What Is Hip-Hop?
I'm a person of many interests. I love music, I love comics, I love books, I love cartoons, and I love film. Honestly, I didn't have nearly enough space to list all of my favorite things!
Since September 2004, I've been training in the Villabrille-Largusa Kali System , a Filipino martial art that has allowed me to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.
I study with the Dragon School of Kali in Daly City, CA.
Good friends to share good times with!
I'm very happily married to a self-proclaimed "gangsta publisher ." We share a one-bedroom apartment with three turtles, a few fish, and a lot of books and DVDs.
From A-Z (with so much more in between)...Aesop Rock, Blackalicious, The Cure, DJ Shadow, Eminem, Face to Face, Get-Up Kids, Hoobastank, INXS, Jurassic 5, Kanye West, Linkin Park, Mos Def, Nine Inch Nails, Ozomatli, The Postal Service, Quannum, Rage Against the Machine, Saves the Day, Tool, Unwritten Law, Violent Femmes, Jackie Wilson, X-Clan, Neil Young, Zero 7...
I'm also learning how to play kulintang . I prefer playing the dabakan, but I'm not too shabby on the agung. Sometimes.
Oh, and I love my iPod.
I'm not even sure where to begin.I think this really says it all.
I haven't had cable TV at home since August 1997.
Does watching The Simpsons box sets count?
I'm an English teacher who likes to read comic books (the non-superhero type), Filipino and Filipino American literature, and the occasional horror novel. Enough said. :)
The more involved I become in my community, the more love I have for my folks who are learning, educating, organizing, and mobilizing. Here are just a few of those amazing people at the anti-war rally in March 2006 through the streets of San Francisco:
Getting HYPHY IN HAWAII 'O6 with my Bay Area folks (plus one from San Diego)!
Much props and mad love to each and every member of the FOB Show TNT: Tour ng Tour sa Skyline College crew. You all know why, and salamat for everything.
These are my guros, my kali instructors: Guro Oscar, Guro Bert, Guro Manny, Guro Eric, and Guro Joel. They have all generously given their time, effort, energy, persistence, and most of all, patience, to teach me week after week and show me what a beautiful art kali truly is. More importantly, they have all taught me that I am capable of doing so much more than I really give myself credit for.
My family means the world to me. I don't know what I'd do without my sisters -- they're just as crazy as I am!
And of course, without my parents, I wouldn't be where I am and who I am today: