MOVING ON

Today, I have thought and started filling up these blogging pages again mainly to share my thoughts and those about ongoing developments in my current life. I am grateful for the opportunity to do so again, and I hope I get to rekindle and get to sustain whatever interest you may have on my writings. I continue to build, grow, expand my online businesses mainly from here in New York City. I also do my paid gigs as a self employed person who is originally from the Philippines, where I left when before I turned 40 years old.  I am turning 54 years old this year, soon. Same age as my husband who was born and raised here in Harlem, NYC. The big change has been that of my marriage, the status that gives me delight most time.  Moving on, I have been acting on so many plans so I can update here and accomplish my goals as I go about planning, doing, reviewing, accomplishing bits and pieces of  my goals each day given the failures I make and the lessons I accumulate. Moving on, be...

What gave you trouble when you moved to a new city/town/area? by Jerome Espinosa Baladad https://www.quora.com/What-gave-you-trouble-when-you-moved-to-a-new-city-town-area/answer/Jerome-Espinosa-Baladad?share=d72e0740&srid=XZZf

A good friend was texting me after a long while, and has told me he has been in the midst again of thinking of moving from New York City (NYC) after seeing that he's becoming bored in what most people believe as the cultural capital of the USA.  What do I really tell him? Not much. I just have to listen very well. I did listen and thought I could agree with him; he consulted with me many times prior to his moving from Los Angeles  (LA) to here years ago. It does not matter anymore what I told him then. What matters is this moment. Of course,  there's more to this development.  I have other ideas. Who am I to live his life for him? I just believe he doesn't want to agree to the fact that there are people like me who have decided not to retire for good in the Philippines where he and I hail from and have known each other as we went to many super exciting mountain trips together with many more other good friends.  I'm not regretting to say I am retiring here, so...

That picture is from one of those moments when I figured out a selfie would represent what was running un-clearly in my mind. I would be always out and about here in New York City (NYC) where I have been based for the past 10 years. Among accomplishments I've completed, I've been able to grow, expand my online business while I have been doing part-time jobs to continuously provide for fodder to folders in my mind where I draw materials to write about. Hence, this posting is one of those very pleasurable days when I have finally been able to write and share something here online (again). I continue to write for my own pleasure. I really just want to read and write, practically almost everyday. But that's not possible right away if I choose to live and stay very well here in NYC. Yesterday's unplanned meet-up with a couple of retired Filipino teachers who have their own house somewhere in a relatively expensive neighborhood in Queens, NYC has mainly prompted this post...

More books ready for listing in my online storefronts anytime from now A photo posted by Jerome Espinosa Baladad (@dyerohmeb) on Jul 14, 2014 at 8:28am PDT Something good must have been happening because I have come to realize I've been growing several online bookstore storefronts these past 5 years or so. It mainly started from having to schlep all my books every time I move to new dwellings. The collection of books has been brought about by my main occupation as a writer, a job that so many other New York City (NYC) dwellers share with me. I have to make a living out of my writings, so I would figure out ways to make money from all these activities I do that are related to my main job as a writer.  I know that a bookstore will have better chances of growing and making money if it has items that are ready for the selection and buying of the shopper who happened to looking for particular printed materials at such unpredictable times. I don't worry much about ...

Read the article on TNYT here. Even businesses, which are owned and managed by people, have moving on experiences. Certain changes can't be helped, if you get to see how changes have continuously enveloped this 'much expensive' section of Manhattan. In this particular case, I see it's technology that has brought about the actual moving on event to unfold and take place. And so many people's lives would be affected as this moving on process continues to take place. Somewhat dreaded (it seems to me) by some, we can all learn to be prepared to face our respective moving on experiences. The process is not exclusive to human beings, as we all get to become more familiar with 'Moving On' while we go about doing and pursuing our respective lives. It's not something I invented - I just happened to experience it so strongly many years ago and have decided to face it and highlight it in my writing works. Don't take it against yourself if you're very ...

I'm still somewhat affected by what I heard from a cousin told me while we were heading back from our trip upstate NY to New Jersey. Of course, he meant well but I'm still somewhat disturbed that certain people couldn't help but be prejudiced against gay people like myself. I won't repeat anymore the details here as they're still hurting. Suffice it to say that one of my cousin's friends shared him what she's thought of me as a person because she, most probably, couldn't stand my being a gay person. Of course, she added that she has her own share of gay friends, who apparently are not like me. And, of course, she didn't tell me directly---most Filipinos won't do that. They do it through channels, which was just like what she did when she told her husband who is also a friend of my cousin, on what she thought of me. I happened to have accepted their invite for me to sleep at their place in New Jersey, and she apparently doubted if my cousin and ...

Today's my last day from this job that I was doing for over 5 years in return for board and lodging with someone in Stapleton, Staten Island, NYC. He thought of me mainly as a housekeeper. I would cook, clean, do some other odd jobs so I'd have board and lodging in his 23-room house that he proudly says he rebuilt when he bought it over 22 years or so ago. Oh, well, I'm greatly relieved and grateful that this arrangement has stopped effectively today. How it ended wasn't really that positive, and so I won't dwell with that anymore. Suffice it to say that he tended to deal with me as his employee, more than anything else, so his very capricious tastes of running his household would be followed. To do otherwise would mean that I'd feel bad over the kind of work that I do, despite the fact that he's really abusive as a human being. Also, he's made it a point to contact someone who replaced me whom he has never regarded as someone worthy of meeting his capri...

We had a roommate here in our Stapleton, Staten Island house one time and who briefly stayed with us, as in less than a week if I recall it right. He's a paramedic, of small stature, a native New Yorker, and with a bearded face (then). He's a sweet fellow and soft spoken. What surprised me a lot about him was how he almost looks like a paradoxical figure to my mind up to now and he's one of those who could change his image in a few days, perhaps like a chameleon. That's precisely why I got to chat with him as I was thinking he's a new fellow who's living or most probably visiting us. I usually remember faces even if I've not seen them in long years, but in this case, I failed to recognize that I was talking with the same guy whom I met one evening when I came home to have him introduced to me by our landlord. On that afternoon occasion while I was doing my chores around the house, my curiosity got me and I decided to ask him how's he doing. I would soo...

There is one way to know that you are doing exactly what God wants you to do: you will be at peace. Not every day, not all the time, but even in the midst of hard times and confusion you will feel good about what you are doing. Even when it seems like you are getting nowhere, you will know there is absolutely nothing else on earth you can do other than what you are doing. ( Iyanla Vanzant ) I was meaning to write this last night but a long phone talk with a good business partner got in the midst while I was about to share here the details, even briefly. I was being bothered by the thought that I couldn't do as much as I could after hearing someone whom I don't know personally is expected to die so soon from the ravages of cancer. She is a mom, the sister-in-law of a friend from high school years. My friend's flying today with his daughter to be with his wife who has been away for at least a month in Los Angeles to attend to the woman who's dying. I wanted to shar...

Early today while waiting for the ferry boat to Manhattan from Staten Island, I overheard two middle-aged looking guys talking and what they were talking about covered topics that sounded interesting to me. And so I paid attention, even if I didn't really intend to listen to people's conversation at that early time in the morning. I told myself I could use the material in my writing, and so this secret wish gets fulfilled along the way. As far as I could be bothered to recall and could make out from the thread of their conversation, one of the guys would say "These homosexuals think they have more rights than ordinary folks like us." I noted that he was wearing the outfit of a security detail person, and was describing someone he saw doing something despicable before his eyes while doing his work close to where the guy placed himself next to a car. And that he would be calling the cops who would show up to approach the said man and deal with what he was doing in th...

My landlord said 'that's great!' as he sounded happy to hear me telling him that I joined a trip the previous night in visiting 7 churches in the occasion of the Lenten Season . After 4 years of receiving invites (probably), I managed to join the Catholic Fellowship of Young Filipino Professionals ' VISITA IGLESIA. I soon found myself a bit under-attired as the weather was chilly and was soon grateful we kept on doing a trek to finish the goal of visiting 7 churches that are mostly in the Upper East Side (UES) nabe of Manhattan. I must have counted at least 30 people who showed up to join an activity that demands participants to walk some distance; I was happy to meet with Bel, Michael, Victor and some immigrant Filipinos who I usually meet from time to time here in NYC. And I took the chance, too, to chat with Marge, AJ, Jessie, and others whose names I fail to recall now. Other than the extra benefits of getting myself exercised and the chance to engage with others,...

Other than the 9/11 Memorial, another burial ground monument has to be seen and visited by curious travelers who may have lots of time in their hands. Above are pictures I hastily took from my camera when I happened to pass by Chambers Street in Downtown Manhattan during one of my gigs. I recall reading about this burial ground, which for many years was were covered by older buildings that were demolished to make way for the burial ground and to be come opened again to light that has covered it for many years until 1991. There's a museum, which I've yet to visit right inside the building standing next to the cemetery, and where you can probably read more about the burial ground. The place looks mysterious to me and I got a feeling I was connecting with the spirits of those African slaves (and probably the earliest emancipated freed slaves then) whose remains were buried and found in this burial. Check what the site's all about in this link  (where you can also g...

We would have him in our household once in a while, which started after my landlord with whom I live, asked him to do chores in the house. A Puerto Rican and probably not yet a high school graduate who's now in his mid 30s, he has made some impression on me as I got curious about the programming he's doing using his beloved calculator. He's got his own ways of making do with resources in his hands (or even just those inside his backpack)---let's just leave it at that so that I won't be saying here what annoys me about him but rather highlight the kindhearted and good person that he basically is. The last time he was here, we chatted as usual. We exchanged ideas, as usual, about the horrors and kinds of struggling and hardships here in the city where he was born and raised, and where I've moved on half a dozen of years ago (as of this writing). I'm amused by his notions on racism and prejudice, which I believe, he's faced more often as he stays homeless m...

I quickly made a decision to go to Sunday mass while killing time because I found myself waiting for my friend who asked me to join him in his trip to Manhattan. He's based somewhere in suburban Nassau, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get updated on what's has been happening with him so I agreed to meet him on a Sunday. I recalled that a mass is held at 11am on Sundays in the nearby church from the South Ferry Terminal. If I'm not mistaken, it's the church that serves as the shrine of   St. Elizabeth Ann Seton , the first US born saint of the Roman Catholic faith. I was egged on to get inside by another mass-attendee, who assured me there's a mass inside. Surprised to find myself inside the small church this time, I soon found out that it's been around for over 125 years. The celebration of the mass was intimate; everybody sung as led by the priest who I understand came all the way from the Bronx. I furtively took pictures before the...

Lately, I've noticed how the view from where I would stand on the Stapleton train station would change each time I find myself there waiting for my train. Ever gradually, the Manhattan skyline has emerged into my easy but myopic view ever since the buildings along the bay were quickly demolished one after the other. The FDNY Marine Building still remains standing, and we're not sure if it will go soon. Actually, I've seen similar views from some houses here in Staten Island. I could see it from the top floor of the house where I live currently. But I'm surprised to be seeing it from the distance where I'm usually waiting for my train to St. George for the ferry to Manhattan. I've noticed the still ongoing construction of the emerging dominant tower that replaces the Twin Towers; its lights are seemingly on all night long. I also see those buildings on the side of New Jersey, which state is really closer to Staten Island than any of those other borou...

I just want to rid myself of the ill feelings I've got over the loss of my iPod Touch with serial number CCQG7M0MDCP9, which I lost (or somebody must have stolen it from my jacket's side pocket) inside the S78 Bus in Staten Island. I've taken steps to check the status using Apple.com's me.com  and another application. I've already filed online a form with the MTA . I'm just missing my music, my books, my pictures, and those notes I've written down as entries for books I've been thinking of writing. Well, I may just have to push the start button again. Or I may just have to buy an iPad soon. I can only pray and hope I'll get back that iPod or even just the notes, which I still have to work on continuously for my writing projects.  Peace!

Notes: This is also a moving on book mainly because it talks about a transitioning period that happens when one's grown up child gets murdered in the Lower East Side (LES) of Manhattan. You deal with it the best way you can, given the grim circumstances. And others are always involved, as nobody's death is considered a vacuum when it happens - each one of us is connected with others. We don't die in a void. Stylish characterizations, well-crafted descriptions, lots of good research ---these are all can be found in this book, which got me into thinking about a lot of happenings taking place in the LES when I used to live there. I think I met again a lot of the characters I met when as lived on East Broadway when I read this book.  Lush Life by Richard Price My rating: 4 of 5 stars I took some time thinking what to say about this book, which intrigued me because of the feedback I read from others. On the surface it's not exactly among the many books I'd be readi...

I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir by Josh Kilmer-Purcell My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a wonderful 'moving on' book for readers who are forever in major transitions in their respective lives. Well, that's a pretty loaded line there but reading this book gives you ideas on how to go about moving on from one major situation in your life to another without totally damaging but actually creating your best self given resources on hand. Having gotten my copy from one of the brownstone stoops in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I thought the cover was funny looking with a goldfish pictured somewhere on the tattered page. Surely, the former owner must have wanted another reader to enjoy perusing this book. Finishing it in less than 3 days, I read how fabulously it was written as a memoir by someone who does advertisements these days and who was doing drag shows many years ago. I'm pretty familiar (which is an understatement) with such characters, having been involved myself w...

  Note: This blog has been deleted unknowingly when I changed the 'style' that I use here (after getting enticed by blogger.com with fresh looking styles and so I decided to switch styles). I wonder what readers have been looking into when they click into the contents of this posting; it's, probably, the title that intrigues them or drives them to check what's behind the posting (and they would find out that it's an empty post). I don't have a draft of that original blog posting in my files; I write directly on this page. But as far as I could recall, I wrote about a new roommate who moved into the room that became vacant because the former roommate passed on. The new roommate knows that the former occupant of his room now passed on; the room has completely been cleaned, with new paint given to its walls, with new carpeting installed, among other things we did to practically overhaul the room. The experience of having a new roommate provided another great opport...