Foot and Fire

I blogged in the past that I finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in my ipad after about two years. Actually, I had been keeping a hardbound of it even before I started the ebook in my ipad.  Earlier, I am about to stow the book in my wall bookshelf (read, far from my bedroom shelf which has the to-read stacks) because I finished it already.  But I skimmed and found the Afterword. Author Betty Smith who wrote this semi-autobiographical novel gave us Francie, a vivid recaller of all things past, a vivid describer of all things around, a vivid feeler of emotions around. I recalled that I can't finish this book in one sitting because it has full of vivid imagery of Francie's childhood, details from headlice to games she enjoys. As I progressed reading halfway, she also grows up and experiences new things. This afterword by Alfred Kazin in 1989 struck me and I don't want tp forget this. "For fullest appreciation, it probably helps t...

Jackie chan: Never Grow Up With Zhu Mo Translated by Jeremy Tiang Gallery Books 2015 2018 Hardbound cover I'm so happy to have gotten hold of Jackie Chan's autobiography. I had so much fun reading it. As a child, I watched The Drunken Master with my siblings and enjoyed it very much. All his succeeding movies that we watched were all heartwarming, fun and we enjoyed the behind-the-scene cuts at the end of the credits. I laughed a lot and cried some. There were portions of his storytelling that I cried, like when he was left to the China Drama Academy at age 7 and his mother carried bucket of hotwater from home to the academy and on the 2nd year, he was teased as spolied and rejected his mother to impress or be acceptable as cool to his peers in the academy. His mother has to ride buses and walk many times to bring the water with her. I think he has been like that to the women in his life, a macho who wants to show off to his peers. I can't blame a child who lite...

  Gordon Ramsay's Playing with Fire Harper and Collins 2007 hardbound, 296 pages I followed the earlier seasons of Masterchef US and there I got to know the hyper and fast-mouth Gordon Ramsay. Though he swears (Swearing is a turn-off for me), I seem to agree with him in his reactions over food mishaps in the kitchen. Though his sentences are peppered with swearing in the adult contest, he is adorable in the Masterchef Junior. He's endearing actually but I'm sure he's an obsessive personality when it comes to his craft. So when I saw his first autobio called Humble Pie , I grabbed it. There, I understood him, his history, his motivation and I came to appreciate him in traversing his journey in life as a chef, as a son, as a brother.

Humble Pie Gordon Ramsay Autobiography, 2006 Nice read. Written twelve years ago but still introduces Gordon Ramsay very well to those who seldom watches tv series but had been a follower for once by Masterchef US. Though I am an open hater of swearing as while they may represent hatred, jealousy, irritation, fear, anxiety, mood swings, etc to the speaker,  swearing does not communicate to the receiver the message well and they may be everything ill but then nothing. But I was surprised that I finished the not-so-lengthy fast-paced narrative of Ramsay who is fast-talking and known as ill-swearing cook in London. The book is filled with vulgar slangs and swears e.g. bollocks, arsehole, fuck, shag etc but then I kind of smile at them in the end. This is because I am reading, not hearing them. Anyway, I still can't believe it that I was hooked by the life story of Ramsay, a perfectionist in kitchen which explains why his swearing is a bad habit. His first TV series are live and ...

I still read nonfiction from time to time but I am now fascinated with nonfiction that I bought memoirs, bios and autobios at the recent BIG BAD WOLF BOOK SALE in Cebu City, all for myself. Here, I'm sharing to you my provisions for the next two years, hahahahha!! Oliver Sacks is a classic read. BBW carried other titles there, though not all of his works (I can't find his bestselling The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat!!!). So I chose Hallucinations and An Anthropologist from Mars. He was a physician and taught neurology. I read reviews of his books in Brain Pickings and saw the movie Awakenings (based on Sacks' book of same title) which features Robin Williams as Sacks. I can't wait to start even one book of his. If i can, i'll pick up Hallucinations first. Now, I'm hallucinating that I can do that real soon. Stanley, The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal.  Who does not love Africa when one was still small and full of wonde...

Furiously Happy (A funny book about horrible things) Jenny Lawson Picador 2015, 329 pages I bought this book in order to have a peek with what a depressive, anxiety-filled blogess can share so I can have a little understanding about her journey in life. I am committed to finish because I know the reason why I bought this book in the first place. First, she's a pain in the ass. One has to have patience for this book because I can't stand highly detached ideas and simply go and laugh hard. If insight is to be held, one has to wade through the dark comedy to get through the gem of understanding, I know, I get that. If you are like me, I recommend that you read page 111 and 263 first and give this book a chance. Skip pages 11, 199, and 247 so you won't get mental indigestion. Second, one has to love dead, furry buddies. And I still can't even after reading this book. Third, be forgiving of all Jenny Lawsons out there, on the premise that they don't hurt peop...

XI'AN, CHINA 2012. Behind me is one of stone tablets in a museum that houses tablets which date back even B.C. The painstaking carving of the handwriting centuries ago now forms part of the Chinese history. This visit validates my personal belief that something written now counts years after. On the occasion of renewing my commitment in keeping this blog alive, I am transporting my worthy notes in Facebook here as I feel I should be sharing them with everyone outside the networking site and into this bigger blogging world. We humans easily forget. That is why, writing is a device we needed to remember, to be reminded. I myself always take awe over the fact that  an archive write up which I wrote years ago speak to me at present as if I have not written them a long time ago. The feeling of "I-wrote-it-then-and-now-I-read-it-as-if-it-spoke-to-me" is euphoric. A year ago, as an introduction to the inspiring write up of WCW, I wrote, "A writer is everywhere...