My time capsule

     It was a smart thing for me to start this blog. 

     Whenever I need to look back or am having a hard time remembering something, I just open my blog and read about whatever it is I am looking for. It's my time capsule. A time capsule that recorded a part of my life, a time capsule that captured my dreams, and a time capsule that saw them fade away.

In life, we learn a lot of things the hard way. For me, I have that hard lesson written down in the form of this blog: never take in more than you can swallow, it says. I have recently abandoned this blog as a different part of my life—the ballet part of my life. The part of my life when I was younger, freer, happier, and more careless.

     I would like to say that this will be the last post I will ever make for this blog. But it will not be the last post I will ever write. Blogging about ballet and my goals gave me a skill I only thought I would acquire in the rarest of moments, a skill I had long taken for granted. Writing.

     You see, everything has a reason, through ballet, I found writing. And I was able to hone writing. Even if I quit ballet, and quit blogging for a while, I have no losses. I learned how to share my words, and most of all. how to live. I learned that one must not be too preoccupied about a future unseen and far off, because there is a present time. I quit ballet because I realized this and asked myself "If I don't enjoy dancing anymore, Will I enjoy it later?" I think this is the biggest lesson I have learned yet, and now I shall share a quote from the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, said:“Man.Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

     So, after years of it being the point of my life, I quit ballet. And looked for something that would let me enjoy the present."

The Prix is here...

Photo from the Prix de Lausanne's Tumblr

  Probably one of the biggest events in the world of Ballet, the Prix de Lausanne, has just begun. Although a bunhead no more, it hasn't failed to excite me this year ^_^ Today is the first day of the Prix, but since my country sees the sun before Switzerland does, there isn't much that I can say :(

  Anyway, here's the trailer:

  This has made me reflect quite a bit about quitting ballet. Now I know it's not the end of the world and I'm just over reacting and being "passionate" again, but when I first heard about the Prix, I actually thought I could make it there. I actually did. Really. I don't think I'm a quitter and I don't feel particularly bad about leaving that dream and all. Wow! I've stopped beating myself up!

  I guess some people were a bit surprised that I quit ballet since I was so into it then but that's part of growing up and living! You have hobbies because they're a little something you enjoy! Just like adults; some adults don't like their jobs and they quit and find a new one and feel like they have a new life all together. Of course it's not that easy and not everyone can just leave their jobs but, it felt like that for me and ballet (now I sound like I'm going thru a break-up). I felt like I lost my purpose.

  You know, I look back now and I realized it wasn't ballet that I particularly liked. It was being onstage and performing. Per-for-ming. But maybe I'm just saying that and fooling myself to vindicate me, hehehe :|

  Ballet's super pretty, but it's not something I want to be a part of anymore. I'm just not that kind of person :)

  Peace ☮

  Kudos to the Prix de Lausanne candidates this year. You've done it ;)

Les Miserables :)

  My whole family has practically been waiting for Les Miserables since December. My Mom, I think, was the most enthusiastic person about it. She wanted to watch on the first day of screening! Initially, we could't because of her work schedule and that disappointed her quite a lot so we decided that we wouldn't rush it and watch in the weekend :)

  However, on the day of first screening, Mom calls from work and is like "OMG! No one came to my class! Let's go watch Les Mis." And suddenly not having any students attend your class was a good thing...

  So there we went rushing to watch Les Miserables. We bought more movie snacks than any movie we ever watched in the cinema before.

  I have to say, this movie followed the book more than the stage production. For one, Marius' grandfather was included, which I think is important because we know that Marius comes from somewhere, right?

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  Though, an important part, in the book; Marius and Cosette had been meeting each other each night for quite some time but in the movie and musical, it showed no hints of that. Only one meeting (A Heart Full of Love) and then letters, which would be kind of creepy in real life.

  Also a movie adaptation of a musical always brings out the serious side of it. The movie portrayed 19th century Paris in a very realistic way while on stage it was more colorful.

  I know a lot of people have been saying that the live recording they used for the movie made it more "realistic" but not for me :( I think it was a bad idea. In the beginning, I expected to hear a big bang of music in the song 'Look Down' which, I think makes the whole thing more exciting. Instead, I got a very subtle introduction. The lack of loud, "exciting" music stripped the movie of the musical's magic...

Les Mis at Queen's Theatre, London

Les Mis at Queen's Theatre, London

With Dad and little sis, Ashley at Queen's Theatre, London.

Chemistry

  I've been using this Chemistry program since it arrived last September. As you can tell from the name of the CD, this program is based on Creation Theory. It's very easy to use and I'm actually enjoying it :) The entire program is divided into 16 Modules which ideally take 36 weeks to finish. I'm still finishing the 3rd module right now, since my academics had to be postponed for our trip to London.

My supplies for the experiment

  The other night, I did an experiment called "Electrical Conductivity of Compounds Dissolved in Water." Basically, I did what every one says is very dangerous; let an electric current flow thru water. Fear not! The electric current was no more than a 9 volt battery so no, sadly, I did not create an explosion of epic proportions -_-

BUT! The highlight: The ends of the wires that were in the water were sizzling! I felt successful. Hehehehe....

  The reason for the sizzling is because, as I have learned, of the baking soda I added to the water. Baking soda is an ionic compound, and all ionic compounds conduct electricity. So, that is why, unless you have pure, distilled water running from your tap, it is dangerous for water to be around electricity. The water we have in the tap isn't pure, or distilled, you see, it has some chemicals mixed in it -_-

...more thinking

  Ate Gigi called from Locsin's the other day. She asked if I would come back to dance, something to do with the next recital's costumes, she said. I told her that I won't be dancing this year. Not until the summer, perhaps. I still like dancing after all (performing especially).

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  I have to start thinking about college now. Initially, I wanted to take Theater Arts at a college in Manila, but after some thinking (and researching) I now want to take Literature, something that will bring me close to Shakespeare and plays in general, before going of to drama school (RADA is currently the dream).

 

  I attended two acting classes in Pineapple while we were in London and the instructor, Adam, asked me if I was doing acting for fun or if I was really serious about it. I told him that I am pretty serious about getting into theatre and all and that I want to attend RADA. He gave some advice that I think will prove useful sooner or later. He said that there are many other good drama schools in London that are not as costly. And some of the teachers he had in the school he graduated from (which is now no more) also taught in RADA...

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  I am such an obsessive person! Ever since the Hip Hop Shakespeare Workshop last July, ever since I got interested in acting, I've been seeing movies in a different way. I pay more attention to the actors' expressions and reactions to events rather than the movies' story :)