First week of work: Check!

I'm very happy to announce that IT'S OFFICIALLY THE WEEKEND!!! Oh God, I now finally understand the excitement employed people feel when it's already Friday! Anyway, I'm also officially done with my first week at work!!! (Sorry for the excessive use of exclamation points lol) I've have mixed emotions about my first week at work.

1. I felt homesick. 
2. I missed my family. 
3. I missed the comfort of home. 
4. I missed my mom's cooking. 
5. I really miss reading books and watching movies and t.v. series. 
6. I felt really "adult" doing mature stuff. 
7. I felt happy because I'm finally employed.
8. I felt good that I'm continuously learning things and am able to apply to my job everything that I've learned from the past.
9.  I felt excited for the days to come and the challenges along with it.
10.  I felt ecstatic about the future.

Every day, upon getting home, I go straight to bed because I'm tired as heck! Then I wake up early to go to work. A routine. I've started getting a hang of a routine ever since I started working. It's not bad, really. I still got to do diverse things every day. Things that will help me grow. Things that will teach me lessons. Things that will test my patience and abilities.

Anyway, I promise that I will savor every minute and every hour of this weekend. (If only time slowed down on weekends! Ugh)

Note To Self #3

If you're brain is bothered by questions, ASK. Never hesitate to ask questions. Would it make you look dumb? Not always. It depends on the questions you'll ask. But wouldn't it be worse if you didn't ask the question then just proceeded with your task and it turned out to be a total failure? Ask questions.

First Day At Work!

Guess who's currently off the list of the "Unemployed"?? Me! I'm currently working in a small Marketing firm and it was my first day today! Of course there was the first day jitters which quickly faded as I started settling in. As a new employee of the company, the Marketing team basically introduced us to their craft and everything that encompasses our job description and gave me tasks to do for the day. The work is not entirely hard but there is always just a lot of stuff to do. Being a multi-tasker that I am, so far, I could say that I'll survive this fast-paced environment and hopefully really enjoy the job. :)

Note To Self #2

You can always find peace in the quiet. There are things that are best kept inside you to avoid wreckage or further destruction. There are things that are best left in the oblivion of things unsaid or should've said.

Review: Words from a Wanderer

Words from a Wanderer by Alexandra Elle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I've posted my first Note To Self entry on my blog days before I read this book. After reading this, I'm more than inspired to encourage myself and others. This brings the definition of "self-help" in a whole other level. There's literally no other person who can help us but ourselves. We make decisions. We make mistakes. We break. We get up and try harder. We choose what to do in this life and no one is responsible for that but us.

This book is really inspiring, heart-warming and in some ways, life-changing. Thank you, Alex Elle for your beautiful and enthralling words of wisdom and encouragement.



View all my reviews

Review: Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



"But dreams scream as loud,
whether thriving or dying"

This poignant novel which was written and told in verse radiated heartache, pure loneliness, angst and longing. This work is remarkable just thinking about the rhyming and timing of every word and line. I also loved how every person in the story is connected in some ways and factor each and own's perish.



View all my reviews

Note To Self #1

Just because you can't find a job after 3 months of tiring job applications, it doesn't mean that something's wrong with you. It doesn't mean that you're not good enough for anything at all. It's just really hard nowadays. You gotta stay strong, girl!

Review: The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I've been seeing The Giver ever since I was in high school but I haven't really given any thought on reading this book. I can say that the reason behind it is because I wasn't particularly enticed by the book cover. I could even remember a time back then when an aunt of mine asked me if I have a copy of The Giver, which my answer was obviously "No". After reading this today, I briefly became angry with myself because WHY THE HELL DID I NOT READ THIS BEFORE????

The book started with Jonas, the protagonist of this book, feeling apprehensive about the upcoming event which was an annual Ceremony on the month of December that includes the Naming (wherein "newchildren" will be assigned to their respective "units") and the Ceremony of One up to Twelve (which represents the children's age) with matching rituals, symbolisms and/or new roles to play in the community. Jonas was specifically dreading the Ceremony of Twelve wherein their group will be assigned to different roles/jobs in the community and would train from then on by the Committee of Elders who has meticulously observed every child in the community to know what lies ahead for the future Twelves.

The book sounds dystopian right? Well, yes, you're right but unlike other dystopian novels like The Hunger Games wherein there was torment, destruction and unhappiness, every bit from the story gave way to the notion that they were living in a world/community of utopia. A place where there's only serenity and harmony. A place where people felt no real pain. A place where people have no recall of the past and everything alongside it. But with that monotonous order and peacefulness implies that there are so much that the people have been neglected of experiencing and feeling. People had no memories of the past. Only The Giver has them. That's what makes it dystopia. Who would have liked to live in a colorless and painless world right? That would have been excruciatingly BORING. Dull. Gray. Jonas learned more of the truth and the horrors and beauty behind it. He started to really "feel" which I thought was beautiful. It was as if I was witnessing a small child learning his way to the world.

The writing style suited the story very well. I love the open ending, the mystery and all. This classic book surely did not disappoint and should be read by every human being at least once in their lifetime. (Again, WHY THE HELL DID I NOT READ THIS BEFORE??)



View all my reviews

You will always be
my 10 pm dreams
and 2 am thoughts.

Review: Alys, Always

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I came across this book last year when Fully Booked Gateway branch had a renovation sale wherein EVERYTHING is discounted with 50% off the original price. I went to the shop on the 3rd or 4th day of the sale so, unfortunately, almost all the good titles were already taken. I bought this along with 2 other books, The Fortunes Of Indigo Skye and The Unfinished Angel. To be completely honest, I only bought this book mainly because it has a pretty cover. Also considering that the book blurb is nowhere to be found. Only short reviews can be seen at the front and back of the book. I trusted the reviews and the pretty book cover. But damn, I was so wrong for having great expectations from this book.

This book talked about the general vulnerability of humans and the lengths and extremities of the things they will do to get what they want.

The book is relayed from the perspective of the main character, Frances Thorpe, who's life is so dull and uneventful until she came across an accident involving Alys Kyte. Well I really find her boring as hell and monotonous. No wonder her life is so uninteresting. I found a hard time calculating Frances and what she was up to. At first I thought, even though she's boring as fuck, she's an entirely nice person. But meh. I think because her life is just so dull, it made her do things that would give her the attention she never had. So, as I'm starting to near the end of the book, all I could honestly think of is how much of an attention whore Frances Throrpe is and how much she really wanted to squeeze into the life of the Kytes, which required a whole lot of effort from Frances. But then in the end, she got what she wanted so hurrah for her, I guess.

On the upside, I liked Harriet Lane's writing style. She put into details the feel and picture of the story although sometimes it was too much and was getting in the way of the actual story. So all in all, I'll give it two stars. I was really supposed to rate it with only 1 star but then I really loved the book cover so I'll add up another star.



View all my reviews

Review: This Is How You Lose Her

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I've been seeing this book long before but haven't really had the urge to pick it up and read it. At first, I thought it's another YA book about a cheesy romance that resulted to a bad break-up or something, but this book is beyond that simple equation. This book is mostly focused on, Yunior, a Dominican man living in the States, experiencing a LOT of shit and fuck-ups in his life. Aside from Yunior's fucked up family life, Yunior's experienced many bad break-ups mostly because he cheated. His brother, father and most of his friends were cheaters. People think that it runs on the blood. Yunior denied that at first. But when he stepped his feet on the road of cheating, he cannot further deny it. He fell in love with a handful of sensible women but being the cheater that he is, he fucks it up. It took a very long time before Yunior decided to flip the coin and started anew.

I love the animated, excruciating and frangible truth about modern love. The use of profane and Barbaric language only added up to the honest picture of human weakness and also added a comedic air in it.

This is the first work of Junot Díaz that I have read and it certainly won't be the last one. It did not disappoint. This is absolutely and easily one of my favorite books.



View all my reviews

When Lightning Strikes

Streaks of lightning
Spiraled down the dark sky
Thunder boomed
Making my heart bolt
Water bleeding out
Of miserable clouds
Wishing you were here
To soothe my lonely
And millstone of a heart.

Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Book review:

Rating: 5/5 stars

First of all, I wanna discuss the reason/s why I chose to read this book. I fell in love with the cover when I first saw it. Shortly after, I went to Goodreads and read the book blurb. It looks promising and tragic so I gave it a go. 

I really love the cover and the meaning behind it. It doesn't only represent the traumatic and tragic incident that happened to Toby at the roller coaster ride at Disneyland, but also symbolizes life itself. that life is a roller coaster ride. Sometimes we're up. Sometimes we're down. Ezra's life is a definitive example of this. 

"I was no longer Ezra Faulkner, golden boy, and maybe I hadn't been for a while, but the more time I spent with Cassidy, the more I was okay with it."

Ezra encountered a really unfortunate incident that changed his life. He was no longer the Golden Boy. Everyone looked at him differently after the accident as if the accident defined him. He doesn't want to hang around his old friends anymore because he thinks that the only thing that will glue him to them is pity. Well it's because they weren't his true friends. True friends stick around no matter what shit happens to your life. Which is why I love Toby's character. Toby is a true friend of Ezra's and it took Ezra a while to realize that. Then Cassidy came along. I also love Cassidy's character. She's mysterious, intelligent, beautiful and sarcastic without being annoying. Their conversations are smart, profound and punny (get it? pun-ny? ha!). I also can't get enough of all the hilarious puns that the characters are using. 
This book is one of those with heart-wrenching endings. It didn't end the way we wanted to be but it just proves that life isn't supposed to be that way. People will enter our life either to fuck it up or change it for the better. Obstacles will come our way either to ruin us or to make us stronger and better persons. 
I love the writing style. It speaks of true emotions yet put into strings of simple words. It's my first time to read a work by Robyn Schneider and it surely didn't disappoint. 

"Oscar Wilde once said that to live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that’s all. I don’t know if he’s right, but I do know that I spent a long time existing, and now, I intend to live."

Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder
if you think about me
as much as I 
think about you.

Sometimes I wish
I could just fly past
the hundreds of miles
between us.

Sometimes I want
to feel the warmth
of your lips
against mine.

Sometimes I will
myself to sleep knowing
that your beautiful face
will haunt my dreams.

If sometimes means
as often as 
I breathe then 
yes, sometimes.