books again!

because of a different kind of high i get from buying books, i squeezed in a couple of minutes to buy some paperbacks despite the hectic sked in cagayan de oro last week.



i got hooked on annie proulx's prose when then chicago-based sammy solana sent me few christmases ago the book "Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay." "Brokeback Mountain" is so lean and mean and beautifully written that i deliberately didn't watch the movie to keep my mental image of the story intact. even proulx's essay on the travails of "Brokeback Mountain" (part of the book along with Larry McMurtry and Diana Osana's screeplay) before it finally got filmed is a piece of luminous writing.

this and more make me look forward to reading "The Shipping News."



been hearing and reading a lot of good things about sue grafton, thus the purchase. i've read a fourth of "G is for Gumshoe" and so far, so good.



with these three additions, i'm slowly rebuilding my collection.

hosting

They say that hosting is something I do well. And you do more what you do best.

Last week, I had another opportunity to use my emceeing skill at the 3rd Mindanao Investment Conference, a corollary activity of the 19th Mindanao Business Conference held at the Grand Caprice in Cagayan de Oro City. I must’ve made an impact because the organizers (Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.) requested me, through our Assistant Regional Director, to host the next day’s event. I begged off because I brought only one business attire. Vanity, you say? No, just my belief that a host should look as good as he sounds. Buy, you say? No, not when I'm doing it pro bono.

As emcee, my competitive edge is I can work without a script. I’m also quick on my feet, doing one-liner adlibs without missing a beat. I don’t know, but words come easy to me. But then again, I have been building my arsenal of alphabets, if you can call it that, through countless hours of reading practically about anything under the sun.



Twelve years ago I was diagnosed to have thyroid cancer and was told to undergo thyroidectomy. The first thing I asked the surgeon was: Will I lose my voice? Well, that sums up pretty much how I love hosting!

***


at the business matching room with friends from DTI-Caraga.


with Ms. Margie Garay, the wife of Cong. Garay of Bislig