Day 265 - Old Library Card

I cleaned parts of my closet today and had flashbacks to my childhood for every other shirt or toy or piece of paper that I saw. This is one of the pieces of paper, or cardboard I guess. I can't believe my library card from 2nd grade is still alive after all these years. Also, my hair has not tamed after all these years either.

P.S. Today is Day 265! 100 days to go and this 365 Project is over. I said last June that this project will only be until May 2011, but apparently, I've missed enough days to fill an entire month that although it's April, I'll need 100 more days to complete the 365. Well, it still counts as one entire year of pictures even if the dates aren't exact, right?

Day 263 - Chick Lit and Man Lit

A friend asked me to recommend some books. She said she wasn't into any particular genre and wanted to read different kinds of books, so I recommended these two, which are at the different sides of the fiction spectrum as far as I can tell. One is Chick Lit fluff, and the other is Sci-Fi Suspense Mystery.

I want to say that I enjoyed both of them equally, but actually I think The Shopaholic Series is a little annoying. But I accept the fact that there are some people who like those kinds of stories, so I don't discriminate against them when recommending.

Day 231 - The Books to Prove It

So as of today, I am officially working from home. And I have the books to prove it. As in, these are the books that are on loan to me from the company so that I can do my work at home. Oh, and I'm supposed to take care of them and not tear any pages yadda yadda yadda.

Day 225 - Did you cry during Casablanca?

So there I was studying a book for English learners and one particular picture caught my eye. See the drawing for #3 Did you cry during the movie? The girl is watching Casablanca! There's Rick, Victor Laszlo, Captain Renault and even the airplane in the background. :) I don't think there was actually a scene that looked exactly like this in the movie, and it's too bad Ilsa didn't fit anymore, but that's okay. It's still obviously Casablanca.

It surprised me because the pictures in these books are usually generic and don't make references to pop culture, because you're supposed to focus on the sentences/grammar (I'm assuming), but maybe the artist for this couldn't resist? Or is Casablanca the go-to movie when you want to refer to one in a textbook?

It's so cute. :)

P.S. Apologies for the very poor quality of this photo. I used my cellphone camera, and I don't think it's meant to take pictures like this.

Day 189 - Movies and TV

For 1.11.11 I went to see the movie that everyone says makes Philippine Cinema proud, RPG: Metanoia. (See movie ticket on the right.) It was absolutely amazing. :D Which is why, I have no idea why they didn't show it in ATC. I had to go to SM just to see it, just like when I saw Dayo. What? They don't think the kids that go to ATC will want to see this movie? Tsk tsk. Ayala Malls are so elitist. And maybe so am I for not wanting to see movies in SM Cinemas. No, actually, I think I have a good reason. Because the theaters in SM suck. Seriously. I mean, you pay basically the same price (P160) as you would in Ayala Cinemas, but the seats are old (they don't even have cup holders) and the floors are sticky and they don't have guaranteed seating. I mean, I'm lucky I saw this movie when it's been in the theaters for 3 weeks already so it was only me and maybe 10 other people in the theater, but what about for movies that have just come out? You pay P160 and there's a chance you'll have to stand in the aisle. Does that seem fair to you?

As for the other item in the photo, I'm also now a very proud owner of the book by Richard Castle. It's a promotional material for the TV show Castle, which stars Nathan Fillion, of whom I am now officially a fangirl. I love him and I love Castle and I can't wait to read this book (even if I know Nathan Fillion didn't write it, but I'm a fan of his character, too. And I can't wait to find out how Richard Castle really writes).

Day 181 - ₱5 Book

Although I love watching science fiction shows (and Robotech is one of my all-time favorite animes) I'm not really fond of reading books based on TV shows. But... I had to make an exception for this one because, well, because it's Robotech. Though I've actually never read a Robotech novel before, I guess I miss the series so much that I'm willing to give this a try. Plus, it was only P5.00. Can you believe it? I didn't think you could still buy books at that price, even second hand ones, but I guess you can. Also, when I opened it somewhere in the middle, the short part I read was exactly the part where Max and Miriya met, which was the exact scene that endeared me to the anime in the first place. :)

Day 122 - Burglar Books

6/11 - My small Lawrence Block collection. I'm lacking 4 books from the series--they're 11 in all. And there are actually 2 short stories, but one is only available in audio (and they don't sell them here) and the other can only be found in a short story collection book (which they also don't sell here)

On my 17th birthday, my friend J gave me The Burglar in the Rye as a gift. Because I read at a glacial pace, I was only able to read it when I was already 19. Looking back, I really should've read it right away, so it might've been easier for me to collect the series. You see, after reading it, I liked it a lot, and so decided that I wanted to collect the whole series, there are only 11 books anyway. Unfortunately, Lawrence Block isn't that famous a writer here, and I think that after the first wave of importing his books, the book stores have stopped. Hence, I was only able to easily buy in the book store, 2 books (The Burglar in the Library, The Burglar who Thought He was Bogart). The rest of these, I found only from concentrating real hard in the small Used Books Store at the train station*. I'm happy because I only got them for P50 each (because you know, they're old), but I kind of wish there was an easier way to find them. Actually, it's taken me 6 years to find these 3 books (Burglars Can't Be Choosers, The Burglar in the Closet, The Burglar who Traded Ted Williams), but I'm optimistic that the other 4 (The Burglar who Liked to Quote Kipling, The Burglar who Studied Spinoza, The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, The Burglar on the Prowl) will turn up in a book store somewhere, or that maybe one of you would be kind enough to buy them in Amazon.com for me. :)

The main character of this series, Bernie Rhodenbarr, is (obviously) a burglar. But what's great about him is that he's not a "bad guy". Although he does steal things for a living, he's actually a nice guy who defends the innocent, and is sort of a gentleman. He takes women out on proper dates and stuff. Also, he has a day job--he owns a book store. So really, the burglar thing is more of a personality quirk that you kind of forgive him for.

As for the mysteries, the books (all of them so far) actually follow a pretty consistent formula--Bernie plans on robbing a certain place (an apartment, usually) but when he gets there, the item of interest is already gone, and there is a dead body in its place. Naturally, the police will assume that he's the murderer, since he was at the crime scene, and so he has to do some sleuthing to prove his innocence. It's basically the same plot in every book, but what makes it fun to read are the real life drama Bernie has, separate from the sleuthing and burglary, and well, I'm just a sucker for mysteries.

P.S. These were the books in question that I was looking for when I found the slippers I mentioned in Day 119.

*It's MBC Books at the Ayala MRT station.

Day 113 - From the Dream Bookstore

Oh, how I wish I was rich. Or if not, then I wish the bookstores in the Philippines would have more interesting books. I'm glad such a place as Amazon.com exists, because it has everything, but it's just too darn expensive that I can only order stuff like this once in a lifetime.

It's actually my very first time to order anything from Amazon. I've purposefully avoided browsing through that site because I know things are expensive, but I couldn't resist this book. I've wanted to read it since college, but have had no luck when I searched for it in the library or any bookstore in this country. Hence, I turned to the power of the internet. And now I will pay the price, literally. Oh, well.

I got this in the mail today, which is a bit strange since I only ordered it last September 20, and the e-mail from Amazon said that it wouldn't come until October 22. I guess that's their strategy--lower your expectations so when your order comes "early", you'll be pleased. In fairness, it works. :)

Day 105 - Sponsored

I couldn't find anything else interesting to take a photo of today so this'll have to do. Apparently, my dad helped in making this reunion yearbook of his former alma mater's sister school, so we have a family photo printed in one of its pages. I would've taken a picture of that page, except I couldn't get the cover to stop closing when I open it, unless I put something like a paperweight to hold it in place. And since that wouldn't look good on the photo, I guess this photo of the yearbook closed will have to do.

Day 90 - Old Books

In search of Julia Quinn, I walked around Manila after my Japanese class. My school is located near a lot of universities so there were a lot of book stores in the area. Most of them sold second-hand books that are cheaper, and you can exchange them with your own old books. This goes for fiction and school reference books as well. What can I say? It's a student area.

I wasn't able to find Julia Quinn, though, and I ended up not buying anything. But there are about a million books there. I'm quite sure that one of these days I will end up buying something, or maybe exchanging the ones I have here at home that have become dusty over the years.

Day 81 - Idol!

Me and Rafe Bartholomew, journalist and (Philippine) basketball enthusiast

I skipped some more days! T_T Oh well, starting today I really will take one photo a day. Although this was technically taken by my friend J. But my camera was also the one used. Anyway...

This is me with Rafe Bartholomew. I attended his book signing in Powerbooks at Greenbelt 3 today. In case you don't know who he is, he's the author of that book he's holding, Pacific Rims. It's about Philippine basketball. And I know, I'm not a big fan of basketball, but I am a fan of the Philippines (it's my country, duh) and the things that are written about us, especially when they're positive (kasi konti lang 'yun haha). :) Plus, I'm a fan of good writing, and Rafe Bartholomew is a really good writer. I wish I could write like that, too.

For my review on his book, see my main blog.

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Short anecdote: While waiting for this book signing event to start, a writer from a business magazine (I forget the actual name) approached me and asked if he could interview me about the book. Anyway, his first question was, "Are you interested in basketball?" and I had to answer, "Um... No."

Hahahaha. Call me a poseur :P Ano ba, hindi naman required na interesado ka sa basketball para magbasa ng libro tungkol sa basketball ah.

Day 79 - Fully Booked

Oh no! I skipped a day! Two days, to be exact. Wala na kasi talaga akong maisipang kunan sa bahay and I've grown tired of talking about my unemployment. So I forgot to take pictures for August 18 and 19. But... there's no rule that the 365 days should be consecutive days... Meron ba? Anyway, even if there is, for the sake of honesty, I won't invent pictures for August 18 and 19 and will just go straight to this one.

This is the view from the 2nd floor of the Fully Booked bookstore in Bonifacio High Street where I killed some time before going with my former officemates to dinner at Off the Grill restaurant in Timog, QC. (I know, anlayo!!!)

It's one of the best bookstores in the world (IMO), simply because it's just so big! It has 4 floors, 5 if you count the basement, and obviously, lots and lots of books. The layout is great, and there's a Starbucks inside! Really, any bookworm's dream bookstore. :) I love coming here.

Day 72 - Required Reading

My textbooks for Japanese class. I'm already on Elementary 4 but I'll need to review all my Elementary 3 lessons as well to be able to understand what's going on in Elementary 4. Good luck to me.