Slip of the Pen

A few weeks ago, a dog by the name of Randolph Manhattan sent me an email offering condolences for Fischer’s loss and sharing the new book from Random House, A Dog About Town.

Randolph is the star of the said book, which is written from the poetry-loving Labrador’s perspective. If that isn’t an inimitable premise for a novel, then I don’t know what is!

A few days ago, I picked up the book at the post office; Randolph and J.F. Englert had so kindly sent me an autographed copy from New York (thank you, dear sirs!). This blog’s readers know that I have tons of titles in my read-to pile (Exhibit A, Exhibit B), but this book is on top right now, period. (Yes, the First In First Out principle doesn’t apply to my books.) A Dog About Town has certainly piqued my interest, and it’s not just because I’m a dog lover.

I’ll write a more detailed post (a book review, even) after I’ve finished reading this book. For now, suffice it to say that I’m already recommending this title this early! (I do hope Philippine bookstores already have Randolph’s pipe-puffing pose on their shelves!)

Drum roll please…presenting Karimlan, my new blog where I finally let loose some crisp curses in Tagalog.

I’ve got one admission to make: I’ve been losing the urge to write in English these past months. Even my choice of books has slowly been tilting to Tagalog. Credit that to LIRA; aside from getting invaluable workshop lessons and appreciation for the native language, there I met a couple of minds attuned with mine, and to cut a long story short, the new friendships formed have led to what could become a major development in my life as a Filipino writer in Filipino. (This post’s postscript adds a bit more intrigue to it.)

Given all that has happened, I saw it a travesty that I wasn’t keeping a Tagalog blog. Right now, my Karimlan posts are more diary- and rant-ish types than serious works, but as time flies, poems and stories will find their way in.

(FYI: You’d be surprised to see how frequently I’ve been updating Karimlan. Even I am. Poor Slip of the Pen.)

That said, I won’t be abandoning this blog, much more writing in English. Sooner or later, my muse will swing back to Anglosphere-speak, and Karimlan will be the one with a dearth of posts. I’m betting that I’ll be long-suffering from a struggle between the foreign tongue and the tongue in which I dream.

Okey, tama na ang dada.

Pasinayaan ang Karimlan!

P.S. To get the best of both worlds the hassle-free way, you can subscribe to the Karimlan blog feed and this blog’s feed. Saves time.

My last post about Fischer backfired. Call me sentimental — my dog’s pic made me avoid this blog for some time. That, and every delinquent blogger’s pet excuse — “my day job!”

Well, save for the last post, all I’ve been recently babbling about in this blog are books and LIRA. One more article about both of them won’t hurt.

Sir Rio with some of the LIRA 2007 fellows. I’m the one in stripes and with the long hair. From L to R: (back row) JC Sola, to whom this and the next three photos belong to, Karla, Pau, Christa, Rhodge, (front row) Por, Daboi, Da Man, John, Daisy, Guia.

Last Saturday, Ia and I trooped to the much awaited 28th Manila International Book Fair to — what else? — buy a ton of bargain books, as well as attend the “Araw ni Virgilio Almario”, a tribute to the National Artist for Literature and director of the LIRA poetry workshop who’s also known as Rio Alma. The event was part of Pistang Panitik, a five-day literary festival within the Book Fair that was conceived by sir Vim Nadera.

Sirs Roger Mangahas, Bobby Añonuevo, Mike Coroza, and Tata Funilas, who provided comic relief by walking up to the stage wearing a Rio Alma mask, stunning sir Rio’s good friend Roger and distracting him from his talk.

Of course, the fellows of this year’s Palihan sa LIRA were out in full force to support sir Rio. We helped out in the usual chores — preparing the exhibits, ushering in the audience (”Bagay na bagay ang polo mo ah!”), giving out leaflets to Book Fair attendees (”O, mambugaw muna kayo ng ating event”), giving the loudest applause, and whatnot. The programme was good; the critics/presenters were the distinguished trio of Rogelio Mangahas, Roberto Añonuevo, and Michael Coroza. El Batch Presidente and UP Writers’ Club member Pau Hernando was the emcee.

Sirs Michael Coroza and Romulo Baquiran Jr. with Batch Sidhay. Notice the substantial loot I’m carrying; later that night, my left hand was sore.

The small Exhibit Room was jampacked, with many more Book Fair strollers peeping in from time to time. Unfortunately, some members of the audience, mostly students, weren’t paying attention to the talks. That’s respect for the country’s National Artists for you. Curiously, some of these short-attention-span gits were seen avidly lining up for sir Rio’s signature after the programme.

Ia and I having a not-so-sweet-but-sweet-enough moment. JC, thank you for this shot! Hehehe. Nagulat na lang ako noong nakita ko ‘to.

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