dominattyrix tredux

after 48 years....

i'm bahk! :-)

mouldy-mouldy me.

i'm here now but not for long, i'm afraid. ..

ok. so i'm off to indo tomorrow afternoon. i hate to sound pretentious, but well, we ARE a pretensious lot. it's an occupational hazard, hehehe. i will be rubbing elbows again with fellow "philosophers" from all over the planet... rub elbows lang ha? good thing there would be no mandatory "beso" since only one or two will be coming from the beso-loving euro cultures.

i was supposed to talk about a relatively safer sub-topic of the theme which is anything about philosophy and "culture, civilization and the perils and opportunities of globalization" -- i.e., gender and ka-women-an. in the local scene this had always been my thrust (pun intended) whenever i am tasked to give lectures and presentations, as it is my area of specialization (AOS). and based on experience it always threatens the chauvinist audience. the response is almost always frustrating. i get the most personal questions, not to mention the patronizing remarks.

but what the hell... i decided to take one step further and talk about queers too, while i'm at it. wish me luck then. it's time to queer threory. it's time to queer this planet. hehehe.

keep sending me 'yer lovin'.
be back before ya know it.

BALI, here i come!!! :-))

PS. sana lang wag ulit magka-earthquake! or tsunami! or volcanic eruptions! or kung ano man!

AFRAID!!! :-(

staged shots

tempus fugit

that was then, way back when i graduated from pre-school, circa 1977.

and this was just last saturday, when i delivered that lecture. one down, a million more papers to write (and grade too, ack!)

photo credits go to gab.

thank you! :-)

absentee blogger strikes again.

been real busy. updates soon.

silly pussy?

I'm trying my best to remain upbeat.

But ya gotta admit that losing two of my dearest felines, Ponkan and Shadow in the span of one month is more than a tad depressing. And yes, I still feel sad.

Seeing those digging pics was enough to keep me away from Type Pad, but then there I was posting some digging scenes yet again. I shouldn't have, but then again, I thought some of you might want to know what happened to Shadow.

Well, I do know that mourning is important.

And so is closure.

Losing pets is always tough. And since I have so many of them, the chances of losing another one is always greater. I am filled with dread every time one of them shows symptoms of illness.

So with this post I prefer to be silly. Atleast the pic above is silly, he he he. I got this "pussy" as a gift from Shobe, (she from my dyke coven) last Christmas. It's a cute photo frame with magnet in the shape of uhrmm... a pussy cat. :-)

Obviously my photo is pasted on to the face of the cat... and the day I got this, I decided to take pictures of the cat while on the move. That explains why it's on the dashboard, with the jeepney as background.

Gab got the same gift from Shobs, and while mine is yellow and green, hers is the purple pussy. The white beetle is also Gab's and she is called Tomato. I lined em up on the dashboard and took this pic while cruising along South Super High Way. That explains the presence of the billboards in the back ground.

Hmmm... Next time around I'm hoping to take photos of Kris Aquino's billboards too. Damn, the face of that woman is everywhere!!! She's even in my dreams. Though not lately, thank heavens.

Speaking of... that last dream I had with her on a pink tube top seemed prophetic too. In her latest shoot for Bench she was wearing a similar outfit.

What if... just what if... we're friggin' soul mates?

Waaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

mourning in the evening

What else is there to say now?

Except that I'm still feeling extremely  sad over Shadow's untimely demise. I'm very glad however that Gab was around to give comfort, and donate candles for tonight's vigil.

There's Shadow's (November 4, 1999-February 24, 2006) gravesite on the left...

Notice the singit Pan(g)it kitty cat in the foreground too. Most of my surviving cats (they're down to just NINE now, by the way) were around as well, as if to give their condolences.

And Ponkan's gravesite is just a few meters away from Shadow's (see photo on the right). Gab and I made the offering of candles and incense sticks (to the cosmos, perhaps? hmmm... what's this agnostic to say now?), with the hope that they're both in a better place right now.

For Dear Shadow, and Sweet Ponkan... and the rest of my fur clan who had already passed on, my thought are with y'all tonight.

another goodbye

I really hate having to blog about this. :-(

I said I'll be back, and I'm here now.

Thanks for waiting, you guys. I would've gotten here sooner except I was too busy wallowing.

Am back indeed but alas! Not with great news though.

Here's a very nice photo of Shadow (taken by Gab, of course), he who was most misunderstood. This psycho cat bit me once and scratched me many times in the past six years of his existence. He'd also done the same thing to almost all my family members. My dad was most traumatized, he even had to get anti-rabies shots from RITM because of the nasty bite.

Shad was also very KSP. He showed his territoriality by pissing on people. Yep! Pissing on them by letting out a fine spray. And Gab was a victim. She made the mistake of greeting him, saying "Hello there, Shadow friend!" but then patting another cat (Pumpkin).

Two or three days ago, he walked into the front yard walking like a drunken cat. He seemed very lethargic too. Gab and I thought about bringing him to the vet but then didn't actually get to do it. I was scared of getting bitten again. :-(

I'm glad I found Shadow early today though when I finally located him, he was already drawing his last few breaths. I woke up at around 4AM, only to find out we don't have classes so I went to the front yard to look for him and I find him just lying there  underneath the citrus tree. He was desperately trying to meow as I called his name but no sound was coming from his mouth. Just gasps of air. Atleast I was able to say goodbye, and though I was unable to get the vet for him, I hope he knew I was there for him. I still feel so sad and guilty though.

And so there we were at the backyard again, doing what we just did last month for Ponks. Gab, my brother Andrew, Uncle Beck and I were at it. This time it seemed easier, less laborious, prolly because we picked the right spot. Or maybe because we're getting used to digging too. It was all done in under two hours.

I hope I won't have to do this again soon though. :-(

Here's another photo taken by Gab... it's actually my all-time fave. No matter how psychotic Shadow seemed, this is how I choose to remember him... as our guard cat. Always on patrol. See him on top of the roof, surveying his domain... and always, always wating for my home-coming.

I'll miss you, Shadow cat.

SNIFFS.

pichi-pichi fix

Got this foodie tip from Cool Camote.  :: waves at ya!!! ::

I had been craving for pichi-pichi for the longest time.

Not to mention Pancit Malabon. Mmmm... I like 'em salty, with lots of shrimp and tinapa (or is it daing now?), and a good sprinkling of chicharon.

Good thing I remembered this place called Amber's. Cool Camote brought some take-away pichi-pichi in one of our famous dyke potluck parties some years ago. I'd been meaning to visit their restaurant located in the corner of Filmore and Emilia Streets (near cash and Carry) in Makati City... and today, Gab and I decided to pay them a visit. The place is clean even without air-conditioning, and the tacky native background (see photo on the right) is forgivable, given that they do serve native goodies.

Their Pancit Malabon is good though it tasted a bit overwhelming. It's supposed to serve one only but two can share (if you eat moderately, that is). The pichi pichi is so soft, it almost melts in your mouth. Yummy!

Oh and the calamansi pictured on top (left) is dedicated to my dear pal Balbonics. I know you don't have 'em in Canada, which explain why you didn't have one your citrus family photo. He he he.

sunday luncheon

My pal Darna is a damn good cook.

And I feel really privileged to be included in the select few that she invites for special dinners. This time however, she prepared lunch for all of us--by "us" I would like to think--her favorite "lasies and lezzies" he he he.

On the photo, from left to right, you'll find Jewel, Shobe, Darna (our hostess), moi, Lola Dan, and Gab. We sure had a fine time feasting on Darna's  cooking.

We were treated to hummus with pate for appetizers. And then there was the  exotic salad with mangoes and peppers t. As you can see it was very colorful too. For the main course, there was the chicken tandoori with yogurt dip, and the Cambodian beef dish which goes very well with brown rice. Yum, yum, yum!

And for dessert, of course we couldn't do without Darna's traditional chocolate cake served with Magnolia's best-selling vanilla ice cream. Darna was a bit apologetic about the cake as five minutes overcooked. We couldn't tell the difference anyway... it was very very good. The same can be said about the bread pudding. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

I had seconds, and even thirds, actually. And because of all that eating, I couldn't help myself really. I fell asleep on Darna's couch. Without me knowing it, Gab took this photo. Well, this photo's title really says it all... busog, therefore, tulog -- I won't translate that anymore. Suffice it to say that my stomach was very happy. I don't think I am being presumptuous if I say that we were all happily busog... and I dare speak for everybody who was actually there.

Now who wasn't? Hmmm...

Cool Camote, we're all so  sorry you couldn't make it. We tried to eat for you, honest.

We (especially the dyke coven, see our cutie pic on the left) were all thinking about you as we were merrily munching along... hoping that the three of us could actually give justice to eating for you.

Vicarious feasting, why not? But I don't think there's any way that you can make up for what you had missed. Sayang talaga!

We even had doggie bags too. Darna is so nice. Gotta love her! :-)

 

i'll be back!

i'd been looking at old blog entries.

i re-read those that i wrote way back when i was more uhrm, "inspired" i guess. and i figured that the templates are always getting in the way (excuses!), so i'm thinking of doing a major re-design. am still choosing the right lay-out. plus i need to fix the links too. will do all that asap so i can get back to the regular grind of blogging...

abangan!

go BIG TIME!

finally got to see big time! (Arkeofilms) on the big screen. watched it with Gab october last year at the ccp when cinemalaya screened the finalists.

too bad though... there couldn't have been more than 30 people in that huge SM cinema for the last full show. i was hoping it would be packed as well. ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros, another finalist from the same festival made it good in the box office. it was just as funny, but then again the brand of humor differed.

well anyway, it was still a lot of fun. atleast that's how it was for US (that's me with the dyke-coven). Michael de Mesa rocked as Don Manolo. Jamie Wilson (as Wilson) was also pretty convincing. never mind that he wasn't the "pretty boy-conio kid" that he was supposed to be. Atleast he could act.

now, it was brilliant casting too with Joanne Miller (as Melody) as the star-struck bimbo. whilst the protagonists, Danny and Jonas had very good chemistry... a loveteam in the making? he he he. well, it was nothing like Brokeback Mountain, but ya gotta admit that some scenes were dripping with (unintentional, perhaps?) homo-eroticism.

or maybe that's just ME again, doing a QUEER reading on most everything! :-D

wonder why this film isn't as mabenta as we had hoped it to be.

hmmm...

if it comes out on DVD, you can bet that i'll be watching this movie again!

Dear Balbs

This entry is dedicated to my good pal Balbonics.

And these photos were taken by Gab (but of course!) March of last year.

I already blogged about that day with the fur clan some time ago but back then, I just didn't have the chance to post the other pics of Jesse who was very sweet and cuddly and muy guapo.

It's really tough losing a dear pet. I so know that. :-(

So, this entry is for you Balbs.

And Jesse, wherever you are, may you rest in peace. Hope ya find my other furries, whom you never had the chance to meet in this life. I bet you'd all have a blast together.

curious cats and then some

I was dreading that day when I had to do some digging yet again.

I still remember that time when Gab and I spent 4-5 hours digging a hole deep enough for my dearly departed dog, Nero. Back then it was just her and me and two shovels.

I feel somewhat better this time around that I had some more help. My brother and uncle were willing to help so they did most of the tough work.

But before we got to lay Ponks to rest, there goes the other cats (Saffy, Ashley and Piglet), sniffing around.

Cats are such curious creatures.

What is that saying that talks about that? Ahhh...

Curiosity killed the cat!

But what we don't know is that the often quoted English proverb is quite incomplete. We hardly ever hear the rest of it. This is what it says...

And satisfaction brought it back!

Hmmm... Hey, am not in denial here. I know that none of my dead cats are ever coming back. But I take comfort in the fact that we all had fun while they were still around. I will cherish all those furry memories forever.

Special thanks goes to Gab, pictured above with Panit and Piglet, for acting in loco parentis to the furries. See, my cats like her too. :-)

feet are us

Love me, love my feet. J

Love Gab, love her feet. J

Guess which feet is whose? Hmmm…

Gab and I didn’t have to try hard to amuse ourselves today. Still a bit despondent over Ponkan’s untimely demise, we decided to spend some quality time with the surviving cats. They’re quite easy to entertain, really. All it takes is a piece of string.

But amused we weren’t. so I decided to use the string to play with Gab instead. I had this nifty idea of turning her legs into what is loosely called “string art” – nice white canvases too eh?

Before long, we were on the hunt for longer pieces of string, some cardboard, scissors and crayons. Art Attack!!!!

We thought it would be really cool to come up with some home-made designer sandals ala Roman style. The pink and green slippers were getting a bit boring since the ubiquitous string was missing.

Ahhh… the many wonderful ways to spice up one’s life with uhrm… string. B&D anyone? He he he. That's a JOKE! Or maybe not?

And so, this is what we came up with...

Guess which one is Doms’

and which one is Gab's?

And then here's a photo of our legs/feet TOGETHER...

Great legs eh, dontcha think?

Hers and mine.

You know what they say too,

"When in Rome... do what the dykes do."

i.e., wrap your legs in string that you just used to play with your pussycat/s.

Nyahahahaha!

The things we do to amuse ourselves... but, who are we kidding? We're still in mourning. Dear Ponky cat, wherever you are, may you rest in peace.