Old Photo of Cecilia and Lauren

Cecilia and Lauren Brainard

Dear Readers, I have been very busy so please forgive my short blog entries. I promise to do better as soon as my work clears up.

For now, I'm sharing an old photo that I had to dig up and scan.

I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. I'm adding a cropped picture of me and a photo of my mother. Someone said I look like her. I never saw the similarity in the past, but now I do.

 

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

 Concepcion Cuenco before she married and became Concepcio Cuenco Manguerra 

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Cat in Frog Vase Pottery - #catpics

Every day my two cats make me laugh.

Recently I found my cat Che nestled in my vintage frog vase!

He wouldn't move, even when I took the vase (and him) down from the kitchen window.

I had to gently pull him out of the vase. Thankfully he did not resist. When I returned the vase to the kitchen window, I had to cover the opening to discourage him from settling in it again.

Brainard Pictures Christmas 2015

Here are some Christmas pictures.
Happy New Year!

Pictures of Bethlehem where Christ Was Born

I took these pictures of Bethlehem in 2008.

The top pictures show the Church of the Nativity.

Pictures: Cecilia Brainard and Maryknoll and St. Theresa's Friends

Here are pictures of my St. Theresa's and Maryknoll chums. I see Nina Yuson, Marily Ysip, Brenda Nuval, Joy Uytioco, Maribel Paraz, Mila Santillan, Chona Preston, Tina Borja Heiter, Edith Alcantara, Precy Florentino, Lyn Enriquez, Meldee Perez, among others.

Brainard Pictures Friends and Family 1997

This was our Christmas card in 1997.

The collage below shows friends I saw that year:

I see Resil Mojares, John Silva, Isagani Cruz, Danton Remoto, Krip Yuson, the American USIS representative Bernie Lovejoy, teachers and workshop participants of a USIS program.

Happy holidays!

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Brainard Christmas Pictures 1993
Brainard Christmas Photos 1994
Brainard Christmas Photo 1995
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Christmas Reflection: The Holy Family as Refugees

Tags: Christmas, holidays, #christmas, friends, family, pictures, Maryknoll, Philippines, St. Theresa's College, Philippine

This is all for now,
Cecilia and family

Brainard Pictures Friends and Family 1995

The top picture was the Brainard Christmas card in 1995.

Support #ParisWeLoveYou #Paris

It's fun and easy to support the #ParisWeLoveYou project.

Tweet your favorite Paris pictures and add your profile picture in www.ParisWeLoveYou.com

Here are some of my favorite Paris pictures:

Brainard Christmas Pictures - 1993

I used to make collages like this one to greet family and friends during Christmas. I found some of them and will be posting these this holiday season.

I didn't have an accompanying newsletter. I always found those boasting newsletters awful, but now I wish I had included some narrative with the pictures. 

Let's see if I remember what went on: 

Top left - I gave a talk in the Philippines as part of a USIS Lecture Tour;

Top right - Two of my sons and I were in Hong Kong;

Mid left - We think that was taken in Mexico;

Mid right - Lauren and two sons in front of Cal Plaza Building, LA

Bottom left - Graduation of a son; he's with his two grandmothers and his Dad;

Bottom right - Our sons with cousins in the Philippines

Stay tuned for more Brainard Christmas Pictures!

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Brainard Christmas Photos 1994

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Brainard Pictures Family and Friends 1997

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Christmas Reflection: The Holy Family as Refugees

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This is all for now,

Cecilia and Family

Thanksgiving Day Family Pictures 2015

Here are some Thanksgiving Pictures.

Happy holidays!

Pictures: Autumn in Venice, Southern California

This is how Venice Beach is looking today.

We tried the Eggs Benedict at the Terrace in Venice Beach, California, and it's pretty good, but they serve this until 2 p.m. only.


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This is all for now,
Cecilia

Pet Pictures: Two Cats at My Desk!!!

What's going on guys?

How am I supposed to write over both of you?

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     This is all for now,

    Cecilia

Photos of Children from Colombia, Croatia, Amsterdam, Philippines

Photo by Hilary Walling, Little Boy in Colombia 

Here are some photos of children ... our future. 

Have a great weekend! 

Photo by Hilary Walling, Child in front to St. Mark's Church in Zagreb, Croatia

Children Watching Puppet Show in Dam Square, Amsterdam, Cecilia's photo

Boy Studying in Cebu, Philippines, photo courtesy of Joyce Torrefranca

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My Myanmar (Burma) Photo Published in CEO and Business Management Magazines!

A while back Daniel from a not-for-profit outfit working for health in Myammar (Burma) emailed asking permission to use a picture that I took of a little boy in a flower market in Burma. It would be used for a job advertisement for a new senior local member or staff. He said they wanted "to be more impactful and innovative than usual, and thought of associating with an attractive and positive image of life in Burma."

I gave him permission to use it and today he emailed back:

HI Cecilia,

Just wanted to forward you this – a bit later than I had originally promised, due to my summer vacation.

This is a scan from CEO magazine; we also used a B2B Business Management magazine.

Once again, thank you again for use of the picture.

Regards

Daniel

~~~

Guest Blogger: Tesla the Cat "Cecilia Brainard Expose No. 1"

My name is Tesla. I'm today's Guest Blogger because the Woman Who Opens Cans is jet-lagged. 

Before I begin, let me tell you something about myself. My brother and I are owners of the Woman Who Opens Cans, otherwise known as Cecilia Brainard or Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. She likes to say she owns me and my brother, but that is false. We own her and her husband. This is evident in how they are the ones who serve us: they feed us, clean us, keep our box clean, and so on. 

Travel France: Paris Picasso Museum, Louvre, Love Locks on Bridges

Today we visited the Picasso Museum in Paris (in the Marais District), which was reopened last October 2014. The museum is a renovated 17th century building, which in itself is a pleasure to visit. (The vaulted ceilings with wood rafters in the top floor are quite handsome!)

Travel France: Some Pictures that Make Me Smile

Here are some pictures taken in France that make me smile. 

The top photo shows the Eiffel Tower at sunset. the next two show the youngest member of our travel group posing for me.

France Travel: Paris, Sainte-Chapelle and Musee d'Orsay

To avoid the crowd of tourists, we went early to Sainte-Chapelle. Even at 9:30, there was already a line although the wait to get in wasn't that bad. People entered in batches. We went through a metal detector and security check, after which we bought our tickets and entered the royal medieval chapel built by St. Louis (King Louis IX) in the 13th century. The Gothic chapel was intended to house Jesus' crown of thorns and other relics.

Travel France: BatoBus in Paris for Sightseeing

I discovered the Batobus of Paris last October. It's a boat service on the Siene that makes eight stops: Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay, Saint-Germaine-des-Prix, Notre-Dame, Jardin des Plante, Hotel de Ville, Louvre, and the Champs-Elysees.

Travel France: Impressionist Painter Claude Monet's Giverny

We left Brittany and made our way to Giverny where the artist Claude Monet had lived. Monet was one of the founders of Impressionism. From Wikipedia, I quote:

"From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property, and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life."

Claude Monet, picture courtesy of Wikipedia

The top pictures were taken at Giverny. It was a sunny day and relatively warm, and the flowers at Giverny were blooming. Unfortunately, Giverny was crowded, which minimized the pleasure of the visit, but it was still a great opportunity to see the artist's house and pond. We also saw a Degas exhibit at Giverny.


One of the things I have enjoyed in our trip is seeing the sites, such as Honfleur, Pont-Aven, and Giverny, that had inspired famous artists.

The other night we stayed in a house that featured in one of Monet's paintings (titled On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt), the original of which is exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Look at the house on the top right of the painting. See that window? That's the window of the room we occupied!)