Hiring

job opening for:
Senior Program Officer for the Marketing Communications Office

job description:
writing, publications, and communications work for De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

requirements:
preferably male, excellent writing/editing skills, good people/public relations skills, and willing to travel.

526-7441 to 47 ext. 252 or 253

Hiring

job opening for:
Senior Program Officer for the Marketing Communications Office

job description:
writing, publications, and communications work for De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

requirements:
preferably male, excellent writing/editing skills, good people/public relations skills, and willing to travel.

526-7441 to 47 ext. 252 or 253

traditional workshop internet stop-over

I remember Astrid's post last year, when she was here. Wala lang. Miss you guys. Meet tayo third week April, oks ba? Nagbaon ako ng Onyx dito. Wala pa akong nababasa ni isang tula.

The Stranger ni Albert Camus. Binili ko kasi P12 lang. How could you say no to a deal like that? Madali lang siyang basahin as in super kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit siya widely-acclaimed na libro. Pero syempre disturbing how napaka withdrawn ng main character sa pagkamatay ng nanay niya, sa pagpatay niya sa isang tao, pagkakulong niya at eventually sa kanyang court trial. kakaiba yung court hearing nila parang sa pilipinas. wala namang kinalaman sa kaso niya pilit ng pinapasok ng kalaban na lawyer. sabi nga ng ilang reviews, absurd dawang court scene pero para sa akin hindi naman absurd kasi nangyayari nga yun sa atin. sige pagiisipan ko pa itong librong ito. maikli lang siya pero masarap namnamin kasi it's too easy alam mong hindi siya ganun ka simple.

Laundry: Hints & Tips

Doing the laundry is one of those inescapable facts of life, like death, or maybe the quest to find your own tax number. But laundry is sort of important to me because of relatively recent findings: (1) detergents are harsh, and (2) my hands don't like evil detergents. And those are not very good discoveries when you have a mountain range of laundry in your room.

So I was looking for better ways to handle the, uh, subject and found this book by Cynthia Harris, Laundry: Hints & Tips. I was hoping for entire sections on handwashing, since I decided that my clothes have turned into these horrible faded things and new clothes are not exactly easy to come by. But, of course, this being a Western creation, laundry is now automatically done by machines with all sorts of settings and speeds for drying and spinning and whatever.

Most interesting discoveries: (1) You should put intimates and other delicate fabrics in laundry bags before putting them in the wash. I don't own laundry bags, which suspiciously look like the shoe bags somebody once gave me for Christmas, used once, and promptly disappeared in my next out of town trip. (2) How to properly fold a shirt so it won't wrinkle. You only button the first, third and last buttons so it doesn't bulge, and sleeves ar folded in some slanted manner. Hoo-kay. (3) Coffee stains are removed in various ways depending on whether it was warm, cold, black, black but without sugar, or without sugar but with milk.

After that last tip, I gave up and decided that I'll send my next batch of laundry to the store again. But first, I'll have to deal with that bed sheet set that I soaked and the whites on which I tried this special kind of soap. Hell on my hands again. Drats.

Laundry: Tips and Hints is my Book #8.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my Book #8.

I finally got to finish a David Sedaris book and I'm glad I did. I first heard about him some years back, and I had a copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day sitting on my shelf for like years, really. I'm not really sure why I didn't read it, except now I sort of regret it. As I've previously said, I finished half of Me Talk Pretty sitting in a bookstore one afternoon. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was my commuter and bedtime reading material for a little over a week.

It's a fast read: he's funny, and he makes the most mundane topics special. Whether he's arguing with his boyfriend, looking for a new apartment, or just scrubbing his sister's floors, you'd have chuckling moments. Although with this one, you get the sense that Sedaris wants to be more than funny, an I-can-also-feel-pain-and-be-insightful-dammit! feel to it. He talks about being cast out of his parents' house not for boozing or for dropping out of college but for being gay, about an all-boys sleep over that feels a bit strange in the end, or about befriending the nine-year-old girl next door who could cuss like a sailor and steal the pants off you. And somehow there's that feel. I'd say that Me Talk Pretty was funnier, but this one had its moments too. And it makes you feel like his family is your family, only that they don't really know you. But who can really claim that their families know them, as in really really know them anyhow?

Oy Dennis!

Pakita ka naman bago ka umakyat ng Baguio! Saka I would still appreciate your comments dun sa story. Meron na akong 2nd draft but I'll be working on it's third incarnation soon. So your comments are still very much welcome. Pero alam kong busy ka what with all the student papers coming in and all. Ako nga rin may gustong sulatin pero di pa rin maka-buwelo.

Smaller and Smaller Circles

Ang Smaller and Smaller Circles ni FH Batacan ang aking Book #7. It's a detective thriller featuring a Jesuit priest with rock star hair and old money cooly running after a serial killer in the Payatas area whose main targets are little boys aged 12-13.

Ang bilis lang niya basahin. Interesting siya para sa akin kasi it's a detective thriller. Kung ikaw ay typical na bookworm na bata na nagbasa ng Nancy Drew nung mid-grade school ka (or Bobsey Twins o Hardy Boys), masisiyahan ka sa librong ito. I think I read somewhere that a film company optioned this book and might be turned into a movie. O di ba?

But anyhow, I think of this book as some kind of mutant. Gusto ko lang enumerate ang weirdness niya para sa akin:

1. Pari ang bida. (Hello, Father Nudas, wherever you are.) Jesuit na galing sa mayamang pamilya at guwapo. (6 feet 3! Rock star hair! Listens to REM!) Forensic anthropologist na nag-aral sa France and can speak at least 4 languages. Can you say rennaisance man? So ang mga Heswita at ang kanilang "Ad majorem" ek na motto ay hindi lang pang-outreach program at pagtuturo ang ginagawa kundi they are also tough guys who can apprehend a smooth criminal.

Sabi nga ulit ni Augusto Saenz, S.J.: “You think you have an interesting life,” Saenz says by way of explaining why he engages in forensic sleuthwork. “And for the most part you do. You teach, you say Mass, you conduct research, see patients. Travel. Lecture. You do everything you’re supposed to do the way it’s supposed to be done. Once in a while, there’s a chance to do more. And you take it.”

Father Gus and his assistant Jerome Lucero are so alike in mind na puwede nilang tapusin ang sentences ng isa't isa. Si Jerome ay dati niyang estudyante, and I can smell some tension, heehee. Point of interest sa akin kung paano ang mga alagad ng Diyos ay ico-combine ang very logical way of solving crime. Una, natural ba yan sa Pilipinas? Ang detective genre ay isang Western na tipo ng fiction. Western, logical, very Enlightenment era ang mga bida at genre mismo. Paano gagawin ang transfer sa isang lugar na ang knowledge ay dinadaan sa "kutob"?

2. May serial killer. Ang mga serial killer ay matalino--graduate nga siya ng UP eh. At puwede siyang maging poster boy tulad ni La Diva: galing sa poor family, Payatas bred. Yun nga lang abused. (Using my best Neil Garcia voice: "Were you molested as a child?") Sabi nila, walang mga serial killer sa Pinas dahil ang criminal profile na ganito ay pang "thirty something white male." Pero may theory si Father Gus: “..serial killing is a far more prevalent phenomenon in the country than the police have the capability or the inclination to detect. This is because little, if any comparison is ever made between the particulars of murders committed at different times or places.”

Gusto ko pang mag-elaborate kaya lang kasi may exam pa dito ang mga estudyante ko sa Monday so itutuloy ko na lang some other time. Pero gusto ko lang i-share na disappointed ako sa class discussion namin kasi naman parang laki sa vacuum ang mga tao sa klase ko. I specifically chose this book kasi it's somehow bridging the popular with the literary--I know, I know, it's been said of the book countless of times. And I figured, it'll be an interesting read for those who read The Da Vinci Code. But the thing was, halos walang nagbabasa sa kanila ng kahit na Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie o kahit na nga Silence of the Lambs or The Borne Conspiracy. The closest they can get is C.S.I. pero napaka-bare nun. Paano mo ipapa-critique ang isang genre kung yung tradisyon mismo nito hindi nila alam? Ano yun balik Formalist na naman ba kami? Gusto ko ngang mag-Neil Garcia impression ulit kahapon eh: "You are all so culturally deprived." Hay.

whoah! nabuhay!

oist bopis!
musta na? bigla kang nawala? ano new number mo? e-mail mo naman.

Ngayong wala pang nababasa ni isang piyesa sa mga antolohiyang Raven

8:42 PM 3/8/05

To the University by 1/2 past 10. Draw the corps[e] till 1/2 past 2. Got on quite merrily & finished it 2 hours sooner than was obligate on me. As I was going met Marshall who could not keep away from the sweets of the charnel house.

Ford Madox Brown
March 14, 1802
Diary entry


Okay. Heto ang mga nabasa ko mula Enero hanggang Pebrero. Apat dito, para sa aking compre exams. Igugrupo-grupo ko na para kahit paano maanoteyt ko naman. Tama sina BChucks at KGirl. Medyo wa wenta kung lista lang ang ibibigay, di ba?

Mga natibistang trabaho ni Felipe Landa Jocano ang una. Ayon kay Arnold Molina Azurin, okay naman ang natibista, pero problematiko ang ultranatibismo. Para sa akin ganito ang halimbawa nito. Tama lang na para sa pangangailangan ng propaganda, sasabihin ng mga Muslim na hindi pa sila nagagapi. Hindi ito kasinungalingan kung hindi paniniwala. Sa isang antas naman talaga, totoo. Kumpara sa atin, may bagay na hindi pa sila ibinibigay. At ito mismo ang paniniwalang hindi sila gapi. Ngunit kapag niyakap ito bilang katotohanang may batayang obhetibo, hindi uubra laluna't may dokumentadong pirmahan ng mga Kano at Muslim. Lalong problematiko kung isasakay rito bilang axiom ang mga susunod na tuklasin at saliksik.

Mapagdedebatehan ang punyagi ni Jocano kung natibista o ultra. May matutunog pa ring mga boses na nagsasabi pa ngang pasista ito dahil sa sentrong hangaring maging instrumento ng estado (at mga kaugnay na aparato) mula nuong panahon ng rehimeng Marcos hanggang ngayon.

Sa kabila nito, mahalaga pa ring basahin muna at pahalagahan ang tekstong titimbangin, babatikusin, o lalampasan. Examiner ko siya. Binasa ko ang tatlo sa kanyang serye na Anthropology of the Filipino People. Repaso na lang sa una, ang Filipino Prehistory: Rediscovering Precolonial Heritage (1), dahil nabasa ko na ang mga una at huling kabanata nito nuong guro ko pa si Dr. Jocano. Natapos ko rin ang Filipino Value System: A Cultural Definition (2) at Filipino Indigenous Ethnic Communities (3) upang pangunahan ang kaba sa pagsusulit. Susubukan ko munang tapusin ang kurso bago maghain pa ng karagdagang palagay, hehe.

Binasa ko rin ang Collective Security: Shield of Freedom (4), isang relic ng umaatikabong aksyon at init ng digmaang lamig. Medyo punyeta lang sa aking palagay na tawaging cold war ang peryodo dahil hindi nagbanatan na harapan ang Estados Unidos at Unyong Sobyet. Paano kung para sa Afghanistan, Vietnam, Pilipinas, mga bayang Balkan at ibang mga komunidad, sadyang mainit pa sa shrapnel, asero, dugo, at napalm ang gerang ito? Tatanggapin na lang bang malamig ang gerang mainit at 'proxy' ang digmang naging singkongkreto at singlapit ng bumabagsak na adobe at nilalangaw na katawan?

Nakakatuwang basahin itong inilathala ng SEATO. Ang cute talaga mag-isip ng mga nasa kapangyarihan. Kung mabobobo ako sa pagiging hegemon, okay na, magpapaka-underdog na lang muna. Wala na munang masinsing pagmumuning akademiko sa mga merit at demerit ng kolektibong meta-pambansa. Mabuti lang sigurong sabihing sa aking palagay, may pag-unlad naman sa larangan ng mga relasyong bansa sa bansa kumpara nuon. Pero kung gagawing batayan ang gerang Afghanistan at Iraq at ang mga sitwasyon tulad ng nangyari sa mga nahostage na kababayan, halatado naman sanang malayong-malayo pa tayo sa sa humanistang ideyal sa larangang ire.

Natapos ko rin ang tatlong libro ng tula sa aking pagsusumikap na muling magpakamakata o magunita ang dating dugong nahumaling sa pagpapakamakata. Mas mabilis pa rin ang magbasa ng dula para sa akin. Katulad ng inaaasahan, mas mabagal ako sa sandaang pahina ng tula kaysa katumbas na bilang sa prosa. May nakuha ako sa ikaapat na palapag ng NBS Cubao, matagal na itong nakabimbin sa kwarto. Si Andrada pa nga ang nag-abot sa akin nito kaya halos dalawang taon na ang lumipas sa pagitan ng pagbili at pagbasa.

Tinutuhog ni Judith W. Steinbergh ang isang mayamang persona sa librong Lillian Bloom: A Separation (5). Nakakaganyak basahin ang antolohiya, magkakahiwalay ang mga tula ngunit may progresyong naratibo mula kondisyon ni LB sa kanyang mag-anak, sa pangengerida ng kanyang asawa, sa pakikipaghiwalay nito, pag-aapuhap ni LB ng identidad sa ingress at egress ng mga bata sa kanilang palitan ng custody (at labas-masok ng mga lalaki sa kanyang binasurang buhay), at ang pagkamit ng kontrata sa sarili sa huling tula ("Now, Alone is a bedpartner").

Ipinangregalo ko ang aking kopya pero pinirata ko muna, inencode ko. Ipamimigay ko rin sa may gusto. E-mail. Para lahat tayo, kakama itong si Alone.

Binasa ko rin ang mas kontemporanyong trabaho ni Amy Gerstler (higit sa isang dekada ang pagitan nila ni Steinbergh). Nerve Storm (6) ang pamagat. Matagal ko na naumpisahan ang libro, pa-isa-isang piyesa, bago pa ako nag-LB. Paborito ko ang tulang "Dust" at "A Mermaid's Purse" dati. Ngayong nabasa ko na ang buo, marami akong bagong natipuhan. Mahusay sa paghahabi ng imahe itong si Gerstler. Ansarap. Kahit nahihilo na ako sa biyahe, binabasa ko pa rin. Gusto ko halimbawa sa "Dust" na naikawing ang alikabok sa tao at mga tala, nagdagdag ng nihilistikong dimensyon sa kasabihan pagkarenasimyento ng agham na ang pareho ang 'stuff' ng bituin at tao. Marami ring eksperimento sa porma, halimbawa sa isang tula na journal ng isang nanunuod sa mga langgam. Naalala ko tuloy si Thoreau at si P- (na kahit paano'y natuwa sa aking pagninilay-nilay sa mga langgam).

Muli, naengganyo ako sa wika ni Jose F. Lacaba sa Edad Medya: Mga Tula sa Katanghaliang Gulang (7). Gusto ko naman ngayong sumisid sa maalapaap na panulaan ni Lamberto Antonio. Para sa akin, paralel ngunit inverse direksyon ng mga operasyon nila. Kahit kapag lupa at matsora na ang tinutulaan ni Antonio, parang may elemento pa ring lulumutang. Si Lacaba, kahit mga tala na ang minamalas, lalo pa ring napaiigting ang pakiramdam ng pagkaugat sa lupa at tae ng kalabaw at tao.

Sisikapin kong ikumpol sa mga serye ang aking mga nabasa upang may masusundang pisi. May ilan pa akong akdang hindi naiaanoteyt dahil may nais pa akong tapusin. Susunod kong tatalakayin ang paborito kong probinsya ng mito pagkalagpas ko kina Bly, Campbell, at Busiek.

KGirl, nabasa ko ang iyong maikling kwento at malamang huli na ang komento ko sa anumang paggagamitan mo nito. Sana hindi. Mas bubusisiin ko ito pagkalampas ko sa mga papel ng mga estudyante (alam mo naman ito). Nakakadalawang basa na ako at natuwa ako sa kwento.

Malinamnam talaga ang sari-saring dugo ng mga kwentong coming-of-age. Medyo marami na akong nabasa nito at akala ko, pagkatapos kong ibuhos kina Peñamora at Red ang paglangoy sa dugong ito, mahihirapan na akong masarapan sa mga susunod kong babasahing istoryang rite de passage. Totoo, syempre, pero sadyang bago pa rin para sa akin ang trabaho mo, hindi lang sa larangan kundi kahit sa wika. Oo, kahit pa medyo naaalala ko sina Jeanette Winterson, Jamaica Kincaid, at Sandra Cisneros sa tabas ng dila mo. Medyo lang naman.

BChilde, Tamadita, at CLFidelis, kailangang magka-antolohiya ang Angas (mala-Ravens pero sana hindi) bago tayo mamatay.

Huwag kalimutan, nuong panahong impresyonable pa tayong kabataan at naglalaway lamang sa libreng meryenda ng mga kumperensya at book-launch ng Bulwagang Rizal, at narinig natin ang imortal na mga kataga ng matayog at nasirang Joaquin: "I'm a Raven!"

Dahil masarap ang libre at libreng mangarap, darating ang panahon, may sisigaw: "Ako, ang Angas ko!" At may mga sirang maaapektuhan kahit naghihintay lang ng libreng meryenda.

The Tipping Point

Hindi kaya may epidemic ang kabagalan ng pagbasa? If ever, at least we're not alone. There's this article expressing guilt for feeling like a cretin whenever he abandons supposedly "good books":

It is a dark burden to bear, this business of not finishing books. You start out with all the goodwill in the world. You flip the pages diligently. Your circle of acquaintances expands by a dozen or more as this cast of made-up people enters your life. And before you even find out how it all turns out for them, you set them aside. What's your problem?

I don't know what my problem is. I started reading The Best American Erotica 2005 at Powerbooks in Megamall. I actually finished like half of it in the three hours I sat there. Then when I came back to finish it like two weeks later, all the copies were gone. As in all gone. And they're not to be found in any of the Powerbooks branches in Manila either. So I had to abadon that one. But Tamadita has a copy and if she lends me that I might still finish the book. Panalo yung story dun about the Salem witch hunt. Hint hint. Hehe.I'm also reading TBAE 2003, but I'm not even a quarter done, just 4 stories pa lang yata. At malamang na di ko siya matapos agad dahil I'm stuck with Butch Dalisay's Killing Time in a Warm Place na irereport ko dapat sa MA class ko later and well...I'm procrastinating by blogging here. Oh well.

So balik sa unfinished books. Gwen dropped by some weeks back to lend me Chuck P's Diary, which I haven't even cracked open yet. She asked me for recommendations on what to read. I scanned my shelves and stacks and told her I heard very nice things about David Sedaris. I lent her my hardbound copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day, which has been living on my shelves for like 3 years na, but I haven't read a page of it. She took it with her, and then I felt guilty for giving someone a book I haven't even read yet. So when I went to Powerbooks in Mega (again) I swiped a paperback of it from the shelves and digested more than half of it while I was there. David Sedaris is funny. That Wednesday I told Twisted/Sister that I found David Sedaris v v funny, especially that story about his stint as a CW teacher. Me can relate. Later that week, Twisted/Sister dropped off a nice copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim which I had also started reading but haven't finished yet. I want to bonk myself on the head for not reading the damn book when I had it there gathering mold. Okay, thank you, Twisted/Sister. I'll try to return your book within this lifetime.

So on to something I actually did finish: Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. Quite interesting. Took me maybe five freaking weeks to finish since we declared Malcolm Gladwell Day at the start of February, but now I'm done and hoping that I get to finish everything that I started.

book #3

ambagal kong magbasa. pero try ko mag catch up during the holy week kasi lazy town naman pupuntahan natin e. Kakatapos ko lang ng aking bedtime reading book na ang title ay Skellig na tungkol sa isang batang lalaki na bagong lipat at nakakita ng stranger sa kanilang garage. ang angst ng bata ay may sakit ang baby sister niya at baka hindi mabuhay. may bago siyang friend na girl na nagho-homeschool na parang matanda kung mag-isip at mahilig kay william blake. yung stranger turns out to be an angel. maiikli lang ang mga chapter kaya siguro natapos ko agad. oks lang naman. nothing fabulous.

for lack of better things to do, i thought of making a list of the books i've read in 2005 and keep it online separate from this blog just to properly count them.

spilling the beans

since dennis is not responding to all our calls, i'll spill the beans na lang. check this out. fresh from icw:

UP ICW NAMES 20 WRITING FELLOWS

LIKHAAN: The UP Institute of Creative Writing (UP ICW) has named 20 writers from all over the country as Fellows to the 44th UP National Writers Workshop. The Workshop will be held from 27 March to 9 April 2005 at the Inn Rocio in Baguio City. The Workshop theme is “Panitikan at Globalisasyon.”
From a total of 125 applicants, the chosen ones are: Fiction in English – Billy T. Antonio (City College of Urdaneta), Carljoe M. Javier (UP Diliman), Michelle C. Sia (DLSU Manila) & Ana Maria Socorro G. Villanueva (DLSU Manila); Fiction in Filipino – Dennis Andrew S. Aguinaldo (UP Diliman), Ma. Regina L. Marcos (UP Diliman), Errol A. Merquita (UP Mindanao) & Chuckberry J. Pascual (UP Diliman); Poetry in Filipino ? Dexter B. Cayanes (UP Diliman), Jaime Dasca Doble (Asia Pacific Film Institute), Emmanuel V. Dumlao (UP Los Baños) & Maricristh T. Magaling (UP Diliman); Poetry in English – Catherine L Candano (AdMU), Arkaye Kierulf (AdMU), Lourdes Marie S. La Viña (UP Diliman), Ma. Virginia M. Torres (UP Diliman); Poetry in Bikol – Jocelyn Alarcon Bisuña (Ateneo de Naga University) & Victor Dennis T. Nierva (AdNU); Drama ? Layeta P. Bucoy (UP Los Baños) & Mae Angelica Therese Heruela (UP Diliman).
The Teaching Staff, for the first week (27 March to 2 April), are: Victor Emmanuel D. Nadera Jr. (UP ICW Director), Joi Barrios (Workshop Director), Amelia Lapena-Bonifacio, José Y. Dalisay Jr., Bienvenido Lumbera, Carla M. Pacis (Workshop Coordinator), Roland B. Tolentino, Ricardo M. de Ungria & Rene O. Villanueva; for the second week (3-9 April): Nadera, Barrios, Gémino H. Abad, Virgilio S. Almario, J. Neil C. Garcia, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Charlson L. Ong & Jun Cruz Reyes.

The Workshop Fellows are requested to confirm their participation on or before 20 March. For inquiries call the UP ICW at 922-1830.

He comes from the hereafter.

I dunno. He hasn't e-mailed, called, or made his presence felt in such a long time. Texting is out of the question since he lost it in the damn bus.

Maybe in his baul? Can someone clear this up? What about the guys? Baka kailangan na tayong magpost ng poster na nakalagay: "Kabilang sa mga nawawala."

mystery for you

where in the world is mr. dennis aguinaldo?