Pounding The Keyboard

       US and Israel continue to wage war on Iran and posts about it continue to dominate Facebook today. While talking about the war and the US soldiers that were killed, Trump suddenly, out of the blue and without any provocation, changed topic and talked about the “beautiful golden curtains” inside the White House. That demeanor is called “creeping dementia.” The sad thing about this, people around the world are saying, is he will probably die before he gets punished for all his crimes.      Love, if you’re still suffering from high blood pressure, there’s this simple but effective exercise to lower it. No equipment needed, just your strong, smooth, beautiful legs. They claim that it’s more effective than running miles. It's called wall sit. You sit still against a wall for two minutes, take a break and rest for two minutes, and do it three more times.      Jim Carrey is still going viral because of his “unrecognizable” appearance. P...

        So, there's this thread that appeared on my News Feed, claiming that reading gay literature will make you gay. I think it’s BS, I didn’t join the conversation and continued scrolling down, but it reminded me of something: a book, a boys’ love manhwa actually, that I’ve had since last year. It’s Roses and Champagne, written by ZIG and illustrated by Ttung gae. It's a compilation of four comic books. I planned of giving it as a gift but I wasn’t able to do it, and I wonder why. Lol.      I haven’t read it not because I fear that it would tweak my sexuality and make me wear skirt; it’s just that I am not a fan of boys’ love. But trust me, reading gay fiction won’t turn you into gay, just like actors accepting gay roles will not turn into queers, not that there’s wrong with being that way. I’ve read (as part of my job as a freelance editor) a few gay literature and comic books, some of them really hardcore, and it didn’t make me want to rush to a ...

       So, Today is Chinese New Year, it’s a holiday so it must be big deal. And we had tikoy for breakfast this morning. Lol. Filipinos hate Chinese (re West Philippine Sea issue), critics say, but ironically, they love many Chinese things, especially their New Year. I don’t know, but what most Filipinos hate is the Chinese government, not the Chinese people per se. Like me, I hate what the Chinese government is doing on West Philippine Sea but I don’t hate Chinese people or their products. My phone is China-made, and so is the all-in-one PC I am currently using. Many of my favorite foods are Chinese influenced, like siopao, pancit, lumpia, mami, hopia, taho, and tikoy, of course, and we love eating in Chinse restaurants (Din Tai Fung is a favorite). And our next-door neighbors are Chinese, and they're sort of nice because they are quiet and they mind their own business, unlike the other neighbors. Lol.      So, most Filipinos don’t hate Chinese. In...

       You know that joke that whenever you hit your little toe on something hard, you learn a new language, or more succinctly, you learn some swear words in a new language? It’s true. Lol. Two weeks ago, I hit my baby toe on the foot of a table really hard, and I thought I cursed in German, I think, something like  Ich liebe Dich ! Nope, I don’t think that’s a German curse.      And then, just hours ago, that same baby toe, which was almost healed, hit the door as I was going out of my room, and I thought I cursed in French, something like  Je t’aime! Nope, I don’t think that’s a French curse word. Lol.      Anyway, hitting your little toe onto something hard or getting yourself hurt physically are not the only reasons you curse in a foreign language. You also do it whenever you read some political bad news, or tragic news like some dastardly murder or other crimes being committed, or when you hear some cruelty being don...

When I call you up, your line’s engaged I have had enough, so act your age We have lost the time that was so hard to find And I will lose my mind If you won’t see me…          I’ve liked a few Beatles pages on Facebook, so every now and then, posts about the Beatles would appear on my News Feed. This morning, somebody asked about their favorite songs on Rubber Soul . Great songs abound in that album, of course, but the first song that came into my mind was “Norwegian Wood,” and then, “You Won’t See Me.”      “Norwegian Wood,” known for its Indian-influences and evoked by John’s multiple affairs, is about a man who thought he was about to experience a wonderful one-night stand, but nothing happened. The girl instead let him sleep in the bathroom—he got his revenge by setting her house on fire.      “You Won’t See Me,” thoroughly melodic and inspired by an argument that occurred between Paul and his then-girlfriend Jan...

       Every January, a sister of mine (who works in a printing press) would bring home complimentary copies of things they had printed: calendars, diaries, planners, notebooks, you know, the kinds you buy whenever the year changes, so you could organize and fix your life. Just a few hours ago, she handed me some of these. They are mostly of high quality. Sometimes, she’d bring home quite a lot that we’d give away some of them, and the ones we kept, we would sometimes still not be able to use all of them.      I still have some planners here that dates back to 2023 and 2024. I don’t plan my life so I don’t use them. LOL. I also still have a few unused notebooks.      But years ago, I would often go to malls to buy a notebook, sometimes, I’d buy two, as I used it to store my story ideas or premises or even anecdotes. During the times when I was really active writing, I would always place a notebook (and a pen) beside me because ideas ...