From the Land of the Many Pages, I bid you all a Good Whatever the Time is Wherever You are.

Read, read!!! (Yes, this is another reading list). I promise you won't regret it. These are easy-to-devour texts. :D

"Sa Mga Suso ng Liwanag" by U Eliserio

--- Genre: Akdang Bayan (Nobeleta)
--- Medium: Taglish
--- A story set in the present UP Los Banos. U (yes, the main character has the same name as the author) is a teacher who gets into a lot of trouble for falling for his students. His current girlfriend and ex-student Aiko reveals she is pregnant and wants to get an abortion, to which U alternately agrees and disagrees. The story revolves upon their rather interesting relationship, and may turn erotic/pornographic at times-- depends on what your standards are. Joining the dysfunctional cast are other teachers, a few students, and of course, frat members. Halfway through the story, a murder takes place. Then another, more significant one. Not your normal detective story, U does not reveal who actually committed the murders: mostly because he does not know himself. A few clues here and there, and the story ends with a lot of questions. Sometimes confusing, sometimes shocking, often hilarious, there are a lot of significant points to this story that will leave you wondering for a while.
--- My Favorite Part: The murder mystery, of course! My classmates and I in Pan Pil 12 are still debating about it. The end result was that we all agreed to read it again.

"X: A Fabulous Child's Story" by Lois Gould

--- Genre: Short Story (6 pages)
--- Medium: English
--- Excerpt: "Once upon a time, a baby named X was born. This baby was named X so that nobody could tell whether it was a boy or a girl. Its parents could tell, of course, but they couldn't tell anybody else. They couldn't even tell baby X, at first.
You see, it was all part of a very important Secret Scientific Xperiment, known officially as Project Baby X. The smartest scientists had set up this Xperiment at a cost of Xactly 23 billion and 72 cents, which might seem like a lot for just one baby, even a very important Xperimental baby. But when you remember the prices of things like strained carrots and stuffed bunnies, and popcorn for the movies and booster shots for camp, let alone 28 shiny quarters from the tooth fairy, you begin to see how it adds up."
...
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"It's an X."
--- Imagine a child with no gender. Imagine going up to a new born and not being able to say, "Look at her cute little dimples!" if it's a girl, or "Look at his husky little biceps!" if it's a boy. Imagine not knowing whether you should give pink mittens or a toy baseball bat. Imagine a child that has absolutely no idea whether it's a boy or a girl, and neither does anyone else for that matter. What would that child be allowed to do? The answer: Everything. X can play with dolls and toy carpenter tools, with tea sets and water guns, climb trees and paint pictures, hug a stuffed bunny and spend hours on a videogame... And nobody would be able to say, "Why are you doing that? Little girls/boys don't do that!" Because little Xes are exempted from the rules. Read this and you will think twice about, well, almost everything.
--- My Favorite Part: When they took X to the psychiatrist, because the other parents think X must be abnormal for not doing what other little girls/boys do (seeing as X's biological gender was a secret). Surely, everyone must be one or the other, right? The other parents thought that X was a disruptive influence... Because the other little boys and little girls started to forget their "places" too. X must be terribly mixed up in the head...

Doctor: X is just about the least mixed-up child I've ever Xamined!"
Parents: "But we still want to know what it is!"
Doctor: "Well, don't worry. You'll all know one of these days. And you won't need me to tell you."

"A History of Geek Civilization" by Jessica Zafra

(Published Aug 23 and Sept 6, 1989 in Women Today, in her book Womenagerie-- page 107, The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English and various other books whose titles I don't know.)

--- Genre: Postmodernist Essay! :D (2 pages and then some)
--- Medium: English
--- One woman's journey through life as a geek of the written word. I think I already ran out of words of praise for this essay. Let's just say book geeks from the world over will be able to relate, and will probably applaud. A little Salinger, anyone? A dash of Fitzgerald? Maybe a sprinkle or two of Vonnegut? And a pinch of Irving... That ought to do the trick. (If you've read anything by one or more of those mentioned, it is imperative that you read this.)

"Wanted: A Chaperon" by Carlos Bulosan

--- Genre: Play (12 pages)
--- Medium: English
--- Hilarious. A seriously hilarious family-oriented play. If I ever get to direct a play, it will be this one. Short and simple, with a lot of brilliant well-made points not only on the "chaperon culture," but on gender roles as well. Nowadays it's not that important, and people are starting to forget just how important chaperoning was-- if they know it at all. This play serves to remind us about something that was an important part of our pre-liberal American- inspired "culture."

"Daultraintermegalaktikpinoyhero" by Mes de Guzman

--- Genre: Short Story (Around 10 pages)
--- Medium: Tagalog
--- Ah, Pinoy action movies. Ah, Fernando Poe. Ah, Robin Padilla. Ah, (insert infinity of action stars here). Vargas, the lead in this laughter-inducing somewhat satirical portrayal of Philippine Action Cinema, is the epitomy fo every action hero ever to grace the screen. Complete with sidekicks, insanely impossible stunts, a leading lady from Victoria's Secret, and a villain with the requisite evil laugh. It's a Pinoy action story to remember, and why not? It's the summary of every Pinoy action story ever made, after all. Best read with Bob Ong's "Pinoy Action Hero," published in "Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino."

"Urbana at Felisa" by Jose Javier Reyes

--- Genre: Er... Letter compilation?
--- Media: Tagalog, Taglish, Bad Taglish, Text Language (if that's even one)
--- Obviously I don't mean that annoyingly difficult-to-read text written centuries ago by that priest whose name I always forget. This is an updated version. It's only four pages long! It chronicles the first six months of Urbana, your quintessential probinsiyana, in Metro Manila. Her letters are addressed to older sister Feliza, who is at home taking care of the farm. (Unfortunately, the compilation did not include her replies.) You will probably laugh your head off about it. Then you'll start wondering... "Is Metro Manila really that bad? And maybe I should start texting in actual words, just in case."