First, I considered the name of this website: FrankinScience, Writer, because it sounds like:

Frankincense. An aromatic gum resin from any of African and Asian trees of the genus Boswellia, used chiefly as incense and in perfumes (American Heritage Dictionary). I’m using it to imply burning with controlled passion.

Frankenstein. The genius of a doctor who made the mistake of creating a man from spare parts in Mary Shelley’s novel by that name. The creature became a monster. I invoke the genius of the creator, not the evil of the creature. Like yours, my genius is loaded, but it’s not its own excuse for being – it must be for others, not for myself.

The name of the website means:

Frank in Science, Writer. I have been writing in science since 1975, when I became (eventually) the Chief Information Officer of the Forest Research Institute (FORI) of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR). I stayed until 1981. Those were the Dinosaur Days, I like to say – we had to use dinosaurs called typewriters to make drafts upon drafts upon drafts: make one mistake and you have to retype say 10 pages all in all. In FORI, with the blessings of FORI Director Filiberto S Pollisco and my direct boss Pete Bueno, I founded 3 major publications: (1) the monthly newsletter Canopy, (2) the quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and (3) the quarterly color magazine, National Geographic-look-alike Habitat. I was editor for all 3; I was writer and popularizer for the Canopy and Habitat, and often photographer of those publications. And, believe it or not, I was never late in any issue for almost 6 years. Because I’m a fast worker, and I learned all the shortcuts.

Today, Frank in Science, Writer means I’m now into computers, surfing the Internet, blogging, editing the Philippine Journal of Crop Science based at UP Los Baños, writing for the American Chronicle online. So far, I have 90 essays published by this magazine since I began writing for it 2006 February 11.

March 17, 2008: Today, I am rewriting this to reflect the new name of my blogsite: The Franciscan Writer. I am not a Franciscan in the sense of the followers of St Francis, although I do declare I am a Roman Catholic, and I do quote St Francis often, especially the one that begins, ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.’ I declare that while I am not a Franciscan, I want to describe my writing as Franciscan, coming from my full name Francisco. In that sense, this Franciscan writer is an original.