Posts Tagged Books
What does surround you, defines you.
Posted by roanne in Bluefly, Books, Chocolates, Gladiator Sandals, Haruki Murakami, Jansport, Leonidas, Meg, Personal Moods, Planet Green, South of the Border, West of the Sun, fashion, neil gaiman, stardust on June 2, 2009
A wise person once told me, “what does surround you, defines you.”
Perhaps, that person is right. 
Remember the times when you’re surrounded by things that affect your life greatly–from toys to gadgets, from kiddie dresses to sensuous LBDs, from impish childhood friends to mature friends. Everything seems to be ever changing, yet every little thing puts an imprint of influence on you, making you a wiser, more experienced person as you as you embark a sojourn on a journey to life.
They are either good or bad. They create either a little or huge impact in your life. And, there’s definitely a lesson learned for every road taken. That lesson is, you know what you deserve, and who/which deserves you in return.
Like me, for instance, I have never been so happy with what I have right now, and I will never stop getting more ecstatic each day. Happiness is something earned in order for it to be gained. But, honestly, happiness is actually a state of mind–you can even ask your shrink about it.
Not everything is made of happiness. That’s why, rather willfully purge all the bad. Sometimes, bad things are masked by deceitful guises. You’ll never know how disdainful, perverse, precarious, or worst, nefarious it is until you unveil the real color of mire. Who wants to be stuck in the reeking rut anyways? Who wants to be infected by the stench?
Things that surround me are far more different than what it was a year or two before. Here are a few things that influence me today, for example:
Nature: Keeping our Planet Green
*Taken whilst riding a van going to the province*
*Taken staying in a beautiful house in the suburbs*
I have discovered the wonders of nature, or say appreciated it the most, as soon as I traveled halfway around the world. You may actually think that both images are taken in Belgium, but they’re not! The first picture is taken in the Philippines, whilst riding a van going to Subic. I believe that’s somewhere in Pampanga. The latter is taken in Ghent, Belgium, in a place where I used to stay for a while.
Never did I care about nature this much, or at least in my very own way. I keep paper and plastic bags, and reuse them after. I never ever throw trash elsewhere besides the bin. I use the clearer side of hard copies for reprinting documents, and then shred them once all sides are used to be recycled later on. As much as possible, I try using my Starbucks tumbler, rather than asking for a plastic container when ordering a drink. I know I can hardly ride or own a hybrid car here, nor brisk walk instead going to and fro the office. But, no matter how little deeds they may be, they contribute a lot to our environment!
I suggest starting your own little deeds as soon as NOW, and help save mother nature.
Need some motivation? Watch Planet Green on Discovery Channel today!
Books & Work
*South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami – Php 495 in bookstores*
Works pretty piled up, but I never complained. Well, better piled up than empty, should I say. I bought a book from Haruki Murakami weeks ago to convince myself to start reading again. I haven’t started on this one to be honest, since I resolved into leafing Neil Gaiman‘s Stardust instead. 
Don’t feel like reading? Watch Stardust the movie on dvd instead!
Belgian Chocolates
*Marc’s Brood Banket in Drongen, Ghent, Belgium*
I guess, this is something that will never ever fade in me–my love for sweets! Hence, my fervid love for chocolates heightened when I passed by a local store in Ghent. Oh my gosh, these are lots! i never ever got enough buying boxes of them.
Take a bite by getting a yummy boxful of Belgian Chocolates from Leonidas.
Laptop Sleeves & Other Cutesies
*Laptop Sleeve from Jansport. Keyring from a thrift shop in Brussels*
Laptop always makes the work more conventional. It’s everyone’s computer on-the-go. Hence, pairing it with a cutesy laptop sleeve made of deluxe Denier Polyster deserves its worth. Add a bear keyring into it–and voila! It makes staring at my laptop less stressful.
Shop in Jansport & grab a cutesy laptop sleeve of your choice.
Gladiator Sandals
*Gladiators, Php 795 from Meg*
Adieu Havaianas for now (well, not really). I’m feeling all the comfort sans sacrificing a bit of fashion donning gladiator sandals to work. Albeit it takes a HUGE toll in my time putting the straps altogether, wearing this never felt uneasy. It’s great for commuters like moi who are always required to walk all the time!
Feel like taking home a posh pair of gladiators? Try looking for one in Bluefly.
Good News Philippines!
Posted by roanne in Personal Moods, Philippines on May 26, 2009
So here’s the recap for all the good things that happened in the Philippines as of this late:
Adieu Livre Bocus.
At last, the infamous (well, at least to most bloggers and Net-active bibliophiles) book blockade is over.
“President Arroyo ordered the immediate lifting of the customs duty on book importation,” Remonde said in a text message to The STAR.
It’s a great thing that UNESCO took heed, which made the government act fast.
Filipino wins Best Director in Cannes Film Festival
Award-winning director Brillante Mendoza bagged the prize for Best Director in the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, beating the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee.
See Hollywood Reporter’s interview on Brillante Mendoza about his film and the Philippine Government here.
Purposedly Untitled
Posted by roanne in Book Blockade, Personal Moods, Twitter on May 21, 2009
Here I am, curled up in my seat, due to the vast coldness of artificial breeze circulating inside this room. Hence, this is why the air conditioning system is made for, at least in the tropical country like the Philippines. It curbs you from painstakingly bearing the scorching heat outside. Not all of my folks are lucky though, since those donning the blue collar have no choice but to withstand the heat, whilst drudging all day long outside. And, this is for some damn work that challenges their physical strength to the limits, yet helping them pay their bills and fend their families.
Fine. Enough of the literary gab, let’s go to the main issue. It’s not about the air conditioning system for that matter, nor another workforce issue.
It’s about the Great Book Blockade. Yes, I know you’ve been hearing stories like these on blogs, and curiously seeing hashtags of it on Twitter.
I must admit that I am not a bookworm myself. I rarely read books, but it’s really sick to know that I am fond of buying them. For what? I really don’t get to read them asap anyway. But, every book bought, and prominently displayed on my bedside, is like an apparition that reminds me to leaf a page or two, and make myself a pundit for that particular read. I have shared my love in literature by writing prose and poetry since high school. I believe, I even have some poems published online before.
This just showed me my marginal concern about the book blockade issue. I was like, “what the heck?” Then, I shrugged off and go back to work. But, as everything becomes clear to me regarding this ridiculous taxation of books (that overtly breaches the Florence Agreement), I felt deeply concerned about fighting against it. Why the fuck does the government (Philippine customs in particular) pushes through such moronic and no less than anomalous way of enriching themselves through such legalized embezzlement? The term sounds pretty much oxymoronic, but that’s how I could simply put it.
Another political assholery in the making, that I truly know of. Now, shelling out a decent price of Php 300 for a worthy read will soon be far-fetched, as book prices are expected to surge up more than your income raise. It’s like your dream book has yet to become more evasive, simply because you can hardly afford it.
Clearly, you guys sitting there, enjoying your pork barrel and under-the-table cuts, DO NOT KNOW YOUR JOB. Your job is not to huddle over and join the hodgepodge of attention-seeking whores who are insanely adamant to make a BIG fuss over those scandalous videos that are quite making a huge public noise these days. I mean, I feel sorry for those involved in such lewd scandals. I myself had quite a few moments sympathizing to those who were abused and whom their privacies were harshly invaded. But, I hope those who are in the legislature will keep their mouths shut from prattling clamorously nonsense, and leave this issue to the proper authorities.
I just hope people will continuously push this movement against the book blockade, and I hope those in the top spots would lend their ears and eventually have the brains as well as the heart to listen to us.
Also, check MLQ III’s post regarding the Book Blockade.
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