I can't just stop myself from buying books. Just this week I bought 3 books, and today when I went to the mall I bought another 2. Thank heavens for the black market in Recto, the booksales, and the very cheap price of classic novels which I am collecting at present. Thus, I am able to suffice my addiction for literature. So right now I am reading Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. And I still have the following to read:

• Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Php 99 @ NBS)
• Candide, Voltaire (Php 99 @ NBS as well)
• Animal Farm, George Orwell (bought for Php 160 haggled from orig Php 180 price)
• Shirley, Charlotte Bronte (Php 45 @ booksale)
• Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (Php 35 @ booksale)

So you see, they're at their cheapest. But the price isn't the reason why I should stop buying books for awhile. With all these, and the others in my shelf that I haven't read yet, including the 800+ pages Vanity Fair and the Anne of Green Gables series, when will I have the time to read all these?

 

Something I wrote 2 years ago..

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it is the second day of the eleventh month. as my shoes touched the grass i steadied my umbrella. it is a very hot afternoon. such a contradiction to my emotion. i stopped my track in front of a 6 year-old grave. silently i said my prayers for the angels of God to hear.

i opened my eyes again and remembered the young man who gave me his umbrella one rainy day long time ago. the good times that we had for the two years that followed. he belong to my treasure of memories. to my chest of tears and heartaches. to my basket of joys and laughters.

we could have filled much more baskets only if he did not left me two years after he gave me his umbrella. since then, everyday had been stormy for me. i used the umbrella he have given me to safeguard myself from all the catastrophe that kept coming in my young life. but days, weeks, months, and years have passed and i was finally able to put down the umbrella and confront life. naked.

i was able to survive alone, but i know he has always been behind me. in the heat of the blaring sun i couldn’t help smiling as i imagine the present if God permitted him to stay. we could’ve been happy. of that i am certain.

as i consume myself with this imagination, a lady of middle-age appeared beside me and stared. her face is blank, she did not ask any question. i remained quiet. young love is supposed to be unknown from everyone else to keep its sacredness.

finally, i said my goodbye to him. and turned my back with not even a single glance to the middle-aged lady. i did not put flower not lit a candle on his grave. these are unnecessary.

the weather has turned gloomy and i put my umbrella down.

six years have passed. he was fourteen when he died. and for me, he’d always be fourteen.

*-3:17 am-*

*-11.02.07-*

That there is nothing to be ashamed of to be an individual in possession of greatness of mind and fine taste to be ashamed to have been drawn to a person of inferior intelligence and finery. It is normal to think of oneself so perfectly in control of one's emotions and judgment to be attracted to one of mediocre circumstance. Thus, when consciousness of such blunder hit, one could not help but blush for oneself.

Do you think, not?

PS: Do not think of me as a conceited individual, this reflection occurred from mere contemplation and is not based on any experience in relation to myself.

The Philippines, along with the rest of the world, was more than surprised with the news of an election-related massacre which killed more than 50 people in Maguindanao. Actually, killed is an understatement. The women were abused, the body of the victims mutilated and buried. And all for political power.

Filipinos are not unfamiliar with political dynasties which pervades Philippine provinces. The Aquinos, Marcoses, Arroyos, are only some the families belonging in the category. The need to cling to power is too strong, that humans are willing to commit inhumane acts to remain in their comfortable seat of power, and at present this is the most evil act that bombarded the public.

This event generated enraged and aggrieved reactions from the public. It was too cruel an incident for human deglutition, especially for the Filipinos who are generally loving people. But we, the mere spectators, as actions are being taken by the government, still have the audacity to criticize, to point fingers, to put blame on others' shoulders. It is a sad realization that we cannot show the strength that we have as a nation when the country was hit by Typhoon Ondoy, the humility to put aside differences to help the most overwhelmed and distraught.

Can't we not stop our lips from uttering words which would make no difference and which could only heighten the enrage of the already infuriated population? Can we not self-reflect that urging for quick resolution of the case is not, if I may say, appropriate? We must urge the government for thorough investigation and apt punishment for the suspects, so that we will know that evidences will nail them on the incident very deep they could not get away from it. So, we would not be surprised that they will be free from their crime someday just like some suspects of highly publicized cases in the past.  

I, just like the rest of the population, is praying for justice for the victims and their families. I, just like the the others, is hoping that this is the last election-related crime. We are Filipinos, despite this event, we must still be one.

Yehey.

I'm back. Or maybe just for today. I missss blogging here!

This blog needs renovation. The designs and even the template looks utterly childish. Forgive me, I haven't renovated this space for years!

I've been away for quite awhile. You can consider it a hiatus of some sort. But I didn't really stop blogging. But, knowing that nobody really gives a fuck with what you write could can into you (yea, I know I'm not some celebrity or such so I shouldn't be expecting much. Haha..)

So, what's new with Cathee?

I had my hair cut short with side swept bangs (too bored with plain long hair).
I'm braces free. Yehey!
I got a new job.
I'm about to have my birthday next month. Party!

As you can see, everything is going pretty well with me. I still read a lot. I still appreciate cartoons. Still addicted to Asian series, and I'm self-studying Japanese. Pretty hard I can assure you. And frustrating at most. But I've always wanted to learn a new language, and since I love things that are Japanese, I think it is just logical to study Nihonggo. I actually planned to enroll into a language course, but it's expensive. Why does everything have to be paid? Is there not a single organization in the country which offers language course for free?