Cover by Megan, Kevin, and Justin: “Bright Eyes” — Art Garfunkel (2009)

This was originally recorded in 2009, at my high school graduation party, for family and friends. Our Lola Acay, (Lola being the word for grandmother, though she was really our dad’s-father’s-sister) had passed away a couple of weeks prior and we sang this at her funeral during the vigil and as she was being lowered into the ground (much like with “Into the West” at my Grandpa Dean’s vigil and funeral this past January). I believe I would have been about 17 here. Kevin was probably 16, and Justin was probably about 6. I picked this song to be our tribute to her because our Lola Acay had a beautiful, warm personality and was always smiling, and whenever she did, her eyes would absolutely light up.

Background Information:

“Bright Eyes” was written by Mike Batt and originally recorded by Art Garfunkel (of Simon and Garfunkel) for the animated film “Watership Down”.

It’s been remade several times, but my favorites are all by boys with treble (unchanged/soprano) voices. I’m pretty sure I was introduced to this song through Joseph McManners, and then through that video, found the version by Declan Galbraith. I’m pretty sure I’ve posted both of those videos in my “An Angel” cover post, so here’s a cover by the adorable Gwion Wyn Jones, one of the three boys who won the BBC’s “I’d Do Anything” competition to find the next Nancy and Oliver for the West End production of “Oliver!” (the musical). He’s a little pitch at points, and the first time I heard it, the accent threw me off, but it’s still a great rendition.

Moving, Sicknesses, and HappySlip! o.O

It’s finally here, and my family is finally almost moved out of our old house and into the new(ish). It’s been crazy, but I love it. I love being around my cousins all the time.

The only problem with living in a 10-person household is that when one person gets sick, everybody gets sick. Case in point: Last Thursday my little cousin Tristan came home with pinkeye in both eyes and mildly sore throat. He got his eye drops and stayed home on Friday (Veterans’ day). The next day, his sister Vanessa said she had a slight sore throat. Sunday, their sister Camryn had a milder case of pinkeye in one eye. Their mother, my Auntie Mel, caught it early and gave her the eye drops right away. Monday night, Vanessa told me she had a headache and a sore throat and she went to sleep early. The next morning, she had a sore throat, a headache, and a fever, so she stayed home. She also lost her voice that day. That night (Tuesday) my little brother Justin came home after Tae Kwon Do practice and he had pinkeye — really severe pinkeye in one of his eyes. Auntie Mel got him some drops, but then Kevin told me that he was having some itching in his left eye. He woke up the next morning — pinkeye, in both eyes! So I ended up going to school by myself, but I had a bit of a tickle in my throat. By the time I went home on Wednesday, the “tickle” had turned into a sore throat and a headache. So I ended up going to sleep early… Everyone’s on the mend now, but it was ridiculous! :\

Which totally reminds me… today I re-watched a HappySlip video about being sick. I remember the first time I watched this particular vid I was actually getting over a sickness myself, so it was extremely relevant. Plus the Vicks stuff totally cracked me up. =P lol.

For anybody who doesn’t know who HappySlip is, HappySlip is a youtuber named Christine Gambito who specializes in vids capitalizing on Filipino humor. Being a Filipino, I totally see a lot of my family in a lot of her vids, and it’s hilarious! I’m pretty sure the first vid I saw of hers was “Chill Pill”, but my favorite… Oh, nevermind, I don’t think I have a favorite. Anyway, her most recent vid is called “Bunts of Junks”. So true… Especially the manila folder stuff. hehe…

Rant: Stupid Drivers, Brothers, and Allergies

So today I had class. I went to class, in a mostly good mood. I got to draw with chalk pastels. I drew a fountain on my school’s campus. It turned out pretty well. We shared objects we find aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. I shared a bird’s nest that I found my junior year of high school. Then my dad picked me up.

Turns out we needed to go shopping. We went to the local Costco. We got tomatoes, Caesar salad, French vanilla and hazelnut creamers, half-and-half, chicken thighs, and a beach umbrella, since somebody broke another one of the ones we already have. I ended up lost in the crowd and got separated from Dad and walked around for several minutes before deciding to just go wait at the car, where he was already waiting for me, pissed, of course.

Then we drove home. A block or so before we got home, my Dad was ranting to me about bad drivers. (He saw an Asian lady talking on her cell phone – I don’t know about other parts of the country, but in California, that’s now illegal, and then we got stuck behind this black lady who was driving on the highway at like, 50 miles an hour. Speed limit was like, 65, so of course we were all, “COME ON!” And then, right after my dad had finished his rant about the Asian lady, we were waiting for a light when this one car comes up behind this other car and promptly rear-ends it! He hit the lady’s car so hard it went forward and tapped the back of the pick-up in front of her! Seriously…

And then we got home. And guess what? My mom decided it was a “cleaning day” instead of her usual “play FarmVille all day” day. (Not that she does it all the time, but it’s a little irritating when she’s like, “do your chores” and she’s on FarmVille on her Facebook. (Seriously, she’s on that thing more often than I am… no I am not kidding.)

So she tells me to put away the dishes, which is fine, since that’s my job anyway, but then she tells me to do the dishes, and that got me irritated. Call me petty or childish or immature or whatever, but that is my brother Kevin’s chore. Honestly, it’s not that she’s asking me to work that upsets me, it’s that the specific chore she was having me do causes me to have an allergic reaction. Exposure to water, especially soapy and dirty water, especially the kind with food particles integrated in it, reacts badly with my skin. I have very sensitive skin, plus food allergies, so if, for example, Justin had a PB & J and put the knife in the water with some peanut butter still on it, I would have an allergic reaction.

Besides that, the only reason she told me to do the dishes was because Kevin left some projects of his until the last second and Mom got all stressed and said he had to work on his essay and other stuff while the rest of us cleaned house. That was especially annoying, because all week, he’s been playing “Modern Warfare” or something like that on the PS3. At least he had the decency to say thank you, though, so I’m no longer upset about it.

Speaking of allergies, I must have one of the longest lists ever, not counting that poor kid who’s allergic to everything. I read about him in People or something; felt really bad. Off the top of my head, my allergy list contains: peanuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, oysters, shrimp, avocado, eggplant, and sesame. (No, I am not allergic to all nuts; I can eat almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios.) It’s incredibly annoying, especially at restaurants. Thai restaurants are the worst – they use peanuts, sesame, and eggplant in just about everything. Usually, I stick to fried rice or Angel Wings, but it’s never a good thing when the family decides to have a party at a Thai place, ’cause then I’m allergic to the catering.