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Author Archive

    I still am really excited that Neil Gaiman will be coming to Manila in March 17th to announce the winners of the 3rd Philippine Graphic / Fiction Awards. If you are a Neil Gaiman fan, then the Rockwell Tent would be the place to be next month. But there is much more to that. If you are an artists, then take this chance to showcase your talent in Fully Booked’s Revelations: The Art Competition. All pieces must be original artworks inspired by the work of Neil Gaiman. the details as posted are as follows:

Enter your original masterpieces inspired by the work of Neil Gaiman.

Winning entries will receive titles exclusively signed by the Dream King!

1st Place: “Sandman” Volumes 1-10 signed by Neil Gaiman
2nd Place: “Absolute Sandman Volume 1″ signed by Neil Gaiman
3rd Place: “Marvel 1602″ signed by Neil Gaiman

Entries must be delivered on or before March 10, 2010 with a duly accomplished entry form.
All entries must be brought personally to the Customer Service Counter of the following Fully Booked branches:

    Bonifacio High Street
    Power Plant Mall, Rockwell
    Promenade, Greenhills
    SM North Edsa
    Eastwood Mall
    Gateway Mall

Entries may also be sent via courier to:

    Fully Booked Customer Service
    Fully Booked
    Bldg 6, 902 Bonifacio High Street
    Bonifacio Global City
    1634 Taguig City

Guidelines:

1. Artwork Entries should be at least 11″ x 17″ (A3 size), but should not exceed 17″ x 22″ (A2 size), v. Vertical or horizontal orientation will be accepted. The artwork entries should be mounted on cardboardillustration board , posterboard, or foamboard, with overall dimensions not to exceeding 20″ x 25″.

2. Entries must be an original artwork. Usage of copyrighted material is strictly prohibited and is subject to immediate disqualification. Entries with inappropriate language or subject matter will not be accepted. Previously published, displayed , or prize-winning artwork may not be submitted.

3. Any media may be used. Artworks should be no more than 4 inches in depth and are suitable for hanging.

4. A completed entry form must be attached to the back of the artwork.

5. There is no fee to enter the contest.

6. All reproduction rights to all of the submitted artwork will remain with the artists. However, all prize winners shall agree that Fully Booked be granted non-exclusive reproduction rights for advertising, promotion, website, and print publication purposes. Prize winners also agree to allow Fully Booked to use his/her name and/or picture or image without limit in conjunction with his/her entry into this contest.

7. All rules and guidelines of the contest must be followed strictly. Non-compliance will subject the entry to immediate disqualification.

Judging:

The 3 winning entries will be chosen by Neil Gaiman. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

    30% Originality
    30% Creativity
    30% Composition
    10% Overall Impact

Winners will be announced on March 17, during the 3rd Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards Night at the Rockwell Tent.

Other Information: 1. Selected artwork will be on display in Powerplant Mall until March 21, 2010. Artwork should be picked up at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street by March 31, 2010. Entries not picked up after March 31, 2010 will become the property of Fully Booked, and can be disposed of at their discretion. 2. All judgments are final and interpretations of the guidelines are at Fully Booked’s sole discretion.
3. All employees of Fully Booked, Sketchbooks, Bibliarch, its credited advertising agencies and suppliers and their relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity and affinity are disqualified from participating in this contest.
4. Fully Booked reserves the right to nullify any entry submitted if conditions are not met. Such conditions may be incomplete forms required, falsification of required documents, or fraudulent sales transactions, and other illegal conditions initiated by the entrants.

So, go on and paint the Dreaming!

    I have posted some FarmVille auto-clickers and bots a couple of weeks ago, and I hoped that it helped you guys make your farming experience more fun and less tedious with all that d*mn clicking. Now, I am going to share with you Leejay’s blog which lists links to various FarmVille rewards — white to golden eggs, horse stable rewards, farm animals, achievement rewards, everything! It is the best bet you have if you are desperate to finish your stable faster. There are new sets of rewards almost everyday so try to add it to your bookmarks.

    Also, Leejay is selling some of his level-70 “farmers” online. So if you are interested, check out the details.

    So check it out now, and have fun farming!

    Before you leave, check out these yummy cupcakes.

I won’t be posting a much today aside from a series of “Dear God” letters i dug up from fugly.com. Kids do write the darndest things. Enjoy.

    Last week I joined a forum where writers of different proficiencies have gathered to help each other to write. From high school students who liked writing to some unpublished writers trying to look for some help. I actually joined to have some help and critique on a few of my works as I have yet to find an affordable means to learn creative writing. So far, the only way I see to get enrolled in the said course is to re-enroll myself either in UP and UST. But I think that I can not go and take up another four-year course without leaving my kids in alone in the house or with the house help. Besides, I have yet to finish my last remaining units in computer science from my last college. I have also looked into some online and correspondence courses but they are all from the UK or US; I don’t think that we could spare 20k pesos for a whole course, not with the other financial responsibilities we have to shoulder. If anyone can give me any idea where I can get some good instruction for learning creative writing, I would gladly accept the help. In this case I guess, I would have to stick to learning the craft on my own. Wish me luck!

—

    I have re-written an old short story of mine entitled I Dream of Medea. With some help from the people in the forums, they said this is a better edition. Tell me what you guys think.

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I Dream of Medea

    The amphitheater was crowded. Families from all across the city have come to congregate on this momentous event — the rebirth of the Sun God. My family and I were fortunate enough to have procured a good location where we could see the events of the day clearly and in comfort. We had arrived early for the festival; everyone was trying to contain their eagerness and settled on exchanging stories with others from the city. I on the other hand, had nothing else to do than take care of my young daughters. Then the whispers started. I had no inkling whence they came and from whom, but I was utterly compelled, powerless against its suggestions. Taking my eldest daughter by the hand, I took her to her grandmother and left her there without a word.

    Then I went off, my youngest daughter safely snug in the sling on my back, to the eastern side of the amphitheater where the pyre was located, gathering small twigs on the way. By the time I reached the pyre, I had a considerable amount of kindling in my arms, my child still sound asleep. The voices — they were many — were insistent now. They were no longer whispering. They were shouting at me, screaming, urging me to arrange the kindling on top of the pyre. They were ordering me to douse the pyre in oil to make sure that every piece of wood was drenched, and to lay down my sleeping daughter down to her bed of wood and fuel. She looked so peaceful, so carefree. Then she opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes were golden, burning gold. She was reaching her arms to me, calling out to me. Yet I could not move. It was as if I was made of stone. Then she disappeared in the inferno.

    The sound, distant shouts tumbling one over the other, came as if from a long tunnel; softly at first, like a roar of an ocean from miles away, then it started to get louder and louder, drowning me, deafening me. Then someone grabbed me on my shoulders, and I was shaken like a rag doll. It was then that I awoke from my trance. My chest, felt empty as if there was a wraith inside me, draining me of my very life. What hd I done? Something wet and burning came flowing from my eyes and all I heard was a loud rushing in my ears. I felt cold, colder than ice despite the heat of the day. Claws were digging in my flesh, rending me in their vice grip. I had to reach her. My daughter, she was burning! I had to to undo what I did. I had to save her even if my flesh should burn; I must save her. I had to. I HAD TO!

    I opened my eyes to the light. Gone was the amphitheater. Gone was the burning pyre. I can barely remember anything. Where was I?

    I looked around me, still confused. It was some place I did not recognize. Everything was pristine white, devoid of any other color. Then a face came into view. It was my husband, his face lined, aged before his time. There was a deep sadness in his dark eyes. With him were his two brothers. They have taken me to the healer, but the healer could do no more. He had done what he could and he had to let me go to make room for other invalids. So we left that sterile house and walked back to our homestead. We were upon the valley, on the cliff beside our home. I noticed a gathering below the cliff. All were dressed in black. and in the center was an empty pall. As we walk further down the cliff, I start to recognize the people in the crowd. They were all part of the clan. Then I saw who was in the pall — it was my eldest daughter, and to be buried beside her was her sister, untarnished, and looking like she was just asleep. My sanity deserted me upon seeing this. How could this be? What had happened? I fell to my knees and cried out to the heavens; I saw nothing ever more.

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    I hope you guys liked it. Just leave your comments below. I’d really appreciate it.

    Earlier this week, Leejay and I had one of the most stressing times in our lives — both our kids got sick. It is never easy for a parent to have his or her child suffer from any affliction, no matter how minor. The dread that it might turn out to be something very serious always loom in the back of a parent’s psyche. In our case, all that mental anguish is multiplied many times over when both Kylee and Lyka had burning 39 degree fevers. To make matters worse, they are both clinging to me for comfort and reassurance. Sad to say, I wasn’t able to fulfill that role perfectly being the impatient cranky person that I am.

    Lyka was the first to succumb. She had been feeling warm to the touch last Sunday night and we thought that she might come down with a fever. True enough, she did, but with her high fever, we were at a loss for the source of her discomfort. She spent the night in her grandmother’s house then, but in the morning, Mamajo told me that Lyka might be having mumps as she kept holding her right cheek as if it hurt; she was also having trouble eating and swallowing. So I tried to make some cursory inspections of her mouth. I then found a mouth sore inside her cheek, near the gums at the back of her mouth. We applied Pyralvex on the area and that elicited a raging tantrum from her. Leejay tried to calm her down but she won’t part from my side so I just embraced her, all the while telling her that it was necessary.

    The next morning, Lyka’s fever has steadily gone worse, and by then, Kylee was also running a fever. To complicate things further, I was having one of my occasional skull-splitting headaches. I could not think straight at all, much less take care of two bawling toddlers. Eventually I had to give up and ask for help from my mother-in-law since Leejay was asleep from working and watching over Lyka the whole of last night. After Lyka left, Kylee was less restive, and eventually she fell asleep; I did too.

    The next two days were repeat performances for us parents playing doctors but by then, the kids’ fevers have tapered off; they are finally, more or less, better. I have no idea how we could have weathered those days if Mamajo wasn’t next door. I might have had a nervous breakdown. Leejay and I may have both had. Then, just that, they’re well! They’re running around the room squealing on the top of their pretty little lungs as if they weren’t sick just yesterday.

    After another more day, we went to St Luke’s Hospital for the children’s routine checkup, vaccines. We had another agenda for going to the pedia today: to have the girls’ ears pierced. Their grandmother have been dropping hints for God knows how long; letting out comments like, “If only you have your ears pierced, my dear, I would buy you the cutest earring there is!” So much for subtlety. But I had to concede. In the light of Lyka’s latest haircut blunder, a pair of earrings will really help to keep her from being mistaken for a boy.

    We arrived to the clinic in good spirits. Elvie, Doctora Liz’s assistant, took the kids’ measurements then led us to the pediatrician’s room. Once inside, Lyka was all smiles and was trying to charm her doctor to giving her a lollipop. That was until the piercing started.

    Lyka had no idea what her doctor was up to, but she braced herself for the sharp poke that should have come at any moment. Instead, she was quite bemused when Doctora Liz held up a pen and started marking her earlobes. Only when the piercing gun has popped and her earrings secured on her ears did she cry; such a cry that was! We were afraid that we might end up just having one ear pierced but thanks to Leejay’s steel grip, we were able to have both ears adorned with gold half moon earrings. In Kylee’s case, though, she had to endure twice the pain since she had to take her MMR vaccine aside from her ear piercing. Her sister was so concerned about her that Lyka forgot about her own pain fairly quickly. Seeing her sister’s concern, and after a good helping of breastmilk, Kylee also recovered fast, asking for a lolly with such cuteness it made Doctora Liz smile.

    It is in these moments that I marvel about the inherent resilience of children. We often think of them as fragile little glass figurines but in reality, they are more hardy than we might give them credit for. They can get scrapes, bumps, bruises but that is all part of their process of finding their own limits. I say, let them, with proper supervision of course. Let them have their own small adventures in the house, in the yard, in the playground. Let them hurt once in a while and they will learn. Each scratch and each booboo is another lesson in what not to do, another limit set up. Just be there for them if the hurt seem to be too much to bear. Life is spicy; don’t let your kids miss out on it.