On Movie reviews and Windows 10 Pro Activation Error

Hello WordPress,

I’m on a roll in writing this week. It’s examination time here in our school and I have some time to spare. Here we go…

I was looking at my stats this year and my Seklusyon movie review seem to be one of my top post. It was part of the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival. So let’s talk about movies.

Speaking of the MMFF, I am already thinking of movies to watch this December aside from a coming Star Wars prequel (a series I haven’t watch even a single film). I am not even sure if I will be able to watch it because the MMFF usually occupies all theatres nationwide during the Christmas break.

For the whole year, I only watched four movies in theatre: 1) Seklusyon, 2) Guardians of the Galaxy 2, 3) Spider-Man Homecoming, and 4) Kita Kita. Before, I used to write about any movies I’ve watched and I now have the conscious effort not to. If I am able to see religious and spiritual themes, then I would write a film review. I was planning to watch Smaller and Smaller Circles (watch the trailer here) but unfortunately Alnor Cinema is not screening it. I just love Filipino indie films. I know I missed a lot this year with the likes of Birdshot, Bar Boys, and others. I know maybe I would miss them altogether next year once I travel abroad. Well, that’s part of my life and it’s a lesson on detachment.

But do not expect me to be on the level of Bishop Barron’s Word On Fire movie reviews like his movie review on Lady Bird or his brilliant review of The Avengers. My movie reviews are inclined to be mixed up with personal anecdotes and with lots of spoilers.

This vacation, I would re-watch again my favorite movie Shawshank Redemption and write a review. I intended to write one last March but it slipped on my mind.

For the mean time, let me worry about how will I activate my Asus Notebook’s Windows 10 Pro. I got this error after the latest Windows Update this December. I got the notebook with a free pre-installed OS. I don’t have a copy of the Activation Code and I can’t afford the price of a Windows 10 Pro. I’ll take it back to the service center in General Santos City.

For convenience, maybe I’ll switch to a Mac. I just don’t know if it’s compatible with this notebook’s Intel Celeron Dual-Core with a 2GB RAM. So Chromebook is another option as well.

Bye for now.

Review of the day

Though I am not a Jesuit or well versed in Ignatian Spirituality, I practice the examen. I learned about it when I entered Marist novitiate. We call it as the review of the day. Done every evening, we spend at least 15 minutes to think about the graces we received throughout the day. We thank about the people we encountered, the events that had transpired, new learnings, and other things worth recalling. After the end of our examen, sometimes we recite the confiteor where we pray about our shortcomings, what we have done and have failed to do. In active school ministry, five to ten minutes of the review is already a luxury.

This evening, I was late in our prayers because I talked to one student and I supervised the students in cleaning our classroom. Wednesday evening is dedicated to a Marian prayer. We prayed thr rosary. During the pause after the Salve, I brought to my prayer the one student I scolded because she had incurred nineteen absences, most of them unexcused and spent just cutting classes. I prayed and I hoped that my scolding was an expression of an honest anger because I care for this student.

After our evening community prayer, I picked up a guitar I borrowed and I remembered the “storm” last Monday even while plucking and strumming fledgingly. Actually, I dreamnt of Agnus sitting inside a chapel and I sat beside Agnus. Afterwards, I read again the “storm” conversation that talked about me in a public post somewhere in social media and I viewed it in a different perspective; detached and unaffected. I actually didn’t exert effort. It just “flowed”. As one Sri Lankan Brother told me last year, the better word is equanimity. I imagined talking to Agnus privately; listening to each other. Not trying to convince or win over Agnus but to understand and be compassionate with this person. How does it feel to spread hatred against others? How lonely it is to live a life full of hate in one’s heart?

I somehow get now what Bishop Barron was talking about in one of his podcast episode in Word On Fire. The true test of love for others really is to love our enemies. To love them as the “other” and not just an extension of oneself.

To have an idea what is an examen, you may download the Daily Examen application in Google Play.