Thursday, November 20, 2008

A Beautiful Day…

I woke up early today a little disoriented. You know that feeling when you don't realize you've fallen asleep while watching a show and you wake up with the television still on. You try to figure out whether the dream you had was really a dream because it was so vivid, so detailed you'd think you just watched a movie! I'm no stranger to dreams with fantastic settings and film-like plots, but this is the first time I had a dream starring Colin Firth and Maria Bello… why them? I don't know with my overactive brain. It's about this girl (Maria Bello) who finds an anonymous diary while cleaning up her basement. Now, as she reads the diary, which is actually a recounting of a man's love to a woman, events in the diary coincide with her memories of her own failed relationship with her ex-boyfriend who left her for another girl. Colin Firth is a shy neighbor who is struggling to lead a new life after his wife's tragic death. Colin and Maria seem to relate because of their own personal baggage but at the same time, it is a huge obstacle to their budding relationship. I won't go further into details, but in the end, Maria discovers that it was actually Colin who wrote the diary… and there's a funny twist when Colin realizes that Maria has been reading the diary all along. Weird no? I don't know how original the story is (it somehow reminds me of the Korean movie "The Classic"), but it's worth documenting into a storyboard. It might be a good story to base a project on… I hope I had more dreams like these…

It was coding day, so I have to drive to work early to beat the 7 o' clock curfew. But waking up early is not such a nuisance if you see this beautiful sky smile:

I had an aquatherapy session where I found myself teaching my client how to say "The Prayer of Jabez"… and somehow I realized, it had been quite a long while since I had been of service to God.

I left work early to attend a "Comic Writing for Artists" lecture at the UP College of Fine Arts (which complemented the "Comic Making for Writers" lecture by Jonas Diego last Tuesday at the UP College of Arts and Letters). I arrived early, but I had a chance to roam around the campus, and even though it was my first time, there was a certain familiarity with the ambience there. I thought, "What if I followed my heart's desire 14 years ago and became an artist?" Thanks to Gerry Alanguilan, Elbert Or, and Jamie Bautista for their wonderful insights regarding comic creation. Gosh! College students were all around at the lecture… I felt like I was sticking out like a sore thumb in the classroom… ako ata pinakamatanda! But I thought, you can never be too old for something you like to do. Got this from Sir Gerry:

on my own Moleskine! I'll build an Elmer themed spread around this dedication. Thanks Sir Gerry!

I had to kill time so I drove to the Bahay ng Alumni to have a snack at Chocolate Kiss. But instead of eating there, I ended up watching the dress rehearsals for "100 Years of World-Class Music" featuring the Philippine Madrigal Singers, UP Concert Chorus, Indayog, and many more. It was a rehearsal, but it was almost like the real thing (plus, I get to see the workings behind such a production… including foul mouthed director and confused stage managers!)… The song and dance numbers were so well-performed heartfelt I found myself moved to tears. Gosh, I miss seeing and hearing things of beauty for a long time… I missed singing in the choir… haaay… ang tanda ko na.

And then I met with a new friend at Starbucks… such a beautiful day! Glad I could smile and be genuinely cheerful again… and now, back to spinnninnnnng…