• The newlyweds, Coco Rocha and James Conran, look adorably cute together in these photos taken by Behati Prinsloo with a film SLR.
• I can’t wait to try and develop my own film.  In a few months I could probably start thinking about investing in a film scanner.
• Been thinking of doing a blog overhaul but think I should start small like with, say re-writing my About page.  I’ve read Chris Hardwick’s About page and I’m not sure I could top that.
• I used to be able to go through a book rather quickly.  It’s either I’m getting slow or I’m picking up the wrong kinds of books.  In any case, I found these free mini books by Featherproof which can and would help me feel like I’m back to my old bookworm self.
• Does anyone notice that I leave these so-called “Easter eggs” in my posts?  Although I highly doubt I get raving fans from it as I do it mostly to create that comfortable security layer of revealing things but only to the discerning eye.
• I finally had time to read James Franco’s short story from Esquire, Just Before The Black.  It’s not so bad.
• Read about and listen to Cut Copy’s Where I’m Going from Letter to Jane

- The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Do Not Try This At Home by Felix da Housecat

This is my long overdue holiday; two years, if you want to be precise about it.  I don’t have major plans/activities to do while I’m here except get some much needed rest, which is exactly what I’m doing.  I even decided to skip surfing because, well…I’m not feeling it at the moment.  I did, however, get wiped out for every time I headed out into the waters.  No leisure swimming going on around here as it’s low tide and the waves are crazy!

Much of my day here is spent reading Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, which I must say has been long overdue as well.  I’m not good with reviews so I’m going to let this excerpt from Salon.com do it some justice:

A detective with Tourette’s syndrome narrates a hard-boiled crime novel. Sounds like a gimmick, right? Another in the endless line of diversity dicks — sleuths in wheelchairs, lesbian lieutenants, investigators who also happen to be heroin addicts or restaurant critics or codgers as old as Angela Lansbury. But Lionel Essrog, the twitching, barking, gabbling narrator of Jonathan Lethem’s new novel, “Motherless Brooklyn,” is no movie-of-the-week novelty grafted onto a noir mystery. Maybe his Tourette’s is a gimmick, but it’s a gimmick with depth, with soul. Lethem, after all, walks the serious-fiction beat, and in his hands the compulsions of Tourette’s become a kind of kaleidoscopic metaphor, ultimately (and somewhat paradoxically) reflecting the fundamental ethos of the mystery genre itself: the compulsion to restore order and rightness to a world thrown temporarily out of joint.

Anyway, if I’m not reading I’m probably in my room watching Gilmore Girls. This one, like everything else, has been long overdue. Been meaning to watch the last few seasons but since I’ve missed most of the episodes I decided to just wait till the show was over then do a marathon of the whole thing. Funny how I decided to do it while vacationing in Bali.

It’s quite surprising to note that my favorite “haunt” in Bali is this posh place called KuDeTa (KDT).  If you know me well you’ll know I’m not into this sort of thing.  I have always felt that places such as KDT are as pretentious as fuck (pardon my language) but I seem to be enjoying my lonesome here mainly because of the friendly and rather nice staff.  It also doesn’t hurt that the Guest Relations Manager, Pierre, gave me a Lychee Rose Martini as a post-birthday present.  I’ll definitely be back for another great sunset just like this one.

I’m also supposed to not be thinking of anything or anyone.  I can’t say I have been successful but I could say that it’s not as obsessive as before.  This time logic has kicked in and perhaps I’m really on the so-called self-preservation train.

With that, I think it’s uncanny that this horoscope reading has some suggestions that I think I should heed.  I can’t say I believe in this stuff but it’s just entertaining.  (Note: pay special attention to the last sentence)

“You and your significant other need some quality time together but one or both of your careers keeps getting in the way. Today you will figure out a compromise that helps you spend some time enjoying each other. If you are still single, work is not the best place to find someone new.”

Hopefully at the end of this trip I’ll be more enlightened.

I’ve actually began writing notes again, I mean, I used to carry a notebook around me all the time and I’d write notes whenever I have ideas or thoughts about the book I’m reading. The Diary of An Unreasonable Man actually gave me something to ponder on because it’s just brimming with insight and it’s just beautiful; an enjoyable read, thus far.

————

I cannot believe it’s March already, wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that New Year’s Day came? Ah well…time flies.

Speaking of gut feelings, these are the songs that I just can’t stop listening to. Why? Beats me.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Bryn by Vampire Weekend
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille by Beirut

I realize that I watch entire seasons of television shows on weekends coupled with a few full-length movies.  I think I ought to spend some of that on mastering my Spanish and to finally tackle art history.

Thus, beginning this weekend and the weekends to follow, I’m turning 3pm to 6pm as study hall, aka The Golden Hour.  I’m spending 90 minutes each on both topics and hopefully, I get to talk about art while speaking in Spanish.  Haha, okay too crazy.  But you know what I mean.

*Golden Hour is loosely related to the photography term, therefore it does not necessarily mean an hour but rather illustrates a period of time.  Just sayin’.