the good and the bad in San Diego today

a hectic Monday for San Diego

very sad news
[jet crash]

very good news
[new Mexico-California border crossing]

a Monday dissertation on mortality, tea, and bees

on my drive home from work
on a foggy evening
this poor bee got stuck to my windshield
i tried to leave it behind in some bushes in a stop attempt
before jumping on the freeway

she refused!
and more on a stubbornly fashion than a proud act
she decided to face what i think was his/her
detachment from life



ah! the imminent mortality!
she flew away, but i will never be sure
of her late fortune

once at home, i looked for some warm comfort
the nightly, almost automatic arrival routine
rinsed the tea pot, roar-boiled water
ripped the fragrant little bag of tea
instantly, a cozy feeling invaded me
an ease lifted my spirit
and my soul with the satisfaction
of arriving to one's home
and then i carefully read
my homely tea advice

and what is my surprise!
to my rhetoric on mortality thoughts
on a Monday evening
while driving a bee on the freeway,
i got answered by this anonymous tea-advice



do you believe in coincidences?

or...

do you believe in tea, bees, and home-made magic
in a foggy California town?

book Sunday reading

so few times lately i feel proud of myself
i do work every day
and i do what a 'regular' sort of responsible
citizen is expected to do
but since i don't exercise anymore,
those little feelings of accomplishments
and self-fulfillment that come with running an extra-block
or swimming an extra lap, haven't been around
i don't really go out of my way to do much these days

but today
but i was able to finish Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential
'right on time!'

as i posted before
i was being lazy even with books!
so i pushed a little and today
last day of November i was able to finish on time the book

it took some effort to concentrate to confess
and with this tendency i have to sabotage myself
i had to be extra careful, i left the house so i didn't have
many distractions, i buried myself in a Starbucks
and ordered a black coffee, sat & read & read & read



of course, i got distracted many many many times
by the colorful walls and the squarish semi-art



my mind tricked me into counting the birds on top of
this coffee drinker seated outside



later it made me focus on the lady-in-black
crossing the street



even the backs of chairs were
appealing... and every time, i'd be too distracted
i'd take a photo and go back to read... it worked!
lots of bad rushed photos, lots of pages read
a cheap way of entertaining yourself



and even thought, by the time i left Starbucks
i wasn't done with the book, i made a huge advance there

i came home, made an extra mug of cherry green tea
and devoured the Afterword
i have the 'updated edition'
so like in a trance, i read all the extra materials
'A Conversation with Anthony Bourdain',
an article by Bourdain on New York dinning recommendations
and others

i read the whole thing!!
and just to make sure, i wasn't being a flake, as i usually am
i read the colophon, the printing credits
the back cover and even the back of the book a couple of times

it was so cool update it at Goodreads.com
from the currently-reading to read shelf...

ah!! nothing like the sense of accomplishment
after doing something just for the pleasure of doing it
and for yourself, no work to complete, no social engagement
just following your own rules
nice when it works!

now to keep in one-per- month book state
until i am back on good-reading-shape
and comes to me automatically, spontaneously
as it once did

even with the fun things in life
sometimes one has to shake laziness
and discipline yourself to have fun out there

yeah yeah yeah
read a little book you too, today
or listen to a whole album, start to finish
or a cool article...
ah anyway another week comes ahead...

movie Saturday night

Ken Cinema in Kensington - San Diego, California

the film indeed met its expectations
[an a little more!]
Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir
it was not only scary and interesting
but even a tad disturbing at times


Now-playing poster spot at 'the Ken'

a rather interesting black & white
animation on human primordial fears
i wouldn't recommend it for kids
or young teenagers, even though
the violence is not so graphic
(although it is some times)
the whole tone of the film
is dark not just on the supra-natural taste
of things, but dark when it comes to human nature
too

experimental, noir, and literally black & white
highly recommended if you want to be a little
horrified and don't mind being disturbed too

and yes! there are moments in the film
when you'll have too
fear(s) of the dark

it kept me awake
and was a good thing on a Saturday night
but then i came back home and slept fine

strange unremembered dreams
weren't the film to blame about
just this inconsistent feeling of
having dreamed a forgot on the waking times

another Sunday, warmer, drier
life, with its seconds and minutes
all together, passing by

we can close our eyes -but
we can't close our ears -and
we can't stop the time

Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

perusing around the Ken cinema schedule
[Ken cinema is an originally kept movie theater from the mid 40's walking distance from my house, rather charming place]
discover they are showing today

Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du noir

so checked the trailer and website
& wow! a rather interesting animation film!
sounds perfect for an after rain chilly Saturday film
please check this link
with samples of the different artists who worked
on the animation on the film
all different styles, but all black & white
and all rather creepy!

here some stills from different artists styles
and their names, taken from images sections
of the official site


Charles Burns


Richard McGuire


Lorenzo Mattotti


Marie Caillou


Pierre Di Sciullo


Richard McGuire

can't wait to watch it!

the trailer

Thanksgiving 2009

on a rainy with beautiful sunny patches day



we celebrated a lovely and delicious
Thanksgiving dinner this past Thursday
in San Diego



here some of the delights we shared
we had all the traditional trimmings too
mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans
sweet potatoes, my friend Jena
tried a recipe of sweet potatoes with apples
raisins and pecans, i really liked it!
the apples gave the sweet potatoes a milder
softer texture, great combo!

but surely the star of the night
was my friend perro's roasted cranberry sauce
an original twist on the traditional cranberry sauce
that is made just with sugar and cranberries
he added roasted cardamom pods, cinnamon,
and jalapeños, and not sure what else
but it was surprisingly good treat

also his Russian bread with caraway seeds
that we ate before dinner, with this delicious
fondue of Gruyère cheese and Brandy...
it was exquisite!
all this accompanied by a couple of glasses
of chardonnay and other blanc wines

my job was the same as the past couple of years
in charge of pumpkin pie



worth mentioning that our hosts, apart from trimming
and turkey, baked a delicious sweet potato pie
with pecans on top, home-made crust...





this American holiday has become not only sharing
this traditional menu with the goods of the Autumn,
but a warm celebration of thankfulness for the good things
we have in our life

as surely i am thankful, for those wonderful fluffy clouds on the skies
for the fortunate fragrances and tastes of not just the delicious meal above
but the meals i get every day, as i never go hungry or cold
and i am thankful to be able to see the smiles of friends
and families and too the ones online!
thankful for being happy of being alive

the coming rain

& driving back home tonight
my eyes posed over layers of images
a steering wheel, my cold hands,
the dirty windshield, the dusty board
and then followed this spectacular
woolly blanket of clouds



... the imminent signs in the sky of
a promised-long-overdue rain

and later
this night

as i type,
a lone sound outside
[nearly foreign to me now]

is that one of she! wet!
typing too, with her clean clear big drops
she falls
on the ground
on the grass
on the floor & w/
her fresh crisp claims
launders it all
leaving traces of hope

still...
after a little while,
like these words,
she will dry out,
evaporate,
dissolve

Jhumpa Lahiri and Goodreads.com

I found this little gadget on Goodreads.com
where you can share your books' reviews
and your reading lists, recommendations, etc.
on your blog and
i recently started adding books & words there
...
a couple of days ago my friend Risa
wrote me a lovely e-mail saying that
after reading this review she decided
to read this book
so here, sharing
it is indeed a wonderful book!

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
rating: 5 of 5 stars
My review:
This book is a collection of soulful short stories of Indian immigrants living in the US and I think some stories where in India too, I read this book maybe in 2006 or 2007 but every time I think of a book that really touched me emotionally I think of this book or Alice Munro's short stories. I came across Interpreter of Maladies by chance, it was left at the lunch table at my office where co-workers exchange used items. I picked up and didn't read it for a while... After reading the 1st short story, I was immediately excited about the jewel I've found for free. Every story is about love and relationships and quirkiness of the human soul. Every story, regardless of being about love between lovers, or an old-lady working alone in an abandon building, reveals some kind of magic. With few books I cry while I read, and this one, in such a humanitarian point of view, made me cry a couple of times. I am really surprised to see how young is the beautiful author, because her words sound like those of an old soul. A must read. You'll appreciate every turn of the each story.
View all my reviews.

Presidio park: haven of peace

tasted like copper this Sunday
at the Presidio Park



not radiant like Summer gold
not cold like Winter silver
but a warm orange
cooper Sunday

and i followed unexpected my own steps
3.12 pm (15.12 Uhr)
a sudden need for nature
the sight of a tree
a walk, i needed freedom!
and almost automatically drove
to these
prairies and trees
it was the mild orange of copper
today at the Presidio park
and i walked, and breathed
and caressed with my little camera
oh so many trees!

Autumn and blooming

cold and sunny Sunday in San Diego
but last week the late Summer was visiting still
sprouting, flowering

an wide orange smile



too early? or too late Spring?




blooming late November, still



this jar with sprouts of an old root of Peppermint