Thursday, November 7, 2024
Monday, October 28, 2024
A Chopin discovery!
Read the entire article and listen to the Chopin waltz played by Lang Lang here.
Labels: books/reading, film/music
Invisible Threads in Ani 42
I opened the door to the small balcony of the 28-square meter condo unit to see what was going on. I shared the space with my older brother. He never asked me to contribute to the bills, realizing I had no money. I had just finished my subspecialty training in medical oncology two months ago. I was unemployed. I wanted to go home, but there were no commercial flights to Mindanao. I was locked down, trapped inside our space filled with our dead epidermis; stale air that got recycled each time we opened the windows; fresh, crumpled clothes that needed folding; new and secondhand books; and random academic clutter.
What greeted me outside were half-naked men in shorts, an interracial young couple who looked like TV personalities, mothers and grandmothers in daster, teenagers in basketball jerseys and oversized university t-shirts, and children with unspent energy, cheering, whistling, clanging their kitchen wares. In the subdued afternoon light, as the sun was about to set, I could observe my neighbors with greater clarity. There were human inhabitants to units I thought were empty. A twenty-something year-old man, who looked like a computer programmer, occupied the exact replica of our own place, except that it was in Tower 2. He was living a parallel existence and probably woke up to the same walls and cabinets, the same sliding door and brown sofa bed. Did he, I wondered, also have the washing machine inside the bathroom? I could make out the outlines of those who lived in Tower 1, which was built on the other end of the Olympic-sized pools. I looked for a classmate from med school who owned a place there. But I did not recognize any of the people I saw, did not know them by name, because this was Metro Manila, where neighbors in condominium units were bound to be strangers to one another. But that day, outside our balconies, we were knit together by a common, invisible thread and the realization that we were all in this together. In the act of banging our pots and pans, we were willing ourselves to hope.
Labels: books/reading
Golden Valley, my contribution to Professor Marjorie Evasco's Frestschrift
I had the honor of contributing to a Festschrift for Prof. Marjorie Evasco. I wrote a short story entitled Golden Valley to honor an incredibly generous, gracious, and remarkable person.
Not far from where she lives is the edge of town, where the houses are far in between. On Friday afternoons, she takes a twenty-minute walk. Her only son, a doctor in another city, told her this was good exercise. The road is uphill, lined by old acacia trees that filter the sun. She hums to the tune of “Trust and Obey.” After passing the Carmelite convent, she takes the narrow side road to the left, marked by the crumbling sign, “Golden Valley, 500 meters away.” From there, the incline becomes progressively steeper. She pants for air, stops under the shade to drink from her water bottle, then proceeds as she has done religiously since he passed away.
Labels: books/reading
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Tolkien and Tatay
Tatay's birthday. He would've been 73, a perfectly happy man in God. In preparation for today I'd been remembering him, as I've always had—but to a greater degree, I suppose. As you know, when you lose a loved one, birthdays and death anniversaries take on revered spaces on your personal calendar. Hardly ever a day passes by without a thought of him visiting me. Those recurring moments used to be bitter because of the pain of loss, then became bittersweet because of time. Now, six years later, they are just sweet to me. I imagine that if I could perfectly remember my dreams, he'd also be there, with his perpetual smile and laughter, which, to this day, people still remember. If you see me and my brothers, you will notice that we got our hearty chuckle and stupid, self-deprecating (in only the good sense) humor from him.
What helps me remember him is the treasure trove of letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited and selected by Humphrey Carpenter). Tatay was not a writer of letters but I could hear him—see remnants of his fatherly advice—in Tolkien's letters to his sons. He was, like Tolkien, a man who found deep friendship with his children. Tatay was a keeper of close friends. After his early morning visits to the farm, he'd spend the day at home, tending to repairs and feeding his brood of sons, take an afternoon nap, then head out for afternoon coffee with his kumpares. Often he'd bring one of us with him, usually the gullible third-born, because Tatay's enjoyment of the afternoon wouldn't maximal without any of his family around. After coffee, he'd always buy something on his way home—pan de sal or cinnamon bread from the KCC bakery, or whatever he could find his hands on—then regale Nanay and his children with stories over the dinner table. He insisted that we all eat together. "Hindi na magpatawag!" he'd say, because our young eyes were glued to the TV, indifferent to the preciousness of the after-school routine, unable to grasp that one day we'd cease to hear his speaking voice, for he would leave his terrestrial world ahead of us, leaving a perpetual emptiness in our hearts.
But today, we remember.
Labels: books/reading
Friday, October 25, 2024
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Bagets na bagets
Labels: books/reading, daily, journal
Monday, October 21, 2024
Congratulations to the 10 fellows of the Fifth La Salle National Creative NonFiction Writers’ Workshop for Health Care Professionals & Medical Interns
The list is out! Congratulations to all our fellows this year!
The Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center (BNSCWC) is pleased to announce the ten writer-doctors who have been selected as fellows of the Fifth La Salle National Creative NonFiction Writers’ Workshop for Health Care Professionals & Medical Interns to be held online from October 30 to November 28, 2024:
Allene P. Allanigue
Victor J. S. Baron
Angelica G. Espejo
Myra G. Gahid
Ian Leoj M. Gumban
Christi Annah V. Hipona
Leonard D. Javier
Anthony Q. Rabang
Adrian Emmanuel D. Teves
Frederic Ivan L. Ting
This Workshop is part of the BNSCWC’s efforts to boost collaborations and critical-creative exchanges between scientists and artists; to train health care professionals in the art of life-writing; and to give value to the stories written by health care professionals in caring for our people and in building the nation.
The hybrid workshop shall consist of eight synchronous sessions on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. via Zoom) across four weeks. Part I, from October 30-31, 2024 will consist of lecture-discussions on the Art of Writing and Close-Reading Creative Nonfiction. Part II, from Nov. 20-Nov. 28, will consist of workshop discussions on the fellows’ submitted creative work. The culminating program on Nov. 29, 2024 will be held onsite at De La Salle University.
For more information, please email bnscwc@dlsu.edu.ph.
Labels: books/reading
Why typewriters are having a renaissance
I showed some young visitors from church—young, meaning people in their "twenties"—my small typewriter collection. For Abby, a teacher, it was her first time to play with a typewriter. It fascinated her. Leklek, an engineer, said she saw some typewriters before. Jai, also a teacher, said it reminded her of old government officers—barangay halls, for instance, where typewriters remain the mainstay of generating certificates and documents.
My ihado, Lance, once asked me, "Sulat mo 'ni, Ninong?" I gave him a typewritten note for his birthday. My message was about him honoring his mother and praying and reading his Bible every day. I said I wrote it with a Smith Corona; I would show the machine to him one day.
And I remember Hans and Haley, Pastor Henry's grandchildren, who rush to all corners of the house and notice everything. Our dog Paul is always delighted by their presence. These kids, too, love my typewriters.
They're amazing machines, manufactured many years ago, meant to be hammered and used every day. I hope I do them justice.
Labels: typewriter
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Each of us is marked by the memories of words spoken to us.
Alastair Begg on the power of words:
Each of us is marked by memories of words spoken to us. Perhaps we reflect on the joy of a child's first words or still feel the bitterness of a friend's hurtful words. From our earliest days, we learn how to use words both to bring harm and to bring gladness. King Solomon was right: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).
Labels: books/reading, daily, faith
Monday, October 7, 2024
Lake Street Dive!
I discovered Lake Street Dive through their interview with David Remnick in the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm a huge fan. My favorites: Hypotheticals, and Shame, Shame, Shame. They have such great song titles! Their songs make me so happy that I listen to them early in the morning on my way to work, or after-lunch commuting, or late night drives back home.
I’ve been playing out a lot of hypotheticals in my mind
I’ve been writing your name down next to mine
Been imagining all the things you and I could do oo oo
I’ve seen all the possibilities in my dreams
You’re alone when you should really be next to me
Baby, let’s not wait and see
Labels: film/music
My Kindle Oasis
I don't want to describe my feelings toward the Oasis as "love-hate" but that's the most concise, accurate, and precise way to capture my sentiments. It's a near-perfect device, if not for the lousy battery that I have to recharge every one or two days—that, with the wifi and bluetooth turned off, and the lights at level 13. Compare that with my trusted Kindle Paperwhite, whose battery lasts me weeks. I loaned the Paperwhite to my mother, who now uses it to read John Calvin's The Institutes.
Labels: books/reading
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Congratulations to the Rotor Awards for Literature finalists!
Labels: books/reading
Monday, September 2, 2024
Typecast 14: Traveling with high school friends
I get asked what my favorite travel destination is. I say it's the most recent trip I'd been to.
My answer is invariably the same, but also varies depending on what time the question is asked. For instance, if you ask me that now, my answer would be Taipei, because that's where I traveled for the first time with my high school friends. I had been to Taiwan before, but with different people. They were my residency batch mates in PGH Internal Medicine, to celebrate the end of residency, in 2018 I loved those times, and I miss those people. I bought a fountain pen in the city, a piston filler that has cracks now but can still be coaxed into renewed usefulness.
This recent trip with high school friends was conceived of during a baptismal party in Marbel. Daphny, Vanessa, and Willie were seated on the same table. I broached the subject of travel. Find a good price for a round trip ticket, book early enough, and block the date in the calendar. I tend to delegate these tasks to others: I’m an ambitious thinker, with very little follow-through. Katty overheard us. We didn’t include Katty because she had children. Mothers live jn a vastly different world, have a different priorities. But Katty, who had just given birth at that time, seemed determined to come with us. We also dragged Christopher along. He wasn’t around, but we couldn’t imagine this trip without him.
We may have forgotten about the trip or the booking, until someone reminded us we had tickets. By this time our small group was swimming in deadlines and work, the stuff of mature life, ambition, and need. As the busiest among us, I said I'd go through with the trip. The tickets had been booked, after all. Sayang naman. I had blocked off my calendar. I did not schedule chemotherapy sessions or out-patient cliinics during that time. Perhaps it was my resolve that reminded everyone in the chat group—which was how we had been communicating—to take a step off our real lives and take a quiet moment to see another part of the world (literally and figuratively).
On the day of our flights, Katty and Willie were in my dining room, having breakfast at my house. We were driving to the airport together. Our flight to Manila was in the afternoon. I had to do some rounds. I saw patients in the clinic who were only too happy to shoo me away. They said, “Have fun, Doc, you deserve it." I love my patients and am grateful for their lives.
In the evening we flew to Taipei. Christopher, who always likes doing things at the very last minute, met us at NAIA. He did not get left behind. He is notorious for missing his flights. We had two glorious days of laughter and catching up. Then Daphny and Vanessa, who had to rebook their flights because of work commitments—Daphny’s job interview, Vanessa’s new work environment—eventually met us in the bustling Taiwan capital, and it felt like it was high school again. In a way, we were the same people, but different.
Labels: travel, typewriter
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Oasis, Gone Girl, and Small Mercies
Labels: books/reading
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Friday, August 9, 2024
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: The Fifth La Salle National Creative Non-Fiction Writers’ Workshop for Health Care Professionals & Medical Interns . Deadline: September 30, 2024
The previous La Salle National Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Workshop for Doctors has been re-designed as a hybrid two-part workshop. It is also now open to writers among Health Care Professionals (Physicians, Nurses, and allied Medical Professionals) and Medical Interns. The workshop is focused on Creative Nonfiction narratives (in prose or poetry), based on personally experienced or witnessed true-to-life stories, which are well-told using fictional techniques.
Applications for the 10 competitive national workshop fellowships is now open for the 5th La Salle National Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Workshop for Health Care Professionals and Medical Interns. The deadline for submission of applications is on September 30, 2024.
This Workshop is part of the BNSCWC’s efforts to boost collaborations and critical-creative exchanges between scientists and artists; to train health care professionals in the art of life-writing; and to give value to the stories written by health care professionals in caring for our people and in building the nation.
The hybrid workshop shall consist of eight synchronous sessions on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. via Zoom) across four weeks. Part I, from October 30-31, 2024 will consist of lecture-discussions on the Art of Writing and Close-Reading Creative Nonfiction. Part II, from Nov. 20-Nov. 28, will consist of workshop discussions on the fellows’ submitted creative work. The culminating program on Nov. 29, 2024 will be held onsite at De La Salle University. Marjorie M. Evasco, DLSU’s Writer-in-Residence and Professor Emeritus of Literature, is the workshop director. She will be joined by Drs. Joey A. Tabula and Lance Isidore Catedral as panelists.
Labels: books/reading