Friday, February 06, 2004
Booking
What kind of world is this? Just when I found the perfect time to find the books I’ve been wanting to read, I found not a single title in my list. At Powerbooks Greenbelt only Mayle’s books are available.
It’s a good thing I found a newsprint edition of Fastfood Fiction which costs only P180 or I would’ve told Powerbooks to announce retrenchment soon.
I took the escalator to the second floor to see if there’s any goings-on. Lucky me it was a book launch: a how-to-awaken-your-creativity book which was, I thought for a second, authored by Jim Paredes or Dero Pedero. But no, it was by two men named Art Gogatz and Ben Mondejar. Mondejar is a Pinoy who teaches in prestigious universities abroad.
Here’s what I managed to misquote from him:
“Don’t allow yourself to be restricted by what you already know, what the majority thinks, etc. So most Filipinas in Hong Kong are maids; we cannot do anything about that; it’s reality. But we cannot just accept that and be confined to that reality: other Filipinas can be something else other than maids!”
“We are a talented people. But talent requires discipline.”
“Talent requires simplicity.” (I didn’t get exactly why.)
“Talent requires bravery: Go out. Meet new people, new cultures. Don’t be afraid to inter-marry, even.”
Amen guru! Will see to that last item. (Maybe I should teach English idioms in China?)
***
After that episode I ambled my way to Glorietta and stumbled into a commotion. It was a Yoshinoya promo or something. Behind the meters-thick throng, I saw Heart Evangelista either signing autographs or giving out bowls of yakiudon.
The one young star who’s a standout, in my eyes, these days is Maxene Magalona. Is it any wonder she has that bearing of showbiz regalia? In case you wanna know or didn’t know, she’s reportedly the granddaughter of former glam guy Pancho Magalona and glam girl Tita Duran (and the daughter of rapper/TV host Francis Magalona).
I arrived in my secret hole finding people feasting over Ogie Alcasid’s brilliant impression of Arnel Ignacio over at Ch. 7’s Bubble Gang, in a segment where Kris Aquino’s game show was being lambasted with impunity. Shoot, I couldn’t read the book I just bought.
