Detox

It may not seem like it outwardly (unless you look hard at me, which I hope no one does, even if people who actually see me will get to read this post),  but I’ve been living a pretty toxic life for or the past 9 months. It’s not like I was breezing through before that, but I’ve always had some “off” time before to just sleep the whole day or read a book or finish an entire season of a TV series in 2 days. I don’t have that now. For some reason. Or another.

I need to detox. I guess you can say that I have some kind of addiction. Not like something that would require rapid opiate detox, though. Well, if you click on that link, you’ll see how some people need the help of professionals to get over their addiction. You’ve heard about Hollywood stars that check themselves (or were forced to) into rehab centers. Such waste of life in young people are quite lamentable (*cough* Lindsay Lohan), and if such centers can help these people straighten out their path, then good for them.

Anyway, back to me. What I need is a mind rehabilitation, if there is such a thing. I need to rest from using up much of my daily energy on things that require me to process stuff in my brain. No really a possibility right now, but someday - which is, by the way, my new favorite word.     

Empty Tank

Running on empty will never be a pleasant thing. Never. Lately I have been feeling exhausted to the point that I get scared about my heart suddenly deciding to stop working, literally. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I realize how hard I have been pushing myself and it’s not a good sight, I’m telling you. But I’m not whining, and not because I don’t look like someone needing yet. 

Souvenirs

I was at a children’s party last weekend. Yes, you read that right. A friend’s daughter celebrated her first birthday and the fairy godmother had to be there. Anyway, the kids were so cute in their fairyland costumes and they sure had a heck of fun when Jolibee came in to do his stuff (wave, dance, make cute eye gestures). That mascot is so popular with kids that even if he was there of just a few minutes, kids around the mall area who weren’t even part of the party gathered around to see Jolibee! Well, I can tell even the adults were amused by him.

Since it’s a children’s party, the loot bags are for children only. He he. But I saw this cool thing that is now getting popularity as souvenir items, even guestbook alternatives - it’s called signature plates. As the name implies, it’s a plate where you place your signature, or message or event name and all those stuff. Neat, huh?!

Mockingjay

Mockingjay sounds like something that would look good as a pen name or an alias. Too bad it’s already very popular, thanks to the best-selling Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Mockingjay is a fictional bird. In the books, it is a species created by mating of a mockingbird with another fictional species, the jabberjay. The jabberjays are like gps systems, they can track the locations of people, spy on them, and give back information to their masters. Can you imagine their gps reviews had they been for real? So the books are about this dystopian society wherein people once rebelled and used the jabberjay to send false information to the government. That’s why the bird was allowed to get extinct, but not before the mockingjays were born. Thus, the hybrid became a symbol of rebellion.

 

I’ve only read the first book, The Hunger Games. It’s a fantastic read, I tell you. A little violent and maybe won’t suit everybody’s taste because the concept is that in that future world, they use unwilling children to fight each other to the death in an arena where only one survives, while the whole world is watching from their television screens. It’s a big arena, like an entire forest area, and there are man-made traps besides the weapons and fear the contestants already carry. Those from rich cities who have sponsors are sometimes given better tools, maybe even gps trackers, to up their chances of survival. Brutal, no? Imagine being the poor one, with no sponsor, no gps, no extra source of food, and generally no hope.  

So I’m hoping to get started on Catching Fire next week so I can read Mockingjay, which was released just this week. I think a movie adaptation is already in the works. 

Tennis, Broadway, Library

These are the 3 things that I make me dream about New York. I think I’ll thrive there, given the chance and a Blue Cross NC plan in hand. I’ve read so much about the energy of the city, and seen so much in movies, TV shows, and news.

Especially now that the U.S. Open is about to start, I imagine how fun it would be to have tickets to the Flushing Meadows event and then go to watch Wicked and other Broadway and Off-Broadway shows on days when my favorites are not playing. Continuing the dream, I’d like to see that famous Public Library. I believe I can stay there for days! There’s so many places to see in a lifetime. This one’s definitely in my top 10.

Kaleidoscope Heart

Sometimes when new artists come up with a really great first album, they can’t follow it up with a new record that can surpass it. I think it makes sense; imagine giving your everything to create something that would make a huge and lasting impression. Or maybe create a work of art out of a current situation. It would be really hard to recreate those pieces of life experience.

Anyway, Sara Bareilles is releasing her sophomore album in 2 weeks time. It’s called Kaleidoscope Heart. The first track she released, King of Anything, has already been making waves so it’s a good sign. I really love the first one (Little Voice), though, so I have high expectations. Some of those songs you can relate to even if the lyrics are actually saying an entirely different thing. Gravity, for one, is a mainstay in all my playlists. I can spend an entire afternoon, lying in an old, rustic furniture, and listening to that album.

Here are the videos for Gravity and King of Anything: 

No Perfect Timing

Do you believe in perfect timing? If yes, maybe that’s because something good like that happened to you. Sort of like getting promotional items when you specifically need such products, never mind the brand. 

For years, I’ve been complaining about being stuck in a rut, then I’ll get complacent and contended after a time, thinking of all the good things I have despite the much, much more that I don’t have and possibly don’t need. There’s this saying - if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. But the same thing may look broken to some but not to others. Yet others always strive for improvement despite the risk of losing it altogether.

I don’t want to wait for the perfect time anymore. I don’t want to second guess myself. If anything, I know you can relate to that. Time comes when you just need to trust your instincts despite everything, or anyone, else. Whether things will go my way is an entirely different story, but I think it’s mine to ruminate on. 

Dreaming Richly

How often do you wake up from dreams that seem to be telling you something? First, I think we always tend to feel that our dreams ARE telling us something because while under it, we experience all sorts of emotions that makes it seem to be our reality. I even find myself sometimes realizing, after I’m already fully awake and lucid, that while dreaming, I was taking notes in my memory so that I will remember the details. But of course, it almost always end up not making sense at all. Like when I dreamt about being in my grandparents’ old house … in the 1800s. My dream was even in black and white, and I’m not making this up. Then, like a curtain being opened, the scenery changed into something more surreal - hills and wetland and ocean as far as my eyes can see, with me being fully aware that behind me is a totally different view (a town or city I think).

Such dreams can be stuff of psychological analysis if you believe in such things. Or they can be merely that - products of the unconscious with help from the chemical reactions inside your brain. Unless you need to make peace with some very important personal issues, I guess they’re not worth spending entire days lying in your bed, staring at your Hunter ceiling fans,  trying to figure them all out. 

Season Confused

Is it still summer? Or is it the rainy season already? Gosh, I sometimes even forget how near August is to December. I know that it’s almost September, and last year we had all those storms and unfortunate calamities - which I hope won’t happen again. I’m babbling and I’m incoherent. Maybe because it’s too darn hot and I’m having a bad headache because of it. I wonder if my landlords have homeowners insurance, because there are times that I really worry about spontaneously combusting. My apartment is not supposed to be this hot. I moved here because the previous one was like a furnace. I hope it rains today.

Wicked the Movie Musical?

Well, I’m not sure if I’m going to be excited for this new piece of news. It’s like a kichler landscape lighting. It seems nice although I haven’t thought of it before.

Apparently, the people behind the hit - and one of my ultimate favorite - musicals, the show’s producer Marc Platt, book writer Winnie Holzman, and songwriter Stephen Schwartz, are also the ones behind this supposed big-screen adaptation so this can be good. I just hope they make the transition right because I still plan to see the play live in the future come hell or high water.

What’s more, Glee creator Ryan Murphy and even J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe) have expressed interest to direct.