Category: personal

temporal

I get bored a lot lately. I’m struggling with this story I’m trying to finish – I’d write continuously and just hit a brick wall. It’s infuriating. But then – Lent is coming, which means more time to sleep and be with the family in Bulacan. More time to write. Also, the boyfriend and I are celebrating five months today. That doesn’t sound too bad.

And I found this poem! Stunning. Boredom brings great things. Sometimes.

Source.

New York City as Temporal Measurement*

* This is not to be confused with the smallest measurement of time.

Hossannah Asuncion

______

Policy mandates a period of 30 seconds for subway doors to remain open to allow for the flush of entering and exiting people. An observational study has shown, though, that the doors remain open an average of 12 seconds. This is enough time for two people in love to separate, but as was one instance on May 18, 2007, it is not enough time to reunite.

______

You know you are close to the end when your train pulls into the station with droplets of rain clinging to its sides.

______

Ways we successfully pass time from Manhattan to Queens, Queens to Brooklyn, Brooklyn to Brooklyn:

The NYT crossword puzzle (Wednesday).

Cat Power’s rendition of “Silver Stallion.” (Repeat as necessary.)

A game of “Who would you eat? Who would you fuck?”

If, by chance, you have a moment to love something, anything, with heartbreak, choose
to do so. Exercise, though, what is advised and advised and advised as caution—
consider the consequences of such seconds.

______

Tapping the face of your father’s watch will not stop you from disappointing him today. You will do so again tomorrow. And the day after.

______

stories galore

It’s true: gorgeous stories can save us from the atrocious heat. (I went home to Bulacan this weekend, and several rice fields had turned brown. Depressing. I’ve never seen anything like it in the twenty or so years I’ve lived in the province. At home I had one glass of halu-halo after another. Bless my parents.)

Up in the Air

Saw the film weeks ago. (Late review is late.) Watched it knowing absolutely nothing about the story. And what pay-off.

Julie & Julia

Great food, but Meryl Streep’s performance is exceptionally delicious. Amy Adams does loss and despair quite well. Oh those sad eyes.

According to the film, Julia Child (Streep’s character) didn’t even know how to boil an egg when she got married. So I can study this stuff? So I have hope? :D

Princess and the Frog

I watched this one with my siblings. How lovely (and clever) to set the story in New Orleans! Great music, and hello 2D glad to have you back. Lookin’ good. :)

Avenue Q

Exactly what I needed to start the week! Princeton (Felix Rivera) wonders what he can do “with a B.A. in English” and ends up renting a place on Avenue Q as he tries to figure out what to do with his life. Sesame Street on meth, y’all. (Seriously: puppet sex = day is made.) Frenchie Dy (Christmas Eve) at times finds it hard to maintain the Japanese accent, but I still enjoyed the performances. “Special” is one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack (I heard the songs first before seeing the musical – seeing it is waaaay better), and thank you Rachel Alejandro (Kate Monster/ Lucy T. Slut) for nailing it. Bravo! :D

Also starring Aiza Seguerra, Joel Trinidad, Calvin Millado, and Thea Tadiar. Showing at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium inside the RCBC Plaza.

Here’s a few photos with Felix Rivera and Lucy T. Slut’s boobies. :)

Later, dinner at Thai restaurant Oody’s and Cold Rock ice cream at Greenbelt. I loved Oody’s food. Flavorful, and inexpensive. I’d eat there again.

eviction, and a beautiful finish to february

Full disclosure: I used to live in Unit 8H-B in Kingswood Condominium here in Makati. The unit’s caretakers were Julius Villareal and a woman named Icy, possibly his girlfriend. Right now, I’m hoping they’ll suffer from diarrhea for the rest of their lives. And I’m being very nice here.

* * *

Here’s what happened:

I came home from work on Feb. 24 and found two of my flatmates/unitmates in the living room. One said, “There’s a new development!” There’s always a new development, with Julius and Icy as caretakers – the ref breaks down, the kitchen sink floods the floor, cable TV gets disconnected, and they don’t answer your calls. Such an efficient couple, Julius and Icy.

But this new development, as it turned out, was crazy. Like, you-can’t-make-this-shit-up crazy. Julius and Icy, according to one of the guards of the condo (bless him for warning us), have not been paying the unit’s utility bills and condo dues for three months now, and so Admin, possibly as ordered by the unit owners, had began padlocking the units they were handling. One group renting one of the units came home from work one night and just found their unit padlocked. Their stuff were inside. Luckily the unit owner lives in the building, so they were able to talk to the guy, have the door opened, and collect their things. But if the owner was not in the building, and you didn’t know the owner’s contact details, where will you go?

We decided to confront Icy. We knew she and Julius lived in the building, 12D-A, and I was just looking forward to screaming at her. We asked the guard, and oh yes, their unit had been padlocked. They don’t live in the building anymore. We couldn’t contact their phones.

The plan: Talk to the unit owner. We didn’t know his number so I had to go to Marketing the next day and try to contact him from there.

Of course we panicked. I couldn’t sleep that night. The next morning, one of my flatmates was able to contact the caretaker of a unit which had a room good for four, had an AC, and had its own bathroom. We viewed it that morning. Turned out the caretaker knew all the shenanigans Julius and Icy had been doing. Those fuckers. The guards downstairs were already cautioning us to at least have our stuff moved to another unit, if we had a friend in the building. We wouldn’t be issued gate passes, so we couldn’t move appliances out of the building, even if we owned them. Including laptops.

It is safe to say that the stress level by then was extremely high.

We decided to rent the room and move in that day.

So I hauled ass, you know. I was able to move everything except my collages on my wall. My collages! I used crazy-sticky tape because I thought – well, I thought I’d be staying in that room for a long time.

Of course I had to do the security deposit + advance thing all over again, but it’s okay. Julius and Icy I think owes me a month’s worth of deposit, unless they’ve deducted all the excess bills, which I’m sure they have. I feel bad for my flatmates who paid them for the month of February. Seriously, do Julius and Icy gamble? Are they addicted to meth or something? Where do they take our money?

But at least we were able to find a place we could stay in for the next six months. (This time we have direct contact to the unit owner; we also know his bank accounts and his address.) I used to rent a room of my own, but right now I can’t be choosy. The room’s nice anyway. And clean. Right now it looks like a college dorm room. Peeling wall paint, towels and bras on the racks, small cabinets and compartments, instant noodles and other food packets in see-through containers, my books on the bottom of my mattress.

The first morning I was there I moved so slowly, as if I were lethargic, not knowing where everything was. Now where did I put my bags? Where did I put a copy of my contract? Where are my DVDs? Where’s my coffee?

But I’m good, I’ll get by.

I still want Julius and Icy to pay us back, though.

And I want my collages back. Hmp.

* * *

Anywho my final February weekend was great. Spent most of the time eating chicken teriyaki with the boyfriend, who, bless him, knows how to cook.

Also watched my first Dungeons & Dragons game. :) Being the eternal backseat player and annoying game-watcher (ask my brothers), I can never play this game, or any game really, but I had fun. :D Mike’s Addie brought excellent cookies!

Last photo was taken by Jme. Thanks!

* * *

The Demons of the New Year cover (it’s a horror e-anthology, and I’m gonna be in it yay) has also been unveiled. I love it!

‘s all good

The idea was to return to the place where the question was asked and the answer was given.

We had dinner and took pictures of each other.

No pictures of the food because we practically swallowed those whole. Later we had wine.

* * *

Earlier that evening I made a collage and gave it away as a gift.

I’ll keep what I wrote here a secret.

* * *

All of this is new to us, but we’re all for fantastic discoveries. ♥

* * *

On the writing front:

I’ve a poem up on Writers’ Bloc. Click!

In the e-mail:

Dear Ms Victoria,

We would like to inform you that your story “Salot” has been accepted for our online horror anthology, Demons of the New Year.

[redacted]

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

Joseph Nacino & Karl de Mesa

Here’s the TOC. :D

* * *

From “What the Living Do” by Marie Howe –

I’ve been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,

I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.

What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss — we want more and more and then more of it.

But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I’m gripped by a cherishing so deep

for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I’m speechless:

I am living, I remember you.

* * *

Happy Valentine’s Day.

necessary art

Ooh, I forgot to post this!

It was Ate Valerie’s (she’s Jaykie’s sister) birthday last January 29th. Dinner at Barcino. Great food. I’m a fan of the cake and the sweet wine. :) Happy boitday!

ben, valerie, violet

I’m posting this because of the framed painting behind us. I mean look at it.

It is exquisite. :D Haha.


ch-ch-ch-changes

Sorta.

  1. I mean, for the past few days I’ve got nothing here but comic book reviews. For a change, let’s talk about meeeeeeeee. :D (LOL.)
  2. I’ve changed my blog theme/layout. I don’t know CSS, WordPress has limited themes, but I like this one. I think Imma stick with it. I mean, look! The links turn pink!
  3. I’ve converted the Tags to Categories, then the Categories to Tags, then the Tags to Categories again – until I was able to erase that pesky “Uncategorized” label that’s been driving me OC-insane for the past year or so.
  4. I’ve added a subscription button (on ze right). Because I think I’m important.
  5. I’ve added a search bar too because it looks nifty.
  6. The boyfriend (see, I really love it that the links turn pink) has quit his nasty, nasty job, and I’m excited to see where he’s going to go from there. He’s thinking grad school. Excellent choice. I wish him luck. :)
  7. I’ve started writing fiction again, after slogging through several drafts of poems (heh). Getting into the groove of writing every night again, after work. Working on two right now: one solicited, the other – meh, I’ll see where it goes. Haha. I’m glad I’m getting story solicitation emails now. I’m tickled whee. (Hopefully the editor likes it enough to actually take it.)
  8. Right now I am not thinking of grad school, or a teaching job, or learning a foreign language. All of a sudden I’m just coasting along, coasting along, happy enough with a steady job and steady ideas and a steady mind with which to string words together.
  9. Nowadays everything feels right with the Universe. I haven’t felt that way in a long long long while. Oh yes.
  10. Except that I’m gaining weight again. Yeah, I probably should do something about that. *eats pizza*

so. nostalgia.

I was able to spend time with the family this week. So that meant marathons of Project Runway and America’s Best Dance Crew episodes, old action flicks (Face/Off for example – masaya pala ‘yun ano?), and a sampling of my mother’s newest invention dish, ampalaya with oyster sauce.

I also found this cute gasul alkansya. (Alcohol bottle’s for height comparison.)

And my brother (a non-smoker) got this picture taken as a joke for my father (who should quit. Like, now. LOL.)

I also flipped through our photo albums and took a gajillion photos!

Miss Friendship (kindergarten parade) looking not too friendly:

Littol me in a teacup…

…that was apparently part of a ride that’s currently not functioning (see CLOSED sign right there) but kebs! Kelangan ang photo-op. :D

I’m wearing tights here. And an orange skirt. And I’m in pigtails. I don’t know why I look so dissatisfied.

Eeee my brother looks adorable! And I envy the Batibot cake. ♥

Brother is not pleased with this other baby:

Early family photos. Littlest brother forthcoming heh.

All four of us. My brothers are holding hands here. :)

With my sister.

Smiling like there’s no tomorrow:

* * *

On Saturday, Jaykie’s nephew’s 5th birthday. Happy birthday, George!

We gave this kiddie a book featuring a dragon, and an Archie comic. Because READING IS FUN Y’ALL.

(Segue: Thanks to Jaykie for buying me a copy of that Tatler issue with my picture. Yehey yehey.)

* * *

I was able to write six pages of fiction on Thursday-Friday. First story for 2010, here I come. ;)