Year: 2011

on japan

What happened in Japan was the worst disaster I have ever seen and heard in my life. An earthquake followed by aftershocks with magnitudes comparable to major earthquakes (a magnitude 6 earthquake marked as an “aftershock” – can you imagine?), a tsunami that swept through the Pacific and reached the coast of California, a possible nuclear meltdown in one of its power plants, and fatalities possibly in the thousands.

The earthquake was so strong that it moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet and shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches.

I can still remember how terrified I was when I realized that wishing the tsunami away wouldn’t do any good because it was already on its way, it was only a matter of time. At least 20 countries were warned and monitored the wave as it approached, like victims bracing for impact.

Thankfully it didn’t do damage in the Philippines.

Thankfully it didn’t happen in the Philippines, or we wouldn’t have survived it. We are so ill-equipped, so ill-prepared, and so stubborn.(Remember the concerns raised after the tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004? When Ondoy came years later we still didn’t have enough rubber boats to rescue stranded citizens. Jesus Christ.)

Thankfully we didn’t revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. One earthquake, and we’d surely be covered not only with rubble but also with radioactive fallout.

I’ve always been against nuclear energy -just so many risks, and where will we stash the waste? – but I didn’t wish to be validated in this way.

Nature operates on the principles of balance and cycle and order – it does not operate on morality. It doesn’t happen to you because you’re evil, it does not not happen to you because you’re good. That’s why to die or suffer from nature’s effects is so painful, because you are not taken into consideration, because you cannot blame anyone, because you cannot ask for mercy.

But I do so fervently hope nature would spare us and allow people to rebuild in peace.

the weekend

Friday! Early lunch at Army Navy and Frutti Froyo c/o Jaykie and family. Burned calories in badminton (where I thought I would win against J, and then didn’t). Off to the mall to buy stuff for the boyfriend, puttanesca and pizza at Sbarro, then home. Got drunk on House (Season 5 and some of S6) and Pretty Little Liars. Slept. A lot.

*

Was finally able to watch Tangled with my mother and sister. I watched it in 2D, so I don’t know if it’s more exciting to watch in its intended format. I do agree with Roger Ebert’s contention though that colors appear dimmer in 3D. Not to mention that the 3D glasses are cumbersome and the illusion, albeit nifty, give me slight headaches. I’d like to avoid 3D now.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think much of Tangled when I first saw the trailer. Ack, another Disney re-imagining of a fairy tale highlighting love and cuteness – and it’s not even Pixar-made! I wasn’t excited about it. What else can you change about Rapunzel’s story to make it fresh and interesting?

I was so glad to be proven wrong. Thank you for the songs and the lanterns, Disney. If ever you felt the urge to translate this film onto the stage as a musical (and what a lovely musical it would make! Imagine the set pieces!), I’d see it in a heartbeat.

(And this should have won Best Song over Toy Story 3. Yes, I’m dissing Pixar for you, Disney. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME. I’m a horrible person.)

*

Commercial break: My story, “Voyage to Bathala”, will appear in the March 19 issue of the Philippines Free Press, available in bookstands by March 16. :) Do buy and read?

*

So I received payment for a story sale via PayPal instead of via a paper check, and I realized, instead of sending back the money and demanding the check, might as well use the funds to – what else? – buy books online. (The first PayPal payment I received was for a poem, and I used that to donate to Duotrope. It’s a very helpful site.)

I’m so 21st century. (I don’t buy things online. I don’t have a credit card. And I don’t even have an ebook reader. And I hate iTunes with all of my being. I’m still not so 21st century, it turns out.)

Books, old and new, are offered at reasonable prices at the The Book Depository, an online bookseller based in the UK, and they offer free shipping to the Philippines! (Exclamation points!!!) So I got Tana French’s Faithful Place, a book that’s already available here but only in (expensive) hardcover, and Lauren Beukes’s acclaimed novels Zoo City and Moxyland, books I can’t find here anywhere. All for around 26 dollars, or around a thousand pesos.

One story = three books. Not a bad trade. Hope the books get here safely, and soon.

*

I’ve been feeling rather sad these past few days for whatever reason, but the weekend was able to exorcise all the bad vibes. There’s no place like home.

behind the veil

Leaving this here:

“Veil of Ignorance” by David Barr Kirtley

 

Cool concept, interesting read. Never heard of the thought experiment “veil of ignorance” before reading this story, so thank you Mr. Kirtley for introducing me to it.

black swan

Saw Black Swan last night, after finding out that True Grit has been yanked out of the Ayala cinemas. For shame, we really wanted to see the Coen brothers’ film. But no regrets, the Natalie Portman-starrer is worth its ticket price.

We summarized it thus: Nina should take it easy. Or: Don’t do drugs and dance ballet. But that’s not to belittle this gorgeous film, which I still found gripping and hypnotizing and intense even after seeing it for the second time. Winona Ryder still made me jump, that <expletive>.

In the film, Nina the ballerina grapples with the problem of how to lose control and exude evilness in a dance that requires complete control, and a lightness that should remind one of angels. Finding the solution to this problem breaks her, eventually, because the body and the mind can only suffer enough injuries.

The first time I saw the trailer I knew – just knew – that I would love it: ballet + psychological horror + character fragmentation (+ okay that lesbian kiss intrigued me harhar + Nina’s make-up as the Black Swan is just lovely). Body horror is indeed horrific (“The Metamorphosis”, plus the Philippines’ many legends of transforming sinners, like the “Alamat ng Pinya” – have you ever considered how fucked up the “Alamat ng Pinya” is?), and this film made the ethereal swan look monstrous.

I’ve read a review online saying the film only made the reviewer ask more questions instead of giving her answers and I think: What questions, and why do they have to be answered? The film shows a young girl’s descent (or ascent?) to insanity. It is not a mystery that needs to be solved, it is meant to be experienced.

Why ask questions? There are no answers here.

Was finally able to drag myself out of bed and run this morning. I’ve been having leg pains since the Inquirer fun run (and I only ran the 3K race!) so I wasn’t able to jog on Monday and Tuesday.

But oh, look, leg muscles.

My flabs remain, sadly, for I am fed by 7-Eleven/Mini-Stop/McDonald’s/Chowking/KFC. I weighed myself yesterday, and yep, still haven’t lost a pound since the last time I dropped some (meager) weight. Hay hay hay.

Every time I eat something tasty vile (like fast food) I think, Well, my dear, you get what you deserve.

But that’s not true. There are people who can eat burgers every day and still remain model-thin.

Too bad I’m not one of them. Sigh.

2nd gig book storywriting contest now open for entries

Got this in the mail. Feel free to re-post. :)

P.S. A story of mine won in 2009 and got turned into a book last year. Huzzah.

 

The 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest is now accepting entries.

Deadline: July 31, 2011

Official Contest Rules (also available at http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com)

1. The 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest hereinafter referred to as the “Contest” is organized and sponsored by Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation Inc. hereinafter referred to as the “Organizer” with business address at Suite 600 The Gregorian, 2178 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines.

2. The Contest starts on March 1, 2011 and is open to anyone age 18 years or older, except the officers and employees of the Organizer and their relatives up to the third degree of consanguinity.

3. Entries must be stories written in English and intended for children age 6 to 12 years. The word count must be 750 words or less, and the plot and sequence must be capable of sustaining a 20- to 32-page illustrated book. The theme must be something that seafarer families, especially children, can identify with. The story must, in the judges’ opinion, resonate well with children whose fathers are mostly away at sea, and preferably promote positive human values (e.g. love, respect, honesty, compassion, care, humility, responsibility, understanding, strength, courage, resilience, etc.). Bonus points and a greater chance of winning will be given to positive, sensitive, and creatively child-appropriate stories that deal with difficult seafarer family issues like relatives, in-laws, neighbors, troubled teens, money management, parental infidelity, sibling rivalry, resentment, anger, alienation, abandonment, illness, and others.

4. By entering the Contest, contestants warrant that their entry: (a) is their original creation; (b) has not been previously published; (c) has not been entered in another contest where it won First, Second, or Third prize.

5. All entries must be submitted by email to gigbookcontest@gmail.com. The subject heading must be the word “Entry” followed by a space, dash, another space and the title of the story. (Example: Entry – My Dad is a Sailor and I am a Mermaid) Furthermore: (a) The main message of the email must contain the following items only: the title of the story, and the contestant’s complete name, age, mailing address, cellphone number, and landline. (b) The entry itself must be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. It must be set in 12 points Times Roman normal (no bold, no italics, no underlining), double-spaced, with no author name or accompanying or inserted artwork or graphics or identifying marks whatsoever, on letter-size paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) with a 1-inch margin all around. Entries that do not conform to these specifications may be accepted by the Organizer at its discretion and reformatted accordingly, or rejected outright. (c) By submitting an entry via this method, the contestants agree that the primary mode of communication between them and the Organizer will be via the email address that they used to submit their entry. The Organizer may, at its discretion, disqualify any contestant who fails to respond within ten calendar days to the Organizer’s attempts to contact him or her via email, snail mail, phone call, and/or text message. (d) Contestants may submit more than one entry.

6. The contest deadline is July 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. Manila time. Entries received after the deadline will be ignored.

7. A Board of Judges consisting of three or five individuals will choose up to ten winning stories. The judges will be selected by an Executive Editor/Book Designer who will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Judges. The decision of the judges is final.

8. The authors of the winning stories will receive a cash prize of P20,000.00 each, a Winner’s Certificate, and the opportunity to have their winning story published as a full-color, fully illustrated storybook.

9. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the winners will be announced on or before September 30, 2011. On the day of the announcement, individual winners will also be notified by email.

10. The Organizer reserves the right to declare that there are no winners if the judges decide that no entries were deemed acceptable. In this case, the Organizer will have no right whatsoever over all the entries received, and no entry will be published by the Organizer in any venue or format without the prior written consent of the author.

11. By entering the Contest, the contestants individually and independently agree that the Organizer will be the exclusive publisher of their winning story, if the Organizer decides to publish it. In this case, it is understood that: (a) the winning authors automatically grant and transfer to the Organizer all intellectual property rights to their winning story, including the right to publish it in whatever venue or format the Organizer deems fit, as well as the right to translate, adapt, and/or make modifications to the winning story as the Organizer deems fit; (b) aside from the cash prize received from winning the Contest, the winners are not entitled to any other additional payments, royalties, or fees whatsoever resulting from the Organizer’s publication of their winning story in whole or in part, in whatever venue or format; (c) the Organizer shall have full and exclusive editorial and artistic control over the publication of the winning entries, resulting books, and other derivative works.

12. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the printed books will be launched or made available for distribution on November 30, 2012 or no later than November 30, 2014. Otherwise, the Organizer forfeits its right to publish the winning stories and the winners are free to submit their winning stories to other publishers.

inquirer 25th anniversary fun run

Fun runs start at an ungodly hour (4 to 5 am), so I never felt the urge to sign up for one. I enjoy running, but I want my sleep. You had to pay to torture yourself? No thanks.

BUT it’s the Inquirer and there’s a cute singlet and it’s FREE and my office mates are signing up

So I did. I initially wanted to run in the 5K race, but maybe for my first time it’s proper to take things slow.

The 3K race it is, then. Woke up this morning at 4 AM. Gah. I didn’t feel like myself.

Pancakes, sausage, coffee. The (unhealthy) breakfast of champions:

Dark High Street.

First gun start was the 25K relay (what 25K this is insane), followed by the 10K race.

5K race here.

Ah, light!

My 3K-mates. (Photo from Almi.)

Then it’s our turn! I run at least 6K at the Oval every Saturday, but 3K in a race felt like forever. Ugh, pressure. There were children who were able to run/sprint ahead of me!

Ruuuuun like the wiiiiiind. (Photo by Raya Lopez.)

Finished at 23 minutes, 37 seconds. According to this, my chip time rank was 129, and I ran faster than one percent of the runners in my category my overall place was 145, running 7 minutes 52 seconds per kilometer, and crossing the finish line ahead of 57 percent of runners in my category.

I usually clock in 30 minutes for 3K around the oval, so eh, not bad, I think. Maybe I’ll do 5K next time. But then sleep might win.