Midweek Musings

I just laughed at this. I ordered 2 bottles (1 liter each) of liquid hand wash and the seller requested that I post a picture of it online together with my photo. Free advert? I posted a photo of the two bottles on FB without my picture…haha!

Lately, I’ve been using online stores to buy what we need. Yesterday, my order for maintenance medicine arrived and the pharmacy asked me to comment a word or two on their site, the kind of service, how fast it is etc. I obliged. It’s their way of getting additional customers I guess.

Finally, I am almost done cleaning and weeding the garden. Josef and Jovy are on vacation leave for a week so Josef helped me to trim the grass this afternoon.  It’s hot again, there was no rain for the past two days. Summer is almost over but I didn’t get to appreciate it much because of the lockdown. Whereas before, during summer, I would buy fruits in season but I could not go out nowadays. They say there is no need for quarantine pass but the way I see it, we are still on the upward curve, nothing has changed.

Back in April 2015, I read a book  entitled All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Goodreads Choice 2014 Winner.  I know I posted a review of it somewhere here.  I found another book of his called About Grace, my third book but it seems a little disappointing, the narrative is good but the story? It was beautifully crafted of course, the language is good but I got lost in the plot.  All the while I wondered if he is the same author of All the Light You Cannot See.  I also wonder if I could finish the book until the end. For me, it’s either you can totally relate or you get bored.  There are so many still on my TBR list. I got curious about the short summary of  The Given Day by Denise Lehan. It touched on the Spanish influenza pandemic which I think is more interesting considering what we have right now, another pandemic. Try to read his other book Mystic River which I think is his best.

What do you know, I’m done with 56 books so far this year.

 

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I Stopped Counting

Opps!

My interest in blogging is waning. Since this lockdown started, there is nothing much to write about. Staying at home  is slowly wearing me down.  I stopped counting the days since this lockdown. I wonder if this government is telling us the truth. There is a significant spike on the positive cases. Back when there were only around 60, we were told to stay home. Now that they have a total of 16,634 positive cases (3,720 of which have recovered and 942 died), we are now under GCQ (general community quarantine).Those sudden spikes makes one worry. Yes, most business establishments are now open but public utility vehicles are limited to MRT, LRT, AUVs, buses and Grab cars.  What about those who still have to take jeepney rides  before  they could take buses or MRT and LRT trains to reach their destinations?  I rest my case, there is no clear provision for those.

Loans left and right but we never see a downward trend on this pandemic. No mass testing is still being done. I presume with that big amount of loans and contribution from the private sector, they could at least show a small flattening of the curve so to speak. Where do those funds go?  And the man across the Pasig River is waiting for those vaccines from his BFF in china which they could experiment on the Filipino people. I say, mauna muna sila at mga alipores niya. They say our mortality rate is very low but we are the highest among Asian countries.  What a shame!!! A lost life is still a loss most especially to one’s family.

Everything has changed and we call it our “new normal”. Yes of course, you can still get in touch with some family members and friends but it’s kind of different when you get to talk over the phone. Sometimes, it is quite frustrating that you can’t see them personally and hug them. I miss my darling Nate, I miss Nissa and Obet. I miss their monthly visit.

I tried reading a love story in between my serious historical fiction but I could not relate to it anymore unlike in high school when I used to  devour M & B.  BTW, it might interest you to know that I have at least read a total of 53 books for this year’s challenge.  Not bad for someone who has become so lazy the past few days.

 

 

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Have A Nice Week Ahead

I haven’t been here for……What? Five days? Has it been that long?

I got so lazy again. Don’t get me wrong, I was just so lazy to blog. I was so lazy to open my computer and write. I was more focused on my tab to read some e-books, converse and get in touch with friends from the other side of the world. I was more focused in finding some online sites where I could buy supplies and other necessities without asking Josef to go out. I was more focused on finding sites where we could order cooked food. Lately, we’ve been ordering food online almost every day since it is still too hot here to stay in front of the stove for too long. We cook though once a day, either lunch or dinner. Breakfast is usually just bread and coffee for mom and a cup of hot tea for me. Josef and Jovy don’t eat breakfast. We have ice cream and silvanas in the freezer, piyaya and ube halaya in the ref. Haha, I told them, we don’t want to get hungry. But when you are cooped up at home, sometimes all you think is about food, right?

We enjoyed the week-long dip in the inflatable pool. It’s now clean and kept in its original box for next use. The other day, I took some shots of the garden after the storm which we had last week, the first typhoon this year. Just checked them if they were destroyed by the strong winds. I’ll be harvesting another jackfruit maybe in a month. There are three more at the other tree.

I found this lovely book called The Bark Cutters by Nicole Alexander, a gripping family saga about early life in Australia interwoven with the future from the great-grandfather to the great-granddaughter. Did I tell you that I have always loved historical stories? This is one of them.

Keep safe everyone! Good morning!

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Puzzled By This Book

The Eyes of Darkness.

It was originally published under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols, it was Dean Koontz who wrote it back in 1981. I was compelled to read it when a friend sent me a message that Wuhan was mentioned in the book. I got curious, true enough, what is happening now is described in the book and considering it is a book of fiction, it is quite a puzzle to me.   I am not really into paranormal and I think this is my first book of Dean Koontz.  I have some screen shots of the pages where Wuhan virus was mentioned.

 

Is it fiction predicting the future or is it the present parroting a fiction? Is it a coincidence?

 

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And More Books….Again!

Have you ever read a book based on its title and book cover?

I did. I do.

Lately, I started my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I have read 15 books so far, an eclectic mix of memoirs, fairy tales, children’s books, fiction and historical books. I just thought it would be a good change to see book titles and book covers, how they were presented, not necessarily authors.  I always read same authors anyway when I find some of their books interesting. Historical books to me always come in first because I love history no matte if the setting was just incorporated in the book itself. There is something wonderful knowing about the early years of man’s existence, how people were able to cope with lesser amenities that we have now. Period stories are fascinating to me.

Of course  it is always a thrill to discover new authors, some recommended by fellow book lovers and some I find online. It is always nice to see a place described in another perspective.  I recently saw Stephen King’s the Green Mile but I am not ready yet to read another Stephen King.  It was years ago when I discovered some of his earlier works and I liked The Shining best. That was followed by my fascination with Robert Ludlum and Richard North Patterson. I had so many Ludlum books before but I lost some of it back in 2009 during a typhoon that flooded our place. Leon Uris came next, history at its best.  I also love the works of Frank McCourt. ‘Tis and Angela’s Ashes are the best.  I also read The Teacher Man. I haven’t discovered yet if he has new books in the market.

Occasionally, I read love stories too. I enjoyed A Hundred Little Flames.  A unique story, an engrossing read.  I am presently reading Dance Upon The Air by Nora Roberts. It has some good reviews on Goodreads. Sometimes though I am challenged by reading some unknown authors and not so good book reviews.

What have you been reading lately? Can you recommend authors that you like?

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Knowing A Little Bit Of India

Yeay, seems like my reading has taken a back seat.  Though I still enjoy it, I am now more focused on the latest news and sometimes watch senseless (at least to me) hearings  of the the Dept. of Health. This is another good for nothing secretary out there who used to say in the first few days of when news broke out about the coronavirus that it was not yet time to concern ourselves about it.  This time it seems that they can’t explain to the public how they would deal with this virus. Come to think of it, we don’t even have testing kits. Pathetic!  And duterte surfaced yesterday after a five-day absence, surfaces as a medical expert and seer saying it will die a natural death. Then we learned about the fatality and he said “there is a shortage of face masks because there is a virus outbreak. if there is no virus outbreak,  there would be no shortage of face masks”. Few kind words from a “supposed” head of the nation (sarcasm there).They keep defending their good friend china to the detriment of our own countrymen. They are still playing politics.

I reread another children’s book last night for the nth time in between my regular reads. The magic is still there after all these years. Charlotte’s Web and The Velveteen Rabbit  belong to my favorite books. A few weeks ago. I got hold of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, it is a very short story written with illustrations about a little boy and an apple tree. I love it too.

I am presently reading A Hundred Little Flames. The author, Preeti Shenoy is Indian, her work has been translated to many languages. There are several Indian bloggers here that I follow and one of them always features the beauty of Kerala which is one of the places described in the book. It is nice to  learn another culture through books and blogs.  A lovely way to know something beyond the border…..beautiful.

 

 

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It’s Another Peter Mayle Book

I found another lovely book by Peter Mayle. This is my fourth book of him after  reading his first three books. I have made short reviews here before. This is actually my 12th  read this year.

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew

It’s another memoir about his life in France. He died two years ago and I blogged about it here. I am excited to start this.

I just finished a long fiction called New York. It is a historical novel by British novelist Edward Rutherfurd. Oh my, it’s all of 862 pages, four centuries of life in New York. It used to be called New Amsterdam. The novel chronicles the birth and growth of New York City, from the arrival of the first Dutch and other European colonists in the 17th century to the summer of 2009. Come to think of it, I didn’t even know that it was previously ruled by the British empire. Originally there were only 13 colonies in the whole US of A. It’s actually too long to summarize.

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