Crimson Crux

Last week, I requested a free catalog from AirplaneShop.com, a site I regularly visit, being a collector of miniature aircraft models. The site offers tons of great models, many of which are sold at discounted prices (50%!). Still, I haven’t made a single purchase.

I just might, very soon.

To my pleasant surprise, the free catalog arrived just this morning. A surprise, because I really didn’t expect them to send me a free magazine halfway around the world from New Jersey. Add to that the fact that the site footer reads “Copyright 2004″, which I took as a sign of stagnation or even company death.

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In a few hours time I’ll be leaving for Kalibo, Aklan to attend the wake and funeral of my uncle, who passed away last Monday. (More in my birthday post.)

This will be my first trip to our home province since August 2006 (when I asked if it was safe to let my laptop pass through the X-ray machine). Though I’ll be bringing Corsarify (as well as Mol-eh-skin-ah), I’ll be out of touch for several days and won’t be able to think of blogging or work.

See you in a week!

Never laid your hands on the famed notebook known as the moleskine? Or looking to add another to your collection?

Here’s a great chance to win one, courtesy of Pinoycentric.com. All you’ve got to do is join their newly-launched weekly “Ika Nga” Cartoon Caption Contest. For one well thought out blurb of text, you get a moleskine — sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Thanks to Sir Armand Frasco of Pinoycentric.com for the email!

No, I’m not talking about credit cards in general (though I’m pretty sure a lot of people hold that opinion!). I’m referring to a couple of my cards, which I’ve not used for more than half a year.

The only three things I’ve charged to my cards in my whole credit life are 1) half of my laptop purchase, as my hard cash wasn’t enough; 2) a “sauna belt” advertised on home TV shopping channels, which I bought for my dad; and 3) my ACM professional membership fee.

After the trio, I stuck to paper and shunned plastic money. Sure, it felt less ‘liberating’ (less cool, perhaps?) to pay in cash instead of proudly brandishing a shiny card at the counter, but this stance of mine has kept me from worrying about debt and the trauma that follows in its wake.

If you’re like me, your resolve will probably strengthen once you read this article on the tricks credit card companies employ. Insidious, hehe.

How about you? Any (untoward) experiences? I’m particularly interested in knowing how my fellow young professionals in the Philippines manage their credit cards. In my case, I currently work from home, therefore there are less chances to shop and less temptation to draw out my cards.

It’s been nearly three months since I’ve posted anything about my moleskine, so just in case you’re wondering what I’ve been doing with it lately:

First, I’ve put up a Moleskine page on my lit blog (or is it a mini-shrine?). Needless to say, writing on the notebook has been a real treat. In the coming weeks I’ll be posting more of my made on moleskine works on Slip of the Pen.

Second, one of my poems has been featured on the popular Moleskinerie.com (thanks to sir Armand Frasco!). (more…)

A non-Filipino reader will probably be taken aback that there is such a thing as a profitable, thriving, and sickening dog meat trade, but unfortunately, it exists here in the Philippines.

Being a lifelong animal lover (especially dogs — we presently live with five crazy ones!), I’ve long railed against the Pinoy culture of eating dog meat (I bet almost all of my uncles, as well my dad, have tasted asucena at one point in their lives, probably during beerfests); I touched on it on an old animal rights essay titled Dead Cats.

Whether or not you’re an animal lover, I enjoin you to sign this online petition and support the crusade for more stringent animal rights measures in the country. The petition seeks to place global pressure on the Filipino government
to pass House Bill 2991 in May 2007 to stop the dog meat trade.

Learn more about the petition, and please sign it, here.

Say yes to dog insurance. If you wonder about the value of pet insurance visit our site where you can compare pet insurance and read the 10 things you should know before buying pet insurance. Take a minute to protect your pet, get a quote at PetsBest.com. 

No, my feet were firmly planted on Manila for the past days or so. Instead, it was my dad who took the trip for me (as if!); the official reason for his trip was a fact-finding mission for the government.

He just arrived a few hours ago, and I managed to pick up some interesting tidbits of info.

• Do not rely on your credit cards. Make sure you don’t run out of hard cash, preferably in the local currency, with U.S. dollars as back-up. My dad learned this the hard way when a couple of his cards (all of which are internationally accepted, e.g. Diners Club) were inexplicably rejected one after the other in their London hotel. Inexplicably, because these cards had more than ample credit space left (to illustrate, he was able to use them later in the stopover at Kuala Lumpur). It was fortunate that he had spare UK pounds left. I’ve advised him to contact the credit card companies to find out the reason behind the boo-boos.

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I’ll be out the whole day (and possibly tomorrow, Christmas day), so I’ll take this opportunity to greet the blogosphere and the few chaps who find the time to drop by this blog — have a Merry Christmas! For the believers, don’t forget the true essence of this day, that is, the birth of Jesus Christ.

As for the nonbelievers, well, let’s proceed to the slightly materialistic subject of this post — my personal Xmas (and New Year’s) wishlist. Without further ado:

• MacBook Pro
• Red iPod Nano
• Successful launch of 3 more sites of mine

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For months I’ve been savoring the thought of penning down new poems and fiction for my literary blog on a moleskine. Yesterday, the package I ordered from Moleskine Philippines finally arrived, much to my delight.

For the uninitiated:

Moleskine is the legendary notebook, used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin.

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A few days ago, our new airconditioner unit was installed in my bedroom-turned-home office, literally breathing fresh air into my work-from-home freelancing ‘career’.

I initially bought the aircon (yep, my first appliance unit purchase) to prevent potential overheating damage to my laptop. Funny thing is, Corsarify’s keys actually froze half an hour after the aircon was first turned on!

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