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Showing posts from November, 2012

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Words: Mine. Images: Mine.

A good person

What does it mean? I mean, to be a good person. The un-put-down-able kind of good person. The other  day, a stranger stopped me on Session Road and tied my shoelace for me. I was walking with the Baby in a sling, a bundle of papers in one hand, and an umbrella in the other. This woman looked to be in her twenties. She called me Ate, tapped me on my shoulder, and pointed out that the laces on my right shoe had come loose. I thanked her but it was impossible for me to bend down and tie them. I shrugged and walked on ahead of her. A few paces later, she tapped me on my shoulder again and said, "Ako na." I'll do it. Then she bent down and tied my shoelace for me. If she knew me to be the kind of person I am, my foibles, the sorts of trouble I've gotten myself into, the things I've said to and of people, would she still have given me this small act of kindness?  I thanked her again and again and she just shrugged and walked on ahead of me. 

Author's Talk with Marites Vitug on HOUR BEFORE DAWN

A n evening in dialogue with one of the Philippines' most prominent and brilliant investigative journalists, Marites Dañguilan Vitug, who is coming to Mt Cloud Bookshop in Baguio City to launch her latest book on the Philippine Supreme Court, "Hour Before Dawn." The Author's Talk will begin at 5:00 PM on 20 November, in Mt Cloud Bookshop. There will be time for an open forum after Ms. Vitug's talk, which will then be followed by book signing and a light merienda. The book examines "what might have been the darkest hour of the Phili ppine Supreme Court, when its integrity was compromised by the actions of its Chief Justice, who was subsequently impeached, and by a series of highly irregular reversals of its own rulings. It reveals a court seemingly subject to political pressure, disbursing funds for questionable purposes, and abetting plagiarism by one of its own members, and yet placing itself beyond criticism even by the country's top lawyers and aca

November's Third Monday from the Sun

Order in the court! There's a time for love poems and a time for other poems... This coming Third Monday from the Sun, on 19 Nov 2012 at 6:00pm, we want to hear what you have to say about justice. To spice up our poetry nights at Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Third Mondays will have new themes every month. Justice is November's theme in observance of "Day of the Imprisoned Writer" (15 Nov), to commemorate the Maguindanao Massacre (26 Nov 2009) and to warm things up for the upcoming launch of Marites Vitug's Hour Before Dawn, a book about what might have been the Philippine Supreme Court's darkest hour. We will feature the poetry of Ericson Acosta. You may want to read one of his poems on Third Monday too! As always, there will be no mechanics, judges or rules. Take the witness stand and speak your mind! See you in Mt Cloud Bookshop for our Third Monday from the Sun, 19 Nov. 2012, at 6:00PM.

Enduro di Braggadocio

I'm far from ready to race again but I plan on planting myself by a fun section of the route (preferably where there will be a lot of shade and a lot of action -- jumps, drops, or spectacular crashes!) and enjoying some of the best company there is this side of the mountain biking world. Top prizes are fun and bragging rights. You can join only if you are endorsed by a godfather. If you have any complaints, you may proceed to two of the toughest mixed martial arts gyms in the Philippines. This race smacks of the classic humor and, well, braggadociousness of some biker boys I know in Baguio and La Trinidad, and will most likely have a mind-blowing, lung-busting, muscle-ripping route. Am I right, or am I right? Format: The enduro format is played out on a trail course and requires considerable technical skills to tackle the downhill portions and enough legpower to get back up to the next downhill leg. The downhill legs, called Special sta ges, are conducted as Individual Time

Prayer

© words by Padmapani L. Perez