The Weekly LitWit Challenge 7.3: 14 months till the end of the world
Alain Delon in Antonioni’s L’Eclisse. Living movie still from If we don’t, remember me.
First, read our column in interaksyon.com: Say the world is ending at 7:11 pm Manila time on 21 December 2012. What would you do?
Then answer the question in 1,000 words, preferably less. Post your answers in Comments.
The prizes:
The Guinness book has Augmented Reality content.
Deadline: 12 noon on Sunday, 23 October 2011.
The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 20th, 2011 at 10:32
Actually if Harold Camping is right we’ve only got a few hours left;
http://www.familyradio.com/x/whathappened.html
“But that universal judgment will not be physically seen until the last day of the five month judgment period, on October 21, 2011….
Thus we can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21, 2011…”
The Tilda Swinton gif/still is still my favorite:
http://iwdrm.tumblr.com/post/1617296558/nothing-thicker-than-a-knifes-blade-separates
:D
October 20th, 2011 at 11:38
first, take that bottle of wine and the cheese you hoarded “for special occasions”. uncork the wine, slice the cheese and arrange crackers, fruits, pate and bread on a large, clean plate – don’t use the chipped one.
order one or two extra large, beautifully browned crispy pata and mix vinegar, red chilies, garlic, salt and pepper for dipping.
don’t cook rice. put your right foot up on the chair if you wish. prepare to devour.
you may invite people to your feast but make sure they are literally the ones you would like to spend the end of days with. NEVER feel compelled to call on and share your food with people you have even just the slightest distaste for. which means, there will be three of you at most sharing that crispy pata.
eating by yourself is also ok but not strongly encouraged. after all, you need an audience when you verbalize your musings as you tip your tipple.
unbutton your pants and light a stick of cigarette after your indulgent ingestion. light ten more, or even a chocolate-flavored magnum cigar. match each puff with an articulation of every thought that comes to mind. don’t edit yourself, this is not the time to do so. don’t be afraid to come across as a pompous, insensitive or intellectually-challenged ass. it is more than enough to say what you mean and mean what you say. you can say sorry, if you wish, or f**k you. to anyone. even the sky is not a limit.
take time to look at old yearbooks, photos and that diary you kept in high school. laugh at what you then thought of as deep musings, and giggle at the tears you shed when your mother refused to buy you that expensive pair of pink and white rubber shoes.
relish reliving the past, immerse yourself in memories. they will all be gone in 14 months anyway.
then, snap out of it.
look at how far (or near) you’ve come. don’t feel sorry that you never had the chance to replace your clunky car or that you still haven’t gotten around to checking out new zealand. if you decimate your savings, you can do that next week. be bold enough to glide your hands on the torso of a Maori man when you get there and if you want to.
don’t buy souvenirs.
when you get back, put down your bags on the floor. but don’t bother to give in to your OC tendencies and clean up too much. a light dusting and sweeping will suffice. change your sheets and pillowcase though.
then, take that bottle of wine and the cheese you hoarded “for special occasions”.
repeat and replay.
October 20th, 2011 at 16:39
@ros: indeed! Panalo ang Lolo Harold Camping. After predicting the end of the world last May, he’s re-set it to tomorrow. It’s almost as though he wants to predict and predict until he finally hits it. Winner talaga. Ayaw ng mga Mayans ng ganyan.
October 21st, 2011 at 02:00
I’ll be doing every possible “my first” i can think of.. feasible for 14 months. and first on my list is to join your contest. :) I’m your fan. I have your books and read your blogs yet this would be my first to join your Litwit challenge.
I’ll go to Boracay or Palawan with my family for the First Time. We’ll also travel an Asian country where I can do Skydiving because that would be the first extreme adventure I wanted to experience. I haven’t even ride a Roller coaster.
Have a Church wedding, no entourage. It’s been our short term goal.
After those travels, I’ll go on with my usual life but with more appreciation in everything that i do. I’ll eat foods that I really want, enough to enjoy it and not in a way that I’ll end up getting sick and will not be able to enjoy the remaining months. Bond and do all fun stuff with my kid and my hubby. Get in touch with anyone i wanted and needed to get in touch with.
I’ll stop watching news. I’ll watch every movies that I want. I’ll enjoy every day of my life with my family and be grateful to Him that I get to experience life. :)
October 21st, 2011 at 16:28
I can’t die a virgin, so I’ll probably look for a partner, preferably very good-looking, wild and smart, then make love (if you can call it love) until our bodies yield to exhaustion and pure satisfaction.
It will probably just the beginning. Once I’ve tasted a little piece of heaven here on earth, I’d probably ask for more, hopefully with the same partner. But I don’t mind it too if I’ll do it next time with a new one. I mean, we’re talking about the end of the world, might as well enjoy each other’s “company.”
I tried all my life to be good, to follow the rules, etc., so I think to be hedonistic at this point in time wouldn’t be much of a crime. But it is not just sex that I’m after. It is important, I know, but aside from that, I also want to make other people happy.
What I’ll do next is to grab my camera and video myself while smiling. For three minutes I’ll just give my sweetest and sincerest smile. Then, I’ll upload it on YouTube, Facebook. Multiply, and all other social networking sites. It has been my dream to give a smile to all people in the world, if not make them smile as well. I know it’s impossible for me to travel every land and sea on the planet just to meet people face to face and smile at them, so I think the video will do.
Next, I’ll use all my money and my connections to have myself posted in every billboard along EDSA and other major roads in the country. I won’t pose nude but I should look sexy … very sexy. I should also wear my signature smile. There will be no message in the billboard except for my nickname.
Then I’ll spend some extraordinary time with my friends. We’ll go to exclusive bars, gatecrash into parties and events, make another video to immortalize ourselves, and maybe we’ll finally go to Batanes. That’s our dream destination in the Philippines.
In Batanes, we’re going to party like we’ve never done before. We’ll play parlor games for adults. We’ll dare each other to do silly stuff, something we’ve been wanting do to but cannot because of conventions and laws. And then, we’re going to write a testimonial, just like in Friendster before, stating how we love each other and how lucky we are to be friends with each other. We’ll probably share some secrets too, although I think we know pretty much about what we are hiding within ourselves. Who knows, there might be something new.
As for my family, I will give them my warmest hug whether they like it or not. I’ll kiss them too on the cheek. I might say “I love you” or maybe I will just let my deeds speak for myself.
I’ll invite them to go to the cemetery to visit our dead loved ones. There we’ll have the perfect dinner. I never heard of a family having fine dining in a cemetery so I think I’ll try to do that. We’ll have all our favorite foods served, such as longganisa-bawang, bistek, daing na bangus, pritong dalagang bukid, sinampalukang manok, pinatisan, sinigang na hipon, adobong manok/baboy, relyenong bangus, pinaputok na tilapia, lechon, crispy pata, leche flan, buko pandan, and all the festive food we could buy.
We’ll talk even if our mouths are full. We’ll sing while we are eating. We’ll tell stories of our experiences, both happy and sad, and we’ll make jokes about our embarrassing moments. I don’t know if they will cooperate but I’ll push everyone to tell at least one deep, dark secret.
Finally, I’ll face my God. I don’t want it in a church. Maybe I’ll go to the caves of Sagada or the peak of Mt. Apo or Mt. Mayon. I can also go to Bantayan Island in Cebu. Somewhere I can be alone with Him. I’ll say everything. I won’t ask for forgiveness, but I’ll ask Him to understand. I can cry if I want too, and I’m sure I won’t forget to thank Him, really seriously, for this wonderful world and life.
October 22nd, 2011 at 01:21
I’d sit still for the entire day, for the first time in years. Just lay back and think of nothing. Not think of the stuff I haven’t had the chance to do, nor of the places I haven’t been to. Imagining that the prediction would come to pass made me realize that if I’ve had a good life, and that all the bad stuff that happened along the way are trivial.