res ipsa loquitur

May
26th

Mon

In the first set, each solo is interrupted by its successor: in the second, each interruption is recontinued, in order. Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan’t know until it’s finished, and by then it’ll be too late…

— This is how a character (R.F.) in David Mitchell’s CLOUD ATLAS describes a musical piece he has composed, the Cloud Atlas Sextet, but what he’s really talking about is the novel itself—yes, the one in which he appears as a character. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time—or ever. Language that sparkles paired with brilliant plot technique. I’m gushing, I know, but it’s only because Mitchell is a genius.

May
20th

Tue

Impunity (CdQ on the RCBC massacre)

From today’s THERE’S THE RUB: “…The direct consequence of constantly lowering the bar of morality or decency is that morality and decency disappear in the end, to be replaced by lack of conscience or compunction. If you can be outraged by outlaws cold-bloodedly executing nine hostages, you have to be outraged by law enforcers dragging Jonas Burgos in the dead of day to a waiting car and making him disappear forever. You have to be outraged by the now hundreds of activists and journalists who have been shot in the head by their captors, many of them wearing uniforms, and buried in shallow graves.

“The people who coined the phrase “culture of impunity” got it completely right. Not just in the word “impunity” but in the word “culture.” Cultures, biological or social, have one definite characteristic:

“They spread.”

May
19th

Mon

Whoever cares the most, wins.

— Joseph Adama in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

May
18th

Sun

I think that the books I really enjoy are the ones in which the characters realize, only in the end, what it was they secretly wanted all along, but never knew. And maybe this is what life is really like.

— Douglas Coupland in MICROSERFS

May
14th

Wed

Cawi and Enoy reunited after 7 years—in Hollywood! So surreal…

I loved Chicago! Wasn’t crazy about the weather (spring is still too cold for me) but I thought the city was beautiful. More photos here.

Tutuo pala ang jetlag

Spent most of last week re-synching my body clock with this side of the international dateline’s 24hour cycle. Kept waking up at 3am—and finding myself at work by 7. Horrors! Finally clicked back to UTC+8 over the weekend. Now I’m finally, 100% back!

May
4th

Sun

I'm back! This is how I'm celebrating my homecoming

Apr
13th

Sun

But if she was herself only at lunch, who was she the rest of the time? Was she someone else? Were those, the majority of hours, nothing? Or were they the truth?

— Aurelie Sheehan in The Anxiety of Everyday Objects. This sounds eerily similar to what went on inside my head when I worked at xxx. I kept telling myself it’s only a day job, what you do doesn’t define who you are. A job is for paying the bills, right? Fun is for after five! So I did my best to do the responsible thing—that is, until I finally decided life’s too short for this shit. But anyway (sorry for the rant ;) all I meant to say was, I loved this book! Am keeping on the lookout for more of her stuff.

Apr
8th

Tue

Innovation is super fragile. It’s very easy to kill. We need a stubborn, rebellious attitude.

— Douglas Merrill, Google CIO (quoted in last month’s Fast Company)

The road to hell is paved with adverbs.

— Stephen King

Apr
6th

Sun

Pogue’s Posts on NYT Blog: Can Blogger-Bashers Predict the Success of a Product? Unlikely. “…when your laptop has the thickness and feel of a legal pad and starts up with the speed of a PalmPilot, it ceases to be a traditional laptop. It becomes something you whip open and shut for quick lookups, something you check while you’re standing in line or at the airline counter, something you can use in places where hauling open a regular laptop (and waiting for it) would just be too much hassle. It’s the same lesson I learned when I reviewed the Flip “camcorder” a couple weeks ago: if you change the shape and concept of something enough, it ceases to be that thing. It becomes a new thing, or a descendant of that earlier thing. But it’s no longer the original thing, and you can’t judge it on the same yardstick.”