kidnap capital

Despite what our Lady President would have you believe, the horrible kidnapping situation is hardly resolved. Those that are, are because the families of the kidnap victim couldn't pay. Recently, a gas station attendant was released because his family was unable to pay ransom. Over the weekend, a 10-month (!) baby was returned after the family balked at the P200k ransom. Sure, the recent Ledesma case was "resolved" via a "tried and tested method" (which smacks of simply paying the ransom - the rumored amount is P20M), but for all the non-politicos, the invisibles and unreported, the travesty goes on. No one feels safe. I don't know what our oleaginous senators and congressmen are doing in our versions of Cafe Landtmann or Cafe Mozart, apart from exchanging gossip and creating money for themselves. And sadly, life goes on.

perils of DIY

My business has reached that point in the year when suddenly, everything looks murky and time stretches thinly. With the developments elsewhere in the world and the general cutdown on advertising and PR expenses, getting new projects has become quite difficult, especially with these infuriating freelancers who will do projects for food - literally. Just buy them lunch and you get a brochure or something. Ah, I shouldn't really get their case, but still. Corporate, government and NGO budgets continue to grow smaller, and of course they can always opt to do things inhouse. In the meantime, my headache is keeping the company afloat and on an even keel, keeping overhead down, maintaining morale, etc. With the number of people who rely on me for their monthly income, it just gets to me. And I may find myself doing the unspeakable in the next couple of months. We managed to land two new accounts - an internation shipping company and a music project, but let's see what happens.

AE quote of the day

So we're at the office and conversation turned to things past. My AE contributes thus (I know it sounds like a joke, but it's true, swear to God):

AE: Oo nga, when I was in high school, gusto ko nakatago lang ako. I didn't want to be seen. I wanted to be, you know, invincible.

ME: (stunned silence)

pictures (thanks to Ate Cyn)



At the recent National Book Awards (Jason, Marco, Vinnie, Nikki, me, Ate Cyn and Arnold). Arnold has won the same award for year's for "Trip to Tagaytay", and his "Mythology Class" won the year before that.




Vinnie, Nikki and me at Sukhotai


bermuda triangle of cellphones

Go and read Flim's stolen cellphone experience. It's a blast.