Bright Purple Spot in 2005: REUNIONS!

Tita Gang and Tita Yelley on an impromptu beach getaway.


Julia was a fellow little tourist in New York City.


Ateneo friends in big city/small world New York City.


With Stephie, long-lost friend and almost-native New Yorker.


One day and an evening with Ursula in LA, a bottle of red wine, and non-stop conversation.


Hanging out with my Fjupy Womyn, Trixy and Julia, in San Diego.


Wow Philippines: Taja and Chris in Manila and Bohol.


Ate Kim's early Christmas celebration in Manila.

Bright Purple Spot in 2005: TRAVEL!

Punta Fuego with DDI Friends. Laiya with Gang and Yelle.



Pittsburgh with Vanette. New York City with Julia, Jason and Stephie.



LA with Ursula. San Diego with Trix & Ade, Julia & John.



Cebu with DDI. Bohol with Taja, Chris and Bub.

A Christmas Elephant with Pink Spots

It's great how paperclips come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Check out this purple elephant with pink spots (plus a striped snout, green ears and yellow feet)! This is Ate Kim's pasalubong from Singapore. I've never seen an elephant with pink spots before.

Not even at Powerbooks where they sell these giant funky paperclips. Last Christmas, I bought two for my close paperclippy friends, Tita Gang and Tobbie. I got a pink paperclip with a butterfly for her, and a black shiny paperclip with a smiling sunshiney sun for him. But I've never seen an elephant with pink spots before; have you?

Now you have.

Christmas Wish: Amazon.com... here I come?

I gave a copy of my book to my good friend Paul who works at Amazon.com in Seattle. He dropped by on Christmas Day to say hello. We hadn't seen each other in more than two years so it was nice to catch up and reminisce. The Yellow Paperclip will get to travel to Seattle soon enough. Perhaps one day you can even purchase my storybook online at Amazon! That's a good Christmas wish... and definitely a bright purple spot!

The Much-Awaited Package from Pittsburgh

Wow. I still can't believe it. I finally got to pick up the package Donna sent me from her third grade class in Pittsburgh. It took me a couple of hours to drive to the post office, wait in line, wait for the package, and drive all the way to work, but it was all worth it. I still have a great big smile on my face and in my heart.

Donna's students wrote me thank-you notes, complete with colorful drawings of their favorite scene in my story. My heart swelled with pride a million times over and I couldn't help but look through the drawings over and over and over and over again. As if that wasn't enough! The package also included a VHS tape: Donna recorded a storytelling session she did in class! Her students were very behaved and they responded well to the story.

I still can't believe how my story has traveled quite far... farther than I myself expected. Much like the Yellow Paperclip and myself, I'm glad my story has reached out and touched many others, across continents and across timezones.

A Note from National Artist Arturo Luz

WOW. I can't believe I got a handwritten note from National Artist Arturo Luz... the Arturo Luz. Like my sister said, "Wow, I read and studied about him in art school!"

I sent him a copy of my book after I saw his giant paperclip sculptures. Not too many people are fascinated by the ordinary paperclip, so I was delighted when I saw his sculptures around the Ayala Museum a couple of months ago. I delivered a copy of my book with a note to his house in Pasig (big thanks to Rheza, my friend and Ayala Museum tour guide, who gave me his home address!).

On a piece of yellow paper, he wrote:

Six Degrees of Separation

A note from my friend's cousin's friend.

What was three degrees then is now down to one. They now say that the entire world is connected by only five degrees! Wow! Worlds collide and I love it.

My name is Kai and I believe my friend Mara sent you an e-mail just this week as well. I just wanted to say that I really did enjoy reading your story The Yellow Paperclip with Bright Purple Spots. She brought it to school one day and she was really excited to let me read it! When I finished the book, I was left with a huge smile on my face.

 
I am glad to know that I am not the only one who seems highly amused with the whole six-degrees-of-seperation concept. It's like a big Friendster world out there, really. Hehe! There are times when introductions are going on and then I realize how people are related and I just spazz over it. While others just shrug and smile as if it was no biggie, I am left with this really warm fuzzy feeling in me. I usually cannot hide the goofy smile on my face when my thoughts start to tug at me saying, "HEY! They know each other! How cool is that?!?" Even just talking about this makes me all...happy.

I've often wondered, too, how money goes around. Everytime I see something written on a dilapidated piece of paper money, the nuts, bolts and wheels in my head start working. I like imagining how many people have kept that piece of paper money for a day, week, month or even longer. My point is, I like it that there was actually a book on such a thing. Amazing how a simple piece of material can tell a story about its 'life'. It had its own adventures and was able to pass on some great lessons and ideas.

 

Thank you for sharing to us your wonderful piece of work. I shall be waiting for your next books!

The Yellow Paperclip meets Carlo

Carlo is a dear friend of mine from college. We don't get to spend time together now as much as we used to, of course, but he is still dear to me. He's an artist and fellow member of The Bad Art Club. He creates the most striking black-and-white ink swirls and lines and patterns and images. He and I have very little in common yet our friendship is real. He knows me so well. He gave me the name Cloud Woman.

The Yellow Paperclip reaches out to my friend Carlo, in hopes of reminding him that there's so much to hope for and live for.