crisis

Yesterday I decorated our garden with three sets of Christmas lights and when night time came I didn’t bother turning them on for me to see the beauty of my handiwork. But just minutes ago I remembered and, with my mother, initiated the presentation of the grand design. I was delighted with what I saw and thought of having them on for the rest of the night but my mother blurted: “Inig December 20 ra ta mag-lights para walay manaygon nato karon.” She went back inside the house and shrugged off with a smile.

In English, this is what she said: “Let’s just light them up on December 20 so no carolers would approach us today.” Well, a peso has its worth you know considering the water bill that I saw just this morning.
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me envy

Because I was in Dumaguete and they were in Manila.

These are my fellow katsubongs of the Dumaguete Workshop where they had a short photo-op after watching the play by mental Joshua Lim So (or Tokwa to me) entitled “Portraits.” To quote him on what it is all about: “...tungkol sa dalawang dating magkaibigan na nagkita muli sa isang gallery, pitong taon nang nakalipas.” His Palanca-winning script was staged at Greenbelt Onstage last October 17. Yeah, yeah, the play’s done long ago but I just saw this picture right now.

Bullfrogs! Greenbelt na si Tokwa ha! Imagine that feelerette katsubong muncher! Hahaha… Carmellang Buhay ang Buhok, Liza con Cherie Pie, Margie with the Stiff Neck, Dustin the Drunkard, and Lawrence the Banana Man! Yay, I miss you guys!

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fly little boy!

Oooh… More and more Hollywood aristocrats are really scouring for famous pop icons in Asian territories and there’s no stopping them. Now, Astro Boy will be hitting the big screen sometime next year. The CGs feel like the flop TMNT movie though but all the same I am still excited. You know, I have to give my respect to this animé of all animé since I copied the boy’s hairdo two months ago.

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strange and opposite

“You’re not you. Is there some kind of conspiracy

going on around here today?”

-Prof. Dale Law

The task is not to remain pretty. No, one does not have to resort looking like a snotty beggar at the sidewalks. Let’s just say that wearing grandma’s moth-infested night gown is enough. This post is long overdue, but the Opposite Day we have last November 19, somehow, has created a bit of stir in the campus. So I guess it’s worth talking about it here right now. (It doesn’t mean opposite that when you’re wearing jeans yesterday you have to wear a skirt the next morning).

The rule is this: Don on something that’s completely opposite of what’s usually worn. If you’re a tight, traditionalist woman of the 70s flair, you must go avant-garde. If you’re a sporty guy, then you must be preppy in plaids, eyeglass and all. That’s basically what the Opposite Day is all about.

The idea came up when I and my crony for absurdity, June Rivera, had an ukay-ukay adventure in one of the many secret spots in Dumaguete. When she was busy comparing two dresses, I asked her “What if we’ll wear, for one day, something that we don’t usually wear? You know, kanang weird jud kayo para nato bah. Gets?” Now completely forgetting her dress dilemma, she lit up and smiled a silly smile (believe me, it looked silly). The rest was history.

For someone who believe that good looks is a daily necessity but should require ample grounding on the brains department to back it up with, I never go out of the house with a little crease on my clothes. And because of this, I am assigned to transform into a tambay. Many have said it’s not that much, especially that some of my colleagues have taken the extra mile to become America Ferrera’s Betty, a pirate, and a crossbreed between McDonald and his dedicated waiter. I couldn’t blame them.

But with all honesty, it was tough receiving the stares when you know you don’t deserve it. Yet it felt liberating to break away from the common, the regular that remain stuck in many people’s minds, really.

Friends, more pictures here.

We’re not a normal bunch, this year’s Weekly Sillimanian staff, and it feels good to belong to it. Though not all of us participated in our madness, we had fun. And as a response to my literature professor, yes, there’s a conspiracy going on, but it’s seriously not about an urgent call for a uniform policy. Bullfrogs, no.

dbss poster no.3

Submit your literary works in .doc format to

darkbluesouthernseas@gmail.com

Include a short bionote stating your full name, course, year level and anything worth bragging off. This is open to all Sillimanian students, alumni, panelists and fellows of the Dumaguete National Writers Workshop. The foreword of the Dark Blue Southern Seas (DBSS) 2009 will be written by Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas. Deadline is on January 9, 2009.

dbss poster no.2

Submit your literary works in .doc format to

darkbluesouthernseas@gmail.com

Include a short bionote stating your full name, course, year level and anything worth bragging off. This is open to all Sillimanian students, alumni, panelists and fellows of the Dumaguete National Writers Workshop. The foreword of the Dark Blue Southern Seas (DBSS) 2009 will be written by Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas. Deadline is on January 9, 2009.

dbss poster no.1

Submit your literary works in .doc format to

darkbluesouthernseas@gmail.com

Include a short bionote stating your full name, course, year level and anything worth bragging off. This is open to all Sillimanian students, alumni, panelists and fellows of the Dumaguete National Writers Workshop. Foreword of the Dark Blue Southern Seas (DBSS) 2009 will be written by Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas. Deadline is on January 9, 2009.

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dark blue seas and some corals

It was not planned at all. Someone just got carried away after looking at old pictures on her new iPod Touch. Before going into a state of melancholia, she tipped everyone (well, almost everyone) to hit some sands and coral. So, after church, I grabbed some essentials, met everyone on one spot, and off we went to Santander Pebble Beach, Liloan, Cebu. I, Marianne, Donna, and June, were ready. As for Jake and Easter, they followed us after two hours of waiting for them.

That’s what you call spontaneous.

The beach was some sort of escape route for some of us who had been working at the Weekly Sillimanian for three years in a row. I’ve been there for three times raman pud. If we need the break, we set off to this place and unwind, swim against the current, lie on the pebbles (yes, there’s not much sand) like summer is coming the day after next. It’s just a matter of contentment, actually. And yesterday, we had that.

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he's a top!

I am not updated with the US elections in the past few days even though I face the television, the Internet, and the newspaper almost everyday. But upon entering KH 2 this morning I find my teacher watching CNN. Suddenly, I am immersed in this political entertainment. Maybe it's the drawing power of Dr. Dale Law's presence that whatever he focuses on that exact hour, I follow. And yes, entertainment. With all the hype and sugary speeches, I've never thought it's fun watching the happenings after all.

Hours ago, the news spread. Barack Obama wins the race. Like any unexplainable hindsight, I know he will win. And I'm just happy with the results for some unknown reasons. As what I've said earlier, it's unexplainable. Well, let's give him a pat on the back while he faces the economic depression of his country.

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