Just a Celebration

It started as a normal day with  a very few people knowing that it was my birthday. I was greeted by the people who really remembered it and it was really nice to know that they actually had just remembered it. Like a normal day, I went to work and not even one of them knows that it was my birthday.

I just invited over a few friends from another department to celebrate my birthday after work to have pizza, pasta and chicken. I’ve invited some of my students and some really just had a good time. My girlfriend was also there and I am so happy and proud that a lot of the people there thinks she’s very pretty.

It was really nice to catch up with some people on a special day and I was happy that everyone enjoyed the dinner. The moments of real laughter wherein everyone is just having fun and enjoying the food without actually being too pretentious. I really appreciated their presence on a day that marks another year for me.

We finished quite early since it was exams period for most students and also I am really not the type who celebrates anything with alcohol. I prefer having real laughs and not alcohol-induced ones, also I prefer that celebrations leave you with a better feeling rather than a hangover. Call it being a sissy but I think that celebrations shouldn’t be about chugging alcohol like as if there wouldn’t be another chance to do it.

Another year means another chance for me to make it count. I want that every moment in my life would be something worthwhile knowing that I am living not just for myself but also for the people around me. I think being given the chance to live is not a mistake and we should be able to do our part to make our lives count.

You might not think of it that way but surely there are people around you who appreciate you more than you think you  do. I always see people who always feel that they are alone, maybe those people should just go out there and participate more in life. Maybe it’s time to just meet people or get to know better the people around you so that you would also learn how not to live only for yourself. So make it count and make sure that you live your life to the best not only for you but also for the people around you.

Books: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“And I will believe the same about you.”

I bought this book on a whim since I saw my students reading it. They told me about an upcoming movie for it with Emma Watson as one of the characters in it. Well I thought to myself that I should get a new book for me on my birthday and I found out that this book is just perfect for me.

Growing up is really never easy for anyone. Finding your identity while trying to meet expectations is really just too much during such an emotional stage. I really never get the chance to find my identity during those years because I was too busy meeting expectations set by people. In retrospect, there might have been regrets that I may have wanted to fit in with what people want of me instead of what I really want. However seeing myself now makes me think that there might have been a reason why I turned out to be the person that I am today.

The story itself was actually relatable in a lot of aspects, from growing pains, depression, sex and of course music and books. I  just wanted to emphasize that the parts wherein Charlie was discussing about music and books were my most favorite. Because these were the things that made me feel in a certain way rebellious to what others are expecting of me. Besides that, these things defined a lot of who am I today.

Looking back at my growing years and celebrating my 25th birthday today makes me want to do something about my life. I may be experiencing some sort of quarter-life crisis like I’ve said before but I am just glad of the new people that I have met made my life a lot better or in Charlie’s own words “infinite”.

I am still waiting for another moment wherein I will feel infinite but for now here I am enjoying my birthday and looking forward for another year and knowing that things will be better.

P.S.

The book made me want to write regularly again. So for all those reading this entry, please do encourage me to write more and hopefully you’ll listen more to me.

Books: Hunger Games: Read the Book and Saw the Movie

“May the odds be ever in your favor…”

My weekend may have been solely reserved for the purpose of The Hunger Games. We bought the trilogy on April 2011 and it was only this Saturday that I was able to read the book. Thanks to my reading skills, I was able to finish the book within 24 hours of borrowing it.

I actually liked how the story is very much related to the current problems that the world is facing today. Whether political or economic, this book is clearly a reflection of the present and what could our future be. Dystopian worlds really fascinate me, since I think we are close to living in one with what’s happening today. As much as I would like to leave a better future for the generation today, I think that future generations would find it hard be able to cope with it when that time comes.

Since the book is full of detail and back stories, I really doubted that the movie will do it justice. Well it did some justice and it simplified the movie enough so that non-readers will get a general idea of what the book is all about. I was quite impressed on how they were able to tone down the violence without making it less scary. Sorry for the lack of a better term, it’s just that I still enjoyed the action part even though it lacks a certain vividness in details similar from the book.

Watching the movie itself was an experience since unlike a lot of film adaptations, wherein there are a lot of know-it-all people are talking about it, a lot actually have no idea of what is it all about. They may have just read blurbs or reviews and some would even head out to bookstores after the film to buy the books. Well a lot of these so called book readers are actually just posers and its sad to see that people like them really don’t know the nuances of the film.

Well I can’t wait to borrow the next book in the series. I do hope I get my hands on it soon.

Back from a Break and from a Vacation

Finally I’ve got the time to write after all these months of not doing it. I’ve been quite busy and I just came back from a vacation of sorts. I was actually in another country for three days and though I really didn’t like at first going there but as soon as I was there, I began to love the experience itself.

As the French would say “Les voyages forment les jeunes.” Learning a new culture and enjoying new sights, sounds, tastes and smells made me feel like there is still a lot I need to experience. I really do not like travelling a lot but I think I should start doing it more, since I think it will give me more of a sense of my identity. 

Maybe it’s really more of the part of me who wants to explore what’s out there. As I’ve said in some posts here, I’d like to do what the renaissance people did, wherein they went out and explored the world.I had always wanted to do the same, that is to be an adventurer and see the world in my own eyes.

I just want to experience things so that I won”t stop learning. Learning is what really makes me feel alive and happy in this world. I want to learn more than what I can so that I can always share it with others too. 

Someday  I hope that by sharing the things I’ve learned, I would have made a mark in this world.