the clumsy onion peeler

...thinking we don't really need a lot in life. The defaults will do: a default somebody, friends you can waste hours with, small & accessible joys: mine would be the occasional trips to the beach because i love lying on the sand and having an unobstructed view of the sky, time to read a good book just for the pleasure of reading, movies; time to silly-dance with a toddler irrepressible enough to hug/ love; healthy food, steady supply of H2O, a particular kind of music that takes you someplace special (where's the fun in just being into whatever is trendy at the moment?) a small hobby that lets you create, a mom/aunt/cousin/dad you like. we don't really need a lot; generosity goes a long way too.

how about you, what do you need?

*partly inspired by mnmlist.com

When the clock strikes 12 tonight, we will not only be saying goodbye to another year, we are actually bidding a fucking decade adieu! The 00s are coming to a close…and I feel sappy and grievously sentimental that it’s finally ending. Some era it was: college (the whole four years!), job hunts, actual first jobs (and the others that came after the first), real heartbreaks, difficult loves, life altering travels, fork-in-the-road choices, meeting people who would be great friends, mixed in with stuff like angst, the postmodern, finding meaning, going green, adventure, alcohol, politics, boss, thesis, music. 

Maybe this would sound silly or trite, but if I were to capture the era that would be exiting in one word, “identity” should encapsulate it. The years of the 00’ were all about searching, losing, finding, being found, believing and losing belief. It was but fitting to have spent a good part of the last day of the decade getting rid of stuff I no longer need (to make room for the new and/or the relevant) and putting into order those I do need; I suspect that’s what the coming decade is going to be about. 

Today I was reminded why I grew up desperately wishing I wouldn't one day attend a university in Manila: the infamous flooding in the Taft/ Vito Cruz/ Dapitan areas. Having had older cousins who all (oh, but one) went to UST, I grew up familiar with terrifying stranded stories and tactics- sleeping overnight in the UST parking lot, walking all the way from Dapitan to Pantranco while trying to avoid falling into a manhole (my Ahia Jep narrowly avoided one, while the man in front of him unfortunately didn't), wading into flood waters (which was quite a fun concept to a 7-year-old, but a scary one for a 12-year-old with a paranoia for leptospirosis), and so if only to eliminate the possibility of being left out cold because of flood, I prayedprayedprayed I would go to either one of those schools in QC.

But then I work there now, right? Today has been one helluva floody adventure.

Gari and I played tag in the rain. And it's still fun, doesn't matter if you're now in your 30s or mid-20s. :p
Damage: Nada.
Fun factor:  Two buckets of cold rain shower for some light 80s reminiscing.

Since there were no jeeps or orange shuttles, we attempted to get to the LRT Vito Cruz station through a pedicab. We cheered the manong on. We sang, "My Heart Will Go On" when we noticed his pedicab was wheels-deep into the flood. We propped our feet up so they wouldn't get wet. Right at the Rizal Stadium, just inches away from Taft, we asked him to turn back and bring us back to Roxas Blvd when the water threatened to soak our pants.
Damage: Php 60
Fun factor: Three buckets of cold rain shower for cheering the manong and squealing with both fear and glee when we thought we'd drench our pants.
Thank god we...didn't ride those orange shuttles, or we might have been forced to wade into the waist-high flood.

There would be taxis teeming in front of the CCP, that we were sure of. We hadn't counted on the probability that they'd be unwilling to take us to the Taft-MRT station however. After begging/negotiating with about five taxis, enduring the floody sprays from cars/vans/trucks excited to join the Ondoy traffic, we were finally able to convince one to take us to the UN-LRT station. That, of course, was designed to fail because the road leading to UN was, well, flooded waist-deep.
Damage: Php 70
Fun factor: An empty pail when you throw in an unpleasant driver who attempted to charge us Php 80 for the Php 60 fare while failing to bring us to the station anyway for fear his car would stall. What a wuss. 
Thank god he...at least let us off at an un-flooded part of the road.

At this point, we were looking at these options: reach QC via City Hall/Intramuros area or through Taft via a jeep, either of which would be surely unpleasant (triple threat: baha, trapik, walang jeep) and leptospirosis-threatening. Here we meet the Captain, the creative pedicab man of UN, who bravely navigated the murky waters of the Luneta area, unafraid of tirik and leptospi, and had the clever idea of having us squat on his pedicab stool so our jeans won't get bloody floody. These tactics of his safely brought us all the way to the steps of the LRT, even extending out his hand to me and Gari as we stepped down from his carriage, er, boat-cab.
Damage: Php 80
Fun factor: Two buckets of lukewarm water and two heavy splashes of cold rain shower.
Imagine squatting in a zipped up pedicab with water filling up half of it, there was one point we thought his boat-cab would tip over. Not for the claustrophobic. He did bring us safely to the station, however, so we would forgo even the additional Php 20 he sprung on us.

And, after about 1.5 hours, hurrah, we were at the LRT, to be pushed and shoved around til we reach the MRT station.

----

@Gari, my co-refugee, buti na lang kasama kita!  It wasn't so miserable, and was parts tiring and amusing. Were I alone, I would've probably swam and bawled my way to the MRT.

---
As of 1130pm, I'm still out because the Parkway bridge is still unpassable, but at least I'm just a tric away from a safe bed.

For all the lightheartedness of this post, Typhoon Ondoy was really very distressing. We all need to start doing something about this flooding situation we got ourselves into. Remember the flash flood ad we had back in the 80s? The one with the copy that went, "Kung anong basura mo, babalik din sayo"? That was a scary commercial. Have we reached that point? All throughout the day, I kept hearing stories of houses that were flooded for the first time (including ours), a friend in Antipolo telling about another flash flood in their area (which would most likely cement her decision to leave the country for good), all the stress of not knowing where your family members are or waiting for hours in traffic (EDSA was still bumper-to-bumper at around 10pm). To everyone who got stranded, I hope you (we) would get home safe. Praying that Ondoy will not cause any grave casualties.













 

Nationalisms in the Era of Global Restructuring: 
Issues, Challenges and Prospects in Asia

 

November 20 – 21, 2009

Bulwagang Sala’am, Romulo Hall

Asian Center, University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

CALL FOR PAPERS


The recent financial crisis that sends the global economy into recession, the severity of which is never seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s, poses a serious challenge to the institutional underpinnings of the current global economic order manifested through globalization. The crisis (and the increasing frequency of such crisis) exposes the theoretical weakness of the present order based on free market principle and minimal state role in economic affairs. The initial reforms being done to address the current recession indicate a trend toward a bigger role for the state. While this is not new to many economies in the Asian region, a shift to this institutional arrangement by their western counterparts will have profound implications on the current form of globalization and, hence, on the way it links the East and West as well as other economies in general. Likewise, the restructuring opens opportunities for influencing the nature, substance and trajectory of globalization. Nationalists’ articulation of sovereignty, governance, national and regional security, public health, the environment, sustainable development, human rights, cultural and religious diversity, among others, is expected to take on new substance vis-à-vis the new globalization. What are the issues and challenges of this restructuring and how will Asian nations and the Philippines respond to them?

 

The UP Asian Center Graduate Students’ Conference is an annual gathering of graduate students who are actively engaged in research on Asia and the Philippines. Graduate students working on Asia and the Philippines are invited to submit abstracts based either on work in progress or on completed work in one or more of the following topics:

- Culture and Religion
- State, Market and Development
- Contemporary Security Issues
- Migration and National Identity
- Human Rights and Conflict Management/Resolution Social Movements
- Regional Governance
- Issues in International Relations
- Sovereignty and Global Economic Surveillance
- Public Health and Safety


Abstracts should not exceed 300 words to be submitted with a brief author’s biography and contact details. Potential papers should be either in English or Filipino, 18-25 pages long (including footnotes and bibliography), 1.5 spaced, Times New Roman, and font 12. Please send abstracts and/or papers as email attachment (MS Word Format or PDF Format) to gscsecretariat2009@yahoo.com or you may send by post to:

 

Asian Center Graduate Students’ Conference

c/o Office of the Dean

Asian Center, Romulo Hall

University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

 

Please be guided by the following calendar:

18 September 2009: Deadline for Submission of Abstracts

30 September 2009: Notice of Abstract Acceptance/Call for Final Papers

25 October 2009: Submission of Final Papers

20-21 November 2009: Conference Proper

 

Awards will be given to the Best Paper and Best Presenter. Best Paper will be submitted for consideration by editors of the Asian Studies Journal and/or, together with selected essays, for publication as conference proceedings. 

 

Registration is free.

Limited funding will be offered on a competitive basis to participants from outside Metro Manila to cover their return airfare and accommodation costs.  

For further inquiries, please email gscsecretariat2009@yahoo.com or contact:

Sahara P. Brahim (0917-3449576), Julius Cesar I. Trajano (0915-6255267), or Mary Grace L. Perpetua (0917-9028541).You may also visit our website at http://ac.upd.edu.ph/


Asian Center 
University of the Philippines
Telefax: 927 0909
http://ac.upd.edu.ph/

In other news, I have a job! And I find it a good omen that on my way home from the final interview, I would hear Pink Floyd's "Fearless" played at the LRT.

I'm a sellout: gave in and bought a netbook. The three weeks of tech-homelessness my old Compaq subjected me to by crashing became more and more unbearable by the day that my snobbery towards netbooks just had to go. This is how I convinced myself, "Netbooks are really very practical: they're light, small and relatively cheap (or , at least lighter, smaller, cheaper)." 

CAL Statement on the issue re:National Artist

Nasaan ang Dangal sa Proseso ng Pagpili sa Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining?

Pahayag ng mga Nagmamalasakit sa Sining Pilipino

Nakagugulat at nakakabahala ang listahan ng mga bagong hinirang ng Malakanyang na mga  bagong Pambansang Alagad ng Sining o National Artists: Cecile-Guidote Alvarez, Manuel Urbano (aka Manuel Conde), Carlo Caparas, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Lazaro Francisco, Francisco Mañosa at Jose “Pitoy” Moreno. Linagdaan ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ang mga indibidwal na proklamasyon noong Hulyo 6, 2009 na sinasabing nagmula sa listahan ng mga nominado mula Cultural Center of the Philippines at National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

 

Sa pagbabalik tanaw sa mga pangyayari, inilabas sa mga pahayagan noong nakaraang buwan ng Hunyo 2009 ang apat na pangalan na isinumite ng CCP at NCCA  na dumaan sa tamang proseso – si Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Manuel Conde, Lazaro Francisco at Ramon Santos. Isang buwan ang lumipas, apat na pangalan pa ang dumagdag sa listahan ng Malakanyang at may nawala sa orihinal na listahan - ang kompositor at musikolohista na si Dr. Santos. Sa madaling sabi, madaming nadagdag at may nabawas. Hindi lamang si Dr. Santos ang nabastos sa pangyayaring ito kundi ang buong proseso ng pagpili ng National Artist.

 

Sa isang iglap ay nabahiran na naman ng pulitika ng pakikialam ang proseso ng pagpili ng National Artist. Kahit na ikatwirang karapat-dapat ang mga bagong hirang na National Artist dahil sa lawak at kahalagahan ng kanilang ambag sa sining na Pilipino, lahat ng ito ay mawawalan ng saysay dahil sa wala sa lugar na pagpupumilit na paghihirang ng ilang nominado.

 

Sa simpleng mundo na namamayani ang delikadesa, mahirap tanggapin na si Cecile Guidote-Alvarez ay mabigyan ng parangal habang siya mismo ang namumuno sa NCCA at umuupong Presidential Adviser on Culture. Ang paghirang sa kanya habang nasa posisyon  ng kapangyarihan ay isang imoral na sitwasyon, at labag sa panuntunan ng tamang proseso ng pagpili ng National Artist. Ang isang taong nanunungkulan sa ahensya ng gobyernong mismong kalahok sa proseso ng seleksyon ay inaasahang magpapamalas ng tunay na paggalang sa prosesong ito. Lalong hindi ito dapat ipagkaloob ng nasa Malakanyang na gantimpala sa mga kapanalig sa pulitika. Sino pa ang magtitiwala sa Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining kung tuluyang mababahiran ito ng  pagdududa dahil sa lantaran at walang habas na palakasan at koneksyon sa lideratura?

Lubos nang nawala ang kredibilidad ng prosesong ito. Para sa mga nagmamalasakit sa katayuan ng sining sa Pilipinas, hindi ito dapat ipagwalang-bahala. Ang titulong National Artist ay ang pinakamataas na karangalan na maibibigay ng bansa sa mga artista ng bayan. Dapat dumaan ang pagpili sa tamang proseso na lantad at patas na hindi kayang manipulahin ng maykapangyarihan.  Kung kaya’t  napapanahon nang baguhin ang batas at proseso sa pagpili ng National Artist at alisin sa kapangyarihan ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas ang pakikialam dito. Sa ganitong paraan lamang magkakaroon ng halaga at dangal ang titulong Pambansang Alagad ng Sining.

(Feel free to repost. Please join us at a protest action tomorrow, Aug. 7, at the CCP ramp, 2PM where we will hold a funeral service for the national artist awards.)

...shall mark my Independence Day weekend. I will finally get to see Guimaras after hearing Froi brag about it for eight years.