A list of dramas, movies and tanpatsu for personal reference, or if you really want to know what I watch. I don't know if I want to do this for anime, because my school's anime club usually follows one or two series per term and shows parts of other series to fill in the rest. (Also, I think growing up Asian-American kind of required me to watch anime, so I can't pinpoint - earlier than Sailor Moon, anyway - when I started watching anime.

( Cut for length )

A similar master list of fanworks I've done will be up soon.

I'm hella late for this but I'll just go ahead and start it anyway even though February only has 28 days XDDDDDDDD. Links to previous posts will go up as the days go by.

Day 01 ~> Your favorite song
Day 02 ~> Your favorite movie
Day 03 ~> Your favorite television program
Day 04 ~> Your favorite book
Day 05 ~> Your favorite quote
Day 06 ~> Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 ~> A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 ~> A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 ~> A photo you took
Day 10 ~> A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 ~> A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 ~> Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 ~> A fictional book
Day 14 ~> A non-fictional book
Day 15 ~> A fanfic
Day 16 ~> A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 ~> An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 ~> Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 ~> A talent of yours
Day 20 ~> A hobby of yours
Day 21 ~> A recipe
Day 22 ~> A website
Day 23 ~> A YouTube video
Day 24 ~> Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 ~> Your day, in great detail
Day 26 ~> Your week, in great detail
Day 27 ~> This month, in great detail
Day 28 ~> This year, in great detail
Day 29 ~> Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 ~> Whatever tickles your fancy

I'll post the image later, but here's a picture of my uncle and me (age 3). I called him "Tatang" (Kapampangan for "Dad") because he was my eldest aunt's husband and I'd been entrusted to them while my mother was in America. He doted on me like I was truly his youngest, but somehow after I left for America I never really got all that close to him anymore. Then, when I was fourteen, he died of cancer - his chain-smoking had finally caught up to him - and I was crushed because I realised how precious he really was to me.

His death anniversary is next Wednesday - Ash Wednesday, ironically enough. It's also my mother's birthday - we had gone to the Philippines to celebrate her birthday, and it turned out he was only waiting for me to come home before he died. I went to see him as soon as I landed, and promptly fell asleep afterwards, and when I woke up the next morning at 4 AM he was dead.

I like to imagine he's forgiven me, eight years after his death, for not being as close as I could have. I figure he knows that I was just a little girl and didn't know any better.

(click to enlarge)

Me with Carine Roitfeld, the editrix of Vogue Paris, outside the Yves Saint Laurent fashion show, Paris Fashion Week, Winter 2008. This was a dream come true, and emblematic of my entire Paris experience - the entire stay was a dream come true, full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences like this. This moment stands out most because fashion/style is an essential part of my life if not my being. Plus, I never in my life thought the great Carine would deign to take a picture with a fat American girl like me lol... not my best shot, but I was so awed by her that I didn't dare ask for a retake XD

After I met her, I couldn't stop shaking for thirty minutes; Paris itself already means so much to me, but for someone who pretty much taught herself how to read through fashion, meeting the editor of Vogue Paris means the world.

I haven't watched any of my favourites in a long time, but I'd have to say The X-Files (the first one), Funny Face, Center Stage and Mean Girls. Ten years ago I would've said just The X-Files but as time went by I began to make a small list of movies I really, really, really loved rather than choosing just one favourite.

( a little tl;dr, like every post I write about something I like )

Asking me what my absolute favourite song ever is a difficult task because I am someone who lives and breathes music. I mean, asking me to choose from the hundreds of thousands of songs I've heard in twenty-two years... although I would probably say that the one song I never, ever get tired of is Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I remember the first time I heard it and immediately falling in love with it. I had grown up with Journey songs (especially since I'm from the Bay Area), but for some reason my dad never played this one (or I never noticed him doing so) until I was thirteen. I was learning the drums (and the guitar, and had been taking piano lessons since the age of seven) and this song just spoke to me. Say what you will about 80s music, and about Journey, but this song is an absolute masterpiece. Epic, soaring, jubilant - a song made to dream to and to scream out. A true anthem.

I posted a live version from the Shoreline Amphitheatre because (1) you all know what this song sounds like (if you don't, there's Youtube) (2) this performance is very special to me as I was actually there with (practically) my entire family - including my dad, whose birthday we were celebrating at the time, especially since it was his first birthday in three years not spent in the hospital - and (3) this features Arnel Pineda as lead singer. As AP grew up on the mean streets of Manila and is now filling arenas around the world as part of Journey, this is the most meaningful rendition of the song for me, a Filipino Journey fan. The roar of the crowd just adds to the whole experience, as this song is meant to be blasted at full volume while everyone screams out the lyrics with true exuberance and abandon. IDGAF what anyone thinks of Journey, or Pineda's addition to the band - it was one of the best nights ever. This is arena rock par excellence.

It's still the twenty-fifth where I am, so yeah, Sho's birthday. I don't want to get too bopperish about it but I really am happy for him. Twenty-seven was a very good year for Sho in general, and this is the year that I really started to pay attention to him (due to Yatterman, Quiz Show, News Zero, his general awesomeness, his supreme fail, etc.) to the point that he rose to second-favourite status (I don't think anyone can knock Jun, although Sho is very very close).

( In which Joanne fangirls more about someone else in Arashi than Jun, for once... but when even Jun fangirls over him, you know he's gotta be good )

But for all the things that Sho has done this year, I can't wait until he becomes prime minister of Japan. I just know he's going to run someday, and I'll be able to look back and tell my kids "I knew him when he was just a really smart pop star who acted in dramas on weekends, delivered the news on Mondays and then spent the rest of the week doing stupid shit on TV with his band for laughs..." It's going to be hilarious looking back on his epic idol career when he assumes the highly respected office of prime minister.

... Yes, I am enjoying Sho's day and the AnAn very much (the #perfectbody twitter storm was epically hilarious, even though most of it was by people who completely missed the point of the project, namely, Sho). If anyone needs me... I'll be in my bunk.

Just got back from Utada's first ever San Francisco concert at the Fillmore! The Fillmore is a time-honoured San Francisco institution and playing there is a great milestone for many bands. Here's the setlist, with some notes from me:

( Here we go )

All in all, a good thirty dollars (+$12 user tax by Livedaily... bitches) spent. Oh, and a Tokyo Tea that cost $10.75 before tip, but this is Utada we're talking about. I had to toast her in style, and it was either that or a Manhattan. I much preferred the Tokyo Tea, although bartenders tend to make it with too much tequila and not enough Midori. Oh well. I got my money's worth - a wonderful performance by Utada, a rare chance to see the J-pop legend in San Francisco, a great time at the Fillmore save for the time I got bitched out by security for ostensibly using my cameraphone when I was making a text message, new friends (yeah, girl who was snarking about my friends not finding me, I eventually found them in the end lol), an autograph and mini Portuguese lesson from the lovely Rafael, and an unforgettable return to live music in the Bay after coming back from college. The waiting in the rain was totally worth it, especially since I had a great conversation with everyone, a nice warm mocha from the Starbucks round the corner, and a bomb-ass panini (or panino, as it is properly called in Italian; hot pastrami and Swiss with lettuce, tomato and free avocado from the nice sandwich lady who told me stories about how her son hates avocado. lol). Sure, I didn't get an apple and a limited edition (like, one-night-only limited edition) Utada poster - as is traditional at the Fillmore - or hear "Flavor of Life," but that's ok. It's not like I can't visit the Fillmore anymore, especially as I hit J-Town at least every other week nowadays. I do wish I had gotten a Fillmore poster for Nick Carter seven years ago though haha