Reasons for “Huzzah”!!

November 16, 2009 at 5:39 am (Movies, Opportunities, Surprises)
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  1. Self has just seen a movie with a cast that includes Tom Wisdom (“Pirate Radio”).  Oh please, dear gods of movie-dom, don’t make self wait another two years to see Mr. Wisdom in a movie!!!
  2. For the first time ever, self has solved an entire New York Times crossword puzzle. Yes, one of those famously wicked brain-twisters concocted by the God of Crossword Puzzles, Will Shortz. Triple happy happy joy joy! When she was about halfway through filling up the boxes, self’s heart started to race (No exaggeration). But she told herself: Put a lid on it! How many times before have you had similar experience? Only to find all celebrations entirely premature? This evening, after she filled in the last set of boxes (14 across: “Gondolier’s need” = pole!), she stared at the puzzle for a couple of stunned seconds. Then, she was so excited she started yelling to hubby, who happened to be watching the last two minutes of a very dramatic Colts vs. Patriots football game. The poor man, he almost suffered a nervous breakdown, what with the noise of his wife’s yelling added to the nail-biting tension of the football game.
  3. Self has just read (in The New York Times of 2 November 2009), that there will be a 4th Mad Max movie (Swoon!). And it will be directed by George Miller again. And Charlize Theron is on board. Though it’s not clear if Mel Gibson will be (but perhaps he is too old to be cast as Mad Max! Surely there are some hardy young men of athletic persuasion who can take on the mantle!)

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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“Pirate Radio” Rocks!

November 15, 2009 at 9:53 pm (Movies)
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Today the weather is gorgeous, simply gorgeous!

Self is on something of a roll, movie-wise: the last two movies she’s seen — “Skin” on Friday (with simply great, great knockout performances by Alice Krige, Sam Neill, and Sophie Okonedo) and “Pirate Radio” today — have been just great. (Thank God, both these movies have rescued Fall from the awfulness of “The Box” and “2012.”)

Self went to see “Pirate Radio” by herself (as hubby simply could not bear to tear himself away from flat-screen HDTV — not, at any rate, for today’s football games) and loved every minute of it. She’d read some lukewarm reviews (mostly chiding the movie for a lack of plot — What? And self supposes movies like “2012″, currently # 1, with its bloated special effects, have plot???) Music was great, shots of Tom Wisdom were great (All he has to do is give that sardonic smile, dear blog readers: He hardly has any lines. But the smile’s enough!), Read the rest of this entry »

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Mid-November (2009) Weekend Status Report

November 15, 2009 at 4:53 pm (Brain Cloud, Quotes)
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All right, m’lovelies! When self cocked open one eye and gazed at the window (because Gracie was whimpering to be let out), she saw the sun. And thereby determined she’d slept approximately six hours. Not bad!

Yesterday was very busy, as she went to Sequoia Station to try and mail a grant application, then drove her clunker, actually drove it all the way into the City, all for the pleasure of listening to Merlinda Bobis read from her latest novel, The Solemn Lantern Maker.

And it was an exceedingly interesting reading, for self watched the Bayanihan Community Center gradually fill up until there were no more chairs left. And moreover she got to hear Merlinda’s rich, sonorous voice, and experience her passion for her home country once again.

After getting home, self discovered that Stanford had just beat USC, erstwhile Pac-10 powerhouse, by an unbelievable 34 points. Then self watched with hubby as University of Pittsburgh defeated Notre Dame. After that, self got to watch a little of “2 Fast 2 Furious,” explaining to hubby who the different actors were: Paul Walker, Dev Aoki, Ludacris (but apparently no Vin Diesel; not for this installment, anyway). Then she fell asleep with very little trouble.

Then, self was awakened by Gracie, as mentioned earlier. Then she picked up The New York Times she’s been reading forever (Nov. 2 issue), the Special New York Marathon issue, and there was an interview with Edward Norton, one of self’s favorite actors, who said, sounding like a character from “Fight Club” or from “300″ (which he was not in, too bad):

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Anyhoo, Norton made it all the way to the end of the race, and afterwards, when The New York Times nabbed him, they found him at the finish line, “looking upbeat and spry.” He “finished in 3 hours 48 minutes 1 second.”

Here’s the reason Norton ran:

Norton ran for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, which aims to preserve the eco-system and culture of the 7,000-member tribe in Kenya. By Sunday morning, Norton and 29 other runners had collected more than $760,000 in sponsorships.

And today, hubby says he wants to see “2012.” Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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What Is Going On?

November 14, 2009 at 9:18 pm (Surprises)
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First of all, there’s the Newsom post: Almost 1,000 hits. Or maybe over a thousand. By now.

Apparently, Mayor Newsom is a very mysterious person. Who pops up here and there, completely unannounced. As witness last week’s appearance at the Philippine American Writers and Artists (PAWA)/ Arkipelago Books reading at the Bayanihan Community Center.

Second, it is raining. When the weather report, which self checks every day, said it was not supposed to rain until Monday.

Self was going to mail off a grant application today. She just finished assembling the package this morning. Yesterday, she’d taken the precaution of dropping by the local UPS place in Sequoia Station, and the man there told her it would cost $26 to send her application by overnight mail to where it needs to go.

Then, this morning, after self scampered back there with her completed application, the man she spoke to yesterday was not there. In his place was another man, who told her that the overnight mail would be $43. And all self had added to the package (since getting it weighed yesterday) was five pages.

Self didn’t even bat an eye. Just said, “OK, let me think about it.”

Hmmm… Monday is the day she teaches at Writing Center all morning. She wonders if she can drive the grant to the office where it needs to go. It’s only 30 miles away, but her car is kaput. God, how the state of her car does seem to determine everything these days. If only she could take the bus. But the bus will take her hours.

And today is the Merlinda Bobis reading. Oh God, what to do, what to do.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.

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Self’s Investigations

November 13, 2009 at 6:41 pm (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes, Writers and Others)
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Which have to do this morning with print-on-demand.

Because she is wild to find a U.S. publisher for some of her work.

And perhaps publishing (or indie publishing, at any rate) should follow the lead of the music world, which can, according to an article quoted in Luna Park, “lead to the same cornucopia for literature that the music world has already been enjoying.”

Something to think about, anyway.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Eavesdropping: Open.Salon.Com

November 12, 2009 at 1:31 am (Eavesdropping, Food and Drink, Other Sites of Interest)
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First of all, today is Veterans Day.  So, to all the soldiers fighting for our freedom all over the world, self salutes and honors you.

Now then:  It was such a beautiful day!

Self worked at the Writing Center, then had late lunch with Zack, Liza, and Jonathan in Tribu again — yum! Yuuumm! Self’s pants are so tight right now, she can hardly breathe!

She had lychee shake! And shared a bibingka with Zack!

And now she is home, giving her tummy a much-needed rest. Naturally, she begins wandering the Internet, ever in search of more news, more information, more laughs, more inspiration, more what-have-you. And she pauses for a while on Open.Salon.com. And peruses the list of posts. And here are a few of her favorites  (Asterisks are for the posts that made self laugh out loud at least once) :

  1. Cartoon: Proust is Boring
  2. Springsteen Robbed of Spot on NPR’s 50 Great Voices List
  3. Involuntary Lactation & Other Lessons Learned in Jamaica*
  4. When Geeks and Nerds Cross-Pollinate
  5. Iraq: Ten Lessons Learned During My Brother’s Deployment*
  6. My Son Says He is White (about Sammy Sosa’s alleged use of skin-whitening products)
  7. Reflections on Two Military Cemeteries in France

P.S. to dear blog readers: Post # 5 and # 7 were written by the same person. Good going, Mr. von Hoffman!

Stay tuned.

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Tuesday Evening in November, Here Comes A Poem

November 11, 2009 at 1:15 am (Quotes)
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Report

by Arvin A. Mangohig

You bring me the weather:  localized storms
in your absence, the mere thought of you
and small climate disturbances occur in the room
in your name, tides in my brain shift.

Once, without you for one whole year,
it rained around me, even my blood
flowed like flood waters.
You returned in time to keep the seasons
from swallowing me whole, island,
tropical, at the mercy of the seas.

Now, you lie in my bed like an eclipse;
your sun still covered in the sheets
where you touched me, burns with dark fires.
I touch you and there is dusk
all around me like your breast.
I take my clothes off within it like a soul;
there is moonlight around your heart.
Certain stars are moving near us.

2001

    – From One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry Since 1905, edited by Gemino H. Abad and Alfred A. Yuson

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Self’s Review of Two Books on Burma

November 10, 2009 at 6:15 pm (Books, Other Sites of Interest, Places)
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On-line now, self’s review of two new books about Burma:

  • Justin Wintle’s Aung San Suu Kyi biography, Perfect Hostage
  • San San Tin’s memoir, written with Carolyn Wakeman, No Time For Dreams: Living in Burma Under Military Rule

at the Women’s Review of Books website.

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Poets & Writers: A List of (Non-Academic) Writing Centers

November 10, 2009 at 5:04 am (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Quotes)
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From the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Poets & Writers, in an article by Seth Abramson on “The Top MFA Programs”, there is a list of “Writing Classes Outside of Academia.”

Self has heard of most of them, except for the one in Huntington Beach (Tebot Bach). Here’s the list, from p. 88:

Gotham Writers Workshop, New York City
555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1402
New York, NY 10018

Grub Street, Boston
160 Boylston Street, Fourth Floor
Boston, MA 02116

The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis
Suite 200, Open Book
1011 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55415

Richard Hugo House, Seattle
1634 Eleventh Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122

San Diego Writers, Ink, San Diego
P. O. Box 34374
San Diego, CA 92163

Tebot Bach, Huntington Beach
P. O. Box 7887
Huntington Beach, CA 92615 – 7887

Writers At Work, Los Angeles
4022 Fountain Avenue, Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90029 – 2220

The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD
4508 Walsh St.
Bethesda, MD 20815
(Self is reading here, Feb. 19 2010! Stay tuned for more details)

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Grrreat (November) Monday

November 10, 2009 at 1:24 am (Opportunities, Surprises, Writing)
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What happened today?

Self went to the Writing Center (She was almost late:  she awoke at 9:20 a.m. and it took her 20 minutes to change, brush her teeth, etc and get herself out the door. But that’s because she fell asleep at 3 a.m. — after long hours spent hunting up material for her novel on the internet).

The Writing Center was busy, but not unmanageable. Self has perfected the art of tutoring two students, sometimes three simultaneously. And the time goes by really really fast. And, on top of that, self found time to sneak a peek at a book that listed all kinds of classic children’s literature.

Then self went home (congratulating herself for having resisted buying anything from the vending machine positioned just outside the door to the Writing Center, a vending machine dispensing KitKats, potato chips, and all the sinful American candy one can think of that can be sold for $1 or less).

Then self found herself still so energized that she began to resume writing her novel (Added two pages — YAY!)

Then she decided to mail out two very short pieces. And in addition looked up another literary journal to which she has only submitted twice before (since she started keeping records, in 2007, that is), which means she can still continue sending (Her cut-off for trying is seven attempts. If, after seven attempts she still hasn’t nabbed even a “nice” rejection — that is, a rejection that says, in so many words, “Your piece reached the final round,” or similar — then she crosses off that journal forever).

Then the mail came. There was a very thin letter from xxxxx Foundation that self had applied to for a residency, over a year ago. Self was so sure it was a rejection that she kept that envelope for last.

Okey-dokey, so she fanned through all the bills, catalogues, solicitations, what-have-you. Now to envelope from xxxxx Foundation.

OMG

It was not a rejection. It was an acceptance. But, attached to the acceptance letter was another, a “contract”, saying in so many words that self must agree to never ever ever reveal anything about the residency, before during or after. So, you can see self’s dilemma. She can’t blog about it.

Never mind. Of course she is accepting the residency! As she really really needs to finish this book that she is writing, even if in the process of doing so she and hubby are reduced to the poor-house.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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