Hello, people who read this blog. I am currently in Tagaytay for the author class' Writer's Retreat. As of 10PM, my brain has officially fallen asleep, which is why I've resorted to making a blog post.
My progress with the book I'm writing is going along well, which is FANfreakingTASTIC! As usual, I was fearing the worst. I get the butterflies and awkwardness of extreme proportions when people look at what I write, so for the boss to tell me that I write good and what I've written was good made me feel so relieved. I just need to add a few more details here and there, but I'm on the right track.
Now, what I really wish I was writing right now is a fiction piece. If I get to finish Unforgiven, I swear I will throw a party and invite everyone I know. That's a story that's been brewing since...I don't know exactly when, but I'm pretty sure it comes all the way back to grade school. So if that gets done, then ye gads, a celebration is definitely in order.
Sorry for such a crappy entry. Like what I said, my brain has fallen asleep. =/
Yesterday, I finished The Feet of of Juan Bacnang by F. Sionil Jose. My copy is autographed by the author himself (and I couldn't help but feel giddy being inches away from the illustrious F. Sionil Jose). One of the assignments of the author class was to see how a book launch is done. There's no better way to experience that than to buy the book being launched (this book was one out of two being launched that day) and fall in line to have it signed.
It was worth the P450 (got it at P50 off, hahaha) and waiting in line to have it signed. I'm not really a fan of Philippine lit per se, and I'll probably blame it on the way I was taught Philippine literature over the years (it was in no way thought-inspiring or nationalism-building). Until now, I try reading Noli and El Fili and no matter how much I invoke my fangirl love for Rizal, I end up stopping in the middle.
Anyway, the story of Juan Bacnang could be the story of any rags-to-riches business tycoon in this country - or most of it. The themes of this book are akin to the current social and political state of this country, and I love how it shamelessly connects its major themes to the country's age-old problems. The first part of the story was rather hard for me to relate to, simply because I am not Ilocana and I cannot relate to being clannish or with the food and customs of the time. But when the protagonist of the story went to Manila, that was when I finally picked up the pace.
In spite of the realism, it is still a work of fiction. If you've read The Picture of Dorian Gray, you'll be able to see certain parallels to that in Juan Bacnang. At one point when I was in the middle of the book, I was speculating that the protagonist will have a Dorian Gray-esque ending. Whether that happened or not is something that you'll have to find out.
Next book in my reading stash is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I wasn't supposed to buy this, but it didn't cost so much in Powerbooks, so what the heck. It's a classic anyway.
Excuse the sleepy pic. I fell asleep in the car going to work, and I've been drifting in and out of sleep since then. Le sigh.
It has been three months since I bought the latest Murakami, and as of this writing I am in page 783 out of 925.
Usually, I breeze through reading a Murakami, especially when it came to my favorites (i.e. after dark, A Wild Sheep Chase, The Elephant Vanishes, etc.) 1Q84 is probably the only exception. I find myself skipping entire paragraphs, sometimes even pages. It was rare that the pace of the story was fast - it was like primera going to segunda, and back to primera again.
I think one of the reasons for this is the sheer length of the book. It's too long. I've read reviews that 1Q84 is the culmination of the themes and ploys Murakami often used in his stories, and I am inclined to agree, but the length of it is just waaaaaay too long for me. I recall that this was released in Japan in three parts. If this happened for the English release, then maybe it would overcome my primera-segunda-primera feeling.
I finally felt that the story break through the primera-segunda-primera monotony when Aomame met Leader and Tengo had that night with Fuka-Eri (am trying my best not to spoil), but when that was over, it went back to segunda, and, yeah - primera. I don't mind the emotional dynamic of the story, but once you go tercera,or cuarta, it's quite difficult to go back to primera after you have built the story up to such heights - unless you have a pretty darn good reason for doing it. In the other Murakami books I've read, once it reached a climax, it didn't go back to a relaxing pace - you're always wary that something else might come up. I don't get the same intensity thus far with this book (at page 783). Sure, there is a sense of discomfort, but not enough to induce page-turning. In other words, you can procrastinate. Nothing makes me more enthusiastic about a novel than the feeling that it must be finished with a sense of urgency.
--- --- ---
I've been working on something the past two days. It's kind of rough, but I'm satisfied with it for now. :-) Mabuti na yung may nasulat kesa sa wala. I think this is my first [finished] short story. YAAAAAY. (Ye gads if you saw how many unfinished stuff I have on the computer or on the notebook...le sigh)
I don't think it merits a warning, but if underage smoking would suffice, then...yeah. XD
Bagyo Berde was, needless to say, very memorable. Why it was isn't because of euphoria of singing in open air at the Alma Mater (it was very stressful, IMO). The journey to getting there is a better story to tell. A Chinese proverb says, the journey is the reward.
In a nutshell, I'm very grateful for being a finalist. I was expecting that we would at least place (keeping positive vibes, of course), but the songs that we did were risky, given the genre of the other 10 bands that played (we called our genre jazz + funk = junk). Deviating from rock was our idea of a "winning" strategy, but alas.
Anyway, People's Choice isn't a bad spot to be in. In fact, just two days ago, we performed again at the Alma Mater for The Art of Cosplay. Now this thing right here was quite interesting. We were told that we're getting a televised performance as our prize for winning People's Choice, and we had to be in school by 5:30 PM. Then, I was told that on the day that we were performing in a competition, which made me panic because we didn't have any practice. When I arrived at the venue, I found myself in a COSPLAY event. And, should I say it? NHK WAS THERE.
If you're ID 102 and lower/higher (until probably ID 104/105), you'll understand how shocking this is - COSPLAY. IN DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE OBEY-OR-BE-DAMNED DRESS CODE? Gosh, back in the day, we couldn't even come up with a cosplay event, we only stuck with the usual Miyazaki film showings, Minna Utao! and of course the cultural activities like sadou, but a cosplay is an event that NKK could only dream of producing during my time. This event, from what I've gathered, had the support of the CLA Graduate Student Council (solid backing, if I may say so myself), with NKK and I think another org...so a combined force can definitely stage an event like this.
Anyway, I digress. Had I known that we would be performing in a COSPLAY event, I would have brought out my Rinoa costume (sans long hair, of course), or prepare a J-pop song that's bandworthy. Alas, alas...
What was common about yesterday's performance and last Wednesday's was the sheer difficulty of setting up the instruments. Tuesday was understandable, but last Wednesday was just beyond me. We had a sound check prior to the event, but we still had setup/audio problems.
The delay was shorter last Wednesday compared to Tuesday, though. In fact, it got so long that I couldn't think of anything witty to say to the audience. So, I flipped through my head (a la iPod) some of the recent J-pop/anime themes that I knew by heart, and said, "Okay lang ba na kumanta ng J-pop na acapella?" I wasn't entirely sure what response I got (yes/heck no/whatever), but I went with my gut and blurted out, "This is LET IT OUT by Miko Fukuhara." Boom. I sang the verse, then the chorus. It was nearly mechanical, the way I did it. I've only sung the song in Wako (HAHAHAHA). If you're reading this and you were there, I give my humblest of floorbows or my widest of smiles to you, whichever is appropriate. =D
Anyway, after that, we got to play our two songs. Both were pretty smooth-sailing. The Wednesday performance was obviously more stressful than Tuesday's. On the basis of my performance alone, I think Tuesday was better; I mostly blame myself being so stressed about the performance last Wednesday, and partly on the stage monitor (I had to walk to the house just to hear myself).
I think a shout-out to Noey is in order for cheering me on two days ago (sorry talaga, I didn't realize it was you until I saw you up close /fail), and had I known that she was performing I would have attempted leaving the office earlier. =) And, on the subject of shout-outs, if you cheered on for us last Wednesday either by going to DLSU, or voted for us through text/coin bank, plugged us on the radio, or lifted us up in prayer, THANK YOU. This win is yours just as much as it is ours.
--- --- ---
This song was on repeat the weekend before Bagyo Berde. I was happy to have this on repeat, in spite of it bringing tears to my eyes everytime I listened to it. Basically, it puts the whole experience into the right perspective. :-)
There are many ways you can support the band! We will appreciate it if you can come and watch us at 6PM next Wednesday at the Amphitheater. Tickets are being sold at Php150 along Miguel and Velasco Halls of the Alma Mater, as well as in the SDA Building of DLS-CSB.
If you cannot come on Wednesday night, you can still support us by doing any or all of the following:
Vote for us. If you have a Smart number, text BAGYOBERDE <space> POLL <space> 3 and send to 700DLSU (7003578). That's "BAGYOBERDE POLL 3" and send to 7003578. If you don't have a Smart number, you can go to the Bagyo Berde booth along Miguel and get a Smart SIM for free. You can also pasa load to my Smart Bro number 09396652946 so I can use whatever load you send to me to vote for CCBB. If you will pasa load to my Smart Bro, please text me on my Globe number (wahahahahaha!).
If you are in DLSU until 5:00 PM, visit the Bagyo Berde booth (either along Velasco or Miguel) and drop a few bills in the Cherry Cherry Boom Boom coin bank/can.
Donate to Youth Church (YC) of Church of God-Makati. Our entry is fully supported by the youth ministry of our church. Your money will go a long way towards building up leaders out of our youth in Makati, and in other places of the metro and beyond.
For my utter lack of coherence in the previous post, I regret nothing. (HAHA!)
But to save face, here's a more coherent version.
I am obligated to provide a link to the portfolio of the uber-demanding photographer (sobrang demanding niya, you have no idea).
Being the person who's (unofficially) the officialphotographer for events - whether they are family reunions, work or church related events, I RARELY get really good photos (as in VAVAVOOM GOOD). The people I take pictures of end up with the good photos (and eventually, DPs), while I end up with the usual substandard selca or a picture of myself that wasn't taken well because of poor lighting, composition, and/or laziness. I get even more pissed if a person who has zero knowledge about the use of DSLRs handles Oberon, but that's another story.
So, you could just imagine how happy I was when this photoshoot was scheduled, and how much I was freaking out when I saw what came out of the shoot. YE GADS - I finally have a decent photo!
It was a night of too much eyeliner (not only for me, but also for the guys!), too much black eyeshadow, and questionable fashion sense (blazer + shorts + rubber shoes = say what now?). The photos were taken in fire escapes and hallways. This particular picture was taken at the hallway, with no light except from the flash. We found the sofa stashed at the corner leading to the CR.
It's actually fun being photographed when you don't have to be "pretty", cause I pretty much suck at that no matter how hard I try. =P
Can I say that I was trying to channel Coco Rocha fierceness during this shoot? In my head I was telling myself, "think Coco Rocha fierce, be Coco Rocha fierce..." Now that I think about it, I don't understand why I would I think of a high-fashion model during a band photoshoot, and not someone like Gwen Stefani or Amy Lee.
Anyway, some of the friends who saw this said that I look like the female vocalist of Taken By Cars. That wasn't my intention at all, but I do see the similarity. XP
Oh - in other band-related news, we have decided on a cover song. =)
