Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 325

Rejection letter from J.D. Salinger

Sale 2228 Lot 206 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SALINGER, J.D. Typed Letter Signed, to Elizabeth Cordova, declining to speak at her high school graduation, explaining that this is because he must attend his son's eighth-grade graduation, stating that talking writers are a scourge, and offering a two-sentence graduation speech intended for her alone. 1 [...]

Shopping for Elephants

Not literal mammoths but two rugby players, Justin Coveney and Kenny Stern. Justin wanted to go to Zara last Wednesday because it had just opened that very day in Sydney and there were long queues to get into the store. I wasn't sure Zara at Rockwell would have anything in size Humongous, but off we [...]

Philippine Volcanoes rehearsing the national anthem

From Austin Dacanay's video journal

Cleaning the air with color

Photo: Jose Tence Ruiz, one of 8 commissioned artists for a large-scale public art project along EDSA, supervises his work along the Barangay San Lorenzo wall. This painting will be unveiled on Saturday, May 7 at 8 a.m. The Philippine paint manufacture leader BOYSEN, with the support of the MMDA, is launching an urban renewal [...]

Auntie Janey's Old Fashioned Agony Column #12

Harvey Keitel in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets Dear Reader, Here's something that I got from Episode 6 entitled "Ah! This is Jealousy?!" of Aa! Megami-sama: Sorezore No Tsubasa. Keiichi Morisato said: "To fall in love with someone doesn't mean it'll be only be full of good things. To be mad, to cry, to smile and [...]

From the Daughter of Tiger Mom

Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, offspring of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother author Amy Chua, has started a blog to address questions about her upbringing. Q: If your mother prevented you from going on play dates, sleep overs and participating in school dramas, shouldn't you have turned out to be socially incapable? A: Thanks for asking – [...]

Giving Us the Willies: Revillame and the Pinoy psyche

My column last Sunday in the Philippine Star. * * * * * Triptych by Leo Abaya At the Philippine Star-National Bookstore event F. Sionil Jose wondered why Willie Revillame is famous. It can't just be the cash handouts—there are other TV personalities who give money away. The controversy that he generates—from suspensions for offensive [...]

Follow the pasyonistas

Pasyonistas: the events of Passover in Jerusalem, 33 A.D. as witnessed by very minor characters in the passion story. Follow them on Twitter.

Gentlemen and diplomats

After they kill each other on the pitch, the rugby ethos demands that the competitors meet for drinks, share a good dinner and be friends. Who would understand you better than the guy whose mission is to stop you? Following the test match between Hong Kong and the Philippines, the two teams came to dinner [...]

Walk and Eat

My friend Mike likes trying new restaurants. Which makes him worry about his calorie intake so he walks to the restaurants he will dine in, then walks back to his house. Which makes him worry about the items on his to-do list for the day that he should be attending to instead of going to [...]