The Devil Wears Prada

As we all know, it now has a movie tie-in, which I hope, is better than the book.  The story’s pacing was so sloooow that I got bored most of the time and made me fall asleep.  The author allotted a big part of the story to relegating the unreasonableness, bitchy, and devilish attitude of Miranda (thank you for ruining my middle name! aarrghh!!!), Andy’s boss, that somewhere in the middle, I wanted to ask the author, “Hey, where the hell are you planning to take me, the reader?  You’ve already enumerated one too many designer names that I never heard of in my entire life but there seems to be no progress to your story?”.  Hopefully, when I see the movie, I’ll get to see and appreciate those designer clothes and accessories that were described like they were some kind of holy items that deserve some amount of worship worthy of the gods. 

After like 300 plus pages, the story finally changed pace.  Andy had some realizations about her work and how her whole life has revolved around Miranda in spite of the fact that she hates her with all her heart.  Even so, she remained committed to her job and went on neglecting her family, her BF and her best friend so she could finish the one year sentence with Miranda and be recommended as a writer to her most coveted The New Yorker.  But the author gave me a series of disappointments right through the end.  Andy realized things way too late, her entire life was ruined already and the one year was almost up when she told Miranda to go fuck herself.  It seems like Andy has lost all her dignity as a person to nothing in the end since she was not able to get the benefit of working for Miranda at all.  I would have loved it more had she done the fuck yourself thing to Miranda early on, when she was not that insulted yet by all the belittling and mean things a boss could possibly do to an assistant.  Moreover, she had said that thing right after Miranda has shown some amount of being a person who has feelings so to speak.  The fuck yourself didn’t even teach Miranda a thing.  She’s still that same bitchy boss right till the end.  Andy indeed became a writer though not for New Yorker and she lost her boyfriend too.  What happened to Christian? I also don’t know what he’s role is there.  He was introduced as a big time author well-known in the field one would think that he would help Andy get out of her hell job.  But there’s no such thing.  He just became the band-aid for some time when Andy and Alex (the BF) took a break. 

Boo! I was really disappointed with this book.  Poor plot and too much extravagance.  The movie’s got to be better!

Discovering Zambales, my Family and Friends, and Myself

My DKS best buds and I went home to my beloved hometown, Palauig, Zambales.  I was quite hesitant to let them come with me at this time since we can’t enjoy the “pride” of Zambales during August – no sumptuous mangoes to satisfy our forever hungry mouths, no calm beaches to let us swim in peace, not even the sun to help thaw and excrete the thickening fats in our bodies (eeeww!!!). 

 
But lo and behold! Even without those perks (which are the only attraction our dear Palauig can offer aside from its restful atmosphere), we had one helluva great time! We really are so easy to please.  Food, laughter, videoke and of course, the camera, keep us happy and sane altogether.  Hahaha!

In that little time, I’m glad to have my friends acquainted with the place where I had my formative years and hone me into the person I am now and get a deeper perspective of the person I am inside out.  As for me, I got to experience that nostalgic feeling when one sees something and a memory somewhere in our brains is tapped bringing back sensations from a distant place and time that is still close to heart.  Ooohhh! I love that feeling! It’s like everything and everyone is alive once again that a smile involuntarily forms in my lips and my heart feels like it’s being crushed in an unexpectedly pleasurable way.

God! I wish I can have the best of both worlds of Manila and Palauig all at the same time! But then again, I can’t.  It doesn’t matter anyway so long as I am in the company of very good friends who are amazing persons in their own way, and a loving family who showers me with everything I can ask for, life can never be more perfect!  Awwww!!!!

I’m so thankful that in the very political and competitive corporate world, I am able to find truer than the truest friends and even form friendships with friends of friends.  J  Gels, you just don’t know how you make me want to face the daily grind at work. No matter how tempting my bed looks, I get the spirit to drag my ass to work because I know I’ll laugh my lungs out with you guys even over the silliest things (like a *fart*), which makes my day and lets me forget my worries even for a while.  I’m even happier that Mama and Papa got to meet you.  At least they’ll be at peace knowing that I’m with good (though crazy) company.  I just wish you’ll meet my entire big family too next time so we can all sing and laugh together til we drop!!!

ROT SISTAHS FOREVER!!!

What now?

I did what is probably the bravest act I could possibly do.  I said goodbye and I said it first.  No holding back, a goodbye with all its finality.  True, I still have doubts, fears, what ifs, endless questions left unanswered and will probably be left that way forever.  But I have to start learning to live my life on my own.  No chitchats, no notes, not even a smile, a wink or a meaningless space in between.    What effect it has on you, I’ll never know.  It probably wouldn’t make a difference to you at all although it’s taking a total makeover of my whole routine.  Emotions spread through me at lightning speed with no premonitions whatsoever that they will come, no time for me to prepare, no resilient brain cells to let each memory pass.   But, surprisingly, I am OK.  As in A-OK! I find myself looking forward to what the future holds for me.  In spite of it all, the fact that there’s more to life than this is impressed on my being, the experience fully accepted as one of those steps a person has to take to move on higher up and closer to his/her dreams.  Although when you ask me now, what dreams I have and what exactly it is I want my life to be, I probably cannot answer as easily as my 3 year old nephew could answer on what he wants to eat among the choices laid out in front of him.  But I do know that I have a dream, lots of them for that matter.  I just need some time to go back to those times when my plans were all laid out like a red carpet in front of me and just waiting for me to walk on it with the careful steps and all the dignity of a deserving and more learned being.    As of now, I’m taking one step, or baby steps, to put it more accurately, at a time.  I’m absorbing my life story as it unfolds page by page and not trying to trick fate by fast forwarding to the next chapter or peeping at the future climaxes, anticlimaxes, conflicts, or even the final act.  I’ll let the sands of time fall at its own pace and allow the thrill and suspense of not knowing what the future holds ignite more positive emotions and energy into the chronicle of my life.

Little Indiscretions

  I just finished reading “Little Indiscretions, A Delectable Mystery” by Carmen Posadas.  I stumbled upon it in Powerbooks and the synopsis piqued my interest.  It went like this:

“While careering a party in a villa on the Costa del Sol, Nestor Chaffino, pastry chef to the rich and famous, is found frozen to death in a walk-in freezer, a notebook in his hand.  The guests gathered that evening are the natural suspects…and it turns out that plenty of them have motive.  It seems the unassuming Nestor had decided to publish a compendium of gastronomic secrets that revealed, along with the culinary tricks of the trade, more than a few damning details of the hosts’ and houseguests’ private lives.  To what lengths would they go to ensure that Nestor maintained a permanent sense of discretion?”

My expectation for this book was that it would send me rolls of laughter for the unseemingly ways on which the chef discovers the deepest darkest secrets of the rich and famous.  I thought it would somewhat be a light mystery with a touch of humor that revolves around the food that the chef serves. 

My hunches were all mistaken.  The first part of the book was quite dragging specially in introducing the characters of the story.  Admittedly, the writing style in weaving the story was quite different from other mystery novels I’ve read.  For that, the author should be praised.  But just about the start, it could be gleaned that the whole book wouldn’t be so much of a light read at all. 

The author’s ability to rouse the interest of the readers and to make their brain cells work a little is praiseworthy, specially right in the middle of the book when the story slowly unfolds in the pages.  But when I reached the end, I was quite disappointed in how the story culminated and the motives to which the perpetrator of the crime had in letting the chef freeze to death.  As with most mystery novels, it was unexpected.  But I hate the fact that the story ended without so much as letting the reader know what happened to the main characters after finding out their little secrets.  It’s as if the chef’s death was put to waste along with the talent that he has. 

All in all, the story was quite unique with a masterful blend of coincidences that weaved each of the characters’ lives.  Although, in my opinion, the author could have made a better and fairer ending that wouldn’t leave the readers hanging of unresolved conflicts and the death of the chef more worthwhile. 

Books Galore!!!

Books have always been my companion ever since I was a kid.  I don’t actually know where I got my passion for reading but I think it was primarily because as a kid, I was already surrounded by books, add that to the fact that cable TV wasn’t “in” yet during my childhood days (spoken like a true adult! Haha!).  Our parents invested in story books, encyclopedia for kids, Bible stories and a set of those cute little stories for kids like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and titles from Dr. Seuss.  Yeah, Green Eggs and Ham was one of my favorites and we still have them up to now.  I can’t count how many times I’ve read them as a kid and now, as an aunt to my nephews and niece. 

I recently made an inventory of my books and found out that I already have a little over a hundred books! Whoopee!!! It’s always been my dream to have a vast collection of books of all types that will fill up a whole room with shelves reaching the ceilings! Phew! I think I’ll have millions more to spend to have those books and billions more to build the library to house them.  Hehe! Owel, at least I have a hundred to start with.  I’ll surely be making Powerbooks rich!  

I realized that mostly, I remember the books I’ve bought with my own money, meaning, when I was working already.  (Now I know where most of my pay goes! Haha!)  At this time, I think I’ve become a mature reader.  I started to be adventurous and read books that no one has recommended to me.  I also started reading chick lit, which I love reading in between the more serious books that wrack my brain, stir my emotions or even bring tears to my eyes. 

My first chick lit, which I enjoyed immensely, is the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella.  Chick lit is the feel good type set in the 21^st century, with a heroine that depicts several characteristics of the not-so-perfect modern ordinary woman and of course, with a spice of romance on the side.  I enjoy Sophie’s books very much.  A very light read that would send you loads of laughter at the plot or maybe even at the sheer stupidity of the lead that makes the story more plausible than it actually is. 

I also have the more “serious” books, which make you reflect on life, love, relationships and even sex.  Of this type, I love Paulo Coelho’s work very much.  His books always makes me ponder on things and helps me realize a lot about the realities of life that I somehow deny as true or plainly take for granted. 

To take me to different worlds, I also bought books like Shanghai Baby, Memoirs of a Geisha, and books by Haruki Murakami (Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood).  My interest in foreign cultures has always been as keen as a teenager’s interest in sex (haha! What an analogy!).  Since I can’t afford to travel the world at this time yet, what better way to immerse in their culture than to read their stories, right? I’m planning to get a copy of Bangkok 8 next. 

Of course, the Harry Potter series would never be missing.  J.K. Rowling is a genius for having concocted the whole series.  It’s as if I’m actually living in the world of witches and wizards while reading her books.  I can’t wait for the last book to be published.  I’d get my copy the minute it becomes available here in the Philippines. 

During my elementary years, I was so engrossed by Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, which is probably why I still look for the mystery and thrill that stories like the DaVinci Code, the Bourne Trilogy and Jeffrey Archer books bring in.  I still have a lot of other authors to try.  In time, I’ll get my hands on you. 

As a finance person, I also grabbed copies of books about money like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Smart Women Finish Rich and even the Financial Times’ Guide to Investing.  Haha! My geekiness really shows.  I hope the state of my financial affairs will also reflect what I learned on this subject. 

Like every girl, I also went through the stage when romance novels that have those erotic covers are the hit.  Haha! I only have a few of these since I’ve started reading these types at an early age.  No wonder! Haha!

Mind you! I also have spiritual books like the Purpose Driven Life (I have 2 copies, both are gifts) and Crossing the Thresholds of Faith by Pope John Paul II.       

A collection won’t be complete without the classics like Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Milan Kundera.  In fact, the oldest book in my possession is a copy of Pride and Prejudice previously owned by my aunt, which dates back to 1968. 

I have How To books, Psych books, even the text (as in SMS) book, basta lahat!!! I practically grab all the books I can lay my hands on when my wallet permits.  

  

I’m not a TV person.  I can live without TV and the movies but I surely can’t live without my precious books.