You Knew Very Well What ....Was Coming Next
I saw life again when I saw the spontaneous combustion caused by the radiance of downtown Manila. This time, it was in the evening. I took the Quiapo-Cubao jeep and even chatted with the jeepney driver on how I did a couple of job hunts to no avail. I explained how I was applying for Abs-Cbn Channel 2 , and hopefully once I get accepted there, I could soon apply for BBC and work in England. With all the pain and the confuson that I'm going through (whether it may be a direct heartache or a pain that I feel out of somebody's fall from grace) , I hope that I could finally do that, ending all the unnecessary heartbreak , provided that the solutions to these problems are hardly sublime, especially here in The Philippines.
Anyway, I saw Intramuros with the streetlights shining in front of me. I don't know if I had Rocky Votolato's White Daisies Passing stuck in my head that time or not( That's the song that seems to be stuck in my head whenever I'm a so-called drug moment, whether that may be a trip to Downtown Manila, or a nice time with a friend or a girlfriend or a song that feeds your soul or what not). But I felt life apart from the things that I think I could control. I felt the beauty of the city, despite all its bitterness, when I saw the streetlights of Intramuros, and the lights that brighten up the Manila City Hall, reminding me of a Smiths song, in which like Manila, makes bitterness and alienation still sound funny ,witty and beautiful. Other than that, I became fascinated with that big ship that's sailed in the dock near The Manila Hotel. It turns out to be a floating hotel. One of the cops on duty explained it to me. I asked if I could enter that ship, but it's for guests only. Being the big mouth that I may be at times, I just said "Oh. VIP".
I'm lucky today and I just finished celebrating my birthday, so I had enough money to spend on a kalesa or a rig being pulled by a horse. A ride costs around 1 to 200 bucks. On board the kalesa, I felt uneasy at the coachman whipping his big brown horse . I mean, won't PETA be furious about this? I landed at Padre Faura street, where I visited Solidaridad,the bookstore of acclaimed Filipino writer F.Sionil Jose. I wasn't able to talk to him. I was even stupid enough to tell the receptionist that I'm just a "tagahanga". A fan. Now I have a reason to call them and to talk to F.Sionil : I'm going to read his novel,Mass ( which my friend, Paolo said, is kinda like a "Pinoy Catcher In The Rye"). I'll probably use that book and Gagamba as a reference for a future interview that I will conduct with him, which I will submit as an AdBusters contribution. I've already read Gagamba and despite it being "too realistic" for me, I was moved by his portrayal of Gagamba, a crippled Mabini Parking attendant,who is the only major character in the novel who lived to see another day. So I have two pending interviews. One with Nomy Lamm and one with F.Sionil Jose ( that is, if he agrees to talk with me).
I ended the film by purchasing the video cds of Garden State and An American Rhapsody, plus this book by Beth Lisick, entitled Everybody Into The Pool. I still feel uneasy with it, for it showed Lisick's reality of being an achiever, even a homecoming princess who relegated to the limbs of American counterculture. I feel uneasy for I remembered the violence of high school and being only in the middle of being either a well-rounded role model or one a grunge-loving outsider by choice, which isn't really that good. Still, I guess I can relate to her. I'm a good , sensitive kid who happened to grow some muscles, or that novice athlete who goes boxing , lifts weights pretty well yet is one of those extras in the track and field team, or even that kid who can't get along with the rigorous and tedious takes on the academic, yet never stops thinking at all. Idiot savant? I dont know. I dont want to know. Who creates these terms anyway? If I meet him, I don't know whether I should show him my boxer side or I'll just annoy him by thinking too much. Anyway, bona serra
Anyway, I saw Intramuros with the streetlights shining in front of me. I don't know if I had Rocky Votolato's White Daisies Passing stuck in my head that time or not( That's the song that seems to be stuck in my head whenever I'm a so-called drug moment, whether that may be a trip to Downtown Manila, or a nice time with a friend or a girlfriend or a song that feeds your soul or what not). But I felt life apart from the things that I think I could control. I felt the beauty of the city, despite all its bitterness, when I saw the streetlights of Intramuros, and the lights that brighten up the Manila City Hall, reminding me of a Smiths song, in which like Manila, makes bitterness and alienation still sound funny ,witty and beautiful. Other than that, I became fascinated with that big ship that's sailed in the dock near The Manila Hotel. It turns out to be a floating hotel. One of the cops on duty explained it to me. I asked if I could enter that ship, but it's for guests only. Being the big mouth that I may be at times, I just said "Oh. VIP".
I'm lucky today and I just finished celebrating my birthday, so I had enough money to spend on a kalesa or a rig being pulled by a horse. A ride costs around 1 to 200 bucks. On board the kalesa, I felt uneasy at the coachman whipping his big brown horse . I mean, won't PETA be furious about this? I landed at Padre Faura street, where I visited Solidaridad,the bookstore of acclaimed Filipino writer F.Sionil Jose. I wasn't able to talk to him. I was even stupid enough to tell the receptionist that I'm just a "tagahanga". A fan. Now I have a reason to call them and to talk to F.Sionil : I'm going to read his novel,Mass ( which my friend, Paolo said, is kinda like a "Pinoy Catcher In The Rye"). I'll probably use that book and Gagamba as a reference for a future interview that I will conduct with him, which I will submit as an AdBusters contribution. I've already read Gagamba and despite it being "too realistic" for me, I was moved by his portrayal of Gagamba, a crippled Mabini Parking attendant,who is the only major character in the novel who lived to see another day. So I have two pending interviews. One with Nomy Lamm and one with F.Sionil Jose ( that is, if he agrees to talk with me).
I ended the film by purchasing the video cds of Garden State and An American Rhapsody, plus this book by Beth Lisick, entitled Everybody Into The Pool. I still feel uneasy with it, for it showed Lisick's reality of being an achiever, even a homecoming princess who relegated to the limbs of American counterculture. I feel uneasy for I remembered the violence of high school and being only in the middle of being either a well-rounded role model or one a grunge-loving outsider by choice, which isn't really that good. Still, I guess I can relate to her. I'm a good , sensitive kid who happened to grow some muscles, or that novice athlete who goes boxing , lifts weights pretty well yet is one of those extras in the track and field team, or even that kid who can't get along with the rigorous and tedious takes on the academic, yet never stops thinking at all. Idiot savant? I dont know. I dont want to know. Who creates these terms anyway? If I meet him, I don't know whether I should show him my boxer side or I'll just annoy him by thinking too much. Anyway, bona serra
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