All bark, no bite

I miss having a dog. I had a trustworthy one when I was in my teens. Her name was Bubbles. She was the ultimate poster dog, fluffy, white, and adorable. Bubbles died in 1993 and left her genes to a new generation of fluffy, white, adorable pet canine. Bubbles' puppies all became reliable watch dogs. They were sentinels, keeping guard--- day and night.

Theorists use dogs as a metaphor for mass media. Media perform the function of a watch dog. But who's watching over media is an entirely different animal. In the past months, the two media giants made television their fight cage --- they growled at each other, barking ferociously. What a dog fight it has been! The ratings war has taken a totally different meaning.

But like many of their soap operas, the drama has gotten so sickeningly spoilt. So what do you do when you see two dogs fighting? Keep a safe distance.

I do miss my dog Bubbles.

Wear a jacket

Today is dress-down Friday. It is time to be laid-back and comfy.

I wore a UNICEF shirt, cool Memo pants, Bench military belt, and a pair of Gola sneekers. I was asked to do a TV interview for Studio 23's News Central about UNICEF's partnership with Starbucks. Starbucks launched in 2005 the SparkHope project helping nine day care centers in very far Philippine villages. My colleagues required me to wear a UNICEF shirt.

Friday, UNICEF shirt, and casual wear sounded really fine. But my fashion guru, my wife Aires remarked early in the morning: "Wear a jacket." My guards were up instantly. I needed the UNICEF shirt for branding purposes on the nightly TV news. So why would I wear a darn jacket? "Wear a jacket," she repeated. "I don't need one" was my retort.

But why did she insist for me to wear one? My guards were up because "Wear a jacket" may mean "Hey, dude, hide your flabs." "Wear a jacket" equals "Cover your imperfection." I admit I was a bit irritated.

On my way out of the house, Aires asked: "Why are you grouchy?" I said I was not.

In my office, I saw my vintage "Vietnam War" inspired jacket, the one she gave for my birthday. One look at this earthy-colored jacket, I was grouchy no more. "Wear a jacket" may also mean "Cover yourself with my love." Aires once said: "You look cool in this jacket." And so I wore my vintage "Vietnam War"-inspired jacket, felt Aires' love, and went to my interview.

I took off the jacket when the interview started, and rattled on about coffee, planners, and day care children. I wore it once again after the interview ended.

Friday, UNICEF shirt, and a vintage jacket to make me look cool. And a really cool Starbucks 2008 planner. How can it go wrong?

7 things to do today

I went back to work today for the first time this year.

Over the holidays, I swore to myself that I would do things differently this year. Go to work early so I can leave early. Clean up my desk so I can work more fluidly. Set up small goals and count small wins so I can give myself a pat on the back.

I did just that today. I went to work early. I cleaned up my desk. I listed down the seven tasks I needed to do. With a red pen, I marked each accomplished task with a vibrant OK! I ended up doing 10 OKs!

Oftentimes, we are easily overwhelmed by the big assignments. We forget that big things are actually made up of small things. It helps to know that 10 OKs for a day is one big OK!!!