Ten seconds ago, there was an earthquake. I'm not joking.

update:This report confirms that there was indeed an earthquake at 12.34 a.m. and it registered at 4.0 on the Richter Scale. It was tectonic in origin and no damages have been reported.

Watched What time time is it there? Review to follow. I am still buzzed with caffeine and cannot think straight.

Potential reason on why you shouldn’t date a writer:

We're fascinated by exes. We know it's not going to make us feel any better about ourselves (or any more secure in the relationship) but we can't help making the comparisons: were they smarter, prettier, funnier, better in bed? Are they able to converse knowledgeably yet unpretentiously about the 19th-century novel or the films of Powell and Pressburger? Do they know all the lyrics to Hotel California? Do they look better in a bikini, goddammit?

[ article via the morning news]

Exes are a tricky matter. On one hand, you want to be grown up and unaffected and say that you don’t really care about what happened before because it doesn’t have anything to do with you. On another hand, of course you want to know whether you fare better [hah, I’m smarter than she is!] and you want to believe that you are a drastic improvement.

I think everyone goes through that. It’s a natural curiousity. You get involved with someone, then you break up, and that someone hooks up with somebody else and you hope that it’s the last you heard of that uhm, person. Then comes the very odd situation of reading about your current involvement in another another girl’s novel [or blog, or whatever]. Now that can be a trying experience. Call it fiction, call it a creative re-imagining of things past. You’ve call it quits, and your ex has the right what to do with his/her version of things. It could turn up in a poem, a story, a blog entry. But trust me, you wouldn’t want to read about how a little quirk of yours is suddenly a non-endearing trait, nay--psychopathic even.

Should I be grateful then, that it hasn’t happened to me? At least not just yet. Then again, I can always say I’ve changed my mind. This is still my blog after all.

Sanrio finally takes notice of what the world's been coming down to and introduces a divorced character in their lineup:

Batsu-Ichi frolics in his briny home of Water-Loo with all his associates and, on every other weekend, his two children, Porpy and Finn," the biography read. "Batsu-Ichi's favorite meal is tacos, and he likes to play tennis. His five-year marriage to Sharu-chi, also a dolphin, ended last year. Batsu-Ichi lives in a charming efficiency apartment on the outskirts of Water-Loo where he has a talking microwave named Yummy. His job is raking the ocean waves flat so the sun can shine through. He loves his job but may have to take another one to make his monthly child-support payments. Batsu-Ichi is an outgoing and highly eligible little dolphin, but he has yet to work up the courage to ask out his cute coworker, Misako The Cuttlefish. Always a game little fellow, Batsu-Ichi's motto is 'Take It One Day At A Time!'"

I want my own Batsu-Ichi taco maker. That'll be so much fun.

Hm. I'm just 70% dateable. Is that bad?

There's a 12% chance that I'll die of alien abduction on 2 March 2059, when I'm 79 years old. Still a long way to go. Haven't even spotted a single alien. But then again, they might take me by surprise. Hm. Take the death test.

“Whether in literature or cinema, the most important thing is the style. The story is often secondary.”

Isabelle Huppert in her New York Times interview. I don’t know if that works all the time.

National Artist Franz Arcellana, 85.

I'm not going to say anything more like how I really loved his stories or that he started me into writing. His stories gave me major headaches in Hum I and Phil Lit classes. My favorite Arcellana story is still "The Mats," which freaked me out so much when I was ten. Then I went to UP and learned the man is still around, literally. I found him browsing at the Booksale branch down at the shopping center. I never took a single class under him. Sometimes I ran into him at the accounting office. He never actually remembered my name, but would say hello every time. He'd ask where I was from, and he said his brother used to be the parish priest of Pandacan. That's all I know about him.

His wake is at the Delaney Hall in Diliman until 5 August, then they move him to the CCP. In pace requiescat, Franz.

How to correctly pronounce my name. Consult the Proper Name Synthesizer. Please.

[ via 50 cups of coffee ]

Seven conversations not necessarily about the same thing.

Amelie

[friend_x] Grabe! Mapapasarap ang tulog ko ngayong gabi dahil kay Amelie!
[kantogirl] Korek! Kaka-inspire ano? Lessens your jadedness kahit na konti.
[friend_x] Oo! Mukhang lukaret din pero cute! Mga french talaga mlalandi! Frst tme nila magmeet nung guy, sex agad! Parang gusto ko na rin mangolekta ng mga ID picture!
[kantogirl] Uhm, ok. Have it your way. Gudnyt.

The Third Wheel

[troy_dyer] I wanted to talk to you about something. But I couldn't.
[kantogirl] It's not like I have barb wires around me or anything.
[troy_dyer] I know.
[troy_dyer] Can't we go back to the way we were before? Like real friends?
[kantogirl] This is so awkward. But I really would like to have my friend back. Darn. We really shouldn't have watched an awkward date movie.

When Harry Met Sally

[troy_dyer] How was it? Should I get it?
[kantogirl] Actually, I'm just about to watch it. Should be witty though, and the only movie where Meg Ryan isn't as annoying.
[troy_dyer] So, there's nothing special about it huh?
[kantogirl] Hm. You know who this movie reminds me of? That guy from your college. He always screamed "Sex na lang kasi!" whenever two people were at odds with each other. Can't people just push the ignore button?
[troy_dyer] So it's gud that I didn't buy it. Got The End of the Affair instead.
[kantogirl] That's heavy viewing, man.

The End of the Affair

[troy_dyer] Just finished The End of the Affair. Twas a good movie. Leaves me to question though why most love affairs end tragically?
[kantogirl] Because passion sears and burns you. But I think everyone should have at least one grand passion in their lives.
It can be drain you though.
[troy_dyer] But passion should always be there, makes a person feel alive.
[kantogirl] Prepare to be consumed then. But most people are too scared to go into that, don't you think?

My Best Friend's Wedding

[kantogirl] It's my all time favorite cheer up movie.
[troy_dyer] So, you're still feeling sad ba? It's sunny outside it should lift your spirits up na. ü
[kantogirl] No, actually I'm not sad anymore. I just felt like I had to watch it again.

Utang Ni Tatang

[kantogirl] Pag dumating si Tado anong gagawin mo?
[yellow4] Sisigaw tayo ng "I love you, Tado!" saka...Uy, di ba si Robin Padilla yung andun sa likod?
[kantogirl] Hindi ah. Si friend_x lang yun eh.
[yellow4] Basta, sisigaw ka talaga ha?

Ang Galing Galing Mo Babes

[friend_y] Paano ba naman kasing di magkakanda-leche leche ang buhay niya. Eh naka-sex lang niya ng isang beses, pinakasalan na? Tapos ni hindi pa niya alam yung pangalan.
[kantogirl] It's a guy reflex. He can't help it. Di ba lahat naman ng guy character dun sa movie isa lang ang dialogue--
[friend_y] Ang galing galing mo, Babes! Actually dalawa naman yung dialogue nila.
[kantogirl] Ano yung isa?
[friend_y] I lab yu beybeh! And if it's kwayt olrayt. I lab yu beybeh--
[kantogirl] Uy, di ba si Lester Llansang yung nakasalubong natin? Bakit andito yun eh R-18 ito ah.
[friend_y] Pabayaan mo na. Para namang di niya nakita ng live yung nasa pelikula.