Tag: 30 day writing meme

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[Writing Meme] Day 6: Whatever catches your fancy

I am a workaholic because I don’t like being restless. I also like money a lot, like any person really. I don’t like being tied down by poverty, and I abhor being bored.

Of course, juggling labor-heavy jobs such as crew-work and teaching will take its toll on the body. I hate getting sick, and I should be taking my vitamins more diligently. Even when that doesn’t work, I can only hope to stave off the flu with home remedy I picked off a talk show during college. It’s what I like to call the anti-flu marinade.

Anti-Flu Marinade

Ingredients:

(1/2) Cup Rock Salt

(1) Lemon wedge (can be replaced with 2-4 calamansis)

(1) Tablespoon of olive oil


Preparation:

Pour the rock salt into a small bowl, then mix in the olive oil. Squeeze in the lemon or calamansi.

How to use:

Scrub down with this mixture in a hot shower or bath. Rinse off.

You’ll feel refreshed right after. In my experience, if you do this during early symptoms of the flu (low fever, slight sniffles) it’s sometimes enough to keep it away.

So that’s what I’m doing now for a speedy recovery for the flu. I have tech week, bills to pay, and I need to be in tip-top shape!

Part of the 30 Day Writing Meme. Next is Day 7: A photo that makes you happy.

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[Writing Meme] Day 5: Your Favorite Quote

Two stick to me —

“From the ashes of my failures shall rise the empire of my successes.” -as seen by Jessica Zafra on the back of a jeep

and,

“The world is not perfect, therefore it is.” -Kino no Tabi/Kino’s Journey. This is the fansub translation in the anime. The official English manga translation says it’s “The world is not beautiful, therefore it is”, which could also apply, but I much prefer the insight from the fansub.

Part of the 30 Day Meme. Next is Day 6: Whatever tickles your fancy.

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[Writing Meme] Day 4: Your Favorite Book

I was a funny kid. I was more enamored by a list of banned books than I was by any best seller or recommended library list. Harriet the Spy caught my eye on a list of banned books in one of those almanacs. I was intrigued about the story of the spunky young kid who writes notes about other people. My first writing workshop with Teacher Maya Jacinto used an excerpt from Harriet as an example for worldbuilding, and a few months later I managed to find a copy from a boutique bookstore.

I had this vague notion of wanting to be a writer, and I automatically took to anything that talked about writing. I was eleven years old at the time and didn’t really understand the emotional range and complications Harriet went through, even though we were about the same age. I realized later that I probably saw myself through Harriet: the awkward kid who wrote a lot and were open to a lot of things my peers weren’t open to. At the time I started reading Harrier the Spy I really was growing up, and growing out from my colleagues. My elementary school was one of those most students stayed in from kindergarten through grade 7. I got the feeling, though I couldn’t quite put it to words at the time, that change was not something my peers were open to. I didn’t feel free to try new things, and in the few times I did I wasn’t prepared for the ridicule and criticism that followed.

It took a few reads for me to get Harriet, and a few more years before I really understood how much the book taught me. To this day I read the book when I feel that I’m in an awkward place, or when I’m about to come face-to-face with dangerous, beautiful truth.

Part of the 30 Day Writing Meme. Next is Day 5: Your Favorite Quote.

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[Writing Meme] Day 2: Your Favorite Movie

When I’m really into something, I tend to babble. I try not to babble in this wordpress, but I’ll take exception to that now.

‘In the Mood for Love’ is a cinematic masterpiece for me. I love Kar-wai’s lush visuals, I love vintage China, I love Maggie Cheung, I love Tony Leung. I love how the story of their relationship is told through different scenes. I love that I often went “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!” the first time I showed it. It’s not the greatest love story ever told, if anything they demonstrated too much too soon, but that’s what adds to its richness and complexity. It was what kept me glued to the screen and blew me away.

For those who aren’t used to the non-linear storyline, the Criterion Collection edition of ‘In the Mood for Love’ has the deleted scenes that made their relationship clearer. It wouldn’t have had the same punch-in-the face effect for me if they included it, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

Kar-wai makes me sad that Shanghai has become a modern megacity. I wish they found a way to conserve the elegance of way back then*.

I loved ‘In the Mood for Love’ so much, I was so disappointed by ‘2046’ when it first came out. Treating ‘2046’ as a sequel to ‘In the Mood’ was like trying to rekindle the old flame of a high school sweetheart twenty years later. It felt awkward and strange, and I saw some spark of the old film, but for the most part I kept second-guessing if it was going to work. I felt deeply disturbed as the end credits rolled. I liked ‘2046’ much better after I distanced it from ‘In the Mood for Love’, and took it in as a movie about non-commitment, and treated Tony Leung’s character as an entirely separate entity.

Part of the 30 Day Meme. Next is Day 3: Your Favorite Television Program.

*Erratum: All this time I thought this movie was set in Shanghai, so much so that when I watched it with a Taiwanese friend, she and I talked about Shanghainese and Maggie Cheung. Kae and wikipedia just corrected me, minutes after I published this entry.