Now/here no/where woman

As I write this my Outrigger and I are perched on a balcony. The Outrigger has his nose buried in a law book and I am busy making up strategies in the pursuit of another dream. (Strictly speaking though, I'm procrastinating at the moment.) The Outrigger says I have a knack for making dreams come true. Sometimes this is a scary thought. From where we sit I see pine trees, grey sky and a distant lighting storm. An occasional crow flies across our view. I can almost forgive the cars and jeepneys rattling up and down the road below us. I can almost forgive the loud pop music and the mediocre coffee from the cafe behind us. This morning I took my two daughters, the Artist-in-Residence and the Little Boss, horseback riding. They spent half an hour humming to each other in their own world, on the back of Viper, a pony that the Artist-in-Residence has loved and returned to again and again for the past ten years. Lifetime friendships are made in Wright Park. Halfway through the day w...

Third Monday from the Sun is a monthly evening of poetry and spoken word in Mt. Cloud Bookshop. Anyone and everyone is welcome to step up to the mic and share their own poems or poems by others that they love. This July we remember the life-changing 1990 Baguio earthquake. The theme for Third Monday on July 15, 2013 at 6PM is "aftershock" -- literal or otherwise. And this month, Third Monday comes full circle around the sun! The first time Mt. Cloud Bookshop hosted Third Monday from the Sun was on July 16, 2012. We are grateful to everyone that came to speak, read, perform, play music, share, applaud, laugh, cry and make Magical Mondays with us. Cheers!

On July 13, 2013 at 5:30 PM in Mt. Cloud Bookshop, investigative journalist Aries C. Rufo will speak about his new book, Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church. The book "is the first of its kind in the country. Aries C. Rufo shows a Church that is cloaked in secrecy. It keeps the wrongdoings of its bishops and priests -- in sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement -- within its confines and lets them get away, unpunished... Rufo also delves into how the Church influences policy, as nowhere among Catholic countries in the world is the Church deeply involved in the shaping of policy than in the Philippines. Overall, reforms are taking place, but these are highly dependent on the Church leaders, the bishops who try to change mindsets and systems." "Aries C. Rufo was a beat reporter for the Manila Times and the Manila Standard covering politics, judiciary, and religion before joining Newbreak in 2001. His pieces for the maga...

It was cold and wet outside on the day of the launching of The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and other Cordillera Folktales . But inside Mt. Cloud Bookshop we were warmed by stories read and performed by the Aanak di Kabiligan community theater group. Storytelling on a stormy afternoon. Paco Paco. A Benguet story from the book, published by the Cordillera Green Network. Aanak di Kabiligan means children of the mountains. The theater group was born out of the Cordillera Green Network's eleven years of conducting workshops in which children transform their grandparents' stories into theater productions. Here they perform the title story of the Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and Other Cordillera Folktales.

NOTICE: The Free Burnham picnic has been moved to July 6, Saturday, 8 AM. Weather conditions dictate that we stay dry, warm and safe today -- and meanwhile contemplate the many ways in which we can let our city officials know: Please keep Burnham Park green, open for people and closed to business! Free Burnham is an open event in Melvin Jones on July 6 2013 from 8 AM to 1 PM for people of Baguio from all walks of life to come together in a picnic and lie-in to show city hall what a park is meant to be and to tell them, We need space to play! Because public space for recreation is an essential part of any city. Because every child "shall have full opportunity for play and recreation" and "society and the public authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right." (Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child) Because it has been proven that the presence of green, open and public spaces is good for people's physical health and sense of ...

I am all for making declarations of love as statements of protest. Poster by Karlo Marko Altomonte This coming Saturday morning, July 6, 2013, declare your love for Burnham Park and for parks in general from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on the Melvin Jones football field. Bring your footballs, volleyballs, bicycles, bows and arrows, badminton rackets and shuttle cocks, trick decks and longboards, frisbees, mats and picnic baskets. You can even bring your dogs! (Let's set an example and clean up after our own pets if necessary.) We envision a lie-in on the football field or a human fence around its perimeter or one big picnic of families saying, "WE NEED SPACE TO PLAY!" and showing the mayor and the incoming councilors what a park is all about. While we're there, let's clean up the park too so bring garbage bags, gloves (there's lots of broken glass), and fashion your own poker/garbage-skewer (for lack of a better word). The mayor has been hemming and ...