SmorgasRA

LIVE: BLOG
on Sunday mornings because I seem to wake up really early on this day and in my head is the factory with really disturbing turning of stories. Dr. Stronzo says, "My, my, we are tapping into the dark side of the force now, are we?" And I say--- Time says it's about time.


BETA: READABLE
Says of these past few yakking. I got into a snappy chat about that being a problem. It is always a puzzle, trying to decode who is what and which is who. Now, here, I just want to tap the yak.


EVA: DECODING IS FUN
Upon Spelling Normal, "Who were those characters?" Laugh, laugh--- it's Science Fiction according to Charles Tan, Darling. I am drafting a news-thanks-letter now to Emil Flores--- Dear Sir, The assignment you gave me nine years ago has been completed. Well, shit, apparently I can write that nowadays. Or as Chinggoy said, "Putik, love story ah!" Yeah, that one, too. Uh-ugh.


VILLAGE IDIOT SAVANT: HI
And asks, "Was Lady Boy based on Twiggy?" Laugh, laugh---- nah, that was originally for the Manual and their kama-aswang/manananggal-bird Party which turned out to be a discourse on Gender Studies, Baklese Patois, and Philippine English.


MAGIC REALISM AND THIRD WORLD: EXOTIC AND RYAN AUDIENCE
Because of awareness, consciousness, or low self-esteem--(good gad)--- we are questioning the label "exotic" on our writing.
The term "Third World" is a geographically based position and seems to be synonymous to "Exotic" for a while now. Other synonyms include "Magic(al) Realism". From where I come from, "Magic(al) Realism" is "Normal". There's nothing magical about it (and everyone's a philosopher-poet-prankster). It's exotic to Others because they don't have what we have and they don't do what we do. It all becomes "exoticized" because Others call it "How strange!Exotic!".
Oh, and generally "Exotic" means "ugly Filipino maids/sex workers picked up/married by foreigners". And if one is so goddamn ugly, "endangered" instead of "exotic" is used.


A CONVERSATION BETWEEN AN EGG AND A VERY VERY VERY SPECIAL MOUSE: EXOTIC?
September 2008
Very Very Very Special Mouse: Ah, shit,it went international.
Egg: Oh, aren't you happy about it?
Very Very Very Special Mouse: I'm worried that it was picked up because it was seen as exotic.
Egg: Bah, you're not writing for them anyway. You're writing for the Filipino audience.
Very Very Very Special Mouse: Right on.


BRITON TOM: AND A DRUNKEN ARGUMENT
I don't even remember half of it---
BUT HERE'S MY THING: When one says something about what is "fundamental" and "fundamentally" in ALL LITERATURE and the perspective/standard is coming from BRITISH LITERATURE, my Philippine Literary Intramuros Walls go up, up, and I just want to go away.


DEAR YOU: COMING TO US, MABUHEY
To study Literature and Writing, read our literature because we've certainly read yours. Then we can do comparative analysis and we can move on from referencing Shakespeare and literary persons from your literature and talk about Philippine Literature (In English).


WORLD ENGLISHES: UNDERSTANDING ARTICULATION
The Standard International English are these: American English (i.e. TOEFL) and British English (i.e. IELTS). Coming from our native languages, phonemes (vowels and consonants) and supersegmentals (reducing, blending, linking) alone would be a problem, hence speaking English clearly to be understood by native English speakers is a problem.
Not to mention syntax e.g. "He told to me the problem" i.e. "Sinabi niya sa akin yun problema" instead of "He told me the problem".
And then there's semantics (e.g. We say "avail" of an offer instead of "take advantage" because the latter means a bad thing). The task is to transcend transliteration unto translation.
So...


HERE'S A "Happy Birthday": IN DUDONG ENGLISH
Hap-py, hap-py, hap-py bertday, yours is the drinks, ours is the appetizer---


REALLY: THE "Tikbalang" IS NOT a "Centaur".
The Tikbalang is a dude with a horse's head, a man's body, a horse's dick, and hoofs for feet. Sometimes a freak Tikbalang is born: the dude actually has a horse's tail, feet for hoofs, and a man's dick. Now how are Tikbalangs made: it's genetic (so sex is involved) hence propagated because somewhere along the way Catholicism invaded the Tikbalang community and they began believing in "Go forth and multiply". Of course, giving birth to Tikbalangs is hazardous to Mommy's health; behind every Tikbalang is a dead woman. The Tikbalang is born as human and they morph when they hit puberty.
Now, they say that there are Tikbalang women and they have issues because their beauties are often called "Equine" or "Horsey" or that, yeah, they look like a horse. So next time you meet a woman who looks like a horse, well...


AGAINST THE UNIVERSAL AND INTERNATIONAL: A NEGOTIATION
I am concerned about DECOLONIZING PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH.
May I respectfully appeal to all teachers to read, be updated in your readings, and begin massive inclusion of Philippine Literature in English texts in your reading lists?
That way, your students can go gaga over other texts besides oh let's say Shakespeare, Poe, and Twilight Saga. As for the writers, can we do away with the West's symbols and articulation in our writing?


WHY TWILIGHT IS A HIT: TADA!
Because everyone's stuck in high school.


CAT: VULTURE
Circling and circling the heart made flesh, laughs, "I was going to pick it up, if they didn't." Now, now, baby, you got yours already.


2012: DISASTER PORN
Perspective was first brought to attention when Good Man Pao was obsessing about it. It was fucking him up and in my head is that song "It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine." Oh, and I slept through the movie. C'mon, I don't want the 2012 virus in my system because my paranoia is apocalyptic enough as it is.


WHAT IS:
THIS
IN
CRITICISM--- and I'm on pseudo-break---
I am the audience.
When I criticize something nowadays, my references are based on what has been produced in Philippine Literature In English and if it is decolonized or at least trying to be.
The main questions are---
What is this text trying to say about the Filipino condition/reality
How is it articulated
is this no-holes-solid
What is the value system being propagated
IN
WRITING--- and there are no breaks---
Mostly I have to not give a damn about the audience.
Because my concern is the language (how do I put it into words), the form (how would it look on the page and it what levels of meaning is the text elevated to), the story (how the heck would I run what) and whatever I want to
PLAY
WITH
FRACTURE
It took a long time to negotiate this "fuck-it" because worrying about the readers' reaction and hoopla always inhibits me from writing.It's a striptease and sometimes I become shy. It is trying to capture the brainwaves and sensations of the moment--- to subdue and freeze in language, in these words, what was, can be, should be---grounded in the reality chosen, that authenticity.
To speak plainly?
Plainly sometimes doesn't capture.
That reality is not plain.


COUGH AND COLD: SOCIAL GHOST
The lungs are screaming and disappear from dates in the social whoredom.


WHAT THE PAC: THAT CRAB
The PacMan now knows how to fight Vegas style--- ads and sponsorships for twelve rounds, yahoo. And a scandal, too. Then there's politics. All day everyday, you know.


MARGINALIZED: BIRTHDAY PARTIES
Everyone's gone with babies, it seems, and I have no kid to bring to these children's parties.


REALITY: BOBBY SAYS
"We never saw you as married or with kids. It just doesn't and wouldn't make sense."


SIDEWAYS: AGAIN
This because I'm really yakking about something else.


LEFT HANGING: WHAT?
Precisely.