In Our Dreams
Of course, I attended the Neil Gaiman booksigning event in Rockwell last Saturday (I love you, Benjor! Thank you for one of the coolest birthday gifts I have ever had the good fortune of receiving). Of course, I got the first page of my favorite short story THE PRICE on my surprisingly beat up copy of SMOKE AND MIRRORS signed. It said "To Carla - dream safely. Neil Gaiman". And thank the good Lord that he signed Bianca's essay (he even drew a star on it), Alia's copy of the MIRRORMASK illustrateed script (where he bid her "Mirrorwishes"), and Paulina's copy of THE SANDMAN: PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES (with a silver pen, no less!). Of course, I got my picture taken with him (Sid, you still owe me copies!) even if Jay and Sid were completely floored when I executed Jay's dare, hence, no proof of "the kiss". Only witnesses. And what do I have to say about the whole memorable experience?
I'm in love with the Dream King.I got this text message from Jay yesterday:
Gusto ko lang i-share. Sinulat ko sa journal ko: Dear Neil, where do dreams come from and where do they go when i wake up? Ang sagot nya: I could tell you in a way that would make sense, but only when we're both asleep.
Killing Season
It's the end of the first half of the UAAP Season 68 men's basketball game (first round) with La Salle leading Ateneo 50-20. What does that say about Ateneo's new head coach, Normal Black? C'mon! It can't be that easy. What happened to the Blue Eagles' "One Big Fight!"? Us Green Archers enjoy the thrill of the chase! I was expecting Tenorio to make a killing, but a Cardona-less La Salle has a real team with a deep bench. Casio, Arana and Tang are leading the way! 21/44 fieldgoals, 44% three-point fieldgoals, 26 turnover points, 33 jumpshots. GO, LA SALLE! GO, GO, LA SALLE!
Tune in to Studio 23 to catch the rest of the game....
Mixed Drinks
Apparently, my cousins haven't gotten drunk in a loooong time. So when I visited them in Santa Clara, California last weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed watching them lose their marbles. Especially Neil.
My cousins John, Neil, and Leah, Leah's husband Mike, my friend Lorraine, and I started the night with a fantastic sushi dinner at Yuki Sushi to celebrate my birthday a week in advance. Yuki Sushi is what Leah describes as a hole in the wall near Sunnyvale with the best sushi anywhere. Anywhere outside Japan. Words cannot describe how GOOD the food was. OMG! I think I had at least 10 pieces of sushi. My favorite was the spicy tuna. To die for! Ah, and an important piece of information: we shared 3 or 4 HUGE bottles of beer.
Off we went to The V Bar in Santana Row (?). This was John's territory...so they say. It's a cool bar (one of the most popular in that area), and there's a courtyard with a fountain and a couple of little fireplaces (what DO you call them? They were more like pits, huh?). Nice ambience, cool sounds. We had one drink each. Not beer (another important piece of information).
Because we're cheap (drinks were US$10 each. Php560 for an Apple Vodka with Coke?!) and there were loads of drinks leftover from Leah and Mike's bar-b-que the weekend before, we moved the party over to the Nielsens'.
"with Leah"John's friends Joel and Winnie (?) followed and we had a blast! There was a lot of beer, and Mike fixed us some appletinis, while Joel made some God-knows-what concoction that nearly knocked us all out. Apparently, not everyone can mix different kinds of drinks (some people should have stuck to beer).
"with Joel and Lorraine"
"Lorraine, Joel and Neil"
"with Neil and John"
"Leah and Mike"I will leave "the morning after" to your imagination. Suffice it to say that Leah's grand plans to leave the house at 9AM and drive to Carmel did not push through. The farthest place we drove to was San Mateo (30 to 45 minutes away). And a not-so-wild night watching a DVD of "The Chapelle Show" at Neil's house (which he shares with his friend Benny) ensued.
One weekend is simply not enough to spend with this side of the family. We had so much fun, we had to place an overseas call to my sister Bianca so she could somehow join in. There will definitely be a "next time"....and HOW!
I miss you guys! (mwah!) And many thanks to Leah for sending the photos.
