Foot and Fire

Apple and Oranges My Brother and Me, Lost and Found By Marie Brenner Softcover, 265 pages I was never wrong to have picked this up. This book was a lucky find at Booksale because I got it for P20, reminding me of that Cornetto ad, Saan aabot ang bente pesos mo? I was more than elated. I just can't get over the fact how the author weave her sibling rivalry into her family's history in a funny and then riveting storytelling. Even how the siblings chose and fought for what they want to do in their lifetime seems to have some connections in the past, like Carl, a lawyer who turned into an Apple Man and Marie, a journalist. They turned out to be not-so-alien when she assessed their lives according to how their ancestors have lived. Just when I am already persuaded that we can never really get into full circle in life if we cannot know our past, there is a sudden change in the story line. There is the urgency to heed Carl's wisdom: Go forward. Just go forward. And just when I am ...

How to make an American Quilt Whitney Otto Fiction, 1991 paperback, 236 pages This is one of the rare ocassions when the movie version I watched first is at par with the book I read later. I recommend the reading of the book and the watching of the film. In sum, the lives we lead, married or unmarried,  bound by law or not,  is the life we chose and we need not explain that to everyone with whom our personal story has no meaning. But vis-a-vis this conclusion is the happy realization that there is no straight line in leading our lives, so being married like being unmarried has no guarantees for what happens in the future, to our happiness. But while you will feel so confident with your decisions in life, by reading the book, one can get aquainted with the history of quilting, appreciate how it greatly contributed to the American culture, and also feel how the law greatly changed the lives of women. On page 188, the Philippines was even mentioned there. But the movie, as I can ...

"Before" Meet me in St. Gallen" During a bus ride, I was talking about the romantic films I already watched and I talked about the Before series (Before Sunrise 1995; Before Sunset 2004; and Before Midnight 2013) by director Richard Linklater. It is not a kind of romantic film that causes lovebites to flare but then go like a flu as forgettable. These conversation films in the series have their appeal on being able to open up to strangers, raw thoughts in conversations, and the promises of possibilities. The love story cooked up in the series is an answer to the adage that familiarity breeds contempt. Now, I saw the trailer of "Meet Me" and got caught by the Celeste and Jessie forever... and the newsclip dubbing it as a conversation film. As I suspected it was a take on the Before series. So, I watched. I liked the idea that Bella Padilla and Carlo Aquino are the leads as this can be an experimental pairing (I don't like the faddish star couples). I am plea...

The real ratatouille is a stew of basically same veges but this version of mine is baked. If one enjoys vegetables and cheese, I recommend this one.