Back to the Loving Arms of Oble

Since the first semester I taught at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV), my superiors there have been telling me that I should pursue my master’s degree if I want to retain my teaching job. After years of being indecisive, I gathered my courage and leapt into the decision to pursue my education despite the soft voices telling my head that I’m going to have a difficult time – “You have kids and you don’t have a nanny yet; you rented a new apartment, that’s a new financial obligation, where will you get the money?; Apart from your day job as a local government employee, you teach in two universities and you’re also maintaining a small business. Explain where will you get the time to study?”

That’s the word: TIME.

I’m already on my thirties and my children are growing up. I can’t afford to be passive because I have mouths to feed and futures to build. Even if Rizal’s quote – if you fail to plan, you plan to fail – scolds my head, a part of me is quite stubborn to jump into blurry stuff. This is it. I have to continue to be brave amidst my storms.

Hello UP.

A couple of weeks ago I submitted the requirements for my preferred course at the College of Arts and Letters. The scent of UP brought me back nostalgic memories. I was saddened to see the burnt Faculty Center (FC) where my thesis on gay language was kept and destroyed. At the back of my head, I look forward to writing another study on gender.

Sipat | Sulat : An Adarna House Workshop on Seeing and Making Literature 

A college orgmate, Ms. Ergoe Tinio, posted on Facebook that Adarna House was coming up with a writing workshop to raise funds for the rebuilding of FC. It was a brilliant idea to come up with a fund raising activity that hits two birds in one stone – writers get to donate something for the university while being able to learn something that may improve their craft.

May 21, 2016 at Carillon Lounge, University Hotel, UP Diliman)

Children's Books

I only attended the Day 2 workshop of Sipat | Sulat that talks about Chapter Books. I should have read more about this topic because I was reading Jessica Zafra and Scott Garceau and I thought somehow I could transform some of my blog entries into a book in the future, only to find out that chapter books are meant for children. (Aw, shucks. I had an entirely different view.)

Workshop Mementos

I am not ashamed even if I had a blunder there. I’m only human, I make mistakes. Haha!
       
I was a sponge during the seminar. I tried to absorb all the new palatable information that was presented to me. The speakers shared interesting concepts which I could relate with being a writer, although from the government field and not from children’s lit. Just in case, I am equipped with another multitude of ideas for my future writing projects. Furthermore, I have earned new concepts to contribute in intellectual masturbations.

Meet The Speakers.

1. Tarie Sabdo
e-mail: asiaisintheheart@yahoo.com
- She effectively explained what Chapter Books are and shared the recent trends on young adult (YA) literature. She also gave her recommended list of books for the consumption of aspiring writers for children and young adults. She’s an engaging speaker who can make any non-bookworm writer feel bad that they’re missing a lot of books. This is good. She gave us a list of must-reads. And she’s pretty.

2. M.J. Cagumbay Tumamac
Twitter: @XiZuqsNook
Site: www.xizuqsnook.com
- This very young but accomplished speaker talked about making use of language effectively to connect with target (YA) readers. He delivered his piece in a very easy to grasp and humorous fashion.
- I like the consistency of his use of XiZuksNook in all of his social media accounts.

3. Edgar Calabia Samar
Site: www.edgarsamar.com
- I immediately got excited upon seeing Edgar Samar’s name as one of the resource speakers in the workshop. Sipat | Sulat is the second opportunity that I got to listen to him, the first one was at the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino’s (KWF) sponsored seminar on Filipino writing and grammar.
- My favourite take away point in his talk is his notion of “commitment.” He said that it works for him if he announces that he’s going to do something big so that he will be compelled to find time to work on it. Of course, nobody wants a tarnished reputation, right? So he that’s what he does – he tells the whole world his plans so that there will be no to go but to go for it (whatever it is).

4. Ani Almario
Email: adarnahouse@adarna.com.ph
- Wow. The daughter of the Pinoy literature luminary, “Rio Alma,” and the vice president of Adarna House. She articulated the basic things that one must remember when preparing a manuscript for submission to a publisher. I appreciated the works under Adarna House better because her team dared to creatively present complex issues to young Filipinos. a
- She made me buy the book, “Papa’s House, Mama’s House,” which talks about broken families. This is the kind of book that realizes that ours is “an increasingly complicated world where people struggle to find authentic selves and lives.” I strongly agree with the book author, Jean Lee C. Patindol, that “A HOME IS A PLACE WHERE ONE BELONGS” not a house that is usually composed of a father, a mother, and their children.

Thank you Adarna House! My experience with you was both enlightening and refreshing. In my heart I have proven once again my belief that if an endeavour is UP’s, it’s always an eye-opener.