A Story and an Article

My article on Pilita Corrales is in the July issue of Filipinas Magazine, so if any of you are in California, be sure to pick up a copy. This was one of the best interviews I've conducted (yes, right up there with Gary B!). Miss Corrales was intelligent and articluate and professional. She has an aura of old showbiz, one that's regal and commanding and just leaves you awestruck. In other words, she's very very different from the persona she projects on TV. I could just listen to her talk all day -- she's led an exciting life, complete with, among other things, fame, fortune, a street and a shipwreck. More importantly, she takes pride in her craft -- she's constantly updating her shows, constantly researching on ideas that her fans will love. This is something the new generation of script-fed celebs lack.

Meanwhile, a short story of mine called "Boss, Ex" is being featured in the maiden issue of Rogue. I haven't seen the magazine yet but I hear that the whole thing is a delight for the senses, as in it's been laid out lovingly, with no thought for space constraint at all. *faints* "Boss, Ex" plays on the local practice of DVD vendors selling X-rated videos, and of the universal phenomenon of wedding jitters (ok, not really universal. Apparently, all my unmarried friends can't wait to get married -- which makes me wonder if I'm on the wrong planet). I've never had anyone ask me if I wanted to buy X-rated DVDs yet so I guess they only ask guys (I wonder why?). Anyhoo, I hope you guys pick up the mag, if not for my story, then for the sensory delight it offers.

In other news, the "Y" key on my keyboard is broken, so I have to thump the ke extra hard to get it to come out. This has resulted in me sending people strange and sometimes embarrasing messages, like the time I sent an editor a message that had "stud" instead of "study." Eep!

I Love Leah

M friend Leah dropped by the office today bearing coffee. What a great surprise! Nothing like an impromptu chat with a friend to brighten up your day. Thanks, Leah, ou certainl made mine! :)

How the Dead Remember

Last night, I dreamt that I met, after a long time, a grade school classmate of mine who had shot herself in high school. I was reall excited, since, even though we had grown apart as we had grown older, we had been good friends in our early grade school years and I always thought fondly of her. In my dream, I somehow knew she had been dead, but it felt as if she had been overseas instead.

The part that weirded me out was, when we were reintroduced, she had completely forgotten about me! I spent a lot of time tring to make her remember who I was, that we had lived near each other, that she had me over once for her birthday party. Finally, she conceded that she vaguel remembered me, and when I asked her why she had forgotten, she said, "Because you aren't as interesting now as you were before."

That remark stung me. How could I be boring? Especially now that people can finally have decent conversations with me without being treated to occasional walls of silence, or monologues about how Leonardo is my favorite turtle (okay, I didn;t reall do that. I wasn't *that* crazy).

I spent the whole day thinking about it, and the conclusion that I have come to is this: I may be more socially savvy now, but at the cost of the uniqueness (read: craziness) that marked me as a child. I've learned to tame myself in order not to be left out, and in the process, murdered a part of me that, as socially inept as it was, was still a part of me, and is also a part of me that other people, dead, and maybe living, miss.

One Night Story

I couldn't sleep last night so I ended up writing a whole story from scratch. It's been a while since I wrote anything, and I don't think I've ever accopmplished a piece in one sitting before! Thet's not the only strange thing about this story. It's not horror (gasp!) and I'm in it. It's set last year and basically, the premise is that I get a phone call from my dead father. I've always wanted to do a piece that touches on that subject, and I guess this is it. I've never adhered to the "write what you know" adage (how else could I write about death? I've never died... I think) but I broke that rule for this one.

I don't know what I'm doing being awake at night on a work day writing stories that don't scare people.

And yes, I still miss my father.

San Juan Cityhood

San Juan is now a city! Congratulations! I know that cityhood means a bigger budget aand that the mayor has all these plans like opening a college but citihood means only one thing to me:

When I join the Miss Universe pageant, I can come out on stage in my Pitoy Moreno gown and say in stilted English (para may foreign effect), "Hello, my name is glossgirl and I come from beautiful San Juan City, Philippines!" *spreads arms*

Har, har, har.