Lovely November (and My Birthday Loot)

So I wasn’t able to NaNo. Again. Sadly. Well, there are excuses, and there are reasons, and I have several of both. But to protect the sanctity of my sanity, I choose not to elaborate on these things. There’s another NaNo next year, and I’d like to look at it as my chance to make-up for all the years I missed NaNoWriMo. But so much for NaNo.

A lot of beautiful things happened in November. Tatay’s birthday came around during the first week, and we had a different kind of celebration this year. Nothing grand, nothing fancy, just a simple dinner at home for the family, yet it felt special.

And then last weekend, it was my turn to celebrate as I turned 35. Yee-ha! We feasted on traditional birthday foods: spaghetti, pancit, puto Biñan, and sweet chocolate cake from Mer-Nels. Yes, I got to have my own cake!!! What a treat. It was an adult children’s birthday party, as someone aptly called it. And with my three nieces around, it was indeed a riot!

My birthday cake's candles...

For my birthday loot, here in pictures are some lovely stuff from someone even Lovelier. Wink.*

Books. I got two Murakami books! Yay!

Pens. I got two Schneiders, a green XTRA and another blue Zippi, a black 0.7 Uni-Ball Signo Gelstick, and two blue Inoxcroms: a Kukuxumusu and an Agatha Ruiz de la Prada.

And before these, during early November, I got the two bottles of Private Reserve inks that Sir Butch Dalisay bought for me during his US trip, a green Avocado and a brown/sepia Copper Burst.

It's Here!

Yep. My new book is here. It's Khaled Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I decided to forego his first bestseller after reading all the good reviews about this one. I may get The Kite Runner later, but for now, I'm just so happy with this. And oh, it's my first book from Fully Booked. NBS loyal ako e. *Wink.*

Sunday Mornings and Books

Only recently, Sunday morning has become clean-up time for me. I used to tidy up the house on Saturday or Sunday evenings, but that has changed lately. Though I love cleaning up at night when everything's quiet, Sunday morning has an envigorating charm that's simply perfect for dusting, mopping, and scrubbing. *Wink.* *Grin.*

I love waking up early on Sunday mornings while the neighborhood is still, while the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and toast fills the whole house, and while I could play the music I want without the mix-up of other music coming from my neighbors' radios. By 9am, RJFM's Rarest and Greatest starts, I turn off the classics and listen to the program which lasts until noon. As the program ends, I'm done with cleaning and it's time to go home for our family's Sunday lunch.

Yesterday morning, while tidying up the front room, I realized my table is overflowing with unread books, so many that the corner smells of bookpaper already!

These are all my unread books, not included on this stack are Haruki Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicle which I am currently on, and Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns which is on the way now after a friend bought it for me.

Yay. So many books... Guess I might just spend Sunday mornings reading instead of cleaning. *Chuckle.*

My Weekend Loot

Now here's my Monday morning show and tell: my weekend loot. *Grin.*

Just because I really, really, really love Haruki Murakami and I was left wanting for more after finishing Norwegian Wood, I rushed to the nearest NBS last Saturday and got myself The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Later in the day, my B sent me this SMS: I got Kafka, which meant she has found me Kafka on the Shore which was unfortunately unavailable at the first NBS we went to.


Then a good friend who came home from a Holland trip brought me these beauties: two EFFEN vodka shotglasses. These shotglasses are the fourth addition to my collection with liquor design.

Lastly, someone has kindly donated this beautiful and precious elephant from India, taking it out of her display rack, forgetting about who gave it to her (who is somebody important) and lovingly added it to my display shelf. Can't thank you enough, B.

So Long

So long, Toru... And even if you did not ask me, I will never forget you. Who could?

I can never forget you or Naoko, or Midori, or Reiko. I won't. I can’t. For you all taught me so much in death as in life in the two and a half months we spent together.

From you Toru, I learned so much about loving, giving, and taking, losing, and loving again. And what else? Hm. A lot. And that includes courage, integrity, responsibility, and hard work. From you, I also learned to deal with pain, and loss, and death.

I felt your pain when you knew Naoko was thinking of Kizuki while she was holding on to you. I understood your confusion when Midori kissed you in the rain, and felt your longing when you made it with Reiko after Naoko’s death. I cried with you when you cried because Naoko is dead.

You put death in an entirely different perspective for me when you said that death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life. How profound.

And just as I am saying farewell, I want you know that these are the most unforgettable lines I got from you:

No truth can cure the sadness we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness, can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see that sadness through to the end and learn something from it. ~ Toru Watanabe, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

But tell me, Toru, if we meet, if we ever meet, would you talk to me like you talk to Reiko? Would you write to me as you wrote to Naoko? Would you leave me too as you left Midori?

Despite your flaws and little imperfections, you are who you are, and there are only a few men in this world like you, Toru Watanabe. And your flaws and imperfections only make you humanely perfect and endearing to the many women in your life: Naoko, Midori, and Reiko.

Happines Is... (Part 2)

Books!!! Yay!

Hala. I've loaded up on books. Some of them are from authors I have read before like Mitch Albom and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and some from new authors I am curious about like Haruki Murakami. I plan to get some of James Patterson's new Alex Cross novels and the new ones of Patricia Cornwell with Kaye Scarpetta, but not until I get a taste of J.M. Coetzee and José Saramago first. I'm dying to have a copy of Baltasar and Blimunda...

But right now, let me enjoy these books on my reading table:

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom)
• For One More Day (Mitch Albom)
• King of Torts (John Grisham)
• The Broker (John Grisham)
• The Zahir (Paulo Coelho)
• The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
• Brida (Paulo Coelho)
• Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
• The Weight of Water (Anita Shreve)

A New Addiction

After Sputnik Sweetheart comes Norwegian Wood, a gift from H. And while Sputnik Sweetheart will always remind me of someone else, it's good to know I read By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept in between the two Murakamis.

In my despair and loneliness, it's kinda surprising that I turn to literature for comfort and solace. What's more surprising is the fact that I find comfort in reading these books now. Well, I also watch Deathnote's complete animated collections and Six Feet Under, so go figure how I am getting by.

Gracias, Murakami

Thank you for Sumire and Miu... And for K.

A Dream Come True

My Book Wishlist for the Half of 2008

I know my reading habit has been very poor this year. I've read a few novels and re-read some, but that's it.

I was initially drawn to read Love in the Time of Cholera, but the book's small font and number of pages intimidated me so I settled for the movie version of Gabo's novel. But then, the movie's constipated poignancy made me feel lacking afterwards and so I turned to the book and now I'm reading it again.

That made me feel like going back to reading again. So I make myself a promise to devote several nights a week to reading instead of scrubbing the walls and floor and ceiling of my apartment. Below are the books I already have on my shelves, which I promise to finish by end of August. Read three books in a month? Fair enough.

And then I will get all these books below and read all of them before my birthdate. (Wish ko lang!)

Wishful thinking, eh? Nah. Reading as is writing is almost like breathing for me. To stop me from doing both is like taking the air out of my lungs...

Can't Get Enough Books

This one should have been posted two days ago.

WOOHOOHOOOOOO!

I’m so happy today. I feel like, say, a kid laden with gifts on Christmas morning. And this is simply because my books are here!!! Yes, the books I ordered online from the ever-reliable National Bookstore arrived this afternoon via the Aboitiz’s 2Go Day 1 Package service. There are now four additional books to my oversized bookshelves, not counting the two I asked Inez to purchase over the weekend and the one I bought from eBay. Hahaha.



... and then ...