voiceless

I’ve been a freelance writer for a long time. Even though I’ve only been freelance full-time since 2005, I’ve been writing since before I graduated from college. It’s been an interesting decade, one that’s found me expounding on topics ranging from the mundane to the esoteric, and very often covering ideas that I’d never have considered looking into on my own time. That’s one of the things I’ve always liked about project-based writing: the variety. You can never really be sure what your next assignment will be.

I’ve felt for years that being a freelance writer would keep my life interesting, given the constant influx of new facts, new ideas and new experiences. Recently, though, I’ve been feeling a restlessness that’s been interfering with my writing. Sure, I can still produce the materials that I’m contracted to do, but for the last year or so I’ve been unable to write for myself. I’m not just talking about my year-long blog hiatus, but about the rest of my writing. A hospital-corridor sterility has been permeating my emails, my notes to myself, my drafts, everything. You can almost smell the antiseptic.

I don’t mean that my writing has been too spartan or straightforward. There may be brevity in my words on occasion, but my output is never spare. The problem is that I seem to have lost touch with my personality, in terms of my writing. I write, and I write as well as I can, but I later look at my words and wonder: where am I? Did I really write this? My personal writing has been looking and sounding less like the exposition of an authentic person, and more like the material I write for my clients: carefully structured, composed for a specific audience, and stripped of personal bias and sentiment.

mizu: a review

It had been a while since my last proper spa massage, and when Penny offered one at a friend’s place in exchange for a review and some word-of-mouth promotion, I happily agreed.

Mizu, located along Annapolis Street in Greenhills, is a cozy little affair. It offers a signature massage that combines aspects of the familiar methods around these days (Swedish, Shiatsu, et cetera, which you can also ask for specifically). It also offers  lymphatic drainage, foot reflexology, steam bath treatment and bentosa therapy. Mizu may not have the most comprehensive of services because of its relatively small scale, but given the affordable price, pleasant atmosphere and good service, it’s a worthwhile place to frequent. I’d likely go there more often myself, if I lived in the San Juan area.

The signature massage that I got ran for around an hour, and did feel comprehensive. I felt much better and more relaxed afterward, and I was in a calm, placid mood for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Now, if only I could afford to visit them and have spa massages a couple of times a week. :p

If you want to inquire about Mizu’s services or make an appointment, you can call them at 382-0260. Their full address is 47 Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan (near Tapa King, beside the Monterey Meat Shop).

watchmen: a late review

One of the things I had forgotten about Watchmen from the time I read it years ago is just how intensely affecting it is. It’s a very deep, involved story that touches on themes that are controversial and morally gray, and as a product of its time it was an exemplary statement of what comic books and good writing can tackle. After I finished reading it, I was in a reflective, somber, partially depressed mood for quite a while.

The film adaptation had the same effect on me. And I consider that a good thing.

Although the film had its sluggish moments (and I think the experience is incomplete without everything else that they filmed but had to cut out), overall, it was still a very compelling, effective story. The production values are exceptional, and their attempts at visual fidelity between the film and the original comic panels were beyond reproach. I was impressed at the amount of effort they put into thematic fidelity as well, and even though I’m sure they took some creative liberties (I can’t name any right now because it’s been years since I read the graphic novel), the big picture’s import was not lost.

The darker elements of the human condition are dragged out into the open in Watchmen, and the transition into the motion picture form has made it particularly evocative in a way that even today’s generation of flash-bang media consumption can’t just shrug off or gloss over. There is gravitas in this story that deserves good representation, and I felt that Zack Snyder and his people did the material justice.

If you haven’t already seen it, you owe it to yourself to see it on the big screen, and then once more when the DVD releases come out with the special features and completed scenes. It’s a remarkable piece of work.

Rating: 4 out of 5 bloodstained smiley badges

stories and memory

I met Caroline for the first time yesterday afternoon. Okay, not technically the first time, since I really first met her at the Open Gaming Meet on March 7, but yesterday was the first time we got to have a proper conversation in person.

We spent a couple of hours talking about the broad strokes of our respective lives, new friends that we are. We occasionally stumbled as we recounted our experiences (more me than her, I think) because we’d keep going, “oh wait, first there’s this other story connected to that,” or “ah, wait, I’m not sure where to start this one.”  I realized that it had been a long time since I tried introducing myself as a friend to someone at length, and I didn’t yet have a handle on how to pick out the right stories to share. Professional introductions are so much easier: “Hi, I’m Dante, I’m a writer. What can I do for you?”

fifteen albums

I think most everyone in my social circles has encountered this, so I won’t bother with the rules. I’ve also already posted this on my Facebook and Multiply; I’m just posting it here too because it’s one of the longest pieces of personal writing I’ve done in recent memory.

1. U2 – The Joshua Tree

Starting my list is an album that oddly enough has no specific meaning for me other than that I would listen to it over and over again through the years. I suppose I associate it with youth, and then everything thereafter. A reminder that even as so many things change, some things stay the same.

2. Enya – The Celts

The Celts was the first Enya album I listened to in high school. While everyone else I knew was listening to pop, or rock, or everything else that was mainstream at the time, I found myself relating more to the at-the-time unfamiliar melodies and harmonies that Enya could put together. It would remind me of how different I was from most people of my age and circumstances. This album was comforting in its relative strangeness, which would later become pleasantly more familiar even in the mainstream.

3. Eagles – Hell Freezes Over

Thanks to my parents and my uncle Leo, I grew up in a musical environment that leaned heavily towards rock and guitars. Although I wasn’t all that aware of the Eagles way back when, their reunion concert and album triggered moments of nostalgia that I wasn’t aware I had. Turned out I had indeed heard their music countless times in the past, when I was way too young to notice or care. By the time Hell Freezes Over came out, I did. I sing along with this album from time to time, when I’m feeling moody.