America's Next Top Kitty

as posted on Facebook a couple of days ago...

my little cat, Frau Kitty, loves being photographed,
every time I take photos of her, she rolls over and starts posing...
I think she wants to be "America's Next Top Kitty!"

my life in fast backwards pictures

while i was at the Amigos en Concierto concert
during the intermission
(that explains the loud people's voices on the back)
i made a movie with my small Canon camera
of the photos i've taken with my other camera
my lovely DSLR Sony α Alpha 100 while previewing them all
it's obvious that i haven't emptied my camera card in a while
as obvious is too
that i take way too many pictures of my lazy cats!

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

my bits and random sentences on The Sheltering Sky (by Paul Bowles) was... and then transports you to the dusty eternal dryness of the desert, to that desert induced sopor... read & read & read one after another beautifully arranged sentences... the vastness of the desert, the immensity of the sky as the painful beauty that is a taste of life...


The Sheltering Sky is divided into 3 books

The characters, the structure, a bit strange sometimes, not too deep in details and then trying to deeply tell about them through small bits & pieces... not sure if it worked, 'cause, sure i wanted to know what happened to the characters, but it was somehow obvious, and strangely not so important for the book, yet i never got tired of the plot... was of that encounter, almost randomly, of those beautiful sentences, so painful, so lovely, so like life and death, that i really felt in love with


Title page of the 1st Edition of The Sheltering Sky

not sure if all i wrote above makes sense, but hope you read the book, anyway.
and some photos of my 1949, 1st Edition copy of The Sheltering Sky to show



a profile on Bowles


my small 3-book collection of Bowles books

Top 10s | Books | guardian.co.uk

i love books, and maybe because i am lazy
i love books lists and compendia too, too
i love The Guardian's UK books section
and one of my favorite sub-sections of that section
is their Top 10 lists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/toptens



the lists are written by an specific author on an
specific subject, usually one that the author
is an expert on

some of the lists are very focus and proper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/may/30/top10s.shakespeare
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/mar/18/japanese.novels

some are timeless
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/04/linda-buckley-archer-top-10-time-travel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/31/best-ghost-stories

some are quirky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/feb/10/top-10-potato-books
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/17/paul-murray-top-10-wicked-clerics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/dec/19/top10s.smelly.books

some are just fun
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/27/tiffany-murray-rock-n-roll-novels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/02/shirley-hughes-top-10-picture-book-characters

and they all open a little door to the magical
world of book-reading... if you like books lists
give The Guardian's UK Top 10 a try
you can dive in yourself
and find your favorite ones!

namaste: árbol de la vida

this is my newest little project!
el árbol de la vida/namaste
[tree of life] shirt, for my yoga practice

via zazzle, i will be printing this t-shirt
just like i did with the Gatos' t-shirts last year
from an original photo, i am creating this
shirt version graphic

i took the photo of my neighbor's tree back in 2006
during Christmas time, i love this tree 'cause
i see it every day! so it will be great to take it with me
and wear it close to my heart while practicing yoga

here the original photo i took



and here after a couple of Photoshop tweaks
ready to be printed on a comfortable tee
i only have to check that the Sanskrit spelling is correct!

Amigos en Concierto, courtesy of Smorgzone

Amigos en Concierto was this great concert that the
San Diego Master Chorale presented,
i was there by mister Smorg's courtesy!

fotos are not allowed at the Copley Symphony Hall
but i stole this one with my very small camera
when the usher was not looking at me! do NOT try this yourself!

here a pasted review from what i wrote him about the concert:

to confess, i wasn't that excited to go 'cause i don't really like mariachi that much and i don't listen to our classical mexican music that much... so when i read the program and read Mariachi (which i don't like very much...) but also read San Diego Master Chorale (about 80 voice on stage) and a tenor and a soprano.... AND the Romero Duo, these amazing Flamenco guitarists who won a Grammy, then i started to get sold, i went there with not very high expectations... but left with tears in my eyes!!! it was wonderful... there were some problems with the sound, with Monica Abrego's microphone but apart from that, the whole event went flawless!

the 1st part of the program was ALL traditional old mexican songs arranged for the Chorale, the Mariachi ONLY played the first two songs, and then the Chorale took over... also there was a children choir of about 20 kids, lovely voices and great arrangements... knowing & understanding all the lyrics to the songs, made a huge difference for me... so many childhood memories!!

after the intermission, i only wished my Flamenco-loving mother was there, who i knew would appreciate some serious guitar playing... those fellows from the Romero Duo were just fantastic!! you know? i grew up listening to my mom playing flamenco records, so i recognize many of the songs the brothers played... another great lovely surprise

by the end of the night, the stage was full of people!! 80 singers from the Chorale, the pianist, the mariachi, the tenor and the soprano, plus the children choir... so even if you had no idea what they were singing or you don't like that kind of music you felt like singing and dancing... a beautiful spectacle indeed!


and an outdoor shot of the Copley Hall in Downtown San Diego

the soul

"The soul is the weariest part of the body."
~Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

the gulf oil spill

the gulf of Mexico oil spill situation
is profoundly sad,
the death of so many innocent animals
the ultimate human cruelty imposed...
and what's to do?
human power and greed seem to have non-stop



so many days, and things only get worse
hope we are learning our lesson on dealing with oil
the sights are heartbreaking...
so i comfort myself with the sight
of these 2 happy animals that arrived to my doorstep
and have become my local little furry family
wishing all nature could be safe as them


Frau Kitty, the original Reebok cat


Herr Gato and one of his photo-shot poses

Memorial day weekend, Paul Bowles, and easiness

i am not sure if it's the American life(style) or
my age, or the always-busy internet era, or what...
but even if i live a pretty calm life:
a regular 8 hours a day of work, practice of yoga,
prepare my meals, chase/take care of the cats,
and i only drive 10 minutes to work
somehow, i live in sort kind of 'rush'

it's not that i am stressed, not at all!
but it is just this strange internal drive
this awareness of time and that there's always...
'something else i could be doing' or
'some book that i am not reading' or
'some show that i am missing'... that
human attempt that feels like needs to be fed

this internal rush, this agony
of wanting to know 'where am i going?'
this strange fear to trap and make
life 'countable' by one's progresses,
by one's achievements...

but this weekend, while reading Paul Bowles'
The Sheltering Sky, i realized that apart from yoga
and its wonderful awareness of not being aware
(which is pretty hard to do...)
the only other activity that makes me shake off this
counting-in-life-what-i-am-doing feeling is... reading!!
reading, NOT online, but reading an old-fashioned
pages-of-paper book... 'cause
even when watching films i am somehow 'aware'
of my existence slipping by...
but when i read, a great book specially, i do get lost
in time... so just like the 3 characters on the opening
pages of The Sheltering Sky, this weekend i felt like
those three Americans seated on a North Africa cafe
who conversed quietly and "...in the manner of people
who have all the time in the world for everything..."

so for 3 days, i forgot about schedules
about achievements, about being or not being
and i cooked light meals, made some café de olla
went to Bread & Cie. but overall, i read, read,
and read... and had the least possible contact
with other humans, which always makes me feel
at ease... human interaction bring the time-counting
back to my life, solitudes, most of the times, makes
me smile and relax...


ingredients for café de olla, coffee (of course!) piloncillo and cinnamon
traditionally café de olla has to be prepared on a clay pot
but i didn't have one (mexican shame on me!) but my own pewter pot
worked very fine too... if you can, do try café de olla, it's delicious!


my order at Bread & Cie., the bread platter
3 sorts of breads (your choice) plus jams, butter, and cream cheese
i got multigrain, fig & anise, and walnut raisin breads


a berries and nuts salad with good Olde Cape Cod
Sweet & Sour Poppy Seed dressing, pretty good!



and i even had the 'time' to spell the short version of my name
with Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies
now that's what i call a lovely waste of time
exactly what i was looking for...

my new favorite TV show: Simon Schama's Power of Art

i've watched a couple of episodes
from the BBC series of Simon Schama's Power of Art
Bernini and Rembrandt episodes
on our blessed public television channel PBS

"Art is the enemy of the routine, the mechanical and the humdrum. It stops us in our tracks with a high voltage jolt of disturbance; it reminds us of what humanity can do beyond the daily grind. It takes us places we had never dreamed of going; it makes us look again at what we had taken for granted."
~ Simon Schama

the first minutes of Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Theresa" Episode



the episodes analyze a central piece by a given artist
and around this narrative, Simon unfolds their life story

Simon Schama wrote and narrates the series, his style is fresh
and even funny at times... as when he refers to Bernini
as... "...that bastard!", a relaxed and unique style
that makes every twist and turn of the narrative
a bit dramatic, it is almost like a watching a soup-opera
where the casts are Popes, painters, sculptures, all while learning
a lot about art history, and world history, too.
I learn a lot about Amsterdam on Rembrandt's episode
these two episodes... highly recommended!

Episodes
1. Caravaggio - David with the Head of Goliath
2. Bernini - Ecstasy of Saint Theresa
3. Rembrandt - The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis
4. David - The Death of Marat
5. Turner - The Slave Ship
6. Van Gogh - Wheatfield with Crows
7. Picasso - Guernica
8. Rothko - Black on Maroon

you can view them all online here

but just like movies on the big screen
TV series are meant to be watched, well, on your TV
upcoming episodes in KPBS, San Diego
May 27, 2010 11:00PM
June 3, 2010 11:00PM
thank you PBS!