I felt like a child surprised to see a notification on youtube, a red dot that when I clicked on it, saw that a simple expression of appreciation for a free movie I watched garnered twenty likes and a heart. That felt really good, like getting an ice cream treat on a hot, hot day.
Took a picture so I would remember, and here it is, where I could always go back to and smile.
I love receiving likes as much as I like giving it. Though I do it in other platforms where users need appreciation. With the like comes a prayer, of course.
Sometimes supernatural stories seem strange….till it happens to you, my daughter claims.
Her adventure north of Taiwan yielded one ‘spirited away moment’ she considers her scariest experience.
En route cultural kiosks, shops and museums in a quaint little town, the tropical weather was truly hot,
thus she deemed it would be refreshing to climb the one kilometer stone staircase leading to the Shinto Shrine. It was a bright blue day.
Nary a soul in sight but the surroundings was so inviting and she hastened her steps to the top. Feeling victorious about the steep ascent, it was like a Mulan moment when she finally got to the top of the mountain, when all of a sudden, from out of the blue, a massive wind, visible to the naked eye, tossed her to a halt. Surprised, she rushed to a square stone and placed her offering just as the thick trickles of rain dropped, turning the serene atmosphere into a cold freezer.
She counted seconds ticking into ten full minutes, and with no chocolate in her small white backpack, she surmised the cold creeping would be detrimental to her being. The small shed has no wall to shield her from the fierce gusts of winds. Ten minutes was enough to soak her hair and skin.
Shivering, she decided to go down, and with every step, she thought the ungentle winds could easily and swiftly take her away like a leaf. A dumb way to die, and so she prayed harder…
And as sudden as that massive wind came. the rain stopped when she made her final step. Thankful for the solid grounds, she whispered a solemn prayer. Drenched and shaken, a family of four on their way up the shrine smiled at her, asking if she had a good experience at the top. She simply nodded her head , turned, and sought a sip of hot tea at the tea house.
By the way, Spirited Away is a Japanese animation that won an Oscar. It is, of course, based on true tales, like my daughter’s.
My hair has grown shaggy! I normally wouldn’t have cared about my appearance except when my daughter commented, while we were watching Top Gun 1, that my image seemed to have been left behind back circa 1986, like the leading lady’s coiffure in the movie. Perhaps I am onion-skinned and being branded antiquated somehow made me feel sad.
Thus I heeded and accompanied my daughter to the neighborhood parlor where we get our locks cut or trimmed, mine annually, I think. By the way, the term ‘parlor’ is also ancient, the new generations call it salon now. Salon, in my youth, is where cowboys come for beer, alcohol. and draw fights.
Anyways, for this person who believes in the Franciscan way of life, simplicity in every way, this moment of vanity is somehow refreshing. Hay! Yes,, it had been a long time now that my daughters hesitate to introduce me to their friends because of how I look. Oh well, still least of my worries. And nobody can make me dye my silver strands which, after the trimming and the relaxing, even the beauticians conceded my hair looks more glorious than weekly-dyed heads.
Bing, the parlor lady, who sang at the top of her lungs on my deafened auditory nerves, she’s in tune, deserves my gratitude. Thank you. Albeit she didn’t succeed at trimming my brows! Ha ha! Nice try, Bing.
That is correct, February, the commercially-designated love month could be disconcerting to many a single ladies. Not me, of course, I mean the young ones. Overheard two lady doctors chatting…
Doc Ces: Titanic will be showing on IMax, let’s reserve tickets…
Doc Pat: Okay, but that would mean we’d be in the company of lovers…
Doc Ces: Why?
Doc Pat: It’s Valentine’s!
Doc Ces: I haven’t seen Titanic yet but I don’t like watching with lovey-dovies!
Doc Pat: I have a copy.
Doc Ces: Send me. Will watch it on my laptop.
Doc Pat: Hokay!
Poof!
Dear St. Valentine, if only you know how your kindness in loving others had been marketed for romantic purposes… and how many could feel so left out.
To all the single ladies, and gentlemen, don’t feel so depressed, just have a bowl of steamy hot ‘laksa.’ a Singaporean equivalent to hot pot or seafood soup. Filling for the heart and the soul. Ha ha.
It would not have mattered otherwise, Filipinos are used to the full moon, and of course, the lunar glow had been the source of creepy tales the old folks pass on to the next generation, in the form of exciting narratives like kwentong bayan, or in comics. I grew up hearing and reading tales about the aswang, tikbalang, tiyanak at kapre, at mga multo (evil creatures of the night and ghastly ghosts). So, the full moon this 29 October was one to behold, after all, it is called the Hunter’s Moon, and Artemis (or Diana), is probably my favorite goddess. What’s so scary when Artemis is on the hunt?
But I chose this day to go catch Alex Cross, the action film being on the second viewing week, would, I said to myself, soon be replaced by Bond. Might as well not wait for company and watch the action alone, else I’d miss it.
Indeed I was sped into action because when I reached the Box Office for my ticket, I was told that the film was transferred to a smaller theater at the other side of the mall, and I have half an hour to walk, to catch the next screening. Of course, I swung and literally galloped, at the back of my mind, questioning my decision, for I had never done that, watch in the smaller theater, an old one I’d never watched in. I actually asked the ticket lady if the theater was functional, for I knew it was built two decades ago. she said the theaters were recently renovated.
I was excited, and I even had time to buy two chicken empanadas, in case I get hungry, and a bottle of water. When I reached the theater, the ticket stub lady said the movie was on, so I ran inside, and gosh it was so dark and cold, and through the darkness I assessed that it was really a small theater, and I quickly found a seat right at the middle, second row, from the back. I did not say excuse me to anyone, for the seats on the back rows were empty.
So I focused on Alex Cross and his predicament (that would be another story), and sometime during the toss and tumble of the movie, I was able to munch my empanada, both gone in a sweep, for it was cold, and even with my jacket zipped tight, I could feel the cold penetrate.
Gosh, I am for happy endings, and I love the part when the protagonist ends the antagonist’s evil escapade. And the theater lights were switched on, and I surveyed the seats, waiting for someone to stand up. No one did. And when I looked harder, there was no one around but me.
I stood up and ran out as fast as I could, remembering my daughter telling me something about a Shomba’s story. I was relieved to see the guard, and I asked him why there was no one watching, and he said that was why he was checking on me the whole time, for I was the only one watching.
My Halloween!
My only consolation is it was as if the Huntress designed the excitement for me, scary though it may be. Sigh.
Been waiting the past five hours for Artemis lift off, Prodded my daughter to come watch but she asked what’s the hype all about? Touche. Millennials are of interest unto their own. Not like my time when the children gather round and listen to what the elders are discussing and take interest to the news of the hours. That memory of sitting in front of a huge black and white television watching Apollo 11 power lift, booster flaring fire, and the rocket zooms up to the heavens, what could top that exhilarating feeling but that of seeing the astronauts float walk on the moon. Oh well, hope everything at the launch goes as planned.
Of course I was not staring at Artemis all the long hours, I was viewing Christmas movies on netflix, surprised that the merry season’s films came early. It’s not even the BER month of September yet, the beginning of our country’s Christmas preparation.
The movies were entertaining enough because I love Santa and elves stories. Otherwise, these could be classified as crap cookie movies that don’t actually define what Christmas is supposed to be. Of course I had to fast forward to the end scenes just to know the story, Not much point in knowing all the details. But I appreciate the effort of the producers boosting Christmas.
The launch is still quiet. The engineers couldn’t risk Artemis, of course. There was ice bleeding, which was not expected, if I understand correctly. The launch has been delayed for some forty minutes now.
Meanwhile, I have finished jotting down the list of gifts I will purchase for my family, friends, and people in my community and the streets. That was not a boring activity. Finished it in a jiffy.
Eileen C. Leyva 