Yes. I gave in and got a Nook, an electronic reader. I am admittedly one person who loves the analog. I love the idea of Polaroids and film cameras. I jot down notes on an actual notebook. I love the smell of old books. But books are expensive now, and from what i purchase 12 books with, I got this, where I can store all my favorite books, and can read all I want. It’s perfect for the times I have to wait, it’s removed the cranky face from waiting for an hour for the inevitable late meetups, the hours in traffic, the idle times in line at a government…

This picture would seem for most people, unremarkable. Albeit, it is a very pretty girl, with impeccable makeup. Yet, the lighting isn’t very flattering. The setting isn’t anywhere special, in fact you could even see that it was taken on a moving escalator on a random mall. Which for us on these 7,107 islands, is a picture taken by low resolution camera phones by high school students every day. But this picture is a very special one for me. Because of the person in it. My best friend of almost two decades came to the Philippines for a short visit last February, which she has not done since 2005. I’ve…

This photo doesn’t quite capture how incredibly sticky, hot and sandy I was at the time, after a day at the beach. It did capture how slacker happy I was, sipping a cool mango shake after a long, hot day of beer, saltwater and sunblock in my eyes. Hello La Union. I miss you already.