Now/here no/where woman

There are at least two reasons this book is important: 1.      It’s about time, and, 2.      It’s about time. First, it’s about time such a book is published: a collection of recipes gathered from the hearths of the Cordillera region. For what does the act of publishing do? Beyond documentation, the act of publishing is to declare that a thing exists and to announce it to the world: “This is our food, our knowledge, our heritage.” It is to make a thing available to readers. We need more books like this. A question we are regularly asked in Mt. Cloud Bookshop is, “Do you have new books on the Cordillera?” Sadly, more often than not the answer is no. Not yet. In the past eight years of our existence, we can count on my fingers and toes the number of new titles on the region. This is just a drop in the bucket, compared to the volume of books being published in Manila today. This may seem surprising, but people want m...

Alan gave me the print-outs of two poems he read at the I Poetry reading in Block 4 of the Baguio Public Market, held October 26 as part of the Markets of Resistance project. Scintillating words were spoken from atop a kariton in the market that afternoon. A couple of hours later, Frank gave me two books of poetry for Mt Cloud Bookshop. The following day I was handed an envelope from Mimi, who manages the Tala Share and Guesthouse, and in it was a copy of a poem she read at an art exhibit several months ago. I remember that moment very well. Thank you, dear friends! Thank you, Universe. An inspiring, palengke poetry reading and then three different people giving me the gift of poems in the last two days. If there's a message you're trying to deliver, Universe, I'm open and waiting.

At a Women's Month celebration the other day, I was seated with the Little Boss on my lap and her Papa, my Outrigger, stood behind us, ready to take her if needed. A woman I hold much respect for, a senior in academic circles, came up to me and commented on how the Little Boss has grown and I introduced her to the Outrigger. She smiled at him and said in a tone that I heard to be partly scolding, partly teasing,  "You're the one who's keeping her from being an anthropologist!" He and I responded in unison, "Noooo." But she had turned and walked away. I suppose she had said what she wanted to say and didn't need or want to hear an answer. The Outrigger shrugged and said, "Some people just feel they have to say something." And with that shrug, I knew that the Outrigger had already brushed aside that brief encounter and was just minutes away from forgetting the whole incident -- a gift I wish I had too. But I was bothered, and he...

Cupcakes made by Sugarhigh at Cranberry Bakeshop For Mt Cloud Bookshop's third anniversary, the Big Little Sister and I decided to throw a children's party. We welcomed about 30 kids, aged 2 to 12, plus their parents. We played Simon says, statue dance, and we read stories. The Monkey and the Turtle , a Philippine folktale retold and illustrated by Jose Rizal, and The Grand Parade, a story about a town fiesta taken over by children, by Carla Pacis and Nanoy Rafael. We handed out prizes to the winners and the good listeners who responded to the story-tellers' questions.  We fed the kids cupcakes and cookies. We gave them loot bags filled with stickers, erasers, pencils, puzzles, marbles and a sipa each. We gave away board books and story books provided by Adarna House . Two fine arts students from UP Baguio did face painting for the kids. Luchie Maranan launched and read her new children's book, The Pangat, the Mountains, and the River , published as part of...

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.

On June 30, 2013 at 2 PM, Mt. Cloud Bookshop will host the launching of the new children’s book, The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and Other Cordillera Folktales . The event is open to the public and will include story-telling and a performance for children by the Aanak di Kabiligan Community Theater Group. After eleven years of telling stories through the Community Theatre, the Cordillera Green Network (CGN) and its theater company, The Aanak di Kabiligan has published a compilation of Cordillera folklore. These stories were the inspiration behind  the CGN's successful environmental education campaign, dubbed as the "Eco-Theatre Caravan", a roving theater community of young Cordillerans, theatre artists and volunteers performing in different communities in the Philippines and prefectures in Japan advocating environmental causes through performance. The book is a collection of folktales from Kalinga, Benguet, Apayao and Mt. Province. These storie...