Closest and Oldest

Time for something about real life! Puro na lang ako blog entries tungkol sa pagka-fangirl at kung anu-anong opinyon ko, kaya magkukwento naman ako ngayon ng mga bagay na totoo. Para ‘di naman ako masyado mukhang walang life. Haha! Pero I’m sure, kung hindi ko pa birthday ‘eh hindi talaga ako lumabas ng bahay. Anyway, kwento ko lang how I celebrated my birthday this year.

If any of you remembers, I try to spend my birthday differently every year. I said it in this entry. Pero hanggang 24 lang ang kinwento ko diyan. That’s because last year, my birthday celebration was as subdued as ever. I celebrated at home with only 2 friends, and we spent the time watching The Big Bang Theory. I suppose it should’ve been a bigger celebration, considering that last year was when I turned 25, but 25 is just a number anyway.

I was planning on doing the same this year, but I guess fate had other ideas because come the week before my birthday, I found myself being contacted by some of my oldest friends, whom I haven’t spoken to for a long time. And because I missed them all, I invited them all to dinner. I knew some of them weren’t very close with my other friends, but I figured what the heck. Although it was only when Saturday night came that I realized how strange my friends all are. I mean, how strange it is that I have friends from a smattering of different groups.

In college, I had a pretty stable group of friends, and they were my only friends for the entire duration of college. I mean sure, we had other friends from our other classes, but the ones who remained close were really just us. But in high school, it was a different story. Although I was part of one “barkada”, I was friends with lots of other people from other barkadas. I was close with my fellow writers for the school publications, and then some of my classmates from different years. So when we all got together last Saturday, I found myself among a strange combination of people that I don’t think anyone from our high school would’ve thought to see together. And because I love them all for their individuality, I will talk about them here.

(from left to right)

J1 – one of my oldest friends, we met when we were 6 years old and have been best friends ever since. She was also in the school paper with me in grade school and high school, but I know she wasn’t really interested in writing and only joined the club for me She’s really more interested in drawing though, and true enough, she’s now an architect. No, really. She’s passed the board exam and all.

M1 – my only friend from college who went (can’t really blame the others though because i did give very short notice). We were blockmates in freshman year but became close when we started taking major subjects. Because we had the same major: Japanese Studies. (Explains my obsession about all things Japanese, doesn’t it?) She’s an artist, too.

J2 – definitely my oldest friend from school, we met on my very first day in kindergarten. I was 4 years old. And now, this will sound really strange, but what brought us together was music. IKR!? Her mom was a music teacher in our school and believe it or not, I used to take piano lessons. So we were both always at the music room after classes and because we’re both too talkative, naturally, we became friends. I guess we drifted apart when we were in high school because we were in different classes and had different interests then, I’d also stopped taking piano lessons, but we’ve found our way back to being friends recently.

M2 – I think we became close in my first year of high school, but I don’t remember why. Did we like the same music or the same books or TV shows? I really don’t remember. I guess it’s just one of those friendships you can’t explain. But we were really close, even going on impromptu trips to McDo with just the two of us so we could gossip about everyone else. You know what, I think it’s because we liked to gossip about the same people. Haha!

(from left to right)

J3 – also one of my oldest friends, but we didn’t meet until 3rd grade. I guess we became close because we were both addicted to Sweet Valley books and now, 18 years later, we’re still close because we’re still obsessed with books. Although, our tastes have varied, since I never got over the “love stories” phase, but she’s moved on to reading “serious” books like The Lovely Bones and books by V.C. Andrews. She was also in the newspaper with me in grade school and high school. I know she and J1 both weren’t too interested in writing, but they joined the club for me anyway. I love them to death.

L – we didn’t meet until high school, she was a new student at our school in freshman year and she was classmates with J3. But we didn’t become really close until junior year, when she joined the newspaper, too. She became our Literary Editor because of her awesome poetry. Ano nang trabaho niya ngayon? Well, doctor lang naman!

I – this is me.

M3 – my tallest friend. Haha! But don’t let her mistisa looks fool you, she’s as Filipino as you can get (speaks Tagalog and Ilonggo), and really very down-to-earth. Although she obviously looks like a supermodel, she was the one who approached me and J1 freshman year in high school and asked if she could sit with us at lunch. But what really brought us closer was Dave Matthews. As in, Dave Matthews Band. And Veruca Salt. And Toad the Wet Sprocket. And Gin Blossoms. While fellow teen girls were swooning over the Backstreet Boys and Boyzone, we were dreaming of becoming rock stars. We drifted apart in college because we went to different schools, but have more or less kept in touch through text and YM.

And there you go, some of my closest and oldest friends. There are more, of course, but I didn’t get to invite them. Sorry about that. I only decided that I would have this dinner the day before it actually happened, so I only texted the people I was already talking with at the time. Plus, I can’t really treat everyone because you know, I’m unemployed and short on funds. I am immensely happy about AVeneto’s big servings that made this all possible.

Anyway, it was a happy birthday for me. I got to reconnect with the  people I don’t usually see, and remember how lucky I am. I’m 26 and I have awesome friends, despite all my anti-socialness. The universe needs to give these people very big blessings for remaining to be friends with difficult me. Hehehe.

P.S. NO BOYS ALLOWED! – A few hours before dinner, M3 texted me asking if I only invited girls or were boyfriends included in my invitation. My reply? “Well, considering that only you and J1 have boyfriends to bring, and she’s not brining hers, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll all be girls tonight.” Haha!

Target Audience

I’m probably in the minority, because one of the first things that teachers will tell you in any writing class is that you should think about your target audience: Who are you writing for?

I understand why this question needs to be asked. Because if you want to write for young children, then obviously you shouldn’t be putting any profanities in the dialogue of your characters, or if you’re writing for an adult audience, then there’s no need to explain every reference you make, e.g. it’s safe to assume that anyone over 25 years old would know who The Beatles are. So yes, I know that there are certainly merits to this and that it is necessary to know your audience whenever you’re writing, but… doesn’t it seem a bit like discrimination?

This is always my problem when I want to write something. I can never bring myself to start because this question, which you should ask before you start anything, always stumps me. Who am I writing for?

There is this quote that says that you should “write what you know”. I guess that’s pretty good advice, but here’s the thing: what I know is already what most people my age know, and so there’s no point of writing it with my same age group audience in mind. But if I write it for a different age group, then it might not be as interesting to them as it is to me, because they’re a different age, and so it would also be a waste of writing.

Also, when you say “target audience”, to some people (I’m assuming publishers), this automatically means “target market”. And I know this is necessary for business or whatever, but I just can’t help but think that when you have a specific “market” in mind, then all you’re doing is exploiting that group of people, taking advantage of their interests and just feeding them what they want so that you can earn some money. Plus, I think it makes your work less original, because you’ll inevitably end up incorporating concepts, deliberately, because you think (or you know) that they would appeal to your audience, and thus, make what you wrote instantly popular. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be popular because I wrote about something that I’m sure the audiences would like, but that I wouldn’t really have thought of, had I not been thinking of a particular target market.

Take the genre Young Adult Dark Fantasy for example. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that ever since Twilight became “the next Harry Potter” (only phenomenon-wise, I don’t mean that Twilight is just as good as Harry Potter because it obviously isn’t), a plethora of fiction about vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night suddenly popped up in the Young Adult section of the bookstores. Because vampires are what’s “in”, suddenly, there are hardly any books like Sweet Valley and Nancy Drew. Or maybe there are, but they’re all still infused with fantasy elements, like ghosts or witchcraft, because dark fantasy books are what’s more “marketable” nowadays.

This really bothers me because somehow I feel that some writers, no matter how good, aren’t published because they don’t write about vampires. Or the other way around, that there are some writers, despite being especially bad, but just because they wrote about the undead, suddenly have all their other (crappy) books published and they become famous. *ahemStephenieMeyerahem*

Doesn’t having a target audience mean that you’re taking advantage of what a certain group of people like, instead of just writing something from your heart (or brain, if you don’t want to be all sentimental/dramatic) with the hope that people will understand and like what you’ve written?

I’ve recently been reading some comparisons about The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, and one of the blogs said that they’re different because Battle Royale was written with an adult audience in mind, whereas The Hunger Games are for teenagers, hence, they shouldn’t be compared in terms of the level of violence or the words used. I guess this is one interpretation, but I find it somewhat inexact, because from what I understand, Battle Royale was not written with an international audience in mind. And anyone who’s watched an anime can tell you that what appeals to Japanese teenagers is way different than what appeals to American teenagers. And, unless you read Battle Royale in its original Japanese, you can’t accurately compare the language or other elements that they use in the book, if it’s too violent for teenagers or not.* There is one other blog I read that “reminds” people that Battle Royale was written for a young audience and so you shouldn’t mind how “middle school” the sentences sound. Maybe I’m just being too nitpicky, but I think this would’ve also been more accurate if the blog had said that when Battle Royale was translated into English, by an English publisher, it had a young adult audience in mind, and that’s the reason for the “middle school grammar” type sentences.

But again, why be so discriminatory with your audience? Why say something like “this book was written to appeal to teenagers so adults shouldn’t expect to be blown away”? Who are you to say what kind of stories a certain group of people should and shouldn’t read or like? Of course, I’m not saying that kindergarten kids should be reading books about gruesome murders, just that when you’re writing or reading or critiquing a story (but mostly if you’re writing), shouldn’t you be more concerned about what the story actually is about, and not who it would appeal to, or if you have a market for it?

* I bring this up only because I’ve watched a lot of Japanese movies/drama/anime wherein some words, although the English translation is correct, when you encounter them used in a different context in Japanese, can give an entirely different meaning to a scene. Example:

In The Seven Samurai, after a recon mission, a samurai tells his friends, “I killed two.” Or at least, the subtitle says “I killed two.” But what he actually says in Japanese is “Futari.” which literally translated means “two people”, and not ”I killed two.”

It may be a small thing, but isn’t it character building for that particular samurai, that he only has to say “two people”, and his friends will already understand, without any further explanation, that he killed those two people?

Madali Lang Ako Regaluhan :)

Basahin n’yo lang ‘yung listahan na’to:

• Kahit anong sinulat ni Julia Quinn except How to Marry A Marquis and Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (meron na’ko nito); ok lang kahit sa Book Sale n’yo binili basta nababasa pa
• 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
• shoulder bag, ‘yung malaki at may zipper. ‘wag maliit, aalikabukin lang ‘yun kung ‘yun ang ibigay n’yo sa’kin.
• DVD ng Chuck Season 1 and 3 (‘wag Season 2, meron na’ko). Ok lang kahit pirated.
• glitter/colored pens
• mechanical sharpener
• suklay (hindi nga, kailangan ko talaga)
• cash, maraming maraming cash (unemployed ako, remember?)

‘Yun lang. Sabi sa inyo madali lang ‘eh. Birthday ko sa Friday (September 17). You have one week. Haha! Nah, pwede namang maaga/late ‘yung regalo n’yo. Actually, kahit walang okasyon pwede n’yo ako regaluhan. Kung gusto n’yo lang.

Super thanks!

My Geeky Love @-’-,–

Time to fan girl.

You have been warned. Hehe.

Not that it’s a secret, but I don’t think people know the extent of my geekiness. No, seriously. I guess the problem is that I’m not as geeky as most when it comes to the real geeky stuff like video games, gadgets, and (ugh) Star Wars. But, in general, I think I’m a big enough fan of the fantasy/sci-fi universe of TV and movies that I can call myself a geek. Or if not, I know for certain that I’m a big enough fangirl of the geeky characters on TV and movies. Don’t believe me? Read on to see my favorite

Geeks of Hollywood!

Oh and just in case some of you want to object, I really mean the word “geek” as a compliment. I’m not making fun of them or anything. I totally love these guys.

(P.S. It’s limited to Hollywood stars because Asian shows don’t normally have these stereotype characters, at least, not in those that I’ve seen so far. Oh, and

P.P.S. Sorry if the pictures are sucky. I used Paint. Yes, Paint. I’m a graphics idiot.)

10.  Sean Astin

Believe it or not, I really did first see Sean Astin as the adventurous albeit asthmatic pre-teen in the “kid movie” Goonies. I wouldn’t see him again until he was older, in Encino Man, along with Brendan Fraser and Pauly Shore, and he looked totally different then, but his character was still the same shy-around-girls but all-around nice guy, sort of. Of course now, more people know him as the hobbit Samwise Gamgee, or Frodo’s sidekick, which admittedly doesn’t fall under the stereotype but come on, you can’t get any geekier than getting cast in The Lord of the Rings.

9. DJ Qualls

I don’t remember anymore where I first saw this guy, but I do remember where I first started to like him. Oddly enough, it was in a movie that I just randomly saw in Cinemax, Chasing Holden. He played a guy who was obsessed about Holden Caulfield and so lived his life similar to that of the character (Yes! It was a dramatic role!). I guess it’s not the best movie in the world, but it did get me interested to read the book that the movie was about, The Catcher in the Rye.

He also played a genius boy in The Core (who if I remember correctly, asked for Star Trek DVDs before he went to help the scientists) and has already guested in The Big Bang Theory. The episode was even named after his character Toby Loobenfeld, The Loobenfeld Decay. And thanks to IMDB, I find out now that he was also a guest in Numb3rs, another geeky show (I don’t know why I can’t remember that episode).

So he’s not really who you would call a “good-looking guy”, but he did clean up nicely in The New Guy. Sort of. Hehe.

8. Jerry O’Connell

I know what you’re thinking, football star Cushman from Jerry Maguire can’t possibly be a geek! But did you all forget where he started? He’s Vern from the 1986 movie, Stand By Me. And mind you, Vern was the dorkiest of the bunch in that movie. He was “the fat kid” then. Of course, that all changed when he got cast the lead role in My Secret Identity. And come Sliders, he was known as a heartthrob. Of course that was still a science fiction series, so it didn’t last too long and well he didn’t really get cast in other geeky roles after that. But still, I will always remember him most as Quinn Mallory — the absolute perfect person to get stuck traveling through parallel worlds with.

7. Giuseppe Andrews

Giuseppe who? Right. I’ll make it easier for you. His real name is actually Joey Andrews, but he goes by Giuseppe. Anyway, he plays a lot of strange and different characters, but is in this list mainly because he was a Denominator in Never Been Kissed, but wait a minute– he played a bass guitarist in Detroit Rock City, too, and that’s pretty cool. I guess. Although in that movie he did wear a Kiss belt buckle, and actually let himself get beat up by his friends to get into a rock concert. Hehe. Plus, he is Tobey Maguire’s friend in Pleasantville and Germ in Two Guys and a Girl, so yes, I think he fits into this category quite well.

6. Wil Wheaton

I mostly just like him because whenever I see him guest star in shows I remember the good ol’ Star Trek: The Next Generation days, which is actually a bit weird, because I can hardly remember what happened in an episode of that series. I mean, I remember some scenes here and there, I remember Wesley because he was a kid, but the truth is, I was too young to understand what it was about exactly, I didn’t even know that Wesley was supposed to be annoying. I like Wil Wheaton just the same, or maybe because it was him who I liked in Stand By Me. Yes, back then, I liked him more than River Phoenix. (I know. What was I thinking?! Haha!)

He has since been a guest star in The Big Bang Theory, playing himself, or rather, an evil version of himself. And although I didn’t really like the episodes he was in, I’m happy he was there. Way to represent the actors in the sci-fi/fantasy genre!

5. Jim Parsons

Well, surely you know this guy by now. His character in The Big Bang Theory, the annoying child prodigy genius physicist, is really great. So great in fact, that it got him an Emmy. So yeah, hopefully we’ll see more of him, and maybe even in roles that aren’t geeks, too. He made a pretty good knight in Garden State after all (even if he was just a fastfood knight ). Oh, and I really want to mention that I love watching his interviews. He seems real nice and down-to-earth in real-life and just all-around likeable.

4. David Krumholtz

Probably one of the most underrated actors, (ah, but aren’t they all underrated?) I really like David Krumholtz because he plays a lot of different characters (although recently he’s mostly just Charlie Eppes), but each character will make a lasting impression on you. Although I was mooning over Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in 10 Things I Hate About You, I never forgot that his friend Michael was a pretty fun character, too. And although I think Rob Morrow (Don Eppes) has one of the best smiles in Hollywood, I still love Charlie Eppes to bits.

3. Jay Baruchel

I first liked him as the other genius in Numb3rs, Oscar Kittner. I loved that he became a recurring character and wished he had more to do, but he didn’t. So imagine my delight when I found out that he got cast as the lead in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Though it turned out to be not the greatest movie in the world, I still love it simply for the fact that Jay Baruchel is there. My favorite scene is the one where he and the lead girl were in his lab, listening to the One Republic song and he said, “which is nerdy!” and then he pointed to himself. It was so adorable. Plus, he’s the lead voice actor in the first (and so far only) Dreamworks animation movie that doesn’t suck. Need I say more?

2. Jonathan Brandis

Right. I’m probably one of the only 10 people in the world who still remember SeaQuest, so let me introduce you to Jonathan Brandis. He played Lucas Wolenczak, genius boy extraordinaire who can talk to dolphins aboard SeaQuest, a submarine-like ship but way way better. Anyway, the show was cancelled after only 2 and 1/2 seasons, but guess what, majority of its audience were teenage girls. A sci-fi series that was originally marketed for a male audience, because of the hi-tech gadgets and sea exploration going on, garnered a female audience instead. Because of Lucas Wolenczak. Yes, he was that cute. Unfortunately, Jonathan Brandis passed away in 2003. I really miss him.

1. Zachary Levi

Oh come on, surely you saw that coming. I have been fangirling about Chuck for several months now so it’s no surprise that Zachary Levi is currently number one in my list. Oh, and his picture is different from the others because I’m just that biased (at the moment). But really, the reason he’s #1 is because he doesn’t just play a geek on TV, he is an actual geek in real life. He has said in interviews (yes, I’ve scoured YouTube for everything Zachary Levi) that what he misses the most now that he’s a moderately busy guy is having the time to play video games. And he said that his ideal lady is one who can stand watching him play video games (I can do that! Choose me please!). And he quoted Little Mermaid in one of his interviews. Little Mermaid! And he’s tall! And he has a cute smile! And he used to be shy around girls. OK, I’ve apparently been reduced to just spouting random things about him so I better wrap this up.

I can’t wait for Season 4 of Chuck.

—

And there you have it. But actually, you still don’t. There are tons more I would’ve wanted to include — Zachary Quinto (He’s both Spock AND Sylar, don’t you know?!), Adam Baldwin (hooray! token tough guy of the sci-fi/fantasy world), my favorite vampire but now FBI Agent, David Boreanaz, and you know, tons more. But they’re really more the jocks of the fantasy world rather than the geeks, so I didn’t think they’d fit in this post. Maybe next time.