A Free Movie, an All Too Real Nightmare

It was dark and windy when I woke up yesterday morning. My aunt asked if I'd be working that day (she didn't have that worry bec she'd been on sick leave for days already). I said I hope we won't have office but I wouldn't ask since we're already late for an issue and we're rushing to finish it. Praise God, just a few minutes and our editorial assistant, Angie, texted me to tell me there was no work for that day. After a few minutes, my editor, Rissa, kindly texted me too. Even Dina, my officemate, also texted me to inform me there was no work. "Enjoy the movie," she texted. Good idea! She had leant me "The Way We Were," a 1973 romantic comedy starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. But then, reality hit home after a few hours. The lights went out and electricity was gone.

So there we were on the 14th floor of our building, waiting for the storm to come. The wind started to pick up speed and our group -- my Auntie Nida, Jovie, Julie Ann, Don (all Auntie's children), and I -- became like moviegoers of a real storm. "Look, look, the roof of our neighbor is flying!" "Where?" "Hey, four boys are walking through the rain. Astig!" Then the wind and the rain started getting mixed up and we thought we'll have a storm on our house too. Auntie opened the large windows and the side door in the condo unit because she was afraid the glasses would shatter. Water and wind came barging through the windows. At one point, Julie Ann tried to open the door of the room and she almost got sucked in. She said she thought it was a combination of Poseidon and Snakes in the Plane. Way cenimatic! Our little storm experience lasted only till a friend of Auntie's texted her. He said there's no problem of the glasses shattering so she can just close the big windows in peace. After that, we were like curious bystanders outside a laboratory window. "Oh look, the roof of ACSAT is like a Chinese dragon!" "Yeah, and we can already soak our dirty clothes outside our balcony, sprinkle it with Ariel and tomorrow, we can already rinse it." Besides watching the reality movie outside, our activities inside were decidedly a non-event -- cook food, eat, listen to the radio, read. That's just what we did. Well, of course, talk, sleep. And try to tutor Don Jorge in peace. The wind died down in the afternoon, we had an early dinner and slept very well with the windows open. Some dotted lights outside made the room not too dark to be suffocating.

We had a short exciting experience this morning when Auntie left a candle on in the comfort room because Don gets scared of going to the CR in the dark. Good thing she didn't close the door and someone (Someone up there, we believe) whispered to her to check the candle. Lo and behold, the plastic container of toothbrushes above the candle was already burning! We heard Auntie shouting and shouting. Thinking one of the fishes in the aquarium leapt out, I rushed to her. The container was on fire! The Auntie poured water on it. Whew! That would have made some headline: Owner Awake; Condo Unit Still Set on Fire.

This morning, when Auntie and I came down for work -- with the sun brightly shining and the people up and about (except for our elevator not working) -- it seemed like life in the city was back to normal. But when we came out, our neighborhood was full of fallen leaves, debris, slanting electric posts and people out of their houses cleaning. For us, it was a free movie. For others, it was an all too real nightmare. And I realized once again how truly blessed we were.

Proofreading

What's wrong with these two sentences?

"Sharon Cuneta. Nora Aunor. Vilma Santos. Maricel Soprano."
"Mr. He Xieng answered. But Mr. He was rebuffed by the police."
Nothing's wrong with the second; the first one's obvious.
Nowadays, these are the "dilemmas" that I face. I've been working for almost two weeks now at Shepherd's Voice Publication as proofreader. I've been writing for them on a freelance basis as scriptwriter for Gabay sa Biblia sa Radyo (which airs on Radyo Veritas), as well as for Fish Magazine, a youth magazine. I also contribute for Kerygma. But when I was in Mindoro, Rissa, my editor asked for help coz she has been sleeping at 4am for several days already. They are rushing Didache, Gabay, Sabbath and Companion 2007 sets, not to mention the monthly Kerygma and Fish magazines. And books in the offing too. So Rissa asked if I can work for at least a month with them. Since I need the money and I like helping out (not to mention that it is service to the Lord), I agreed. So I've been in Manila for a few weeks now.

I realized how much I've missed working in publishing. It may seem perhaps weird to some people, or downright boring to be looking for mistakes in text the whole day but I like this kind of work. I find it really challenging though my real desire is to be able to copy edit. I like the challenge of crafting a good sentence, of evoking the right image or delivering a statement through a well-crafted piece.

Last week, we were doing overtime everyday. The publications have to come out before October 12 coz there's a show in SM Megamall by then. Man, it was pretty tiring to the eyes! At the end of the day, I was wishing to be able to walk with my eyes closed. But I don't really mind this kind of "tiredness." Don't be surprised then if you read my name on Didache and Gabay on the editorial staffbox for 2007. Also on Fish magazine for October. I was surprised when Rissa put in my name there but well, what can I do? I didn't expect it but I'm not the editor. Besides, that's one of the perks of the publishing world. To see your name written on the printed page. The really good thing about it for me is, you're still anonymous coz they don't know how you look.

I think I really like this kind of work coz I've been really thanking the Lord quite a lot for several days now. Thank You, Jesus!