An Academic Diet

Breakfasts in bed are dreamy in notion. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up from a dream, only to have your beloved presenting you with a tray of toasts, crispy bacon and freshly squeezed juice? Similarly, albeit a lot less romantic, I had my breakfast in bed with…a bunch of books. On top of my list right now are books on digital culture, which serves as the basis for the PhD project I intend to embark on. Like most academic books, they’re a bit on the dull side. But the developing theories on identities and bodies in cyberspace are nothing short of fascinating.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Earlier this morning, my half and I drove around the entire neighborhood in search of soda.  It was past midnight and the rest of the world seemed fast asleep. After driving through different sections, we finally came upon 7 Eleven and got ourselves what we wanted. Satisfied, we drank our ice-cold soda with sliced lemons. There's a story behind our sudden craving, though. A few hours before the search, we were amusing ourselves with some of the most controversial TV commercials found online. Our favorite was Sprite. The advert involved a man, a woman and unmentionable body fluids in the bedroom. We thought nobody of sound mind would be swayed to buy the drink! But after watching a few more naughty commercials and laughing so hard at each, we ended up bone-tired and thirsty. The first thing that landed in our minds was…you guessed it. The commercial worked like magic.

PS Our little late-night adventure reads a bit like Haruki Murakami’s short story.

Butterfly Effect

Do you get butterflies when you speak in public? I give lectures for a living and as ironic as this may seem, I certainly do get them. This usually happens at the dawn of each semester. I’m at my fifth year of teaching; yet I get the flutters all the same. Nonetheless, I’m glad that my first class of this cycle went fine today. The rest should now be a walk in the park. Having released all those “butterflies,” I’m now going to close the night with a bowl of macaroni and cheese and this Woody Allen movie.

Tangled, Pretzled

Learning to navigate Prezi today. The mechanics are slightly tougher than expected. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on mastering Prezi. I believe I’ll get used to the platform one day. Baby steps, baby.

To Love With Love

A big thank you to my half for this one last birthday gift— a cake-holding bear made out of crystal. This adorable teddy is meant for Aquarians like me, and now sits on my bedside ladder. He reminds me of how loved I am every day.

The Sweetest Things

My baby sister, who's a makeup artist, gave me this foundation set from Benefit. I've always loved their retro-inspired packaging and witty copies. They double as home décor in my books. My ma went back to her hometown recently and came back with these stylish boots meant for me. She has great taste in shoes. I am soled. A Nora Ephron book about aging is perfect for all the ladies celebrating their birthdays. Having said so, I bought this for myself. That's just my sense of humor talking.

Birthday Night

One of my family’s traditions for birthdays is to hold a dinner gathering with our partners invited. I had mine at Latest Recipe, a fancy hotel resto with my ma, sister, her man and my better half (who “serendipitiously” as he called it, wore baby blue tie that matched the blouse I was wearing). That moment was my favorite. We had lively conversations at the dinner table over good food (the teriyaki meat was, to say the least, divine). I look forward to being a year older and spending more good times like this with those I love.