The Flight of the Rocketman

I look forward to being older; when what I look like becomes less and less an issue and what I am is the point. -- Susan Sarandon

Spent the whole day with my brother. If there is anything I learned from the holiday season and being with family is that there is no other person that will be there for you than family. Of course, that's a case-to-case basis but on my case, my family will always be there for me. No matter how thoughtless I become, they'll always help me out. They'll always want to spend time with me.

And I love them. So I want to spend time with them. I got that desire back from my 9 days in Bacolod.

We watched two movies. First we watched Blade, Trinity which we both enjoyed. And the other was Ocean's Twelve, which we also liked.

I don't understand why people always take movies too seriously. An action film is an action film; we aren't looking for heavy metaphors and relevant symbolisms. No. What's important is that they give us an acceptable situation where in action can exist and the best fight scenes and a couple of explosions and gunfire and that's great. If the movie offers a great, tight script and great acting; then that's the bonus.

I can't believe some of those people who watched Godzilla and complained that the story sucked. I mean, c'mon! What did you want? A love story between the scientist and Godzilla? Did you want Godzilla to be a victim of prejudice and species-ism because he was a huge reptile? I just wanted to see Godzilla destroy New York City and they gave me an acceptable situation for that situation to exist. Coupled with some fun, exciting moments and a couple of cute dialogue and I was happy.

And that's why I enjoyed Ocean's Twelve as well, despite many people's cry of disappointment. Even from the first movie, it wasn't really a caper movie. It was more of a class project between director Stephen Soderbergh and his actors. They had fun; they were making a comedy and I laughed. And the same with the sequel. Sure, I wish they showed more of the caper but what I got, I was happy with. Sure, it wasn't deep. My life didn't change; but for the hours I spent in the theatre, I had fun. I was entertained. And that's all.

Don't treat all movies the same, guys. Some are meant to take lightly and some are meant to be taken seriously. Throw expectations away and make your assessment from the first 10 minutes of the film. A good director will already tell you what kind of film you're suppose to expect. Take it for what it is. Trust the director.

But then again, that's just me...

It was great hanging out with my brother. I can really see how the age difference already blurs as you grow older. It seems that, with family, after a certain age, we all reach a level of equality and I love it. Sure, he's still my older brother and he gets treated with that respect but then, I'm also afforded a certain amount of respect for the things that I have accomplished. Gone are the days of needless bullying and bowing down to the grown ups. We are on a level playing field and it makes dealing with them so much easier.

After all, family knows you best, especially in a family like mine where communication is such a powerful tool. They know everything about me. I don't hide things from them. They know. So, yeah, my family knows me best. And when you deal with each other with that level of honesty, it's so liberating.

I can't believe that for a long time I've been so distanced from them. It was like I knew what they were all about and wanted more and more from what the world has to offer. Anyway, deep inside, I knew they were going to be there for me so I didn't have to work so hard for their love. Very foolish of me, huh?

It seems like I have this knack for taking things for granted and not appreciating the things that should be valued more. I remember a line from one of Des'ree's songs: You don't value things that come too easily. Makes a lot of sense. But just because it comes easily, doesn't mean you just let it go.

It's why I'm always making sure I don't act ungrateful. Because ungrateful is something you don't want to be. That's when things start getting hard; when you have to work hard for everything in your life. Not everything is supposed to be hard.

I love my family. I am really blessed in that aspect of my life.

Thank you.