You had no name but you were mine. The piano I used when I began composing, all those years ago when I didn’t even think I could. Most, perhaps all, of the music I made was made on you. And still, there is so much I’ve left unfinished–that I let myself not finish because I was too lazy or scared or whatever. I’m sorry, piano, I had meant to do so much with you. Perhaps it’s still possible and there’s a way to restore you. But for now, thank you for the music and the memories. I will miss you.
The day started like any other day. I woke up at around lunchtime, put on my computer and checked my facebook and livejournal. It had been raining the whole night so when the electricity started to fluctuate, I wasn’t really surprised. Just a little disappointed because I had planned to spend the day making livejournal icons (my recent obsession). After a while, it seemed like the electricity wasn’t going back so I told my sister we might as well eat.
I had just finished my first plate of spaghetti when I felt that the floor was wet. I commented on it and we looked up to see water rushing through the kitchen floor. Our housekeeper went in saying that she couldn’t stop the canal outside from overflowing. The water now reached the living room. I immediately went to save my CD collection that was on one of the bottom shelves and some important documents also on bottom shelves. The last time it flooded in the house, I was a kid and barely remember it. So I didn’t really think it would be bad. I placed the stuff on the stairs for the meantime. Sometime during, after, before, I forget, the electricity came back. We were joking that Meralco had such bad timing. I spent a couple of minutes unplugging stuff but the water just kept on rising. It was obvious we had to move the stuff from the stairs into higher ground.
We began with the stuff at the bottom. Tisha’s precious rom-com VCD collection, my love stories and romance novel keeper shelf. We started saving electronics, the DVD players, etc… The water was rising to knee-deep. I didn’t think it would get higher and I spent a few moments hovering but my sister told me to start saving my computer stuff so I did. I underestimated the flood that by the time I thought of my original DVD collection they were slightly wet. It was the only second I panicked but I told myself that these things could be bought again, if somewhat expensive. Then it was time to save the books.
For those who’ve seen the house, I have 4 bookshelves filled with books. I told my sister she should save what she could of hers first then help me with mine. The housekeeper started saving the paintings. By this time, the water was around hip high and the sofas were floating. I knew carrying all the books so I grabbed one, put as many books as I could on it and pushed the sofa towards the stairs where the housekeeper would help bring them upstairs. Some books still got wet in the journey but as long as I got them to higher ground, I didn’t care. By the time I saved all my books, the water was chest high. I remembered my Neil Gaiman signed notebook I had in the drawer of the cabinet under the stairs. I managed to pry the drawer away, getting tangled in some wires. I handed the drawer to the housekeeper and untangled myself. I remembered the other piano pieces I had in another drawer which was now under water. I decided to leave it behind. I was really really tempted to play the piano one last time (for cinematic value, you know, haha) but I also really really wanted a bath. I decided on the bath. When I finally went upstairs, it was just 3pm and the house looked like this:
The next few hours were spend praying, wishing that the rain would stop and the flood would stop rising. If it reached the 2nd floor, we’d have nowhere to go. But when God floods the first floor of your house, and traps you on the 2nd floor, he also opens a window. Of course, you’d have to jump out of said window and swim to the roof. I’m not a good swimmer but I knew I could do it if it came to that. We started tying bedsheets together just in case. I kept thinking, if I say that my crisis of faith is over, if I say I truly believed now, would the rain just stop? It didn’t. A friend texted to ask if I could record her score over the weekend. I replied that I planned to but my piano was now underwater and I didn’t know the damage. Could I just survive this day first? I remembered another friend who lived fairly close in an area that always floods. He was still on his way home from Makati. The water was neck deep. He asked if we wanted him to come and help. I told him not to because the water was too high. And still rising.
At around 5pm we started to move the electronics into higher ground. We moved all the junk out of the storage space on top of cabinets and put all the important stuff there instead. I packed the most expensive books into a bag and put it up with my computer. Then I had to decide which other books I would “save.” Graphic novels went first, of course, and then most of my fairy tale collection. Then I thought, whatever, and just stacked whatever books I could.
By nighttime, water was still slowly crawling up the stairs but I was thankful that it started flooding during daylight else we wouldn’t have been able to save much. I was also thankful that our housekeeper saved that bottle of Coke because I really really needed a glass (and thanks Tish for taking a picture while my mouth was full of leftover spaghetti. haha.)
Finally, the water stopped rising. Only 3 steps were left to the 2nd floor. It was still raining though. Worse case would be if the flood water didn’t subside and we’d be trapped upstairs for a while with just Koko Krunch and Reese’s Pieces for food (it was probably the easiest stuff to grab, haha) But there was nothing left to do really but wait and maybe sleep.
It was 2am when I heard people starting their cars outside. I couldn’t go to sleep so I went down to see the damage.
Tisha’s bedroom and the study room were hit the hardest. The doors were wedged closed, I had to squeeze in and move some furniture to get inside.
I spent Sunday afternoon mopping the floor while singing Disney, Broadway, Jazz, whatever I could remember. Which is why I now have a sore throat. But you know what? Things could have been worse and they weren’t.
I’m going to write about the piano now. sniff sniff.
Sorry, life’s been half busy with work and half busy getting distracted with other stuff like sleep and icon-making in livejournal and trying to finish cataloging my library and sleep. So yes, I’ll continue the list next week. For now, here’s a few thoughts on what I’ve been obsessing over the past few weeks.
On True Blood: duh. haha. Although I’m feeling a bit antsy after the season finale. I mean, I still love it and the crazy things that happen but with all the wonderful characters they’ve given us (Jason/Andy/Jessica/Lafayette/Hoyt/Terry) I feel that they’ve somehow ruined the main triangle that is Bill/Sookie/Eric. And I’m not just saying this because I’m an Eric fangirl. Bill and Sookie did nothing but argue over silly things then make up and have sex. Which is tiring and shallow. I wish Alan Ball would explore the complexities of their relationship more and not just make it into this OMG! IT”S TRUE LOVE! IT’S HAPPILY EVER AFTER [EXCEPT FOR THAT EVIL GUY WHO'S TRYING TO GET IN BETWEEN THEM] thing. And Sookie, Sookie just doesn’t think anymore. She just rushes headlong into danger. It’s irritating because Book!Sookie was not a TSTL damsel in distress. And for goodness sake, stop making Anna Paquin scream unnaturally.
And and and I just hate the proposal scene. Not because he proposed but because the way she *kinda* accepted it. First she was all confused like but I don’t know who I am, what I am blah blah blah and what happens when I get old and ugly blah blah blah. I can forgive that, she has the right to be insecure. But it was when she went to the bathroom and went OOH PRETTY RING! OOH PRETTY RING LOOKS PRETTY ON MY FINGER! YES! YES! YES! like women lose all their reservations when confronted with pretty jewelry. Whatever, TV!Sookie.
I’m still looking forward to season 3 though. /end rant. haha.
On Music: there are two artists I can’t stop listening to right now because they’re omfg amazing! just listen
Sufjan Stevens, You are the Blood (Dark was the Night)
you are the solitude that goes against me
you are the choir in which I dream
in which I sleep in which I wander
sorry, it’s not the full track.
Dayna Kurtz, Somebody Leave a Light On (Postcards from Downtown)
i know love is everywhere
whatever ground you stand on
i’ll take what sight is offered me
whatever lights you turn on
somebody leave a light on
[click to embiggen]
So according to this, my online identity is largely dominated by sports. Yes, Sports.
Ahahahahahahahaha. Sorry. Apparently the internet is an alternate universe where I’m sporty.
It’s still very, very cool though and they do warn you that it’s not perfect:
In a world where fortunes are sought through data-mining vast information repositories, the computer is our indispensable but far from infallible assistant. Personas demonstrates the computer’s uncanny insights and its inadvertent errors, such as the mischaracterizations caused by the inability to separate data from multiple owners of the same name. It is meant for the viewer to reflect on our current and future world, where digital histories are as important if not more important than oral histories, and computational methods of condensing our digital traces are opaque and socially ignorant.
Anyway, go check out your (or someone else’s) online persona here.
Ah, cursed fate, preventing me from attending the SDCC yet again. But it won’t prevent me from fangirling so here we go!
First things first: I see you there, Michael Fassbender…
…but GTFO Megan Fox. Why must you continue to make movies with people I love? (like Amanda Seyfried in Jennifer’s Body). You’re beginning to annoy me.
~
NEW BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN TRAILER!
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NEW TRUE BLOOD SEASON 2 TRAILER!
Is that Eric in bed with Sookie? it looks like a dream sequence though. and I’m still miffed that they’ve decided not to film the pink spandex scene. What is wrong with you writers/producers?
In other true blood news: EW interview with Anna (Sookie), Stephen (Bill) and Alex (Eric). And Attack of the Show interview with Alex and Deborah (Jessica). Can I just say, he is crazy tall. Love his sense of humor too. “I don’t wanna be exclusive. I’ll bite anyone.” Yay for equal opportunity biting!
~
Just watched the unaired pilot and 13th episode of Dollhouse and they were awesome (Eliza’s acting still annoys me though. More Olivia Williams please!)
Oh Joss Whedon, when I finally save enough money to go to Comic Con, you just have to be there.
~
And finally, can you say, girl crush? I <3 Kristen Bell
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John Barrowman is a fangirl too! (skip to around 5:00)
Plus a low quality trailer for The End of Time. Hopefully something better will pop up in the internet soon. John Simm!
~
…but for now enjoy the True Blood panel below the cut
Please?
No?
Okay then.
Sniff sniff.
But if I were going, this is would have been my ultimate fangirl schedule:
Thursday -
First, io9 Helps You Rethink Your Existence at 10:30. Then at 12:30 Richard Hatch leads a Battlestar Galactica Retrospective with the awesome Bear McCreary who’s probably going to talk about the music in BSG. I’d have to leave early though if I want to get to the Kick-Ass Women Talk About Being Kick Ass panel at 1:15. Then at 4:30, Terry Gilliam screens new clips from The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and will probably talk about Monty Python’s 40th Anniversary. At 6pm, Jane Espenson’s (Dollhouse, BSG, BtVS) part of The Science Behind Science Fiction so I’d probably want to go there. And finally at 8 the California Browncoats will be hosting a screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Yay for Dr. Horrible <3!
Friday -
It’s early morning (10am is early for me) and I’ll be torn between Batman: Brave and the Bold featuring Neil Patrick Harris and the Coraline panel featuring my beloved Neil Gaiman. NPH is legen–wait for it, wait for it–dary y’all but I’d still probably pick my beloved Neil Gaiman. Another BSG related panel, Caprica and The Plan begins at 11:45 and I’ll want to be there because Edward James Olmos will be there and he’s awesome (so say we all). At 2:30, 9 with Tim Burton, so of course, I’m there. And at 4, my other beloved, Joss Whedon will be talking about Dollhouse (will Tahmoh Penikett and Olivia Williams be there too?). Finally, at 6:30, Peter Jackson will talk about making movies (he’ll be joined by James Cameron but who cares, really?)
Saturday -
I’m only interested in 3 things today. First, the pilot screening of V at 2:45 but I might skip it, depending on how desperate I am to be first in line at the 5:15 panel of True Blood. Two Words: Alexander Skarsgard. Who wouldn’t want to be sitting in the front row, drooling over 6 feet 4 (or is it 5) of Swedish hotness? I did it for Gael Garcia Bernal years ago and I didn’t really have a crush on him. I do however, have a massive crush on ASkars and True Blood is my obsession of the moment. So trust me, when I’m obsessed with something, I’d want to be first in line. Finally there’s a Masquerade Party at 8:45. I’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade. My costume? It will probably involve a sonic screwdriver.
Sunday -
Two more words: David Tennant. David Tennant, David Tennant, David Tennant, David Tennant, David Tennant, David Tennant. Yeah, that pretty much sums up Sunday. It’s all about the Doctor Who panel featuring Doctor #10, David Tennant. (I’d be even more fangirly if it were Doctor #9 Christopher Eccleston…but it’s not like that’s ever gonna happen.) The whole event ends on high note with a screening of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s TV history-making musical episode Once More With Feeling at 4.
So there. Again, this is just wishful thinking on my part. Sigh. Maybe next year.
I’ve been derelict in my blogging the past few months, forgive me. I’m trying harder in the next few months and so here are things to look forward to:
Video Mondays – where I post some of the videos I’ve recently seen
Poetry Tuesdays – is for poetry, duh
Link Me Wednesdays – for fun internet stuff
Sing-Along Thursdays – for songs
Film Fridays – for film news
and I’ll be bringing back The Week in Review on Sundays.
Then, maybe next week, I’ll start my 70 Favorite Albums countdown already.
These won’t happen every day of the week though. but I’ll try to keep it up.
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