Coraline Through the Looking Glass

I just finished reading Neil Gaiman's "Coraline," a novel for young readers (and well, adults like me, I suppose). It was so interesting I finished it in two days (in between reading "The Rule of Four" and various wedding books). It was very engrossing. Very much like an Alice in Wonderland with more horror in it than wonder. Well, that's why I like Neil Gaiman's stories. They're very twisted and also very insightful at the same time. We whine about all the things we don't have. But just imagine if you entered another world where everything is familiar but terribly frightening.

I sort of identified with Coraline because, in a way, I've lived my life in an "other world" for some decades. In those years I was handicapped with an extraordinary fear of my own home. Well, more specifically, a fear of "mother." Again, here is a point which totally engrossed me about "Coraline." There is the character of "other mother," the antithesis of Coraline's mother. It was at that point that I realized what it said about a mother's role. A mother can create a home. She has that power. A home can be whatever she makes it to be. It can be a child's world. I remember reading a line from "The Crow" which was quoted out of an an old poem: "Mother is the word for God on children's lips." How true. How scary for a mother, really. And for a child, depending on the mother.

All in all, "Coraline" was entertaining, chilling and a good read before going to bed. Here's to the child, that fearless explorer and cock-eyed optimist, in all of us.

Update from Cyberspace (Reflections on the Future Consumer and G-Cash)

This is my first time to post an entry from an internet cafe. Hmmm. I feel a bit dislodged/ dislocated but I relish the idea of being able to stay connected wherever I am whenever I want. As I sit here I realize how things are already changing for me as a consumer. I am becoming more and more mobile.

First of all, I was out the whole day. I attended a convention. Through my mobile phone I got to correct copy and coordinate for an upcoming event. If things got a bit desperate it would be possible for me to approve an ad lay-out via MMS (just the lay-out, mind you. Pictures on MMS are still so low res). Afterwards, I drove over to Glorietta (where I'm attending a movie premiere). While I was here I contemplated buying a burger with my cellphone, using G-Cash but decided that I would wait for my boyfriend to show up before actually eating dinner. I visited the SureSeats booth to ask about the MPASS which I'd like to buy just to try it out with G-Cash. According to the lady, MPASS is only available in Greenbelt but it will soon be available to other Ayala Cinemas. It's great because, with MPASS, I'd be able to reserve a seat at a movie using the wap on my phone. I'd pay for it using my MPASS (which I would load with G-CASH, again via my phone). I would just have to swipe it at the counter and out comes my ticket. Wow. No need to show up an hour earlier just to claim my reserved ticket. This reminded me of my experience the other night of not having to wait. We watched Carnivale on HBO and I was so intrigued by the Babylon episode. Before I went to bed, I connected to the internet on my phone to check out the episode synopsis. I ended sleeping at dawn because I read the whole season's synopsis! After checking out the SureSeats booth, I went to the internet cafe and started checking out my office mail using my corporate Mobile Mail account while at the same time checking out Edwin's technobiography blogspot.

That was one complete day out of the office without needing a landline, a desk or even cash. A combination of cyber space and wireless space could totally change everything for a future consumer. It was the same feeling I had when I watched the Matrix. I was so blown over when Neo and Trinity could download programs into their heads and escape from wherever they were just by simply using a mobile phone.

Hmmm. That could have its downside, really. We don't really save time with all these advances in technology. We increase the potential of a breakdown. In the end, its just plain old fashioned principles that will define how we use all the enablers around us to enrich our lives instead of making us go mad with more work and increased quotas.