Dinner, etc.
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya
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fullhappy new year?!
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya| 08:12pm 31/12/2005 | |||
four hours left until this agonizing year ends. here i am, again, in my underwear, i have imprisoned myself in my room with a stash of nasty habits and ridiculous thoughts. in other words, i am spending New Year’s Eve working on my thesis (alas, don’t say bad words!) — a radical departure from the usual evenings of bacchanalian merrymaking and pyrotechnic revelry (hurray for the World Pyro Olympics). i have a six-inch stack of readings and journal articles aside from my other bayong of books and transcribed content beside me. i have several incense sticks lit to mask the odor of Marlboros. i have a fresh pot of brewed kapeng barako (black, no cream, tons of sugar) steaming on my desk. i have a migraine. i think i’ve been liberated from kitchen duties as i specifically asked for privacy tonight. beginning tomorrow, i will try to: 1. be punctual among other things. sounds like a New Year’s resolution to me. hehe. for everyone here who made 2005 a fantastic adventure, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. |
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workingTech Reunion for Ted at Becca’s House
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya| 06:08am 30/12/2005 | |||
because Teodoro Angelo "Ted" Umali has admitted to reading my journal entries, i will write as candidly as i can for today. it is actually 4:51 am right now and I am in my underwear, warding off the chill of December with my nicotine doses and a nice cup of freshly brewed coffee. i just got home from another Tech (the high school I went to had a ’streaming’ function where sections were segregated into either Technology or Science streams, with the former geared towards Engineering electives and the latter for hard sciences. the sorting, without the Hogwarts hat, was done through a Spatial Abilities Aptitude Test where a culturally-biased battery of problems were administered to incoming freshmen to determine if they were smart enough to secure slots in the 2 Tech sections or merely part of the sheep who’d be lumped together in Science. needless to say, the group of people at Malou Sabundayo, the birthday girl and future attorney of our batch, and I met up at Starfucks Katips so we could travel to Bex’s together. we were actually quite early (ayy, Filipino time) as only a handful of people were there when we arrived. like any high school, there were certain cliques within each section and ours was no exception to the small group behavior. the celebrant wasn’t there yet so the tables in Bex’s lovely garden were arranged with a light mix of small talk and appetizers. conversation mostly revolved on Wowowee (and their plan to join, ho-hum), the matrimonial designs of our other batchmates, who worked where, who last saw whom, which teachers died, what changes have transpired in Pisay and all manner of eclectic musings to catch up on each other’s lives. the music was great, it was like being in a secluded restobar with a relaxing, very organic ambiance. it was one of the main things that kept my head from wandering off into my own lucid realm. Finally, at around 11pm, Ted showed up and promptly made the rounds of airkissing and backpatting. I told him that he was the only reason I went to the Tech event as I had been in absentia for the longest time, even if I was in closer proximity than they were. After all, there are many ways to spend a Thursday and last night, I had allotted it for Ted, one of the few people I was really, platonically close to in that arduous, seventh circle of hell monikered Philippine Science High School. Ted, in all appearances, seemed the same — no extra calories, no I’m-a-six-digit-earning-balikbayan-yuppie air, no pretentious name-dropping or a forced Yankee accent… Just the same brand of politically-incorrect humor that comes out so effectively, it doesn’t seem to offend anyone. The best thing I can remember about Ted’s jokes were the ones likening the feeling of being to lazy to get up and extricate oneself from a chair or any reclining substrate as being like sessilized Poriferan phyla (hello, Jessamyn Yazon!). In fact, a lot of my happiest Pisay moments (and there were few, unfortunately) were with Ted and his alternately mean yet stomach-grabbingly funny jokes. I think one of the reasons I survived Pisay, despite my academic lethargy and chronic absenteeism, was his notes and my bestfriend, the photocopier. I hated COCC (the CAT-1 officers’ training for aspiring bullies-in-uniform) but he made it seem all the more entertaining because of its absurdity and meaninglessness. He was the brilliant kid who memorized font-types, who could discuss the salient characteristics of each brand of inkjet printer available in the market, who could sing a tenor piece with all the sharps and flats in the right places. I could go on and on… Anyway, for all the nastiness he was previously known for, I believe his Christian conversion is something that is an inspiration to me in the sense that it somehow made the concept of a "changed life" more palpable. And for someone who’s always on observer status in these Tech events, I could really feel the change in his countenance compared to the Mentos-personality (tough outside, chewy inside) he had while in high school. He’s now in Stanford U while working in Silicon Valley — I suppose that’s the only thing I ferreted out since there was a Taboo game, people coming and going, people squeezing out a few precious minutes with Ted before heading home. We really didn’t get to talk much this year but maybe, after 365 days, he’d be able to come back to the Philippines for another round of harried bonding over beer and bibingka, lechon manok and Sprite, just as we did yesterday. So, here’s to you, Ted, my brother in Christ, and thanks for always reading my angst-ridden prose. I hope I made you smile today. Oh, and Mac finally proposed to Bex so it’s officially MacBexter engagement day. it’s also my parents’ Muslim wedding anniversary today. |
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contemplative![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
TXT:
Kaibigan, araw ng kamatayan ngayon ni Jose. Nawa’y tularan mo siya hindi sa pagpapabaril sa Luneta kundi sa paggamit ng wasto sa oras. maging abala sa mga bagay na makabuhulugan: isauna sina inang bayan at inang kalikasan. Nasa kamay moang pagbabagong inaasam nila Jose. Panahon ng ikaw naman ang maging bayani.ü -Dek Limjoco 23:23:02
anniversaire
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya
uncomfortableA Rejoinder (Patricia Evangelista’s Into the Sound and Fury) A Rejoinder by Sarah Raymundo and Bogart Jaime
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasorayarebonglila (rebonglila) wrote, @ 2005-12-20 09:05:00 Current mood: jubilant Current music: Haydn - Finale - Allegro from Concert in E-flat Major A Rejoinder (Patricia Evangelista’s Into the Sound and Fury) A Rejoinder by Sarah Raymundo and Bogart Jaime In Ms. Evangelista’s reply to our blog "Patricia Evangelista: Rebel Without a Clue," she merely reiterated her argument that "political activism is one among many ways to help the country, and that people determine their paths based on personal beliefs and experiences;" and that "[she] make[s] the personal choice not to become an activist." While she insists that her "argument is simple," we think that it is rather simplistic. It would be more convenient to direct the reader to our friendster blog but we decide to restate our positions. It is our argument that the "many ways to help the country" are often antagonistic than complementary as is usually presupposed. Should we perhaps believe that GMA’s effort to help the country through her Strong Republic complements the genuine agrarian reform program advanced by the Left? Her public announcement that she chooses not to be an activist counters the activists effort to arouse and mobilize the broadest number of Filipinos towards an organized movement for national sovereignty and social justice. Without having to allude to this organized movement, she is antagonizing the practice of "activism" which has virtually become a metonym for this very movement. It is perfectly fine to challenge the Left and its claims. It is a remarkable feat for a college coed to problematize the Left. However, we find that her denial of the antagonistic positionalities defeats the very purpose of any meaningful debate on social alternatives. It is curious how appeals for "tolerance" is often addressed to the Left as when Ms. Evangelista says that her column is "an attack on intolerance, in the context of activism." We engage this position since it is not only Ms. Evangelista who assumes it. For how is "tolerance" used in its actual context, i.e. in "multicultural" societies like the USA? The liberals in the US, for instance, address their plea for "tolerance" to their government and policy-makers. Tolerance, in this context, is addressed to those who are in power. It is amusing to have to see columnists demanding "tolerance" from a group that could hardly marginalize privileged voices (of columnists, radio commentators and other media personalities, not excluding some actors in showbusiness). Of course, the Left can always challenge dominant opinions but marginalizing opinion-makers is an impossible act for the Left to do. To think that the Left and the State (institutions and their honchos) wield equal power in the Philippines is a gross miscalculation. Furthermore, it is the least of our intentions to condescend to Ms. Evangelista that she is a "victim lured by the discourse of neoliberalism". While we said that she is "lured by the discourse of neoliberalism", we never painted her as a victim. We argued that she seems to have interrnalized the neoliberal ideology. It is clear to us that the victims of neoliberalism are the peasants and workers from Third World nations who are now protesting the ongoing WTO talks in Hong Kong. We demur Ms. Evangelista’s claim that we condemned corporations and charity institutions. In saying that corporate social responsibility is a conjunctural phenomenon, and a strategy of containment in the context of global monopoly capital, we are not opining that corporate social responsibility must be viewed this way, we are saying it has historically been that way. Given the logic of profit accumulation, we have yet to see Ms. Evangelista’s point that there are two kinds of motives for the setting-up of corporations namely "altruistic" and "purely commercial." We pose that capitalist exploitation can never be negated by "acts of generosity." We concede that there are impoverished individuals who are assisted by charitable institutions. Contrary to her misreading, we did not censure organizations like Gawad Kalinga. We pointed out the limits of charity within the context of global monopoly capital. This is far from dismissing the function of these institutions. We sense a refusal on Ms. Evangelista’s part to analyse poverty, charity, corporations and interests in a systemic light. Rather, these elements are thought in terms of "motivations." We clarify this in the light of Ms. Evangelista’s take that we "speak as if only [us] have the right to dictate the motives of individuals." We do not operate in that mode. We prefer a dialectical analysis of motivations vis-a-vis structures. This is why we find it important to finally reply to Ms. Evangelista’s rebuttal. We feel that it is our task to make it clear that our blog entry was not written as a personal attack. We are reading her arguments as symptoms of "reading history" in a way that legitimizes the dominant social order. To take offense from this symptomatic reading is as good as implying that she is the sole author of her beliefs. Who is ever? Moreover, we are amused at Ms. Evangelista’s cunning in "cutting" our statements and "pasting" them in a manner that is rather self-referential and ostensibly decontextualised. Allow us to cite a an instance: she claims that we called her a "socialite." We made certain formal moves to illustrate the phenomenon that we are assessing, i.e., the hold of neoliberal ideas. In our argumentation, it is formally impossible to isolate elements of our critique of charity via the historical limitations of utopian socialism. It is apparent that Ms. Evangelista’s argument articulates elements of utopian socialism. We even explained how utopian socialists like Robert Owen realized the logical conclusion of charity is a rupture in the social relations of production. Ms. Evangelista’s apotheosis of corporate social responsibility forecloses this very rupture in the social relations of production. As for her grasp of the sentence where the word "socialite" appears, we can only refer the reader to the original text. At this point, it is necessary to address Ms. Evangelista’s assertion that we were the ones who said that Professtor Lani Abad’s statements reek of totalitarianism. We find this as a malicious sleight-of-hand. Furthermore, it is not true that we accuse Ms. Evangelista of being a "megalomaniac." The word "megalomaniac" in our blog entry appears as the first term of a compound noun "megalomaniac fantasies." It is the fantasy that is being referred to. Unfortunately, we do not have the training to diagnose her, or even our very selves of such psychological ailments. Ms. Evangelista rests her whole argument on open-mindedness. We agree that open-mindedness is important in the debate on conflicting alternatives to the current social order. It is Ms. Evangelista’s premise that there could be a coexistence to all of these conflicting alternatives that we find debatable. Besides, how can she claim open-mindedness when she is deploying notions like "extremism" as though the term is not subject to political contestation? If there is indeed "extremism," "terrorism," and "ideological intolerance," then there must be an entity who ascribes these to particular groups. Should we perhaps just accept these labels as defined, for instance, by the U.S. State Department? Although we earlier challenged her notion of open-mindedness, we cannot deny the authenticity of her claim to open-mindedness as when she says, "I believe and respect activists and their contribution to society. Neither do I close the possibility of ever choosing their way." It is in her expression of a dimension of her personality that gives potency to her assertions. We therefore disagree that an erasure of one’s particularity (i.e. personality) is necessary for a debate. That a debate must be confined to ideas is logically sound since "people are not what they do". In pointing out some of Professor Abad’s characteristics, we are simply trying to sculpt the flesh-and-blood from the stereotype of an activist academic. We welcome Ms. Evangelista’s Nietzschean realization: "I’ve always thought my beliefs are strong; it’s only now that I have to fight for them that I can honestly say they are." But the question is, will her strong beliefs be the object of state repression? This year alone (2005) 150 activists in the Philippines were killed on account of their beliefs. Tolerance? How about justice?
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sorry na lang sa mga fans ni Patricia Evangelista but I love Prof. Lani Abad and I affirm my adherence to the position stated above.
the night before
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya| 08:45am 19/12/2005 | ||||
december brings drizzle and despair. not knowing if tomorrow will be an afternoon of passion and accomplishment or merely a half-baked disappointment, i set off to shower and get ready for blissful sleep. after all, everything seems so much better in the morning. |
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sigh
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya| 08:44am 18/12/2005 | ||||
"Pain is only valuable once you know that you’ve learned from it." –Lilieeye Dhark |
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thank god, it’s biyernes!
January 2nd, 2006 by vidasoraya| 03:44am 09/12/2005 | |||
| hay naku, hay naku.
"i have no concept of time except that it is flying" - All I Really Want, Alanis Morissette |
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a lot of Js
November 24th, 2005 by vidasoraya| 02:17am 24/11/2005 | |||
6:24 am Just got home after |
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cheerfulShaddup, Stalker!
November 24th, 2005 by vidasoraya| 02:08am 22/11/2005 | |||
the witching hour is the best time for first, Asshole: Anong course mo? as ***************** after my ECON101 class, ***************** dinner at |
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aggravated