For the sake of myself
being remembered by my short-term memory I write lines--overly non-sensical
lines of random thoughts burning with pessimism, nauseous hopelessness, spoofable
reflections, gibberish rants and sometimes retracting suicidal grains of food
cravings, insane cursings... I don't write to be appreciated. My fiction deserves
no attention. I type blank-spaced blahs of words, similar to forgetful lines
if ever you are reading these words, forgive yourself on why the heck you've
thought of browsing this page. You might feel depressed as I ponder my thoughts
on my life... so you better exit now and save yourself from insanity. Bow.
Sheethead
Queen
This is a blog written by the queen of Sheetheads. Wondering what that word
means? Sheethead is a clay mineral powder which is used to absorb oil and
grease from non-washable fabrics. Or maybe it means a head full of bright
semi-shitty crappy ideas. Or maybe Sheethead doesn’t mean anything.
This blog is
full-heartedly dedicated to Smokey’s hotdog, isaw, hematophobics, Master
Splinter of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to people strangled by the Sheethead,
to anti-posers, to the late Luis Taruc and other Pinoy liberalists and nationalists,
to the Visayan nephew, to paranoid loving parents, to siblings and relatives,
to Christian Bautista, to Iranians, to Quentin Tarantino, to UAAP fans who’ve
mistaken this blog as their idols’ fan site, to the wondrous sights
of the Philippines and of course, to YOU! YIHEE!
Quote
for the day:
If you do not know who I am, maybe you do not know who I am.
Thus, I’ve
crafted “Ten Magnificent Random Things You Should Know About
Me.” Only 90% of this is authentic. 1 is a lie.
1. I am a 24 year
old IT analyst in denial. I am an MIS graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University. I have been blogging since 2004 and developed my asthma while being bored with corporate life.
2. I am afraid of blood and roaches.
3. I am currently addicted to Damien Rice's, Up Dharma Down's and The Beatles' music.
4. I have mild amnesia and I am a fulfilled insomniac.
5. My dream is to be DOT's secretary someday.
6. I still dream of becoming a rockstar someday.br>
7. I crave for lobsters, isaw, kilawin, Meatshop's steak, more prawns, oyster, Lord Stow egg tart, Philadelphia cheesecake, aligue, calif maki, leche flan and tomato soup.
8. My knight will soon take me to Sagada, Mt. Pinatubo, Camiguin, Siquijor,
Sorsogon, Siargao, Isabela and Sulu.
9. Horsebackriding was my passion. Surfing is my dream.
10. I love singing DJ Alvaro's songs on videoke.
Wishlist:
Condo in Makati, Canon EOS 40D, Wii, TV Stick Tuner for iMac, stone driller, Godfather original DVD, P.O.A dress, violet Chuckies, free one month massage, Kitkat, Choco Mallows, Lord Stow egg tart lifetime supply, JBL sound system, B Series MB, violet Samsonite luggage, gold Rolex watch, all expense-paid trip to Batanes, Tokyo, Mt. Pinatubo, New Zealand, Siargao, Marinduque, Guimaras, Swiss Alps, France, Himalayas, Africa
Book-o-rama
Great Reads:
Alan Lightman, Nietzsche, Freud, Jessica Hagedorn,
Randy David, Conrado de Quiros, Dave Eggers, JD Salinger, Mark Haddon, Lourd de Veyra,
Doug Lansky, Michael Cunningham, Frank McCourt, Harper Lee, Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, Ramil Gulle, Bill Watterson, Roald Dahl, Nick Joaquin, Robert Fulghum,
Neil Gaiman, Citiatlas
Music-worthy
Lokals:
Dicta License, Up Dharma Down, Urban Dub, Sugarfree, Cynthia Alexander, Rivermaya, Radioactive Sago Project, P.O.T., Imago, Razorback, Wolfgang, Orange and Lemons, Brownbeat All Stars, Bamboo, The Bridge, Sugar Hiccups, Sheila and the Insects, Sponge Cola, Sandwich, Sponge Cola, Session Road, Kjwan, Kapatid, Barbie’s Cradle, The Teeth, Eraserheads, HYP, Joey Ayala, Gary Granada, Brownman Revival, True Faith, Side A, Parokya ni Edgar, Freestyle, South Border, Christian Bautista, Michael Cruz, Gary V.
Music-worthy Foreign Invasions:
Smashing Pumpkins, The BEATLES, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Damien Rice, Nirvana, Moonpools and Caterpillars, Aida Broadway, Foo Fighters, Oasis, 311, Our Lady Peace, Pearl Jam, Incubus, Deftones, System of A Down, Jars of Clay, Fra Lippo Lippi, Depeche Mode, The White Stripes, Janis Joplin, Boyz II Men, Silverchair, The White Stripes, Caetano Veloso, Tracy Chapman, No Doubt, Vertical Horizon, A Perfect Circle, Snow Patrol, Ne-yo, Regina Spektor, Keane, Sarah McLachlan, Ben Folds Five, Third Eye Blind, Usher, Live, Rage Against the Machine, Cold Play, Alanis Morisette, 50 Cent, Cranberries, Jewel, Tori Amos, Staind, Blur, Stevie Wonder, At The Drive-In, Nat King Cole, Goo Goo Dolls
Movie
Mania
In
The Mood For Love, Big Time!, Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, Reality Bites, Legend of 1900, Gattaca, I am David, Endo, Juno, Kite Runner, Schindler's
List, , Olivier, Olivier, Fight Club, City of God, Chungking Express, Cinema
Paradiso, Malena, Children of Heaven, Children of Paradise, Primal Fear, American
History X, Fahrenheit 9/11, Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon, Karnal, Fallen,
Catch Me If You Can, Fallen Angels, La Jette, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Amores Perros,
The Crime of Padre Amarro, Legend of the Falls, In America, American Beauty,
Snow Falling On Cedars, Amelie, Run Lola Run, Talk To Her, The Rainmaker,
Seven, Life is Beautiful, My Best Friend's Wedding, Confessions of A Dangerous
Mind, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days, Kill Bill, Godfather 1, Motorcycle Diaries,
Godfather 2, Closer, Mulan, Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest, The Others, Practical Magic, Chocolat, The Matrix 1, Shrek, Monsters,
Inc., Almost Famous, The Pianist, Girl Interrupted, Lost in Translation, Cider
House Rules, Devil's Advocate, Dead Man Walking, Philadelphia, Citizen Kane,
Not One Less, Minority Report, Sixth Sense, Big Fish, Kill Bill 2, Godfather
3, Artificial Intelligence, Killing Me Softly, Vertical Limit, L'Appartement,
Au Revoir Les Enfantes, Osama, The Adaptation, Imelda, Queen Margot, American
Rhapsody, La Vida Rosa, Before Sunset, Waking Life
Reading became an interest for me because of Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley Kids and Carolyne Keene’s Nancy Drew (*cringe*).
It started when an uncle gave me three SVK pocket books when I was in Grade 3. After that, I became one of National Bookstore’s regular customers. I thought back then that the P54 book would turn into Collector’s item someday. (To my dismay several years later, her creation became one of my greatest regrets and turned into Booksale’s unsold bargains.) Every girl seemed to buy a Francine Pascal creation. Since SweetValley is always in series, I was determined to have it all-- from 1 to infinity plus all the Super Snooper Whatever Edition. I even made a list of all the titles that I have and those that I don’t have yet. One of our pastimes in school back then was exchanging books during break times. Twins, Kids, High and University (plus the silly crappy Elizabeth’s Diary and Jessica’s Diary) were also enthusiastically read by the crappy me while I was growing up (along with the fictional world of Jessica, Elizabeth, etc.). I also tried reading Ann Martin’s BSC and even rented BSC the Movie on laser disc. I envied those American girls babysitting. During grade school, I attempted to put up my own club. We weren’t babysitters or whatever just kids trying to have a kids’ version of frat lead by the crazy moi. I collected a peso a day for our parties and games. One time I was scolded by my teacher because of the complaint of my member’s parent during a PTA meeting of the “lavish collections” I’ve imposed for irrelevant parties. It humiliated me when my teacher asked me to stand up and explain our little group’s purposes. Heeheee, I was so silly (and it was BSC’s fault).
High school came and I became interested to another genre of books. A barkada introduced me to the “horrific” R.L. Stine’s Fear Street. Titles like “Who Killed The Homecoming Queen,” “Killer’s Kiss,” “Midnight Diary,” “Wrong Number,” “Wrong Number 2,” “What Holly Heard” seemed to be interesting at that time. As real freshmen losers, we would exchange R.L. Stine’s horrors. I stopped reading them when I realized that it wasn’t “suspenseful” as I’ve thought it was and started reading Cherie Bennet’s Teen Angels. I was fascinated with James Dean and angels in heaven. As a real follower, I even wrote the author and the author wrote me back. Chicken Soup also became a trend that time. But my sentimental self must have gotten tired of the syrupy stories.
I don’t know if my high school alma mater should be blamed but through its various reading programs and assignments, more than having an interest in varied literatures, I learned how to shortcut reading aka. read-the-ending-first, be picky on titles and have phobia on thick books. Despite all those bad reading habits, the bottom line is that MCHS instilled in me a certain fondness on reading books. We would have book reviews per grading (I can’t remember but at least twice a year) and I had to pray really hard that I’ll get a decent book that was 1) dated on the 90s, 2) has no more than 100 pages 3) has a readable crammable format and 4) has a ready summary in the library. Most of the time I didn’t read it from cover to cover and fictionalize its summary for our book reports. During those days, I would also pray that my teacher do not know the book or else my grade could have been sabotaged. For years we also have SRA for our English class. For a certain day, each one of us would read English compositions on our own from an SRA box (I forgot what it stands for) and answer comprehension questions after our readings. You have to answer correctly so that you could move to the next reading level. All I can remember is that levels are in colors. Everybody aimed to read articles on the highest color/level. Most articles were boring while some are really interesting. But I can’t remember anything now. We also have to read compositions of Jane Eyre, an Indian legendary writer (forgive me, I have mild amnesia), Shakespeare, Greek authors, Amy Tan, Lualhati Bautista, Jose Rizal, Amado Hernandez, John Steinbeck, Jane Austen, etc. Thanks to the Book Notes, it saved me more than anything at that time. I also became fascinated with Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Roald Dahl’s children books, Robert Fulghum’s “cherish-this-life” books and J.D. Salinger’s creations. I can’t remember borrowing a book from our library but my barkada used the air-conditioned room to research on aswangs and ghost stories during very hot days.
During college, I loved Paulo Coehlo… but got tired of him after a year. Tuesdays With Morrie also became depressing for me. Memoirs of A Geisha and A Heartbreaking Work of A Staggering Genius also became memorable for me. Now, my book collection continues to grow amidst my everyday reading laziness and eyestrain. Thanks to Jessica Hagedorn, Lourd de Veyra, Doug Lansky’s funny travelogues, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bill Watterson, Randy David and Conrado de Quiros… I am learning to “re-love” reading.
One of these days, if I’d have the energy, craziness and time, I’d definitely read “House Of A Thousand Screams (Fear Street),” “The Best Thanksgiving Ever (SVK)” or “Kristy And The Dirty Diapers(BSC).” I don’t recommend you to follow my suicidal craving for my old baduy passions. But if you want to read, go buy Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. You won’t regret it.
