Self has read this book before, apparently (See blog dating 20____). But the only story she remembers is the one about making spaghetti.
Now, this go-round, she is finding the book a lot of fun. She doesn’t remember it being as much fun the first time.
Story # 3: The Kangaroo Communiqué
Shall I put it on the line?
I want to be able to be in two places at once. That is my one and only wish. Other than that, there’s not a thing I desire.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Love doing Cee’s Fun Foto Challenges!
The Theme for this week is the Letter D.
D is for DECK:
D is for DOTS:
D is for (Remember the) DATE:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
This city holds a special place in self’s memories:
Because self is at the moment staying in Chelsea, here’s a view of this amazing city, on 9/11:
Here are pictures of the children who were, respectively, six, five and six months old when self’s sister passed away:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
The Daily Post publishes a new Photo Challenge every Wednesday. This coming Wednesday, though, they’re taking a brief break. The next Photo Challenge will be posted next Wednesday, Sept. 20.
In the meantime, the Photo Challenge this week is WAITING.
Self’s nephew William was married yesterday morning, at St. Ignatius of Loyola on Park. Friends and family converged on New York City from Australia, Spain, England, the Philippines (Dearest Mum and all of self’s nephews and nieces, one sister-in-law) and of course other cities in the U.S., including Miami and Houston.
Last night, there was dinner and dancing at the Central Park Boathouse. Self got a Lyft to take her to 72nd and Fifth. Who should she see standing on the corner but a bunch of her Filipino nephews and nieces, all just standing there in very fancy attire. They told self they were waiting for a shuttle. Pictures are blurred because self has very trembl-y fingers.
Self’s niece, Maia, is in plum; Maia’s mom, Mia, is in electric blue. Everyone looked fantastic!
William’s sister, Georgina, was the maid of honor. Here she is, all dolled up, just before the start of the event:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Just to the south, Irma is about to unleash.
But New York was beautiful today.
Sunlight glinted off the Hudson River (if only her camera battery hadn’t been exhausted)
Self kept busy by cris-crossing Manhattan: From Chelsea to Central Park to the Upper East Side, then to Columbus Circle, then to 2nd at 110th, then to Amsterdam, and finally back to Chelsea, using a combination of Lyft rides and taxis.
She had never ever been as far up 2nd Avenue as 110th. Self, you know nothing: Why did you think it would be seedy? Solely because your nephew owns a condo here (and he isn’t even 30).
Tomorrow, more of the same. Having breakfast with friends in Le Pain Quotidien at 3 Park (meeting two librettist)Going to brother-in-law’s apartment in the evening.
Day after tomorrow, nephew’s wedding in the Central Park boathouse. Hope the weather holds.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
This week’s Photo Challenge is WAITING (Technically, it’s the challenge for the next two weeks, since The Daily Post is going to take a break next week).
What better city to write/reflect about waiting than New York City? Self arrived close to midnight last night. A light drizzle began this morning; she hasn’t had the energy to step out of her room.
But looking out at the adjoining buildings is providing plenty of opportunity for the Photo Challenge (Self loves windows. And New York City is ALL about windows)
The man in the photo is the next building over, two floors down. Which means he is on the sixteenth floor. He is very industrious, since he’s been at his desk since 10 a.m. What does he want? What is he waiting for?
Two buildings over, people sit at their desks. It’s funny how all the airconditioning units in these old buildings stick out like that. What do these people want? What are they waiting for?
Final picture: Diagonally across from self’s building is a rooftop that, judging from the number of professional-looking floodlights aimed at something in particular, will likely be LIT tonight. Self can hardly wait.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
It’s midnight, and the airport terminal is as crowded as Grand Central.
The line at the taxi rank is 200 people long, at least. It makes self’s stomach twist in all sorts of nasty ways.
A woman keeps trying to cut ahead of her, for some reason. All self’s fighting instincts come to the fore and she blocks the woman, refusing to give up an inch.
A man wearing a bright yellow vest marked AIRPORT MONITOR keeps yelling at people. Strangely, he does not strike self as angry. In San Francisco, when people yell, they are really really angry.
There were 10 cabs lined up at the taxi rank. Until self got to the front of the line, and then there were NO taxis. NO taxis for another 20 minutes. And the airport monitor kept yelling, to no one in particular: “There are a hundred taxis coming, people. A HUNDRED taxis!”
The green-and-white Medallion cab looks very nondescript, and the leather seats are worn. No GPS, just the driver saying he knows where to go (and he does). Sometimes New York strikes self as being on the verge of breakdown. But it never quite gets there. Which shows you just how tough its people are.
She catches just a glimpse of skyline before the cab enters Manhattan. Next thing you know, it’s stopped in front of a very nondescript sign on a very dark, narrow street that seems to be one big construction zone. Welcome! You’re in New York City now!
People self knows in New York City: one niece and two nephews and of course their parents; Melissa; Penny and Thomas; Luis and Midori; Sam; Marie; Drew; Bruce. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but whenever self is in New York, she is always busy seeing people. She used to know a literary agent who, as far as self knows, probably still has her office in a building on 57th Street.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is STRUCTURE. All week, self has been finding inspiration for that theme, poking around her house in Redwood City.
The first two pics are from self’s garden. The third is a postcard featuring a painting by Reuven Rubin, whose work she discovered in Tel Aviv, 2008. She flew to Tel Aviv to visit Dear Departed Ying, her sister-in-law and loyal friend. Ying passed away a few months later. On her last day in Tel Aviv, she met Yosef Halper at his bookstore in the Novo Tzedek district. She’s always wanted to go back. Maybe next year.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
All she had was hot vengeance running through her veins.
Self is pleasantly surprised at how good Arya Assassin fan fiction is.
Most (if not all) of it is rated G and just shows Arya being very ninja-like all over the place.
Revenge stories are the best.
Self would love to be able to write one of her own.
In her exploration of Game of Thrones fan fiction, she’s even stumbled across fan fiction written about Philip II of Spain. Granted, there are only two, but she’s surprised that there are ANY at all.
Are these, self wonders, written by a student who has to write something about Philip II for history class and decides the task will be easier if she can turn Philip II into a character in a fantasy world? If so: points student.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
It’s the quote that begins the last story, Screaming Beneath the Earth, p. 447:
We ask nothing of the dragons, and the dragons ask nothing of us.
— Zi Chan
Self finds these quotes pretty droll. For instance, the one that begins The Preservation of the Buddha is “For the greater glory of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.” The entire story is about the Buddha and there is nothing, literally nothing about Jesus Christ.
Krasznahorkai, you savage troll. Not only do you put misleading quotes at the beginning of each story, you force us to read 50-page sentences. How dare you.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Kanlaon 