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My Muse Is Back (For Good, I Hope)

I’m actually ashamed to admit that I still don’t know my muse that well. I don’t know if it’s a he, a she or an it. I haven’t thought hard about that yet, what my muse really looks like if I were to visualize he/she/it. Or maybe it’s a sexless creature. I don’t know yet for sure. You see, for as long as I can remember, my muse ran away, sucking me dry of all my creative juices. I chased it, but to no avail. He/she/it wouldn’t give me back my juices, wouldn’t give me an inspiration. For months I have begged him/her/it to come back, but like me, he/she/it was stubborn. I couldn’t write a decent vignette, and if I did try to write one, I’d hear him/her/it laugh in a distance and tell me how the piece sucked big time. He/she/it never really gave me a hint on when he/she/it planned to come back. Eventually I stopped chasing him/her/it and stopped expecting his/her/its return.

Then last night happened. I slept early, around 9:00. I wasn’t in the mood to stay up late to watch TV or read a book or work or study. Around 10:30 or so, I was woken up by the itchy mosquito bites on my legs and feet. I haven’t put my blanket on because it was a bit humid even though I had the electric fan on. I tried not to scratch the bites but they were killing me. And then out of nowhere, a poem (or a vignette) popped into my head. Like my muse was waiting, hiding somewhere and then when I least expected it threw a solid snowball to my head. I was so anxious to write it down, but I really am not a night person - early mornings are the best time for me to write. I thought I’d just get some sleep and write it down in the morning.

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What’s the Formula for Success?

I’ve been turned into a Malcolm Gladwell fan the moment I finished reading just the first page of his second book Blink.  I first knew of Blink when I was still working in an outsourcing company that does abstracting and indexing. I chanced upon a review of this book and decided to go on a hunt for it. Since the book really satisfied my intellectual hunger, I decided to go buy his first book The Tipping Point. Once again, I was amazed by this author’s take on things around us, from the very mundane to the important issues facing society and the world.

I could say I lean more toward nonfiction books, especially if the topic piques my interest. I have read more fiction books than nonfiction, but that’s just because I was required to in high school and in college. After three years, Mr. Gladwell has churned out another book that will surely satisfy me intellectually. It’s called Outliers: The Story of Success, which tackles what successful people are made of and what makes them different from everyone else. 

I’m so excited about this book I can’t wait to go and buy it. It’s going to be released tomorrow, November 18, and God knows when that will reach our country. I sure hope within the month or I’ll die of anticipation.

(Mr. Gladwell’s blog can be found here, and more information on his latest book here. )

Relaxation + Charity = Winner

So I went on a three-day out-of-town vacation with my mom, aunt and uncle. For me, the highlight of our trip was actually the first day, October 30. See, we were supposed to spend the night in one of the high-end resorts in the Clark area, but when we got there, rooms and villas were fully booked already because Miss Earth candidates were to be there November 1. So we just roamed the place and then scouted for other places we could spend the night in. After two more fully booked locations, the last place we inquired referred us to Paradise Ranch, which was located on the mountains in the area. My uncle called up the place first to check if there’s a vacancy. To our luck, there was - a villa with two bedrooms. Just right for the four of us.

We set out for Paradise Ranch, hoping it’d be a good place to stay. The road up to the mountains was wet and muddy because of the rains that afternoon. Before we got to the main area, we passed by a community of Aetas who were displaced by the lahar. We were a bit reluctant to spend the night there because it was far and judging from the road and the community we passed by, accommodation may not be what we were expecting, but after checking out the villa reserved for us, we found out it wasn’t bad after all. It was actually a nice place - perfect for retreats, campings or if you just want to get away from all the hustle and bustle of city life, have some peace and quiet for a few days. (more…)