The Convivial Gist

Rem, Adel, Cecil and Au circa 2004 Cecile at our high school reunion giving a speech on being a cancer survivor 2009     Finding out that Cecile , one of my  best friends succumbed to cancer  while perusing the news feeds on my Facebook account last Black Saturday, seems surreal to me.  I am more of a visual person, hardly taking note of the written postings, more interested on photos and inane you tube cat  videos.  When I came across the condolences at her  siste r's page ,  I was reading  but not really comprehending what those words meant. Realization hit me and I started mourning her death with copious tears . We went to the same school in elementary and high school but  only became very close when we attended a community college, hooked up with 2 other girls Au and Rem.  I never imagined that it will be the start of fun friendship that anyone would wish they could have on their transition to adulthood....

Fifty Three and Counting    Birthdays are always fun no matter what age and status in life you are in.  I celebrated mine with an early chat  with Gina, a mammography technologist , We had a discourse on  the weird weather in St. Louis, the Hobbit movie which should be watched in 3D to fathom  the slyness of Gollum and what I should do the rest of the day.  Yes, I had my annual date with  my own version of Terminator , the GE Senograph Machine and Gina was my Arnold Schwarzenegger (before the infidelity scandal) . Having born with a small but very dense breast, more often  my breasts would be  scrunched  by the unforgiving paddle more than twice for better image. I will dread the day when some Facebook people would start posting their mammography x-ray film on their timeline just to com pens ate for pain . Now I have to wait for the result from the beast, oops D r. Biest. Yes, I have a male gynecologist and his name is...

Our cat Pinay was traumatized the  last time she was out "unsupervised" on our deck. She slipped out of the kitchen door and was out for 2 hours; it was late at night and raining. Only when we were about to go to sleep  when we realized she was not on her usual spot in our bed.   Well, she learned her lesson well and would not even put a single paw on the transition strip of our kitchen storm door.  But the call of her predatory instinct finally made Pinay  venture again on our deck. I guess she was just plain tired of watching the avian and rodent community having all the fun on our backyard that she wants some piece of the action.   The thing is, she had been confined and modified to be a domesticated animal for the last 5 years that she does not know that she is supposed to chase the sparrows and grackles and  anything that moves on that deck.  I think its the greatest indignity that a pet owner like me can inflict on Pinay. P...

A ko ay nagpasiya na ihahayag ko ang aking pagninilaynilay na ito sa aking katutubong wika.  Maalala ng ilan kong mambabasa na aking nabanggit sa isa sa mga nauna kong sulatin na noong bagong dating ako dito sa bansang Amerika, sumapit ang punto na ako ay nagsawa sa pasasalita ng wikang Inglis. Upang maibsan ang aking pananabik sa bagay na ito, aking kinakausap ang aso ng aking kabiyak.  Sumalangit nawa ang kayang asong kaluluwa at harinaway nasa langit na sya ng mga aso. Isang katanungan ang umiikilkil sa aking mapagusisang kaisipan, - Paano mo masusukat ang kulungkutan ng isang Pilipino na naninirahan sa banyagang  lupain? Sinasabi ng marami na tayo ay likas na madaling matutu  sa gawi at asal ng ating inampong bayan, at ayon na rin sa mga karanasan ng mga Pilipino na matagal ng naninirahan dito, sa loob nga limang taon, nga mga baguhan ay narahuyo na sa buhay Amerika; ang pagnanasa niya sa kanyang inang bayan ay pagbugso bugso na lang...

 Chocolate Eclair -  photo from Helfer's website  With the last extreme winter weather in St. Louis, my husband commented that  pollens were probably frozen, that he was not suffering the  symptoms of his nasty allergies on  the onset of spring. He spoke too soon.  His seasonal allergies came in with a vengeance that  he temporarily lost his sense of taste .  For a person who have a passionate relationship with his palate, its like being constantly punched on his stomach every time he eats. Ironically, with his gustation functionality in retirement , the more he wanted to eat different foods thinking that he can cajole the follicles of his tongue to come back pronto.  I reminded him, as long as he is in medication for his allergies, it will take a little bit of time .  Even if he is served dinner prepared by  5 star Michelin chef Alain Ducasse, it will probably reduced my husband to tears for I will be enjoying the s...

I am a sucker for old fashion cartoons that I can proudly admit that I saw Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs more than I can count my fingers and toes; unabashedly cried when the great King Mufasa died and Simba tried to wake him up, commiserate with  Miss Piggy in her unrequited love for Kermit and other emotional display of affection to these animated personalities that I won't mention for it will totally make me look beyond silly . I n May of 1990, the creator of the Muppets, Jim Henson died.  I saw a tribute from the Disney artist of a drawing of Kermit the Frog being consoled by Mickey Mouse on the death of Kermit's creator.  That drawing created an imprint on my mind the idea of  raw sadness associated with death. Ironic that non living cartoon characters could invoke such  cogent feeling in me, on issue of death.  Here is the photo I am talking about:  T here is a colored version of this but I was still digging up the Internet and up ...

     Mary Jane Boots by Marc Jacobs      Finally I am in my other home, the Philippines.  As I am slowly creeping in the ranks of the senior citizens, I don't find travelling as much fun as five years ago. Being airborne for 18 hours in a stale cramp space, how I wish that I can win a lottery so that I can buy a comfortable arrangement in my crossing of the Pacific Ocean.     Its understandable that majority of Filipinas going home to their tropical abode  when some parts North America were buried in 6 inches of snow, wearing knee length boots was de rigueur.  I wonder how they managed when their legs and feet swell after travelling almost 8250 miles up in the air.     It was in  my second leg of my trip in Narita airport in Tokyo (another 4 1/2 hours plane ride to reach Manila) when I was totally blown away what some Filipinas would do to be fashionable and to announce to the...