pen pal

Way before the electronic mail and cellphone era, we wrote letters. I remember one of our high school freshman English projects was to write to someone abroad, and to maintain a friendship with that pen pal. I failed because the guy I wrote to in County Mayo, Ireland (I loved all things Ireland then because of Boyzone) didn't respond. I got his address from a local songhits magazine (I had lots of those, erm it was a phase!). Anyway, there went my Irish pen pal.

Fast forward to today, one of our colleagues dropped by the office to inquire about one of our programs, and he had in hand a photocopied letter--he's forgotten how he got it during his intern years, and he says it's been re-photocopied so many times. I asked to take a look at it and was immediately nostalgic for the good ol' days of manual letter-writing (sans spelling- and grammar-check!).

I'm painstakingly, carefully transcribing the letter here word for word--the letter was written in all caps, and I'll be writing it in that way too. I'm also attaching a photo of the photocopied letter, for all those interested to have a look. :)

So, here goes. It's kinda long though. Hahaha.

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I JUST RECIEVED YOUR KIND LETTER. ALTHOUGH IT USED TO BE WE RECIEVED ALL MAILS LATELY FOR OUR OFFICE SOMETIMES TOO BUSY, NOT TO FORWARD HERE ONBOARD. BUT ANYWAY WE CAN RECIEVED IT JUST A MATTER OF TIME. BEFORE I MAY GO LITTLE FURTHER KEPT MY WARM REGARDS YOU THERE AND BEFORE I FORGET TO SAY WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST. WELL ABOUT US HERE WE ARE FINE TOO, THOUGH IT CANNOT AVOIDED WE ALWAYS OCCUPIED THE BURDEN OF WORK MUCH MORE ON ME WHICH IT LOOKS IT THE NATURE TWIN TO ME OF IT.

ANYWAY IT DOES NOT MATTER ANYHOW FOR OUR INTENTION OF OUR LETTER IS FRIENDSHIP, NOT THE BITTER THINGS RIGHT?

AS IF YOU ASK ME REALLY OR SHALL WE SAY MY FIRST LETTER IS LUCKING SOMETHING ABOUT MYSELF. WELL I CANNOT EMPHASIZE REALLY BUT ONLY IN GENERALLY. STAND 5'7" - FAIR COMPLEXION. BLACK WAVY HAIR - REGULAR BUILT - AGE - MIDS OF 30'S OR LITTLE BIT MORE - CEBUANO LANGUAGE - SINGLE, ALSO GRADUATE IN SMALL COURSE: ABOVE ALL PRESENTABLE OR SHALL WE SAY IT CAN BE MIXED TO ANYWHERE, ANYWAY IF TIME PERMITS WE CAN BE MEET SOMEDAY - IN EYE TO EYE.

ITS TRUE IM LOOKING FOR A REAL GOOD FRIEND, OF COURSE IN THIS GAME WE CAN MEET DIFFERENT COLORS. SOMETIMES NOT GOOD COLOR FOR YOU GOOD COLOR FOR OTHERS OR VISE VERSA DI BA. BY UNFORTUNATELY I WROTE 2 LETTER FOR IT AND I RECIEVED ONLY ONE JUST A POOR BOY (JOKE) ITS TRUE I CANNOT WRITE LETTER MORE THAN ONE FOR I ALWAY OCCUPIED MY TIME AT MY TASK. NOT LIKE YOURS YOU SAID YOU RECIEVED 30 LETTERS - WELL NOT BAD. ONLY DISADVANTAGE AS YOU SAID THE STAMPS - MAY YOU DESERVED IT (JOKE). BUT YOU CAN HAVE A FRIENDS.

YOU KNOW LIZA, I'M A SILENT PERSON AND I USED TO TALK THE REAL HAPPENINGS THATS WHY I HAVE FRIEND IT CAN BE COUNTED ONLY. ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SELECTIVE KIND OF PERSON, AS MY OUTLOOKING ARE WE ARE CREATED EQUAL.

AS YOU EMPHASIZE YOURSELF, NEVER MIND FOR ME BUT USUALLY AS CHINESE SAYING SOME PEOPLE SAYS IN OTHERSIDE OF TRUTH. BUT ITS MORE INTERESTING TO LOOK AT IT - HOW IT LOOKS WHEN YOU SEND YOUR PICTURE HERE. IM NOT REQUESTING BUT ANY OF EXTRA ONLY.

WELL, LIZA, THAT IS IT. WE ARE NOW LEAVING HERE IN VANCOUVER FOR MEXICO - THEN GOES TO ITALY. YOU KNOW WHAT I BORED ALREADY MY WORKS. I WISH TO HAVE ANOTHER KIND ONEDAY.

BEFORE I SIGN OFF WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST.

YOUR FRIEND,

V.

"MY MOTTO"

THE BATTLE OF LIFE NOT MEAN HE (SHE) WHO IS FASTER, RICHER OR BRIGHTER WILL WIN. BUT HE WHO RESIST THE DAILY BURDEN OF LIFE WILL OWN THE GLORY.

(BOUNCH BACK)

M/V NICOLE

TRANSMED SHIPPING CO. LTD.

152 EL VALENZUELA AVE.

146-71 KASTRI, ATTIKI

GREECE

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Hmm, I wonder how that relationship went.

just a little hello

focusing on getting things done, i've been working hard on preparing for our upcoming activities. tomorrow and friday we have a forum for students, third week of august we have a book launch, and the week after that, we'll be officially launching our styro-free campaign. i make it a point to have a little 'me time' though, and hooray for that. days--good and bad--come and go, and i'm glad i always have something to look forward to, and someone who's with me through it all.

thesis takeoff, let's go!

right after graduation, i enrolled in my master's course in anthropology. i made a goal: to finish my MA within four years at the most, continue with my doctorate, and be the youngest Ph.D. holder in the history of my (undergraduate) alma mater. i wanted to 'beat' this popular 'armchair doctor' (someone who theorizes/makes theses sitting down/not going out to the field) from a different discipline, heheh. now that i think about it, it was very immature of me. anyway, it seemed possible enough since i was studying full-time then. work came along and the dream poofed, and now people have been asking how i'm doing, am i finished yet, am i teaching now, et cetera. i always say, "thesis na lang," and it's true, really, only the word lang shouldn't really be there. ha ha ha.

during my independent studies class (preparation for thesis writing) my topic had something to do with the indigenous (aeta) youth and their interest in contemporary hiphop and rap music and the lifestyle that goes with it. i was doing well with the conceptualization, finding similar studies done abroad, until i realized one little thing that might be a problem: i'm female. now, in the urban setting that's not much of an issue. but out in the field area, it could be--i can be with the aeta girls and they could warm up to me instantly, but the boys are another matter. they can be extremely shy around females, even the "older sister" figure that i am in the area. for them to be able to 'accept' me and let me in their lives, i have to be a regular in the area, i have to spend a lot of time with them. now that i couldn't really commit to. and perhaps my interest waned too because i'm not really into that kind of music anyway. i might end up ignoring some very important aspects because i'm biased. har har. so, change topic.

my next venture was into art and art spaces. my interest in art started to re-manifest itself last year, with the help and encouragement of my friends. i started to observe art spaces, and slowly began to develop a topic. very generally i'll be looking into how spaces, depending upon how these are used, are transformed into places of meaning. erm, i'll be narrowing these down to art-related areas--galleries, outdoor performance areas, graffiti walls, art spaces, what have you. but oh no please don't make me define art. it's still pretty broad, but i'm fixing it. so i'll be doing a lot of poking at urban aesthetics and visual anthropology. i'll find a way to integrate media and globalization, my electives, somewhere. hehe. wish me luck!

to get myself started on the big t, i've been collecting online articles (the 'free' ones so far), reviewing my anthropology, and thinking critically about the art spaces i go to. it's been a while since i attended any classes or read anything 'academic' (to supplement my 'field trips'), so i'll be hitting the books again. my mother has been so kind as to let me order stuff from amazon, yay! so what's my self-imposed reading assignment? lookie at these titles!

• Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method by John, Jr. Collier, et al


• The Politics of Public Space by Setha Low and Neil Smith (eds.)


• The Anthropology of Space and Place: Locating Culture (Blackwell Readers in Anthropology) by Setha M. Low and Denise Lawrence-Zunigais (eds.)

whatchathink? the first book on the list i've already lent to a student doing his undergraduate thesis in sociology, haha i'm so kind. it's an old book really; when it was written (back in the eighties) digital cameras weren't around yet. it's a very informative book that explains the philosophy, ethics, and techniques behind photography in research. i've read a few random pages before i lent it to the student, and i could already say it's a winner. :) photography, of course, is a most-loved hobby, and yes i am still accepting film donations. :)

except for browsing through the table of contents, i haven't opened the other two books--after getting them i just wrapped them up with plastic cover. ooh they're so nice and clean! but you have to read them, i told myself, and so today i brought The Politics of Public Space with me to the office, for some in-between-phone calls, waiting-for-the-page-to-load reading. the last book's too thick. hehehe.

okay then. here we go.

picasa-playing

i don't have photoshop installed in my office laptop; instead i have picasa for easy, on-the-go photoediting. i'm not much of a photoeditor anyway, so picasa's features suit me just fine. :)

today in between writing official letters, i tweaked a few of my niece miel's photos again. she's a great kid, full of energy. she was wearing a blue and white dress this morning, which helped to make her look like a girl (she often gets mistaken for a boy, and we've started calling her "mielyboy" because she's that active.). i just hope she learns to talk (more) soon, and says other words than "barney" and "cellphone". hahaha.

malayang talakayan 02

tumingin ka sa labas, parang may ulan na nag-evaporate bago tumama sa lupa, kaya parang naglalakad sa ulap ang mga tao. panay tuloy ang punas ko sa salamin ko; akala ko kasi may dumi lang.

alam mo, kinikilig ako pag sabay tayong naglilinis ng salamin.

kahapon binabasa ko 'yung mga lumang blog ko, grabe napaka-loser ko pala nu'n... alam ko na kung ano 'yung mali pero hinayaan ko lang. nagpaka-fasyown ako bilang isang martir. dehins bagay, kaya nag-makeover ang lola mo at ngayo'y back to beauty na inside and out. yep, i'm back. hahaha. buti na lang talaga. :) alam mo na 'yun.

tahimik ang biyahe ko pauwi kagabi; walang radyo si manong fx at nakalimutan ko sa bahay 'yung mp3 player ko. nu'ng tinanong kita kung ano'ng request mo para tugtugin ko sa utak ko, grabe pare, may kasama pang visuals 'yung kanta. sabi mo kasi 'your song' di ba? 'yung ost? well, moulin rouge lang naman ang alam kong pelikulang gumamit nu'n. kaya 'yun, kagabi nire-replay ko ulit 'yung eksenang 'your song' sa moulin rouge, complete with nicole kidman's rolling on the floor playing with herself giggling. "yes, that's what i want, naughty words!" tapos ewan mcgregor would very cutely sing out loud "MY GIFT IS MY SONG...and this one's for you," tapos mapapatulala na si nicole... whattasequence pare. tapos nakatulog yata ako. ang sarap ng aircon eh.

huy! marami na tayong panonoorin sa sine. sana at dapat naman may matuloy kahit isa ngayong taon. anim na buwan na tayong nagbabalak manood ng sine pero hanggang ngayon wala pa ring natutuloy. hanep. kasalanan ni benjamin lawton 'to, we've been cursed! bwahahaha. tandaan mo ha, 'coraline', 'up', 'where the wild things are'. puro animated pala 'yun. di na kasi enjoy manood ng mga tao 'no? pinahirapan tayo ng 'sleuth', grabeng human psyche 'yan, nakaka-psycho. korni mani popcorn.

di ko na nakalimutan ang mp3 player ko kanina, yehey! buti na lang, kasi mukhang wala akong laban sa bunganga ng isang dj sa isang sikat na radio station sa radyo (duh). ay, wag natin sabihing radyo... harhar. anyway, masarap ang pagkakaupo ko sa school bus (read: bus pa-quiapo) at nagmumuni-muni about the universe unfolding as it should...relak-relak lang ba. naka-random ang folder kong "misc" at pagkatapos kong magpaka-sentimellow sa kantang 'shoot the moon' ni norah jones bigla naman akong ginising ng 'september' ng ewf. uuy. may naalala ako.

medyo dito nagsimula 'yun, di ba?

ang galing-galing! from this krokis onwards madalas na sumakit ang pisngi ko kakangiti.

btw, naka-orange ako ngayon. ikaw siguro naka-green. syempre may malaking chance na mali ang hula ko, hehehe. kamusta naman ang espn?

wala na akong masabi. babalikan ko na 'yung ine-edit ko. good luck na lang din sa pagpapaka-visualizer natin diyan. sa ngayon vini-visualize din kita, nakaupo, nakangiti, kinukulayan ang mga kahong puti.

ang kyut mo talaga pare.