12:13 PM Sick as a Dog
Last week I went on a cleaning spree in this house to prepare for Married Aunt's visit. She's arriving from Canada next week and I wanted the house spic-and-span for her.

Problem was, I overdid it. The house was clean, all right, but I had to take to my bed and stay there for almost a week. I'd never been this sick before, except when I had the measles (but that's a serious disease and doesn't count). This was simple exhaustion.

I'm all better now, but I'm afraid of doing anything too physical, like exercising. If the illness wasn't bad enough the first time, I'd hate to get a relapse.

10:18 AM Comic Book "Collection"
For the past two weeks I've been watching more cartoons than I have in the past two years. Yep, I've been indulging the kid in me. The problem is, the kid in me is now looking for all those comic books I once had.

No, I wasn't a real collector of comic books. I had one comic book for each of these superheroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Batman. I also had one comic book each of the Justice League of America and the Justice League International. I loved reading these to the point that the cover of my Superman just fell off. I used Wonder Woman as a template for drawing my favorite heroine.

The Flash was the first to disappear. I don't even remember when I saw it last, but I do know the rest of my comics were still around. One by one, though, they started going missing. I don't think they were stolen, but when a kid like I used to be starts cleaning her room, some things are bound to get thrown away inadvertently with the trash. *sniffle*

Other things, however, made it through my purges. Superman showed how indestructible he really is; I have that comic book right beside me now. The cover of Batman Adventures is the only thing I have left of the Caped Crusader, however. Wonder Woman must have returned to Themiscyra (Paradise Island). The Justice League of America went away on a mission, leaving Justice League International to protect my closets. Ü

In consolation, I do have new comic books of Batman and Robin Adventures. Going against the grain of my DC Comics fixation, I also have a Spider-Man, tee-hee-hee!

But nothing will really replace those comics I've lost, not even if I started collecting new issues (which is why I'll do nothing of the sort). The real value of those books to me is that they fueled the imaginary world I lived in for most of my childhood. They were my Wonderland, and now I've lost them I can't go through the rabbit hole again.

09:45 AM Jennifer Government

"Welcome to paradise! The world is run by American corporations (except for a few deluded holdouts like the French); taxes are illegal; employees take the last names of the companies they work for; the Police and the NRA are publicly-traded security firms; and the U.S. government only investigates crimes it can bill for.

Hack Nike is a Merchandising Officer who discovers an all-new way to sell sneakers. Buy Mitsui is a stockbroker with a death-wish. Billy NRA is finding out that life in a private army isn't all snappy uniforms and code names. And Jennifer Government, a legendary agent with a barcode tattoo, is the consumer watchdog from hell."

Welcome to the world of Jennifer Government.

I like dystopian novels because even though they're so far out, they actually have a hint of truth in them. I hope National Bookstore picks it up for importing into the Philippines so I can buy my own copy. Ü

12:23 AM Link-Worthy
By the power of search engines or directory listings, this site's been linked from XL3DG, a website run by James Dulay, who is a new media designer. I've gone and visited his portfolio, and I swear I am green with envy at his skills and creativity. To be linked to in his "Design Scene" section is a big thing for me, which is why I'm mentioning his site. Ü

Apart from that, I've long wanted to browse design archive sites, but I just don't have the bandwidth for anything bigger than a few kilobytes of Flash. Browsing XL3DG and all its content is stirring my Photoshop juices again.

10:18 AM My Presidential Bet
Some of you might have expected this, but I'm making it official. I am going to vote Eddie Villanueva for president.

Note that I didn't post this on April 1 (Fool's Day), so I'm not kidding. Ü