Friday, September 28, 2007

disinfectant

"This has been a bad year for us," ma mused the other day.

We were in a cab on our way to the National Kidney Institute for her check-up. She was referring to a number of her sisters and relatives who are currently inflicted with illnesses and serious life-threatening diseases that require hospitalization, surgery, even chemotheraphy. In fact, as she was being interviewed by an endourologist, one of her sisters was under the knife at the adjacent Lung Center of the Philippines for complications caused by goiter. We visited her later and it was disheartening to see her wrapped in tubes, surrounded by cold soulless machines. I couldn't begin to imagine how her children must be feeling these days.

"I agree," I said.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

backlog

Latest additions to my clutter of unread books:

1. The Beach by Alex Garland
2. The Tesseract by Alex Garland
3. Zuckerman Bound by Philip Roth
4. Great Jones Street by Don DeLillio
5. Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey
6. To Skin A Cat by Thomas McGuane
7. Last Car to Elysian Fields by James Lee Burke
8. Quicker than the Eye by Ray Bradbury
9. The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
10. Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
11. Striptease by Carl Hiaasen
12. The Mile High Club by Kinky Friedman
13. Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard
14. Dancing Girls and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood
15. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
16. Ubik by Philip K. Dick
17. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

And with that, my backlog has officially reached the 100 mark. Good luck to me.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

wifey


My wife, Charmaine, enjoying Dencio's crispy pork sisig during our dinner date last Friday night. We realized we haven't been really going out that much since we got married last December, so... a dinner date! We agreed to do this more often.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

e.b.


At Dencio's in Araneta Center, with fellow Multiply bloggers (from left) Marky (Markyramone), Badong (Trueasiatik), Janis (Genesis.Grace), and about 10, 000 bottles of San Mig Lite. It was my first eyeball in years, and it was fun. I went home smashed -- so smashed I wasn't able to enjoy Tool's music blaring from the jeepney's speakers courtesy of the two obviously drunk teenagers on the passenger seat. Anyway, it was one helluva night. Thanks, Janis!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

i know jack

From Slate, on the book that kicked open everything for me...

"Sept. 5, 2007, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road, the novel by Jack Kerouac that gave voice to his generation's postwar experiences. With its energetic portrayal of the thrills and confusions of being young in the early years of the Cold War, it also helped usher in the "Beatnik" movement and many of the radical changes in American culture that took place in the 1960s. As you might expect, then, the mythology that surrounds Kerouac and the novel is as obscuring as it is fascinating."

Read the full article here.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

x'ed

Sunday morning and my throat is sore. I think I'm coming down with something. Jesus, not now...

The first of the 'ber' months has rolled in and yesterday in The Block they were already playing Christmas carols, telling me this is not the time to entertain the blues -- and to stay away from malls if I could help it!

Man, I feel like a character in a Tom Waits song. Perhaps that lonely guy in the bar singing I Wish That I Don't Fall in Love With You.

I need to slow down badly.