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Ubo / is All / She Left Me

I think that when writers create a piece, they are automatically aware of the possibility that people will be reading their work.

But what about people who are written about? How do they feel when they find out that a poem or a story about them (not just FOR THEM) is being discussed among literary circles? Or in classrooms?

It's amazing how much power writers wield in this scenario.

***

It was another weekend well-spent. R was sick to the bone (cough, sipon, headache, PMS) the whole time. Still, the limited time we had was filled with amazing convos, great food, and plenty of hearty laughter.

I showed her the two poems that got published in Philippines Graphic magazine, and I think she genuinely liked them. I was actually terrified about having her read the poems (especially the one about her) but she said it's good and I am truly thrilled about her reaction.

The only thing that sucks is that I had strict orders to not take any pictures. Ahay. But yes, my heart is full. My heart is full. :)

[It seems my lungs are full, too. Ubo. Ubo.]

Ngaa Ginaubra Ta Ini Man?

Kon kaisa, sa tunga sang kalapyo sang mga ginahitso nga hilikuton, may inside joke kami nanday Noel kag Gil: NGAA GINAUBRA TA INI MAN?

Ari sa laragway (kuha sadtong tuig 2014) ang pila ka mga rason:

1. Ang bunga sang handom nga tani mas madamo nga mga kabataan ang magdako nga nagapalangga sa ila kaugalingon nga pulong

2. Ang mga tawo nga kaangay ni Mam Gen (kag Sir John Iremil) nga una nga naghatag sang pagsalig sa amon mga ulo-abilidad

3. Si Sir Leo nga tubtob subong, wala gihapon nakapoy sa pag-ulikid (Diin na ang sinulatan mo, Sol?), sa pang-intriga (San-o na kamo ma-elope ni Norman? *ew*), sa panghikay (This is not even a story!), kag sa once in a supermoon nga pagdayaw (...)

Kadamo sang kapaltaha ang mga nagliligad nga adlaw. Daw mga kapaltaha man sang mga tuig sa wala pa ang tion nga ini. Amo gani ang ulihi nga rason kon ngaa padayon ang tanan nga pagpanikasog

4. Ara ho. Ang yuhom pagkatapos sang tanan nga rejection, failure, kag pagduhaduha. 

May palaabuton nga kalipay ang kon ano man nga pasakit subong. (Repeat to self 1000x)

Sa Pagkikitang Tayo Lang Ang May Alam

Nakakahon ang lahat
Ng hiningi kong isauli mo sa akin:

Sapatos na madalas mong hinihiram,
T-shirt na may statement
Na hindi mo maintindihan,
Relong iniregalo ng tiyahin
Na unang nakaalam
Tungkol sa ating dalawa,
At photobook ng sandosenang gala.

Nakasiksik sa pagi-pagitan ng mga ito
Ang pira-pirasong bubog
Ng daan-daang alaalang
Nasa ‘yo pa pala. Samantala,
Narito ang sobreng paglalagyan sana
Ng pagpapatawad ko.

Pero walang laman ‘yan.

Natuto na kasi akong
Huwag magbigay
Sa hindi humihingi.

On taking photos

R: I only take photos of the important things in my life.

Me: *snaps her picture* Same. 😏

Ode to Laswa

Few things show affection better than a home-cooked meal prepared with care and devotion. And in this part of the world, there’s a reason why Iloilo is known as the City of Love. Before all the “touristy places” popped up around here, visitors were usually just treated to food --- plenty of it! We’d bring you to Tatoy’s for lechon, to La Paz market for batchoy, or to Villa Baybay for talaba.

Of course, if you were really special, you’d be fed at home --- with chicken binakol, or KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka), or milkfish sinigang soured with batwan. But if an Ilonggo or Ilongga truly loved you, and I mean TRULY loved you, you’d be treated to LASWA, a very simple vegetable soup dish prepared by the best cook in the village, with THE INDAY of the house (i.e., the Madam / Mamita / Donya / Grand Matriarch) overseeing the process. You’d be told, “Pasensya ka na, laswa lang maserbe namon.”

But then you will quickly realize that the disclaimer is a big, fat lie. It is not laswa LANG. Because as you take spoonful after spoonful of the pale green mixture of malunggay, patola, and stock, you will feel a warmth enveloping your heart, like a hundred magical hands putting back the broken pieces together again, you will be reacquainted with the happiest memories of your childhood, when your own mother, or tita or lola cooked your favorite meal. You will be humbled, and you will have tasted love like you haven’t tasted it before. Surely, after you’ve left Iloilo, you will taste many other soup dishes again in your life, but never as good as the laswa that you were served in an Ilonggo’s home.

First 250

[Author's note: First <250 words of a work-in-progress. A novel, maybe? We'll see.]

Biyernes. Alas dos y medya nang madaling-araw.

Ibig sabihin, Sabado na pala.

Ang dapat na ginagawa ko ngayon: natutulog.

Ang dapat na hindi ko ginagawa: binabalikan ang daan-daang palitan ng mga text messages namin ni Jaya.

Pero ganun yata talaga. Gagawin ng katawan ang luyag ng puso, lalo pa’t wala sa wisyo ang katawan at nagpupuyos ang damdamin. At mga alaala ni Jaya ang hinahanap ng aking kasingkasing. Mahirap bigyan ng paliwanag ang katawang hindi makaintindi kung bakit ngayon pa nito napiling magpuyat. Kung kailan ilang oras na lamang ay kukuha na ako ng UPCAT.

Huling paalala ng teacher namin sa huling session ng review ang sinasabi ng lahat ng “exam tips” na nabasa ko: siguraduhing makatutulog nang maigi bago kumuha ng UPCAT kinabukasan.

Sabado, 2:47 nang madaling araw.

Shit.

Kung bakit naman kasi pinili pang makipagbreak sa akin ni Jaya the day before the most important exam of our lives.

Shit shit shit.

Bakit nga ba, Jaya?

Shit.

Sabado, 5:45 ng umaga.

ANO BA THERESE? HINDI KA PA BA GIGISING? TANGHALI NA!

Sanay na ako sa pabulyaw na panggising ng Nanay ko. Pero naramdaman ko pa ring umikot ang mundo ko nang bigla akong bumangon.

Shit shit shit.

Ala sais y medya ang schedule ko sa exam.

Relaks ka lang, Therese. Sabado ngayon. Walang traffic. Kayang-kaya mong makarating sa school in 20 minutes. May time ka pang maligo. Maligo ka. Kunin mo yung saging sa ibabaw ng mesa para may laman ang tiyan mo.

#BoughtBooks2017

I have been on a book-buying spree this year, spending much of my hard-earned money on glorious, glorious books, and not regretting it at all (although I think I really should set a budget for 2018. Haha!).

Here are the books so far.

1. All that Darkness Allows (Multiple Authors)
2. Drift (Written by Nald Tabuzo, Illustrated by Godley Malabanan)
3. Nuno sa Puso 1 & 2 (Bebang Siy)
4. My True Love Gave To Me (Edited by Stephanie Perkins)
5. Tall Story (Candy Gourlay)
6. Every Day (David Levithan)
7. Queens of Geek (Jen Wilde)
8. Tipping the Velvet (Sarah Waters)
9. A Treat of 100 Short Stories (Edited by Gerardo Torres)
10. Laglag-Panty, Laglag-Brief (Edited by Rolando Tolentino, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Joi Barrios, Mykel Andrada)
11. Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America (Edited by Cecilia Brainard)
12. The Best of A. Lipin (Jess Abrera)
13. Nimona (Noelle Stevenson)
14. Pinocchio (Story by Carlo Collodi, Illustrated by Francesca Rossi)
15. The Land of Forgotten Girls (Erin Entrada Kelly)
16. Miss Lina's Ballerina (Story by Grace Maccarone, Illustrated by Christine Davenier)
17. Without Annette (Jane B. Mason)
18. It's Not Like It's a Secret (Misa Sugiura)
19. Eleanor & Park (Rainbow Rowell)
20. The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels)
21. Why We Broke Up (Written by Daniel Handler, Art by Maira Kalman)
22. Looking for Alaska (Story by John Green, Translated by Julz Riddle)
23. By the Light of My Father's Smile (Alice Walker)
24. We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)
25. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz)
26. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)

Audio Recordings of Excerpts from Kasingkasing Press Titles (Part 2)

In 2015, Kasingkasing Press launched 15 books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by Western Visayan writers. Below are voice recordings of excerpts from these titles.

Audio Recordings of Excerpts from Kasingkasing Press Titles (Part 1)

In 2015, Kasingkasing Press launched 15 books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by Western Visayan writers. Below are voice recordings of excerpts from these titles.

Of Discipline and Inspiration

Many writers I know, especially the prolific ones, will tell you that inspiration is overrated in the writing process. Discipline is what counts, as I often hear in the writing workshops that I've attended, and I am inclined to agree with this.

This is something that I've also heard from one of my math professors. She said that when in the process of proving, say, a theorem, you'd really have to strap yourself to a chair until your proof gets somewhere meaningful. See just how related writing and mathematics are? 😊
***
Aside from my observation that discipline is a requirement in both writing literature and doing mathematical activities, I've found that I am inspired to do one after being significantly immersed in the other.

For example, I've written a lot of poems and stories while being stuck in my linear algebra, operations research, and probability theory classes.

On the other hand, I used to ace exams that I took immediately after practicing the guitar for a significantly long period of time.

Later on, many of the pieces I wrote that got published eventually were those that I wrote while neck-deep in my Master's thesis writing. And words just seem to flow when I decide to write a research article while being stuck in the middle of writing a poem or short story.

Just last night, after having my brain fried for constructing two 40-item multiple choice exams in algebra and precalculus, I was able to write a decent children's story.

So I guess, at least in my case, when one side of our brain gets tired, the other one is in overdrive. We just need the discipline to make sure our motor systems act on these inspired moments.

(Meaning, go get your pen & paper / laptop and just write!)

Bangbangboy

Performed by U. P. High School in Iloilo students Kaye Pauline Larroder and Neil Francis Vicentino during the "Commemorating Miriam Defensor-Santiago's 1st Death Anniversary: A Continuous Advocacy for Women's and Gender Rights as Human Rights" at the U. P. Visayas GCEB Training Rooms.

Bangbangboy
ni Early Sol A. Gadong

Nanay ko, bayaan ta ikaw
Presohon ako karon nga adlaw
Ugaling kon ikaw hidlawon
Laragway ko imo lang lantawon

Nanay ko, kon imo bisitahon
Tani ako imo na patawaron
Ugaling kon ako imo akigan
Akon gid ikaw maintindihan

(Tsip, diin niyo ako pagadal-on?
Dali lang gid, luyag ko hambalon
Pagdroga, indi ko na pagliwaton
Kay nanay, lihog nga ipaalinton.)

Nanay ko, bayaan ta ikaw
Ang aspalto, tuman gid katugnaw
Nanay ko, kon ikaw hidlawon
Laragway ko imo lang lantawon.

(Tsip, anhon ko ang pusil nimo?
Indi ko kasarang magpalagyo
Tsip, diin ako makadto?
Maluoy ka, maluoy kamo.)

BANG!

Nanay ko, bayaan ta ikaw.

BANG! BANG!

4:00 P.M.
21 August 2017
UPHSI, Iloilo City

Gugma

Lunch time convo with non-Ilongga friend.

Friend: So, Bacolod gets its money from sugar. Gen San gets its money from tuna. Zamboanga gets theirs from sardines. Where does Iloilo get its money from?

Me: From GUGMA 😁

----------
To give non-Ilongga friend a better response, I googled "Iloilo City economy."

Me: Hey, it says here that "Industries in Iloilo City include management of port facilities, telecommunications infrastructure and utilities, banking and finance..."

Friend: So what goes through your port?

Me: The people who love us, of course 😁

---------
Coffee time convo with same friend.

*I was putting back excess sugar in the canister (I was going to throw it away).

Friend: Ibalik mo yan kasi pawis yan ng mga mga taga-Bacolod. Kayong mga taga-Iloilo, anong pinagpawisan niyo?

Me: Grabe ka, nakakapagod din kaya ang magmahal. 😁

#ILOveILOve

Facebook post from here.

Nagbulaganay Kami

The Hiligaynon expression "Nagbulaganay kami" could mean one of three things:

1. We parted ways
2. We broke up
3. We blinded each other

There's a poem or flash fic in there, somewhere. But first, coffee.

#PatudloHiligaynon

Facebook post from here.

There is no Hiligaynon word for goodbye.

There is no Hiligaynon word for goodbye.

An Ilonggo who leaves says, "Lakat na ko." One who sends another off says, "Halong!" or "Balik-balik lang."

"Lakát" means *walk*. 

"Hálong" means *take care*.

"Bálik-bálik lang" means *come back anytime*.

So I guess Ilonggos, sweet and full of gugma as we are, may have actually been built for walking away.

On the other hand, Ilonggos may have also been conditioned for being okay with getting left behind. Because even when people walk away from us, we would still wish them well. We Ilonggos would still welcome them back.

[I can almost hear all my good friends collectively saying, "Ikaw lang nà ya, Sol!!!" ]

#PatudloHiligaynon

Edit: Pwede kuno "paalam" for goodbye. So it really does take wisdom to move on.

#FacebookPost from here.

So I Left My Ilongga

I knew of many tongues, hers

Included, and it bothered her

When I got so confused with

Ahay Bitaw Naku Tao kimo.

For years, she’s failed to hide

The ugtas beneath the melody

That accompanied her voice.

My Ilongga was tone-deaf. So

I asked her what she wanted.

“Ang mahalin ka,” she sighed,

Knowing well that I knew her

Heart language – Hiligaynon.

So I left my palangga, I left

Her land of gugma, but not

Before leaving her my shell

Of a heart, all emptied, dahil

All this Tagalog’s kasingkasing

Ever wanted was mahalin siya.

13 May 2017

12:00 P.M.

Deca Homes, Pavia

Sugat

“Wala na ang sugat

na iniwan niya,” siling

ko sa akon nga sugat.

“Kasi nandito ka na.”

27 May 2017

8 A.M.

NAIA Terminal 2, Pasay City

Langka

Maalay magtangla sa bitoon

Ilabi na kay wala ini ikasarang

Manaog sa duta. Maayo pa

Maghandom sang langka,

Kay man wala ini sing mahimo

Sa maukod magtamod-hulat,

Kon indi ang mahulog.

10 May 2017

8:30 P.M.

Bo. Obrero, Iloilo City

#ZineZoned3 is happening in August!

Are you interested in displaying your artwork and literary pieces to a wider audience?

If you have a collection of literary pieces (poetry, flash fic, short story, play, hugot lines!) or artwork (or a combination of both! Oooh! Collab opportunity!), get down to making your own zine and join us in this year's biggest zine festival in Iloilo!

Simply send us a private message, expressing your interest to be a ziner. Then, email hubonmanunulat@gmail.com with the following:

1. A brief bio-note (around 100 words, providing your academic/professional/writing background)
2. A high-res photo of yourself (to be used for the zine fest's promotional materials)
3. A high-res photo of the COVER of your zine

There are no thematic or language restrictions for the zines! There is, however, a P100 registration fee that will cover table rentals for the two-day event, inclusion in #ZineZoned3 promo materials, and coffee (wooot!)!

Please send in all requirements by July 31, 2017. Feel free to send us a PM for any inquiry. Invite your friends!

See you on August 26 - 27, 2017 at the Fountain Area of Robinson's Place Iloilo!

Ang Akon Kasingkasing Daw Pulo

Ang Akon Kasingkasing Daw Pulo is a Hiligaynon poem that I wrote while acting as research adviser to a group of graduate students in Punta Buri, Ajuy, Iloilo.

This reading was a part of the closing ceremonies of the 15th San Agustin Writers Workshop at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City last 5 May 2017.

Getting There

Getting There, a poem read during Pautwas: Zine Festival kag Basahay Binalaybay sa Yupihay, last 3 April 2017 at the University of the Philippines Visayas Little Theater.

The event was attended in by UP Visayas students and faculty members. Also present were Mr. Gil Montinola, writer and member of Hubon Manunulat, and Ms. Tarie Sabido, Chair of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY).

The event was organized by the UP High School in Iloilo Grade 11 HUMSS class, the UPHSI Student Council, and UPHSI Kapisanan ng Panitikan at Wika (KAPWA).

Ang Pagbalay sang Binalaybay

A talk on writing poetry delivered last 17 March 2017 at St. Paul University Iloilo.

Another Zine, Another Zone

Ginapangita Ko Ikaw

Ginapangita ko ikaw,

Inday, sa mga laragway

Sa mga ambahanon

Pati sa mga binalaybay

Basi pa lang didto ko

Ikaw makit-an, kay man

Nadula ka na sa akon

Hunahuna kag kasingkasing.

30 October 2016

Iloilo City