Category Archives: family

weekend news + recommendations

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Came home this weekend for my father’s birthday.

I can’t do any writing when I’m at home (too lazy? too comfy?), so I just spend the time on my back watching whatever show’s available, or reading. I recommend:

21 Jump Street

(Shot of goths.)

“These are the goths”

(Shot of nerds.)

“These are nerds.”

(Shot of hipsters.)

“I don’t know what these are.”

The smart nerd and the cool jock from high school end up in the police academy and become best friends. After an arrest gone wrong, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street, where they are assigned to do undercover work as high school students. Based on the series starring Johnny Depp. I don’t know how this film adaptation compares to the series, but this wins plus points for me for all the action film meta-jokes and the film’s acute awareness that the high school of ten years ago is very much different from the high school of today.

Take Shelter

Curtis lives with his wife and hearing impaired daughter in the Ohio countryside frequented by storms and tornadoes. He starts having nightmares about rain that looks like motor oil, birds flying in strange formations, and his dog and neighbors attacking him and his child. The nightmares start bleeding into his days. He has a history of mental illness, so fearing he is developing schizophrenia, he reads books, sees his mother, and talks to a counselor at the free clinic. But he also takes out a risky loan and starts repairing their tornado shelter, to the anguish of his wife. Is Curtis insane, or a prophet of dire days to come? This film is highly recommended. (And Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain should have received Oscar nominations for this! What the hell?)

Shawshank Redemption

This is a rewatch. If you haven’t seen it – what is the matter with you? This is one beautiful story that stands the test of time. It’s still as good as ever.

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Contains four short novels, three of which were adapted into films (Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, Stand by Me). All four stories are absorbing reads.

ALL OF THE BATMAN

I am particularly interested in the Dick Grayson storyline within the Batman universe. My only exposure to the first Robin is through the films (all meh) and the brilliant animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Recos? I already have Robin: Year One, but I have read Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller! Brilliant!), and a bit of the All-Star Batman and Robin series. (Frank Miller! What the fuck is this shit?)

Went back to the metro on Sunday and played with J’s cute nephew.

Well? What have you been up to? :)

moment of change and other links

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Hello, hello! A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. I spent it in Bulacan, with J and my family. I gave my mother a Strawberry Cream-scented lotion and body scrub that smelled so good I was, for a brief moment, tempted to just keep them and give her a blender instead.

Just dropping by to say that you can now buy a copy of Moment of Change from Aqueduct Press. Included here is my poem, “Prayer”, which first appeared in Stone Telling.

Shameless plug: And of course, my book, Lower Myths, is still available. Check it out if you have the time.

I compile links over here, but I want to share this now: Rochita Loenen-Ruiz’s guest post, “Decolonizing as an SF Writer“.

Mark Twain, in his essay, To the Person Sitting in Darkness, speaks out against the Imperialism of the United States and in particular against the actions taken by the Americans in subjugating the Philippines and appropriating the victory of the Filipinos against the Spanish colonizers.

Mark Twain writes in his essay about the mindset of America in those days:   We have got the Archipelago, and we shall never give it up.

When I read this essay, I can feel the bewilderment of the patriots who had fought and won the war against the Spanish, and I feel utter sorrow in knowing that our supposed allies painted us as being uncivilized and not fit to rule our own country. I also feel indignation on behalf of the soldiers who fought against the Spanish and who realized that they were facing another, more insidious enemy. The thing is, where Spain very clearly presented themselves as conquering overlords, America presented itself as a friend. It was an excellent strategy which confused us completely because what they did to the Filipino was a betrayal of that word “friend”.

And for something fun, read madmacarta. It’s my daily pick-me-up. Bonggey!

updates galore

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Life updates! Work updates! Bookswap updates!

Bookswap on April 14, where we met Kat’s friend Aych for the first time. I love doing this meetups with the girls (and occasional boy). Book nerds! Love it.

Kim and Almi weren’t present because they were celebrating their monthsary. Next time!

On April 18, J’s sister V gave birth to the cutest baby boy.

Proud uncle.

I realized then that it has been years since I last touched a baby. They’re so soft! (And so small!)

I told myself that I won’t blog about work, but this isn’t really work. The Marketing department had a team building activity at Stilts in Calatagan, Batangas on April 20 to 21. Not my first time here, but my first time to stay overnight. I’d like to go back sometime for an overnight trip with the family, or just with J.

I had fun, despite being generally cynical toward any kind of team activity.

Feeling at home.

First time to see Stilts at night...

...and in the early morning.

Office mates enjoying a quick dip.

Just look at the water! Beautiful.

We had a stopover in Tagaytay. Lunch at Dencio’s and we bought pasalubong from Amira’s and Rowena’s. J enjoyed some eclairs and ube tarts when I got home.

month number 29 + a baby shower

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Waited for J to finish his one class in UP. While waiting, I watched Awake and Red Dwarf on my Galaxy Tab, and tried in vain to look like I understood the Math long exams on the professors’ windows. Also used the faculty-members-only washroom on the second floor. How liberating.

Off to Trinoma for monthsary lunch. There was a crack on the wall so of course this picture had to be taken.

Fish & Co. First time to dine here! Had a raspberry drink and Grilled Seasonal Fish (Cream Dory) in Cajun sauce.

Cupcake froyo with mixed berries and almonds from Golden Spoon.

The baby shower was for J’s sister, who will be giving birth to a baby boy in April.

There were games! We won in Pinoy Henyo (of baby-related terms) and won two boxes of this:

We traveled South for the second leg of the baby shower, but oh my god, THE TRAFFIC WAS HORRIBLE. Horrible! We spent 4 1/2 hours on the road, more than enough time to take me back home to Bulacan. And we were just traveling from QC to Paranaque, a trip that should have taken just two hours at most!

Anyway. Still a happy day.

Aside

Went to Cubao at 1) 7 PM on a 2) FRIDAY 3) BEFORE A MAJOR HOLIDAY so I could go home. Talk about a commuter trifecta. Stood in line but ended up in a near-stampede because the bus driver didn’t give a fuck about lines, apparently. Ended up standing inside the bus for more than an hour, while those who didn’t stand in line got seats. Got home at 9, and all the frustrations fell away. Is now bathed and happy. There’s no place like home. Merry Christmas!

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Some of my favorite pictures taken in the past few weeks:

Inquirer Research batch 2005 to present (with Jaykie!)

The Editorial Party Fuel gang

This family picture was taken at my Lola’s birthday party/family reunion. We haven’t had a family picture taken in a long, long while, so this is pretty special.

Picture of a picture, so forgive the bad quality.

Too bad my mother wasn’t looking at the camera!

Look at me and Jaykie looking so enthusiastic! HAHAHA. (We were hungry.)

I guess some yearender blog posts are in order? Yes? Yes?

hear ye, hear ye

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Late post! But I’m sure you know by now that

The day has come!

“Alternative Alamat“, our digital anthology of stories inspired by Philippine mythology, is now available for US$4.99 at the following fine establishments:

  • Amazon.com – US$4.99 (note there’s an extra US$2.00 charge for certain non-US territories/accounts, including, unfortunately, the Philippines)
  • Flipreads.com (epub file) – PHP235.00
  • [iTunes and Barnes & Noble/Nook editions to follow]

I hope that by now you’re all excited to get your hands on the book (or, rather, the hardware holding the file), and if so, thank you and what are you waiting for? If you’re still on the fence even after the preview of our contributor and story introductions, and our author interviews (Raissa, Mo, Eliza), then read on (or download the press release here)!

You heard the boss. Click here to see a glimpse of some of the non-fiction segments of the book, as well as the wonderful artwork of Mervin Malonzo, creator of “Tabi Po”.

What’s been happening? My maternal grandmother’s birthday on the 8th, my paternal grandmother’s birthday on the 11th. That was epic, because it was Lola’s 90th birthday (90th birthday!) and they had a reunion party with games and raffles and all. I brought Jaykie but knew and was able to introduce only at most five percent of my relatives there. (Fail!) It was nice to see the boyfriend mingling with family. Even family I didn’t know, haha.

On the 9th I visited the old office to see my friends.

Company Christmas party on the 14th. Theme was Famous Couples and I came in as Veronica with another officemate as Betty. But I don’t think anyone really understood I was supposed to be Veronica. At least Betty had a blonde wig.

Didn’t win anything at the raffle, as per usual. (One of the new girls won an iPad! Why can’t I be that lucky?)

Really looking forward to the holiday vacation so I can write, write, write, read, read, read.

thanksgiving

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We don’t have Thanksgiving Day here in the Philippines, but that didn’t stop J’s family (who has relatives in Nevada, Oklahoma, New York, and beyond) from whipping up a fabulous dinner.

Behold! Cornbread, pan-fried chicken, biscuits, veggie pot pie (not in picture), steak, mac and cheese, chunky gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing.

For dessert: pecan pie, candied yams (yams topped with marshmallows), and pumpkin mousse tart (not pictured).

I am thankful for: family (mine and J’s), good stories, good weather, good friends, good food, and J.

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Greenhills on Sunday! I now know how to commute to Greenhills! Tao na ako.

Dinner at Bizu. Best clam chowder we’ve ever tasted.

J treated me to Happy Lemon! Cocoa Rock Salt and Cheese at last! No picture of the drink, but believe me, it’s very tasty. And also very rich, so maybe next time I’ll just order the regular size.

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Re-posting an open call for submissions:

Editors Dean Francis Alfar (publisher of the Philippine Speculative Fictionanthologies) and Kenneth Yu (publisher of Philippine Genre Stories) announce an open call for short fiction submissions for HORROR: Fantastic Filipino Fiction for Young Adults.

The Fantastic Filipino Fiction for Young Adults is a new annual anthology series, with the first volume focusing on horror, and launching in mid-2012.

More details here.

the birthday weekend, in bullets

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  • J bought me Stephen King’s Full Dark, No Stars on Oct. 29 and I finished reading it two days later. Do I even have to mention that this is an absolute page-turner? What a fantastic volume of stories. Full Dark is peopled with characters caught in tragic circumstances (rape and assault, a terminal illness, murder) that stretch them to their limits. Their tragedies lead to the discovery of the Other Self – either the darker self that leads to more ruination, or the stronger self that helps them survive. I think King is strongest when writing the short novel. With full novels he tends to meander; with short stories he tends to resort to cheap B-movie horror tricks. Take any King novel or short story collection and you’ll know which parts/stories you can remove without feeling shortchanged. I can’t remove any of the stories from Full Dark. Not one of them.
  • I went with J’s family to Holy Cross. Weather was nice and we had a lovely walk.
  • Horror movie marathon with J’s sisters and brother-in-law. Here’s our feast: chicken wings with blue cheese dip, bread and cheese, various sausages, apple cheesecake, coconut cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
  • Pumpkin mousse tart! Made by J’s sister, V. I could eat this every day.
  • Watched Dawn of the Dead, Trick r Treat, The Crazies, and Kababalaghan aka The Return of Magandang Gabi Bayan and Nostalgia. (My childhood!)
  • Went home to Bulacan! Caldereta, kare-kare, menudo, adobo, yema, pastillas, Oreo cheesecake (from my sister and her boyfriend), leche flan. My father and J finished a bottle of Johnny Walker (Black) at 2 in the afternoon (J was coerced). J ended up napping most of the time. He said he liked the wind there.
  • We watched Rec 2, which we hated with a passion.
  • All too soon we had to leave. We stopped by SM North Edsa and tried two restaurants. One is Hapadog, the Japanese hotdog place. We were amused by their Japanese soda, which you had to open by pressing down on the bottle opening to push down the marble holding the soda back why does it have to be this complicated, Japan?
  • They have good food! I had Californippon, california maki in hotdog form, hehe.
  • Jaykie had Hapadog.
  • Lychee iced tea, so good.
  • Then we went to Gong Cha, where I was unknowingly rechristened.
  • After the weekend, got my copies of Metro Serye! Thanks Mookie!

what happened on sunday

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  • Received a text message from my parents saying that they’re okay, and that the flood water’s starting to recede. Tried calling them but failed to reach them. I think they turned off their phones on Saturday to save power (and probably turned them off again?) since they still don’t have electricity. At least I got word from them after more than 24 hours. Thanks to everyone who expressed their concern and offered their prayers and good thoughts. :)
  • Met up with two of my siblings (my brother was in UPLB) and my cousin and J. Lunch at Friday’s in Trinoma, coffee at Seattle’s Best. We also saw The Change-Up.

  • Body switch comedy, like a mini-Here Comes The Bride. (Bongga sa comparison!) Toilet humor galore and formulaic but enjoyable enough for a lazy Sunday.
  • Still a bit blue but life goes on. It’s Monday now.

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6 Luzon dams release water, worsen floods

Calumpit floods worst in 40 years

Floods swamp Bulacan as dams release water

I called my mother yesterday and she said the Hagonoy town market (including our store, and most of our goods for sale) is now underwater. Water inside the house now reaches her neck, and the water outside can completely submerge a person. My parents and my lola still have food and drinking water, but there’s still no electricity and running water’s scarce. They can’t leave the house. Prayers, please. :(