A Small Man with a Big Heart for Love, Life and the Arts
An Artist, a Dreamer, a Piscean, a Poet
In other words and other worlds, I am The Fool.

Name:
Sunday, August 29, 2004

Writer's Epiphany

There are days when all I want is to write.

As a writer and a poet, I wish that every moment of my life is packed with sudden sparks of literary ideas or empyreal inspirations; an unending torrent of words that would go straight into my hands and with a mind of their own, simply type as fast as they could as if the very survival of my life depended on it. I want to experience the kind of epiphany that Gabriel Garcia Marquez had when one day it all became divinely lucid to him how he was to write his then untitled novel “Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude),” that became one of the greatest literary masterpieces of the last century. I want to lock myself in a room for eighteen months like he did -- hungry, tired, and almost dying when he came out but never felt more alive his entire life upon the completion of his book. I want to write something everyday – a poem, an article, a blog entry, a short story, whatever – just as long as I am able to produce any sort of worth-reading amalgamation of words.

Everyday that treasure chest of ideas is waiting to be unlocked. Everyday there is that chance to be immortal.

I want my mind to be a dam that needs to be consistently opened or else the gushing water would build up and ultimately break it. I want to be prolific and productive like my great literary heroes and writer-friends continually pissing out literary pieces for they are so drunk and full of them. I want my mind to be potent as poison creating phrases that will make a reader gasp and die… or healing as a panacea that will save him and give him life.

Yes, there are days when life, my artist’s muse, and Whoever Is Above are so gracious and giving in their bountiful harvest of ideas that I seem to easily vomit all the thoughts in my head in one prompting like a bulimic. There are days when the heavens freely open up with sweet aspersions and all I have to do is get drenched in the magical downpour of words and phrases. There are days when I feel like a conduit of a mystical and magical force when everything flows naturally, the words on the blank paper assuming a life of their own, life becoming a world of words, a phase of phrases, and a universe of verses.

But alas, most of the time, this kind of days doesn’t happen. I am only human and no genius of a writer.

There are days when writing is a struggle between life and death.

There are days when a piece of blank paper (or Word document) remains blank for hours, as I stare at it with no ideas coming into mind or the perfect first line selfishly playing hide and seek with me. There are days when to write is to make fire by hitting two stones until a spark appears after countless attempts. There are days when the Sandman is asleep, Calliope is dead, and the gods are selfish that I have to rely on all my inner strengths to write.

There are days when every letter I put on paper is a bubble of breath that leaves me as I drown in a sea of frustration. There are days when I have to fall on my knees and endlessly grope in the dark to find words like insects hiding in the forgotten fissures and fractures of the floor in my brain. There are days when each word I write is a dot of blood trickling from a cut in my wounded mind. There are days when the construction of every sentence is like laboriously creating a gigantic mural painting with an unsharpened pencil. There are days when finishing one paragraph is like chiseling marble with a needle to create a Statue of David. There are days when eternity seems to pass a thousand times before I could write one literary piece.

There are days when one has to suffer for his art.

And write from his heart.


This is one of those days.
Quay fooled around at 6:53 PM
Friday, August 27, 2004

Victories

A friend’s success is my success too.

My good old college friend Dean Francis Reyes Alfar, famous Filipino playwright, poet, short story writer, and comic book writer-extraordinaire, and my best friend Jose Maria Alarilla, famous Filipino journalist, writer, poet, essayist, and newspaper editor both won “Palancas” this year. I would like to congratulate these two exceptionally talented, hardworking, passionate, and truly wonderful writer-friends of mine with their prestigious awards. (To those who don’t know the annual “Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award,” it is like the Philippine’s version of the Pulitzer Prize or the Nobel Prize in Literature. Achieving such an award is a great honor to any Filipino writer.)

Both are my friends and orgmates from UP Tinta, our then college organization composed of poets, writers, lovers of literature, and just about anyone who was enamored with the spoken and written word.

Dean Francis Reyes Alfar is a multi-awarded writer. He has previously won five Palancas (if I am not mistaken) in the One-Act Play and Short Story categories. This year, he has won one in each category making it a total of seven Palancas for him. Among his award winning works are the short story “Spark: The Sad and Strange Tale of Sister Maria Dolores, The Nun Who Exploded” and the plays “Fragments of Memories” and “Island: The Musical.” Many of his works have been published in local magazines, newspapers, and books. Another success of his this year is the inclusion of his short story entitled “L’ Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars)” in the American publication “The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror Seventeenth Annual Collection” which appeared alongside the works of international literary greats like Neil Gaiman, the creator of the Sandman comic books and Ursula Le Guin. This story which metamorphosed into a play gave him his 2nd Prize win in the Palanca One-Act Play Category while his genre short story “Hollow: A Girl’s Romance” won 3rd Prize in the Futurist Fiction Category. His other passion is comic books and he is considered as one of the prime movers of “grafiction” in the country, endlessly working with illustrators and artists, and publishing and creating high-class standard comic books left and right. For this unbridled passion, he and his team won the 2004 National Book Award for Best Comic Book for their comic book anthology entitled “Siglo: Freedom” a few weeks ago. This guy I think has won every literary award there is in the Philippines and believe me he rightly deserves them all. He manages his own business advertising company called Kestrel IMC and is happily married to Nikki Go, who is also a great writer and a good friend from the same org. They have an adorable daughter named Sage. (You can check out their respective blogs at http://www.kestrelstudios.com/blog/ and http://nikkialfar.blogspot.com/).

Jose Maria Alarilla, my best friend who has always been there for me and has loved me like a brother through the years, has done countless newspaper articles and has won awards for his impressive and active role in IT journalism in the Philippines. He is currently the editor of www.inq7.net/globalnation. His writing entitled “Surviving the Zeroes,” which is about a father’s view on digital technology and how it is shaping the life of his daughter, won Third Prize in the Palanca Essay Category. This is his first Palanca. He is married to my “kumare” Ellen Quijano, who I share the same birthday with and who is also a wonderful writer. They have a beautiful two-year old daughter, my “inaanak,” Samantha. (You can email him at joey_alarilla@yahoo.com.)

It is an honor and a blessing to be connected with two great writers (very humble, creative, fun, and caring people I may add). It makes me feel proud to be their fellow writer, comrade in arts, and friend and equally makes me aspire to do better at my craft. Honestly, they have always been a source of inspiration to me. I have always believed that friends are the best idols one could have. Their success has motivated me to devote more precious time with my pen and ink (or the computer), be inspired again by my literary muse, and write down whatever ideas I have on poetry, short stories, essays, and even novels that constantly churn in my mind. For who knows, one of these ideas might turn out be an award winning work.

Until that happens, I will write and write and write, and hope to have my “Palanca” and my taste of success too.

For I know, my success will be their success too.

Congratulations again, Dean and Joey.

(And Ponjun Roco too, son of former Presidential-aspirant Raul Roco, another friend and orgmate from UP Tinta, for his successful one man show entitled “Prism” at the Pasig City Museum.)
Quay fooled around at 8:20 AM
Thursday, August 26, 2004

Love Actually... Again and Again

“I feel it in my fingers; I feel it in my toes.
Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows.
It’s written in the wind; it’s everywhere I go.
So if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow.”
- Bill Nighy singing as rock superstar “Bill Mack” –

“This is shit, isn’t it?”

“Yup, solid gold shit, maestro.”
-----------------------------------------

I have watched the film “LOVE ACTUALLY” a film by Richard Curtis a total of eight times.

Personally, this is a big deal to me and also maybe for others. Why? It’s because I usually don’t watch movies more than two times unless they are tremendously worth watching again and again like the Star Wars series, The Godfather, The Matrix, The Alien quadrilogy, and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I have watched these films approximately 7 to 10 times). I mean, I watch these movies now and then mostly for their mind-blowing special effects rather and of course for their well-loved and superb stories. But usually people don’t go watching the same movie more than five times especially movies without big stars, big-budgeted action sequences, hi-tech special effects, and out-of-this word story twists and plots. Imagine viewing “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and the “Wedding Singer” eight times. I can watch them three or four times but that’s it. Unless they are your eternal favorites, to watch them countless times would be no problem.

For me, it is enough to view romantic films two to three times. Going beyond three or four, I sincerely believe is too much and borders on the insane -- on either being helplessly love-struck or broken hearted.

But with LOVE ACTUALLY, looks like I’ve been struck by love like what the movie is about. I have found this new personal fact a real wonder; it is quite pretty amusing and amazing to say the least. Somehow, something about this movie has made me fall in LOVE with it, ACTUALLY. I could watch it tonight and tomorrow and the succeeding days and know that I would never ever get tired of it. It’s like the way I have fallen in love with the poem “Somewhere I Have Never Traveled” by e.e. cummings or Melissa Green’s autobiography entitled “Color is the Suffering of Light.” No matter how many times I read these literary pieces, there is always something new to discover. It just feels wonderful every time… like having sex. In Tagalog, “walang kasawaan.”

There are just some things in life that strike a chord in our hearts, cling to them, and do not let go. This is what the movie exactly did to mine.

This heart-warming movie by Richard Curtis in his directorial debut (the writer who gave us Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary) is about ten stories of different kinds of LOVE happening four weeks prior to Christmas in London. There is the story of a widowed husband (LIAM NEESON) trying to build up a good relationship with his quiet stepson (THOMAS SANGSTER) who is in the “total agony of being in love” with an American schoolmate (OLIVIA OLSON); an art gallery-owner (ANDREW LINCOLN) who is hiding his intense love for his best friend’s new bride (KEIRA KNIGHTLEY) who on her part thinks he despises her; an ex-heroin addict rock star (BILL NIGHY) on the road to a musical comeback with the help of his ever faithful friend and manager (GREGOR FISHER); a bachelor UK Prime Minister (HUGH GRANT) who instantly falls in love with one of his household staffs (MARTINE McCUTCHEON) on the first day of his job at 10 Downing Street; a broken hearted writer (COLIN FIRTH), who discovered his girlfriend having an affair with his brother, learning to speak Portuguese so that he could propose marriage to the Portuguese woman (LUCIA MONIZ) who used to clean his house in the South of France; an office girl (LAURA LINNEY) who has been in love with their company’s enigmatic chief designer (RODRIGO SANTORO) for “two years, seven months, three days, one hour, and thirty minutes” but is hindered to pursue her affection for him because she is taking care of her mentally-ill brother (MICHAEL FRITZGERALD); a busy mother (EMMA THOMPSON) preparing the animal costumes of her two kids for their school’s nativity play finding out her husband (ALAN RICKMAN) is on the verge of having an affair with her sexy and alluring secretary (HEIKE MAKATSCH); a goofy young sandwich vendor (KRIS MARSHALL) who thinks he is the “God of Sex” but is unfortunately on the wrong continent for he cannot find true love with any stuck-up British girls, believing he can instantly have a girlfriend in America which his best friend (ALAN BARNES) absolutely think is crap; and two naked movie stand-ins (JOANNA PAGE and MARTIN FREEMAN) slowly falling in love with each other in the course of filming. These sweet interconnected stories between characters that move in their own six degrees of separation plus the short but memorable appearance of Mr. Bean ROWAN ATKINSON, as a comically passionate jewelry salesman make the whole movie worth watching again and again. The opening and ending scenes of people joyously hugging and kissing each other upon arrival at Heathrow Airport sandwich the film majestically.

The interrelated stories and dialogues are simply brilliant as the scenes fluidly flow from one story to another. And the actors were just perfect for their roles and quite endearing in their characterizations. I believe that if other actors were given these parts, the movie would have failed miserably. For this, aside from the actors, actresses, and director, I also give the movie’s casting director and crew two thumbs up. (God, I sound like a film critic. Just remember, this is not a proper film review.)

The movie’s soundtrack adds a charming dimension to the film, enough to make you dance, smile, and feel sad with songs by Joni Mitchell, The Pointer Sisters, The Bay City Rollers, and of course Bill Nighy’s Christmas version of Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around.” The oldies-but-goldies songs are absolutely fun and “wicked” as Colin Frissel, one of the characters in the movie, would say. A new personal favorite is “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. By the way, this movie has also caused me to fall in love with Martine McCutcheon. She is just cute and ideal in her role as Hugh Grant’s love interest. I am now a self-confessed fanboy of hers as I proclaim her to be my favorite actress and celebrity-flavor of the year along with Lindsay Lohan. (Last year it was Kate Hudson and the previous years were Ashley Judd, Heather Graham, Anne Hathaway, etc).

This movie is more than an eye-candy; nor is it a film for the hopelessly romantic or just to past one’s idle time away. In its simplicity, it becomes an honest celluloid masterpiece, naturalistic in its happiness and pains and without any pretension just as true love is. It is now in my top-thirty list of favorite films which include Seven Samurai, Six Degrees of Separation, Being John Malkovich and the other previously mentioned movies.

I plainly suggest you watch it and you may get a hint of what I mean. You may LOVE ACTUALLY the movie.

Love it enough to watch it eight times or even more… just like I have.
Quay fooled around at 9:37 PM
Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Buildings in Dubai

The funny and odd thing about Dubai is that majority of the buildings here don’t have names. Really. Or the buildings here would have such incredibly long names such as Jamal Mohammed Matar Al Hai Building, which no one really tries to memorize. For example, the building where I live is either called building no. 42 or 44 depending on which street you are located. Most of the time, I tell my friends or taxi drivers that it is the blue and white building behind Jesco Supermarket.

Yesterday, I needed to locate a “silver building” where I had an interview for an in-house graphic artist position in a consultancy and training management company called Glomacs. When the Filipina secretary called me up the other day, she instructed me how to go to their office. She said they are in the Hor Al Anz area and their building is a few buildings away from the Ramada Deira Hotel and Shoemart and that it is a “silver building.” My interview was scheduled at 9:30 a.m., but I went there quite early since I still had to find out where their office was. Besides, it has always been my usual habit to be early in my interview appointments just in case I get lost and can’t find the company’s office or location.

So, when I arrived in that area, keeping the secretary’s instructions in mind, I tried looking for a “silver building” in all directions… but to no avail. All I saw were beige, blue, white, and grey-colored buildings. I went up and down the streets on my left, my right, and in front of me searching for any building that might be hidden from my view and which actually was “silver.” Perhaps fifteen minutes had passed when I decided to call their office, being frustrated and all in finding no building with even a hint of silver on it. A guy answered my call and told me their building is near the For You Café and steadfastly remarked that “it truly is a silver building,” when I told him I couldn’t find any “silver building” in the area. Already sweating from the intense Middle East heat, I walked and walked again until I saw the café the guy was talking about. Then lo and behold, right there beside it was the building, a stark white building with the words “Silver Building” on its glass entrance door!

Silver was the name of the building and not its color. Oddly enough the only silver the building had were the glass handles and metal frames on the door. I chuckled and just shook my head in amazement at the unusual intelligence of people here in naming buildings and in giving directions.

Well, that’s Dubai for you.

Next time, when someone tells me it is a red building; I think I’d rather look for a blue or grey-colored building in the hopes that “red” could be its name than assume it to be the building’s color.
Quay fooled around at 11:59 AM
Sunday, August 08, 2004

UP Naming Mahal -- even in the UAE

"UP naming mahal, pamantasang hirang
Ang tinig namin, sana'y inyong diringgin
Malayong lupain, amin mang marating
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin."

And so the University of the Philippines anthem goes.

How these lines and lyrics ring so faithfully true and apt especially for us countless of UP alumni who have gone to work and live in foreign lands! The passion and pride of being from the Philippines' premiere university -- where leaders are bred and nationalism and intellectualism are fed for greatness -- forever burn in the hearts of every UP alumnus. In many cities and countries around the world where there is a multitude of UP alumni, like Los Angeles and Australia, there exists a local chapter of the UP Alumni Association for that particular place. It is one way for UP alumni to keep in touch with each other, get reacquainted with old UP friends, get to know new ones (the old and young alike) and continue the excellent traditions and culture of our beloved alma mater -- such as leadership, service to others and patriotism -- while they are abroad.

It is with the same passion and pride that several UP alumni working and residing here in the United Arab Emirates have decided to create our own chapter. On July 31, 2004, the first ever general meeting for the creation of a University of the Philippines Alumni Association-United Arab Emirates (UPAA-UAE) Chapter was held at the Chowking Restaurant in Al Ghurair City; a casual dinner-meeting headed and organized by Ms Lucille Ong (BS HRA, '76, UP Diliman), Mrs. Cecille Ceniza-Rasul (BS Econ, '81, UP Diliman) and Mike Ortega (BA MassComm, '77) among other UP alumni who have been here in the UAE from the time it was mostly a good stretch of sand up to its present status as a world-class bustling metropolis.

In view of the fact that through the years, the number of UP alumni expatriates here has grown, these active UP alumni Filipino community leaders sensed it was high time to form a club or association wherein UP alumni could meet fellow UP alumni, become an extension of the great UP system and perhaps a way for each one to reminisce and share stories of their good old college days. Although the idea of putting up a UPAA chapter in the UAE had already been conceptualized and planned several years ago, the plan was subsequently kept on the shelf for awhile due to different reasons. But now, with the wonderful and incomparable help of modern technology, the UP alumni were informed about the semi-reunion event through e-mail, Internet e-groups, voice calls and SMS via mobile phones. Of course, others heard about the upcoming meeting through the old-fashioned yet very reliable word of mouth.

It was a momentous call from UP, our dear alma mater and beloved mother of learning, to be part of her again even if lands and seas separate us from her. As her ever-loyal and proud children, we responded enthusiastically. It felt like going to UP for the first day of school again.
It was a fun and momentous gathering, well attended by over 30 UP graduates from various UP locations and of different degrees, courses, batches and ages (the oldest is Batch 1965 whereas the youngest is Batch 2001) and from different emirates. As a mini-homecoming of sorts, smiles permeated the venue as heartfelt salutations were passed on from one person to another. Since most of us were strangers to each other or knew each other only by faces, we were all requested to stand up, state our full name, course, degree and the year we graduated. But the best part in each one's introduction was reciting our student number, which made everyone laugh for while majority of the older people effortlessly and casually uttered theirs, some of the young ones grappled in remembering their student numbers.

The three main UP campuses -- Diliman, Los Baños and Manila -- were represented as were the different colleges and disciplines. In the humanities and arts, there were alumni from the College of Fine Arts, Mass Communication and Music. In business and alike, there were representatives from the College of Business Administration, Economics and Tourism. In the sciences several people were from the College of Engineering, Architecture, Fisheries and Geology. Many of the attendees are working in the private sector of the UAE in various fields such as journalism, computer graphics, construction, airline industry and tourism while some alumni work for the government or public institutions such as hospitals, the Philippine Embassy, and schools. Equipped with a UP education, self-determination and solid work experiences, the UP alumni in the UAE can boast of being remarkable professionals in their chosen fields and are highly-respected not only in their respective companies but in the Filipino community as well.

The UP alumni who attended the event are the following (graduates from 1965 to 2003): UP Diliman -- Jess Galang (BS Geology, '65); Hector Morada (BS BA, '70); Tess Sto. Tomas (BS BA, '73); Marietta Morada (BS Math, '75); Elizabeth Ong-Lasagna (BS Fisheries, '76); Lucille Ong (BS HRA, '76, UP Diliman); Jose Mikhael Ortega (BA MassComm, '77); Cecille Ceniza-Rasul (BS Econ, '81); Raymundo Dy-Liaaco (BS Eng, '81); Marievic Ebetuer-Kurfurst (BS Tourism, '82); Tinette Pudda (BA Masscomm, '83); Anton Tajanlangit (B Music '84); Christina Barrientos (BS Tourism, '84); Daisy Mateo Dy-Liaaco (B Fine Arts, '86); Amroussi Rasul (MBA Econ, '90); Jay Hilotin (BA MassComm, '92); Ronnel Apil (BS Chem, '94); Janice Ong (BS PolSci, '96); Quay Evano (B Fine Arts, '96); Franklin Lacuzong (BA Archi, '98); Vale Tinio (BA Archi, '98); Malaya Fabros (BA Archi, '01); Redentor Ventura (BA Archi, '01); Orbel Reas, Jr (BS Chem Eng, '03); Marilyn Egdani (BA DevComm). UP Los Baños -- Danilo De Perio (BS Agri Eng, '83); Galo Calizo (BA DVM, '90); Ria Mendoza (BA DevComm, '97). UP Manila -- Nova Sto. Tomas (DDM, '01).

An interim board of 10 members was chosen to finalize the association's chapter constitution within two weeks for the approval of the whole group. Everyone was also asked to go through the draft by downloading it from their e-mail or from the association's e-group site. This will then be sent to UPAA Diliman, the head chapter, for the group's recognition and formalization. Members of the interim board who were chosen or volunteered are Hector Morada, Anton Tajanlangit, Galo Calizo, Vale Tinio, Tinette Pudda, Mike Ortega, Cecille Rasul, Dan De Perio, Jes Galang, Nova Sto. Tomas, Janice Ong and Jay Hilotin.

During the buffet dinner, the group also discussed other things like setting up a website in the future, proposed frequency of meetings, birthday celebrations, potential projects and making the association bigger by searching for other UP alumni in the UAE and bringing them to the group. However, what's most important, everyone agreed, is for the UPAA-UAE to become a duly recognized UPAA chapter and for it to thrive and survive in the coming years.

(For the other UP alumni living in the UAE who have not been contacted and who would like to join, you can subscribe to UPsaUAE@yahoogroup.com or e-mail the author of this article at quayevano@yahoo.com.)

At the end of the meeting, full from the food but more so from the wonderful emotions and joyful conversations reigning all night, everyone warmly smiled and posed for a group photo, a historic souvenir of better things to come. The room venue was like a noisy classroom as each UP alumnus said goodnight to a fellow UP schoolmate but everyone was excited and looking forward to the group's next get-together. Strangers when we came, friends when we left. That is the magical tie that binds one UP alumnus to another. Definitely, UPAA-UAE will be UP bonding at its best.

Yes, "UP Naming Mahal" whatever far lands we go to, our love, dedication, devotion, and passion for you -- our cherished and beloved alma mater -- will never change and will resonate in our hearts, minds and souls wherever we are. Your spirit is always with us. That's what makes one a true UPian.

Mabuhay ka, UP naming mahal!
(This article came out in the features section of www.inq7.net/globalnation on August 5, 2004. Here is the link: http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/sec_fea/2004/aug/05-01.htm)
Quay fooled around at 7:15 PM
FOOLISH TALK
Double-click a word on this page to find out its meaning!

OTHER FOOLS

FOOL OF THE WEEK

FOOLS WALK IN

STAR-CRAZY FORTUNES
Click button for
today's horoscope!
TAROT THOUGHTS
Name

URL or Email

Messages(smilies)

The Global Filipino
A Day of Viruses
Prayers Requested
Busy October
MIA (Missing in Internet Action)
I'm Back
New Article for www.inq7.net
My Latest www.inq7.net Article
My Best Friend’s Article
The Bros - a Tribute to My UP Samaskom Friends

July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
September 2007

TAROT CAReDitS
primary design &
content by QUAY



Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com