Beatles on nylon strings hits differently. It’s like playing a classical piece of music. The magician here is Dominic Miller, Sting’s guitarist, who is also an outstanding artist on his own.

My father was a Beatles fan. I remember when ABC 5 (which is now TV5) was doing its test broadcasts then, they would play Beatles videos/clips and my father was all for it. It didn’t matter if they were playing the same things over and over. He was there for it. He explained to me the magic of the Beatles, what made them work and why they endured.

He would have loved to listen to Dom Miller play all the Beatles catalogue on his nylon strings. He would have played Dom Miller’s entire CD the entire afternoon while he reclined on his rocking chair.

And you know what’s beautiful about all this? Beatles songs don’t sound alike. Norwegian Wood sounds miles away from Yellow Submarine or Blackbird.

And here is Dominic’s Blackbird, the most mesmerizing Beatles song for me.

And no wonder Dom Miller plays Beatles like they’re classical piece of music — it’s because they are based off classical pieces! Paul McCartney goes back to Bach for inspiration!

And there was a Ric Beato interview with Dom Miller and Sting and they were talking about daily practice with classical pieces to keep fingers nimble. Great musicians always go back to the masters for inspiration, for training, and mastery.

Dom Miller is also the man who wrote one of the most beautiful guitar riffs in pop, which sounds like a Latin American song. Well, it makes sense because he grew up in South America (not sure if in Argentina or Brazil).

So I started sewing again.

I’m in my granny era now so that explains the kind of print I have for my pillow cases.

It has been sitting in my pile of “to do” that I never got around to doing. I suddenly had the urge to create something with my hands instead of just doom-scrolling my weekend away.

Let’s see. What else shall I create this weekend?

I may go back to sketching again. Let’s see tomorrow.

I didn’t realize how much anxiety I was carrying until today. All this time I was trying to be nonchalant about the chaos in my company and the uncertainties I’m trying to minimize.

I just broke down and cried all morning today.

I got my nth job application rejection from a rival company on Tuesday while I was waiting for my turn to do my teaching demo and interview with the faculty at my uni.

I feel like I’m slowly losing my identity because I know that once I leave, I will also be leaving the profession. It seems like I no longer have a future in journalism practice. For decades I have attached my identity to my profession.

The feeling of loneliness was amplified when a colleague, JW, suddenly announced via email also on Tuesday that it was her last day with us. And to think we were rushing three stories that we co-authored last week. 😭

It was bad enough that another colleague, VL, also quit last week. We were about to upload our story on the CMS but then I couldn’t find her name on the dropdown box. JW told me that VL just quit and was on garden leave.

No wonder she was immediately taken off the IT system.

I feel forlorn because everybody is moving on while I couldn’t. I’m still stuck. Companies in HK and/or Singapore are hiring but in my neck of the woods they aren’t. I mean, I’ve  been trying to apply for remote positions as correspondent or editor but for some reason I’m not a match.

I’m in the wrong part of the world.

With glaciers falling with landslides, causing massive flooding in Nepal and Tibet, and widespread floods in Japan and China, I don’t think climate change deniers can dismiss all these catastrophes anymore. The super El Niño is delivering large amounts of rainfall to us here in the Pacific and it’s getting worse every year. Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009 — when we had floodwaters for three weeks in Cainta — was the start of the end. That was when I thought things are going to get worse because climate change is real, man!

I checked the satellite images for this week and I risked driving to SMX and BGC last Wednesday to get stories and network. Went back to SMX yesterday to chase a CEO — so I got storieeeesssssss!

Thursday I published three stories. Friday, I published three more. 🫠

I needed to finish those in my pipeline because it’s a holiday on Monday. I am planning to drive to Nagcarlan, if the rains have abated, for this view:

I bought this cat mug from the weekend community market last Sunday. Just because.

I needed some whimsy in my life right now that everything is uncertain. A colleague and I were chatting over MS Teams about our situation and she told me there were a lot of journos in US and UK who already resigned. Some non-editorial and editorial staff have been pestering HR regarding the status of employment because they have rent and other bills to pay. But of course HR couldn’t say anything because this company is the most opaque one I’ve ever been in.

Some of us in this part of the world are holding on until we get new jobs. It’s stupid to leave without a new job in this economy.

I continue to submit my job application to various companies. Still in the same industry.

I just received today the first positive feedback in a very long time. And as expected, my undergrad college told me I passed the initial screening test (and I know it’s just formalities) and I will have a teaching demo and interview on Wednesday next week.

I have mixed feelings about this. Aside from the low pay, I will terribly miss being in the field. Yes, it is exhausting but the libog is still there whenever I get good interviews and stories.

It’s kinda sad that I’m in this predicament.

And truth she has spoken.

I love this freedom.

Warning

by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

I didn’t realize that yesterday was a holiday. I was about to start working when my sister messaged me that the supermarket was full of people and it was only then she realized it was Ninoy Aquino Day.

So I just spent the day lounging around. I didn’t even tell the bosses that I’m taking the day off. Well, after what I’ve been through for a month of not getting paid, I don’t think this company deserves any courtesy.

It’s only today that I started to behave like an adult and did some chores and errands. I had my mini washing machine repaired, which was done under 30 mins!

While I don’t usually use this as much as my bigger LG automatic washer, I simply cannot live without this mini version because I’m lazy. I don’t want to wash foot mats, dirty bags, sneakers, and rags by hand. I only paid PHP 300 for a longer lease in life for my mini washer.

I also had my knives and scissors sharpened by a local black smith, only 500m away from the washing machine repair shop. I always get irritated when my knives are blunt when cutting tomatoes and onions.

I love living in the province when it comes to simple things like this. I can easily locate where the blacksmith, washer repair shop, and seamstress are. I’m not spending hours driving just to have these small tasks done.

Meanwhile, my cute freeloaders are just chilling.