Cleaning

While I admit I'm a spontaneous, scatterbrain person, I'm an obsessive-compulsive at heart (it's another of those internal paradoxes).

So yesterday, I did finally start cleaning my room. And in addition to finding out I don't have enough shelf space for my books, it's even more annoying to arrange them and there are gaps (because the books have either 1) haven't been returned [reminds several people reading this blog], 2) they've mysteriously "disappeared", or 3) they haven't been published yet). I mean I want to keep things organized so that they'll stay organized... if there's a gap, I might have to reorganize the entire shelf just because book #1 that was loaned out for the past year just got returned today.

And of course, there's the problem of dust, and I do have allergies, so I start sneezing once I've started cleaning. And to make matters worse...

Broken Plumbing

Currently can't take a bath at my bathroom because the plumbing's broken and it hasn't been fixed yet.

It also surprises me what kind of insects are thriving in there. Finding cobwebs in your toothbrush is not a good sign.

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Bookhunter

Rain and me don't mix well. It wasn't a good day for exploring but I did have to get some books for Vin so I went all the way to Libis to visit Booktopia, a bookstore I have never been to.

I arrived there at 11 am and while the shop said that it is open from 11 am - 9 pm, it wasn't.

So I explored Eastwood since it was near, but unfortunately, it was raining.

It's also worthy to note that Eastwood only comes alive at night, and me being there in the morning, the place was nearly deserted. But thankfully, I did get to explore the important places (i.e. the bookstores!). Also found where the 4th Initial D arcade can be found (the first three are at Glorietta, Rockwell, and Mega Mall).

To make a long story short, Booktopia wasn't open at 11:30 am, but thankfully they were by 12 pm. The shop has relatively low prices for its books (not as cheap as, say, National Bookstore, but still cheaper than most independent bookstores) and has a good selection of fiction, horror, mystery (lots of Agatha Christie books!), and of course, SF&F.

As usual, you can make orders, with delivery in an estimated 2-4 weeks. Perhaps what's best is the fact that you can order out of print books as they also deal with used books.

The place is rather small but they make use of the space "efficiently". Unfortunately "efficiently" also means that the books are stacked upon each other, so if I want to get a book from the bottom of the pile, I'll have to lift the books above it.

Anyway, that's one bookstore down, and the only other independent bookstores I haven't visited are the ones located in Manila and in Paranaque. And, uh, I won't be going to those places anytime soon. Of course if someone is willing to drive me there...

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For Vern (and other Kushiel's Legacy fans)

An Interview with Jacqueline Carey.

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Rumor Corner

A certain cable company has been suspended for 20 days in showing NHK WOWOW. The reason? Because apparently, NHK WOWOW was airing X-rated material at a certain evening timeslot. Of course never mind the fact that it took them this long to find that out...

Oh, James Palabay also mentioned that so far, no plans for C3 this year because he still can't get a place at the often-used Megatrade Hall.

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Events! Events!

Just came back from the Filbar's convention at the Glorietta Activity Center and looks like they'll be having it yearly.

Anyway, come June 19-20, Level Up games will be having their Ragnarok Online Championship. There's also a cosplay contest on the 20th, and for the rules, click here. The event will be at the Folk Arts Theater, with entrance fee of P150 for one day or P250 for both days.

On June 27, there's the 3rd Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention. There'll also be a cosplay but so far, no rules have been posted yet. It'll be at the Megatrade Hall 3, a real Megatrade Hall, unlike the previous year's events, where it was at the conference room, and so many people thought the event didn't exist.

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