Belated Wish Wednesday: My Material (non-grown up) Christmas Wish List

(yes, let me be clear that these are material wishes, and so I don’t want to hear any “Tsk tsk tsk, Christmas isn’t about gifts blah blah blah”. As they say, wishing is free, and these are things that I wish to have someday, not necessarily as gifts. And yes, I am defensive)

(oh, but if I do receive any of these as gifts, I will be much grateful of course)

D&G Light Blue

I HATE perfumes. They make my nose all itchy and if I haven’t eaten anything that day, they make me nauseous. But the moment I smell that citrusy aroma of Light Blue, my bad mood immediately evaporates. But because I’m a cheapskate when it comes to certain purchases, I only buy myself this once in a blue moon.

Satchel/s

It doesn’t have to be that uber expensive Cambridge satchel thingamajig. I bought my one and only for 800 bucks in Cole Vintage and it has become my current favorite. It can be both formal and informal that’s why I love it. I wouldn’t mind having two or three more of those babies

Lost Complete DVD Box Set

While I do have all the (barely legally obtained) episodes, it would still be awesome to have a complete set, complete with all the behind the scenes, easter eggs and bonus features. And it would be much easier to go through my favorite episodes whenever I feel, uhm, lost

Record player/phonograph device

Or whatever the modern term is nowadays. Although collecting vinyls is a bit expensive, nothing beats listening to records in their purest form. Plus, I like the scratchy sound it makes before each song. It brings back memories of listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Glenn Miller, etc on those “ancient” devices

Nestle Nespresso Machine

But before I get one, I have to make Nestle Philippines swear on their founders’ grave (not literally of course) that they will never run out of the coffee capsule thingamajigs, because otherwise, this machine will lose its sense and purpose

Hard-bound copies of the following book series (Most of these I have in e-book and actual book form, but the hard-bound ones would look really nice on my future bookshelf)

• A Song of Ice and Fire
• Complete works of JRR Tolkien
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• The Millenium Trilogy
• Complete works (so far) of Margaret Atwood
• Percy Jackson series

And in the very far future…my ultimate wish is of course to have my own, personal, private library with kick-ass shelves and all kinds of comfy seats, cushions, beanbags. It should also have an awesome surround sound system, with my aforementioned phonograph and nespresso machine. I would probably never leave that room.

What’s on your material non-grown up Christmas list?

 

Wish Wednesday: My Commuting Wishlist

Admittedly, i turn into a different creature when I’m in the MRT and whenever i see commuters behaving abominably or stupidly. So since, as they say, it’s free to dream, here are my wishes that someday might actually come true

I wish women would become more patient, considerate, polite, or even just plain human in the MRT during rush hour. No pushing, shoving, screaming, hair-pulling (yes, i did see that once)

I wish people would not hog the poles in the MRT because for vertically challenged people like me , it’s our only lifeline

I wish people actually know and honor the “keep right” principle because not every place is a one way street. Everyone’s lives would be a tad easier if we all kept right. Promise

I wish people who ride the shuttle (or bus or jeep or any public vehicle) would not talk loudly on the phone or to each other because we don’t need to know all the gory or boring details of your lives and some of us would just like to sleep or rest our ears

I wish people would actually follow the walk/do not walk lights (what are they called anyways?) when crossing the street. Unless you’re in a medical emergency,you can wait a few seconds or even minutes. And yes, it’s for our safety right? And if you get run over coz you didn’t follow, whose fault is it again

I wish pedestrians who violate rules would also be ticketed and fined. Para fair lang sa drivers diba?

I wish people who are behind me in the escalator, in the MRT ticket line and turnstile, would respect personal space. I dont want to smell what your last meal was

What are your own commuting wishes?

 

TV Thursday: My Favorite New Shows So Far

Since most of the new shows are into their 6th and above episodes, I can already half make up my mind as to which shows I’ve fallen in love with already. Here’s hoping that at least half of these shows survive this season and get at least a second one. So, in no particular order….. (and if you ask nicely, I can even lend you some episodes )

REVENGE 

The first time I heard about this show, I expected it to be campy and soap opera-ish a-la Melrose Place and the likes, with a character screaming “Revenge” with an evil laugh. But this has become an instant audience favorite and is actually an intelligent, self-aware, and yes still soap opera-ish show (but in a good way). My girl crush Emily Van Camp shines as a young woman wreaking subtle but deadly, uhm, revenge on a family that destroyed her father’s life. Madeleine Stow is the cunning, manipulative matriarch of said family, and there are lots of twists and turns (and beautiful people and locations) to keep you hooked

2 Broke Girls

Not to be confused with my forever girl crush Zooey’s show New Girl (which I am still not decided if I like)

The always awesome Kat Dennings is Max, a cynical, street-smart, smart-mouthed diner waitress (is there any other kind of diner waitress) who teams up with fellow waitressa fallen from grace, dumb-blonde but Ivy League educated Caroline (played by Beth Behrs) to try and save money to put up a cupcake business. Hilarity and hijinks ensue. And they have a horse in their apartment. Funny stuff

Terra Nova

Battlestar Galactica-ish atmosphere. Dinosaurs. Utopian dystopia. Dinosaurs. Jason O’Mara. Dinosaurs. Oh, did I mention there are dinosaurs? Storytelling needs to improve a bit, and some characters I don’t really care about. But it still hooks me every week, so something is working. Maybe the dinosaurs

Suburgatory

To fill the void of Awkward (my favorite US Summer show from a few months back), this snarky father-daughter comedy is a hilarious look at suburban life (with all their jumpsuits and Red Bull lite and stupid conformity), from the point of view of two die-hard New Yorkers, the aforementioned father and daughter. It’s like Everwood without all the drama. And I think Jeremy Sisto in a comedy role is a hoot, and so far from all his dark and brooding characters

Person of Interest

I would probably watch Ben Linus, I mean, Michael Emerson in anything (even Two and a Half Men, if he decides to guest there) so it’s already a given that I would like this show. It’s hard to describe this show so I’ll just paste the opening dialogue of the show, as narrated by Ben, I mean, Mr. Finch

You are being watched. The government has a secret system–a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because…I built it. I designed the machine to detect acts of terror but it sees everything…violent crimes involving ordinary people; people like you, crimes the government considered irrelevant. They wouldn’t act so I decided I would, but I needed a partner–someone with the skills to intervene. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret. You will never find us. But whether victim or perpetrator, if your number’s up, we’ll find you.

Oh, and Jim Caviziel is impossibly handsome

Homeland

I never thought that I would actually like anything that has Claire Danes in it (I still haven’t forgiven her for ruining Stardust for me) but she nails her role to the wall in this series. Is she paranoid/insane/psychotic (probably) or are her suspicions that newly returned POW Damien Lewis is a significant threat to national security (again, a very big probably too)? It’s like 24, but without the pace and urgency, but it’s an enjoyable and thrilling slow burn

Up All Night

Christina Applegate. Will Arnett. Maya Rudolph. And a cute baby. That’s comedy gold right there. And it’s based on the creator’s real-life experiences of going back to work at Saturday Night Live after she gave birth to her first child. Chuckles and aaawwwsss, are heard whenever i watch this

Still not sure whether I will love it til the end but im enjoying it so far:

Once Upon A Time – still 3 eps in, but looks very promising

Grimm – loved the first ep, but kinda fell asleep on the 2nd

Prime Suspect – Maria Bello’s take on Jane Timmony (popularized by Helen Mirren in the BBC miniseries) is kick-ass, but the storylines are a bit blah

American Horror Story – sometimes too scary (and too needlessly raunchy)

A Gifted Man – sometimes too sappy but Patrick Wilson is just so pretty

New Girl – Zooey Deschanel, my forever girl crush, is adorkable, but the script is sometimes trying too hard

Big disappointments:

Charlie’s Angels – not even a hot Bosley can save this for me

Pan Am – Christina Ricci, what a waste

The Playboy Club – well, my expectations weren’t that high anyways, but still such a sucky show

Hart of Dixie – trying to get by on the town’s quirky charm, but not going anywhere

Secret Circle – trying to be the next Vampire Diaries but with witches, but not appealing enough for me

 

Music Monday: My Current Heart Song Playlist

When words fail me, I always turn to other people’s music to express those unsung emotions in me. And this is another phase of my life where I am at a loss for words, not because I am going through something rough and deep. Maybe it’s just a season where I have been writing too many words for other people that when it comes to telling you how I really feel, I cannot form coherent thoughts. All I can do is sing

And these are the songs that tell you where I am at now

Shifting Sands by Caedmon’s Call

Always, I am standing on His grace. Otherwise, if I relied on my always shaky faith, I would have long been gone.

 

Love Will Come to You by Indigo Girls

I am always surrounded by friends whose hearts are continually broken, and I myself will always live with a cracked heart. And this song is for all of us who still nourish that sliver of hope

 

Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons

“You were meant to meet your Maker” – and yet I continually live my life as if I’m meant for other things. Sigh. Everyday, I need to “awake my soul”

 

C.S Lewis Song by Brooke Fraser

Again, I have to remind myself everyday that I am in this world, but I am not of this world

 

Lost by Coldplay

In keeping with my forever theme of lostness, “just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost”

 

Restless by Switchfoot

Aside from lost, restless seems to be my default mode. And when I first heard this song, I thought Jon Foreman was personally speaking to me