sure. wait. what?

I was over the moon the first time I got nominated for a blogger award. I read the words “award” and “nominated” and I assumed, for obvious reasons, that there was an actual award to be won. I was extremely flattered. Unlike Mocha “not a journalist” Uson, I was no longer “just a blogger” — I was an award-nominated blogger. Taray!

But, as it turned out, awards meant something completely different in the blogging world. Awards come in different names — Liebster, Sunshine, Mystery, etc — but they’re all the same meme in which bloggers tag each other and ask/answer random questions. There is no competition at all; everything is done just for fun.

A few days back Pinay Mama SG nominated me for a Liebster Award. I already knew not to expect trophies or prizes and, still, I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the nomination, Pinay Mumsht! ❤

These are the award rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions given to you.
• Name 11 fun facts about yourself.
• Nominate 11 other bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions.

These are my answers to Pinay Mama’s questions:

1. What are the top three movies that you like to re-watch?

Definitely, Maybe; Four Sisters and a Wedding; X-Men.

2. If you could eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Sinigang na bangus.

3. If you can speak to any person in the world (living or deceased), who would he/she be?

A friend who died a couple years ago. I miss her. I wish we spoke more often when she was still here.

4. If you could choose one movie director to “direct” your life, who would that director be?

Jade Castro, maybe?

5. Are you a cat or dog person?

Both!

6. What makes you happy?

Listening to old Disney songs, like this and this and this.

7. What do you wish more people understood?

The base-superstructure concept as postulated by Karl Marx and as expanded by Louis Althusser.

8. Name your #1 pet peeve?

Excessive noise in supposedly quiet places, or any noise at all when I’m trying to focus or to sleep.

9. What’s your favourite movie to quote?

I don’t think I have one, but I do like quoting this line from Contagion: “Blogging is not writing. It’s just graffiti with punctuation.” Touché.

10. If you had a superpower what would it be?

The ability to manipulate probability like Domino from Deadpool 2.

11. Do you have a favourite post? Please share it.

A favourite post that I wrote? Wala e, haha.

INSTEAD OF sharing 11 facts about myself, I will share 11 essays and articles instead. I already talk too much about myself (hehe), plus I think sharing the kinds of writing that I enjoy also follows the same premeditated self-curation involved when listing get-to-know-me facts.

So here are 11 readings that I highly recommend:

A Radical Narrative Disguised as a K-Drama: “Coffee Prince,” Gender, and Sexuality on Occupied Territories

The Symbolic Narcotic: How Dystopias Hide From Themselves by Tyler Wells Lynch on Protean

Why Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” is actually a public health triumph by Alex Abad-Santos on Vox

End Private Property, Not Kenny Loggins by Bhaskar Sunkara on Jacobin

The Scourge of ‘Relatability’ by Rebecca Mead on The New Yorker

Crony capital: How Duterte embraced the oligarchs by Aurora Almendral on Nikkei Asia

Is the Filipino language even as gender-neutral as we think it is? by Marrian Pio Roda Ching on CNN Philippines

In Defense of Noise: SM Future Sound and Red Velvet by Theresia Pratiwi on Seoulbeats

A Future with No Future: Depression, the Left, and the Politics of Mental Health by Mikkel Krause Frantzen on LA Review of Books

Athleisure, barre and kale: the tyranny of the ideal woman by Jia Tolentino on The Guardian

How a Lost Hit and a Popular Podcast Went Viral in the Midst of a Crisis by Brenna Ehrlich on Rolling Stone

FOR MY nominees, I went with the usual suspects and some new favourites:

twstrfries, who was the first to nominate me in an award way before she became twstrfries

Mochichi, whose favorite books I am trying to read one by one

rAdishhorse, who is my go-to person for Pinoy music reviews and chismis

Carmina, who is the Philippines’ leading expert in adulting (or winging it, haha)

Kimberly, who takes beautiful pictures and writes equally beautiful captions

Sen, who is probably way too busy right now as a school guidance counselor

Princess, whose blog has been my gateway to local Filipino indie literature

eytch, who has impeccable (*chef’s kiss*) taste in music and poetry

lrtqueen, whose personal essays brim with sincerity and nostalgia

celuna maria, who has a pretty awesome to-be-read (TBR) book list

JPlusO2, whose quarantine musings strongly resonate with anxious hermits like me

NONE OF you are by any means obligated to pass the tag on, but I still prepared the following prompts in case you want to play along:

1. Why do you blog?

2. What do you like most about yourself?

3. What is one thing that you are very good at?

4. What is your favourite song at the moment?

5. What constellations can you recognize when you look up at a starry sky?

6. What was the last Filipino film you saw?

7. What goes on in your head when you solve 38 + 47?

8. When did you last laugh?

9. What is your favourite alcoholic drink? (If you don’t drink, why not?)

10. What has been your most expensive purchase to date?

11. What are you excited about?

ANSWER THE questions only if you feel like it, ha? No pressure at all! 😁 I am also opening the floor for nominations—nominated or not, I would love to hear your answers in the comments, in my Inbox, or on your own blog.

Thanks again, Pinay Mama, for getting me in on this paandar. 😊

Stay safe as always, everyone! 😘

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I made the featured image based on an art print design by anasakac on Pinterest. The Meryl gif is from GIPHY.