Happy Thanksgiving
Maligayang araw ng pabo!
Today is Turkey Day. It was a blustery day with intermittent snow showers (w/ temps around freezing) in Pittsburgh. After I attended 10AM Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral; Mom, Dad, William, Marissa and I had Thanksgiving lunch, as is our family tradition. Mom prepared the turkey, and we all brought various dishes to the table. There was
~Salad course~
Mixed green salad with walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette dressing
~Main Course~
Carved 10-pound turkey
Mom's homemade dressing and gravy
Green bean casserole
Marissa's praline brulee mashed sweet potatoes
Cindy Darby's recipe for sweet potatoes with apricots
Variations on a theme by Marna Koch--Vegetable rice pilaf
Mimi's cran-apple-orange squlutch/conserves with cinnamon bark
~Intermezzo~
Cathedral bread and table-sliced Colby, Baby Swiss, and Muenster cheeses
~Dessert~
Marissa's cookies--various permutations of maple-cranberry-white chocolate in sugar cookies
Rose Maitland's pumpkin pie squares with French vanilla whipped creme
~Beverages~
Bottled water
Filtered water
Sparkling grape juice
Wine
~Postlude~
Coffee
Chocolates
William's coworker Tim joined us for part of the repast, too, and we enjoyed his company even after William and Marissa departed for the airport and family in Chicago. We spent quite a bit of time discussing and sharing photos of medical missions and the preparations for the one in February 2006, and nonfiction books which deal with medical missions. Joyce called, and I had a chance to talk with her at length about her Thanksgiving and specifics of preparing various foods.
I was certain to get the key to William and Marissa's place right before they left, to check on Snowball.
Marissa instructed me,"You probably don't have to add to his food, just check on his water....he just needs love."
"Like most of us," I said, in agreement.
Most of us reading this web log have a lot for which to be thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.
Lunch
Two days ago on Monday, my dad and I joined my coworker Jay and his wife Memie and son Kevin for lunch. Memie is from the same region as my dad, the Visayas, so she was happy to meet my dad and speak their dialect to each other. Kevin was the typical inquisitive three-year old, chasing pigeons, peering at other children in the restaurant, and showing alternating interest and disinterest in his food. Jay has worked for the University of Pittsburgh for over 20 years, so on our walk to the Original, he said hello to many of his friends on staff. Jay makes it possible for us to have all the laboratory sections we do--he repairs our equipment. We had a nice, relaxing lunch and agreed that mom should come with us next time. Here is a photo of us after lunch, with 50+degreesF temperatures.
Saying goodbye to a true family member
I suppose this is the day that Mookie will say goodbye to us, and us to him. Only Wawa and I were present when he was adopted into our family, and his family has expanded to include more members, as well as his friends from Doggie Park, Sasha, etc., many of whom he will see and play with when he leaves us today.
He has shared daily walks, meals, offices and lecture halls; weddings and new babies in our family. He's attended high school,
[interrupted typing to attend to Mookie's needs]
Addendum* 9:45pm
college, and graduate school. He was the most educated 17-year-old. He was well-guarded: For one Christmas, he had more "secret service" protection than the President.
All of us love Mookie so much--he has taught us all lessons in patience and forbearance, and how much a loyal, loving companion he was and that we all could become. If love could carry him through, Mookie would healthfully outlive all of us and play with our progeny.
We were hoping he could make it to Thanksgiving with us this year. He was such a loyal dog that he put our wishes before his own...even with the turkey platter on the floor, he patiently listened and waited. I will leave a wishbone when he leaves us, for all his turkey dreams and wishes to come true forever and ever more.
*Mookie passed on at 3:30pm this afternoon. We had a simple wake service for him at ~4:50pm.
Huang Xiang--Western Dream Nest
This afternoon, my friend Debbie and I spent an afternoon with Wellesley and other women's college graduates sharing lunch and listening to Huang Xiang, a Chinese poet who with his wife, Zhang Ling, has found political asylum here in Pittsburgh. Mr. Huang has been likened to a Chinese Walt Whitman, and he was delighted to present his poems for a group of mostly ladies (except for three, as was pointed out by the men themselves). His poetry performance had his voice and gestures rising and falling, curving and swooping.
After the performance, we spoke about libraries of international poetry, East Asian poetry, and job hunting.
They even invited Deb, her friend Eve, and me into their home, which is painted with poetry all over the outside. The door is painted with Chinese calligraphy and English phrases, including "Dream Nest."
We had a chance to look at some of his poetry (in English and Chinese), newspaper articles, calligraphy, as well as videos of a recent visit to Venezia, Italia. We all left this afternoon further enriched by the experience.
A Senior Recital
Yesterday, Adam Brakel, our associate organist for St. Paul's Cathedral, performed his senior recital for Duquesne University. The program sounded more like a program from the Organ Concert Series: Adam had chosen works which showcased his nimble, technical skill and the Beckerath organ's capabilities. When played with different stops, the instrument reverberated from different parts of the vaulted Gothic ceiling.
Over a hundred people were estimated to have attended. Individuals from Duquesne, the Cathedral choir, and the parish and the public attended. A reception followed, organized by Pat from our choir--a sumptuous spread was prepared.
I taped the concert, and my dad and I sat with Joe and Tina Wasserman at the reception. After, I had a chance to chat with my fellow choir members, and we discussed the latest news from Ned. Turns out there was a tragedy in his Peace Corps Trainee group the eve of their swearing in as volunteers. One of the PCT's, Wyatt, fell from a window several stories and died. Several of us discussed this. Of all the friends I know whom are RPCVs, I have never heard a story that approaches this tragedy. All of us were saddened.
A group of about 10 of us went out afterwards, to Del's, a restaurant & bar in Bloomfield ("Blumfilled"). We sang a couple of karaoke songs as a group, and generally had a good time. It was a great way to end a wonderful, music-filled evening.
Making Lumpia
Near the end of the week of November 1st, my mom made a big pot of lumpia filling. It contains a similar filling as empanadas, except more cabbage and carrots. 
We had a couple of lumpia-rolling parties with my mom, dad, and I rolling and frying up these delicious little Filipino eggrolls. Here are some photos of us rolling lumpia. It was my job to finely chop the bawang for the suka-based sauce.
Mmmmm...dee-lish/rap-rap!
St. Paul's Cathedral Choir and Pastoral Council
Today's noon Mass, the St. Paul Cathedral Choir sang from the apse (in front of the altar of Joseph and Mary) of the Cathedral. We sang
O Lord, we believe (R. Kreutz),
Kyrie and Gloria from the Canterbury Mass (A. Piccolo)
Psalm 128
Ave Verum Corpus K618 (Mozart)
Agnus Dei (Lotti)
Cantate Domino (H. Hassler)
God is Love (A.G. Murray)
The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns (Brownlie, Wyeth)
It was a treat to sing in the front of the Cathedral, facing the cathedra. Fr. Tom Burke said the Mass, and my dad was a minister of communion. I saw some of my work friends and other friends there, too. We had multiple photos of the choir taken after Mass.
The meeting for the final discernment of new Pastoral Council members was right after Mass. Elaine, Bernard, and I all had discerned that we would like to serve the parish through Pastoral Council. Elaine and I saw Don and Adam right outside the Rectory afterwards, and I said, "You're looking at two new members of Pastoral Council!" They congratulated us, and Bernie walked by, making it a "trinity," as Don put it. I look forward to serving for the next four years.
Elaine and I passed through the Cathedral and saw Fr. Vanyo and Fr. Tom after a tour of the Cathedral with a school group and their families. Fr. Vanyo led the tour and is very well-versed in various aspects of the Cathedral, and we were actually hoping to catch the end of the tour.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra--Kavakos
Last night my friend Anjali from choir and I went to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, with Leonidas Kavakos as the visiting violinist, and Andres Cardenes as concertmaster. The orchestra played Liszt's Orpheus, Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35, and Respighi's Metamorphoseon Modi XII and his Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome). Kavakos accompanied the orchestra on the dramatic Tchaikovsky piece, and performed so vigorously on his Stradivarius that for the final Allegro Vivacissimo, the catgut on his bow was fraying. The Pines of Rome were written and performed so visually, so painterly that they were reminiscent of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Noseda conducted energetically throughout the evening.
We saw other choir members during intermission, including Jessica, Mary Ann, and her husband Bob. We were all spellbound by the performance that night, and ready to hear the Respighi portion of the program. The evening was absolutely enchanting, from the music, to the performers, to the winter garden bedecked in light during intermission.
Volunteering Calliope Open House
Last night I volunteered for the open house of Calliope, Pittsburgh's folk music society. Simona, Heather, and I deftly replenished the noshes as the cheese, crackers, fruit, chips, and dip were consumed.
We later looked around the new building of Calliope's offices, at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. There was a beautiful mural featuring music and dance in Pittsburgh,
and there was a weaving room (with some ikat-like dyed threads on one loom) on an upper floor.
We talked about the process of weaving, then decided to get some hot refreshment. We later went for coffee, tea, and cocoa at a Crazy Mocha-coffee shop. We chatted about everything from the difficulty of meeting sentient men in Pittsburgh, to garage sales, to good food and tea.
Limon Dance Company
This past Saturday I went to see the Limon Dance Company at the Byham Theatre. Some of the choreography was by Limon, some by Lar Lubovich.
I recall taking a master class back in the late 1980's from someone trained predominantly in the Jose Limon tradition--the class had some contract/release reminiscent of Martha Graham's technique, but stressed muscularity and balance, too.
The choreography that night shared swirling, gentle swooping movements done in unison by company members. There were movements reminiscent of folk dance in the first piece, as well as the Lubovich-choreographed Recordare, which borrowed folkloric costumes, characters, and movements from the Mexican Dia de los Muertos.
There was a medical emergency halfway through the evening in the balcony. I chatted with some of the people seated around me, who were from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, both from the main campus and the West Coast campus.
There was a post-performance talk with the artistic director, and audience members had a chance to voice their appreciation for the technical difficulty and artistry of the dancers.
Volunteering IST development day
Two weekends ago I volunteered to help out for the Information Sciences and Technology day (IST Professional Development Day) at one of my alma maters, the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. The morning was filled with three of us reviewing resumes for current students in the department. I remember being on the other side of the table, so I wanted their resumes to be the best they could be. Some of the students participated in mock interviews; some of those same students also participated in telephone interviews. It was a good day for career/professional development. You see in the photo above Sue from PPG and I reviewing resumes.
Israel Chamber Orchestra
This past Tuesday I attended a concert by the Israel Chamber Orchestra at Heinz Hall. The conductor was Nizan Leibovich, and featured Matt Haimovitz on violoncello. They performed
Prokofiev: Classical Symphony
Shostakovich: Concerto for Violoncello No. 1
Bardanashvili: Elegy for Strings (Psalm 22)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
most of which were melodic, save the Shostakovich, which did, however, feature a movement evocative of the careful placement of stars in the heavens. The strings were in great form that night and carried me to various landscapes as well as soaring to the rafters.
I saw various choir members at the orchestra that night, including Pat and her husband, whom I sat with; and during the encore there were fellow alto Jessica, and some people from other sections of the choir, too. The orchestra was technically talented and their performance was evocative of various moodscapes and landscapes.
New Links
Check out the new hypertext links in the right-hand column of this web log.
