July 11, 2009 at 3:22 pm (Food and Drink, Son, Surprises, Writing)
Tags: anticipation, Saturdays, teaching, writing conferences
… the more ideas come to you. In the same vein, energy creates energy. Or, to take it even further, writing generates more writing.
Self, where exactly are you going with this?
It is Saturday. A mile or so away from where self sits, the Redwood City Farmers Market is just starting up.
Last night, the garden was noisy with the sound of son and Kramer, bent over the fondue pot. This pot is an extremely homely one that was a wedding present to self and hubby and is so grimy and small it can barely fit 10 forks of anything. But every time self thinks she ought to move up to a shiny stainless steel fondue pot that costs at least $50, she ends up sticking with the grimy old one. (Perhaps age enhances flavor, or perhaps this is yet another example of self’s endless rationalizations!)
Self now thinking back on Thursday’s workshops at the Foothill Writers Conference, and she realizes they were fun. A handful of people showed up for her first, on flash fiction, and an even smaller number for her fiction manuscript workshop. But the two who got to have their manuscripts discussed for an hour were extremely lucky, for self went in there with a scalpel and pulled out all manner of ideas.
Now, self thinks she ought to start preparing for her fall workshop at NDNU on writing the memoir. Marc Wolterbeek let her have two successive Saturdays in September. The class will count for one unit. YAY!!! Self can hardly wait.
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July 11, 2009 at 3:05 am (Brain Cloud, Food and Drink, Son)
Tags: memories, Menlo Park, Readings, weekends, writing conferences, writing process
On Sunday, self gives two seminars: one about learning from poets and another about revising “voice-driven” pieces. Self isn’t always too clear about her “process,” as she tends to make most of her editing or re-writing decisions intuitively. How is she going to illuminate her process for the class? Self has been getting ready by reading all kinds of articles and essays by various writers, but hasn’t come upon a sure-fire, fool-proof formula that she can easily teach.
It is the weekend. Hubby is home. Son will soon be home, and he has prepared some tri-tip steak that he and Read the rest of this entry »
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July 1, 2009 at 11:01 pm (Brain Cloud, Food and Drink, Gardening, Holidays, Movies)
Tags: performances, summer, Netflix, French movies, Oscars
One is not really home unless one has once again done groceries at the local Safeway. Which self did this afternoon.
Before she left for New York, there was a lot of rice, she made sure of that. But this morning there was only about a cup left.
When self peeked in the fridge last night, she saw a huge chuck steak that hubby was marinating. Half a leftover steak was balanced on another plate on top of it. Son told her rather wanly that he and hubby had been eating “a lot of meat.” Self also noticed that hubby had moved the Weber grill out of the garage and into the garden.
Self was so restless to see the garden that, even though she couldn’t fall asleep until 4 a.m., she was up as soon as sunlight struck her face (6 a.m.). Then she began watering and watering, and only stopped when she had built up a good sweat. The clematis, the roses, the fuschias were yellowing, but still alive. (Oh, the poor orange tree! Self told hubby we should wait a couple of months before deciding to cut it down). As self was pretty groggy after hefting buckets of water hither and thither, she decided to finish watching the Netflix movie she’s had for almost a month, “I’ve Loved You So Long.”
Self is a big fan of Kristin Scott-Thomas, and was so happy when she was nominated for an Oscar last year. The movie turned out to be another one of these French pot-boilers, but Kristin Scott-Thomas (and the actress who played her younger sister) make everything look classy. The French system of justice is pretty murky to self, and getting more so after watching movies like this one and “Tell No One” (not to mention after reading Les Miserables!) Self did find herself shedding a saccharine tear at the end, which is probably less due to the merits of the movie than to the fact that she is at the moment exhausted.
Son walked the dogs, as he’s been doing every day since coming home. He left close to noon and was gone quite a long time! Self had no idea her li’l crits had such stamina! They returned home with grins (if dogs can be said to grin) almost as wide as their faces.
At the Safeway, there were many blonde and tanned women in shorts. People seemed to be buying stuff for the Fourth of July: big racks of pork ribs, steaks, salsa and chips, that sort of thing. It is summer! It is really summer! This thought always makes self happy.
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July 1, 2009 at 6:16 am (Food and Drink, Home, Places, Surprises)
Tags: California, first times, happiness, New York, pets, weather
CBS News is doing a long segment on the Michael Jackson will (one of them, anyway).
Self is so excited to be home! She can hardly wait to decide what movie she will see tomorrow!
Li’l crits look good (not, of course, as good as Miss H – no dog can equal the excellence of Miss H!)
California weather is the best! Simply the best! Cool-ish! Self nearly fell over herself with gratitude! (Though house is warm, like an oven – we of course have no A/C)
Self should say, though, that she had a very good meal in the airport in Atlanta – in the Fast Food Court, some southern chicken chain named Paschal’s. Self had a rotisserie chicken meal that came with black-eyed peas, yams, mashed potatoes, and two pieces of corn bread, all for $8.91! (Self must have been hungry — she ate almost everything on her plate)
And now that self is back home, she does have very fond memories of Pinkberry. Also, the New York subways, though noisy and crowded and hot are, like, 100% better than any public transportation system in the Bay Area! On good days, self could get from the Upper West Side to the Village in 15 minutes!
Ahhh, self can’t wait to catch up on her reading! There are three issues of The New York Times Book Review she still hasn’t read! (On the plane, self read the following: the latest issue of People; the latest issue of Esquire, which had a great short story by Stephen King about a substitute teacher; today’s Wall Street Journal; and today’s New York Times. She also grew so bored that she succumbed to watching “17 Again.” Self can honestly say that she thinks Zac Efron – gasp! – is not a bad actor. In fact, she actually laughed out loud several times while watching the movie!)
It’s too dark to see the garden – but tomorrow self knows she will be watering with a vengeance!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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June 25, 2009 at 1:03 am (Calls, Food and Drink, Places, Surprises)
Tags: happiness, humor, New York, restaurants, weather
It rained — no, poured — this afternoon, and self got to watch the whole thing from the window of a friend’s place in the Village. Then, just as she headed out to go back home, it stopped (luck, and yet more luck). And the world was born anew. And everything smelled so fresh. And self saw the Angelika Movie Theater across the street begin to fill up, and she got a cab the minute she stuck an arm out, and she went to a restaurant called Fatty Crab to meet her nephew (he walked straight across Central Park and it only took him 20 minutes), and had “fatty duck” and beef rendang and something called “sliders” that turned out to be mini-hamburgers, and while self was walking home, somewhere on 73rd, her phone rang and it was Penny calling from Ohio, from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, and she told self that she was having a fabulous time, she was having to write a story a day but loving it.
And wasn’t that the darndest thing about the South Carolina governor, who said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail and ended up being in Argentina, and wouldn’t you think politicians would know by now, especially after witnessing Eliot Spitzer’s flame-out, but people will never learn, or maybe it’s just that he was really in love and it made him crazy, who knows.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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June 24, 2009 at 3:46 pm (Food and Drink, Places, Quotes)
Tags: New York, New York Times, weather
In a tower, self feels she is in a tower. The radio hums a meaningless drone, Heloise sleeps on her little pillow. Far below is the hum of traffic and the occasional siren. The schoolchildren in the classroom in the next building are silent today.
Yesterday, dinner with a cousin on East 40th street. The subway train from Bleecker to Grand Central had a functioning airconditioner, thank God. The crowds spilled out on 42nd Street, self’s feet ached from all the walking.
But it has not rained! Not since the night of her arrival. Everyone talks about it, though: they all say it rained terribly last week, or a few days ago, or even just before self arrived. Thunderstorms! Lightning! It all sounds terribly dramatic and exciting.
From California drift echoes: Son is always out! But that’s what young men do, isn’t it? They go out. Hubby is always at work. But we’re lucky, aren’t we? That he has work?
Self reads yesterday’s New York Times. Ex-tennis champion Yannick Noah apparently now has a thriving musical career (and, judging from the evidence of the accompanying picture, still looks good). M says that “August: Ossage County” is a really good play.
Self hasn’t even called her niece and her nephews, all of whom are home from their various colleges. Her daily route has taken her from West End to the Village and back again. The Upper East Side might as well be on another planet.
For now, this apartment on West End Avenue, with Heloise the dachshund resting on a pillow beside her, is home.
Here’s something interesting self found in yesterday’s New York Times Science section. It has to do with food cravings, a topic always of immense interest to self. The title is “How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains” :
As head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David A. Kessler served two presidents and battled Congress and Big Tobacco. But the Harvard-educated pediatrician discovered he was helpless against the forces of chocolate chip cookies.
In an experiment of one, Dr. Kessler tested his willpower by buying two gooey chocolate chip cookies that he didn’t plan to eat. At home, he found himself staring at the cookies, and even distracted by memories of the chocolate chunks and doughy peaks as he left the room. He left the house, and the cookies remained uneaten. Feeling triumphant, he stopped for coffee, saw cookies on the counter and gobbled one down.
“Why does that chocolate chip cookie have such power over me?” Dr. Kessler asked in an interview. “Is it the cookie, the representation of the cookie in my brain?”
Et tu, Dr. Kessler?
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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June 22, 2009 at 6:03 pm (Dogs, Food and Drink, Places, Writers and Others)
Tags: art, Events, New York, restaurants
Last night, there was the walk in Central Park in the rain, the man playing the bagpipes, and Anne Hathaway in the flesh, speaking in her gentlest voice and addressing the huddled audience to let them know she shared their disappointment that she would not be performing that night.
This morning, perusing the Wall Street Journal, self learns that there are exhibits of Giacometti, Cézanne, Delacroix, Lichtenstein, all within a few blocks of Mercer and Houston, where self is headed this morning. Somewhere is a dog named Heloise, making her silent presence felt throughout the apartment. Early this morning, self is almost sure Heloise crawled into bed next to her. When she awoke, at 10 a.m. (She’d fallen asleep at 3 or thereabouts) her right arm enclosed a hollow on the bed, which felt warm.
Her friend was already at yoga class. Children’s voices floated over from the next building, probably a school. The children recited in unison, and now and then a male voice, loud, would interrupt, give instruction. At one point, a whole chorus of dogs set to barking, and Heloise barked, too: bark, bark, bark. There is a whole world up here, on the 12th floor.
Friend showed self how to make coffee. The grounds were from a place called The Sensuous Bean. Self also had a scrumptious strawberry scone to go with the coffee. Her friend told her the scone came from a bakery on 73rd and Amsterdam.
How wonderful to live up so high, to be so removed from the busy, busy world below.
Luis Francia is reading at the Cornelia Street Café this Sunday, June 28:
29 Cornelia Street in the West Village
6 p.m. All are welcome.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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June 15, 2009 at 2:31 pm (Food and Drink, Places, Pleasures of Travel)
Tags: happiness, memories, San Luis Obispo
Self fairly groggy and bleary-eyed this morning — this despite having had six and a half hours sleep last night: a record, the most hours self has ever slept in a hotel room.
What can self say about being here? The weather in San Luis Obispo is always beautiful. The streets of the town are so quaint that they make self want to cry. The coconut and pineapple bars from the Old Edna Deli are the best self has ever tasted, the spinach-stuffed ravioli self had yesterday at Café Roma was ravishing, and The Holiday Inn Express in Atascadero is fine beyond belief.
Let’s see, what happened yesterday? After dinner with son and Kramer (who had driven down for the weekend and stayed until the last possible moment, even though he has a job in Sunnyvale that requires him to be awake and work-ready at 8 a.m. today), we all went downtown, to the Barnes & Noble. This particular B & N is amazing: there is an escalator to the second floor (self suddenly remembers that the B & N on the upper East Side has similar vastness — but it just doesn’t have the same vibe) where there is a coffee shop that actually sells good coffee. There are students everywhere. They do not carry either The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, but at least they have The Los Angeles Times. Son browsed the GRE books, hubby browsed the military history books, and self sat on a chair in the back, reading the papers. Outside, in the movie theatre next door, “Terminator: Salvation” (which son wants to see today, self didn’t even dare bring up “Star Trek”!!!) and “Land of the Lost” were showing. Self had told son and Kramer at dinner (Tahoe Joe’s) that “Land of the Lost” was an incredibly good movie, and they both looked at her with poker faces. At that dinner, self could only manage an appetizer of deep-fried artichoke hearts. But the boys, in spite of having had very hearty meal at Café Roma for lunch, went straight for the Joe’s Ribeye Steaks and plowed manfully through.
Now, self realizes she is beginning to ramble. She was writing about the Barnes & Noble, and now she’s moved backwards to Tahoe Joe. Before she risks further alienating dear blog readers, self will bid them adieu. Only until tonight, however, when self will hopefully be able to amuse with tales of fresh adventures. Self will close with a picture of a most fab dessert, son’s chocolate something at Café Roma:
Son's chocolate dessert from Café Roma
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June 10, 2009 at 5:05 pm (Food and Drink)
Tags: Filipino food
Breakfast with Dearest Mum in the sunroom just off her bedroom (in Manila — you honestly didn’t think people eat breakfasts like this in America???):
Tapa, Fried Eggs, Fried Fish, Suka (Spicy Vinegar), and of course, Pancakes!!!
BWAH HA HA HA HA!!!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.
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June 8, 2009 at 6:15 pm (Food and Drink, Movies)
Tags: lists, Mondays, reviews, summer movies
Looking back at self’s posts for the weekend, self realizes that it was indeed a very very activity-packed two days. For in addition to watching the San Francisco Symphony Berg/Schubert concert, and eating at Flipper’s, billed as a “gourmet hamburger place” in the Hayes Valley, self also ingested a most luscious macaroon, saw her first Will Ferrell movie in years (and liked it), posted an unexpectedly long New York Times Book Review reading list (last night), and also managed to read, read, read (everything).
So, self this morning indulges in one of her Monday morning rituals, and that is checking weekend box office (So pointless, self Read the rest of this entry »
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