In utter suspenseful anticipation of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 movie this coming July 15, I decided to finally write about my obsession of Harry Potter.

I first got a hold of the book way back in summer of 2001 when a college friend of mine insisted that I should give reading the series a try. She promised that it is one of the best books she has ever read. And that was coming from someone who has read and reads a lot. I mean a lot. So after weeks of ‘selling’ me the book, I finally gave in. I bought (a paperback edition of) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. My condition was if I didn’t get hooked after the first chapter, I’m setting the book aside for good.

But boy was I hooked real bad. In fact, I loved it so much that I got on to finishing the book in 3 days. I think this is quite fast considering before I was even introduced to Harry Potter, I never had once read a book that was not a requirement.

It was an instant obsession. The day after I finished Sorcerer’s Stone, I bought the next three books all at once (back then, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was not released yet). I finished all of them in less than 2 weeks, which is impressive in my standards.

I also got my sister (the older of my 2 sisters) to reading the series and she loves it just as much as I do. Our tradition starting from the Order until the Hallows was we reserved the book weeks before the release, and lined up as early as 6 am at the bookstore during the worldwide release and finished reading it in less than 24 hours. Both of us have a copy of all the books in both paperback and hardbound. Obsessed much? Damn right.

Getting our hands on to those books was truly a magical moment for us. It was like finding a treasure in your backyard or something. But as in everything, all good things must come to an end.

You see, when I was a child, I loved fantasizing about magical worlds, supernatural powers, spells and enchantments, that sort of thing. I loved playing roles of someone who can cast spells, with matching sound effects like ‘whooooosh’, ‘pzzzzzzzz’ and stuff. I was a very playful kid who ran around mad and totally restless and talked incessantly. I am also more of a visual person. I like watching it rather than reading about it. So that’s why I never got into reading books.

Harry Potter however captured that very core of my childhood. It awakened my sense of imagination, creating a world as I understand it and not as I see it.

And then there were the movies.  I have seen each Harry Potter movie at least twice. I have so far bought both the DVDs and VCDs (Yes, VCDs. Get over it.) of the first four Harry Potter movies. And I plan to but the entire series after the DVD of Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is released. I love them so much even though I know they didn’t live up to the standards of the books. But then again, it’s a rarity that a movie translation is better than the book itself so we can forgive this one, right?

It has become a tradition among my two younger sisters and myself that we see each Harry Potter movie during its premiere. We have been doing this since the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie in 2001. And I’m just saddened by the fact that this treasured tradition is ending soon. Really soon.

A decade-long tradition will be finished once the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is released. I was a teenager when I was first introduced to the world of Harry Potter and now at the age of 27, it is finally coming to an end. That’s ten long years. No more buying advance tickets. No more lining up at the mall before it even opens. No more Harry Potter on the big screen. No. More. Harry. Potter.

But for Potterheads the world over, we will always keep our beloved Harry Potter in our hearts and minds for a lifetime. In the meantime, enjoy watching the first trailer of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. I can’t wait for more trailers and teasers!

See you in theatres this July 15 for the epic finale!

What's my future like? I just feel so lost.

I used to have a lot of passion before. I used to be good in a lot of things. I used to be so passionate about a lot of things. But I feel like they are fast slipping away. I feel like I am losing them bit by bit each day, if not already lost them.

Dancing would be the one I am really depressed about. You see, all through out my childhood up until senior high school, dancing defined me. I was, without bragging, known to be one of the best, if not the best dancer in school. And I myself can tell you that I was really good at it. There was nothing else that fulfilled me more than when I danced. No matter how poorly others perceived me in general, but when I danced, it was like they saw a different person in me. I literally transformed. It was also a form escape for me.

A couple of years ago, I tried reviving my passion for dancing. I knew I was gonna be rusty at first and just needed to keep trying until I get back my old form. But something felt different. It was never the same anymore. I didn’t feel the fire I used to have every time I step out to dance. I lost my dancing mojo. The realization struck me hard and eventually got me depressed. I thought to myself, I finally lost it. It’s gone. I regret the fact that I could have honed this great gift of mine but due to naive decisions, I let it die out. And although these days, I have accepted the fact that I may never have it back but still I miss it, terribly.

How could I have let it happen?

I also used to sing very well. But I wasn’t the best admittedly, far from the best. But I loved singing. But like dancing, I didn’t pursue singing and didn’t hone it. I can still sing okay but not as good as I used to. I also did try voice lessons but I think my voice has gotten too mature and could hardly hit high notes. I can still hit nice tunes but can’t belt out anymore.

How could I have let it happen?

I used to paint good before. But this one I lost earlier than singing and dancing.

How could I have let it happen?

Now, tennis is the only passion left that I still hang on to and I plan on to never letting it go. That is why I try and work so hard in jumpstarting my career as a tennis writer. I make sure that I get to write about tennis at least once a month. I need to establish myself first as a good tennis writer.

Two months ago, I started contacting online magazines and newspapers and submitting samples of my work and asked them if they could publish my work. One online magazine has already responded and just asked me to do some revisions on one of my articles. Little by little, ever so patiently, I am building a career out of something I know I am already passionate about. And I am not about to lose this one, not like I did with my past passions.

This will ultimately save my sanity. I have been in this road full of disappointments. I never get my way, ever. And it has been really frustrating. There were times however that I literally gave up aspiring for any thing. But each and every time, somehow, I find a reason to continue on even if in the end I did not succeed. Maybe I am really stronger than what I give myself credit for.

But until this dream becomes a reality, I may need to stick with this really stressful and tiring job I have right now. Anyone wanna buy a multi-million dollar condo?

Earth Hour 2011. March 26, Saturday, 8:30 pm.

I was born and raised in the province (a countryside/rural) and I love everything about it. You get to marvel at nature every waking day. The air you breathe is absolutely clean, and cold most of the time. You get to drive by, or oftentimes walk by endless green fields and beautiful mountain silhouettes. Lakes and rivers are only a stone throw away. You get to eat freshly picked fruits and vegetables everyday.

Now those are only a few of the things I miss about my province. You see, our family moved to Manila (capital of the Philippines) for good when I was 17. It’s been 10 years since I haven’t gone back to my hometown and I don’t think we will be visiting there anytime soon.

If I were to name a few things I hate about the city life, one of them would be the smog that we inhale every single day. Due to that, I have developed weak lungs which I resent strongly. Dirty surroundings also pain my eyes. The noise and air pollution and the terrible daily traffic also upset me and don’t help in making me see any good side of my city, or any city for that matter.

It seems like everything in the city is a contributory agent to the continuing destruction of our planet. But I don’t have a choice but to live with it and I have grown immune to it and just like most city people (I think this is a reasonable generalization), I have most of the time become indifferent.

However, I think if we just stop and take a short moment, we all know that there is really something we can do to alleviate the problem. In our own little ways, we can actually make a difference by simply not littering, or disposing of our garbage responsibly or we may also opt to recycle, reuse, refuse and reduce. Or if you are still completely clueless (gasp!), Google is always there to help you get some idea. Believe me, that is not a crime and there should be no shame in resorting to the internet.

Or, have you heard of Earth Hour? If you still haven’t, it is a global event which started in 2007 in Sydney and initiated by WWF (World Wildlife Fund). The purpose of this movement is to raise awareness among us to take that simple step in fighting climate change. Basically, you just need to turn off your lights for a full hour. And this is just a once a year thing, though I would have liked it if we actually did this everyday.

But of course since people have been deeply accustomed to the use of electricity almost every beating second, it should take some time to condition our minds and get used to this simple “change” in our daily habits. This really isn’t asking much. I know most of us get so wrapped up by our busy lives and sometimes we just tend to forget that we also have responsibility to our planet.

I joined Earth Hour for the first time in 2009 and it has certainly become an annual tradition. I am so glad to have made and continuously be making a difference by joining this worldwide event and to little effort at that. It’s refreshing to know that you can actually help better the environment by doing small deeds like this.

I initiated my own campaign before the actual event by handing out flyers/leaflets to business offices, malls, to my neighbors and to strangers on the streets. I also spread the word through the use of social networking sites and other sharing tools plus through my blog as well. I also did a text (SMS) brigade to remind the people I know on the day itself.

I’m sure that we can all find it in ourselves to have a little care for the environment and do something to make our planet a better place. Let us do this for Mother Earth, for ourselves and for our children and our children’s children.

Another Earth Hour is happening this coming March 26.

So, what’s your vote?

It's been a decade since senior high. How fast time flies.

So here I am again, turning a year older and hoping that I am a better person now than I was a year ago. Well, I certainly experienced and learned a lot of things in that one year. But for now, here I am adding another list to my ‘Random Things’ list, now with 27 since, well, I’m 27 now.

If you have time to waste or if you have plans to bore yourself, then might as well read this entry. Here it goes.

1. I am a better writer than a speaker.

2. You know why I am good with secrets? It is because I tend to forget what the secret is especially if we’ve only talked about it once, no matter how big the news is.

3. My threshold for discomfort, and pain, is very very low.

4. I am at my douchiest when I’m hungry. Also, my speech tends to be all over the place when I am hungry.

5. I eat fast. I won’t get or feel full if I ate slow.

6. I enjoy movie/TV show marathons a lot.

7. I can never eat or drink while lying down or slouched.

8. I find it difficult to multi-task.

9. I have a very sensitive sense of smell. I am easily repulsed by strong scents like air fresheners, floor waxes, gasoline, any household cleaning products like zonrox, muriatic acid and also detergents and even colognes/perfumes and sometimes those really strong-smelling deodorants.

10. I am not a morning person. I am very grumpy in the morning. I get easily upset.

11. I did not attend my college graduation. All of my siblings did however.

12. I don’t like massages. I am very ticklish.

13. I am generally strict.

14. I am not big on texting and surfing the net.

15. I am apolitical.

16. I don’t do appetizers and I don’t drink before the meal either. They ruin my appetite. I like to get straight to the main dish. Also, I don’t drink in between meals.

17. I’m very good at imitating singers especially Adam Levine of Maroon5, Alex Band of The Calling, that dude from Vertical Horizon and James Morrison.

18. I LOVE laughing out so loud. You know, the scandalous, so-what-if-there-are-people-around-with-their-”God-that-dude-is-so-annoying!”-looks-on-their-faces kind of laugh. I don’t like to stifle my laughter at all. If I find something funny, I let it rip real good.

19. I like sweating, seriously.

20. I’m generally not warm to people especially to strangers. Almost all the time, at first people usually take me as the type you won’t normally consider “nice”.

21. For some reason, I am not very receptive over the phone.

22. When eating, I don’t want to do anything else that involves using my hands except eat. I can’t be bothered answering a call or text or use the computer while eating. I can do those after I eat.

23. I’m rarely subtle.

24. It frustrates me so much when I have to type the things I have in my head. When my mind is racing with great ideas so fast, my typing skills can not keep up with it. So most of the time, I omit really important and essential words, phrases or even sentences. My brain is almost always 3 sentences ahead of my typing. And most of the time, I can’t get back to my previous thought. Because if I do, I would lose momentum.

25. I have a thing for leather watches. They are my weakness.

26. I can’t sleep lying on my back. It has to be on either sides.

27. Maybe it’s a guy thing but I like fixing stuff like broken equipment, gadget, appliance, etc. I’m pretty good at it.

***

You might want to bore yourself further with these:

Some 25 Random Things

Some 26 Random Things