Howdie! I've been exceedingly busy, but the three or so people who come around to read my blog deserve something new to read, so here goes:

1. Two friends living abroad came back for the holidays. We had lots of dry sex.

2. Got my legs back with two back to back rides in Batangas. Also, two back to back flats. (Changing folding tires are much easier than beaded ones, yes.)

3. Hitting up Bangkok with my folks in two weeks. I might change my wardrobe yet again. Or, just loosen the belt.

4. My coworkers are about to stage a coup in the office. Their desks are in the AC's path, and I like it colder than they do. I want to assure our clients that it's business as usual.

5. I actually gained weight AFTER the holidays. That's very strange.

6. The Honda Jazz we picked up two years ago drove from Los Banos to Baguio then back to Manila on one full tank of gas. It did it again this year.

7. That said, the batteries went dead two days before Christmas. And our plumbing was going nuts.

8. Spent New Year's Eve in Los Banos and lit firecrackers for the first time in years, with friends who started the tradition with me more than 15 years ago. Did you know those Picolo firecrackers will continue to light and explode underwater? We went dynamite fishing (mostly tadpoles) in my Dad's garden. Things ended around 4:30 AM. Lots of good fun.

9. My New Year's resolution is simple: get everyone around me to work harder so I have to work harder. That really doesn't make much sense, but it sounds like an impossible thing to do. Just like a New Year's resolution should be.

10. My cousin Alana tuned me into Chromeo, the most successful Arab/Jewish collaboration since the beginning of time. More impressively, they sound like Bel Biv Devoe.

11. I've been watching Dexter. It's a very very good show.

12. Boston must be very happy about their sports now. Which is my way of segueing out of all US pro sports in general.

13. While I got some really nice and useful gifts over Christmas, I was hoping to either get a bizcard file (life is tempoed by coffee and your latest business card acquisition) or a bluetooth headset (for the car, making me a truly annoying driver) or new bib shorts (size medium). Birthday's this Friday. Wink wink.

14. Christmas is the time when you get to compose sentences that you otherwise hardly ever get to say. Like: My mom's pichi-pichi. Or, reading a gift card, say "To Lina, Merry Christmas!". Try saying it, you'll get it eventually.