j a n s e n. i. s. m.

Books are good companion, they are quite dependable on days when I feel like I have no one to talk to and nothing to do. When I was around 5 or 6 years old, my Ate Irma (my older cousin who raised me most of my childhood) took me to a bookstore and that was the oldest memory I could recall being surrounded with lots of books. I didn’t grew up in a well-off family, we didn’t have a library section at home or own an encyclopedia volume.  The only books I see in the house growing up are my textbooks and those of my older brother, Russel.

The first book given to me as a gift was in high school. Miraquel gave it to me, we were such Charmed TV series fans then along with Romeo. Prue (Mira’s adopted name to us) gave me a copy of the very first Charmed pocketbook and even included a warm dedication at the back page. I have collected about a dozen Charmed pocketbooks since then and I still have them now.

Sarita, my good and generous friend since college has given me several books already. She’s probably my only friend who generously supports my reading hobby. She even gave me a bookmark string that has a “J” initial in it, that came along with a language reference book called “Literally The Best Language Book Ever” which I requested her to bring me as pasalubong all the way from B&N in US.

In the recent months, here are the favorite books I have read with a short personal review, my favorite lines and a brief background on how i met the book.

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Twilight Stephenie Meyer

“When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to a end.”

At 24, I am probably not too young anymore to read a book about an ordinary high school student human that has a vampire lover and a werewolf best friend. But on second thought, reading this book is better than reading Harry Potter. I am fascinated with vampire stories in general and Interview with the Vampire is one of my favorite movies. So since Twilight is set in modern day with young characters in it and the element of romance and conflict, I just have to get this book.

This is an easy read considering the effective writing style of Stephenie Meyer. It is written in Bella Swan’s (lead character) point of view, which will make you feel as if it’s you experiencing what she’s going through.

I have finished reading the first two books already (Twilight and New Moon) and I have yet to pick up a paperback version of the third installment, Eclipse which is currently out of stock in bookstores locally since the recent release of the final book, Breaking Dawn. There’s a Twilight movie adaptation soon to hit theaters in November and I will definitely one of those in line to watch it.

Running with Scissors Augusten Burroughs

“Leaving the most awful and curious itch that I couldn’t scratch” (Augusten when his lover Bookman left)

I found a pirated DVD lying around the house one late morning in the Canaria residence. Popped it on the player and selected Running With Scissors from the compilation. I knew Patrick Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow play minor roles in this film, these are the only two reasons I got to watch this I thought. Soon, I discovered a deeper reason to be touched by this movie. It’s the very reason I had to search bookstores and lay hands on the book because oftentimes, the movie adaptation of a book just leaves you with questions.

In a nutshell,  it’s a real story of the author as a young “man” who was given up by her psychotic mother for adoption to her own psychiatrist. How Augusten is able to struggle with familial issue both of his own family and then the adopted family which was just as complicated as the previous. Reading this made me laugh, sad, and more curious. In the end, I realize that this memoir reminded me that no matter how difficult the situation can be, somehow one can make it, achieve his dream after all. Burroughs just earned a spot on my favorite author list and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books which unfortunately not all are not available locally.

Three Weeks with My Brother Nicholas and Micah Sparks

“What you want and what you get are usually two entirely different things.” (Jill Sparks, authors’s mother)

Nicholas Sparks has been known to be an excellent romance/tearjerker novel writer. I have read some of his books, Message in a Bottle, True Believer and enjoyed the movie adaptation of his works– A Walk to Remember and The Notebook. This book though (which I picked up in National bookstore just last week at 40% discount)so I”m not yet done reading) is a departure from his usual masterpieces. It’s a memoir on his three week sojourn around the world and he co-wrote this with his older brother Micah. What’s nice about this book is (1) it’s a memoir, a look at the life of Nicholas himself and not just a portion of him he shares in the fictional characters of his novels (2) it’s a sorta travel journal which documents his close relationship with Micah as they explore different cultures around the world.

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So what was the last book you have read? Feel free to share your comments.

I’ve been planning to replace my old, dirty and broken eyeglasses this month. Somehow, like most of my shopping attempts, I’ve been having difficulty finding and choosing the frame that would  fit me best, while trying to be extra careful to avoid the buyer’s remorse which happens most of the time.

Not all know this, but I wear eyeglasses at home. Everywhere else, I would prefer the discreetness and light feeling, clear contact lenses provide. I remember my first eyeglasses, this was way back in junior year high school. I used it specifically for Mrs. Realica’s Chemistry class, in which we had a different seating arrangement. I was seated on the second to the last seat in the first row and from such distance, it was extremely difficult to see the chemical formulas Mrs. Realica was trying to equate on the board.  As soon as I had complained this to my mom, she took me to an optometrist in Cavite City, had my first Snellen Chart test then a week later I was wearing eyeglasses. I just couldn’t stand the eyeglasses for more than 30 minutes and somehow I knew in myself that I wasn’t destined to be remembered as one of the nerds in school so I decided not to keep it for long.

Come college, I would wear eyeglasses only during exams and lectures. As a workaround, I would sit closest to the blackboard in order to cope with my poor eyesight. It wasn’t until third year college that I found a more convenient solution for my dilemma, I tried contact lenses. My mother disapproved this the way strict parents would not let their daughters have BFs before 18. But I purchased this from my own allowance, already had them on when I broke down the news to her, and  now have been a contact lens wearer for more than 4 years.

Fast forward to present, this afternoon, I went to three optical stores at the local mall in search for that perfect eyeglasses replacement. My medical reimbursement allowance from work has been recently replenished and I thought I’d splurge this time on eyeglasses, as an investment as well. After not finding anything interesting in the first two shops, the last hope I had was finding it in Optical Works. I asked the saleslady to get the two frames I had a crush on from the locked display cabinet — a fully rimmed black steel frame, the other: a half-rimmed, plastic frame also in black. I was torn between the two. The people in this shop are nice and not really intimidating. While I was deciding between the two choices, two salesmen approached me, offered other frames to try on and gave their own sales opinion. The other salesman turned out to be an optometrist. I knew this the moment he wore that white jacket usually associated with doctors and led me to the examination room. He is Dr. Mark, he has no hair for it is shaved, a big guy but not obese. He’s the most friendly doctor I’ve had consultation with and the most sales-talkative as well but in a nice way. After the test, it was confirmed that my eyesight has gone poorer from -1.75 and -1.50 to -3.00 and -2.25.

About an hour later, my new eyeglasses are ready. I really wanted that Calvin Klein but I knew it was just way too pricey for me and unless I am moving on to eyeglasses full time, it wouldn’t be too practical to purchase that. So I settled with the second choice and I have the new eyeglasses on now for about 4 hours. So far no buyer’s remorse but definitely this time, I can see things more clearly.

I sent a group text to my college friends, early Wednesday morning. This was a late reminder that it was Gladys‘ birthday last Monday (I’m sure some has missed it due to selective amnesia) and an early invitation for those who want to join me in visiting her this weekend at home because she has no actual plan of putting a birthday blowout and I planned to intervene. So, I was quite disappointed that it was only Jhoy who replied and showed interest. I thought, hey, we all have work and receive salary on a regular basis, so I find it hard to accept that they might not have cellphone load for a few days and not bother to make a decent reply even if they don’t have the intentions to join.

So Sunday afternoon, thank God it wasn’t raining, I was waiting for just Jhoy to arrive in front of a local drugstore we agreed to meet up. I was still standing there 30 minutes after I arrived and there seemed to be no signs that she was coming. Thankfully, I got a reply from her that she’s on her way and momentarily she appeared and we took the baby bus to Noveleta. We picked up some ice cream and roll cake to bring and because I only texted Glads and never called her to confirm that we are showing up at her house, she was quite surprised when we did the invasion.

I like a coversation among three friends. It’s like being on a see-saw, and one can always act as its fulcrum. Because not everyone in the group gets the chance to communicate to others as much as I am, I updated Jhoy and Glads with what I know what’s been going on with the rest of our friends. Of course, only the details I am allowed to tell. Glads then shared her recent visit to the ‘old’ and how she found out that he already has moved on. Then what someone ‘new’ gave for her birthday. While Jhoy discussed the details of a sad, shocking LL dilemma she is going through but how she is able to accept it now. In between, I listened and offered my comment, cracked jokes most of the time and shared only work-related stuffs as well as about my upcoming trip in October. While I left them them hanging as far as my LL is concerned as if I have one.

The Good

When I was in second year college, I received my class card for Engineering Drawing 2 from my ‘trying-hard-to-speak-English’ instructor who just happened to be the architect of the school building we held classes in. This was my very first below 85 grade and instantly it crashed my dream of graduating cum laude. I never did try to be on my knees and beg this professor to change the grade in my class card like one would do if he got a failed grade. I moved on with my college life and attended two more classes under this instructor (without much choice) but he never made it to my list of favorite teachers ever.

On my second year at work, I received my performance rating from my team lead through a one-on-one talk inside a quiet room. The rating was better than what I got the previous year and this at least satisfied me, Until she told me something more and it made me wanna jump up and down on my seat. I realized two things after this: (1) I didn’t have to graduate a cum laude to get it (2) the Drawing classes I had in college didn’t really help at all in getting it because I am a programmer.

The Sad

The closest officemates I had since bench days to my first project, Rox and JohnF, are transferring to a different building location starting next week. Despite them staying in our first project and me not being absorbed, till I finally got rolled in to my current project and even if I now have shifting schedule, we managed to keep in touch, go grocery shopping together at least once a week, meet for occasional lunch outs and lately SB coffee breaks.

We met up Wedneday night for dinner along with other batchmates then they invited me to come over their area in 11th floor to hang around while they work overtime. Sitting on an office chair placed between Rox and JohnF’s cubes, I can’t help but think how things would have been had I stayed in their project, I thought to myself, working hard is one thing. Working with people you are comfortable and happy to work with is another.