Now/here no/where woman

Today I crave big beautiful things. There is no food for this hunger. Only the Alhambra will suffice. Or sunrise seen from a mountain, An ocean of clouds At my feet.

My sister and the Artist-in-Residence and I follow an heirloom recipe for polvoron so rich in butter that if you drop one from a height of 2-feet, it won't crumble. We arrived at this figure through repeated tests. Shaping polvoron could well have been my first experience of entering a meditative state of mind. But I never enjoyed wrapping them individually. In our house the polvoron is stacked in a pyramid on a cheese plate and consumed on-the-spot. I also used to get blisters from packing the heavenly powder in so tightly. We need a good pair of molds. Not the cheap, tinsel-like stuff you can get these days. When I was a kid we had an old pair of polvoron shapers made of copper. I wonder if we'll ever find polvoron molds like that again. Wishful thinking on a Monday morning.

Someday, I'm going to go parahawking in Nepal .

We live on an archipelago and I'd like to experience it better. I wish to someday make a life for myself and The Nuclear Family on another Philippine island; to work, play, run a household, make friends, eat out, explore and go on picnics somewhere other than Luzon, maybe for a year or two.

... I could have a french bulldog. Because they are so cute in such an endearingly ugly way, just looking at them fills my heart with joy and laughter.

A NERD BOYFRIEND. Check out these fine specimens. More diversions on nerdboyfriend.com . Thank you, Miss Mika O .

To disappear is to cease to be visible. To disappear is to cease to exist or be in use. To disappear is to be lost or impossible to find. To disappear is to be taken and kept against your will. To disappear is to go missing or be killed. To reappear. What does it take?

... that I could pile my bike, my dogs, and the Artist-in-Residence into the pickup and just drive into the mountains for a weekend of sleeping under the stars and eating with our hands, our backs leaning against tall pine trees whistling in the wind, the dogs lying contentedly at our feet. But first, I need a pickup truck.

Image credit: Why, Mika Oshima of course! "Some day, I'm going to write stories and my best friend Mika is going to illustrate them." I feel brave enough to say that now that Carlo J. Caparas is National Artist for Visual Art and Film. (Ooh and next time let me tell you about my digital fantasies too.) Comics illustrator Gerry Alanguilan has a very straightforward opinion on why the award is undeserved, here and here . National Artist for Visual Art, Bencab had scathing yet sensible things to say about it too . I've been holding to my comic(s) fantasy for years but I haven't yet written a single story. I'm still saying I'd love to try my hand at short fiction almost everyday, like it's a mantra of some sort. (That is to say, I'm still trying to get over the fear of making the attempt.) But anyway, I'm so happy that Mika is turning her comic(s) dreams into reality. She's churning them out in Dense Valley . Yey, Mika !

Image credit: Amazon.com I've always said that Baguio is Where the Wild Things Are. My friends and I, we're all a bunch of monsters out for a good time. Image credit: Amazon.com I grew up loving Maurice Sendak's book , and now I am waiting, waiting, waiting for the movie by Spike Jonze. Watch the trailer here. I wish I had a Max outfit when I was a kid. (And I shouldn't have to tell you that I don't mean the chicken.)

On a recent sojourn to North America, I collected more flyers and brochures than souvenirs. I can't keep them all -- already too much clutter in my little lungga, so for posterity I'll post them here in random order. If anybody wants to adopt a flyer or save a few from the garbage bin (the paper-designated garbage bin, to be precise, my dear Thompson), just say the word and it's yours. I wanted my own copy of this film sooo bad because it sounded like such a good story (and a soundrack by Youssou N'Dour!), but my budget was running low so I settled for the postcard.

I want to write fictional stories so bizarre that they could only be true. God knows I have the material for it fermenting in my inner brewery.

album covers from seek a cover dot com. Stop, look , and listen. One hour, thirty-five minutes, and fifty-four seconds of bliss.

Could we do this in Baguio? Would people be interested? I'd love to give it a try. My first guest would be the Nashman, who could tell us all about unanotechnology ! But first I have to get my life back from this #xxxsblgr@%*#grrr dissertation. Photo credit: Cafe Scientifique (first link above).

A text message came out of the blue today. Kumusta na, padma? regards mula sa coron island. And so I replied... Good a.m. po! Kumusta na po kayo dyan? Kumusta na ang coron island? And so I got this text dispatch from Coron Island: Mdjo ok lang kami d2 sa coron island. Kulang nalang ikaw at ang regalo ko sa pasko. hehehe. Mdjo malaki ang improvement ng coron kaya lang mdjo talamak ang bilihan d2 ng lupa. Grabi lalo na mga pulitiko. Kung d2 ka lang dami ka masulat sa news. bigas d2 ng NFA rice 23 ang kilo. Wala ka pa mabili kc ginagawang commercial rice. Ganun pa rin ang nangyayari kahit ancestral domain ang coron island? Ang coron island d nila kayang galawin kc napa title na namin kaya galit mga pulitiko. Inggit sila sa coron island. Ngayon ay TTCIA name ng coron island. Tagbanua Tribe Coron Island Association. TTCIA. At registered na rin kami sa SEC. Mdjo lumaban kami kaya titulo na buong isla padma. Buti naman. Naalala ko nung bumisita ako CADC pa lang po at hinihintay nyo pa title. ...

My post on Stand Up Against Poverty unexpectedly got a debate started on whether or not people in Baguio are poor! Are we or are we not? Are they or are they not? Are you or are you not? Lisa wrote a long piece on her blog, re-examining her definition of poor , and explaining her own attitudes towards 'it'. Be sure to read the comments too! Here is what Stand Up Against Poverty is all about. I think it's a little bit more than just a worldwide whine. I've read several relevant posts by Bill Bilig, that may not deal with the definition of poverty directly but this post on vegetable farmers and this post on hunger, for example, add on more dimensions to the way we could approach a debate on 'poor or not'. Comments on Bill's blog are also well worth the extra minutes. My own piso-mind shall remain in the comments boxes. I do not feel entitled to speak on the matter at length, although I know people who could speak from experience and I wish they wo...

Smart and Globe probably make millions a day from hundreds of thousands of text messages flying through the networks that say nothing but "YES" or "OK". What a waste of 300 alloted characters per text message, and what a waste of millions of pesos. If enough of us cellphone-dependents were to agree that 1 missed call without follow-up means YES or OK (instead of just texting 'yes' or 'ok'), we'd deprive Smart and Globe of profits they don't really deserve because when you get down to it their service sucks and they subject prepaid users to highway robbery. But even better than that, you might just save enough pesos to buy us a beer a day, and that would make us very happy :o) Spread the idea!

I find it disturbing how men I normally regard as intelligent, discerning, and bequeathed with a sharp and invigorating social and environmental consciousness, are eventually drawn to golf or go through a golf phase -- that elitist , expensive , space-wasting , water-guzzling past-time in which men chase a ball with a stick while their lackeys carry the golf clubs for them or search for the balls when they go off course. I have a short list: Number One Biker Boy, Frank, Neal Oshima, and Kabigat a.k.a Kidlat Tahimik whom witnesses saw teeing off at the Baguio Country Club recently. When asked to comment he explained that he joined his sister after twenty years of shunning the golf course for old times' sake, as she was leaving for the US that evening. (My relatives don't count. They are beyond saving. The elders have been playing golf since before I was born, while those of my generation were born with golf clubs in their hands.) I don't get it. Talk about cognitive disso...

There’s a feeling of freedom that comes with cycling in a big city which is very important, as one can feel trapped by the routine of touring, work, or even travel.... Even if freedom is an illusion the physical sensation of riding does a pretty good job of making it seem attainable for a moment. -- David Byrne David Byrne writes about how things are looking up for commuters on bicycles in New York, having cycled in the city for over 30 years. Oh how I wish the same could be said for Baguio! I vaguely remember some years ago that the city of Baguio was given funds by something like the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank to create bicycle lanes thanks to some visionary council member! Needless to say, the lanes never materialized. And who knows what the visionary council member did with the funds. Lucky David Byrne has cycled "for transport, not sport" in some of the world's greatest and worst cities, including Manila! Risking life and limb on a bicycle is sheer...

It's been my dream to run a campaign in which my BFF (Best Friend Ferdie) runs for mayor under the Parti Party. We considered doing this and fielding the most unforgettable assembly of nuisance candidates ever, made up mostly of artists and other local vagabonds. The entire campaign would be a string of performances! But then we were overcome by the fear that BFF could actually win. And then what would we do? Also, it would be quite a challenge to raise funds for all the 'batchered' pigs and tapuy that every Parti Party appearance would require. So forget that. But I can still wish for it...