September diaries, Part 1

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BY PETER SOLIS NERY
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Monday. September 25, 2017
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I HAVE made a point of not flying airplanes on 9/11, so I flew back to the US on Sept. 9. It was a morning trip from Manila with a stopover in Tokyo, and San Francisco, before reaching my home airport of Baltimore.

I flew out of Iloilo around 8 p.m., and was joined by a friend for a night of chika. The friend is smart, and is working on a thesis about gahum in agi poetry.

Obviously, my works will be included in his study. After all, who had the greatest balls to start writing about gay emancipation and gay power in our binalaybay tradition?

Did I think about things when I started writing gay poetry before the turn of the millennium? I don’t think so.

But that’s what I am, a trailblazer.

At Narita Airport, I saw for the fourth time the DVD on Kabuki dance featuring the onnogata Tamasaburo Bando in the classic story “Sagi Musume” (The Heron Maiden) at the store called Kabuki Gate.

Still feeling high after my farewell concert, “My Life as Art: Peter Solis Nery, Live… at Troi Oi” on Sept. 6, I decided to buy the DVD. I got paid for my performance, and I could very well afford the DVD.

I was thinking, I actually miss performing live for an audience. I mean, I enjoy being a film actor and all, but stand up is so much more invigorating.

I know I can practically do anything before an audience, and people will lap it up because I do it with such high concept and style.

For my show, I rambled on for over two hours, and people still didn’t want to leave.

Parts of my show have been streamed live via Facebook. The sadness of the thing is that the video is a pale copy of the glam and fun.

I started the show by disrobing.

Well, actually, by getting makeup. Then by throwing off my clothes, so I could go into this fabulous costume which you got to see to adore.

Anyway, my point is, I like performing. And if I am going to have another concert when I go home to Iloilo next year, I would like to up my game by doing some kind of kabuki dance.

For the record, I actually joined a kabuki movement workshop sometime in 2016, and I liked it.

I just haven’t gotten to creating my own performance piece yet because I’m a writer foremost; performer, second. Although friends may refute that statement.

After reaching home from the airport, I made myself a big pot of NongShim Shin Ramyun Noodle soup, the gourmet spicy flavor, ate it, and slept off my jetlag for ten hours.

On waking, I watched the Kabuki DVD, and read the 20th anniversary edition of Tuttle Publishing’s Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories, which I also bought at Narita Airport.

I know I should not be buying anymore books. And just start reading what I already have in my vast collection.

But a children’s book is a children’s book. And I am some sort of a Peter Pan.

When I finished reading the first story, I realized I already have a copy of the book, albeit an earlier edition.

I scanned the book at the airport shop, and even read part of the story about why the jellyfish has no bones. But somehow, I didn’t remember the story. Oh, well, maybe because I was in a rush while on the shop?

On Sept. 12, I got tested for HIV…again. Of course, I am negative.

I told you, I’m committed to getting tested every month if I could. And so far, I’ve been regular with my test from March to September.

There is really no reason for me to get these tests. I’m not promiscuous. You just think I am.

I also try to be very careful. I’m a condom carrier, and I insist on safe sex with strangers. Although, how safe are sex with strangers really?

But I have to be honest. There is this boy when I am in the Philippines. He’s my regular. And sometimes, I go into him naked, and he lets me. Because he follows me on Facebook, and knows I’m HIV negative.

As for him, I’ve taught him how to use condoms; and not to play around with other gay guys. I also advised him to find a conservative girlfriend from the barrios, preferably an ugly one no one else wants to touch! (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
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