the Earth-bound adventures of the Lost and Found

it's another very merry unbirthday to me as i've gotten two amazing off-season gifts from cris  in manila: 1) a rainstick from Palawan, which he asked a colleague of his to bring to cebu last monday (a very welcome addition to my meager collection of instruments--two kubings, Kahel, my bamboo flute from Lantapan, and Lila, my baby guitar from Carbon =), and 2) Joey Ayala's first album about the sea, Mga Awit ng Magdaragat ! now this one was the greater surprise, because cris didn't say anything at ALL about it. it just arrived at the office this morning. autographed, too =) and i'd just emailed JoeyA asking where i could buy the album in cebu or davao. cris, this entry is my big THANK YOU, a tribute to your generosity and thoughtfulness.

Start:      Jan 25, '06 End:      Jan 30, '06 Location:      SM Cinemas everywhere *dahil bilib ako sa advocacy ni margie for pinoy indie films, i'm extending this calendar post for a week so more people can read it* ====================== ang masasabi ko lang ay sariling atin ito. we've let Hollywood movies dominate our cinemas for far too long. it's definitely time for a change. you've got to do your part too. you're the audience, you've got the power. we made a movie that's actually pretty good we're just hoping you'll come and see it. you won't be disappointed, we promise for more about the movie, visit www.arkeofilms.com/bigtime. help indie filmmakers make more films for you. watch Big Time on the very first day! spread the word! (and forward this to everyone you know!) margie ================== PS margie is one of the people who made the film. we were together in Hangad (actually, she's the original singer of Panu...

lost and found by Jeneen R. Garcia to be published on January 28, 2006     Sometimes, sadness overcomes me like a blanket pulled over my feet, keeping me warm against the coldness of the world. It weighs on me heavily, yet it is also a source of comfort--giving me room to move, at the same time defining my boundaries of safety, telling me exactly who and where I am at the moment.   It is perhaps strange to speak about sadness as a comfort, but all these years, I have learned to live with the seasons of my soul.   I first discovered the seasons, or rather, came to terms with them, in college. For most of my childhood, I had lived in my own world, impervious to the events around me. It was a dark, silent world, my thoughts the only streaks of light. I would lie in bed for hours just thinking, or sometimes writing in my diary, talking to myself in my head.   As I surfaced more and more to the outside world, I began to feel the highs of human fellowship, ...

just came from another meeting with WILA. but this one was a special one, as it was the thanksgiving dinner of judge jun dumdum for the award he received for "Best Decision" (definitely, judges who write decisions on murder or rape cases that can actually hold your attention SHOULD be given awards), as well as for his and ma'am ging2x's 29th wedding anniversary. it was also our first Writer-in-Focus session, and i was asked to be the guinea pig. oh well, what the heck, i don't take these things seriously, anyway (my public self is there, but my real private self is always somewhere else during these affairs), so i said yes. it went pretty well, i think, although we spent more time on my creative process (how i write poetry, how i started, etc.), rather than on discussing my poems. i was looking forward to getting feedback, too, since i haven't really let people seriously read my "feeling" or intuitive poems, especially the ones i've written sin...

after all these years, i'm still an INFJ (Introverted INtuitive Feeling Judging), bordering on INTJ (Introverted INtuitive Thinking Judging). another website says only 1% of the human population is INFJ, making it the rarest personality type (out of 16 types). took three different tests just now that basically said the same thing. and also, after all these years (since i last took the tests in college--or was it high school?), my right and left brains are still more or less equally dominant. the thin line between T (thinking) and F (feeling), and the right and left hemispheres is why i often feel i have two people inside of me--the logical, practical one who ALWAYS meets deadlines and thinks about consequences, and the dreamy, creative one who lives in a timeless world where there are no to-do lists. this has long been my problem (e.g. when i have a free afternoon or lunch break: write poetry or write an article for the newspaper to get rid of a deadline? read a novel or read a tex...

ash went on her first visit to the vet yesterday for a general check-up. the very nice dr. gorre (on r. landon st. i recommend him to everyone out there who has pets. very helpful. gave me very good advice on the phone last week although he had never met me) cleaned ashley's ears, gave her orange-colored, yummy de-worming medicine, vaccinated her against five cat diseases, and sprayed her with some anti-flea solution. except for the de-worming medicine, ash hated every moment of it. bit dr. gorre's hand as he injected the vaccine, tried to scratch his assistant tony's face, and yowled as i had never heard before, not even when i give her baths. in the end, as she shivered from the anti-flea spray, she looked defeated, but nevertheless still proud, keeping warm beside tony as i took her photo. not only did dr. gorre give me six cans of friskies tuna & mackerel, he also gave me a discount on the bill! we're supposed to come back in a month for booster and ant-rabies s...

ashley went missing today. for the first time. and i got worried because she ALWAYS comes running when i call her, no matter where she's sleeping or playing. so i knew someone must have taken her by force. like last time, when we were in laguna , she went missing because someone had put her inside a big, box-like wooden divider. good thing i heard her meow when she heard me calling. although i feared it, i knew it was unlikely that she would be run over by a car, or killed by a dog, because this baby's smart and knows how to take care of herself. so really, it could only be kid(cat)napping. anyway, what made the situation worse is that ashley bit my officemate's foot when she was stepped on last week, and we had agreed that ashely be observed for 10 days for signs of rabies (i had already paid for my officemate's anti-tetanus shots and antibiotics). now that she had disappeared, how could we observe her? i looked for her like crazy again and again all over the office...

Start:      Jan 23, '06 9:00p Location:      Mag:Net Katipunan Mag:Net presents The katips album launch of "Mga Awit ng Magdaragat" "Songs of the Fisherman" The Katipunan Launch of "Mga Awit ng Magdaragat" 12 awit umiikot sa anyo at katotohanan ng dagat Mga kuwento ni Joey Ayala Himig at tinig nina JA Cynthia Alexander Noel Cabangon at marami pang iba Alay sa mga naninirahan nakalutang, nakahabi't namumuhay sa dagat sa kanyang kamanghá-mangháan. 12 songs swirling `round the image and issues of the sea All lyrics by Joey Ayala Music and performances by JA Cynthia Alexander Noel Cabangon and many others Produced for people who live by, upon, intertwined with, and sustained by the sea and its wonders. ------------------------- Hello all, long-time no post. And here's why - the album Mga Awit ng Magdaragat took all my energy - but it's finally done. Featuring music and performances by myself, Noel Cabangon, Cynthia Alexander, and many others. ...

thanks to ana , ashley now has a new playmate (a substitute for our kitten at home whom she befriended only after nights of catfights). a perfect match, just like caesura's . when i bought her a puppy roughly the same size, she snubbed it after one bite. but when i gave THIS one to her today at the office, she was rolling on the floor with it immediately. i even have a video of it =D i think she thinks it's a real kitten. when she sees its face she pokes it and wonders why it doesn't poke back.

December 29, 2005. Last November we rode the habal-habal up and down the hills of Samal Island to camp out at the cove in Canibad (photos to be uploaded soon). This Christmas, Papa, Josrique and I took on the rapids (Class 1 to 3) covering 13km of the Davao River in Calinan with my high school classmates Vannie, Christian and Mervin. Book your own adventure at the Crocodile Park! (082-3012020 -- although i didn't get a discount =P)

One of the things my mother sent for Christmas--my own 6-piece bubble set!

December 25, 2005. Christmas at Obrero, as usual. Some of the photos my brother josrique didn't post in his album . Christmas Eve photos in his other album .

well, you got a glimpse of how it was. here are the rest of the photos showing one of ashley's favorite activities. in davao, she finally learned how to play with another kitten, too. and got good at climbing up and down the stairs by herself to follow me. other favorite activities--climbing up the face of my screen door and up my father and brother's legs during meals, sitting beside visitors on the sofa.... i actually regret it a little that i had to take her away from all that, just when she was feeling so settled =( but i want to take her to the vet, give her shots and all that before i leave her in davao where we already have too many animals.