Excerpt from the wonderful Adrienne Rich's poem Villa Adriana*:

We come like dreamers searching for an answer,

Passionately in need to reconstruct

The columned roofs under the blazing sky,

The courts so open, so forever locked.

 

And some of us, as dreamers, excavate

Under the blanchinglight of sleep's high noon,

The artifacts of thought, the site of love,

Whose Hadrian has given the slip, and gone.

 

*Poem from the book "The Diamond Cutters (1955)

**

Antinous was born to a Greek family in Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Roman province of Bithynia in what is now north-west Turkey. It is thought he joined the entourage of the Emperor when Hadrian passed through Bithynia in about 124, and soon became his pederastic eromenos (lover) who accompanied him on his many journeys through the empire. Another version has it that Hadrian had the empire searched for the most beautiful youth, and chose Antinous. Their relationship is understood to have followed the pattern of traditional Greek pederastic love affairs.

In October 130, according to Hadrian, "Antinous was drowned in Nilus." This is the only contemporaneous statement made - significantly by the one person in a position to "testify" at an "inquaestio" whose word was above reproach - and the sentence structure and meaning are very precise, whether translated from Latin or Greek. Speculation that Antinous drowned by accident, committed suicide or was "sacrificed" by Hadrian appeared later, and may have had a political agenda. It is not known whether his death was the result of accident, suicide, murder, or religious sacrifice. Marguerite Yourcenar, whose book Memoirs of Hadrian, portrays the death as a likely suicide. The speculation concerning suicide includes the possibility that Antinous sacrificed himself in an attempt to improve Hadrian's health. It seems very improbable that Hadrian would have consented to the death of his companion, given the depth of his grief following the loss, so if Antinous was murdered or committed suicide, Hadrian was taken by surprise.

www.wikipedia.com

Mood :: silly

Anything?

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY
Fergie


Da Da Da Da
The smell of your skin lingers on me now
You're probably on your flight back to your home town
I need some shelter of my own protection baby
To be with myself and center, clarity
Peace, Serenity
[CHORUS:]
I hope you know, I hope you know
That this has nothing to do with you
It's personal, myself and I
We've got some straightenin' out to do
And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket
But I've got to get a move on with my life
It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry
Don't cry
Don't cry
Don't cry
The path that I'm walking
I must go alone
I must take the baby steps 'til I'm full grown, full grown
Fairytales don't always have a happy ending, do they?
And I foresee the dark ahead if I stay
[CHORUS]
Like the little school mate in the school yard
We'll play jacks and uno cards
I'll be your best friend and you'll be my Valentine
Yes you can hold my hand if you want to
'Cause I want to hold yours too
We'll be playmates and lovers and share our secret worlds
But it's time for me to go home
It's getting late, dark outside
I need to be with myself and center, clarity
Peace, Serenity
[CHORUS]
La Da Da Da Da Da

Anything?

Weird. Kahapon, kinakailangan naming magpunta ng nanay ko sa Pacific Rayon sa may Malabon, ang dati niyang pinapasukang trabaho. Inaayos namin ang retirement papers niya sa SSS. Mga makina ang naaalala ko sa pabrika, mga malalaking makinang panahi sa limang taong gulang na ako. Pati ang Xmas parties ng kumpanya kung saan nagsayaw pa kami ng mga kapatid ko para me makuhang pamasko. Wala kami masyadong bonding moment ng nanay ko dati kasi abala siya sa trabaho. Still, naging close kami (mas close na kami ng tatay ko, after series of pagsubok sa pamilya).

***

 Kumpleto na ang limang tulang ipapasa ko para sa folio ng Batch Sidhay (Yehey!). Secret muna ang line-up, siyempre. Napansin kong lahat ng tula ay may kinakailangang puntahan, o destinasyon. Nasabi tuloy ni Xam na traveler ang soul ko. Hmmm....

***

Natapos ko na ang Kyle XY. Maganda ang istorya, name-maintain ang excitement/thrill ng pagka- sci-fi nito kahit over-all ay family drama ito. Touchy ang bonding moments ng Tragger family with Kyle. At ang wafu wafu wafu ni Matt Dallas! Kung may divine orgasm si M. kay Be Bench winner na si Carlo Guevarra, divine multiple orgasms naman ang hatid ni Matt Dallas sa akin.

***

Text message of the week:

"A perfect partner is someone you can be with and talk about anything without realizing that the day was over... Someone who will always listen and feel twice the joy or pain you're going through... When you start to feel that 'connection', never let it go because there is more to companionship than to love only... Because in the end, when all else fails and are consumed, you will always hold on to those times when you don't even need to hear the words 'I love you'.

***

Kudos kay Kyla! 

Anything?

Ipinahiram ni Cris aka Proserpina ang libro niyang "How to Be Good" ni Nick Hornby. Bagay na bagay daw ito sa akin. First chapter pa lang, shitty talaga ng character. Ultimate bitch. Hmmm... Am I showing my tail ang horns na ba? Better ask Proserpina.

(mula sa Amazon.com)

***

Wala pa akong sisimulang bagong series (unless ipahiram ni Aileen or ni lovable Koi ang Prison Break copies nila). Dahil dito, panoorin ko na ang mga DVD na ipinahiram ni Xam sa akin. Madami-dami din ang mga iyon. Isasauli ko na kasi next week sa kaniya. Sana nga lang matapos ko lahat.

***

Hindi na daw ako sumasama kina Dona, Leah, et. al kapag break. Bukod sa tunay na dahilan kasi, lubha akong abala sa pagwi-Wikipedia. Sabi nga ni Dona, "me, myself, and Wikipedia" ang drama ko. Kahit sinasabi kasi ng iba na unreliable ang Wikipedia, kebs ko. Andaming information ang web site na ito para sa General Info geek in me. Kaya pag may nagtanong kung ano ang pinagkakaabalahan ko pag breaktime, alam ninyo na.

***

Words of the day:

antulangan - gumamela

apya - tao na mahilig pumuri

awing - mabagal na paggawa

ambubuyog - malaking bubuyog (Jollibee?)

ayaba - kaning hilaw o matutong

angi - amoy ng nasusunog na pagkain tulad ng sinaing.

Source: UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino (or UP Dick, sabi ni Xam!), editor: Virgilio S. Almario

Anything?

Kagagaling ko lang sa opening ng group exhibit nina Karla Cachola et al. May pamagat na "O" ang exhibit. Eros/Desire/Sex/Love ang "tinatalakay" ng mga obra. Paborito ko ang "Sex Food" (isang babaeng nakaluhod sa harap ng lalake, kinakain ng babae ang "ice cream" ng lalake), at siyempre ang "Stitch" na gawa ni Karla. Salamat kay JC sa pagiging "crowd" ko, at kudos kay Karla sa kaniyang mga gawa!

Until November 7 ang exhibit, sa Pablo Gallery sa Cubao Shoe Expo, malapit lang sa Bellini's.

***

Pinag-usapan namin ni JC ang nalalapit na "Fellows' Night" ng Batch Sidhay. Kanina ko lang din nalaman na tentative December 11 na ang programa. Wala pa akong balak gawin na pagtatanghal, pero ayos na ang mga tulang isasama ko sa folio. Sa ngayon, naaaliw ako sa bilis ng oras para sa Batch Sidhay, parang Hunyo lang kasi nang nagsimula kami.

***

Binabasa ko on the side ang story collection ni Gilda Cordero Fernando, na courtesy pa rin ni Proserpina. Hanep ang mga kuwento niya, lalo na ung "The Visitation of the Gods," "Hothouse," at ang "The Anti-Christ." Mag-fiction na lang kaya ako?

***

Tama nga sigurong dapat ko na siyang kalimutan. Wala na kasing dahilan. Wala na.

Music :: Yes FM Theme Song by Kyla
Book :: How to Be Good - Nick Hornby
Mood :: thankful

Anything?

Mga minamahal kong kababayan, Kaninang 1:30 ng hapon ang siyudad ng Makati ay niyanig ng isang malakas na pagsabog. Taliwas sa inisyal na imbestigasyon, lumalabas na ito ay hindi nagmula sa pagsabog ng tangke ng LPG. Lumalabas na mas malamang na ito ay dulot ng isang pampasabog. We assure everyone that a full blown investigation is now underway. The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are on highest alert and are fielding an additional 2,000 personnel to secure our public places and to prevent a possible similar occurrence. I warn those who seek to destabilize our government not to exploit this incident for their selfish political motives. This is the time for all of us to unite. We urge all sectors to remain vigilant as the government steps up security measures to protect our people. Hinihikayat ko ang ating mga kababayan na maging mapagmatiyag habang nagpapatupad ang mga awtoridad ng mas mahigpit na seguridad sa mga pampublikong lugar para na rin sa kanilang sariling proteksyon. Sana ay maunawaan ng ating mga kababayan ang mga pag-iingat na ating isasagawa. Ako ay lubhang nalulungkot sa pangyayaring ito at ipinapaabot ko ang aking taos-pusong pakikiramay sa pamilya ng mga nasawi. Ang mga kinatawan ng DSWD at National Disaster Coordinating Council ay kasalukuyang nakikipagugnayan sa mga biktima upang maipagkaloob sa kanila ang angkop na tulong. Sama-sama po tayong manalangin at magtulungan para malampasan natin ang pagsubok na ito. (source: abs-cbnnews.com)

 (from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071019/manila_blast_071019/20071019?hub=World)

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