Storybook 1: Lola's Revenge, Part 12

Continued from here.

While Juan was spying on his Lola, the old but definitely sexy toothless lady entered the house of her dapper neighbor. “Dap-py,” she sang out, “I’m heeeere.

But there was no answer. “Daps?” Lola cooed. She entered the kitchen and saw the dinner that her neighbor was preparing for tonight: steamed mountain rice and a platter of longganisang Lukban. “Oooh, sausage!” Lola squealed – and then realized, suddenly, that she was all alone in the house.

Where was Dappy?

She decided to quickly look around the house. Now was her chance to get at this guy’s tampipi. Copying and pasting heavily from Juan’s friend Northeast Sky, Lola:

“went to her neighbor's bedroom, went down on her knees, and reached for the tampipi under the bed. It was heavier than she thought. So now, there it was. She cradled the container on her knees, but hesitated. Should she do it? Should she open it and look at what was inside?”

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Storybook I: Lola's Revenge, Part 8

Continued from here.

hesitated. “What is it?” Lola demanded.

“’La, aren’t you a bit… old na po for this dating game?”

“What? Aba, kapalmuks ka! Who says I’m old?” the old, old lady said.

“Northeast Sky told me you’re way past 80, Lola. I'm just worried you'll get hurt.”

“And who is this Northeast Sky?”

“She’s my American Indian friend who lives two streets away. Daughter of Manang Littlefeather and Manong Dances with Wolves.”

“Oh, that Northeast Sky. Hmph! Don’t you pay her any mind, young boy. She’s got a wild imagination. Just likes to make up stories.”

“So you’re not way past eighty, then, Lola?”

“What if I am? Can't I try to find happiness?” Lola gritted her false teeth. “See, Juan, our handsome dapper neighbor is my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Juan cringed at the cliché, but managed to ask, “You in love with him, Lola?”

“Sssshhh! Dapper neighbor,” Lola whispered, raising a finger to her lips, “hunts treasures in his spare time. So yeah, I may be old, but my mind’s still sharp as a, uhmmm, a -- oh, a Japanese sword.”

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Storybook I: Lola's Revenge, Part 5

Continued from here.

Hmmm, now that was a thought. A Japanese sword -- he'd always wanted one. But then those things cost an arm and a leg (not necessarily chopped off) and how could he afford one? He remembered the diamond ring, felt for it in his pocket. If Gretchen didn't want it, then neither did he.

Once again, another memory: Lola used to talk about weapons a lot -- swords, shotguns, even

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Storybook I: Lola's Revenge, Part 2

"You're a cheat, a liar, and a thief!"

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Storybook I: Lola's Revenge, Part 1

Dear reader,

You'll be right if you think this entry isn't finished; in fact, it's just begun and we're hoping it will go a long way, so please bear with us. Secondcup, Northeast Sky, Lukban and yours truly will take turns stretching this story to... well, as far as we can take it. We hope to have fun doing this; we hope you enjoy reading.

tampipi

###

THAT'S IT, THEN, the man thought to himself as he watched Gretchen walk away.

“Shit,” he whispered, leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes and struggled to remember something. Hadn’t all this happened before? Had he not, so many years ago, listened to another woman say exactly the same thing as Gretchen just said? Sure, the other woman was his toothless grandmother, whom he would not have kissed with that kind of passion. Still, the words, the accusation, was the same.

His lola had said, all those years ago:

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Dramatic entrance

You walk into a room and everyone inside turns to look at you, welcoming you. They stop what they're doing, some even begin to curtsy. Makes you feel important. Makes you feel like... royalty?

This is the effect of Las Meninas (Maids of Honor), created ca. 1656-57 and now part of the collection of Museo del Prado in Madrid. It is perhaps Diego Velazquez's most recognizable painting, and certainly one of my all-time favorites.

Velazquez belongs to the the 17th century Baroque movement, which counts among its definitive characteristics the use of light to create dramatic contrast throughout the canvas. This is particularly evident in Las Meninas: bright light bathes the very center of the composition, settling strongest on the young Princess Margarita surrounded by her royal attendants and pet dog. The background is in stark contrast, creating the illusion of foreground and background, of perspective.

But it isn't the use of light here that makes Las Meninas a landmark in the field of visual arts. Rather, it is the idea that Velazquez works with (and unusually, ambitiously so, at that time): that a flat canvas could in fact become multi-dimensional in the sense that the people portrayed in it (and they include Velazquez, for this is partly a self-portrait) could "interact" with those outside of it, i.e., the viewers.

Study the painting carefully. (It would definitely help if you view this enlarged version.) If this were a photograph, the subjects would be said to be looking directly into the lens, directly at the viewer. In the darker background, on the wall, hang framed paintings, blurred so that it isn't exactly clear what they are. Landscapes? Portraits? But one among them stands out. Again, smack in the center, is a frame clearly showing a couple. Unlike the others, this is a mirror, and in it are reflected two people not "physically" present in the painting, but whose presence is nevertheless implied. It is they whom everyone else -- the painter, the princess, her attendants -- are welcoming, are looking at. But who are they? They are the royal couple... yet, at the same time, they are us, the viewers.

Las Meninas has been related over and over again to metafiction, or "writing which...draws attention to its status as an artifact", and very aptly so. For in the same way that, say, Julio Cortazar, in his short and brilliant "Continuity of Parks", carries his protagonist (and us) across the line separating "reality" from "fiction", so does Velasquez draw in viewers of this painting, into the painting itself. We become part of the artist's rendered scene. We are the King and Queen walking into the room (others have also said that the King and Queen are actually standing as models for Velazquez, who is seen here working on another painting), watched by everyone, our "image" reflected in the mirror. We, both as viewers and the royal couple, have just made that dramatic entrance.

Image taken from Mark Harden's Artchive.