maximine and minerva’s owl

I am full of wisdom, humor, tears, passion and love. I am that which is held lightly to the breast, lightly on the lap, peered at, sighed over and remembered. I bring you foolish fancies; I bring friendship to the lonely. I take you with me to the far reaches of the Earth from India to China, to Mars, to Venus, and probe into the habits of chimpanzees.

I reach into your mind; I show you things that are unbelievable and make you believe them. You must treasure me, protect me: I give you a knowledge of life you never dreamed of. Don’t desecrate me; I fill the empty places of your life. I give myself to you gladly; seek me out and find me -

* lifted from a ‘Dear Abby’ - Los Angeles Times, 1988

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everything is love daw !

Shibuya Station, Tokyo.

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mountain sakura

Tochigi Prefecture

so, the day came and went. i hopped on the train heading shibuya and spent a couple and a half of benjamins and gifted meself 2 tickets to see aida gomez, one of my favorite flamenqueras, doing carmen and then later, salome. she was, of course, amazing; oozing with power, sensuality, and perfection. watching her, i felt so puny and worthless i almost wanted to reach for the razor blade i have in my make-up kit and slit my wrist right there where i was sitting about 4 meters from the stage. i wish i could dance like her.

mom called and laughed when i told her that the leche flan i made yesterday tasted like scrambled egg with extra sweet caramel sauce because i had forgotten to put the baking dish over another dish with water to steam-bake it. luiji ate it anyway and according to him it tasted more like leche flan than sweet scrambled egg, sort of 60-40 respectively.

salamat to the lady who sent me this ultra glamorous nightee she wanted to keep her anonymity therefore the only hint i could give is that she lives in the land of dams, windmills and tulips and owns a puglypug named after a prince who used to suffer from peterpan syndrome. along with it was a box of chocolates which she spiked with every conceivable type of alcohol and liquor known to mankind; i devoured every one of them as soon as i opened the box and they were gone in a flash. i expect zits the size of gisantes in the coming days. pengeng lyna medicated cream, please.

thank you very mucho, lola T.

the pink diamond-studded crown was a christmas present from hubby, available at your nearest costco for $3.99. i thought i’d wear the nightee with it to make me feel like a demitasse princess for a night. it’s my birthday anyway.

i and hubs had just finished dinner and we were rounding it out with strawbery short cake and a small pitcher of tinto de verano ( half sprite half red wine and slices of lemon) in the living room wdenesday the day before maundy thursday when i suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach just right above the solar plexus. the pain was unbearable enough to have made me lose consciousness and i collapsed on the floor because of it. it lasted for about 20 seconds according to luiji. he said that he would have dialed the emergency number if it had lasted longer. i didn’t know i fainted but i remembered the pain because it was very painful and the first time ever that i have felt in my entire life.

but what was interesting was what had happened during the time that i was unconscious, which i remember quite lucidly and doubt that i would ever forget.

 i met god. yes, god; and, he talked to me; and he was black; and he looked like sidney poitier. he told me he was god and that he wanted to shake my hand, which i readily extended to him. he was very cordial and pleasant. other than telling me that he was god, he didn’t say anything else but just shook my hand and gave me a nice smile. 

and then i came back to “life”.  luiji said i looked really pale as he helped me settled on the sofa. I could feel the sweat trickling down my forehead and my sweater was soaked but the pain was gone.

the rest of the night became normal again and we went to sleep. until i dreamt that luiji and I were in someone’s wake, a relative of his but not clear as to who exactly. i dreamt that everybody was dressed in black and many people, including us, were congregated in a big room with tables and chairs and we were sitting and talking and drinking japanese tea.

the dream had awakened me so i woke Luiji up and told him about it, it was about 3 AM. “it’s just a dream”, he said. if something had happened to his dad or brother he would have already gotten a fonecall right away; he said he’d fone them in the morning.

the morning went as usual and we both left for work. i came back home around 7 on that night, he was not to return until 10PM. there was a message on the answering machine, it was his brother saying that we had to go to their hometown because his paternal aunt had just passed on (she was in the hospital for cancer treatment; we knew about the illness but we were also told she was on her way to recovery) at 3 in the morning on that same day.

midnight of saturday we drove up north for 8 hours to attend the wake and the pre-cremation gathering, it was my first time to experience such thing, i mean the cremation and the japanese way of paying their last respect for their dearly departed. but what i had dreamt was exactly the same as what i was seeing in the wake: the appearance of the room, the tables and chairs, the sliding doors, the lights and flowers, the candles and the food offering that consisted of rice cakes and fruits, the burning incense and the shinto priest’s wooden drum that produced a certain sound that bordered on solemnity and eerieness.

crematorium

….so long auntie F and may God bless you always ! 

We drove up to Gunma Prefecture yesterday to see the famous ‘Koinobori ‘ (colorful streamers in the shape of a carp). The cherry blossoms are still at their peak over there and everywhere you look is so beautiful and peaceful.

*Koi-Nobori is based on a Chinese fable of a KOI (carp) that struggled to reach the top of a waterfall named Ryumon.  In doing so, it became a RYU (dragon), and rose upwards to the sky.*  A boy’s parents participate in Koi-Nobori to wish for their son’s strengths against all possible difficulties.  The parents use Koi-Nobori as a sign of wishing for God to bless the boy.   Some places in Japan decorate heavily during Koi-Nobori, making it seem as if hundreds or even thousands of carps are swimming in the air.  This Koinobori Festival in Gunma Prefecture is listed in Guiness Book of World Records.

*Source: Japanese book of fables & festivals 

Photos by Atinna

Sakura and Sampaguita   

Ethereal, delicate; one transitory the other endures

Both of great beauty, which one is yours?

Her resplendence enchants but her kind of beauty is her impuissance.

She’s a pleasure to look at and that’s just what she is

To me nothing more and nothing less.

My Sampaguita is stalwart and strong

She persists and survives perilous roads and storms

Would turn brown but still can adorn

A virgin’s neck or the love I mourn.

                                                                
                                                                                                                             
  Poem & Photos by Atinna (Copyright April 2006)