Grocery list

1. Caloy was sweet enough to make a copy of the DVD "Once" for me. I'm guessing he's giving away copies to anyone he thinks is a movie fan, particularly of the music-driven, ala-Before-Sunrise-but-not-quite type of pieces. So far, I've seen it twice and even play the movie while reading "62: A Model Kit" by Julio Cortazar, a novel I'm not exactly in love with right now, if only because it's for a term paper for my Latin American lit class.

2. From nytimes.com: "Troubled actor Brad Renfro dies at 25." I let out a brief gasp of shock. One, anybody is too young to die at 25, not unless it's a debilitating disease. Two, Brad Renfro is a prime example of a beautiful boy, 'beautiful' that could border on pedophilia, unfortunately. Three, he let out a riveting performance in "Apt Pupil," a favorite movie of mine that deals with the unknown depths of evil that can both disturb and delight anyone.

3. Arman, a hairstylist I discovered through Janice and Ava, is leaving Manila soon. The two girls have had their last goodbyes/haircuts with him. My locks are due for a trimming; its shape is, well, shapeless.

4. The one definite upside to having a busted TV set at the QC residence is that you get to catch up on your DVD backlog. I've watched far more movies in a given week than normal. Last week, I saw "Atonement" (a total disappointment for me) and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (quite alright, though I know my description are far too generic and vague). This week, it was "Once." I believe I have two unviewed DVDs in LB.

5. With all the madness that is school applications out of the way, there is that feeling of a loss of bearings and a sense of being afloat akin to training one's eyes at a movie's end credits. Suddenly, you don't have anything to panic at, no professors to chase, no fees to cough up, no essays to write and rehash, just no panic at all. It's close to the same feeling I had when I submitted my master's thesis. After roughly two years of gestation, a wee voice complains inside your head: "What have I to live for?"

6. The juiciest hamburger and the coldest, finest beer can be had after standing in the bus for close to two hours and having to second-guess the jerk beside you (after finally scoring a seat)if he's being creepy. It can be greatly savored if it's consumed alone, while the world whizzes by and you have the singular contentment of one's own person checked and certified intact.