JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Two weeks before lockdown began, I delivered the Fr Henry Lee Irwin, S.J. Memorial Lecture at the Ateneo. My lecture was entitled Fiction Vs. The Apocalypse, and I dedicated it to my late friend, Uro Q. de la Cruz. I talked about how I became interested in writing, how I found my voice, my influences, the hell of writing for a living, and why I cannot think of doing anything else. I also advised people to live alone, so I guess I am psychic.

Thank you to the Ateneo de Manila University School of Humanities, headed by Dean Jonathan Chua, for the honor. The pandemic cancelled the workshop that was supposed to follow the public lecture; hopefully the workshop will be held when schools reopen.

The first voice you will hear is that of Louie Jon Sanchez, assistant professor, who helped me put my presentation together and answered all my questions about the professorial chair. The photos are by Mickee Escueta. Slightly edited for length.

Part 1

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You’ve been doing a lot of thinking in isolation. About who you are and the face you show the world. About your old life and what your new life might look like. About how you got to this point, and where you want to go next. About the times when you were happy or miserable or yearning or fed up, but never stopped to figure out what was really going on.

Write it all down.

Sign up for Jessica Zafra’s Online Writing Boot Camp. Saturday afternoons, 3-5pm from August 8 to 29. The objective is to finish writing a personal memoir by the end of the sessions. Workshop fee: P10,000. Early bird offer until July 5: P5,000. Email saffron.safin@gmail.com for details.

Participants have to be over 21. No writing experience required. No one has ever had a nervous breakdown at our workshops.

Photo of Mercury from the National Geographic.

Have been feeling particularly useless since Monday. Nothing like an official confirmation of powerlessness to bring on the gloom. A burst of righteous anger would’ve perked me up, but I’m too tired.

I figured I’d read, sleep, and watch videos until the black cloud passed. (Always bear in mind that the black cloud passes, just keep yourself entertained and wait till it does.)

Yesterday I sent some money to my cleaning lady Linda on Smart Padala. She still can’t come to work, but I’ve been sending her money since March. I don’t have a Smart account, so I sent the funds to my friend, who sent it to Linda’s Smart Padala number. Then I called Linda and told her the funds had been sent, and she could pick up tomorrow.

When I went to bed I had an idea for a story about my powerlessness so I slept soundly.

At 7am my phone rang. My phone never rings at 7am because I put it on silent mode. In fact it was on silent mode so I don’t know why it rang.
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Zine #2 featuring Genius and Garbage, a new story by Jessica Zafra, designed by Yodel Pe. Limited edition, so get it now. We still have copies of Zine #1: The Adventuress. The plan is to produce six zines in 2020. Collect the whole set! Each zine costs P250. We accept payment by BDO deposit and PayPal, and donate 10 percent of the proceeds to food assistance programs. To order copies, email your full name, mobile number, and delivery address to saffron.safin@gmail.com. We deliver by Grab, Lalamove, Ninja Van outside Metro Manila, and DHL abroad.
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Some of the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. Greece wants them returned.

What is dust? Where does it come from? I clean the house every other day (used to clean daily, but it was taking up my mornings), and the dust is inexhaustible and self-replenishing. The other day I looked up dust online and learned that it’s composed of soil and other fine particles like pollution and bits of concrete hanging in the air or blown by the wind, pollen, textile and paper fibers, human and animal hair, and human skin cells.
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