Dedication

Romantic novel is my favorite type of book. The one with a rich love story and the expected and-they-lived-happily ever-after.  I was in a bookstore browsing every shelves looking for a book until I stumble with this novel- Dedication. The synopsis goes like this.

“Kate Hollis’ ex-boyfriend’s face plasters newsstands and TV, the Internet and the multiplex. Jake Sharpe is one of the biggest recording stars on the planet, and every song he’s famous for is about Kate. For over a decade his soundtrack has chased her- from the gym to the supermarket, from the dentist’s office to the bars. Now thirrty-year old Kate gets the call that Jake has finaaly landed back in their hometown for an MTV special. The moment she has been waiting for-the chance to confront him and reclaim her past- has arrived. But she might just discover that the past she idealized was not as wonderful and romantic as she thought.”

This is a nice story. I am excited to read chapter by chapter and really get to absorbed what is happening. Plus, I caught myself smiling with the love stroy. In this novel, there are two story being described alternately. The story of how their love began from sixth grade and the story of how they pick up the pieces and correct the things that have been lost along the way. I learned that talking and fixing about things really helps. People need not escaped their shortcomings and have time to discussed. And proper break-up really is necessary.

My favorite lines. <3

Expensive huh? But, I bought for 150php only. Good buy!

Thank you for reading!

XOXO, Maui

Bowling

 Stress-free activity No. 1 - BOWLING

I always wanted to try and play bowling but I am afraid of many things. First, I know myself as the non-sporty-chick and the thought of this game gives me chills. I am afraid that the moment I walk near the lanes. I might slipped. Yeah, talk about clumsiness. But, hey, I didn't! Second, I don't have any idea on how to play. How to roll the ball. How to carry it. But, I discovered that it didn't matter. Just get your butt there and people won't care either you hit the pins or not. What matters is that you had fun! 

September 8, 2011:Ate Miko introduced me this game. She and her brother were my first companion in my attempt to roll the bowling ball to the gutter. Haha! and Thanks ate Miko for the treat <3

My first attempt.  There's always a first time :)

We really enjoyed playing. Maybe because we really need this time off. We need to relax and leave the stressors behind. It works. FUN!

RJ doing the famous 'planking'

Sisters' bonding

See the smile on my face because I really nailed this activity.

I even got my two strikes. COOL!!

September 14, 2011: I had my second bowling experience. This time I was with my Bestfriend Malyn, Ian, Relative, Ate Ghe and Jep. And this time I am not afraid anymore. Actually, I am excited to do this!

Relative, Ate Ghe, Me, Bez and Ian

By request, his first ever solo picture :D 

         

                       

See, I didn't do well but it didn't matter cause I had fun!

All smiles! Thanks Ate Ghe for the treat <3

Bowling really helps release all the stress and bad vibes most especially if you're with friends. Try it!

Thank you for reading!

XOXO, Maui

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I have been hunting every bookstore to find this book, which is recommended to me by my friend Glen, and all I received was that the bookstores have no copy because it’s their bestseller. Luckily, it all paid off. I found my own copy and I immediately grabbed and paid for it. Happy me!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is all about a high school student named Charlie. He faces his high school life where he meets new friends, experience love, sex, alcohol and smoking. Eventually faced with challenges and what it means to grow up. The novel is in the form of letters written to an anonymous person ”who listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have."

the front cover

Mr. Stephen Chbosky

I fell in love with this novel simply because I can relate to some situations. I, myself, is a wallflower. Though, I have lots of friends, enjoy my high school life, do well in my subjects and am liked by teachers because of my modest behavior. Still, I don't stand out. I never shine. I'd rather observed my surroundings. Excel on my own way… silently.

Wallflower is someone, usually in high school who isn't necessarily shy, but never really tells you a lot about themselves. They observe almost everything and listen to everything you have to say without criticizing or judging. These people are often the most sincere, kind, and wonderfully interesting people, yet fail to be attractive to the opposite sex for some reason.  They cannot handle having someone pay attention to them even though they crave it as much as everyone else. Wallflowers are just phased in, and faded into the background. http://www.urbandictionary.com

What I liked about this book:

1. It is written in a form of letter, written to someone whom he thinks always understands and listens to him.

2. He has a book review about To Kill a Mockingbird, which is also my book review back in high school. To be exact it was during my junior year.

3. He has a friend who happens to be a bisexual. To be honest I don't have anything against them. I have friends who happen to be one and there's nothing wrong with that. Actually, someone like them excels more.

4. Charlie fell in love with Samantha who doesn’t feel the same way. Yet, he still chooses to love her.

5. Family. It is normal for anyone to experience loss of a loved one, to cry and fight with siblings but to end it all up is to have a stronger relationship and unconditional love.

My favorite lines:

1. "I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn’t try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist." -Charlie
2. "So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." -Charlie
3. "Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad." -Charlie
4. "As much as I don't understand my mom and dad and as much as i feel sorry for both of them sometimes, i can't help but love them very much." -Charlie
5. "She was the first girl I ever wanted to ask on a date someday when I can drive." -Charlie
6. “Sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.” -Charlie
7. “We accept the love we think we deserve.” -Charlie
8. “Sometimes, I read a book, and I think am the people in the book.” -Charlie
9. “I feel infinite.” -Charlie
10. “You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.”
11. “If you listen to the song “Asleep,” and you think about those pretty weather days that make you remember things, and you think about the prettiest eyes you’ve known, and you cry, and the person holds you back, then I think you will see the photograph.”
12. “And the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are.” 
13. “I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And I hope that they believe me.” -Charlie
14. “I am very interested and fascinated how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other.”
15. “Sam and Patrick looked at me. And I looked at them. And I think they knew. Not anything specific really. They just knew. And I think that's all you can ever ask from a friend.” -Charlie
16. “I used to listen to it all the time when I was little and thinking about grown-up things. I would go to my bedroom window and stare at my reflection in the glass and the trees behind it and just listen to the song for hours. I decided then that when I met someone I thought was as beautiful as the song, I should give it to that person. And I didn’t mean beautiful on the outside. I meant beautiful in all ways.”
17. "It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life."
18. “I just wanted to know what to buy my dad because I love him. And I don’t know him.”
19. “I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”
20. “This is not a time for heroes because nobody will let that happen.”
21. “I just wish that God or my parents or Sam or my sister or someone would just tell me what’s wrong with me. Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense.”
22. “It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.”
23. “Things change. And friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody.”
24. “I would die for you. But I won’t live for you.”
25. “And then Patrick started running after the sunset. And Sam immediately followed him. And I saw them in silhouette. Running after the sun. Then, I started running. And everything was as good as it could be.”
26. “All I hope is that my sister feels beautiful, and her new guy makes her feel beautiful.”
27. “I never once thought that it would mean Sam might start liking me. All I cared about was the fact that Sam got really hurt. And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.”
28. “Charlie, you’re one of the most gifted people I’ve ever known. And I don’t mean in terms of my other students. I mean in terms of anyone I’ve ever met.”
29. “I just want you to know that you’re very special… and the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has.”
30. “She held me a little closer. I held her a little closer. And we kept dancing. It was the one time all day that I really wanted to clock to stop. And just be there for a long time.”
31. “She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just takes time.”
32. “I don’t even remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere.”
33. “I tried to notice as many details as I possibly could. Her long hair and her thin wrists and her green eyes. I wanted to remember everything. Especially the sound of her voice.”
34. "Charlie, don't you get it? I can't feel that. It's sweet and everything, but it's like you're not even there sometimes. It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder. What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things." -Sam
35. “Like take their hands when the slow song comes up for a change. Or be the one who asks someone for a date. Or tell people what you need. Or what you want. Like on the dance floor, did you want to kiss me?" -Sam
36. “At those times, you weren't being his friend at all. Because you weren't honest with him." -Sam
37. “If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me.” -Sam
38. “So why would I care whether or not he loved me when he didn't really even know me?" -Sam
39. “And it was so beautiful. She was so beautiful.”
40. "And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn’t do or what they didn’t know. I don’t know. I guess there would always be someone to blame."
41. "And God for not stopping all this and things that are much worse. And I did do that for a while, but then I just couldn’t anymore. Because it wasn’t going anywhere. Because it wasn’t the point."
42. "So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."
43. "I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won't tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have."
44. "Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Like Sam sad. Because it's okay to feel things. And be who you are about them."
45. "Please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough."

The book will also be a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman (from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) and Emma Watson (from Harry Potter) 

I really recommend that you take time to read this book. Really worth your time. There's so much to learn about life. Yes, a bit expensive but worth every penny. 

Thank You for Reading!

XOXO, Maui