Geez. One-hour breaks are really, really awful.

ANYWAY! Making a quick post so you guys will know: if you guys want to, I can sing stuff for you for Christmas ♥ I'm posting this early so you guys can send in your requests for me to study before I sing.

For those who haven't heard me yet, just to give you a brief description-- I'm an alto, who used to sing soprano, so I've got some range :3 I'm more trained in classical singing so I'm not very good at pop unless I'm singing at my chest tone which is... uh... pretty low. And just to give you an idea, if I was to cover one artist's whole repertoire-- I'd probably say Cher or Queen. XDD I can cover Kanon Wakeshima, too. But I think I'm best at ballads, jazz or just plain slow songs ♥

Oh! And I usually prefer to sing in Megurine Luka or Kagamine Len's range if you're into Vocaloid XDD

So, got a song you'd like me to sing? Just post away ♥ I promise to have something recorded for you before Christmas ♥

[EDIT] A quick reference!
1. Consider if you'd like me to sing for you ♥
2. If yes, then give me your request and a link to the song on YouTube or a download so I can study it :3
3. Wait for it...
4. I'll have something recorded for you before Christmas, hopefully XD

*Depending on the song, I might just cover it in a capella.

Lol, since I've just been told that these have been going around lately again...

Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 unlimited 8D holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

②
Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it. You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call. There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

( My Wishlist )

Apparently the only character I'm really good at playing is myself.

It's been a while since I've taken my time sitting in front of my personal library: two columns of five square shelves of dark hard wood, housing so many books that some even have to be piled on top of neatly arranged rows of them.

It's been a while since I've felt the magnetic pull of learning and the coziness of simply drowning in words. The last time I actually did visit a library was only for thesis materials. Although I do love libraries in general, there's something much different about being with your own personal library.

So, there I was, sitting by the first row of shelves: the dustiest books. This was where I kept old school materials: textbooks and notebooks. I was putting my Japanese text books (Genki I and II) back into the shelf and rediscovered two things-- my white Japanese dictionary (with Kanji, making it the most useful) and my long-lost Ladlad 3. Yeah, I collect Danton Remoto's books. I've got all the Ladlad anthologies and his book of essays, Gaydar. I have yet to acquire a book of his poems (I love his powers of description to death) and the book of horror stories he edited. Simply holding Ladlad 3 in my hands reminded me of that.

Then I look up and wonder what other things have I yet to acquire. Heck, there is so much I haven't even finished reading: A thick tome of War and Peace that I haven't touched since my high school days, a whole lot of plastic-covered books that haven't been exposed to the outside air outside their store-bought confines...

Yet there will always be some entries that I'd love to keep coming back to. It's like singing Manila:

Back to your arms, Manila. Promise me you'll never let go.

By now, everything I'm typing is but a stream of consciousness. But I'm no James Joyce or Virginia Woolf.

I guess it's about time I go back to the work at hand: papers.

I'll come back to your arms again soon, my library.

And my brain flashes back to lectures in Literary Criticism on deconstruction, debating on whether writing was superior to speech. Or was it the other way around? Either way, the conclusion came that both were on equal grounds due to one being simply a variation of the other.

I don't think it's on equal grounds when it comes to me. Sometimes, especially when I'm most tired or pressured, the words that come out of my mouth are but gibberish that only I can understand. Or they are but half-realized ideas, coming half-baked from the oven of my mind. Speech sometimes is a draining experience for me as sometimes my brain refuses to cooperate, only comprehending another's words at a very slow rate, making me take some seconds before actually replying.

I've always found myself more expressive through writing. It's only here when the sentiment is stronger-- when I am free to be angry or express nothing but raw emotion without the problematic that expressing it in sound would bring. Yet at the same time, writing empowers me by giving me more time to comprehend ideas in my head, and thus ideas are clearer and sometimes they come out beautifully through there.

Yet, there are times that sound is needed.
There are times when words will fail and leave me colder than I was before writing.
There are times when I would like to scream out the gibberish in my head-- to not bother to filter.

For sound is something you can let go of. Silence is but a knife that digs into you bit by bit.

Hello writing,

I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been all this time? Tonight, I think I'll shut off the world for a moment and spend a little time with you, for old times sake. The world within a world I've built had been rebuilt, bit by bit, from the ruins they once were some years ago.

Will you tour them with me? Let us explore them. Even for just one night.

( Moon )

I am very convinced that the Volks "paw" hands are one of the best hands ever...
Next to those half-closed hands that Ulalume has XD Those are perfect for holding little PSPs.

I'm a day late, but I still want to greet Lauren (pithetaphish) a very happy birthday! X3 I hope your move went smoothly! ♥



Meanwhile, I haven't gotten Ichigo any decent casual clothes, so I'll be going cloth-shopping today :3 But then I decided to have some fun taking photos with her before I get ready to go.

( Icchan Spam! )

I HAVE A NEW TOY 8D Lol. Yeah. I installed Vocaloid2 to my external HD today and I've totally fallen in love with it. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, though, to fiddle with the phonemes and make male voices out of a soprano voice.

But yeah, the world needs more classical music loving :<

Sooooo, here, I present to you guys-- a short clip of a choir made of all Prima voices 8D Prima isn't a very popular Vocaloid and is usually background vocals, but I found her perfect for choir arrangements, more harmonious than the other Vocaloids-- although I think I'd want to download a mature male Vocaloid like Gakupoid... or... uh... I don't know if Leon has an okay quality. XD;;

But yeah =3= Here's a portion of John Pamintuan's "Pater Noster".

I've affectionately nicknamed Prima's derivatives XDD
My alto Prima is Segunda, my tenor Prima is Terzio and my fail!bass is Quatre XDDD

I really need a better bass XD;;

Okay, so I've never shared it here on LJ, but it's been quite a crazy June. First of all, I moved dorms. Away from the comfortable yet capitalist dorm and into the strange world of the University Residences inside of the campus. I still haven't gotten used to it, honestly. I'm still very much used to the system inside of MyPlace. And the University Residences make for a very different world. But I'll definitely get used to it in time. I don't have constant internet there, though. Apparently I have to ask for it to be installed myself.

In other events, around the second week of the school year, my grandfather (on my mother's side) died of heart failure. We did see it coming as his body was already deteriorating from diabetes and such, but it was still a sudden death. And for a week, everything has gone into a stand-still. His funeral was yesterday. And that day was also the birthday of my eldest guy cousin, also on my mom's side.

Maita, a friend of mine who I met though Marts and Cat, asked if we were close. I said that I couldn't say so, but we-- my family and my grandfather-- lived in the same house for a large part of my life, until I was 17. And then she hugged me and went, "You were close."

I guess she had a point there.

Let's have some contemplative Lumie shots under the cut.

( Soft sunlight in a bare, new dorm. )

I remember that the last time I came to Zambales, I took Emiko with me :D Now, I took Ulalume with me this time around...



( +8 more photos without plot or reason! )

I honestly think this is the worst semester for me, ever. Never have I shown so much emoness (and too little doll photos) on my LJ. But then again, I think I can blame Plurk and Twitter for eating up all my positive vibes.

Perhaps positive vibes are things you'd like to share immediately, so you don't find yourself so excited to elaborate on them over here on LJ. But maybe it was really the lack of those happy vibes circulating that brought me down as a whole this year.

Hm. Let's have a discussion, then, to get the happy vibes going--

What was the happiest moment you've felt this year so far? :3

Although it's been a while since I've posted regularly on LJ, here I am with something I've missed doing the most: doing a proper photoshoot with Lu XD


( So, what's under the Christmas tree this year? )

Merry Christmas to you all, LJ friends! :D

Speaking of time to give to friends, I suddenly feel all guilty that I haven't been able to keep a close enough eye on LJ as I should have. I have so many friends and things to see here, so why should I not keep my eye on it?

Siiiigh. This is when many social networking sites threaten to steal away all your attention. Quite sad :( I feel a little worse since distancing myself from LJ distances myself from some selected people who aren't on the sites I usually visit.

And come to think of it, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything with Lu here... well then, maybe I should tomorrow, as a sort of Christmas present :)

I miss you all, LJ-friends~ Especially those who I don't get to see on Plurk or Facebook.

As technology fails and leaves me in the barren seat of reality, I find solace in the pages of books I have almost forgotten if not for my being a student of Literature. If I was not a Literature major, I would have sworn that by now, I would be clenching my teeth in sheer irritation, waiting for this machine and the wires attached to it to link me to the rest of the world I know and love.

But the books have returned me to what I have missed: this silence, this peacefulness, this profound solemnity that only some time taken amidst the rush of time, the ticking of the clock and pressure of schedules brings about. I will never stop being in love with reading. I regret many times that my imagination has seemed to die: choked by work and stress. Even in my singing, sometimes I forget that I am engaged in an art, making visions out of sound.

In the silence of my mind sometimes, as I gaze upon the sheet music that makes no sense to those who do cannot read the language that is understood by all when "spoken", my heart wraps itself around the invisible sound. Every fortissimo, a swell of passion! The movements, rhythm, all contributing to the ebb and flow of an emotion. Rubato, it says here, robbing time from another note to express a little hesitation that only sound can convey. And the decrescendo, a falling sound-- fading into the space of silence. Every single note a touch of expression, a touch of color. It creates a beautiful tapestry: how black against white could translate into a colorful woven masterpiece of sound.

Focus is a hard thing for me and I admit I have no sense of it. Not even this entry has a real focus to it as I jump from thought to thought. But I know my heart embraces these moments of sheer romanticism. Call me old-fashioned for all I care, but leave me to my music and my books and I will be happy.

It's been a while since I've updated my LJ and I do feel rather bad for doing that XD; And a little bit worse that when I come back, I do it with an update involving a list. Sigh.

But to add a little more content before the rest of the post:
I just returned from the Take and Receive concert in Ateneo tonight. Man! That was a tiring performance for me. I felt like I poured out all of myself in it. WOW. The lights against my back were scorching in sharp contrast to the cool breeze entering the church. It felt so good to be singing with so much passion. It was almost like an out of body experience. I love love loved it.

Sometime, I'll repost here pictures that a friend of mine took during the concert :3

But for now, fufufu! Christmas wishlist time!

1. Unusual rings and colorful bangles
2. Ornate headbands, either mod or 80's retro or vintage.
3. Lolita items
4. Things for Ulalume (which is basically anything that fits a doll of her size)
5. Dorrie monies
6. New make-up, preferably from Maybelline.
7. Make-up tools (Suesh brushes? Teehee!)
8. A new planner XD Hopefully one with LAAAARGE spaces for me to scribble in like last year's Starbucks planner.
9. Anything that stands out X3

... but most of all, I just want to have time for my family and friends after this intensely busy season :)

First of all, I realize how much could happen in a little moment of reading entries here on LJ. I once just browsed through one page of my f-list and all of a sudden-- BAM!-- 15 new responses on Plurk, a few new emails in my two main mailboxes and some IMs to answer. But I think it really does pay to take some time off from the busy-ness of all these other ways to get in touch with people to read through other stuff that had been happening in your friends lives. And usually those recorded here on LJ are the more contemplative types. It's really interesting :) Sometimes you have those semi-shallow things like things to do lists or little bursts of emotion, but sometimes you find some diamonds in the rough.

I blame you, Abby, for getting me into a contemplative mood XP

And about what, you may ask?

Presents :3

I'm an incredibly horrible gift-giver. Call me a Scrooge, if you wish. When it comes to buying stuff, sometimes I think about my friends, but I worry so much about a cost of an item. As much as I enjoy giving things to people, I don't enjoy the feeling of my pockets being emptied.

Which is why most likely, my presents this year would fall under this theme:
You're someone special to me, so I'll give you a little bit of my time... and money.

I think it's an apt thing considering how busy I always am ^^; I want to spend at least an hour with all my favorite people this Christmas-- and if possible, try to treat them to something edible? Or even just a small token of gratitude? Of course, I guess there'll always be some special mentions, but eh. I think somehow, making time for everyone I love is something very important to me.

I remember that back in high school, I was such a lonely kid that I'd lavishly spoil whoever were my friends at that time with goodies, but nowadays, I find it harder and harder to give physical presents with the more people I become close to, even more so get in touch with them all in person just to spend a little more time with them away from the net.

"Time is precious," they say :) I think my parents, most especially, will really appreciate it when I make time for them.

This was one epic first day :D I think I've got a great line-up of classes this sem. All looks really peachy and I'm especially looking forward to more classes with Gemino Abad X3 Speaking of which, he said something about literature that is written down as truly significant instances of human expression.

Then, does a blog entry count?

It kind of makes me wonder if we'll be taking that up in Creative Writing class. I'm pretty excited for it, too :D

Lately, most of my life's been recorded down on Plurk and in time, I eventually forget the joy of writing in long-winded passages and ramblings that don't have any limit. The world of the internet becomes such a sad place in time... everything becomes so fast that you forget to take a moment, even on a laptop, to close the rest of your tabs (or simply ignore them) and write a good long-winded journal entry.

A recollection of memory in tranquility: that's what it is. It's not exactly poetry, but at least on a blog, you have time to think-- time for yourself, time not to care about the n responses you have to answer.

I guess then, this LJ does need a lot more love than just this :D

(Nabbed from gothatheartholo)

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
hibiemi goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as a Harajuku fairy princess!.
alathariel gives you 10 light yellow watermelon-flavoured pieces of taffy.
allemarthe gives you 12 red apple-flavoured gummy bats.
angstxiety tricks you! You lose 20 pieces of candy!
croix_souillees gives you 19 mottled green orange-flavoured gummy bats.
eldritch00 tricks you! You get a wad of paper.
frostedberry gives you 19 light blue coconut-flavoured gummy worms.
hamster_friend tricks you! You get a rotten egg.
miztylaneous gives you 8 dark green strawberry-flavoured pieces of taffy.
semeru gives you 14 mottled green strawberry-flavoured pieces of taffy.
hibiemi ends up with 62 pieces of candy, a wad of paper, and a rotten egg.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

Heehee! Candy! :D I can't help but be terribly amused that Sir Andrew gave me a wad of paper, though XDD Ooh! Let's try this again...

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
hibiemi goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Ulalume's doll with Ulalume as my owner.
arbitrarytrash gives you 2 purple blueberry-flavoured jawbreakers.
arsenicgraffiti gives you 6 yellow grape-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
erellim gives you 11 softly glowing root beer-flavoured pieces of chewing gum.
jylichan gives you 14 light orange licorice-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
kammikins tricks you! You lose 20 pieces of candy!
pithetaphish gives you 7 red-orange coffee-flavoured nuggets.
quavi gives you 5 orange blueberry-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
tala_at_buwan gives you 1 softly glowing chocolate-flavoured pieces of taffy.
twilight_legend tricks you! You lose 25 pieces of candy!
vox_veritas gives you 5 orange coffee-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
hibiemi ends up with 6 pieces of candy.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

Lycoris! Sammy! Why you steal my candy? D8 Well, anyway, this makes up for a crappy Halloween spent at home u_u