December Days

It seems this month is turning out to be one of the more interesting Decembers in recent memory. There’s that natural disaster (Typhoon Reming and how it wreaked havoc in much of the Bicol region, not just in Albay—no holiday cheer for them this year, that’s for certain), and the man-made ones (the fiasco that was the Con-Ass and the rallies that followed—sheesh, these… creatures are dense!). And there are these political assassinations and assassination attempts happening with increasing regularity. I have a bad feeling we’ll see more of these next year.

Thankfully, there were some bright spots. My friend Kristian Cordero won this year’s Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award for his wonderful poetry collection Mga Tulang Tulala nearly two weeks ago. A few of my UP workshop co-fellows and I used his win as an excuse to get together and celebrate at Janet’s place. We may be few, but we still had fun. Here’s the proof:

Four Fictionists Having Fun: Riza, Janet, Kristian and Ely

Last Monday marked my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, and true to fashion my family didn’t celebrate it. We have never been interested in celebrating special occasions with parties and such, even by ourselves, opting for nice and quiet—in other words, ordinary—dinners instead. Some people may find that strange, but that’s just who we are. We’re that low-key, that simple. I may be biased in saying this, but my parents truly have a great marriage. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but they made it look so effortless, considering they raised three kids with wildly different and distinct personalities with very few things in common, who could hardly relate to—and are so averse to exchanging terms of endearment (blech!) with—one another. But in spite of that, my siblings and I know that we can rely on one another, in one way or another, when problems arise. We’re family, after all. If that’s not a positive result of a great marriage, then I don’t know what is. Here’s what my parents looked like then (they’re going to "kill" me if they see this: Eeeeeh, my disgusted mom would say):


On a more personal note, theater critic Gibbs Cadiz named First Snow of November in his Best Play (One-Act) Honorable-Mention list in his review of the 2006 local theater scene. Much as I’m delighted by it, I’m even more so with his citation of Abner Delina Jr.’s performance in my play. He really deserves it. I’m also glad he also cited the plays of some of my fellow Bloc members.

And speaking of theater reviews, the Tanghalang Pilipino website featured my review of Bakeretta, first published in the Philippine Chronicle late last month. Read it here if interested.