Books, Blessings, Resolutions
I am soooo excited that December's around the corner! Friends coming home for our annual get-together, my nephew's first Christmas tree (well, okay, second -- but last year he just slept ALL the time so he didn't notice), possibly our first father-side family reunion (which we decided to do after 50 percent of the original clan members opted to seek greener pastures ... in the After Life), and of course, Christmas! The dawn masses, the recollections, and even just the overall energy and faith everywhere which just comes at this time of the year. (Christmas
is about Christ being born. Sometimes I'm guilty of forgetting that too.)
Another reason to celebrate is that the Philippine Speculative Fiction 3 (edited by Dean and Nikki Alfar) will be launched on the 8th. Have been elated to see some of the best Pinoy writers in the anthology -- and I so wish to see them in person, just to confirm that it's not a dream haha.
Isn't that the most beautiful cover you've ever seen? Photo stolen from Dean's site. :-D
The launch is on:
8th December 2007 Saturday
4PM Fully Booked Flagship Store
Bonifacio High Street, Taguig
Speaking of launches, friend Tyron Caliente will also have another story "Girlfriend in a Coma" appearing in the antho "Very Short Stories for Harried Readers" edited by Vince Groyon. This collection of flash fic will be out by December, and Tyron uses his real name there, but I'm not sure if he wants me to say it here. Check it out at his site.
Talking to PGS's Kenneth the other day made me realize that although I missed the shot at greatness twice this year (Palanca and the Graphic Fiction Awards; good luck to the shortlisted authors, btw), it had been a great year for getting my stories accepted and published. I'm crossing my fingers for two stories which I hope to come out in the 1st Quarter, but even if they don't, Ha! C'est la vie. There are more opportunities out there, for as long as I keep on working and reworking stories.
This year I also got to meet more writers and publishers, and it has been an amazing experience, drinking in every Litcritter session I could attend, learning as much as I can, and having fun with the most imaginative and creative people I've ever met. I don't feel like I'm the same writer twelve months ago. In a good kind of way. (I'd probably still have awful sentence constructions, like this and the previous one, but at least I know that they are hideous.)
Anyway...
Next year I'm planning to take bold steps in my profession. (Nope, hindi ako magsho-showbiz pero hindi naman ako sarado sa option an iyon haha). I might try finish my degree (Kara, your continuous ribbing is finally getting to me). I would be braver in things I would not mention here, because, well, they're too sensational haha. I hope to be wiser. (Hmm. It's beginning to sound like an old song.) I hope to use less parentheses.
Ah, well. Here's to life and more of it.
Labels: lit, reflections
Terminos*
*With apologies to Dean.And so it happened that a neatly printed piece of paper was handed to B that Friday morning, B given a few minutes to read it, then having understood what it meant, got up from his workstation, and was escorted out of the building.
The Office fired him because he tampered with his timesheet (log ins, log outs), declaring OT pay as much as 20 thousand pesos a month (even greater than his salary). Of course I asked AD , who was his group manager, "But didn't his manager approve of those OT hours before they got to the payroll?" Answered me back that, yeah, he knew. I was sure that W, who was B's direct superior, was going to get a whippin' from AD in Filipino, English, and the four Chinese dialects that AD was fluent in, later in the afternoon for having been so negligent.
And then at the end of that Friday afternoon, Ant rapped on my invisible door (we worked in cubes of blue felt and steel) to say good bye. He was the demand planner for the other market in our region; an expat, and he was imported all the way from KL to MLA to work six months ago. He too, was terminated, but this time for his incompetence, and worse, his propensity to cover up his foibles badly (he got caught with every cover-up, because he was too dumb to explain his stupidity). His manager was a close friend of mine, and she was stressed with Ant, whom she just inherited from the last manager who got him. They gave him a grace period of three weeks to shape up, or else he gets the boot. He got the boot, and Friday became his last day. We weren't really close, but what the heck, I hugged the poor puppy back (you know, with the kind of hug that you pat the person's back but you're still two feet away from him as if there's a stick blocking his chest from getting to yours... it's the don't-get-so-close-to-me hug). Then I said "All the best," and I wanted to mean it, because a small evil voice in my head was saying "Good riddance."
And then I heard that some ex-officemates of mine who had claimed that life after the Office working for some other company was a whole LOT better than what they left, were rumored to be calling it quits with their present employers. Unfortunately this dispels my illusions of greener pastures with other offices... C'est la vie.
Labels: employees
50% off When You Die Before Nov 2
It was my Dad who first saw it -- the billboard perched at the Shell Station in Magallanes. It had an image of an angel looking over... yes, a coffin, on top of which had "50% DISCOUNT" in red letters.
Dad says to Mom, "Uy! May promo! Tara, mamatay na tayo!" Mom says, "Oo nga, no? Tara!"
(Now you know where I get my sense of humor...)
I looked it up on the web, sure enough, the promo exists! Got it
here. But I pasted the mechanics for your, ehem, enjoyment? Scrutiny.
DEATHCARE WEEK 50% DISCOUNT PROMO OFFICIAL MECHANICS
(FOR THE ST. PETER CHAPELS ONLY)
Promo Period is from October 27 to November 2, 2007. This includes:
- Services we received on October 27 even if death occurred on
October 25 or 26, 2007. - All deaths which occurred up to November 2, 2007 even if we receive the
body/or service up to November 4, 2007. - The promo is applicable to Upgrading and At-Need services only; all other
extra services will be charged at regular rates. - Senior Citizens’ Discount has been incorporated into the promo
discount. No additional discount will be provided. - The promo is not applicable to pre-need services.
- Pre-selling or reservation is not allowed. The actual date of death
will be the basis for the discount. - Excess viewing days charges are not entitled to the 50% discount.
No full payment, No Interment policy still holds throughout the promo
period.
See Posters and Print Ads for more Details.
My verdict? RUBBISH. There is actually no point to this promotion because it's not targetting an incremental in preneed (see points 5 & 6). No one would actually want to die before a certain time period (nor in his/her right mind, want to send a loved one to the other side to avail of halfpriced services). Have admired St. Peter's Plan as a company, but in this particular promotion on which they obviously spent a significant amount of cash (there's another one along EDSA, near Guada), it is absolutely insensitive and tasteless.
Really.
Labels: ads
