friday frolics: issa's words, a game of thrones, coloring a 3rd world astronaut

Whew!

Tired. But otherwise happy.

Work has caught up with me hence the non-presence in this space on the ole web since Tuesday last week. When I get home, rather than go online, I'd much rather play around with my daughters or rest. I've also not been reading anything as my mind, I think, is not ready for any heavy thinking after a full day's brain-wracking at the Desk.

I've also been spending my after-office hours doing school work with Ikai. Last week, it was doing her assignments. This week, it has been reviewing for her long tests which happened yesterday and today would be the second day of the long tests. These times, for me, are far more special than logging on and finding out the latest that Facebook vendors have to offer.

So, I missed some messages and missed greeting people on their birthdays. My apologies. I was attending to important stuff.

In addition to work, I've also been busy with The Gaming Daily with updates. It seems that while the traffic numbers aren't all that impressive, the simple news blog is getting the attention of people and companies with an affinity with gambling. I'm not endorsing gambling, mind you. I myself, I don't gamble -- err, except for the occasional lotto -- but I don't have anything against people who gamble responsibly. Much like people who smoke, for me, gambling is a choice. I mean, for something like four years I was working in the gambling industry but I never got hooked to it.

Just don't overdo it -- compromising money that's meant for something needed like food, or to pay the tuition fee of your kid at school, or to pay the rent. That's bad form and if I were the owner of the gambling establishment and I learn that you're gambling compromised money, I'm going to haul you and kick your butt out of the place (or cut you off your account, if you're online).

So, my apologies for the delay to the select few who find their way here every now and then.

Let's move on then ...

* * * *

Our little Issa is talkative. However, of the several seconds of conversation, you'll only understand a few words out of it. But heck, it's fun "talking" to Issa because when she talks to you, she calls your attention with a firm "Papa" and then babble away for the next few seconds. She then stops and expects you to reply. Usually a "Yes" or an "Oo" or a nod would be enough, and she would smile.

It's like harkening back to Ikai when she was the same age and just about learning to talk.

Issa's vocabulary consists of just a few words but they're enough to get your attention including:

• Bye-bye, ________! (accompanied by a hand waving)

• Avoo -- shortened "I love you" which was also something Ikai used to say during her baby babble days

• Too -- what she says when she wants water. If you don't give her water in the next minute, you'll hear her say "Too-beeg"

• "Wize" -- she can't pronounce "R's" yet so that's "rice" for you

• Mik -- she's also missing her "L's" sometimes so, just add "L" between "I" and "K" and you'll know what she needs

• Juice -- yes, she says this clearly

• Na-nak -- that's knock-knock for you

• Mm-pohn - cellphone

• 'Ello - she's also missing her "H's"

• Ballow -- ehems, that's borrow

• Aiku -- not a Japanese term but rather "Ayoko"

• No! - sadly, Issa says this word a lot and with force at that

• Bas -- what she says when she wants to go outside

• Ba-ba, Ba-ba ______ -- when she wants to go down or she wants someone to go down

• Kayt -- when she wants to go up to the bedroom

• Piss -- usually accompanied with an index finger pointing at the fish on the table

• Wight -- not the monster, but "light"

These are just a handful of her small but progressively increasing vocabulary. There's tell-tale signs that like her Ate Ikai, she'll be a talkative one.

Unfortunately, she doesn't call her sister "Ate Ikai" but only Ikai. Ask her to emulate you to say "Ate" she will just say "Ikai". Hopefully, she'll later on learn how to do so. But her Mama and Papa, and Lola and Lolo are already clear. Most especially her "Auntie" which little Issa says with much "lambing" -- a testimony to her love of my sis-in-law who's in all aspects her true yaya.

* * * *

I've been ridiculously addicted to Diamond Twister, a Samsung-app-game that I play on my wife's Samsung Wave 525 phone. Think Bejeweled and that's the basic premise of the game. Never mind that there's a story and other challenges (find the stone or the gem, or race against the time to earn the needed cash objective, or race against time to accumulate the number of gems needed). The basic is that you've got to line up three gems or more of the same kind vertically or horizontally (no diagonals) and watch mayhem unfold. There are boosts as well, which I guess is the reason why this game isn't called Bejewelled.

When I get my own smart phone, I'm sure I'll be buying this game-app as well. For only Php 60, it's worth it given that you'll be wasting hours on this nifty little game.

* * * *

The ridiculously popular Angry Birds game is now available as well on the Bada network. Previously only available for Android, Windows, and OVI, it's good to know that the game has now been ported to the exclusive Samsung network. What's best about it is that AB is free to download and install.

Unfortunately, there's a problem with Elvie's Wave 525 in that it's not connecting to wi-fi hence it has been disconnected for quite some time now.

A visit to ElectroWorld in Greenbelt yesterday wasn't helpful as the lady attendant who tried to help us fix the problem, well, only ended up trying to fix it. She said it would be best to bring the unit over to a Samsung service center as trying to rectify the problem with internet connection was beyond her powers.

Apparently, Samsung phones running on Bada system are encountering the problem. She however assured me (because she knew I was planning to buy one) that the Samsung phones running on the Android OS encountered no such problems.

We asked for Samsung's Makati service center address and contact numbers and hopefully one of these days, Elvie's 525 will be back to tip-top shape.

* * * *

While the rest of the genre-world awaited the sale of George R.R. Martin's fifth volume in the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy epic, A Dance of Dragon, I have the miserable luck of not being able to secure a copy of the first volume -- A Game of Thrones -- from my usual book haunts.

Hopefully this weekend, I will get a chance to go around the bookshops and find me a copy so I could get in on the action as I've read many raves and praises about this series. With an HBO series propelling the series' popularity further, I've no further reason to delay immersing myself in this new medieval world.

If I do score a copy this weekend, that could mean Kevin J. Anderson's The Edge of the World would have to wait for a bit before its plastic cover gets unwrapped.

* * * *

As is the case, a lot of personal projects are still wallowing in the pits.

But in between work, when I want to de-stress, I've been doing some practice coloring on Photoshop.

It's slow progress as this is the first time I'm doing this on PS (before, I practiced crudely on CorelDraw before the Compaq rig conked out).

I sketched the image freehand using a Mongol No.2 pencil on a half-bond sized sketch pad (always have one on my bag, never know when inspiration strikes). I then proceeded to ink over my pencils using a Uni Pin Fine Line drawing pen with 0.2 tip. Then, using an old-fashion eraser, erased my pencil drawing.

I then had the image scanned at 300 dpi.

Opening up the image on Photoshop, I proceeded to color the image bit by bit.

Since I didn't have a drawing tablet, I had to do it old-school using the Pen tool. Starting with the head and moving down the body parts, the steps I followed included:

1) Creating the shape of the area using the Pen and Convert Point tools.

2) Color the created shape black as this serves as the background / outline.

3) Duplicate the created shape and fill it with another color.

4) Then scale it a bit so that it's smaller than the original shape.

5) Then selecting both the original and copied layer, align them centrally so that the black background forms the outline of the shape (reminiscent of how other draw on CorelDraw).

I created folders for each body part so that it's easy managing the many layers.

Now, you'll think. If I was coloring it on PS then I could've avoided one step in the process by not inking it. Well, I wasn't thinking about coloring it when I first drew the image. It was just meant to be something on the sketch pad and to add some permanency to it, I decided to ink it. It was only after I liked the results that I thought of coloring it. So, yes, inking would've been pointless but then again, it was good exercise as well.

In any case, the image on the left is what I've finished so far -- the flat colors. What will happen next would be to add a little more detail on the arms, chest, groin, and legs. As can be gleaned from the original sketch, there are little bits and stuff that is missing on the image on the left -- the image that will make this "3rd World Astronaut" more steampunkish which is my aim in the final render.

What prompted me to work on this?

I was reading Mervin Malonzo's webcomic Tabi Po last Monday when I chanced upon his "Laktaw" (skip) page where he detailed the process by which he comes up with each page of his comics. The process was straightforward that I was enticed to follow the steps myself. Good fortune that I had just finished sketching the image of the Pinoy steampunk astronaut that day and it came in handy when I got the urge to try and do some PS coloring.

Inspiration credit also goes to FreakAngel's Paul Duffield who in their skip week also discussed how he interfaced with his colorists for the FA's pages. It was Duffield who wedged the idea in my head but it was Malonzo who nudged me to action.

* * * *

Happy weekend, folks!

tuesday tidbits: issa at 8 months, hk trip, bookcase, apartment, cartoons, cq40

Hmm, I've been quite remiss in maintaining this here blog of mine that my long-time partner-in-crime turned OFW in the big desert, Noel, has pointedly informed me for the second such time that he has been frequenting The Coffee House Chronicles and I've been caught red-handed not updating for weeks on weeks.

Belated happy birthday, my friend, and I hope to sit down with you for some sugar-free coffee when you do come home for a vacation.

As for maintaining my blog (as it seems to be a source of tsismis for you :P), I'll try and keep you entertained by posting frequently especially when work (and FB games) don't get in the way of the upkeep.

* * * *

I just realized that it has been 2 months since my last post. What have I been doing the past 8 weeks that have kept me from blogging?

Well, family stuff mostly demanded my time last month as my sister, Wheng, flew in from Dubai, UAE for her annual vacation and our weekends were spent mostly at our home in San Pedro, Laguna. Being a school month, my sister only got to spend time with her pamangkins on the weekend. So, as soon as school and office were done on Fridays, we got on board the "big red car" (that's what Ikai calls our ride) and sped off to Laguna for the weekend.

And oh, yeah, we went to Hong Kong last month. My parents, Wheng, Elvie and our little ones spent four days and three nights in HK thanks to the discounted airfare we bought way back in April. So, even though things were rather tight on the financial side of things, we pushed through with the trip and enjoyed it actually -- enough to warrant us (me and wifey) to yearn for more as the trip was bitin.

The highlight of the trip was supposed to be Disneyland Hong Kong but it turned out that our visits to The Peak (via the Peak Tram, of course!) and to the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum were more enjoyable than the chaos we encountered in Disneyland HK. Even Ikai didn't enjoy the Disney trip as she was made to wait in line for at least 45 minutes before getting to board the 3-minute ride. In 6 hours spent at the amusement park, she only managed to ride 5 rides.

I was amazed with the efficiency of their train system -- their MTR. Using the MTR was a bit intimidating, at first, but you quickly learn to navigate your way around. Every sign was bilingual so you won't really get lost unless you can't read or dyslexic. For a big part of the three days, our mode of transport in HK was mainly the MTR and on every trip, you'll get to appreciate the efficiency of the system. I could only hope that the same thing can be achieved with our own MRT-LRT-PNR rail system.

I did a lot walking while in HK especially during the nights when the weather was cooler (August is summer in HK -- summer with much rain!). When everyone else was tired and was off to bed early, I strolled the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon -- not shopping or eating but just taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of one of the world's most vibrant cities.

I could ramble on and on about our trip but let's leave that for another day. For pictures, my sister Wheng has posted two galleries on her Facebook account (here) so no point in duplicating them here in CFC.

* * * *

And while in HK, we celebrated Baby Issa's 8th month!

We didn't go out as everyone was tired and just stayed at the hostel for a Yoshinoya feast. To top it off, we bought a "mango" cake from a popular HK bakeshop.

The photo on the right shows my sister, Wheng, holding Baby Issa along with Ikai who can't wait for the dinner to commence.

Issa is now 9 months old.

* * * *

My trusty Nokia 6680 opted for suicide and promptly died on me yesterday. I know I can still get that repaired somehow and a new battery will extend its life some more but as that is unexpected expenditure that I cannot expedite for now, I'm going low-tech with a Nokia 3100 circa 2003.

This 3100 was all-jazzy and hi-tech with its colored screen some seven years ago but in today's standards -- it's simply prehistoric. The 3100 I'm using however is quite well-traveled. This one was the same 3100 my sister, Rochelle, asked me to buy for her in 2003 (under my name as she had no permanent work that time and thus would have slim chances of getting a postpaid line). After the lock-in period lapsed, she had it "unlocked" so that she could use another network's prepaid sim. Then in 2004, it went to the US when my sister went there where it was in use mainly as a roaming phone until my sis settled for a local carrier that had her use Motorola. This 3100 went back to the P.I. last year via padalas and was used by my father as a Globe phone (for playing a text game on Eat Bulaga, of all things) until he realized he was wasting his cellphone load on a game whereby his chances of winning were close to nil. It has then stayed "in the cupboard" until I resurrected it yesterday.

For now, this'll be my main phone until I get the 6680 fixed. My wife has been teasing me to get a new phone and maybe I will. The new Samsung Champ looks attractive enough -- price-wise and feature-wise :)

* * * *

My laptop also underwent repairs last month.

A couple of months before the warranty expired, my Compaq CQ40 started exhibiting "flickering" symptoms. I would later find out through online research that the LCD "flickering" problem was a popular one for such units and the best solution would be to have the entire LCD replaced.

I've also read up on problems encountered by Pinoys who have availed of the service at the HP Service Center and when I finally found the time to drop by and get the rig repaired, I was ready for an all-out war (online horror stories about repairs for the CQ40 reported a month-long stay of your unit at the service center among other things). In my case, I was actually surprised that it took no more than a week to get my LCD replaced (it being a hardware problem) and getting the laptop back was a delay on my part as I wasn't able to go to the service center due to conflicting schedules.

It's been one month since I placed the rig under repair and so far it has shown any recurrence of the flickering issue. Kudos to HP Service Center! One satisfied customer here!

* * * *

The desk has blocked access to all forms of social networking -- FB, Twitter, Foursquare -- and even access to blogging has been blocked. That alone has hampered my ability to be more frequent in my posting.

When I come home after work, of course, one has to spend time with family. After 8 or so hours away, who would not want to be loved ones, right? And I've made it a point to spend time with Ikai and help her with her assignments (especially with Elvie doing the shifting schedule once in a while). And while Ikai is makulit and I find myself sometimes raising my voice to curb her naughtiness and focus on studying and finishing her homework, I do enjoy my time with my daughter as we tackle her schoolwork.

* * * *

Remember me blogging about the need to cough up a bookcase so that my books won't be cluttering the apartment?

Well, the bookcase has been bought and now is part of our bedroom's furniture. It stands right next to the TV stand and is need, one of these days, of a serious re-arrangement as books, magazines and other bits and ends like photo albums, school supplies, tin can (containing mementos), coloring books (Ikai's), etc. have been placed haphazardly.

This bookcase was a 4-level D-I-Y from Shopwise which I assembled in under an hour. To prevent it from warping (especially the first three shelves from the bottom), you had to make sure the bottom portions were filled to the brim with books. You had wedge books so that the shelves maintained their levels. The heaviest and widest stuff were at the bottom -- large books, magazines (my Entrepreneur, FHM, Heavy Metal, and Dragon issues). The next level contained special edition sized or UK-sized or special soft-cover books. These books were joined by several stacks of conventionally-sized pocketbooks. The third level was for pocketbooks. The last level had photo albums, my comics and graphic novels, Ikai's books, and a few more odds and ends.

As expected, the bookcase couldn't contain all my books. There are probably about a dozen or so books still scattered all over the apartment (and a couple more stacks left at Laguna) so another bookcase is needed but that will have to wait until we get a bigger abode.

* * * *

Speaking of abode ... we will be moving again next year as soon as school is out.

The new owner of the apartment row where we currently reside has decided to increase the rent by more than 20% and we just feel the new rental amount isn't practical. For the increased rental amount you can get a bigger space somewhere and that's what we intend to find out.

We've already given notice and by early next year we would have to start looking around. We're hoping to be able to find a reasonably-priced place still within Makati as this is the most practical for us. My wife and I are both working in Makati while Ikai and her cousin, Mark (who is living with us), both have their schools here. While we're planning to move Ikai to a bigger school next year, our target school is still located within Makati.

Any suggestions? Preferably somewhere in the vicinity of Guadalupe Viejo-Poblacion-Olympia and where it doesn't flood. Around the same time last year, the apartment was inundated. Good thing we had a second floor.

The apartment or house for rent has to be a couple of stories with at least 2 bedrooms (three would be much better) and public transport is accessible. We're looking for one that has its own garage and its own electric and water meters.

* * * *

Oh, I've been sketching again ... a lot ... mostly on scratch papers when I'm thinking or talking to someone on the phone in the office. That's the only time I get to doodle hence a lot of my drawings are mostly half-baked stuff on the margins of documents, or, like I said, the back of scratch papers.

Will post them one of these days. Need to get photos of them first.

* * * *

One of my website domains is expiring soon and I don't have enough moolah yet to renew it! Aaarghhh!!! I'll need to tighten the spending a bit as I really need to renew the domain and not let it go to waste.

* * * *

Got lots of cartoons to watch! I've managed to secure copies of several DC Animated Universe direct-to-video films such as Green Lantern: First Flight, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Superman/Batman:Apocalypse.

Now, I just need time to enjoy, savor and cherish these. Hay!

* * * *

That should be enough for now, folks. I'll try to post more frequently, promise :)

wednesday warbles: tigana, best philippine spec-fic, quijano, rissa's christening

Taking a little break from the insanity that is work to give me brains some oxy!

* * * *

I am currently reading Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, a book loaned by a colleague from the Desk who is also into SF&F. GGK is a new author for me and if Tigana is any indicator, I could end up buying his other works (or an alternate to buying would be hitting the sale books bins and scrounge for them).

Other authors I would like to line-up as must reads include Jeff VanderMeer and his fiction works circling around his world of Ambergris (including the novel Finch), China Tom Mieville (The City and the City), and Lavie Tidhar. Among these three, I will most likely read Tidhar first because I have in my N6680 an eARC of his work, Bookman, which according to Wikipedia is a steampunk-themed novel.

And since we're already talking about SF&F and reading, the indefatigable Charles Tan has released earlier last month The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2009, compiling what seems to be the best of the best in the Philippine spec-fic field for 2009. The anthology is available for free reading online and for download as a PDF or an EPUB. Unfortunately, my EPUB download didn't work with the N6680 which runs Mobipocket reader even if it's supposed to work. So, I may just end up downloading the PDF and probably print that out and get that binded :)

* * * *

And while still on the subject of books ...

I've recently finished reading Nick Joaquin's Reportage on Crimes, a book originally published in 1977 when I was but a year old.

I bought the book purely out of whim after seeing it on the shelf of Powerbooks in Glorietta. I've always wondered about the journalistic side of old Quijano de Manila (old Nick's nick or sometimes pen name) and by the title alone, the book then promised such (it was a choice actually between Reportage on Crimes or Reportage on Lovers, chose the former). And surprisingly, the book did show the journalist in old Nick.

Reportage is like an investigative crime TV show (think Gus Abelgas's SOCO, or Arnold Clavio's defunct show Emergency, or Tulfo's Bitag) but only in prose. Rather than straight out narrative of crime news, Joaquin, through sheer his sheer writing prowess transformed what would have been stale and common news fodder into investigative pieces that captivated and begged readers to finish the true-to-life tales. Only a journalist of Joaquin's genius could have mastered the art of blending true news stories and literary story-telling, the likes of which I've yet to see in today's newspapers whether broadsheets or tabloids.

Reportage transported the readers to the 1960s and gave a picture of the Metro Manila then, harkening old places such as the Grand Opera House or Odeon Cinema and giving us later generations a glimpse into the early lives of famous personalities we've grown accustomed to like FPJ and Erap (who, according to the book where notoriously notorious in their younger days) in thirteen crime stories included in the volume. While reading the book, my imagination was in a perpetual state of black and white -- just like watching the old movies before Technicolor was invented.

Reading Reportage somehow rekindled the journalistic interest in me, if only briefly. Nevertheless, I believe any true-blooded journalist should take time to read and learn from the master. And that makes buying the other volume, Reportage on Lovers, a must as well for me.

* * * *

I've switched back to my old phone, the Nokia 6680, taking it back from my sister-in-law, and gave to her the E71 Pro (kuno) phone. Until I get a new phone one of these days, I'm sticking with the 6680 for the meantime.

* * * *

It was a tight group that was with the family when our little Rissa Kristelle was christened last May 29 at the Cosmopolitan Church. It was a bigger crowd that joined us for the reception that followed at Lotus Garden Hotel Manila.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll see some photos of event in my photo gallery.

Thanks to all our relatives and friends who shared that special moment with us, and special thanks as well to Pastor Bing Dakanay for accommodating our request for a christening even if it was on a Saturday.

tuesday tidbits: issa, cap'n harris, neil gaiman, sketching --- not!!!

Week 2 of my Sketch-A-Day didn't go as planned as work caught up with me at the office. And Week 3 isn't turning out productive as well. I tried doing some sketching ysterday but I ended

up erasing more than actually drawing. Rather than tear up the page, I decided to stop trying to sketch. Today, I didn't have time to even hold my pencil and sketch pad as meetings and coverages and little to-do's needed prioritizing.

Here's hoping to accomplish something for S.A.D. this week.

* * * *

I did come out with three sketches last week, two of which I hope to post one of these days. But I'm posting this:

Here's my tribute to the recently deceased Captain Phil Harris. When I read the news online that he had died due to complications of a stroke he suffered last January, I felt inclined to do a portrait. This sketch was based on the portrait that appeared on the Discovery website.

For those wondering who the heck this Cap'n Phil is -- he was one of the more popular captains of several crab-fishing boats that are featured on the Discovery show "Deadliest Catch". Rough, and gruff, Cap'n Phil was probably the most entertaining of the skippers on the show, guiding the Cornelia Marie (their crab boat) and its crew as they fish for crab in the Bering Sea. He is my favorite cast on the show and his absence in next season's series will be sorely missed.

* * * *

I am once again over the 200-pounds.

Got carried away again over the holidays and in a short span of weeks, my girth was back to 40". I am now finding it hard to fit into XL clothes I bought when my weight went below 200 lbs. I'm now back to wearing my XXL clothing.

I am now once again trying to win (or more aptly, lose) back the pounds but it's so, so, so difficult. But that needs to be done as this is quite a dangerous situation for me with possible complications because of the D.

* * * *

Our second daughter, Issa (Rissa Kristelle), turned two months last Saturday and she is a big girl :) Imagine this -- Ikai, our eldest was about 6 kg when she was four months ... Issa is 5.7 kg at two months!

And what's in a name? Why Rissa Kristelle?

Elvie and I actually did some research when it came to naming our second. But while the nickname came first in Ikai's case (Ikai is Rika Antoinette), the opposite was for Issa in that the full name came first.

Rissa Kristelle is a variation of Risa Kristine. Risa according to BabyCenter and BabyNames means "laughter" or "happiness". On the other hand, Kristine means "follower of Christ". She was initially expected to arrive about Christmas Day and thus giving her a name that was relevant to Jesus Christ. So, combining both meanings, Issa's full name means "laughing or happy follower of Christ".

Picture above is of Issa in a state of merriment taken a few days ago.

* * * *

If you look at the right column, you'll see that there's a section called Writing Needing Caffeine. It's a listing of writing contests and markets that are open to submissions and I've put it up there not only for my readers to see and hopefully be of interest but also as a personal reminder to myself (I'm probably my own number one fan of this blog).

So far, my venture into writing hasn't produced anything yet for 2010 but with paying markets and contests aplenty, for sure I'll be churning a spec-fic story or three soon enough.

* * * *

And fans of the "rock star" of fiction will be celebrating.

Neil Gaiman, the globally-popular author of such works as Stardust, Anansi Boys, The Graveyard Book, and Coraline is dropping by the country this March for REVELATIONS: Stories of Light and Darkness - The 3rd Philippine Graphic / Fiction Awards (in coordination with Fully Booked bookstore).

The event, to be held on March 17th at the Rockwell Tent at the Power Plant Mall in Makati City, will see Neil and Fully Booked award the winners of the prose fiction, comics and short film contest. An anthology of winning and selected entries of the contest and its earlier incarnations entitled Philippine Graphic / Fiction Anthology will also be launched.

Read the news about it here.

* * * *

Wish I could update this blog more frequently ... wish, wish, wish. Ta ta, folks!

early february rants from someone turning 34 this month

If you meet me on the street these days and I don't return a greeting, please forgive me. I may be deep in thought or otherwise exhausted to have noticed you (the former most likely if you meet me in the morning, the latter if you by-pass me in the PM).

* * * *

And I don't smile that often these days. Got a lot on my mind, got stuff that I personally want to accomplish all the while making sure I literally and figuratively provide food for the table (and diapers for little Issa and the usual stuff for her older sister, Ikai). The daily 9-hour grind at the Desk (with the politicking and compromising and relentless pursuit of that "job well done") is quite exhausting, not to mention at times very stressful. Even though you still want to accomplish something for yourself at the end of the day, whatever energy you have left in your fuel tank you would rather spend it all on your family.

Of course, nothing is more refreshing and welcome than coming home exhausted from work to a family you've missed the entire day -- a loving wife whose presence and gentle kiss reminds you how wonderful married life is, and two delightful daughters -- one makulit despite being less than two months old (forever looking for her mother), and the other uberly-makulit and talkative. The frown I carry the entire day turns into a smile when I get home. That's why I look forward to 5:30s during the workday week -- because my three girls will be there waiting for me to come home.

* * * *

To break the stress and somewhat somber feeling, I spend a lot of my lunch breaks outside the office, usually at the mall where I can, for at least 40 minutes or so, lose myself in books, mags, video games, office and art supplies, and comics. My comic book spending actually shot up since last December due to frequent excursions to Fully Booked, Powerbooks, National Bookstore and Planet X / Comic Odyssey.

As I've mentioned in the previous post, my recent purchases included Identity Crisis and Kingdom Come. I've also rummaged through P25 to P180 comic bins and bought myself good-looking comics (such as Stormwatch, WildCATs, and others). My latest additions are those Psicom comics collections -- DC Superheroes that featured three comics in one (Superman-Batman, Justice League, and Supergirl), shrunk to about half-A4. There's also a Marvel equivalent but since I'm mainly a DC guy, I did not buy back-issues of Marvel Heroes. What made the Psicom comic collections attractive were the back-issues that they sold in bundles (and consecutive issues) of four for only P100 a pack -- latest issue of DC Superheroes costs P95. So, to get 4 issues for P100 (despite those being back-issues) is a real steal.

* * * *

Another reason for getting back into comics and even buying those locally-printed Psicom 3-in-1 comic books has got more to do with a personal commitment to get back to the drawing board, literally. I'm hoping to jump-start my drawing skills which have stagnated since I started my career. Anyone looking at my office notes all throughout the 10+ years I've been working will see doodles on the margins and that just proves that the desire to draw didn't really left me. It was just shelved (just like many projects I've done in my oh-so-called corporate life) but now I hope to bring it back.

And the step I undertook recently was to buy myself a sketchpad. And some drawing pencils. And some drawing pens. I've also taken to reading stuff online in relation to comics, inking, drawing, illustration, and webcomics.

Ultimately, what I want to come up with is a webcomics (I don't have the powers yet to do an actual comics ala Superman or Batman) and make sure I stick to a scheduled update. Looking at what's online, a majority of webcomics update at least once or twice a week.

Whether the webcomics will be funny, serious, or about muscle-laden superheroes and heroines is still subject to debate (between me, myself and moi) but I'm now starting to do sketches as a way of practicing and getting a feel for the project. I'm also still trying to come up with stories (good to have a buffer) for the webcomics and determining the best way to go about it (freehand drawing and inking versus mixed freehand and digital process).

Hopefully the office workload, health, and other matters cooperate so that come summer, I'll be ready to launch.

* * * *

Aside from comics and drawing, I also need to hone my writing, especially spec-fic writing. The entire month of January has passed and I haven't written anything yet. There are, according to the column on the right, several writing markets available in the coming months but I've yet to take any action.

Quite difficult to concentrate on anything when you're busy thinking about a lot of things, huh?

* * * *

And why does it seem I am trying to do many things all at the same time?

It's because I turn 34 in 22 days time and I feel that much time has already elapsed and I have yet to feel a sense of creative achievement. Too much ningas-cogon, so to speak. I think of something, start working on it, and then for one reason or another, shelf it with the intent of picking it up another day. And that's the problem, the intents remain intents, never action and unless I punch myself in the face or kick me-self in the groin, nothing will get done.

I guess turning 34 has spooked me a bit. And I now feel I need to get a sense of where I'm heading in my personal pursuit for excellence and fulfillment.

Wala lang, rants lang.

tuesday tidbits: issa and ikai, belated greetings, innocent life, spec-fic in 2010, sims 2

Firstly, please allow me the honor of welcoming you to another year of blogging (and ranting) here at The Coffee House Chronicles. Come 1st of May 2010, this here blog turns four years old -- a feat somewhat for yours truly at having maintained (albeit lamely) an online presence since 2006.

TCHC was preceded by my first foray into blogging -- The Oblique Observer -- which I envisioned then to be somewhat a newsblog of sorts, turning the daily happenings of my life into news articles all written from a third person persona. Alas, that format was a bit tedious to maintain and speaking (blog-wise) in the first person (the so-called "I" persona) was easier as thoughts flowed more easily from brain to hand which then churned out what you have been reading for the last four years.

I do hope to revisit TOO one of these days and turn it into an interest-driven blogsite ... something along the lines of the speculative probably. I also just checked and found out that a proper .com for TOO can be availed (or .net, if .com gets taken) and then I can probably configure the Blogger TOO to point to the actual URL, similar to how I am currently running my revenue-generating blog (which, unfortunately until now, has not yet generated any revenue, thank you).

Getting back to CHC ... I hope it will be a better year for blogging in CHC this 2010. Last year was not really that great and it showed in the quality and quantity of entries posted. This year, I will drive myself to update CHC and the rest of my blogs more frequently as things happen and not wait for things to die down before I get to sit down in front of the computer and type away.

* * * *

My apologies to relatives, friends, and acquaintances who might be wondering why they did not hear any greeting of holiday cheers from me last month. It was a rather busy holiday -- not because of the shopping sprees and stuff -- but because of the birth of Rissa Kristelle or Baby Issa (who now weighs a hefty 5 kilos!) and the confinement of my eldest, Ikai, in the hospital for five days thanks to a late-blooming baby measles (or in Filipino, tigdas-hangin).

But you all were in my mind and have spiritually sent my greetings to all on the 25th of December and thereafter.

Apologies are in order too to the Espinos (Jasper and Olga) for not being there for your babies' special thanksgiving and baptism, and to the Cruzes (Dennis and Pilar) for missing on your chikitings' celebration as well. And I have not been a very good ninong as well -- my inaanaks Ziggy and Luis fell victim to a hiding godfather. Promise boys, the next time we see each other I will make bawi.

It seems as well that I have also failed to greet people during the Christmas break even on Facebook -- the only site which I probably checked consistently during the short times I was on the 'net -- I have been bad and naughty. No wonder, Santa Claus did not give me any gift last Christmas.

* * * *

Work in 2009 was all about transition and change.

As early as March, my mind was made up that I would be changing business addresses but that only came to fruition in August when I bailed from the gaming company where I have been working since 2006 to join the new Desk -- Philippine Veterans Bank.

The decision to switch desks was done after a thorough soul-searching and a lengthy application process. While the monthly pay dipped a bit in the new desk, the overall remuneration package helped seal the deal and I found myself donning my barongs under a new ID.

The switch to a more traditional and mainstream Desk meant a drastic and at times unbelievable culture change. Whereas everything was fast and furious and frantic at the old Desk, the pace at the new Desk was rolling at the first and second gears only. Not because there was nothing to be done but because of existing systems and rules and procedures which hark back to the good ole days at the PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies.

But all in good time. I think I am getting the hang of things right now in the new Desk.

* * * *

This post is now starting to sound like a year-in-review ... sheesh ...

* * * *

Moving on to more personally-oriented stuff ...

I hope to accomplish more this 2010 in the field of creative writing, particularly, in the field of speculative writing (or in other words, the science-fiction and fantasy genre).

Last year saw me finally taking the initial steps into the realms of SF&F writing with submissions to two calls. Even though my submitted works failed in both instances, it was still a feat for yours truly for having submitted something in the first place.

This year I hope to do better in terms of the quality of stories I will write and of course, the quantity. There are a lot of promising markets this year both in the local and international spec-fic writing scene (just look at the right column of this blog for those writing deadlines) and while it would be quite an honor to have your stories appear in mags and anthos and 'zines abroad, a worthwhile achievement would be getting your stories published locally.

* * * *

If it seems that this blog is starting to get more spec-fic related than ever it is certainly because I have seemed to embrace the genre even more.

And thanks to the presence of online blogs, sites and 'zines on the genre, my appreciation for the genre has grown exponentially the past few years. While my reading time for the actual books has diminished, getting information and news on the happenings in the genre has become easier and I now read about a lot of writers in the field as well as realize that my exposure to the genre is still quite limited (often limited by the depth of the pocket and availability of books of the spec-fic nature at your friendly, neighborhood bookstore).

But nevertheless, technology is helping bridge the gap -- what with ebooks and purchase downloads. And I hope to exploit my abroad-based sisters to purchase for me books that are unavailable here in the P.I.

* * * *

Happy to report that my first year as a futurist robo-farmer in the PSP game Innocent Life has been completed with flying colors. By that, I mean that in the first year alone, I was able to accomplish the objective of saving the world.

The walkthrough did help a lot but for this game, patience was key. And the same virtue continues to be important as I start my second year with goal of harvesting 1000 crops in the next two years.

Speaking of games, Datablitz is putting up their Sims 2 games on half-prices. According to a saleslady I spoke to in their Park Square 1 branch, they were selling Sims 2 games (main games, expansions, and stuff packs) at half-price because the games were being phased out. Of course, with Sims 3 already here (with already one expansion game as well), demand for Sims 2 has dropped.

The minute I learned of this promo my heart sang out Simlish songs in joy because to date, I only have the Sims 2 Double Deluxe game and one stuff pack -- the H&M Fashion Stuff. The cut-price on the expansions would mean moi being able to buy them -- at least the University and the Open for Business ones.

Unfortunately, both Park Square 1 and Greenbelt 1 branches of Datablitz no longer carried the stand-alone expansion packs (all they had were stuff packs and at GB the recently-released University + 2 stuff package) so I will need to scour the other DB branches and hopefully snag my targeted Sims 2 expansion packs.