Happy Christmas

I met a man in Nigeria years ago,
an Ibo,
who said he had three hundred relatives
he knew by name.
His wife had just had a baby.
They were going to take it
on foot
to be welcomed and marveled at
by as many of those relatives
as they could find,
even though
there was a war going on.
Wouldn’t you love to have been
such a famous baby?
I wish I could wave a magic wand
this Christmas,
and give every desperately lonesome
and hungry and lost American
man, woman, or child
the love and comfort and support
of an extended family.
Just two people and a babe in the manger,
given a heartless Government,
is no survival scheme.

- Kurt Vonnegut, 2004

Customer Service

Me: May reservation ba kayo?
Genius on the phone (GOTP): Papunta ho saan?
Me: Sa Olongapo.
GOTP: Wala ho.
Me: Sa Zambales?
GOTP: Wala din ho.
Me: Maski yung last trip? Yung 11 ng gabi?
GOTP: Meron po.

(Trips to Zambales, just in case you don't have a Philippine road map on hand, go through Olongapo.)

Cooling-Off

I have absolutely nothing to do tonight.

Or, tomorrow night and every single night for the next two weeks, for that matter. There is absolutely nothing that I have to photocopy, highlight, read and/or, God forbid, memorize. There will be no opportunities for other people to inflict moral damages upon my person, and aside from lining up behind total morons in the ATM, there will be no opportunity for me to wish harm to befall, presumably, a fellow human being.

This is probably how drug-induced altered states of consciousness feel like. I know this will not last, but at least, I will be celebrating the holidays on a high - drug-induced or otherwise.

Rehab

"There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit."

- Red, The Shawshank Redemption

More Deep Thoughts

I finally qualified for a Nike Park VIP card. Yay.

* * *

I can't wait for my authentic Ryan Buenafe Ateneo jersey. Hopefully, I'd get my hands on it before Christmas.

* * *

Jover had me hooked on fantasy basketball. As of this writing, my team is tied for 6th in a fifteen-team league.

* * *

I took the long route home last Tuesday: I walked from the office to the train station at Ayala, took the train all the way to North Ave. (after missing 2 text messages, 3 calls and 1 crazy woman pounding the train before the train left Cubao), crossed over to the other side of the platform, took the train back to Guadalupe, and after futilely waiting for an FX ride, took a cab home.

Home, which ordinarily, is 1 jeepney and 1 tricycle ride away from the office.

* * *

For a game show host, Richard Gomez makes a very good pervert. I don't know, is it just me, or does he really just naturally appear as if he's molesting every female contestant on the show?

* * *

Speaking of TV shows, Zita was voted off the island and she's mad. Note to Zita: it's a game. Anyone can be voted off. When the Good Lord said "Blessed are the poor," He doesn't mean that the poor are entitled to win every single TV game show on the planet. But, I know you'll get over it. Hopefully, soon.