Written Contusions

This comes from the first story of the Snow Queen
Which Treats of a Mirror and of the Splinters



Now then, let us begin. When we are at the end of the story, we shall know more than we know now: but to begin.

Once upon a time there was a wicked sprite, indeed he was the most mischievous of all sprites. One day he was in a very good humor, for he had made a mirror with the power of causing all that was good and beautiful when it was reflected therein, to look poor and mean; but that which was good-for-nothing and looked ugly was shown magnified and increased in ugliness. In this mirror the most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach, and the best persons were turned into frights, or appeared to stand on their heads; their faces were so distorted that they were not to be recognised; and if anyone had a mole, you might be sure that it would be magnified and spread over both nose and mouth.

"That's glorious fun!" said the sprite. If a good thought passed through a man's mind, then a grin was seen in the mirror, and the sprite laughed heartily at his clever discovery. All the little sprites who went to his school--for he kept a sprite school--told each other that a miracle had happened; and that now only, as they thought, it would be possible to see how the world really looked. They ran about with the mirror; and at last there was not a land or a person who was not represented distorted in the mirror. So then they thought they would fly up to the sky, and have a joke there. The higher they flew with the mirror, the more terribly it grinned: they could hardly hold it fast. Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces. And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice. Some of the broken pieces were so large that they were used for windowpanes, through which one could not see one's friends. Other pieces were put in spectacles; and that was a sad affair when people put on their glasses to see well and rightly. Then the wicked sprite laughed till he almost choked, for all this tickled his fancy. The fine splinters still flew about in the air: and now we shall hear what happened next.

Summer Arc

The first twelve episodes of the series focus on the day-to-day life of Ayumu Aizawa as he visits his father in the town where he is the local veterinarian. Ayumu has spent his visit thus far aimlessly biking across the valley, but a chance meeting with a girl named Miku sends him searching for a long-lost friend of his, Wakkun. Upon finding Wakkun, he discovers that the boy has not aged since he and Ayumu played as children. Wakkun is also wearing clothes very similar to the raincoat and galoshes that Ayumu wore habitually as a child. Wakkun introduces Ayumu to his two friends, Dosshiru(Doss) and Shisshin(Sence), mysterious flying objects that alternate between a mechanical form and a sphere of yellow light.These lights seem to be invisible to most of the people in town, but appear in reflections in people and animals' eyes. A local reporter, Sukawara, shows up, attracted by reports of kappa and other mysterious events. She follows the animals, notably a cat one of the local boys saw fighting a kappa, to the yellow lights, and grills a reluctant Ayumu for information. Unable to remember the summer he spent in Tana as a child, Ayumu, with the help of Miku and several other people from Tana, tries to understand what happened when he was a child, and the mysterious connection between him, Wakkun, Dosshiru(Doss), and Shisshin(Sense).

Winter Arc

One and a half years later, Kisa Tanigawa, a depressed high school student routinely skips class. One evening, while wandering aimlessly around the city, she stumbles upon another mysterious mechanical object. Naming it "Bun-chan" or "Ping" in the English dub, after the sound it makes, she takes it home and treats it as a pet. When she was building a fish out of old scraps of metal, the fishes top fin does not stay so Bun-chan(Ping)helps glue it on. However, Akira Sukawara, a reporter trying to prove the existence of the mysterious objects that appeared at the Cat Dance in Tana a year and half ago, which she calls "material fairies,", hears about Bun-chan(Ping) and, upon witnessing a meeting between Kisa and Ayumu, terms Bun-chan not a material fairy, but a "material evil," since its outward appearance does not resemble those of the material fairies spotted in Tana. The material fairies and the material evils, however, seem to be at war with each other. When the three meet, Dosshiru(Doss), Shisshin(Sense)and Bun-chan(Ping). Dosshiru(Doss) and Shisshin(Sense) start chassing Bun-chan(Ping) and soon Dosshiru(Doss) and Shisshin(Sense) destroy Bun-chan(Ping), leaving Kisa very upset that Bun-chan(Ping) is gone. After a while the connection of Kisa's fish's metal fin starts glowing. One night the fish turns into a sprite form of Bun-chan(Ping). Kisa then decides to name ot Bob(Eng).The city's population becomes increasingly aware of the situation as pictures of the material evils, spheres of blue light, circulate among cell-phone users, accompanied by rumors that they bring good luck. Murals appear urging people to think and trust themselves. Eventually, a giant spiral, resembling the metal construction of the material evils, appears in the sky, and the police evacuate a section of the city. Some of the same phenomena are present as in Tana, such as the failure of electronic devices.

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*from Wikipedia

check out their official website http://www.zettai-shonen.com/ for more info on Absolute Boy

The Three Incestuous Sisters
by Audrey Niffenegger

I have picked this book up from Powerbooks in Glorietta 3 last year and I wasn't able to put it down. Good thing that the bookstore had an opened sample book for me to read.

Being a surrealist myself, I liked the graphic novel style that it comes in. The pictures are grotesque (I agree with the review from Publishers Weekly) and quite haunting too. It gave a look of darkness born out of an intense desire to covet a precious object. I remember shaking my head as the three sisters scheme to get the man that they all fell in love with. With this in mind, I was thankful that when me and my sister had fights, it didn't escalate to the level these three sisters went to.

Here's a short summary from Associated Content:

There are three sisters: Bettine, the luminous blonde, the mystical
and blue-haired middle child, Clothilde; and the dreary black-haired eldest,
Ophile. They live in a coastal isolation worthy of Emily Dickinson until Bettine
falls in love with Paris the lighthouse keeper's son. Ophile goes nearly insane
with envy, while Clothilde magically mentors her unborn nephew, the Saint
(which, in case you're worried, is as close as we get to the incest referred to
in the title). When Ophile's jealousy leads to Bettine's death, the
green-skinned Saint is picked up by a traveling carnival. More loss, grief
and high drama ensue before the Saint finds his way back to his ancestral home.

The pictures alone are worth every penny you will pay for this book. I haven't quite fully understand why I like this book or what it means but it is definitely in my list of good books to buy apart from Neil Gaiman.

While looking for something worthwhile to put in my blog, my friend saw me and she said to check out Bonsai Kittens. I went and checked and heres what I saw:

"Oh my God!!! Look at the poor kitten," I said. Upon further research, I found out that this is just an internet hoax to piss off cat lovers but nevertheless... poor little kittens.

I appeal to all feline lovers, do not go to Bonsai Kittens!

I am now thankful that I have been watching the primetime news on tv. Before, I used to ignore it because of all the gorey news that I see in it but this time, its different. Just the other night, the news featured the Algorithm Dance performed by 1,600 inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. It was a dance craze popularized by a Japanese kids show and from what I've read on the net, the prison adopted it as part of their fitness regime for their inmates. Good thing the video camera has already been invented because they were able to capture this feat of art, talent and synchronicity on video.

Alas, I do not have the capacity to put a direct vid feed on this post but here's a link from BBC News that has a vid feed. Philippine jailhouse rocks to Thriller.

Hurray for the inmates! Thank god for this new Japanese craze!

Two days ago, I felt very nostalgic. I kept on thinking of sappy stuff like sweet scenarios that I would love to happen to me. For example:

Eating hard boiled eggs with my loved one. I would take the egg that she is
about to crack on her forehead and offer to have her crack it on mine instead.

Very sappy stuff indeed...

In addition to that, my perception has gotten wonky. When I look at the surroundings, other people and objects seem to move in slow motion. Every little motion is emphasized and I could count how many times a leaf would rock to and fro before it hits the ground. I even felt like my spirit was five steps away from my body.

At work, I could hear my footsteps coming from five steps behind. I could also hear myself talk as if I am eavesdropping on myself. My forehead felt like a balloon being squeezed gently by an invisible hand and the portion that is not in contact with the hand felt like expanding forward.

Good thing I heard my question for that day. It bothered me so much that my soul went back to my body as soon as I heard it. This is the question: "Do cyclopes have a third eye?"

Two days ago, I was watching the TV and I was just randomly flicking channels, I stumbled upon a show featuring new websites to visit.

Drawn! is a multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources.
Albert Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” but what the hell did he know anyway?
The links and posts on Drawn! are written by a small group of professional illustrators, designers, and cartoonists.

picture from http://www.drawn.ca/; art by Melanie Baillairge.

Last year, I discovered an anime called Mushishi. The storyline revolves around Mushis, a primeaval life form, said to be in touch with the essence of life. Being so, they have supernatural powers and creates curious, if not deadly effects on human beings. The story's main character is Ginko, travelling from place to place to research Mushi and aid people suffering from problems caused by them. The series is an episodic anthology in which the only common elements among episodes are Ginko and the various types of Mushi*.

I have taken the initiative to post the opening theme song by Ally Kerr here so you could sample the vibe of the series. This is also partly how I conceived of this blog and the "green" feel of it.

*excerpt from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi)

While going home from the office, I received one of the saddest text messages for this year. My batch mate Elsa texted me asking me if I have received any messages from our other batchmate, Jojie. This came in as a suprise because number one, Elsa hasn't texted me for about 2 years now. Number two, I got chills when I read Jojie's name on the screen of my celphone. A following text message arrived saying that she already died. She died of pneumonia. I was so crushed because pneumonia can be easily cured.

I am now thinking about my own life...

Reflection mode.

A shot at photography. What do you think ?

A red day. Yet tomorrow the sun will still rise.

In short, I don't have my voice. I am so worried because my work involves oral communication and I have to be absent for 2 days. Anyway, I hope this will all work out. I want to get well soon and I think I will be needing your prayers. Thanks.

In addition to that, my doctor said that I actually have a tongue condition known as ankyloglossia. So that is why I cannot extend my tongue far out of my mouth. There is a procedure, frenuloplasty, that can be done to correct this. I asked my doctor if there would be any adverse effects because of this condition and if it was a must to have the condition but he said that there are no adverse effects. It was all up to me if I would want to have the surgery done or not.