Sabi ni durga/jane (para palang Puff Daddy ang frequency of name change nito) mag-blag na daw ako. Sabi ko naman, natatamad ako.

It's not because of a lack of subjects to talk about. Alam naman ng mga blogger na unless you've made it your credo to blog everyday (even if it's about the death of your toe nail), the frequency of blog posts could be proportional to the eventfulness of your life.

In other words, I was adequately distracted for the past few weeks, the details of which I might allude to in future posts but definitely will not see a fleshed-out narrative here.

As is my usual practice, I'll probably go into the ranting-school-of-posting for that one. You know, the cryptic posts I used to do, which I am not wont to do these days. There is no more use for that.

Suffice it to say na whatever they say about women being your worst enemy at the workplace, if you have the right collectivity having your back and they're as diverse as possible (especially for the myriad parts of me), there is nothing more I could ask for.

Ika nga ni Teny na ngayon ay officially engaged na (at si Abet ay officially her fiancee), I'll file it under 'Lessons Learned.' While hers was about money matters, mine was about 'Dealbreakers.' It's so Sex and the City, kadiri.

In other news:

1. Jo is back from her Madrid conference. Lots of stories about great dorm food (on the same gasp level as 'great airline food') and unorganized conference venues.

2. Speaking of conferences, I presented my little lovely paper on the Ethel Booba sex video at last week's ICOPHIL. I was reminded once again na nakakapagod ding nakaupo at makinig ng lahat ng klaseng papel buong araw. Ang aking 'kaklase' for the three days ay sina Pooching (na nagbasa ng papel tungkol sa kanyang beloved Spanish maps of the Philippines) at si Beng (na kinulit ang isang Fil-Am presenter tungkol sa validity ng `'romanticism' claim sa mga katha ni Carlos Bulosan). Tuwa ako kasi andun din ang forever friendly na sina Hope at Maricor. At mabuhay si Resil Mojares.

Some lookalikes:
Isagani Cruz - Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live
Warwick Anderson - Paul Giamatti (sabi ni Beng)

Some trivial notes:
Si Vince Rafael, bahing nang bahing sa panel ng history of the book. Mabuti naman naisip na niyang lumabas ng Escaler Hall after the third sneeze.
Si Arnold Azurin, ginisa si John Blanco at ang kanyang papel tungkol kay Jose Garcia Villa, the colonial Masoch daw, para gisingin ang sarili.

Some observations:
As expected, matindi ang schmoozing level dito. Of course, it's understandable kung magkakilala na kayo in another life, este another conference, book collaboration, etc. Pero halata naman ang mga dumapo lang doon para chikahin, mag photo-op sa mga supahstars, at ang malala, kung pumunta lang doon para makikain (may dalawa akong naiisip dito, yung isa taga English Department, yung isa, pinatalsik sa History Department). Yung pangalawa, inagawan ni Isagani Cruz ng mike sa open forum, yung una, rudely interrupted by Cruz in the same Q&A. Can't blame the dude, English department guy wasn't asking a question, he was narrating the history of his academic career and kept rambling on and on about why Fil-Ams don't publish much at local journals.

Some reflections:
Mabuti na lang may directory ng lahat ng nagsalita sa likod ng makapal ng conference programme. Hindi ko talaga tayp mag-schmooze. Never will, even if it'll be for my future (sabi nila).

Curiously, meron ding mga schmoozing types who are just passionate about their fields of research and just had to sit next to the superstar at dinner. Marami din ito. Nakaktuwa sila at alam mong hindi biglang ilalabas ang digital camera at magpapapicture. Mabuhay sila.

Sa susunod: Did the conference change my long-calcified stance on Philippine Studies?