Monday, October 29, 2007
Theater Talk, Atbp. with Floy Quintos
The gist was this: 20 bloggers got to attend a seminar on theater appreciation with renowned playwright and director Floy Quintos, provided we blog about the experience afterward. Given the agenda, I thought this was pretty brilliant.

While I have little experience in performing arts, I've always wanted to learn more about it (or as tone-deaf Kristine of A Chorus Line put it, "What I lack in pitch, I sure make up in power!"), so I decided to go for it. I signed up using my Multiply journal, which is admittedly written more for my personal circle of friends than for the Pinoy blogosphere. Why then is the Theater Talk recap appearing here rather than there? Simple: Theater Talk was the much-needed defibrillator shock that brought this blog back to life, because I think the plea for the Philippine theater cause needs to reach a wider audience. In other words, I'm back, bitches!

The experience was really intimidating, since this was the first time I'd attended an event where I didn't know anybody at all -- not even online. For the first fifteen minutes, as we waited for the staff to finish setting up the seminar room, I did my usual wallflower routine of sitting on a bench and texting. (Yeah, I'm not as snarky in person as I am online.) I kinda wished I'd brought Micmac along, so he could give me the kick in the pants I needed to start talking to people, like that time he dragged my reluctant, chicken ass to get my picture taken with uber-cutie Felix Rivera. =))

Me to Micmac (text message): "Dude, I'm nervous! 'Di ako marunong mag-mingle!"

Micmac: "You look at the person next to you, make a stupid joke, laugh, then introduce yourself. O diba, 'di na strangers :P"

I meandered about the lobby and then went back upstairs to get over my minor case of xenophobia and just introduce myself to these people. I'm not the kind of person who enjoys telling strangers stupid jokes, so I just went straight to "Hi." Yay, new friends. =D I'd known of Shari before through Sir Martin; I was, of course, familiar with AJ through his site (I met Bakla of BaklaAko! And he was fierce!); and being around a guy as friendly (dare I say fabulous?) as Walter could make any shrinking violet feel a little less nervous about themselves. :D We actually got to talk to Floy Quintos himself beforehand, and I explained the six (or less) degrees of separation I had with him: my English Journalism class watched his play, Shock Value, but I didn't get to as I was violently ill that day. I think I still have my unused ticket here somewhere.

For the session, we were asked to remove our shoes, and I realized I picked the wrong day to wear boots. For a more relaxed and interactive session, we would be sitting on mats on the floor, and I realized I picked the wrong day to wear a skirt. ...Yes, I am an idiot. Sartorially and otherwise.

Another noteworthy thing about this session was that we girls were vastly outnumbered by a ton of out-and-proud gay men, which made my inner fag hag jump for joy. Hee-hee. You have to understand, the severe lack of out boys in Batch '08 has made me a little frustrated. I want someone to be the Justin to my Daphne, damn it! [/Queer as Folk reference] Or for a reference closer to home, the Ada to my Didi! I'm really just a gay boy in a straight girl's body, I swear!

At 17, I was the youngest person there, which led to my being branded "the highschooler" and "the virgin." I actually didn't mind. It's a nice change from always being the oldest damn person in the classroom. Anyway, I introduced myself as "Jules," a contraction of "Julie," which in turn is a new nickname I contrived from my name, Jeanne Louise (just transpose the U and L), because I've decided that the nickname "J.C." is both banal and gender-ambiguous, and like "Jeanne," people still manage to misspell it ("Jaycee?" Come on!). I have a plethora of nicknames (Jules/Julie/JC/Jeanne/Jan/Janjalani/JAAAAN!), so just take your pick.

For the getting-to-know-you activity, I was paired with 23-year-old Med Tech major James, and at this point I was already sort of over the "I'm a newbie" nerves. It was really fun talking to you, James! I must say, I was overwhelmed by all the pink on your blog (me: "Did I get the wrong address?"). In case you're still wondering whether or not people can "smell your gayness," let me just say, I didn't. The sporty shirt threw me off! Although in retrospect, I probably should have taken notice when you said you felt old at 23. Hee-hee.

Loved Floy Quintos. Actual topic aside, I admired how engaging he was with the whole room, and I made a few mental notes from this for the next time I speak in public. See, while I can nail the diction and projection just fine in class, I always feel like there's a glass wall separating me from the audience. When Floy talked, he really made a connection with each of us, interacting with us as a room full of individuals rather than a mere sea of faces. If all my teachers could discuss their lessons like this, I'd enjoy school a lot more than I do.

This was, of course, a seminar on theater appreciation, so Floy -- I have a feeling he wouldn't appreciate being called "Mr. Quintos," considering that he's touchy enough at the mention of his age, LOL -- made a compelling case for Pinoy theater. For the vast amount of effort put into each production, theater reaps little rewards in comparison to other industries such as film and television. Theater also has limited appeal for many reasons, including: "The tickets are too expensive," "I'd rather watch a movie," and "Eww, theater? That's so gaaay." As someone who shelled out P1,250 (and an extra P750 for Micmac XD) of my own money to watch Avenue Q, I've got to say it was worth every cent. Even if you hated it, Floy. Hee. Theater provides an entirely different experience; as Floy said, it creates an "alternative world" that, when well-executed, completely reels you in.

Among my peers, I often feel alone in my appreciation for performing arts (excluding Micmac, Jam, Miggy, Sam, etc., you lovely, oh-so-sophisticated beeatches :D), and it would be great if more people could see and love theater for the beautiful, bastard daughter of the arts that it is. On Floy's behalf, I'm asking you readers to please, see a play sometime. If you find one that's really good, it'll leave you hanging on the edge of your seat with goosebumps on your forearms. It's the greatest mindfuck that money could buy.

There was a raffle after the seminar, and yay me, I won 2 tickets to Dogeaters! I admittedly tend to glaze over at historical plays, but since Floy told me na bagay daw sakin 'to (naks, recommendation!), I'm really looking forward to it. Shempre I've invited my theater buddy Micmac to be my plus one as a "thank you" for helping me through my wallflower-ness and scoring me a picture with Felix Rivera. Oyess. (Speaking of the lovely Felix, I'm totally catching Fiddler on the Roof to see him again! Haha stalker!) It's at the RCBC Plaza ulit, so you'll know which streets to cross this time! XD

I wish I could have stayed longer and mingled at the kainan after the seminar, but unlike most of them, my parents were driving me home, so I couldn't keep them waiting. Heh, I feel nerdy. :P

My biggest thanks to Gibbs Cadiz, Migs and Karla for this great event!

Things I learned today:

  1. Philippine theatre is terribly underappreciated, and even in this realm, we take a backseat to the Western world.
  2. Never wear boots to a performing arts seminar unless you're absolutely sure that you won't be required to take them off.
  3. In that vein, never wear a skirt if they're going to make you sit on the floor.
  4. Gay people are awesome. Wait, I already knew that. :)

I walked into the PETA Theatre an inexperienced but curious Broadway fan, and I walked out with a heightened appreciation for Philippine theater. And I'm suddenly itching to get my hands on a copy of Zsazsa Zaturnnah.

JC got bored @ 1:32 AM

Saturday, October 27, 2007
Mindless fun and housewifery

Yay, a full length story-of-my-life update!

I've got to say, I'm absolutely in love with my current living arrangement. It's basically this: I make up my own hours, and then I just do whatever the hell I feel like doing. It. Is. Awesome. My parents are worried that I'm experiencing brain drain from all the fun, no-thinking-required activity, but if anyone loves reveling in their own idiocy, it's me.

(For the un-updated on my life, here's the summary: I took an equivalency test last July and I am now officially a high school graduate. I have the rest of the year free to do anything I want to, until college next year. Think of it as a year-long sembreak.)

This is also a perfect living arrangement for me because I'm the type of person who never gets bored. I'll always find something interesting to do. So what have I been doing with my endless free time?

  1. Listened to the A Chorus Line soundtrack ad nauseam, singing along shamelessly when I am home alone. I'm talking dance-on-the-bed, hairbrush-as-a-microphone sing-alongs here. Like in the movies! I've listened over and over so much that I memorize most of it verbatim, as I have with the Rent and Wicked soundtracks. "I dug right down to the bottom of my soul to see how an ice cream felt, yes I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I tried...to meeeelt!"
  2. During our Powerbooks shopping spree, my mom bought a huge book of cookie recipes. Since I'm the only one here who can bake worth a damn (what? It's true!), I've taken it upon myself to make sure the house is always stocked with a different type of cookie every week. Last couple of weeks: peanut butter cookies and classic chocolate chip cookies. Next week: Snickerdoodles and chocolate kourabiedes.
  3. Shopped a lot. I've turned into a complete mall rat, although JC's Excellent Adventure will come to a temporary halt for now considering the Glorietta bombing. Did you know that I actually planned to go there that day? We were running out of Japanese mayo, so I planned a trip to Little Tokyo in Makati to restock (because I LUUURVE Japanese mayo). I decided to stay in instead because I had to finish a writing job -- see # 8.
  4. Tried about every single spa in the area. I'm addicted. I love getting my feet pampered. I'd say that The Spa is the best experience, but it's costly. Let's Face It gives the best value for money. It's fairly cheap, but the service is competent.
  5. Watched a lot of DVDs. I just ran through all three seasons of Arrested Development in a week-long marathon, and I am so in love with it (my favorite episode is S2E4, "Good Grief"). The soap opera music that plays every time Oscar hints that he's Buster's father? Hilarious!
  6. Read a lot of books, but I still have a long way to go. I have a shelf full of unread books. I just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky a couple of weeks ago. Verdict? Favorite Book Ever (alongside Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov). I've actually taken to using Final Draft (scriptwriting software) to write a screenplay adaptation. This book was made for the big screen. I can totally see Michael Angarano as Charlie and Zooey Deschanel as Sam.
  7. Speaking of writing, I have been writing a lot lately. I've been churning out tons of fan fiction (no, you can't see it! *embarrassed*), as well as an entire television script (the pitch is Rent meets Cheers meets Grey's Anatomy), with six follow-up episodes, and I just joined NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, where you basically have to write an entire novel in a month. Yeah, it feels like a kamikaze mission, but go me!
  8. I've decided to put my writing skills to use by taking on a part-time job. I write IT-related articles for an online company, and once I finish all of them -- mind you, a lot -- I'll be paid $1,200 for the job (that's about $120 every week). Yay, shopping money! The best part is that I can work from wherever I want to, and I make up my own hours.
  9. I just attended a theater seminar with renowned playwright Floy Quintos, which was AWESOME, and I promise I will blog about it in the coming week!

If I could describe my lifestyle in one sentence, I'd say it was a cross between unemployed slacker and housewife, what with all the baking and shopping and trips to the spa. I've also started watching soap operas -- eek! Only one, though, an American series called As the World Turns. But can you blame me? I'm all for Holden/Lily, and Luke/Noah is THE CUTEST THING EVER. I mean, seriously:

How can you not love that? Squee!

Mom insists that I take up a class to avoid the radioactive decay in my brain, so it's a toss-up between Spanish and driving. (I'm almost 18 and I still don't know how to drive!) I, of course, will delay the enrollment for as long as I friggin' can.

By the way, leaving a note:

To all the awesome people I just met at Theater Talk with Floy Quintos: I've decided to revive my old blog, This. Is. Jeanne. precisely for the purpose of discussing Theater Talk because Blogger is less exclusive than Multiply (and I had more readers there than I do here, I think). Watch for the recap of Theater Talk in a couple of days! Nice meeting all of you! Floy Quintos is love! (Although I must disagree, Avenue Q was awesome!) - Jules/Julie/Jeanne/JC/what have you, I have a lot of nicknames. XD

P.S. I was the one in the red blazer, black skirt and boots. The one who looks like a teenager but dresses like she's 40. =)) I don't usually dress like that, I swear!
JC got bored @ 8:30 AM

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