A Dozen Dramatists Get "De-virginized"

"Baldagyi Hatipoglu" first wrote about it. Gibbs Cadiz later publicized it in his blog, as did Ian Casocot. Medyo nakakahiya naman kung hindi ko rin ipa-plug ito, lalo na't directly involved ako dito last year. But let me try a different approach:





First row, left to right: Séance's Auggie Arcenas, Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro's Rogelio Braga, Ellas Inocentes' Layeta Bucoy. Second row, left to right: Kung Pwede Sanang Ipagpalit ang Tatay's James Cansanay, Mga Obra ni Maestra's Niel de Mesa, My Padir is an OCW's George Vail Kabristante. Third row, left to right: Kasaysayan's Allan Lopez, May Bumubulong's Job Pagsibigan, Teroristang Labandera's Debbie Ann Tan. Fourth row, left to right: Bagahe and Pobreng Alindahaw's J. Dennis Teodosio, Kuyom's Argel Tuason, Bertdey ni Guido's Rene O. Villanueva. Not pictured: Three Unsent Letters' Arlo de Guzman and Looking for Darna's Lani Montreal. (Photos of Braga, Bucoy, Pagsibigan, Teodosio and Tuason are courtesy of Tanghalang Pilipino and photographer Arney Nucom.)

Watch the works of more than a dozen playwrights get, as Madonna's "Like A Virgin" puts it, touched for the very first time onstage in the third edition of Tanghalang Pilipino and the Writers Bloc, Inc.'s Virgin Labfest beginning this Thursday, June 28 and running until July 8. Tickets are priced at a very reasonable P200. For details, call Tanghalang Pilipino at 832-3661 or visit www.virginlabfest.com.

Spouse Search

A few months ago my boss handed me a bunch of travel-related printed materials which he had picked up during one of his many travels. Among these is this flyer:





















Nothing really wrong about looking for a wife/husband/life partner/etc., but I hope I'm not the only one who's disturbed by this.

A Fool for School

I took a rare day-off from work today to enroll at UP for the nth time, and I couldn't help but be amused at myself for always feeling lost in the process, as though I'm a perpetual freshman. It's as if I'm "cursed" to quickly forget the how-to's once someone hands me my validated Form 5 at the Palma Hall lobby after spending up to almost an hour lining up to wait for my turn to pay my tuition. And speaking of tuition, thankfully I didn't I have to pay as much as this year's crop of incoming freshmen, since I first enrolled back in... well... basta, matagal na. Ü

Obviously I like--love--being a student, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I always tell that to Miss Julie, always mock-frowning every time I retrieve my coursework folder at the DECL office, asking me when I'm going to finish. I'll just shrug, smile and say, "Sobrang mahal ko kasi ang Peyups, kaya 'di ako makatapos-tapos." And since last year, my enrolment adviser--who used to be a classmate in a graduate-level Fiction class (yep, that's how long I have been in the program)--has also been asking the same question.

But seriously, I wish I knew the answer. But it's hard when the fire that fueled you in the first place is currently reduced to a flickering flame. Anyone has some, ehem, firewood or gas? Ü

In the meantime, the thought of writing about food this semester intrigues me. :P