Musings on the Nobel

November 29, 2007 at 8:40 pm (Books, Quotes, Surprises, Writing)

As self is still reading Monday’s San Francisco Chronicle (Self is an excruciatingly slow reader, as loyal blog readers know all too well), self stumbles upon a mention of Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, in Leah Garchik’s column.

Apparently, someone was so excited to meet Al that he made a special plate to commemmorate the man’s efforts to combat global warming. And on a recent visit to Sacramento, while Gore was gladhanding a throng of people, the man yelled out, to get his attention: “Al! Take my plate! Al, take my plate!” And Al stopped, looked coldly at him, and said, “I don’t think so.” Whereupon the great man moved on. A passing security guy did, however, take the plate from the hapless Al-worshipper, perhaps fearing he might fling it at Al-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize winner.

And then self remembers that she read on someone’s blog that a male writer is astounded, completely astounded over the Nobel Literature Committee’s decision to award this year’s Literature prize to Doris Lessing, who he considers unreadable.

So, self decides to look up what Nobel Committee said, when announcing Lessing’s prize. And here is what the Committee said:

The award goes to Doris Lessing, “that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny.”

Wow, self never thought of Doris Lessing as an “epicist” and will have to look that up. The announcement also has a picture of Doris Lessing and, self just wants to say that it strikes her as absolutely cruel of committee to wait to award the prize to a woman until she is 88 years old. If committee had awarded the prize to Doris when she was in her 50s and writing like gangbusters, not only would she appear gorgeous, but she would have been at the height of her powers and who knows what further heights the prize might have inspired her to?

Anyhoo, self further learns that “the very first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to the French poet and philosopher Sully Prudhomme, who in his poetry showed the “rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect”. Who on earth knows who Sully Prudhomme is ???

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Self Out of Explanations

November 29, 2007 at 8:16 pm (Books, Holidays, Home, Movies)

Self simply can’t explain it, dear blog readers. Some days self writes something and it gets immediate views, even if it’s nothing but a list of self’s recent activities. Other days, self will labor over a post, taking care to put her punctuation marks in all the right places, and that post will languish, unseen and unloved, for many many days.

In the recent past, self’s blog has been very very active. Self thinks it has something to do with someone in the Philippines assigning a paper on Carlos Bulosan. The other day, self received peremptory command from hapless woman who demanded that self tell her — immediately — all the particulars about the Bulosan story self quoted from, some weeks ago. Perhaps self should consider opening an essay-writing service. She might end up making more money than she does now, teaching part-time.

All right-ey! Self finished Youth and is on to her next book, a mystery titled Maisie Dobbs. Very interesting book, this Maisie Dobbs : all about what happened to those shell-shocked World War I British soldiers who returned home with bodies intact but minds damaged beyond repair, as well as those who returned with both bodies and minds damaged beyond repair.

Self has also purchased a Christmas tree from Wegman’s ($64.95 for 5-6 footer) and is having it delivered Saturday morning, the same day hubby and self are going to see another concert by the San Francisco Symphony (Last concert, with the Simon Bolivar youth orchestra of Venezuela, was out of this world!) Self also purchased swags ($5.99 each) and sword ferns ($5.99 each). Self also cancelled appointment for tooth extraction today, for she simply cannot stomach paying $300 of her own money (Self’s insurance covers tooth extractions at 30%) simply in order to feel pain (not to mention sunken cheeks).

And, last night, self caught an early evening showing of Enchanted, which was great fun, as self had never seen Patrick Dempsey in a movie before, and he was oh-so-swooningly handsome and romantic, and Amy Adams was a gas; and also self got to see a preview of Jason Lee in a Christmas movie with Alvin and the Chipmunks (Some things from the past should simply never be resurrected), and another with Ben Chaplin and Emma Watson that she thinks is trying to explain the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, and anyhoo self had a mighty entertaining evening, which she topped off with take-out from La Azteca (menudo and taco salad).

Now, after exertions of the morning, self is at rest. Day is gorgeous (meaning: warm). Freesia bulbs are calling out to be put in the ground.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Quotes of the Day: San Francisco Chronicle of Monday, 26 November

November 28, 2007 at 10:21 pm (Places, Quotes)

After a veritable 24-hour blizzard of grading student papers (with only one break of six hours — to sleep), self feels she is now ready for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Did self ever confide to dear blog readers that she finds this paper so highly entertaining? It’s certainly more entertaining than the San Jose Mercury News, which self used to read when she was a more serious person. Now that self is middle-aged, and likes to poke fun at everything, she confines herself to reading the Chronicle.

So, okey-dokey, first quote of the day happens to be about Texas: TEXANS WHO SHOT BURGLARS — NEXT DOOR — HOTLY DEBATED

Now, self doesn’t know about dear blog readers, but it certainly seems to self that there is something wrong, or even ungrammatical, about that sentence. Anyhoo, self proceeds to read accompanying article:

When he saw two men pry into his neighbor’s home with a crowbar this month, Joe Horn did what many people would do: He called 911.

But when police had not shown up by the time the suspects were about to leave, the 61-year-old retiree did something most probably would not: He put down the phone, stepped outside with his shotgun and killed them.

“I’m not going to let them get away with this,” Horn told the 911 dispatcher, who responded: “Property’s not worth killing someone over.”

Who was that voice of reason speaking from the depths of 911 dispatcher’s office in Pasadena, Texas? Self feels such ordinary citizens should be enshrined in our hearts, for they are the purveyors of much wisdom in these uncertain times.

Next interesting headline: NEW TYPHOON HITS TWICE IN THE PHILIPPINES

First there’s the word “New” to describe the typhoon, which makes self think there must have been another one recently, one which she never heard about. Then, the fact that a typhoon can hit twice, which makes self think how seemingly cursed her country is, it seems to get all the double-whammies: typhoons that double back on themselves, cataclysmic volcanic explosions, lahar, mudslides. Thank God there have been no tidal waves yet, or at least none the size of the one that hit Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, etc etc three years ago.

Article begins:

Typhoon Mitag slammed into the northeastern Philippines after killing at least eight people in other parts of the country, while another deadly storm that struck days earlier was headed back, complicating emergency operations.

Mitag roared into the coastal town of Palanan in Isabela province late Sunday, its sustained wind weakening but remaining dangerous at 74 mph with gusts up to 93 mph, chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.

After hitting land, it veered toward the country’s mountainous northern provinces, where authorities evacuated thousands of people because of fears of landslides.

Self sincerely hopes that by now Mitag has blown itself out to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Third interesting headline (on p. A12) is: BLITZ OF GLASS BUILDINGS HITS SOUTH OF MARKET (There is also a very interesting “sub-headline”: Testing Tries to Ensure Glass Walls Don’t Shatter)

Yes, indeed-y, dear blog readers, it seems the San Francisco skyline is getting a new look, with the following buildings scheduled to be completed in the next few years:

The New InterContinental (32 stories) at Fifth and Howard
The New 555 Mission (33 stories)
The New Millenium Tower (60 stories), at 301 Mission
The New Infinity (35 stories) — apartment housing near the Embarcadero
The New One Rincon Hill (60 stories) — more apartment housing, with a companion tower of 48 stories to break ground shortly

And these are the great quotes the Chronicle pulled out to accompany the article:

To describe the new InterContinental: “A cross between a glacier and an old-fashioned apartment radiator, the curvy inn’s hue is so vivid that it’s being marketed as ‘32 stories of cool blue luxury in the heart of San Francisco.’ “

To describe the Millenium Tower: “not so much a glowing object as a chameleon — a 60-story shaft where the glass serves as a canvas behind thin steel fins that form a diagonal streak sliding up and around the tower’s four sides.”

Whew, that there’s some pretty fancy writing! Self hopes the buildings themselves live up to all the hype.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Since Self is Dining Alone: NYTBR 25 November 2007

November 27, 2007 at 2:57 am (Books, Food and Drink)

Since hubby informed self that he wouldn’t be home until 8 or thereabouts, self decided to go ahead and have dinner. Which she prepares in a jiffy, since all she has to do is open the refrigerator and take out the Never-Ending Ham — yes, that same ham that she purchased over a week ago. The thing with ham is, it never quite gets old, and self has dreamed up countless variations of how to eat it: ham with hot pan de sal, ham chopped up in fried rice, ham in fettucine carbonara, baked ham and macaroni casserole, etc etc etc. Tonight she’s having ham with pasta.

In addition, self had time to peruse latest issue of The New York Times Book Review. So, here’s the list of books self is interested in reading after perusing the 25 November issue:

(1) After reading George Johnson’s review of James D. Watson’s Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science:

James D. Watson’s Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science, and Watson’s account of how he and Francis Crick discovered the replicating properties of DNA, a discovery which led to the Nobel Prize, The Double Helix

(2) After reading Katie Hafner’s review of Fake Steve Job’s Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, A Parody :

Fake Steve Job’s Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, A Parody

(3) After reading Walter Kirn’s review of Ha Jin’s novel, A Free Life :

Ha Jin’s A Free Life

Read the rest of this entry »

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Monday After Thanksgiving: Reading “roger”

November 27, 2007 at 1:29 am (Home, Quotes, Writing)

Self has a copy of roger, vol. 2, spring 2007.

This is a really interesting literary journal. This issue has a piece written by Denise Duhamel: A Poem Written on Venetian Blinds, Slats Facing Outside (The Hilton Garden Inn on East Virgin Court in Tulsa). Self loves her titles; where does she get such great titles? And the poem, too, is very funny.

This evening, the first really restful evening since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, self is watching Deborah Norville re-play a message left by Kanye’s mother the day before her fatal plastic surgery. Kanye’s mother talks about having “everything from her knees to her neck” done.

With Norville’s bland voice droning on in the background, self settles herself on the couch and begins reading a short story by Marlene Lee, called “Passage.” In the story, a middle-aged woman is experiencing a moment of extreme disorientation at a writer’s conference (ha ha ha ha!): “She’d never heard of such a thing, but she signed a check drawn on her inheritance funds and was directed to a room on the second story of a stone dormitory.” (Hmmm, self thinks, I wonder which one that is?? But, once again, I digress)

The woman experiences another moment of confusion when she belatedly realizes that her bathroom is shared. See, she has just set out all her medication on the bathroom counter, when she hears a discreet knock. And the knock is of course from the room on the other side of the bathroom, which turns out to be shared by a couple (And, upon reading this passage, the image of self’s room at VCCA rises up in her mind, for self too had to share a bathroom, and thank God her “bathroom-mate” turned out to be Drew, a composer, who never spent any time in his room, so it was like having a private bathroom, and self could lie back in the tub and soak in lavender salts every single night, if she felt inclined to do so)

Anyhoo, the female half of the young couple tells the middle-aged woman (whose name is Rebecca, apologies to dear blog readers for not revealing this information sooner) that she is only there to accompany her husband: “My husband, Timmy, is a writer. He’s written hundreds of pages.” (!!@@) Which dialogue sounds very familiar to self. Coming home from one of those AWP conferences, this one held in Vancouver, self was seated next to a young woman who kept passing a baby back and forth with a man seated in the row behind. It turned out the young woman was a writer, and the man was there to take care of the baby. And the young woman happened to be a Stegner. AND she happened to be having her first book published by Penguin. AND, a few months later, self picked up a copy of The New Yorker and found the young woman’s story therein. Self’s life is full of such astonishments. And later she did hear of the young woman giving a reading at Kepler’s, which self was unfortunately unable to attend.

Anyhoo (again), this story by Marlene Lee is so very interesting. The middle-aged woman, Rebecca, happens to overhear a disturbance coming from the opposite room, and she hears the young woman shouting, “It’s just a story!” and, “He’s not necessarily writing about you!” And, still further, “Timmy is a wonderful person and he’s my husband. You shouldn’t have been going through his notebooks!”

And at this point, self wants to sit down and just laugh her head off. Because, how many times has she not had to utter those or similar lines? Oh, countless, countless times.

And let’s see how Marlene Lee ends that scene. She writes:

How terrible to be a writer, Rebecca thought. Once you write something, people read it.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Manila Book Launch: Philippine Speculative Fiction, vol. 3

November 26, 2007 at 3:15 pm (Books, Places, Writing)

By some cosmic turn of fate, dear blog readers, the story that won the Juked Fiction Contest was included in a new volume of Philippine Speculative Fiction, vol. 3, edited by Dean Alfar. Alas, if only self could fly to Manila and ditch all! But, struggling writers must keep sharp eye on their bank balances, especially now that The Economist had on a recent cover a picture of a swimmer (representing the American economy) and beneath it, a shark (representing the imminent recession). Meaning, this time next year, either a) hubby will be out of a job; or b) self will not be able to land any more part-time teaching assignments; or c) son will graduate from Cal Poly and have no job. (Once again, I digress)

Below, details of the Manila book launch, from editor Dean Alfar:

Just a quick note to remind you that the book launch for Philippine Speculative Fiction III is set for December 8th, 4PM at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street (at the basement theater). Make sure to be there if you’re in the country! If you aren’t, kindly send over a representative.

We’ll have a simple program (intros of the authors and some readings) and some food (sorry, the money went to publishing the antho!).

Please come and bring your barangay (so they’ll buy the book!)

You can also claim your contributor’s copies of the antho there.

If for some reason you can’t make it, kindly let me know.

Otherwise – see you then!

Best,

Dean Francis Alfar

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Post-Thanksgiving Sunday: Things Self Has Learned As Of This Morning, 8:06 AM

November 25, 2007 at 3:16 pm (Books, Movies, Quotes, Writing)

While reading The New York Times:

    “Brad Pitt dropped out of the political thriller State of Play at the 11th hour on Wednesday.”
    Director Ridley Scott’s next movie, again with Russell Crowe, is Nottingham, “a reimagining of the Robin Hood story from the sheriff’s point of view.”

While continuing to read J. M. Coetzee’s Youth:

    Joseph Brodsky, regarding whom self knows embarrassingly little, who she had hitherto imagined as a middle-aged New Yorker, turns out to be much older, a contemporary of J. M. Coetzee’s, born 1940.
    Brodsky was Russian and suffered for it.

Here is Coetzee on Brodsky:

Accused of being a social parasite, Joseph Brodsky has been sentenced to five years of hard labour in a camp on the Archangel peninsula in the frozen north. The sentence is still running. Even as he (Coetzee) sits in his warm room in London, sipping his coffee, nibbling his dessert of raisins and nuts, there is a man of his own age, a poet like himself, sawing logs all day, nursing frostbitten fingers, patching his boots with rags, living on fish heads and cabbage soup.

And, apropos of nothing, self was just browsing through one of her very old cookbooks, this one a Time-Life book on Classic Desserts (circa 1979!!##), when she stumbles on a recipe for “Pancakes with Cheese Filling.” Just beneath the heading she reads this:

This Russian recipe is taken from the best-selling cookbook of the Stalin era.

**##@@

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Post Post-Thanksgiving Report: The 21st Most Gorgeous Day in 2007 (A Very Long Story)

November 25, 2007 at 3:49 am (Books, Bookstores (That Carry Self), Food and Drink, Places, Publishers, Surprises)

Dear blog readers, self is exhausted, absolutely exhausted. BUT, and in self’s life there is always a but — weather was gorgeous, forecast of rain seemed totally off, and early this morning self was able to plant five freesia bulbs in the backyard.

Oliver, hubby’s German intern, showed up at 10 AM on the dot. Read the rest of this entry »

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Filipino Names, Part Deux

November 23, 2007 at 5:12 pm (Philippine History, Places)

Oh why not, why not, since self awakens groggy (much movement in living room: son arriving home at 1:30 AM, beagles skittering over hardwood floors at 5:30 AM) and learns from viewing blog stats that her second attempt to interest loyal blog readers in post about Gone Baby Gone has gone flat, Read the rest of this entry »

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Thanksgiving Post II: NYTBR 11 November 2007

November 23, 2007 at 1:04 am (Books)

In between wandering around California Street, Palo Alto (found used-bookseller who was playing “Hair” the musical at full blast, how very memory lane-ish of him) and going off to rent movies from Blockbuster, self still finds time to post!

Following, books self is interested in reading after perusing the 11 November 2007 issue of The New York Times Book Review:

(1) After reading Jabari Asim’s review of Walter Mosley’s latest novel, Blonde Faith:

Walter Mosley’s Blonde Faith

(2) After reading Sabina Murray’s review of Jenny McPhee’s novel, A Man of No Moon:

Jenny McPhee’s novel, A Man of No Moon

(3) After reading David Leavitt’s review of Peter Ackroyd’s novel about 19th century German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, The Fall of Troy:

Peter Ackroyd’s The Fall of Troy

(4) After reading Rich Cohen’s review of the United States Treasury Department’s Bureau of Narcotics files, the 843-page Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime :

Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime

(5) After reading Marilyn Stasio’s Crime column:

    Ronan Bennett’s Zugzwang
    Reggie Nadelson’s Fresh Kills
    an anthology of crime stories, The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, edited by Otto Penzler

(6) After reading Sarah Towers’ review of Emily Listfield’s novel, Waiting to Surface :

Emily Listfield’s Waiting to Surface

(7) After reading Jane Perlez’s end-paper essay, “Letter From Australia: Aboriginal Lit”, the following Australian novels (most of which have something to do with Aboriginal life):

    Alexis Wright’s Carpenteria
    Kim Scott’s Benang
    Thea Astley’s Drylands
    Tara June Winch’s Swallow the Air
    and Alexis Wright’s nonfiction book, Grog War

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