I just came back from a 2-hour orientatiuon on company policies so I think you can sense the  enthusiasm and excitement in my voice...okay, can you sense the sarcasm? Anyway life's been good, the family is busy planning for Jack's christening; no I have not sold my soul to the devil and yes I am still Catholic that's why Jacob's going to be baptised in the next few weeks. I won't post any specific dates yet because we still haven't picked one at this time but I'll keep you posted.

Jacob's doing well, he's been going through a lot of changes as we speak, he's able to produce sounds now. He's gurgling and cooing, you can hear voices when he wakes up and it's just the cutest thing I've ever heard. One thing I noticed yesterday morning though was dude is losing his hair. I think this is normal. When you see him these days, the hair on his forehead up to the top of his head is thinning except for the sides and back. He looks like a balding middle aged man in need of a bad comb-over, last week it was the sides and the back of his head...and he's loosing his eyebrows too! Not that there were eyebrows to start with. When he was born you could only see faint traces of hair on his brow, now they're all gone.

As for Kim she's getting pretty good at this motherhood thing and I'm damn proud of her. Tomorrow we'll be going to her Obstetrician for a check-up; she's looking forward to the trip because again, it's an excuse to at least step out of the house. She sometimes feels bored when Jacob is asleep and  isn't being the demanding task-master that he is. There's practically nothing to do when you're at home except watch TV and there is only so much Queer Eye for the Straight Guy episode you can stand or there are just limits to how many cooking shows you can endure before you start to chew on the remote, or the throw pillows or the couch.

Despite the gnarled cushions and the TV remote missing the number 5 button, Kim and everyone at home couldn't be happier. Jacob's been like a breath of fresh air.

The big advantage of using a lightsaber, of course, is that you can both cut and toast the bagel in one stroke.

"Although a lightsaber is typically used as a defensive weapon by Jedi knights, the availability of lightsabers on consumer sites such as eBay is growing. It is a sad fact of life, but if a Jedi knight falls on hard times, his lightsaber is one source of quick cash. He can always build another one."

Read more about lightsabers here.

» from howstuffworks.com and the bangus supremacy

The woman was playing with his left foot in those blue Cookie Monster socks as he was sleeping in the waiting area, and as I caught a glimpse of her hand gently holding my boy's feet, she gave a sheepish grin and let go. I felt sorry I had to look and made her feel awkward so I gave her a smile in the hopes of giving her some assurance, saying that "It's okay, you can have his foot for now". And I think it worked, because after a moments hesitation, she smiled back and touched his feet softly, trying not to wake him up.

He on the other hand, kept on sleeping soundly. If there's one thing Jacob looks while he's asleep...it's peaceful.

Every night after I come home from work I take a peek in his crib while he's asleep and see the serenity in his face. It's infectious. I can't help but wish for him to stay this way forever...not grow up and just be that baby sleeping soundly without a care in the world. But I know I'm just talking nonsense and eventually he'll grow up because that's just the natural order of things.

This morning I woke up to Kim's voice laughing, and Jacob smiling with his gums showing for the whole world to see...an image that will be etched in my mind for the remainder of the day for sure. He turns a month old today. Has it been a month already? I know it's a bit cliche but that's how I feel...has it really been a month?It seems longer and yet everytime I leave for work in the morning, a month seems too short. It's getting harder for me to leave for work. I want to sneak in a few minutes with him as he sleeps resting his head on my chest, a few more minutes of me nibbling on his foot or me trying to smell his head and neck as if the scent would run out.

One month.

Here's to more.

How old skool are my workmates? You be the judge.

We were having snacks and giving each other aliases (is that the plural of 'alias'?) I had the misfortune of being named 'Benedict Aquino'...well, the good side is that it's not as bad as icykewl's 'Kaselyn Francisco' or a 'Chuckie Dreyfuss'...or is it? Hehe

In the morning, under the sweltering heat of the sun and the hot and sticky air, in an equally humid innards of a jeepney I start my day. Judging from the first line, you'd probably say that the onset of each day is shitty for me...well, in some cases it is.

From people who smoke inside jeepneys with a 'no smoking' sticker just inches away from them, to people who won't extend a helping hand in passing your fare to the driver; and not to forget people who talk loudly on their cellphones or with each other, or those who sit beside you and sleep and use your shoulders as some kind of head rest...yes, my daily commute sometimes can be a real pain in the ass.

And if your rolling your eyes and saying that I'm just bitching and moaning and if you tell me to just shut up take a cab if I'm this fussy...yes, I'll take a cab everyday if I shit wads of cash each morning—heck, I'll even let you ride for free.

But jeepney rides can be a pleasant experience once you get past these pifalls. It's a time where I can be alone with my thoughts. To see a city just starting her day and her people scurrying here and there. You get to see different faces and wonder what's the story behind those eyes.

It's usually a time where I get the dreaded 'last song syndrome' so everytime I leave the house, I make sure I don't hear 'Jumbo Hotdog' from the neighborhood sari2X stores...or else it's stuck in my head and you can imagine the torture.

That is until I arrive at the office...where the word 'torture' would be an understatement.

Let me digress.

The past few days have been a series of revelations, the biggest so far is that my son might just outdo everyone else in the area of flatulence. The boy farts like he's a full grown man!

Last weekend I spent the better part of Saturday cleaning our room. Dusting shelves and cabinets, disinfecting every nook and cranny, if it were possible I'd boil the shit out of that room. In between wiping dust off of picture frames I noticed the sorry state of my cassette tape collection. I really never got to collecting CD's...they're too damn expensive and there's this certain amount of sentimental value attached to cassette tapes, well for me that is. Looking at the stack, a pathetic excuse for a 'collection' my heart sank. It is now a mere shadow of what it once was, a shell of its former glory...back in the day they numbered in the hundreds.

Back in high school a few friends and I had this sort of silent agreement, to eat only banana-ques, Skyflakes crackers and Coke or maybe a sandwich or just bring 'baon' from home just to save lunch money and come the weekend we'd go to a place called Primrose in the downtown area to blow what money we had saved for the week on tapes. Tapes back then were cheap, some started at around P45; the last time I bought a casette tape it was then P120 which beats any CD.

Thinking back now, I can't remember ever asking money from my parents to buy tapes. Maybe that's why my mother never gave me shit about my collecting them...hmmm.

Primrose was THE place if you loved music and was into collecting tapes. The salesladies knew us by then, we even had special privileges. We can ask for reservations for certain stocks, we could even order hard to find albums. Every Saturday the place would be filled with pimple-faced boys barely out of puberty

We'd swap tapes, buy and sell some among us. Some borrowed, tapes borrowed would pass on to several hands and then you'd lose track and it gets lost along the way which sucks especially if the tape holds a special place in your collection or if that tape is one in a series.

Why am I writing about this? I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I still get the same feeling when Friday comes and I know Saturday is just a sleep away...only this time it's not tapes anymore.

My father's birthday passed without so much fanfare yesterday. Aside from the greetings from us and some relatives, I guess that was it. In all his 59 years he's never really had a party per se, and yesterday was no exception. I don't know why but it's been that way ever since I can remember. We tried to give him parties before but he'll just say why bother and say that all he wants is for us to be together and for him to spend his birthday in a quiet way...to spend that day with us rather than with a bunch of people.

It's nice to see him these days come home early just to spend time with his grandson. It's been a while since I heard him laugh or seen him smile, but to see him watch over his 'apo' and just burst into laughter everytime Jacob does something cute is like music to my ears.

The man has been through a lot, from his childhood, growing up through hard times hopping from one province to another as a son of an army captain, to the hardships we've had as a family, to where he is now and managing all of these on his own, is a tough act to follow. I can only hope to be half as strong a person as he is.

I know it's cliche but any kid would be lucky to have him as a father. He's a great father. I won't say perfect but he's pretty damn close and I've learned so much from him. We may be 2 different people but I owe a great deal to who and what I am now to my father.

I know he won't be able to read this but to my father Happy Birthday and thank you for everything. 

 If you want to know where it all began...the golden age of skateboarding. You should definitely see Lords of Dogtown...I know I will.

Jacob at 1 month and 8 days. For more pictures, go to this page. 

I have a semi-stiff neck, semi because I can turn to my left but I am having difficulty turing to my right, if I do my neck feels like there's a stick that's been left stuck in there and it pokes at the muscles and it just is...a pain in the neck. I have had full stiff-necks before and it sucks, but this one today, semi-sucks. Maybe I should stop sleeping on the couch and buy me an extra bed.

The monitor looks like it could use a good rubbing, I can't understand why every morning it's filled with finger prints? Why do they have to touch the screen? Does the computer now respond to 'touch-screen' commands and no one is telling me? I have to wipe it clean with tissue paper everytime I sit and start my work because let's face it, having Amuerfina (god bless her) come over to your cubicle and wipe your dirty monitor because she's disturbed by its appearance is just too embarrassing.

I finally woke up this morning wrapped in sheets. It was cold, not 'December type cold' but if you've felt the heat for the past few days...it sure is nice to have cool weather for a change. I was on my way to work and not a sweat on my brow as the jeepney sped and weaved through early morning traffic. I got to my workplace and I felt a little dampness on my shirt, but it's nothing to be alarmed...why? Because it's cold. I have a stiff-neck but do I feel pissed...a bit but it's no big deal, you wanna know why? Because it's nippy today.

No books for today, no books to make that is so if it stays this way all day I might be blogging until my fingers bleed. Of course I'm being sarcastic. But it's just the way things go, you get bored with work and you wish you could just goof off all the time but when there's nothing to do and you've been sitting on your ass for almost 8 hours...you tend to miss work.

Not that I'm missing it right now...ehe he.

 You can tell I'm in a 'DOGTOWN' mood today...hehe.

I had to ride a taxi on my way to work, I was running a bit late and besides...we don't want to tarnish the already checkered attendance record now do we? Okay, now back to the story. I was on this taxi, a Hyundai. I don't know why I took note of the car's brand but one thing I remembered was that it smelled nice for a taxi. One thing I also liked about that taxi was the airconditioner...I think it goes all the way up to 11, it was so cold.

A few minutes have gone by into the ride when the driver decided to put on a cassette tape in his stereo. Some dude was singing old, slow rock ballads and the thing that caught my ear was by how he pronounced words. He was saying 'mutts' instead of 'much', I forgot the song but that was all I can remember...'mutts'. I'm really not that particular about enunciating words because I too am guilty of it at times.

I think he was so serious and so rapt with what he was doing that he never really noticed 'mutts' maybe until he heard the final cut but it was too late to change. Maybe it cost too 'mutts' money to re-record the songs because I bet it was not just one song, maybe if I heard the whole tape I bet I'll hear 'mutts' more.

Taxies can be lots of fun once you get past the part about the fare. Talking to cab drivers can be quite an experience, you hear lots of different stories that run through the gamut of topics. There's a part of me that wants to strike up a conversation with a cab driver eveytime I get on a taxi but the more rational side of me tries to think twice unless I want people to read headlines that say 'Cab Slams To Wall, Passenger Just Won't Shut Up - Cabbie'', I know my headline writing skills suck so bear with me.

I wanted to hear more of the tape but I had to get off and go to work. It's a slow day but it's cool. Today is Friday and you know how I love Fridays. Tonight will be the seminar for Jacob's god-parents. He'll be having his Christening this Sunday and you know what that means...if you're thinking about food and drinking and all that other stuff shame on you...there's that but it's a special day because Little Jack2X is going to be baptised and therefore made a member of the Catholic church, Jack will then get his membership card 2 weeks after and he'll start to pay his monthly dues and attend meetings, help in fund raising projects by buying raffle tickets and such...all the perks of being a full-fledged member.

Just kidding.

I could go on and on but there's nothing 'mutts' I can tell you for now.

I think I remember the song now...'The Great Pretender' and it went a little something like this:

Oh yes, I'm the great pretender...oooh oooh
pretend that I'm doing well..oooh oooh
my need is 'sutts', I pretend too 'mutts'

Thank you very 'mutts'.

I dont know why but this image just popped up in my head just as I was about to start drawing...so the most logical thing to do was...draw it.

I'm not 20 years old anymore.
I can't drink like a fish and not feel the repercussions the next day.
My body cannot handle alcohol like it used to.
I shoud have slowed down.
I should have been moderate with the booze yesterday.

I feel like shit.

 I'll be using this one from now on.