kultura

the 2013 kick-off

thank yous are in order, and while Angela and i always difficult to go all me! me! me! or I! I! I! on our blogs, almost two months into 2013, it would seem wrong to not fall back on that i, if only so i can talk to a you and articulate gratefulness.

the year kicked off with being offered a regular Opinion column over at The Manila Times. i had hoped i could get away with putting a logo instead of my face on it, but no dice. so every Thursday, my literal paper trail continues. let’s see how long i can keep it up — or how long The Times can handle me. hehe. (more…)

radikalchick.lit

on Of Love and Other Lemons, v.1*

Making Lemonade

There is a romance that we like to imagine about writing, and especially the writing of a book. And while my rebellious self would like to tell you that this was not the case for Of Love and Other Lemons, that would be a lie. Certainly it came from a personal history of love and loss and sadness, complete with the high – if not OA – drama of buckets of tears. But the writing of this book didn’t happen while I was going through all those things.

Instead the writing happened when I was at the point of reckoning with the cards life had dealt me (naks high drama), and particularly when I was away from Manila. Distance allowed me to think of freedom, where Manila – the Philippines – felt oppressive, too small that I couldn’t even stretch. (more…)

radikalchick.lit

Where’d your glam rock go?

As it turns out, nowhere.

On an otherwise regular Friday night this single girl would find herself in a non-descript bar on the Fort Strip – the most recent incarnation of which has less of the sosy clubbing crowd, thank goodness. The years might have taught me of the need to dress appropriately for certain spaces, but adulthood has made me more stubborn about being myself too, especially for a night when all I need is a round or two of drinks, thank you very much.

As it turns out, it would be difficult not to feel like myself, and it won’t just be because of the lovin’ from new friends, and the bottles of ice cold San Mig Light that would find its way into my hands. It won’t just be the fact that Craft Rock & Grill probably serves the best food to go with that beer.

It would be because Friday night is glam rock night at Craft. And because there is Trinidad. (more…)

kultura

see you University of Baguio!

don’t know about the depths of non-fiction ha. baka the narrative lang that surrounds our notions of depth. see you UP Baguio!

LitFestBaguio

 

komentaryo

the media creatures in our midst

which is what Ricky Lo is. and yes, we can go on and on about how bad that interview was, and the wrong questions he asked, or you know, we can go the way of wanting more hits and ask people: what do you think?

but what we might want to ask too is the question of why: why is Ricky Lo the one we’re sending out to represent good ol’ Pinas? why are his interviewing skills so bad? why is he not replaced in this position of an-amount-of-power? why has it taken an interview with Anne Hathaway to get us all riled up when he’s been doing it all this time?

(more…)