It's hard . . .

. . . to enjoy a bad movie, especially when a mob of teens are heckling throughout the whole movie and especially when they're throwing trash. This was the case at our viewing of Nacho Libre. I can't recommend this movie, though I had hopes because it was directed by the same guy who directed Napoleon Dynamite.

Other than that, I just finished reading Fast Food Nation. I am fully grossed out now.

Here in Atlanta

So far, we've eaten out almost every night. I'm kinda burned out on yuppie food, but . . . what are you going to do? (Truth is, Meredith's mother's not home and no one else feels like cooking). Meredith's sis came yesterday and we've been watching a lot of satellite TV. Currently, I'm blogging while Mere watches Dr. Phil. The theme: Spousal Ultimatums.

Reading Eric Gansworth's poetry collection at the moment, "Nickle Eclipse/Iroquois Moon." I've been assigned the task of writing a critique/review of his work. If you ask me, he's a writer who definitely needs recognition. Not only that, he's a great guy who's got great taste in music.

So far in my abcedarian jottings . . .

I've got Abaca, Aswang, Balisong, Balita, Kabila, Kutsilyo, and Kuya . . .

Aside from having the poems linked alphabetically in Tagalog, I don't have any narrative threads fleshed out. They're still very raw, which is okay. It's sort of hard coming back to the writing desk after a bit of a hiatus.

In other news, Meredith and I will be hitting the road. We're heading to HOTlanta to visit her folks. While we're there, hopefully we'll bump into her sis. Maybe I can get her to make me a belt buckle to go with my cowboy boots.

I've got a few things I want to check out while I'm in Atlanta. Last time I was there, I had some food from The Varsity. Yum yum! Intestinal grenades are tasty.

We also saw the World of Coca-Cola and Underground Atlanta. I never did get to sample the Coca-Cola flavors . . . maybe I'll do that this time.

Anyway, if anyone's in the ATL, give me a holler! I'll be checking e-mails etc. while I'm on the road.

Done Den

Three coats of primer and one coat of flat "Anthem White" paint did the trick. The dark wood paneling is now white, giving the den the feel of a beach house. Now we're trying to figure out a color palate.

Now that the painting's done, I can rest my aching back a bit before I take off for Atlanta. I've been re-reading Arthur Sze's "Quipo" for color inspiration. Lots of golds, yellows, reds in that book . . . trouble is, those colors are already in the bedroom.

Boy, I've got too much time on my hands . . . HGTV is my friend.

Painting in Progress

I've been painting for roughly seven days now. My back's killing me. I think I've got sciatica. Sometimes my feet are numb, like they're asleep. I've pretty much been on my feet during all this.

We decided that our kitchen was far too dark. The previous owner had a fondness for yellow . . . only, in the kitchen, it with yellowish tile, the yellow on the walls looked sickly. So, we repainted the walls with a high gloss white called "Anthem White." We also had to take down all the cabinet doors. They had this sickly yellowish cream formica on them. Meredith and I peeled off all the formica which left behind a sticky film of glue on each oof the cabinet doors. I ruined four doors trying to pry the formica coverings off, so I basically had to make four new cabinet doors (yay circular saw and sander). Meredith and I then spent a whole afternoon wiping the cabinet fronts down with a solvent to remove the adhesives. I then had to wash off the cabinet doors and sand each one with a hand sander. We then primed and painted the doors. It took us five coats of high-gloss paint to get those suckers the shade of white we wanted. I think my first mistake was buying the discount primer ($19.00 vs. $79.00). Basically, touching up the kitchen took three days.

Now we're on the den. I'm not sure if you've seen the earlier photos on this blog, but refer to the fireplace pictures. The den's a little dark because the whole room's got this dated wood panelling. Meredith and I have spent the past two days priming the panelling. This time, we bought a better primer. Anyway, I predict the den will look much more open. In its former state, it was much to dark and enclosed. I'll post pictures when I can.

Also, sorry I've not been great with the e-mails or with blogging. Again, we're on dial-up here and since I've been in work mode, it's been difficult to get online. I'll be heading for Atlanta to visit Meredith's folks in a couple of weeks. I should be able to post a few more times on the blog before I split, but until then, ciao!

Home Sweet Home

I'm finally feeling settled in the new house. For the past couple of weeks, Meredith and I have been combing through the inspection report and have been checking off some "need to do" items. We also fixed up the landscaping at the front of our house. I've been travelling back and forth from Bellingham to our house trucking many bags of bark. It seems that the previous owners of the house were not invested in landscaping. To be sure, Meredith and I spent several hours pulling out carpets of weed (she did most of the pulling, I trucked the junk into the forest). We filled the new beds with about sixty cubic feet of bark. It now smells like cedar outside our house.

Additionally, I mowed about an acre of lawn. I'm not exaggerating about the size of the lawn . . . it's big and it had gotten out of hand before I started my mowing ritual. Trouble is, the push mower is starting to show wear and tear. Every time I turn a corner, something rattles. It kind of sounds like a jar of marbles being shook.

We also planted many flowers in flower baskets and flower pots on our deck. We went the cheap route and purchased seed packets: marigolds, etc.. I'm waiting for the first seedlings to pop up since the job of seed-planting was mine.

I also bought a set of cordless power tools. Nothing says "Homeowner" like a cordless circular saw. We've put them to good use. The first project for the new tools was to reassemble the shelves in the kitchen pantry. For some reason, the previous homeowners liked having slanted shelves in the pantry that were only good for holding bottles of wine. Now imagine a whole 3x3x5 pantry with mini wine cubicles. Meanwhile, in the other room, there's a functional wet bar. . . I mean, come now. So Meredith jig-sawed all the shelving out of the space and I re-sized all the shelves with the circular saw, since the shelves didn't fit straight-on (as I said, the shelves were slanted). I installed a four sets of shelving brackets with my new cordless drill. Voila. Functional cabinetry.

Lastly, I've found time to write again. I've been obsessed with this Tagalog Dictionary edited by Teresita V. Ramos. Also, Manong Jose has come by to haunt me again. . . I'm such a tease.

I have moved. Some observations . . .

1. It's really dark in the country.
2. I wake up very early now. 4:30AM this morning . . . and I wasn't tired.
3. Having no high-speed internet sucks, but I'm getting used to it. It's a good way to quit playing online video games, that's for sure.
4. Meredith and I have a lot of stuff. Where did it all come from? Does it spawn?
5. Jake has become his own dog. He inhabits a whole other sphere of existence, leaving the homestead for hours, and then returning soaked, hungry, and tired.

Anyway, I'll be down in Seattle this weekend for a reading. The information is here.

Manhattan Borough President
Scott M. Stringer

Invites you to celebrate

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Co-sponsored by
Asian American Arts Alliance
and
Kundiman

Featuring poetry, music
performances by:

Ishle Yi Park l Patrick Rosal
Ma-yi Theatre Company
Trio Tarana l Vongku Pak

Hosted by:
Vivian Lee
Reporter, WNBC NewsChannel 4

Reception will follow

New York County Surrogate's Court
31 Chambers Street
Tuesday, May 23, 2006, 6 pm - 9 pm

RSVP to (212) 669-4374 or rsvp@manhattanbp.org

First Homeowner Injury

Mallet + Mailbox Pole + Small Wooden Block + Thumb . . .

RIP Stanley Kunitz

Link

Waiting for the paint to dry

The office has been painted a bright shade of yellow. I need to find curtains that are more suitable for the tones in that room. There's a wall that's covered with wood panels, so I need a mix of the yellow and the brown somehow. Anyway, we got most of our bookshelves moved into the house. We also moved a ton of book boxes. There aren't really any books left in the rental, save those I'm using for classes.

We also painted the masters bedroom a dark shade of red . . . at least it was dark after I had painted it on Saturday. We'll see what color it REALLY is.

Poetry? Who has time for poetry when there's another coat to paint!

Slowly Slowly

We've been moving things into the new house. Last week I visited the new place three times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. I almost went on Sunday, but I had weird flu-like symptoms and Meredith urged me not to go. I predict I'll be up at the new place three more times this week. Crazy, huh? I'm not sure if this system of gradual moving is better than all at once at this point.

In other news, there are four more weeks in my quarter . . .

The View from our Bedroom

The View from our Bedroom
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

This is a picture taken from the sliding glass door in the master's bedroom.

Living Room Window

Living Room Window
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

What we see out the windows of our living room. That poor tropical plant was also left behind.

That 70's Show

That 70's Show
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Meredith mugging for the camera with the groovy 70's-style curtains left behind.

Deck

Deck
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

The deck with a shot of Jake's hind-quarters.

Wet Bar

Wet Bar
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Yes, the house has a wet bar.

Fireplace

Fireplace
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Dig our new fireplace? You'll note all the wood panelling. It's actually not so bad since they're installed at angles rather than straight up and down.

My name . . .

. . . is Oliver. I own a home.

What's there to tell?

So, let's see. Meredith and I are closing on the lovely house you see pictured two postings below. We should be able to finish up all business this week.

A couple of my students have been admitted into MFA programs, so I'm very happy for them.

It's finally sunny here in Washington, and it looks to be sunny for much of the week.

I'm currently starting the fifth week of the Spring Quarter, but my brain's still semestral, so this has been an agonizingly slow April.

Mary Kenagy introduced me to KEXP 90.3 and I love it, though I barely get any reception in my car.

I'm rereading America is in the Heart for the Asian American Literature class I'm currently teaching. We just finished The Woman Warrior.

This coming Memorial Day, Meredith and I will be vacationing in Vancouver, BC.

I'm reading M.A. thesi . . . thesuses . . . the . . . multiple manuscripts written by graduate students.