Girlfriends' night

I've traveled miles to attend First Draft meetings, and even arrived once from an overseas trip, woozy from jet lag but still able to listen to my wise elders with some mindfulness.

Karina Bolasco and I are the "babies" in this group of women who write and like to share their works by reading them aloud for critique. I write "babies" because after me, the next lady is in her mid-60s. The eldest is forever 84.

We used to meet six times a year, but that petered out when each got involved in this or that. But the raison d'être for a group like this has been met--we're all engaged in and committed to writing. And we write not for livelihood reasons alone. To use another friend's term, writing has become a "lovelihood".

Rita Ledesma had been our gracious Christmas host for many years. December is when she brings out her best china, the best cuisine and desserts that she has tasted and now wants to share this delight with us. We exchange gifts (an option) and have a non-negotiable bunutan or mini raffle. This year we missed the company of Mariel Francisco, Melinda de Jesus and Lorna Kalaw Tirol, all fulfilling family duties. I know there's a next time with them.

If my pictures are fuzzy, maybe it's because I look at these women through the eyes of love.

Karina Bolasco and Gilda Cordero Fernando

Chit Roces Santos, Edna Manlapaz and Fe Arriola

Fe and Rita Ledesma

Gawad Pambansang Alagad Balagtas

The Filipino writer’s curse and challenge | Vera Files

The Filipino writer’s curse and challenge | Vera Files

Abanse, BWG!

Among the board resolutions passed by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) was this:

"WHEREAS, Baguio Writers Group, as nominated, deserves the 2013 Gawad Pedro Bucaneg for Oustanding Institution for literary advancement..."

It was signed by Dr. Michael Coroza, UMPIL secretary general, and Karina Bolasco, chair.

The souvenir program for the 39th UMPIL Congress and 28th Gawad Pambansang Alagad Balagtas carried a group photo of BWG members and this description of the awardee:

"Literature in the city thrived even more with the passionate encourage and advocacy of the Baguio Writers Group (BWG) from the decade of the '80s and the group has since then pursued its artistic vision without letup. Based on the successes over the years, the organization promises the further advancement of literature  and the recognition of creative writing together with related arts in order to reach a broader audience. Through forums, presentations, and publications, the organization is able to spark more enthusiasm in both writers and readers to enliven Filipino literature in Baguio."

Representing the group at the awards rites was BWG president Frank Cimatu. Some others  were also there at the right place (Leong Hall, Ateneo de Manila University), right time (Aug. 31 at the end of Buwan ng Wika).

Pedro Bucaneg, by the way, "was a foremost Ilocano poet and Christian missionary born in Bantay, Abra" Go to http://www.poemhunter.com/pedro-bucaneg/biography/ for more on his life. May he infuse BWG with more vigor!

Mabuhay, Baguio Writers Group!

Grace Subido and Frank Cimatu hold up with pride and joy the Gawad Pedro Bucaneg and program.

Frank receives the award in behalf of BWG. With him onstage are National Artist Virgilio Almario, BWG's Ed Maranan, Grace Subido, Babeth Lolarga and UMPIL's Karina Bolasco

Frank with the other winners of the Gawad Balagtas (from left): Francisco T. Ponce represented by his sister (Iluko stories), Roland Tolentino (essays), Floy Quintos (plays) and Alice Tan Gonzales (Hiligaynon literature) represented by John Iremil Teodoro

Five in a million

To quote another woman writer: "I haven't walked this way since 1986. And did we think that Kris Aquino would  be part of the deal?" The Million March Rally at Rizal Park has proven that significant numbers can be united and summoned again and post-menopausal women like us, who happen to write (Karina Bolasco, Rochit Tañedo, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Sol Juvida and a blogger with her crudely done poster), can stoically bear arthritic joints to make ourselves counted.    Photo by Ruth Terania

Booboo the hipster lola, according to Joey Cobcobo

Joey Cob, as some friends and I call him, is a young artist who continues to leave his imprint, almost literally, in the Philippine visual art scene. He is in the 2012 roster of the Thirteen Artists Awards along with Kiri Dalena, Marina Cruz, Rodel Tapaya, among others.

He recently did a monoprint portrait of this blogger on handmade paper with edges crocheted by his mother who, like me, is also a grand-mother (Joey has two young sons). He visited me one Sunday afternoon towards my favorite hour of 4 p.m. at the Lolarga home in Pasig where women rule, a compliment there to my mom who is a great grandmother of three apo sa tuhod--Machiko Skye Susi, Kai Mykonos Fernandez and Jared Franco Susi. Joey Cob and I kept  missing one another, our skeds not coinciding for many months, even when we bumped into each  other in Baguio City after he researched his own lola's ancestry in the deeper parts of the Cordillera.

It was on my Lola Purang Lolarga's dining table that used to be in her house on M. Roxas, Lower Brookside, Baguio City (the three-storey house sold by her heirs sometime in the early 2000s) where Joey did his thing. The table was one of the few pieces of furniture saved and moved down to Pasig.   

I tried to capture on my trusty digicam Joey's process of working. That dining table is extra special to me. When the fledgling United Methodist Church in Baguio City still had no permanent site there, Lola Purang threw open the doors of her house to Sunday worshippers and the pastor used the table as an altar.

Joey also did a video of me talking about my lola and my own thoughts on what a grandmother's role is. I think he has edited my rambling mumblings down to 10 minutes or less.

I'm lola no. 94  (oooohhh, that makes me think of that danceable hit "Mambo No. 5") in his list, part of his 101 lola project. He has had previous shows of other grand-moms that include, among many already, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Araceli Dans, Anna Leah Sarabia, Ivi Avellana Cosio, Baboo Mondonedo, Deanna Ongpin–Recto, Elsie Kalaw Santos, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Julie Borromeo, Mariel Francisco and so on.

So I found myself in this last batch (the heavens decreed the birth of Kai/Butones so I can, through sheer coincidence, though I believe like Einstein that God doesn't play dice with the universe, be  a part of this project--sabay sabi ng "Chos!"). When Joey began the project in 2010 and I watched him work on his monoprint of Gilda, he was disappointed to learn that  among my roles were working wife, imperfect mother and doting aunt/tita, not a grandma yet. He asked me if I knew of more unconventional lolas like Gilda and from the top of my head I rattled off the names of some friends and he took down notes. Diligent boy that he was and still is, he pursued those women, half courted them so they could sit for him.

So from Dec. 15 this year to sometime in January 2013, Joey's monoprint portraits of this blogger and some  grand-mamas I recommended to Joey (among them Julie Lluch, Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz, Karina Bolasco, Alma Cruz Miclat, Chit Roces) will be part of his solo exhibition called "Lola 101--4th part" at the BenCab Museum's Print Gallery on Kilometer 6 Asin Road, Tuba, Metro Baguio.

Here's a sneak preview.

Neni Sta Romana-Cruz, "Sweet 60"

Karina Bolasco, "KKK"

Babeth Lolarga, "Booboo the Hipster Lola"

Here are some production photos I took when Joey came a-calling at the Lolarga family's Pasig home where I'm part-time resident when not in Baguio. Joey plucked some greenery that I said I was partial to like the cypress (to symbolize the Baguio in my heart), the santan (the eternal, invincible summer of '84 when I dwelled long,  in a place far far from home, on what direction I wanted my life to take, and I chose Rolly Fernandez as my life partner) and a tiny purple flower (in Joey's interpretation, that's Butones).

The greens in our garden were mostly and originally planted by my father, the late Enrique C. Lolarga Jr., when we moved to Barangay Kapitolyo in 1975. The garden is maintained more or less as it is by my younger brother Dennis and dear Mom, the most a-go-go great grandma I know at 85 years old. BTW, she prefers to be called Mama Mermaid by her apo sa tuhod. 

Joey Cob studies portrait of Booboo to check what element is still missing (most probably a fallen screw on a side of her head).

By sundown " Booboo the Hipster Lola" is finished. I sense a deep karmic connection with Joey Cob, the kind that makes me not want to refuse him anything, including sitting still for a portrait. Perhaps he's the son I never had in this life, or the son I had in a past reincarnation. He does not call me Tita Babeth or even a plain Babeth but "Mama Bear."

Some photos by Babeth and Gigi Lolarga

Hangad's songs for your secret, sacred time

From the inbox today came this announcement. The soon-to-be launched CD is worth listening to. Or worth the look-see when the album is launched on two days in September at different venues. I've seen these earnest kids perform five or so years ago when the mom of one of the members, Lorna Kalaw Tirol, brought in Hangad to serenade Karina Bolasco who had turned golden girl. Members of First Draft were there to celebrate the occasion with her with the usual dining, reading and sharing. That meeting remains fresh in my memory because there was live choral music for a change.

____________________

They don’t call themselves a choir or even a singing group. They are a group of young people, most of them professionals and a few college students, who sing to glorify God and to draw people closer to Him. They call themselves Hangad.

Next month, Hangad will mark its 20th anniversary with the release of a new album that explores and celebrates prayer as a deeply personal, one-on-one communication with God.

The CD, the group’s eighth, is titled This Time with You. It contains 16 songs, 15 of them original compositions by the members, that span a broad range of themes, emotions and musical styles, including a mix of a capella vocals and various instruments (piano, guitar, flute, saxophone and strings).

Renato Lucas, the celebrated principal cellist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, performs a solo.

The album will be launched at two free concerts on Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, and on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Santo Nino de Paz Chapel in Greenbelt, Ayala Center, Makati City.

Accompanying the album is a words and music book containing reflections and prayers written by Hangad members, and the complete vocal scores of the songs on the CD.

This new album recalls Hangad’s origins as a choir for Days with the Lord retreats at the Ateneo High School in 1991. Since then, the group has produced five music videos besides its eight CDs and has performed in numerous inspirational and fund-raising concerts around the country and in the United States.

In 2006, Hangad won the Awit Award for best inspirational/religious song for “Pieta: Oyayi sa Paanan ni Hesus” in the album titled Easter Journey.

This Time with You is a joint production of Hangad and the Jesuit Communications Foundation.

For more information, readers may check out Hangad on Facebook or visit its website, www.hangad.com, or write to mail@hangad.com.