My Hollywood: A Tribute to Filipino Nannies

"Stylists gesticulated with blow-dryers at reflections of sphinx-faced women who gazed severely at themselves. A grandmother endured an intricate highlighting job next to a teenager sitting stiff in her chair. A dread filled me seeing them, so hopeful and so willing."  Sounds like The Real Housewives of Orange County?  Thank God, only in a few lines.

For someone who received a grant from Guggenheim and a slew of prestigious writing awards, the author, Mona Simpson, would not write anything less than a good book. I am happy to note that her book, My Hollywood, is in line with my first blog, Shaping the World One Stroller at a Time.

Claire, a composer and a new mother moves to L.A. from New York so her husband Paul can fulfill his ambition to become a successful writer for television comedy. They decide to hire Lola, a fifty-two-year-old Filipino nanny to take care of their baby, William. Lola becomes not only a caregiver to Will but a friend to Claire who is increasingly becoming unhappy with her life in Hollywood. Who wouldn't be?

Why Tsunami Happened to Good People

"Why do terrible things happen only to good people like the Japanese?" asked one lady professor at work yesterday. My answer was that the Almighty knows very well that they are strong enough to endure them. To which she quickly replied, "Well, I say the Almighty is not intelligent enough."

Here Comes Ms. G

"I was only twelve years old when my grandmother died from severe burns that were allegedly inflicted upon her by my father," wrote one girl. "Uncle Joe wasn't being rough with me, which made it hard for me to decide whether or not what he was doing to me was wrong," wrote another. "When I was younger, my parents would lock me up in the closet because they wanted to get high and beat up on each other." Get the picture?