What happened to the old etiquette rule about not discussing politics and religion with friends? It seems my college classmates, who graduated from the exclusive convent school of Maryknoll College, Quezon City, where the nuns did their best to teach us not only academics but proper bearing, have forgotten this simple rule.
It's happened again. My classmates at Maryknoll College are bickering once again over US politics. The first time this happened was last year, during the heart of election season when someone posted an email about Obama being a Muslim and therefore dangerous and evil. The email quarreling started, Republicans versus Democrats. It got quite ugly with name-calling and insults hurled into cyberspace. The email fighting went on for weeks, and lifelong friendships hung on the balance (a cliche, forgive me).
Now, another one of those who was involved in that ugly fracas "innocently" sent an email to 67 of her email addresses something about a Tea Party/Tax Revolt (anti-Obama). Well, here, let me post those emails, without names. I will continue to air this quarrel on this blog until the person who started this political row has the commonsense to delete me from her email list:
~~~~~
Email #1: FW Tea Party/Tax Revolt
I will be attending so if anyone wants to join me, let me know.
Here is the info on the Tea Party/Tax Revolt. Please make plans to attend. It is time to stand up and be heard. We must stop letting the lazy, worthless low life's dictate how us hard working tax paying CITIZENS will live and spend OUR money.
Please try to round up some more sane people and make this a gargantuan event.
Go to the web site below for more details.
God bless you patriots, now lets kick some ass!!!
~~~
Email #2:
I'm sorry you all (whom I love and cherish.) But this is a croc of _____. Obama's plan is to fund health care - mostly for the working poor, to refurbish education for our youth - our collective future and to develop alternative fuel - for our global future. Why didn't you all throw a tea party when "W" racked up the biggest deficit in our history and spent our taxes on wars that haven't made us any safer?
~~~~
Email #3:
This is now beyond partisanship or politics. Decisions being made today involve amounts of money many of us never heard of even in the recent past. A trillion has 12 zeroes!!! What this administration wants to spend is now getting closer to 4 trillion, and compounded with interests, experts say will run up to 10 trillion before it's paid - who knows when, and at what real cost in human sacrifices (ours, mind you, not the ones who signed these bills). They're supposed to be stimulating the economy which is hanging on a string. The urgency here and the approval from tax payers rest on that assumption alone - stimulate the economy so people can go back to work!!!
Other good causes (to be sure) such as education, health care, etc. should go through the usual debates and discussions for their allocations to make sure every penny is spent wisely (these are our pennies!) not bamboozled down our throats as if schools and hospitals will close overnight if billions of $'s were not approved for them today - pronto!! What a cheap liberal tactic to ride on the miseries of honest, hard working people who are losing their jobs by the thousands on a daily basis. He (Obama), it seems to me, at least by his rhetoric, expects and wants all these people to be permanently out of job, on welfare and dependent on the government for health care and food stamps as long as they live!
For all the controversies behind the war in Iraq, the fact remains that there were no further successful attacks on US soil after 9/11 in the last 8 years (do you realize how scary it would have been if a similar attack got through again?) I think we can all agree that our enemies kept trying every single day to do it again, and again -- until we're ruined because that is their single-minded aim.
We went through difficult times the last 8 years, yes, but our economy and democratic way of life survived. The houseing market got out of hand, yes - but those who follow the reasons behind it know that there's enough blame to go around and it cannot be blamed only on the past President - in fact records show that he tried to steer the direction the other way, but opposing parties have so successfully smeared his name and honor, no one listened to him or his party. Indeed, 4-5 years ago, if you predicted what's going on now, you would've gotton rotten tomatoes thrown at you!! Well, we don't need Alqaida attacking us now --- all they need to do is watch us destroy our society morally and economically all by ourselves.
But some of us won't let that happen. We're going to a Tea Party!!!! Pleeese --- be heard and be counted. Political campaigns are OVER. We're talking real problems and real life situations. They're stacking us with debts we do not want, fund projects even they did not read "line by line" (music to everybody's ears when promised by Obama during his campaign) and as icing on this rotten cake, they're going to higher our taxes too! Can we be that stupid???
~~~~~
Email #4:
It looks like I've stirred up some passion again which I didn't mean to. I thought the tea party would be a good way to let our politicians know to quit their reckless spending that will hurt all of us eventually. I did not agree with Bush runaway spending either nor what our California governor is doing to California. Our politicians are spending too much no matter what affiliation you belong to. We are in the trouble we're in because of Bush runaway spending and Obama is following in the same path. We can't spend ourselves out of our problems. That money they are spending has to come somewhere. That is just basic accounting or economics.
Lets keep a healthy discussion. If we don't agree, then lets agree to dissagree. Our friendship is too valuable. Like you, I hope and pray Obama can solve the health care problems of our country. I don't think our schools are broken. They can tighten their belts like everybody else are doing nowadays. We have to make some sacrifices now for the future of our children. No more runaway spending and no more higher taxes! Give us some real stimulus, cut taxes!
~~~
Email #5:
As I’ve requested in the past, I would appreciate it if you would just send emails pertaining to personal news or upcoming social events.
Religion and Politics are two topics that most people would rather not discuss. That said, I hope this will be the last time I’d get emails of this nature.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Politics VS Good Manners, Maryknoll College Graduates bickering over politics again!
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
CLEANUP RIVERS AND CREEKS DRIVES IN CEBU!
I found this recent article about a River/Creek Cleanup Drive in Cebu City! I am very excited to see something is being done about the filth in Cebu City's rivers and creeks! HOPE!!!!
Coastline management board to launch cleanup drives in different barangays
From Sun Star, March 21, 2009
IN hopes of getting people to stop throwing garbage into rivers and creeks, the Cebu Coastline Management Board (CMB) will launch a coastal and urban cleanup drive today in different barangays in Cebu City.
“While it is impossible to clean up the rivers in just one cleanup, the intention of the activity is to make people aware that it is important to start. Grabe na gyud ang condition sa atong mga rivers (Our rivers are in critical condition),” said Atanacio Almosera of the CMB.
At least 53 of 80 barangays in the city will participate in the event, simultaneously cleaning up rivers and creeks in their communities.
“All the barangays with rivers and creeks will be actively participating in the event,” said Cebu City Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, vice chairman of the CMB.
“And we hope that those people who live along the rivers and riverbanks will see the clean-up and will start cleaning up the rivers themselves,” he added.
Schools, parishes, barangay officials, residents and different non-government organizations are expected to join the activity.
“This will educate our volunteers on the real state of the rivers and hopefully this will also educate those who live nearby,”
said Jagmoc.
The CMB stressed it was important that everybody start taking better care of rivers and creeks in their barangays.
“I cannot describe to you how bad it already is. Let’s just put it this way, if you imagine a garbage dump in a river, there’s already more garbage than there is water,” said Almosera.
However, he clarified it was not because of poor solid waste management programs in the barangays, but just the accumulation of trash over several years.
Some riverbank households share part of the blame.
“Instead of disposing of the garbage at the designated pick-up points for garbage collection, they throw garbage into the rivers instead,” said Department of Public Services Chief Dionisio Gualiza.
“We just cannot allow the garbage to flow into the sea and affect life there,” Jagmoc said. (EPB)
Coastline management board to launch cleanup drives in different barangays
From Sun Star, March 21, 2009
IN hopes of getting people to stop throwing garbage into rivers and creeks, the Cebu Coastline Management Board (CMB) will launch a coastal and urban cleanup drive today in different barangays in Cebu City.
“While it is impossible to clean up the rivers in just one cleanup, the intention of the activity is to make people aware that it is important to start. Grabe na gyud ang condition sa atong mga rivers (Our rivers are in critical condition),” said Atanacio Almosera of the CMB.
At least 53 of 80 barangays in the city will participate in the event, simultaneously cleaning up rivers and creeks in their communities.
“All the barangays with rivers and creeks will be actively participating in the event,” said Cebu City Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, vice chairman of the CMB.
“And we hope that those people who live along the rivers and riverbanks will see the clean-up and will start cleaning up the rivers themselves,” he added.
Schools, parishes, barangay officials, residents and different non-government organizations are expected to join the activity.
“This will educate our volunteers on the real state of the rivers and hopefully this will also educate those who live nearby,”
said Jagmoc.
The CMB stressed it was important that everybody start taking better care of rivers and creeks in their barangays.
“I cannot describe to you how bad it already is. Let’s just put it this way, if you imagine a garbage dump in a river, there’s already more garbage than there is water,” said Almosera.
However, he clarified it was not because of poor solid waste management programs in the barangays, but just the accumulation of trash over several years.
Some riverbank households share part of the blame.
“Instead of disposing of the garbage at the designated pick-up points for garbage collection, they throw garbage into the rivers instead,” said Department of Public Services Chief Dionisio Gualiza.
“We just cannot allow the garbage to flow into the sea and affect life there,” Jagmoc said. (EPB)
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
DIVORCEE COMPLAIN ABOUT 43 MILLION DOLLAR SETTLEMENT
I've asked myself why I care that a 36-year-old wife of a former investment banker isn't satisfied with a 43 million divorce settlement. Apparently she spends, each week, $1,000 for hair and skin treatments, not to mention $700 for limo service, $1,500 for restaurants and entertainment, $8,000 for travel, and $4,500 for clothes. Those are weekly expenses so the 43 million isn't be enough; she needs $53,000 each week - each 7-day week.
This is happening now, during an economic depression - let us not kid ourselves by calling this a recession. Reading about her and the AIG bonuses have made me realize that somewhere along the line, the gap between the wealthy and the middle-class have widened tremendously. I think the difference started to become apparent when the dot.coms started to make money; the financial people followed. I remember when a million dollars was a lot of money - and it still is, in my eyes; but to this segment of people, a million dollars is loose change. They talk in terms of billions.
The ire of the people over the AIG bonuses reminded me of the French Revolution (1789-1799). The people had probably heard of the excesses of the French royalty and had had enough. "Off with their heads," they thought and did. I am feeling the same ire directed at the 400 AIG executive bonus-recipients.
During this terrible economic times when people are losing jobs and their homes, it seems sinful for people to flaunt their wealth and greed. It's time to tone down, to develop a conscience, to share with others. And the gap between the haves and have-nots, something had better be done about this,or else the spirit of revolution might come to life again.
This is happening now, during an economic depression - let us not kid ourselves by calling this a recession. Reading about her and the AIG bonuses have made me realize that somewhere along the line, the gap between the wealthy and the middle-class have widened tremendously. I think the difference started to become apparent when the dot.coms started to make money; the financial people followed. I remember when a million dollars was a lot of money - and it still is, in my eyes; but to this segment of people, a million dollars is loose change. They talk in terms of billions.
The ire of the people over the AIG bonuses reminded me of the French Revolution (1789-1799). The people had probably heard of the excesses of the French royalty and had had enough. "Off with their heads," they thought and did. I am feeling the same ire directed at the 400 AIG executive bonus-recipients.
During this terrible economic times when people are losing jobs and their homes, it seems sinful for people to flaunt their wealth and greed. It's time to tone down, to develop a conscience, to share with others. And the gap between the haves and have-nots, something had better be done about this,or else the spirit of revolution might come to life again.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
WRITERS BEWARE OF HOAX - FANS ASKING FOR AUTOGRAPH
Another writer contacted me saying she received the same emails from "fans" asking for her autograph - the exact messages I got. This is a hoax; I don't know what they are after exactly, and why they are targeting writers (of young adult books?) - but I'm posting this blog to warn other writers not to treat such email requests seriously.
As of March 23, I've received more of these emails which I've posted, and I will continue to post them as I receive them.
~~~~
Hello!
My name is Piotr Haase. I am 33 years old. I live in a little village in Poland,together with my wife Kate and two sons Albert and Adrian. We are happy and we lead quiet live. I have been Cecilia Manguerra Brainard fan since many years.
I really admire you and I think you are very good in that what you do.I was wandering if you could. Send me yours autograph.
I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Your sincelery
Piotr Haase
MY ADRESS:
PIOTR HAASE
STOJESZYN I nr 12
23-310 MODLIBORZYCE
POLAND
~~~~
Hallo Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Ich bitte um zwei Autogramme.
Sage vielen Dank und wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg.
Would you please send me two Autograph and Signature.
Thank you.
Monika Förster
Esmarchstr. 8
42283 Wuppertal
Deutschland
~~~~
BEDBURG 18,03,2009
Dear Mrs.Cecilia Manguerra Brainard!>>>The Best<<<
Please send me 3 Originally signed Photos of Yurself.
Best wishes for your future and many Thanks.
Yours sincerely and 10 Fans from Germany,
==========================
from Mrs, Cecilia Manguerra brainard.
=====================================
Lorenz u.Eleonore Schop
And Friends
Postfach 2227
D-50181 Bedburg/Germany
~~~
Dear Mrs. Manguerra
I am a very great admirer of yours.
Please send me 3 original autographs of yours.
Many thanks in advance for your trouble and help.
The best wishes to you and your family for the future
and may all your dreams come true.
I am looking forward to your early reply.
Yours sincerely
Elke Stachowiak & Sandra & Britta & Detlef
Bergstrasse 82a
44339 Dortmund
Germany
~~~
Dear Cecilia!!!
I´m a very big fan of You!!!
I ask You for three handwritten autograph-cards.
Thank You very much in advance!
I wish You a great success for the future and all the best for You and Your family!!!
With friendly regards
-Your Fan-
Stephan Lindner
Hauptstr. 15
D-67808 Bayerfeld
Germany
~~~
I´m a great Fan and admirerer of you. I would there be very happy if you could send me 2 handwritten pictures of you.
I would be very pleased if you could fulfill my wishes. Many thanks in advance for your kindness.
I wish you all the best for the future.
My Adress : Darius Romanek
Lärchenweg 3
D -90530 Wendelstein
Germany
Yours sincerely,
~~~~~
dear cecilia
Just a short e-mail to say that i am a great admirer of your work.
It is with much interest that i would like to know your favourite leisure interests.
Would you please consider sending me your autograph, it would be much appreciated. My snail mail address is:-
GRAYDON WALL
21 HATHERTON GARDENS
WOLVERHAMPTON
WEST MIDLANDS
WV10 8DT
ENGLAND
Many Thanks
Graydon Wall
As of March 23, I've received more of these emails which I've posted, and I will continue to post them as I receive them.
~~~~
Hello!
My name is Piotr Haase. I am 33 years old. I live in a little village in Poland,together with my wife Kate and two sons Albert and Adrian. We are happy and we lead quiet live. I have been Cecilia Manguerra Brainard fan since many years.
I really admire you and I think you are very good in that what you do.I was wandering if you could. Send me yours autograph.
I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Your sincelery
Piotr Haase
MY ADRESS:
PIOTR HAASE
STOJESZYN I nr 12
23-310 MODLIBORZYCE
POLAND
~~~~
Hallo Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Ich bitte um zwei Autogramme.
Sage vielen Dank und wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg.
Would you please send me two Autograph and Signature.
Thank you.
Monika Förster
Esmarchstr. 8
42283 Wuppertal
Deutschland
~~~~
BEDBURG 18,03,2009
Dear Mrs.Cecilia Manguerra Brainard!>>>The Best<<<
Please send me 3 Originally signed Photos of Yurself.
Best wishes for your future and many Thanks.
Yours sincerely and 10 Fans from Germany,
==========================
from Mrs, Cecilia Manguerra brainard.
=====================================
Lorenz u.Eleonore Schop
And Friends
Postfach 2227
D-50181 Bedburg/Germany
~~~
Dear Mrs. Manguerra
I am a very great admirer of yours.
Please send me 3 original autographs of yours.
Many thanks in advance for your trouble and help.
The best wishes to you and your family for the future
and may all your dreams come true.
I am looking forward to your early reply.
Yours sincerely
Elke Stachowiak & Sandra & Britta & Detlef
Bergstrasse 82a
44339 Dortmund
Germany
~~~
Dear Cecilia!!!
I´m a very big fan of You!!!
I ask You for three handwritten autograph-cards.
Thank You very much in advance!
I wish You a great success for the future and all the best for You and Your family!!!
With friendly regards
-Your Fan-
Stephan Lindner
Hauptstr. 15
D-67808 Bayerfeld
Germany
~~~
I´m a great Fan and admirerer of you. I would there be very happy if you could send me 2 handwritten pictures of you.
I would be very pleased if you could fulfill my wishes. Many thanks in advance for your kindness.
I wish you all the best for the future.
My Adress : Darius Romanek
Lärchenweg 3
D -90530 Wendelstein
Germany
Yours sincerely,
~~~~~
dear cecilia
Just a short e-mail to say that i am a great admirer of your work.
It is with much interest that i would like to know your favourite leisure interests.
Would you please consider sending me your autograph, it would be much appreciated. My snail mail address is:-
GRAYDON WALL
21 HATHERTON GARDENS
WOLVERHAMPTON
WEST MIDLANDS
WV10 8DT
ENGLAND
Many Thanks
Graydon Wall
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
FORTHCOMING BOOKS BY CECILIA MANGUERRA BRAINARD
I'm ashamed, dear readers, at the long lapses of non-entries in my blog, and by way of explanation, I'm sharing you with you information about some book projects of mine. (What I am saying is that I'm quite busy!). Two are forthcoming this year by Anvil, a how-to-write book (Fundamentals of Creative Writing), which Anvil hopes to release before the Philippine school year begins in June 2009; and another book which I will not discuss out of sheer superstition. Here are the back cover blurbs of Fundamentals. Be sure and tell teachers of Creative Writing in the Philippines about my Fundamentals of Creative Writing (Anvil, forthcoming):
Fundamentals of Creative Writing is a powerful resource to encourage students and/or aspiring writers to strive for excellence in their writing skills. Not only does it guide readers through the basics of setting the scene, character, conflict, dialogue, plot, point of view, voice, style , theme and tone but it also provides useful activities that challenges the writer to get their creative juices flowing. I would highly recommend this excellent book to anyone who wants to improve and enhance their creative writing skills.
Jacqueline Gullas-Weckman
Vice-President, Academic Affairs
University of the Visayas
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has written a wonderful resource for students of creative writing. This book, Fundamentals in Creative Writing, provides students with practical steps that truly work. The strategies presented in this book are a product of the authors 15 years of teaching creative writing. She is also a prolific writer who has written numerous short stories, novels, and non-fiction books.
Edmundo F. Litton, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Education
Loyola Marymount University
Fundamentals of Creative Writing is a powerful resource to encourage students and/or aspiring writers to strive for excellence in their writing skills. Not only does it guide readers through the basics of setting the scene, character, conflict, dialogue, plot, point of view, voice, style , theme and tone but it also provides useful activities that challenges the writer to get their creative juices flowing. I would highly recommend this excellent book to anyone who wants to improve and enhance their creative writing skills.
Jacqueline Gullas-Weckman
Vice-President, Academic Affairs
University of the Visayas
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has written a wonderful resource for students of creative writing. This book, Fundamentals in Creative Writing, provides students with practical steps that truly work. The strategies presented in this book are a product of the authors 15 years of teaching creative writing. She is also a prolific writer who has written numerous short stories, novels, and non-fiction books.
Edmundo F. Litton, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Education
Loyola Marymount University
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A TRIP TO EMERGENCY
I am not allowed to mention names, but I had to bring someone to Kaiser's emergency late one night. The person had a horrific nose bleed, and it didn't seem to be your regular run-of-the-mill nose bleed, so at around midnight I drove wildly down the freeway. I didn't know if the person beside me would faint or what; the person's nose was bleeding profusely. Fortunately there is little traffic at that ungodly hour, and so we arrived emergency quickly.
You know those television movies showing White female nurses? Those images aren't accurate. There were several Filipina nurses in ER and my companion's nurse was a White male.
My companion was triaged and the person categorized low priority, which augured well but which meant a substantial wait. The waiting room had a smattering of sick children and adults. After midnight, I suspect that only the really sick ones show up in ER; those who can wait for morning do so. A young homeless man came in to watch TV, get warm for a bit I suspect, use the toilet, and get eyed by the security guard before vanishing.
After prodding the nurses a bit, my companion got a room. Leo took care of the person. "I'm the nurse," Leo said, "not the doctor." Growing up, I only had female nurses around so I spent some time observing Leo. He was competent and caring enough. When the woman next door starting crying," Jesus, help me, help me now, Jesus help me!" Leo went over and calmed her down.
My companion was treated by a young female Asian American doctor. (My companion asked her, "Are you Chinese or Korean?" The doctor replied acidly: American.) As a precaution my companion had to hang around ER for a spell to make sure the person was all right. It was 3 a.m. when I drove home, more calmly this time.
What a bit of heaven it is to leave hospitals and know that there's nothing seriously wrong with you or the person you've accompanied! Thank God!
You know those television movies showing White female nurses? Those images aren't accurate. There were several Filipina nurses in ER and my companion's nurse was a White male.
My companion was triaged and the person categorized low priority, which augured well but which meant a substantial wait. The waiting room had a smattering of sick children and adults. After midnight, I suspect that only the really sick ones show up in ER; those who can wait for morning do so. A young homeless man came in to watch TV, get warm for a bit I suspect, use the toilet, and get eyed by the security guard before vanishing.
After prodding the nurses a bit, my companion got a room. Leo took care of the person. "I'm the nurse," Leo said, "not the doctor." Growing up, I only had female nurses around so I spent some time observing Leo. He was competent and caring enough. When the woman next door starting crying," Jesus, help me, help me now, Jesus help me!" Leo went over and calmed her down.
My companion was treated by a young female Asian American doctor. (My companion asked her, "Are you Chinese or Korean?" The doctor replied acidly: American.) As a precaution my companion had to hang around ER for a spell to make sure the person was all right. It was 3 a.m. when I drove home, more calmly this time.
What a bit of heaven it is to leave hospitals and know that there's nothing seriously wrong with you or the person you've accompanied! Thank God!
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Holy Land
THE HOLY LAND Cecilia Manguerra Brainard First published in LA Pinoy (Feb/March, 2009)
Last year in April, my husband and I visited the Holy Land. Our families and friends warned us of the tense political situation between Israel and Palestine, but we had heard that Israel goes through great lengths to protect their tourists. Born and raised a Roman Catholic, I was very excited about visiting the very place that Jesus had walked on.We stayed in the Jerusalem Hotel, which is right outside the ancient walled city of Jerusalem. It was Good Friday, and right after throwing our bags into our room, we hurried to the walled city of Jerusalem to find the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus had taken during His Passion to His Crucifixion. The winding streets were narrow and crowded that afternoon. A large part of the walled city is like a marketplace, and both sides of the streets had lively bazaars selling clothes, spices, food, souvenirs, and other things. In fact, the Via Dolorosa was such a busy street, crammed with vendors and pilgrims. One had to realize that Jerusalem has changed through the centuries; its walls for instance have moved, and so what had been outside the walled city are now inside it, which is what they say about the Via Dolorosa – it used to be outside the city walls during the time of Christ.We did the Stations of the Cross, pausing at the various sites where Jesus had been flogged, crowned with thorns, and so on. There were markers along the way, although it was tricky to get to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where tradition says Christ’s crucifixion and burial sites are located. The number of people in the Church was horrendous, and while I managed to climb up the narrow stairs to the place of Crucifixion, I could not get inside Christ’s tomb. I tried two other times but the lines remained extremely long. I had to contend with praying alongside the tomb, pressing the rosaries I had bought on the walls surrounding His tomb. There is a site in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that is highly revered, and it is the Stone of Unction on which the body of Christ reportedly lay. There is liquid on this slab of stone, which people sop up with cloth – shawls, bandages, every bit of cloth that they have - people save this fluid to keep or give away as something holy and miraculous.
My other favorite place in Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives, which are rolling hills riddled with olive trees, just outside the walled city. We exited the Gate of St. Stephen (where St. Stephen had been stoned to death) to the Mount of Olives. Near the Church of All Nations is an ancient olive garden of Gethsemane, and some of these olive trees are said to have been witnesses of Christ’s Passion. Nearby is another church which has a cave wherein Jesus and His Disciples used to rest. Not far away is an ancient Roman cemetery. It is all so peaceful and calm; one can understand why Jesus liked to spend time in this place.
The Dome of the Rock, whose golden dome dominates pictures of Jerusalem, makes one reflect on the Jewish Temple, which had stood there, before the Romans tore it down. This was where the Child Jesus had gotten lost and was found discussing with the elders.
Jerusalem is riddled with biblical places such as these, and in fact there are usually two or more churches or sites claiming to be the place where the Last Supper was held, or where Mary was born, or where Mary was buried. These contradictions did not bother me. It was not so important to be accurate about where some event took place; it was enough to know that indeed somewhere in this place this event did happen.
We also drove outside of Jerusalem, to the River Jordan, which was another peaceful and beautiful place. The river was green and clear and a church allowed baptized people to swim in the river. Clothed in white robes, they bobbed up and down the green waters of the Jordan. Now there are eucalyptus trees along the riverbanks, but during Jesus’ time there were no eucalyptus trees.
The town of Capernaum is now in ruins, but you can still see the ruins of the synagogue where Jesus had preached; and you can also see the foundations of Peter’s house, where Jesus had healed his mother.There is a place along the Sea of Galilee where Christ was said to have given His Sermon of the Mount. And the huge Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth houses the Grotto of the Annunciation, where Mary said her simple and courageous, “Be it done to me according to thy word.” In Cana, two churches – one Catholic and one Orthodox – claim to be site where Jesus turned water into wine, His first miracle in response to His mother’s plea, “They have no wine.”
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem awakens such a feeling of awe as you stare at the spot where Christ was said to have been born. Bethlehem, located in the Palestinian side, was clearly depressed, and I found myself wondering why the Palestinian souvenir stores in Bethlehem were closed, why the Palestinians were treated like second-hand citizens, why Palestinians born in Israel, did not hold Israeli passports. These are political questions; but then, even during Jesus’ time, political questions were asked. There is a mental phenomenon called the Jerusalem Syndrome, where some Jerusalem-visitors exhibit strange behavior, such as thinking they are Mary Magdalene, or feeling compelled to shout verses or psalms from the bible. I could see how that could happen to someone overwhelmed by all the history and palpable energy in these biblical sites. There is something powerful in the Holy Land. How humbling and awesome to see where Our Lord was born, where He grew up, where He had worshipped, where He had walked, where He had died. How enriching to look at the terrain of Galilee and note that it was greener than Judea which is an arid desert. Or to look at the vastness of the Sea of Galilee and imagine Jesus and His Apostles on fishing boats on that same sea.
This was what the visit to the Holy Land did to me: it made the bible come to life. I can now imagine Jesus preaching, healing, walking with his disciples from place to place. I now have an inkling of the distance from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, or Nazareth to Jerusalem. I now have an idea of the multicultural society that had existed during the time of Christ, and which continues to this day in Jerusalem – Jews, Christians, and Muslims, live side by side, not always in harmony, but the three venerate many of the same sites in the Holy Land, and all worship the God of Abraham.
Tags: #holyland #Catholicsites #Jerusalem
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
DIARY OF MY CAT, KIKI - #2
Dear Diary,
Sometimes I feel I have a cold heart. I know that the Man and Woman, and their Sons do their best to please me, but I generally look at them with contempt, except of course when I am hungry and have to suck up to them. But in general I use them. It's a fair trade: they feed me, and I'm cute.
I didn't always belong to the Man and Woman, but belonged to their oldest Son. I heard them talking once that I was the runt in my family, and the Son got me when I was very young and weak. He bottle fed me. Life was all right then although it was boring because he'd leave me at home all day. Then one day, he whisked me up and put me in a box and brought me to the Man and Woman's house. I was to stay there. It didn't seem too bad of a place - they had the room, they had a garden, and they even had a cat door so I could come and go. The problem was that they had this old dour white cat who hated me. I simply could not understand how she could be so mean to me; she should have mothered me. I was so cute. Then I understood that she was jealous of me - it was as simple as that. She hissed when I was near her, and she whacked me with her paws. In the beginning she frightened me very much and I used to cower under the chairs and tables. The Woman would pick me up and console me, and better yet, she would spank the white cat for being mean to me.
Later I realized that the white cat was old and slow. I learned to come up behind her and quick hit her with my right paw, then run fast so she didn't even know what hit her. I got my revenge this way.
This white cat was my nemesis. It gave me pleasure to see her punished for being cruel to me. Then one day they brought her to the cat-doctor and she had to have her ears cut. She had growths or something. And the worse part was that the Man and Woman moved her to their upstairs bedroom and I was forbidden to go up there. This was the lowest point of my life. I learned about bitterness and anger and my heart turned so icy and brittle I thought it'd crack.
I snubbed them. I went out all day. I found neighbors to feed me. They thought I was abandoned, and they gave me food and water and I could even sleep in their patio. But in the evening I returned to remind the Man and Woman that I was still alive and that I hated them. On several occasions I pissed on the carpet, but the Man caught me and rubbed my nose on the pee-stain and threw me out of the house - so I decided that wasn't the best tactic.
It was really best to be cool and calculating, to use them and never to kowtow to them. That's how I acquired my cold heart.
Remembering all this is upsetting to me so this is all I'll say about this matter. Oh - the white cat, she died one day and things got better for me, but I still feel resentment now and then.
Kiki
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Monday, March 2, 2009
DIARY OF MY CAT, KIKI - #1
Dear Readers, look what I discovered hidden under the kitchen cabinet - my Tuxedo cat's diary. Let's see what she wrote today:
~~~~
Monday, March 2, 2009
At 6 a.m. I was hungry and as much I detest begging, I had to go to the upstairs bedroom of the Man and Woman. I jumped up their bed - let me say that again - I clawed up their bed. I have some arthritis now and it's not so easy to leap and jump, but I can dig my claws into their comforter and drag myself up. Then, right away, she grabbed me and hugged me close to her. Frankly I can't stand all that closeness; the claustrophobia gets to me, but I try to be patient and let her hold me tight. In five minutes, she has to change position in bed, and she relaxes her hold on me, and I slip away. The Man does not grab me, and I much prefer sitting on his lap or on his chest, but this morning he's fast asleep. She's awake though and is my only hope for getting fed this early. I proceed to lick my fur, fuss-fuss-lick-lick, so she knows I'm hungry. By 7, she finally drags herself down to the kitchen. I race downstairs, leading the way in fact. I made a zigzag going down, and raced to my plates and sat there, staring at yesterday's old food. Dear God, I prayed, don't let her mix new food with that. Fortunately, she picked up my food plate and she washed it. Then she scrutinized the array of food she has for me: Fancy Feast, Friskies Classic Pate, Friskie's Slice, and Chicken by the Sea tuna. The latter is for people, but she likes to give this to me now and then. Sometimes she mixes the people-tuna with the canned food, and sometimes she doesn't. She does funny things with my food. Sometimes she puts a raw egg in it; often she pours a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in it; and she also puts some Immugen and Glucosamine in the food. Sometimes, the taste is God-awful, but sometimes I'm just so hungry that I go ahead and eat the food she seves.
This morning it's Fancy Feast with raw egg and Olive Oil -yuck, double-yuck, triple-yuck, but I ate some of it anyway just because I was starving. For that awful breakfast though I swore I'd snub her the entire day.
It was a cloudy day but I sat outside on the steps. It's nice to sit here especially when it's a sunny day. I can lay around and lick myself and nap. There's a spiral staircase outside and right on the fourth or fifth step is where I like to rest. When the sun is up, the wrought iron staircase gets nice and warm and it's heavenly laying out there. This morning it was chilly but to punish her, I lay outside anyway - I don't mind Fancy Feast, but to ruin the flavor with raw egg is criminal.
At noontime, it started to drizzle and I had no choice but to go in. I had to be extra quiet and I lay on the Man's chair in the den, hoping she wouldn't notice, otherwise she'd grab me again to squeeze and stroke me. I don't mind a bit of this lovey-dovey stuff, but too much makes me want to barf.
Kiki
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
If Barili, Cebu Can Do it, Why not the City of Cebu?
I found the following information about Barili, Cebu. If Barili can be clean, why not the actual City of Cebu which should have more resources???? And note - Barili drains their canals regularly! And why doesn't the City of Cebu drain the downtown Cebu canals????? Really, I'm thinking City Officials can make a stronger stance about City cleanup, especially the canals/creeks of downtown Cebu, of which I've written about.
Barili.Cebu.Philippines
Absence of eyesores. The Municipality of Barili, Cebu is different from some other cities and towns in terms of certain aspects of general cleanliness. Practically there is an absence of unsightly posters, advertisement billboards, graffiti and abandoned junks. Open space is utilized for the planting of fruits and forests trees.
Well-maintained drainage and sewerage system. Drainage system in the public market and slaughterhouse and other public places are properly maintained as can be observed during the assessment. There are no garbage or litters inside the canals. Free-flow water is evident during the evaluation. De-clogging of drainage canal is regular and done by maintenance men of municipal government. Store and market stall owners also help prevent the clogging of canals with solid wastes by maintaining the cleanliness of their immediate vicinity.
Presence of well-kept public toilets. Public toilets are generally clean. These can be found practically in all public places. Comfort rooms in the municipal hall were found to be very well maintained and the same is true with those at the market, where the surroundings were planted with ornamental plants. Water is provided in all these comfort rooms.
Clean public market/slaughterhouse. Public market is generally clean, free from garbage and litters. Fish and meat stalls are provided with water for flushing. Garbage receptacles are present where collected wastes materials are place for disposal by the garbage collectors.
On the other hand, the municipal abattoir is well drained and properly maintained. No evident of scattered carcasses trimmings, were present, foul odor inherent to slaughterhouse are reduced to the minimum.
Presence of Trash receptades. Trash receptacles are color-coded. Each set three drums, painted red (for plastics), green (for tin cans and bottles), blue (for leaves, papers etc.). These garbage are collected daily by the two garbage trucks of the LGU.
Presence of Garbage collection and Disposal System. To complement the two garbage trucks that collect the garbage of the town daily, Barili was able to acquire four (4) mechanized grass cutters and shredder machine, which sheds big masses of garbage such as leaves to be decomposed in the compost pit. The decomposed materials can be used as organic fertilizer.
Barili.Cebu.Philippines
Absence of eyesores. The Municipality of Barili, Cebu is different from some other cities and towns in terms of certain aspects of general cleanliness. Practically there is an absence of unsightly posters, advertisement billboards, graffiti and abandoned junks. Open space is utilized for the planting of fruits and forests trees.
Well-maintained drainage and sewerage system. Drainage system in the public market and slaughterhouse and other public places are properly maintained as can be observed during the assessment. There are no garbage or litters inside the canals. Free-flow water is evident during the evaluation. De-clogging of drainage canal is regular and done by maintenance men of municipal government. Store and market stall owners also help prevent the clogging of canals with solid wastes by maintaining the cleanliness of their immediate vicinity.
Presence of well-kept public toilets. Public toilets are generally clean. These can be found practically in all public places. Comfort rooms in the municipal hall were found to be very well maintained and the same is true with those at the market, where the surroundings were planted with ornamental plants. Water is provided in all these comfort rooms.
Clean public market/slaughterhouse. Public market is generally clean, free from garbage and litters. Fish and meat stalls are provided with water for flushing. Garbage receptacles are present where collected wastes materials are place for disposal by the garbage collectors.
On the other hand, the municipal abattoir is well drained and properly maintained. No evident of scattered carcasses trimmings, were present, foul odor inherent to slaughterhouse are reduced to the minimum.
Presence of Trash receptades. Trash receptacles are color-coded. Each set three drums, painted red (for plastics), green (for tin cans and bottles), blue (for leaves, papers etc.). These garbage are collected daily by the two garbage trucks of the LGU.
Presence of Garbage collection and Disposal System. To complement the two garbage trucks that collect the garbage of the town daily, Barili was able to acquire four (4) mechanized grass cutters and shredder machine, which sheds big masses of garbage such as leaves to be decomposed in the compost pit. The decomposed materials can be used as organic fertilizer.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Writers Sketchbook at UCLA Extension
I thought I'd write a bit about the class I'm teaching now at UCLA Extension's Writers Program. It's called the Writers Sketchbook and it's the second time I'm teaching this class. It's a six-week class that focuses on what I call sensual writing - that is writing so that your readers can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel as they read your work. Readers should be able to imagine the scene you have created, experience what you are trying to express, take that journey along with you or your characters.
The class is an opportunity for students to fine tune their work, or to gather drafts. Many times, first drafts are skeletal and lack the type of sensual writing I'm talking about. Writers can flesh-out the "skeleton" to enrich their work.
Many people don't realize that it's not easy to create a sense of place or to describe a person. Today we focused on taste, and we read a food article from LA Times that went on about salt-roasting lobster, pork, etc. For our in-class exercise I had my students write about some food they hated or loved. What I was teaching them is the matter of Point of View - that is, there is no one way to describe a place or face or smell or taste or feeling - it's dependent on who the narrator is. We got excellent results.
The students are also trained to pay attention to details and to be specific.
I also have a good group of students!
The class is an opportunity for students to fine tune their work, or to gather drafts. Many times, first drafts are skeletal and lack the type of sensual writing I'm talking about. Writers can flesh-out the "skeleton" to enrich their work.
Many people don't realize that it's not easy to create a sense of place or to describe a person. Today we focused on taste, and we read a food article from LA Times that went on about salt-roasting lobster, pork, etc. For our in-class exercise I had my students write about some food they hated or loved. What I was teaching them is the matter of Point of View - that is, there is no one way to describe a place or face or smell or taste or feeling - it's dependent on who the narrator is. We got excellent results.
The students are also trained to pay attention to details and to be specific.
I also have a good group of students!
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
ASH WEDNESDAY
"But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 (From the song sang in church today.)
Ash Wednesday today - St. Monica's crowded. I went to neighboring St. Paul's to park and got scolded for parking there, although I understood that during weekdays it's all right to park in their not-full lot. The parking lot attendant asked, "Are you going to Mass?" with a scowl on his face. I said, "Yes," happily. "You can't park here." I explained that I understood it was all right to park there during the week, not the weekend. He said he knew nothing about that, and I moved my car. Tsk, tsk, St. Paul's for being so un-Christian.
St. Monica's was crowded - standing room only. It was a great Mass, and the ash on the forehead always brings back childhood days. I almost laughed though when I walked down the aisle and saw all these people with the black Cross on their foreheads. For just a heartbeat, the scene actually looked spooky.
OK - Monsignor Torgesen is giving up sweets. I'm not sure what I'll do for Lent. I'm thinking of re-reading The Diary of Faustina.
And there are practical things like replanting the garden and getting the house in shape for Easter.
Meantime, I've started teaching Writers' Sketchbook at the Writers Program at UCLA Extension. We had our first class last Thursday. I've got a great group with great energy.
~~~
Photo shows Joe Biden (Can I call you, Joe?) - courtesy of boston.com
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
PHILIPPINE STAR ABOUT MARILY & JOE
My friend, Marily Orosa, lost her husband,Joe, last January to cancer. This article by Josefina T. Lichauco appeared in The Philippine Star.
Business Life
A belated Valentine love story
HINDSIGHT By Josefina T. Lichauco Updated February 23, 2009 12:00 AM
This love story was meant to be published the Monday after Valentine’s Day, but my workload piled up and I was not able to meet the deadline. I usually write on Internet law, but on occasions like Valentine’s, Christmas and New Year, I deviate from my usual topic.
This is a love story that has to be written. It is within this context that I write it — it touched the heartstrings of everyone that was part of the spiritual process where His Creator claimed back Jose de Santos Orosa for his congregation in heaven on Jan. 26, barely three weeks ago.
My family has known the Sixto Orosa Jr. family from the time I was a young kid playing badminton with the Orosa brothers, together with my sisters. Joe Orosa’s father was nicknamed “Ting” and was bank president in his time. I’d see him and his wife, Tita Edita, at my late parents’ parties after we, the kids, lost touch with one another, as we pursued further studies abroad and thereafter forged lives of our own.
It was only when I met Marily Ysip-Orosa at a number of common political endeavors that I met Joe again after so many years. Immediately, upon seeing the two together, what struck me about this married couple — a second marriage for both of them since both were widowed — was the remarkable intellectual synergy and rapport that existed between the two. It was not only remarkable but also absolutely impressive.
Being a widow myself, what I kept going over and over in my mind was the fact that these two high-powered individuals found each other and fell in love — in fact, fell in love so mightily to bravely marry each other the second time around. I am convinced now, however, that when the Lord has a hand in it, love flows, as Joe said at one time, “effortlessly.”
Certainly I agree with those who believe in love. In fact, I believe not only that love makes the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Let me go one step further for I subscribe to the theory that the only abnormality in life is the incapacity to love.
In the case of Joe and Marily Orosa, Kahlil Gibran’s words are so applicable: “To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind.” There was indeed a love so great that even in the darkest moments during Joe’s journey back to His Creator, Marily guided him not only with her heart but also with her mind constantly. If anyone has ever doubted that true love really exists, that someone will immediately be constrained to relinquish that feeling.
And there was likewise an admiration for each other, so outstanding, that friends like me could not help but appreciate.
I cannot just call Joe and Marily’s meeting each other as simply arranged by destiny, for it was God that made certain that the two would meet. About eight months into Joe’s widowhood, he hosted a lunch at the Manila Polo Club. On the agenda was an audiovisual presentation (AVP) to raise finances and gather support for a Christian school expansion and relocation.
Businesslike and brief though the AVP was, Joe was impressed by, in his own words, “the courage and strength of character of the presenter.” Marily had been widowed less than a month before and she was making this efficient and brisk presentation so well. Their pastor had asked Marily to take on the job of crafting and making the presentation needed by their Christian congregation. She was requested to work with one of the prominent members of their church, Joe Orosa, who had accepted the chairmanship of the project. In spite of Marily’s protestations because it was soon after she was widowed, she could not refuse the pastor. In an essay she wrote, she said she “acceded reluctantly, hoping obedience to a man of God would get me closer to heaven.” That, indeed, was the Lord working in His strange way.
The business meetings soon graduated into friendly dinner dates. Joe had written in an essay likewise that he had been invited to write on his widowhood and eventual meeting with Marily, that he “started to take notice of this woman of character, beauty, grace, wit and humor.” As Joe himself had said, through five years of courtship, God guided and strengthened us, “especially in the areas of patience, relationships, and dealing with our past.”
In spite of this fundamental identity as far as intellectual compatibility was concerned, Marily, however, says in the same book of essays, which was published in 2002, that she was “amazed at how wonderfully opposite we were. I was talkative and an extrovert; he a man of few words and an introvert. I was bubbly; he, serious. He loved Pavarotti; I, the Bee Gees! He enjoyed the sea; I, the mountains. I hated oysters; he could consume a plateful of them! He insisted on “fine dining”; I was constantly watching my newfound figure and was content with a salad. He was always punctual, and me, late. Rose Yenko, my psychologist friend, ventured to say that Joe kept my feet on the ground. I liberated him from his seriousness. Happily our love blossomed in this fertile soil of diversity” (excerpts taken from the book From This Day Forward).
From this fertile soil of diversity sprang a unity of purpose to serve God and to clasp each other’s hands in solidarity. And there was indeed that fundamental intellectual harmony that created the opportunity for love and admiration for each other to blossom and prosper in the manner it did.
They were intellectual equals. Marily had founded and was president of Studio 5 Designs, Inc., involved in various aspects of visual communications such as corporate literature, marketing and sales collaterals, special arts events, calendars, etc. She was head of a highly competitive group, responsible for the excellent quality of its products and services produced by the company for its clients. In this capacity, Marily was the main reason for bringing to the company multiple awards for works designed and developed for Studio 5’s clientele. She had majored in Communication Arts in college and came prepared, armed with her degree, to undertake such a business.
Marily Orosa is an entrepreneur par excellence and the complete businesswoman.
Joe Orosa graduated cum laude from the De La Salle University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce with Accounting as his major, so it was but natural that Marily sought advice from him and made him chairman of the board of the firm that had now expanded into publishing. The union of two great minds produced what Studio 5 is today.
The couple worked together on a great number of publications. But more than anything, to my mind, the most remarkable achievement of Joe was his being project director of the Every Nation Leadership Institute, Inc., a leadership training and development institute located at the Universal Park of Fort Bonifacio Global City. He is committed to the vision of training a new generation of leaders in the Christian ministry, business, public governance, sports and media. It is one of the most beautiful edifices in the Global City.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that all of the above was brought about by that formidable combination of spiritual, intellectual, and business synergy that existed between Joe and Marily Orosa.
But I am getting ahead of my story. After all, this was intended to be a belated valentine love story.
On Dec. 21, 1993, six years after they were both widowed, and five years after they first met, Joe and Marily were wed in a wonderful garden ceremony at the then Westin Philippine Plaza. For a backdrop, the two professed their marriage vows against the golden sunset of Manila Bay.
After approximately 15 years of a marriage beyond compare, Joe Orosa passed away peacefully and beautifully with his loved ones around him. According to Marily, no matter how heartrending her grief is, she knows so well that Joe would want her to carry on bravely. Her reminiscences of her husband are touching. She was only 40 when she met Joe, who was eight years her senior. She remembers 15 qualifications for a future husband that she drew up after she was first widowed. She did not know Joe yet when she made the list. He found out about that list, asked for it from her, and kept it in his wallet for 20 years.
Joe gave her beautiful red roses several times a year with a handwritten note always. And especially on Valentine’s Day, the red roses would be there with the day ending in a romantic dinner for two.
After Joe was diagnosed with cancer and became seriously ill in spite of all the medical procedures and medications here and abroad, there were no roses for Marily. But this time, Marily surprised Joe with a beautiful note that said in simple words: “To my husband, my best friend, I love you every day, and Valentine’s Day gives me just another reason to tell you how much love you bring to my life. You are always there for me … you make me feel secure, cherished and loved. Your trust has helped me to reach beyond myself and to become all that I can be. You are my best friend and my favorite person to be with. You are a wonderful man and I am proud to be your wife. I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
On the first day after his passing, I paid tribute to Jose de Santos Orosa at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes, for leading such an exemplary life. Beneath his casket was a little round table with 15 lovely red roses (15 years of marriage) that said: “I love you, honey-pie.”
I know that even now, there is still that synergy that goes on between Joe and Marily Orosa. Death could not just break this up. I myself am an incurable romantic, for which reason this love story had to be written.
Sophocles so wisely said: “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.”
* * *
Photo shows Marily and Joe Orosa on their wedding day, Jan. 21, 1993
Business Life
A belated Valentine love story
HINDSIGHT By Josefina T. Lichauco Updated February 23, 2009 12:00 AM
This love story was meant to be published the Monday after Valentine’s Day, but my workload piled up and I was not able to meet the deadline. I usually write on Internet law, but on occasions like Valentine’s, Christmas and New Year, I deviate from my usual topic.
This is a love story that has to be written. It is within this context that I write it — it touched the heartstrings of everyone that was part of the spiritual process where His Creator claimed back Jose de Santos Orosa for his congregation in heaven on Jan. 26, barely three weeks ago.
My family has known the Sixto Orosa Jr. family from the time I was a young kid playing badminton with the Orosa brothers, together with my sisters. Joe Orosa’s father was nicknamed “Ting” and was bank president in his time. I’d see him and his wife, Tita Edita, at my late parents’ parties after we, the kids, lost touch with one another, as we pursued further studies abroad and thereafter forged lives of our own.
It was only when I met Marily Ysip-Orosa at a number of common political endeavors that I met Joe again after so many years. Immediately, upon seeing the two together, what struck me about this married couple — a second marriage for both of them since both were widowed — was the remarkable intellectual synergy and rapport that existed between the two. It was not only remarkable but also absolutely impressive.
Being a widow myself, what I kept going over and over in my mind was the fact that these two high-powered individuals found each other and fell in love — in fact, fell in love so mightily to bravely marry each other the second time around. I am convinced now, however, that when the Lord has a hand in it, love flows, as Joe said at one time, “effortlessly.”
Certainly I agree with those who believe in love. In fact, I believe not only that love makes the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Let me go one step further for I subscribe to the theory that the only abnormality in life is the incapacity to love.
In the case of Joe and Marily Orosa, Kahlil Gibran’s words are so applicable: “To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind.” There was indeed a love so great that even in the darkest moments during Joe’s journey back to His Creator, Marily guided him not only with her heart but also with her mind constantly. If anyone has ever doubted that true love really exists, that someone will immediately be constrained to relinquish that feeling.
And there was likewise an admiration for each other, so outstanding, that friends like me could not help but appreciate.
I cannot just call Joe and Marily’s meeting each other as simply arranged by destiny, for it was God that made certain that the two would meet. About eight months into Joe’s widowhood, he hosted a lunch at the Manila Polo Club. On the agenda was an audiovisual presentation (AVP) to raise finances and gather support for a Christian school expansion and relocation.
Businesslike and brief though the AVP was, Joe was impressed by, in his own words, “the courage and strength of character of the presenter.” Marily had been widowed less than a month before and she was making this efficient and brisk presentation so well. Their pastor had asked Marily to take on the job of crafting and making the presentation needed by their Christian congregation. She was requested to work with one of the prominent members of their church, Joe Orosa, who had accepted the chairmanship of the project. In spite of Marily’s protestations because it was soon after she was widowed, she could not refuse the pastor. In an essay she wrote, she said she “acceded reluctantly, hoping obedience to a man of God would get me closer to heaven.” That, indeed, was the Lord working in His strange way.
The business meetings soon graduated into friendly dinner dates. Joe had written in an essay likewise that he had been invited to write on his widowhood and eventual meeting with Marily, that he “started to take notice of this woman of character, beauty, grace, wit and humor.” As Joe himself had said, through five years of courtship, God guided and strengthened us, “especially in the areas of patience, relationships, and dealing with our past.”
In spite of this fundamental identity as far as intellectual compatibility was concerned, Marily, however, says in the same book of essays, which was published in 2002, that she was “amazed at how wonderfully opposite we were. I was talkative and an extrovert; he a man of few words and an introvert. I was bubbly; he, serious. He loved Pavarotti; I, the Bee Gees! He enjoyed the sea; I, the mountains. I hated oysters; he could consume a plateful of them! He insisted on “fine dining”; I was constantly watching my newfound figure and was content with a salad. He was always punctual, and me, late. Rose Yenko, my psychologist friend, ventured to say that Joe kept my feet on the ground. I liberated him from his seriousness. Happily our love blossomed in this fertile soil of diversity” (excerpts taken from the book From This Day Forward).
From this fertile soil of diversity sprang a unity of purpose to serve God and to clasp each other’s hands in solidarity. And there was indeed that fundamental intellectual harmony that created the opportunity for love and admiration for each other to blossom and prosper in the manner it did.
They were intellectual equals. Marily had founded and was president of Studio 5 Designs, Inc., involved in various aspects of visual communications such as corporate literature, marketing and sales collaterals, special arts events, calendars, etc. She was head of a highly competitive group, responsible for the excellent quality of its products and services produced by the company for its clients. In this capacity, Marily was the main reason for bringing to the company multiple awards for works designed and developed for Studio 5’s clientele. She had majored in Communication Arts in college and came prepared, armed with her degree, to undertake such a business.
Marily Orosa is an entrepreneur par excellence and the complete businesswoman.
Joe Orosa graduated cum laude from the De La Salle University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce with Accounting as his major, so it was but natural that Marily sought advice from him and made him chairman of the board of the firm that had now expanded into publishing. The union of two great minds produced what Studio 5 is today.
The couple worked together on a great number of publications. But more than anything, to my mind, the most remarkable achievement of Joe was his being project director of the Every Nation Leadership Institute, Inc., a leadership training and development institute located at the Universal Park of Fort Bonifacio Global City. He is committed to the vision of training a new generation of leaders in the Christian ministry, business, public governance, sports and media. It is one of the most beautiful edifices in the Global City.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that all of the above was brought about by that formidable combination of spiritual, intellectual, and business synergy that existed between Joe and Marily Orosa.
But I am getting ahead of my story. After all, this was intended to be a belated valentine love story.
On Dec. 21, 1993, six years after they were both widowed, and five years after they first met, Joe and Marily were wed in a wonderful garden ceremony at the then Westin Philippine Plaza. For a backdrop, the two professed their marriage vows against the golden sunset of Manila Bay.
After approximately 15 years of a marriage beyond compare, Joe Orosa passed away peacefully and beautifully with his loved ones around him. According to Marily, no matter how heartrending her grief is, she knows so well that Joe would want her to carry on bravely. Her reminiscences of her husband are touching. She was only 40 when she met Joe, who was eight years her senior. She remembers 15 qualifications for a future husband that she drew up after she was first widowed. She did not know Joe yet when she made the list. He found out about that list, asked for it from her, and kept it in his wallet for 20 years.
Joe gave her beautiful red roses several times a year with a handwritten note always. And especially on Valentine’s Day, the red roses would be there with the day ending in a romantic dinner for two.
After Joe was diagnosed with cancer and became seriously ill in spite of all the medical procedures and medications here and abroad, there were no roses for Marily. But this time, Marily surprised Joe with a beautiful note that said in simple words: “To my husband, my best friend, I love you every day, and Valentine’s Day gives me just another reason to tell you how much love you bring to my life. You are always there for me … you make me feel secure, cherished and loved. Your trust has helped me to reach beyond myself and to become all that I can be. You are my best friend and my favorite person to be with. You are a wonderful man and I am proud to be your wife. I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
On the first day after his passing, I paid tribute to Jose de Santos Orosa at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes, for leading such an exemplary life. Beneath his casket was a little round table with 15 lovely red roses (15 years of marriage) that said: “I love you, honey-pie.”
I know that even now, there is still that synergy that goes on between Joe and Marily Orosa. Death could not just break this up. I myself am an incurable romantic, for which reason this love story had to be written.
Sophocles so wisely said: “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.”
* * *
Photo shows Marily and Joe Orosa on their wedding day, Jan. 21, 1993
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Some publicity re Handumanan
Some friends have forwarded links with articles re the Handumanan Carnaval Event:
Proud to be Pinoy, by Honey Jarque Loop
Cebu Lifestyle - By Invitation Only: Handumanan, by Marlinda Angbetic Tan
Proud to be Pinoy, by Honey Jarque Loop
Cebu Lifestyle - By Invitation Only: Handumanan, by Marlinda Angbetic Tan
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
SOME SPAM MESSAGES I GET
I usually delete the spam messages I get, but I thought I'd post one night's spam - 41 spam messages in total. I think spam messages reflect society's secret desires - take a look - the messages have something to do with sex, greed, vanity, a promise of a good day, of having friends etc. I bet one could do a study on spam in relation to society's values:
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The ways to fine-tune your feelings tonight
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20 Best Blog Post Ideas for Small Business Bloggin
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Want to see her happy tears?
Make her your rod's slave
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You Won 750,000 pounds from the IrishPromo
Why Ophra Winfrey Endorces Acai Berry For WeightLoss gvwj 8m
You Never see Bonuses this Big in Vegas!
The American Swiss Replica Watches Online Store, high grade and top quality watches
GREAT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
The ways to fine-tune your feelings tonight
Wish to add more fire into your bedroom life?
20 Best Blog Post Ideas for Small Business Bloggin
WINNER
GOOD DAY
If there will be only girls around, will you be ready?
Reply
PLEASE TRYAND DO THIS WITH ME
Hello Friend
You Have An E-card Waiting For You!
Acai Berry Supreme Used by Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt for Weight Loss gmnzx
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Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Battling Bastards of Bataan, by James Litton
I got this from Edmundo Litton:
Dear Cecilia,
My dad wrote about his experiences during the Battle of Manila. See below for the link. It may be of interest to you.
http://battlingbastardsbataan.com/james.htm
Dear Cecilia,
My dad wrote about his experiences during the Battle of Manila. See below for the link. It may be of interest to you.
http://battlingbastardsbataan.com/james.htm
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
When I'm in the Philippines I walk a lot, both in Makati as well as in Cebu. I enjoy walking in fact, and make it a point to walk to church or some other point of destination, just to get the exercise.
I've noticed however that my Filipina friends hardly walk. I am not sure they get very much exercise at all. I've seen them struggle to walk a few blocks. It doesn't seem to be part of the culture to exercise. Even for short distances they have their drivers take them, or they take a taxi - and I'm talking about 4-5 blocks.
My mother liked to dance and walk; when she was young, she even played basketball. I think some of that rubbed off on us her children because we used to make some effort to take daily walks.
I've traveled with some Filipina friends and I've noticed that they get tired quickly. They are generally slender but they lack stamina. I know several who already need canes!
I wonder if the younger generation of Filipinas exercise more than my generation.
I've noticed however that my Filipina friends hardly walk. I am not sure they get very much exercise at all. I've seen them struggle to walk a few blocks. It doesn't seem to be part of the culture to exercise. Even for short distances they have their drivers take them, or they take a taxi - and I'm talking about 4-5 blocks.
My mother liked to dance and walk; when she was young, she even played basketball. I think some of that rubbed off on us her children because we used to make some effort to take daily walks.
I've traveled with some Filipina friends and I've noticed that they get tired quickly. They are generally slender but they lack stamina. I know several who already need canes!
I wonder if the younger generation of Filipinas exercise more than my generation.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
NICE INTERIORS AND EXTERIORS
Here are some favorite pictures of exteriors and interiors of buildings from places we have visited, including: Peru, Chile, Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Philippines, France, Nicaragua, Panama, Egypt, and more...
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
CLEAN UP RIVERS, CREEKS, CANALS IN OLD CEBU!
The recent January Sinulog festival in Cebu City drew approximately a million people. That's a lot of people. There were quite a lot of foreigners - Europeans, Americans, balikbayans. The city was packed with people.
Anyway, one day during the Sinulog week, I walked down Logarta Street in Historic Cebu, and I saw a foreigner, a young man, gawking at the creek or canal under the historic bridge there. I forget the historic designation of this particular bridge, but there is a plaque beside it that Mayor Tommy Osmena put up a number of years ago.
To my great embarrassment, this foreign young man looked with horror at the filth in the canal; and indeed it was dirty. It had every bit of imaginable filth in there - plastic, paper, dead things, no doubt excrement from the slum houses that jut out over the canals. Really, I was filled with such shame. I have been very enthusiastic about the gentrifying of historic Old Cebu, and have lauded the efforts of the Aboitizes with their work in Casa Gorordo Museum and RAFI, and the tireless enthusiasm and creativity of Val Sandiego; and the Cathedral Museum people are also doing their share. In fact the Cathedral is sprucing up the church, sidewalks, and lot in front of the church. There is so much improvement going on, and I've been so proud of it, but my stomach churned when I saw the expression of disgust on this foreigner's face, and frankly the canal was repulsive. You could have caught every disease on earth if you fell in it. Such filth near human beings is not sanitary. Even animals know to defecate and urinate far away from where they sleep. I've heard of cases of dengue in Cebu - haven't people considered that dirty places such as these rivers and canals just may be responsible?
I mentioned Cebu's dirty rivers, creeks, and canals to some people. The answer I got was that the dirt is coming from higher areas, not just from the downtown Cebu. I'm not sure about this, because I can see that the rickety houses with makeshift rooms hanging over the creeks are probably using these creeks as their toilets. They do not think twice about throwing garbage into these creeks, or on the streets for that matter.
Cebu officials ought to do something about this problem. It's one thing to be poor, another to be dirty. One can be poor and clean. It is inexcusable, unpardonable to be dirty. In fact it is unsanitary to the point of risking the lives of children when such filth is right under people's noses. Germs live there; germs cause diseases.
For starters, is it not possible for someone to rake the floating debris off the water? Even that effort could make the creeks look 80% better. If Cebu has street sweepers, how about canal cleaners?
And if the debris is coming from higher areas, can't the people who live there, as well as those who live downtown, be educated about cleaning our rivers and creeks?
In 2000, Manila decided to clean up the equally filthy Pasig River. I remember that the Pasig River used to be so dirty, no fish lived in it. It was covered with plant life, which meant the river itself was dead. Well, Manila got a financial assistance package of $176 million, approved by the Asian Development Bank. I can say that the program definitely worked. I have taken the ferry down the Pasig and have seen fish in the Pasig. The river is for the most part sparkling clean. There are slogans painted on walls, constant reminders that the river is our life. Click here to read about the clean-up program of Pasig.
I say that if the Pasig River could be cleaned up, the rivers and creeks of Cebu can also be cleaned up. But we need government involvement, and we need public participation. We need education, a heightened consciousness that there is a problem, and that each one can do something to solve the problem.
I understand there is now a cleanup program for the Guadalupe River (click here to read article City Uses Korean model for river rescue plan); why don't we extend that cleanup program to include the downtown creeks? If Korea cleaned up their river in three years and turned it into a major attraction for locals and tourists, so can Cebu.
Water is vital to life. I hope that the people of Cebu, whether they be in the government or private sector pay attention to this problem. Maybe City officials who are now starting to see the tourist potential of Historic Cebu can do something to clean up our rivers, creeks, and canals. It's not just about tourism; it's basic hygiene. These rivers, creeks, canals are serious health hazards. Imagine where the water from these rivers, creeks canals go - straight to the sea; imagine fish and other living things in that sea bombarded by all that filth; imagine our fishermen catching fish from that sea; imagine that same fish on your dining table. It's just all a cycle.
I'm posting some clean canals in other places: Bangkok, Amsterdam,Venice, Norway, and yes the Pasig. They are clean, they are tourist spots. If they can have clean rivers and creeks, so can Cebu.
For more information, read below:
MMDA Plans to Clean-up and Rehabilitate Metro Manila's Rivers
President Orders Pasig River Rehab
How to Organize a River Cleanup
The Freeman published this article in their Opinion Section - here
Anyway, one day during the Sinulog week, I walked down Logarta Street in Historic Cebu, and I saw a foreigner, a young man, gawking at the creek or canal under the historic bridge there. I forget the historic designation of this particular bridge, but there is a plaque beside it that Mayor Tommy Osmena put up a number of years ago.
To my great embarrassment, this foreign young man looked with horror at the filth in the canal; and indeed it was dirty. It had every bit of imaginable filth in there - plastic, paper, dead things, no doubt excrement from the slum houses that jut out over the canals. Really, I was filled with such shame. I have been very enthusiastic about the gentrifying of historic Old Cebu, and have lauded the efforts of the Aboitizes with their work in Casa Gorordo Museum and RAFI, and the tireless enthusiasm and creativity of Val Sandiego; and the Cathedral Museum people are also doing their share. In fact the Cathedral is sprucing up the church, sidewalks, and lot in front of the church. There is so much improvement going on, and I've been so proud of it, but my stomach churned when I saw the expression of disgust on this foreigner's face, and frankly the canal was repulsive. You could have caught every disease on earth if you fell in it. Such filth near human beings is not sanitary. Even animals know to defecate and urinate far away from where they sleep. I've heard of cases of dengue in Cebu - haven't people considered that dirty places such as these rivers and canals just may be responsible?
I mentioned Cebu's dirty rivers, creeks, and canals to some people. The answer I got was that the dirt is coming from higher areas, not just from the downtown Cebu. I'm not sure about this, because I can see that the rickety houses with makeshift rooms hanging over the creeks are probably using these creeks as their toilets. They do not think twice about throwing garbage into these creeks, or on the streets for that matter.
Cebu officials ought to do something about this problem. It's one thing to be poor, another to be dirty. One can be poor and clean. It is inexcusable, unpardonable to be dirty. In fact it is unsanitary to the point of risking the lives of children when such filth is right under people's noses. Germs live there; germs cause diseases.
For starters, is it not possible for someone to rake the floating debris off the water? Even that effort could make the creeks look 80% better. If Cebu has street sweepers, how about canal cleaners?
And if the debris is coming from higher areas, can't the people who live there, as well as those who live downtown, be educated about cleaning our rivers and creeks?
In 2000, Manila decided to clean up the equally filthy Pasig River. I remember that the Pasig River used to be so dirty, no fish lived in it. It was covered with plant life, which meant the river itself was dead. Well, Manila got a financial assistance package of $176 million, approved by the Asian Development Bank. I can say that the program definitely worked. I have taken the ferry down the Pasig and have seen fish in the Pasig. The river is for the most part sparkling clean. There are slogans painted on walls, constant reminders that the river is our life. Click here to read about the clean-up program of Pasig.
I say that if the Pasig River could be cleaned up, the rivers and creeks of Cebu can also be cleaned up. But we need government involvement, and we need public participation. We need education, a heightened consciousness that there is a problem, and that each one can do something to solve the problem.
I understand there is now a cleanup program for the Guadalupe River (click here to read article City Uses Korean model for river rescue plan); why don't we extend that cleanup program to include the downtown creeks? If Korea cleaned up their river in three years and turned it into a major attraction for locals and tourists, so can Cebu.
Water is vital to life. I hope that the people of Cebu, whether they be in the government or private sector pay attention to this problem. Maybe City officials who are now starting to see the tourist potential of Historic Cebu can do something to clean up our rivers, creeks, and canals. It's not just about tourism; it's basic hygiene. These rivers, creeks, canals are serious health hazards. Imagine where the water from these rivers, creeks canals go - straight to the sea; imagine fish and other living things in that sea bombarded by all that filth; imagine our fishermen catching fish from that sea; imagine that same fish on your dining table. It's just all a cycle.
I'm posting some clean canals in other places: Bangkok, Amsterdam,Venice, Norway, and yes the Pasig. They are clean, they are tourist spots. If they can have clean rivers and creeks, so can Cebu.
For more information, read below:
MMDA Plans to Clean-up and Rehabilitate Metro Manila's Rivers
President Orders Pasig River Rehab
How to Organize a River Cleanup
The Freeman published this article in their Opinion Section - here
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Remembering the Bee Farm in Bohol, Philippines
It’s raining here in California and I’m still jetlagged, so I thought I’d write about our trip to Bohol two years ago. A group of us stayed in the Bee Farm, a very nice hotel in Bohol, right along the sea, although the seashore is rocky and full of corals. Nonetheless the view of the sea was spectacular, and the rooms in the Bee Farm were nicely done with bamboo furniture and there were plenty of windows, making the space look bright and airy.
There were nine of us: 4 high school classmates – Tillic, Mila, Darn, and Tessa; plus husband Lauren, and American friends Doug, Elizabeth and John.
Two memories crowd my mind right now. First was the whale watching boat trip that the “girls” and Lauren took at dawn. Off they went on an outrigger boat to see whales and dolphins. It must have been around 4:30 a.m. when they left. At 7 I got up and looked out the window and saw their boat in the distance. I thought they’d get back in thirty minutes and so I slowly pulled myself together. After half an hour, I looked out the window again and saw that their boat was still far from shore. I think I crawled back into bed and dozed off. When I awoke and went downstairs, I was surprised that they hadn't arrived. Just when I was about to try and find out what had happened to them, the group straggled in, soaking wet, feet and legs bleeding.
What had happened was that the tide was low when they returned and the boat couldn’t come close to shore. The boatman didn’t think to dock them someplace else. The girls, counting on Lauren, gave him their cameras, cellphones, and other valuables, carefully and trustingly hanging these around his neck. He jumped in, and to the surprise of the girls, the water reached his neck. What this meant was that someone like Mila, who couldn’t swim, could… well… drown. In any case, the four girls did jump into the water, and all five of waded through the corals and urchin-laded rocky shore until they made it ashore. They had urchin spines embedded in the soles of their feet, cuts everywhere, and yes, their cell phones and cameras got wet. But their spirits were high and they were all laughing at their adventure. Instead of urine for the urchin spine – the usual cure – they used vinegar as suggested by a dentist who was also staying in the Bee Farm.
So that was one incident, the other one is not quite so dramatic. Tillic had talked about the wonderful massage she got at the Bee Farm, so Elizabeth and I decided to try it. We made an appointment at sunset, and the massage place was an enclosed area overlooking the sea. We got to wear the native wraparound tapis, as we lay on bamboo cots, and we looked out at the sea where a gorgeous sunset was taking place. It was like a South Pacific movie set. The masseuse had some nice-smelling aromatic oil or something smoldering nearby and so everything seemed perfect. The only problem was that both our masseuses had heavy hands, and we were dumb enough to keep quiet and just take all that painful kneading. By the time we limped back to the hotel Elizabeth and I confessed to each other that we had been in pain most of the time. The next day we had quite a lot of bruises.
Moral of this entry: Do not be afraid to tell your boatman to dock you somewhere shallow and safe; do not be afraid to tell your masseuse to go light!
~~
Photo above shows Doug, Elizabeth, John, and me
Next photo shows Cecilia, Tess, Tillic, Darn, Mila
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
January 2009 Visit of the Philippines- Pictorial
There's a video of the sinulog dance at the Handumanan at the bottom.
Captions from the top:
Vice Mayor Mike Rama, Cecilia at the Handumanan Event
The entire Cast of the Handumanan Event
Lilu Gomez, Norma Lucero, Chinggay Utzurrum, Terry Manguerra
Joy Gerra, Cecilia, Norma Lucero, Lilu Gomez, Ambeth Ocampo, Chinggay Utzurrum
Old House in Carcar
Norma Lucero, Lilu Gomez, Terry Manguerra in old house in Carcar
Norma Lucero with antique Argao House she had lived in
Cecilia, Terry, Norma, Lilu in front of Argao House that Norma had lived in
Norma in front of Argao Church Bell Tower
Lechon in Parian Night
Chona Bernad, Chelete, Lynley Ocampo, Gavin Bagares, Terry
Jackie Werkman, Eva Gullas, Norma, Chona Bernad
Louie Nacorda, Terry, Erma Cuizon
Jackie Werkman, Eva Gullas, Norma, Chona and Cecilia (standing)
Erma, Inday Blanco, Chinggay Utzurrum, Lilu
Lynley Ocampo, Chellet, Gavin Bagares, Joy Gerra
Norma, Lilu, Chinggay
Norma, Cecilia, Lilu
STC HS 64 at the Sapphire dance rehearsal
Marissa, Tina, Marily, Cynthia (Ysip sisters)
Marily, Cecilia
Guia Lim, Cecilia, Tillic Lorayes
Darn, Mila, Lilu, Norma, Cecilia
The Manguerra Clan
Chinggay, Cecilia, Terry
Cecilia, Diana Ledesma, Helen Misa
Chinggay, Terry, Jing Ramos, Cecilia
Captions from the top:
Vice Mayor Mike Rama, Cecilia at the Handumanan Event
The entire Cast of the Handumanan Event
Lilu Gomez, Norma Lucero, Chinggay Utzurrum, Terry Manguerra
Joy Gerra, Cecilia, Norma Lucero, Lilu Gomez, Ambeth Ocampo, Chinggay Utzurrum
Old House in Carcar
Norma Lucero, Lilu Gomez, Terry Manguerra in old house in Carcar
Norma Lucero with antique Argao House she had lived in
Cecilia, Terry, Norma, Lilu in front of Argao House that Norma had lived in
Norma in front of Argao Church Bell Tower
Lechon in Parian Night
Chona Bernad, Chelete, Lynley Ocampo, Gavin Bagares, Terry
Jackie Werkman, Eva Gullas, Norma, Chona Bernad
Louie Nacorda, Terry, Erma Cuizon
Jackie Werkman, Eva Gullas, Norma, Chona and Cecilia (standing)
Erma, Inday Blanco, Chinggay Utzurrum, Lilu
Lynley Ocampo, Chellet, Gavin Bagares, Joy Gerra
Norma, Lilu, Chinggay
Norma, Cecilia, Lilu
STC HS 64 at the Sapphire dance rehearsal
Marissa, Tina, Marily, Cynthia (Ysip sisters)
Marily, Cecilia
Guia Lim, Cecilia, Tillic Lorayes
Darn, Mila, Lilu, Norma, Cecilia
The Manguerra Clan
Chinggay, Cecilia, Terry
Cecilia, Diana Ledesma, Helen Misa
Chinggay, Terry, Jing Ramos, Cecilia
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
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