Book Review: Flipping The Script

Synopsis: 

Miri dela Merced’s film director grandfather and Pabs Paglinauan’s studio head grandmother had a huge falling out that ended Lolo Ikong’s career. At seventeen, Miri finds herself in the same summer film internship program as the down-to-earth film studio heir Pabs, whom she’s decided to automatically write off, just because of his lineage. As Miri gets a crash course in her expectations vs the reality of what it's like to work on a real movie, her true feelings for Pabs become harder and harder to ignore. In between attending outdoor screenings of classic Pinoy movies and battling monster production assistants together, can flipping the script on a decades-old grudge be only a few sequences away? 

Another #MeToo Story

So many things have been running through my head.

Something happened a while back that had me thinking – wondering really – if I know people as well as I think I do. If I know myself well enough to trust my judgment about things that happened.

Someone I know, someone I trust surprised me by acting in a way that felt a little too touchy-feely for me. Something that I felt uncomfortable with because it felt inappropriate the instant that it happened. I froze immediately, that’s how uncomfortable it was for me. 

Photo by Antonio DiCaterina on Unsplash

My Delicate New Year's Day

I’m in the middle of writing a love story and the songs that play in my head whenever I think of the main characters in my “novel” (or novella, depending on how long it actually ends up) are the songs Delicate and New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift. For now, my working title is My Delicate New Year's Day, just because those songs are playing in my head. In the beginning, I used to listen to Kelly Clarkson's Catch My Breath while writing this one, but the first two songs are the ones that give more feeling to what I'm writing at this point.

Some people have asked me why I’m writing a love story. Maybe it’s because I’ve had my share of love and heartbreak. Maybe it’s because if I can’t have a love life, I can make a fictional one that people will enjoy reading about. Maybe I just love to write...I don’t know. I just enjoy the idea of it I guess. 

Photo Credit: Pexels on Pixabay

Zero Waste Idea: Drink Dispensers

These days there has been a lot of talk about solid waste management and how the world is drowning in trash, with governments all over the world thinking of ways to manage the trash that keeps growing and growing because these things, particularly those made of plastic, are not biodegradable. They will be around long after any of us living today have passed on.  

Photo Credit: PDPics on Pixabay

Percy Laureti Bag Review

When Meghan Markle aka the Duchess of Sussex was still dating Prince Harry of England, I was obsessed with the way she dressed. I loved how her looks were both very casual and laid back but still fashionable at the same time. One particular look that I loved was during their first public outing at the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada. She was wearing a white button-down shirt, distressed jeans, flats and was carrying this brown leather tote, which was identified as the Day Market Tote in Cognac by Everlane (priced at around $175).  

I was obsessed with that bag! For one, I’ve always been more a fan of totes than small dainty bags. I feel like I always need to bring along too much stuff so small bags are out. Whenever I do bring one of those small bags out of necessity, you can bet that those bags are crazy stuffed and busting at the seams because I can’t minimize the things I bring along whenever I’m out.  

Jurassic World Alive: The App Review

My nephew is currently in his dinosaur phase. There was a time when he was obsessed with cars. Then he progressed to construction vehicles (oh how he loved his excavator). He then moved on to trains (specifically Thomas and Friends) and now it’s dinosaurs. This has been the longest obsession so far; he’s been at it for more than a year or so. Because of that, everyone in the family has been giving him gifts that are in line with that dinosaur theme.  

Our little one is only 5 but he has seen all the Jurassic World movies (thanks to a cable marathon during the holidays) and he loves them so much he can name much more of them than I can. It has become a bonding activity for us to have him school me on the names of the dinosaurs he has in his toy collection. Sometimes he even draws them for me. He’s that hooked to this! 

My Plus Size Shopping Experience

I am a plus-sized woman. There’s nothing I can do to deny it. I have not fit into regular-sized clothing in years, specifically since I had my surgery that removed my thyroid. My attempts at weight loss are a continuous struggle (that I will discuss in a future post). The biggest (pun intended) problem that I have with the weight, however, is the fact that it is so hard to find something good to wear. 

Photo Credit: gonghuimin468 on Pixabay

My Attempt at Eco-Bricks

These days, it is very important to keep our trash as little as possible. In these times where countries are shipping trash to other countries, (because they have nowhere else to put it) it’s become very important to be able to go as zero waste as possible. If we can’t, we should at least have some sort of waste management plan. These things can (literally) last forever, so we should know what to do with it.  

One example of doing this is the making and use of ecobricks.  As defined in the Ecobricks website: “An Ecobrick is a reusable building block created by packing clean and dry used plastic into a plastic bottle to a set density.   Ecobricks enable us to take personal responsibility for our plastic.” The bottles are used to build various things that range from furniture, to designing gardens, parks, and other structures.  

Tips for OFW Families

My mother was an OFW for around ten years before she went home to stay with the family. My brother-in-law, on the other hand, is currently a seafarer who is gone for months at a time for work. I guess you can say that in that sense we are an OFW family. It's not easy. I don't think it ever is. It has its ups and its downs. Based on our experiences I think that there are lessons that can be learned and should be shared with other OFW families like ours.

Photo credit: skeeze on Pixabay

Nothing is Guaranteed

In a few days, I will turn another year older. 

The more I get older the more I feel like I’m living on borrowed time. The more I feel the need to reflect if I have been making the best of my life if I have been living up to my full potential and doing what truly makes me happy. The more the years go by the more I want to enjoy every moment of my life while I have it. 

World of Dance Philippines -- The Story So Far

Has anyone been watching World of Dance Philippines? It’s the local version of the US World of Dance competition that is being judged by Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo, and Derek Hough. The local version follows the same format: dancers are categorized by divisions: Junior, Upper, and Team (for the US version though there is a Junior and Upper Team).

The people who pass the Qualifiers are weeded out by the Duels within the divisions. After that the divisions are thinned further with the Cut, to see who makes it to the Division Finals. Each Division Final winner will then go to the finals to be the World of Dance Winner. In the Philippines, that means taking home and the chance to be part of the Qualifiers for the US version of World of Dance.

Why is There So Much Hate

Empire actor Jussie Smollet was in the news recently after he was attacked in Chicago in what was reportedly a racist and homophobic attack. I don't want to go into further detail about what happened as I don't know all the facts but it saddens me that our world is surrounded by so much hate to the point that people attack other people without any provocation.  

Photo from Wokandapix on Pixabay

Who are Those Masked Singers?

Sometimes there just some TV shows that can get so crazy, it's so hard to look away. The Masked Singer on Fox is one of them. I can’t get enough of the whole guessing game about who the masked singers are!

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

For Zero Waste Girls

To the guys who tend to read my blog, this may be the post that you’d like to skip. I don’t think you’ll get much from it. It’s about that time of the month and some zero-waste concerns about it.  

My sister and I were talking about how difficult it was to go zero-waste when we had the tendency to use too many sanitary pads when it was that time of the month. We have been so used to the use of pads during our periods for our entire lives so it seemed like there was no other alternative for us. 

I told my sister that I have been meaning to try cloth pads but I have been scared of doing so unless I only planned to stay inside the house. My periods tend to be normally heavy and I have had my fair share of stains from it when I use sanitary pads. It seemed more than likely that I would get worse stains if I used cloth pads. I can’t really know for sure until I try, but I am NOT going to try it if I’m going out that’s for sure.  

The Day After Tomorrow

I was flipping channels over the weekend when I chanced upon the movie The Day After Tomorrow. I’ve seen the movie before but I couldn’t help but watch it again because I wonder if the reality shown in the movie is closer than ever. 

One Last Time -- The Hamildrop

Last month, Lin-Manuel Miranda released the last of the Hamildrops: a version of the song One Last Time (44 Remix) that features former US President Barack Obama reciting a passage from the farewell address of George Washington.