i spent most of 2007 with hair, and most of that time with bangs. my sisters hated the bangs and often bugged me to get a proper haircut. i was usually pleased with the bangs for most of the year, and my stylist, roy, liked the idea of butch with bangs. well, yesterday i decided to make certain changes in preparation for 2008, so i went to a barber shop at the mall and had my hair shaved off. haha. roy will flip. our eldest is pleased. my other sister hasn’t responded to the mms picture of hairless me i sent. and i’m spending half the time rubbing my hand against the stubble and the other half wondering why i shaved off the hair. oh well. thank god and my mom for my round head. and thank god i can easily grow my hair back.
if you intend to give me a gift this christmas, please choose from the list below. i’m big on recycling, but i don’t really enjoy recycling gifts. haha.
• barbecue or tofu kebabs from Greens
• book bag
• framed Angelo Magno drawing from his "Mary Keps" series (to go with the two i have hanging in my office)
• bicycle
• any Pizzicato Five cd except Romantique
• white unscented candle
• white hanky
• socks
• aloe vera body wash from Marks & Spencer
• ground coffee beans (please buy local)
• Escada Sentiment eau de toilette
• Go Nuts Donuts gift certificate
• vegetarian ham
• My So-called Life dvd
• chocolate cake
this is very bad news (read the article below). and this makes me really angry. the philippines is a free country. that’s precisely why i choose to stay here in spite of its many, many problems. by imposing a curfew the arroyo administration is bringing itself one step away from martial law. the curfew is not necessary and should not be implemented. and all of us who value our freedom should not allow these thugs to deprive us of our rights.
Gov’t declares curfew in Metro Manila, nearby provinces
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The government, through Interior and Local Secretary Ronaldo Puno has imposed a curfew throughout Metro Manila, in Central Luzon (Region 3), and CALABARZON (Region 4-A).
The curfew starts 12 midnight to 5 a.m. Friday.
In a news briefing in Malacañang, Puno appealed to the public to "bear with the inconvenience" brought about by the declaration of the curfew.
He said the curfew was issued "to allow law enforcement agencies to continue their follow-up operation."
Philippine National Police Chief Avelino Razon has been directed to issue the guidelines on the curfew, Puno added.
"We would encourage everyone to cooperate with the rules and guidelines relative to this curfew," he said.
Puno said regions 3 and 4-A were included in the curfew because there were some areas here that were part of the greater Manila area.
"Police authorities want to ensure that Manila is safe and sound," he said.
Asked if there was a possibility of extending the curfew, Puno said this could be the case "if the follow up operations that would ensue will not achieve their objectives," but added that this would be reviewed on a day-to-day basis.
Puno said public transportation would not be allowed to ply in the period of curfew.
He added that those that would be in the streets during the period of curfew would be the subject of "serious scrutiny" in checkpoints that would be set-up in the three regions affected.
Puno said those that would be subjected to checkpoints should be able to present valid identification cards and should not be carrying weapons.
so i was watching television last night, wanting to get updated on the three typhoons in the country, when i chanced upon the late night news of one of the biggest local networks. the show’s title, which sounds a lot like "sexy," was co-hosted by this woman we’ll call mickey vorales. so mickey vorales was holding a live interview with this guy from the weather bureau. everything was painfully boring until mickey decided to brighten things up with this question: do these three storms currently in the country have anything to do with the earthquake that hit luzon this afternoon? the poor weather guy was taken aback and fudged an answer. i, on the other hand, decided there and then to erect an altar in honor of mickey vorales and her amazing, amazing brain. teehee.
last week i found a small cream-colored envelope in my pigeonhole at the faculty center. in it was a photograph of the front cover of a book, and it served as my invitation to the launching of ladlad 3.yes, folks, neil garcia and danton remoto have a third daughter. only, she took quite a while sashaying down the birth canal. if i’m not mistaken, essence, my story that’s included in ladlad 3 was written in 1995. this makes it really quite retro. i’m worried readers will find my story rather juvenile. gawd! but then again, i’m still glad the book’s finally out.
and since it’s a collection by gay editors of gay writing by gay writers for (i assume) a primarily gay audience, the launch on december 1 at best sellers, galleria will only be very, very gay. and i still don’t have an outfit. waah! should i try to match my story and go retro? i can’t quite remember what was in in 1995. oh dear. was it grunge? goth? help?
as a belated birthday treat (it was supposed to be a birthday treat, but the competition got moved back), i went to araneta coliseum with several friends (j, a, a, e, and b) to watch the uaap cheerdancing championship. and it really was a treat. the up pep squad kicked ass. wahoo! it’s great to be champion again. i’m super proud of our kids. maybe up should be spending more on kids (and coaches) like them who actually do produce results.
and on the other end of the spectrum lurks christian bautista. this up graduate can’t sing the national anthem correctly. ugh. the morning after the up pep squad’s victory, i watch the news and i see a clip of this guy mangling the words of the lupang hinirang. what a shame.
i am, brace yourselves, currently reading, hold on tight to your chairs, jesus of nazareth by joseph ratzinger, aka pope benedict xvi, aaka papa ratzi. haha! yes, i am actually reading a religious book. it’s my punishment for missing one too many sessions of my essay class under (n). and believe me, it really is punishment. it’s like i’ve gone back to high school. ugh.
i have to write a review of jesus of nazareth for my essay class, and it’s due tomorrow. of course, being a creature of habit, i still have to start writing it. but how can i do that when i’m still reading it? ack! papa ratzi is wordy. very, very wordy. sigh.
his book’s point, i think, is to arrive at an understanding of jesus christ as the mysterious divine being that comes complete with awe-inspiring soundtrack, strobe lights, and fog machines. he wants to bring back the more godlike qualities of jesus which recent (and i suppose more popular) scholarship on the humanity of jesus christ have removed with their historical and critical approaches to the bible. to put it more simply, papa ratzi wants jesus to be more god than man.
i’ve thought of a nice title for my review: unpopping jesus: papa ratzi gives it a crack.
okay, so in a few weeks it’ll be my birthday. and since this is tradition, i am now uploading my wish list. haha.
- chocolate cake (the darker the better)
- barbecue or tofu kebabs from Greens
- book bag
- black, hi-cut Chuck Taylors (size 9)
- orange, hi-cut Chuck Taylors (size 9)
- bouquet of peonies
- framed Angelo Magno drawing from his "Mary Keps" series (to go with the two i have hanging in my office)
- any shirt from The Tshirt Project (large)
- big clay bowl
- bicycle
- any Pizzicato Five cd except Romantique
- Spanish lessons
- driving lessons
my birthday’s not until september 9, so you still have enough time to shop. haha.
a new friend (c) visited sydney a few weeks ago and asked me what i wanted from there. i asked for a copy of romesh gunesekera’s monkfish moon to replace my copy which i misplaced several years ago. we met yesterday, and i received a different gunesekera book instead. i think this is even better since i haven’t read heaven’s edge yet. i can hardly wait to begin reading the novel. and because c is such a nice person, i got another book with heaven’s edge. i also received a copy of wonderful town, a collection of new york stories from the new yorker. it’s part of this wonderful series of collected stories that appeared in new yorker magazine. the second book is especially thoughtful because c knows my masters thesis includes writing a collection of stories set in the city, and this book will help a whole lot.
thanks, c!
and since my birthday’s coming up, dear reader, please remove the two titles from your list of books to give me on september 9. haha.
i’m currently reading a parrot in the oven by victor martinez. actually, i’ve just started reading it. it’s about this young latino boy, manny hernandez and his family. it’s quite gripping; i had a hard time letting go of it this morning to go to work. i have a feeling it’s going to get really sad, though.
