Archive for November, 2007

The Grinch II

Friday, November 30th, 2007

grinch.jpg

"Santa that’s my only wish this year…" Britney’s voice is heard in
the air as I pass by a store filled with plastic christmas trees,
balls, stars, and colorful angels. People stop by the store and are
busy choosing which decoration would look best on their tree this year.
Children wander to the toys’ section and thinking up of ways to
convince their mom to buy them one…for Christmas.

As I go to my favorite coffee shop, there was a plastic wreath on
the glass door. Thankfully, Christian music was blaring from the
speakers. It’s better this way than having to listen to cheesy
Christmas songs on the radio. Blech!

While reading a book with two chocolate chip cookies and a cup of
cappuccino, my brain, which has this amazing capability of thinking
about two million things a minute, started whirring. Suddenly, I
stopped reading and just stared into my coffee cup, just thinking.

What’s a good plot for a short story? When will I start writing the
essay that I planned to write a long time ago? But what will i write
about? I am drawn to eyes. Should that be the central theme? I haven’t
done my Math homework yet. I wonder when I’ll pick up my workbook and
calculator and actually do it. I don’t wanna do my C Fund homework! I
want to finish reading this book so I can start reading my new Italo
Calvino book. What should I do after this? Should I buy today’s
newspaper or not? And what’s with Christmas???

I finally settled on the Christmas thought. Why can’t I feel the
Christmas spirit? I used to be excited whenever December comes. I
remember that I’d feel this beautiful and magical feeling while sitting
under the Christmas tree with the tiny lights on and just stare at it
for hours. But where is this feeling? have i lost it? Have
I…*gulp*…OUTGROWN CHRISTMAS???

Maybe I have. Maybe I’m too busy thinking about a million things
that i just get irritated by Christmas songs that seem to catch me
wherever I go. I get irritated by caroling and gifts. Yes, I admit, the
trees in National Bookstore with the pink and blue angels are pretty
but I don’t want it. What is wrong with me? Have I turned to the Grinch?

Hmm…the Grinch. That big, icky, green fur ball. Yuck! I don’t even
wanna compare myself to him. But I can’t help it. I have all the
symptoms. I just want to hide in my favorite coffee shop and avoid
Christmas shoppers and songs. I’m contented with a cup of my favorite
coffee while I bury my nose in a book. I’d rather study than feel
festive. I swear.

But I don’t want to be the Grinch. I don’t want to turn green and be
a hermit. I want to feel that beautiful feeling again. That feeling of
anticipation and excitement for Christmas. Where is it?

Maybe it’s because Christmas has been too commercialized that the
real reason foe celebrating this holiday and taking our mind away from
schoolwork is hidden behind a landslide of Christmas parties, Kris
Kringle, cheesy songs, and dusty, plastic trees. And while I’m writing
this, a plastic version of Santa Claus is looking at me through the
window. Stop staring at me Santa! No cookies and milk for you this time.

After i convinced myself that commercialization is the reason behind
the gloomy feeling, my thoughts go back to the million things I thought
about earlier, searching for a new thing to think about. I lift the
green cup of coffee to take a sip. Should my story start at a coffee
shop? I thought. Before I got an answer, I felt a burning sensation on
my tongue. It’s hot!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Addict

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

It’s the high feeling. The feeling that the world
shrinks and everything around you vanishes. It’s the irritation when
someone disturbs you. the dreamy sigh when you reluctantly decide to
rejoin the real world. This is addiction.

I’ve been reading books ever since I could read. No.
Let me rephrase that. I’ve been reading books ever since I
memorized one. So that’s not not called reading, right? Well, other
people thought I could read since my eyes moved while I would read out
loud. And everything I read is correct. That book was a Mother Goose
Book. I still remember how much I loved it. It was big and hardbound.
It had beautiful illustrations and I learned about a house that was
inside a house which is inside another house and so on. That was when
my love affair with reading and books started.

When I was in 4th grade, I started reading the
Baby-Sitters’ Club books by Ann M. Martin. I was captivated by the
simplicity of her words yet the way she described things, like Stacey’s
fashionable clothes, Claudia’s creative style, their shopping and
baby-sitting adventures and whatnot. I collected a lot of those books
and reread them many times.

Tidbit: It was because of the Baby-Sitters’ Club that I got curious about debate (Kristy and the Kidnapper). =)

The series ended in 2000 and it’s a good thing that I
bought the last book the same time it was released. I practically grew
up with Kristy’s leadership skills, Mary Ann’s quietness, Claudia’s
art, and Stacey’s New Yorker behavior. I can say that I had the
best childhood because of them.

I started exploring other teen books like Gossip
Girl, The Clique, Sweet Valley Jr. High, etc. I spent my high school
days with those rich snob girls and got lost in their world of fashion,
back-biting, expensive juices, trips to New York, brawling over the
latest designer clothes, and all that glitz. That was also the time
when I got hooked to Candy magazine and I wanted to be a fashion
designer.

College came and my taste in books and magazines
changed. I now look at an author’s writing style and the plot of the
story. I don’t impulsively buy books just because I collect that
series. I must say that the first thing that makes me fall in love with
a book is the author’s ability to describe even the simplest things
in beautiful words.

Being an only child and staying in the house for days
didn’t bore me at all. In fact, I love it! Being the book addict that I
am, I never lived a lonely life. I now travel to India and New York
through Kiran Desai’s Inheritance of Loss. I’ve been attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for seven years now and I’ve been with Harry Potter
and his friends everytime they go to the Three Broomsticks and consume
mugs of butterbeer. I’ve been to China with Adeline Yen Mah and
witnessed her Chinese Cinderella life. I cried with her when
her Niang treats her bad. I watched her stepsiblings with envy as they
get to wear new European-style clothes while Adeline got traditional
Chinese clothes. I studied with her while she wept. I experienced life
during the Great Depression as I visited Scout and Jem Finch. I saw how
blacks were discriminated during that era. I was enchanted by the
courtroom scene and how Atticus finch defended marginalized people with
all that he had. I learned that I shouldn’t kill a mockingbird.

Now, I’m curious about Haruki Murakami’s novels and I want to read a lot of books. I guess, being an addict is like that.

To quote Kiran Desai in The Inheritance of Loss,

“Books were making her restless. She was
beginning to read faster, more, until she was inside the narrative, and
the narrative inside her, the pages going by so fast, her heart in her
chest–she couldn’t stop.”

I don’t want to feel trapped in monotonous routines. I want an escape. And this is my escape. My drug.      

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »