A Bedroom Christmas

I love watching the pictures and status updates in facebook.  If there’s one thing that we didn’t do  as a family was to take pictures of everyone at our very own noche buena gathering at my son’s house.  Why? because we were amused at the only two beautiful little  kids in the room who was screaming to their hearts content while opening their gifts.

I am not sure if I ever heard of any gift given to them by Santa.  They had asked for an American girl doll (gosh, these dolls cost an arm and a leg) and although their parents could very well get each of them, practicality just had to set in. The two little girls got similar ones yet not as expensive but still very close. But I love the way my grand daughters reacted and told their parents, “it’s okay dad and mom, we know we’re not rich and we love it just as well.  Thank you soooo much” 

But the one and only gift, which I was very entertained by my grandkid’s reaction was when my 8 year old granddaughter was given a poster----yes, a POSTER-- of the band ‘One Direction’---who the heck are these ‘puti’ juveniles?...She screamed and couldn’t contain herself, like some love crazed child.  I never did any screaming even as a teenager when i’d see a heart throb, and my grandkid is only 8 years old.  She wouldn’t even trade her poster with the child oven that could cook real cupcakes.

Anyway, and talking about having senior moments, I sent my son in law a golf score digital thingy which my daughter said I had already sent in the first package.  Now he has two of the same kind.  Oh heck! this is what christmas does to me. I get to send doubles, gave my sister in law an unwrapped gift (how do you wrap a rolling pin and a pie plate without a box)  and gave my boss a vegetable spinner hoping she’d eat veggies (is that crazy or not?)

Oh well, everything worked out well.  Sumptuous food, overflowing wine and lots of laughter at the dinner table just completed the evening.  And what did I do on Christmas day itself?  Nurtured some chills and a slight fever and stayed in bed the whole day! Seriously!  That’s what I did.  And the only entertainment I got was watched the DVD’s I got from the library ,occasionally looked into facebook to see friends spend their holidays and eating leftovers, cuddling with hubby and sleep,sleep and sleep!  Thanks for the feeds and Merry Christmas----now let’s see how the New Year events turnout will be!

okay, so who can relate to this???????

okay, so what you see on my body are all gifts! from the checkered to the orange overblouse etc... why the scarf on the forehead--for accessories! I'm a wife of an aspiring shaman (just kidding)....

Just Random Thoughts

We live in an age of fantasy, where the unreal becomes real and the untrue becomes true.  That is because we created it.  We are artistic beings envisioning our own dreams and turning them into reality.  And sometimes, what we create becomes a tenet of our own making which we hold onto as reality, when actually it is just a cloud of dreams.

It may come as harmless but in due time it forms into a magma of erring traditions and unhealthy conditioning.  What was once believed to be just a shot in the arm to while away questionable minds and give plausible answers, may turn into something which is outrageously ridiculous.

What am I trying to say?  Last night, hubby came home with a small white box tied in a cute red ribbon.  It contained mini nibbles of assorted cookies, merengues and sweets.  But what intrigued me was a tiny writing on the white box (written by a friend)  the word ‘SANTA’  and below it another scribble that said, “SATAN’.  It was implied that when you scribble those letters, indeed it will read that way.

Which sent me to thinking? Who is SANTA?  Is he Satan in disguise of materialism, creating what is now the biggest money making holiday of the year.  (Mother’s Day and Valentines are close competitors).  It’s the time of the year when we instill fear in our kids to be good lest there won’t be any presents for him.  Oh, and another thing, fat Santa in a red suit is a thing of the past.  Yesterday, I saw a lady behind a Santa red suit, donning a fake beard and sitting in front a mom and pop Hispanic grocery store.  Apparently, it was one way of enticing customers to shop.  The ‘Santita’ communicated  in Spanish to the little kids, who was engaging in the conversation.  To top it all, even the parents wanted pictures with Santita.

Do kids love Santa more than the spirit of the season? Should we continue to engage in this shenanigan until the ‘age of awakening’ has bloomed from the minds of babes? I asked a friend on this and he said, “ I say delay...it is a sweet loss of innocence.’  So in the meantime, let us feed our kids with so many untruths....and we wonder why there are so many messed up people in this world!!!!!!!....just my wandering thoughts....

Be Do Be Do to You too!!!

When Jim Paredes posted in twitter that the film “Idobidobidoo” was going to show in New York, I immediately knew that I had to see it but not without it’s obstacles. (tagalog isn’t my language)  And I knew that hubby will definitely decline an invitation to watch any  tagalog movie unless it was a Rosanna Roces film.  Because even if some deep pinoy words are incomprehensible at least he will have his show of butts and boobs.

But when  hubby said he was going to this ‘galactic’ lecture by an author somewhere in mid-Manhattan, I took the chance to say that I too had some happening going on.

The  venue of the movie was a kind of an off broadway complex that had several mini  theatres in it.  Even the hallways were narrow and cramped.  And each theatre had a capacity of about 30-40 people.At one time while we were watching the movie, we could hear jumping and running feet above us which was rather irritating.  Anyway I called the day before and asked for the screening hours so I could plan my early evening.

However, upon arriving I was told that screening was still an hour.  Earlier, hubby and I had some cocktails at home before heading out.  We downed a bottle of wine with some homemade artichoke dip with chips and I was feeling a little light headed.  So without a moment  to loose, I headed to a Starbucks cafe to get myself a cafe mocha and while the time.

Times Square is just two blocks from the theatre and was buzzling with tourists on a cold winter night.  After getting my coffee, I headed back to the theatre while bumping into so many out of towners wanting to take pictures with Cookie Monster, Elmo, Smurf Batman or Miss Kitty, who were roaming the streets.

 BAck at the theatre, and  waiting at the bar lounge an American born Filipina came in.  I was relieved at the thought that I wasn’t going to be alone.  But when I struck a conversation with her, she was part of a play that was showing in one of the studios in the complex.  It was 10 minutes before screening time, and I was feeling jittery as I didn’t see any signs of other Filipinos.  So I went up to the bartender and asked  where I could get tickets for the show.  She pointed me to someone who was seated adjacent to the bar.

A Filipina with an envelope on hand was selling the tickets and escorted me as well.  

Two other Filipinos were already seated and I took the seat on the opposite aisle.  Later on, I learned that they were from the Philippine Consulate, who do blast e-mails on Filipino activities around the states. A few minutes later, an American couple came in and took the seats behind me.  I befriended Marlyn and John , who told me that the latter worked in Surigao for a year in the 70’s and was curious about the film, which was featured at the New YOrk Times Review that morning.

For awhile, I was worried for them but when the movie started with having subtitles, I leaned back and relaxed. 

The movie is typical Filipino.  And if my new friends get the hint, America is the land of refuge for unwanted pregnancies and disgruntled people (that’s what the movie depicted--sort of)

It was entertaining, and the audience (a few more Pinoys came though) sang with the movie when the tune was familiar to them. The cast was superb and talented. Towards the end, I had a feeling of repetitiveness, but the element of surprise was the bedroom scene, which was hilarious---so characteristic!

my new friends.. Marlyn is an editor  of a well known company here in New York and I'm an aspiring writer, could this be fate?......just kidding...

this was what greeted me when i went up the stairs to check on the movie

cookie monster with some tourists

smurf turning blue with the cold...heheheh!

I was entertained, all right!  And I do hope that even non-Filipinos should watch it as well.  Kudos to the Apo for the songs and hats off to the cast of I dobidoobidoo!!! Well done!