I asked ChatGPT, “Why is fashion important? Remind me what the argument was in the movie and the book, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’?” “According to The Guardian, the movie is one of the few films that really does make an attempt to proclaim fashion as a valuable and creative art…

Dianong’s Store circa 1940’s @Samuel Vytiaco, @Hennie Vytiaco, @Lino Vytiaco, @Lucia [walang] Klass: This is the ancestral home that you have abandoned, forsaken, and left to rot. Don’t you hear the voices from the past, their faces staring back at you, whispering their wish to not be forgotten? Are you…

In the more than twenty years between Marcos and Duterte, where has our country gone? Everywhere around us the world has changed. Meanwhile, here in the Philippines, we are perpetually stuck in the “kilig” and drama of telenovelas, and the promise of easy money from noontime shows. The covid crisis…

47 years you’ve been here in my lifetime out of your 85. Nary a day without you near my mind, my heart, or by my side. Never too far to talk to, never beyond our reach. All my life I’ve looked up to you, all your life you never tired…

Three dozen thoughts clouding my brain, The sun in the distance, shrouded by rain. Got to be busy! Got to get going! A post-workout meal, after gym this morning. Rushed to the florist, rushed off to work! Turn on the computer, print that report! Straining to forget, ghosts from the…

Screaming on top of your lungs! Hoping nobody would hear. Hearing your heartbeat loud as a drum This pain I can no longer bear. Where is the dream? Shrouded in gloomy overcast, Eagerly awaiting the blinding sun, So I can dig and bury again the past. </donvy> Donato R. Vytiaco 31 May 2000 @ 10:52pm

Such joy! Leaping hearts, skipping beats, inspired! The phone rings! Text message! You’ve got mail! Dinner! Decaf? Longing, loving, hoping, grieving. 10 years! 10 days. Futile. Ending. </donvy> Donato R. Vytiaco 31 May 2000 @ 10:23pm

Thought they’ve healed Life rips open and stabs Never really healed Or not completely In that sliver of time Before the wound Oblivious of the end Life was very good Flashes, snapshots, memories Lapses, holes, leaks The past, the present Tangled in a mess A wake up call? Lessons unlearned! Stubborn heart! To what end? What if? Take a risk? Other fish? Life’s a bitch! </donvy> Donato R. Vytiaco 28 May 2000 @ 1244H

Scorching my tongue as I sip, with you in a not-so romantic grip. The burn awakens, brings tears to my eyes - echoing in my head, “How time flies!” I remember quite clearly how it was then, when you swept me off my feet, again and again. Glamor! Travel! Never-ending wonder! Absence did make the heart grow fonder. Craning my neck to glance outside, this restaurant window, with you by my side. People passing, running, rushing,