Prex J.D.V. Ybasco's Blog, page 7

October 2020 Articles

DISCLAIMER: YOU’RE NOT HALLUCINATING. I’M POSTING THIS LATE. LOL

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October wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. Perhaps, I was used to being so busy that having sufficient downtime felt a bit alien to me. It didn’t excuse me from not learning anything new, however. I attended Forefront: The 2020 National Conference on Digital Marketing sponsored by the telco.

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Also, my Scholastic copy of the Harry Potter bookset came to our doorstep during the third week and I couldn’t have been more excited. When asked why I had to buy another copy when I already had the ebook compilation and the 15th-anniversary edition hardcopy, I said the first US cover edition was different. I find comfort that no matter where I am, whether my SO’s house or my parents’ house or even when I’m in transit, I have a Harry Potter book. I took photos of course but whether I’m uploading them in my blog is another question.

To the articles, shall we?

Mars opposition 2020: See the Red Planet loom large (Astronomy Magazine)

I pointed Mars to my husband a couple of weeks ago when we were watching the night sky. I only claimed it was since it appeared so red and huge compared to the rest of the stars without actually knowing it was indeed the red planet.

Menstrual cups ‘as reliable as tampons’ (BBC)

I’ve switched from my regular pads to menstrual cups after a month of consideration. Doing the math with how many pads I use when I have my period has sold me this idea. Imagine having a period ten times a year, three to four days a month, using 2 to three pads a day. Multiply that by the number of years I expect to have my period- that is the amount of unrecyclable trash I would contribute to the world of the next generation should I continue patronizing menstrual pads. There definitely is a learning curve- I can’t instantaneously say I’m already a pro.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to First All-Female Team for CRISPR Gene Editing (Time)

While I was reading this article, I remembered a scene from Iron Man 3:

Scientist Maya Hansen was working on genetic manipulation, an experiment she called Extremis.

It is immensely valuable that women of science earn the recognition they deserve. More than this, the bigger impact on the future of human beings, male or female of whatever gender they choose, is what matters to me. That today’s terminal illnesses will be curable in the succeeding years is something to look forward to.

Does burnout recovery always require radical change? (BBC)

The article provides a perspective on the causes of burnout and the probable reasons why a number of people can’t recover from it. Althought radical change isn’t encouraged, I consider a conscious decision to recover from it is necessary. It is easier said than done but admitting that one is under continuous pressure and is willing to relieve himself or herself from this pressure are babysteps to recovery. It turns out that the environment one is in has a shared responsibility to alleviate this condition but until that time companies change how they treat employees, one can always turn to hobbies.

Am I a Reader? (BookRiot)

It is interesting to know that until now, a number of people still have a backward attitude to reading and what it entails to be a reader when information is accessible by typing carefully chosen keywords and hitting ‘search.’ Limiting the choices of reading materials to classics ensures stagnation of one’s knowledge– readers won’t be able to move on from the past, can’t have time to read works from the present, and won’t appreciate emerging literature. Preference always comes into play.

Just like that, we are about to welcome 2021 in two months. Have you been able to reach your target reading goal this year?

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6 Perks of Working for a Publishing House

NOTE: After several revisions, checking what to write and what NOT to write, here I am, publishing this post quite late.



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I used to work for one of the biggest publishing houses in the country. Now that I am embarking on a new journey and starting afresh, let me enumerate what I considered as perks of working for a publishing house.

Learning how books are created

Of course. It goes without saying. My love for books has gotten a deeper meaning when I learned the process behind publishing them. I know how writers toil on them for countless of days, a multitude of ideas pouring from their minds to the printed pages, how editors mercilessly cut those ideas that don’t contribute to the ‘voice and brand’ of the book and polish them to perfection, and how readers enjoy the time perusing these finished books, sometimes sniffing that unique scent new books exude. What is behind the behind-the-scenes on the other hand has given me a greater respect for the publishing industry. This includes content creation and version calendars, promotions and marketing, illustrations, printing, binding, and distribution. To think that some years ago, I didn’t know anything about digital and offset printers, now I can tell anybody who is interested to know, I’ve seen how they work. Most importantly, I now know where that distinct smell of freshly opened books comes from.

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Promoting learning materials

As a writer who is interested in literacy and literature, I have loved books and learning all my conscious life so when I had the opportunity to promote both, it was a huge deal for me. During events, I got the chance to talk with educators, be they school owners or teachers, about the educational system and materials that may help improve the quality of teaching and learning. Some of these materials included textbooks, mobile applications and even learning management systems.

from Chona Malinog

Read my MIBF experiences here:

Book feature: Vibal Filipiniana Classics, Jose Victor Torres’ El Periodismo Filipino and Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli me Tangere

For aesthetics alone, I would buy these in a heartbeat at Vibal Group’s booth at MIBF this year!

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MIBF 2019: Experience Learning with Vibal Group

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to grab quality VIBAL books in this year’s Manila International Book Fair. Since, this is the event’s 40th year, you can expect great deals and awesome activities we have in store. We are also launching great Chikiting books so yay for our young readers. Visit Vibal Group’s booth at…

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by prexybasco
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MIBF2018 Book Haul

Going to Manila International Book Festival 2018 and getting to be part of what’s behind the scenes definitely have restored my faith in buying great books! I’ve got to admit after downloading a couple of ebook-readers, paying for a book that would turn out to be a disappointment did not look appealing to me. After…

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by prexybasco
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Traveling to different places in the country

I was working in an ESL company when I imagined how it would feel like going on several business trips. I experienced that first hand as an Education Services Associate and got to travel to different places in the Philippines from Bauan to Bicol to Butuan (consonance intended). Some of those places I wouldn’t have had the chance to visit given my interest, budget, and time had I not been part of the publishing house’s Marketing team albeit momentarily.

Attending professional and educational seminars sponsored by the company- and hosting some of them

How is this a perk? Rarely can you find a place where your employers will pay you to attend seminars and even pay for them. In my case, I was able to attend some external and internal training and workshops and host a number of professional development seminars. Keeping up-to-date with educational trends keeps an educator slash a writer’s mind sharp.

Contributing to the development of products

In all honesty, I wasn’t able to contribute much as a writer, apart from the occasional meeting minutes that really challenged my skills. As a business analyst, I was able to experiment, test, and hone how I wrote user stories and other technical documents for software solutions. Listening to software engineers, project managers, and quality assurance specialists tear down or improve my designs was fun and frustrating.

It is worth noting that I contributed something else and that was my voice for some infomercials.

Working and learning with field professionals

One can be assured to work with certified professionals in the publishing industry. The MarkeTeam I previously worked with supported me as I managed CPD programs for teachers and conducted product training. They continued to support me until I transitioned to the Operations Department. The Business Analysis team, although a baby unit in the publishing company, became a detrimental part of several processes. I got to work with Software Engineers and learned how software solutions are built. Staying a couple of times in the Press Department shed new light on the life cycle of books and it influenced me to be mindful of my book purchases. I also attribute the couple of inches I gained some months ago to the number of times the team insisted I had snacks in their office.

Contrary to popular belief, I also established a good working relationship with a number of people, my 20-year old individualistic self would be surprised. I would have enumerated all of their names if I were a bit more emotional.

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These are but six of the many perks working for a publishing house.

I am closing this chapter of my life and hold my peace. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity Vibal Group has given me.

It’s been fun.

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Happy World Teachers’ Day

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Acknowledging the effort of teachers around the world, be they classroom teachers who are currently transitioning to digital platforms, online teachers who are considered veterans and are expected to be well-armed in using learning management systems, thank you for your dedication to uplift literacy.

As educators, learning is our advocacy.

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September 2020 Articles

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How many times have I said “time flies so fast”?

September went by in a blur. I started a hydroponics project and as of this moment, I cannot see any result yet. I also received an ARC from a literary agent and hopefully I can get around to reading it.

What else is new? I’ve been keeping something under wraps for quite some time but as always, I will reveal it when the time time is right… or I can also go to the route of not divulging anything altogether.

Here I am again, wrapping the month up with a number of articles I read, all for love of language, literacy and literature.

The Wound of Multilingualism: On Surrendering the Languages of Home (Literary Hub)

In this article, Sulaiman Addonia expounds on the challenges in learning, unlearning, and relearning languages. She posits that as an individual immerses himself or herself into a new language, he or she breaks down the foundation of the one previously learned. This makes me reflect on the period of my life when I resisted learning a regional language, focused on honing my English and began studying Japanese. Eventually, I evaluate my conscious preference for my second language over my first one. Like Addonia, I also struggle-writing in my second language. You’d think by now, having taught English to fellow second-language learners, spoken it, quite proficiently if I say so myself, I’ve gotten the hang of it but I’m still discovering new stuff about the process of choosing between hifalutin and simple vocabulary, stringing words together, making them sound right, conveying my thoughts across, doing all this in a snap when speaking, editing parts when writing and yet still managing to miscommunicate.

NASA Missions Spy First Possible ‘Survivor’ Planet Hugging a White Dwarf Star (NASA)

They say it is impossible because the natural occurrence doesn’t go along with their created theories but from what I’ve learned from my Coursera course, theories may be changed in accordance to what can be observed. Since this is new data and, no doubt, other instances like this will definitely be observed in the vast universe granted our scientists are provided more advanced technology, new and better theories will be created.

How has my reading taste changed over the years? (WordPress)

This is a very interesting read from Orang-utan Librarian whose taste in books evolved from classic fantasy, to a bunch of romance, and then to non-fiction, and based on the blogpost, this change in taste can be attributed to blogging and book recommendations. Though I confess myself guilty of this- it’s not a crime!- the factors that brought about change in my reading taste are quite different, and yes, one of them is my age. However, this topic deserves a separate blog post so I’m just going to leave it here for now.

Make a Collage with your Newspaper (The New York Times)

This is a cute how-to post on how to repurpose newspaper clippings and attempt to be creative. I used to do this when I was in college. I only used one record book for my lectures in my four years of stay in the university so I spiced things up with newspaper clippings. To be honest, my journals turned out to be more on the artistic side than my record book ever did.

Dreading a dark winter lockdown? Think like a Norwegian (The Guardian)

David Robson writes about the Norwegian resilience to dark thoughts in the imminent threat of lockdown in winter due to COVID-19. This article helps to put things into perspective. I live in a tropical country and though the pandemic has definitely affected my country, there is no way I can downplay that, I can imagine how tougher it would be to have winter added to my plate of worries. In the middle of reading this article, I had a thought that although I admire the Norwegians, there’s a fine line between optimism and toxic positivity. However, it is explained in the article that opting to be optimistic can help people focus more on what can be achieved and therefore they can put their energy into these small actions that may contribute to their conditions getting “better.”

Why arrogance is dangerously contagious? (BBC)

“Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are,” or “birds of the same feather flock together” are two cliches that popped into my mind after reading the article, but as explained, one does not need to be friends with an arrogant person to be arrogant himself/ herself–s/he just needs to be exposed. Imagine being bitten by an arrogant spider and turning into Your Arrogant Neighbor, Spiderman. Of course, it’s not only arrogance that has the “social contagion effect” on anyone. Much has to be studied on herd mentality in the workplace as well.

You might have noticed, I have gotten more creative in using featured images in my posts. Let’s just say, I have more time now. See you in October for another series of what I read.

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Never Have I Ever, Writer Edition

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While checking out some articles to include in this month’s collection, I saw an interesting post from Kat Impossible of Life and Other Disasters where she shared her preference for tea, love of writing at wee hours of the morning, and her map for a contemporary novel. As in any tags about books or writing you may find in this blog, I tagged myself yet again.

Books

The ULTIMATE Book Tag, 2019

Suffice it to say I found another book tag–blame all the holidays in August for my sudden prolificness. I got this one from Bookworms Anonymous – for the sake of anonymity, I did not include his or her name. That was a bad joke. Hi, Chiara! I added 2019 to the title with the assumption…

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Books

20 Questions Book Tag

I tagged myself to ABookNation‘s post with the same title so you better check it out as well. #1: How many books are too many in a series? After reading Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, I have started thinking that thirteen would only be acceptable if the author was Snicket, or if the…

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Books

2017 RESOLUTION BOOK TAG

AN: I hope to have improvements in my blog and myself this year. I haven’t made New Year’s Resolutions for some years now and this is a good time to start again. In addition, this is the very first book tag I have created 1. How many books do you promise to read?  As usual,…

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The original post from The Long Voyage enumerates the following rules:

Link and thank the blogger who tagged you. – I sincerely thank myself for another self-tag but I want to acknowledge Kat Impossible as well.Include the graphic somewhere in the post (or make your own!) – I’m giving myself another pat on the shoulder.Answer the questions truthfully and honestly. – Don’t I ever?Tag 3 bloggers. – See list at the end of this post.



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Let’s get the ball rolling then. Have you…

. . . started a novel that I did not finish.

Not yet. I consider myself as an amateur in the field of novel writing so everything that I start and haven’t finished are piled-not neatly- in my Google Drive to be dabbled in later.

…written a story completely by hand.

Yes. Fifteen years ago, I had a lot of practice in writing fanfiction during classes. My former teachers probably thought they saw a good student in me, scribbling continuously in my notebook. Oh boy, how wrong were they!

…changed tenses midway through a story.

I’m allowed to edit.

There are moments when a story sounds ‘right’ or ‘better.’ Tense definitely gives an impact to a story.

…not researched anything before starting a story.

Writing is an information-driven business. Even a short story is created based on minute, incremental researches writers have done through reading, observing, watching, and listening. What I am saying is it is inevitable. A must. I wish I knew this earlier, probably twenty years ago.

…changed my protagonist’s name halfway through a draft.

Yes, I have. I created the To be Continued protagonists’ names when I was in high school, changed the flow of their story in college, and finally revised everything in 2015 including Azalea’s name-nickname- from Azle to Euiea.

…written a story in a month or less.

I’ve written a good number of short stories in less than a month and if you can find my old DeviantArt account, feel free to evaluate them. My best record to-date is my NaNoWriMo novel.

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…fallen asleep while writing

When I was in high school and using a typewriter (guess how old that information makes me) for an English paper, I remember working on our old kitchen table and stirring up to my mother’s voice. I didn’t even notice I had fallen asleep.

…corrected someone’s grammar IRL/online?

That “not unless” phrase really had to go, I’m not apologetic.

…yelled in all caps at myself in the middle of my novel.

Why would I have the need to yell at myself in all caps when I can simply pull my hair or peel the skin off my face? Apologies for such graphic examples, but I haven’t yelled at myself in capital letters while writing a novel. I simply mutter and have that deep, intellectual, conversation with myself on what a waste it is sending me to college without learning anything.

…used “I’m writing” as an excuse.

My best friend snorted in derision and left. But she still is my best friend so I believe she understood and will continue to do so.

…killed a character that was based on someone I know in real life.

Yes. The first time I did it was when I was in college. And that’s all I have to say about it.

August 2020 Articles

NOTE: I was sick for a couple of days and couldn’t finish this post ergo I’m publishing it in the first Saturday of September. This doesn’t mean the September articles will be pushed to October. Or it might just mean that.

I commend myself for successfully hitting the following goals for August:

Finish All the Wrong Questions series – I had an awesome sprint and finished the last two books in one day.Skip 1000 times a day – I managed to reach the 1000 goal on August 26th, 27th, and 30th.Finish an introductory course to Coding – It was a good ride. Write two articles, minimum of 800 words each – Currently for review and oh, boy, patience really isn’t my strongest virtue.



A Star Went Supernova in 1987. Where Is It Now? (New York Times)

The birth of neutron stars have long been theorized and the fact that it can soon be observed, proven, corroborated, or disproved after the collapse of SN 1987A is exciting, Should the warm blob become a neutron star or a black hole, either way, astrophysicists will rejoice in the discovery. A number of science textbooks will be rewritten.

How to Show Kids the Joy of Reading (The Atlantic)

Fowler’s observation reflects how a number of students view reading: a chore. This adds up to the already heavy burden on teachers’ shoulders. Hollywood movies will often feature innovate educators that go beyond what is required of them and even challenge established school cultures- such is their passion for education and love for their students! Once again, the audience is deluded with the idea that teachers are superheroes, ready to face curriculum created by authorities head-on.

Is Resilience Overrated? (The New York Times)

This is one of those articles with titles that attract me and opening lines that capture my whole being: I want people to be proud of themselves for being resilient. I just don’t want it to be the only option. (Attenberg, The New York Times, 2020)

Attenberg expounds on how society defines resilience and how it burdens citizens in the end to the point of martyrdom. When does resilience start to be negative?

Being it, resilience, a double-edge sword, my take on it is I can choose when to be resilient and when to let go.

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Nihongo 101: 突然「とつぜん」

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Meaning: abrupt/ sudden/ unexpected

Conjugations: 突然な (Adj), 突然に (Adv)

雨が突然降り始めた。
Reading: あめがとつぜんふりはじめた。
Romaji: Ame ga totsuden furi hajimeta.
Translation: It suddenly began to rain.

突然明かりが消えた。
Reading: とつぜんあかりがきえた。
Romaji: Totsuzen akari ga kieta.
Translation: Suddenly, the light went out.

突然計画が変更された。
Reading: とつぜんけいかくがへんこうされた。
Romaji: Totsuzen keikaku ga henkousareta.
Translation: Suddenly, plans had to be changed.

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Coding from Scratch! Sharing my experience in finishing an introductory course to programming

Disclaimer because this post needs it: I don’t have plans to become a programmer. After working as a business analyst, I have become more interested in software solutions that I want to try building something by myself for myself.

After five grueling weeks, hours of lectures, some quizzes and two projects, I earned my Coursera certificate in Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming. Not a difficult nor remarkable feat for programmers out there, no doubt, but for someone who has an intensive and extensive background in Literature, with only a fond memory of basic high school python program, I was happy enough getting perfect marks in this short course.

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The program was divided in easy chunks and I didn’t struggle keeping up with the schedule–only when I had projects to submit coinciding with the requirements I had to pass in my other class.

Scratch is easy enough to understand. I cannot proclaim myself an expert after only a few weeks and looking at the MIT website is enough for me to recognize my work barely counts as ‘good’ compared with projects of high-school or elementary students who use the same website.

You can check my work out for yourself by clicking the link below and if you’re interested in BETA-ing it, please go ahead:

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/416781790

If anything, the course has renewed my respect for programmers–not that it wavered but not all programmers are alike, if you catch my drift. Debugging my own program was infuriating and this experience says a lot. Before, I only dictated -er, translated- the requirements and in these five weeks, I had to manage and code my own programs, test them, release MVPs, extend them and debug when things go awry. The excuses I had resented receiving some months ago popped into my head in my own voice that it was so disconcerting.

Nonetheless, seeing my build working the way I wanted it to work was rewarding that the certificate was anything but ‘nice to have.’

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Educational Mobile App Review: RakugakiAR

Disclaimer: This is not sponsored. I was not paid whatsoever to create this post and I’m basically sharing my interest in this application.

Have you ever used an AR mobile app and asked yourself what it would be like if you could also use it for your own doodle or any cute character you want to move or interact with?

RakugakiAR allows users to experience augmented reality with their own doodles or any image they capture using their mobile phone. Users simply have to launch the app, allow the application to use the camera, point at the image and click scan. You will get an application that looks like this:

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JULY 2020 Articles

So how was July? I wanted to say productive, really, since I was able to write a number of articles, mostly my reviews on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race:

Reaction Journal: RuPaul’s Drag Race S1 Ep 6

Disclaimer: I don’t have a prior knowledge of the history of ‘drag’ and its culture and I’m only bringing in my limited knowledge of reality TV shows particularly America’s Next Top Model so apologies in advance. Timestamps for scenes and snippets of conversations have been included so if you want to read ahead, make sure you…

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Reaction Journal: RuPaul’s Drag Race S1 Ep 5

Disclaimer: I don’t have a prior knowledge of the history of ‘drag’ and its culture and I’m only bringing in my limited knowledge of reality TV shows particularly America’s Next Top Model so apologies in advance. Timestamps for scenes and snippets of conversations have been included so if you want to read ahead, make sure you…

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2020-07-102020-07-10







Reaction Journal: RuPaul’s Drag Race S1 Ep 4

Disclaimer: I don’t have a prior knowledge of the history of ‘drag’ and its culture and I’m only bringing in my limited knowledge of reality TV shows particularly America’s Next Top Model so apologies in advance. Timestamps for scenes and snippets of conversations have been included so if you want to read ahead, make sure…

Read More

2020-07-092020-07-09





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I also started taking a number of classes in Coursera (Astronomy, Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming, Introduction to Philosophy) because… why not? The certificates are a plus.

What’s more, I launched my Youtube channel and populated it with content. Editing videos is more difficult than the actual recording, I tell you.

Cracking the Sitcom Code (The Atlantic)

A friend from From Everyst recommended this article to me and I found it to be interesting. In any literary material I read, I tend to be structuralist – more often archetypal that I see tropes everywhere- so this sitcom code is more than welcome. I can’t deny that examining each episode of The Big Bang Theory according to this code has popped into my mind but 12 seasons with 22-23 episodes can be overwhelming.

The people who imagine disasters (BBC)

Behavioural analysis is important when planning for a crisis. 

– Chris Baraniuk

The article highlights the importance of data gathered from observation of patterns in decision making and disaster prevention. It’s is definitely easier, cheaper and more efficient to avoid a huge problem rather than to solve it. However, our society has been trained to be optimistic and “what will be will be” has become a ubiquitous adage.

Voyager: Inside the world’s greatest space mission (BBC)

Subscribing to NASA, reading Stephen Hawking’s books, and taking astronomy classes don’t make one an astronaut but these activities help one understand even just the smallest percentage of explored and studied complex universe and the world of astronomy.

As an enthusiast, I already knew that space exploration costs more than a billion dollars and that some environmentalists point out that such amount of money, granted that budget is also being taken from taxes, could be used for more environmental cleanup projects and that’s a strong case. However, apart from the fact that budget is also allotted for environmental cleanups in accordance to laws, the amount of information uncovered through space missions, particularly when they are successful, is priceless.

Take for example, what Voyager explorations sent back to earth included geysers, active volcanoes, iced-encased moons, huge craters, new ring formation– information which would have taken more years to be studied and proven with the current limitations of ground-based telescopes.

Until now, the twin explorers, with the technology from two decades ago, continue to send information of waht

The adjective “beautiful” does not justify how marvelous what out there is.

“Voyager has made humanity immortal.”

It couldn’t get more romantic than that.

What the mysterious boredom divide teaches us (BBC)

Quo usque eadem

There are, apparently, five types of boredom: calibrating, reactive, searching, indifferent, apathetic. It’s either I handle boredom pretty well or I don’t so I always come up with things I can put my mind on.

Is This the End of Writing in Cafés? (LitHub)

Emily Temple explores the various benefits of having a creative space where a writer can focus on work and how many writers took advantage of cafes as their offices or receiving spaces for meetings, and as sources of writing material. Due to the pandemic and the best measure against it, social distancing, people, writers some of them) just don’t frequent cafes any longer.

I, myself, was enticed by the idea and benefits of writing in cafes. In fact, I made a novel about one, To be Continued (which hopefully I’ll be able to continue since I now have so much free time). Having experienced telecommuting, I agree with Emily when she writes, “I  can  imagine taking the risk if that was truly the place where I wrote best, or if the ritual of going out was the only thing that would get the work done.” You see, not every writer becomes prolific when they write in cafes just as not every writer who has his/her personal space at home can actually write. It all boils down to one’s discipline of keying in one word-or character- after the other.

That wraps up my list of articles worth reading. By the way, I have just realized I can add ‘Martian’ to my description now.

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