teabiotique

2012-02-08T18:31:00.001-06:00

la vida entera
se va entre las piernas
entrañas sádicas
vericueto de amor
y si logro creer

que el día pare
momentos
si embellezco el cuento
sobre el
cuento sobre el
cuento
sobre cuentas y las
notas y sus
filos y la
ametría de los ojos vencidos
exhala ánima
hasta lo más profundo
de esta herida hiena
pues nada
que cada cosa cabe aquí
plena, moribunda
se desbordan por igual

"three months is forever / when the sun don't shine at all..."

2012-01-13T15:49:00.004-06:00

♪ photek feat. linche - sleepwalking

i came down with a chronic eye condition in the beginning of november, and it's been a nerve-wrecking, painful process so far. but it turns out there's stuff to do! so today i decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and take the days as they come, take myself somewhere, anywhere -- that's what time is for.

anyway...

the worst thing about what's going on is that i can't stay out as much as before (too much sun and dirt and wind and pollution in this city). i also can't use the computer much (today was a lucky day!); can't read a lot, can't write a lot. but i've found refuge in my sister's old typewriter that i stole from the family house when i moved out ages ago. i'm also trying to read books with big print so as to not strain my eyes.

(i also finally read david sedaris' squirrel seeks chipmunk: a modest bestiary -- sooo good!)

and, well, i feel different. lots of things are going on, changing. so many new things to adjust to... i hope i can find a good way to cope and update with some of it :)

in the meantime:

animal print and real shoes! me wearing animal print and real shoes. yeah, i know. crazy.

happy new year, everyone!

♪ rania - pop pop pop

an early winter.

2011-11-28T14:46:00.001-06:00

♪ amycanbe - my love

what i wore today. well, not today, but i wore it.

2011-11-22T11:41:00.001-06:00

hmm, the self-portrait thing isn't getting any better (at least there are lips now!), but i had to post this one because i'm wearing pants! i hadn't worn pants in about, oh, a decade or so! i bought this pair about 3 years ago, but they fit kind of funny, so i had them altered, but then i gained weight & i couldn't fit into them, but now they fit & they make my "i <3 tokyo" t-shirt look not so touristy, & so,... there :)

i also threw in the book that i'm about to start reading, monkey brain sushi: new tastes in japanese fiction, which is a collection of short stories by authors i have never read before (eri makino, gen'ichiro takahashi, kyoji kobayashi, masahiko shimada, michio hisauchi, amy yamada, osamu hashimoto, yoshinori shimizu, mariko ohara, & masato takeno). haruki murakami's "tv people" is the first story in the collection, & considering i just finished reading a wild sheep chase (which was all kinds of good!), i'm pretty much in the mood for a slow & subtle transition, heh.

♪ kasagi shizuko - rappa to musume (ラッパと娘)

leyendo la ciudad.

2011-11-22T11:01:00.001-06:00

♪ prago union - verbální atentát

letras sobre la mesa

2011-11-20T00:19:00.001-06:00

a few days ago, i finally got the chance to histen to two of my favourite mexican authors read a bit of their work at a series of literary round tables organized by uacm in bellas artes:

leticia herrera

&

sylvia aguilar zéleny (who you can't really see in the following photo because someone's head got in the way, baaah).

all the panel members shared amazing stories and poems, but these women have the type of punch i look for and very much value in what i read. sylvia's conversational narrative is fresh and intimate, a delightfullittle pond of chuckles and sighs, while leticia's poetry is a hearty, shrewd poke to anyone's sense of humour and sensuality.

plus, you can tell when authors are truly fond of their work by how generously they share it with others. i love reading, but listening to the authors read their texts in the way that they're meant to be read, is always a delicious treat! very inspiring!

anyway, these are the books that introduced me to their writing (and which i highly recommend!):

an excerpt:

"Bailar pegados

(¿o permanecar sentados?)

17.11.03

Mis papás, como los papás de todos, discuten un 50% de sus vidas, un 30% se les va en no hablarse, en pasarse la sal, en dormir en la misma cama, en atender visitas y --en el caso específico de los míos--, un veinte por ciento es bailar pegados.

Desde que recuerdo, mis padres bailan. Ponles un poquito de los Ten Tops y bailan. Esa cancioncita de Bill Halley y bailan. Una probada de Benny Moré y bailan. Se mueven sobre el piso como si estuvieran en una gran pista. El tiempo se detiene, nada existe alrededor. Solos papá y mamá son uno.

--"Mis papás bailan pegados"--, les decía yo a mis amigas cuando era pequeña pero dudo que ellas entendieran lo que eso significaba. Ni yo sé, bien a bien, qué significaba eso para mí.

Recuerdo esa navidad del '79, antes de irnos a cenar a casa de la tía Jose, ellos discutían. No sé por qué. Pero recuerdo que los portazos, los gritos, los insultos que me hicieron temer. ¿Dónde estaban mis hermanos?, no lo sé. Sólo sé que el mundo que yo conocía se venía abajo. Era ya la peor navidad.

En casa de la tía, cenamos, brindamos. Yo los miraba a uno y a otro y no encontraba más que el vacío. Se abrieron los regalos y entonces alguien puso música. "Pólvora" encendió el lugar, encendió a mis padres; pronto estaban bailando, pronto estaban sonriendo, pronto olvidaban lo pasado, pronto ignoraban que todos estábamos ahí. Eran ellos y bailaban pegados; eran uno solo.

Ken y yo bailábamos. Pero no bailábamos. No éramos uno solo. ¿Cuánto tiempo creí que sí? Nosotros, en realidad, permanecimos sentados todo el tiempo."

- Una no habla de eso, Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny, pp. 74-75

another:

"DESEO

voy a tejerme una bufanda

con un hilo muy fino y suave

y cuando tenga dinero

me compraré un avioncito

descubierto para volar

el viento agitará mi bufanda

y desde el cielo

te diré adiós todas las tardes

para que me reconozcas

yo soy la de la bufanda roja"

- Vivir es imposible, Leticia Herrera, p. 55

i haven't been able to get my hands on any other of their printed material, though, but i will. and if you're reading this [and know spanish]: you really should, too :)

what i wore today -- the headless edition.

2011-11-04T15:14:00.002-06:00

okay, so i wanted to give this outfit documentation thing a chance, but i'm so out-of-practice with taking self-portraits and using my tripod, that all i could manage was this:

well, it kinda works... anyway, i've been really apathetic about clothes lately. but, going to tokyo did inspire me to come back and make the most out of all the lovely stuff that i already have, like the sweater-dress i'm wearing in the photo -- i never wear it! and i should, i should.

♪ l'officina della camomilla - gentilissimo oh

alebrijes!

2011-11-04T12:44:00.002-06:00

i finally got the chance to see the alebrijes being displayed over at zócalo. these were my favourites:

aren't they gorgeous?! alebrijes are yet another colourful and symbolic part of the mexican folk art tradition. these sculptures made of cardboard and papier-mâché are meant to represent fantastical, dream-like creatures. some are even carved out of wood, but that's usually done with smaller figures. these particular larger-than-life sculptures are part of a contest held annually in mexico city, and i must say i'm impressed with this year's lot! they're usually exhibited on avenida reforma, but zócalo makes for a perfect backdrop, don't you think?

some other details i liked:

magazine musts

2011-11-04T00:03:00.000-06:00

for ages now, the only reasons i buy magazines are: one, to cut out images for my collages; and two, as *ahem* toilet reads. but in an attempt to swing myself back into "real" magazine reading (you know, when you actually pay attention to what the articles say), i am currently going through these:

okay, so the first one doesn't really contribute to the reading cause (i don't know japanese), but i had seen some scans of previous issues online, and when i went into a combini in tokyo and saw it shining between fake pop star smiles and soft porn, i knew it had to come home with me. and i'm so glad it did! i love the styling concept, and the photographs are beautiful!

plus, it came with this cute little mirror.

hee.

as for the second magazine, i picked it up one night while browsing the magazine section in sanborns (which is a sad sight considering the generalised low quality of most mexican magazines). it's called metapolítica, and it focuses on academic writing based on contemporary cultural phenomena. i was happy to see that the first article was about art -- an extensive feature of orlando delgado piñón's work, a painter whom i didn't know of and whose art i'm now completely smitten with:

there are several interesting articles and essays in this month's issue, including one about political systems in africa, one on the social function of literature, another on the possibility of old philosophical ideas being applied as potential solutions to current social conflicts, quite a few on anthropology (this month's thematic highlight, as it seems), but this one grabbed my interest immediately :

because it's the first time that i see 'dystopia' connected to 'mexican' in print, and boy, do i agree...

anyway, i'm quite excited to be reading these! although without future issues of fudge... i mean, is there life after it? waaah! because i'm pretty sure it's absolutely impossible to get it here in mexico city :(

never start anything on an empty stomach.

2011-11-01T14:27:00.001-06:00