Palanca Virgin
So that's what Palanca night is like.
Never been to one before, you see. Wow, it's a posh affair (sorta). It's got good food, bottomless drinks, and lots of literary people there.
I got to watch my friends Dean & Nikki Alfar get their awards. I got to listen to poetry and listen to a funny one-act play. I got to meet up with Chris Millado, an old acquaintance from San Francisco and the theater group I used to belong to there...
I got to wonder along with my beloved Kate what we'd have to do to get ourselves one of those neat awards next year.
Sadly, I don't know much about the local literary scene. Dean & Nikki and Andrew and Vinnie seemed to know everyone and their works, while I was in the dark as to who was being applauded and so on and so forth.
Time to start, I guess.
CraftWatch: Writing
I suddenly realized I'm writing a lot more than I used to. I write a semi-regular column for a news magazine, I've just written a short story for Dean's anthology (rejected, for being... ah... more than meets the eye), and I'm rewriting the script for a 10 page comic.
Techie that I am, I keep thinking about a way to systematize writing things up. I think that a notebook full of story ideas and storytelling techniques would be good thing to keep... just the thing when people say "write something... anything!" I think that a good archive of all written short stories would be good (rejected or not). You never know when you'll be called upon to rewrite your story into a given format.
Speaking of formats, I've found that for writing quick comic scripts, the following method works quite well:
I suddenly realized I'm writing a lot more than I used to. I write a semi-regular column for a news magazine, I've just written a short story for Dean's anthology (rejected, for being... ah... more than meets the eye), and I'm rewriting the script for a 10 page comic.
Techie that I am, I keep thinking about a way to systematize writing things up. I think that a notebook full of story ideas and storytelling techniques would be good thing to keep... just the thing when people say "write something... anything!" I think that a good archive of all written short stories would be good (rejected or not). You never know when you'll be called upon to rewrite your story into a given format.
Speaking of formats, I've found that for writing quick comic scripts, the following method works quite well:
- write a brief paragraph about the setting of the story, and note any visual elements you'd like the artist to make;
- write one brief paragraph about each major character in the story, especially the protagonist(s);
- write a short summary of the plot flow and any special flourishes you want in the story;
- go through the summary, and break it down by pages into a page summary;
- go through each page summary and modify it by breaking down the number of necessary panels without bothering with the actual panel layout on the page;
- go back through each page summary add captions, SFX and dialogue;
- read through the entire 1st draft of the comic script and check for EVERYTHING: plot holes, pages overcrowded with panels, panels overcrowded with captions / word balloons / sound effects, realistic dialogue, unrealistic expectations of the artist, and so on.
HobbyWatch Comics
HobbyWatch: Comics
DC Comics has been my favorite publisher for the past 10 or so years. I’ve always collected at least one DC comic series such as Legion of Superheroes or Teen Titans or some funky Elseworlds thing. They came out with the Swamp Thing and Sandman stuff that eventually become Vertigo, and they’ve shown they were willing to make major changes to the world for fairly lengthy amounts of time.
I’m very excited about the Infinite Crisis storyline, which seems to be revitalizing the universe. It seems that the Big Three (Supes, Bats and Wondy) will no longer be seeing eye to eye, and generations seem to play a role.
I really like the George Perez cover showing several generations for the different superhero “houses”. You have Superboy and Supergirl for the Superman clan, Robin and Nightwing for the Batman clan, and Wonder Girl and Troia for the Wonder Woman clan. I like the re-emergence of the Green Lantern Corps and the Rann-Thanagar War (with L.E.G.I.O.N. playing an important role). I like the Villains getting their act together and uniting (somewhat). I’m kinda iffy on the supernatural ‘verse, but I’m willing to see where it all goes.
DC Comics has been my favorite publisher for the past 10 or so years. I’ve always collected at least one DC comic series such as Legion of Superheroes or Teen Titans or some funky Elseworlds thing. They came out with the Swamp Thing and Sandman stuff that eventually become Vertigo, and they’ve shown they were willing to make major changes to the world for fairly lengthy amounts of time.
I’m very excited about the Infinite Crisis storyline, which seems to be revitalizing the universe. It seems that the Big Three (Supes, Bats and Wondy) will no longer be seeing eye to eye, and generations seem to play a role.
I really like the George Perez cover showing several generations for the different superhero “houses”. You have Superboy and Supergirl for the Superman clan, Robin and Nightwing for the Batman clan, and Wonder Girl and Troia for the Wonder Woman clan. I like the re-emergence of the Green Lantern Corps and the Rann-Thanagar War (with L.E.G.I.O.N. playing an important role). I like the Villains getting their act together and uniting (somewhat). I’m kinda iffy on the supernatural ‘verse, but I’m willing to see where it all goes.
Top 5 Things You May Not Know About Me:
1. My mother saved my life twice (that I know of): At around age 8, I was swimming in a pool, but was pulled underwater in the deepish end and panicked. I began to drown. My mom, leaving the life guard in the dust, waded in, clothes and all, and pulled me out. Another time, I was around 6, and I was given hard candy to stop crying. I began to choke. My mom, not yet familiar with the Heimlich manuever, held me upside down and hammered my back hard until I spit out the offending treat.
2. I had very thick hair on my head when I was born: It was thick enough that my Dad could easily pick me out, face unseen, out of all the sleeping babies in the hospital nursery. Yes, I miss it.
3. I used to sing & dance & act on stage: In grade school and in high school and in college, I used to be a part of a variety of acting / performing groups. I was with Ateneo Children's Theatre, Dulaang Sibol (one year only), Serra High School's theater performances, and with a now-hibernating San Francisco group called Teatro Ng Tanan.
4. I used to be a big UFO nut: read everything I could about them. Knew names, places, incidents, etc. Forgotten 'em all now, after the abduction (just kidding).
5. I believe in but avoid the supernatural: I know it's out there, occasionally get curious and read up about it... but I try to keep it out of my life as much as possible.
1. My mother saved my life twice (that I know of): At around age 8, I was swimming in a pool, but was pulled underwater in the deepish end and panicked. I began to drown. My mom, leaving the life guard in the dust, waded in, clothes and all, and pulled me out. Another time, I was around 6, and I was given hard candy to stop crying. I began to choke. My mom, not yet familiar with the Heimlich manuever, held me upside down and hammered my back hard until I spit out the offending treat.
2. I had very thick hair on my head when I was born: It was thick enough that my Dad could easily pick me out, face unseen, out of all the sleeping babies in the hospital nursery. Yes, I miss it.
3. I used to sing & dance & act on stage: In grade school and in high school and in college, I used to be a part of a variety of acting / performing groups. I was with Ateneo Children's Theatre, Dulaang Sibol (one year only), Serra High School's theater performances, and with a now-hibernating San Francisco group called Teatro Ng Tanan.
4. I used to be a big UFO nut: read everything I could about them. Knew names, places, incidents, etc. Forgotten 'em all now, after the abduction (just kidding).
5. I believe in but avoid the supernatural: I know it's out there, occasionally get curious and read up about it... but I try to keep it out of my life as much as possible.
BLOG Filler: Main Causes of Liver Damage
Well, all my writing energies are focused on work and preparing my submission to Dean's anthology... so, here's some blog filler based on an e-mail. I learned this technique from my old friend Amos. Enjoy!
Warning: I cannot confirm the accuracy of the following statements. I am not a doctor, nor do I portray one on TV.
The main causes of liver damage are:
Well, all my writing energies are focused on work and preparing my submission to Dean's anthology... so, here's some blog filler based on an e-mail. I learned this technique from my old friend Amos. Enjoy!
Warning: I cannot confirm the accuracy of the following statements. I am not a doctor, nor do I portray one on TV.
The main causes of liver damage are:
- Sleeping too late and waking up too late are the main cause.
- Not urinating in the morning.
- Too much eating.
- Skipping breakfast.
- Consuming too much medication.
- Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.
- Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying,which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.
- Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store. We should prevent this without necessarily spending more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and time condition are very important for our bodies to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to "schedule."
- Evening at 9 - 11pm : is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic chemicals (de-toxification)from the antibody system (lymph nodes).This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an unrelaxed state such as washing the dishes or monitoring children doing their homework, this will have a negative impact on health.
- Evening at 11pm - 1am : is the de-toxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.
- Early morning 1 - 3am : de-toxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.
- Early morning 3 - 5am : de-toxification in the lungs. Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for cough sufferers during this time. Since the de-toxification process had reached the respiratory tract, there is no
- need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.
- Morning 5 - 7am : de-toxification in the colon, you should empty your bowels.
- Morning 7 - 9am : absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, you should be having breakfast at this time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very beneficial
- to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 - 10am rather than no meal at all. Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.
Techno-Integration and Water
I recently submitted an article concerning managing your electronic information, and I was thinking about how, at a certain point, I had both a Palm Pilot and a Cellphone that could use Infra-red to send addresses to each other. It resulted in a highly synchronized address book on my Palm Pilot.
Both those devices have long since perished. The cellphone did a face-down plop into a puddle of water. Corrosion set in within hours and my cellphone was dead. The Palm Pilot slowly perished, with its mysterious need to constantly HotSync draining my battery and rendering it unusable anyway... possibly caused by corrosion. I used to keep it in my pants pocket and it must have eventually succumbed to the humidity of this location.
Someday, I will have these integrated toys again... someday.
I recently submitted an article concerning managing your electronic information, and I was thinking about how, at a certain point, I had both a Palm Pilot and a Cellphone that could use Infra-red to send addresses to each other. It resulted in a highly synchronized address book on my Palm Pilot.
Both those devices have long since perished. The cellphone did a face-down plop into a puddle of water. Corrosion set in within hours and my cellphone was dead. The Palm Pilot slowly perished, with its mysterious need to constantly HotSync draining my battery and rendering it unusable anyway... possibly caused by corrosion. I used to keep it in my pants pocket and it must have eventually succumbed to the humidity of this location.
Someday, I will have these integrated toys again... someday.
Great Goonie-googoos!
Man - it's so hard to wrestle with actual stories after writing only vignettes and RPG adventure modules for so long. I've got a pseudo-outline that always morphs tries to morph into "something more ambitious" at every turn, I'm grasping for vocabulary with the right connotation, I'm struggling with speech patterns and exposition and non-cinematic action.
I've missed this!
Man - it's so hard to wrestle with actual stories after writing only vignettes and RPG adventure modules for so long. I've got a pseudo-outline that always morphs tries to morph into "something more ambitious" at every turn, I'm grasping for vocabulary with the right connotation, I'm struggling with speech patterns and exposition and non-cinematic action.
I've missed this!
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