August 21. Twenty-five years ago...

This day twenty-five years ago, I was attending the first meeting of the 1983-1984 University Student Council of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, sitting as the College Representative of the College of Mass Communication.

The meeting was being chaired by Leandro "Lean" Alejandro, activist and a personal idol.  Many of the others present  were known to me from the previous three years I had spent on campus, mainly in my alternative life as part-time activist. The younger ones would help me see life on the Council through different eyes. Some of them have gone on to prominence or notoriety in this day and age. I know most everyone was changed by that day and that time... Bong, Roel, Thor, Loudette... 

The atmosphere was somber, quiet, not because it was the first meeting, as there is always a familiarity between UP students even if it is the first time you are meeting each other.  It was because that day Ninoy Aquino was coming home after a long exile and rumors were rife that something was going to happen.

Less than half an hour into the meeting, something did happen.  Somebody opened the door to the meeting hall in Vinzon's and shouted "patay na si Ninoy".

The quiet turned into frenzied action, each one suddenly 

speaking, letting out the emotions not only of the moment but of so many years of observed repression and manifest disparity in the way things were supposed to be and the way things really were.

The meeting turned into an organizational huddle for the rallies that started immediately after.  Vigils, putting up wall news around campus, preparing statements, rushing to the printer to have the publication done overnight, getting home just to comply with parental expectations and rushing out early the next day, rallies, yellow shirts, rallies, mass actions, agitation, expression, hope for change, doing something about the way we felt, and what we saw...

Twenty-five years ago today, a man gave up his life, by his own choice, knowing as he did that coming home would mean at least jailtime once more, or worse... Twenty-five years ago, a man strode down the plane and led the way to finding freedom again. Twenty-five years ago, I learned about putting heart and soul into what you believed in, and never letting go.

Twenty-five years ago, that was me, young and clear-eyed and strong.  How so today?  Older, clear-eyed, stronger.  Would I do it all over again. Yes, of course, everything all over again.  If I were twenty-five years younger.

Organizing the books...

Over the last few days, I have been able to take my cousins' donated books out of 2 medium-sized cartons and transferred them to plastic boxes. Still reluctant to mix them with my own books as these are for the library I still dream of opening up in the next year or so.  

I have reclaimed the living room reading room area on the first floor.  It looks like a house again, not a stockroom for books.  But there are still piles and piles of books around.

The dogs are actually waiting to run around the house again. But not just yet.  Still have one or two piles of books that they could play around with and that would not be good for them or for the books.

P.S. I indulged myself last Monday and got a new phone. Not yet  the dream phone but close enough.  I am trying out the Samsung i780, my excuse was I wanted a phone that could help me blog even while I was mobile.

So far so good.  It is light, easy to use, and the touchscreen function does not take over the ease of use of the unit, unlike the iPhone that I tried out and gave up on after a week.  Comes with age? Maybe so. But my daughter gave up on her iPhone too, or the iPhone gave up on her. She is now using a Nokia E71.  I must say that is a good-looking phone. And it has a keyboard too.  So far, she says it is working fine.

P.P.S. Had dinner at Friday's in SM Mall of Asia last Friday, wanted to indulge during the 888 hullabaloo.  The greeting was typically Friday's, boisterous, welcoming, big and loud.  Arah, our server, was up to the challenge of 3 nitpicky customers.  Unfortunately, the food was not up to our expectations.

We tried two new dishes, Dragon-something chicken and a Tortilla-crusted fish [yes, the names were forgettable because the taste was blah].  We had to ask Arah to just wrap them up, even before we got half-way through it. Their Friday's Shrimp was the saving grace, the fries were yummy, I had too much!!!  

Too bad the dishes we tried fell short of the photos and the sell and the gung-ho attitude of their staff. While I appreciate the service, the food leaves much to be desired.

I should remember to take photos next time.  The next adventure is on Monday, at Fely J's in Greenbelt 5.  Will definitely take photos.

Growing up and growing with books

This is one shelf in my hallway bookcase, one in a 6-row, 4-column floor-to-ceiling bookcase.  It is full, and there are more books waiting to find their place in this bookcase or any of the others in the living/reading room, the den, the guest room or my bedroom. 

I thought my problem of not enough shelf space was an uncommon one, a reflection of what some have called my addiction or a creeping malady... lo and behold, I am not alone.

Found these articles that echo how I feel about books and why I keep so many around me.. One in the L.A. Times written by Carol Mithers, puts together the whys and hows of several bookworms' collections.  Another one called My Father's Secret Bookcase tells of growing up in a book-loving family living in a bookswamped home.

Brings back my childhood days when the bookshelves ran from one end of the living room to the other, given that there were actually two living rooms in that Fordham St, White Plains house. 

I discovered Pogo which lay at the bottom of the left-most shelf, nearest the corridor that led to the bedrooms.  Since I preferred my company to playing with my rambunctious cousins, I progressed from Pogo to a book about a travelling bookshop to Inside Africa, which was at the topmost shelf on the right-most case in the other side of the living room.  

Four decades after, I find out from google that Inside Africa was published in 1955 and is now one of the rare books. I found a cover photo and it is just as I remembered.  

Been on a book binge ever since my shelf-climbing days. And climb I did, since one had to literally go up those shelfs to access the books.  No folding ladders in the 70s yet, and since I would usually sneak out to the books during naptime, there was no one around to help me get those books.  I think climbing those shelves using hand and foot, was the most strenuous physical activity I ever had.  I would and I did climb anything to get to the books.

From rummaging through the eclectic library of my mother, gathered during her days in New York, both as a graduate student and an employee at the Philippine Consulate at the ripe age of 9 or 10, I started reading more books for my age group, and devoured Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys.  

Then in the 6th grade, somebody gave me 

a slim paperback written by Anne Mather and my Mills & Boon phase began. Romance after romance after romance became my constant companion.  From there I moved on to Sidney Sheldon, Valley of the Dolls and even The Harrad Experiment.  

One summer, I was introduced to Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  I was touched by the quest and the insights of JLS. Perhaps because I too was searching for myself then.

Why do I remember these titles and authors from thirty years ago?  Because they were my friends and my confidantes and my companions in the journey through teenhood and high school and college...

In college, I discovered J.R.R. Tolkien. Or I was jolted into realizing I had not read The Lord of the Rings, an unforgiveable, unimaginable oversight which was pointed out by no less than our USC Chairman Lean Alejandro at that time. I bowed my head in shame and asked a fellow journalism classmate about Tolkien.  Same violent, incredulous reaction:  YOU HAVE NOT READ LORD OF THE RINGS?  I got  a dog-eared copy the next day from my classmate, and did not put the book down until I finished it 48 hour after. I never much  liked fantasy before that, aside from the Snow White and Cinderella fairy tales.  But that book swept me off my feet, it was grand, it was human, it was provocative.  You can imagine my delight when the films were finally made. Before the Peter Jackson opus, there was only half-a-tale on film, animated at that. My fascination with fantasy continues to this day, with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time as the most enjoyable series after The Lord of the Rings.

Somewhere after Tolkien, I met Ayn Rand and her Objectivist Philosophy. I loved the way she wove her characters, especially in We, the Living and Atlas Shrugged. In my 20s, reading her was like continuing my protest actions in college.  A totally different view of being and living in those days.  I read most of her novels, and started collecting her books.  Even had a hard-bound copy of Atlas Shrugged which someone borrowed and never returned. I think it was at that point that I decided I would be more selfish about my books, especially the hard-cover expensive ones that I like to collect. 

Even during my college days, I continued to raid my mom's shelves. She had progressed to T. Lobsang Rampa, Edgar Cayce and Kahlil Gibran. I read them and loved Kahlil Gibran the most.  

Over and over again, through the years, I would meet so many authors and plunge into new worlds and exciting lives. Up to my early 30s, reading was my foremost activity outside of work.  Like I kept saying then, give me a good book over a boring date anytime. And I had proven myself right once or twice, the once or twice that I agreed to go out on a blind date.  Enough said. Yes, I was a bookworm then, I am still a bookworm now, I will always be a bookworm...

The list goes on... Louisa May Alcott, Antoine de St Exupery, Anton Chekhov, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Dante, D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover, John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, Leon Uris, Robert Ludlum, Dan Brown, The Last Cato, Labyrinth, Janet Dailey, Barbara Cartland, Andrew Greeley, John Twelve Hawks...

The reading never stops, the hoarding goes on, the dilemma about where to put the books stays the same, day in and day out.  Growing up and growing...now that one my bestfriend would have a lot to say about.  What a life in books I have. Thank God.

New mooches

Came home from the post office today with a stash of 10 packages from bookmoochers around the world. Let me share the treasures that came in the mail today.  

It's like Christmas at the stroke of midnight when you gather round the Christmas tree to open your presents.  And since I know that my presents are all books this time, I am even more excited.  Each package is wrapped so well, with the book enclosed in newspaper, plastic, bubble wrap and enough tape to criss-cross the world several times over.

Hearsay: Strange Tales from the Middle Kingdom, by Barbara Ann Porte. Mooched from Autumn Frymark in Waco, Texas, USA.  Hardcover with dust jacket. 

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too. Illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.  I collect all things Mary Engelbreit and bookmooch is helping me grow my collection.  Mooched from Carrie Ansell in Washington, D.C., USA.  A heartwarming gift book.

Voyage to Atlantis, by James W Mavor. Another topic of much interest to me.  Mooched from Delia in Australia.  

Since I have started blogging, there is more excitement with the arrival of the mooches because now I get to share what I have received online. And even though I have one sure reader for every blog entry I make [that's what best friends are for, among other things], I hope that people who find their way here will get into the mooching habit too.

Back to the mooch loot.  The next package has two books from Sorchah in Illinois, USA.  It's In the Bag: The Complete Guide to Lightweight Travel, by Barbara DesChamps. Yes, I do need to learn how not to bring my entire closet when travelling around Europe.  And Au Revoir Parisienne, by Elmer Williams. I do love Paris, wish I could live there even for just a little while.

The next two hardcover books came from Laurie B in Peabody, MA, USA.  Anne Geddes' Until Now.  I love her innovation in capturing the wonders of children.  King Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, part of the Great Illustrated Classic series.

It's A Girl Thing, by Jan King from SpongeBob Fishpants in Seattle, WA, USA.  Heard the line "It's a guy thing" a year ago, and when I saw  this title I just had to find out what it meant for us girls. This book was one of the 5 packages in a flat rate mailing envelope.  The nice thing about this form of packaging is that some Bookmooch members let you fill up this envelope so you can mooch more than one or two, sometimes even up to four books and they send in one envelope.  

Eight books so far and four more packages to open, in between text messages and phone calls. My best friend will have a comment in the morning after reading this post. Definitely a comment.

Another package of two books from Suzi in California, USA. The Da Vinci Legacy by Lewis Perdue, a paperback. I enjoy the mix of mystery and history. Many of these types that do entertain and inform.

The Treasure of Montsegur by Sophy Burnham, another papaerback.  Both of these books come with a yellow Bookcrossing sticker, check the link to find out how a book can cross the world just by being left on a bench or a cafe.

Four books from Alina in MI, USA. Mikhail S. Gorbachev An Intimate Biography, by the Editors of Time Magazine.  Burnt Toast and Other Philosophies of Life by Teri Hatcher.  Goldie A Lotus Grows in the Mud, by Goldie Hawn with Wendy Holden. Three more titles to add to the biography shelf.  

And Quick & Easy Recipes ENTREES Food Writers' Favorites, edited by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane Barker.

The last envelope had two books too, from Kristina in Belton, MO, USA.  Two storybooks.  The Bremen Town Musicians and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, retold by Constance Hieatt.

Sixteen books to add to the library. Still haven't figured out how to make everything fit. Will try to move them books around again.  Even have a few more books to add to "my to be mooched inventory". 

The overflow is contained, until the next notice from the Post Office arrives.

easy Sunday... new albums from old favorites

Found new albums from iconic bands of my growing up years and brought them home to add to the music shelf... but before that we had family time at Power Plant Mall.

Lunch was at Sumosam in Rockwell with my parents, my daughter and my sister's family. Food was yummy [you already knew that] but the service still left something to be desired. But my parents loved the feel and style of the place, so good enough for a Sunday treat for the family.  The house tea, Lipton Fruit Berry, was quite good.  It was already a riot what with my sister's two boys, Luigi and Diego, imagine what it would have been like with my brother's brood, especially the twins.  

After lunch, we decided to walk around before having dessert just to let the feast settle down some more.  We ended up on the third floor, at Coffeebean and Tea Leaf. Ordered tea plus a slice each of their Guiltless Chocolate Cake and the Mango Mousse. The Guiltless Chocolate Cake lives up to its name, and is a must must try.  One thing my dad couldn't get over was that they didn't have toothpicks.  Guess eating cakes and pastries is pretty easy on the teeth?

Before I joined them at the coffeeshop, I took a sidetrip to O Music to get my copy of the Mamma Mia soundtrack.  I just had to get this one, as I thoroughly enjoyed the movie which we watched a week before.  I was amazed at Meryl Streep's vocal talent, add that on top  of her multi-awarded, awe-inspiring portrayals on-screen; but what I had the best laugh everytime Pierce Brosnan started singing opera-style.  Think James Bond belting romantic arias.  Now you get the reason why we laughed out loud everytime Pierce Brosnan opened his mouth in song.  If you want to relax, be entertained and enjoy yourself with an easy, feel-good movie, you must must must watch Mamma Mia, in the theater. 

 

Greece is beautiful!!!  Check out Skopelos, the island where they shot the movie, paradise!!! Makes me even more determined to get to that dream destination next year. But first have to get fit enough to climb those hills and trek those pathways. 

Back to O Music and the Mama Mia soundtrack which I found very quickly, along with the new albums of Chicago, Eagle, Carly Simon and Journey, featuring Filipino rocker Arnel Pineda.  Yes, I am a child of the 70s and the 80s, my ipod is filled with all the top hits of the disco era... how about yours?

Arnel Pineda sounds good, I like his voice, and it was great that they re-recorded the old hits like Separate Ways and Open Arms.  I read somewhere that the Journey fans were divided on the issue of his acceptability as a member of Journey, since he was not an American. But listening to the new album, that to me is a non-issue.  He sounds good with Journey.  or is it that Journey sounds like new with Arnel.

Carly Simon's cool voice is always a treat, soothing on the soul.  The albums of Chicago and Eagles have already been copied to the imac and will soon find their way to the ipod touch. Still have to choose which songs I like more than the others.

Was about to indulge in the Samsung i780 but will wait a little while, still thinking if I want to wait for the Samsung Omnia which they claim rivals or beats the iPhone , coming out end-August.  What I would like is that the next phone I get will make it easier for me to blog even when I am mobile.

It was raining the whole day, and it is pouring right now. It was an easy Sunday as Sundays should be. And the music made it even better.

The books that pop (up)

There are colorful, animated books on my shelves that are not quite like the rest.  Less words, not more than 24 pages, and illustrations that leap at you. These are pop-up books, mostly about the fairytales and classic stories of our childhood.

And while their stories may be from more carefree days, the animation and the visual telling are definitely not for kids only.  

I discovered these one-of-a-kind treasures long ago, but started collecting them with zeal during my stint as a bookstore owner.  

While going through the publishers' catalogs, I would see these intriguing offers, the first one of which I remember was the one about dinosaurs. 

Check out how Robert Sabuda's beautiful Castle looks in real life. The book comes up and at you, pulling you into the magical world of medieval times.

Another interesting pop-up author or paper engineer as he calls himself is Mark Hiner.  His Medieaval Nativity is amazing to look at.

Found a simple and easy-to-do tutorial on how to make a pop-up book from Library Thinkquest/Write on Reader. Something you can do with the kids or just for your own pleasure.

Just an update, got another pop-up book today from Powerbooks at the Shangrila Mall, titled THE CASTAWAY PIRATES.  So the collection grows one book more...