STORIES, STORIES

I spent all day visiting my cousin T after she had her surgery. This is my cousin who has done nothing but spoil me ever since I was a little girl. She bought me things, she has never forgotten to call me or get me (expensive!) presents on my birthday every year, even though I don't celebrate birthdays, and she has just been nothing but awesome to me ever since I can remember. I visit her as often as I can, hoping I could spoil her back, do things for her, especially right now that she is recovering and still in so much pain. But it's a little difficult to do. Even now, as weak as she is, everytime I go visit her, she stresses herself out to make sure I'm comfortable. She fusses over me, asking if I've been fed, if I've been given something to drink, if I'm bored do I want her to go play a movie for me. I tell her to relax and stop worrying about me, but she ignores me. The little kids come over to me and crowd me, and she tells her sister to please let the kids...

Call me? I love getting phone calls. I talk a lot. I love talking to people, I love hearing them talk, I love hearing the words they use, the invisible punctuations, the smile in their voices, their heartfelt guffaws. I do better when I talk than when I write. So I got a couple phone calls from really good friends today. One of them called from a country thousands of miles away. The other one from a district away. I haven't spoken to either of these guys in months, but we talked like we were continuing a conversation that was paused indefinitely. And when that happens, that's when I know I'll continue to be friends with them. Next time, I'll call. *** After that long conversation with S today, I've come to the following conclusions on Compromise. 1) In our relationships, we often forget to stop and really think about what the other person values, what they truly consider as important. This is the first step to compromising. Sure, we think compromising is about givin...

Because I totally look like this when I sleep. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, but my BB's Klondike game has failed me today, and I just needed to get back out of bed to smoke a cigarette. I didn't have an excuse to light one up, until I thought of Blogger. I mean, what's better than smoking a cigarette at 3am while toying with the idea that you are in fact, a suffering artist? *** I got my very first Neil Gaiman book this month when a friend got me one from South Africa. Yes, I'm gloating. But because I live in Jeddah, where the book is, at press-time, not available in our favorite barely-efficient bookstore Jarir, I am allowed. Yes? Yes. It's called "American Gods", and that alone should say a lot about it's availability here. I've started reading the book. I'm not sure what I expected; I've known of Neil Gaiman for close to 7 years now, but only because I've been following his blog. The only writing of his that I know is h...

A touch of drama, dahlings. Heartbreak . 1. Denial. It's not happening. 2. Anger. It's not fair. 3. Bargaining. What do you want me to do? I'll do it. 4. Depression. I give up. Nothing's working. 5. Acceptance. Some things just Are. 6. Starting over. 7. Moving On. Which one's your favorite?

If there's one thing about artists, it's that money is not (always) an issue with them. That's probably why most artists are perceived to be poor. My father is an artist. Therefore, he is poor. I am constantly conning my dad to give me his money. Therefore, I am poor. *** I didn't get much support from my parents career-wise. I didn't have a stage-mom egging me to get good grades. In college, even though my father paid for my education, he never once asked to see my grades. I got the occasional, non-committal "so how's school" phone call, but that's about it. In retrospect, it was nice to have had that kind of freedom. At the same time, words of support and encouragement are also alien to me. Which is why today is a milestone. For once, my father looked up from the book he was reading (which, this time, was a 400-page book on how best to play bridge - nothing special, except he doesn't and probably has never played bridge, ever) and told me the...