Asides

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!

*

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?

I’ve been having extraordinarily kind Monday mornings.

After a revision, my short story, “username: tanglaw”, has been accepted for publication in the seventh volume of the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology! Thank you to editors Kate and Alex Osias for giving me a chance to revisit the piece and make it stronger.

And good news for readers abroad – PSF is going digital this year in order to reach a wider audience. Stay tuned for the details.

Found out today that Stone Telling editors Rose Lemberg and Shweta Narayan have nominated my poem “Prayer” for the Pushcart Prize! Hello, Monday!

Here’s a list of ST’s six nominees:

Sonya Taaffe, Persephone in Hel
Catherynne M. Valente, The Secret of Being a Cowboy
Amal El-Mohtar, Pieces
Jaded, Sewing Souls with Blanks: Silences in Kamala Das’s Poetry
Shira Lipkin, The Changeling’s Lament
Eliza Victoria, Prayer

Information about the Pushcart Prize.

The Pushcart Prize – Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America. Hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented in the pages of our annual collections.

Writers who were first noticed here include:

Raymond Carver, Tim O’Brien, Jayne Anne Phillips, Charles Baxter, Andre Dubus, Susan Minot, Mona Simpson, John Irving, Rick Moody, and many more. Each year most of the writers and many of the presses are new to the series.