Jesse H. Liwag (JHL): (Unperturbed.) Why don't you ask yourself the same question?

JHL: I just did.

JHL: Hmm. I'll ignore your witticism for now. My answer is--I failed to delegate the job. So I guess I'm stuck with this job.

JHL: You mean, I'm stuck with this job.

JHL: Whatever.

JHL: To get to the meat of the matter, what is this "Heights Online"?

JHL: Heights Online is the name of this website which has been simmering in the kitchen for nearly three months. It all started when "At 11:42 PM 5/17/96 +0800, a Heights'er wrote: Hey, when are we gonna have a website?" All we needed was a professional webmaster, and Xandro came.

JHL: What is a "Heights'er" and who posted that e-mail?

JHL: Haven't done your research, eh? A Heights'er is or was once a member of the literary publication in the Ateneo de Manila University named, of course, "Heights". Using the root word "Heights", it was logical to append the suffix "-er" to denote a person who participates in the activities of the said literary publication. And to answer your second question--whoever posted that note knows who he or she is. Ask no further.

JHL: What's the difference between Heights and Heights Online, aside from the obvious that the first is published on paper and the latter is published on the Web.

JHL: (Amused.) Aside from the obvious, ahem, Heights is a purely university affair, run by undergraduates to service fellow undergraduates in the Ateneo. Heights Online is beyond the university and is run by volunteers on their free time. But the blood that feeds both publications is the same--fine writers and artists who will contribute their work for others to read or view. In this sense, Heights Online is a service which will provide a venue for writers and artists to share their work with a sympathetic audience.

JHL: Writers and artists as contributors? You mean poetry, short stories, drawings--

JHL: Poetry, short stories, long stories, anti-stories, anti-poetry, essays, photos, drawings, 3D graphics, realtime video clips, multimedia works. Hell--we'll publish them all.

JHL: That's seems a lot of material to work with.

JHL: Not really, and not right now. We're trying to build up our list of contributors.

JHL: So it's your basic e-zine.

JHL: I guess, but it's more. Aside from publishing literary works for people to read and putting up art exhibits for people to view, Heights Online will also provide other services.

JHL: Like what?

JHL: To make full use of the features of the World Wide Web, Heights Online will provide reviews of books, music, movies, performances, and websites, along with available links. It will also of course include a Heights-only section for Heights news, archives, and directory.

JHL: When's the first issue?

JHL: August. Don't ask me what day. After that, Heights Online will go monthly. After that, twice a month. If it does really, really well, maybe by 1997 it'll be weekly.

JHL: When in August?