Reads

  • The Fault in Our Stars (Filipino Edition) Preview

    For us, this is a good initiative, so it reaches even more people. I believe it’s even half the price of the original.

    Although the title should have been translated also, as in other translations (e.g., A Culpa é das Estrelas em português). Kapintasan ng Ating mga Bituin? I like “kapintasan,” as the root word “pintas” means “beauty” in the Ilocano language.

    Reading it now, and will come up with a review within the week. Okay?

    What do you guys think? Is publishing Filipino editions of international (young adult) booksellers a good idea? What other books would you like to see translated?

  • Confessions of an Instagrammer #2

    ,

    The cupcake I’ve ordered arrives. It is a chocolate cupcake with mint-flavored green frosting, chocolate chips and strings of chocolate syrup on top. It’s carefully laid down on a dainty little embroidered cloth. It’s like this cupcake place is made for Instagram.

    It’s Instaworthy.

    I immediately get my phone from my old Jansport on a seat beside me. I try my best to get the best angle, shooting from every possible position. I try to shoot from the top, from the bottom, from the side and up close.

    As I was about to tap on my phone screen, someone walks by in the background, which ruins everything.

    It is him. With someone. A girl, who’s not his sister or his cousin.

    I should know because she is his girlfriend.

    image

    </3

  • Confessions of an Instagrammer

    ,

    I wake up in the morning and the first thing that I do is take a selfie. 15 minutes later, I finally take a good shot. A shot that’s perfect in a way. Maybe not that perfect, but I do hope that it gets likes from my followers, at least a like from him.

    I try different filters on my photo. Each displaying the same face in a different light. I choose Walden since it gives an “I care about what people say but it doesn’t show” feel. 

    I decide not to upload it anyway. I think he is still asleep at this time. 

    To be continued…

  • Frozen’s ‘Let It Go’ and Homosexuality

    With the recent win of Let It Go (Best Original Song) composed by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, we would like to share one of our interpretations of the song and the movie Frozen.

    Watching the movie, we immediately begin to relate Elsa’s supernatural powers to “homosexuality”. For us and as far as our experience go, being gay is both a gift and a curse.

    And one that makes it a curse is when you are forced into hiding it to make your family and friends proud and away from shame. You are afraid of people’s judgments that you’d rather portray a different character in the public eye.

    Inevitably, being in the closet, you’re forced to close the door and isolate your true self even to your own sisters or brothers. Like Elsa, you watch your every move for people not to know. The way you talk. How you walk.

     Conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let them know.

    It hurts because your siblings are supposed to be your best friends. It hurts because you can’t fully do so unless they know you’re gay. Unless they know who you are.

    Let It Go is a song that celebrates individuality. It is a song that sets aside all inhibitions. All the crazy anxiety that hinders you to achieve or just be plainly happy.

  • The Filipino and the Winter Olympics

    I have to admit. I haven’t watched a single Winter Olympics event before this year. This year when, surprise, a tropical country that does not experience a winter season, has a representative in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. A representative. One.

    The Philippines has joined in past Winter Olympics… more than a decade ago. This year we have our first ever representative in the men’s figure skating events: Michael Christian Martinez. First Filipino, first Southeast Asian, youngest male figure skater, and our country’s only hope for a medal.

    Having a representative there made me interested in watching this year’s ceremonies. I stayed up late to watch the magnificence and extravagance (and much buzzed about technical failure of the Olympic rings) of the opening ceremonies. I luboved it. (Hah!)

    I stayed up late to watch the short program event. He was an absolute joy to watch. I’m not really familiar with all the elements, but I really enjoyed the theatricality and the drama, which suited the Romeo & Juliet music really well. The commentators said that it was a good debut for the first Philippine representative. And for a brief moment, we got to enjoy his 3rd placement, and was so proud that he qualified for the free skate quite early. (He ultimately dwindled down to 19th, but he’s qualified already, so whatevs.)

    Amid the US’s Jeremy Abbott’s shocking fall, Russia’s Evgeny Plushenko withdrawing (for a back injury, I think?), and the Asians hogging the medal podium (yey!), the men’s figure skating event made for exciting TV viewing.

    For the free skate event, while most everybody was pulling out his quadruple axels and level 4 spins (yes! I learned some figure skating terms!), Michael had a relatively less complex routine, only settling with as much as 3 spins, though he had what looked like very difficult spins. He also did that Frick & Frack move (the cantilever spread) and the Bielmann (more terms!).

    I’m imagining that maybe, just maybe, Michael will be at their level already when the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. I hope that we send more representatives in 4 years’ time.

    We may not have a winter season, but we were represented in men’s alpine skiing and luge events decades ago. I don’t think it’s realistic that we send representatives to slope events, but I think we can send a few more people to indoor events, like figure skating or speed skating. Of course, I would expect that Michael return to the men’s figure skating event. If we could make up a team for the team skating event, then that would be even greater. Oh, and curling. Definitely, curling.

    I’m watching the closing ceremonies as I write this, but I’m definitely already looking forward to Rio 2016 (because we do have summer, I’m sure we’re sending athletes) and Pyeongchang 2018.

    What are you looking forward to in future Olympics? Do you also want to see the Philippines have a curling team?