all the trinkets

navigating life in my 20s

Tag: Teen

  • 18 Lessons I Learned in 18 Years

    So. It’s my birthday today. Would you look at that, I’m now 18. Hurrah.

    It’s not that I’m glum about it, don’t misinterpret. It’s just that…I guess as you grow older, birthdays just becomes this small detail in your life that people around you feel obliged to be happy about. Or I dunno, maybe that’s just me…

    Holy heck, it’s my freaking birthday. Why am I so melancholic? Arrrggh. Keep it light-hearted, Kate. Srsly. This whole Comprehensive Exam preparation is really getting on my nerves. -_-

    What I am happy about are these:

    Bruh

    • Google greeted me! With awesome delectable cakes…that I can’t even eat. But oh well, Google greeted me! Isn’t that awesome? 😀
    • One of my bestest friends ever (Hi Quexy!) reminded me how cool it was that the whole world is celebrating something on my birthday.
      But here’s the thing: somewhere out there, someone’s celebrating your birthday, whenever it is. And the world is finding new ways to celebrate something every single day. By the way, happy Easter Sunday/ National Cherry Blossoms Day, everyone!
    • Said best friend (Hi Quexy!) sent me the most awesome multiple SMS birthday message ever~ <3
    • Two of my awesome closest college friends send me Facebook messages that made me speechless. In completely different ways…Because there’s this…
      DO YOU SEE HOW CUTE THIS IS?

      And there’s this…

      goat heart.
      I dunno how to feel with this… (And yeah, yeah. I said screw anonymity but it applies to me. Not my friends.)
    • I’ve finally finished my part in the company study. The concepts of which I have only an inkling of knowledge of. Crossing fingers for the oral defense. X(><)X
    • I have the same birthday as Keira Knightley and freaking James Potter!!! To think that J.K. thought of creating a character with a birthday same as mine is just so…💕

    Anyway, I remember watching Jenna Marbles’s 29 Lessons I Learned in 29 Years and was inspired by it thinking, “Hey, I wanna do that on my 18th birthday!”

    Because there’s nothing better than reflecting back on the path you’ve taken and comparing where you’ve been to where you are now. Right? And also, I don’t feel old. And I wanna feel old today (see #16 below for why) so looking back on how I was for the last 18 years was a pretty good idea. So yeah. Here are 18 lessons I learned in 18 years.

    1. Disney lies. Birds–no, animals–will not approach you just because you’re singing. Or in my sister’s case, trying to feed the chickens with leaves. Imagine a girl trying to prove to her little sister that “chickens eat moringa leaves” and chasing the chickens around the yard. Man, that was a highlight of my early childhood days.
    2. Cartoons and animations are not only for children. NEVER.
    3. Sometimes, curiosity makes the cat a smarter cat. If you’re curious about something and you wanna learn it, go! Best case scenario, you’ll be invited to The Ellen Show. Or win a Nobel. Worst case scenario…you’ll learn something new. Be it something mind-blowing or totally unnecessary. You learned a new thing. That should count for something…right?
    4. Vegetables will never taste good when you’re a kid. But you’ll learn to appreciate them when you grow up. Trust me.
    5. Getting below 85% (or A) is not the end of the world. It took college to make me realize this.
    6. It’s okay that you like something kids your age don’t. This lesson is still something I’m learning today. If you like something, others’ opinions shouldn’t really matter.
    7. Maybe you won’t have many friends, maybe you’ll have few great friends.
    8. Listen to your mother’s advice. When she said not to touch that tiny red bump on your cheeks, don’t touch it. Or else, you’ll suffer more than 5 years of acne scars. Kate.
    9. Your quirks also make you who you are. Embrace them.
    10. Related to #9, you don’t need labels to be you.
    11. Even if your photos aren’t Instagram-worthy, it’s okay. So long as they’re packed with great memories.
    12. So what if you like something ridiculous or silly? Michelle Phan is obsessed with Sailor Moon but that does not make her any less awesome. Love what you love. #TeamUnicorns
    13. You can’t make everybody like you. You won’t like everybody. But choose wisely the people you are willing to waste and spend time with. <– Look at that. I sound like some old philosopher.
    14. Change will never be something you’ll expect. And that’s okay.
    15. We’ve all got our own pace. So, really, there’s nothing to “catch up” to others. Especially when studying, Kate.
    16. Appreciate sleep. You’ll get less and less as you get older. Until you’re retired and all you have to do is sit on a rocking chair on your front porch yelling at kids. I can’t wait to be old.
    17. You will get there, wherever you wish or dream to go. I promise, you will. Do your best and have faith on yourself.
    18. And if at rare times that you don’t, maybe you’re meant to be somewhere better.

  • What To Do After Experiencing Week-Long Exhaustion and Stress

    So here’s the thing…

    I. AM. DRAINED. AS HECK.

    Like seriously. Drained. I’m at the point of dragging my tired body like…

    This entire week felt like a montage of projects, paper works, exams, quizzes, and make-up classes (the fancy term for “extended school stress”; has nothing to do with cosmetics, sadly.)

    But instead of time whirring by as a normally paced music plays in the background, it’s the opposite. The music plays awfully slow and I am freaking tired. And I won’t say I’ve never been tired like this before because I have. You don’t graduate high school without exhaustion. (Now that is the evilest form of cheating, graduating without stress). But this whole semester, I’ve never been as tired as I am now. Figures much since it’s nearly finals already. *sigh*

    Anyway, I’ve been away for quite a while now…right? I mean, I’m currently functioning in dog days so it felt like it’s literally been years since I last posted something. And I thought what better inspiration for a blog post than freakin’ stress, right? I have a number of stress-tagged posts here anyway. So here you go.

    1. EAT. We’ve all got different comfort foods that will help us de-stress. I, personally, have lots ranging from soft foods like ice cream, marshmallows, and hot milk to hardcore ones like meat. Whatever you’re craving for, eat. Just know when to stop. Okay? And if you’re craving for metal, go to your doctor. That stress is making you need some serious medication.
    2. LISTEN. Some sounds are so serene, it makes you feel relax…and reflect on your life. Like, recently, I got into Seafret’s  “Ocean” and it was making me feel like I’m currently experiencing the dramatic part of a movie. Which is not far off from what’s happening in real life. It doesn’t have to have lyrics, even.
      BRAIN.FM has AI-generated music that will help you relax, nap/sleep, or meditate better. I’ve tried the 30-minute nap music and I was out immediately. Woke up around 3 hours later.
    3. TAKE A LONG BREAK. Now, now. I’m not saying you have to stop whatever is causing your week-long stress altogether. I mean, if it’s giving you week-long stress, it must be important, right? What I’m trying to say is give your body and brain a breathing room. Let them rest for a while. A day, overnight. Have a full 8 hours of sleep. Check your social media for a while, make a blog post (*ahem*)…
      Not even the strongest, most efficient machine can go on without a rest. Create a new momentum rather than exhaust yourself while maintaining an already long one.

    There are far other things that you may want to do: yoga, simple meditation, painting…but these three above are the general ones that I could come up based on my experiences. What you really have to do is, generally, rest. You are not a superhuman, no one is. You won’t get nor achieve anything with an exhausted mind and body. So rest.

    And I’ll be doing the same now…

    Good night/morning/afternoon, everyone! 🙂

  • I Just Thought of This Like Literally Five Minutes Ago…

    Okay, so here’s what happened. Our television was on because my parents were waiting for the five o’ clock news and before that was this local afternoon soap opera. I was just opening WordPress with no substantial plan on what I’m gonna do in my blog (it’s a force of habit when I use the computer: step one: open WordPress; step two: think of what you should do on WordPress). And then my father commented about how this certain actor doesn’t know how to act.

    And then I commented how that’s no surprise to me because 60%* of the lead actors in our country were chosen because of their good looks.

    I don’t watch local television series a lot. The great local television series that I’ve seen were series I’ve seen as a kid. And they had amazing plots and world-building. Over time, I feel like the quality of the stories that are the foundation of “hit” Filipino dramas and sitcoms are being reduced to having good-looking people and…that’s it.

    What I’m trying to do here is not condemn good-looking people. Heck, I admire some of those gorg beasties. But I feel like here in my country, actors and actresses are simply good-looking people who can charm their way into anything. And while that in itself is a great skill, I don’t think it will be enough to create a critically and artistically great work.

    Simply put, here’s my two cents: there are still people who judge (and admire) books by their cover. And that’s evident with the entertainment industry here in the Philippines. You see people here get platinum album when they aren’t even good singers, just really good-looking dudes. It’s preposterous, to be honest, because there are far more talented musicians who deserve that kind of break.

    But that’s how the entertainment industry works here, I guess. (I don’t know about the rest of the world but then…there’s the Kardashians.)

    And it’s just a sad thing to see. Which is why I don’t watch local TV unless it’s a documentary. So yeah, it’s an opinion that I have for quite a long time now but haven’t really mentioned in my blog and I thought it’s a good random topic.

    Good morning/noon/afternoon/night, everyone! 🙂

    *completely exaggerated statement. Not real statistics, people.

     

  • Book Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

    Okay, so I was supposed to create a review for The 5th Wave first. But there are still stuff that I haven’t disclosed on that novel and I’ve already finished reading this one. So…why the heck not, right?

    image

    The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

    Published on: 27 August 2015
    Published by: Walker Books
    ISBN: 1406331163
    Pages:     343
    Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy
    Add it on: Goodreads
    Buy it on: Amazon | Book Depository
    Favorite quote: “Me, all I want is to graduate…And then get on with finding out about the rest of my life, don’t you?”

    This novel is not about the Chosen Ones, the fated heroes and heroines who will fight off the dragon in the end and save the entire world. It’s about ordinary, non-indie kid boy Mikey who just wants to graduate from high school, attend the prom, and maybe kiss Henna before they graduate.
    Because sometimes, there are far bigger problems than this week’s end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

    The very concept of the novel immediately sang to me and appealed to me like moth to a candle’s fire. I’ve mentioned it before how we are so attracted to literary perfection and over-the-top spontaneity because they aren’t entirely present in our lives. This novel tells me just that. Also, it gives a unique and soulful take on what’s happening in the background of the fantasy stories we read and watch so much.

    You get this ordinary guy with an ordinary life, Mikey, whose biggest problems have nothing to do with the blue eyed people and the blue lights and disappearing indie kids.

    He is one of the most relatable YA protagonists to me. His awkwardness, fear and anxiety of many things…He is not the kind of ideal main character on a YA novel that dives into otherworldly trouble to save the world. He’s just an ordinary kid.

    I like how you get to see two stories in this novel: one was of the typical fantasy hero doing typical fantasy heroic acts and the other was of Mikey and what’s going behind the fantasy story. The short synopses of the fantasy story are hilarious at times because they show these typical YA fantasy tropes in a kind of sardonic manner.

    The plot was really simple and had not much difference with some other YA novels I’ve read. But what really makes this novel stand out is the context of how this seemingly ordinary story and ordinary plot is used.

    The emotional aspect of the novel and its depth is completely profound. The magic behind The Rest of Us Just Live Here lies not in the presence of magic and perfectly spontaneous moments. It lies on the ordinary stuff happening in life, zoomed in to show us the extraordinary element that these trivialities possess.

    Seriously. Patrick Ness is really inching his way to becoming one of my favorite authors of all time alongside Rick Riordan (duh, of course) and J.K. Rowling. He writes about tried-and-tested themes, issues and tropes in YA and Children’s Fiction but then he adds his own amazing, unique concepts and gives those themes, issues and tropes an entirely different look.

    The Rest of Us Just Live Here leans more on wonderfully ordinary with some dash of common issues dealt in YA novels. And I love it. I am so excited to read more of his works.

    Hopefully, as soon as I have the time and get my hands on a physical copy. Dear local bookstore, why you no have Patrick Ness novels yet?!

    4 stars

  • Book Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

    Hey there, guys! 🙋 Today’s the 4th day of 2016 (and yes, we’re still at that point in the year where knowing the 4th or the 20th day is still easily countable) and this is my first post of the year. Also, this is the first book that I’ve finished and will be reviewing for the year. It’s starting out to be a good year, book reviews-wise, in this blog but this also resulted to the first book-related bawling of the year. Good job, Patrick Ness.

    Anyway, I’ll do my best in posting other topics in this blog like Art Appreciation, which is apparently the most viewed topic of 2015 according to my 2015 Year in Review (though, that’s probably because it’s the topic I share to other social media sites more often). I actually have blog posts in mind already (way from last year) but they’re just that right now–mental notes, rough drafts of the mind. So on to that later on, here’s my review of The Knife of Never Letting Go.

    Only one month more and it will be Todd Hewitt’s thirteenth birthday. The day he will become a man, as dictated by the law of Prentisstown. They are all that’s left of the settlers who arrived in New World twenty years ago with the hope for a better life. And now, after a deadly war between race that killed the entire female population, and living in a world where one’s thoughts, one’s Noise, is heard by everyone, the men of Prentisstown, and the boy Todd Hewitt, are left off to fend for themselves. That is, until Todd finds a hole in the Noise. A quiet lurking in the swamp at the edge of Prentisstown. And then everything he knew and was told about changes.

    I always had this thought that, after Hunger Games, YA dystopian literature will gradually come down from its celebrated hype. Suzanne Collins certainly created a benchmark of that genre that seemed almost entirely unreachable. So many YA dystopian novels were greatly compared to the Hunger Games Trilogy. Admittedly, some books almost leveled with the glory and wonders of Katniss’s story. And, personally, none have passed it. Until this.

    The Knife of Never Letting Go was more than just a wonderful read. It was a breakthrough and a reminder of what YA dystopian novels could bring to the table that is literature.

    The plotline was strong with the basic foundations of a YA dystopian novel–note: basic foundations, and not tropes–down pat. The beginning was slightly murky, as one tries to adapt into Todd’s world, the middle was a long excrutating torture filled with segmented thrills that are always followed by silent breathing rooms of scenes, and the end was hair-pullingly, head-scratchingly, throat-sore-from-yelling-frustratingly-ly…annoying. I swear, I was just annoyed.

    Because I wanted to know what would happen next. It wasn’t wrapped up neatly but then that’s part of its appeal–it makes people want to know more. (And thank god, the trilogy is finished so I don’t have to wait for a freaking year for the next installment *glares at Uncle Rick*) The world-building was one of the best that I’ve seen, easily being at par to that of James Cameron’s Avatar and the world of Capitol and the thirteen districts.

    The character development was splendid. Todd Hewitt was a great hero who served as an absolutely engaging narrative with a point-of-view you would want to be in. Viola Eade is easily comparable to Annabeth Chase and Hermione Granger for her composure and cleverness. But she instilled a personality that is entirely her own. And the bond and chemistry that they both have created–in the midst of the challenges they’ve faced–was simply believable and strong.

    But beyond that is…*voice croaking* beyond that is *clears throat* Manchee.

    Remember what I said above about how reading this book resulted to the first book-related bawling of the year? Yep, it was because of Manchee. I won’t say more for the benefit (or the sorrow I so wanted to witness) of the ones who haven’t read this series yet. Just know that Manchee was the best dog ever. And if I’ll ever get over my fear of dogs and own a pup, I’ll name him Manchee. Also to Patrick Ness: *flips the bird* You broke my heart and I am not even in love with you.

    Overall, The Knife of Never Letting Go was a wonderful opening novel to a greatly anticipated series. This novel brought me hope to YA dystopian genre and is now officially a fan of Patrick Ness’s works. And I’ve got the entire Chaos Walking Trilogy bundle so you’re sure that I’ll be reading the entire series. I’m actually currently reading The Ask and The Answer, the second installment of the series…and it’s getting good. So good that I’ll probably post a picture of me and my future bald spot in my review of it.

    5/5