On peaceful departure

I had quite a week. My hubby and I started it with a battle against flu. Fearing it was the dreaded AH1N1, the two of us rushed to the nearest hospital for a check-up. While at Makati Med, the TV in the waiting area was airing news report about the rising number of Swine Flu cases in the metro. Fortunately, what we had was just a regular flu triggered by our always-inflamed tonsils (see, even our tonsils are interconnected. Scary.) Nevertheless, we chose to stay home. We can't be too careful.

As we recuperate, the week continued with the sad news of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson's untimely demise. The original Charlie's Angel succumbed to cancer, while the King of Pop had a cardiac arrest.

Ironically, over the weekend, we've decided to watch Okuribito (Departures), a movie about about death . We hadn't plan to cap the weekend to "celebrate" death after our swine flu scare and the news about Fawcett and Jackson's death. It was the only film available in my archive (read: hard drive) that we haven't watched yet. It's been sitting inside my computer for more than a month now; I hadn't had much time to watch this film since I leeched it via Torrent (calling Edu Manzano). The fact is, I had second thoughts of watching this film, with it's dark and morbid theme.

I decided to grab this Japanese film merely out of curiosity. When it was named Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars, beating the frontrunner Waltz with Bashir, it piqued my interest. But I wasn't that eager to watch it, until only last weekend.

And midway through the film, I got stumped. I should've watched this film sooner, I told myself. It's simply one of the most beautiful films I've seen this year.

The film tells a story about a cellist named Kobayashi Daigo (Motoki Masahiro) who was forced to find a job in the countryside after his Tokyo-based orchestra disbanded. For a generous pay, Daigo accepts a job as a nokanshi or "encoffiner," much to the chagrin of his wife Mika and other people around him. As he masters the job as a nokanshi, he also learns the art of acceptance and forgiveness.

Now I understand why the Academy loved this film. Its quiet and eloquent story-telling can melt even the hardest of hearts, much especially during these times of global uncertainty. Just like the Oscar 2009's biggest winner, Slumdog Millionaire, this is a movie that celebrates love and life. Motoki Masahiro, with his nuanced and heartfelt performance, leads an impeccable acting ensemble. Also commendable is Yôjirô Takita's clean and fuzz-free direction. Joe Hisaishi's lush soundtrack provided the emotional chutzpah, especially during the heart-wrenching final scene.

I rarely cry during movies. But this one left a huge lump in my already-swollen throat long after the closing credits have completely rolled-out.

Official trailer:


PS.
(oh, and did I mention that Masahiro Motoki is as cute as a Japanese button?)

Returning to the blogosphere…

Making a comeback to the blog-o-sphere is a daunting task, dreadful even. First, there’s always this lingering question, “What am I going to write about?” Then, after figuring out the answer to that question, I started to doubt myself, wondering if I still have “it”.

You see, after the untimely demise of my Friendster blog a good two or three years ago, I promised myself that I shall never go blogging again. Yes, my first blog mysteriously vanished into the thin air, and those folks at Friendster (God bless them) can’t provide any clue why it happened. I guess there must be a Bermuda triangle hidden somewhere in the cyberspace and therein lies my poor blog. And to add insult to serious injury, I still don’t know the meaning of the word “back-up” then.

And now here I am, making a career comeback. I guess you can call me the Britney Spears of the blogging world, minus two sons and a kick-ass bod. And to go back to that previous question, as to what I should be writing about, well… uhmm.. I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. My earlier blogs (yes, this is my nth attempt) were originally intended to be my online literary folios, but now, I guess I might be too old to write about poetry and stuff. A lot of things have changed since then. When I created my Friendster blog in 2006, I was a college professor. I still got soul then. Now, I’m just a robot, thriving in a corporate world where you are not allowed to think for yourself. In short, my work sucked the life out of me. I guess, creating this blog is my way to reclaim it.

I felt that I’ve already lost my creative mojo, and I wonder when I’ll be able to get it back. A couple of days ago, a good friend of mine, Ate Mabel, texted me. She said she was cleaning her room when she stumbled upon a decade-old college newspaper, and she marveled at the articles under my byline and wondered why I've stopped writing. In my reply, I told her that it would take time before I’ll be able to get my groove back.

Nevertheless, I’m just ecstatic that I’m finally starting to see my blog taking shape. I mean, it’s not perfect and all. My current blog entries are littered with clichés and grammatical errors; they’re nothing compared to articles I’ve written in the past. If I tell you that I used to collect journalism awards way back in college and contribute articles for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, I’m pretty sure you’ll say I’m just full of crap. But just like a proud momma to her baby, I’m very satisfied with my present blog. It’s perfectly imperfect in its own right. It may not match the depth and relevance of the blog of my former co-editor (and pretty darn good writer) Ysrael, or the insight of my sorely-missed friend Mahalia's, or the cool factor of my colleague Teng’s, or the humor of my fave blogger MisterHeuge's, or the wit of my fave director Jun Lana's, but just by rejoining the more than 100 million bloggers in the planet gives me a immense sense of pride. Yes, I’m getting there.

In a workshop, the multi-awarded screenwriter Ricky Lee once told me, “Write what you know. That all it takes”. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. Therefore, I don’t need to pretend that I know everything about politics or computers or Math. You may find me ranting about the results of American idol, or reviewing a current flick or a Milan Kundera book, or complaining about work, or commenting on some random YouTube video, or drooling on my newest Brazilian boytoy Bernardo Velasco. The topics may be as shallow and diverse as a kaning-baboy, but I guess that’s what I am.

So I guess I just have to keep on blogging and rally against inertia before I pass that darn Bermuda triangle again.

Oh, and please remind me to BACK-UP.