Pichur!

Posted on August 9, 2008 at 3:47 pm | 12 Comments
Filed under Random Realities • Shameless Shot

Okay, I’m really sorry for not updating this blog for uh, almost a month? I hope you’ll forgive me. I guess, a bug bit me. Well, yeah, I have a writer’s block right now. So yeah. That’s mainly the reason why there are no updates in this blog lately. Another reason is school. Though I have lots of new experiences, I can’t post them here. By the time I get back home, most my energy has already been depleted. Then, there are still other things that I have to worry like endless paperwork, Ms. Irresponsible1, and other things that make me annoyed. Besides, the reason why I’m keeping my identity would be defeated if I published them here.

But if you can’t resist2 me, I suggest that you follow me on Twitter and Plurk. Also add me as your friend, contact, fan or whatever on Last.fm, Facebook, Flickr, Delicious (The new Delicious site is… delicious!), Google Reader, and Digg. But erm, there’s no 100% guarantee that I’ll reciprocate. XD

So, what’s with the title? Well, I dunno if I’ve already introduced you to the word pichur. Haha. Obviously, it’s synonymous to the word picture. Use it in a sentence? Okay, here we go: Have you seen NYTimes’ feature on Angelica Panganiban’s photoshopped pichur? I guess this word was created circa 2005 by my chemistry-teacher-slash-adviser who has pronunciation problems.

Because I’m really out of words, I’ll be using photos to express myself and I’ll try to put a short description. Hopefully, this will work. And uh, I hate to admit it but this post is very random.

Let’s get the film rolling!

Agony in the Garden
Agony in the Garden - March 25, 2005

I’m pretty sure I’ve already posted this photo here. This is one of our heirlooms. My Dad reckons it was sculpted around the last quarter of the 17th century. That makes it more than a century old. Every Holy Week, we go to Dangwa Flower Market (near UST) to buy flowers for the procession. The float is designed with various flowers. Around six in the evening, the procession starts. But lately, I didn’t like how the float was decorated (20063, 2007, 2008). My Grandmother insists on buying white flowers only. It looked too simple to me. Currently, this photo is in Flickr’s Explore. Uh, if you have a Flickr account and you like this photo, please add it to your favorites and leave a comment as well. Well, I’m not coercing you. Haha.

Eat
Eat - December 24, 2006

A little bit of history about this phone: before it landed to me, my younger and sister and mother used it. Well, I’m not really a fan of phones. So even though it came from the Jurassic Era, I really don’t care. Lately, it was malfunctioning which forced me to use the other old phones here at home. But now, it’s working again. The culprit was its bloated battery. On a related subject, I’ve already owned one Smart, one Sun, and four Globe sim cards. Currently, I’m using two Globe sim cards. One is for my offline life, and the other is for my online life (but I don’t regularly use it).

Fully Booked
Fully Booked - April 06, 2008

You know how much I love books. Books are the fuel of my life. WTF?! I really enjoy reading books, that’s why I don’t mind spending hundreds of Pesos on them. Yeah, reading is an expensive hobby. Unless you have other resources like borrowing reads from the library or from your friends, you’ll surely get broke. But owning a copy is still different, eh? Right now, I don’t have anything to read. The books in the local bookstore don’t look interesting to me. Someone suggested a Chuck Palahniuk book to me, but after reading the synopsis on the back of his book, I hesitated. I think I will not like his style, besides, the synopsis kinda scared the hell out of me. I badly want to visit a Fully Booked store!

Bread Talk
Bread Talk - August 08, 2008

I have to say that Bread Talk is officially my favorite bakery. The presentation of their pastries and breads is awesome! I always salivate when I see breads (and not to mention cakes) from Bread Talk. And oh, the structure of their shops is also cool. Simple but amazing. The only downside is that their breads are expensive. Oh, look at that sign! The “NO PHOTOGRAPHING, no smoking, no eating/drinking, no shoplifting4” sign can’t stop me from taking photos of this amazing bakery!
PS: I submitted this photo to the Flickr 888 pool.

Print Cartridges
Print Cartridges - August 09, 2009

I’ve been bragging on Plurk that I’ve used my HP 56 Print Cartridge (as seen on this photo) for a staggering two years. What’s more is that I didn’t have to buy a new cartridge because I used up all of the 19 milliliters of ink but because the cartridge malfunctioned. That’s how tipid I am with ink. Haha. You see, I usually use “fast draft” for Print Quality (for text). Well, the quality is good and the text is still readable. Yesterday, after checking the prices of the print cartridges in four computer shops at SM City Pampanga, I bought the cheapest HP 56/57 print cartridge combo-pack for my old printer-slash-scanner-slash-copier I’ve found. I was able to save more or less PHP 1000.00. In one of the shops I’ve visited, if you bought a HP 56 and HP 57 print cartridges separately, you would have to pay them for PHP 2680.00 (I’m glad I didn’t buy from that store)! Now, that’s an impressive deal! I guess, those are that last print cartridges I would buy until I graduate from college. Haha.

Uh, I guess this worked for me! w00t! I now have my first post for this month. I actually enjoyed doing this. I’m off to visit your blogs, then, I’ll try to catch the Olympics (read this article: 10 Fascinating Facts About the Ancient Olympic Games) later.

  1. That’ll be her name here in my blog from now on. Also, I believe that the whole class now knows how much I hate her. Wait, have I mentioned about her here in my blog? [↩]
  2. LOL. What’s wrong with me? Resist?! Seriously? [↩]
  3. Weird. I can’t find a photo of this in my Flickr account taken back in 2006. [↩]
  4. Uh, I’m not sure if it’s a “no shoplifting” sign. The illustration was so vague. [↩]

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Ten Books

Posted on February 23, 2008 at 9:35 pm | 21 Comments
Filed under Bulky Books

A Heap of Books Because I cannot think of an experience I had for the past few days that is worth sharing to everyone who visits my blog, I decided to write another blog post about books. This time, I’ll write ten short reviews (and in some cases, with an accompanying synopsis) for ten books.

The Weirdest Book

For me, the weirdest book I had read is “The Dogs of Babel” by Carolyn Parkhurst. It’s the weirdest because in the story, the main character tries to teach his dog how to speak like a human being. Yes, you read that right. Paul Iverson, a linguist, decided to teach his dog how to speak because he wanted to know the real reason why his wife died. At first, I didn’t like it much, but on second thought, I realized that it’s really a good book. The ending of the book was nicely written. Actually, it was one of the New York Times Notable Fiction & Poetry books of 2003. You can read my full review of the book here.

The Most Intriguing Book

Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” will surely stir your faith especially if your faith’s foundation is very weak. The story revolves around the secrets of the Holy Grail. Robert Langdon, the protagonist in the book, with Sophie Neveu tries to decipher the chain of clues while they try to get away from the cops. The author is good in intertwining facts and fiction. The reader should be careful in separating the facts from the creations of the author’s imagination. In my case, even though I enjoyed reading the book, it still remains as a fiction. Period.

The Funniest Book

I guess, everyone who had read Bob Ong’s “ABNKKBSNPLAko?!” will agree with me that it’s the best book out in the market if you’re looking for a way to relieve your stress. Since I’ve read this way back during my sophomore year in high school and my copy is missing I had already forgot most of the details of the book. What I can only remember is that it is a story of the misadventures of a pupil who goes to a public school. Though the book is really filled with humor — actually, I cannot remember not laughing every after reading a few paragraphs — the reader can still learn something from the book.

The Saddest Book

Chinese Cinderella is the autobiography of Adeline Yen Mah, an unwanted daughter. Practically, the story revolves around Ms. Mah who was always maltreated by her step-mother, father, and even her siblings. And wouldn’t it hurt you if your own father forgot your name? That’s how unimportant Adeline was to his parents. But no matter how many hurdles in life Adeline had encountered, she was able to prove to herself that she can do something. As a matter of fact, she is currently a doctor. A full review written by me is available in Choice.

The Much Awaited Book

Among the books that I had read, it’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by JK Rowling that I really waited for. I read the first installment of Harry Potter way back in 2001 and it was only six years later later that the final book in the series was published. I was lucky enough to get the book on the day it was released. In the last installment, Harry, Ron and Hermione try to find a way how to vanquish You-Know-Who. Rowling ended her famous tale impressively. The only bad thing is that there were only few pages left after the climax. But of course, I won’t tell you who died and survived.

The Most Entertaining Book

“Youngblood3” edited by Jorge V. Artura and Ruel S. de Vera is an anthology of articles that were published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer under the column Youngblood. The essays were written by twenty-something and below that’s why I was able to relate with their stories. The book was entertaining because the essays didn’t just focus on one topic. There was an essay about solitude, a student who fell in love with her teacher, a battered wife, and many more that really glued my eyes on the book.

The Most Disappointing Book

Christopher Priest’s “The Prestige” really disappointed me. It was adapted into a movie back in 2006 and I had seen the trailer of it (just the trailer, not the movie) and I was impressed with it. So the first time I saw a copy of it in a local bookstore, I didn’t hesitate to buy it. But after reading it, I find the book neither good nor interesting. Actually, the ending gave me the creeps. Okay, I need to shut up, I hate talking about this book.

The Most Interesting Book whose Theme is Death

I had read a number of books that has something to do with death. Three of them are by Mitch Albom, and I can say that his “The Five People you Meet iin Heaven” is the most interesting book that I had read whose theme is death. In the story, Eddie dies because of an accident in Ruby Pier, the amusement park where he works. In heaven, and as what the title suggests, he meets five people who has in one way or another had a connection with his life. My full review.

The Book that Left me Devastated for Days

Nicholas Sparks’ “A Walk to Remember” left me out of my mind for days because of the very tragic ending of the love story of Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan. Actually, because this book left me devastated, I even posted an entry entitled “A Walk to Forget“But of course, I’m pleased that I read such good novel. Indeed, it’s a very tragic story. For those who want to read a tragic tale, you should read this, I’m sure you’ll be thinking of ending your life after reading it because the resolution of the book was really depressing. Okay, I’m exaggerating.

The Best Book

Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner” is the best book I had read so far. It’s about two Afghan boys — Hassan and Amir — as close as brothers whose friendship was destroyed because of a very tragic event that happened during their teenage years. Years later, it’s in Amir’s hands if he want to be good again. This book really captivated me. I learned that friends are really precious things here on earth and we had to take care of them. If you are looking for something to read, this is the book that you should try! I have no regrets on asking my Uncle to buy this book for me.

Oh, yes, those books on the photo (you can click on it to see a larger version, Lightbox supported) are all mine. XD As much as possible I don’t call them as my collection because I buy books not to collect and put them on display but to read them, leisure myself, and learn something from them. Reading has been my hobby for years and I guess, it would be very hard for me to remove it from my system. Though others say that reading is boring especially if the book is only pure text (no illustrations), I find it fun and enjoyable… as long as the text is interesting enough.

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