The awardee for non-fiction is Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Harvard University Press).
The announcement hailed Alumit’s novel for the way it "weaves 1980s Filipino culture, refugee issues, world policy and politics with personal struggle into a masterful and brilliant first novel." It adds: "Alumit’s writing is terse, unfolding in brief bursts like scenes from a play."
Other titles that came out last year in the US were cited as "literature honor books." The Stonewall Award, formerly called the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) Book Award, was established in 1971 and is said to be the oldest award of its kind. The awards will be presented at the 2003 ALA Annual Conference in Toronto from June 19 to 25.
Kudos to Noel.
We must also commend the wonderful people behind Our Own Voice literary e-journal which just came out with its ninth issue.
Co-editors Reme Antonia Grefalda, who’s based in Virginia, and Nadine Sarreal, who lives in Singapore, have been doing an excellent job of presenting contemporary Philippine literature for everyone in the e-world to read. To think that they never even met until last Christmas, when both found themselves in Manila for a brief holiday visit. But over the past two years they’ve labored at their collaborative efforts, together with like-minded friends among the far-flung Pinoy expat community. Check out their fine produce at www.oovrag.com
Another rewarding URL to visit is www.maarte.org for a look-see at maARTe, an e-zine put out by an energetic bunch of Pinoy-Ams, mostly based in New York. Here contemporary poetry complements the focus on art and that pioneering creative spirit that now finds itself making full use of the World Wide Web.
Such a boon it’s been for communication, the Internet, that for some monitor gazers it never feels that half a day has passed while Net-surfing and picking up here and there on sundry areas of interest.
Us, we still like to smell the flowers, so that sometimes sitting before a computer for more than an hour – especially when it’s not deadline-dictated work – feels like we’ve been pressed into a dragdown mah jong session. We enjoy it for the first hour, but tend to get restless. We have to get off our sedentary butt, take a break, walk around. Move in front of another screen where 10 big and small men are fighting for a ball.
Guess that’s why we have few bookmarks aside from nba dot com.
But our e-mail practice is enough, on a daily basis, to feed us various jewels apart from your usual jokes, and certain trivia curiosa that can only affirm our trust in our instincts.
Take the following item someone sent recently, a brief feature written by a Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles, and which appeared in The Guardian on Jan. 6.
The headline, "Jesus used cannabis," didn’t exactly cause either eyebrow to arch. Why? Well, perhaps if we were more audacious we’d say it’s because we’ve always felt like Jesus much of our life.
But here’s an excerpt from Mr. Campbell’s report, and ye be the judge:
"Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.
"The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled ‘Was Jesus a Stoner?’ The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims."
(Oh, so it’s a recycled story? And we’re given these scholars’ testimony as double hearsay?)
"Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were ‘literally drenched in this potent mixture... Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin’.
(Indeed, how high times change.)
"Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers. This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.
"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient anointing oil… and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ,’ Mr Bennett concludes."
(Now that’s a leap of faith.) Ooops, no need to go parenthetical now. That’s quite a leap, Mr. Bennett. I’d say those persecutors were just being straight.
Then there’s another item we got from a former fellow MTRCB member that proves yet another reaffirmation of our innate beliefs.
It came as a jpg file, this news item, without any info on its provenance except that it was written by a Jonathan Hayther, with the head "An eyeful a day keeps the doctor away."
We share it as an anti-aging antidote.
"Staring at women’s breasts is good for men’s health and makes them live longer, a new survey reveals.
"Researchers have discovered that a 10-minute ogle at women’s breasts is as healthy as half-an-hour in the gym.
"A five-year study of 200 men found that those who enjoyed a longing look at busty beauties had lower blood pressure, less heart disease and slower pulse rates compared to those who did not get their daily eyeful."
(Well, we always knew that our preview duties at MTRCB constituted good cardiac activity.)
"Dr. Karen Weatherby, who carried out the German study, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine: ‘Just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics workout.
"Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation.
"There is no question that gazing at breasts makes men healthier.
"Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of a stroke and heart attack in half.
"We believe that by doing so consistently, the average man can extend his life four to five years."
Hmmm. Thanks for the tip, Dr. Weatherby. And hooray for e-mail and e-enlightenment.