Monday After the 2009 Fourth of July Weekend

July 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm (Conversations, Dogs, Surprises)
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Here is self: bug-eyed, sleepless, and broke. Today, we have to keep Gracie in the pet clinic: $545

Self got not so much as a wink of sleep last night. At 10 a.m., here she stands in her kitchen, pouring herself a generous glass of Merlot. She needs to fill up with gas; she would like to mail out a story. She starts reading Juked (What is she doing, reading stories, while her pet Gracie may be slowly dying of poisoning, in the San Carlos Pet Hospital?)

Here is Bella, five years older than Gracie, who is a marvel of nimbleness and spryness and seems to be enjoying having us all to herself again (We adopted Bella in 1996, Gracie in 2001). Doesn’t seem to miss Gracie at all, and looks at us innocently, as if to say: “Let that stupid one eat snail bait! Not me!”

Here is self, who tossed and turned from 3 a.m. to 5:45 a.m., who at first light went to the garden with the spade and hunted down every single snail pellet.

But emergency room doctor says Gracie’s symptoms do not present as snail bait poisoning. “Perhaps fertilizer?” he surmised. What? Self had no idea that symptoms of snail bait poisoning were so different from fertilizer poisoning. “Foaming at the mouth,” emergency room doctor says. “I’ve seen literally hundreds of snail bait poisonings. They don’t foam in the mouth like that.” At the clinic, the doctor asked about gophers: “Any gopher traps around?” No, self hadn’t heard of any neighbors complaining about gophers, so no, no gopher traps. “What about rat poison?” doctor asked. “Well,” self said, “There definitely are rats. But we don’t use rat poison, no.”

Yesterday, there was an unspent firecracker lying in self’s yard. She threw it away immediately, but noticed there were a lot of torn bits of paper lying next to it. Could Gracie have ingested a firecracker ???

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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A Bill

July 6, 2009 at 10:00 am (Dogs, Surprises)
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$930 was the bill incurred at the Veterinary Emergency Clinic in San Mateo an hour ago: for Gracie, self’s younger beagle, who seems to have ingested a handful of snail bait that self set out in the garden around mid-afternoon. As if self needed any more excitement added to her life. The symptoms only presented at 10 p.m., and then they came on gradually, so gradually that if it hadn’t been for son insisting, self would have waited for the morning to take Gracie to the doctor, by which time in all likelihood Gracie would have been beyond hope.

As it is, now, she will be OK, except for “some neurological damage.”

Hubby and son spent the afternoon in Palo Alto while self decided to stay home for a few hours of peace and quiet — to read and perhaps write. After a bit, she decided to do some gardening, as being in her garden always relaxes her. Self saw that the snails were active again, and decided to use a new box of snail bait even though she knew it wasn’t good for dogs, because the old kind of snail bait, the one that is harmless to dogs, was no good at all at killing snails.

So she used the snail bait on only one plant, just as a kind of test, and she made sure Gracie was where self could see her at all times. Only, around dinnertime, self got distracted and forgot. Hence, $930 at the emergency room this evening. Self went home at 2 a.m., and they told her she had to pick up Gracie by 8 a.m. And so would 15 other pet owners, so she would have to prepare to wait. Then, Gracie would be transferred immediately to the San Carlos Pet Hospital, for further tests and observations, probably another thousand dollars.

Let’s see: How much dental work could self have paid for if she spent $2,000? She would have a very nice new set of porcelain caps, and her mouth would ache a lot less. Not to mention that if she had given the money to son as a graduation present, he would probably have been able to afford that trip to Bali he’s been dreaming about.

But does she have any choice in the matter? No, none. So, quit ‘cher beefing. Let’s not even think of asking Dearest Mum for a loan. She’d ask, What for, and if self said, to pay for Gracie’s hospital bill, Dearest Mum would laugh so hard, she would probably be hysterical. See, when self’s uncles ask Dearest Mum for money, at least it is for something important, like setting up a new business. Not for something as frivolous as a pet’s medical bills!!! Perhaps self could make up a business, so she could tell Dearest Mum that she needed the money to set up some new and exciting venture: like introducing “Sprinkles” cupcakes to Manila cognoscenti, for example. But, self is a very bad liar.

If only self had stayed an extra week in New York! Then Gracie would not have eaten snail bait, and self would not now be out $2,000.

Life is so strange. Truly, what makes people who have no money think they can afford a pet? There were two other people in the emergency room, and wouldn’t you know, they were also Filipino. They were newlyweds from South San Francisco. And, at check-in, they had to confess that they didn’t really have a regular vet. The only time their dog had been seen by a doctor was a previous trip to the emergency room!

Self’s jaw almost fell open with amazement. How does one get away with having no vet? Is that even possible in America, land of dog lovers? Every time self brings in one of her beagles for a check-up, the vet makes her feel so guilty that she never ends up spending less than $300, for all manner of tests. Gracie’s last check-up was only three weeks ago. The vet told self that Gracie badly needed complicated dental work. The quote, including anesthesia, was around $2,000. Self laughed at the vet behind her back. Because if self didn’t even think she could afford to spend that much on her own dental work, why would she spend it on a dog’s? Turns out the laugh was on self.

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New Poetry Book From Maiana Minahal

July 6, 2009 at 1:13 am (Books, Voices, Writers and Others)
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Self first encountered Maiana Minahal’s beautiful poetry years ago, when she included her in the Filipina women’s anthology Going Home to a Landscape. Now, Maiana has a new collection out, Legend Sondayo (published by Civil Defense Poetry).

She had a reading last week in San Francisco, at Etiquette Lounge, which self regretfully missed. But check out her book, dear blog readers! It has been described as “a fantastic remix of a Filipino folk tale, updated with a queer sensibility for today.”

Having read the manuscript, self can attest: There is passion on every page.

To order your copy, send e-mail to: legendsondayo@gmail.com

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The Orange Tree Saga

July 5, 2009 at 10:26 pm (Gardening)
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Orange tree, please don’t die!

Self has been looking out the kitchen window at your bounty of oranges, every year Read the rest of this entry »

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Diagnosis: Hysteria

July 5, 2009 at 2:38 pm (Books, Quotes)
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Here’s another quote of the day. It’s from Gillian Gill’s Nightingales: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale, and follows a passage about an illness besetting Florence Nightingale’s older sister, Parthenope. Since the Nightingales were wealthy, no less a personage than Sir James Clark, Queen Victoria’s personal physician, was called in to examine the patient. His diagnosis: “hysteria.” Hysteria was defined as

an illness reaching epidemic levels at this time among upper-middle-class women all over Europe and North America. Even though fashionable doctors like Clark preferred to refer to the complaint — and how those women complained! — as neurasthenia, not hysteria (i.e., womb sickness), they attributed it to abnormalities of the reproductive organs, just as their ancient Greek forebears had. Widows, childless wives, and spinsters were predisposed to hysteria/ neurasthenia, and in the past, congress with the male, followed preferably by pregnancy and motherhood, was held to be the sovereign remedy.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned

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Quote of the Day: C. P. Cavafy

July 5, 2009 at 1:51 pm (Holidays, Places, Quotes, Voices, Writers and Others)
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6: 49 a.m. — Reading, in the garden, the poet C. P. Cavafy’s “Alexandria.” Last night, neighbors on two sides exploded rockets, gave parties. The noise spilled over into our yard, it was breathtaking. Read the rest of this entry »

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On Michael Mann and His New Movie

July 4, 2009 at 11:22 pm (Movies)
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“Public Enemies” is a long movie.  And what makes it seem even longer is the fact that we all know how it’s going to end.  And no matter how cool Johnny Depp is, at a certain point one wonders whether all this is just much ado about nothing.  (Blonde woman seated in the row just ahead of self was on the edge of her seat the whole time, hand pressed to her cheek.  Clearly, there are many Johnny Depp fans who will not share self’s opinion!)

Spoiler Alert!

Self was saddest when Stephen Dorff (Hey, Stephen, where you been hidin’ lately?  You ought to appear in more movies!  Seeing as you still got your looks!) got knocked off.

Marion Cotillard is great.  Johnny Depp is as expected.  Christian Bale is intense and angry as expected.  Final scene outside movie theatre has shades of Brian de Palma’s Eliot Ness movie, “The Untouchables.” Self liked that John Dillinger liked watching movies, as it reminded her that Dear Departed Dad loved movies, a love which he passed on to self.

Let’s see, what else?  The white-haired detective at the end is pretty good, though self doesn’t know his name.

Channing Tatum was in it for all of two minutes.  With his hair dyed a coppery gold and wearing an atrocious blue suit, he was almost unrecognizable.  Why bother putting Channing Tatum in a role where he doesn’t have to do anything (except run around in an orchard)?  What a waste of eye candy!

There were a few other actors self recognized, in itsy-bitsy roles:  Emilie de Ravin (”Lost” and “Brick”), Giovanni Ribisi (”Saving Private Ryan”) and Leelee Sobieski, who is gorgeous but who self hasn’t seen in a movie in years and years, and who has almost no lines to utter.  There was also the guy who plays Faramir in “Lord of the Rings.” (Apologies, dear blog reader, this is about the second or third time that self has seen him in a movie since “Lord of the Rings,” but his name never registers)

Self supposes everyone did it just for a chance to work with Johnny Depp and Michael Mann.

OK, after a certain point, self got bored.  She yawned; her eyelids fluttered (but didn’t actually close, as happened during “Up” –  points in Michael Mann’s favor)  It felt like she was being hit on the head repeatedly:  “Isn’t John Dillinger cool?  Isn’t Johnny Depp playing John Dillinger cool?”  Yeah, yeah, self gets it!  She gets it!  She hated that the music always started up with the rhapsodic elements, just when John was in mortal danger!  Michael Mann’s best movie is still (at least in self’s humble opinion), “Last of the Mohicans”, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe.  Now, that was a story that deserved the epic Michael Mann treatment.  The “Miami Vice” movie wasn’t bad, either –  it, too, was epic, but in a campy, “gran boffo” sort of way.

And, having said all that, self just wants dear blog readers to know that hubby and son liked the movie enough to give it “three out of four stars.”

Let’s see, self’s favorite movies (so far) this year are:

  • “Land of the Lost”
  • “Moon”
  • “Star Trek”

The Redwood City 71st Annual Fourth of July Parade was excellent.  Leland Stanford, Jr. Marching Band kicked off the proceedings.  They stopped almost directly in front of where hubby and self were standing and played a song  —   out-of-tune as usual; perhaps that is part of their charm.  Miss California (not the one of the gay marriage quote, but a brunette) was on a float!  Hubby was so excited he barely had time to snap a few pictures.  And it was great fun to see some men in kilts playing the Scottish bagpipes, and another group in pioneer garb who called themselves the “Sons of Union Descendants of the Civil War.”  There was also a group that played the Jackson Five song, “ABC.”  And that was the one and only reference to Michael Jackson during the entire parade.

Afterwards, hubby and self settled in at City Pub for Cajun Fried Calamari, crab cakes and beers, and guess who should show up but the Notre Dame de Namur University librarian, Ruth, and her boyfriend.  Ruth is extremely sweet.  It’s not her fault that, a couple of months ago, the library tried to charge self nearly $200 for a book that self had actually returned.

Self is now cooling her heels at home.  Son took off on a bike ride.  Hubby is watching wrestling.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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The Day Before the Fourth of July, 2009

July 3, 2009 at 9:58 pm (Brain Cloud, Movies, Places)
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Hubby had the day off.  We watched “The Proposal” in the downtown Century 20.  The movie was hubby’s choice, which came as a real surprise to self (Ryan Reynolds over Johnny Depp?  Since when???)

But, anyhoo, self enjoyed the movie.  Sandy Bullock was very funny (and actually goes full-frontal nekkid!  Shock!  It pleases self to report that this is one Hollywood actress who has apparently resisted the lure of having breast implants!)

Ryan Reynolds is cute as all get-out.  And he’s funny, too.  And has a great bod, as anyone who’s seen his Entertainment Weekly cover can attest (It was pretty hard to miss, in all the airports self found herself in, a few days ago.   No wonder he became Mr. Scarlett Johansson)

In addition, Mary Steenburgen, who plays Ryan’s mom, still has a great figure!

So, movie was fun.  Son declined to go with us, too bad.  Self got a large bag of popcorn and a tray of nachos.  There were five previews, including four for movies that are opening in September.  Now, that makes self sad, for that reminds self that Fall is just around the corner.  The previews were for “Julie & Julia” (Self didn’t like the book, but the movie looks like it could be better than the book?!#  With Meryl Streep playing Julia Child, and Amy Adams playing Julie Powell, how can the movie not work?), “Old Dogs” (Travolta and Robin Williams, making like real old dogs, but the movie includes as well Travolta’s real-life wife, Kelly Preston), “Fame” (the re-boot), and a really scary-looking movie directed by Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island,” that has Leonardo di Caprio in an insane asylum (not, mind you, as an inmate).

After the movie, hubby and self did usual stroll to Peet’s, and then took a look at the menus of a few small places on Broadway:  found out that a taqueria sells lengua tacos!  Next to it was a Persian Kebab take-out place.  Pickles, the women’s clothing store next to Crouching Tiger, has a sale.  It was hawwtt.

Tomorrow is the annual Redwood City Parade (sure to be packed).  Self also heard on the radio that tomorrow night, the concert at Shoreline will all be music from such sci-fi movies as “Star Wars”, “Star Trek” and so forth and so on!  Super!

After getting back home, checked mail:  (form) rejection, from “Salamander.”  Self laughed, she couldn’t help it.  She had somehow expected it all along.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Thoughts About Sam Rockwell, “Moon”

July 3, 2009 at 3:58 am (Movies, Son, Surprises)
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This movie was sad; it was funny; it was horrific.   Sam Rockwell was great in it.  (Son did a little googling and tells self that Sam was born in Daly City.  Oh.  My.  God)

Self had heard that he was the only actor in the entire movie and was wondering whether she would be able to stand looking at just his face for an hour and 40 minutes, but that isn’t quite right.  Although he plays the only man on a moon base, he is never entirely alone.  In an echo of “2001:  A Space Odyssey”, there is a computer named Gerty, voiced with deadpan hilarity by Kevin Spacey.  And there are people from his memories.

Self thinks that if she had to live all by herself on a moon base such as the one in the movie, self would drive herself crazy from fear of ghosts.  Self wants to know, if any blog readers have seen the movie, whether they too felt impelled to close their eyes at certain scenes?  Self found some parts of the movie so scary that she had to close her eyes no less than three times.  As soon as she could open her eyes again, she’d whisper urgently to son:  “Who was that?  Was that a ghost?”  Or, “Is this a horror movie?”  (Son endured all of self’s questions with a shrug and his usual stoic patience)

The movie was showing at Palo Alto Square.  There were only four other people in the audience.   Son asked self if the movies there were always this poorly attended.  Self said yes.  The other movie showing was “Cheri”, Michelle Pfeiffer directed by Stephen Frears, and as a matter of fact self overheard most of the people buying tickets for this movie.  But self is glad that she chose “Moon.”

Self also saw a preview of the latest adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel (he who unleashed the –  in self’s humble opinion –  awful, pointless “No Country For Old Men”).  This one stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.  In the middle of the preview, self turned to son and said, “There’s one thing I can tell you right now:  Charlize Theron does not die.”  Ha ha ha ha!  There were also previews for two documentaries:  one about a Muhammad Ali match in Zaire, and the other featuring the musicians Jack White, Conrad Black, and Jimmy Page.  Is it just self’s imagination, or are there really a lot of good documentaries coming out right now?  Self really wants to see “Tyson.”  And the Jack White movie sounds pretty interesting.  Self doesn’t know why it is, but in some shots Jack White looks somewhat like Johnny Depp!!@##  Seriously!

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Eugene O’Neill Redux

July 2, 2009 at 6:13 pm (Plays, Quotes, Recently Reviewed)
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Self is extremely curious as to why the Robert Falls production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Desire Under the Elms” closed early on Broadway ??!!

Self loved the play when she saw it at the Goodman!  It was definitely the highlight of self’s first trip to Chicago!

So, self was very happy to see an article about Eugene O’Neill in The New Yorker of 11 May 2009.  And she’s been wondering how to blog about it ever since.

Let’s see:  “Desire Under the Elms” brought the original cast –  Pablo Schreiber, Carla Gugino and Brian Dennehy –   to Broadway.  Here’s what Hilton Als has to say about it:

” . . .  the most powerful character in the beginning of “Desire Under the Elms” is the ultimate unattainable woman:  a dead mother.”

Wow!  That is just so funny.

The young hero of the play, Eben, is now “the only woman in the house; he wears his mother’s apron to cook for his brothers and keeps her parlor intact with a Norman Bates-like fetishism.”

Als has a really great way of re-creating dramatic mood.  Here’s how he describes the play’s opening:

” …  Falls opens the production in silence.  We see the two older brothers carting stones across the murky landscape.  Then we watch as Peter removes the entrails of a pig  –   the landscape can yield only blood, which is one reason that the brothers soon head for California.”

and

“We watch the daily life of the three characters  –  Eben, Abbie, and Ephraim –  develop to the strains of Bob Dylan’s Not Dark Yet.”

Als describes the play’s two young leads (Gugino and Schreiber) thus:

“Separately, they have spun poetry in the most literal-minded of mediums:  television.”

He has good things to say about both, but it’s his analysis of the female character that really wows self:

“While watching Gugino’s pretty, deceitful, lonely heroine bringing down the house she so longed for, I thought of the imperious and beautiful Carlotta Monterey, O’Neill’s last wife …  Monterey, a former actress, knew how to love and torture and deceive him just enough to keep him writing about the same woman over and over again.”

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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