it's my birthday and I'll blog if I want to

 

Long time, no blog post. It's hilarious how little I've written here this past semester. My only excuse is that I was busy having a stressful, inspiring, tiring, FULL experience at London Dramatic Academy. Our program ended on December 5, but since then I've been adventuring through London and Paris, taking photos like the one above. 

Tonight's my last night in London. It's also my 21st birthday. Needless to say I have loads of thoughts, too many to distill into a clear summary of what I've been through this semester. (For those curious, there's not too much to report in terms of what I did for my birthday. I walked to Notting Hill and bought too many Christmas gifts, had excellent Japanese takeout along with a bottle of my favorite cider, made pumpkin custard, and chatted with my temporary flat mates. So basically livin the life.)

Over winter break, I'll post more thorough photo essays from my time abroad, but for now I'll say this: I'm bursting with gratitude. Really. Splitting at the sides with it. Not only did I get to explore foreign cities on a completely different continent, but I also loved my program. It's not often in your academic life when virtually ALL of your classes interest you—and stretch you, too. Getting to travel around western Europe during my free time was just icing, honestly.

So thank you God. Thank you mama and papa for literally giving me the world. Thank you Mario for loving me across oceans. Thank you friends who let me sleep on your couches. Thank you Julia for living, traveling, and laughing with me. Thank you London for cider, for theatre, for mild winters, and for double-decker buses that let me spy on people in their flats during nighttime rides home. Thank you to my LDA family for helping make this the most rewarding semester of college so far, and thank you Kathryn Pogson for being Professor McGonagall. My heart's steady. I feel tall. I'm ready to come home!

Harry Potter and growing up

The first social medium I used was my Xanga: a hideous orange thing that played "One Thing" by Amerie and only "One Thing" by Amerie for at least a year. Then there was Myspace, Facebook, Formspring...

And then there was Tumblr. I made mine in Summer '09. The things on my dashboard range from hilarious to inspiring, but now and then I have to take a break. I blame it on over-exposure to materialistic photos and posts: skinny girls I want to look like, gorgeous girls I want to look like, clothes I wish I had, celebrities I wish I knew, food I want to eat, movies I want to see, dirty jokes I'd rather not see. And it was way too addicting. I'd log on, only to read my dashboard for---what's this? Five hours have passed? My summer reading's not read? My family and friends are concerned for my social health?

On top of it all, I miss making personalized posts. In Tumblr-world, shorter posts are the rule.

I think my disinterest also comes from just growing up. These days, I can actually feel myself getting older. There are so many visible signs: I've noticed that my parents are, in fact, getting older, and I want to spend more time with them; the reality of applying for college has hit hard; the priest who's been our pastor since before I was born recently retired; and last but not least, the last Harry Potter film premieres tomorrow at midnight. (And I'll be there! Look for the short Filipino sporting a Gryffindor tie and time-turner. So what if it makes more sense to be Cho Chang? I want to be Hermione, darn it).

Speaking of Harry Potter, one reason I wanted to escape Tumblr was because of the Harry Potter spam! I'm a diehard fan through-and-through, but I'm in denial. I refuse to be sad, and seeing anything HP-related makes me sad these days.

Speaking of growing up... these boys have grown up rather well. :)

But there's no reason to be sad. Why? Well look, I made a list.

1. I can still re-read all the books. All the stories will seem fresh because i haven't visited them in so long. But I'm waiting until after I finish applying for college.

2. I still haven't seen A Very Potter Musical 2, so that's something new to look forward to.

3. I still haven't been to Harry Potter world.

4. Pottermore.

Forget that every Deathly Hallows poster reads: "It All Ends Here". Nope. Nope. Noooooope. Clearly, Harry Potter is not going anywhere. That being said, I'm still going to cry my eyes out for the duration of the film--especially at Snape, the character deaths, and "19 Years Later." But I refuse to stay sad. Honestly. Life goes on, and so will Harry Potter.