I'm blogging here because, quite frankly, I don't think anybody reads this blog anymore. Which is nice. And that's good.

Updates on me for the past few days:

1.) We have a new dog! Our brown Doberman mini-pinsch, Frappy (short for Frappuccino) was collected by our Tita Lou. Something to do with Mom planning to breed dogs for business. Whatever. In the meantime, we have a hybrid shih tzu / terrier (I'm not sure exactly which breed) of around 2 months or so. And it's a boy. And we call hm Dimitri. And he's really cute. And he's been with us for three days now, including today.

Last night, I let him out of the box. He followed me ever so obediently. I missed that kind of dog; when I sit, he waits. When I walk, he gets up and follows. He has really stubby short legs, and has trouble climbing up and down steps, but still will, just so he can follow me. And when we're not doing anything, it didn't try to help or call attention or bounce up and down like Odie out of Garfield. He just slumped on the floor. And tried his best to make like Eeyore and look cute. And it was very endearing because it was cute.

I want to show him off to all of you, whoever still reads this. I am making it a project to take digital photos of him. If you ever spot me with my camera, remind me about the dog.

2.) I'm sick. It's not the life-threatening sick. But it feels like it. I have a sore throat, and speaking to others is a chore. I can't hug people close or kiss them on the cheek when I greet them anymore, even if it's inherent in me to try. Especially since I'm not affectionate to ALL people, but only a select few I love. And not all who I love, I am affectionate to. It's a challenge to try and talk normally. Or to whip out my handkerchief out when I sneeze fast enough.

I still blame the little sleep over the last weekend. I hate this. I used to have a tough constitution, of being able to survive with little to no sleep, be it jet lag or too much food or too much work. Now, I guess as November brings in colder nights, it brings lots of colder, well, colds. Darn. I hate this pattern of mine getting sick near Christmas.

Still, a few sniffles, sneezes and coughs never bothered me too much. It's just that today was Thursday. And there's always a lot of work for my TTH these days. And I don't have the car today, so I'm taking the jeep home. That does not help my healthcare situaion.

3.) Speaking of getting sick, Dad's worried about me again. It's quite sweet, actually. But truth be told, it's a pain being ordered to take medicines that you hate taking when you know they're not the real best cure. I know all I need is lots and lots of sleep, not anti-asthma medication. He thinks the coughing is from blocked airways, when I know it's all just a side-symptom of this influenza. And I've the nerve to say this about a licenced doctor because he's hardly ever done 'tests' to diagnose me. And he hardly does, partly because he's confident he knows his children.

Oh well.

4.) I just finished Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I love it to bits. I credit Mindy for introducing me to it. I'm ever so happy I bought this out of my own cash.

Right now, I think I'm forming a small library of sorts with my books. Ever since the Heights Workshop where they gifted us three books, I've been buying lots of stuff. Poetry anythologies, novels, even photocopied versions of classics, I've got.

I want to throw out all the Math and Biology books and the dull, annoying textbooks and stuff I never once used out of my room's bookshelf. I will replace Santrock with Hornby, Quimpo with Kundera, and "Fundamental Calculus" with "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." It will be full of the poems and stories I have learned to love. When right now, those books are in a pile on the floor, and Lola's old Math books are in a shelf, I wish to switch that.

Hell, I'll get to it right now, as soon as I get home.

5.) I went to watch Harry Potter yesterday. It was a Wednesday, and like all Wednesdays, I got out of the house again. Which is jolly good, for its own sake.

I realize now, however, that I so badly want to see some people. Wednesday yesterday wasn't the same. It wasn't a lot of fun; I felt like I wasn't part of it, you know? Like I was really, just looking into a gatering of friends I wasn't exactly a full-fledged member of.

I wonder if that's how some people once felt, when I was with them, and with other people.

Now that thought just makes me sad.

6.) I learned more from my lectures these past few days than ever.

I used to have a strange quirk. I'd go to school real early, and park at the parking lot fronting the football field. I'd watch the sun rise and the people pass by on te walkway beside the field. I'd notice what they'd be wearing to the first class of the day. When I'd had my fill, I'd cross Katipunan and I'd buy breakfast at Jollibee. I'd always get the hot chocolate as my drink, and if I were lucky, they'd give me a copy of the newspaper for free. I'd eat slowly, deliberately.

Then, when I'd have had my fill, but still enough hot chocolate with me, I'd write poems. I'd write and write and write on my notebooks. I'd be happy writing. I'd make about 5 drafts of works on a good day, and 2 or 3 on a not-so-good day. Then I'd get up, stuff my new creations in my bag, and I'd revise them one evening. I'd revise them when I type them in the computer. And I'd be proud that my 'ritual' and the sixty-something pesos for breakfast amounted to something.

I realize that there is value in the rituals we keep. They frame our thoughts and our feelings. They show us what how serious we are about what we'll do. They show us what really is imporant, because we do the trivial things first. They help us keep rites; they are good habits.

I want to go to Jollibee Katipunan tomorrow morning. I will go there. Because I will write.

Anybody who comes with me will be welcome. :)