tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55976062009-09-05T14:14:37.554-07:00casting the spell of life and literaturecbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.comBlogger369125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-92075507143983185342009-08-12T18:12:00.000-07:002009-08-13T03:19:04.567-07:00

as soon as i could bore the littlest hole in my strenuous schedule, i will tell you why this is such an awesome book. in the meantime, the suggestion is disguised as an entry title.You Gotta Read This

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-43844861847387828302009-06-20T09:43:00.000-07:002009-06-20T18:32:30.372-07:00

My friend Mark, a Eucharistic Minister from Church, had given the Host to hundreds, if not thousands, of communicants but this credential did not prepare him for the occasion. It happened one gorgeous Saturday morning in May when little girls and boys in white attires beamed in their quest to fulfill the next Sacrament in their young lives. Little Andrew stood before Mark, his shy tongue

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-15922137545919408702009-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:002009-06-07T11:47:52.633-07:00

...in their order of greatness.This selection is not cast in stone. One day I will read a better book and it will snatch its own number. One day, too, I will explain why these wealth of literature mean so much to me.

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-74925992758957641062009-05-25T05:23:00.000-07:002009-05-25T06:05:10.526-07:00

Sinusulat ko itong post naaalala ko ang pamangkin kong si Ann. Bata pa si Ann pero super-organized na, wehehe, siguradong di nagmana sa Tito nyang disorganized ang buhay. Tuwing mag a-out of town si Ann (halimbawa maga-attend ng summer camp), hindi sya basta basta mag-eempake. Kung ako yun, ganto ang plataporma ko sa pagta-travel: ano man ang maispatan ng mga mata kong bored, isasaksak ko na

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-33619496744646233282009-05-04T16:22:00.001-07:002009-05-04T17:48:34.031-07:00

...New York, itself, is essentially the greatest poem on earth

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-85209289616302852312009-04-15T18:05:00.000-07:002009-04-17T03:05:04.584-07:00

nung Christmas party namin last year sa departamento ng mga insekto, bukod sa kainan at tsismisan ay meron pang pa-raffle chuvachuchu. 20 kami sa department, 5 ang premyos. ang tanong: ilang katao ang babalik sa kanilang desks ng luhaan?katabi ko sa hapag yung analyst namin na si d. habang ngumangasab kami ng pasta, sabi nya sa akin, alam mo, c, lumaki ng konti ang tsansa mong manalo. hindi kasi

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-74850819128889803892009-04-05T10:21:00.001-07:002009-04-06T16:18:50.569-07:00

ayoss, di ko alam kung pangilang anibersaryo na ng punta naming ni kumag-utol sa key biscayne para manood ng sony-ericsson (na tawag dati ay lipton open, na naging nasdaq 1000, pero ang dapat talaga sa kanya ay key biscayne open). ayann, kinodak (or accurately, ikinoolpix) ko lahat ang mga litratos na yan. isa-isahin natin:1. pagdating namin nung byernes, 27 de marso (di ako pumasok sa

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-69131969169964399672009-03-29T14:31:00.000-07:002009-04-06T17:12:29.491-07:00

richard and cara are husband and wife, both thirty-four years old, in love with each other, and childless despite years of trying. notwithstanding this seeming void, they remain faithful to each other and their married life is as normal as any other's. then something happens. she is raped by a popular math teacher - a serial criminal who, prior to his capture, was only identified as the

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-50738261443282416692009-03-17T18:06:00.000-07:002009-03-17T18:07:26.718-07:00

abkdeghilmnngoprstuwybow

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-74744352545358275472009-02-13T19:19:00.000-08:002009-02-13T19:24:07.757-08:00

Imitation of Christby Thomas A. Kempis, translated by Stephen Mitchell.Love is a great thing, a great good in every way; it alone lightens what is heavy, and leads smoothly over all roughness. For it carries a burden without being burdened, and makes every bitter thing sweet and tasty. Love wants to be lifted up, not held up by anything low. Love wants to be free, and far from all wordly desires,

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-4004963503985603532009-01-28T19:26:00.000-08:002009-01-28T19:36:59.744-08:00

...and just like that, the greatest living literary critic my generation had known is living no more.

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-32410780434246562332009-01-16T21:10:00.000-08:002009-01-19T17:55:06.056-08:00

1. In an instant I was awake. The moments of my sleep and wakefulness proceed with the same fidelity as an accessory to his principal. My consciousness and sub, in certain areas, are peas of the same pod. Friday night I dreamt I was with my brother in a mall, and out of the blue a man and woman forced him to join them in posing foolish and making faces before the mall's security camera. I

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-51253370732108201172009-01-03T08:20:00.000-08:002009-01-03T04:56:37.785-08:00

It was 7am of Christmas Day and I was driving home, all roads empty and all skies gray. The car stereo was playing my favorite Christmas song, What Child is This, sung by Third Day, but my mind was drawn more to the city that was damp and quiet and absolutely deserted. I wanted to scream, Hello!, Hello!, Is this a joke!, Uncle Frank!, Is this a joke! - like the little Kevin who woke up one

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-63045304662206946492009-01-01T07:43:00.001-08:002009-01-01T08:31:11.764-08:00

The Chilean Roberto Bolano rocks, wherever he is now. His Savage Detectives is the best book I read in 2008, and is one of the 10 greatest books of fiction in my long reading life.Thank you, You, for this literate pair of eyes...

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-28681167483040475342008-12-13T06:59:00.000-08:002008-12-13T12:01:15.572-08:00

i heard from npr that one of the hottest merchandises under $5.00 intended as Christmas gift is an abre-lata with the face of barack obama. the gadget is called yes we can opener.mr president elect, you are so there!

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-44364537062171885552008-12-06T08:48:00.000-08:002008-12-06T14:18:29.321-08:00

Some bad habits never die, especially those from which good things come.Sitting was my favorite reading stance, the only difference from the rest of the world's was that it had to be on the floor. From childhood to adulthood, in school or at home, the best way for me to grasp the beauty and value of text was through a coordination between my brain and my ass: I just have to slump on the

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-70210058465981611202008-11-21T20:31:00.000-08:002008-11-22T04:28:08.680-08:00

May post si Toni Tiu ng celebrated Wifely Steps blog kung saan tinukoy nya ang aklatan ng kanilang high school na nagsilbing refuge nya sa tuwing sya'y nagnununi-nuni. Dun sa comments sa post, halos lahat ng bumisita ay kapwa nag-echo na ang aklatan din sa kanilang school bukol ang nagsilbing sanktwaryo ng kanilang taimtim (o maitim) na pagninilay-nilay.Count me in. Wala akong ipinagkaiba kay

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-66320476638714350322008-11-15T03:47:00.000-08:002008-11-15T16:33:12.212-08:00

Four years ago in about the same time of the year as today, I was in downtown Miami for the Miami International Book Fair. I bought a lot of good books, some rare, at very cheap prices, but the blessing of the day came in late afternoon when I listened to the concert of Dave Barry, Amy Tan and some of their writer-friends who formed this swaggering band playing 60's tunes. While I was

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-9589666498826280152008-11-09T11:23:00.001-08:002008-11-09T11:32:29.246-08:00

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is one of my favorite books, and over William Faulkner's The Sound & the Fury and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I consider it The Great American Novel. I read this book many years ago, but in the light of the current political headlines I might as well re-ruminate on its greatness now.Ellison was African-American, and one of the reasons that pushed

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-80273496491023428652008-11-04T02:43:00.000-08:002008-11-04T02:47:37.340-08:00

down with racism, ignorance, world bullying, religious hypocrisy, and bush.the time is now. we are what we are waiting for!

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-52981190346908282202008-10-26T07:52:00.000-07:002008-10-26T07:56:18.982-07:00

dateline: philadelphia, sunday, october 27thsakit ulo ko! mayday! mayday!philadelphiaphilly cheesteaks at pat's (against doctor's order)reading marketphilly museum of artfreedom towerworld series game 3, done at 2:00 am!6 bottles of amsteluniversity of pennsylvaniapriceless!

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-16378201383267511342008-10-11T04:46:00.000-07:002008-10-12T04:53:48.001-07:00

My sister told me this story which happened here in America about a year after her migration. She was in the workplace and chatting at the hallway with a fellow Filipina in Tagalog when an American manager from another department passed by and abruptly interrupted their conversation. Why don't you two speak English to each other so you can practice?, he asked.My sister was momentarily stunned,

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-58396116556341971352008-10-06T16:34:00.000-07:002008-10-06T17:15:33.389-07:00

In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story Gimpel The Fool, it is said that everything happens because whatever does not exist in the day is being dreamed of at night.The other night I dreamed I was skinny and famished, which of course is far from true. Not only am I chunky, my cholesterol level is close to the roof because everything that is four-legged, dish-wise, was fair game to me. Was.My

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-68861433854470030822008-09-27T18:45:00.000-07:002008-09-27T18:58:39.450-07:00

nung tinanong ni katie couric si mrs. palin kung paano na-enhance ang kanyang "foreign policy credentials" ng sagot nya na nakikita nya ang russia mula sa kanilang bahay, sagot ni mrs. palin, because our neighbors are foreign countries.naala ko tuloy yung lorna t joke nung unang panahon, tinanong sya kung anong kurso ang kukunin nya sakolehiyo, sagot ng lorna t. ay mass ommunication, at nung

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5597606.post-18713347847461699382008-09-20T20:05:00.000-07:002008-09-20T21:20:09.667-07:00

#5. This is a milkweed. Milkweeds are known to attract butterflies. This milkweed in my patio, to my knowledge, has not attracted a single butterfly, unless, in this world of Kafka, I am really a butterfly because I am so attracted to it. And no, this is not a Freudian slip. (You know, milk...weed.) #6. There are three things I do at home that, like an inseparable troika, I do simultaneously

cbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18071816444567667030noreply@blogger.com0