Life is Good

Life is Good

I got home at 1:00 pm, right after lunch. I can get to relax, eat my leftover rainbow cake and sulk in cable movie channels.

The bad part is...it's hot and I have an intense HEADACHE bordering to migraine.

Once migraine hits, I wouldn't be able to function anymore so best if I get home now.

Thank you for my flexible job. Thank you for the giving me the time to rest. I think I'll have a migraine..but at least I'm home.  

I love my IPAD

I got my IPAD 3 in the summer of 2012 while I was in Hong Kong. I won that from an online Apple Lottery system after a month of trying because everyone was crazy for it. Well, I was not. I’ve always been a laptop person if I need to connect and surf. I initially found IPAD to be a trend and nothing more. I just wanted to get it at that time to test my luck and eventually sell it in the Philippines. When I finally bought my Macbook air, I got lucky and bought the IPAD 3 a week later.

I opened the IPAD and looked at it like I don’t know anything to do with it. I was not overly interested. The first thing I did there obviously was surf. Then I downloaded apps that meant something to me.  Then I started surfing through my IPAD everyday, checked and answered emails everyday, watch videos and research everyday while I’m on my pajamas and lying down. My brother borrowed it from time to time and inserted games. And the rest is history.

I am not a techie, but I was completely wrong with the IPAD. It changed my life. I do my travel bookings quickly. I surf while lying on the bed. I shop while lying on bed. I can quickly just drag and drop that piece of tablet. Take photos with it. Take it with me wherever, whenever. It’s an electronic book-laptop-game platform in one.

My mother who was a cavewoman before needs to have my father’s IPAD with her 24/7. She does her online shopping with the IPAD while watching news. She answers her emails there and watch re-runs of her favorite shows. The IPAD was originally my father’s, but she indirectly claimed ownership to it.

IPAD became my portable gateway to everything online. Now that I’m gearing up for my Hong Kong Trip in two weeks, I’m thinking of getting the IPAD Air!

Well, as to my laptop…well…I’m lucky to use it once a week.

Weird Withdrawal

There is a current constant effort on my part not to splurge on books until I get my book backlogs down on a considerable number. Since the year has started slow for me in the reading department due to work and life and everything else, it will be quite a challenge to get things down. My only source of hope is that it’s still the beginning of the year. There is no need to panic.

But I’m quite impressed that I haven’t bought books lately, not even one, for the past 3 weeks. It could be the strong desire to save and be true to my resolution. There are so many great titles that I have already acquired that need to be read anyways. Or is it because of E-Books?

My rekindled and renewed romance with e-books is partly to blame and be thanked for. Almost all the new titles out there are already available on E-Books sites for free! With E-Books, I don’t have to spend immediately not unless I really want my own physical copy of the book, which is supposed to be so good that I want to spend for it.  I won’t increase my already bloated book tower backlogs. I can easily feed my shopping desires with only a fast internet and an IPAD on hand. Most importantly I can get to risk a lot since I don’t need to waste resources.

I already have multiple collections on my IPAD and I’m finding the proper control not to go crazy in bookstores as before. But don’t get me wrong. Books are still the best thing. I still find myself wanting to visit the stores and inevitably purchase books I’ve really thought about. If my goal this year is curb my expenses, manage my shelf space and be more exposed to books real time, then (I never thought I would say this but) Thank God for E-Books!

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

This book is a hands down classic love story. It even became one of the most classic love story movies adapted on the big screen starred by cinema big-weights Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. I’ve always wanted to read this book. I’ve somehow penciled it in my mind, but it just didn’t materialize. And I’ve seen the movie played in HBO a couple of times (years ago!) but I made a conscious effort to skip it because I had to be honest, it looked pretty “country” and boring. All I know about The Bridges of Madison County before reading the book was that it’s a love story of two middle aged folks, which I wouldn’t assume really be compared to a rush of a roller coaster ride.

Boy was I wrong. The book proved me wrong!

If the book is about a quiet love story of two middle aged folks in the country, I was a bit surprised that it was not a bore at all. The novel was short technically a novella of 154 pages in E-Book, but the words and pages were used wisely. There were no lengthy histories of characters nor was there any excessively flamboyant use of narration. It was straight to the point, concise yet very poetic. One of the no-nonsense love stories I’ve ever read without losing the sense of passion and raw emotion. Being straight to the point, the book is very easy to read, but conversations between these two people and their raw thoughts and emotions told in a 3^rd person perspective supply the poetic high and romance that we rarely see nor experience in this day and age. The words of Robert Kincaid to Francesca captured me that no Edward Cullen could utter. You’ll immediately feel affinity and support for Francesca who was initially a complete stranger to the reader who transformed from being a simple, country and plain housewife to an individual woman who has dreams and inner strength. Robert Kincaid is not your typical prince charming either. He doesn’t impose himself nor tries to sweep you off your feet. He just does with his innate independence, gentleness, sincerity and intellect. Beneath his character’s strength and passion, is still a man of control.

The story started off with Robert Kincaid’s journey as a photo-journalist. From the get-go, we find that he is a unique individual and very independent. In one of his trips to cover wonderfully constructed bridges all over the country, he crossed paths with Francesca, a farm wife, who was incidentally sitting on her porch enjoying her solitary day. Francesca ended up assisting Robert Kincaid to get to the Roseman Bridge and thus the beginning of their 4-day romance. 

I have mentioned that the book was short, but from their initial observation of each other and their first interaction, the reader could get to feel the intensity of their attraction. But it’s not the interaction of teenagers and those individuals only up for a fleeting romance. Their attraction is deep and controlled. Probably this wouldn’t have worked well in 20 something characters when they still have the world at the palm of their hand. What makes this romance interesting is that here are two middle aged people who have a good sense of who they are and who have their own responsibilities and their own ‘lives’ to lead. The gestures and scenes in the book are magnified. I loved the scene when Francesca was in Robert Kincaid’s truck having a cigarette. I knew they had to be together!

Robert Kincaid pulled a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, shook one halfway out, and offered it to her. For the second time in five minutes, she surprised herself and took the cigarette. What am I doing? she thought. She had smoked years ago but gave it up under the steady thump of criticism from Richard. He shook out another one, put it between his lips, and flicked a gold Zippo lighter into flame, holding it toward her while he kept his eyes on the road.

      She cupped her hands around the lighter to hold the wind in abeyance and touched his hand to steady it against the bouncing of the truck. It took only an instant for her to light the cigarette, but that was long enough to feel the warmth of his hand and the tiny hairs along the back of it. She leaned back and he swung the lighter toward his own cigarette, expertly forming his wind cup his, taking hands off the steering wheel for no more than a second.

With Francesca’s invitation for Robert to join her for supper and quiet company, it already gives the reader a glimpse of how powerful she can be. Francesca is a woman of ideals, responsibilities and morale, but she is also a woman capable of having dreams and passion. You know she will sin, but the reader would immediately fall for them so much that her husband (Richard) can just very well be a figment or a trivial fact of her life. While beneath Robert Kincaid’s independent and aloof persona, comes his gentleness and willingness to be tied down.

And did I mention that the most interesting part of this is that they were only together, exhibiting deep physical relationship and care, for only four days. They met on a Monday and ended their love affair on a Thursday. But what’s amazing is that in those four days we know that they should be together and no time was wasted. It was like finding your soul mate after years of searching and wondering but after the fourth day, it is inevitable to say goodbye. Robert Kincaid asked Francesca to tell him to make things right. He could be man enough to talk to Francesca’s husband and take her with him. But Francesca is a woman of responsibilities and sensitivity. She knew their affair might only last for four days but her relationship with him will last forever without tainting or giving any burden to her family or limiting Robert Kincaid’s independence.  On the fourth day of their separation, they carried heavy hearts and they both shed quiet tears, but probably that’s what sets them apart. Their passionate affair, their whirlwind romance, romance of a middle aged people, transcends time and space. They have the strength to endure pain and sacrifice. Their view of love transcends physicality and acknowledgement.

They never got together again, but the readers know that after their four-day affair, they already had each other forever. Francesca carried on being a wife and a mother contented with memories, old photographs and that pink dress she wore on that night they danced in her kitchen. While Robert Kincaid continued to be vagabond, taking pictures and never forgetting her.  Until their respective deaths, they knew that they had each other and the memories of those four days of happiness and passionate love were enough.

Before one starts to read their story, there is a chapter in the book that serves as a form of a caveat. The writer mentioned that for one to appreciate this story, one has to have an open mind. Romantic cynics and realists might not be able to ingest the words and accept that the memories of a four day romance were as real and as true as it can be. This story will reflect the image of our relationships if we indeed have found the Robert Kincaids and Francescas of our lives. It took them years and almost forever just to find each other and yet to separate after four days. But for them it’s enough for at least they know they have found the real love they deserve. 

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

This book came to my reading list because I was searching for the best horror-mystery novels to replenish my collection and this title came up twice. Plus the cover is eerie.

The story turned out to be more than a murder thriller than a paranormal one. Although there is one element that gives a supernatural distinction that sets it apart from the mainstream serial killer fare. The serial killer named Harper can travel through time with an aid of a house he magnificently stumbled upon in Chicago 1930’s. Harper is your typical psychotic serial killer. He kills the girls brutally while leaving relics to identify him by, which is quite egotistic on his part because with his time traveling ability, it’s one to a million that he will be caught unless he is that sloppy. He derives his kick from the gruesome acts and relishes the hunt. He feeds the house with the deaths of “shining girls”, girls who will make a difference in this world. I never quite got the explanation behind this force nor was his history uncovered. He started off as a sick serial killer and ended off as one.

He sets off killing girls in various eras, which gives the book a multitude of settings and landscapes. In some parts, you could empathize with Harper’s sense of power when he can wrong a right, visit places way before his time and witness the rise and fall of a period. One thing that centered on this story is by closing the unfinished loop when he failed to kill one girl named Kirby. Kirby, in her adult years, turned out to be this sarcastic scarred woman out to make sense and hunt her killer while working as an intern in a newspaper bureau. The two main characters, the victim and the killer, perform the confusing search dance hoping to collide with each other and close the gap.

This story is not your typical serial-murder story. At some points, the method of time traveling gives the order of the story complexity and detail. This book needs the reader’s full attention and imagination. It will also not serve answers but questions. What about this time traveling house? Why would the house need deaths of the shining girls? Why is Harper the way he is? Well, it’s best not to ask and embrace these given facts to be able to move on. It’s an interesting book, but it’s not for everybody. I might read it again sometime. It took me almost two weeks to finish it. 

Book Backlogs: The Never Ending Story

Old Post from Laptop last January,

I admit that I’m starting at a pretty slow pace in bringing my book logs down this January. I’m not entirely panicking that this is happening though since my 2014 jumpstarted in quite a positive note at work coming from a 3-week Christmas vacation. What did I expect? Work came in like a non-stopping train full of goal setting, expectations and dealing with pretty deluded people to achieve greatness this year.  Mostly the first few weeks of January were spent in resting and setting things back to a decent normalcy. That would probably be the reason why I don’t have enough leisure time to fully enjoy a high-speed reading experience not like last December. But I’m still pretty optimistic. It’s still January and I still have a full year to bring the book logs down. I'm not in a race, but one of my goals this year is to read as much, hopefully devise a worthy personal library scheme and bring the book logs down.

Reading as much is not a problem. I am addicted to books. I read almost anything. I have a good supply of unread books at home and resources on hand to get me to read. I have time (mostly) and I can easily swap my social life to a couple of hours of reading.

Devising a worthy library is still ongoing. I thought I would be able to nail this last December, but well at least I started. I purchased a newly improved log book and I’m searching for free library software I can get my hands into. If not, there’s always Microsoft Access or Excel.  This will be a long and ongoing process. I need to find shelves and space, but I’m getting there.

Bringing my book backlog down…well that is a never ending story. And probably the only never ending story that bibliophiles and bookworms can relate to.

Roughly speaking, just by looking at my tower of books, a couple of paper bags underneath my desk full of books, two bedside drawers full of books and some stash of books secretly and subtly placed in my brother’s shelves….I roughly have a 200 book backlog. Okay, maybe around 300-400 if you count the neatly placed books at my shelf that were bought 5 years ago. And I’m afraid I’m not exaggerating. My room had become a storage room with a bed. You wouldn’t even think someone (a girl) sleeps in there. My parents haven’t seen my room lately and I would know if they did because they will freak out.

Friends and family would say that I have enough books to read in a lifetime. That is very true. I won’t contest that, but to say NOT to buy books is an ongoing challenge. The truth is, bibliophiles and book lovers would always have a reason to buy good books whether they need to or not. Any normal person would see it as an addiction and irrational behavior, but we all have our own quirks. This is ours.

I buy books because I would want to read them someday and that someday may come any day so I need to have them. That’s always a mental security of mine. There’s always this nagging feeling in me that I need to have a good collection and supply of books because I’ll never know when the mood and the need will arise. I know this sounds pretty neurotic but I need endless options and extensive supply of books within my reach. If one day I wake up and decide to jump into a good fantasy novel, I have a couple of Patrick Rothfuss, Terry Pratchett and R. Heinlein to buzz me up. (Yes, I haven’t read any of their works yet, but I have some of their works already). Or if I’m feeling Sci-Fi, even if it’s rare, I do have George Orwell or Aldous Huxley. If I’m feeling historical fiction, contemporary or romance (Yes, I do have my own humble collection of Deveraux, Litton, Coulter) or probably I can always delve into classics, horrors and mainstream formula best sellers. I encouraged my brother to read so I can share with him the young adult fiction that’s become so popular and comforting. The point is, I need to have the right books within my grasp. Call it hoarding. I call it collecting.

But unfortunately I’m already lacking space and I’m struggling enough as it is in fixing my library without additional books coming in. It already comes a point that I’m too overwhelmed or I really can’t distinctly remember the books that I’ve bought. There’s a great need to organize my life and my book shelf. And one way of doing that is by putting control in my book expenditures. There should be a constant effort on my part to NOT buy so much books until I get my book backlogs to at least a manageable level (Like a hundred probably). It’s time to explore my library more than ravage bookstores. If every week I tend to buy 10 books or if by every pay day I get to splurge, probably I can only limit to at least 2 books per pay day.  Control against book splurging is an ongoing process.

So this post is a testament that I recognize the need to organize my shelf, read more (better pace) and to consciously control myself in purchasing books on an impulse. This is not to say that I won’t buy books, that’s a serious unnecessary withdrawal, but I’m just saying that I won’t need to buy 10 books per week or not every trip to the bookstore constitutes buying something. I need to practice control and backlog management. This officially starts now.