To love and to honor 2 women

The outdoor party marking Julie Lluch's sexy eight birthday on March 5 was meant to be a surprise, according to the "conspirators" Aba, Issa and Kiri, the honoree's palangga. Trust their Mama or any Mama with an intuitive sense to notice suspicious moves weeks before The Day itself, including overhearing Kiri say, while making place cards, how hard it was to organize a "debut" for a mother.

Even before son-in-law Keith Sicat escorted Julie to Daisy Langenegger's garden, she already wore a knowing smile.


There's a sculptor on the cake.


With grandson Paris on her lap, Julie Lluch jokingly says about the white cake: "Be careful with that. It's a prickly heart."

It happened to be Ash Wednesday, too. Julie said the day reminded us all about our mortality, the ashes we were destined to become and how good it was to celebrate life "lovingly, lavishly under one sky."

One of the guests was Princess Nemenzo who even in her 70s remains a women's rights, women's health activist. No retirement in the horizon. That evening she regally carried her all-white hairdo folded into a soft perm. Another guest cited her resemblance to Bette Midler, recently seen at the Oscars singing "Wind Beneath My Wings." Still another dropped a hint of what was in store for her: "May araw ka rin!"

Meanwhile, another set of conspirators reminded guests at Julie's party about the surprise Women's Day (March 8) tribute for Princess. I like to tease her about the irony in her royal name and in her being a Marxist at the same time. The elaborate ruses and schemes were uncovered by the honoree herself--how could you make the Parangal kay Princess a top secret operation if you send the invite to an e-group of which she is part? Ayayay! But she was game and played along.

I walked on campus and reached the UP Executive House as the first of the summer sunsets was happening last Saturday. Stayed long enough to watch Princess make an entrance without a fuss and to slip a tribute package into her purse. Again, there was that knowing smile I had become familiar with since Wednesday.

Mabuhay, ladies! Continue being the feminist beacons that you are.

Princess also supports the arts, especially music and dance, particularly Pangalay. The classics and jazz appeal to her. Here she is with pianist Oliver Salonga after he performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 at Abelardo Hall last year. Photos by Babeth Lolarga

Thinking of the 8th of March Again

"This was, in (Virginia) Woolf’s view, the archetypal female writer’s fate: 'so thwarted and hindered by other people, so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty.' It is far easier, she suggests, to find 'some Emily Brontë who dashed her brains out on the moor' than one who 'blazes out' of obscurity."-- Edward Rothstein

this doesn't hold true for our women, ms woolf

in our country
women who write paint sing dance sculpt
or build & at the same time need to
cook launder & iron clothes
then run to nurse a wailing infant
are better than circus artists
who cross a high wire without
a pole to balance their steps
or a safety net below to break a fall

we live by chance or by choice
in large extended entangled families
in compounds & complexes
where in-laws & such
poke their noses into our affairs

so much for a room of one's own

in our home hangs
an old norma belleza oil painting

imagine the making of it
she lets the beef stew simmer on low fire
while she makes time to
lean a canvas supported by a chair
against a paint-streaked wall

she quickly fills up the blank space with colors
& images of fish-mongers & flower vendors
dignified by the work they do

or pays homage to the unpaid
full-time homemaker seated
at the edge of the marriage bed
done with the day's chores
tired wistful but still awake
awaiting her man's return

by the time the painter signs her name
the beef is tender the potatoes and carrots chewable
the greens still crisp in their greenness
the broth hot rich & soothing

whether painter or writer
peace advocate or impassioned ideologue
dancer modestly covering or
baring breasts in a smooth gesture of grace
our women resist the tug of
the swirling waters of despair

as for our pockets filled with stones
we choose pebbles
to improvise rattles
& similar noisemakers
for the little women after us

--Babeth Lolarga

Source of quote: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/arts/design/shakespeares-sisters-at-the-folger-shakespeare-library.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Collages from Babeth's series "What If Virginia Woolf Had Children?"