My mind’s in a whirl

My mind’s in a whirl.  So much to do,  so little time.  My first — and only — major event is on Nov. 16 and 17.  That’s the date of the Phil-Italia bazaar.  I am joining.  I have been making fancy jewelry with my own two hands.  I wake up very early and in my night clothes sit at my work table.  That is my main focus but. . .

I must write this column one day earlier.  That’s no problem except I don’t know what I did to my computer.   It cannot send e-mail though it steadily receives it.  So just to set my own mind at ease I send a hard copy of my column to the STAR.  I must do that tomorrow on my way to Quiapo to buy supplies.

I must visit our family’s niches and clean up the butterflies and flowers I put there.   It is All Saints Day.   Once there was no one to visit though most of our men were dead.  The Japanese took them and they never returned, so we had no tombs to care for.  But these days I am in charge.  Maybe I’ll do it on Halloween, the wedding anniversary of my parents?   They married in 1942, before Halloween turned into a infamous holiday.  And in 1944 they had me, their only child, the pumpkin.

I will be going to Kuala Lumpur to attend a conference.  I will be gone from Nov. 7 to 10.   Then I must pick up the jewelry again and get prepared for the exhibit.  It will be held at the Filinvest Tent in Alabang.  I’ve already checked it out so I know exactly where it is.  But there are a million things I must prepare because I do everything by myself.  Alone.  No maids, no assistants, just me.

Because I’m going to Kuala Lumpur I am not joining the annual art festival hosted by the Carl Jung Circle Center.  I am a member of that group and every year, we have an art exhibit.  Every year, I have joined but not this year.  This year, I have a StemEnhance conference in Kuala Lumpur and my first bazaar.  I have to give up some things for others.

This year’s exhibit is called A Circus of Dreams.  They have a postcard with a graphic that looks like a dreamcatcher, something round with a lot of feathers hanging.  Dreamcatchers are things made by American Indians.  You’re supposed to hang them over your head to catch your dreams, so you remember them.  Then when you remember them clearly, you can write down the images, analyze them and see what hidden message they have.  Sometimes it takes a long time to do that.  I once had a beautiful dream whose interpretation failed me for 13 years.  But I wrote a poem about it.  Then recently, reading my old dream poem to a writing class, I saw what it meant.  It meant marriage was not for me.  It took 13 years and a total loss of interest in marriage on my part to finally make that dream clear.

Anyway, this year I will miss “A Circus of Dreams.”  I will not see the paintings of Jose Alain Austria, Sandy Ebrade, Ricky Villabona, and Dido Gustilo Villasor.  I always liked the work of Alain and Dido.  The rest I have never even seen.  I will miss out on the sculpture of Alex Tee, an old friend who has turned himself into a prize-winning sculptor.  I will not see the photographs of Reni Orayani, but he is a dear friend and I can visit and see his work.  Oliver Yang Roxas is a very creative person and I will miss his work, don’t even know what he will exhibit.  At least I know Maureen Sandejas is knitting furiously to finish a blanket that she titled “Tree of Life.” 

And I will miss the creations of Cookie Guerrero, another extremely creative soul.  At least I saw her embroidered seats at a recent bazaar and loved them.  I think she is making something other than that and quite fabulous for this art exhibit.

I am so sorry to miss it but I hope some of my readers will go.  It is on Saturday, Nov.  9, second floor of the LRI Building on Nicanor Garcia Street, formerly Reposo.  It opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m.  One day only so you better go and try to catch it.  At 6 p.m., cocktails will be served.

Please go and enjoy the show for me.  I will be away.  I know I will return but my head will still be in a whirl because of my Phil-Italia bazaar.  Give me until Nov.  20 to settle down.  By then I might be ready for the whirl that is Christmas.

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