Night Delivery

UPS man came a-knocking
At my door left something.
Lo and behold! What have we got?
A Christmassy looking box
It has some nuts
And other whatnots.
A couple of delicious red apples,
Some sweets of truffles.
Umm, said Mick,
As the chocolate he licks.
Love those pears and cheese,
He eyes them and gives me a kiss.

Thank you UPS man
Send my love to that friend
Who had sent...
The lovely present
As sweet as she,
None other than Nini.

Thanks my friend, I love it.










Psst. For perfect ball shape I used a template.

Five More Days and Counting...

And then it's that day, Christmas Day. Finally the most awaited day of the year will be here in a few more days . Christmas cards started trickling as early as November...then it came by deluge last week. Most came from former co-workers, friends and family. They came from all over the country and as far away as Australia and from back home, the Philippines. One of the cards that stand out most for me was from a young man, age 19. He's going to school right now, and for him every peso counts, but he managed to save some to get me one special card. His was the first to arrive.

Thank you, Esjay, the card means a lot to me. I know that it came from the bottom of your heart.
















The card with a photo frame, has my friend's (Nancy) self-portrait picture, a mug handle accessory and a bookmarker.

Still Alive!

I’m still alive and kicking, just busy working on my Christmas cards to send to friends and kin. I’m doing the design myself and printing. But, it didn’t come out as I expected…I mean the colors. It came out too dark, not as bright and cheerful as I wanted it to be. It must’ve been the paper I used. There was no white Strathmore any more, so I have to settle for the buff color. I suppose the mixture of the paper color and the ink changed the outcome. I couldn’t change it anymore as it’s too late already. Redoing, reprinting would take time and they should have been in the mail yesterday, already!. I’ll just have to settle for what came out. Just another lesson learned on this one.

As soon as I finished printing them, I suddenly remember I have gold leaf, so I tried it on a few of the cards and they looked a lot better. But, again, I have to do it on each one of the cards. Forget it! It’s the thought that counts.

......

I quit the chase.

The chase went on, but I quit. It went too fast for me... sliding down the hill. Vanity is what it is...but no more for me, my wrinkles are here to stay.

Here's a poem by Maya Angelou, describing herself...

On Aging

When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don't think I need your chattering.
I'm listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don't pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise I'll do without it!

When my bones are stiff and aching
And my feet won't climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don't bring me no rocking chair.

When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don't study and get it wrong.
'Cause tired don't mean lazy
And every goodbye ain't gone.
I'm the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain't I lucky I can still breathe in.

Mail

Parcel post by USPS
It'd be there the soonest.
Handle with care,
Please do not tear.
Do not bump
On a hump.
Do not crunch,
I'll give you a punch.
Come what may
Bring to her doorway.
It'd be there by Monday,
If not maybe Tuesday.
Mr. Mailman do not delay.
She'd been waiting so many days,
Dreaming of it in so many ways.
Parcel post by USPS
It'd be there the soonest.

Can you read me now?

Mnie of yeras ago
Now taht fcae I don't konw.
Oevr the yeras,
Wlkrine hree and tehre,
Hvae cmoe and hvae not gnoe.
I ceshad,
It was a wtsae.
It pekicd up seped
Dwon the hlil lkie a seld.
I gvae up...
I'm gworn up,
And gworn old
Wtih so mnay flods.
Tehy are hree to saty
And I can say,
Been three, dnoe taht.

The poem above I posted as comment for Songs of Nini's blog. It's jumbled, but it doesn't matter in what order the letters are in a word, as long as the first and the last letter are in the right place. The rest can be a mess, but it can be read without a problem. The human mind read the word as a whole, not by every letter.

Try it here.

Out of Commission.

My desktop pc is out of commission. Its innards is now exposed and the computer geek is working on it. I have all my pictures, documents and other files there. Hopefully, it's going to be working pretty soon. I'm having a hard time with this laptop that Mick has lent me. I'm not used to it and besides I can't do much with this as all my programs are in my pc.

Getting to my email is another story. Spam mail would automatically pop up in a window, while here, a different ISP, I have to take a peek if my spam folder has any mail that wandered there. Aah, and there it is, one from a visitor on my blog. I want my good old mouse, not this little rubber thing stuck between the keys. It's so hard to navigate with it. I guess, I have to get used to other instruments and gizmos no matter how old they are. This laptop is obsolete by today's standards, but, at least, it serves its purpose. I should be thankful then I could still use something, be it old. Better than the ancient typewriter--the ancestor of the computer. How far then could I go with a typewriter? Far. I could go around the globe with a letter written in a typewriter, but getting there will take a long, long time. While an email will take only a few seconds.

It's almost midnight. Today there were sales in every department stores all over. I have not done any shopping...not a single thing, yet. Maybe, I should just hide from everyone so I won't have to get presents for them. Funny. I have started working on my Christmas card design. I finally have the idea on what to make. I did a rough sketch already, in pencil. Pen and watercolor, I think, would be the best media for it. By tomorrow, I could start coloring...hopefully there won't be any distraction.

......

At the Pier

Saturday, Nov. 25.
A stroll at the Redondo Beach Pier and International Boardwalk after a seafood lunch resulted in shots of our feathered friends.



A one legged pigeon, who manages to hop with his stumpy leg while it scrounges for food. I wonder what happened to it?







Sharing man's contraption, quenching its thirst.








A stork on flight.
Would it be bringing a baby to a new mother?









A casualty of man's carelessness.
A fishing nylon is wound around its leg constricting blood flow to its foot, which hangs limply. It hops around on one leg. This bird needs help, but doesn't trust man who gets near it.










Planter with red flowers on the boardwalk.

............

Little Girl With Bike.

3 1/4" x 2 1/4" B & W Photo

This is a picture of me and the old house taken when I was about 10 years old. In the back of that house is the Pasig River where my siblings and I used to swim, fish and play. Lots of good memories with them.












3B pencil on 6" x 5" paper.

I've been trying my hand at doing figures and portraits and this is as close as I can get to that tiny picture above.

Days After

Turkey tasted better the next day, better than when it came fresh out of the oven. I had turducken for Thanksgiving dinner. It came by FedEx all the way from Texas ordered by Eddie. It was prepared, dressed and seasoned, all I had to do was pop it in the oven. I never heard of turducken till that day. It's semi-boneless turkey stuffed with boneless duck stuffed with boneless chicken with cornbread stuffing inside. Slicing was easy, there were no bones (except in the drumsticks and wings) and you get 3 kinds of meat in one slice. It's only now, days after, that I get to savor the taste of it. It was yummy, heavenly yummy.

Patio

Oil on canvas
16" x 20"

My patio.
One of my original paintings.

A Study for Oil Painting

Pen and color pencil on paper.
9" x 12"

This was a study for my orchids oil painting, but I abandoned it some months ago. I put the tablet of drawing paper away, and didn't think about it. Last night I thought I should do some sketching and as I flipped the pages of my tablet I was surprised to find a drawing there. I worked on it some more, brightened up the colors. I don't know if I should leave it the way it is or add a background.

Orchids for a Friend

Oil on canvas
20" x 24"

A request by a friend for a yellow orchid painting sent me searching high and low. I surfed the web; scanned house magazines; garden books and all reading materials I could lay my hands on, but none I could find. I was in a quandary. Finally, a gold colored one...with tinges of yellow and hues of brown. I painted it so there would be more yellow, some gold and brown. Finally, there's my yellow--not mine for long--orchids, soon on its way to the new owner--Nini.

Quiet Heaven
A poem by Nini.

Hibiscus

Oil on canvas.
12" x 16"



















Oil on canvas.
12" x 16"

Kids' Meal.

I got home a little after 5 PM. I’ve been out most of the day with some people; had lunch with them…and it was so funny that someone suggested we have lunch at Wendy’s. We got there and the 2 girls who ordered lunch first got themselves Kids' Meal. LOL. What’s with this kids' meal? For $2.48 tax included, there’s a hamburger, French fries, a small soda, a small cup of ice cream and a toy. I tried it myself, and I got chocolate ice cream and a Charlie Brown stuffed toy. I thought it would not fill me up, but it did. Kay, the skinniest of us all, got herself a side order of a bowl of chili for $0.99. Oh, wow, big spenders we were. But we had fun…we laughed about our lunch. We stayed for a while at the place then drove a few yards away to a clothing store to browse for a short while. Kay and her friend left before my friend and me. I didn’t get anything, but Jun got herself a new pair of white pants and a black sweater. It was a good buy for both the items.

Hello.

I came back here after an absence of a few months. I've been busy replying to all my emails, which at times would number to the hundreds. Somehow a member of my string has been so disappointed with what's been going on in the forum, that she had totally quit posting. She had been lambasted, attacked, maligned and abused by other posters. They have been posting foul language; editing her postings with malicious, derogatory remarks. I feel so bad for her, but I can not help her. If I jump in the thread, I would get attacked myself. I just can not understand why some people are so vile, so vicious. I, myself, have lost the desire to post to the forum. I have been put on the list by these posters, though I was described as a mere negative poster. I have never posted anything negative to anybody--in our thread or outside of that thread. Other members of the string have been called names. I've been reading, but not replying...I simply want to stay away.

Pretty wild.

Gazania growing in my backyard, on the lawn where it's not supposed to. Pretty yellow color...striking, vibrant. Weed killer couldn't get rid of it...argh. It stayed there drenched with some kind of concoction, happily, sunning itself.

Still going...and going...and going...

At age 109, which he celebrated May 28th at the Food On Foot, Mr. Ronnie Fairbanks, of Hollywood, Ca, is still doing push-ups; still energetic and very alert. I was so amazed to watch him do his push-ups. Some people half his age couldn’t do what he did. He said his secret to his long life is lots of sex and lots of money. Read more of him here.

Three stars.

That's a pretty good rating for a review, better than some big budget movies of Hollywood. Cavite, a movie directed by Neill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon, caught the eye of film critics. Check here and here.

Fish were jumping

Last Saturday, was a warm sunny day in Redondo Beach. A good day for fishing; the pier was lined with people casting their fishing rods. Mackerels--the fish of the day--were being reeled in
every minute.







A woman prying her catch of mackerel from one of her hooks.












It's only noontime and this much is what was caught by this couple. And if they keep at it till late afternoon, they would get another boxful of fish. What to do with this much fish? Have a fish party-- fried fish, grilled fish, steamed, escabeche, chowder, fish soup and/or dried fish. And after the party, one have had enough fish to last one a year.






A lone seal swimming by the pier, watching people watching. Watch out for those hooks! You might end up in someone's dining table. Eek! I've never heard of a seal being cooked or eaten (by humans). I've partaken of a grilled shark and it was good.






A red snapper at the fish store eyeing buyers eyeing it. "Don't stare at me, buddy. I'm not gonna buy you; I've had enough of fish for the day."