And So I thought this is prohibited...

/Sorry for this entry./

Blogging using the internet connection in the main library, that is. hehe

Well, I guess it's pretty much okay to do so. hehe. I came here to do some research, for my english class, and got access to my blogs instead. haha. What a nice way to spend my free hours here.

I actually managed to read several books this week, and I feel pretty good about it. I mean, I have not quite managed reading three books a week even during the summer.

Okay, gtg. They might notice me. hehe..

Nectar in a Sieve

Got the image here.

One question kept bugging me while I was reading. It is: How can anyone keep on hoping despite of all the things that has befallen her?

The book tells us of a tale of a woman, her struggles to continuously care for the people she loves. Set in a place where floods and drought and hunger strikes, one after the other, Rukmani bears witness to how her daughter becomes a prostitute, her 4 year old son died of hunger, another gets beaten to death because of thievery, and her other sons having jobs that she does not trust.

Yet she survives. Helped by the presence of her husband who is described as "poor in everything but love for his wife", she is able to make it through. I remembered being appalled by their optimism even though it is clearly evident that their situation would not improve.

Appalled as I was, I saw the marvel of Rukmani's spirit. Her ability to hope struck me as something so fascinating. Those are the things, I realized as I was nearing the end, that keeps her living. She draws reason from her dreams of a better life, to continue her struggle and never give up.

Just one thing that I probably did not 'like' about the book was the fact that it was so "heavy". Heavy as in it was sad and depressing until to the very end...but the tale concludes in a satisfyingly, though. It's just that I could do with an added bit of happiness in Rukmani's tale.

All in all: Impressive. Go read it.

two books in a week.Ü plus updates

yey! I am finally moving forward with my reading challenge. Ü

I actually lost count but I think I am already reading my 24th book. hehe.. I had given in to the urge of buying all the books that I want. Darn. i can't have that! I have to save money!!

Anyway, I have survived my most dreaded exam in my entire student life. Well, physically that is. haha. As if I have a choice of not being able to do so. hha.. The results are another matter though. haha

hmm, I have reason to believe that I gave a wrong email add to my prof in Eng 1. She said she's going to send a file and I have not received one yet. Plus, I was a bit disoriented last Friday and I really think I made a mistake. i just sent her an email, though. i just wish she'd still care to send the reading..hehe (that's a nervous laugh, by the wayÜ)

And I am just fascinated by the ability of people to multi task. haha. For as I am writing this post, I am also working on another post in another blog, chatting with my mom and sort of catching up with my friends. hehe. /shrugs/ Now that I have written these down, I can't seem to see what is marvelous about it. /sigh/

I'm about to leave...

yep. in 45 minutes or so, I have to leave home. I can't go back until the August 2nd and 3rd, for my next two weekends are packed with exams. The worst bit is, I'll stay in the university even on the weekend before my 17th birthday! Darn.

This is actually the least likeable part of going home...

Okay, to make things clear, I am not that sad...I am not just happy.

and I just realized...

It's my third monthsary in blogger! haha..(actually it was last july 9th)

So like me to forget a really big day such as this one.

Anyway, I have to go and leave my blog and study...big time. huhu..

Spinners

Got the image here.

What I love about the book, is the way it got me speculating, on what 'legend' it was based, until almost to the very end. Maybe it is because of the fact that I have never read any of Donna Jo Napoli's other works. I never knew that she is reinventing the old fairytales and makes them new and fascinating reads. (okay, I am not saying that the fairytales we all loved when we were little are boringÜ) So, in effect, I kept on guessing until the very last part and that resulted in my 21st book! yay! haha

According to a review in Amazon.com:

In Spinners, she and coauthor Richard Tchen weave a tale of a young tailor who
cripples himself while spinning gold thread on a magic wheel to win his
beloved's hand. Spurned for his ugliness, he watches her marry the miller and
die giving birth to the child he knows is his own. The girl grows up to become a
master spinner, but only when the cruel young king commands her to spin straw
into gold do we begin to sense a creeping familiarity. When a deformed man
demands her firstborn child as a return for spinning the gold, we are almost
sure. But not until the very last, when to save her baby the young mother must
guess her unknown father's secret name, do we, like her, know that this is
Rumpelstiltskin, of whom we've heard tell long ago. In Napoli's story-spinning
hands, however, Rumpelstiltskin is not a spiteful dwarf but a lonely outcast
yearning for the love of his grandchild; rather than a hand- wringing victim,
the young queen shows herself to be a strong and resourceful survivor given to
imaginative solutions. (Ages 12 to 16) --Patty Campbell

Unfortunately, the end was something like a let down. Well, not exactly the end, but the events leading to it. They had this rushed feel in them. I agree with the other reviews piosted in Amazon.com that the other three-quarters of the book is better and the final part does not 'compensate' (sorry for the wordÜ).

All in all: Okay.

20th book! and Updates!

the thick thick thick book is done...(so are the other readings I mentioned in my last postÜ)! Anyway, I just want to post some updates for I've been away from any computer for two weeks straight. *ack!*

Hmm.. What to say? oh yeah... I became a member of a group without me knowing it. (scratch head) And then, I think they are about to induct me to a position. Yikes. I really can't have that! Darn.

And I had my forst long exam in Math 17. I did okay. hehe. Went completely bersek in arithmetic. haha. Anyway, I passed. haha. Ü

and I finally went home on my own. It's pretty simple, see. First, I'd take a jeepney ride to SM North Edsa. Then, I'd walk for about three to five minutes, while trying to maintain balance as I was carrying a big bag of my things and the road is slippery for it was raining. Then, I'd wait for like 20 minutes, praying that my clothes wont be soaked by the time the bus passes. Then, the bus comes, and I'd wave frantically and run (yes, run..rain, big bag, slippery road and all) until I catch up with it and hop in. Then, I'd spent the first half of it standing (the bus was full) and i wont be discounted as a student for that darn konduktor did not hear me say i am a student.

Anyway, for all that rant, all I wanted to say is that maybe it's better if I just go home on saturday mornings. hehe Ü

Then, I am beginning to be oh so worried for my ES 1 class. It's not that I dont like drafting or engineering drawing, it's the fact that it actually hates me. hehe. I stay more than half of the night trying to do my plates and none of them would be good enough to gain me a really good score. I mean, I am pretty happy for the grades I am getting, but not improving in something that you really work hard for is another matter.

Oh, and I would be needing a pen name! yey. It's for my Eng 1 class. Ü I am thrilled and 'determined' to come up with something that suits me. hehe. I hated the way that sentence sounded, though. hehe.

Hmm, I guess my post is quite long already. hehe. Ü got to go. Ü
review of the 20th book might be posted later. Ü