Another year has ended. It was a year of laughter, a year of joy, a year of sorrow, and a year of hope. What has happened for the last 365 days? A lot. Iraq got bombed. Saddam was caught. A lot of people died in the hopes of letting us enjoy the few real liberties we currently have.

On a personal note, I got engaged to the most wonderful person in the world, my Chings. It’s gonna be a ride, bumpy or otherwise. It is life, as we call it. Perhaps the greatest adventure I will be undertaking.

So until the next post, keep your hopes up, dream your dreams, and cover your ears for those damn loud firecrackers. And remember to count your fingers and toes once the new year begins. Realize that you are still lucky you had something to eat, something to grab food, and someone to keep you warm during those cold, lonely nights.

Happy New Year!

I’ve been having this dilemma. Do I buy new tires or do I buy a new mobile phone?

I really don’t care what brand of tires I get, as long as it’s new. If I get new tires, my rides gonna be more stable. I’m gonna be more confident driving thru the jungles of Manila. I’ll know I’ll survive driving over potholes, not worrying about my tires blowing up because of those damn potholes. However, it’ll cost me a pretty penny in one sitting.

For the mobile phone, I really want to get the Nokia 6230i. It’s an upgraded version of my previous phone, which I incidentally lost a few months ago. It has a megapixel cam, music and media player, voice recorder, and it’s faster than any phone that has an OS, like the 6600. The sound quality is excellent also. AND, it’ll cost me less than the tires. However, it’s going to keep digging in my pockets for at least 6 months. And now is not the time to get into binds and contracts like that, with the wedding and everything coming. Imma gonna need money very soon.

Oh, crap. I think I’m gonna have to sell my kidney.

My body is officially in Holiday mode.

But I am still in the office.

Have a new mug with part of my name on it. It’s missing a letter. Have a new tie, but I don’t usually wear one. Have a stuffed pig and it’s staring at me. I’ll call him PITO. Pig In The Office.

All these things were given by my bosses. I think this is in exchange of aggravating me. Hehe. It’s the thought that counts anyway. They just wanna show me, or us, that all of our efforts do not go unnoticed, and that rewards are due.

I’d rather have cash than stuff. That way, I can allot more money to the wedding. But I digress. I am grateful, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I can use the money in some other way that would benefit me more.

So…if they are reading this, here’s my request.

How about a raise in my allowance so I don’t go up the tax bracket and end up having less because of having more?

I was reading this book that was of compiled comic strips by Pol Medina Jr. or PMJR for short. It’s about a bunch of overweight and obese yet unbelievably healthy people who likes giving opinions on government, worthy causes, and the Filipinos’s well-loved and very-celebrated holidays.

For instance, there’s Christmas. With Christmas are carolers. And PMJR did not let this one pass. One of the strips tells of a way to make the carolers stop singing (or making noise, which is usually the case). You immediately give them the “aguinaldo” and they stop singing mid-song. And it’s true. Tried, tested and proven.

However, inside the strip, PMJR also featured the carolers and how they sing those songs. One of the famous songs goes like “Sa may bahay, ang aming bati, meri krismas, na maluwalhati…” It loosely translates to “To the homemaker, our greetings of a merry christmas that is glorious…” But in PMJR’s strip, it would go like “Sa may bahay, ang aming bati, meri krismas, MAWAWALHATI…” I was laughing my ass off after reading this strip. The humor has it that even Filipinos don’t know how it SHOULD go.

Anyway, a few nights later after reading the whole book, some carolers stopped by the front of the house and started making noise (or singing, but I prefer the former). They went like “Sa may bahay, mawawalhati…” and then abruptly stopped after realizing they said the wrong lyrics. I thought they were going to change how it should be sung. Then they started again and it went “sa may bahay, ang aming bati, meri krismas mawawalhati…”

OH MY GOD! I thought they realized their mistake and was going to change it but they still went through with the “mawawalhati” thing, which doesn’t mean anything.

All I can do that night was shrug my shoulders, shake my head and wish for a meteorite to hit me to finally kill off what’s left of my Christmas spirit.

Depressed, me? Why not.

~War is over, if you want it.~

Two more days to go till Christmas. A very busy weekend lies ahead, but it’s OK, I guess. It means I still have work, which most of the time equates to bill payments. At least, there’s more moolah this month. Thank God.

~War is over now.~

Just want to shout out Happy Birthday to my cousin, Geoff. Whazzzaaaaaap!!!

“Are you a professional basketball player?”

What an interesting question. Believe it or not, somebody did ask me that question. I was sitting on this chair, looking at the wedding souvenirs that comes with the wedding package at the hotel. This sandblasted picture frame would be better if it was blue. Anyway, this guy, an errand boy I think, asks me this question while my Chings and I were rummaging through the souvenirs.

“Who, me?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding? Did you see my belly? Do I look like I like doing physical work?”

“You’re so tall, I thought you were one.”

“You think 5 foot 8 is tall? Where did you come from? Lilliput?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

“Patrimonio…comes here…ducks when he passes through this doorway…gives autographs…”

“Uh-huh,” I nod approvingly even if I can only understand half of what he’s mumbling. “Right,” I smiled assuringly.

“So when is the date.”

None of your business, I thought. “September. Next year.”

My Chings and I looked at each other. Is this guy serious? I think she’s thinking the same thing. Is he going to rob us the moment we got out of the hotel? Paranoid, I know.

“Can we take a look at the ballroom?” my Chings asked.

“Sure, you can. Let’s go there now,” the coordinator replied.

So we got to the ballroom. It’s OK, I guess. I can only say it’s big. That’s it.

“Let’s block-out the date so we can prepare the list already.”

This all happened last Friday. Yesterday, we paid the reservation fee for the hotel AND the church. I didn’t realize how tedious the process can be. There ’s gonna be an interview and a seminar and some other stuff I can’t remember. Plus, there’s the paperwork we have to provide, like the Baptismal certificate which is annotated with “For Marriage Purposes” and the Confirmation certificate with the same annotation. I can’t imagine how much leg work this will take. I think I’m gonna have to file a leave of absence for this.

Anyway, almost half is already set. All I need to do now is to find out what the other half is, and finish it before the big day.

Breathing deeply. In. Out.

Sirius and Remus, sitting on a tree…

Injustice for all…or at least for Cory Maye. And I thought we were civilized.

There are things you should always say to your wife. I love you. Your hair looks great. This is delicious. But sometimes, men make the mistake of saying what is on their mind that would eventually get him into trouble. And it’s not limited to just words. It’s what you also do sometimes that makes your woman ticked off. Walking out of a conversation about wedding plans just to smoke is one of them.

“Why do you need to go out and smoke?”

“It helps me relax while worrying about where to get the money for the wedding.”

That reason works. But it is also dangerously misunderstood as your way of saying, “I don’t want to marry you anymore.” That’s why I said “dangerously.”

So what would be the safest way to cope with the wedding planning talks?

“How much is the gown?” you ask, then butt in, without waiting for the answer, with “That’s too much! Let’s just go get one from the flea market.” Of course, you will have to do that with a big grin. Show your pearly whites. If you can, the molars too. This is to let them know you’re only kidding. You can worry about the cost of the wedding when she’s at her parents’ home again and you’re all alone in your room, wishing the sheep will show up to help you fall asleep.

Don’t worry. It’s not too bad when you stay the length of the conversation. You might hear something that would make you sleep soundly at night.

“We’ll find a church for you that we can afford.”

“Yeah, we’ll find you one,” your mom says.

“We?”

“Yes. We.”

“Are you gonna pay for the wedding?”

“A fraction of it, yes.”

Without knowing, you will let out a heaving sigh of relief.

Finally, the sheep will come tonight.