-
Just Playing...

Setting: Starbucks-type Coffee Shop. Ada enters.

Ada: (thinking) Ang gara naman ng restawran na 'to. Mukhang mamahalin ang pagkain dito, a. Dapat hindi mahalata ng mga tao na hindi ako sanay sa ganitong klaseng lugar. Taas-kilay, Ada...

Girl: (approaching Ada) Umm, excuse me... Ikaw ba si Ada?

Ada: (thinking) Ganda naman ng suot ng mujeres na 'to. Alta ang dating.

Ada: Ako nga. Ikaw ba 'yung nakipag-appointment sa 'kin?

Girl: Yah. Halika, doon tayo sa table. You want anything? Capuccino? Latte?

Ada: Ano'ng latey?

Girl: It's coffee with skimmed milk. Umiinom ka ba ng coffee?

Ada: May kape naman sa bundok namin.

Girl: Hahahahah. Sige, I'll get you your latte. Let's sit outside para makapag-yosi ako.

Ada: Sige...

(Ada steps out of the cafe and sits under one of 'em big umbrella thingies. He takes quick glances at the people passing by, noting an occasional cute guy. Girl approaches holding two cups in her hands.)

Girl: (sitting) Careful, medyo hot siya.

Ada: Aaah... dala ko 'yung make-up kit ko. Dito ba talaga tayo?

Girl: (lights a ciggy) Mag-usap muna tayo. Siyempre, gusto muna kitang makilala. The party's later pa naman. Nagmamadali ka ba?

Ada: Okey lang. Narda, 'di ba?

Girl: (smiling) Yah. That's me.

Ada: Sori, ha? Pero nalito ako sa pangalan mo. Tunog kasing pamatay ng lamok e. 'Yung inii-spray.

Girl: Hahahaha. Mas malala pa'ng mga naririnig ko. Pangalan daw ng planeta 'yung Narda. Iba talaga kapag friends mo ang nang-aasar. Toxic. So, ano'ng real name mo? 'Di ba palayaw mo lang ang Ada?

Ada: Adrian. Ginawa ko lang na Ada kasi, alam mo naman, labag ito sa pagkatao ko.

(Pause.)

Girl: (smiling) So... may bato ka rin?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Pace Comics

-
Image
We took a peek at compression and decompression in comics in the previous blog post . Now, let's look at pacing, or how to pace comics. Pacing is simply how fast a reader reads your comics. Much like compression and decompression, pacing allows you to highlight pivotal events in your story. And this is primarily done by influencing how long your reader stays on a panel. The longer the reader stays on the panel, the reading place slows down. The faster the reader stays on a panel, the reading pace speeds up. 1. By default, the amount of text you place on a panel dictates pacing. The more text, the slower the pace. Chris Claremont is known for having verbose panels during his acclaimed run on Uncanny X-Men . 2. When the size of the panel is small, the pacing quickens. Conversely, large panels slow down the pacing. 3. Then the amount of visual information (details) you have inside a panel dictates pacing. The more visual information, or the more a reader has to look at, the
Click here to read more...

What Would You Do With 11 Billion Pesos?

-
The news industry is abuzz with reports of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos'purchase of The Washington Post for US$250 million, said to come from the liquidation of his Amazon stocks. As of this writing, that amount translates to Php10.88 billion. (It's actually Php10.885. I just took out the 5.) If you had Php10.88 billion, what would you do? To put things in perspective, I made a few calculations, since I'm wont to doing these things as a mental exercise. The examples below do not take inflation into account. MALLS If you allot Php2 billion to start and operate a modest-sized mall, you can build five malls, and you've got spare change to invest somewhere else. (SM Aura was reported to have cost Php3.5 billion.) CONDOMINIUM If you allot Php1.5 billion to build a 300-unit condominium building (DMCI was reported to have invested Php 1.3 billion in a 560-unit Ohana Residences), you'll have seven such buildings. HOUSING If you allot Php100 million to build and furni
Click here to read more...

Two Weeks Since Burnout

-
Image
I think it all started in late-2021. I had been feeling huge bouts of depression in the years prior to that, which had prevented me from making comics. But a friend gave me a tip that enabled me to reassess what I had been going through, and that helped a lot. I ended 2021 with writing and drawing a short comic "Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa PNU," commissioned by the Philippine Normal University. It was a breakthrough for me, as the last comic I was able to finish was in 2016. You can read it here. After that, I dove into finishing the much-delayed "Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila." I spent the first seven months of 2022 working on the last 50 pages of that story alongside my teaching job at the College of Saint Benilde. I also spent time and energy on the pre-production and promotion of the book. You can download a PDF version for free (or pay-what-you-want) through my Gumroad page . For Philippine residents, you can purchase a physical copy of the book through Shopee
Click here to read more...