Althea Writes Here

Today was a fun day for movies. First, I caught Bituing Walang Ningning on Cinema One. I texted Louie immediately and we had a blast giggling and gushing at the lines. This evening, I caught The Holiday on HBO. Lovely script. I like Nancy Myers' worlds because she understands people are complicated, yet love is simple. This one isn't my favorite part, but I love what she says here. Iris: "I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and sho

I've been feeling a lot of this lately, even when watching this Yahoo video on jilted brides . Wikipedia says : Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali and Sanskrit) word meaning rejoicing in others' good fortune. Mudita is sometimes considered to be the opposite of schadenfreude. The term mudita is usually translated as "sympathetic" or "altruistic" joy, the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being rather than begrudging it. Many Buddhist teachers interpret mudita more broadly as referring to an inner spring of infinite joy that is available to everyone at all times, regardless of circumstances. The more deeply one drinks of this spring, the more secure one becomes in one's own abundant happiness, and the easier it then becomes to relish the joy of other people as well.

I also enjoy my other job, in which I edit text messages people from all over the country send. Sometimes, I uncover gems that have me smiling all day too. :) This one's already slightly edited. As for my twilight years, it’s still a toss-up whether I will wake up to the chuckling of chickens or the honking of cars!

Thank you for today's lovely blessings. 1. The lunch of dried fish flakes and steamed rice. (Next time, I'll remember to add the diced tomatoes.) 2. The cup of mashed potato with corn that my officemate gave me. 3. The chocolate my best friend will remember to bring me tomorrow.

Can it get any better than this? I had an amazing weekend, if I may say so myself. It felt like one of those MFA Saturdays all over again. I met up with Jenny, Louie, and Michelle to watch Avenue Q --and we bumbed into Razel in Starbucks at the third floor of RCBC Plaza, who'd watched the 2pm show. I have pictures (of us; sadly, no Avenue Q pictures), and I'll get around to posting them someday. I also bumped into some people at RCBC. One of them, Patrick, was a freshman year classmate. I actually subscribe to his blog , and while we haven't really seen each other in years I felt like we'd been in touch, so I think I was a little bit too familiar. I think I blinked and said, "Oh my God, long hair ka na!" Hahaha. Has that ever happened to you? I also saw my LEAP 32 teammate Haids. And the guy my mom buys her discounted Atlantis tickets from (duh!). Louie had to leave, so the two other girls and I had dinner together at Greenbelt. We had corned beef sinigang an

I found this and thought of you. Sonnet XLIV By Pablo Neruda You must know that I do not love and that I love you, because everything alive has its two sides; a word is one wing of silence, fire has its cold half. I love you in order to begin to love you, to start infinity again and never to stop loving you: that’s why I do not love you yet. I love you, and I do not love you, as if I held keys in my hand: to a future of joy- a wretched, muddled fate- My love has two lives, in order to love you: that’s why I love you when I do not love you, and also why I love you when I do.