Monday, September 6, 2010

When Film Fuses with Art


Being a media arts graduate, movies are something very interesting to me. But when asked what my favorite among all of them is, I find myself mentioning only one movie, and that is What Dreams May Come. There are just so many scenes that can translate to a marvelous painting, actually, the ENTIRE movie does! I have always liked watching Robin Williams’ films, but this one definitely caught me.

With a powerhouse cast that includes Robin Williams, Max Von Sydow and Cuba Gooding, Jr., the plot depicts the story of a man’s realization after his untimely death that his heaven resembles one of his wife’s magnificent paintings. Chris Neilson (Robin Williams) is eventually advised of his wife, Annie’s death, and begins a quest to go through Hell to get her back as “suicides go to Hell”.

Vincent Ward successfully delivers the film by merging the story of a skilled novelist and the artistic perceptions of an expert painter. Bringing to life a story of a Love that conquers even death in the brightest of colors and the most dramatic methods. For people who have a great appreciation of paintings and a passion for stories dripping with emotion, this film is a winner.


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Phoenix Sunset


One late afternoon, she walked along the bay with a friend. It was the fairest of days when the wind was gentle and the skies were beginning to be painted with streaks of gold, red, orange and yellow. The clouds looked no more like thin feathers laying upon an abstract piece of painting.

In front of them was a clear paved walkway, a bench waiting at the end. It was his first time to have stepped on Philippine soil. It was his first time breathing the air she always breathed in. It was his first time to ever hold her tiny hands in his.

"There has always been something I wanted to show you..." said the girl with a smile.

"What is it?"

"It's not yet here..."

"You never told me your ring size."

Quietly, she ripped off a piece of loose thread from her shirt, and tied it around her left ring finger. She held up her hand with a smile she was always fond of giving him and replied,

"...there...that should do for now...hmm?"

She looked over his shoulder and added, "oh wait...there it is... close your eyes."

"Why? I don't want to!"

"Just close them..." she said with a laugh,

"Make me."

"Fine." She stood behind him and put both her small hands over his eyes.

He did not understand why he needed to be told to close his eyes when all he had to do was turn around and look. He kept tugging at her wrists, asking her to take her hands off his eyes.

"Just wait." she said calmly.

He kept his hands clasped at her wrists even after she took them off. In front of his eyes, laid the first ever Philippine sunset he has ever seen...that of which looked more like a magnificent painting breathed into life. Before his eyes was an image of what seemed to be a depiction of perfect symmetry, as the perfect roundness of the sun was clearly visible, in yellow and orange hue that did not in any way hurt his eyes, about to lay on a bed of cerulean waters. It seemed like a portrayal of the sun leaving behind a trace of light for that one moon he has often sought but seldom reached.

In the sky flew the flocks of seagulls, and the steady shifting of paper thin clouds...

He pulled his hands down causing her to move her head closer to his, and in the softest voice he heard her whisper... "Isn't she beautiful?"

Leaning his head back to look up and into her eyes and see a reflection of the sunset from them, he replied:

"Yes. She IS."



Friday, March 12, 2010

Love Not Just The Love But the Lover

WRITTEN ORIGINALLY BY MARY KIMBERLY DARVIN
Dated October 24, 2009


Love not the eyes but the look they give,
Love not the skin but the touch it brings
Love not the voice but the sound it makes,
Love not the kiss but the affection it carries
Love not the embrace but the safety it implies.

Love not the touch but the sincerity it means
Love not the words but the truth they carry
Love not the presence but the existence it proves
Love not the laughter but the mirth it brings
Love not the hugs but the passion they embody.

Love not the frown but the sadness that proves them real
Love not the tears but how they fall from their cheek
Love not the times when he puts his head on your shoulder but the trust he has that brings him to do so
Love not his cries but the authenticity of his feelings
Love not his mind but the thoughts of you that make him in love with you.

Love not the times when he forbids to do things but his sense of protectiveness for you
Love not the times when he says no but the times that shows how much he cares
Love not the times when you bicker and fight but the times that prove you have complimenting ideas
Love not the many times he says he loves you, but the many times he means every word.
Love not the many times he says he cares for you, but the many times he does little things to show you how it is so.

Love not the way he asks if you're okay, but the way he worries when you are ill.
Love not the way he loves you the same despite the distance, but how he tries to bridge that distance
Love not the times he tells you of his stories, but the tremendous trust he has on you to let you hear them
Love not the way you met but how far you have come since then
Love not what already is, but what can be.

Love not the way he says your name, but the sense of longing that shows every time he does
Love not the many times you make him smile, but how the smile streaks across his face
Love not the many times he calls, but how he sounds when he hears your voice
Love not his mind but his heart,
Love not just his soul, but his spirit as well.

- Walking on Snow 2008


Author's note: Special thanks to those who remain unseen till now, yet continue to change lives the best way anyone could imagine.


original note can also be found at:http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=162211639925

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I have been sleepless for a couple of days now. I've been stressed out by work, with the computer at my workstation threatening to malfunction and my laptop not being able to open it because apparently it was empty. Even made me cry. XD LOL This is a WonderWoman with shallow tears, sadly. XD But this is not the reason why I write this note. I miss being a real writer. I miss being able to write about myself and what's been happening in my crazy third chance at life.

However what I am about to write of is not only meant to pertain to me, but to fellow people who could probably be in the same situation as I am. After all, we all tend to tell ourselves that we are alone and no one can fully understand us, but actually, we are not.

I believe there has always been an unending rift between friendships and relationships. They clash everytime. Sure, friendships stay often just as friendship, but the bond is never lost...the affection is always there, the laughs never fade. Relationships go to many different levels. But at times, relationships gone wrong cause two individuals to become strangers to each other...the idea of regret keeps haunting... the "should have, would have, could have" situations are everpresent.

Sure, I can admit it was wreckless of me to care for people so far away. I agreed to befriend this one person whose identity still undeniably remains a mystery to me. Of all people ME. And to think that I seem to be the only person ever to remain as patient towards him as I have always been. I chose to remain patient, because I thought maybe I could get him to see things in a different light. My recent brush with death had blessed me with this ability to see good in people in an instant. I knew there was something good in this person and it was just waiting to be brought out.

Almost two years later, and still not a single smile from him. Is it really that difficult to give someone who you say you care about a simple photograph with a real smile in it? Does it really have to come to a point where you start calling the friends idiots? (OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!!) If there is one big mistake you can make, it's calling her friends idiots, because by doing so, it is the same with calling HER an idiot as well.

Naturally, people protect their friends. I know I would do the same if it were a friend that was in my current position. Naturally they will doubt, they will wonder. But it is not because they don't like you. It is for the sole reason that they don't want their friend to get hurt. Actually, the friends are the ones you can use as "bridges" to that person, the least you could do is also get along with them and get them to approve of you too. There is no one that can convince a person other than his family and friends because that's who that person trusts the most.

Naturally, when you protect someone, you don't let people say bad things about the other person. It is natural that she will fight for you because it hurts whenever she hears people doubting people she cares about. So don't go saying, "I don't understand why you have to defend me when we both know I didn't do anything wrong." If it had been a feisty girl, she would have even said, and quoting Edward Cullen in Twilight (because it really does fit), "CAN'T YOU JUST THANK ME AND GET OVER IT?!" XD But when you go saying that her friends are idiots, how distant do you think she can possibly feel from you? Would you rather have someone who fights for you or someone who lets people say whatever they want to say and spread false things about you?

Does it have to come to a point wherein you make her feel more like a shock absorber everytime you get mad...and still call her those petnames you fondly use for her? Is it really necessary for you to try to seclude her from her friends or feel jealous towards them just because she seems to laugh or smile more when she is with them? Is it right to say "there are promises you can TRY to keep"?

I, for one, think that promising should come AFTER trying to see if you can do it or not. What is the purpose of making promises if you are not sure you can fulfill them? Promises are not something you TRY to keep. Promises are something you DO. Breaking a promise should be the last resort. But then if you're asked of something small and you promise, then it gives the other a notion that you WILL do what you say. The best example I could possibly think of as an acceptable reason for breaking a promise is that from the Armaggedon movie when Bruce Willis had to break his promise to his daughter that he was coming home! XD

When we look at relationships as single people, it all seems so wonderful. Having someone to talk to all the time, a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on or someone to spend your days with. But maybe it is about time we try to look at friendships from a different angle as well. In great friendships, you still have someone to talk to all the time, you always have a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on to, you have someone to hang out with all the time and share laughs and many more things because the level of closeness had grown over the years. Sometimes, it is better to be in great friendships than messy relationships.

In the end, the most important thing is that you are happy. Life is too short to be wasted on sadness. Live like you'll die tomorrow. :)

As the elders always said, "the more you look for love, the more it will hide from you....but when you don't look for it, that is when it will come at the most unexpected time." And as the Spice Girls used to say "If you want to be my lover, you got to get with my friends...make it last forever, friendship never ends." Who would have known they were using words of wisdom in those songs?! XD