The Wheel and Axle

Nowadays, approximately 95% of the time, I avoid the comments section (and consequently, the engagement info) of politically-charged articles because I value my health. The amount of toxic idiocy on Facebook public “areas,” in particular, is astounding. More so when it comes to political articles I write, I try not to look at the comments lest I engage and then get the urge to bludgeon the nearest available moron.

A recent article I wrote for Esquire apparently got about 16.5K shares as of this writing (one of my folks at work sent me a message about it). Not bad. It did kind of pull me in a bit to check what sort of engagement it was getting. Surprisingly, most were positive and agreed with my piece, although as expected there were a few morons here and there.

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From mid-2016 to the end of 2017, I had one blog article – sometimes two – every single day. No missed day. Just to show that I can do it.

In 2018, I’ve taken a break – primarily because I’ve gotten busy, but also because Jessica advised me to try and space things out. She’s right, as always. So I’ve barely blogged this year. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.)

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So over lunch yesterday, Jessica made me, Evan, Roni, and Deo write down our projects for 2018 to motivate us towards actual completion.

#1 and #2 are both me, but #3 is her suggestion, and now I am honorbound as an Elven Prince to actually do it. Well, try anyway. Ha!

(Do or do not, there is no try.)

Meanwhile, over same said lunch, we:

Gorged ourselves on delicious Negrense fusion cuisine (Sarsa’s menu is chocful of amazingly delicious food, including fusion Beef Rendang, Sisig Inasal, and Sinigang Fried Chicken Wings – you need to try this place out) 

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Sometimes, I can’t believe it’s been over three years since that first writing workshop by Jessica Zafra. I was lucky to be part of that first batch, and not only did I learn a lot (and finish the first draft of my first novel), but I made lots of new friends that I still keep in touch with. We still occasionally hang out for coffee, conversations about books and more, or just catch up. Some of us formed and still run The Library Underground; although the site is dead (personally, I think a revival is in order), the social media accounts are still alive.

If you think all that’s great and want to see what it’s like to learn from a master slash the dominatrix of the universe, well, you’re in luck! Jessica has run several successful workshops after our batch, and she has another one this July!

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365 days of consistent blogging.

I actually did it!

I’d been blogging since my Friendster days (thereby aging myself), and I set up my personal domain years ago. However, for some time during those years, I blogged inconsistently.

Finally last year, I gave myself a goal: blog daily, consistently, for at least a year. After all, a writer… writes, as several mentors have told me. I needed to constantly write to keep my skills honed – especially since I’m still procrastinating on the sequel to the novel I wrote (which will soon be done).

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… but Sophia more so.

… is quite a pleasant surprise.

This pic is from http://animomedstudent.blogspot.com/. There are also quite a few blogs from premed/med students reviewing it. I didn’t realize it until now.

I wrote this NMAT Reviewer (two volumes – the main reviewer plus a companion volume with extensive answers and explanations) over fifteen years ago when I was still teaching in MSA. I had a degree in Biology and had taken the NMAT as a pre-requisite for medical school, though I decided not to pursue medicine and went (initially) into teaching instead.

(That lasted all of less than a year before I decided to move into corporate as well as pursue side graduate studies in Creative Writing. That’s a story for another time.)

In any case, as part of my job in MSA, I not only taught and did review classes; I also wrote reviewers. One was co-written with others, while my boss (the late, great Mrs. Merle Alferez, who founded MSA) asked me to write the NMAT Reviewer because, at that time, nothing like it was in the market.

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WHWN Wave 1

Two years ago, during the first Write Here, Write Now workshop with Jessica Zafra, we were given an optional exercise. I don’t remember the exact instructions, but I found myself writing an entire film sequence where the dialogue was composed purely of Filipino movie titles.

I don’t recall ever submitting it. Finding and re-reading it now, I thank the great literary deities that my mentor never got to see it.

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