Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Alliterant Alphabet

or An Existential, Metaphysical, but Utterly Inconsequential Abysmal Alphabet

AB is for Aby
(c. 2014)

Abbot of aberrations (with abs) tried to abandon his abnormalities only to create a bigger abomination, abort now or be absorbed by an abundance (or absence ) of absurdity and ability and self-absorption? welcome to the abyss
there is no absolution for us, fellow aberrant
but it is A Beautiful day

D is for  DOODLE
(c. 2017)

Disquieting Dreams at Dawn Disturb a Dozing Denizen of human Drama, Drawing for him a Diorama of the too Delicate bonds of a family, of the Damning Duality of Displayed morality and of the Drabness of normality, oh Doodle doodle Doodle, to Desecrate or Deteriorate? It's a Debate, can you Dig it? Caan youu dig it?! Then Dig Deep down deep deep down and Discuss with the Dog his life and yours ,Dig Deeper and Discover the Delights of the Dungeon, Dig Deeper still and you will be Delivered to the Dragon,. Start Dancing

R is for RANT
(c. 2013)

Let me Rant and Rave, Remorseful for Rejecting a Romance I now (only) Repetitively Reminisce,
Let me Rant and Rave, Remembering the Ruthless Restrictions that had no Rhyme , no Reason.
Where is the Resolution to this Reluctant Repetition?
The Reclusive Renegade, who couldn't Release the Ruled from heR RulerRs
Is RuptuRed with RegRet.
But ReveRbeRates with Rage.
My Release, Repentance? Relish a more Ruthless Response than Rejection
My Respite, Reunion? (if there be) a Remnant of that Romance
Or my Renaissance? Rebound, Revenge
And Revel as I Raze the Roaches to my Rabid Redemption

Ish! is for Ish!, an expression of exasperation and irritation
(c. 2017)

How do we SHake off the SHadow that SHackles our empty SHell
we continue to SHiver as the truthful SHimmer of the sun
 is SHunned by the SHape of our own SHade
all our SHiznits amounting to SHit
but SHould this daily SHow of our CHarade SHatter,
in SHock
we will forever SHower in SHame.
ish!
When we SHed all the SHam, one SHall ask
who am I? Who are you?
SHoo SHoo away from me
or
SHot, SHot mo ketdi (a special expression)

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

How to Develop a Reading Habit: Read One Page A Day

1) Read one page a day, that's it.

But since you are already here, stay awhile and  read the next 3. It is possible to go further because

2) There is always time to read.
Interspersed in the stretch of 24 hours you will probably have the time to:
wait in line, like this:


or to be stuck in something like this:


to eat somewhere without WIFI probably in a place like this:


or sit waiting for your poop to drop in something like this:


By reading during those times and adding a page before I sleep and sometimes after I wake (to stop myself from logging on to Facebook or Instagram) here's what I read this month of May to the first week of June:

(Books read for May to early June)

Quite a small feat for me who has an 8 hour job(that has nothing necessarily related to Literature) , a girlfriend, a cat, a dog who feels the need to join my jogging, hobbies, Facebook and Instagram accounts, the occasional beer or 2x2.
Yup, like many I am busy doing things that matter and things that don't.

2) There is no pressure- especially the pressure to finish a book.

If we live in a results and profit oriented world, it is important to set a special separate place for the things we do mainly for the process of having fun.

People can wait months for the next season of a hit TV show like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, and when the new season starts showing,  most people don't really feel the need to re-watch everything from the previous seasons. The same is true with your sitcoms, you just watch one episode a day or a week.

With books it is most definitely possible. If a book becomes too dragging you can always pause it, and start a new one, and maybe in another day you might continue the book as you would continue a TV show. Just a short recap will do.

My "currently reading" pile of books- you will need lots of bookmarks.

Or you can always abandon the book altogether because reading, in this case, should not be a chore. there is no pressure to finish a book  you are reading for pleasure. If you just can't or don't want to then you don't have to. The father of the Essay, Montaigne, says this much.

“I am not prepared to bash my brains for anything, not even for learning’s sake however precious it may be. From books all I seek is to give myself pleasure by an honourable pastime… If I come across difficult passages in my reading I never bite my nails over them: after making a charge or two I let them be… If one book wearies me I take up another.”

The right book for you is the book that you are totally interested in and for whatever the reason.
Of the books from the books read for May to early June, one was the inspiration for a 1979 cult movie that became a hit PlayStation game that my brother and I played to death, The Warriors(1965)(no relation to Golden State). Another book, The Spinoza Problem,  is the latest in a series of psycho-philosophical books written by an author I am currently following, Irvin Yalom. Another book, the Jabberwocky, I bought and read simply because I like the drawings.

Recently, my friends spoke to me about a genre they are into, the  Light Novel- a manga written as a novel.

These are times when there is always something for someone to read. Plus there are a lot of  bookstores selling second hand books you can buy at marked down prices.

Thus,

3) Always Carry a Book

My brother demonstrated the three taps before leaving the house:
Tap for your phone, tap for your ID, then tap for your  wallet. 
For the fourth one, tap for your book, 

The time spent finishing this article or the time spent scrolling until you saw this is the same amount of time needed to read one page.

as a bonus -

4) Log out. Unplug.

Pick the right book or books and read one page a day.

(thanks to the traffic,Pila and the carenderia)
For the books in the done reading photo : thanks to aunt yoba for her pasalubong all the way from Missouri," The Spinoza Problem " all other books I bought at Bookends Baguio


Saturday, June 10, 2017

Review: Anatomy of An Octopus Woman


We can imprison the body. Can we imprison the mind?

Just got back from watching "Anatomy of an Octopus Woman" at the Baguio Women's Jail Dormitory, I want to give a shout out to my friend, the director and one of the performers Angelo Aurelio. Thanks for inviting me, I was speechless enough to find myself writing this.