Funny how the first song I heard from her this year and this entire album just summed up the craziness of this year.

2012. I promise it will be better.

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

Hooooooliday~~!! Hoooooooliday~~!

Who cares if the holiday sucks when my PC got busted and my car won't move!

It's all about the GOOD SLEEP. The all ever beautiful uninterrupted sleep which I am hoping to achieve this week. It's about waking up late, walking down for breakfast, reading and taking notes on academic books you have to catch up on, the guiltless dinners, the mystery novel, and the lovely quiet and happy times with my kitty! X3 Oh yiss.

Aaaand... maybe some play times with Big Boss and having a drink when my throat is parched. Aaah~ the holidays! *A*) HOOOOOLIDAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

There's also a stack of Oishinbo manga waiting to be read! -w-) And nefarious plans of cooking them by next year! Oh god... SO MANY BLOODY MANGA TO READ! >w<) Yes. I'm having the excitement jiggle. <3

There's a paper that definitely needs to be written and with my first week of January being dangerously hectic I... Oh who cares~ the holidays are coming~ I'm 30 words in! Or theoretically in.

I'm actually not feeling Christmassy per se. Truth is, I'm being scroogey of sorts. But I do love my holidays when holidays are not a lie. :3 And this holiday ain't no lie. When you have 7 day workdays of nothing but logistical madness and deskburn... oh yess.

I can't wait for next year to start and finish. It will be my most exciting year yet. BRING IT ON QUEEN BEE!!


p.s. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. My happiness for this coming holiday. <3

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

My boss is not here. But that doesn't mean I should be lollygagging. Well I am. Just for today.

Anyway, I saw Yuecchi and Rotch post theirs so it's that time of the year. I have been getting complaints that for those who sent postcards, they don't get their postcards, so please Fill up this contact data sheet! And I might send some Ho-ho cheers or something weird.

I've been eating healthy thanks to my common law husband, as defined by Mr. Giron. Oh heck, we hardly stay by the table together but I appreciate that I get to cook and experiment with food and we get to have it for our lunches and bento. I made pumpkin soup for the first time, with really fluffy chicken meatballs. The meatballs were awesome but there's still room for improvement in that soup. I also made cabbage rolls and it was AWEEESOME~! I think I'll be keeping that recipe for now. Since I go home to the flat on Mondays, roomie is in charge of my lunch for Monday. I said "Yabai, it's like playing a batsu game. I don't know if I'll get something really spicy or something really bland." XDD

Ah, another reason why I posted is... yiss, it's that time of the year. Apparently I've been doing this for five years and has been all right with some of them.

( And then there were rulesCollapse )

( And now on the list!Collapse )


To be honest, I feel bad posting this kind of thing this year. I don't want to get another comment from a friend of sorts saying that I'm using them to get my wants. I feel bad that that person would have such an opinion of me when this wishlist is really more of wishing and at the same time, in the spirit of the holidays, an act of giving.

Looking at this list, it is in generosity that you try to return what you can and given my financial situation, I can't give a lot, but I give what I can if you have this list. So if you post this in your flist and you choose to give me an expensive gift, do know that I can't try to match the price of your gift and you might want to reconsider giving me pricey stuff if you want your pricey stuff to be given as well. A wish list is a wish list and we can all wish for what we want and hope that someone's kindness over the holidays could share the love in return. I will always take that anyone who might consider getting me something expensive is really just being generous.

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

Just a quick one!

keycchou is doing a survey on Filipino political involvement among students. Whether you have or none, whether you were a student once, whether you are 40 and is still a student, then please, do answer and spread the word among Filipino friends about.

ANSWER THE SURVEY HERE!

( So who missed my life bullet pointsCollapse )

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

Happy Birthday Gin-chan~~~!!

Oh yiss... I don't forget. -w-)v And how awesome that Gintama's actually being shown today as well! Will they have a birthday special for Gintoki? <3

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

I call last week my "recuperation week" where I just charge myself with all the energy I spent on our event and a couple of sleepless nights thanks to my baito. It was another week of talking with strangers who had a lot of amazing things to share with me.

In my SA class, we saw this film called "Marwencol" which tackled a bit of issue of self-reflexion, a very Jesuit thing to teach (my teacher is a Jesuit after all) and something some people around me have forgotten. The act of reflecting

Susanna, our fellow from Malaysia, spent an afternoon talking about this thing called "Flow" from this guy whose name I can't exactly pronounce. It's an interesting concept where your skill set matches your challenges and you achieve this certain flow, that "in the zone" moment where you're just working your ass to get things right. The end product is this sense of joy in having achieved something. Susanna even shared that you can "level up" when you have achieved this "flow." Wikipedia says a lot about what Susanna shared with me but there were other things she shared that I was personally moved by. And while she was particularly eager about it, and I thought to myself that it was quite an interesting concept, I told her if there was an instance of a negative flow. Say, sure, you invest yourself in your activity to a degree that it consumes your entire being and it helps you develop as a person. But what if it's stuck in the same peg? What if the challenge only means consuming more of the same thing? What if other skills are not developed?

She had to stop and think a while and had to see my point. I shared with her some observations I've had of some people and I asked to what degree then could this flow be positive? If one is so capsized by building robots and gundams to a degree that he loses all social relations, is that still good? In a psychological sense, the flow is a good psychological state but at the same time, it can also be a mildly destructive social state. To master one state is great, but what about losing other skill sets? Yes you can build gundams but to survive in this world, you can't just be good at painting and cutting plastic. I love psychology but as someone steeped in the social sciences and history, I can say for a fact that people can't just survive on this flow alone.

It was a healthy poignant moment and it was a fun discussion in the end. At the same time, apparently, she and I have been reading Leo Babauta as of late. I only crossed him via his website, Zenhabits.net which currently features an amazing story on the tragedy of missing out. She crossed him via a book that was given to her during her cancer surgery. Now this guy is amazing and I suggest you guys give him a read for things that you have to reflect on in your life. He's not exactly a self-help person. But when I read his blog entries, I'm just reminded of things that I should be thinking of. While I get a couple of lessons from tumblr, his site is something worth clicking on some days.

My teacher also shared this interesting perspective on the youth. And while my teacher remains hopeful for our future, I... I would like to think that there are some amazing kids out there but I wouldn't bet my bucks on some.

Another thing that I crossed and had wanted to share was the story of Samantha Sotto. She is a Filipina housewife who drafted this story in frustration over a novel and ended up becoming published by Random House. I know I have a lot of friends in this flist who have longed to get their stories published. I know I have lots of friends in this flist who dream of becoming writers for their genre. Looking at Samantha Sotto, I think it can be done. With the internet, it's already a lame excuse that you can never get published. Here's a lady who managed to do it because she invested every little energy she had to get her story out. She's not a literary person. Just a reader like many of you who has a story to tell. If you think Philippine Publishing won't get you, then you don't have to stop here. There are many publishers abroad who would have an audience for your story. The question now is if you really have THAT story to tell or are all those talks of dreams being published just... all talk. It's frustrating to see dreams getting stunted just because you think there's just nobody out there who would buy your story. Until you meet an editor, then it's not your call that it won't get published. I say, if one person in your life like the story that you've written, then maybe... just maybe, you have a shot in going for the big guns. This housewife did it. I believe, you writers in my flist, can do it too. Give this story a read and if it really was your dream to be a writer, then you can take after Samantha Sotto.

I also managed to spend time with some of our fellows who had a lot more to share. I even got some turmeric from Malaysia and some keychains... it was just crazy.

I realized that no matter how much my mother grates on how my work is not exactly teaching, I cannot disagree more that my work allows me to connect and learn from a lot of people of great influence in their field. Right now, I have great academic connections in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. If I can speak Thai, then possibly, I might have some connections with Thailand as well. But it's been great so far. I'm not exactly sure if I am completely happy. There are still things hanging and dangling in my life that refuses to take a step forward to fix things but in aspect of fulfillment at work, I say, I think I'm quite pleased with what I'm doing.

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

Oh Fabio~~ your song always cheers me up.

My phrase for the last two weekends is "There is no holiday." I spent a weekend in a hotel, ate buffets and lavish dinners (WAGYUU AND PEKING DUCK!!!), and went to Tagaytay but it was all for work. It was fun work but was very exhausting. VERY exhausting. Lady boss and I were sleeping in the car and according to Karl, I've been grinding my teeth at night and was stress snoring. ;_;

The week after, there was more work (it never stops!) and since play season is coming, I spend nights fixing and retouching people's faces again. A-ha-ha.

While I enjoy doing design work, I realize that I don't like doing design work who have no sense on what I should design. If it were for a personal project, I'd have an idea, but these folks are running in circles. Although, the guy I'm working for now has clearer direction, it's still frustrating when you hit a bit of a slump.

That said, there were fun things and there were good things that happened this week.

* Went to the Manga Realities exhibit opening and spoke with the curator and the designer of the exhibit. ANYBODY LIVING IN MANILA: VISIT THE MANGA REALITIES EXHIBIT!! I visited it again last friday with Yuecchi and it was fun with lesser people around!
* Cooked some awesome food from Kinou Nani Tabeta
* Cooked awesome pasta lunch with the Sugawaras and the Marcis

It's been a while since I cooked for people and I was totally touched with Sugawara-mama suggested that I should just open a restaurant with how well I cooked my food. It was really just simple food with the freshest ingredients that didn't take me a long while to prepare... but still, that was nice to hear.

While I love what I do, being a cook seems like this looming profession over my head. It's like everyone, from my mom to family and friends, have been talking to me about opening my own restaurant. I'm not "that" great a cook and I must confess that I'm no Heston Blumenthal genius but given a bit of practice, resources, and time, I'd probably end up whipping some fantastic things from my kitchen.

Although really, at the end of the day, I enjoy cooking for people I love and who has a good taste on what's good to eat. I'm not sure if I can see myself working in a sweaty restaurant kitchen all day, but I can see myself cooking in a home kitchen and serving some food to a family. Maybe my family.

I dunno if it's the fever talking but lol, I wonder if I'm at that age of settling down. ^^;; But first, a conference, a PhD, and a husband!

I also realized that my ability to schmooze has leveled up. I didn't think I would be able to talk to the designer and the curator of Manga Realities but according to those who saw, I was in schmoozing central. Perhaps it was because I was in a comfortable place where I can say "Hi, I'm a scholar focused on manga" without feeling the shame of my medium. I've gone through conferences where I can feel people judging me for focusing on such a thing but... yeah... It's nice to open up and let loose on your study once in a while. Also, I shook hands with people from JICC and director of JFMO. What a surreal experience.

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

WORK EVENT.

Since I can't publicly mention my office's name, my office is having an event and it's BLOODY HECTIC. Bloody fun but hectic. My boss even had to remind me "Khursten, are you really staying for a year?" I'm like "yes."

ANYHUUUUU--!! PIMPOLOGY!

! PLEASE ANSWER MY SURVEY ON READERS OF ENGLISH SCANLATIONS
pimp it to your friends as well. To all your bloody friends! I need respondents from all over the globe! Literally. Truth is, for this to be meaningful, I need a thousand respondents. But to save my brain, 500 will do.

! SHARE YOUR FOOD AND MANGA STORY
Giving away a Moyashimon Vol. 2 manga by the end of this week! <3 If you have a story on how you discovered some lovely food through manga, then share your story and you might just win an English (omg! are you for realz!?) version of Volume 2 of Moyashimon!

While I'm totally overwhelmed by two jobs left and right, let me just say that the highlight this week is... STONE GRILLED WAGYUU~~!!!! *3*) Office event dinners ~~~~\o\ THEY'RE ALWAYS THE BEST!!!! <3 <3 ALSO STAYCATION GET!! XD AND FREE PARKING FOR THREE DAYS!!! Simple joys, Khursten. Simple joys.

Sometimes I really wonder if I'm in this job for the food. Probably I am!

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a reality for everyone. It may not be your dad. Or your mom. But perhaps it could be somebody else in your life who has shown so much love for you which you only have taken for granted. For the times we miscommunicate, we mishear, misunderstand, perhaps we can just listen to the silence and know how much we are loved.



I blame Rotch for putting this link up while I've been running around universities in Cagayan de Oro. Still, it was worth looking like a major idiot, sniveling and crying on the road. I just remembered my mom who I hadn't seen in two years and while we hardly talk nowadays, we can count on the love and faith we have for each other. <3

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.

HOLY. FUCK. HUNGER GAMES. DOES NOT COMPARE TO BATTLE ROYALE.

In a few hours I will be attending my lovely blockmate's wedding and my eyes are all baggy because I've spent the last three days reading the Hunger Games trilogy. Yes, friends. This Grade 5 reader has leveled up in her speed reading skills! *raises hands and expects a high five...*

Okay, no. I don't think my reading speed has anything to do with it but I think Hunger Games was such a page turner that I just couldn't stop reading. Some of the beaches and dolly folks have been oggling about the movie. I ended up seeing this trailer about the Second Quarter Quell and thought "Wow, gory. Interesting, but gory." Prior to this, my impression was that the Hunger Games was just an American rip-off of Battle Royale but after having read all three books, I'm quite mistaken.

My eyebags are horribly black and my god I wish I had a decent concealer to take them down but the books were amazing and even if my eyes were possibly in tears of tiredness, I just couldn't put the book down (e-book, to be precise). It was enough to keep me preoccupied more so now that Dino is coughing to his dying day. Haaaay. I'm not much of a YA reader but out of all the YAs shoved at my face in my lifetime, this one said more than just shounen confused times. There's not much of a reluctant hero here. It's all about overcoming one's greatest fears and trying to survive it.

( So a girl named Katniss chooses to be in a deadly arena where you either die or be the last one standing because she doesn't want her little sister to die.Collapse )

Oh right, I forgot to say why I think Hunger Games is different from Battle Royale. At most, the Hunger Games captures the traumatic process of Battle Royale where kids fight it off to the death. However, unlike Battle Royale where it's closer to social cleansing, Hunger Games is a deliberate act not to get rid of the worst but to control people. The violence may come close but the intentions, the machinations of the game, the deliberate control of the Capitol for their entertainment just changes the atmosphere of Hunger Games. I should probably consider reading the Battle Royale novels just to see if there is really that connection. If I base it on the movie, it's really worlds apart.

I love how the books captured fear and I love how Collins didn't make her heroine a Mary Sue who just pushed on with great positivity or submitted herself to her harem of boys. You can read in the pages how difficult the games were for Katniss and how even 'til the end, she relied on herself to push herself forward. The choice to have to kill someone and the choice to give yourself up for another. To live after having lost everything. To pick up yourself after you fall.

If I had been in their situation, I think I would have died in the game. But I would probably think in the same way as Katniss did and pushed hard to survive and live. Maybe in a way, that's why I can't exactly hate Katniss. She's real and she knows what she wants and what are her priorities.

I've got another set of books for my children to read and while I think my children would probably throw me down a cliff for forcing them to read Gintama, I think they might actually enjoy reading Hunger Games. And I suppose from there I'm hoping that my children would appreciate the things that they have and live life to the fullest. And maybe... we can laugh at how bad our eyebags are after reading the books. Or maybe they'll sleep when Mommy starts talking about the economic structure of Capitol and why dependent abusive economies is a revolution waiting to happen. Hahahahaha! XDDD But before all this talk of children, I should get husband and get my stored ovaries used. :T

GODDAMMIT. HOW DO I GET RID OF THESE EYEBAGS!?!

P.S. I really want a Peeta in a box. I want to baked my favorite bread fresh every morning. :< And fancy birthday cakes. OMG, THEIR KIDS ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE PRETTY CAKES EACH YEAR. ;A; PEEEEETAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.