GALATEA RESURRECTS: A BABAYLAN-IC ACT

Really nice. As I was driving Michael to school this morning, playing through the car was a CD by Grace Nono that I’d picked up at this weekend's conference. And, somehow, the music led us to talk about her performance which Michael saw Saturday evening (his first introduction to his Mama’s indigenous culture). Michael observed, Grace Nono has an “old voice”, which belies her physically youthful appearance; I thought that seems apt somehow.

But what I said instead was how Michael should consider is how he, as a Colombian, also has a pre-Spanish culture full of marvels that I hope he explores in the future. I could see deep thoughts flicker across his “guapo” face (as so many Pinays—including favorite surprise guest Angel Velasco Shaw -- called him as they met him). Then he reverted back to being a tween as we arrived at his school—moi boy stumbling out of the car in a flurry of boyish awkward but endearing action….

It’ll take a while to go through the results of the Babaylan conference (rumors about Moi “passing gas” as she engaged the body in poetic discourse are just rumors….mebbe)—so I stop here for now. Except that it did lead me to pick out SIMON J. ORTIZ: A POETIC LEGACY OF INDIGENOUS CONTINUANCE among the piles of review copies for Galatea Resurrects. I’m now curious to read this anthology….

…and this leads me, too, to share: I’m extending the review submission deadline one more (and last) time for Galatea Resurrects. The new deadline is May 1. C’mon peeps—and did you know:

when you review a book voluntarily, that’s a Babaylanic act...!

And now, I go offline to see where in la casa I should hang the latest painting to grace said casa: "Ka" by Christian Cabuay.