Through the Looking Glass

While looking for Albert Einstein quotes (bec. I kill time that way), I remembered how much I found myself enamored by the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez so what the heck, I searched if he had any famous quotes too! Here are the results… Not just his quotes but excerpts from his books too, more particularly Love in the Time of Cholera. I remember when I was reading this book, I was so caught up in the story that at one point I had to pause because I was so overwhelmed with the intensity of Urbano’s feelings. Powerful writing. At that point, I texted my friends the quote immediately below. Is it because I can relate to him? Or maybe it’s because I want that for me too. Really, this book cinched it for me. It’s a close close second to One Hundred Years of Solitude. I simply must reread these books before the summer ends!(Tsk tsk. I am such a romantic! Unreasonable na yata. I don’t know if this is a good thing.)  Anyways, on with the quotes!

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To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else’s heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera

He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera

She discovered with great delight that one does not love one’s children just because they are one’s children but because of the friendship formed while raising them.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera

The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera, Dr. Urbino

He is ugly and sad … but he is all love.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera, Fermina Daza

Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Why My Friend Bill had to Lie, The Guardian Newspaper, referring to US President Bill Clinton, January, 1999

The only difference today between Liberals and Conservatives is that the Liberals go to mass at five o’clock and the Conservatives at eight.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude

Carmelia Montiel, a twenty-year-old virgin, had just bathed in orange-blossom water and was strewing rosemary leaves on Pilar Ternera’s bed when the shot rang out. Aureliano José had been destined to find with her the happiness that Amaranta had denied him, to have seven children, and to die in her arms of old age, but the bullet that entered his back and shattered his chest had been directed by a wrong interpretation of the cards.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude

(Here’s more, just don’t know what books they are from)

“Justice. . . limps along, but it gets there all the same.”

      “Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood.”

      “Between the covers of the books that no one had ever read again, in the old parchments damaged by dampness, a livid flower had prospered, and in the air that had been the purest and brightest in the house an unbearable smell of rotten memories floated.”

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Anyways also book-related, my favorite book of all time is "Sophie’s World". (So much so that I plan to name my child Sophie. Hehe.) If you haven’t read this yet, please do! I liked the premise, a fictionalized and easy-to-read tale about the History of Philosophy (a review of the ideas of major philosophers from the Pre-Socratic Greeks to Jean-Paul Sartre) as explained to an adolescent girl. It was simple but not dumbed down. And I have always loved philosophy! Not like I aced Soc. Sci. II, just that I got a high grade because I liked it so much that I see myself reading Plato and Nietzche for fun. I’ll just look for excerpts next time then.

And what do they have in common? They both write exquisitely well and merge realism with fantasy in a seamless and effortless manner. Duh. Haha!

I can ignore all the other MURPHY’S LAWS on the blog but this one ON WRITING really takes the cake! hahaha! The journalist/writer/grammar geek in me (as dormant as she is on most occasions) can’t help it, I really love this! enjoy!

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The 19 Rules for good Riting:

1. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
2. Just between you and I, case is important.
3. Verbs has to agree with their subject.
4. Watch out for irregular verbs which has cropped up into our language.
5. Don’t use no double negatives.
6. A writer mustn’t shift your point of view.
7. When dangling, don’t use participles.
8. Join clauses good like a conjunction should.
9. And don’t use conjunctions to start sentences.
10. Don’t use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it.
11. About sentence fragments.
12. In letters themes reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep strings apart.
13. Don’t use commas, which aren’t necessary.
14. Its important to use apostrophe’s right.
15. Don’t abbrev.
16. Check to see if you any words out.
17. In my opinion I think that the author when he is writing should not get into the habit of making use of too many unnecessary words which he does not really need.
18. Then, of course, there’s that old one: Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
19. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

The previous post about the need to make changes made me think of my utter lack of will to change. Sure, I like new things as much as the next person but I have a tendency to be sentimental and hold on to useless things like old library cards, old school IDs, toys I know I will never get to play with and old books I am too selfish to let other children read.

Now that I’m about to be a senior and thereafter will be leaving academic life once more, it’s time for changes. I need to learn what to let go, what to keep and what to look out for. I want to learn how to go ahead and maintain a minimalist attitude instead of being a pack rat.

It’s fun looking at old pictures, old IDs and stuff but maybe I need to learn how to scrapbook all this stuff so they actually make sense. Haha!

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished. Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill. None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us.

What has passed will not return: we cannot for ever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back. Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away. That is why it is so important (however painful it maybe!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.

Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts and getting rid of certain memories also means taking some room for other memories to take their place. Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else. Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the ideal moment. Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person. Nothing is irreplaceable. A habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are

(side comment: i SOOO agree with this!)

LESSONS MEREDITH GREY MUST LEARN

Remember when Meredith Grey uttered the words, "Pick Me, Choose me, Love Me"?.
Indeed, she still have to learn lessons about love and men. Here are some thoughts.
The Hard Lessons on Love and Men…

1. A man won’t let go if he really loves you.

Do not hold on to someone who has let go of you. He does not love you and
does not value having you. Believe me, he will not let go if he really
loves you. There is another reason he is not willing to tell.

2. Do not look for reasons why he ended the relationship.

There is only one reason why he ended your relationship. He just does not
love you. Do not waste your time thinking of reasons or what you should
have done. Move on and be open to a man who will truly love you.

3. Do not get hung up on your past.

Do not nag or distrust your current boyfriend just because your ex hurt
you. Do not treat him or the relationship the same way. Do not compare.
He will not react the same way as your ex. Do not be worried that your
simple mistakes will cause him to look for another girl. What happened
with your ex was not your fault. It was not because you didn’t guard him
enough or you didn’t make him happy enough.

4. Do not look into images.

How many times have you met a girl who didn’t have the best image in
school or at the office, but you get to know the girl and found out she
was actually extremely nice? Do not rely on images. Oftentimes, it is
far from reality. Do not fear men just because your "supposedly" perfect
ex-boyfriend mistreated you.

5. Always have your own set of rules.

Set your limits on how far you’d go for a guy. It’s perfectly ok to give
and do everything as long as it’s worth it. And it’s worth it if the guy
is treating you right.

6. Do not be scared to lose him.

Don’t be scared that he’ll break up with you. Once you are afraid of
losing him, you easily can be taken advantage. Be strong and if something
is unacceptable, do not accept it and speak up.

7. Avoid calling your guy.

It’s a guy thing. The relationship will definitely be better if it’s the
guy who’s calling, not the girl. He will get tired of you if you keep on
calling. He will lose interest and challenge. More so, he will get
annoyed. But it’s a girl thing also that your fingers get too itchy until
you dial his number. But avoid as much as possible. Call only if really
needed (like checking if your suspicions are reasonable).

8. There is a guy who will value you.

There is a guy out there who can make you feel valued, appreciated, and
loved. And I mean, not just during your first few weeks together. So
don’t lose hope. Don’t settle for a lesbian if you are not attracted to
women. There is a man out there who can love you like a girl can.

Also, do not believe him when he says it’s just the way he really is.
He’s not the sweet or expressive-type. Remember during your first few
weeks together? Where has that sweet guy gone? He simply is not that
into you anymore.

9. Always be the only one, no matter what.

Do not ever fall for a guy who has another girl, be it his wife,
girlfriend, or any girl that he says he just can’t get rid of for whatever
reason. If you truly believe that he loves you and for some reason, he
can’t leave or let go of another girl, then you are no different from any
ordinary mistress.

10. He must respect you.

No matter how long the relationship has been, he should always show
respect towards you.

11. If he fooled you, end it.

Philandering once is enough. You can never trust nor respect the person
again.

12. Never start a relationship the wrong way.

Do not steal another girl’s man, for whatever reason. Nor should you
enter a relationship for the wrong reasons (loneliness, on the rebound,
getting back at your ex, man-dependency, etc.) it is bound not to last.
You will only end up wasting more years of your life.

13. Do not force yourself into a relationship.

Do not get into a relationship just because your friends are getting
impatient with your dating escapades and the one hasn’t come yet. Do not
choose who to say yes to based on superficial things like money, looks,
cars, etc.. If you are even thinking of these things, you have not fallen
in love yet.

14. Do not settle.

If you are not happy anymore with your relationship, break up instantly.
He will not stay with you forever no matter how upright he might seem to
be. Eventually, he will also want love and happiness in his life.

15. A relationship has to have love.

Love is the only thing that will push you to give your efforts into making
the relationship work. And believe me, keeping a relationship requires
genuine efforts of both parties.

16. Don’t be afraid to be single.

It’s fun to be single, try it. You can go out whenever and wherever you
want. You are free. You can date whomever you want and you get to go out
for free! Do not get a boyfriend just for the sake of having one. Do not
settle.

17. Be a good girl.

Be a good girl to attract a good guy. Enter the relationship with sincere
intentions. Take the guy and the relationship seriously with the plan of
spending the rest of your life with that person (of course, this is after
you had your bit of fun in your younger years). If you compare your
flings from your real relationships, you will know that the latter makes
you happier and more fulfilled.

18. Love without limits.

Whether you loved and gave everything or loved but held out for some
things, if the relationship ends, you still get hurt. But if you gave
your everything, you were happy and you could say that it was worth it.
If you didn’t give your all, you get hurt for nothing.

19. You will get over him.

Love is over-stated. Love eventually ends and you are free to love another.

20. Be the one.

Act like you are the one. Don’t be a nagger. Don’t hinder his gimmicks.
Don’t give in to him too easily. Make him treat you as important. Don’t
be easy. Don’t be like every other girl he had in his life.

Sorry, couldn’t think of a better title.

I turned 27 last Sunday and let me tell you… it isn’t really as different as I felt when I was 14, 20, 23 or 25. Age is just a number nga talaga. Now I believe it. Or I try to. Hahaha! For this year, I vow na madami talaga mangyayaring exciting. For one, I will try to pamper myself and fulfill my deepest wish of having a day at the spa… hair treatment, pedicures, manicures, the works! hehe! In case you haven’t seen me lately my hair is at its longest ever! Usually I cut it na above the shoulder because I used to believe hassle ang long hair pero so far I can just tie it up when it gets in the way. A lot of people say it suits me daw. naks.

Second, this year I will try to be more recit-ready. Matino ako mag-recit basta alam ko yung ididiscuss so maybe it’s time I get more decent recits. Oo, mababaw ito para sa iba pero man, sa law school you can never be too prepared for facing a prof.

Third, I’ll try to go out more and renew ties with friends. And no, excuse me, hindi ako lumalabas just to see my crush. Sheesh. (Another thing, kailan ba ako gagraduate sa crush? Mag-aasawa na nga baby brother ko ganito pa din? Hay. Ewan.)

Fourth, this year I will make the most of my summer, kahit walang tulugan sa pagwowork… I have to lay the foundation after all. Right now I love IPL! I dunno, maybe its because of Maam Susan? I love it talaga, who knew infringement could be so much fun? Haha!

And lastly, this year I will establish closer ties to my family, lalo na ngayon I’m gaining a sister soon and a nephew. I’m soo excited for the baby, syempre iba pa din kung nephew e… parang kid mo na din. hay. I can’t wait to see him and to play with him! For now, I think I’m channeling my fond near-maternal feelings towards our new puppy Missy, na toy poodle. She’s adorable! 3 months old pa lang and so obedient, katabi ko nga sa bed ngayon as I type. Hehe. She’s all fluffy and honey-colored, I can’t wait until she gets groomed at mapasyal namin siya. Ayaw ko na nga iwan kanina before going to school, she follows me around with her cute barely seen puppy eyes… Aww.  kawaiii!!! 

Also, I can’t wait for the Winlaw Ball! Our theme this year is Old Hollywood Glamour or something like that and naturally, as with most girls I know, my head is awhirl with the possibilities! This year it’s going to be at the Holiday Inn Ortigas and my gown has to look extra fine because I’m up for a (if not THE! hehe!), Special Award for the Night. Hint: I’ll be needing my sister’s tiarra.  And I have to be extra ayos para no contest. Haha. :)  It’s also why I absolutely need a date and yes, fab shoes that will take me to nice places as legend has it… Here’s hoping my dress looks fab by March 3.  =)

I’ve never been so happy to have the sem over! Well, lets put it this way… I am always happy I pulled off a sem. Regardless of whether I actually passed, at least I can put it off for another couple of weeks. For now I am in blissful and mindless vacation mode.

Looking back on the past few days, the Moot was surprisingly short and easy, Dean Magi and Sir Roque weren’t as harsh as I feared. I wish I put more effort into it and actually researched before I went there… Oh well, I have one year more… Sorry sir for the crappy memorial. I hope I still get a 2.0 for Moot Class!

Transpo was a bummer. Anyways every final is depressing, I don’t bother dwelling on each and every exam. I think I passed? (This is a very optimistic and very vague hope, ladies and gents. I just hope I don’t fail the supposedly unfailables! i.e. Evidence and Transpo and PIL…)

Later I am meeting up with Mel and Rej and the others for Mel’s treat (it’s her birthday month) and I honestly can’t wait to see them! =) and to eat pizza of course! hahaha!

I’ve never looked forward to the end of the sem as much as I am now. I know, I always say this every sem but never have I meant it more… I am so drained from studying Tax that I feel Succession is taking the flack for it. After studying for 4 days (maybe it was 5) I still didn’t feel it was enough to prepare me for that exam come Mon.! And yes, basics or not, Tax is a bitch though I do know something about it now. Here’s to an enjoyable sem of Tax 2! One beacon at the end of it all is the upcoming end of the sem and that entails, our finals for Moot Class… (aka Jessup try-outs)

Our Jessup moot try-outs are next week and yes, strangely, I feel excited about doing my thing in front of Dean Magi, Dean Raul, Sir Roque… Hahaha! Talk about looking forward to being eaten alive! I’m just in it for the experience. I hope they get me even if it’s just to research for the real thing. I want to be part of the Jessup team but if that doesn’t happen, it means I just have to wait until next year… or try out for PLJ instead. Haha! Nah… I really love PIL. I don’t know why. I love it so much I am willing to invest a year of my precious time being an intern somewhere in Geneva if fate would have it. :)  Although Moot class isn’t really that organized, I’m glad I had it since I learned a lot about PIL. Dean Raul’s not bad too, he’s really passionate about PIL and he is brilliant, given the proper venue (the Socratic method sucks anyways). Cha and Anna and the others have already gone through the IHL try-outs unscathed, I guess we can too with a lot of studying. And prayers.  I’ll do my moot paper this Sat. Wish me luck!  (Hope I don’t disgrace myself ! I do want to work in the International Law field after this…)

Too much rain, Too little of the weekend (although its been 4 days), and too late in the day (at 2AM) to really do anything worthwhile of my Monday…

Actually, I am a bit sleepy… I’ve been online for quite a while, looking at websites that have filled me with the possibilities of getting an internship abroad, for UN even! But then I would have to scrape up the money myself… Oh well. And I was relying on kind-hearted organizations like the Rotary Club but it turns out I’m not eligible. Bother. Maybe I can ask help from my mom’s company then? They can write it off as a tax deduction. Hmm. That’s wishful thinking right there.

I truly want to work for thte Hague or the UN. Maybe I’ll give it a shot, although it means I may not go to school for a whole sem. I can’t go on LOA, it’ll mean a whole year delayed and I won’t get to graduate with my batch. AGAIN. Argh.

Can I not volunteer for a mere 2 months during summer? I’ll see. But then offices like the ICC or UN Secretariat have minimum 3 month internships. At oo nga naman, nasa US ka na nga (or Europe) tapos sandali ka lang dun? Makes sense din that it should take longer. Hay. I dunno. I’m too sleepy to think properly. And who knows if it’ll push through? But this is something I really want. I want to travel, to make the most out of the fact I have the opportunity. If it means going around and missing  a month, why not? Yun nga lang kung 1 year it’s something to think about… Oh well. I’d be able to take the Bar with them pa din naman at any rate.

GMA’s SONA tomorrow and a big storm’s about. We have no class tomorrow. God bless this wonderful country. It can only take so much huffing and puffing.

… I happened to read a bit of poetry I wanted to share…

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
from "The Wind Among the Reeds"

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

–W.B. Yeats, 1888

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I love mush, don’t you? :>

I finally have my moot court speech tweaked to my satisfaction and hence I will just go and procrastinate until it’s time to study for Transpo, To my utter dismay I never really got the knack for liking Tax so that I put off til 30 mins. before the class. Heehee. I know, it’s absolutely horrid study habits that could bite me in the ass come Finals. Or if he calls me for a case tomorrow I am sooo dead.

For Moot Court I fervently wish that my 7 minute respondent spiel is enough and that I come off as having read the case. The Federal Republic of Germany will never forgive me if I manage to lose this for them (when they won in that case). Hahaha!

Notable this weekend was the fact that it rained pretty hard when it was merely drizzling during the weekday. Talk about unfair! We could have used some rain on Thurs. so there wouldn’t be any class!  As a result I was lazier than usual.

Earlier today I was browsing through Friendster and lo and behold, a baby picture! Veng had a baby! Oh my gosh, I remember we were all just hanging out making MTVs and commercials and whatnot in college and here she is with a baby and married! This is just a shocker, everyone around me is getting married and pregnant! (Roda by the way, texted that she is feeling the effects of morning sickness and cannot be forced into DVD shopping. And Ate Machie is giving birth any day now)  I dunno if I envy them or what. Maybe I do but then I wouldn’t be studying if I was married, would I? And here I am obsessing on who to ask to the WinLaw Ball! Hahaha! Makes you wonder how the Law makes you predisposed to staying single bec. of all the things one can do.

Yesterday I got into a discussion (well via text anyway) with Ryan on how having a girlfriend may help him cope with the mind-numbing stresses of practice and I got to thinking, so this is how it is even after Law School? He even missed school! Honestly, I don’t know why we do it… Graduating and then taking the Bar just so we can go and miss our professors? hah! That’ll be the day…