Season of Good News & Birthday Gift
Bits of good news from my friends and family keep flooding my mailbox. After Fernando found out his wife Maria is pregnant, my cousin Yanny in Hong Kong announced her becoming a mother in September. My other cousin Frank will tie the knot with Stephanie in October, a week after Weizhu and Patricia walking down the aisle. I realize, after the initial jolt of joy and excitement, people from my generation are all moving forward and unveiling a new chapter of their lives: engagement, marriage, and parenthood. While the celebration might be ephemeral, behind these festivities is laden a lifetime commitment that transcend the understanding of all outsiders. I wish them all happiness and joy, and love.
So I went out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with Fernando and Maria, little JD (isn't he adorable? Fernando, you need to change your blog profile because JD is no longer 3 months old...), Fernando's mom and dad and his nephew Anthony. The giant fish tank immediately captured 7-years-old Anthony's attention, who observed so raptly and claimed the fish speaks English and understands sign language! He complained about the smelly (probably the fish sauce that is quintessential of Vietnamese marination) food and spent most of the time keeping the fish's company. JD demonstrated his craving of my imperial roll and BBQ pork with zealous thrashing of his arms and legs in his cradle.
This year for his birthday I've been going out of my mind to figure what I should get for Fernando. The avid reader would not mind a giftcard from Borders, which sounds convenient but at the same time lacks the personal touch. Then an idea came to my rescue as I was walking down toward Union Square before hopping on BART. I darted into Borders, located the phone-book-sized 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die in the literary criticism section, and wrote my dedication on the front page in the train.
A preliminary leafing of the giant reveals I have read some 250 books listed. Not too bad eh? Dr. Peter Boxall covers a century of memorable writings with selection of seminal works that are key to understanding and appreciating the written word. Nowhere and nobody, after all, can be inclusive of all the reading tastes of bibliophiles. This book doesn't cover and do justice of some of my favorite works like the ones I elaborated in the previous post on reading and books MEME. Well...I'm contented to see the glow on his face as Fernando eagerly and assiduously flipped thorough the pages of his newest acquisition to the book collection.
So I went out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with Fernando and Maria, little JD (isn't he adorable? Fernando, you need to change your blog profile because JD is no longer 3 months old...), Fernando's mom and dad and his nephew Anthony. The giant fish tank immediately captured 7-years-old Anthony's attention, who observed so raptly and claimed the fish speaks English and understands sign language! He complained about the smelly (probably the fish sauce that is quintessential of Vietnamese marination) food and spent most of the time keeping the fish's company. JD demonstrated his craving of my imperial roll and BBQ pork with zealous thrashing of his arms and legs in his cradle.
This year for his birthday I've been going out of my mind to figure what I should get for Fernando. The avid reader would not mind a giftcard from Borders, which sounds convenient but at the same time lacks the personal touch. Then an idea came to my rescue as I was walking down toward Union Square before hopping on BART. I darted into Borders, located the phone-book-sized 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die in the literary criticism section, and wrote my dedication on the front page in the train.
A preliminary leafing of the giant reveals I have read some 250 books listed. Not too bad eh? Dr. Peter Boxall covers a century of memorable writings with selection of seminal works that are key to understanding and appreciating the written word. Nowhere and nobody, after all, can be inclusive of all the reading tastes of bibliophiles. This book doesn't cover and do justice of some of my favorite works like the ones I elaborated in the previous post on reading and books MEME. Well...I'm contented to see the glow on his face as Fernando eagerly and assiduously flipped thorough the pages of his newest acquisition to the book collection.
2 Comments:
So only 751 more to go right? :) What did you think of the book?
And, that little JD is a cutie!
I love it! No doubt it's more than a book-list type of books...very insightful comments on some of the most influential writers and pieces of writing.
751 more to go from that list...but infinitely many more... :)
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