notes to my biographer

[my sincere apologies to my boyfriend for the blatant plagiarism of the title (happy now??)]

this article is divided into three main parts, namely: basics, beauty and brains, with subdivisions. the answers represent the best-of-all-time best (especially in the “brains” area), at least in my perspective. some choices prove to be tough but i cannot list down everything that i deem admirably worthy; otherwise, this article will forever remain unfinished.

basics

birth name: layla torres bool
character names: in no particular order, and not limited to
• purple payne (my favorite) in jai lanting’s young souls
• laney in jai lanting’s r-rated syzygy
• claire in revenge, a play directed by grace perdiguerra and donna christine banuelos, authored by one of their students
• lara in harm, a short film without a script and directed by jai lanting
• jennifer love hewitt, presenter in the video music awards, a project by the mass communication students of the university of batangas (over-the-top funny, we had our own angelina jolie, mary kate and ashley olsen, usher, ben affleck, gwen stefani, evanescence, simple plan – it was a question of who’s the most ambitious)
• lena, in a one-act play written in filipino (can’t remember the title anymore, this was in 1996) launched by the creative arts and speech training students

birthday: 21 october 1984, hence a libra, born year of the rat
height: no taller than 5’3, which explains the high heels
weight: as of this writing, 92 lbs
citizenship: filipino born, french at heart

preferences
food: pizza, pasta, potatoes, tuna and cheese
fruit: wild strawberries. :)
ice cream flavor: very rocky road
cakes and pastries: conti's mango bravo
drink: i realize nothing’s healthier than water, so i now shy away even from green teas and juices
cocktail: frozen margarita
beer: colt 45
bar: temple in greenbelt 3.made some friends there.

songwriter: jewel kilcher
church wedding song: here, there and everywhere
dance: flamenco

mode of travel: the sea, please, if possible
beach: i am yet to experience boracay. batangas (matabungkay, san juan, and calatagan are the prime spots) will do for now. i love my province.
destination dream: france, where else? runners-up: niagara falls, iceland, reichenbach falls, burj-al arab

my weakness in men: wit, candor and remarkable intelligence.

beauty

skincare: i swear by philosophy. from facial cleansers and moisturizers to shower gels and conditioners and hand creams.
make-up: again, philosophy. i'm deadly afraid of breakouts, and mineral make-up is my holy grail. (the only exception is smashbox's intuitive o-glow as my choice of cheek tint) visit any beauty bar outlets and prepare your credit card.
clothing and apparel: quite a broad range – terranova, mango, zara, freeway, petit monde, topshop and ukay-ukay in baguio city
my fashion achilles heel: belts
my charm: my smile
fragrance: kenzo
salon: i cut my own hair
fashion magazine: mega
shoes: CMG, celine
bags: i love them oversized
workout: bellydance videos and carmen electra’s aerobic striptease
model: alessandra ambrosio is my goddess!

brains
* (i am currently reading fyodor mikhailovich dostoevsky’s crime and punishment)

mythology: norse
fairy tale: lewis carroll’s alice’s adventures in wonderland and j.m. barrie’s peter pan
narrative poetry: the wife of bath’s tale, from geoffrey chaucer’s the canterbury tales
lyric poetry: edgar allan poe's annabel lee tops the list.
elegy: thomas gray's elegy written in a country churchyard.
ode: john keats's ode on a grecian urn
short story: rabindranath tagore’s the judge (i composed a sequel)
essay: michel de montaigne’s apology for raymond sebond
play: henrik ibsen's a doll house

novels -- categorized by theme. see below:
allegory: antoine de saint exupery’s le petit prince. open to debate. many people classify the little prince as fantasy, but it deserves more credit owing to its philosophical inputs. pardon my blasphemy when i say this book equals the bible.
tragedy: gabriel garcia marquez’s one hundred years of solitude. one word – apocalyptic.
mystery: sir arthur conan doyle, agatha christie and erle stanley gardener – creators of sherlock holmes, hercule poirot and perry mason, respectively.
romance: emily bronte’s the wuthering heights. dark and poignant.
political: george orwell's nineteen eighty-four
controversial: vladimir nabokov’s lolita

movie: it’s a tie between lars von trier’s dogville and ingmar bergman’s the seventh seal. sure, the matrix is good, but these two films show you what can be achieved by relying on actors’ touchstone performances and a mind-blowing script without any need for smoke and car chase and any of those blockbuster special effects. citizen kane is a masterpiece, agreed, but there are films that you appreciate for their cinematic appeal and there are some which walk over your shadow and grab and squeeze your heart then drain you of your blood. that’s the torture of watching dogville and the seventh seal. and afterwards, you still want to watch.

animation: pixar animation studio’s cars, narrowly beating monsters inc.how the academy awards people thought happy feet has a more significant message and/or is more creatively crafted is beyond me. what poor taste.

columnist: conrado de quiros
philosophy: everybody talks of existentialism, so i wouldn’t join the group anymore. (i still like the idea, it’s just becoming increasingly popular) i prefer metaphysics.

painting: jan van eyck’s portrait of giovanni arnolfini and his wife, also known as the arnolfini couple
sculpture: laocoon and his sons

my natural talent: i am an effortless speaker.
my compositions: mostly essays, some poetry
my pseudonym: pennylane
and, my autobiography: i don’t want to live twice. copyright pending.

this article was written on paper 3 august 2007.