sure. wait. what?

Lists and Awards!

Thank you for the award, Thea!

1. What is your advice for someone who had a friendship break-up?

Surround yourself with homies who inspire you to be a better person. It’s easier to move forward when you realize that the people you’re leaving behind are not worth the stress and the drama.

2. Are there any regrets you have? What are those?

I regret waking up late every morning.

3. What is the most memorable and proudest moment you have in your life?

Wala akong maisip shet. Wala yata akong silbi haha sorry!

And instead of curating 14 facts about myself, I figured it’d be more interesting if I just share 14 links to shit that I consume. So pretentious, haha, but this is all about self-construction anyway so swak pa rin.

  1. I listen to “Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko” many times a year. (Link)
  2. Two Love Poems by Wislawa Szymborska (Link)
  3. “He didn’t come from the slums. But to say that [Messi] hasn’t suffered isn’t true.” (Link)
  4. The Murakami Effect; “[his] work begins and ends with translation” (Link)
  5. “Kung gago lang ‘yan dito, hindi namin ‘yan hahanapin. Putang ina nila, gago sila. Pinatay nila, mga gago sila.” (Link)
  6. “There are filmmakers we love and then there’s Michael Bay.” (Link)
  7. Interstellar: When Spectacle Eclipses Story (Link)
  8. “For him, the possibility / of love is a bus exploding / in the middle of EDSA.” (Link)
  9. List of shibboleth names by which the privileged judge their inferiors hahaha (Link)
  10. The Future Prospects of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (Link)
  11. Why do KPop World Tours Tend to Ignore Europe? (Link)
  12. An Oral History of Mike De Leon’s Batch ’81 (Link)
  13. M’lady Joan Didion on keeping a notebook (Link)
  14. On the infamous Janet Cooke, “the fabulist who changed journalism” (Link)

It took me a while to build this list. There was a deliberate attempt to cover a semi-diverse range of interests and to consequently (necessarily?) portray myself as cool-but-not-lutang ajejeje.

But the problem with my list — shit that I didn’t even bother to subvert — is two-prong. First, the uniting element is moi and only moi. This is obnoxious to many peeps — including Nin, hello! — who think that we should always strive to counter the already egotistic nature of being a writer.

The other contention is how lists like this present the topics as if they are all of equal importance. Facebook and other social media operate the same way. News on the murder of a child (5) are placed in the same arena as travel pictures from Bangkok and video essays on film aesthetics (6). There are intricate algorithms behind the sequencing of Facebook posts but the general idea of clumping together issues of unequal weight remains.

Maybe that’s just how it works (hah!). The least I could do, I guess, is to keep in mind this imbalance when assessing what is relevant to me, to us, and to the bigger community outside my social radius.

Daming sinabi hahaha. Anyways salamat muli Thea! 🙂

J
,
, , , ,

11 responses to “Lists and Awards!”

  1. DJ R. Avatar
    DJ R.

    But Interstellar is one of the closest things I have to a singular all-time favorite film. 😦 (The video won’t play over here by the way. “Blocked in your country on copyright grounds” stuff. I’m just reacting to the title.) The spectacle is the story! There is absolutely nothing more spectacular in the natural world than the sheer scale of the universe, which the film captures well.

    On #8: it’s always amusing to find such funny, provocative stuff in academic journals. But then again, peer-reviewed journals of creative writing are a strange existence. And this reminds me, kailangan kong tapusin basahin ‘yung latest Likhaan volume.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Jolens Avatar
      Jolens

      Hala, hindi mo talaga ma-access ‘yung vid? Sayang! It’s from Nerdwriter1’s channel and he’s also a big fan of Nolan. Sabi niya Interstellar “operates on so many levels it’s hard to identify which one is supposed to be the emotional core.” He also found the explanations on the theory of relativity way too lengthy at the expense of more screen time between Murph and Dad.

      Anyways, sana mapanood mo kasi mas eloquent ang review/reading ni Nerdwriter haha. I remember enjoying Interstellar but I still prefer Memento over it. Although pwede ring nadaan lang ako sa novelty ng concept haha.

      Waiiit, by journals you mean anthologies like Likhaan, Norton, ganern? Why are they strange?

      At uuuy, bakit ba kasi ‘di tayo nagpang-abot sa college?? Nubayan! Hahaha.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. DJ R. Avatar
        DJ R.

        Nakahanap ako ng paraan! It’s always been clear to me that Murph and dad’s relationship is the emotional core of the film. Hans Zimmer wrote the soundtrack based on the idea of this relationship, before he learned anything else about the story.

        I think many of Nerdwriter’s criticisms are valid. Ang cheesy nga nung monologue ni Hathaway about love, and 2001: A Space Odyssey’s pacing allowed for a more profound effect. But I set these all aside, simply because of the overwhelming sense of wonder I felt from the film. If I try to compensate for my bias for the film’s subject, and evaluate Nolan’s films based on more “universal values” that “make great films”, I think The Prestige is his best work.

        Yes, Likhaan and friends. Naninibago lang yata ako haha. I’ve been looking at scientific journals since high school, as in natural science journals, but I didn’t know peer-reviewed creative writing journals existed until I discovered Likhaan. I get the point of peer-review in science, but it just feels a bit strange having the same process applied to creative works. But then again, workshops operate by the same principle naman.

        Hindi ba talaga? Haha. I did my undergrad from ’09-’14. What if naging kaklase pala kita in some GE.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        1. Jolens Avatar
          Jolens

          Ooh, I didn’t know about the Hans Zimmer bit! And I would agree that, yes, The Prestige could easily be Nolan’s best work. Ang ganda nga nun takte. Is Nolan your favorite living/working Hollywood director by any chance?

          I actually don’t know how peer reviews work in STEM fields hahaha. In lit journals, it’s clear to me that there are editors, or peers I guess, who act as gatekeepers and choose the works to be included in an issue. These editors are writers themselves, and they are well aware (I assume) that anthologizing is a critical / political / obviously subjective act. The introduction usually lays out the biases of the editors and explains the intent behind the choices. Ganito rin ba sa science journals o may iba pang roles ang peers bukod sa pagpili, pag-edit, at pag-sequence ng mga ilalathalang article?

          At waaah nag-abot nga tayo! Baka nga naging classmates pa tayo sa GE jusme! Or nakasabay sa pila somewhere, for sure yon hahaha.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
          1. DJ R. Avatar
            DJ R.

            Definitely! Kasi he’s the one who’s best at marrying the spectacle that only Hollywood can create (because of production costs, technological capability and other practical considerations), with the depth and richness of art films that we can find, well, everywhere (but which in Hollywood/America is often obscured by the popularity of often-mindless movies).

            Ayun, if in lit journals it’s subjective, sa STEM there’s a clear idea of correctness. So the peers are responsible for ensuring that what’s getting published is sound science. Also, STEM journals are often highly specialized, they occupy niches. So the reviewers are usually familiar with the esoteric topics of submissions. (I haven’t published in a journal yet, but this is what I’ve heard from experienced scientists and engineers—if you want to get published, better to submit to the journals that already deal with topics similar to yours.) At the same time though, and I guess this is something all journals share, the main criteria for selection is novelty, as in: does the submission contribute new knowledge or ideas to the field? ‘Yung pag-sequence, I think that’s irrelevant in STEM journals, wala namang narrative ‘yung kabuuan ng mga issue na kailangang i-maintain.

            KikoMachine moments, haha!

            Liked by 1 person

          2. Jolens Avatar
            Jolens

            Agree on Nolan and on Hollywood’s mindlessness. I think Neill Blomkamp also has the potential to do what Nolan does. I loved District 9 but Elysium and Chappie not so much. Siguro ang bigat ng political baggage ni Blomkamp, while Nolan never really tackles anything that’s explicitly political? Tama ba? Hehe.

            At siguro nga oo, malaking bahagi ang novelty kahit sa lit journals. Since contemporary Philippine literature ang moda ng Likhaan, halimbawa, may pagkiling ito sa mga akdang reflective ng kung ano ang napapanahon, tema man ‘yan o pag-experiment sa form. And I base this assertion solely on the issues’ introductions hahaha.

            Interesting din ang Kritika Kultura ng Ateneo, mas criticism naman doon kaysa creative works. Interesting ‘yung “The (Mis)Education of the Filipino Writer” ni Chingbee Cruz, critique sa formalist aesthetics ng Silliman workshop haha.

            Liked by 1 person

          3. DJ R. Avatar
            DJ R.

            I’ve seen only District 9. Based on that, and what I know about Elysium, I guess I agree. Si Nolan, kahit sobrang epic na ng scope ng nagaganap sa istorya, the focus remains personal. Off the top of my head, the closest thing he’s made to Blomkamp’s class conflict allegory in Elysium, is that ferry scene in The Dark Knight.

            I will look that up! 🙂

            Liked by 1 person

          4. Jolens Avatar
            Jolens

            Tatapusin ko na sana ang exchange na ito kaya lang naalala ko ang The Dark Knight Rises and its allusion to the Occupy Wall Street movement! I don’t remember much about it though haha.

            At ito ang download link sa article ni Madam Chingbee, just in case may ibang taong ma-curious din haha: http://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/index.php/kk/article/download/KK2017.02802/2406

            Liked by 1 person

  2. Thea Avatar
    Thea

    Jolens, salamat sa pageeffort mo sumagot kinikilig akoooo hihi

    Muntik na dumugo ilong ko though ahahahah ang galing galing mo talaga ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Jolens Avatar
      Jolens

      Uy haha, sorry hindi ako nakapag-share ng 14 facts about me! Bawi ako balang araw ha? 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. Salamat, Thank You, Gracias | Life of an Introvert Avatar
    Salamat, Thank You, Gracias | Life of an Introvert

    […] Aysa  Jolens  Jheff […]

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to DJ R. Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.