[Readings:04] "Reading is Writing. Writing is Reading"

Interview with MICHAEL SILVERBLAT

Excerpts from Zinnser’s on Writing Well

A Farewell to Scienceblogs: the Changing Science Blogging Ecosystem

You can fight violence with violence

How to Tell Kooky Nuts in the Addiction Field

The first three articles enlightens readers about the many facets of writing.

The first article about the host of Bookworm, Michael Silverblatt, described what it takes to be a successful interviewer/host like Silverblatt himself. Since one of the basic tool of writers is talking to sources and subjects, it is apparent that, as Silverblatt said, “the last thing you want is to have people say to you what they’ve said to someone else.” I find the flow of the interview definitive of the SIlverblatt’s philosophy in conversing instead of interrogating the subjects. Moreover, it was evident that Silverblatt’s penchant for reading has helped him be the one writers would want to be friends with.

The excerpts from Zinnser’s on Writing Well talked about the “crimes” budding writers have more or less committed. Honestly, I am guilty of them as well. Keeping the written piece simple and free of clutter should be second nature to writers. But, as Zinnser’s examples pointed out, this is not the case. What is most interesting for me, though, is the part about style and Zinnster’s insistence to use “I” (implicitly or not) in writing, because as a reader, “I don’t want to meet ‘one’—he’s a boring guy.”

The third article is about the scientist-writer’s experience in blogging for a science blog network, Scienceblogs.com, and his decision to leave after an unethical article has come out of the site. He said, “What is relevant is that this event severely undermined the reputation of all of us. Who can trust anything we say in the future?” I commend his statement that both scientists and journalist should be committed to “transparency, authenticity and truth-telling.”

The next two articles are science articles which tried to inform the readers about scientific facts and findings. I could see that the “Kooky Nut” article tried to keep the complexity of article as little as possible. But I just don’t get the changing tones throughout the article–I don’t know if he’s joking or not in some points. In some ways, the last article, the one about war violence, seemed clearer to me. It presented the findings of a research about the effects of violence on the people surrounding the “perpetrators” and the affected ones. The article used graphic and concrete examples to help the readers imagine the situation. There were also some calls for action directed to the government, the media , and the general public as well regarding the perceptions and remedies about these “acts of violence.”

[Readings:03] Reporting on Science

Realities in RP science

Human genetic variation — Science’s ‘Breakthrough of the Year’

From Museum Basement, a `New’ Dinosaur

For Male Finches, Range Comes With Muscle

I have always heard it, time and again, that scientists sometimes can not communicate well to non-scientist people. It’s pretty much an overspecialization, but it does seem to me to be true. And so, there goes the need for writers to “translate” what our devoted scholars want the public to know.

Dr. Suarez’s tried to make the non-members of the scientific and research community to empathize with the “Realities in RP Science.” I could see the effort to explain what would have been unfamiliar concepts and processes to the general reading public.

The first half of the second article, “Human genetic variation — Science’s ‘Breakthrough of the Year’” was able to make the reader (or me at least) to understand that these “breakthroughs” are important to my life. However, the latter part seemed to forget that the readers might not actually know what a “spintronic computing equipment” and T cells are.

The style of the third article by Mr. Torbati seemed to be interesting and effective for me. He was able to relate the peculiarity of the name given to a dinosaur genus by Nicholas Longrich to the general state of paleontology practice. Fitting quotes were also effectively used.

As I read the first paragraph of the fourth article, I thought, “Why should I care if these male birds sing higher notes than their female counterparts?” But the article, short as it was, was able to tell the significance of these findings on the voice of finches. (Although I flinched a bit when I came to the sentence “Researchers operated on male and female birds, cutting the nerves that control vocal muscles in the syrinx.” Poor bird.)

On candy wrappers and childhood

[Second J109 assignment: Personal experience]

Under the scorching heat, my broom moves—back and forth, back and forth, trying to collect all the fallen leaves, candy wrappers, pieces of trash that did not get to its proper destination. I never knew I’d be back to this place after a decade as a street sweeper. 

I grew up in Parang. Marikina City. It has this plaza-like ground that the locals refer to as the “playground.” The barangay hall, the covered court, and the open space cum mini-park lie side by side. Nearby, after a block, is the elementary school where I had my first three years of grade school. That day, I came back to this place after ten years since we transferred to San Mateo. It has changed a lot, but I could still remember my younger self being here just the same.

Accompanied by my mother that morning, I first went to my Tito who is an employee of the barangay hall. He was already told that I want to try being a sweeper for a day. But that day, he still kept asking, “Are you sure you want to do this? If you want I could give you a certificate without having to sweep. Show it to your teacher.” I said no, it’s okay. I’d like to try it because I’d be writing about it.

Inside of me though, I was already thinking of ways to avoid doing it considering the number of people around and my inherent shyness kicking in. Nevertheless, he handed me the “uniform” the street sweepers of Parang wear. It’s a long sleeved shirt printed with a huge letter Q, the initial of the name of congressional candidate of the pervious election. Wearing it is like being a walking campaign poster—not to mention that the shirt could fit two of me inside.

While my mother and I were still giggling at my “new look,” Aling Rosa, the one in charge of the surrounding area and the one my uncle asked to accompany me, came to where we were. Shorter than me in height and in her late 50’s, she told me without further ado, “Punta ka don. Do’n ka magsimula. Itumpok mo yung basura at ako na ang magdadakot mamaya.” I haven’t been able to put the cap my mother insists on making me wear to protect my hair from the sun, but I still rushed off towards the place Aling Rosa indicated. It was at the side of the barangay hall, near the market place and I officially started as a street sweeper and Aling Rosa’s assistant for the day.

Markina City is true to its image. There’s not much trash lying around. I may sound like a raving balikbayan, but the place does suggest a feeling of discipline and cooperation between the authorities and the community. The marketplace is just near and yet there were only few litters I had to sweep. Probably the ubiquitous presence of trash bins does help.

After about an hour, Aling Rosa told me that the next stop would be the covered court. The place where my preschool graduation ceremony took place, I reminded myself. A guy with his brother was playing basketball when we came in. The covered court is roomier, the roof looks more stable, and the place is cooler compared to the one I remember from about 13 years ago. This is probably the reason why a handful of people were sleeping on the bleachers, lying on cardboard boxes. Aling Rosa told me to sweep the bleachers from top to bottom. Even if we’re indoors, this one is trickier than my previous assignment. Some people had tucked wrappers and whatnots between the railings, while some trash cannot be removed unless I pick them up with my bare hands. I even spilled an unknown liquid on my pants. When I’m done with the first half going up and down the bleachers sweeping vigorously, I was already sweating profusely.

I was about to start tackling the next half when the wooden handle was detached from my broomstick. I tried fixing it and my mother even came to my aid as well. We managed to put them together but it did not appear like it could handle more of my sweeping. This happened again two more times, but I had to continue. So I bended lower while sweeping, hoping to lessen the pressure on the handle and put more on the broomstick.

After much hardship, I managed to gather all the litters from the bleachers, including a box with paper plates and some spoiled pansit and other food in it. It smelled awful. Aling Rosa came with her dustpan, sack, and a small pile of cardboard boxes. While I was helping her hold the sack up so she could empty the contents of the pan, I moved to get the cardboard boxes she had and put it in the sack as well. But she said, “Ay, wag yan, ne. Pagkakakitaan yan.” After a few moments, she said of the men sleeping on the bleachers, “Ito’ng mga ‘to kasi, hindi nagliligpit. Akala mo kung makatulog nasa—” “—bahay,” I added. She nodded. After we’ve collected the trash from the covered court, Aling Rosa said that the open grounds would be our last station for the day.

By that time, I was already feeling really tired. Sweeping is not as easy as I thought it would be. Add that to the fact that the broomstick was rather heavy. We then went outside and just a couple of minutes in my new assignment, the wooden handle was once again detached. Aling Rosa noticed and she went off to get another broom for me. After handing me my new ammo she instructed me, “Pirmi ang isang kamay ditto sa baba. Tapos relax ka lang… Ito’ng bandang ito ang ipangwalis mo. Easy-easy lang.” After some hours of doing it wrong, I finally knew how to do it right. Meanwhile, she expertly fixed my previous broom, adding sand and shaking it to keep the knot tight.

At first, we were only on the side, near the terminal of the green tricycles. Eventually we moved along and proceeded to the open space. There were a few wrappers, some animal manure, broken bottles, and scraps of paper that I had to collect. Quite a number of people where in the open ground in various stages of activity. There are now tennis nets and benches which weren’t there years ago.

When was the last time I’ve been here? Going to the “playground” used to be the ultimate dare my playmates did when we were young. The thrill included sneaking away from our parents and crossing the streets without adult supervision. We also used to dare one another to throw haphazardly the wrapper of the BF candy we received that day. At least once a week in grade school, all the students were given special candies—with the label of the then Marikina Mayor Bayani “BF” Fernando. The goal was to instill the sense of discipline and cleanliness. Anyone caught throwing away the wrapper in the wrong place would be reprimanded and punished. We never knew how the teachers or the pulis or BF himself would know who would commit the crime. However, nobody actually dared to do so. We obeyed the mandate and kept the wrapper in our pockets.

While I was lost in these thoughts, two other street sweepers in green came to where we were. Both of them, about the same age as Aling Rosa, crossed the street. One of them asked me, “Kaya mong magwalis? Mahirap magwalis, ah.” The other one said, “Dapat do’n ka sa eskwela para may lilim. Mainit dito.” I laughed meekly and said, “Okay lang po.” They were the ones doing the asking and I just kept answering.

We were startled, though, when Aling Rosa suddenly complained loudly about a sack of trash left under a tree. “Sino’ng nag-iwan nito dito?” She asked the two sweepers but they did not know who left it. She kept asking the people around—the tricycle drivers, the young man sitting on the bench. Aling Rosa was later informed that a kagawad did leave the trash. With disdain, she informed the garbage collector whose truck had arrived. “Palibhasa malaki,” I heard her mutter. I somehow think I understand where Aling Rosa was coming from. The place, no matter how small, is her territory in a sense. She had to be responsible for it. It’s the same way we were trained to be responsible for our candy wrappers.

And so there ended my first shift as a street sweeper. With this I have better understood that Marikina City as a model city of discipline and cleanliness, like any other remarkable achievements, is not just a product of the big people whose names are written all over to boast their “accomplishments.” The success and maintenance of it is also due to the simple yet dedicated endeavors of people like Aling Rosa.

The experience may not be so grand as to change the course of my life. But it affected me in some small ways. Under the sun, my shirt wet with perspiration, I’d like to think it was almost like a little tribute to the place where I spent my childhood, contributing to the person that I am now today.

[Readings : 02] Narrating Personal Experiences

Big Phone, Big Screen, Big Pleasure

How I Used Twitter to Live-Blog the Opera

Riding the Rails of Malaysia, in Singapore

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved

The String Theory

All of the articles attempted to relate to the reader  the first-hand experiences of the writer. Each used devices that could possibly hold the readers’ attention throughout the story.

The easily readable one, is of course, “Big Phone, Big Screen, Big Pleasure.” The article effectively utilized short paragraphs and fresh humor. It was also successful in simplifying and relating to the non-techies the geekspeak of Android phones.

The next one is “How I Used Twitter to Live-Blog the Opera.” In a way, the article attempted to merge the old and new–the opera and Twitter. Maybe because what the article anchors on is the “Twitter Transcript,” I did not feel that the story the writer wanted to tell was justified because of the 140-character limitation of each tweet. I guess there must be other ways to entice the younger generation to appreciate the opera.

I think my favorite article from the set is “Riding the Rails of Malaysia, in Singapore.” The witer was able to picture the contrast of an old railway station and the modernity of its location–Singapore.

Probably the hardest ones for me to read are “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” and “The String Theory.” The first used a fiction-like narrative to describe the grand horse race in Texas. The other article, which is about tennis, seemed to be a bit overloaded. The writer, though I could see attempts to simplify the language used by the professionals of the sport and giving human interest to the topic, was not fully able to make the non-tennis reader, like me, understand what the sport is all about.

[Readings: 01] Profiles

The Biggest Little Man in the World

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201004/manny-pacquiao-boxer

Perhaps it is the writer’s Andrew Corsello’s style, but what distinguished the article “The Biggest Little Man in the World” from the other profiles of Manny Pacquiao that I have read was the active participation of the writer in the story. We all, by default, know who Pacquiao is, where he came from, what he does, who hangs around him. However, “the Person” rarely discloses during interviews, and we feel the exasperation of Corsello in trying to discover more about the Filipinos’ favorite son. The writer then narrated the events surrounding the mystery that is Pacman as they unfold during Corsello’s stay in the country covering. The writer was able to paint the image of Pacquiao as the Eye of the storm: strange, mysterious. By the end of the article, the readers would share the same sentiment of seeing Pacman as a puzzle not easily deciphered, and perhaps will never be. Previous profiles of Pacquiao told the same things about him as an athlete, the poverty he experienced when he was younger, his other endeavors aside from boxing. But this article contextualized Pacquiao’s actions in a Third World country where “karaoke is serious fucking business,” the side of him rarely seen or perhaps rarely understood, the things the people around him do, the way the Filipinos as a whole revere him. I would have liked to do the same thing should I profile Pacquiao as well. But since the article focused more on getting the views and information from the people in Team Pacquiao, I would have tried getting the perspective of his wife and immediate family.

Author Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_nicholas_carr/

For one thing, the article is based on scientific findings and therefore very informative. But what makes the article worth reading is the subject itself—virtually everybody within the same socio-economic and scholastic classification has accessed and utilized the Internet. Therefore, the readers can more or less relate. However, considering the “grade four rule” in journalism, the article still used jargons and technical terms about the human brain processes and the Internet. Apart from the writing style, the article basically invested on the topic which every writer must always strive to get. I think the strongest point of the article in getting the message across is the imagery used. Picturing information as water, the brain’s long-term memory as a bath tub, and the immediately-used short-term memory as a thimble used to transfer the water to the bath tub was effective. The writer also worked to relate the scientific and complicated findings to everyday activities (clicking the “Check for New Mail” button for example) and the long-term consequences of dependence on the Internet. But of course, writer Carr also made it a point to present not only the gloomy side of the scientific findings on the computer but also the benefits it could do to our cognitive functioning. If I would also write the article, I think it would suffice to just simplify the terminologies and include more easily understandable imageries.

The Networker

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/07/05/100705fa_fact_auletta

I have read probably only a couple of The New Yorker profiles and “The Networker” is indeed an example of a well-researched and comprehensive profile, staying true to form. The article has distinct parts, such as describing how Saad Mohseni is at work, the history of hi family’s media empire in Afghanistan, some sort of a biography of the subject and his family, the state of the media in the country before and during the Moby Group’s proliferation, the impact on politics and the nation as whole of the kind of media Mohseni practices, and even future plans. The article described the contexts and characters well, and utilized quotes effectively. However, the article is not just a “praise release.” It was able to show not only the good side of Mohseni but also the dubious one as well, like his political biases that affected how the news was packaged on the media organization he is the head of. I think the article is already in top-shape, being able to present comprehensive data about the Mohseni and what makes him worth profiling. The quotes were sufficient; the people interviewed were relevant to keep the article moving forward. It would be more interesting, though, to have interviewed all of Saad Mohseni’s siblings since their participation in developing the company was already given light I the article.

Oprah Talks to Ellen DeGeneres

http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Oprah-Interviews-Ellen-DeGeneres-Ellens-O-Magazine-Cover/1

I have read quite a number of articles which present the topic in the form of interview transcription, alternating quotes of the interviewer and the interviewee. This one of Ellen DeGeneres with an introduction by Oprah talked about what’s “exciting” and “interesting” about DeGeneres. Like what a good profile does, the article would interest the reader even if they have no clue who the interviewee is. I think the format that the writer, Oprah, adapted was good enough because the quirks and remarks of DeGeneres would be lost if the statements were paraphrased. Both intelligent women viewed to have lead successful lives, the two women seemed to have established rapport as interviewer and subject, and the readers can relate to their ideas and sentiments. The imagery, as in the bird freed from the cage, was able to be utilized from beginning to the end. The limit of this kind of profiling is that the information would only be based on what the subject has to say, and no other sources. If I were to write this article about DeGeneres, it would be interesting and worth interviewing the other people who knows her and can provide other angles or simply supplement what DeGeneres herself has said in “our” interview.

Journalism in a young man’s self-discovery

[First assignment for J109, a profile of a classmate]

It is not surprising for Jan Lorenz to be pursuing a degree in Journalism, being very politically-aware, opinionated, and almost always the first one to speak up in class discussions. It is surprising to note, though, that his interest and passion for the field was almost non-existent when he was in high school.

“It was just a whim,” Lorenz said of his being a part of his school organ in high school. He was a part of the paper for three years, but the highest position he got was as being the circulation manager during his senior year. “In short, tagadistribute ng dyaryo room-to-room,” he said rather bluntly.

He entered UP as a Mathematics major, but after a year, he knew it was not for him. He once said that as a kid, he was rather talkative; always had something to say be it on petty things or national issues. Politics fascinate him, and his position lies on center-left because he thinks the European model would be best for the country. He is also very much interested in Economics, particularly in macro-economics. He is of the opinion that the Keynesian model of economics, which is capitalism with appropriate government intervention, would be most effective. And so with all these ideas and drive for getting his message across, he had decided to pursue Journalism.

After a year in the degree program, Lorenz is doing well, doing what he is passionate about. He is bent on becoming a media practitioner in the near future. In fact, he is determined to become a television commentator on social and national issues. He said that he does not want to be the kind who feeds the viewers opinion, but as one who presents all the information needed for the viewers to form their own take on the issue.

It does seem that Lorenz is more inclined to be a part of the broadcast media. As early as now, he is keen on being a part of ABS-CBN’s Anime Council, making use of the anime otaku (a Japanese word roughly translated as “geek”) in him. This Anime Council is the television network’s circle of Japanese anime enthusiasts who would give their opinion and suggestion on the anime series to be aired on the station, and Lorenz has a lot to share, being an anime fan for years now.

This job is a tad far from his ultimate goal of becoming a television news commentator, but Lorenz is sure on his way there. He may have realized his passion on becoming a media practitioner a wee bit late, but he undoubtedly has the makings of a budding journalist.

<mantra> I will pull this sem off and write regularly. </mantra>

For my J109 class, I’m reviving this blog after almost half a year of not using it, mainly because I’m too lazy to undergo the process of creating a new one, which includes thinking of a new address, opening verification mails, fixing the lay-out, etc. It’s inherent, this laziness.

However, I think this is a wake-up call because I really hadn’t been writing since the last semester ended. I have all these thoughts that have receded into the back of my mind, unexpressed. Aside from the lack of motivation, I guess I rarely had the free time to ponder (and rant). I was recently employed for a part-time job that I do four times a week, five hours a day. And then, last semester I applied in an organization, and this semester would be the start of being a full-pledged member. These are aside from the fact that I am 18-unit student, yes. XD

Some two to three years ago, I blog regularly on multiply, and my posts were read only by friends who would know what I mean with “kyaa” and “hazukashii,” who also know Ueno Juri, Ikuta Toma, and L’Arc~en~Ciel among others, or who rant as profusely as I do.a

This time, I’d strive to become the journalist I am being tortured trained to be.

These Walls of Texts

are just walls of texts.

Ugh, boo, self. Boo.

I wonder when I’ll have the urge to write things again about what goes on in my routinely-tiresome-yet-empty life recently. LOL.

I’ve just updated myself with Ramon Baustista’s posts on Tumblr.

That’s why I’m being emo.

Happy birthday to my arch-enemy on things PBA, Chester.

School starts again tomorrow

And I’m doing a paper required for my feature writing class only tonight.

Twelve hours to go.

My mind refuses to accept the fact, LOL. And so did the minds of the plurkers.

Stagnant

These past few weeks were spent in staring into space. Just as much as I wanted to have the Christmas break since the beginning of the sem, I also wanted to get my procrastinating ass working during these off days. But as the title says, my mind and body remained stagnant for weeks now.

I hadn’t even been able to write something coherent. My notebook is filled with scribbles and unfinished sentences. The back of my mind has been collecting dust from all the thoughts being pushed aside with the hope of putting them together to produce some sort of meaning.

 Maybe that’s really my problem. I couldn’t put my ideas and thoughts into words. The moment I attempt doing so, it’ll be filled with explanations, beating around the bush, inhibitions and of course, excuses. 

I’ll try to piece together these aforementioned scribbles to readable whatnots and dump them here. [Okay, yeah, who cares?]  At the same time, I’ll catch up on the school works I hadn’t paid attention to during the terribly short “vacation.” Duuuh.