One Summer Never Ends

The weather’s still unbelievably, thickly humid, even at night. The heat is practically a solid, living force. There’s just no escaping it. Ah, well. You just get used to it, I guess. Can’t wait for the heavy rainfall that weathermen predicted, the kind we're supposed to experience some time during this summer.

Been a tiring work week. Was able to watch a few movies and read some new comics, though. Been planning to watch the last staging of Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal, but I discovered last Wednesday that it had just sold out, according to the ticketseller hotline lady. Paolo Manalo, miraculously and thankfully, texted me and was able to reserve me some. I wanted to catch it before it becomes a movie and to see how they’ve brought Carl Vergara’s characters and ideas to life. Watching that tomorrow.

I was only able to sleep for about two hours early Friday morning. Had to wake up early to visit a construction supply convention for a PR firm, where I was supposed to meet up with some interviewees. I did my darnedest to stay focused for most of the waiting and actual interviewing process. The two interviews went well and were lengthier than usual. They were about pesticides and termite infestations, topics that don’t really interest me, so I just had to keep myself awake and force myself to understand things that they were saying. These were conducted in two separate, classy dining places, where the food we were treated to was filling. The ambiance wasn’t bad, either.

I still have to transcribe them. I’ve worked on some press releases in the past, and while these have no bylines, I do enjoy writing them. I do feel like a dirty whore for writing them sometimes, because some clients and their associates can’t make up their minds on what they want long after you’ve given them a perfectly functional one, or pretend to know how to do the job themselves when they butcher your work with their own wordings. But, well, that’s part of the nature of the selling business. And writing copy that pimps products, and interacting with interesting people can offer me new perspectives. I’m real grateful for that opportunity.

Just slept a bit through traffic in the firm’s vehicle after that. Traffic was really horrid by 4-ish near Mandaluyong, as there was, I’d find out later, an ongoing mallwide sale in Megamall. I went to CQ and checked if last year’s Marvel Universe issues were on sale (these were the themed series), and they were so I finally got them. I also got a discounted Villiains United Special at Filbar’s. It’s a great, important tie-in to read before next week’s final ish of Infinite Crisis! It felt like one of the episodes of Justice League Unlimited for me. You’ll find out why if you read it. I’m really excited with the re-appearance of another villain, too.

Went up to catch the preview of Aquamarine, a silly, cute teen flick about a mermaid and friendships. Young pop singer Jojo Levesque, the girl with the cute babyfat cheeks, is in it as one of the high schoolers who befriend the pretty creature. And for the first time in my life, I won in one of those pre-screening raffles. It was a small but heavy snail mail letter rack. Wait, I actually don’t remember if the sponsor that gave away stuff was Stresstabs or another product. But the thing I got obviously wasn’t vitamins-related. Still, a prize is a prize, and I wasn’t expecting any. I actually hesitated from going in front, answering the true or false question, and claiming the thing. Update: I just opened the box and it had twelve Stresstabs capsules in it. So cool.

Went home to discover a touching email from a sibling. That was surprising. I stayed awake to surf a little and read my comics. And I woke up about four hours later to look briefly at the paper. Was pleasantly surprised to see an interview article I wrote early this week (thanks Pam and Tim!). Got back to bed and slept some more. And woke up to the light and heat of summer sunshine, hours later. Even the bathing water is hot. Yeek.

Not Mere Words, Part Trois

VH1 recently conducted a poll for Brits’ favorite lyrics. U2 topped that with “One”. The line, “One life with each other, sisters, brothers” was deemed the favorite. There were other notable entries; just check out Google News for them.

Here are some of mine again, in some of my old and new favorite songs. They’re poetic and attractive perspectives:

“Maybe there is a God above, but all I've ever learned from love, was how to shoot someone who outdrew you. And it's not a cry that you hear at night. It's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.”
--Jeff Buckley, “Hallelujah”

“To ease my pain, I took a pen and paper. Incarnate came the bleeding. Send it back before the public eye perverts it in the reading.”
--Indigo Girls, “Burn All the Letters”

“Sometimes I feel like I know too much. And sometimes I feel like I don't know nothing at all. But I can still be soft to the touch. Well, I am just a rumble doll.”
--Patti Scialfa, "Rumble Doll"

“Ask her how she knows there's a God up in the heavens. Where did he go in the middle of her shame? Ask her how she knows there's a God up in the heavens. She said his mercy is bringing her life again.”
-- Amy Grant, “Ask Me”

“Do you have eyes? Can you see like mankind sees? Why have you soured and curdled me? Oh, you tireless watcher! What have I done to you? That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true?”
--Joni Mitchell, “The Sire of Sorrow (Job’s Sad Song)”

“Her boyfriend is Tom, but we call him the King of Romance. He wears an American flag on the butt of his ripped-up pants. And, will they get married with kids of their own? He says, ‘Not if she's going to college we won't’. And he kisses her, oh.... Someday I'll have a boyfriend just like that.”
--Dar Williams (left, pic from Yahoo Music), “The Babysitter’s Here”

“I can feel the eyes behind us as we walk. I can see the ears that listen when we talk.
I don’t care what the world has to say. You should know that I love you. I love you, I love you today.”
--Squeeze, “Heaven Knows”

”I saw you first. I'm the first one tonight. I saw you first. Don't that give me the right, to move around in your heart? Everyone was looking, but I saw you first.”
--John Mellencamp, “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)”