Hmmm...it's been a while

All is quiet...

LEYTE TRAGEDY

The other day, our postman asked if I had any relatives in the mudslide. He seemed genuinely happy to learn that I didn't. Below, I am reprinting a press release from the Philippine Embassy.


APPEAL OF AMBASSADOR ALBERT DEL ROSARIO

The Filipino nation mourns over the tragedy which struck Barangay Guinsaugon in St. Bernard, southern Leyte.

Massive landslides, triggered by an earthquake, buried more than 300 houses in the village. The number of casualties is expected to be in the hundreds even as about 1,500 are feared missing.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has already ordered the immediate mobilization of all government resources and coordinated relief and rescue operations by sea, land and air have been launched by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

In response to the Philippine government?s request for assistance, the United States government has dispatched two US military ships and it will provide funds for the response efforts. The United Nations will send a special disaster team to assess needs in the calamity area and the government of Japan will likewise provide relief support. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had released emergency funds to address the needs of the survivors.

I wish to appeal to all Filipinos, friends of the Philippines and concerned groups and individuals to extend their helping hand to the victims of this tragedy.

The Philippine Embassy will accept donations in cash, check or money order. Donations should be made payable to the Philippine Embassy which will issue receipts for them. Checks may be mailed to the Philippine Embassy as follows: Attention: Ms. Cynthia Tayam, Philippine Embassy, 1600 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036

The names of donors, the amounts donated and the dates they were received will be posted in the Embassy website which is www.philippineembassy-usa.org and a regular progress report on this fund drive will be issued by the Embassy?s Press and Information Section.

All donations collected by the Embassy will be transmitted to the NDCC in the Philippines which is the government?s inter-agency body responsible for coordinating disaster rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

Please contact the following Embassy personnel if you wish to help in this most urgent humanitarian cause: Ms. Cynthia Tayam: DL (202) 467-9381 or wdcpefinance [at] aol.com or Ms. Cecile Tomas: DL (202) 467-9403. They may also be reached through the Embassy trunkline which is (202) 467-9300.

The Philippine Embassy profoundly thanks all those who will respond to this appeal in the spirit of love and compassion for our fellow Filipinos.

Happy New Year 2006

So David Byrne was in Manila when I was...http://journal.davidbyrne.com... More on that later.

An Award for ME???!

Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc.,on behalf of the community of Filipino American writers and artists, will celebrate on November 5, 2005, at the Randall Museum Theater in San Francisco, the second Calatagan Awards recognizing the folowing individuals for their contribution in 2004-2005 in the arts, and in particular, to the creation or the promotion of the growing wealth of Philippine American literature.
Journalism/Magazine: Filipinas Magazine
Journalism/Newspaper: Philippine NewsOnline
E-zine: Our Own Voice: Remé-Antonia Grifalda
Book Dealers/Distributors:Arkipelago Books: Marie RomeroPhilippine Expressions Bookshop:Linda Nietes
Philippine/Philippine American Cultural Exhibitions: FAAE/Pistahan: Al Perez/Luz DeLeon
Librarian/Promoter: Estela Manila/Filipino American Center SF LibraryPhilippine American Organization:FANHS: Dorothy and Fred CordovaTheater: Bindlestiff Theater, SF Film/Documentary:Singing Songs of Leyte: Eli Africa Manila Bayu: Harold Kekoa BayangEstela Manila, Pio Candelaria
Music/Performing Artist: Florante Aguilar
AUTHORS
Children‘s Books:Almira Astudillo Gilles: Willie WinsAnthony P. Robles: Lukas and the Manila Town FishCeres S.C. Alabado: Molokai Mo’Bettah
Non-fiction:
Penelope Villarica Flores: Good-bye Vientiane:Untold Stories of Filipinos in Laos
David C. Martinez: A Country of Our Own
J.Mark uñoz: Land of My Birth
Mel Orpilla: Filipinos in Vallejo
Janet Stickmon: Crushing Soft Rubies
Marcelina Santos Taylor: Missing Mangoes:For Filipinos and Those Who Love Us
Leny Strobel: A Book of Her Own
Abe Ignacio, Enrique de la Cruz, Jorge Emmanuel, Helen Toribio:The Forbidden Book: The Philippine American War in Political Cartoons
Fiction/Poetry
Lilia Hernandez Chung: The Rush of the River
ER Escober: The Givenchy Code
Wilfrido D. Nolledo: Cadena de Amor and Other Short Stories
Oscar Peñaranda: Seasons by the Bay, Full Deck
Marianne Villanueva: Mayor of the Roses
Nick Carbó: Andalusian Dawn
Luis Francia: Museum of Absences
Sarah Gambito: Matadora
Luisa Igloria: Trill and Mordent
Paolo Javier: The End at the End of This Writing60 lv bo(e)mbs
Jon Pineda: Birthmark
Bino A. Realuyo: The Gods We Worship Live Next Door
Barabara Jane Reyes: Poeta en San Francisco
Lolan Buhain Sevilla: Translating New Brown
Eileen Tabios: I Take Thee, English, For My BelovedMenage a Trois with the 21st CenturyBehind the Blue Canvas

NEW and IMPROVED

Voila -- the new www.marcellinetaylor.com and www.missingmangoes.com

WARNING

I suppose I should warn any of you that visit this site -- my domain missingmangoes.com will be taken over by a new website I've designed for well, Missing Mangoes. There will, however, still be a link to this blog. Also, I will be deleting some of the personal photos and entries I've posted on this blog in favor of more-book/writing related entries. Friends and family can visit my multiply site to see what we're up to, see pictures of the kids, follow my diet etc.

I am also redesigning marcellinetaylor.com though I doubt that I will use any new photos of me -- as I still have some of that baby weight. You're all stuck with that smiley black and white photo of me from 10 years ago, on the back of my book -- it's my official press photo and except for a few crow's feet and my recently cut hair, I look the same. (At least I'd like to think so.)

Ciao for now.

OPP -- Original Pinoy Poetry -- kinda like OPM

I've never posted drafts of articles/column material so I thought I'd start now. I need feedback.

Future Manila Girl column -- when I stage my comeback in June.

Long ago and far away, or so now it seems that way, a group of kids gathered at a rock joint along Edsa, called Club Dredd. It was nothing fancy, a makeshift stage to perform, a bar with cheap drinks and eats. There, the Dredd Poets Society gathered to celebrate the spoken word. Some were poets, others musicians but mostly it was anyone with the guts to read a verse or two – self –penned or stolen, to the cheers or jeers of the audience, cold San Miguel in hand. There were no judges, good, bad and lame attempts at performance (mine included) poetry were always welcome. Later, I got more involved with the Dredd Sessions via Tones and Poems, which added a musical (preferably indie rock) performance, and multimedia aspects (i.e. photographs/art exhibited in the lobby area) to the gatherings. When Dredd closed, many of us moved on – to other lives, to other interests. We grew up, grew apart but for many of us an appreciation of the “word” whether in poetry or song remained.

Flash forward to a warm fall day in Washington DC... author Tim Saguinsin reads from his Angono book in Balagtasan style, sending shivers down the spines of those of us who recognized this lost art. It makes me think about Filipino poetry, makes me wonder about things, and most of all makes me wish I could recite poetry that way too!

And then I realize how sad it is that I cannot name any Pinoy poet let alone quote any Filipino poem the way I can recite Robert Frost or even Pablo Neruda. (Does Adios Patria Adorada region del sol querida...count? That’s as far as I go.)

Last year an unexpected gift of poetry came way via Miracle Fruit by Aimee Nez. (Is it still OPP when the author is half American?) Since then, I have been keen on finding the Filipino voice, dare I say, soul through poetry. So you can imagine the bonanza I got in the mail last month when Eileen Tabios sent me three books, and Patria Rivera sent her new book. I am slowly digesting their work, planning on acquiring other new books by the likes of Paolo, Sarah etc. but I a little insecure about reading them and what’s more, writing about them because I am no intellectual or scholar, not even a poet myself – what if I don’t get it? What if the words mean nothing to me?

But that is not what it’s about is it? The beauty of poetry lies in what the reader derives from the experience . As former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky said: “Poetry connects us with our deep roots, our evolution as an animal that evolved rhythmic language as a means of transmitting vital information across the generations. We need the comfort and stimulation that this vital part of us gets from the ancient art.”

I search for those vital connections through our poets words. My quest for the elusive Pinoy soul/identity continues. *