Because Alex needed katsa (muslin) for a school project, I had to go to the public market early yesterday morning. Kuhol (native edible snails) were a-plenty and I couldn’t resist buying a kilo. When I got home, I washed them, placed them in a bowl of water and went on to write a piece called Goodbye, Joe which was totally unrelated to snails.
Anyway, after writing the first half of Goodbye, Joe, I stood up and went into the kitchen to fix a cup of coffee. One of the snails — the largest one — had crawled up to the rim of the bowl. It’s not as though I’d let that escape my camera. I put down my coffee, got the camera and took photos. This is the clearest one of the batch.
After I downloaded the photos to my Mac, a lot of things crossed my mind. The first was something that CheH wrote in her blog several months ago, “No place is boring if you have the camera.”
The second was a comment posted in yesterday’s Dog Day Afternoon entry. Chiara said, “……i wish i could write that way, na kahit parang mejo wala lang nagiging funny and interesting.” The way I see it, it’s a matter of perspective and appreciation.
There is a science teacher at the kids’ school (hello, Sir H!) for whom no living thing is boring. We were at the school one Sunday afternoon because Sam had rehearsals and a simple question led to a lot of things. I asked Sir H what the difference was between lichen and moss and he went on not only to show me but to make me see ordinary things in such an extraordinary way. There was this leaf with a blue sheen that changed hues in the sunlight and he said something like there is no color that man can invent that nature hasn’t already invented. For that teacher, every little thing — from the spores of the fern to the “nose” of the trees — is a source of wonder and a subject of interest. Despite his reputation for being a nerd and a terror, I find him inspiring (which, I hope, does not qualify me as a nerd nor a terror).
The third thing is about animal cruelty. If you haven’t read about it yet, a couple of weeks ago, Jamie Oliver electrocuted a chicken live on television to show people the cruel practices in the British chicken industry. And I wondered if throwing live snails in hot oil wasn’t just as cruel. Of course, I’m a firm believer in the food chain on which man occupies the highest position. But I did wonder if it would be less cruel to wait until the snails died before cooking them. But that wouldn’t make them fresh, would it? And that would be to my disadvantage as a consumer.
(The truth is, I don’t understand why Jamie Oliver would single out the killing of the chickens when in so many parts of the world — Britain included — newly-caught fish, ungutted and still wiggling, are skewered and cooked directly over the fire. Or, perhaps, it was the electrocution per se that he’s objecting to. Or, perhaps, as it goes in the celebrity world, it’s just a matter of shocking people because it’s profitable.)
The fourth and final thing that crossed my mind: Susmaryosep, ang babaw ng kaligayahan ko — suso na gumagapang lang, na excite na ‘ko!
Oh, well.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
rhodora 02.07.08 at 6:57 pm
Wow, may sound track pa.. para akong nanonood ng sine. hehehe.
Me too - mababaw ang kaligayahan. But this did not come naturally. It took a while before I learned to appreciate small things and be happy with little discoveries. Before, I admit - when feeling sad, depressed - hubby would have to buy me new things/gadgets for the house to perk me up. I had endless complaints and wants. Never satisfied. I needed this and that. Now however, I guess I’m not so much of a material girl anymore - hence, happier!
rhodora 02.07.08 at 7:05 pm
Ay, Connie - I take back my comment about the soundtrack.. When I opened your blog kasi, I heard music.. I thought it was coming from here.. yun pala, my son played a game earlier and left an unfinished game going… hahaha! But on second thought… maganda pala pag may audio habang nagbabasa ng blog.
Connie Veneracion 02.07.08 at 7:17 pm
Nagulat ako, sabi ko, anong soundtrack? HAHAHA Kung hindi lang mas matagal mag load ang page, maganda nga may music.
Alam mo Rhodora, I think it’s living life that does it. When you’ve had the best and the worst, that’s when you learn to appreciate the simple things. I guess it’s the temporary nature of things. Like, nothing lasts forever so you learn to appreciate the moment. Corny hahahaha
luna miranda 02.07.08 at 7:21 pm
Hi Connie,
I’ve been visiting here, find your blogs very interesting and funny. I love it that you make ordinary things extraordinary. The photo of suso is cute.
Cheers!
luna miranda 02.07.08 at 7:22 pm
Oppss…forgot to mention. I’ve added your link to my page. OK lang ba?
feng 02.07.08 at 8:27 pm
ika nga nila, kanya kanyang trip lang yan. eh sa yung snail na gumagapang ang trip mo eh, bakit ba.
kotsengkuba 02.07.08 at 8:46 pm
connie.. nice shot. hahaha, yung parang mata, tentacles nya ba yun. hahaha, parang asong nasa shell. hahaha, ang galing. and i’m not even finished reading the article.
kotsengkuba 02.07.08 at 8:57 pm
hahaha, kung anu-ano nga ang naisip mo. ganun ata talaga ang mga photographers, they find interest even in the most trivial of things. minsan na-bad trip ako sa isang nagcomment dati (wala pa akong blog nun) kase mahilig ako sa macro shots, e di ba pag macro pati insekto e napagdidiskitahan mo. ang sabi ba naman, pati ba naman yan pinicturan mo, peste sya. hahaha.
kotsengkuba 02.07.08 at 8:59 pm
nga pala connie, walang comment section yung photoblog mo? wala lang…
kotsengkuba 02.07.08 at 9:06 pm
isa pang comment connie, hindi ako nangi-spam ha..
i like jessica zafra as a writer, he’s like the english version of my favorite bob ong pero what i hate about her is her hate for photographs. mababaw ang tingin nya sa photographers kase para daw naghahanap lang ng ebidensya sa mga lugar na pinuntahan nya. i don’t know kung agree ka pero di ba parang nai-time capsule mo ang isang moment kapag nakuhanan mo sya ng maganda?
akin na nga lang ang rebel xti mo. hahaha
rolly 02.07.08 at 9:54 pm
IMHO, no matter what the method used is, the cook still cut short the life of an earthly creature. Actually, I think it is more cruel had you let the snails die. It would have been slower and more painful. My preference has always been to die in my sleep but I can settle for an assasination where I would’t know what hit me rather than being buried alive.
Mababaw ang kaligayahan mo dahil suso lang na excite ka na? BAguhin mo accent, ako namn ma eescite. hahahaha
Connie Veneracion 02.07.08 at 10:47 pm
feng, si sam nga langgam ang pinagti-trip-an eh. hehehe
kotsengkuba, eh kasi hirap mag-patrol ng comments so i turned it off. re jessica zafra, ahhh that’s a pity if that’s what she thinks about photos and photographers. photography is an art — it is never just what you see but HOW you see. And a good photographer takes photos to seem to speak out to the viewer.
tito rolly, una muna, bastos ka talaga hahahahahaha ano ba punctuation mark dapat para tama yung accent, ha? re the cook, well, considering that plants are life forms too, the same principle applies. if animal rights advocates are going to scream cruelty, why should they discriminate against plants?
d0d0ng 02.08.08 at 12:10 am
Soundtrack????
I am living in a world, where there is a lot of filters….hehe, kaya di ko alam may sounds pala.
Animal cruelty issue only makes sense if the animal is not put into good use. Porke karamihan dyan hindi “cook” or “butcher” (sounds so barbaric pala yung…butcher…butchers…butchery). Di ba yung American Indian, had a lot of respect for every life forms and take only the ones necessary for food.
Tsarap tingnan yung pictures….whoaa…tuloy nakakagutom. In that sense, your picture is inducing cruelty, joke lang. Now I have to think what’s for lunch.
Connie Veneracion 02.08.08 at 12:48 am
Walang soundtrack — meron sa bahay ni Rhodora.
Lunch, dun sa Pinoy Cook. 
d0d0ng 02.08.08 at 1:44 am
omg….i can’t concentrate anymore after Pinoy Cook!
it seeems the laddle hitting the pot is adding a soundtrack to my already gurgling stomach…
Connie Veneracion 02.08.08 at 7:33 am
Luna, thank you — for not finding the suso yucky and for the link too!
D0d0ng, you didn’t know I have a food blog?
jose 02.08.08 at 9:32 am
Hi Connie,
You wrote, “if animal rights advocates are going to scream cruelty, why should they discriminate against plants?”
So which one of the following do you THINK we ought to be eating then:
a) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4
b) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYKhQWGHkM
Connie Veneracion 02.08.08 at 10:09 am
Hi Jose. Wrong question.
Re animals: How do you know that the chicken you bought from the market was indeed slaughtered in that manner? In fact, how do we know that animal rights advocates aren’t just in it for the money? Cause-oriented organizations swim in private funding, after all.
Re veggies: they’re not real.
Ria 02.08.08 at 1:43 pm
Mababaw man, sa tingin ko ay importante na ang isang tao ay may kakayahang maging masaya at makakita ng kagandahan sa mga pang-araw-araw o/at mga simpleng bagay. Para kasing mas magaan ang buhay kapag ganoon.
Re animals: I believe that animal rights advocates have the right to let the public know what they believe in and all that but I just hope that they are just as concerned for the welfare of their fellow human beings who are dying of starvation, diseases and wars.
Ami 02.08.08 at 1:59 pm
That’s the power of photography, making ordinary things EXTRAORDINARY. On animal rights, sabi nga sa Lion King, may CIRCLE of LIFE. Pagdaing sa pagkain, kanya-kanyang trip yan and we’ll just have to respect that.
julie 02.08.08 at 4:48 pm
I lwould eat suso, eeescargot whether cooked in gata or something like adobo. I love the photo of the suso and I think photographs make the things around us more interesting.
Animal cruelty is a never-ending issue. Even if everybody turn vegetarian, it would still exist.
Connie Veneracion 02.09.08 at 4:32 pm
I think this whole animal rights advocacy has become so confused that there is no longer any discernment between cruelty per se and animal slaughter as part of the food chain. While I agree that animals do not deserve man’s cruelty, I draw the line when extremists start their propaganda that veganism is the solution that ends all animal cruelty.
auee 02.17.08 at 5:50 am
I have to admit medyo na-gross out ako sa suso, pero miss ko na din yang kainin.
re: Jamie Oliver
According to BBC Breakfast news Friday morning, there has been an upward trend in buying “free-range” chickens since last year. With Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnly-Wittingstal’s docu-series about the battery chicken just added a little spike. During the first week after the show Sainsbury supermarket sold out on free-range chicken.
E considering naman that two years ago when Sainsbury’s TV ad showed Jamie Oliver cooking and evangelising asparagus, the shops ran out in a month, you’d wonder if this free-range and organic hype will last.