Hanahaki Byou: The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from one-sided love, where the patient throws up and coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. The infection can be removed through surgery, but the feelings disappear along with the petals.
I'm not really sure where the whole Hanahaki Byou concept came from; I speculate that it was born from fanfiction or some other fandom ala Anterograde Tomorrow.Camille was actually the one who pitched this idea to me as she thought it'd make for a cool shoot idea. Originally, I wanted to use Janelle's favorite flowers, but I'm a cheapo and went with fake flowers instead since I have an abundance of those in the house.
The short film? motion editorial? was something I've been wanting to do for a while now, although putting the 'directed by' part makes me feel super gross and pretentious. There are several things about this... video that I wish I could improve on, but I'd like to think this was relatively okay. Some years ago, I made a couple (well, maybe just two) video studies/'short films', and I wish I had the same freaky aesthetic I had back then. Maybe I can make one for Halloween?
I intend to make this Hanahaki Byou thing a series, though I'm not sure if that would include making the motion editorial (I honestly have no idea what to call it) a series as well. This was the only thing I managed to shoot last month, seeing as August was such a whirlwind, though I find it fitting that my subject was the one August celebrant from our group of friends. Thanks again Janelle for being so game, and to Camille for pitching the idea!
I have a sinking suspicion as to what has caused this, but said cause has not only affected my reading, but a lot of other aspects of my life. The problem has calmed down a bit, but I'm still having a hard time plowing through this struggle. These days, it takes me f o r e v e r to finish just one book, to the point of utter frustration. But I digress.
Uzumaki was my first Junji Ito read, though I have heard of him (and his infamous Tomie) and how great he is. The hype is well-deserved because Uzumaki was amazing. As I mentioned in the video, I am a big scaredy cat; manga, books, and video games are the only mediums I'm capable of ingesting when it comes to the horror genre. However, I've only come across a handful of entries in the print format that have given me the spooks. (Then again, I prolly haven't read enough.) Uzumaki was definitely something that went beyond gruesome and creepy. It made me shudder at times, both because I was getting grossed and creeped out. So, so good. I bow down to Junji Ito.
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley was something I picked up from Booktube. I've never read the Scott Pilgrim series (though I want to -- I'm just stingy) nor have I seen the film, but I know everybody loves it so I figured something from the same creator would be good. I saw an open copy of Seconds at the bookstore, skimmed through it, felt a tug on my heartstrings, and it was then did I decide I was finally going to get it. The whole second chances theme and wanting do-overs really struck me, and it really made me thinking about a lot of things and the mysteries of the universe, especially at the point I am in my life right now, so I ended up enjoying Seconds much more than I had anticipated.
Plus, it has a pretty sweet cover and dust jacket, so you can't go wrong with that.
Also mentioned in the video was the fact that I got myself an e-reader! One of the books I read with it was I'll Tell You a Secret, Jackalope by Matthew Vandrew. It was more of a short story than anything, and only took me a few minutes to read, but it was definitely something different. It was so... weird and loopy, with slightly similar vibes to Alice in Wonderland, except with werewolf-esque scenarios and a gay couple at a museum.
One of the books I was really looking forward to reading on my e-reader was Valentine's Day of the Undead by Stacey Jay. This is a novella to the Megan Berry series, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I had a lot of fun delving back into that universe. While it was great getting to meet up with Megan and co., it still wasn't enough to sate my desire for a true conclusion to the saga, especially since this was only a novella. I still want more, but ah well, what can I do...
The Labyrinth was something I acquired from the author himself. I was really drawn to the premise of four, dysfunctional main characters, and how each of them have their own special quirk that involves one of the five senses. My favorite character was definitely Zack, because he's such a cocky piece of wit with the best comebacks. These four main characters eventually find out that they all had a history with one another, having been reincarnated over the years (this isn't a spoiler -- it's totally in the book summary), all while continuously trying to escape their impending doom by the hands of the Guardian (a.k.a. the main antagonist).
Some parts of the book felt a little rushed, especially when the characters find each other, though I do understand it was all part of the 'omg-we-shared-a-past-life-once-upon-a-time' thing. The Guardian's characterization felt a little shaky; he didn't seem very consistent, though I'm not sure if this was intentional in order to show how messed up he is. I felt like the plot could've been just a little bit more developed, but overall it was a pretty interesting read. Thanks again to Dorian Zari for providing me with a digital copy of this!
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In other news, I have several Peter Pan books and I haven't touched any of them. Way to go, Ina.
Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk was the very first Palahniuk book I ever saw/took notice of at bookstores way back when. This was sometime in my high school life, and one of the things that really drew me towards it even all those years ago was the very mention of a porn star. (I've probably always been a secret pervy sage.) I finally got around to it, and as I mentioned in my video, it really made me wonder if anyone managed to contract an STD while on set. I mean, this was one woman's goal of having 600 sexual acts caught on film. Surely having that many sexual relations in such a short period of time (the entirety of the whole filming process that takes place in the book is just the span of a day) could lead to something, right? (Spoiler alert: DEATH.)
I liked how this was told in different perspectives -- about three of four, three of which were the perspectives of men who were participating in the whole 600 project. What really blew me away was the plot twist at the end; you think the first plot twist was the climax of the story and the rest of the book was just a matter of tying some loose ends here and there, but lo and behold, there's even a bigger plot twist that totally debunks the former changes everything altogether. I totally didn't see it coming.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Other Stories by Karen Russell was something I brought with me on an out of town trip because I wanted a light read on the beach. Thing is, a lot of the short stories in this book were a little twisted -- sometimes kooky -- where the very last story got totally dark and somewhat eerie. That last story used bullying as a central element, and that kind of got me in the gut. There was a sense of cruelty that seemed so unfair yet so real, and anybody who ever got bullied in their lives could probably relate.
Besides the books photographed above, I also wrapped up The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch as part of my reads for January. Between Snuff and Vampires, I began reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (hence my wanting to read something 'light' for the aforementioned beach trip), but as of this post, I have yet to even get halfway into the book. I keep on putting it down and never reading it continuously for some reason. I really hope to finish it before my birthday, at least.
I wouldn't quite call this a quick shoot, seeing as the makeup took about two hours. Shot this on the last day of February, so I managed to squeeze in at least one shoot last month.
We filmed the entire makeup process sans the application of false lashes, because that alone probably took another hour. (Nah, not really. But it took too much time to be recorded.) Filming at Alex's is so much fun because her white background makes everything look so... clean. That, and it's a lot more spacious than what I'm used to.
The image above was our basis for the makeup. It's not a direct recreation or anything; it was more of our inspiration. I just found this floating around the internet, and I don't really know who took this picture or who worked on the makeup. If anyone knows, please enlighten me!
Alex initially found the makeup look to be very Picasso-meets-Dali-esque when I sent her a sample, and then she began making peacock references once I did the actual look on her. Later that night, we played a round of Kings with a couple of our friends, which led to the special participation of mayonnaise, lipstick application ala Miranda Sings, and myself getting the last king card after audibly (read: obnoxiously) taunting the others in hopes of anyone else getting to drink the king's cup.
Moral of the story is to never wish harm upon other people. Or maybe just keep those ill feelings to yourself. Thanks again, Alex!
Naw I'm lying. I just never got around to blogging about this trip. We went to Pico sometime last month; meanwhile, I got back from another Batangas beach trip just last week. (The latter went undocumented for unknown reasons.)
Oh look it's da parentals. Hi parentals.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. I dunno what it is about the beach that makes reading so damn chill, but there was just something about the sound of the waves and the setting sun that made for a great late afternoon read.
On that note, the entire trip was pretty chill.
The place had this ace lake (pond?) where you could feed some fishes. Honestly, it felt like a big set up for some horror flick. With the many facilities this place had (a karaoke place, bowling alley, kids daycare, etc.), it almost felt like I was just waiting for a cult to come and murder me. Guests arrive, they get brainwashed, and before they know it they're in some freaky Human Centipede meets Hostel kind of situation.
Members of the resort could meanwhile massacre guests (ala Hostel), the hierarchy of which was dictated by your wealth in terms of which room you booked. I joked that the dead remains and bodies were dumped in the huge lake. (It got pretty creepy at night, and I almost half-expected some limb to reach out to me from the depths of the lake.)
Inside housed some framed pencil art installation. I don't know why, but they made me think of Ana.
Getting away from the city brings you closer to the stars. It made me happy... and it also made me wish I had a dSLR with those screens that flip out.
There was this hanging bridge that was insanely wobbly, and it led to a small patch of land in the middle of the lake. We first discovered it at night, and it got a little creepy, especially after I -- still running on the whole cult thing -- joked that the small island was where the 'sacrifices' took place to summon some kind of demon lord, or maybe to appease the cult leader.
SHRUG You never really know. Especially since this place is owned by da hotshots a.k.a. SM Group.
But hey, spotted in SONYA'S GARDEN OF ALL PLACES was my favorite shirt ever.
The cardinal rule of Sonya's Garden is to never leave without at least one picture of flowers. I broke this rule the last time I went there.
Tagaytay was crazy traffic on the way home, so we took some other, obscure (and freezing) route that led to the Marcos house. Very interesting. Very haunting.
There is also a video, because why wouldn't there be a video?
Here is a video of some snippets from my shoot with Alex, which mostly involves putting on makeup at the speed of light, and an annoying child:
And then there is this gorgeous BTS vid from my shoot with Ana, c/o the wonderful Carlos:
There are also some snippets in that video that give you a ~*~sneak peek~*~ into Vol. II of the shoot, hoho. Carlos takes SUCH great BTS videos; he also made one from one of my thesis shoots, which you can find here. I especially love his ambient shots; they really set the mood and give a more artistic feel to behind-the-scenes footage.
I've always loved BTS stuff from shoots. They're always so insightful and just generally fun to watch. Thanks again to Terry for helping out with BTS and the shoot itself with Alex, and to Carlos for the same with Ana's shoot!
Also, a video showing other books I got in November:
Not that I read a whole lot or anything. I fell sick for the first week of November, and while you might think that such a situation would've been a perfect opportunity to catch up on my reading, whooo boy, lemme tell you, it totally wasn't. This was the kind of sick with a high fever that induced a migraine for two days. It was not cool at all. Nevertheless, I at least still managed to get some reading done.
Deets under the cut, and no spoilers, so it's all safe.
I've never filmed a book haul before -- or any haul, for that matter. The extent of my ~*~hauling~*~ has always just been on this blog, and it typically involved makeup. Somehow I feel just a little more comfortable talking about books than makeup, at least verbally.
Editing this was such a nightmare though. There was just... so much... of my face... I wanted to puke. Seriously, and I think this needs to be said, but YouTubers who make videos of themselves talking or whatever for a living have got some serious self-confidence. Maybe they're just used to it, but I do believe you've got to have at least some degree of self-love to edit videos of yourself without it being extremely uncomfortable. I hardly have any love for myself, but the fact that I managed to put this up in one piece should at least be saying something, right?
I'd also like to reiterate that most of these books were not bought at full price nor were most of them brand new. Out of the pile, about 6 were brand new, one of which still had a small discount. So I think that explains the excessive number of books (and I need not repeat my Battle Royale story, though mentioning it is enough of a perpetuation). Compared to a lot of other booktubers though, this number of books in three months is nothing. I've seen several others who have amassed so much more than this in just ONE MONTH. (In one other person's case, just THREE DAYS. Let that sink in for a moment.)
I dunno about you, but talking about books is really enjoyable. I also feel like book hoarding is a lot more justifiable/a lot less susceptible to judgement than makeup hoarding, because at least books are more... brain-stimulating, so to say. And books have a much longer shelf life, too. Literally, because unlike makeup, books have no expiration date.
In hindsight, I'm pretty glad I got to vlog every month of 2013 (save September, a.k.a. The Dengue Month as I incessantly mention too often), because I haven't actually been able to document much of my life anymore. Mostly because my everyday life is pretty boring, so having been able to travel a lot in 2013 really worked in my vlogging favor.
Anyway, I scrummaged several clips that were left unposted, mostly from February and March. I decided I'd just put them together since there weren't enough clips to produce a standalone video for each month.
It's pretty all over the place, featuring the Lang Leav book signing, a little bit of travel, and random tidbits of home life.
Pictured above are books whose titles hold significance in the Terina friendship.
And of course, obligatory picture with Lang Leav herself. Alex was with us as well, though there is only evidence of such in the video. I find that it's fitting for me to post this now of all times, as Lang Leav's Lullabies book is out already. I intend to get a copy of my own, though as of late I have yet to do so, mostly because I'm lazy (read: stingy) since there was a bit of a disconnect between myself and Love and Misadventure.
I went to La Union for the first time, met some cool people, and took lots of pictures that aren't worth (nor probably allowed) posting since I was there for work.
Early mornings are only really pleasant when you don't have to get up for work.
One day, en route to my aunt's house, the sky was breathtaking. This picture was taken in front of a church, and looking back, maybe that was God trying to tell me to renew my faith or some kind of holy sign for something in my life. I don't really know.
I remember that being such a nice time in my life though. I miss it.
Earlier this month, Terry took it upon herself to invite us over to her place. It was a pleasant evening of screaming, cartoons, Easter-esque M&Ms, LOTS OF FOOD, more screaming, and maybe some mild profanity, as per usual.
Terry's mom was not amused.
Beau and I were, though.
And so were Billie and I, but I can't say the same for Stephy.
THESE ALBINO M&Ms WERE SO GOOD MAN. They were white chocolate M&Ms. WHITE CHOCOLATE!!!!!
We prolly shoulda taken a group photo, but here's a video instead. Also, yes, I do have a new lens! I think the last time I blogged about a new lens was when I was still on LJ, but I'd rather not delve so much into the deets. All you need to know is that this lens is a lotta fuuuun.
And on that note, you know who to call for a good time. WENK WONK
Early this June my family and I went to Boracay as a sort of joint birthday celebration for my mom and I. The last time I was in Boracay was in the summer of 2012; that trip was something I wish I could relive, not only because summer of that year was great, but also because I FELL SICK IN THE LATTER OF HALF OF THAT TRIP NOT COOL BEANS.
My cousin was insistent that I could NOT leave without having tried this drink from this one... bar. I don't even remember the name of the drink nor where it came from. I think this is a jar of Weng-Weng?
There's also this vlog, which isn't much to be honest, besides a bunch of shaky clips underwater. I was testing out my shiny new ~*~GoPro~*~ (I know, so very #laboracay #summer2014 #gopro of me), hence the really random, nonsensical video.
Some old footage from June. Mae, Alex, Stephy and I decided to hold a joint birthday celebration since our birthdays were pretty close to each other (Mae, Alex and I in May; Stephy in early June) and also because our group hadn't seen each other in a while.
Besides that vlog, here are just a few other pictures:
