I can’t wait to see what happens next! I hope that this is as brilliant as the Frodo one!

Oh, by the way, moar Hobbit movie news:

Bilbo Baggins casting rumors!

There have been tons rumored actors to play the young Bilbo Baggins so far, but the most popular ones have been:

[L-R: Jack Black, James McAvoy, Martin Freeman, and Daniel Radcliffe]

I’d rather they took an unknown actor, really. If they were to choose from any of those actors, I’d go for Martin Freeman. The guy looks an awful lot like a Hobbit and would definitely pass for a younger version of Sir Ian Holm. Daniel Radcliffe is too young and too Harry Potter; James McAvoy is a brilliant actor, yet I associate him with Nicholas and Mr. Tumnus too much and I don’t think that another fantasy flick would do him good anyway; Jack Black is made of Awesome and Rock, but that’s the problem, really: he’s too much of a funny man. I bet he could even play Peter Jackson if ever PJ needed an actor to play him in his biopic.

Either way, I just can’t wait to see how director Guilermo Del Toro is going to get this Hobbit on the move! It’s been YEARS since that last LOTR film. I just can’t wait to see this Hobbit movie. The possibilities are ENDLESS!

(via The Hobbit Movie page @ Facebook)

That’s what I’ve been telling everyone ever since I’ve heard of this book’s “ingenious concept”.

“The Secret reveals the most powerful law in the universe.

“Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance…

“The Secret explains with simplicity the law that is governing all lives, and offers the knowledge of how to create – intentionally and effortlessly – a joyful life. This is the secret to everything – the secret to unlimited happiness, love, health and prosperity. ”
–Official Site

The book (and audiobook and movie and website and diary and lunchbox and undies) talks about the Law of Attraction. In a nutshell, when you think of something, you’ll get it. Positive thoughts attract positive outcomes, and vice-versa. I haven’t read it–I don’t think that I even plan on doing so–yet from what I have been hearing from the reviews and write-ups, I think that this is all common sense. People have been doing it for years… what’s so new about it?

Miss Jackie’s Collage

You see, back in my old university in the Philippines, UP Manila, my English professor picked me together with a friend, Essel, to join her and her other hand-picked students for some dinner and a mini get-together and party of sorts.

So he and I attended the thing (it was at Blue Frog, in Malate, Manila) just because it’s such an honor to get picked by your professor for something that sounds so exclusive. Late into the evening, we found out that our professor, Miss Lumain, is actually a Life Coach. You know, those people you pay to make your life better.

That evening, she taught us how to get our Hearts’ Desire.

How to Get Your Heart’s Desire:

1. Gather some old magazines, construction paper, scissors, and glue on a table. You are going to make a collage.
2. Browse through your magazines and pick out all the items that you desire. You may pick out these pictures and attach literal or figurative significance to them.
3. Make sure that you truly–truly, madly, deeply–desire these things.
4. Using your scissors, cut out the pictures that represent your desires and paste them on to your construction paper. Finish off your collage.
5. Admire your work. Make sure that you allow the images to seep in to your inner consciousness.
6. Wait a couple of days/months/weeks/years. One or all of your desired objects would be given to you, and your wish(es) will come true.

Simple enough, eh?

“Who is skeptical about this exercise?” she asked.

Essel and I both raised our hands.

“You don’t believe in this?”

“It’s hard to believe in it,” Essel answered. “It might not work.”

“What would you do if it did?”

Fast-forward to November 6, 2005. It was early evening of my little “going away” house party. I was leaving for the United States on the 9th. Essel wasn’t able to come, and he sent me an SMS stating his apology. Along with it, he also said that,

“pam, nagkatotoo yung isa sa mga nilagay ko kay ma’am lumain!”
(translation: “Pam, the one of the things that I placed there in Ma’am Lumain’s [collage] came true!”)

I asked him what it was, but I don’t remember receiving his reply. Whatever it was, it came true after a few weeks.

Three months after I did that exercise, I got that new car and laptop. Okay, the car may not be registered under my name ( XD ) though I am its primary driver anyway.

This may all seem far-fetched to you (it still seems far-fetched to me as well XD ), but I read something off O Magazine (okay, guilty… ) that backs up all this positivity and visualization logic.

I’ll tell you all about it on my next blog entry…

* * * *

Sorry for not posting anything in a long, long time. My sister, Andi, just came home to the Philippines right after the holidays, and school immediately began right after, so things just went busier than I had imagined. School rocks and I am having lots of fun in my classes. A particular favourite would be my Philosophy class, which I am taking under Dr. Geller whom I have met with my dad early last year, at the Honors College banquet.

So many changes are taking place for me this year, though I don’t believe that I am even ready to tell you all about it.

Earlier in life, I had thought that my life was simply like a highway: it goes on a straight, distinct path and even if I may not know what goes beyond what my eye can see, I know that it simply goes on straight and right ahead. I thought that it was all so simple: after graduating from MCHS, I’d get into my dream university, UP Diliman, then perhaps study something to become a doctor, or a writer, or be both. I would graduate and pursue higher than higher education, and just be, as what Julie referred to me back in high school: “an over-achieving biatch”.

All of that never really happened. UP Manila happened, and moving to the US had to happen. UNC happened. I chose the university closest to home, switched my majors and all that jazz… I never knew it could get that complicated. I thought that it would all be simple.

It never was.

I guess just like Anne, I’ve taken a bend on the road. Well, I’ve taken a couple of turns along the way, and all this uncertainty–all these changes–are rather overwhelming. There’s just so many sacrifices to make, so many new opportunities to take on, and so many old dreams to let go of in order to pursue, yes, the same thing, albeit through a detour.

I speak in riddles. XD Pardon me, I’m not ready to let it all out. Not yet.

I sure hope that this all works out. I really want it to work out.

I miss you guys….

Loving everyone from NC,

Pam

PS: For your laughter and mine, well, randomguy is BACK! I received yet another fun letter from him! More on him next time…

Ah, the things they do these days. XD A tribute to the Britney/Madonna MTV awards kiss?

The look on Neil’s face: priceless. XD

His side of the story:

Now Jonathan Ross is funny. He has hosted more awards shows than probably any human being alive. And he was in his element.

Every now and again, I’d manage to stop laughing, and get us back onto announcing and presenting awards. (I was thrilled to present one to Alison Bechdel for Fun Home, one to Gene Luen Yang for American Born Chinese.)

Finally the mad gleam in Jonathan’s eye focussed on me, and he announced that we would now celebrate the Eisners and comics… by re-enacting Madonna and Britney Spears’ famous kiss at the MTV music awards…

So yesterday night, on that stage, in front of thousands of comics fans and professionals, I got an Eisner, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian award and was snogged by Jonathan Ross.

Maddy thought it was funny. She said I turned lots of interesting colours.

Well, you never see authors get brokebacked like that. XD “Lots of interesting colours” indeed.

I just bought my stuff for the coming semester, and then I realized that I have to get rid of those books that I don’t need anymore. XD

I’m posting my listings just in case somebody else is in need of a cheaper alternative to the money-draining listings found in your school bookstores. And yes, I take good care of my books, so all of these are in top condition!

Take a look. There could be some stuff that you might need:

College Physics by Serway, Raymond A.; Faughn, Jerry S.; Moses, Clement J. 6th Edition with CD (SOLD!)
[My first sale. I am in hysterics, or "IH" as the FG-ers say. XD ]
Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War [Paperback] by Michael P. Johnson (SOLD!)
[Oh yeah! Second one! I see a pattern! Perhaps I should start listing more books? ]

Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) (SOLD!)

College Algebra (2nd Edition) (Beecher/Penna/Bittinger Series) (Hardcover)

Trigonometry (with BCA Tutorial and InfoTrac )

I’ll be listing only four five for now. I still have a College Trigonometry book, an American History book, and a Media book. I’m not selling my Chemistry, Calculus, Physics, and Biology books, since I still have a great need for those. I’ll be updating this list on my later posts.

* * * * *

Yesterday, I decided to be selfish for a change, so I went on to design my new blog theme. I still have that grunge-paper-texture fixation, so that’s what I was aiming for yesterday. Suddenly, my mom was like, “What is that? Fungus? Mould?”

My whole world came tumbling down.

I think I lost “my touch”. I have a bad habit of over-perfectionism when it comes to designing stuff–hence I work so slow.

Maybe not today.

* * * * *

Anyway, did I mention something about my mom’s aunt [a. k. a. my great aunt?] who was planning to sell butterflies online?

She originally asked my brother to make her an e-commerce site–but then again, Arjay forgot HTML and web design altogether, so he handed over the project to me.

I was really excited with this whole e-commerce thing, and I had a test version set up locally [powered by WordPress, of course, using this nifty WordPress shopping cart plugin].

Unfortunately, she got fed up of waiting and cancelled the whole thing altogether.

Her loss.

I mean, first of all, she doesn’t even have a business plan.

Heck, she didn’t even give me the real butterfly photos. What am I supposed to do? Go to Google Images and search for butterly pupae?

She was planning to sell wildlife for Pete’s sake!

She has to register her “business” and get approval from the DENR.

She has to get a PayPal account, SSL hosting [I won't host her!], and even a good domain name–and she expects me to do everything for her in a snap.

I’ve seen freelancers charge US$300 for a simple blog layout.

I’m offering my stuff for free.

Sure, I work a bit slow, but hey, I also have a life beyond my computer, don’t I?

Annoying.

———————————————
PS:

Julie: Tuloy pa ba yung pinapagawa mong site? Sorry ang tagal ko gumawa ah, pero just leave me a message or something kasi I have a basic skeleton with me. If you’re still interested, I would be needing a logo, and rough ideas for site content.
Steph: Lapit na ng blog layout mo, konting hintay na lang.

PPS: This theme’s CSS is giving me headaches. I just found out recently that this theme
doesn’t look good in IE6. [Thanks to MichaelM for the Multiple IEs link!] I’ve fixed that now, along with other “bugs”. As you can see, I still have not fixed the ugly blue links on my bulleted lists–the theme designer isn’t too fond of them in the first place, hence his/her disregard for the link list styling. Hopefully, I’ll get my theme done after my Spanish finals. After my finals, I’ll have two weeks free to do anything I want before the Fall semester begins. I don’t think that the Vegas trip’s going to push through, but either way, it doesn’t matter, really.

</ramble> </ramble> </rant> </rant>

/EDIT: Okay, I changed my theme once again. This time, this is compatible with IE6 and the lower versions of Firefox. I can’t wait to finish my own theme!

Frodo Baggins: I can’t do this Sam.

Sam Gamgee: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.
— The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

And I really wish that things [and Life, in general] are as simple as LOTR movie quotes.

Real-life problems suck.

What I love about Neil Gaiman & Libba Bray is that they have willingly made themselves available to the fans by means of a simple online journal. It has benefitted them as much as it has made the fans extremely happy.

Would Colfer follow suit?

True enough, follow he did! Okay, I don’t think that he jumped into the “author-you’ve-never-heard-of-that-has-a-famous-blog” bandwagon. I do think that he wants to reach out to his fans. It’s a brilliant PR move, and I’m glad that he finally did it.

With the launch of Eoin Colfer’s new website came the launch of *gasp* Eoin Colfer’s blog! An excerpt from his first blog entry:

Is this a blog? I am old fashioned and can t help thinking of it as a diary. Anyway- latest news- just finished the next book. Not an Artemis but very exciting anyway. Sort of a historic sci fi actioner (with comedy). Next project Artemis 6.

This is great news. I’m sure Mr. Colfer would love the whole blogging business.

Hey, who knows, he could even end up as a Hottest Daddy Blogger nominee at the Blogger’s Choice Awards next year!

Oh, that would be so much fun to see! :p

FanGatherers, here’s a thread for you: http://forum.fangathering.com/viewtopic.php?t=3040

Neil Gaiman blogged about it just an hour ago. [the man beat me by more than an hour. Screw my English research project! ]

I actually first saw the trailer a good two hours ago on Entertainment Tonight‘s featured upcoming films to watch out for.

My mom, who never was a fan of what we could call “fantasy” was impressed by the trailer.

“It looks like it’s going to be a great movie,” she said in amazement. “What movie is that?”

“It’s Stardust,” I told her. “Do you recall the book I recently bought at Barnes & Noble?”

“Ah, yes.”

I really do hope that it’s going to be a great movie!

I mean, yeah, the trailer showed signs that a LOT of things were changed, but hey, as long as the central story is preserved and is successfully translated into film, then it’s fine with me.

Although a star-studded [no pun intended] cast would not assure a major hit, I think that this film is rather looking… bright [with pun intended]. The worst thing to happen to Stardust is for it to turn into another major floppidocio: Eragon.

* * * * *

Currently, I’m doing some research for the most bizarre beliefs ever. I’m supposed to set up an argumentative paper that disproves such bizarre beliefs. I’m actually at a loss on which belief to pick… I know that I can’t pick the Flat Earth Society‘s belief, the Hollow Earth theories [hey, this would work well for Artemis Fowl fans!], the Apollo Moon Landing hoax, the AIDS conspiracy theories, or the Holocaust denial because these have already been mentioned as examples.

Oh well, gotta search the web. *wink*

But American History?

Oh well.

I’d like to use this as an opportunity to apologize for the lack of blog entries.

I have realized that in order to get ahead with my coursework, I have to cut down on my internet usage. The dean of the Honors College invited me to enroll in the school’s Honors Program. If I do apply and get accepted, I should cut down on my procrastinating. This also has made me think over my decision to transfer to Chapel Hill. I know that I will get accepted there, and I absolutely know that I would be kicking myself for the rest of my life if I never took a shot… but then again, my parents don’t want me to study there because they don’t want me to move out of the house and live on campus. And yeah, the tuition’s more expensive. But it’s expensive because it’s semi-Ivy League, and it’s the Main Campus!

Basically, I have two options: to be a big fish in a small pond [my current school], or to be a small fish in a big, elite pond [main campus].

So many decisions to make. *sigh*

* * * * *

I apologize to those people who have sent emails, myspace/friendster messages, offline messages, and PMs that I haven’t replied to yet.

Thank you so much to all those who answered my iPod survey! Your responses were a great help, though I think that I wrote a crappy paper. I just wasn’t in the mood. *sigh*

* * * *

To those who are looking for Artemis Fowl Fan Art, well, you came to the wrong place. Well, sort of. This is the artist’s site, yes, but I haven’t got the time to set up a gallery of my works, so… Well, if you guys are looking for all of my “published” AF fan art on the web, just follow this link: darvit’s Artemis Fowl fan art.

* * * * *

Anyway, I gotta get back to work.

Enough rambling for now.

I miss you guys! ♥

PS:

“I fell in love with my best friend.”–Marvin Agustin

“I fell in love with my seatmate.”–Anonymous

There is no point to follow suit, so I guess let’s just get to the point now, shall we?

We drove to South Carolina this Christmas, and we visited Atlanta, Georgia, in the process. Dad loved Atlanta; I on the other hand is still clinging to ditzy, urban New York [I have yet to find a better city to win my affections ].

On Americans and Filipinos

Though I still think that most Americans I encounter in real life [those I rub elbows with online are mostly smart ones, though, so don't take offense, my American readers! ] are quite stupid [hence, my famous quote, "Stupid Americans!"--Me], I do not classify myself as anti-American. There is just so much to love and hate in this country… It kind of reminds me of my own home, the Philippines, actually–the urban parts and the crappy government, at least. And oh, the Philippines is far superior when it comes to malls, shopping, nightlife, hardworking students, and natural ingenuity [sorry, that's what we get from being Third World]. I must say, however, that the people down south are really friendly too [well, most of them are]. People have been asking me if I have ever experienced some racism here, and yes, I have. I guess that’s one thing that this nation would be battling with for a long time. I mean, the segregations have ended only recently, and there is currently still evidence of hostility against immigrants [specifically, against the Latinos] and there are still strong stereotypes against Asians.

“Oh my gosh, you speak excellent English!” said the hairstylist who cut my hair a few weeks ago. “Did you have to learn it when you got here?”

“Thanks, but no, English is a major language in the Philippines. We have all been taught English in school, and we do speak English at home, too, ever since we were little kids.”

“Wow.”

I wanted to add how Filipinos value education, or how almost everyone in Manila is a professional, but I was afraid that I would sound too cocky and preachy. There would be more chances to break negative Filipino stereotypes, I thought.

I think that is the reason why I always make it a point to look better, be smarter, and work harder than everyone else. It is in becoming a positive example that somehow, these people would abandon the bad press and their pre-conceived notions, and see that we Filipinos could be so much more. I’m going to quote something I wrote in a forum a long time ago, that I hope my non-Filipino readers would read:

Yes, tourism isn’t as strong here. Bad press, I guess, has been a major factor why tourism isn’t really doing much for the country. [Screw Abu Sayyaf! Screw them!] There are many beautiful places in the Philippines.. 7,107 islands, and most of these islands have not yet been explored. Despite current tourism efforts, political problems have always been the focus of the government, which in turn, puts a damper on tourism.

The Philippines’ main exports are its people. More and more Filipinos leave their country’s shores in search of “greener pastures” aboad. At first, the country just started “exporting” cheap labor.. But lately, even the country’s best and brightest minds have been abandoning the country: teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, physical therapists, pharmacists, and other professionals… All the bright minds are leaving the country, no wonder our country is suffering. Ironically, due to dollar remittances brought back to the country, this “export” of people is the Philippines’ billion-dollar industry. It’s the very thing that supports our economy, at the moment.

That’s why I plan on returning there. My country needs me. ^_^

The reason why the Philippines is not as successful as its richer neighbors in Asia and the Pacific could not be easily explained. I was born and raised there, and until now, I have not found one clear-cut reason for my country’s hardships.

Could it be that the Philippines has been robbed off its dignity and self-worth because it has been colonized for 333+ years under Spain, and 50+ years under America? It is this “colonial mentality” that has plagued the Filipino people’s psyche. Most Filipinos do not believe in themselves, and national pride is always low.

Could it be because the country is very corrupt? It has not always been so. During the early 1960′s, under the leadership of then President Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines was the ranked number 2 after Japan, as Asia’s best economy. When President Marcos declared Martial Law and became Dictator, things have begun to go downhill after that.

I could launch into a very long discourse on the psychology of the Filipino mind, but I think I will start to bore you guys to death. My bottom line is: the Philippines is a beautiful country. It’s a pity that it’s misunderstood and mishandled. To quote illini319, yes, it’s a tragedy.

Neil Gaiman, Libba Bray, and an Open Letter to Eoin Colfer

After that all said and done, let’s jump to another topic. [This entry is starting to look like an Inquirer Lifestyle/Opinion column--a mash-up of different topics!]

I got myself a new Coach wallet and Stardust by Neil Gaiman for Christmas [a beautiful book! About time I got one for myself!]. As I was browsing around Neil Gaiman’s blog, I saw an entry about the upcoming Stardust movie.

Now this is what I love about Neil Gaiman: through his own blog, he lets fans take a glimpse of his work. From his many a “bloody”-laden rants, to book/movie/script news and random ramblings, he definitely has made it a point to be available to his fans, albeit on his blog. He has become more accessible, and actually, more real and human.

Speaking of human emotions in famous authors’ blogs, take a look at A Great and Terrible Beauty author Libba Bray, who has her own LJ account [complete with "Current Music", and "Current Mood" indicators, awesome]! It’s as real as it gets, which I find amazing! Here is an author who has gone to get her own LJ account just like any other regular human being. She updates it when she can, and when she does, her entries are what she really is: human.

With just rumours about the Artemis Fowl movie circling around the Net, I just made this open letter to Eoin Colfer out of the blue:

Dear Mr. Colfer,

Your books are awesome.
What is up with the movie?
Do put up a blog to keep us updated.
Surely, you do have a blog on the official UK Artemis Fowl site, but it would be cool if it were more personal and up-to-date.

Later,
Pam

PS: Sorry I stole your word and turned it into a blog. Please don’t sue me, ok?

Kidding! Of course I would never send him that letter! [But thanks to Google, he could probably find it if he practised the art of self-Googling™]

My point is, can’t he disclose just a little bit more on the status of the AF movie?
[Is there going to be one at all? Can you do a bit of name-dropping? Are there legal problems--is this the reason why everything has been so slow?]

What I love about the Neil Gaiman & Libba Bray is that they have willingly made themselves available to the fans by means of a simple online journal. It has benefitted them as much as it has made the fans extremely happy.

Would Colfer follow suit?

* * * *

I came from Barnes & Noble yesterday. It’s been a long time since I’ve ever been to a decent bookstore [the bookstore in school reeks of the pseudo-grocery/gas station/NBS Katipunan vibe]. I bought my little cousin Olivia a copy of the first Artemis Fowl book to get her into the habit of reading [and yeah, so that she would get hooked, hopefully].

At the bookstore, while I was skimming through a copy of My Secret, an old lady approached me.

While I put back the copy of the book on its stack, she took one out and told me:

“Thank you for taking a look at this book. I never would have found it if you never picked it up..”

And she was saying it all so emotionally like it really meant to her so much to find that book. I just didn’t know what to tell her.

And then it hit me: Hey, maybe this old lady submitted one of her secrets here! Or maybe she’s just one of those anonymous IP addresses that would send Frank Warren’s blog skyrocketing up Technorati‘s rankings…

So the lady and I talked a bit about PostSecret and its past book, and she recommended a new book to me. The problem is, I now forgot what that book was.

Anyway, my point is..

I just find it amazing how PostSecret affects so many people. And meeting that old lady felt good in a strange way because it’s like part of the “virtual world” [that is, the Internet and the PS blog] reached out me.

I also think that it’s so fun to watch those people who would approach the stack of PostSecret books… I like observing their facial expressions, their body language… how frantically they would go through each page, sometimes as if devouring each secret; sometimes, as if searching desperately for their own postcards…

I love people-watching. I think I have never shared this to anyone yet, but each time that I am in the mood, when I see different people, I would think about their lives and stories, and wonder how all our stories are intertwined.

There is a theory that anybody could be connected to anyone in this planet through “a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries”.

There is another study that claims that no two people are more distantly related than 50th cousins! :O

So it’s either you and I could be 49th cousins, 48th cousins, 3rd cousins, 4th cousins, 1st cousins… but not more than 50th! So basically, we are all cousins!

It’s cool how everything and everyone would get intertwined like that.

Bloody fucking hell, that was too random.

Damn it, I should get some sleep.

Out!