Reading Revived

2013, huh? Congratulations to us for still being around after the supposed Armageddon.

This week I managed to do get more reading done than I ever did last year. Which is not to say that I didn't pick up even one book last year - I just mean that the things I read in 2013 felt for me like a vacation, an escape from all sorts of things, while my reading this week is reminiscent of the time I minored in Pol Sci. I am actually doing serious advanced reading again, more defined than the Wikipedia skimming kind I often prefer.

It feels nice. Even if I am reading about Nazideutschland and Hitler for a German grammar class, and I understand only half the jargon. I feel useful.

What I read in 2012

May Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner,
The Third Lady by Shizuko Natsuki, and That Kind of Guy by Mina V. Esguerra

June The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James,
Fifty Shades Darker by EL James, and My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra

September Fifty Shades Freed by EL James

October Solanin by Asano Inio,
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Out by Natsuo Kirino

November Love Your Frenemies by Mina V. Esguerra,
Kiko Machine 6 by Manix Abrera, Kiko Machine 8 by Manix Abrera,
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

December Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra,
Ikaklit sa Aming Hardin by Bernadette Villanueva Neri and CJ de Silva,
Trese 5: Midnight Tribunal by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo

Mujou, Impermanence

Once, on the way home from a Japanese speaking workshop in Makati, R-senpai and I got into arguing about the types of anime we preferred. As a rule, I only watch one-season, mono-plot anime that revolve around the paranormal, and so R-senpai had to explain to me the perks of being a fan of 'slice of life'. There were many fine details I believe, to this day, I am better off not thinking about. For instance, Azumanga Daioh is considered 'slice of life' but Clannad is not. And so on.

Eventually we came to the term 'mono no aware'. R-senpai brought it up, and I didn't understand it then. The phrase slipped my list of things to Google until a few minutes earlier, when I became fascinated with why Kazuo Ishiguro says he doesn't write in the Japanese fashion despite how clearly - to me, at least - he thinks the Japanese way. The term 'mono no aware' is in his Wikipedia profile, here. To clarify, I've only read one book of Mr Ishiguro's, An Artist of the Floating World. But the 'mono no aware' is there, all right. The novel ends with its lead character merely, poignantly people-watching, after all.

The Weekend I Robbed Myself

I don't know how I managed to do it, but I actually had money at the end of the week - enough to go on food trips with friends. It was a lucky thing, too, because this weekend was probably the last time we'd see each other until 2013. If we make it to 2013, of course.

I went to these places with some of my favorite people, and because eating in each place made me inexplicably happy, I made reviews for each. [Yey!] I'd never been to any of these places before, by the way. They're listed in the order we visited them.

Ramen X, Trinoma
Fresh Selections, UP Teachers' Village
Ariake, Tomas Morato corner Scout Rallos
Baang Coffee, Tomas Morato
Bubble Tea, Tomas Morato

Christmas~