Anything Could Happen

Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life – well, valuable, but small – and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven’t been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around? I don’t really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.

-- "Kathleen Kelly", You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Syrup & Honey

The Diner from sopleasedonteverchange on 8tracks.

Every time it rains, I listen to the Rainy Days and Diner Dates mix I have in my iPod. While the tracklist is absolutely flawless, listening every time it rains during the monsoon season can get quite repetitive. So, I'm really glad I found another one just like it. It's this mix from 8tracks and I just love it. In my mind, I am immediately transported to shiny linoleum floors, jukeboxes that play the oldies for a quarter, servers on roller skates, thick strawberry milkshakes, greasy fries and maybe some grilled cheese hot on my plate. Maybe I even feel a little like I am in a group with Archie and the gang, hanging out at Pop's Diner. Maybe. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. It usually means I have a life, the kind where you're actually busy doing stuff instead of writing about wanting to do stuff. And since the prospect of actually having a life happens only once, maybe twice a year in my sad life, I really don't (didn't? I'm not sure, I think I'm slowly inching my way into having no life again) mind having less "me" time. Here, listen to a diner mix. Have a grilled cheese sandwich while you're at it. 

Happy Birthday, Tita E!

A few years ago, Tita E baked this cake that rose to be what we now call a bleeding heart cake. This is the result of leaving the oven in the presence of two cousins who, for their lives, cannot stop talking when they are together (that, and we did see the bleeding heart, we just didn't want to be the ones to break it to everybody.) 

I can associate my aunt with this cake of hers, for she has a heart that gives and gives. Among many things admirable about her, it is her generosity that far surpasses even those traits she seems to have an abundance of--grace and faith included. I am glad I have someone like Tita E in my life because in many ways, she is like a mother to me. She has never failed to support my own family in all our ups, downs and lowest of lows. She is a constant reminder that while life is tough and often times cruel, I will never walk alone. 

Happy birthday, Tita E. May you have many more to come.