sad no more

i know i’ve raved about Eat, Pray, Love more than i could ever remember. all the more when i saw its trailer with Julia Roberts as the lead role, Liz. i think she was the perfect choice for the film and thought if the adaptation fails, the Pretty Woman will carry it through! come on, she’s Julia Roberts after all.

and giddy as a kid, wanting to enter a chocolate factory, i was impatient waiting for it to be released in the Philippines. on its premiere night, i found myself seating inside Greenbelt movie theater.

it’s a cinematography eye feast. even its musical scoring is a treat.

BUT 80mins of the film has already rolled out, i was still waiting for that emotion i had while i was reading it. i can sooo remember how i cried buckets and buckets of tears even after reading it the third time. the pain…the frustration…the desperation and the unhappiness were so real to me as i flip each page. i felt i was Liz with the same lingering anguish.

“In desperate love, we always invent the characters of our partners, demanding they be what we need of them, and then feeling devastated when they refuse to perform the role we created in the first place.”

i jotted it from the book and put it on my notebook. i wanna read it over and over till it hits my already vanishing sensibility.

BUT as the movie draws to close, i never find the emotions i was expecting. each line, each sequence, each character does not relate with me anymore. it’s like Liz and i never had the connection years ago. she became a stranger to me narrating her pursuit for something.

i was ready to conclude, EPL lost its magic to me already. the truth is, when i read it some 2 yrs ago, it was real to me. i was there on the same emotional low, with little hope to make it through.

but He was faithful. He heard my mourning. beautiful things happened and here i am, alienated to any form of dissatisfaction, loneliness and aloneness. i’ve outgrown EPL already. i am way past the stage of grief. i can now say…

…i am sad no more!

the child in me

been looking for this here in Manila. and was disappointed to know that a 4-storey book haven doesn’t have it on stock. *sigh*

no. i didn’t grow up reading the book. i knew Dr. Seuss & Silverstein by heart (met them first when i was in grade school) and read their books the most times than any of my collection, but i never heard of Sendak nor his illustrated book (which by the way shocked the world of J).

we just came back from S’ place and have a major buzz in our head because of cussing-drinking game when K & J animatedly read to me the book. and despite the microsecond naps in between (the warm spiced rum was the culprit, ok?!), i easily related with Max and got lost in his wild imagination. after the storytelling, i just have to grab the book and looked through the illustrations. i became an instant fan! too bad i was booked to fly out to NY the next day and missed the premiere day showing of it. would have been perfect to see it on the silver screen with the Crew!

and did i get the chance to see it on the big screen?

YEZZZ!! on my first night in Jersey. was lucky to catch it on its second day of showing.

it’s all worth the popcorn and soda i brought in! :-)

happy times!

the gathering at the rockwell tent

don’t know how i managed to do it, but i told him, “thanks so much for coming here!” and he, ever gracious, tells me, “no, thank YOU for waiting in line so patiently.”

i don’t blame him for saying that the filipinos have an “utterly terrifying enthusiasm.” every sentence he uttered was punctuated by an excited chorus of shouts and screams. but judging from his reaction and his blog entries, he loved every minute of it. people stuttered, froze, and even cried in front of him!

i actually felt sad when i  walked out of The Tent alone and not being able to share this moment w/ my fellow geeks J & M (yeah i admit i sometimes am)… i guess what amazed me the most is his humility and sincerity despite his intelligence, immense talent, fame, and superhuman ability to stay pleasant and humorous even after signing hundreds of books…i wish I’d been the one whose raffle ticket won herself a dinner with him…nevertheless, following THE master like a cult for years now in his writings and seeing him in flesh was one of the best highs i’ve ever had. the experience is another amazing addition to my memory bank.