what, it's march already?

satchmo's cafe of old

here now at satchmo's, the cafe around the corner which id used to consider somewhat of a living room extension but for one reason or another havent been to for at least well, hmmm, past 6 months maybe. here i am, armed with my laptop hoping to get some inspiration and sit-down time to finally revisit my blog, which seems as though i havent updated for as long an amount of time.

500 pieces of weekend fun

theyve done quite a bit of rearranging here—the old couch has been replaced by a futon facing the outside store window, the old acrilyic paintings are now framed figure drawings perhaps products of their figure drawing nights here, some new coffee machines and faces in the kitchen. biggest notable change however is that wireless internet connection's no longer free and is now a buck a half-hour (which means im typing this offline, obviously). good part though is that the laid-back, almost hippie, hipster neighborhood atmosphere still remains. plus, the satchmo's poster id given ages ago, still hangs prominently right next to a photo of satchmo the dog.

so where was i? right, updating my blog. a lot of this and that's happened since the last post. a trip to delaware to watch my nephew perform in their school play (although finishing that 500-piece puzzle with the kids seemed more like the highlight of the trip really). my first salsa lessons and salsa night up at the 92ndY. a first buddhist meditation class at the jivamukti center in union square as well (ok, now that may be bit too new age-y but i gotta admit it was worth the time). finishing bich nguyen's stealing buddha's dinner—an award-winning memoir of a vietnamese girl growing up in white man's grand rapids, michigan. now, just started absurdistan—this time the hilarious story of Misha Borisovich Vainberg, a grossly overweight man, whose the son of the 1,238th-richest man in russia. id seen das leben der anderen as well, the best foreign film winner at the past oscars. seeing all the nominated live action shorts was quite a treat too.

my dancing/running shoes

valentine's day saw me getting my heart health checked as part of an office benefit/program. all my LDL-HDL-and-total cholesterol are in healthy levels. my blood pressure was an incredibly high 150 over 60 though (although the anxiety of having a hush-hush interview the next day at another agency was probably largely to blame on that one). overall, my health seems to be in a good and still improving state. between the spinning and yoga classes, swimming, biking, running and occasional lifting, ive maintained an average of 5-6 days of exercise a week. and so far this year, ive lost 10 lbs but i have to admit probably half of that's due to the week's worth of torturous bout with food poisoning and diarrhea. ok, too much info. next topic.

1 of 10K bizcards ill never use

things are going smoothly work-wise as well. i just got my fresh pack of business cards to reflect my new title, which is a shame to mother nature obviously coz the only times i use those really are to join ipod or free lunch raffles. i also just got invited to run this year's advertising workshop at the art directors club saturday career workshop. and i got to have a nice drink and chat with gavin simpson, ogilvy manila's executive creative director, who's really an expat from malaysia and who was here briefly in the city to judge at the ADC's awards. that chat (ok it was an interview) with the other interested agency went well too. nice good opportunity although there's something about where i am now with my boss trusting me with his login and password information so i can approve timesheets while he's in miami (he lets us read his match.com profile too) or my colleagues being able to tease me after having read my mom's postcard which starts with "dear son, my love love son" (why o why ma insists on sending those things aaah, shucks to the office and not to the apartment i still dont understand. much appreciated though.)

another ADC workshop soon

winter's slowly but surely losing its grip. yesterday was very pleasant; today's a little bit back to cold. 3 more weeks and it's officially spring. i need to do some major spring cleaning. i did say the same thing about winter though but hopefully this time i'll really get to de-cluttering all that mess. oh crap, and ive broken that no cookie for this year promise too. oh well, at least that bout with the tummy ache introduced me to the many benefits and joys of eating probiotic-rich yogurt and blueberries.

speaking of blueberries, that chocolate chip cookie on the counter is calling my name. must give in. must give in. until the next things-are-a-changin-but-somehow-still-the-same entry, then. opportunity calls.