So Random

And just like that, August is almost over. What's nice about old-fashioned blogs is that you can post anytime you want. But it's only been a month since my last post, and I already miss this place. This blog calls for an update.

First up, something related to the title of this post. Would you believe I am obsessed with a Disney sitcom from 2009? And I'm in my 40s!

On August 13, I clicked on a random YouTube video (above) about two teenage characters "being the definition of enemies to lovers," one of my favorite tropes. Less than a week later, I finished its 2 seasons. Although... I cheated a bit. I was only interested in the love story between Sonny and Chad, so I skipped some parts. There were several times, though, that I forgot the forward button, because the episode was too engrossing or too funny to pass up. The show, by the way, is called "Sonny with a Chance," in case, you know, you're like me hehe.

About the Show

"Sonny (Demi Lovato) is a Midwestern girl who gets her big break when she is invited to join the cast of the hit teen sketch comedy show SO RANDOM! Sonny can't wait to become friends with her castmates, but not everyone is thrilled to share the spotlight, so Sonny must rely on her quick wit, talent and good humor to get her through any challenge." (Disney)

I thought the casting, acting, comedic timing were all excellent, especially Sterling Knight as Chad and Tiffany Thornton as Tawni. There was no weak link among the cast. And the best part? The chemistry between Demi and Sterling was unbelievable!

Unfortunately, the show was cut short and was not renewed for a third season because of Demi's health problems. Some things needed more development or a proper closure, so what we have was a bittersweet ending.

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Remember the trivia night with my high school friends last April? We've attended two more since then, every time with a new member. Ever since the first one, some of our friends have expressed interest in joining us if they visit Davao. We have a new regular, Pierre. Nej, who's now based in Makati, joined us during Kadayawan. And then last Saturday, we met another one who's home from the US. Unfortunately, we only found out there was no trivia night scheduled upon arriving at the venue, so we headed instead to a nice Japanese restaurant called Teitoku Izakaya for dinner. I had their Special Hakata ramen. Yum!

Meaning and Purpose

This year it seems that I'm constantly being reminded about the meaning and purpose of life so I wanted to share some quotes that I've gathered from my book and online reads. Please note that these are all from a Catholic perspective.

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"So it may be said that the chief purpose of life for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

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"My purpose is to become closely united to God through love, and my destiny is to praise and glorify God's mercy." ~ St. Faustina (729)

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Alicja Lenczewska: "Why am I still living?"
Jesus: "To learn to love Me and people even more."

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According to Arthur Brooks, "to find the meaning of your life is to seek coherence, purpose, and significance." He gave the following questions for guidance:

1. Why do things happen the way that they do in my life? (Coherence)
2. Why am I doing what I'm doing? Why am I moving in this direction? (Purpose)
3. Why does my life matter? (Significance)

Now imagine a Catholic answering those questions:

1. Why do things happen the way that they do in my life? Because this is what God wills.
2. Why am I moving in this direction? To get to Heaven.
3. Why does my life matter? Because the Lord loves me. I matter to God.

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"God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work." ~ St. John Henry Newman

Grogu?

I purposely brought my sister to a local Miniso store because of their Grogu merch on June 28. I had just finished all The Mandalorian seasons a few days before (sadly a month too late for the new theatrical movie) and was sharing some clips with my sister to entice her to watch the show. She seemed way more excited about buying the merch, hence the photo below.

This is the way.

The last time I watched new Star Wars content was in June 2024, when I tried Disney+ for a month. Honestly, I started to get the Star Wars fatigue before the Solo movie (2018) was completed. New films were released every year since 2014, some featuring characters I was indifferent to, so I lost interest. So when I had Disney+, I only watched Obi-Wan Kenobi, my favorite Jedi. But it was underwhelming.

Then this year, my sister's friend added us to her Disney+ account. As always with these streaming sites, the movie library is huge, but the good choices are limited, with most of the classics I have already watched and the new releases uninspiring. That's the reason I tend to subscribe only when I have enough in my watchlist.

But back to Disney+. It was in April when I finally ran out of good movies to watch. I scanned the Star Wars section and found Andor, which I knew was highly rated; not to mention Rogue One, for me, is the best Star Wars film. It got me invested, for sure. There were slow episodes early in season 2, but after the Ghorman incident, my father (and TV buddy) and I were glued to the Senate… in Coruscant... and in the Philippines. The similarity of events was uncanny! Fiction becoming reality.

"Andor" has a more serious tone compared to other Star Wars media. I noticed that there were barely any alien races; the story is more human-centric and political. I was also waiting for any mention of the Force the entire time. So imagine the warmth I felt when at last Senator Organa said the famous phrase, "May the Force be with you," at the finale.

I mentioned this show to a friend when she asked me what I was currently watching. She then recommended "The Mandalorian." So after getting impressed with "Andor," I was excited for another one.

And "The Mandalorian" WAS Star Wars! From the opening scenes alone, I felt like a kid again—the creatures, the foreign languages, the music. Its episodic structure reminded me of the 90s TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess." I did not even know Baby Yoda was another character. I am so enamored with this series that I can't name which one I love more. Grogu? Best fictional father Din Djarin? Their relationship? The simplicity? The fun family theme? The practical effects? The adventures? Pedro Pascal? All of them!

I think "The Mandalorian" stopping at Season 3 is perfect. However, they should not have included important Mandalorian and Grogu scenes in The Book of Boba Fett, because the three seasons by itself is incomplete.

Now I'm waiting for the movie to be released on Disney+. Hopefully within this quarter.