Scripta Manent

...the insults of men
having been bitten
in the nipple
by their toothless gums.
-Daisy Laing

My favorite quote for Mother's Day this year. Hee.

I had a summer without water play (not counting sweat). ( There had been lunch, a sleepover and a picnic instead )


( too big photo over here of me and my brujas and my goddaughter Carmela )

In my two-month deadjournal sojourn, I have:

~written 2 fictions, 1 non-fiction and 1 fiction-ish non-fiction and read 20 books. Meg Cabot and Jodi Picoult.

~broken in and broken my new phone (I plonked it in the sink while I finished business in the throne. I always did that. But this time, there was water in the sink).

~dabbled and have done with someone's flirting (not sure yet what he's up to. Either he's callously moving on from me to another or perhaps have been jealous and is trying to make me jealous in turn. All he's succeeding to do is piss off my friends, hehe)

~hugged my dad goodbye and welcome and goodbye again (he got his job back, but he was late for his first flight, so he came back home and then left again a week later. It was funny, that evening we found him right there with Mom taking off his shoes when we kids thought he'd be on the way to Bahrain already)

This post dedicated to my darling twin, jenny_b, also to Chiara, who is partly to blame for my deadjournal, since she has been and is my very own magic diary (she replies!), hehe.

Yes, there is a blog day in my sched, Mark. If this goes on, I think I'll make it Tuesday now, though, instead of Monday. ^_^

... and that snapshot, our trophy. It is our proof of accomplishment, of boxing that which cannot be boxed."
- Johanna Carla B. Pilar, Quizas

More than landscapes, it's people and memories we like to 'box'. Never mind the quality of the image, hehe. We just need that souvenir to trigger the recalling synapses in our brains. That souvenir, period.

Yesterday:


~ July, Tonks, Sherly, Rolydee, Jego and me, after cooking and eating French toast, chips and donuts. *bloat*

Christmas:



~ Rovie (who's insane when there's a camera) and Jouie, my goddaughter and my sister

~ my nephew, Josaphat Ira Emmanuel - Jop for short. This guy's going to break hearts someday. For now, he's content beating us at UNO.

Three posts in one day. And then I'll be gone again anyway, humor me. *grins*

Last Sunday, November 30th:


July, moi, Sherly (holding the latest issue of Read inside that envelope, heh), Tonks and Eli. By this time, Camille, Allen and Dea, Xandy and Dave had already left. I'll ask for the other pics from Xandy. This is the best we got from my digicam before the batt went kaput.

Twilight the movie was nice. I think I got spoiled too much from collecting all the publicity videos and photos, though. Because while Tonks and the others were holding their breath, I was muttering nonstop while in the cinema.

One mutter that made Dea and Camille get a fit of the giggles: Ang tagal! (It's taking so long!) - during the kiss. Did you count just how many seconds passed before they snogged? They exchanged carbon dioxide for about thirty seconds first.

I enjoyed it. Though I scoffed at that Apple. Heh.

I'll have to wait for the DVD. Can't critique without subtitles. Oi. But overall, I pat Catherine Hardwicke on the back affectionately.

It's been a lovely, lovely Sunday. I got to wear my customized blouse, we got the best seats in the cinema and we got in with plenty of time to settle before the movie started, I never lost at UNO (did I, Tonks?), it only rained when Josh and I were already snug inside the van on the way home, and then the rain stopped exactly when we arrived at our chapel's driveway!

Should have known it was the First Sunday of Advent. I'm glad I didn't skip Mass!

Thank you, Lord.

I trust He'll fix the hiccup in the horizon, too. Mom said Dad's company is shutting down in April. World crisis indeedy.

I'm so ensconced in my own happy little world I'm more than a little shaken with these reality checks... I've been on PM with Pooja checking on her and her family and friends in India... and then my Dad possibly losing his job.

But... note to self, it's still a beautiful world, as it's said in Desiderata.

I'll strive to be happy. Even the galaxy says so.

The moon, Jupiter and Venus. Last night, December 1st:

Isn't that the cutest? Hee.

Friendship and a sputter-inducing news last Tuesday. Can't shout about the news here yet though. Still under wraps. I'm in Saran wrap, that is. LOL. Marinating. I hope I become good enough to officially be popped into the oven.

Ooh, oven talk. Nope, I'm not pregnant.

Saturday gave me that thrill again of meeting and befriending new people, a thrill I haven't had in quite some time-- three months. The last time was last July when I met Aljo and Joey.


From top row to bottom row, left to right:
Darlo, Eunice, Sarah, CJ, Zech, Erin, Irish
Tonks, Sonny, Medea, Ross
Carmela, Sherly, moi,
July, Aldrich, Ian


Potter Synidicate star bottle made by Tonks

Saturday had been different in that there were SEVENTEEN of us. We used up to six tables in Goldilocks, and generally attracted stares, wistful smiles and grins from the other people in the mall.


The Slytherins posing, with July as the reluctant 'angel'.

They were always joking and laughing and poking fun at each other. I couldn't hear the jokes, but I couldn't help giggling along. And everyone were so nice and warm. I also had two new beloveds: Medea (that sweet adorable girl in the center of the picture above, holding the Potter Syndicate star-bottle) and Carmela. Sarah, too. Wasn't able to take a photo with Medea because she went home before we really went berserk with my Kodak.

Of course, there was Sherly and there was Tonks, my precious brujas.





Other highlights of the day were: the pictorial, (in which we made the photographer's day and at the same time harrassed her to near catatonia), the raffles (in which I won a Getbackers poster-sticker, one of the pictorial's prints and I gave away a copy each of the Harry Potter Creative CD and a DVD of the first five movies, won by Ross and Zech respectively), an UNO game (in which Medea and Carmela nearly came to blows). We only played one round. The last two had to refresh the deck six times before Medea lost. And then the dare she picked was to unravel Tonks's braids. It was a challenging dare. Haha!

Oh, and it was my brother Josh's birthday. Unfortunately, the date of Potter Syndicate's End of Term feast couldn't be moved, so I had to compromise. Josh had a little party. I got him a Naruto keychain he likes very much, so much he doesn't want to use it in fear of losing it. Hee.
Love you, Josh.

Josh not being with me posed some worry to these friends, new and old. Tonks wanted to see me all the way home, but she, Carmela and Ian had an hour's worth of road before reaching home. They only left when Tonks thought I'd boarded the van. In truth, I'd only fetched my camera. So then, the boys stayed with me. Wouldn't have gone to dinner if I didn't shove them away. Hehe. Such concern was both sweet and also a little embarrassing. I wish I didn't give so much anxiety just by being away from home and without chaperone. Mom called Sherly-- on the phone Sherly had left home. /facepalm

And then the van took a different route. It stopped for gas. I thought that was it.

But it continued down the lane instead of turning back. The entire duration of the ride, I was always a second away from panicking and telling the driver to let me off. I'm glad I stayed quiet and trusted that I didn't ride the wrong shuttle. Of course not. I'm not stupid. I just watched the windows. In the end, we did reach my subdivision. Phew! If the driver was avant-garde in his route, kudos to him. I did notice less traffic.

Yesterday, my grandmother and uncle and cousin Carlo stopped by. Played UNO. I have a feeling we cousins will have a tournament come 29th, when our newest niece gets baptized. I'm godmother, by the way.

(Godchildren: 5
Jobs: 0
Cash: I always have 'cash'. In the dictionary)

Been a lovely weekend.
I was pinching Edward's...um, posterior-- and I didn't even realize. /dies laughing




Rolydee said Twilight's been rated R-16 here! Poor Jouie.

... but most of all please free me from this aching metal ring.
And open out this cage towards the sun...

...fly away! Sky high picture, fly!

*choking myself laughing...*

Have had a lovely day yesterday. Met and loved Tonks of Potter Syndicate. My new precious bruja, Sheryline, who hates her real name and who's as warm, funny and darling as her namesake. We had a grand time, talking, playing UNO, talking, burning DVD's, talking, watching Jouie and her classmates practicing Thriller for the Halloween dance competition, talking, walking around our subdivision, talking...

We were backlit, so the pixels/noise or whatever it is--showed up in Sherly's camera phone.







ETA: Jouie and her gang won Second Place!

I tried to pinch-hit for the dmhgficexchange, but by the time I replied (which is last night, two/three days after I received the prompts), all the prompts have been taken. Hee. Serves me right for dillydallying. Anyway, a part of me is relieved, too. I have so many fish to fry. I'm not even done with my beta-reading yet. And there's my entry to the Philippine Graphic, too, and there's...

No, I'll stop enumerating them right there.

Right after my short two-hour online session yesterday, Mom presented me with this big envelope.

It's a birthday package from Nicole (FlightofthePhoenix)! Thank you so mucho, my sweet, sweet witch! *hugs* I love these and the thought behind them!


 



 


~ * ~

If I'm not mistaken, this book's author would be the Melissa of The Leaky Cauldron.org, she of the Memerson pair (Emerson of Mugglenet) who has interviewed Her Magical Majesty Joanne?



I've been remiss lately on my HP devotion, so I only saw this in READ magazine. I want it. Of course.
Harry: A History, The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

~ * ~

Advance happy birthday, dear Betsy (be_themoon)!

Sherly and Rolydee, my dearest brujas:


On the way to Pampanga, February 2006


Still giddy after OOTP, took pics near mounds of HP books.



We went a horror wedding movie, Sukob, and I was the only one who watched. These two played games during the scares. Embarrassing hags.



Jouie's 7th birthday

~ * ~

~You know you have the greatest friends when the only time they make you cry is when they make you laugh too hard.

~"Thus it is that my friends have made the story of my life.
In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation."
- Helen Keller

~The perfect meaning of friendship:
Frienship isn't based on how many secrets you share, how well you get along or how much you like each other or how often people see you together.
Rather, it appreaciates the differences, the gaps, the hindrances, the trials and still looks at you straight from the heart with no hatred, no judgment, no envy, no criticisms only pure acceptance and respect.

~By persistently remaining single, you're slowly converting yourself into a permanent public temptation.

~ * ~

Where did that last quote come from? Oh, right, from Riz.

I used to play this song in my kiddie organ, but all I can remember how to sing now are two lines in the chorus: "The will of the wind, you feel it and then..." "It comes and it goes, and God only knows..." And I've long lost the sheet music my aunt gave me.

September 24th, I hunted for my mom's old prayer book. There's music in the back. My sister and I played carols on the flute in her organ, which is twice as long as mine and bearing no pink at all!

September 27th, the cleaning. There was a dead moth trapped in one vase, and until now I haven't removed it yet. Neither had Mom. We couldn't bear to poke it out. It's stuck.



September 28th, Sherly, Rolydee and I reviled and hexed a van driver for waiting so long at the terminal. It was almost two pm (or was it already past two?) when my brujas arrived at the house. The driver must have felt the death glares and Sherly's threatening diarrhea. We choked down lunch in between laughter. Rolydee was her usual bubbly, insane self. She cut up apples for us in our orange juice. Sherly was cured.

>> I was a little miffed Eli (diarrhea), Ren (papers), Allen (defense) and Sandrea (org meeting/debut) didn't come, but bygones be bygones. Hmpf.

I'm Team Edward, Sherly is Team Jacob, Rolydee is... Team Billy.



We went to Mass, Sherly and I, but Rolydee had to go home to her Powerpoint projects



(Sherly saw HIM for the first time. She approves, haha). But we had a lovely time, most of it spent on DVD's and books. I miss my books!

Rolydee borrowed: Breaking Dawn, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept and Stardust.
Sherly borrowed: Pride and Prejudice, M is for Magic and two READ mags

Reniel still has: Messenger
Allen still has: A Little Princess
Riz (in Ilo-ilo!) still has: Flipped and The Phantom of the Opera

But then, I still have Riz's LOTR, hehe. And Sherly's Oliver Twist.

Speaking of books, I bought three Newbery medal-winners last Saturday. Josh and I braved rain and diarrhea (it's been going around. But Josh only had to detour to the men's room once). I bought him a Pokemon Omnibus as compensation and as a very advanced birthday present.

Holes
Sarah, Plain and Tall
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler

Shiloh, Bridge to Terabithia and The Giver are the other Newbery winners I've read and relished. I'll start collecting them.

I also finally got my own copy of Palanca Grand Prize winner, Salamanca.

And also, this chick-lit: Read My Lips by Teri Brown.



It's about a deaf girl quite gifted in reading lips. 83% accuracy! This ability made her an asset to certain members of a clique, making her 'belong' while they asked her for gossip and various other tidbits. I think the novel was published directly to trade paperback. There are no blurbs, no citations, no awards, and the protagonist's talent made me green with envy and raise my eyebrows in disbelief at the same time, but I liked it.

And then just last night, I read The Lodger at Wintertide in Fantasy Magazine. Lovely love story between 'Silversack' and Sibley, who was adopted by people in a silent village. Sibley asked Silversack for a voice, not knowing Silversack can't give it to her and that she already has it.

A Maiden's Grave by Jeffery Deaver is another novel with deaf people in it. 'A maiden's grave' had been what Melanie-- rapidly losing her hearing at the time in the back story-- thought was the title of Amazing Grace.

After I searched for 'The Lodger' at Fantasy to get the link again, I found an interview with Gregory Bernard Banks, an author who often included disabled characters in his work, and consequently, Decloaking Disability Bibliography, which will now make me stay offline again, I'm sure. *bookmarks*

Where was I? Oh, books. Oh, I love Powerbooks! I was reunited with my wallet (the one I forgot in the leather pouf there when I bought Breaking Dawn)! And the nice girl at Customer Service (I am so getting her name and cell number next time, hehe) recognized me when I claimed my mag and gift cards and jokingly also made an acknowledgment receipt for the wallet.



I've had this Ferragamo baby for four years! I'm glad I didn't lose it permanently.



~ * ~

Wooh! I'm a little giddy. They probably won't read this, but thank you and God bless you, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant.

I finished my beta reading and then I think I'll lay (very) low (lower than now, meaning no checking for updates on my fave fan fics *grits teeth*) in the fandoms for a while so I can concentrate on another short story and choose and prepare my NaNo entry.

~ * ~

Can someone give me the onomatopoeia of Robocop's gait? Pretty please. Thank you!

Done with my assignments! Yay! Now I can read Chiara's recs see what I can do about my drafts for Phil Spec Fic 4 and Phil Graph/Fiction Awards. *grits teeth* I'm facing a veritable wall though.

~ * ~

Thanks to Jouie's flyers, which I printed, pasted and pinked until three hours past sunrise two days ago, my bio-clock is now fixed again. I've been falling asleep with no fuss around 11 pm and then I wake up around 8.



Recognize the font?

Twilight!

~ * ~

Diaries:





(what did Jouie do to my last diary?! Haha.)

( Of course they would choose to talk to someone who would get their words right away... I have the Half-Blood Prince within a meter of me... )



"September 13, 2005. Inserted."

"December 5, 2005, Monday. Oh Lord! THank you! This afternoon, while I was about to lay down for siesta, I received a text message saying, Hi Joanna, can u call us at... youth advocates essay contest...

My gosh!!!

I shook with excitement and woke Mom from slumber. She called the number in our landline and... TADAN!

I'm in the Top 13 finalists of the Youth Advocates essay contest! I was invited to G3 on Saturday for the awarding Ceremonies! Only then and there will the plum 3 be announced..."



~ * ~

And here's my April Fool's joke last year, Chiara. *ducks from Sherly and Allen*.

See, my friends and I don't live close together. So the prank I dreamed up fit like a dream. LOL.

Now, I'm not really a prankster, nor do I like lying to/fooling people. Maybe the novelty of what I did is what doubled my fun.

I told them:
~ That I'm getting married in June.
~ That Mr B (my supposed fiance) and I just got a kick out of keeping everyone out of the secret, except our parents.
~ That I've always wanted to reveal the secret already and introduce him to them, but Mr B just always had another engagement when my friends and I have a get-together.
~ That the engagement is a spur-of-the-moment thing, brought about by Mr B leaving to work in California.
~ That the ring on my left finger (which I've been wearing for so long, and is actually a 16th bday gift from my Dad) is actually Mr B's pledge way back in 2004 (My friends and I go back to 2005).

LOL. My prank was well-propped.

Here are their reactions, which I've written down for posterity:

( I was even asked whether a silvery-purple and red motif is nice... )

~ * ~

I love journalling.

Welcome to LJ, Sherlypie!

It has been a jampacked weekend.

Friday has been overcast, but vey promising. A fit of temper from me has been forgiven, and hopefully, will soon be forgotten (by me). *wince*

( Saturday and annoying brothers )

( Sunday. Literally. Evidence in the photos. )


I love Josh for this photo. He got it spot on how I directed him to take it.


Eli and a coincidental portrayal of Salazar's prejudice

When the heat had us half-cooked, we ran back upstairs to the mall and cooled off—where else?—at Powerbooks. We lounged for real. It’s so comfy at all Powerbooks branches. The one in MOA has nice chairs (and thick carpets in the Children’s section). I read and waxed nostalgic over Goodnight Moon, and then my friends completely lost me to What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know and What My Mother Doesn’t Know. Delicious books. Reminiscent of the comedy and life lessons in Van Draanen’s works. But Sonya Sones writes in narrative free verse! I sailed through the pages faster. I’d have finished them too if I didn’t want to save them for when I buy them.

On the way to merienda, we detoured to Comic Alley, of course.

Sat undecided at Greenwich, and then favored the Foodcourt again.

From here, we went to the Science Center. The boys lost coins at the Orbit thingy. In the Center’s gift corner, Eli bought a Rubik’s Cube. Wait a minute, Josh was already playing with this when we loitered at Greenwich, so perhaps we went to the Center first before we came down to eat.

Right, and then I tried to get Eli and all of them to sing, but the videoke booths at the arcade were all occupied already and Sherly and I were raring to go to Trinoma, another mall a jeep and a train away. Besides, it was getting late.

So that was it. I directed the picture-taking and then Ghie and Aljo said goodbye.

Our jeep ride to the MRT became two jeep rides. Error, error. Laugh. Adventure! And then we arrived at this little crowded mall, zigzagged through people and stalls and then emerged onto a concrete overpass, and zigzagged again (the area was roped) to the ticket booths. We weren’t able to sit. But that was fine. Made like we were surfing. No hands. Hee.

It got claustrophobic after a while. And there was this man who got on and stood near me. He kept chewing gum. I wanted to snap his jaw up and shut.

I showed Eli the rosary he gave me from last year. Last year! And we were all still friends. Amazing. We all ‘met’ through text messaging, and bonded through Harry Potter. Some of us are quite really dear friends already (me and Sherly) and a couple have become more than friends, too (Allen and Sandrea).

MaCofWiz is sailing…


Allen, you could do with this pic what you like. ^_^

And proof is Ren and Sherly accompanied to me to Powerbooks-Trinoma to get the mags and gift certificate that my brother wouldn’t kindly get for me. Hmpf.

I bought Shiloh and How To Find Your One True Love. I saved the rest of my gift cards for Breaking Dawn.

Aaaah! Yes, we also reserved our copies of Breaking Dawn. And Sherly doesn’t have class until 1pm that Monday (never mind that unfair late date of release over here), so we’ll be able to get our books!

Monday. Garfield hates them. I do, too.

When we got home, I was too tired to even think of going online. And I had Shiloh to read.

It was only the next day, yesterday, after I transferred the pictures to my laptop, and was getting ready to transfer it to the pc for online upload, that the bomb fell. Argh.

While I was happily gallivanting at MOA, Jouie had wanted to play Ragnarok at the pc, but the pc didn’t start.

After the Intel motherboard screen, it’s just black. Windows doesn’t start up. No lights on the CPU indicating the start-up either.

And this is where I go flapping and yapping again. Phew.

Funny that jenny_b09's next to last post is entitled 'Of being sad and then happy again'. Because this morning, I got her postcard! *hugs Jen* It pushed my gloom over the pc situation further off.

I was just finishing reading dory_the_fishie's touching post about HP when Josh came back for me at the internet shop bearing happy news that my laptop has been successfully hooked up to the Internet! Yay!

So I can upload these pics to Friendster and our club's site. Have I said it's because of Harry Potter that I have friends?

It's worth an entire separate post though.

Yay, here are the rest of our picnic pics. I do love these people and photos even though my face, arms and legs' skintones decided to be unique from each other. What sunblock? And my eyebrows are out of whack as usual.

( here, take it here, wag ka gagalaw, Josh! )

And here's the Breaking Dawn cover, Gale. Got it from Anna.

The 'about AAARGH' entry suddenly feels like so long ago now. Hee. Can I even be more mercurial?

What is so addicting about the Twilight series is Meyer doesn't hold herself back from the lovey-dovey stuff. It is romance that got me into HP fan fiction. There are so few fantasy books that have enough romance to satisfy me. They focus on the fantasy and adventure, of course. So I make the romance for myself and for others like me. Along came Twilight... Funny, I don't have any inclinations at all to write or look up Twilight fan fiction. Meyer satisfies. *sigh*

Well said, Ralph.

Just had to post this. Grabbed from Sherly's online album.

From our picnic last April 12th. I still haven't posted about it because I left the digicam and handycam on their charging jacks and it makes me surly when I don't have pics... Sherly has yet to come over to share hers.

Josh took the photo from Sherly's Nokia3530. Kudos to him. Hee.



Allen, Sandrea, Moi, Sherly and Elizer.

... short for Pegasus.

Pegasus is an immortal steed.

And an immortal steed is an everlasting nag. -Reader's Digest LITBM


I was a nag last night. Why wouldn't I be? It was 12 midnight, and I was reading myself to sleep but my brother and sister, who are supposed to wake up at 6 in the morning for class (!), were in and out of the room, first asking for staples, then asking me to cut a circle, a heart... asking me to write her name in the cover page, asking me to help cover his top hat with art paper...

"Why didn't your teacher teach you how to do this?"
"Why didn't you ask Mom to buy you a folder and slide?"
"Why do you lot always wait until the last friggin minute to do your stuff?"
"What if I don't help you finish this? Just to teach you a lesson?"
"I'll hide your Gameboy, see if I don't."
"Cut me more tape!"
"Don't you laugh, you have no right to laugh."
"You're irritating."
"Leche."
"Leche."
"Leche."
"Leche." (I dunno either how this perfectly wholesome Spanish word became a malediction in Filipino)

Jouie went to bed at 12:30 am. Josh went to bed at 2am. After we finished his top hat, he just had to have a last goodnight session with Pikachu and Torchic. Yeah, peace again and I spoiled them again. They're my brother and sister, anyway, not yet my children. *evil smirk*

The nag was conquered by sheepish smiles.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^

It's rare that I don't delete quotes from my phone sms inbox. I don't dislike them but I don't love them. I prefer simple, funny things that came from my friends' cranium in answer to mine. But this is quite precious:

"A friend is someone you can call at four in the morning to say you've killed someone. But a true friend is the one who will knock at your door five minutes later with a spade." (translated from Filipino)

Aww.