walkabout

blue red orange

I stumbled across the blog of an old friend I last saw in California, Rickey Yaneza. I've been wondering what happened to him. He has a spiffy-looking blog. Hey Rickey! Kamusta na?

hinirang help

In the course of writing new fiction for Hinirang, I found the two sites listed immediately below quite useful. The first, a catalog of names, helped me with the challenge of versimilitude. The second, an interesting essay on Spanish language advocacy, gave me insight into the controversy regarding the prevalence of the conqueror's tongue.

names

"Before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, a person's second (family, not middle) name was usually taken from one of his children. Thus, Timbô who had a son named Pitík was known as Timbô, amá ni Pitík. Compare this with the Western custom of sons taking their names from their fathers like Peter, son of John, or Peter Johnson. Sometimes, a physical feature was used to describe a person like Pitong Kirat for a certain Pito who only had one good eye.

Many early Christianized Filipinos named themselves after the saints so much so that it caused consternation among the Spanish authorities. Apparently, Christianization worked much too well and there were soon too many Santoses, San Joses, San Antonios, and San Buenaventuras to suit those in power. They were forced to change their last names unless they could prove that their family had been using it for several generations.

Another unacceptable custom was that siblings took on different last names like they had always done before the Spaniards came. All these "problems" resulted in a less efficient system of collecting taxes."


spanish language advocacy

Spanish culture and the Spanish language have had an undeniable influence on the Philippines yet the Spanish language has been shunned under an independent Philippines. Nevertheless, it has its advocates, and few can be as passionate about calling for the nation to adopt it as a national language or be as critical of English than Guillermo Gómez Rivera.


butch dalisay

One of my favorite teachers when I was at University, Butch is a multi-awarded writer and all-around nice guy. One of his stories, "The Body" from his fiction collection "Sarcophagus and Other Stories" can be found here.

buy and sell

The online version of Buy & Sell has all of the printed version's sections. My favorite one is the Swapping Section, where old style barter is the coin of the realm. Among the curiosities are:
WRISTWATCH Antique, to swap w/ English Bulldog
AFRICAN LOVEBIRDS 7pcs, to swap w/ Nokia 7110/6210
CANDLE MAKING KIT To swap w/ juicer/any appliances
CICHLIDS To swap w/ other cichlids
D.C. COMIC BOOK To swap w/ Sony Playstation
ICE CREAM MAKER MACHINE To swap w/ any breed of dog
LADY MANNEQUIN Removable parts, to swap w/ Nokia 3210/3310
NECKLACE Nativity cross, new, to swap w/ fax machine

Draw your own conclusions.