Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Recovery


One of the many drawbacks of our time is that while doctors discover many cures, statistics reveal that more and more people are suffering from new illnesses. On schedule for vaccines and boosters, Mighty Mighty had chicken pox vaccine shots 10-14 days ago. Part of the side-effects was fever. He caught an interesting strain that ran up to almost five days on and off, with cough and colds. He ate little and dropped in wieght.

Parents will perhaps think they are more informed and equipped now, because we have a ready accessibility to practical knowledge, we can send text messages to our pediatrician, and we even have our little ones on health insurance. Parents respond to these things with either paranoia or confidence. I had a more bookish approach as I was ready to take him to the hospital anytime if it goes the distance. D. was more instinctive, and maybe she intunited that sticking him on IV and medical observation isn't what's needed now. I'd always trust her guts over mine, and I'm glad she's always right. She takes these nautral, preventive measures. She has a knack for getting these clean solutions.

D. took a leave for a few days to nurse him, to literally hold him all this time. On that fifth day she went back to work. I already arrived from the night shift and an hour or two after D. left for the office, the little one was still crying. I remember telling him, "Get well and we'll go out this weekend."

He took his time to hush. We tried the tricks. It turns out what he wanted was to wear his pinstiped baseball cap that had "Little Slugger" logo. He wanted to go outdoors and get some fresh air.

We went out and had some sunshine. He hushed and I could have sworn I saw rainbows.

The rest of the day went. I fed him bananas, avocados and the soup D. made. We were behind on some bills because we haven't gone out the past couple of days, followed by National holidays, so I went out briefly and lined up to pay the electric.

He was napping when I got home. I couldn't sleep yet. I've got just enough energy for an easy errand. I decided to brush and wax my shoes.

I may have been weary, but to parahprase Nietzsche, I no longer walk on worn soles.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

An Endearing Ordinariness


7pm Dinner with D. & Mighty Mighty. Mango-Arugula-Cashew salad: a house classic.



10pm Drive to Manila Office

11pm The day's first office meeting

1130pm Depart for Cainta Office via office shuttle

12am Cultivating the culture of this pointless productivity at work

8am Yogurt or Soy Drink at the Grocery

830am FX to Ayala

930am Taxi back to Manila Office

10am more work

11am Drive home

1130am Wash up and snack

12nn Reading to mighty mighty

1am Feeding I. (Misua and Mangoes)

230pm Waiting for I's afternoon nap while listening to classical music

3pm 2 cans of beer and chips, and this dramatic status update:
I will not say "I am tired" before I go to sleep. I will be thankful for the opportunity to persevere, to persist, to be worthy of the littlest joys. We only go around once. Hi-Ho.
The following morning, I stop by a coffeeshop because I'm falling asleep driving.



Monday, August 15, 2011

Compartmentalized


Around a week ago, Standard and Poor's gave the United States a credit downgrade, the first for the US in 70 years. Hard times must be up ahead, even for the Yanks. Hi-Ho.

Randy David, a Filipino columnist tells his story about the "Humbling of America." A humble America will have a trickle effect on ours and many other nations. We export to America, and other countries we export to use the raw materials we export to them, to export to America.

Among the many things that compound this problem, he writes, "They are shocked to learn that their country’s biggest single foreign creditor is China, forgetting that long before the recession, American consumption was already being funded by Chinese savings. They are traumatized by the thought that someday US companies would be owned and run by Chinese bosses."

Also around, a week ago, I was reading an easy read in the best possible way (which is reading by the beach, during a vacation), Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick or Lonesome No More. In this novel, the Chinese had closed their Embassy in Washington, as they no longer needed anything or had anything to do with the United States. They had also compartmentalized themselves, becoming so tiny to the point of invisibility. In the process, they save their resources because of the minimal requirements of things small. They have also experimented with the with gravity through an an expedition of the lost secrets of the Incas. The Chinese also had colonies in Mars. They were creating millions and millions of geniuses.

The China piece isn't what the novel is about, but that's probably what's most relevant at this point. The prevailing notion nowadays is how hard it is to find anything that's not made in China.

There's a Picasso quote that goes, "art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." Hi-Ho.

***

"I spoke of American loneliness... It was a shame, I said, that I had not come along earlier in American history with my simple and workable anti-loneliness plan. I said that all the damaging excesses of Americans in the past were validated by loneliness rather than a fondness for sin."

***

Aside from ending some of my paragraphs with "So it goes," I'd like to think that Vonnegut has some influence on me. He clearly executed that wry sense of humor that worked on dismantling a xenophobic American culture and their megalomania with both a down-to-earth and out-of-this-world sci-fi approach.

Slapstick, he said in the prologue, was also the closest he had to an autobiography. That was my favorite part: the prologue. It often spoke of love for a sibling.

***

And yeah, in a world that centers on consumption, I've go to keep myself debt free, and save before spending.

For the last time, Hi-Ho.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Gentle People

July 30 - Aug 2 Dumaguete, Negros Occidental

Originally planned either as a family vacation or the out-of-town get-together during H.'s return, this trip was conceived out of long-drawn exchanges in social networking sites. We had to arrive in a place with some "character" and a level of friendliness for travellers with infants. By "character" we automatically avoided the"party"scene. We were a big group, with most our friends-for-life along with us. I thought dealing with each other's idiosyncrasies had always been character enough, given our history of high-school/college drunkenness and the rest of the vicissitudes in our coming-of-age. We still fondly reminisce and crassly put, I never fail to acknowledge (to myself) what an idiot I was. 

While most of our crowd still had pretty interesting profiles with a global activist/UCLA PhD candidate, art critic, indie film director, indie film critic, researcher, jeweler, Vice President or loving moms and dads, it all blends in pretty evenly when we spend the night playing 20-peso buy-in poker with stones and rocks collected from the beach as poker chips. We were, after all, in the "City of Gentle People."

The weather was also on our side. A typhoon and forming weather systems left the city just the day before our departure. The storm didn't choose to unburden intself on our trip. The nights weren't fully stitched with stars, and as L. puts it, we didn't see a fiery sunset, but there was some sunshine.


We went a round the city a bit before heading off to the resort. I thought I had an impression of the inspiration that seeps into the writers who often this place for the Dumaguete Workshop. There are towering acasia trees, along with the open sea's imposing presence and a slow, serene pace that settled like a balm.

Because reading by the beach is probably the best way to read and we didn't have a lot of plans other than lazing and lounging around all day, everybody brought their literature. S. had Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, M. had Gladwell's What The Dog Saw, A. had contemporary German Literature, and P. had his readings and answered NY Times Crosswords all day.I brought Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick (Lonesome No More), but I also craved for a local read. Aside from the sea and the scenery, I speculate that one of other reasons why there are good writers in this part of the country is because there's a lot of striking contrasts on affluence and poverty concetrated here, the divide greatly defined by who owns the the sugar plantations. That affluence and poverty, history of feudalism, oppression, is always great raw material for stories and characters.

An underwater photo from S. & his A.'s time well-spent on the sea floor.

Along with snorkeling to see these promising live corals, fresh sea-food, kayaking, family-time, long conversations, a lot of lazing around, bottles of wine, rum, and over 3,000 bucks worth of booze we managed to have all the character we asked for.

I am thankful enough that while doing our partenting duties on a beach trip that needed a plane ride, we managed to find the time to read, get drunk or just lie on our own sea-view room's outdoor jacuzzi that bubbled with a cranberry scent.

Our little one, together with her little friend P., were also excellent travelling companions.

We couldn't have all done it withot the gift breastfeeding.

The Library at Midnight

Antulang Beach Resort, Negros Occidental


It was almost 12am and this library was still open, practically begging you to borrow the things between covers that were tucked between the shelves. Judging from their polite tone, mestiza looks and that recognizable well-off accent, the librarians were probably the resort owners' offspring. These books must have been from their personal collection.

"We brought our own" we said nicely, and we probably had different tastes in literature. We ought to say that the presence of the library itself gave the resort an added appeal. It cultivated the reading culture.

We started to notice that among the many signs, the resort also posted quotes from E.M. Forster.

The staff in the resort was friendly and accomodating. The food isn't excellent, the coffee is terrible but we didn't demand something generic like Starbucks. We brought our own drinks and T. made mojitos the way it should be made.

And short walk away from the infinity pool, they had a library.