Also known as: The rollercoaster first week of September
September came and well, it kind of knocked me silly.
Image from we heart itI was very glad when September came around because August was crazy busy. For one thing, I hardly had any sleep because I kept on changing shifts, so going back to a semi-normal shift was a very welcome thing. It wasn’t a bad month, per se, except that it had a lot of…changes that I had to deal with for the first time, coming from the previous month. I think August was the month where I had the most entry drafts here but most of them didn’t get past and posted…because…well, I just don’t feel like it should be posted here.
I really don’t want to post something too personal here, despite this being called a personal blog, because…well, I know people I know in real life read this. ((*waves* Hi guys!)) I try to filter the posts here based on what I think too personal or not, especially since I don’t really want to cause friction or anything. Or you know make some things awkward because I wrote something here about something in real life for public consumption. ((A friendly reminder: if you read my blog and we know each other in real life, don’t tell me you read my blog. Or when I tell you something that I’ve written here, pretend you haven’t read it. You know, act surprised. :P))
Which, now, mentioning it, makes me feel awkward. Hrm.
But I digress. When September came, I breathed a sigh of relief because it was finally, finally a new month. I liked new months because it means another beginning. I even started September well — I took the time off to be with myself, pampered myself and you know, just allowed myself to be enjoy my own company. Then the first week came and suddenly, I was all, Wait a minute.
I thought of narrating the events of my first week of September, but then I realized it might break my personal privacy thing. So instead, I’ll just write about the things I learned, because they’re more important than the events itself. So, the first week of September 2012 taught me the following:
I’ve long moved on from writing diary-type entries on my personal blog because I figure no one else really cares about it except for me. I mean, even I don’t read a lot of blogs that write their days in detail, so I figure who would bother to read that on mine, right? (Unless you’re a stalker. Or you have a crush on me. Or both. Erm.)
But anyway, since we just went throughtwo long weekends in the country, I realized I had reasons to blog about them. In an almost diary-like entry because..well, how else can I remember them? Normally long weekends just pass by like a blur. For other people, long weekends are a time to go out of town, but because I’ve never been lucky with booking cheap flights during long weekends, I never did that. I did have two full long weekends, actually, so instead of going out of town, I filled them with all sorts of activities (other than reading and sleeping). So let’s start.
Filipino ReaderCon 2012
I wrote about the event in detail in my book blog, so this will be more on my reflections on the event. I think I can sum it up in a sentence?
I loved every bit of it.
I knew taking on bigger responsibilities for the ReaderCon this year was a bit daunting, and I was kind of scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I was surprised at how it wasn’t that stressful at all. Sure, there were many times I was scrambling to write blog entries for the site and I feel like I wasn’t able to do all the things I should do, but overall, it was really my kind of thing for my kind of event. I loved it, and it made me realize yet again how much I love words and anything related to it. I had another one of those “I was made for this” moments while I was roaming around the venue during the event.
Don’t you love it when you get those moments?
With my fellow Filipino ReaderCon volunteers (photo c/o Danica Cervantes)
WYD 2011 Team Reunion
It’s been a year, as I posted a few weeks back, but our reunion almost didn’t push through because of so many conflicting schedules.But we had to, seeing as it was our anniversary and all. Thank goodness we pushed through, because it totally sealed my weekend.
It’s hard to describe why and how I became good friends with these people, especially since I only knew one of them when I joined them for WYD 2011. Of course, being with them for 2 straight weeks is enough to tie me to them. But I don’t know, I feel like our friendship is deeper than normal, and it’s not like I know these people that well.
WYD 2011 reunion! (Photo c/o En)
Perhaps it’s because our friendship does lie deeper, because we’re all anchored on that experience that is anchored on, well, God. I’m no stranger to friendships that were formed in church communities and while I haven’t been in touch with other old friends I met during my YFC days, I knew that the friendships I had with them were the real ones and they were the ones that made me grow in so many ways. And I guess my WYD friends count as that kind of friends, too — but I do hope I keep them for life. :)
I loved our how night ended with a prayer and how each and every one of us were prayed for. What was prayed for me, you ask? No, don’t bother asking. ;) But I really, really appreciate it, and it’s nice to know that I’ve got these people praying for that aspect of my life. :)
Also known as: This was meant for the book blog, but I realized a post on friendship has a better place here :)
Also, a note: Look, I’m blogging two days in a row! Photo credit: Ella— Thank you, thank you! :)
Sometimes, I’d like to believe that I have been lucky with my friends.
When I was a kid, I used to dream of writing a book. Not the kind of book I want to write now, but you know a non-fiction book based on friendship. I was big on finding true friends, in keeping friendships, and you know, just having these set of people you can count on whether you need them or not. I don’t know why I was so fascinated with that — maybe it’s because I don’t have a sister (but don’t get me wrong, my brother is awesome)? Maybe I read too many books and watched too many shows about friendship? I don’t really know, but I was in the search for true friends, and once I find them, I intended to keep them.
(On a sidenote, this is also probably why I can be slightly possessive with my friends sometimes. But that’s for another post.)
Anyway, last weekend, I met up with some book club friends to discuss one of my favorite contemporary young adult books ever, On the Jellicoe Roadby Melina Marchetta. I was excited for this because one, this is my one of my favorite books, and two, my adopted little brother was moderating the discussion. Oh, fine, I was also excited for this because book discussions have been a highlight of my month ever since this year started, but that’s already a given, so there’s really no need to stress that. However, the days leading to the discussion weren’t really my best, with a vacation that didn’t end so well, and having my iPhone sent for repair because of an accident. I wasn’t sure if I could stay for so long there, but I was determined to at least show up and see how it goes — little time is better than no time, yes?
