Happy, happy, happy birthday, Daddy!

My paternal grandfather turns 77 today. I am praying he will have many more fruitful, joyful years ahead.

My dinner tonight was street fish ball. It costs two pesos per stick, with four balls in each stick.

I got a dozen sticks, all dipped in starchy, sweet sauce. Be very, very envious, peons!

Over the weekend, I finished reading Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella.

I was able to purchase a copy from PowerBooks while I was in Metro Manila last week.

Can You Keep A Secret? is Kinsella’s follow-up foray into the chick lit world sans Becky Bloomwood of the four-part Shopaholic series. The book’s heroine is marketing assistant Emma Corrigan, who has a few too many secrets to comfortably keep.

I must admit that I was disappointed with the book. It is not as humorous as the Shopaholic novels.

There are also too many parallels with the aforementioned series, such as:
1. A ditzy heroine who believes there is so much more in life awaiting her
2. A dark, brooding love interest who built his own company, is rich and is reputed to be a genius
3. A scandal through mass media that badly damages the heroine’s reputation and already flimsy pride
4. An irritating female co-worker occupying a nearby desk: Artemis for Emma and Clare for Becky
5. The heroine’s immediate supervisor whose name begins with the letter P: Paul for Emma and Philip for Becky
6. The heroine’s ability to quickly incur financial debts
7. The heroine is an only child
8. The presence of a sister figure who outshines the heroine: Kerry for Emma and Jessica for Becky

There are other similarities that I will probably recall later on, however, Can You Keep A Secret? is nonetheless fun enough on its own.

I am still awaiting the mass market paperback release of Kinsella’s new novel, The Undomestic Goddess. I have already seen the book and read its synopsis, but the edition was the large print paperback and it cost nearly a thousand pesos.

Here is the summary of Can You Keep A Secret? at Amazon.com:

When her plane en route from Glasgow to London experiences horrible turbulence, Emma Corrigan is convinced she is going to die.

She babbles all of her most intimate thoughts and secrets to the handsome American man sitting next to her. But the plane lands safely, and Emma bids him an awkward good-bye.

When she enters the office on Monday and learns the CEO of the company, Jack Harper, is in for a visit, Emma is horrified to learn Jack is actually the man in whom she confided on the flight. He knows everything, including that she hates her job and that she is not quite sure she loves her boyfriend.

But Jack does not fire her on the spot; instead, he quietly replaces the office coffeemaker she hates and gives her advice about her personal life, which she finds infuriating. So why can’t she stop thinking about him?

The blue sky must be forever tall and forever clear. That’s the way the world should be.

~ Gentatsu Takatsuki, in conversation with Shigure Takimi, Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi no Requiem

I was able to meet my longtime friends Genefel and Melody at SM Megamall last Wednesday night for a good old gabfest over hot and cold cups of Starbucks java.

We talked straight for three hours and would have continued until dawn. However, I had to get back to my hotel to prepare for my early morning flight while Gen and Mel both had work the day after.

They gave me the most amazing metal chandelier earrings adorned with glittery crystals. Arigatou gozaimasu again!

I arrived from Metro Manila on Thursday, following a quick, uneventful airplane journey.

The moment I got home, I could not help but immediately pop my newly acquired copy of Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Shishi no Requiem (Requiem for the Ishin Patriots) into my VCD player.

The movie has a simple, straightforward story that would be appreciated even by someone who is not familiar with the Rurouni Kenshin mythos.

I absolutely loved the charismatic and noble Shigure Takimi, one of the movie’s central characters and arguably Ishin Shishi’s primary driving force.

His noble warrior’s philosophy and driven, staunchly patriotic character reminded me very much of Katsumoto, brilliantly portrayed by Ken Watanabe, from the 2003 Tom Cruise starrer The Last Samurai.

Yesterday evening, I received an e-mail from the organizers of the National Novel Writing Month that I have been officially accepted and listed as a participant.

NaNoWriMo 2005 will be my first year in the project, so I am really looking forward to all the novel-writing excitement and mania that will ensue when November rolls about.

Hello, everyone. I started my new job last September 26th and am already out and about undergoing training!

I am in Metro Manila right now, our nation’s capital region, undergoing an Integrated Library System seminar for Information Technology Specialists.

We are currently billeted at the University Hotel of the University of the Philippines – Diliman. Our training proper, however, takes place at the facilities of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute across campus.

Our computers at the training center have Ethernet, so while I was browsing through various Philippine-based online public access catalogs, I managed to come across Philippine eLib, a collection of bibliographic and full-text information materials from numerous sources all over the country.

I tried out the aforementioned site’s search function and was utterly surprised to find out that I was, in fact, listed in the archives.

My listed work is Other, one of my poems published in The Philippine Star back in 1998.

Coolness.