It's Here!

Yep. My new book is here. It's Khaled Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I decided to forego his first bestseller after reading all the good reviews about this one. I may get The Kite Runner later, but for now, I'm just so happy with this. And oh, it's my first book from Fully Booked. NBS loyal ako e. *Wink.*

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Sunday Mornings and Books

Only recently, Sunday morning has become clean-up time for me. I used to tidy up the house on Saturday or Sunday evenings, but that has changed lately. Though I love cleaning up at night when everything's quiet, Sunday morning has an envigorating charm that's simply perfect for dusting, mopping, and scrubbing. *Wink.* *Grin.*

I love waking up early on Sunday mornings while the neighborhood is still, while the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and toast fills the whole house, and while I could play the music I want without the mix-up of other music coming from my neighbors' radios. By 9am, RJFM's Rarest and Greatest starts, I turn off the classics and listen to the program which lasts until noon. As the program ends, I'm done with cleaning and it's time to go home for our family's Sunday lunch.

Yesterday morning, while tidying up the front room, I realized my table is overflowing with unread books, so many that the corner smells of bookpaper already!

These are all my unread books, not included on this stack are Haruki Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicle which I am currently on, and Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns which is on the way now after a friend bought it for me.

Yay. So many books... Guess I might just spend Sunday mornings reading instead of cleaning. *Chuckle.*

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Lovesick Friday

I miss you...

Terribly, miserably. Another week has gone by and so are days without you...

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My Mid-Week Loot

I was in the City the whole day yesterday for a project meeting with a client at his posh building at Paseo de Magallanes. I got time to spare after the meeting and so I went to Alabang in search of the stuff that make me happy: pens, toys, books. And so here they are, my mid-week loot. Sinful, I know, especially to my shrinking budget and a headache to my savings allotment, but never mind. I haven't rewarded myself like this in a long while... *Grin.*

First, here are my Tomica toys. The first one is Tomy #68, an Isuzu Snorkel Firetruck scaled at 1/110, and the second is Tomy #51, a Toyota Crown Comfort Taxi scaled at 1/63. Why it's called a Comfort Taxi, I don't know. (Don't ask me. He-he-he.)


Next, I bought my own trio set of Pilot FriXion Ball gel pens. They're amazing! Pilot pens are just amazing! I also bought refills for my .7 G2s.

And then... I finally found the Rotring fountain pen I've been wanting to get. Yee-ha! It's a Rotring Newton 600 with an 18k gold B nib. Whoa. I'm now enjoying the pen as much as I enjoyed using the Core, my first Rotring FP.

My Wednesday in the City is a very productive day. Successful with my meeting, successful in getting the stuff I want--as a reward to my hardwork (and heartaches) the past several months.

Oh, and I also got my B a Nicholas Sparks paperback, A Bend in the Road. Sort of a belated quid pro quo for the Murakami she got me. Right, B?

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My Weekend Loot

Now here's my Monday morning show and tell: my weekend loot. *Grin.*

Just because I really, really, really love Haruki Murakami and I was left wanting for more after finishing Norwegian Wood, I rushed to the nearest NBS last Saturday and got myself The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Later in the day, my B sent me this SMS: I got Kafka, which meant she has found me Kafka on the Shore which was unfortunately unavailable at the first NBS we went to.


Then a good friend who came home from a Holland trip brought me these beauties: two EFFEN vodka shotglasses. These shotglasses are the fourth addition to my collection with liquor design.

Lastly, someone has kindly donated this beautiful and precious elephant from India, taking it out of her display rack, forgetting about who gave it to her (who is somebody important) and lovingly added it to my display shelf. Can't thank you enough, B.

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So Long

So long, Toru... And even if you did not ask me, I will never forget you. Who could?

I can never forget you or Naoko, or Midori, or Reiko. I won't. I can’t. For you all taught me so much in death as in life in the two and a half months we spent together.

From you Toru, I learned so much about loving, giving, and taking, losing, and loving again. And what else? Hm. A lot. And that includes courage, integrity, responsibility, and hard work. From you, I also learned to deal with pain, and loss, and death.

I felt your pain when you knew Naoko was thinking of Kizuki while she was holding on to you. I understood your confusion when Midori kissed you in the rain, and felt your longing when you made it with Reiko after Naoko’s death. I cried with you when you cried because Naoko is dead.

You put death in an entirely different perspective for me when you said that death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life. How profound.

And just as I am saying farewell, I want you know that these are the most unforgettable lines I got from you:

No truth can cure the sadness we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness, can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see that sadness through to the end and learn something from it. ~ Toru Watanabe, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

But tell me, Toru, if we meet, if we ever meet, would you talk to me like you talk to Reiko? Would you write to me as you wrote to Naoko? Would you leave me too as you left Midori?

Despite your flaws and little imperfections, you are who you are, and there are only a few men in this world like you, Toru Watanabe. And your flaws and imperfections only make you humanely perfect and endearing to the many women in your life: Naoko, Midori, and Reiko.

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Pens Galore!

I've always loved pens, and I've always wanted pens. Lots of. Through time, I've accumulated so much but held on to the really special ones. Below are the pens on my stash:

Mon Ami Gel Pets

Non-Pilot Gel Pens

Pilot Gel Pens

The lot.

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My Newest

Here's the most recent addition to my growing toy collection, a Choro-Q firetruck. This one's #18 on the Choro-Q list, and it's my second Choro-Q toy, a very memorable gift from someone very special. Well, I'm glad that I now have all the firetrucks from the Cho-Q lineup. I'm hoping to get the police cars next time...

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Love Is...

Pik-One milk chocolate wafers...

... and butterflies!!! Three butterflies on a sunny Thursday morning...

I know I said three and only thought of two, so You immediately sent me the two, way long before the deadline I specified. Sometimes You do work in mysterious ways that's unique, overwhelming, and suprising. Gracias, Papa...

Pik-One photo courtesy of Christian Bering of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bering/

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My Favorite Pen

This Rotring Core Rubidium with an XL nib is surprisingly my current favorite pen. It uses cartridges instead of converters, and slurps up ink like a thirsty camel. So I stocked up on Inoxcrom cartridges, which surprisingly (and thankfully) fits this baby. This beauty is the fourth on my budding collection of fancy fountain pens, my first German, and my third red.

I am surprised that it has become my favorite writer because even if I collect them, I rarely use my fountain pens for everyday writing. My everyday, anyday writers are my 3-color Pilot G2 .5 set with some of the other gels (Uni Ball, Dong-A, Faber Castell, etc.) in my pen roll. I had always been faithful to my gels. This one, however, gave me something else: an instant connection the moment I inserted the cartridge with blue ink. And though it guzzles down ink like a leaking faucet, I just love its fat, broad, wet streak when I write with it. And perhaps its ergonomic grip, or the bright red of its barrel?

What is amusing is the fact that when I purchased this pen, I was meaning to buy another Rotring, the 600. But the store has ran out of them, and so I got what fancied my eye: The Rubidium.

And we had since been inseparable. At least for now.

Below are photos of how I wrote using my Rubidium.

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My Fountain Pens

I really do not know how I got into the hobby of fountain pen collecting. I know I have always preferred gel pens and ballpoints for my everyday writing. Perhaps my interest in getting more of these interesting pens started when my sister-in-law Jelyn gave me a Parker Vector a few years back. It was an interesting gift but not interesting enough that I kept the pen but didn't use it.

Months later, I went to attend a writing class and felt the urge to use the pen so I finally inked it and used it during our writing exercises.

My Parker Vector and my first bottle of Quink black.

Later on, when I got interested in buying Moleskine notebooks, I also became interested in getting more fountain pens. But I have just moved into my apartment and money had to go elsewhere and so I could not afford to add more to the Vector to start a collection. It was only until early this year when I was able to get another, a blue Inoxcrom Vivaldi. Even that cannot be considered a 'serious' pen by purists. Then again, I cannot collect vintage pens now. Not yet. So I focused on the 'fancy' types of fountain pens, especially the ones from Inoxcrom and Rotring.

Here are my Inoxcrom Vivaldis. The blue one has my name engraved on its barrel. I'll get the pink one later on to complete the trio.

And then two Saturdays ago, I went malling with a friend and got myself these three. (Yes, I got three fountain pens in a day.)

Top to bottom: My Rotring Core Rubidium, a red Inoxcrom Vivaldi, and a P-200, another Inoxcrom. Among the three, only the Rubidium has been inked.

Above are my five fountain pens. I'll be getting more later. More reds, more blues, more... Yellows? Greens? Basta more...

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A New Notebook

Here's the most recent addition to my growing notebook collection: a colorful notebook from Korea. The cover says it's a Study Planner, but actually I don't feel it is. The inside pages are divided into different colors: black, blue, and orange. The plastic cover has a button closure to keep the pages together. It's a fun notebook!

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From Serendipity

It's overwhelming what serendipity can sometimes do to us. Yesterday, while I was waiting for a friend, I went to a record bar to while away the time. As I browsed through records and movies, Michelle Krusiec's face greeted me.

I was speechless and motionless as I tentatively picked the DVD, but when I read the title, I almost jumped with joy. I've always wanted to have a copy of this Alice Wu movie for years now. And so I bought the DVD, watched it last night, picked up some touchy lines from Vivian (Lynn Chen) and Wil (Michelle Krusiec), and then I'll be watching it again tonight while I sip some lemon tea a friend sent me this morning.

Isn't it great?

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September 2

Everything in this world is just so tentative, so unsure, so uncertain.

Often, what is beautiful gets muddled by what is twisted and cruel. Often, what is good gets askewed by what is unkind and spiteful.

Ah, well. Nobody ever said that life is perfect. Or fair. Somehow, somewhere there will always be someone who is better and stronger, who is ready to outshine everyone, and always ready to beat anyone.

This is life's absurdity, its inconsistency. But somewhere in its paradox, lies the test, the beauty, that which is good. And so we remain in awe of this mystery called life.

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