We ate well and
cheaply and drank
well and cheaply
and slept well and
warm together and
loved each other
Sentence of the Day: Self’s Own
February 4, 2020 at 4:30 pm (Artists and Writers, Explorers, Filipino Writers, Philippine History, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: AWP, fiction, historical fiction, inspiration, novel, The Philippines, writing conferences, writing process
From her novel Blue Water, Distant Shores, which she is re-naming Camarote de Marinero: Voyages
(Also, self is considering not going to AWP, for it would be such a distraction. No kidding. All she would end up doing is hole up in her hotel room, writing. Which she can very well do at home. But ooops, she’ll be charged a penalty. Aargh)
Trigger Warning: Run-On Sentence
To Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth I
From Martin de Rasa, Viceroy of New Spain
June the 8th, 1579
A Relation of the Circumstances of the Loss of the Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion
80 pounds of gold, 26 pounds of silver, 13 chests of silver coins, and jewels (pearls, jades, rubies, and other precious stones) for which the residents of Manila demand restitution. For that cargo was intended for the Audiencia, and other vital instruments of government in these Islands. And now the soldiers must go unpaid, and are close to mutiny.
But, truly, Viceroy of New Spain, why should Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth I care if Spanish soldiers are close to mutiny? lol
Self has just introduced SIR FRANCIS DRAKE into her narrative.
Stay tuned.
Five Best Heroines Self Encountered in 2019: One Real, Four Fictional (Stay Tuned for Part 2: Heroes)
January 12, 2020 at 9:12 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Lists, Memoirs, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, Sundays, Women Writers)
Tags: book lists, favorites, historical fiction, inspiration, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, novel, reading lists
Anne Glenconner, Lady in Waiting, My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown (memoir)
Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey (novel)
Cora Seaborne, The Essex Serpent (novel)
Staff Picks, Kepler’s Books
Nora Gerraoui, The Other Americans (novel)
Rita Sunday, Once Upon a River (novel)
All of self’s favorite heroines were in books written by women. Coincidence?
Stanford Spokes: A Summer 2020 Learning Project
January 10, 2020 at 5:17 pm (Calls, Explorers, Links, plans, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: causes, inspiration, Stanford, summer, teaching
One Summer. 6 Students. 6 Bikes. 10 States.
This summer, six Stanford students will spend three months biking from San Francisco to D.C., teaching hands-on educational workshops to local middle school and high school students along the way.
Read all about the project here.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: PORTAL
January 7, 2020 at 9:48 pm (Books, destinations, fpj-photo-challenge, Links, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: inspiration, London, Redwood City, websites
The first Tuesday Photo Challenge of 2020 is PORTALS:
- As this is the first Tuesday Photo Challenge in the new year, I went looking for ideas that might be appropriate for this auspicious occasion. Going from the old to the new reminded me of passing from one room into the next, which led me to the theme of Portal. Of course, there are many types of portals to be found around the world, which makes me look forward to discover which among them will appear in your posts
Look at the marvelous Marrakesh doors in viveka’s myguiltypleasures, from a trip she made in December 2016 (They make self want to goooooo!)
Self was inspired to do her own post about PORTALS:
Egyptian Door Knocker, Spitalfields, East London
Three Blind Mice: a Beatrix Potter Pop-Up Book
Front Door, Self’s Home in Redwood City, California
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
San Mateo Farmer’s Market: Meeting Fellow Warren Campaign Volunteers
January 4, 2020 at 8:56 pm (Conversations, destinations, Food and Drink, Recommended)
Tags: causes, Elizabeth Warren, Events, farmers markets, inspiration, politics, Saturday
The California primary is March 3!
Stay tuned.
How ‘The Hobbit’ Began
December 10, 2019 at 2:51 pm (Artists and Writers, Books)
Tags: fantasy, inspiration, novel, writing process
from Douglas A. Anderson’s Introduction to The Annotated Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Tolkien often recounted how he began the story. One hot summer day, he was sitting at his desk, correcting students’ examination papers (then called School Certificate papers) on English literature. He told an interviewer, “One of the candidates had mercifully left one of the pages with no writing on it, which is the best thing that can possibly happen to an examiner, and I wrote on it: ‘In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.’ Names always generate a story in my mind: eventually I thought I’d better find out what hobbits were like.” Elsewhere he added, “Later on, some months later, I thought this was too good to leave just on the back of the examination paper . . . “
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 74: ABSTRACT
December 3, 2019 at 7:34 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Links, Places, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: art, inspiration, London
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 74 is ABSTRACT. The quote from P. A. Moed’s blog:
“Abstract art is uniquely modern. It is a fundamentally romantic response to modern life — rebellious, individualistic, unconventional, sensitive, irritable.”
— Robert Motherwell
Just two weeks ago, self was in London, one of her favorite cities in the world. She took a walking tour of Spitalfields (East London) with Ken Titmuss, whose guided walks of London self highly recommends.
She was fascinated by the energy of the street art. Here are three examples. They are abstract, modern, raw, and powerful.
Patricia Westerford: The Overstory
November 3, 2019 at 11:31 pm (Books, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, Sundays)
Tags: inspiration, novel, reading lists
- It’s amazing how far a little war chest will go, once you’ve learned how to forage (p. 129)
This character completely breaks self’s heart. She better have a happy ending.
Stay tuned.
Novel-in-Progress: Blue Water, Distant Shores
October 15, 2019 at 10:10 am (Conversations, Filipino Writers, Philippine History, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, happiness, historical fiction, inspiration, Ireland, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, work-in-progress
Self added a scene to her novel-in-progress today and is quite happy with it (p. 68 of 341 pp.)
Murcia, 1762
Father Soriano: “Is there no end to your obstinate impudence? What can you hope for?”
Matias: “Why, to fight against devils.”
Father Soriano: “I should strike you for such impiety. What makes you think you can fight against devils?”
Matias: “I shall strike them in the belly and when they least expect it. The Lord shall assist me.”
Father Soriano: “What impudence! The Lord assist — you? Ask away, then. I doubt He will listen.”
Stay tuned.
