adventures in neverland

(as a perfect companion for this piece, please read also:  http://adventuresinaforgottentown.blogspot.com/2014/09/memoirs-of-martial-law-baby.html while the whole barangay near the military camp where we used to live was busy decorating the streets, putting up those colourful banderetas, painting fences white, cleaning up the streets, politicians and their supporters were doing the opposite: ruining the sceneries by pasting and putting up posters, billboards with the ugly mug shots of their candidates. i used to hate this. that meant extra effort removing those billboards, or painting over those posters. admittedly, though, holding the elections during the fiesta season had its advantages: - raising funds to finance the beautification of the church, the holding of several masses, the parade wasn't a problem. even the cash prizes for the basketball tournament and other games were not a problem. politicians and their supporters were just too willing to ...

my birth and that of my younger sister, the youngest in the family, coincided with key dates in the conjugal dictatorship that was ferdinand and imelda marcos. you could even say that while my parents, a lowly military man and a simple housewife living inside a military camp, were making love, the fabled two were screwing the country and its impoverished people; the difference of course is that while the former produced two of the most lovable kids in the family, the latter created a living hell for most filipinos who are still reeling until now from the ill-effects of that shameful era in our history. %%%%%%%%%% i was born in nineteen sixty-nine the year marcos won a much-disputed second term in office as president of the republic. my birthday was also exactly eight days after the communist party of the philippines, which became a thorn in the life and ambitions of the dictator, was born. actually, the year nineteen sixy-nine was a historic one. aside from...

(first posted in late two thousand and thirteen. updating to say the trend will continue till next year.) i never really like the idea of a denim on denim look. that is, denim jacket over denim jeans; or denim shirt over denim jeans; or all together. it's just too brokeback mountain. though i have to admit that jake gyllenhaal looks dashing on those denims, whether he is riding a horse while leading a pack of sheep, or lusting after heath ledger from a distance. but lately, call it mid-life crisis, i have been lusting after the denim on denim look. maybe because i love wearing the blues : shirts, shoes, jackets, bags, scarves, sweaters. even the blue mood suits me well. so i scanned fashion pages after fashion pages to come up with the great looks for this holiday season and for the whole of two thousand fifteen. yes, i am declaring it boldly, as mahatma gandah as my witness, we will continue to see a lot of blues and denims in two thousand...

“it was a love of perpetual flight.”  --  g abriel garcí­a márquez "mabuti naman nakarating ka?" bungad nya habang hinihila ko ang upuan sa harapan nya. hindi sya asar. nakangiti pa nga sya. ganoon lang talaga sya. ni hindi sya tumayo upang kamayan ako.  o kaya ay halikan sa magkabilang pisngi tulad ng nakagawian ko sa iba kong mga kaibigan. "sinabi kong darating ako, kaya eto." sagot ko, sabay upo. "sorry traffic eh. kanina ka pa?" "hindi pa pinapanganak si hesus, eh nandito na ako." tawanan.  gusto ko ang mood nya. magaan. "umorder ka na?" tanong ko. "hindi pa.  hinihintay kita." inabot nya ang menu. "anong gusto mo?" tanong ko ulit. matapos kaming umorder ng makakain at maiinom, tahimik kami. naiilang ako, at alam ko ganoon din sya. matagal din kaming hindi nagkita. ngayon na lang ulit. mga pitong taon siguro. tanging sa facebook lang kami nagbabatian at nagkakaalaman ng m...