A Charmed Life: Life's a Play!

The sun has just come out with a very lovely beam. The sparrows are chirping.
I put out the clothes to dry.


Last Saturday I was woken up by a text message from a friend inviting to go for a picnic in the mountain. He asked to meet him at 10 AM downtown. I got up and looked through the window to a foggy morning. I told him to postpone the picnic because it looks like it's gonna rain. I went back to sleep some more because it was a cold morning.


After 30 minutes, I was again woken up by another text message from the same friend telling me that the sun is shining and that he's on his way downtown and he's gonna wait for me there. So I met him and we went to the said picnic on a narrow valley between two mountains. I never suspected that just behind a mountain full of houses built on top of each other, there is a valley and a mountain with nothing but pine trees. We reached a half-constructed house and under it are our companions already starting to eat. They are local musicians plus the two South American artists that are sometimes seen busking in the city with their mystical indigenous music from the Andean mountains.


We finished eating and were in the drinking session when it rained. Whilst drinking and story-telling, we waited for the rain to leave. Then as we were climbing the mountain back to civilization, we were met by strong gusts of wind and I told my friends that it felt like the rumored storm has just left. One of them said that as the weather report says we are in signal number two, but since we haven't felt any storm yet, maybe it will arrive in the evening.


Back in the city, I met up with a couple of other friends for coffee. We were chatting when the rain suddenly poured again startling one of my friends who remarked that the sound of the rain is different and that maybe we should go home soon as none of us brought any umbrella. We scoffed at her telling her that it's just normal rain and maybe her different hearing was because of the fiber glass roof of the coffeehouse. The rain stopped and we went home. I slept an ordinary sound sleep that night.




Next day, Sunday, a girlfriend texted me saying that she's downtown and asking if I'm going downtown so we could meet up. I told her I was not going out in that drizzly weather. She texted back saying, the drizzle was nothing compared to what's happening in Manila. Who knows what's happening in Manila, I do not watch TV.


I opened my mail and received a concerned email from a friend who does not really email (the last time she emailed me was back in 2006 asking me if I was not hit by the tsunami!). She said she saw the "news" and had been thinking about me. She asked if I am OK. I wondered what "news" she was talking about. I opened FB and there, through people's posts and videos, I learned about the "news."


Unbelievable...


A manifestation of global warming...

I woke up, ate meal, sat down a bit in front of my laptop, and now already going back to bed again. A day has quickly come and gone!


September is the centennial anniversary of the city and there were many events lined-up for the celebration. I've previously been seeing the schedule of activities, but for the whole month of September, for some mysterious reason, it has totally escaped my awareness to check if there was something that interested me.


There was one historical play that I previously planned to see. There was a Japanese martial arts and meditation dance workshop and also performance show that I would have really loved to see. Just one click away and I would have not missed these events. What have I been thinking? What have I been doing? Where have I been?


Where did the 30 days of September go?

This year seems to be a good year for me for learning various things that interests me. The process of change, sketched in my palm, has become a reality. I think I'm slowly going back full circle -- from being a right-brained child to a left-brained scholar, and back to being a right-brained artist. The end goal is of course to balance both hemispheres of the brain.



These are the things I want to learn, or are learning at the moment:
1. To learn how to play the bamboo flute - the traditional soulful style, not the classic or folkloric western style.

2. To re-learn drawing, particularly illustrating. Cute anime style if possible! Many things I want to express through image, but for the moment I'll have to be patient with toying and experimenting with words to render the purpose of expressing.

3. Dancing! Any kind... At the moment, into belly dance and another kind of dance which I don't know the name, (shall I call it casual, or disco, or ordinary modern dance, or what? but you get the idea..) I want to learn as much different dances as I can. It's surely good for the body and soul, it makes me think clearer and feel healthier. I've noticed dancing makes not only my body but also my way of thinking more flexible.


4. Still learning to play my ukulele and drum.. I'm lagging behind in these though.


5. A friend enlisted me to learn basic Korean lingo... it's free and they even pay for my transportation! I hope this will push through as I'm still waiting for the call.



... step to the right, step to the left... this tune is just ringing in my ear right now while I'm blogging. yay.






other random things going...

Two of my rubber shoes are worn-out due to overuse. But I'm still using them during sunny weather when the possibility of my socks getting wet is much less. I plan to do this until they totally fall apart. I think it is an issue of attachment.

I have, nevertheless, been frequenting sports shoe shops, hunting for comfy walking/running, and dancing shoes to replace the worn-out ones. I first visited the ukay (used shops) but the sellers are no-less smart, they surely are familiar with their wares. They sell the good sports shoes very expensively. It doesn't seem worth it to spend much time in the ukay looking for a costly second-hand shoes. So I thought if I'm going to buy an expensive footwear, I'd buy it new, fresh and clean and use it forever. As of now I got one pair of walking shoes which is so far so good. And still looking for at least one more pair, must be light weight and comfy. Maybe I'll try the crocs.


A girl who owe me money suddenly showed up to pay me, long after I gave-up expecting to be paid back by her (maybe God is listening to my prayers after all). So today I bought a new and much more comfortable computer chair. I'll donate the old one to my nieces.