Good night, Tree Hill

The One Tree Hill series finale was simply everything I could've asked and hoped for. It was the perfect send-off for my favorite TV characters. It was definitely a happy ending. :)

While watching, I noted some favorite moments from the finale and here are the top 10 in order of appearance:

1. Brooke walking into the set of Peyton's room



2. Logan calling Quinn "mom" (Aww!)
3. Gavin DeGraw performing and then panning out onto the main cast watching





4. Nathan and Haley in the rain
5. Brooke and Julian in the house Brooke grew up in
6. "There's only one Tree Hill, Jamie Scott, and it's your home."
7. Brooke and Julian on the set of the Tree Hill High School hallway

"This is all where it happened for the first time. The heartache, and the happiness, all of it."

8. The cast singing to "I Don't Wanna Be" (I was singing along, too, and it felt like I was singing along with them!)
9. The kids and Skillz throwing water balloons from the Karen's Cafe rooftop the way Peyton and Brooke did then
10. Hearing my favorite voice over once again:

"Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want. Everything you want.
Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true.
You never know where the next miracle's gonna come from,
the next memory, the next smile, the next wish come true.
But if you believe that it's right around the corner,
and you open your heart and mind to the possibility of it,
to the certainty of it,
you just might get the thing you're wishing for.
The world is full of magic. You just have to believe in it.
So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it,
with all your heart."

I am certainly gonna miss it. Truly, there is only one Tree Hill, and it is my home. <3

*applause*

"Tonight, One Tree Hill was a goodbye, but not the sad, sucky kind. And perhaps that's the final message our quiet ally means to pass onto us. Goodbyes don't have to be terrible, heartbreaking traumas. On the contrary, sometimes they can be timely and quite beautiful." --TV.com

Hugo

I started this one-movie-a-day thing on Twitter (I use a hashtag) the other day just out of the blue since I have to catch up on the latest movies I failed to see in time due to my fully-booked schedule ever since the year started. Now that the school year is over for me, since I'm graduating (yes, by the end of the month!), I figured I should keep myself occupied by doing things I enjoy after working so hard to finish my last semester.

Anyway, my movie for the day was Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," a film set in 1930s Paris about an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a train station and is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. After watching and enjoying the film, I now know why it earned Oscars for Art Direction and Cinematography, among others (the movie won a total of 5 Oscars and was nominated for another 6). I absolutely loved everything about the storyline of the film. I think what made me appreciate it so much was because it's a story wrapped in another story, and they sort of intertwine together through the main character, which is Hugo.

But it was Chloe Moretz's character, Isabelle, whom I loved from the very beginning. She loved books and using big words, and going on an adventure, which was how she initially became associated with Hugo.

One of the messages the movie was trying to portray is something along the lines of having a purpose in this world. These lines from the movie that depict that message specifically struck me:

"Machines never come with any extra parts. They always come with the exact amount they need. So, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't just be an extra part. I have to be here for some reason."

That certainly gives a soon-to-be-a-graduate like me more than a strand of hope that I am here to make a difference. I mean, I already believe that everything happens or is here for a reason but I guess, sometimes, little reminders like this are just what we need to strengthen our faith. And also, it gives us just that little push we need to figure out just what we are here to do.

The Year That Was

So it's been another year... But 2011 really wasn't just another year for me. This year has brought a lot of new experiences, new friendships, and new discoveries, albeit little, about myself.

I started 2011 thinking I was soon to embark on my last year of college and how I wanted it to be somehow a memorable last year in UST. Looking back, I can say my senior year has been more than I bargained for, and the great thing is, it isn't totally over yet. Before my days as a senior started though, I had to finish my internship for the summer. Having to wake up early to travel to Makati and stay at the office for 8 hours easily became a routine but it wasn't all bad. I made new friends in two of my batchmates who worked with me in the same company. One time we even made plans to meet with some of our other batchmates who were also working in the area and had time to share stories with some of whom we don't normally have a proper conversation with at school.

Then it was back to attending classes at school. I guess we are just really blessed that all of us in class have bonded, and thank God it happened during our last year together. From our retreat in Caleruega to going to Cebu and Bohol with the whole batch (which I'm going to talk about more a little later) and to having an all-nighter Christmas party, it has been one heck of an enjoyable semester with my lovely classmates and friends. One thing I learned this year is that even though it's hard for me to change my mind about people, it helps a lot when it's them who try to show you that other side of them you might like. Like they say, it takes two to tango.

Early Merry Christmas

Ever since I found out that my eldest brother and his family who are based in the US will be spending Christmas here in the Philippines this year, I don't think I've ever really felt sad. The last time we were all together prior to this was in 2005. So I was really excited about them being with us for the holidays, and so were all of my family.

Yesterday was the last day that we were all going to be together before my brother and his family go back to California so we had an early celebration of Christmas eve dinner (Noche Buena). I thought it was just going to be a normal dinner but we ended up starting late because we had to wait for my other sister-in-law who flew in from Singapore, and so we still got to open presents at midnight, although it was a day early.

Speaking of presents, here are some of the things I got:

A shiranian (shih-tzu pomeranian) dog,
I named him Barkley

Harry Potter merch

"Rihanna Navy" shirt
(Excuse my weird face)

I gotta say, getting material gifts is nice (more than nice, if I'm totally honest) but nothing really beats having your family by your side during this special occasion. The best present is that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you share precious moments with family. :)

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
--Burton Hillis

So I wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas! May we all keep in our hearts the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ!

Smiling, still

In the past week, I felt so overworked, especially physically, which doesn't really make sense at all since I only went to school for two days (Thursday and Saturday) that week due to suspension of classes for two consecutive days because of heavy rains. I did however had something to do that Friday. My parents and I had an appointment at the DFA for our passport application. Then, I asked my father to drop me off at UST because my friends and I had a review scheduled at the library. I didn't go home until a little over 7 PM and thank God I did because the rain started pouring real hard just when I was walking down our street.

Now August has arrived and I'm starting to feel like this semester is not one of my best... My exams are already coming up next week and I think I'm not even half-prepared yet. But of course, I'm trying my hardest to do my best despite all things getting in the way.

Hopefully, this week will change my outlook for the whole sem. If not, well, I guess I should try again the week after.

Wishing you all a fantastic August! So sorry for sending out negative vibes on the first day of the month. I just had to let some of this buildup out of my system... I have a smile on my face, though, and you should, too! :)

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times when one only remembers to turn on the light.

--Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban

Hi

 
It's going to be December in just two days. Where does the time go, seriously? And what have I been doing this first month of my semester? It's like I want to scold myself for being so happy-go-lucky when I should really be worrying about what my thesis topic would be. But I know myself well enough to know that when I really need to get work, I get to work and try my very best to focus. I don't like that I can't get it out of my system to be such a crammer but hey, I'm only human.

So, really, what have I been doing these past few weeks? Well, for one, I just spent my long weekend in front of the computer only getting up to eat, go to the bathroom and sleep. Typical me. I watched Easy A and Charlie St. Cloud the other day, which are both good movies in their own ways (namely Penn Badgley & Zac Efron, respectively). Now I just finished watching Beyonce's I Am... World Tour special and I'm still not over it as I'm listening to the audio (Now Playing: Hello). Yes, aside from going to and coming from school, with lots of learning in between, of course, I'm still same old me who's life isn't complete without music. On Friday night I was up until almost 2 in the morning just obsessing with Rihanna, watching her tour videos. If someone would pay me for obsessing with music and all related topics, I'd be rich by now. But no, that's not how life goes. Speaking of, I'm really trying hard to be thrifty in order to save money for Taylor Swift's concert in February. See? I guess I should look for a job in the future that would include "Pop Culture Knowledge" in the job description. Hahahaha.

Anyway, I just remembered I haven't really blogged about HP7 yet, have I? I tried writing a draft post a couple days ago but I just ended up deleting it. Let me get to that later or maybe tomorrow.

For now let me just leave you with my new favorite quote that I picked up from Charlie St. Cloud:

Trust your heart if the seas catch fire, live by love though the stars walk backward. -E.E. Cummings

Say It Like You Eat It!

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is everything I thought it would be and more. I definitely picked up some good advice from Liz that I can apply in my personal life. I love how she has a natural sense of humor that definitely came across in some parts of the book that I caught myself literally laughing out loud at her witty banters. Eat, Pray, Love definitely has that balance between pleasure and spirituality. Thumbs up!



View all my reviews

A few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly."

"When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and its time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore."

 "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

"This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something."

The Lovely Bones

Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment when we really choose to go. At best you might feel, a whisper or the wave of a whisper, undulating down.

I just saw The Lovely Bones and a dream has solidified in me: I want to be in Susie Salmon's place after she died. I want to see how the world or my world will continue on living without me. I think that's the most curious part of the idea of dying. Of course we wouldn't know how it would go down unless we experience it firsthand. How would the people we love take it when we leave this world? Will we know their reactions? Will they still remember us after a long time?

I think that's why my concrete answer to the question am I afraid of dying is this: I'm not afraid of dying in itself but I'm afraid for the people and the life I will leave behind. Because I don't know what's going to happen afterwards. It's just nothingness right now. Pure uncertainty and nothingness.

And another thing, just like how Susie was able to see the "lovely bones" that had grown after she was gone, I would be a really happy soul if I would be sure that all the people I love would be okay, or better than okay, even when I'm gone.

Alright, alright, enough of that. Let me talk about the movie itself. I loved it, and maybe it's because I haven't read the book yet because from the comments I have read the movie is shit compared to the book. So now, my goal is to grab a copy of the book and sink my teeth into it. So, yeah, I think if you look at it as just a film and not compare it with the book, it's really a good film. It has a solid plot all throughout and it was just intense in some parts, which I really enjoyed. And can I just say that the girl who played Susie, her name is Saoirse Ronan, is soooo pretty. "You are beautiful, Susie Salmon," Ray Singh said. Yeah, I agree! Plus, she's really, really talented as well.