Dear Mykel,

It's beginning to look a lot like sembreak in LB. No more waiting for a vacant computer at Abode. No more zipzapping my way through the hordes from Carabao Park to Grove. And the sweetest thing of all - no more cussing at people who take their own sweet time crossing the street while my legs are dying from controlling the clutch and brake pedals of my beloved Mimi. Sweet jesus, my middle finger needs a break, you know.

I made a pleasant discovery this afternoon - eating a moderately heavy dinner at 5:30 pm leads to an early bath, which then leads to an early evening walk to Abode, which then leads to a corresponding pleasant shock of the time. It's only 8 pm.

The night is very, very young. Took a check at the sky as I was walking: crescent moon beckoning.

A little inconvenience: the left side of the headset isn't working. I hear Stone Temple Pilots' Big Empty in my right ear just excruciatingly clashing with current Abode counter guy playing Goo Goo Dolls' Iris.

Nanay whispered in my ear this morning Your Tatay tried reading Empire of Signs and gave up after one page. No shit. If I make my students read it, I may get the same reaction I got when I subjected 140+ students to The Pleasure of the Text. And it was the excerpts from the Sontag-edited reader.

Am getting the sinking feeling internet sources will be my (reluctant) tool. This only means one thing - quizzes every meeting. Naman.

It seems to be a slow night at Launch radio.

No luck so far in scouting for cheap hotels in Bohol. It looks like Tanja and I might do a Boracay once again - look at the first six cheap places then make the pick from there.

Another pleasant discovery last week: the videoke machine at the back of Sariwanggi Duah is impressively updated (read: Avril Lavigne's Why). Just don't have a videoke fest with the Layb people (read: the poetry kids of Noel Dumlao), especially with a girl named Raquel. Am now fondly calling her Urban Legend, because I thought they were kidding me when they told me she's a one-woman entertainment system.

If I might be crazy enough, I might invite myself to a 5-hour songfest one afternoon.