Wall Street Journal Calls Great Recession “Waning”

November 18, 2009 at 1:24 am (Opportunities, Quotes)
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Can it be? Can self really put her faith in esteemed Wall Street Journal? That is, are good times really ahead? Oh boy, self can hardly wait!

Front page article in today’s issue begins:

In the waning days of the Great Recession, the federal government is still jump-starting the economy and propping up financial markets.

Self gathers from reading the article (by Michael M. Phillips) that if you were the type of person who had the extreme good fortune to possess a couple of extra thousand dollars just laying around, collecting 0.3% interest in some stodgy but safe bank, this would be an excellent time to buy some investment property.

Here’s one:

Dresden Heights, a failed condo development on a noisy freeway ramp next to a Motel 6, a Waffle House and a Do-It-Yourself Pest Control.

The owner of the property is the FDIC, which has 36 other “partially built condos” on its hands, a parcel it “inherited from a high-flying, short-lived Atlanta bank.”

The properties, of course, are not attractive. According to Jim Gallagher, “senior official in the FDIC’s Division of Resolutions and Receivorships” (Self adores, simply adores that division name; sounds like something even Kafka could not have dreamed up!): “What we’re trying to sell is something that is rundown or not completed or has some property damage.”

Still hankering for more? The article states:

“The current backlog of property stuck on the agency’s books, with an appraised value of $1.8 billion, ranges from an $18,700 clapboard home with stained carpets in Birmingham, Ala., to a $1.7 million mountainside lodge with a heated driveway in Steamboat Springs, Colo.”

Wow. That’s all self can say. Wow.

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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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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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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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Anticipation: Fall

November 3, 2009 at 6:40 pm (Movies, Opportunities, Voices, Writers and Others)
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Here are the things self has to look forward to in the Fall:

Her reading this Saturday with Justin Chin and Sara Gambito, Bayanihan Cultural Center, 1010 Mission St. @ 6th, 2 p.m. Niece G says she will go and bring some friends (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC).  YAAAAYYY!!!

Merlinda Bobis’ book launch for The Solemn Lantern Maker (Random House), the following Saturday, Nov. 14, 3 p.m., Bayanihan Cultural Center, 1010 Mission St. @ 6th (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)

Her writing group meeting on the 22nd.

Son coming home for Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, self is also looking forward to the following Fall movies:

  • Avatar
  • New Moon
  • 2012
  • Sherlock Holmes

And then, this is really exciting:  National Geographic is moving into the arena of scripted dramas.  Self loves watching the NatGeo channel, their imbedded reporters do a great job reporting from the field in Afghanistand and Iraq.  They distribute a Palestinian American drama, “Amreeka,” and now they’ve teamed with director Peter Weir (“Witness,” “Master and Commander”) to produce “The Way Back,” which the San Francisco Chronicle Datebook describes as being “about Siberian exiles.”

I didn’t know until now that National Geographic Entertainment teamed with Warner Independent to produce the 2006 hit documentary “March of the Penguins!”

Very much looking forward to the films National Geographic Entertainment will be releasing.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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A Survey

October 26, 2009 at 11:47 pm (Conversations, Opportunities, Places, Relatives)
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Since self is now pretty sure of going home in December, and since there’s only so much a body can accomplish in three weeks (!!!), other than get horribly jet-lagged and fat,  self thought she’d better begin soliciting suggestions for:

  • The three best books by contemporary Filipino writers that she must buy to bring back with her to the States  (No coffee table books, please!  Self likes poetry, she likes prose, she likes graphic novels, she loooves  –  at the present moment, anyway  –   history and memoir and non-fiction)
  • The three best bookstores that she must be sure to visit in the three weeks that she is in Manila
  • The three movies she absolutely must see before going back home

Never mind restaurants or food! She’s sure she doesn’t need to eat one more thing, not one!

*    *     *

Call to Dearest Mum:  Why didn’t you send copies of The Lost Language with cousin who was just in Manila?  Self has a reading on Nov. 7, and it would have been so great to have the copies ready.  Dearest Mum replied, she is ashamed.  She doesn’t want anyone to read the book.  The stories are so violent.  Even her brothers couldn’t read it, they had to stop after the first 5 pages, never mind that self dedicated the book to Ying.  So,

HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!

(Now, self thinks:  how in the heck is she going to get through three weeks of December in Manila?  Hubby, though, maintains it will be very “good” for self to go.  Self wants to ask him:  And what do you know about it?  Did you ever have a family such as mine???)

Now self is wondering: which is worse, to have the maternal seal of approval, or not to have the maternal seal of approval?

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Here’s the Thing

October 13, 2009 at 7:04 pm (Opportunities, Other Sites of Interest, Sayings, Surprises, Writing, short fiction)
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Yesterday was quite an amazing day as self got the absolutely amazing news that a story of hers was a finalist in a flash fiction contest. Self’s been trying for years to get into this journal, with no luck. And now she’s a finalist?

The prize was $500.

Unfortunately or perhaps just unluckily, the story was “Appetites,” which is in the current issue (# 31) of cool website Cafe Irreal.

Alas!  She had so little faith in her chances (or is perhaps too much a creature of impulse) that, yes indeed, amazing as it may seem, she submitted the exact same piece to the contest and to Cafe Irreal, which published it. (Then again, dear blog readers, what are the odds? Of you becoming a finalist in a contest? Given the fact that there are hundreds of writers equally or perhaps more talented than you, all of them also submitting to contests? Isn’t becoming a contest finalist then akin to the rich man going through the eye of a needle, or whatever analogy the Bible used to illustrate the difficulty of getting into heaven?)

Self had to withdraw from the contest, today.

Here are a couple of thoughts that presented to self:

There is always a first time for everything. So now self has the unique honor of knowing how it feels to have to excuse herself from a contest in which she has become (quite improbably) a finalist.

Also:  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?  Hopefully?

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

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Stanford Lane Lectures, 2009- 2010

October 8, 2009 at 5:14 am (Opportunities, Surprises, Writers and Others)
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Here’s the list of Distinguished Authors visiting Stanford for the 2009- 2010 Lane Lecture Series (now in its 28th year, says the brochure –  which means it was still fairly new when self started at the Creative Writing Program, self had absolutely no idea).  All readings are free and open to the public.

  • First up, Joyce Carol Oates (author of fifty-plus books, blah blah blah.  Self wants to go hear her, just because):  Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, 8 p.m., Cubberley Auditorium
  • Denis Johnson comes next (Self is absolutely bowled over when she reads in the biographical notes that he was raised in Manila, among other places.  Self was also unaware, until now, that he is the current “resident playwright” for Intersection for the Arts).  He reads Monday, February 1, 2010, 8 p.m., Cubberley Auditorium.
  • Last, poet Edward Hirsch, winner of: the Guggenheim, the MacArthur, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and everything else (though not, interestingly, the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, or maybe that was left out inadvertently?)  There is a New Republic blurb:  “He can become Rimbaud, Rilke, Paul Klee, or Matisse, in each case convincingly.”  WOW!!!  He reads Monday, April 26, 2010, at the Stanford Humanities Center.

Stay tuned.

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Today at the Asian Art Museum

October 4, 2009 at 11:45 pm (Opportunities, Philippine History, Places, Surprises, Writers and Others)
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The Asian Art Museum is astoundingly beautiful. Self only realized this today, when she actually went inside. She’s such a creature of habit: for a long time, she was mad that they moved from Golden Gate Park, for she loved wandering between the de Young and the Asian Art Museum and the Academy of Sciences.

She knew it was there, of course, standing right next to the San Francisco Main Library on Larkin Street.  But not once did she ever feel moved to step inside.  She’d look at it from the sidewalk and her overall impression would be one of heaviness, gray-ness. So unlike the MOMA, which is funky and cutting edge.

The closest she’d ever come to going to an exhibit there was the recent “Lords of Samurai” exhibit (ended Sept. 20, boo).  Ever since she discovered Kurosawa, and ever since son began to enjoy the novels of Lensey Namioka (nay, ever since she took Jeffrey Mass’s courses on the Japanese bakufu, at Stanford), she’s been fascinated by this aspect of Japanese culture. But she never actually made it inside the museum, until today.

October is Filipino American History Month (Which tireless groups worked to ensure that every October is a way for us to commemmorate our history?  Self would like to offer thanks to them, whoever and wherever they are).  Today was the first time that the Asian Art Museum undertook to host an all-day event celebrating Filipino American History Month, and self knows it took a lot of hard work and coordination between many many groups of people, but self thinks the bulk of the work was done by these three:
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