July 26, 2005
This Good and No More
It's sad when you think your training should pay off, and it doesn't. I'm not impressed with my FaithWriters article. Right, so much for training. More training required.
I am very confused now, really. While surfing my files (you know, just looking at what I have in my computer) I found a couple of poems I did before I did my training. Why, oh why are they better than the one I'm doing nowadays? Will someone tell me please?
Charter change. One of the topics in the President's State of the Nation Address. We'd be a parliamentary by the end of Arroyo's term, if I'm not mistaken. It makes no difference. Evil adapts in any situation, and unless the quality of leaders is increased, the change in government is nothing more than a localization of the existing oligarchy that we have. Yes, nobody's safe yet.
July 25, 2005
Try and Try Until You Die
I stayed after church up to 3 with the Music Team Leader working on the lyrics of the acetate's soft copy. It's a little too late to do that now that all the sheets have been printed, then again better late than never. We had a good time picking on the wrong song title, grammar, capitalization, lines and whatever topic we thought of that makes for good fellowship.
I tried doing a story about a car trip today, the latest FaithWriters Challenge topic. Nothing's coming into my head. I might as well give up. Or not. Then there's that part when I tried to understand European comedy with, "Little Britain". I got some but not all, and I was particular about the dialogue and how European English differed from American English. I didn't catch a lot of nuances, but the comedy's certainly different.
I definitely like watching Ed. It's mellow and not too showy, a story about simplicity that works. If I am going to pattern my life from a TV show, this is going to be it. Average with a pinch of excitement, and meaning, with time to think about all that.
July 23, 2005
Deadline Is at the End of the Month
Again, two more articles finished by the end of the day. Fourteen more to go (I missed one yesterday).
My greatest fear is that I might not be able to finish all my intended projects by the end of the month. I've finished all the easy ones and now I have fourteen articles and seven days to do them all. No, I am not optimistic. But gigs keep on coming and in August I actually have more writing to do (and I wanted to catch up on my reading, sob). Oh well, you can't be a writer if you don't write.
July 22, 2005
I Thought it Was Wednesday
I finished a fairly decent profile description and a poem for one of the online writing groups. That leaves me with around fifteen more things to do before the month ends. Sigh.
I lost track of time! There are talkshow inserts every Wednesday night in this radio station that I looked forward to listening. I turned the radio on and the announcer greeted good Thursday evening to all the listeners. Thursday night! I looked at my planner (a sheet of newsprint with columns for the days and the tasks for each) and realized it hadn't been updated (I cross out completed tasks). What have I been doing this past days? Then I remembered that I worked on the site the whole Tuesday.
But seriously, what kind of person forgets what day it is?
July 21, 2005
The Hardest Part of Writing is Writing
I just finished reading "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, a white-man-destroying-the-colored-man story. Of course I can relate; the Philippines had been colonized in a fairly similar way, with the Spaniards destroying the old way of life with their government and religion, the noble laws and people treated without the proper dignity.
I’ll probably make a report about it sometime soon, but not today. I am too tired not to sleep.
If there is one hard thing for me to do, it’s talking about myself. I’ve spent hours trying to come up with 1,200 words to describe myself for my profile, and all I can think of is blank. I need a little more ego. I mean, sure, I know myself a lot more than anyone does, but how to put it on paper without sounding like someone unlike me is a challenge, especially if talking about myself IS someone unlike me.
July 19, 2005
Exercise
I thought about translating one Filipino book into English just to see how the style gets affected by the language. This one is from Bob Ong's Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas:
Kinailangan kong lumabas kanina at pumunta sa supermarket para bumili ng mga pang-araw-araw na gamit tulad ng sepilyo, pomada, deodorant, mothballs, at Yupi Gloworms Gum Candy. Natagalan ako konti dahil sa kahahanap ng murang sepilyo, at sa pagkukumbinsi sa sarili ko na hindi ko kailangan ang Pacencia Biscuits at Sunmaid Raisins. Pero sa bandang huli, talo rin ako. Nakita ko na lang ang sarili ko na nagbabayad na sa counter para sa mga nabanggit na pagkain na wala naman sa budget. Inisip ko na lang na dapat ko rin s'yang pagbigyan paminsan-minsan, tutal pera n'ya naman 'yon. Medyo nakakasama nga lang ng loob dahil wala man lang akong nabiling snacks na para sa akin.
I did translate it word for word, and from that I observed that the humor hadn't been retained in it. The second draft of the translation has that feel of sarcasm (I think) from the original:
I went to the supermarket a while ago to buy some daily essentials like a toothbrush, pomade, deodorant, mothballs, and Yupi Gloworms Gum Candy. It took me a while to look for a cheap toothbrush, and to convince myself that Pacencia Biscuits and Sunmaid Raisins are not essential. "Myself" buying all those items in the end. Well, it was his money. I just wish I'd convinced him to buy me some snacks.
Maybe it's the way I use English that the "funniness" of the article was lost, or I'm just a bad translator. Maybe it's the latter, but that's not the point. The point is, this whole exercise got me thinking about Philippine comedy. I'm only aware of two kinds: no brainer slapstick, sarcastic laugh at the audience's physical deformities. And the spoof, of course. And plays. I have never seen a decent stand up comedy yet. That doesn't mean of course that it doesn't exist, but it must be rare.
Anyway, the original piece is mildly sarcastic and is a feel-good comedy (I am inventing new genres, ladies and gentlemen), the kind that makes you good and happy in the end. In English, it sounds like a sarcastic blog that doesn't make sense. If I don't change the wordings, the piece isn't funny at all:
I had to get out a while ago and go to the supermarket to buy everyday items like toothbrushes, pomade, deodorant, mothballs, and Yupi Gloworms Gum Candy. I was delayed from looking for a cheap toothbrush, and from convincing myself that I don't need Pacencia Biscuits and Sunmaid Raisins. In the end, I gave in. I just saw myself paying on the counter for the said food items not in my budget. I thought that I should give in to him once in a while since it's his money. I just felt bad because I didn't buy any snacks for myself.
It becomes funny because of the weird English. Now that's sarcasm.
I'll be gone until the end of the month. By that time the site will change in appearance. Be excited. See you in a month.
July 13, 2005
Mushroom Ideas Spring Forth in Dark, Damp Places Such as the Mind
I opened FreeCell to pass the time while the pages load and got so engrossed that the game defeated its purpose. Go figure.
I finished reading, "Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas" (Judas' Favorite Book). There is actually some use in reading a book about nothing. Now I've thought of doing one book myself (just a thought. If my enthusiasm survives tomorrow I'll start planning on how to start). See, this is what happens when I'm bored and don't know what to do.
I'm planning on writing a book when I've got a lot of pending stories. Go figure.
I've found a Christian comic book artist who appears to be interested in collaborating on a Christian comic book (of course). At last, after months of searching.
I must write. I must write. I must write. How much more lazier (sic) can I get?
July 12, 2005
Back at Last
The phone line went dead for two weeks, what am I supposed to do?
I got 200+ messages on my inbox, most of them are spam. If, and I mean if, these were legitimate emails I'd be happy, in a weird, sarcastic way, but no. They had to be spam. Where is this world going?
The government is safe for now as Resign-Arroyo groups got to sleep and feel good during the weekend enough to retract their statement. It's a funny political move, enough for them to lose their credibility, then again the whole situation is. She did say sorry, for crying out loud. And what in the whole freaking world is Villanueva doing? I'm thinking its the communist in him that's talking. The task given to the Christian is to obey what is lawful, and a forceful overtaking of the Presidency is not lawful. It's just as simple as that.
Great. This should be another count against us.
And to think, while the whole world is talking about more important problems such as the London bombing, Filipinos create these pro- and anti-Gloria resign parties, and switch positions faster than you can change channels with a remote. Boy, what a game.
