The two j-dramas are quite different from each other but I download the fansubs regularly. (Love you, SARS-fansubs! And Kioku too! )

It’s Rjene who told me about Zettai Kareshi. It’s based on a Yuu Watase manga which I saw in one of the copies of Shojo Beat, IIRC. It’s amusing how Riiko, a temp at a company, has managed to purchase a robot as her perfect boyfriend. There’s this love-hate relationship between her and the robot which she named Night. It’s more of love for her from the robot and her loving and hating Night. There’s also this building attraction between Riiko and her boss Soshi and so it is now a love triangle among the three of them. I like watching it because it questions the perceptions of what a robot is and what is important in a relationship. Also, there are pastries in the story too because Asamoto (the company where Riiko is a temp) is making them and selling them.

Last Friends was mentioned in a friend’s LJ and so I had to compulsion to watch it because it raises the issues such as domestic violence, homosexuality and other personal issues people could relate with. In contrast to Zettai Kareshi, Last Friends is quite realistic and serious. I’ve only seen two episodes and I have this feeling that it will have such a tragic ending, judging from the opening theme and the sequences of events. I just started episode three a while back (but had to stop because I had to do something) and I have this sneaky feeling that I’d probably cry at the end of it. I don’t know yet but the feeling is there.

J-dramas are short, thankfully. So after ten to twelve episodes, of each series, I’d be watching yet another set of J-dramas. Maybe something that would give me a break from all this madness around me.

I currently blog for more personal reasons. I used to blog a lot because of what I learned and felt like sharing. Now it’s more for capturing certain moments in my life and remembering them.

The Internet is full of blogs about all sorts of topics. I am not sure if every niche has been filled. But I wonder if too many blogs just add to the noise and filters like RSS Readers (which give recommendations, etc.) are getting saturated by so much content.

I also blog because I need to interact, somehow. Even on a relatively passive manner, I must interact with others. Over the past how many months, I’ve become more introverted than ever (even though some of you might not believe it). As such, this blog as well as my food blog and my LJ keep the rest of the world in the know.

There’s also my Linux blog on b5. I like blogging there because I know what it’s like to be a new Linux user and I still feel it sometimes. I get some emails correcting my posts or feedback that they have interesting ideas to share and it’s a learning experience for me. It’s not easy to maintain several blogs but it is still fun.

And I still have some personal projects which I need to blog about. Someday soon, I know I will. That’s another reason for blogging. Blogs enable people to give feedback even if you don’t personally know them.

A friend and I met up earlier for coffee and we ended up talking about writing and literature in general. There’s this thing about writing and books that I end up talking with her about them.

Anyhow, there’s this issue with “Ibong Mandaragit” recently and I just learned about it from her and other blog entries I’ve read the other day. Some people seem to think that it’s high-brow literature, others don’t appreciate it, etc. I personally haven’t read the book but I could sense that there are several points of view that are not able to meet. I won’t try to make them meet though simply because I don’t think I have the authority to say how these points of view will meet.

From what I gather, Ibong Mandaragit is difficult to read. I am thinking that it’s because of the language. If you think about the language barrier, it becomes a big issue. And it’s not just because of the proliferation of txtspk (textspeak) and kolehiyala english. There really are changes in the Filipino language that would make other works aside from Ibong Mandaragit seem too hard and even archaic. A list of words and notes at the back of the book could help students understand the text better, IMHO. Moreso, a teacher who will guide his/her class through the text would be able to facilitate discussion and an exchange of perspectives with respect to context and history could clarify things.

Maybe it’s the method of teaching which should be modified in order to bridge the gap between the two generations: the present-day students’ and the writer’s. I recall the summer I had to read Beowulf for an English class. Our professor gave us history lessons in order to make us understand the background of the text. She also read aloud certain parts of the text and gave her commentaries and asked us questions too. It might not have been the most interesting class (and being so early did not help one bit) but I didn’t hate Beowulf despite the difficulty I had reading it. Oh and I also had other readings in Middle English which were painful to read so I could relate with what could be called nosebleed moments. The Noli and El Fili were also difficult to understand and I even had the experience to try and tutor someone in Filipino class because of that. I had to review El Filibusterismo and history because of that. It was difficult because the tutee was not well-versed in Filipino because he grew up speaking in English in school and at home. That didn’t mean that we gave up. It meant more effort. The problem is, as I see it, if we don’t help each other understand the text, what will happen? Nothing.

But I swear, language does matter. If we don’t understand the language of the text, or find a way to somehow read the text, we won’t be able to figure out the beauty within the text. Sadly, Filipino is not a strong point in our educational system. Our textbooks are in English and in my experience, my parents have been speaking to us in English even when we were kids and they were buying us a lot of books in English. As you can read, most of my reading experience is in English. Maybe that’s part of the reason I could relate with Connie’s frustration with reading the text.

Right now, I am thinking that the text is its own self. And sometimes our understanding or appreciation of it may reflect our own personal experiences and biases. Right now, I can’t say I’ve been reading a lot so maybe this argument is weak. But I miss reading and it hurts me a little to read blog entries and comments about what should be deemed is literary and how they should be appreciated. I also felt a little annoyed by calling Connie’s blog entry as anti-Filipino. I think that’s being too simplistic when she was writing in the context of her helping her daughter read the text. (Though I suppose she sounded too simplistic by voicing out her opinions about certain literary works.)

I don’t really read a lot of best-sellers or what could be called classics (in whatever language). Then again I haven’t been keeping track. But I’ve observed that my preference varies from time to time. I currently prefer chick lit and manga. And it doesn’t mean that I read the known titles. I might be reading what’s deemed as trash or maybe people have no opinion on the matter. I read for the sake of finding out what could suit my mood and give me something back. (Though one might argue that if you never really wanted to learn something from a book, you won’t find any.) Even what’s seen as trashy Filipino romances could have relevance if you give it a chance — probably 30 minutes to an hour of reading time. There’s no one stopping you from reading or from liking or hating certain texts. But what have you learned from reading? What did you have to learn in order to understand it?

It probably boils down to our perspective when reading. Maybe we should all sit down and think about that for a while.

Asahina Mikuru still looks pretty to me despite the short hair. I was playing around with my co-worker’s phone cam because it has macro mode as well as sepia effect. I really am envious of the nice photos his camera could take even indoors. Anyway, Asahina’s a bit boyish today because I didn’t bring her schoolgirl outfit and I didn’t bring any other clothes except the ones Jan is wearing. ^^;;;

Asahina is really pretty. I like her eyes a lot. She looks great with her default hair but I like her with hair this short. Though I kinda find it funny that I dressed her up boyish today. Her default clothes are her uniform and a maid outfit. Hehe. Oh and I find it hard to let her wear the maid outfit Her arms fall away from her torso. :( Does anybody know what I should do to alleviate the problem? Would blu-tack help? Rawr.

After more than a month of waiting, Haruhi’s here and I really just had to make her wear the bunny outfit as soon as I got her.

What can I say? She really looks cute. Her face is quite adorable even with other hair from the other Pinkies. She has a nice face, if you ask me now. There’s something about her eyes that tell you that she will take over the world and nothing will stop her. It was a long wait but it was all worth it.

Soon enough, Asahina Mikuru will join her once I meet up with my friend who came from Japan!

I’ve been looking for sailor hat tutorials. I’ve found two of them. One is from the egl community on LJ. The other is a vintage millinery tutorial.

I was actually thinking about using a straw boater’s hat but it’s so hard to find. I decided to make my own hats because of that. I’d be experimenting with a prototype based on what those two tutorials have written. The first one is the Breton sailor hat (if I recall correctly) and the other would be the tam-o-shanter type. The first one will be a tiny version (as in the egl comm tutorial) and the other would be an actual tam-o-shanter for me.

I have old clothes which will not be used ever and I am getting cloth from them so that at least they’d be cloth prototypes, not just paper ones. Also, because my clothes don’t have stiff cloth I’d have to use the ‘almirol’ method to make them stiffer. Almirol would the mixture of hot water and starch and when you apply that mixture on cloth, it will be stiff. Just so the sailor hat would have shape. The tam-o-shanter type — I might leave it alone, go without the almirol. It’s a bit floppy anyway, I think.

After the sailor hat, I’d try to make a tiny top hat for Oui Hopefully something that matches the color of her skirt. I might accidentally get the wrong shade of red.