“So you didn’t get everything you wanted… I guess nobody does.”

How did you manage to stay together for 65 years? The woman replied, “we were born in a time when if something is broken we would fix it, not throw it away.”

(It sucks that they have a beach trip next week and I can’t join because work resumes next week, right?)

1. Read a book
2. Draw Something
3. Upload photos in Facebook
4. Organize files
5. Backup files
6. Read sequel of the book
7. Eat
8. Sleep
9. Draw Something
10. Eat some more

I am definitely not complaining. But yeah, a trip to the beach – especially with this unbearable heat – would have been grand.

It’s not who you want to spend Friday night with, it’s who you want to spend all day Saturday with. (Friends with Benefits)

We had our weekend all planned out. We were supposed to pay a visit to my grandfather who lives in Los Banos, Laguna in time for his birthday. Apparently, my cousin who was staying there acquired german measles so our trip got cancelled.

Not of even the tiniest bit of help was Smart Bro which was the reason why I didn’t have Internet since Friday night. I’m usually heavily dependent on Facebook, Twitter and Google for random trip ideas but since e-loading was experiencing downtime, I didn’t have a loyal sidekick this time.

With no concrete plans in mind, we were out of ideas but we have all the time. I popped in a DVD of Before Sunrise, something Joel hadn’t fully seen before. While watching the movie, I suggested we head off to Manila to catch MV Logos Hope, the travelling ship full of books for sale. I’ve heard about the MV Doulos coming over to the Philippines before but I never got the chance to give it a visit. This time, I wanted to experience what’s in store for me inside the new ship before it leaves. With the help of Yen, Joel and I were off to the South Harbor Pier in no time.

We arrived right after lunch, when there weren’t too many people yet. We enjoyed the sight of so many books and got overwhelmed by their affordable prices. (Thank God, the conversion rate was 1:1 so I didn’t have a headache how much I should spend. LOL.) On our way out, thanks to Yen’s advice, we treated ourselves to a cup of their vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

Since we were already in the area, we went to Luneta to pay Rizal a visit. It has been such a long time since I last went there – I couldn’t even exactly remember if I had already really been there before. We walked the block and found out there was a simple water and sound show at the park.

Afterwards, we capped the day with a night swim back at the condo and we also found it necessary to watch Before Sunset – just because.

I always feel this pressure of being a strong and independent icon of womanhood, and without making it look my whole life is revolving around some guy. But loving someone, and being loved means so much to me. We always make fun of it and stuff. But isn’t everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more? (Celine, Before Sunrise)

1. Beyonce – Lay Up Under Me
2. Frou Frou – Let Go
3. She & Him – Lingering Still
4. Phoenix – Listomania
5. Lykke Li – Little Bit
6. 2NE1 – Lonely
7. Sugarfree – Los Banos
8. Phoenix – Love Like a Sunset
9. Beyonce – Love on Top

Not all love stories smell of roses and taste like expensive chocolates. Sometimes love can kill. In the case of Juan Luna and his wife Paz Pardo de Tavera their love made the front-pages of Le Figaro and all the Paris newspapers on the morning of September 24, 1892. Figaro began its story thus: “The Villa Dupont was, yesterday morning, the theater of a bloody family drama.” In a fit of jealousy, anger and other emotions that mixed into a lethal cocktail called rage, Luna shot and killed his wife Paz and his mother-in-law Juliana Gorricho. He also shot his brother-in-law Dr. Felix Pardo de Tavera who tried to intervene, Felix survived with a wound on his chest. So sensational was this story that Paris feasted on it, but it is seldom mentioned in our textbooks where Juan Luna, the artist who created the moving allegory of the colonial condition “Spoliarium,” is memorialized as a patriot. We cannot have a murderer as one of our National Heroes, so the story has been retold with Luna “accidentally” shooting these women through a locked door he tried to open with a revolver rather than keys!

Today, Ocampo continues his story on Juan Luna in ‘Pinoy Scandal’ where he reported that Luna got acquitted and even managed to receive a share of the estate left behind by her mother-in-law:

When Luna shot Juliana in the head, killing her instantly, her estate automatically passed on to her three children: Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Felix Pardo de Tavera and Paz Luna. When Luna shot Paz in the head, she fell on the bathroom floor and died almost two weeks later without regaining consciousness, thus her one-third share in Juliana Gorricho’s estate passed on to her son Andres who was a minor and thus his share in the estate could be controlled by his father Juan Luna.

He also mentioned controversial issues regarding Rizal’s will and what he left to Josephine Bracken – but Ocampo ended his article with an even more intriguing question: “Did Rizal really have a will? How was his estate divided? These are the practical matters that we often forget when we think of love and sex in Philippine history.”

Digging further, I managed to realize that one of my favorite columnists partly recycles his entries – which I’m not complaining about. Two entries mention Leonor Rivera’s “insignificant love letters” – one came out in February and another in December. Funny how Leonor ends her love letters with some sort of disclaimer, “Excuse the writing and all the mistakes you find in it. Command at your pleasure your true servant who kisses your hand.” – did our national hero like correcting her mistakes?

Today’s other interesting reads include Rina Jimenez-David’s column also about Valentine’s, a NYT review of Pinterest and Apple’s Mountain Lion.