Weekly Random Quote

I admit.  I still read horoscopes.  I picked up the habit as a kid because I liked to pretend I was really reading the newspapers (particularly that "proper" tabloid Tempo... is Tempo still alive?).  But of course, I would mostly skip to the middle spreadsheet, or whatever you properly call it, and ta-da --- the Entertainment section.  It was the 80s and at that time the movie trend called ST (sex trip) was fast emerging.  So as a seven or eight year-old, garbed up in my Catholic school uniform, after I buttered my toast and had a sip of Milo, I would pretend to be an adult in a company of adults, take the daily Tempo, and opened it exactly at the entertainment section where sexy pictures of Gretchen Baretto, Alma Moreno, Vivian Velez, etc. would flash me with their "hellos" almost hanging out to bid me good morning.

Anyway.  The comic strip was a standard visitation, but as I am talking about Tempo I am referring to tabloid-type of comics where there were actually illustrations of semi-naked women moving about in their pretty graphic world of abuse, revenge, and any classic nasty telenovela content.  I can still remember that particular strip called "Gomorrah" about this girl with very long hair... and her hair is actually alive!  And every time somebody rapes her or abuses her or robs her, the hair goes "hikhikhikhikhik" and starts killing the rapist/abuser/criminal through strangulation!

So after my daily dose of Gomorrah, I would go to the lighter side of my morning adult ritual and read my horoscope.  I was looking forward to pick up clues whether I would pass a quiz, meet a cute guy, or have my crush notice me; actually, these "picking up clues" taught me how to read between the lines, thus my reading comprehension was actually developing impressively as I read what was in store for Aries in the year 1987. Such a delightful habit, don't you think?

Well, I am not sure if Jason Segel is the type of guy who reads his horoscope, and as I gave up fortune telling years ago (oh my past is so interesting), I have decided to give him a weekly random quote instead.  It does not have to function as a fortune, but maybe some food for thought, some source of inspiration, some source of joy and laughter in a "you're crazy!" sense, mwahahahahaha.

Brilliant, innit?!

Acutally, Jason Segel is not my first recipient to this random quote thing.  This idea is from my idea with a different recipient, say, about a couple of months ago.  And as I am a sucker for random quotes or excerpts, I thought, what they hey, I HAVE NOT DONE THAT NEUROLINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING BIT LET'S DISTRACT OUR READERS, SHALL WE???!!!

Alrighty then.

I decided to get my first random quote for Jason Segel from Nick Hornby's About a Boy mainly because --- that's the nearest book I can get my hands on.  It was actually wedged between the linings of the couch, and as I am writing tonight and I am at my parents', I assumed my sister Lei is reading it again and thus she hid it from my nephew who was probably in a tearing-the-pages-of-a-book spree earlier today.  Or something.  And yeah, another reason is it's a good book, and I loved the movie.  You know --- Hugh Grant, that adorable kid, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, great story, creative directing, and set against the lovely music of Badly Drawn Boy.

And please do take note, random quotes work when you just randomly pick up something from somewhere, totally unplanned.  So, this excerpt is the page where I accidentally opened to.  And as I have just finished reading the passage, well, I have no idea what the hey.

So Jason Segel, wherever you are, here's a random quote for you from About a Boy ---

November the nineteenth.  November the fucking nineteenth.  That was definitely a new record, Will noted darkly.  Last year it had been November the fucking twenty-sixth.  He hadn't made it through December for years now; he could see that when he was fifty or sixty he'd be hearing his first rendition of Santa's Super Sleigh in July or August.  This year it was a busker at the bottom of the escalator at Angel station, a cheerful attractive young woman with a violin who was obviously trying to supplement her music scholarship.  Will scowled at her with all the hatred he could muster, a look intended to convey not only that he wouldn't be giving her any money, but that he would like to smash up her instrument and then staple her head to the escalator steps.

I can't help but think, uh, it's quite unfriendly isn't it?  I mean, the passage.  Someone who hates Christmas. Stapling someone's head to the escalator after some episode of violin-smashing.  And it's quite interesting too --- there are dates.  Hahahahahaha.

Okay, I don't want to "read between the lines" and see how it works with respect to Jason Segel. Maybe the reason I opened the book to this page is that this can actually attract people to pick up a book and start reading again, similar to the so-called Harry Potter effect. (And please, don't ever mention Twilight as I think the only thing those books influenced is this silly vampire craze and silly Team Edward/Jacob insanity).



To wrap up this week's random quote, let me stir up my inner DJ and give you Badly Drawn Boy's "Something to Talk About"... which I have been quite singing about a boy.