Just another slow Sunday. I decided to cook tinola instead of buying from the weekend market because it was gloomy, rainy, and cold. I didn’t want to go out.

I spent my whole morning just savoring the stillness of my home. Unlike last Sunday when I was out of sorts, this morning is like a dream — slow, luxurious, and uncomplicated.

Romanticizing my days makes my anxiety-inducing job tolerable these days.

Last Saturday when I drove to my parents’ hometown, I thought that a quick roadtrip would help me breathe and forget about work. So I gladly drove my brood the following day for lunch in Caliraya so I can kick out the thought of my horrid editor from the land of bubblegum pop.

I just need to create little pockets of sunshine to help me stay literally sane.

Human Nature (from Thriller album) is my favorite Michael Jackson song, with Man In the Mirror (from Bad album) as a runner up. I just learned tonight that it was composed and partly written by Steve Porcaro of Toto!

And bonus fact: Steve Lukather, also from Toto, provided the lovely guitars to the track.

Another fun fact: Steve Lukather has played guitar for 2000 recorded songs — a very prolific sessionist. Jeff Porcaro (whose Porcaro shuffle has troubled many drummers), also from Toto, has also been a session drummer for many recording artists and he was in demand because he has great groove. He was on the speed dial of many producers.

And here’s Human Nature in its unadulterated form. This song has been sampled so many times that I always forget how the original sounded like.