of greatness and beginnings

I am not a supporter nor a detractor. I’m just a humble soul from thousands of miles away, captured by words and hypnotizing cadence. I’m not doing this entry to attract more traffic or to join the worldwide hype, and in fact, I’m not even using the right search engine keywords. I just want to quote this phrase:

… greatness is never a given. It must be earned.

The phrase, among many others, sent chills down my spine. Since first hearing him speak in 2004, there have been many instances that the rhythm and substance of his words awed me.The quote above seemed to just, well, for some reason… hit home.

He inspired a new beginning for a lot of people. I have to admit, the world seems all so fresh now. Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off? Alright, sir, let’s roll.

worm

People are always asking me what I read. I don’t understand why some people don’t have any idea how to gently interrupt someone from reading; why they don’t realize that reading for some people is just as deep as sleeping. I believe interruptions should be carried out with politeness.

So here’s what I’m reading: this new bestseller by Sophie Kinsella, who is better known for her Shopaholic series which has recently been adapted into film. It’s “Remember Me?”, a chick-lit novel about a skaggy woman who suddenly wakes up with amnesia to find herself a filthy rich careerwoman. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed by the overly slang first-person narrative style that the author used. I just continued reading it to shake away my initial lethargy before work starts. I began to enjoy the story eventually; besides, it was meant to be a light material. The clever plot and uniquely British humor made up for whatever flaws the novel had.

Anyway, I have a colleague who bought a book. She showed it to me excitedly and I was disappointed that she actually had to buy it from National Bookstore. It was Bram Stoker’s Dracula; so I thought: If she really wanted to read a classic, she could have bought one from a book sale for half the price instead. But then, she really wasn’t the type who looks at books as a hobby so I didn’t mention my musings. When they asked about her sudden purchase, she replied, “Because I saw her (me) always reading. And she’s good at her job; so I figured, if I begin reading, maybe I’ll get a bit better.”

I never guessed being an antisocial nerd who’d rather read than talk to people-type-of-person could touch someone that way. It made me smirk. It was good revenge for all those times I was taunted and interrupted from my book.

oh, nine?

My first thought as we entered 2009: I want to have a drink, please.

Again, I spent New Year’s Eve at work; a strange yet interesting way to start the year. Bosses gave away chocolates after the dreary countdown was over. People applauded and stood up to spread lousy greetings while I lazily type away in my computer. So I officially spent the last minute of 2008 and the first minute of 2009 working. Moments later, my colleagues talked about the pasta, variety of salads and leche flan (which turned out to be just delicious leche) that we were about to share for an early morning meal.

Come mealtime, we had a festive Media Noche sustained by mere initiative to bring whatever we can or had. It wasn’t the worst New Year’s celebration for me… because at least we were not compelled to walk a kilometer to the nearest Jolibee just to have decent pseudo-festive food, which isn’t even that decent. Much better, AT LEAST we were not relatives who pretended to like each other at family reunions, or awkward friends of friends who were forced to socialize at a party. We were just people who happened to be in the same place at the same time doing the same thing. It really wasn’t that bad; but I just wanted to have a drink, that’s all.

I was too hard on myself for the past year, the least I could manage was finish off with a swig of liver poison. On to sober 2009 then.