Pounding The Keyboard

        A few days before Christmas last year (2023), I bought a one-shot manga entitled Look Back , intending it as a gift. Published in 2021, the book’s about a manga artist who strives to improve her craft and finds purpose in creating art. But because of a series of (usual) unfortunate events, I wasn’t able to give it. I then shoved it in my bookshelf and forgot about it for a while. I really am not a manga fan.      And then, this morning, while on Facebook, I saw this article about brilliant animated films that were shown this year (2024). The list included The Wild Robot (I’ve watched this and yes, it’s brilliant), Inside Out 2, Flow , Memoir of a Snail , Transformers One, and whaddayaknow, Look Back .      I didn’t know that the manga had a movie version, and basing on the reviews (7.9 out of 10 on IMDb and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s an excellent one. An incredibly beautiful story, many of the r...

       When our dog, a beagle, finds on his own something he thinks is food, he can sometimes be very territorial and aggressive, so we always approach him with caution whenever it happens. Almost always, I would offer him a treat to leave whatever he finds and the result is always peaceful.      But last night, 20 th of December, I was rushing to the dining table because I was carrying something hot, I stumbled upon him on the floor rummaging through some plastic bags he was able to snatch from the sink. I stopped in front of him, his head bowed, and I didn’t notice that I was already stepping on some debris of the plastic bags. Unfortunately, he noticed it, and without first looking up and verifying who was intruding in his area, he probably thought it was someone who was trying to steal some of his precious finds, he attacked…      …and bit both my feet, one of the wounds instantly bleeding copiously. I screamed,...

       Last week, I was looking at these bookshelf ornaments at Lazada, you know, those cute, DIY, ornamental thingies (some with lights) that you could insert between your books in your bookshelf or as bookends. That was the first time I saw those things, and I was thinking it would be a good gift to people who loved books and had bookshelves. The ornaments I was looking at resemble miniature old bookstores, or offices, or shops.      I looked at the details and it said recommended for 14 year olds. A bit downer. It was made from China. I could accept that. The shop hadn’t sold anything so there were no reviews yet. I looked at other shops selling the same products and saw some positive reviews. And then I looked at the details. Yep, it’d come from Mainland China. And yep, recommended for 13-14 yrs old.      I looked at the photos of the products again, and though they were labeled unisex, they looked like doll hous...