The long Easter weekend had me longing for more long weekends so I could continue my staycation: read, write, sleep, eat, repeat.
Then April 9 arrived—“Araw ng Kagitingan,” which commemorates the Fall of Bataan and the Filipino and American heroes of World War II. This year marks the 84th commemoration, and the Philippines continues to honor them with this annual non-working holiday to pause and reflect on their courage and sacrifice. If the Philippines is wishing for a repeat of the circumstances that led to this day—future conflicts or tensions—would that make our country war-hungry?
But if nuclear war is the next possible outcome of those tensions, Pinas and its allies may not even have time to mobilize and defend their respective countries.
Read more from Netnet Camomot.
For now, though, the Middle East sneezes and oil-dependent countries catch the cold—a cold that too often turns into “surprise” drone and missile attacks. Ceasefires might bring the fever down, but they rarely cure it.
A surprise always reminds me of this joke about a new Chinese employee at a warehouse. The bigwigs were about to arrive and he was instructed to take care of the supplies. His boss and the bigwigs arrived but he was nowhere to be found. And the supplies were in disarray. This angered the boss who began looking for him. Finally, there he was, jumping out of nowhere, and shouting, “Supplies!”
Fuel prices may or may not continue to increase, depending on the effect of the Middle East tensions on the law of supply and demand. If only the world learned to switch to electricity for everything—is that possible?—such increases won’t have that much impact on our lives.
It’s the price of rice that doesn’t affect me much anymore since my daily menu has been reduced to beef, pork, salmon, bangus belly, salt, lard, tallow, and water.
But the weekly fuel price increases do affect me because there are times when I do have to leave the house especially now that my Holy Week staycation is over.
That staycation was much savored. I’m comfy alone. I’m also fine being with people. Which probably makes me an ambivert. But when people drain me, that’s when I’d rather be alone. There’s this video of an introvert escaping from a social event for a few minutes by entering a restroom to inhale, exhale. He then wears his smiley face, opens the door, and is back to his party mode again. That’s me. I can actually feel my energy draining when I’m with certain people.
But then, in 2025, in his book “The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners,” American psychiatrist Dr. Rami Kaminski had a word for people who feel they’re “facing a different direction”: otrovert.
So, not belonging is now a gift. I started thinking, Is that me? The outsider in a world of joiners. Hmm.
Being a carnivore has made me an outsider. That’s probably why I have to STFU—shut the f*** up—about my carnivore diet to avoid diet debates which can be draining.
Carbs are here, there, and everywhere. And one of my favorite restos, which serves the yummiest carbs, sent this message on Monday last week: “New month, new cravings. Treat yourself to cakes and comforting drinks at [resto’s name].” If I were still a high-carb dieter, that would have been enough to make me indulge in carbs again.
