Saturday, September 19, 2009
Evolution of the Dona Filomena Building, Cebu, Philippines
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, September 13, 2009
Lola Remedios and Her Sayas, published Zee Lifestyle August-September 2009
LOLA REMEDIOS AND HER SAYAS
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Published in Zee Lifestyle, Aug-Sept 2009
When I was small I used to listen to my mother (Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra) talk about her lola or grandmother, and there was another lola she spoke of, only this one was referred to as “lola sa tuhod.” It took me a long while to figure out that she was talking about her grandmother and great grandmother. The great grandmother she referred to was Juana Lopez who originally came from Naic, Cavite and who did business in Cebu and Leyte. Year ago, when I was gathering genealogical information about my family, an aunt sent me a brief description of Juana Lopez as someone “who loved to dance. “
This surprised me because pictures of her show an oval-faced serious woman with hair severely swept back. In the photos, Juana wears a saya and a camisa, and the black and white photos increase the severity of her looks. She may have been more flirtatious than her pictures suggest because she married a second time, to a Veloso in Leyte. She had children with that second marriage, but I’m guessing that her first child, Remedios, gave her headaches as only firstborns are capable of doing. Consider this: Remedios married my great grandfather when she was only 13. Even though women married early in the olden days, I’m almost certain that Juana was shocked when her daughter announced she’d be quitting her schooling at the Inmaculada to marry the school teacher and poet, Mariano Albao Cuenco. It seemed the marriage was a good one; Remedios bore over a dozen children, although only four survived to adulthood.
Remedios was the grandmother my mother spoke of with great awe. In fact, I believe that Remedios had been her role model, especially when my mother became a young widow. Listen to what my granduncle Archbishop Jose Ma. Cuenco of Jaro, Iloilo said about Remedios as a widow: “My good mother was a woman of strong determination, ready to overcome all obstacles. Besides she was business-minded. With these qualities she was able to relieve our poor condition. Little by little, she bought land on which she built several houses. The high rents of these houses were a great source of income to us.”
Following Remedios’ footsteps, my mother, after my father died, bought properties, built houses on them, and rented them out. She sent all four of us children to college and to graduate schools abroad.
Remedios was widowed at 39, with three sons, a daughter, and the family of her second son staying in her house. She not only invested in real estate, she also ran her husband’s publishing business, Imprenta Rosario, making her the first woman publisher of Cebu. She continued raising her children in the intellectual and religious atmosphere that she and her husband had created. She must have been proud of her children’s accomplishments: the oldest son became an archbishop; the second son became a senator; the third son, a representative; and the daughter a writer.
What astonishes me, is that not only was she excellent at juggling the publishing business, real estate business, and her family, Remedios took meticulous care of her looks. All her pictures show a slender woman, dressed in elaborate and elegant saya, camisa and panuelo.
In a photo taken in 1895, she is wearing an elaborately embroidered panuelo, and a chic black ribbon with a cameo or pendant; she is wearing large earrings. Her hair is pulled back in a bun, and no doubt she had a peineta in her hair, as was the custom of the days.
A photo taken a few years later shows her wearing a printed long skirt and a light colored filmy camisa and panuelo with lace edges. She wears interesting jewelry – necklace, earrings, ring.
In a picture taken around 1909, after she was widowed, we see her wearing an attractive skirt with stripes and the camisa and panuelo pick up the lively pattern.
And in a photo taken when she is an old woman surrounded by her children and one grandson, she is finely dressed in a saya that is richly embroidered. She wears rings, a bracelet and a necklace.
The photos are in black and white but the clothes were no doubt richer in color – indigo blue, emerald green, deep red, glowing yellow perhaps.
In her book, Life in Old Parian, Concepcion G. Briones, has fine descriptions of Remedios from the 1920s:
“I still retain in my mind’s eye the picture of Doña Remedios Lopez Cuenco — the Cuenco matriarch hurrying to her front door to welcome Msgr. Giuguilmo Piani, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, who, at that time, was to confer the Vicar-General title on her erudite son, Msgr. Jose Maria Cuenco, at the nearby Cathedral.
“Nyora Medyos wore a satin merino (navy-blue) saya, wide and bouffant, an elegant camisa, and a panuelo which was pinned on her bosom with a magnificent brooch of gold and pearls. Tucked inside the waist of her saya, on the left side, was the golden-chain or porta-abanico which, as the name implies, held her big silk fan. Jewelry? She had the most gorgeous ones, too. Old gold and pearls, rubies and diamonds worn at her throat, on her fingers or on her wrists…”
In another part of her book, Briones writes: “Nyora Medyos used to come very early, mornings, in sayas and kimono to the printing press — her long black curly hair falling down to her waist, freshly shampooed and fragrant with samuyao…”
This is an interesting and vivid description of Remedios with her flowing long hair. The sensual image belies the fact that she would be typesetting and working huge heavy presses that crashed and clanked — a man’s work, really. (My mother told me that the powerful machines shook their residence above.)
It should be understood that Remedios was an unusual woman — she was strong, intelligent, determined, driven, possessed with a devil-may-care attitude about what people thought of her hands smeared with ink from the printing press. She was the matriarch of a family that was demonstrating its leadership in politics as well as in the church, and she and her family displayed the trappings of importance: a home in fashionable Colon Street furnished with fine things; her sons studied abroad; and family members took the time to clothe themselves in fine silks, satins, piña, with embroidery and lace. Shoes matched. There were different sets of jewelry for daytime, nighttime, casual occasions, as well as rock-size diamonds for important events and for investment.
It was a different era then — a time of gentility, of gallantry, of romance, of elegance, a time when people sat on the azotea to catch the breeze, a time when neighbors dropped by for afternoon visits. We, who are used to our current-date city life, who rush about in our jeans and pants and T-shirts, no longer know this life.
Remedios did not remarry. She was an attractive, good-looking, dynamic woman, and there must have been men who were interested in her. But she devoted her life to her family and her businesses. Remedios died in 1945 at the age of 75.
Curiously, my own mother who was also fond of dancing and beautiful dresses never remarried either. She too devoted her life to her children and businesses. Even when she became old, my mother continued to dress elegantly, copying perhaps her role model, Remedios Lopez Cuenco. ~~~ end (copyright 2009 by Cecilia Brainard)
~~
Read also
Life in Parian Now
Cebu's 1730 Jesuit House
The Secret Hall of Angels
A Story of Hope
Finding Jose Rizal in Cebu
Lola Remedios and her Sayas
Lunch with F. Sionil Jose
~~
tags: Cebu, Sugbo, Philippines, travel, tourism, history, women, politics, Cuenco Family
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, September 12, 2009
SATURDAY MORNING - TWO COUSINS
Dylan and Luke watching Saturday morning cartoons
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.
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Rat in Cebu Laguna Garden Restaurant
I'm not trying to ruin the reputation of Laguna Garden Restaurant in Ayala Cebu because frankly the food is excellent there. But last August, when I had dinner there with some friends, a commotion broke out in one part of the restaurant. We stood up to investigate and saw a huge rat running around the rafters of the ceiling. Foreigners stood gaping at the sight. Filipinos whipped out their cell phones to take pictures. I had my camera with me... and well... I took a couple of pictures.
~~~~
Lively discussion of this in my facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/ceciliabrainard
Lynley Ocampo: It's not only at that restaurant. Some months back, I saw a rat at my favorite coffee place also in Ayala.
Evelyn R. Bosh: OMG
Cecilia Brainard: So the rats live in Ayala. They have to do something about them, for health reasons.
Lynley Ocampo: Apparently.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: frankly, i do not care if the food is excellent there ... one rat means filth ... and more rats in the hiding. there is no way i am ever eating there if we do go to cebu. thanks so much for the info.
Maria Terea Rodriguez-Laurente: OMG. I was there in August 13 evening same place.
Ederlindo Cojuanco II: You know where these rats are hidding...at the kitchen! LOL
Ben Anthony Dicdican Cabacoy: Dertz...it was Master Splinter having dinner(-_-) LOL
Richard Yu: Nope. Its the secret ingredient for a super yummy recipe! Ilibre ko si Gloria sa resto na ito!
Frederick Ygnacio Jr.:We can ask what are the Pest Control Measures Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu Business Park Admin has undertaken as Ayala Terraces practically houses the series of reputable food chains in Cebu. We too regularly patronize the restaurants at Terraces.
As the current Vice-Pres. of Cebu Business Park Bdlg Administrators Association, Inc. maybe I can raise this pest control issue within the zone on our next meeting.
my opinion:
The restaurants are relatively new.... Read More
All food refuse and garbage are collected everyday.
This is an isolated case and obviously the Rat is not a resident in that restaurant. It's a stray Rat that found its way to the Terraces. Unfortunately for Laguna Garden the Rat choose to find refuge there. Mas humot cguro ila food. hahha Pastilan! Still, this has to be addressed. First stop, the SEWERS!
Cecilia Brainard: To Frederick Ygnacio Jr: Perhaps you can also discuss with the Powers-that-be to CLEAN UP CEBU'S RIVERS AND CREEKS. They are filthy - filled with garbage and God-knows-what, and all in plain view of tourists and Balikbayans. Rats, dirty rivers/creeks - these are health hazards just the same. Plus all this filth is not good for Cebu's tourism business.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: AMEN!!!!
Paul Kekai Manansala: One key to cleaning up the rivers is to provide garbage collection and water and sewage lines in the squatter camps, or else relocate these people to low-cost, subsidized housing. Most people in these neighborhoods simply dump their garbage and sewage into the rivers and other waterways that they usually live right next to. They also bathe and wash their clothes in these same filthy waterways, which doesn't help either.
Eileen Martinez Apostol: Whether this is an isolated incident or not, i can just say that is an urgency best taken cared of. That said, their bouillabaise is worth trying! Really good last time I had it!
Cecilia Brainard: Pasig River has been pretty much cleaned up and it has a nice ferry system in place. Government officials had to make the decision to clean up the Pasig before it happened, and it took years. Cebu officials can do the same - just make up their minds to clean up Cebu's rivers and creeks, look for funds, ways to get this done. The people must be educated and invoved in the cleanup project as well. The revenue from tourism will pay for it. In fact, these rivers and creeks can be turned into tourism sites,with restaurants, walkways nearby, as in Bangkok,Amsterdam, Venice, Norway. I've written more extensively about cleaning up Cebu's rivers in my blog, http://cbrainard.blogspot.com (search for cleanup rivers Cebu)
~~~~
Lively discussion of this in my facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/ceciliabrainard
Lynley Ocampo: It's not only at that restaurant. Some months back, I saw a rat at my favorite coffee place also in Ayala.
Evelyn R. Bosh: OMG
Cecilia Brainard: So the rats live in Ayala. They have to do something about them, for health reasons.
Lynley Ocampo: Apparently.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: frankly, i do not care if the food is excellent there ... one rat means filth ... and more rats in the hiding. there is no way i am ever eating there if we do go to cebu. thanks so much for the info.
Maria Terea Rodriguez-Laurente: OMG. I was there in August 13 evening same place.
Ederlindo Cojuanco II: You know where these rats are hidding...at the kitchen! LOL
Ben Anthony Dicdican Cabacoy: Dertz...it was Master Splinter having dinner(-_-) LOL
Richard Yu: Nope. Its the secret ingredient for a super yummy recipe! Ilibre ko si Gloria sa resto na ito!
Frederick Ygnacio Jr.:We can ask what are the Pest Control Measures Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu Business Park Admin has undertaken as Ayala Terraces practically houses the series of reputable food chains in Cebu. We too regularly patronize the restaurants at Terraces.
As the current Vice-Pres. of Cebu Business Park Bdlg Administrators Association, Inc. maybe I can raise this pest control issue within the zone on our next meeting.
my opinion:
The restaurants are relatively new.... Read More
All food refuse and garbage are collected everyday.
This is an isolated case and obviously the Rat is not a resident in that restaurant. It's a stray Rat that found its way to the Terraces. Unfortunately for Laguna Garden the Rat choose to find refuge there. Mas humot cguro ila food. hahha Pastilan! Still, this has to be addressed. First stop, the SEWERS!
Cecilia Brainard: To Frederick Ygnacio Jr: Perhaps you can also discuss with the Powers-that-be to CLEAN UP CEBU'S RIVERS AND CREEKS. They are filthy - filled with garbage and God-knows-what, and all in plain view of tourists and Balikbayans. Rats, dirty rivers/creeks - these are health hazards just the same. Plus all this filth is not good for Cebu's tourism business.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: AMEN!!!!
Paul Kekai Manansala: One key to cleaning up the rivers is to provide garbage collection and water and sewage lines in the squatter camps, or else relocate these people to low-cost, subsidized housing. Most people in these neighborhoods simply dump their garbage and sewage into the rivers and other waterways that they usually live right next to. They also bathe and wash their clothes in these same filthy waterways, which doesn't help either.
Eileen Martinez Apostol: Whether this is an isolated incident or not, i can just say that is an urgency best taken cared of. That said, their bouillabaise is worth trying! Really good last time I had it!
Cecilia Brainard: Pasig River has been pretty much cleaned up and it has a nice ferry system in place. Government officials had to make the decision to clean up the Pasig before it happened, and it took years. Cebu officials can do the same - just make up their minds to clean up Cebu's rivers and creeks, look for funds, ways to get this done. The people must be educated and invoved in the cleanup project as well. The revenue from tourism will pay for it. In fact, these rivers and creeks can be turned into tourism sites,with restaurants, walkways nearby, as in Bangkok,Amsterdam, Venice, Norway. I've written more extensively about cleaning up Cebu's rivers in my blog, http://cbrainard.blogspot.com (search for cleanup rivers Cebu)
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.
BEST LECHE FLAN RECIPE with Vietnamese Touch
A few years ago I watched the cooking channel and saw a Vietnamese woman prepare leche flan. I've been using her recipe and love it. The flan turns out perfect, smooth and creamy, and not so heavy. Here's the recipe:
Leche Flan with Vietnamese Touch
4 eggs
1 cup condensed milk
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp vanilla
sugar to carmelize container
Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla. I carmelize sugar in a pan and spoon out brown sugar-liquid into the bottoms of pyrex containers. I put the mixture into the containers, around 2/3 or 3/4 full. I double boil for around 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
Let the pyrex containers cool. Run knife around the edges and loosen flan before flipping onto a serving plate, spoon carmelized sugar over the top. Delicious!
Leche Flan with Vietnamese Touch
4 eggs
1 cup condensed milk
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp vanilla
sugar to carmelize container
Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla. I carmelize sugar in a pan and spoon out brown sugar-liquid into the bottoms of pyrex containers. I put the mixture into the containers, around 2/3 or 3/4 full. I double boil for around 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
Let the pyrex containers cool. Run knife around the edges and loosen flan before flipping onto a serving plate, spoon carmelized sugar over the top. Delicious!
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, September 1, 2009
More Pictures Taken in the Philippines, August 2009
Gossiping in Makati, l-r: Marily Orosa, Cecilia Brainard, Maribel Paraz, Mila Santillan
Taken in Cebu at a dinner hosted by the Francos: l-r seated: Lucy Garcia, Terry Manguerra,Cecilia Brainard; l-r standing: Chinggay Utzurrum, guest, Diana Ledesma, Helen Misa
Taken in Edith Alcantara's condominium in the Fort, a gathering of some Maryknollers: l-r: Precy Florentino, Marily Orosa, Meldee Perez, Edith Alcantar, Cecilia Brainard, Milla Santillan, Maribel Paraz, Lyn Enriquez
l-r: Edith Alcantara, Lynn Enriquez, Marily Orosa, Cecilia Brainard, Maribel Paraz
Dinner in a Greek Restaurant in Greenbelt, Makati: l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Araceli Lorayes, Guia Lim, Tess Tan
With STC classmates: l-r: Joy Atienza, Darn Posa, Lilu Gimenez, Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard
In Tagaytay: l-r: Darn Posa, Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard, Joy Atienza
Lunch at Tootsies in Tagaytay, l-r: Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard, Darn Posa, Joy Atienza
Taken in Borussia's Northern Cebu l-r: Inday Blanco, Terry Manguerra holding Aya, Chona Bernad, Chuchi Mannchen, Cecilia Brainard
Taken in Cebu at a dinner hosted by the Francos: l-r seated: Lucy Garcia, Terry Manguerra,Cecilia Brainard; l-r standing: Chinggay Utzurrum, guest, Diana Ledesma, Helen Misa
Taken in Edith Alcantara's condominium in the Fort, a gathering of some Maryknollers: l-r: Precy Florentino, Marily Orosa, Meldee Perez, Edith Alcantar, Cecilia Brainard, Milla Santillan, Maribel Paraz, Lyn Enriquez
l-r: Edith Alcantara, Lynn Enriquez, Marily Orosa, Cecilia Brainard, Maribel Paraz
Dinner in a Greek Restaurant in Greenbelt, Makati: l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Araceli Lorayes, Guia Lim, Tess Tan
With STC classmates: l-r: Joy Atienza, Darn Posa, Lilu Gimenez, Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard
In Tagaytay: l-r: Darn Posa, Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard, Joy Atienza
Lunch at Tootsies in Tagaytay, l-r: Mila Santillan, Cecilia Brainard, Darn Posa, Joy Atienza
Taken in Borussia's Northern Cebu l-r: Inday Blanco, Terry Manguerra holding Aya, Chona Bernad, Chuchi Mannchen, Cecilia Brainard
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, August 29, 2009
Fundamentals of Creative Writing Available
My book, Fundamentals of Creative Writing, was also released by Anvil this August. Proper book launching will be scheduled when I return to the Philippines in early 2010, but the book is available from Anvilpublishing.com and from palhbooks.com.
It's a how-to-write book sharing what I've been teaching at the Writers' Program of UCLA Extension for 15 years.
The back cover blurbs say:
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, 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 of 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
This book (Fundamentals of Creative Writing) describes the “essentials” of creative writing, not only from a technical perspective, but also by unveiling how creative writing leads us to imaginatively engage and act upon the world. Brainard’s structure reminds us that, above and beyond technique, the most important thing a writer needs is a genuine love of story and a respect for the power of words.
Rocío G. Davis
Associate Professor of American Literature, University of Navarra, Spain
Author of Begin Here: Reading Asian North American Autobiographies of Childhood
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Fundamentals of Creative Writing is a marvelous textbook that combines useful technical advice on craft with beautiful practical examples in her own stories. Brainard's treatments of writerly voice and left brain/right brain theory as it connects to writing are among the best available in today's writing textbooks. Her story examples cover a variety of story types, techniques, points of view, and historical as well as contemporary topics and themes. This book will indeed help writing students write strong stories and improve their craft. Brava, Ms. Brainard.
Vince Gotera, Editor of the North American Review
Professor of Creative Writing, University Northern Iowa
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.
PHOTOS FINDING GOD BOOK LAUNCH, MAKATI & MANILA
Makati seated l-r: Marily Orosa, Isagani Cruz; Standing l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Karina Bolasco
Makati, seated l-r: Brenda Arroyo, Nina Lim, Edna Del Rosario, Evelyn Bosch; Standing l-r: Mila Santillan, Maribel Alvarez, Joy Uytioco, Cecilia Brainard, Marily Orosa
Makati l-r: Marily Orosa, Cecilia Brainard
Makati l-r: Raquel Balagtas, Cecilia Brainard, Araceli Lorayes, Tessa Tan, Meng Sanico, Mila Santillan
Makati l-r: Mayen Tan, Liza Martinez, Felice Sta. Romana,Raquel Balagtas, Cecilia Brainard, Marily Orosa
Makati l-r: Marily Orosa,Mila Aguilar, Cecilia Brainard, Mayen Tan
Makati l-r: Mayen Tan, Cecilia Brainard,Brenda Arroyo, Maribel Alvarez, Mila Aguilar
Cebu l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Carlos Cortes
Cebu l-r: Cecilia Brainard, Jaime Picornell, Karina Bolasco
More photos of the book launchings of Finding God in Makati and Cebu in
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135925&id=769308553&l=2818f5b677
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, August 15, 2009
Report Book Launch of Finding God, National, Glorietta 5, Makati
Was the Manila launch of Finding God a success?
Oh yes!
Around 150 people attended the book launch of Finding God in National Bookstore, Glorietta 5, Makati. Mila Aguilar, Raquel Villavicencio Balagtas, Liza Martinez, Felice Sta. Maria, Mayen Tan, Marily Orosa and I shared excerpts from our pieces in the book. Good reading, attentive crowd, great food.
I'll be posting pictures later on. Cebu launch of Finding God coming up, Aug. 21, Powerbooks,SM, North Reclamation Cebu.
Oh yes!
Around 150 people attended the book launch of Finding God in National Bookstore, Glorietta 5, Makati. Mila Aguilar, Raquel Villavicencio Balagtas, Liza Martinez, Felice Sta. Maria, Mayen Tan, Marily Orosa and I shared excerpts from our pieces in the book. Good reading, attentive crowd, great food.
I'll be posting pictures later on. Cebu launch of Finding God coming up, Aug. 21, Powerbooks,SM, North Reclamation Cebu.
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, August 13, 2009
MARILY & CECILIA ON NBC EASY READING RADIO
Marily Orosa and Cecilia Brainard were featured in NBS Easy Reading, radio talk show, this morning. They talked about their new book, Finding God: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters.
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, August 8, 2009
REMINDER BOOK LAUNCH FINDING GOD
REMINDER BOOK LAUNCH OF FINDING GOD
Anvil Publishing and National Bookstore cordially invite you to the launch of
FINDING GOD: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters
EDITED AND COLLECTED BY Cecilia Manguerra Brainard & Marily Ysip Orosa
AUGUST 14, 6 to 9 pm NATIONAL BOOKSTORE GLORIETTA 5 MAKATI CITY
&
AUGUST 21, 6 to 9 pm POWERBOOKS CEBU 2ND FLOOR, SM CITY NORTH RECLAMATION, CEBU CITY
Anvil Publishing and National Bookstore cordially invite you to the launch of
FINDING GOD: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters
EDITED AND COLLECTED BY Cecilia Manguerra Brainard & Marily Ysip Orosa
AUGUST 14, 6 to 9 pm NATIONAL BOOKSTORE GLORIETTA 5 MAKATI CITY
&
AUGUST 21, 6 to 9 pm POWERBOOKS CEBU 2ND FLOOR, SM CITY NORTH RECLAMATION, CEBU CITY
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, July 21, 2009
FINDING GOD: TRUE STORIES OF SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTERS - Book Launch, Aug. 14, 2009, Makati
The anthology, FINDING GOD: TRUE STORIES OF SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTERS, will be launched next month August. It's not yet confirmed and I will confirm the details as soon as I have them: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2009 IN POWERBOOKS, MAKATI. Thie book is co-edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and Marily Ysip Orosa, and published by Anvil.
Contributors are: Mila D. Aguilar, Raquel Villavicencio Balagtas, M.G. Bertulfo, Susan Evangelista, M. Evelina Galang, Evelyn Regner Seno, Tony Robles, Edgar Poma, Aileen Ibardaloza, Paulino Lim, Jr., Brian Ascalon Roley, Marlinda Angbetic Tan, Lisa B. Martinez, Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, C. Sophia Ibardaloza, Reme A. Grefalda. Cecilia and Marily also have essays in the book.
Blurbs:
There is one thing I am sure of, and it is that God will never do anything that is bad for us. Our puny minds often cannot understand how all our sufferings can be good for us, but if we look back at our lives, we see how everything eventually works out well in the end. This is the faith that underlies the essays in this book. It is a simple faith, but a profound one.
Isagani R. Cruz, Philippine Star
My father confessor once told me, that at times one would not be able to see God's plan until one looks back or partake in the experience of others. This book, a collection of narratives on finding God will surely uplift our faith as we learn from the experience of others.
Jocelyn B. Gerra,Ph.D, OPL, ( Lay Dominican), Executive Director, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.
Finding God on earth, next to entering heaven in eternal life is, to my
mind, the greatest gift one can experience.
I know that not everyone can be aware that he or she is finding God at
precisely the moment this experience is happening, but all the contributors are
to be envied, for finding God can be such an awesome moment whether it happens
when one is in great physical pain or in deep spiritual anguish.
I am privileged to write one of the blurbs of a book being dedicated to the
memory of my dear friend, Jose de Santos Orosa, who taught me what forgiveness
is all about.
Josefina T. Lichuaco, columnist, former Secretary of the Department of
Transportation and Communications
MORE WHEN I GET CONFIRMATION ABOUT THE BOOK LAUNCH DETAILS!
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.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Pictures of my Women Ancestors ... and Me
Here are some of my women ancestors:
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER - Juana Diosomito Lopez from Naic, Cavite; born circa 1850, businesswoman; married a second time to a Veloso from Leyte; children were Remedios, Concepcion, Feodor and Domingo Veloso; an aunt said she "loved to dance." I have a legal document that says that in 1896, "Dona Juana Lopez Diosomito of Baybay, Leyte, purchased (for 3,000 pesos, pacto de retro) two houses in Cebu City, one in mamposteria and solar on calle de Prim, facing the Plaza de General Lono, and the other of calle de Prim, in the barrio of Maloco, from Don Prudencio Sanson Camara, negociante, married, natural and vecino of Cebu City (Cebu Protocolos, Doc 11, 1/27/1896/1411:74-77)
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER - Remedios Diosomito Lopez Cuenco; born 1870; married Mariano Albao Cuenco when she was 13; bore him over a dozen children although only 4 survived to adulthood (Dolores and Jaime died young); widowed at 39; took over her husband's Imprenta Rosario making her the first woman publisher of Cebu; also invested in real estate; mother of: Archbishop Jose Maria Cuenco of Jaro, Iloilo, Senator Mariano Jesus Cuenco, Representative Miguel Cuenco, and writer Remedios Cuenco Borromeo; died in 1945 at the age of 75.
GRANDMOTHER - Filomena Alesna Cuenco from Carcar; born May 1, 1882, parents: Evaristo Barcenilla Alesna and Cresencia Ynosencia Sanchez Villarosa; parents died when she was young and she and her 2 sisters were raised by 2 old maid aunts(; her older sister Placida married Mateo Noel; her younger sister Josefa married Isabelo Montesclaros; Filomena married Mariano Jesus Cuenco; they had 8 children (6 survived to adulthood: Manuel, Lourdes, Concepcion, Carmen, Consuelo, Teresita; the 2 who died were Maria and Corazon); had a stroke and died during wartime (WWII).
MOTHER - Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra; born Feb.18, 1912; Carnival Petit Queen of Cebu in 1931; married Engr. Mariano Flores Manguerra from Sta. Rosa, Laguna; mother of 5 children (4 survived to adulthood: Victoria, Mariano, Ana Maria, and Cecilia Catalina; a boy was born prematurely and died during WWII); a business woman, she also invested in real estate; died in November 7, 2002 at the age of 90. She has a memorial website at www.palhbooks.com/iton.html.
AND ME - please visit my official website for more information, http://www.ceciliabrainard.com
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER - Remedios Diosomito Lopez Cuenco; born 1870; married Mariano Albao Cuenco when she was 13; bore him over a dozen children although only 4 survived to adulthood (Dolores and Jaime died young); widowed at 39; took over her husband's Imprenta Rosario making her the first woman publisher of Cebu; also invested in real estate; mother of: Archbishop Jose Maria Cuenco of Jaro, Iloilo, Senator Mariano Jesus Cuenco, Representative Miguel Cuenco, and writer Remedios Cuenco Borromeo; died in 1945 at the age of 75.
GRANDMOTHER - Filomena Alesna Cuenco from Carcar; born May 1, 1882, parents: Evaristo Barcenilla Alesna and Cresencia Ynosencia Sanchez Villarosa; parents died when she was young and she and her 2 sisters were raised by 2 old maid aunts(; her older sister Placida married Mateo Noel; her younger sister Josefa married Isabelo Montesclaros; Filomena married Mariano Jesus Cuenco; they had 8 children (6 survived to adulthood: Manuel, Lourdes, Concepcion, Carmen, Consuelo, Teresita; the 2 who died were Maria and Corazon); had a stroke and died during wartime (WWII).
MOTHER - Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra; born Feb.18, 1912; Carnival Petit Queen of Cebu in 1931; married Engr. Mariano Flores Manguerra from Sta. Rosa, Laguna; mother of 5 children (4 survived to adulthood: Victoria, Mariano, Ana Maria, and Cecilia Catalina; a boy was born prematurely and died during WWII); a business woman, she also invested in real estate; died in November 7, 2002 at the age of 90. She has a memorial website at www.palhbooks.com/iton.html.
AND ME - please visit my official website for more information, http://www.ceciliabrainard.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.
Las Vegas and Lost
We visited Las Vegas for three nights. The last time we were there was around 3 years ago. I was suprised to see many "For Lease" and "For Rent" signs. My favorite Antique Mass has closed. Decent hotels have signs offering rooms for $19.99. There's a pall over Las Vegas.
But it wasn't all gloom and doom for us. We saw the Jersey Boys and enjoyed the music and performance. We had brunch at Wynn's; the Atrium there is lovely.
We did some gambling, because who visits Las Vegas and not gamble. I lost, but fortunately Lauren won.
It's still hot in Las Vegas. Daytime temperature was around 109 degrees, and at night, even though we set the thermostat at 68 degrees, the air conditioner would kick in often to maintain that temperature.
Altogether we had a pleasant three days there.
But it wasn't all gloom and doom for us. We saw the Jersey Boys and enjoyed the music and performance. We had brunch at Wynn's; the Atrium there is lovely.
We did some gambling, because who visits Las Vegas and not gamble. I lost, but fortunately Lauren won.
It's still hot in Las Vegas. Daytime temperature was around 109 degrees, and at night, even though we set the thermostat at 68 degrees, the air conditioner would kick in often to maintain that temperature.
Altogether we had a pleasant three days there.
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, July 8, 2009
PRAYER - "May today be all you need it to be ...."
I received this prayer from my friend, Mila Santillan. It's a lovely prayer and am sharing it with my readers:
May today be all you need it to be. May the peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight, and conquer all your fears. May God manifest himself today in ways you have never experienced. May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer, and your prayers be answered. I pray that faith enters a new height for you; I pray that your territory is enlarged. I pray for peace, healing, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, true and undying love for God.
Peace be with all of you,
Cecilia
May today be all you need it to be. May the peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight, and conquer all your fears. May God manifest himself today in ways you have never experienced. May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer, and your prayers be answered. I pray that faith enters a new height for you; I pray that your territory is enlarged. I pray for peace, healing, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, true and undying love for God.
Peace be with all of you,
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.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
CEBU PHILIPPINES' VERSION OF THRILLER (MICHAEL JACKSON)
The prisoners in Cebu have been mourning Michael Jackson's passing. View this, and be sure to view their original rendtion of "Thriller." It's a scream. Take a look at their "Hustle" and "Macarena" as well.
I think I will have to see them perform this coming January.
They practice 4 hours and day and don't have time to be mad, according to the prison officer.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=115660972779&h=4Lmig&u=ofFC4&ref=nf - This original has 27.6 million YouTube hits as we talk.
And here's their preparation for their tribute to Michael Jackson. Click here
I guess I should confess I'm Cebuana,which is why I'm so amused at all this.
I think I will have to see them perform this coming January.
They practice 4 hours and day and don't have time to be mad, according to the prison officer.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=115660972779&h=4Lmig&u=ofFC4&ref=nf - This original has 27.6 million YouTube hits as we talk.
And here's their preparation for their tribute to Michael Jackson. Click here
I guess I should confess I'm Cebuana,which is why I'm so amused at all this.
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, June 24, 2009
SAN JUAN BATISTA FIESTA OF PARIAN, OLD CEBU
The Parian district of historic old Cebu just celebrated the fiesta of its patron, St. John the Baptist. I am waiting to hear how it turned out, but here's an early quick report from Atty. Lynley Ocampo who attended the event with the Osmena Canoys (mother and daughter). I'll continue to paste reports as they come in. The old pictures show the Parian triangle and Parian church as these once appeared. The old church was torn down and there is a small chapel that stands in its place. Now under the care of the Cofradia de San Juan Batista, the chapel was where tridium prayers and the fiesta Mass were held. Cardinal Vidal said the Mass. Knowing the Cofradia people, headed by Louie Nacorda, the chapel was decorated nicely, and the antique statues of San Juan, Jesus, and Angel held court in there.
More as news comes in.
From Lynley Ocampo:
Thank you very much for the invitation. We had a very lovely evening. It
was also very interesting to see Ng Titang Diola for the very first time.
It was a different experience for me. The Canoys also give their thanks.
During the short program, Louie told us that he petitioned San Juan if he
could please stop the rain - or not make it rain from 9am to 9pm since it
had been raining for two days already. When Louie realized that the
program started late, he asked for an extension of one hour. It hasn't
rained even up to this morning. We were unable to join the procession and
went straight to dinner. Am looking forward to next year's festivities.
From Louie Nacorda:
...we had the most grandiose feast ever yesterday! The Mass and procession were well attended; we had three carrozas, three bands, and Casa Gorordo was full house, up to the balcony! The weather was cool and dry. St. John the Baptist must have been very happy. Even the Gorordo ghosts made manifestations to some people in the azotea!
Viva Señor San Juan Bautista!
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, June 22, 2009
Evolution of a Book Cover - Finding God (Anvil)- w/ addendum by Marily
I've been working on 3 book projects. I thought I'd share a bit of the process of the evolution of the book cover of Finding God: True Stories of Spiritual Encounters. First, I'd like to mention that my coeditor is Marily Y. Orosa and the contributors to this anthology are: Mila Aguilar, Evelyn Seno, M.G. Bertulfo, Tony Robles, Edgar Poma, Aileen Ibardaloza, Paulino Lim, Jr., Evelina Galang, Raquel Balagtas, Brian Roley, Marlinda Tan, Lisa Martinez, Felice Sta. Maria, C. Sophia Ibardaloza, Susan Evangelista, & Reme Grefalda. Marily and I also have essays in the book.
The book cover came about this way: Marily has an original painting of a forest scene, which we decided to use for the cover. Since Marily has her own publishing house, we have an agreement with Anvil that Marily's publishing house will design the cover, even while Anvil designs the inside pages and does the final printing. Marily's artist took the artwork and designed a first draft. Marily and I gave him feedback and he came up with a slightly different version. Since we have more comments, he'll tweak the cover some more. Once the artist gets our final approval, the cover will be forwarded to Anvil who will finalize the whole thing: inside pages and cover, after which, the files will be sent to the printer's.
Book making is a slow, tedious process, from getting the contents in order, to making the book beautiful. Even the choice of paper matters. Every part of a book must be given thought.
I couldn't upload the colored pdf file so I switched it to jpg, which came out black and white. This is the second draft, so the final cover will have minor changes. And of course it will be in color - greens, and golds, very rich and florid.
The articles in this anthology are quite strong and I can't wait to see the book itself.
~~~
Here's more from Marily Ysip Orosa about the cover (Joe is Marily's husband who unfortunately passed away last January):
"The cover is an original watercolor painting by Dante Divina, my former art director now turned painter. It is a secret passage to Mt. Everest. Joe during his illness encouraged Dante to prepare for an exhibit, his first, which Joe would fully sponsor. For the next 8 months, Joe whether he was in the USA, Singapore or the phils would clip nice scenic images for Dante to paint. The cover of our book was Joe's favorite and was used as the theme painting for the exhibit held April 2008. It is entitled SECRET PLACE, and hangs in Joe's office room."
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, June 17, 2009
Updates Finding God, Growing Up Filipino II, and Fundamentals of Creative Writing
Here are some updates on the 3 books I'm working on, which will hopefully be released in 2009:
1. Finding God - coedited by Cecilia Brainard & Marily Orosa, Anvil Publisher
The cover is finished; it uses a lovely painting of a trail in a green quiet forest. Studio 5 Designs is doing the cover, even though Anvil is publishing the book. My co-editor informs me that the back cover will have the blurbs, and will show our picture with this beautiful scripture reading:
"For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).
2. Growing Up Filipino II (ed Brainard)- With the help of Tony Robles, I finally corrected the manuscript for the nth time. I shared the manuscript with the contributors and there were still mistakes. Paulino Lim's "papayas" ended up as "Loloyas," for instance. How that happened, I'll never know.
3. Fundamentals of Creative Writing (by Brainard)- Since I proofed it, I haven't heard back from Anvil, my publisher so I'm assuming the book has gone ahead with production and will be released by August if not sooner. I think Anvil was trying to catch the beginning of the school year, June.
These are all the updates for now. I've been busy.
1. Finding God - coedited by Cecilia Brainard & Marily Orosa, Anvil Publisher
The cover is finished; it uses a lovely painting of a trail in a green quiet forest. Studio 5 Designs is doing the cover, even though Anvil is publishing the book. My co-editor informs me that the back cover will have the blurbs, and will show our picture with this beautiful scripture reading:
"For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).
2. Growing Up Filipino II (ed Brainard)- With the help of Tony Robles, I finally corrected the manuscript for the nth time. I shared the manuscript with the contributors and there were still mistakes. Paulino Lim's "papayas" ended up as "Loloyas," for instance. How that happened, I'll never know.
3. Fundamentals of Creative Writing (by Brainard)- Since I proofed it, I haven't heard back from Anvil, my publisher so I'm assuming the book has gone ahead with production and will be released by August if not sooner. I think Anvil was trying to catch the beginning of the school year, June.
These are all the updates for now. I've been busy.
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, June 10, 2009
CAT TO CAT: KIKI'S LETTER TO SUNDANCE
(My cat Kiki asked me to post the following letter to Sundance. Sundance is a young cat that befriended Kiki on Facebook. Here is a picture of Sundance, and you can look her up in Facebook under Sundance Knows - Cecilia)
Dear Sundance,
I've decided to mentor you. You are young and innocent and there is much to learn to be able to survive in this world.
Perhaps the most important advice I can give you is TO BE CUTE AT ALL TIMES. This is vital to your existence. By "cute" I am referring to both external and internal cuteness.
The external is obvious. When we cats are born, we are normally cute: small, furry, fluffy, with heart-rending cries that tug at the hearts Feeders. But that kittenish cuteness does not last. Do not think that for a moment, otherwise you will be doomed!
No, we cats have to learn to groom ourselves constantly. My mother taught me that. Lick your fur, wipe your face, especially around your eyes and mouth. I do not have to mention your privates - that is obvious. And chew some grass to clean your teeth and breath. Fleas can be a problem, especially in the summer, but hopefully your Feeder uses Vantage or Frontline once a month. It's a bummer getting treated; I myself get queasy for a couple of days, but in the long run,it's worth it. You don't want fleas on you. Fleas can cause worms, and that's a whole other problem altogether, very un-cute to say the least, to have wiggly worms in your poop. Your Feeder will NOT find that endearing.
Don't forget to clean your ears, otherwise you might get ear mites,and Feeders also find that disgusting.
The other kind of cuteness I want to address has to do with making a real effort to win the heart of your Feeder - totally and completely so that he or she belongs to you for the rest of your life. Even when you become old like me, he/she will still think you are a delightful kitten.
Look at me, I'm 17, very old for a cat, but the Woman-who-opens-cans thinks I'm incredibly cute. She takes pictures of me, checks on me constantly, makes sure I have my favorite food (including people tuna, salmon, and bits of steak - really, anything I want). She is at my beck and call. This is because I won her heart completely when I was young.
I saw the picture of you on the shoulder of your Feeder. That's good. That's a start. You have to learn to climb on her lap or get into bed with her and snuggle up close. You have to purr, even when you're not in the mood. For some reason Feeders think purring is very cute. You should also bat their faces with your paws. And don't forget to lick their faces; they also think that's cute. You have to be constantly visible to them. When they walk into the room, there you are laying on the bed, softly snoring; when they walk into the kitchen,there you are looking straight into their eyes, meowing; when they are working at the desk or in the garden, there you are sidling up against their legs; when they are watching TV, there you are on their laps. It is the constant contact that makes you become so much a part of their lives that they come to believe they could never exist without you.
Once this happens, you can have anything you want. You can just about do anything you want. I say "anything" not "everything" in this case because while Feeders can forgive occasional outbursts of temper from us cats (I myself have scratched the Woman-who-opens-cats when she pissed me off), they will NOT tolerate peeing or pooping around their house. That can get you in serious trouble; in fact, that could be a death sentence.
I will close for now Sundance because I have to run to the rose garden while the sun is up. It was cloudy where I live this morning but now the sun is up and I just love laying around our rose garden.
I am attaching a picture of me on a bed, to prove my point about getting what you want when you play it right.
Yours truly,
Kiki
Dear Sundance,
I've decided to mentor you. You are young and innocent and there is much to learn to be able to survive in this world.
Perhaps the most important advice I can give you is TO BE CUTE AT ALL TIMES. This is vital to your existence. By "cute" I am referring to both external and internal cuteness.
The external is obvious. When we cats are born, we are normally cute: small, furry, fluffy, with heart-rending cries that tug at the hearts Feeders. But that kittenish cuteness does not last. Do not think that for a moment, otherwise you will be doomed!
No, we cats have to learn to groom ourselves constantly. My mother taught me that. Lick your fur, wipe your face, especially around your eyes and mouth. I do not have to mention your privates - that is obvious. And chew some grass to clean your teeth and breath. Fleas can be a problem, especially in the summer, but hopefully your Feeder uses Vantage or Frontline once a month. It's a bummer getting treated; I myself get queasy for a couple of days, but in the long run,it's worth it. You don't want fleas on you. Fleas can cause worms, and that's a whole other problem altogether, very un-cute to say the least, to have wiggly worms in your poop. Your Feeder will NOT find that endearing.
Don't forget to clean your ears, otherwise you might get ear mites,and Feeders also find that disgusting.
The other kind of cuteness I want to address has to do with making a real effort to win the heart of your Feeder - totally and completely so that he or she belongs to you for the rest of your life. Even when you become old like me, he/she will still think you are a delightful kitten.
Look at me, I'm 17, very old for a cat, but the Woman-who-opens-cans thinks I'm incredibly cute. She takes pictures of me, checks on me constantly, makes sure I have my favorite food (including people tuna, salmon, and bits of steak - really, anything I want). She is at my beck and call. This is because I won her heart completely when I was young.
I saw the picture of you on the shoulder of your Feeder. That's good. That's a start. You have to learn to climb on her lap or get into bed with her and snuggle up close. You have to purr, even when you're not in the mood. For some reason Feeders think purring is very cute. You should also bat their faces with your paws. And don't forget to lick their faces; they also think that's cute. You have to be constantly visible to them. When they walk into the room, there you are laying on the bed, softly snoring; when they walk into the kitchen,there you are looking straight into their eyes, meowing; when they are working at the desk or in the garden, there you are sidling up against their legs; when they are watching TV, there you are on their laps. It is the constant contact that makes you become so much a part of their lives that they come to believe they could never exist without you.
Once this happens, you can have anything you want. You can just about do anything you want. I say "anything" not "everything" in this case because while Feeders can forgive occasional outbursts of temper from us cats (I myself have scratched the Woman-who-opens-cats when she pissed me off), they will NOT tolerate peeing or pooping around their house. That can get you in serious trouble; in fact, that could be a death sentence.
I will close for now Sundance because I have to run to the rose garden while the sun is up. It was cloudy where I live this morning but now the sun is up and I just love laying around our rose garden.
I am attaching a picture of me on a bed, to prove my point about getting what you want when you play it right.
Yours truly,
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, June 8, 2009
Excerpt from my cat Kiki's Memoirs!
(I found this excerpt of my cat Kiki's Memoirs. I knew she was working on a novel, but didn't know about her memoirs. - Cecilia)
When I think of my mother,I recall her soft belly which I loved kneading. A memory comes to me of a sunny afternoon and Mother and the six of us in the wicker basket near the kitchen door. The door was partly open and sunlight angled in, warming our basket, warming us. I was kneading the belly of my mother and she was licking me all over so that by the time I was suckling on her teat, I was damp all over. The memory of it sends shivers up my spine. Mother was white, pure white and she always smelled of milk. I don't remember a lot of details about her because we were together for only seven weeks. I know that she had long lashes because they used to tickle when she licked me. Her pink tongue felt raspy as she licked me all over and the feel of that sand-papery tongue against my tender skin was heaven. She was meticulous about keeping the six of us clean. I believe this is where I got my own meticulousness; I can spend hours grooming myself.
Mother was just a year old when she had us. She had a flighty Feeder, a student who forgot to bring her to the vet to have her fixed, and since my mother was a gad-about who enjoyed staying up late in back alleys, she quickly became pregnant. I do not know my father, but I assume he was one of those late-night encounters behind some garbage cans under the moonlight. He was no doubt a tuxedo cat like me and two of my siblings. The other three had white fur, like Mother.
Thinking of that distant past fills me with conflicting feelings of happiness and sadness. While my mother seemed to be the perfect mom - feeding us, grooming us constantly, she had a marshmallow personality. She didn't know how to handle the intense sibling rivalry that went on: the white furred ones against the tuxedo ones. Unprovoked the white ones constantly nudged us away from Mom's teats. The other two males fought back, and got their share of Mother's milk. But not me. This saddens me even now, because Mother could have done something. Certainly a little nip to the ears of those wicked siblings would have done the trick. But no, she lay there, smiling, looking content, as if we were in paradise when in fact hellish fighting went on right under her nose.
I became the runt of the litter. I looked like someone from the third world with kwashiorker, and truly,I could have died, if the student hadn't given me away to another student. I was not yet weaned and this Boy-who-opened-the-cans had to bottle feed me. In fact, he didn't do it; his girlfriend did. Bless her. By the time she was out of the picture, I was fortunately big enough to eat regular cat food, which the Boy-who-opened-the-cans used to leave before he left for school. He would be gone all day and I used to get terribly bored in his apartment, so I took to chewing and ripping apart whatever clothes and papers I could find. And I didn't always use the cat box, just to get a rise from him when he got in at night. Once I peed into his leather boot, and shortly after that, he turned me over to the Woman-who-opens-cans. At that time she had another cat, a white one whose appearance reminded me of my mother, except that this cat absolutely hated me...
(And here the excerpt ends. I'll have to hunt around to find more pages. Kiki hides them in the most unlikely places: under the sink, under the bed in the guest room, etc.)
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, June 7, 2009
Working for Freedom - Violence vs. Nonviolence
I've been thinking about Che Guevara (again) and how he chose to pick up the gun. I've been comparing him to people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Burma's Aung San San Kyi who have chosen nonviolence. I am not sure which is the more effective way. One wants to say that nonviolence is the way, but I wonder how many people have chosen this path and died and were never even heard of. I wonder if in some cases revolution is more effective in wresting freedom from the ones holding it.
I'm thinking about those empires in Egypt and in Turkey that swept in and replaced old empires; these did not happen peacefully. Alexander the Great, the Ottomans, and others had armies; they fought and conquered.
I agree that the more noble activity is to change the heart and mind, the actual chemistry of a human being - and this is what Gandhi, King, and Kyi have/are doing. But I think this works only with the help of the media.
When the media is repressed as in China and Burma, the world barely knows of the struggles for freedom within those countries. People die in those countries for their causes, and we don't even know of them.
Does change still happen even in these cases?
I'd read about how the anger of the oppressor is diminished when the oppressed does not fight back, but takes it. Theoretically, the oppressor runs out of anger.
Could this be true?
I'm thinking about those empires in Egypt and in Turkey that swept in and replaced old empires; these did not happen peacefully. Alexander the Great, the Ottomans, and others had armies; they fought and conquered.
I agree that the more noble activity is to change the heart and mind, the actual chemistry of a human being - and this is what Gandhi, King, and Kyi have/are doing. But I think this works only with the help of the media.
When the media is repressed as in China and Burma, the world barely knows of the struggles for freedom within those countries. People die in those countries for their causes, and we don't even know of them.
Does change still happen even in these cases?
I'd read about how the anger of the oppressor is diminished when the oppressed does not fight back, but takes it. Theoretically, the oppressor runs out of anger.
Could this be true?
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.
Friday, June 5, 2009
A Letter from my Cat Kiki
I found the following letter from my cat, Kiki:
Dear Woman-who-opens-cans,
I understand you have been writing about me and posting my pictures in cyperspace. I trust you realize you have done so without my permission. Is it true that you ridiculed a recent hunting expedition of mine? And I also understand you have been talking about my recent illness, bandying it about for the entire world to know. I do not mind so much when you say I've lost weight,but I take offense when you describe my fur as being "three-toned." I don't know if you've looked in the mirror carefully, at your own hair - "three-toned" suits you better. I have long-forgotten the original color of your hair. And talk of weight, I wish I could say that you've lost weight. Au contraire I detect some puffiness around the middle, probably from all the lokum sweets you stuffed yourself with in Turkey. Shame on you.
I will, for now, let this matter go, but I give you fair warning that I may not be so patient the next time it happens and will take proper legal action.
Truly Yours,
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.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S JACK POST QUESTION
The answer to yesterday's Jack Pot Question:
1. The Revolutionary Post is in the middle, in the back, leaning against the headboard.
2. Her name is Mila D. Aguilar, click here for more information about her
And more about Mila, click here.
3. The 4 women were being silly.
All for tonight.
1. The Revolutionary Post is in the middle, in the back, leaning against the headboard.
2. Her name is Mila D. Aguilar, click here for more information about her
And more about Mila, click here.
3. The 4 women were being silly.
All for tonight.
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, June 3, 2009
MY CAT KIKI CAUGHT A BIRD!
I shouldn't be happy, I know it. The bird certainly isn't, if the poor thing survived at all. But I actually feel elated that my 16 or 17 year old cat, Kiki, caught a bird! It was a real bird, not a featherless one that fell out of its nest. This one had brown feathers and was almost adult-sized. A sparrow. I was working in my office when I heard a loud yowl from Ms. Kiki. I turned and saw her by the doorway. She had on her bratty expression, and I thought maybe she was asking for food again, or complaining about her food. It took me a split second to see the little sparrow scurrying away from her and hiding near a pile of books. I picked up Ms. Kiki and locked her up in the bathroom; she wasn't happy about that.
I opened the sliding doors wide so the bird could see the sunshine, the outdoors; usually, they fly out that way. Not this dummy. It remained huddled near the books. I poked it with a ruler and it flew the opposite way. And hid. This went on several times, until I had to move furniture away, and using a paper towel I gingerly picked it up and brought it to our thick bougainvillea bush that houses half the bird population in Santa Monica. The bird probably came from that bush in the first place. The bird didn't fight me when I picked it up. It looked dazed. I didn't see any blood. It's feathers were damp, probably from the gumming of my old cat. I placed the bird on a branch and told it to hide. It hopped away from me, vanishing into the bougainvillea, and I left it there. I waited a while before I released Ms. Kiki from the bathroom. Boy was she pissed! She yowled, louder this time, and sprinted out of my office, to show me her disgust.
I know she was showing off when she had brought the bird into my office. I know it took a lot of effort for the cat to have caught that bird. Kiki almost died in April! She had a serious allergy attack and she started ripping out her fur and lost so much weight. After treating her with antihistamine, Immugen, and using the Elizabethan collar on her, she got better. Not completely well, but better. Some days are better than others. Some days she looks like death warmed over; other days she looks almost normal.
But even during her good days, she looks ghastly. Her black fur has turned three-toned:a reddish-brown where she'd licked excessively, a lighter black, and a deeper black where the new growth has sprung up. To make matters worse in April I'd cut off some of her long fur when she had been yanking her fur out; every day is a bad hair day for her: she has long fur, short fur, and a black fuzz.
But she's alive!
And she's just proven she can still catch a bird!
~~~
The Answer to yesterday's Jack Pot question is: Back row, 6th from the left.
And here's tonight's Jack Pot Question: Where's the Revolutionary Poet in this picture? And what's her name? And what are these four women doing in bed with Eddie Quirino in that enormous four-poster bed in Vigan? (click on the picture to enlarge)
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, June 2, 2009
More on Facebook
I'm flexing my mind here; I feel Facebooked-out. I've put in photos, links and notes in my Facebook site, and I've learned to respond to other Facebookers' comments, but I haven't learned to come up with cute comments to post so everyone will a) Comment back; or b) click "like." Facebook another medium, entirely. Many writers like it, and I think its for networking opportunities or for simply huddling together - birds-of-a-feather.
Facebook is allowing me to connect with my in-laws, classmates, with my ex-lawyer, with writers and teachers. Even people from Cebu.
My Facebook account is "Public" so I have to mind what I post. I could make it private, but what's the fun in that? Even though I've semi-complained about it, the din is entertaining. There are the serious ones with their causes; there are the ones that diligently answer the question "What's on your mind?" which is posted right above your Profile or Home Page.
In the beginning, I took that seriously and posted things like, "I'm trying to figure out this Facebook thing." Surprisingly a number of people stepped forward to help me. Then there's the matter of posting photos, after uploading, you're prompted to publish, and I thought that meant to publish in the photo section, and I kept clicking this, after uploading pictures of our trip to Turkey, other travel trips, pictures of Filipino and FilAm writers - click, click, click...until I realized that every time I clicked, this was broadcasted and announced to all my Facebook Friends. My God, they were polite! No one complained about all those pictures. In fact, I had some positive comments and some "likes." I guess that's what friends are for. These friends, or some of them, are not old friends, but contacts, sometimes friends of friends. I've made it a point to include in my Friend List people who are in the Friend list of someone I know. But the fact remains that strangers can access this Facebook site. It's like this Blog, anyone can access it. But there hasn't been a glut of visitors, so I shouldn't worry too much about my Facebook account being public, I suppose.
Enough monologuing for now. I'm making quiche and have to check it. We're having that with still-warm French bread. Yum!
Click here to visit my Facebook site.
~~~
Jack Pot Question - Where's Cecilia in this picture? (click on the picture to enlarge it)- And don't you think the nun looks like Pat Boone?
Facebook is allowing me to connect with my in-laws, classmates, with my ex-lawyer, with writers and teachers. Even people from Cebu.
My Facebook account is "Public" so I have to mind what I post. I could make it private, but what's the fun in that? Even though I've semi-complained about it, the din is entertaining. There are the serious ones with their causes; there are the ones that diligently answer the question "What's on your mind?" which is posted right above your Profile or Home Page.
In the beginning, I took that seriously and posted things like, "I'm trying to figure out this Facebook thing." Surprisingly a number of people stepped forward to help me. Then there's the matter of posting photos, after uploading, you're prompted to publish, and I thought that meant to publish in the photo section, and I kept clicking this, after uploading pictures of our trip to Turkey, other travel trips, pictures of Filipino and FilAm writers - click, click, click...until I realized that every time I clicked, this was broadcasted and announced to all my Facebook Friends. My God, they were polite! No one complained about all those pictures. In fact, I had some positive comments and some "likes." I guess that's what friends are for. These friends, or some of them, are not old friends, but contacts, sometimes friends of friends. I've made it a point to include in my Friend List people who are in the Friend list of someone I know. But the fact remains that strangers can access this Facebook site. It's like this Blog, anyone can access it. But there hasn't been a glut of visitors, so I shouldn't worry too much about my Facebook account being public, I suppose.
Enough monologuing for now. I'm making quiche and have to check it. We're having that with still-warm French bread. Yum!
Click here to visit my Facebook site.
~~~
Jack Pot Question - Where's Cecilia in this picture? (click on the picture to enlarge it)- And don't you think the nun looks like Pat Boone?
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, June 1, 2009
Call for Submission from Choosingamerica.com
The Choosing America Project
America is a nation of immigrants. Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Greta Garbo, Martina Navratilova, Hans Bethe, Madeleine Albright, Gloria Estefan, Michael J. Fox ,Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlos Santana, Sammy Sosa, Hakeem Olajuwon.
None of them was born in America. All chose America. Like you.
Whether you came from Germany, England, Italy or the Czech Republic, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, or Cuba, whether you immigrated to America as a child, a young adult, or with your own children, whether it was your decision or your parents', whether you immigrated in the 20's, 50s' the 80s' or just yesterday, you must have one special story to tell. And we want to hear it!
The Choosing America Project
We are looking for authentic dramatic anecdotes, short stories (1500-4000 words) that epitomize your experience as immigrants who CHOSE to live in America.
Think of something that has happened to you as an immigrant - We are looking for those special moments, encounters, surprises, experiences, disappointments, which vividly convey what it's like to be an immigrant in America. The good, the bad, the sad, the miraculous, the joyful— every anecdote is welcome as long as it's authentic and well told.
IF YOU HAVE A GOOD STORY – WE WANT TO HEAR IT!
The goal of our project is to turn some of these stories into short films that will be shown in the movies and broadcast on TV.
So think carefully of that special story that is worth telling the world, and share it with us.
Send your story to: stories@choosingamerica.com
We'll be glad to answer any further questions you might have.
For more details go to: www.choosingamerica.com
~~~~~
The answer to the May 29 Jack Pot Question is - Salman Rushdie
America is a nation of immigrants. Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Greta Garbo, Martina Navratilova, Hans Bethe, Madeleine Albright, Gloria Estefan, Michael J. Fox ,Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlos Santana, Sammy Sosa, Hakeem Olajuwon.
None of them was born in America. All chose America. Like you.
Whether you came from Germany, England, Italy or the Czech Republic, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, or Cuba, whether you immigrated to America as a child, a young adult, or with your own children, whether it was your decision or your parents', whether you immigrated in the 20's, 50s' the 80s' or just yesterday, you must have one special story to tell. And we want to hear it!
The Choosing America Project
We are looking for authentic dramatic anecdotes, short stories (1500-4000 words) that epitomize your experience as immigrants who CHOSE to live in America.
Think of something that has happened to you as an immigrant - We are looking for those special moments, encounters, surprises, experiences, disappointments, which vividly convey what it's like to be an immigrant in America. The good, the bad, the sad, the miraculous, the joyful— every anecdote is welcome as long as it's authentic and well told.
IF YOU HAVE A GOOD STORY – WE WANT TO HEAR IT!
The goal of our project is to turn some of these stories into short films that will be shown in the movies and broadcast on TV.
So think carefully of that special story that is worth telling the world, and share it with us.
Send your story to: stories@choosingamerica.com
We'll be glad to answer any further questions you might have.
For more details go to: www.choosingamerica.com
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The answer to the May 29 Jack Pot Question is - Salman Rushdie
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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