1. Avatar

As soon as the Metro Manila Film Festival was announced over I immediately ran to the nearest cinema and watched James Cameron’s Avatar (right after work, of course).  I had no idea what it was about, I didn’t even see the trailer.  All I knew was that it was a James Cameron film that took almost a decade to make and was inspired by the CGI from the LoTR.

What did I think of it?  One word: beautiful.  It’s ridiculous that all that came from one man’s brain and now I’m sort of regretting my decision not to fork out the extra bucks to see it in 3D (I’m a cheapskate and I seriously didn’t think it’d be that good).  I don’t know how they did it but there was such seamless integration between the CG’s and the actors that it just blew my mind away.

For the first time in months, I actually left the cinemas smiling.  Smiling.  Sure it was all kinds of cheesy and predictable but for some reason, James Cameron made it work.  Although there was one scene at the end where I expected the director to render the main villain unable to use his legs, just for irony’s sake.  But meh, he’s the creative genius and I’m just an audience.

The good thing about the movie was also the bad thing about it: it was very much formulaic.  It almost felt like a Disney film in that aspect that right off the bat you get to see who gets killed and who gets to survive.  But I think that’s also a good thing as the plot wasn’t overly complicated into smithereens.  Personally I think it’s a nod to the director’s self control to keep the plot that simple.

And yeah, people have told me that it was just Pocahontas in 3D, I’m very aware.  BUT since I’ve never actually seen Pocahontas (I’ve only read a 50page comic book that my mother bought m when I was a kid), I can’t really jump into the throng of the masses screaming, “copycat”, now can I?

Another iffy thing about the movie is the fact that personally I felt that the whole thing was just too long.  Sure it was pretty but I think that they could’ve afforded to shave off at least thirty minutes off of the final reel.  There were some parts in the middle that I could’ve lived without seeing.

All in all I’d still give it a 9/10.  I’m still very much willing to see it again in 3D (God-willing).  This movie makes me happy because this was the first official film I’ve seen for 2010 and wow; I think that this is a very good omen for this year, movie-wise.

2010!

So I was messing around during one particular long “avail” time in the call center that I work for now, doodling and such.  I though, hey why not make a list?  So I jotted down some random goals/resolutions for 2010.  They’re not arranged in any sort of logical way and I guess it’ll be more fun to check on this list at the end of 2010.

1. To be more “open”, emotionally speaking (not financially LOL).  I have a problem with conveying emotions and I get into a lot of trouble for it.  Must. Work. Hard.

2. Try to blog more.  Not everyday but at least once a week even though they’re just messy wrap-ups of what’s happened.

3. By the end of the year I must have taken out the stick shift car out into for a long drive, despite all the ‘no’s from my brother.

4. By the end of the year I must have read a minimum of 12 books from my shelf because seriously, I can’t afford to buy more books unless I’ve gone ahead and shaved my pile of ‘to read’s in half.

5. Try to watch more movies because, come on, the whole point of me getting a job was for me to have some money to spend for movies.  Must catch one movie per week or at least once a month.

6. Save more money!

7. Lose weight.  LOL.  Notice that it’s no longer occupying the number one spot.  Interesting.

8. By the end of this year, I should, should, should have taken the NCLEX.

9. Errr write more?  LOL.  I dunno what to write but I’m thinking I should do more of it.

10. To watch more plays.  I want to see every play that the Repertory of the Philippines comes out with this 2010 as I was just freakin’ blown away by their ‘Sweeney Todd’ last year.

11. Try to “connect” more with the spiritual side.

12. And last (but not the least, not by a long shot), by the end of this year, I should’ve started/failed some kind of business.

An Apology.

Dear Mama, Papa and Kuya,

Let me start off by saying that I am really, really, really sorry.

I don’t know what exactly it is that you read, or where you read it from so I cannot explain myself properly.  Whatever it is that you guys have read, I hope you understand that it was written out of spite and anger.  I guess I’m not mature enough to restrain my emotions whenever I get angry, that I automatically let out what it is that I am feeling at that particular moment.  I know that I didn’t say those hurtful words out loud, and that it must be ten times worse than saying out right, for me to post my feelings on the internet.

I really am sorry for hurting your feelings, I really am.

I totally understand it if you guys don’t want to talk to me anytime soon. I understand that I deserve it.

Also, I know how luck I am to have you guys as my family; I suppose that I’ve been exposed to the world enough for me to realize that.  It’s just that my mouth and hot temper got ahead of me.

I truly am sorry and, believe it or not, I do love you guys.

girlie.

A Review

I know that it may be a little bit premature to do this, but whatever.  I for one cannot wait for 2009 to end, and this is just one of those things that I have to do to make time go by faster.

On January 18 of this year I set up I set up a few resolutions that I vowed to try my damndest to live by.  I fully intended to post a review of those resolutions when the end of the year rolls around, just to see how far I went.

Well…I tried.

1. Lose Weight.

Well to be fair, I did lose quite a bit of weight, even though it was unintentionally done, haha.  When I went into that two-month training in UST Hospital, where lunches were optional and breaks were nonexistent for trainees, I think I dropped ten pounds.

2. Say Yes.

I think I said ‘yes’ to quite a lot of things this year, which made 2009 very colorful.  But then, I still had that occasional ‘no’s in there that I could’ve prevented.

3. Try to understand.

God knows I tried with this one.  Unfortunately old habits die hard and irritation gets to me first before the understanding part. Must work harder on this one.

4. Hear mass every week.

I think I kept this one up all the way until April, until that job in Cabanatuan got in the way haha.

5. Reconnect with the relatives.

See explanation for #4.

6. Buy one piece of clothing once a month.

I don’t think I ever got to do this, and I don’t know why. It’s just so hard to get into the shopping groove!

7. Get a job!

I got three this year alone!  One was the Cabanatuan job, the other was the UST Hospital training thing, and the other one’s my current employment at Convergys Alabang.

8. Write more.

See explanation for #4.

9. Read more.

To be fair, I think I did quite a lot of reading this year, and I hope that carries over to 2010.

10. Kept blank.

300 Words on Distrust

So.

She was done.  First to finish, as usual.  She surreptitiously glanced at her seatmates and saw that the elderly gentleman on her right was still working on question number forty-nine.  Really, they shouldn’t make them sit this close together during online assessments.  And the girl on her left, well it didn’t come as a shock to see her staring hard at her computer screen, mouthing the words to question twenty-one.

She sighed.  A quick look at the huge ass wall clock told her that it was still a good forty minutes before the time was up.  She craned her neck to look at the facilitator—supposedly guarding them with the eyes of a hawk—only to see that he was busy fiddling with his phone.  Probably sexting his boytoy of the week.  Fag.

So.

She had two options, none of which seemed too particularly appealing: she could either sit here and wait it out or she could click that little red button screaming SUBMIT on the bottom right of the screen.

She’s not one for “reviewing” test questions, as she’s learned long ago that for her to over think that much would only bring a lower grade.  She’s learned that it’s always best to just trust her instincts when she’s doing these types of things.

And her instincts have never failed her before; she knew she was smart.  She was sure that she was going to ace this test, just like she’s aced all the tests before this one.

So she hovers the mouse pointer over the red button, totally prepared to click it when a sinking feeling hits her in the pit of her stomach.

What if she got one question wrong?

What if she got all the questions wrong?

What if she totally misunderstood question number thirty-nine?  That was a particularly tricky question, after all.

If she doesn’t get a perfect score on this test her transcript’s screwed, as she really wants, no needs, an A+ average for this term.

With feelings of stress she didn’t feel while taking the damned exam, she felt the bile rising up her throat.  Oh no, oh no, she’s not about to get sick over this.  She can’t, she just can’t.

The girl on her left’s giving her weird looks and she realized that she must’ve looked quite a sight: she felt cold beads of sweat on her forehead and she thinks that she must’ve been as green as she felt.

With a shaking hand, she finally clicked on the red button and held her breath.

“Congratulation! 100%”