It was sunny and warm when I woke up with Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough covering topics of the day on television.
I checked my nearby iPhone for FB and phone messages and was dismayed to realize that I failed to pick up phone calls and FaceTime requests from two close friends; the iPhone ringer being turned off.
After rotating the vase of anthuriums (a combination of red, pink, and white flowers) on homemade planter stand by my fluorescent-lit bathroom vanity, I made my a.m. cup of coffee, checked any new growth on my orchids, perused the neighborhood via limited view through my living room window, fed my goldfish, and turned on my desktop computer to continue with my early morning regimen.
While my computer was starting up, I called management of Lawn Care company about some clovers growing alongside my driveway. They shouldn’t be there, right?
With a blank Window document page now staring at me, I was unsure whether I should create new postings on my blog. You see, I had been putting that task off for days due to lack of energy and inspiration.
What I found amusing and perplexing was that I had been sending long texts to my relatives and friends, so, why couldn’t I start a new posting now?
The caffeine and the sight of a sunny day did wonders since I found myself creating a compilation of things that happened to me for posting on my blog.
Monday, June 17, 2019
I was busy checking items on my iPhone as I was walking towards the entrance to the gym, totally being unaware of my surroundings.
With eyes still on my iPhone, I made it through the first set of sliding double doors without bumping into anyone or anything.
However, as I was going through the second set of doors, I heard a woman call out, “Vanya”? I stopped dead in my tracks to turn around to check where, what, and whom, it was coming from.
To my amazement, it was from a lady who continued on to say that her husband and she went to see our show and that she recognized me as “Vanya”. They both oohed and aahed about our show and that they were pleased to see it, especially me as “Vanya”. After thanking them as they were going out of the gym, I proceeded to the locker room, beaming.
As I was going inside the locker room, I saw my swimming pal Bill chatting with fellow gym members. Once he saw me, he came over to exchange pleasantries. Shortly after the exchange, he proceeded to share his very favorable assessment of our show, particularly of my portrayal of “Vanya”.
Bill, now a theatre fan of mine, surprised me by coming to a Sunday matinee. He strongly dispelled what one critic thought was needed in my delivery of “Vanya’s” 5-page monologue. He stressed that he and the other >100 theatre patrons were in strong disagreement with her in that regard.
We bemoaned the reality that it was the only critique of our show that was in print.
Still wet from showering, I strolled to the swimming pool, with eyes fixed on an empty lane. After putting on my fins, I dipped a foot to check the water temperature.
I ughed when I found it to be cold (again!), but then jumped in with my fingers pinching my nose. Shivering and cursing as I surfaced, I proceeded to apply defogging saliva on my goggles.
With improved visibility, I swam several lengths of the pool. I paused at one end to chat with a female triathlete as she pulled out of the lane next to me.
We were introducing each other as another female triathlete was about to jump into the same lane that was just vacated. Right after the first triathlete left, the second one asked me whether I was the same “Romeo” that she saw as “Vanya” last weekend and that my voice sounded familiar.
Without wasting a second, I proudly said that I was. She also found our show to be wonderful and that I was very good in it.
I swam additional lengths of the pool with renewed vigor. I half-smiled as I gulped in air between strokes.
What a day to be noticed!
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
A Dell computer tech was scheduled to come at 2 pm to replace my computer board. I “fried” it when I inadvertently shut down the computer while updates were being installed.
I had to clear the house of cobwebs in preparation for his visit. I couldn’t very well have him come thinking that I was celebrating Halloween in the middle of June. HA HA HA!
Had a nice conversation with Carlos, the Dell computer tech, while he was replacing the board. It was free since luckily, my computer was still on hardware contract.
He was astonished to realize that I was 71 because he thought I looked like I was in my 50s. I wondered whether I looked younger or older than he after he said that he was also in his 50s. Didn’t share that thought with him since I didn’t want to spoil his day and, importantly, screw up the installation.
He left with my computer starting up properly; however, additional phone hours with East Indian Dell Tech Support got everything fine and dandy.
Right after he left, I cooked two Filipino dishes:
1. Mungo beans with pork, spinach, and coconut milk. I had to make a special trip to nearby
Butera grocery store for 2 bunches of spinach.
2. Ginata-an, a dessert with banana plantain, taro root, tapioca pearls, jackfruit, glutinous rice
flour, coconut milk, and white sugar to sweeten it.
Had two bowlfuls of the mungo beans and small one of the dessert for dinner. I was in heaven!
By the way, earlier, while the tapioca pearls were being additionally boiled to make them thoroughly transparent, I became too engrossed on my computer in my den.
Like the shadow of death in the movie “The Ten Commandments”, I slowly noticed smoke and smell of something burning. After I immediately realized the source, I sprung up from my chair to rush to the kitchen to turn off the burner, blowing away the smoke that was already permeating through the enter house with my hands. Luckily, only about 1/7th of the tapioca pearls got burnt and no smoke alarms went off.
Seeing all rooms filled with an eerie haze, I hurried to open both front and back doors to allow outdoor air to replace it. Thank goodness that I had not yet thrown away a broken portable fan since it had helped a great deal in getting rid of the smoke and smell.
Whew! Close call!
Wednesday, June 20, 2019
I finally found the courage to watch YouTube videos of the September 11, 2001 Twin Towers’ devastation after years of avoiding additional glimpses of any coverage, no matter what source. In fact, I avoided visiting the Museum when I visited the Memorial in 2018.
Incidentally, several lab staff and I were on our way to the hospital cafeteria when live coverage of the damage that the first plane caused on the North Tower was being telecast in our x-ray department patient waiting room. Stopping for a brief period to watch in aghast with patients in the waiting room, we proceeded to the cafeteria, obviously missing the crashing of the second plane into the South Tower.
The pall of doom and gloom was heavy, real, and palpable the rest of the day such that I called off rehearsal of the play,”Harvey”, that I was directing. I deliberately and consciously avoided any coverage shortly after that.
However, now having seen the YouTube videos, I was able to overcome the fear that I had since 2001.
Have I become a stronger person for overcoming it? I don’t know. I may now have a better understanding of that disastrous event, but what about the concomitant effect on my psyche?
Knowledge can be freeing, but it brings along new loads to carry.
Monday, June 24, 2019
I finally got enough energy and enthusiasm to get out of the house after what seemed to be an endless period of lethargy. Perhaps I was suffering from a letdown, now that our show was over and that there was nothing to get excited about.
Swam for about one hour at the gym. I felt energized as I climbed out of the pool. The clouds breaking up after a brief thunderstorm was a welcome sight as I exited the gym.
In the afternoon, I drastically pruned my gardenia which was in its last days of blooming. While in a pruning frenzy, I also cut back the redbud tree by my front stoop. This redbud tree started out as a wayward seed from the “mother” tree that is in the middle of my front yard.
After taking a shower, I took a nice nap.
While having dinner by bedside, I watched more YouTube episodes of Great Britain’s Sky Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year on my TV screen.
The creations of the finalists were so varied, making me easily relate to the judges’ difficulty in choosing the Best of the Best. There were some judged as winners which I totally agreed with. There were others that caught me by surprise. It goes to show that beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder.
By the way, I have great appreciation for Christian Hook’s paintings. He was appropriately and justifiably named as Great Britain’s Sky 2014 Portrait Artist of the Year.
