Of violins, DVDs and other things

Last saturday my friend R and I went to Raon Street in Quiapo scouting for really cheap violins. I have recently decided to take violin lessons (not after much deliberation on whether it would be piano or violin) as a hobby, and I'm still looking for a good violin teacher. However, it looks like R's friend C from UP wil be free every Saturday so I still have to check that out.
The violins and other musical instruments being sold at Raon are REAAALLLLY cheap. However, they were not cheap enough for my expectation. R told me of a violin he bought from Salongs music store in Raon center last year which only cost him around 900 pesos, but when we asked around the shops there the cheapest was 1,800. R said that one had a really nice sound to it and probably the reason why he got it so cheap last year was because his violin didn't come with fine tuners/adjusters at the tail of the instrument. On the other hand, all of the violins we surveyed had them.
Anyway I have to wait for my next salary for me to buy a violin. Although I'm just looking for a beginner's violin, I'm thinking it should be at least of good quality. It's also becoming excruciatingly painful that it had to come to a choice between a pair of running shoes or a musical instrument. Well the running shoes, I need to have by August 30 for the funrun. The violin, well, I can't wait to take lessons. I've already downloaded the suzuki violin method mp3s and pdfs and have been listening to the mp3s everyday. I still have to schedule my tutorial lessons though, but i think that would be easy. :)

We all know

he is
more than a
scratched out conjunction
on a valentines card.
from a kid who realized halfway
that there will be no pop.
just mum
frrom here on.

In memoriam

The pins and needles that prick your heart comes and goes in waves with the tears comes mostly at the sight of an empty chair or one less place setting on the table. getting a happy news you can't wait to go home and share it but you realize that he will no longer be there. a father-shaped hole in the world is suddenly made. for us, the loss of a great man. all of us will become human-shaped holes in the world to someone. at one point or another. life lives on. but always we are in remembrance. ashes to ashes dust to dust. From God we came To God we shall return

Advice to clients

There's only so much a lawyer can do.
Stop breaking the law!

Sundry

It's exactly a week before the first Sunday of the bar exams. Since last week my brain has gone into concentration overdrive, especially that I have been spending most of my day at the library. I'm rreally a certified crammer! I just concentrate and focus more during the first few days before an exam...and yes, i do remember things, just so long as i sleep between the cram session and the big E.

Somehow the bar review period was a a very good time for me. It allowed me some moments of self-reflection, and a chance to know myself more. I kind of forgot how to be myself during those four years of law school, and right now I am asserting myself in my life. This is me. And this is how my life's going to be. :)

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadhan!!!! I am once again very excited, as I was last year. This is a time of internal cleansing for all Muslims, and I hope, God willing, that I will emerge out of this Holy month a better person.

I wasn't able to go to the Eraseheads reunion concert. I chose to buy a Parker fountain pen instead of spending it on a concert ticket. I bet the people who went to the Fort open grounds had a blast, though it only lasted for 15 songs because Ely had overfatigue. :( I hope he recovers soon.

Speaking of my fountain pen, it's been a long time since I've derived this much pleasure in a material thing that I bought, but I did feel kinda giddy when the saleslady at the Parker counter at National Bookstore handed me my very first ever fountain pen, with my name engraved on the cap, in cursive, to boot. :D

90s

Misan sa may kalayaan
tayo's nagkatagpuan
may sari-sariling gimik
at kanya-kanyang hangad sa buhay...

Thus begins the Eraserheads's song, what has become a UP dormer's anthem. I took my undergrad in UP Manila, coming only to Diliman for my law degree, never experiencing the UP dorm life, much less live at Kalayaan Dorm. However, this song still strikes a soft spot in my heart, mainly because, as a probinsyana having to live in off-campus boarding houses, i got to forge really deep friendships with people i lived with in these "bedspaces." And the way Ely sung this song.... it cuts!

I heard that the E-heads are scheduled to have a one-time reunion gig (sources still are reluctant to call it a concert). For sure, many of the generation Y'ers will be there. Those of us who were lucky enough to reach and pass adolescence at a time when emo wasn't a household word.
My heart skips a beat, and I vow to go to this event, even if it's 7 days away from the first big day.

Tom Jones till Dusk

Happy Ramadan!