First of all, now that self knows that she is capable of herself roasting a whole turkey, she can face the world with much more confidence. Which may even end up translating (hopefully) into her being more aggressive when pitching her Read the rest of this entry »
Telephone Conversations, Week Before Week Before Thanksgiving (2009)
November 20, 2009 at 12:57 am (Calls, Conversations, Relatives, Son, Surprises)
Tags: anticipation, Holidays, Thanksgiving
There are two self is thinking of at the moment:
One happened late last night, a little after midnight, California. Self decided to call Dearest Mum, after three Read the rest of this entry »
Oh, the Excitement!
October 18, 2009 at 2:41 am (Brain Cloud, Calls, Conversations, Food and Drink, Relatives, Surprises, Writers and Others)
Tags: desserts, Events, exhibits, museums, photography, Readings, restaurants, San Francisco
Dear Bro called from LA around 10:30 this morning. Self said, no problem, she could pick him up. Did he want to come with her to Filipino authors reading in the City, in the Bayanihan Community Center, at 2 p.m.? Dear Bro said yes, with alacrity.
Then, the following things happened:
Somewhere around Millbrae, on the 101, self’s engine overheated. Car slowed to 20 miles an hour. She barely had time to nudge it onto an exit. Luckily, a few feet from the exit was a Doubletree Hotel. Self glided into the parking lot. So gracefully that she actually landed in a space directly across from the hotel’s main entrance, and exactly between the two white lines of the parking stall, which is a very rare occurrence.
Then, she called Dear Bro. Ah, could he possibly get a cab and meet her at the Doubletree? He said he could, and he did.
Next, self asked Dear Bro’s taxi if he could take the two of us to the nearest car rental place (as self was determined, simply determined, to take him to the reading with Read the rest of this entry »
Today, Monday, Columbus Day 2009
October 12, 2009 at 10:33 pm (Brain Cloud, Conversations, Food and Drink, Insomnia, Relatives, Surprises)
Tags: reading, restaurants, Redwood City, Holidays
There is no mail delivery today. Self just realized this when, after she got home from lunch and a walk around downtown Redwood City with Dear Bro, she stuck her hand in the mailbox and was surprised to find it empty. Then she realized it was Columbus Day, a holiday. Ergo, the library will be closed as well. Self has to wait until tomorrow to return James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds (which she read until 3 a.m. this morning) and borrow Kazuo Ishiguro’s Booker-nominated novel of a couple of years back, Never Let Me Go.
Self did have to work at the Writing Center, however; she is starting to see a core group, students who present week after week, who self has formed a tutoring relationship with, and also a student she taught in African American Lit, last semester. And that student was a very good writer!
But, in general, self found herself rather “low bat.” (Could it be the overcast weather? Could it be all the nights staying up reading?)
Self arrived home to find the house empty. But she wasn’t undisturbed for more than five minutes, for then the phone rang and it was Dear Bro telling her that he was on the way home: would she like to have lunch somewhere? Self said sure, and suggested he might like to see Whole Foods, “because they have this great buffet, and everything is weighed by the pound, and we can take the food home to eat it here.” But she sensed some reluctance on the part of Dear Bro, so she asked, “Or did you want to eat at a real restaurant?”
It turned out Dear Bro would rather eat at a restaurant. And he surprised self by saying he wanted Indian food. And self knew just the place to go: Read the rest of this entry »
Friday Night, Redwood City, October 2009
October 10, 2009 at 6:30 am (Places, Relatives, Surprises)
Tags: Redwood City, Fridays
First we took Dear Bro for a walk.
Then we encountered a concert in Courthouse Square, and it just so happened to be a “Michael Jackson Tribute.”
Then we looked across the street to the Fox Theatre, and we discovered that on this very night, a Filipino group named Parokya ni Edgar (“very popular in Manila,” Dear Bro said) was also playing, which fact absolutely blew not only self’s mind, but Dear Bro’s and hubby’s as well.
Dear Bro standing in front of a poster for "Parokya ni Edgar" outside the Fox Theatre in Redwood City
Then we walked to the Century 20, and self very proudly showed Dear Bro the lobby where she spends so much of her time, and declared that if he had a chance, he should catch “Inglourious Basterds.”
Then we walked a little further on, to World Market, where hubby discovered a bottle of wine with the extremely interesting name of “Cupcake,” and it so happened to be from a winery on the Central Coast (Self tried to take a picture, but it was even worse than the one above, so dear blog readers will just have to take self’s word for it that there is in the world a merlot named “Cupcake”).
Then we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, New Kapadokia. And followed that up with beers at a very noisy City Pub on Broadway. (As we were walking back to our car, a very drunk patron in the bar next door, Mesquite, was demanding that the live band play “Mustang Sally.” Why oh why did he start up just when self came to within one foot of him? Because he nearly shattered self’s eardrum) Then we went home and saw two snails on our front step, but hubby forbade self from crushing them, saying they made the worst awful mess.
The End.
All Is in Readiness
October 9, 2009 at 1:37 am (Conversations, Places, Relatives, Surprises)
Tags: memories, New York
For arrival of Dear Bro tomorrow. Self is not sure if he is with self’s cousin (who works for Dear Bro). In which case, she’ll have to make up an extra bed (which means she’ll have to drag a mattress out from the garage; let’s just put that off ’till the morrow!)
Self knows Dear Bro is a stickler for cleanliness. Here’s a story: when self was a young working girl in the Big Apple (Does anyone still refer to NYC this way, self wonders? Or is that horribly dated, a throw-back to the long-ago 80s?), Dear Bro came over to visit. She was at that time sub-letting a loft on 8th St. and First Ave. (the East Village).
One day, she returned home from a very tiring day in her crap job as Administrative Assistant to an Ernst & Whinney manager (This was in the long-ago days before it became Ernst & Young). The only saving grace of this job being this: it was on the very top floor of the Citicorp Building on 53rd and Lex, and every time the manager opened the door to his office, self glimpsed the Chrysler Building. But the manager never left his door open for long, so the Chrysler Building would present for just a moment or two, and then vanish. Present, and then vanish. Like a slide show. It made self quite dizzy, at times.
Anyhoo, as self was saying, one evening she came home from crap job, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. The whole apartment practically Read the rest of this entry »
Manila International Book Fair, Sept. 16- 20, Mall of Asia
September 4, 2009 at 11:58 pm (Conversations, Places, Relatives, Surprises)
Tags: announcements, Events, Manila, memories, short story, The Philippines
Self should be there.
Yes, she should be.
Because her new book definitely will be. At the Anvil table. And Dearest Mum will have 10 copies of her book, and she will have so much fun handing them out to all her chums!
Which reminds self: several years ago, self begged Dearest Mum to send her a copy of Story Philippines, which had just published her story, “Don Alfredo & Jose Rizal.” Dearest Mum sent her the requested copy through the daughter of a friend. Self and the daughter made plans to meet at a coffee shop in Burlingame (Of course! That’s where all Dearest Mum’s friends congregate!). Self presented in shorts, T-shirt and sandals (it was summer), and the daughter of Dearest Mum’s friend was wearing a silk blouse, pants, and moreover had bothered to apply full make-up.
After some desultory conversation, daughter inquired of self, “What is this you have written? Are you a chef?”
“No,” self said. “I am not a chef. I’m a Read the rest of this entry »
