Back from Going Home

Had absolutely the most delightful time at the Bindlestiffs. A good turnout for a Sunday afternoon. Seats filled and banigs with pillows on the floor.

Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, professor at SFSU, emcee'd the night and will be adding the book to her class curriculum.

On the reading list tonight: Dawn Mabalon, Alma Jill Dizon, Angela Narciso Torres, Jean Gier, Barbara Jane Pulmano Reyes, Lilledeshan Bose, Veronica Montes, Marianne Villanueva and myself. In addition, Bernie Sibayan had us rolling in the aisles with her comedy and Golda Supanova made us swoon with lyrics like, "the earth is the sky."

Can I tell you Marianne is fabulous? She is the only person I know who can get away with saying some of the stuff she says. So here's Marianne, this petite, sweet, her voice with a soft tone. She tells us about some of the past readings like the one at Galapagos Arts in NY where the reading was followed by a burlesque show. Marianne was so excited that there was a burlesque show since she had told her mother that she wanted to be a bomba star when she was older. I think the entire audience did a double take to make sure we heard that correctly. She says it so matter-a-factly as if all girls tell their moms they want to be porn stars and in that soft voice of hers that makes it sound so sweet. Marianne is a woman I would share a bottle of lambanog with. You gotta love people who just put it out there and set it on the table.

Highlights:

• Seeing Olivia Malabuyo reading her poetry again. She's been busy with the theater's transition and fundraising.Since her piece was an inspiration to Dawn Mabalon's poem, they combined the two in poetic tag-team.
  
• Seeing generations of families in the audience:kids, parents, grandparents.
  
• Barbara Jane reading her poem with Lille's grooving tracks.
  
• Newly wedded Bernie Sibayan rocking comedy about being married and female masturbation.
  
• Dawn's adobo and bibingka and wherever she got those delicious baby sized empanada
  
• Standing outside, a stranger walking by asks the name of the theater. We answer "Bindlestiff, like a hobo." He replies, "wow, that's a great name! I think I'll name my son that. He's due in a few months."
  
• wondering how the world would have changed if Marianne had been a bomba star
  

Talking with the other readers aftwards, we all agreed, that was just about the best feel good reading we had done in a long time. Alma Dizon flew her family up from L.A. just to do the reading. These black walls so familiar, like having a reading in your own living room. It was like home, a great place to celebrate "Going Home."