when ranting is good for the health...

I decided to rant in a major way about writers and their (our) woes to our national hero, Jose Rizal, on the occasion of his 150th birthday today. I popped it out in my Culture Popper blog to be more precise. Read that here.

In terms of writing, relevance and being queer, I also made a happy-first-year-anniversary article about my favorite writing gig of late, the Philippine Online Chronicles' Pinoy LGBT Channel. Read about that here.

I was with my good friend B last Friday, my editor in that POC channel. And as usual, we talked (er, ranted?) about the latest goings-on in the local LGBTQ (or to be more appropriate, Manila-based) circles. Too many controversies going on to contextualize in this space. What I could just say is this: thank goodness for disengagement! Too many hypocrisies flying around and about. Makes me think if we would be able to achieve real solidarity, after all, in my lifetime. Oh well. If not here, then maybe elsewhere.

So this is where June Pride Month enters. I'll be celebrating it outside Manila. Of late, I think I prefer to circulate in old-but-new spaces with old-but-also-new queer people in my circles. I'm talking about attending the Baguio Pride Network's LGBTQ Pride March in Baguio before June ends. I bumped into them BPN peeps last April when I went up there with my superfriend L, and it's really refreshing to talk with queer people with no agendas or airs whatsoever.

It'll also be a good end to my half-a-year travel frenzy, this Baguio trip. I'm trying to formulate newer ruminations about such inner journeys so I made a travel blog last April in Tumblr, but I decided to migrate that to Wordpress instead. Haven't updated it yet but you can still read the earlier posts here.

It's the start of the semester here as well. I still can't shake off my vacation mode. That's what I'm talking about up there, the half-a-year travel frenzy. Been to lots of outside Manila places in that short span this year, mostly with my favorite kindred travelmate. So this Baguio trip, the second for the year, should conclude that -- for now. I don't know if I'm going to do any traveling again for the rest of the year, but I don't think I want to, yet. Well, unless there's work-related all-expenses paid traveling again, why not. And/or unless my favorite kindred travelmate returns, that's when I'll do some serious (personal) traveling again. But until then, maybe I'll just hibernate here at home and do some ruminations of the half a year that passed, among other ruminations.

Sometimes, it's nice to be anti-social, or just be with a handful of specific souls you want to share moments with. Thanks to the souls who have been reaching out to help lessen some sadness in me lately. I heart you all. And yes, more chats and rants soon.

Maybe for now, I'll just rest.