ME, MY SHELF AND I

"A book worth reading is worth buying."

- John Ruskin

A certified bookworm, that is definitely one of my characteristics that I am surely proud of.  I have loved reading books since I was in grade school.  It is an escape from the stress and demands of my daily life.  While reading, I get to escape my dull, normal life and tag along on any adventure I choose.  Whenever I read books, I feel like I belong to a place that nobody else has ever been to.

In this post, I have decided to share my top 3 favorite books.  After reading this, feel free to comment yours.

TOP 3: Avalon High (Meg Cabot)

Ellie Harrison has just moved into a new school.  Avalon High seems like a typical high school with the stereotypical students.  She has never been one of the popular kids in her previous schools, so when Will Wagner, captain of the football team and class president, becomes strangely drawn to her, she begins to wonder why.  After some time of being in her new school, Ellie notices the similarities between the students of Avalon High and the characters in the old King Arthur legends.  She soon realizes that not everyone from her school is who they appear to be, not even herself.

I suppose the main reason I decided to read Avalon High was because I am a huge fan of Meg Cabot ever since I started reading.  If I remember it correctly, I first read this book when I was 10 years old.  This is certainly one of the books that takes an old tale, turns it upside down and inside out until it is a brand new story.  As each chapter goes on, you will suddenly have this feeling of finishing it as soon as possible in order to find out what happens next.  What I liked most about this book is the connection of the characters to the old King Arthur tale because as it turns out, the characters are all reincarnations of King Arthur and other residents of Camelot.  I would definitely recommend this book to fans of King Arthur, fans of Meg Cabot and bookworms of all ages.

TOP 2: The Future of Us (Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler)

It is 1996, Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives.  Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer.  When they sign in, they are automatically logged onto their Facebook profiles although Facebook has not been invented yet.  Amazing thing in this book is that the two teenagers at the center of The Future of Us can see themselves fifteen years in the future.  By refreshing their pages, they discover that making different decisions now can affect the outcome of their lives later.

I often wish that time travel would be invented.  Doesn't anyone else wish for the same thing?  By reading the book, you might even catch yourself wondering: Where will I be fifteen years from now?  Who will I be marrying?  What kind of life will I live?  This is definitely a tough book to put down once picked up because as each scene goes on, readers will surely ponder what their own futures may hold.  It has a compelling plot and a powerful message which is: actions have consequences, so act wisely.

TOP 1: Th1rteen R3asons Why (Jay Asher)

Clay Jensen returns home from school one day and finds an anonymously-sent package sitting on his doorstep.  He discovers that it is a shoebox containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate and emotionally damaged crush who committed suicide.  The tapes were initially mailed to one classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another starting from the one involved in the first story to the last.  On the tapes, Hannah explains to thirteen people how they played a role in her death by giving thirteen reasons explaining why she took her life.

I first heard about this book when I was 12 years old.  I kept looking for it in every bookstore, but it is always out of stock.  Fortunately, I got my copy 2 years later.  By reading the synopsis at the back of the book, you would expect it to be depressing since it is about a teenage girl who committed suicide.  The story actually emphasizes the importance of speaking up and not hiding your emotions.  When someone starts to fade away, just like Hannah Baker, they need help to pull their life back together or they could just become too unhappy and lose the desire to live.  The book tells a story of the actual life of some adolescents nowadays who have to deal with sexual or verbal abuse, bullying, stalking, etc.  I think that the moral of the story is the same as The Future of Us.  It makes us realize that our actions can really make a difference in other people's lives.

2012 CONCERTS

"Music is the strongest form of magic."

- Marilyn Manson

I have loved music since I was 4.  I remember singing the song Paper Roses by Jolina Magdangal in my babysitter's house back then.  I would use a hair brush as a substitute for a microphone.  Silly as it sounds, but that was where my love for music began. 

The year 2012 was an amazing year for me.  It was the year wherein I began watching concerts and supporting my favorite foreign artists.  As much as I wanted to watch concerts even before 2012, I could not because I grew up in a country where concerts are not really a part of their culture.

In this post, I will be making a quick recap of the four concerts I have been to during the year 2012.

1. Katy Perry (California Dreams Tour)

I am a certified Katy Perry fan and I am happy to say that this is the very first concert I have ever watched.  As soon as I arrived at the venue with some of my friends, I noticed different kinds of people.  There were celebrities who surely took a day off, parents who had no choice but to go and party with their kids, teenage boys who were obviously there because they had a crush on Katy and eager fans from all walks of life.  It was also cute to see some people who made an effort to dress up like Katy Perry with their candy-colored wigs and sparkly dresses.  

DJ Skeet Skeet was the front act of the concert and he certainly managed to set the mood for the Katy Perry-hungry Manila crowd.  As Katy appeared on stage, the first thing that I noticed was the set-up of the stage.  Decked with life-size lollipops, candy canes and other sweet things you could imagine, the stage was a combination of sweetness and cuteness overload.  Unfortunately, most of the audience were not as psyched as I am when she entered the stage.  As you may have read from the blogs that were written way, way before, I think the reason for this was the gap between the front act and Katy's performance.  But after a few songs, the audience seemed to have forgotten the incident earlier and the real party started to kick off.

2. Lady Gaga (Born This Way Ball Tour)

Of all the concerts that I have watched last year, this was the one where I was most excited about. Well, you must be wondering why. This is the simple reason behind it: I AM A LITTLE MONSTER!!! So, basically, I watched the second night because I just arrived in the Philippines from a vacation on the first night of her show.  I knew I had to watch this because I was so sure that this will probably be one of the most talked about concerts of the year 2012.  Well, I was not wrong about my previous statement because it was really something that made a buzz days before the concert began.  Several religious groups in Manila called for the cancellation of the concert because they believe that my beloved Lady Gaga is demonic.  Good thing that the government granted Lady Gaga to perform here or else, they would have disappointed me and all I will be doing before first semester starts is stay in my bed and cry my heart out.

My mother and I arrived at the venue 2 hours before the concert even started.  Yes, you read that right, my mother was with me because she was also excited to watch Lady Gaga perform.  The front act, DJ Zedd, warmed up the night with songs that will surely make you rock the night out.  I do not want to sound mean or anything, but I really wish that there was no front act because all I wanted was to see my mother monster.  But I have to admit, DJ Zedd is one cool DJ. Oh, wait! Have I mentioned that there was a big medieval castle on the stage?! How awesome was that?  Moving on, up to this day, I am still speechless whenever I remember that night.  To say that there was no dull moment would definitely be an understatement.  By the end of the show, Lady Gaga made me believe that she is one of us.  Sure, we are not crazily famous, but she is merely a woman who is only trying to express herself like what most of us do.  If she will come back anytime soon, I will surely be there once again.

3. Joe Jonas (Live in Trinoma!)

Let me start by saying that this is not really a concert.  It was more of a mall tour and a promotion for his upcoming album that was already released a few months ago.  I am not really a fan of Joe Jonas or any of the Jonas Brothers.  I just watched the show because my mother got free tickets from VIPinoy.  We arrived at the venue around 10 minutes before the show started since we were not really that excited about it. My sincerest apologies to all Joe Jonas fans out there. Haha! Kidding aside, as soon as Joe Jonas appeared on stage, a lot of screaming fan girls with banners immediately took over Trinoma.  It was kinda crazy to be in the middle of all of them.  My mother and I exchanged glances when Joe Jonas began singing because we felt left out. I must admit that Joe Jonas really has a nice voice that would make any girl fall for him if he serenaded one.  After three songs, he answered questions from the chosen fans in the audience.  Then, tadah! Show has ended.  The most exciting part of the night was our dinner at Yakimix after watching Joe.

4. Gym Class Heroes and Nelly Furtado

Luckily, I won patron tickets for two for this concert.  Thank you, Rockstar Touring! So, this was the last concert I was able to watch for the year 2012.  Music fans like me were in for a double treat that night because two acts performed.  Although their arrival was relatively silent, the concert was a hit.  The front act was by a local band named Gracenote. I am not really familiar of this band.  Following their act was the real deal which I really wanted to watch: GYM CLASS HEROES!  McCoy and the rest of the band were just so energetic that one can't help but jump, sing and dance along with them.  The fun part was I got to hold the hand of Travie McCoy because he really reached out to his audience and I got hugged by the blue-haired guy from the band.  Haha!  I really sang my heart out in every song without thinking that I might lose my voice afterwards considering the fact that I still had an oral exam a day after.  Before they bid goodbye to their adoring Filipino fans, the band took a group picture with the Big Dome crowd.

After about a twenty-minute wait, Nelly Furtado appeared on stage singing one of her hits.  The crowd went wild even it was already past 10.  What we didn't know was we were in for an additional visual treat when world champion hoop dancer Tony Duncan came out on stage and performed with Nelly.  The touching part of the night was when she dedicated the song Spirit Indestructible to Filipinos because during that time, there was flooding which was brought by the monsoon rains.  To close the show, she did her own version of Party Rock to a pumped-up Manila crowd.  It was surely an unforgettable night.

PARTNERS IN CRIME

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same."

- Elbert Hubbard

Our definition of an ideal friend changes from time to time and as we grow up, our views and opinions of how a friend must act or what he or she must do changes as well.  In kindergarten, your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one.  In primary school, your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you, shared their lunch with you when you forgot to bring yours and who saved you a seat whenever you are late.

Everyone you meet - every single person - impacts you in some way, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.  But then, there are those people - the special people who will surely touch your heart - who will leave marks so deep in your inner most soul.  Those people are your friends who add vibrancy and color to your lives that is otherwise a monotone black and white.

Friends, no matter what is wrong and what they are doing, support you every step of the way and hold you up when you feel like falling.  People who are able to tell you what is wrong even though you may know it yourself.  Just by the simple look in your precious eyes - they see through your lies even if they blind you.  You can tell them you are - a straight face lie - and they will see straight through it.  They are the people who you cannot fool nor trick because they just know you too well.

I've had my own share of friends during my entire existence.  Some remained, some left, some just passed by even though they touched my heart.  For me, the number of friends you have does not amount your identity as an individual.  If you have lots of friends, good for you.  But in my own opinion, having few close friends is better.  I used to have too much friends that when it actually came to the point when I really needed them, nobody was even there.  Funny as it seems, but it is true.  Fortunately for me, there are those who touched my heart and continue to do so.  I think it is just a matter of time to find them.

Just like love, you must never take your friends for granted.  We, sometimes, assume that they will never get tired of us no matter what we do to them or no matter how much we hurt them.  Remember, we should be aware of the fact that once we lost the friendship that we shared with someone, we cannot bring back the old friendship that we got used to.  It is very hard to find a true friendship that will last for a very long time.  If you have it now, cherish it because you really never know what might happen next.

BROKEN MELODY

"Love is a flower that fades with the season"

- Anonymous

Have you ever been in love?  That uncontrollable feeling that puts the person in your thoughts 24/7 and just by thinking about that person makes your heart beat faster.  But have you ever had your heart broken by that someone who you thought you are going to spend your entire life with?  Maybe yes, or probably no.  Perhaps not now, but hopefully, not ever.

I am actually the type of person who falls in love with someone easily.  Some may find it good, but I would say that it really is not.  In love, you trust someone with your life and do your very best to devote yourself to him/her, you become honest and true to them because that is how you expect a relationship to be, you believe in that person no matter how complicated the situation is for the both of you.  Yes, I can say that love is most probably the best feeling that one person can have.  Unfortunately, all perceived as the greatest of dreams, seldom turns into reality and it is this that breaks the hearts of many.

You must be wondering what this post is all about.  This is about a girl who fell in love with a boy who does not really make much effort to show her how special she is.  A lot of people assume that once you become a part of the relationship, you can take your partner for granted.  As time goes by, one of you stops chasing.  This is actually weird for me because before one claims another person as their significant other, they would do anything to make that person happy.  They would chase, they would be everything you actually wish for, and they would even flirt with you as if you are the only girl in this LONELY planet!  But once they claim you as theirs, trust me, everything changes starting from day one.  The 5 page sweet messages turn into 1.  The constant long calls turn into NOT calling at all.  The lovely endearments that sounded like sweet melody in your ears turn into daily arguments that would eventually lead into a broken melody.

Well, what is my main point here?  I have been in this relationship for almost 2 years.  At first, it was as if nothing could turn out wrong.  But after months of being together, the euphoria of love slowly faded away.  I have tried and still trying my best to save the relationship.  But in love, each person involved in the relationship must work and do something to save it.  Yes, I love him, but if one day I give up, it is not because I stopped loving him.  I am human too and just like most people, my heart can only handle so much.