one of my favorite things

people close ot me know all too well how much i like a nice freshly brewed barako at any time of the day-- yes, even right before bedtime. going through my files, i unearthed this old piece i made:

coffee

steaming brew
whirl at my command
then sear my tongue
as if to spite
i don't control you
i can only say how much
or how little
or what kind
how much sizzle
stir you
sip from your cup
and when you're inside me
warmth turns to heat
escalating
until i get enough
then receding
until i am drowsy

on writing

in a mailing list for writers, we were recently asked to write something that is based on a strong emotion, maybe to describe it or maybe just to try to define it. the example given at the challenge was the description of love-making in bicentennial man:

"That you could lose yourself. Everything. All boundaries, all time.
That two bodies can become so mixed up that you don't know who's who
or what's what. And just when the sweet confusion is so intense you
think you're gonna die, you kind of do. Leaving you alone in your
separate body but the one you love is still there. That's the
miracle. you could go to haven and come back alive. Go back anytime
you want with the one you love."

and here is my attempt at something like it. i know, i'm not a hollywood screenplay writer. i'm not even an award-winner, but hey, who says i can't have strong emotions?

A moment with my baby

Have you ever truly experienced the miracle of life? For more than six
years now, each day is miracle of this life—this little hand that knows
how to touch me just at the right place that I end up smiling without
realizing it; this little voice that shouts out Celine Dion songs like there
was no tomorrow; this little body, so warm, so alive and thankful to be so!
She makes me grateful for having survived this arduous journey called life,
inspite of myself. She gives me hope that love could still be so innocent,
trusting and pure. And no giddy moment with a man could ever surpass
hearing her say, "I love you, too, Mama!" Yes, she makes it all worth
it.

so there.

=)K

gushing over Neil Gaiman

ok, so I'm a writer who adores great writers. and one such writer is still alive and even came to the Philippines for a few precious days-- Neil Gaiman.

i should have planned this much better. he had an all day event at rockwell last saturday and i totally slept through it. he went over the limit they set for the number of fans whose books and whatnots he'd sign from 500 to 700, not counting those who didn't have stubs but lined up anyway. they finished at 130 in the morning! I should have gone there!!!

he had another signing sunday at greenhills but sunday is family day and we (my little family) had a good time finishing a school project for my baby-- her first storybook. She wrote the story. I polished it. I drew the comic art. She and her Tatay colored the drawings and decorated the pages. Now that's an activity worth much more than any few seconds with a living legend!

through the kindness of mr. paolo jalbuena, I got listed in as a member of the press attending Neil's writers' forum monday afternoon. i got there a couple of minutes late and they started right on the dot. wow!

as luck would have it, i lined up to ask neil a question from a microphone and was blessed to be the last one to ask him a question. before i asked my well-crafted question, neil, in his animated and candid self, said, "well, since you're the last question, this must be a very good one. not that i am putting pressure on you or anything. just forget that i said anything."

be still my heart...

i said (after laughing), "well, thank you very much!"

i fumbled at an intro to my question and, get this, darn it, i forgot to identify myself !!!

I don't remember all he said to answer my question but he answered it looking straight at me from the stage. i was floating, i think. after about five minutes of his candid reply, he stopped and smiled at me.

my smile widened, then i said, "thank you very much!"

i know, i'm completely making a fool of myself in this journal. the last time this happened was when I had my picture taken with Michel Legrand a couple of years ago, and when I interviewed Ryan Cayabyab a few years before that.

I don't gush so much anymore, but if Piers Anthony came to town... *grin*

*sigh*
=)K