Goodbye 2010. You have been such an interesting year for me. But I am soooooo ready to let you go and sooooo ready to embrace the new year that ushers the next decade.
Next decade na?????? Where'd time go, man! Hayyy... Well, whatever. Bring it on, universe.
But first, a quick flashback. In images. To let me remember what I need to (still) flush out of my system, what I still need to hold on to, what I have to adjust, what I have to conquer, what I could (still) permit/let inside my being, and what I have to just accept without prejudice -- if that is possible at all. You know me. :)
All photos, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by me. Some swiped or shared by others.
As ABBA sang, thank you for the music. Thank you for the images as well. And to you folks who have been reading my stuff here all these years/times, thanks very much.
Roll cam.
My high school friends and I decided to see each other more often, at least once a month, and pig out or as we called it "payday dinners" at the end of each month. Some months were successful; some were not. As always. This is us at Banapple in Katipunan Ave. sometime in January.
Continuing the so-called "domesticated bliss" and discovering good finds in longstanding places, as exemplified by this masala-flavored noodles we discovered in Assad Indian store in Manila.
Continued my TV scriptwriting duties and sometimes directorial duties in Happy Land, awarded the best children's show program last November at the PMPC Star Awards for TV or something, before the show got revamped. Hamming it up with one of the lead kid actors JP sometime in February.
As always, discovered new foodie stuff and, um people stuff with superfriends, as exemplified by this gelato discovery of me and superfriend X while waiting for a potential work client in Trinoma mall. How come I always pick the fancier ones? Just a thought...
And then, everything seemed to be up in the air come February's tail end.
And um, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Chos. Me at Ihop somewhere in San Francisco. Yes, California. Yes yooesopey. Hay, after ingesting all the ninja training modules on US visa application and stuff, I finally made it. Ten year multiple entry, baby! Sankapa!
We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of... My California-based sister picking me up at SF International Airport.
Taking a sneak peek of San Francisco. I'd like to come back here and fully explore...
...since we got lost looking for the Castro District that night. Darn GPS. Hm next time na ang pilgrimage sa store ni Harvey Milk.
Because I needed to don my gear for my next ninja training module, environment edition...
...called New York During The Tail of Winter, A Week After A Blizzard Hit The City. Putangina I hate winter. Good luck to me!!! Whoever invented winter should die! Sorry tropics girl angst mode. Oh yeah, that's Liberty at the background, and me at the foreground freezing my butt off. [photo by K early March]
Good thing I have my superfriend K, my New York sensei, to teach me the finer things in NY life, like surviving the subway. Among other things...
I miss you teh!!! As our American "savior" Gen. McArthur said, I shall return. Chos.
K showing me the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, as Alicia Keys sang. Yeah that's Times Square. And that's the dork in New York. [photo by K]
Central Park fail! Snow I hate you. Must.come.back.during.spring/summer/autumn.
[photo by K]
Went there for this. Presented a paper on lesbian depictions in independent digital Pinoy cinema ek. Happened in CUNY Graduate Center ek along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Went there with the usual suspects, of course. Superfriend X presented a paper on homosexual digital films and superfriend A presented gay spaces in digital cinema. All our papers were under the panel of Articulations of Homosexual Desire in Philippine Independent Cinema. Needless to say, we were a hit hehe. Op kors! Third world thinkers rock! Hahaha chos!
Us listening to first world (outdated) knowledge. Chos! Hahaha. Nah, these are the cool CUNY conference organizers.
But still, there were papers presented there that made us think "Uhh, so why the fuck are you guys studying that?" Hehe. Kami na, ang matalino! Hahaha!
And no New York trip is complete without the ultimate queer pilgrimage to Stonewall along the legendary Christopher Street in Greenwhich Village. Achieve!!!!! [photo by X]
Book sluts that we are, we have to visit Strand or as I want to call it, the money blackhole hehe (thanks to Jovan for the term).
A former college friend used to work there. Used to barter books with him hehe.
Visited places that also made me go hmmmmmm...
Ano, puwede? Bagay? Keri? Lemmesee... :P
And I was like, "Uhh yeah, I can live here in this neighborhood..."
Loitering around Greenwich Village.
And I had to visit the American Museum of Natural History, specifically the Rose Center for Earth and Space area where we saw a new stars show. Astronomy geek is it!
And yes, we had to see MOMA. And see my favorite Picasso painting of all time. I heart cubism. [Photo by X]
Of course I had to see other NY-based great friends who toured me on foot in other places of interest :) That's my good friend from the film industry before, Ly with Liz, at Cubbyhole.
But this particular legendary area of interest failed!!! St. Patrick's Day fail. Like what are buffed gay guys doing in a lesbian pick-up joint???? Beats me.
So thus, we ended up hanging out at Stonewall. Good enough. No pick-ups, though. Ah, woe is me hehe :P
Hooked up with great NY-based writer friends as well. Mini-jologz reunion here, with the Jojoes, my Dumaguete workshop co-writing fellows. We're a long way from the boulevard now, eh dudes?
That's us hanging out at this cool vegetarian Indian resto Vatan in Manhattan. Thanks for the treat, guys! [photo by Jojo]
Other good-natured souls also treated me and superfriend X to other things, like this Phantom of the Opera show. Yuh, that's the famed chandelier. In fairness, winner ang production design.
And yes omg Birdland!!!! Tumbling lola mo when I saw the venue for our dinner that night, with the open mic jam session thing. I am a big old school jazz fan and if you are, you'd know how legendary this place is. Man I almost died!
My, my, how can I resist ya, New York?
Loitering around the theater district. [photo by X]
It is useless to resist.
At the Brooklyn Bridge. [photo by K]
While in NY, the good-natured souls invited us to visit them in New Jersey. But when I reached Jersey, hm, the universe wanted me to go home! And sent this cab for me! Kaloka hahaha. [photo by X]
Jersey-based Ate M of superfriend X, as we inhaled the fresh air of Liberty Park with a nice view of the Manhattan skyline.
And yeah, while in Jersey, we also got a glimpse of Pennsylvania for one whole afternoon. Four states in one visit, dude. That might be a record.
Yes, I got the ninja training module on subway riding down pat. That's me during my last day in Brooklyn. And New York. Yes, I miss it. Especially superfriends.
Back in Cali. And guess where we decided to eat. Ganda lang, teh. It's like I never left Manila hehe. Well, when you got a craving for crispy pata, it has to be enacted upon!
Doctor Dre is in da hauz!!! Word up! Hanging out at Norm's for steaks.
Easter holiday, I got picked up by my superfriend D who's now based in Los Angeles. So SoCal it is.
Yes I have a lot of great friends living abroad. Hm makes me think... Yes it does, with their prodding, of course. Lemmesee...
So we made it a more memorable Easter. Other old friends from UP flew in, drove down and hung out! It was a blast!
Having pizza and beer somewhere in WeHo early April.
And um, yeah, watched the Truckstop ladies perform in LA! Too chicken to get a lapdance though hahaha!
Man I sooooo miss West Hollywood right now. [photo by C]
And of course, Hollywood, baby!
And a brief moment of silence in front of Johnny Depp's club where River Phoenix died years ago.
Along Sunset Boulevard. [photo by Hazel]
And leave me for 3 hours in Hollywood and this is what I do: photo ops. Along everywhere, like the Walk of Fame.
No, we're not related.
Back at my sister's in central California, where one should not get a $9 haircut, if one doesn't want to look like Justin Bieber after 3 weeks.
Central Cali goodness is discovering the John Steinbeck museum at Salinas just near Monterey!!! Woot! Film and lit geek mode on!
And pigging out in different places like Panda Express. Man I love this joint pramis. Orange chicken heaven!
And driving around and checking out the beaches, like Pismo. But it was too darn cold to jump in. So photo ops would suffice.
And then it's me and my sister's turn to loiter around LA. So of course, theme parks are the main destinations. Especially this one. Super-film geek mode on!
Ladies with an attitude. Ganda ng Marilyn Monroe raket ng lola, aney?
And of course Disneyland!!! Gotta check out pop culture imperalism at its finest in its orginal location. Yeh? :P
But this is more fun -- Disney California Adventure. That's me redefining the concept of "motion sickness" after riding that fucker at my back. It involves riding a seated elevator that opens up near the top and you can see the whole park from the side. No, I didn't hurl but I almost did! Frak. There goes my ambition of being an astronaut...
And yey a quick side trip to Griffith Observatory! Where they shot Rebel Without A Cause! And um Charlie's Angels Full Throttle.
But back to reality after summer, just in time to see the Philippines undergo its first automated elections. And voila, we have a new president and senators. Hm.
And trying to enjoy the calm before the storm that is first semester in my serene Diliman campus... serene if without the kids.
Thank goddess for good friends who never run out of appetite to discover food thingies as we enjoy each other's company while bashing people who bash us hahaha!
Fumo-fundue at Cabalen Trinoma.
Also bidding farewell to some more friends who want to go abroad either to work or to be with their partners in countries where it's cooler to be queer. Haaay envy is me.
Miss you, Chet. Watch out for the kangaroos. :)
But we gain new friends along the way, like X's newest mistress, Ruby. :)
As we engage in TV work for the last time. Me directing an episode of Sunnyville, the show that revamped Happy Land.
And trying out new things in old environs, like not being a sideline rapporteur at the yearly Cinemalaya Film Congress but this time, being one of the on-stage moderators for a panel. Keri na rin. [photo by Maya sometime in July]
Also doing some newspaper columnist duties at the side, a gig I actually let go before the year ended. Sans regret, I should add.
Me being hi-tech as I jot down notes using my smartphone at the International Silent Film Festival coverage.
But ending old engagements also brought along starting new ones, like this current favorite of mine, our radio talk show over DZUP, my brainchild Cine Chichirya, where the usual suspects talk about the one thing we all love -- cinema. With this gig, I can now honestly say that I've made all the rounds of tri-media. Bow.
Also found myself networking with new like-minded people, like that strange impromptu media presentation I gave at the regional meeting of the International Association of Women in Radio and TV sometime in August. Weird, but good nonetheless. Met the courageous former Mayor Grace Padaca who wanted to add me on Facebook, but her account's already full. Oh well. :)
And then it had to happen. Domestic bliss shattered. September was the month when I developed a strange allergic reaction to sunsets especially those viewed from my picture windows. Imagine that. But thank goddess that didn't take so long. After a month of friendly rehab, I'm back in business. Silhouettes are in again. And I was good to go. Raring.
Friendly rehab consisted of drifting towards like-minded beer-drinking people, friends of superfriends and old acquaintances turned present friends. At Vina's kubo in Bulacan. [photo by X]
Thank goddess for the presence of the usual suspects during these tumultuous times as well. And yes, food helped heal one's soul. And pigging out. Like at Xocolat.
As well as engaging in familiar spaces, like literary conventions. Here, meeting up with Indian author Vikas Swarup whose novel Q&A was the basis for Danny Boyle's super-hit film Slumdog Millionaire. This was sometime in November during the Lit Out Loud NBDB conference.
Or engaging in media in different ways with old people. Like when X and I were invited to see the film premiere of the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Gahoole at Imax theater (my first time in Imax. Don't like.) and then being interviewed on TV for a morning show segment. Well, needless to say, it was a hooooooot. Hehe.
And yes, engaging with a new life partner. Meet my girlfriend Dahon. We are in an open relationship so she doesn't mind me doing other things with other, er, equipment. Like at the gym, where I have a regular morning orgy with Treadmill, Lat Machine and Dumbbells. We're good. :)
Crashing back into the scene also helps. A lot! That's me redefining "pamorningan" after ditching a boring exclusive dance party and being invited to crash in a more interesting cougars vs. cubs party somewhere in Mandaluyong. Needless to say, liquor + conversations with witty queer women keep me awake 'til sunrise. [photo by Jaja]
Another good thing is starting new things with the usual suspects of old friends. Unofficially, we three have been doing media/arts stuff all around. But thanks to an official engagement, we made it official this time. Hence, the birth of Pedxing Media Group.
Also reconnected with my old office, Isis International, to facilitate a media workshop for their Activist School. My kind of thing. The second round of this engagement I brought with me Pedxing. [photo from Isis]
Teaching non-film people to do film production work for advocacy is something I think I'd like to do more. Hm let's see...
Here we are engaging the Asia-Pacific participants at Subic's White Rock resort. [photo by Teta]
And that's me trying to take a glimpse of a Philippine beach, my first for the year. That was X's angst actually ever since we came back from the US -- we haven't spent decent time relaxing in a local beach due to work stuff, unlike in past years. Ah, we'll try to change that this 2011, my friend. [photo by Teta]
Also dragging along old friends in the gig, like long-lost superfriend T and new friends or students-turned-co-workers like Nessa. [photo by Avie]
So it was also good that Isis adopted us "orphans" for this year's Pride March held in QC.
And of course, I came prepared. As always. Since I also decided after 12 years, this will be my last.
So better go out with a bang. With a new look. And an improved body. Lavet!
[photo by my student barbie]
After ten years, this is the first time I wore a tank top in public, again. Yes, I am so loving this new old persona hehe. [photo by richie]
Also enjoying pizza and the new persona as I hang out with new people in my universe. Pigging out at Sicilian's after pride with Kat and Leah of Isis.
Continuing old traditions of yearly get-togethers with writer friends at Writer's Night. Free wine is a lure. With UP Writers Workshop Baguio batchmates Butch and Marnie and foremost gay writer Neil Garcia. [photo by Neil]
Also rediscovering an old love with old and new colleagues, namely my co-faculty and lecturers at the UP College of Mass Communication, in this crazy year-end gig called Hagikhikan: Faculty Follies. Where we danced. Yes, in public. Twice! last December 15 at UP Theater no less. [photo by Melissa]
Channeling Michael Jackson was a hoot. Here's me leading the Beat It dance number. Can you beat that??? This gave me such a natural high. [photo by our student allie]
Me and Data of broadcomm doing the Shakira song thang. Oh no wait, Ketchup song pala. Regardless, that was one great gig man! Let's do it again next year! Woot!!![photo by allie]
And the year ends with more parties and hanging out with friends. At X's birthday bash in Conspiracy with film majors of yore. You know what, we age well, you guys. I'm just saying hehe.
[photo by Raf]
Old friends meeting new friends. [photo by Raf]
Hanging out with the latest family members of the Linsangan clan during the yearly yuletide reunion. At cousin Liza's in Valle Verde, with cousin Hugo's youngest Magi and cousin James' only child Bella.
Our high school barkada Chielo, in town from Saudi, as we hung out at Cho-Cho's place. Videoke drives us crazy. Thank goodness for wine. [photo by Kuya Brucie]
***
Overall, that was a good year, despite some setbacks. But at least now, the coast is clearer, the view is more straightforward, and there are still so many things to do and accomplish.
As always we take it one day at a time.
[photo swiped from Kakay]
