the same author, which is the prequel of Independence Day). I think I, in more ways than one, can relate with Frank's character. And I think this is the reason why I love the book and the character. For one to be able to really know Frank though, and to realize how good a writer Ford is, one needs to read both novels mentioned above. Independence Day is now one of my favorite books and Richard Ford, one of my favorite writers.

The book, Independence Day, won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1996.

Ford, and his talent for writing, will make you realize how good writing and a writer can become. I think I love him na.

lesson 101

The worst thing about having a job is having one that takes all the sanity in you. I'm talking about the kind of job some people would consider better than other jobs available for grab until they experience it themselves; I'm talking about the kind of job I have.

To be quite honest, being a call center whore (Technical Support Representative) isn't the hardest job there is. It isn't hard at all in the first place. But it isn't something I love doing. Imagine, I have been in this job for more than a year. It's like committing suicide, I mean being in this job this long, except that it doesn't kill me, literally. It's killing me in a different way; in a way I'd rather not go through, if I really have a choice. So why stick with this job, right? Well, what else can I have? I can't choose now. There are no choices available anyway. In a country such as ours, one needs to have a college degree for him/her to get a job he/she really wants. And just as fucked as life can be, sometimes, one, even with a college diploma, end up working in fast food chains and call centers. I don't have anything against these people though (hey, I'm one of them.) If they're happy with what they are doing, I'm happy for them. It's just that I think they deserve something better.

I may be earning 'enough'; I may be able to provide for my family and buy things for myself, but I'm losing a part of me. A big part of me. In times like this, I have realized that money isn't really everything; Happiness and contentment are. And being able to still have respect to your own self isn't something money can buy.

So if you happen to read this, try to do things that makes you happy. I don't mean things that you 'think' can make you happy, okay? If you really have to find a high paying job, then do it. Just don't turn yourself back from that very thing that keeps you complete, and that which makes you YOU.

the list

I wanted to write something interesting but I couldn't think of a topic. And since I have already become a movie addict (and I'm happy with it), I thought of coming up with a list of movies I've seen last year (or should I say, movies released last year- 2007 - that I happened to have watched, regardless the year; ones seen this year), and which I loved.

Here's the List:

There Will Be Blood (seen Jan 21)
3:10 to Yuma
No Country for Old Men
Eastern Promises
Charlie Wilson's War (seen Jan 10)
Juno (seen Jan 16)
Gone Baby Gone
Once
Atonement
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
We Own the Night
Lust, Caution
Knocked Up
Superbad
The Namesake
American Gangster
I'm Not There
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (seen Jan 17)

*******

Some of the movies included on the list haven't been shown here yet, but I have my resources, you know. I'm still looking forward to seeing There Will Be Blood and a whole lot more (4 Months 3 Weeks And 2 Days, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Away From Her, Juno, etc.) If there's one thing I hate about living in this country, it's the fact that it takes months before movies get shown here from their released date. You end up watching movies like Katas ng Saudi and Anak ni Kumander. But I chose to live and not kill myself by not watching these crap.

typing 101

What can be more beautiful than a romantic love story is another love story. A love story that is not determined by how much the other party makes you feel nervous, intoxicated and a little high at times (a mixture of these and some others); of how much a person can make you heart go to a series of never ending thud, thud, thud (...it goes on and on.) The kind of love story I'm referring here is similar to that of what friends share, that of a father and his kid/s have - these sort of things. And I'm not at all talking about sexual relationship or incest here, okay? It's a whole lot different from what I have been meaning to write about, for crying out loud.

What makes this kind of love story better than that mentioned above is the fact that it does not consider looks (you're an asshole if you're looking for a good-looking friend) as one of the fundamentals of the relationship (and a factor to get into a relationship with someone.) So you can consider it pure and, at the same time, real.

What am I trying to say (write) here? I don't know. Maybe none, really. I just feel like typing.

long and winding, indeed

This is my favorite song, ever. This applies to almost every aspect of my life: to writing, to those assholes, who, apparently, just came to my life to teach me something (and sadly, they meant just to teach), and to Him.

It's hard when you're in a situation that the very thing you can't do is to turn away. You can, and the hurting would stop. Only that, in truth, it wouldn't. And you know that, has always known that. So you end up taking that road, traveling it, hoping that someday, you'll get there.

******

I heard Regine was sick when she did this. I'm glad she was. It made the song sound heartfelt. She made herself sound like she's not her. And it worked beautifully.

pre-work exercise

Last night, before heading back to Manila for work, I went to my old [former] school (not that I'm in a new one right now) with one of my closest friends, Angus. It was the Ikatlong Gawad Digmaang Rosas Literary Awards Night (organized by The Angelite, the official student publication of Holy Angel University. ) My friend Angus had submitted an entry to the said competition. I came there to give him moral support.

As expected, he grabbed the Angelite Fictionist of the Year award (The entries were judged by a Palanca-winner poet from UST.) I am very proud of him, and am happy that he won. This is the second time he had won the award. I had the opportunity of being one the first people to have read his entries (short stories and poems.) When I laid eyes on his works, I knew right away that he would win; I was certain about it.

Some say that it takes a writer to know one. I say, not really. One doesn't have to be a good writer to recognize one, and to be able to appreciate what we consider as good writing.

*******

Congratulations Angs! You so deserve it. Keep on writing.

sinister

Samples of Greenwood's original music for There Will Be Blood:



To check out the other two, try this link. My favorite (Future Market) is there.

another year

Time is running so fast that all we can do is watch it pass through us.