Baltasar and Blimunda

I'm noticing a common theme here. I can only say in my defense that I'm still reading literature as opposed to trashy romance novels.

Baltasar and Blimunda tells the story of two lovers in 18th century Portugal, when the auto-da-fe was held every year and the people were were still subjects of a king.

For all its commentary on power and religion, Baltasar and Blimunda lacks the devastation of Blindness. There were times when I was horrified by that book, but I still had to go on reading it.

Baltasar and Blimunda is a gentler tale, where the travails of the title characters are set against a painstakingly-researched background. There is a stronger element of magical realism here, and Saramago often inserts self-conscious commentary that the thoughts that his peasant characters are thinking were simply conjured up by an educated narrator.

All Summer in a Day

This isn't one of the books that I've read but I was thinking about Ray Bradbury's short story when I read his interview in the Paris Review.

In my mind the time frame was magnified to fifty years. I reread part of the story again and found that it was only seven. But still, poor child.

This is what Bradbury says about writing:

"Style is truth. Once you nail down what you want to say about yourself and your fears and your life, then that becomes your style and you go to those writers who can teach you how to use words to fit your truth."

He didn't go to college, but instead, went to the library, where he graduated after ten years of three-night-a-week visits.

What I read almost makes me rethink about getting an MFA, but then I remind myself that Ray Bradbury had a wonderful wife who supported him while he stayed at home and wrote stories. He went to New York and shopped what would become his first book around because his first child was about to be born.

I still feel like I need a space of time where I can immerse myself completely in reading and writing. So for now, I'm still going for that MFA.

Gut Symmetries

What can I say about Jeanette Winterson? That reading her is like watching a stone fall in a calm, clear pool. You can stay for hours just watching the resulting ripples.

The piece of Jeanette Winterson writing that I love the most is her short story The 24-Hour Dog. I read it while I was still in college and I've never forgotten it. I photocopy my photocopy and pass it on to friends.

Who wouldn't fall in love with writing like this?

If time is a river, we shall all meet death by water.

&

And after symmetries of autumn, symmetries of austerity. Bare winter's thin beauty, rib and spine. The back of him sharp-boned, my hands leaf-broad covering him, patterning us. Us making love on the leaf-shed in the cold of the year.

&

We think of ourselves as linear but it is the spin of the earth that allows us to observe time.

& finally:

Whatever it is that pulls the pin, that hurls you past the boundaries of your own life into a brief and total beauty, even for a moment, it is enough.

Her writing speaks for itself.

Showbiz Lengua

Alam nyo ba kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng IRAN? Ikaw Rin ang Nawalan.

Isa pa: PARANAQUE: Please Always Remain Adorable, Nice, And Quiet...Under Ectasy.

Ilan lang yan sa mga napulot kong acronym mula sa Showbiz Lengua, ang kalipulan ng mga kolum ni Sir Pete Lacaba tungkol sa lengguwahe para sa Yes! Magazine.

(imahe mula sa blog ni Sir Pete)

Minsan, nakaupo ako sa harap sa LitJourn seminar class niya at kumakain ako ng puttanesca. Sabi niya, "Alam mo ba ang puttanesca pagkain ng mga puta sa Italy? Kaya siya tinawag na puttanesca."

Mula nang nagsulat si Nick Joaquin bilang Quijano de Manila, kakaunti pa lang ang nagtangkang magsulat ng literary journalism sa Pilipinas. Isa na rito (na tinitingala ko) ay si Sir Pete.

Ang ilang sa mga natutunan ko sa klase niya: kailangan kapag nagsusulat ng literary journalism, ilublob mo ang iyong sarili sa paggawa ng kwento. Tanungin mo yung kausap mo kung anong iniisip niya. Tumambay ka kasama niya at makipaghuntahan ka. Pansinin mo ang lahat -- ang kanyang suot, ang lapis na umiikot-ikot sa pagitan ng kanyang mga daliri, ang stasyon ng radyo na pinakikinggan niya, pati ang mga taong dumadaan.

Dapat din, paghusayan mo ang iyong pagsusulat para kapag may sinulat kang magandang pangungusap, hindi ito magmumukhang out of place sa sinusulat mong reportage.

Kaya naman mahirap talaga magsulat ng literary journalism. At dahil kakarampot ang kita ng mga mamahayag at manunulat, kailangan nilang rumaket.

Sinabi sa amin minsan ni Sir Pete na akala niya part-time lang ang posisyon sa Yes! Magazine noong tinanggap niya ito. Pero mabuti na rin na nandoon siya dahil sa dulo ng mga glossy photos at writeups tungkol sa mga artista, may natatanging El Lenguador na naglalaro ng lengguwahe.

Pilgrims

I've loved Elizabeth Gilbert ever since I read her article Coyote Ugly in GQ. A wide-eyed Gilbert went to the interview in a cardigan and was told that she was wearing too many clothes. She eventually learned how to outdrink her regulars (keep a mug of Coke handy, whenever you take a swig, spit it out into the mug).

But I couldn't read Eat, Pray, Love. I couldn't even finish the first first page.

I fared better with Gilbert's first novel, Stern Men. But what I really wanted to read was her first collection of stories, Pilgrims. So as soon as I saw a copy, I bought it. Nevermind that I'm trying to save money. I can control my cravings for clothes and food. But I admit it, I'm addicted to books.

From Pilgrims, I learned that sunflowers always face east in the morning and west at dusk. Gilberts said in an interview that instead of getting an MFA, she crisscrossed the country and wrote.

What I plan to do is get and MFA and then wander.

"Like Eat, Pray, Love," my sister said. No, I'm not running away from a devastating divorce. But I am looking for something.

Mesa Para sa Isa

Naalala ko si Caloy nang binasa ko ang tulang Dalitpuri ni Elynia Mabanglo. Nariyan ang paglalaro sa salita:

tayo na kung gayon
at pabinyagan sa dilim ang kamatayang
bumabaha sa ating silid
may panahon para sa mga dugong
dumadaloy sa lansangan
may panahon para sa kamay na umiilag
sa pagtatakipsilim ng mga bituin
may panahon para masambot
ang tula ng mga tala

Bago mag-ed exam noon, humiram si Caloy ng kalipulan ng mga tula ni Mabanglo para raw makatulong sa paggawa niya ng katsibong.

Kasama sa New Year's resolutions ko ngayong taon na muling magsulat sa Filipino. Muli akong nagsisimula sa payak na paraan. Nagsusulat ako kung paano ako magsalita.

Sinabi ni Elynia Mabanglo sa paunang salita na dumalang na ang pagsulat niya ng tula mula nang tumira siya sa Hawaii. Wala na raw kasi siyang kahuntahan tungkol sa panitikan kaya mas mahirap magsulat.

Samantalang ako, nasa Pilipinas pero nahihirapan ring magsulat sa Filipino. Kaya naman kailangan ko pang magbasa nang magbasa hanggang magsimula akong kumatha.

One book a month

Is one of my New Year's Resolutions. I was appalled by how much crap (read: romance novels) I read last year so I've resolved to do better this year.


And I've actually finished reading a book!

I picked it up because it was a New York Times notable book for 2010, and also because it was a romance. So there.

I happily read one chapter a night until the last few chapters grabbed me by the throat. I couldn't go to sleep until I had finished it.

So far, so good.

The Shakespeare Reading Challenge

After one friend's successful undertaking to read one book a month last year, I was inspired to do the same.

To add another twist, I decided to take up the Shakespeare Reading Challenge -- the easiest level, Puck, is to read four plays this year. Something that I can very easily do. I've always wanted to read Shakespeare's plays, but I never got to take a Shakespeare survey course in college.

Here's Puck. He's ugly, as befits a trickster. But I'm sure that he can change his form at will.



So I got a list of Shakespeare plays to read from an online penpal, who's teaching Shakespeare to Korean students.

I hereby commit to reading the following plays, in no particular order:

1. Twelfth Night
2. King Lear
3. The Tempest
4. Measure for Measure

My online pal advises watching each play before I read it, which I think is a good idea. As he points out, plays are meant to be watched, not read. He also recommends buying good annotated versions of each play so that I can actually understand what they're talking about.

Any recommendations?

On another note, I didn't update this blog at all last year but I did manage to make some headway on a novel before ultimately deciding to abandon it. I also finished a short story a couple of days ago.

I realized that I write better offline, so I probably won't be updating this blog as much except to keep track of how I'm doing with the Shakespeare Reading challenge and other various New Year's resolutions.

Here we go!

Hello NaNo!

On the eve of national writing month. Let's see if I have what it takes to write a 50,000-word novel. It should be interesting, considering that I haven't finished a short story since college. Ha. Here we go!

I'm back

Again. It's getting tiring, this disappearing and returning, this constant renewal of pledges and promises, only to be broken at the first sign of weakness.

But for today, I have eschewed Escape. And I am thinking and writing again. And that is enough.

She's the ornament of her sex.

says DickensURL.com.

How fitting.

An antidote to sadness (or remembering vj in a stream of consciousness ala kenneth)

Hindi ako makapagsulat. Saan ako magsisimula? Paano ko sasabihin na si vj ang unang kaibigan ko sa kule? Minsan hindi natuloy ang genmit kasi konti lang ang dumating. Umupo siya sa tabi ko, at nagsimulang magkwento. At hindi na kami tumigil sa kwentuhan, ako, ang baguhan na walang alam, siya, na mahusay editor at makatang magsulat

Inamin siya sa kin minsan na kaya lang daw nila ako tinaggap kasi may potential ako magsulat. ganyan si vj, nakikita niya ang potential sa bawat tao. Kaibigan niya ang lahat, at pakiramdam namin, close kaming lahat sa kanya kasi wala siyang tinatago. Hindi siya namumuna. Sa mata niya, kahit na oily ang mukha mo at punung-puno ng pimples, lagi kang maganda.

Siya ang una kong nakwentuhan tugkol sa crush ko. Bawat lingo, may bago siyang sasabihin sa akin tungkol kay M. Pagkalipas ng ilang taon, ibang M naman ang pinagusapan namin, ang taong nagudyok sa kanyang humugot ng tala at gamitin itong pangkiskis sa kanyang puso.

Si vj na grand mameshka ng kultura, na sumasamba sa altar ng kulturang popular, na nagcacarstuffing kay Vanessa kahit na hindi pa siya marunong magdrive. Na kasama naming sumayaw sa saliw ng light my fire pagkatapos lumaklak ng alak, Na itinuring kong kuya, na laging hinahawakan ang aking siko tuwing tumatawid kami.

Kung may five stages sa grief cycle nasa pagitan na ako ng anger at sadness. Sabi ng kapatid ko, hindi ka ba nagbargain? Hindi, dahil kahit ano ang ipangako ko, hindi na siya babalik.

Wala nang kumakalong sa aking siko tuwing tumatawid ako.

Sa papgpatay kay Rebelyn

Naalala ko ang minsan sinabi ng isang heneral sa akin, habang kumakain
Everyone has a a weakness. Kailangan lang itong hanapin.

May isang kalaban daw silaang hindi matugis
Wala siyang asawa o iba pang pamilya

Hangga't may nakaalala
Na mahal na mahal ng rebelde ang kanyang ama
Na tatlong taon na ring nasa ilalim ng lupa

Pumunta ang mga sundalo sa sementeryo.
Winasak nila ang nitso
At nagtago sila sa paligid
Pagkaraan ng ilang araw

Dumating ang rebelde.

Ngumiti ang heneral pagkatapos niya magsalita
Pinilit kong maging bato ang aking mukha

Ngunit kung kutsilyo lang ang hawak ko
at hindi tinidor
Hindi ko alam kung mapipigil
ko pa ang aking sarili

Mula sa pagsaksak nito sa kanyang puso.

Hindi ba't labas sa paglaban ang mga sibilyan?
Pero mga pasista, mga mamatay-tao -
Hindi niyo ito nirerespeto.

May araw din kayo.
Sa oras ng tagumpay, dadanak ang dugo.

Totoo

Type - A nga ako. Sabi ni Ate, hindi ba lahat ng Lorenzo? Parang oo, pati mga pinsan ko. Ano kayang meron sa dugo namin? 

You Are Hyper and Spirited

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

For a chance of winning a new moleskine notebook

In which to write and keep track of these goals and aspirations for the next 12 months:

1. write a novel
2. travel to somewhere I've never been
3. figure out what Master's degree I can't live without and start applying to schools
4. fall in love :D
5. learn basic html for blogging, and photo and video editing
6. shoot more photos and video
7. save up for and undergo laser eye surgery
8. take a regular yoga class
9. go diving at least three times a year
10. get a job that will be flexible yet allow me to travel
11. exercise at least three tines a week

Margaret Atwood writes that to name is to invoke. Hope that these invocations are fulfilled.

The Moleskine Notebook is courtesy of Avalon.PH
http://www.viloria.com/go/go.php/avalonph

For the Viloria.net contest rules, please see
Viloria.net

Stuck in Stasis

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better now
You're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along the stony pass
It's just a moment
This time will pass

I've been stuck in stasis for quite some time now, but it's time to get out and face the world again.

Leaping off the edge

Sinabi nyo sa akin dati, wala kong problema sa lenguwahe, pero takot akong tumayo sa bingit.

SInabi naman ng prop ko sa creative writng, natural daw ako magsulat sa Ingles, na ganito raw talaga ako mag-isip. Pero ang kwento ng burgis na namulat sa gitna ng isang hacienda? She's heard it so many times before.

Nabasa ko ang sinulat ni Piya tungkol sa sinulat ni Milan Kundera, na kaya tayo natatakot kapag umakyat tayo sa mataas na lugar ay di dahil takot tayong mahulog, kundi takot tayo sa nais nating tumalon.

Ganito ako. Hayskul pa lang, mahilig na kong umupo sa taas ng mga ledge sa second floor at tumingin pababa. Hanggang sa rooftop ng Vinzons, iniisip ko pa rin ung anong pakiramdam kung tumalon ako.

Wala na kong trabaho, pero sa wakas, maisusulat ko na ang gusto kong isulat.

Handa na kong tumalon.

Why it's not always good for birds of together to flock the feather

Naalala ko ang sinabi ni Eleyn minsan na mas mahirap ilaban ang gender sensitivity kapag nasa labas na ng Kule, kung saan pare-pareho naman kami mag-isip.

Eto, galing sa blog ni Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder ng Global Voices:



At mula sa Wahington Post, Why Everyone You Know Thinks the Same as You

Ano tingin niyo?

(side note: sa wakas, naka-update din ng blog. :D)

She is EVIL

Raise your hand if you agree.



Comic Strip by Concerned Artists of the Philippines from Arkibong Bayan

Agh

kelan ba ko makakapost ng matinong update?

They say there's time enough for everything, but if there is, I haven't been able to figure out how to fit everything into the seconds that just seem to slip away.

Meanwhile, another chummy quiz (from Kat's multiply).



Parang hindi ako ah (except for the contemplative cat part. baka yun, pwede pa).