shutterbug on the web

I don't get it.

I don't get how such a seemingly ordinary day turned out to have a bloody ending.

I don't get how nonchalant I was at first, thinking that "a bus hostage situation" was just another empty threat.

I don't get how tourists, who only wanted to see the beauty of Manila, came to loathe it and consider it the place of their worst nightmares.

I don't get how Rolando Mendoza suddenly shifted from not wanting to harm anyone to using them as human shields and then firing.

I don't get how, in the first place, he even thought of taking a bus hostage. Such an act is so contrary to what he used to do as a policeman: protecting and serving citizens.

I don't get why the media downplayed everything and showed the incidents live, as they played out. I don't get why they didn't understand the repercussions of broadcasting everything live and even sensationalizing the events; maybe if Rolando Mendoza didn't see his brother being maltreated on national television, he could have been coaxed into releasing all the passengers.

I don't get why the PNP and SWAT bombed their operations. From the way they negotiated, to the way in which they broke into the bus, to the length of time that it took to bring Mendoza down.

I don't get why, when all this was happening, President Aquino wasn't in contact with the Hong Kong government when he should have been the one talking them through the whole ordeal.

But I also don't get why I was feeling the way I did.

Last Monday, as all these events transpired, I condemned. I mocked. I criticized. My brother was right when he wrote that he was likewise guilty. I, too, was just as guilty as the media was for expressing my every thought on cyberspace. Rolando Mendoza could have, in theory, found out what was happening outside the bus if he had stumbled across my tweets or Facebook updates.

One day later, after the ordeal was over, I felt shame. I realized that, really, all I could do was condemn, mock and criticize. I was helpless from my corner of the metropolis. It was easier to think negatively instead of pray as the ordeal transpired. There was even a brief moment when I thought of how the other countries viewed us instead of mourning for the lives that were lost. How could I have lost sight of that?

It was just so much easier to judge when I wasn't one of the hostages, negotiators or SWAT team.

It was so much easier to dismiss the Philippines as "third world", "backwards" or "incompetent".

But maybe that's because I didn't care enough to prevent things like these from happening. I do my part as a citizen when the occasion calls for it. When Ondoy and Pepeng disarmed us, I was there -- updating people about relief centers and their needs, distributing goods and donating, and even designing a T-shirt whose proceeds would go to flood victims. All these things awoke in me a sense of unity and nationalism that had long been dormant; maybe the last time I had truly felt a sense of oneness with the nation were those days of EDSA II and EDSA III.

Yet how quickly we forget to be one with our motherland; especially when things are fine and dandy. We laud the likes of Lea Salonga, Charice Pempengco, Manny Pacquiao and Efren Peñaflorida for bringing pride to the Philippines in their own fields of excellence. But do we stop at just that?

What I do get now is that maybe this hostage situation really serves to be yet another eye-opener for us all. To challenge us to love our country more and to pray for its people. To implore those in power to equip our PNP and SWAT teams with the skills and equipment that they need to do their jobs better. To let the media examine the way they broadcast information to the general public. To nudge President Aquino and our government into taking action more swiftly.

I may not get how and why things transpired the way they did.

I may not get the extent of the damage brought about by this incident to the morale of our people as well as our international relations. I cannot apologize enough to the people of Hong Kong for what happened. I love Hong Kong and I have nothing but wonderful memories of my trips there with family and friends. Really, if only these tourists could have had as pleasant an experience as the ones I had over there.

I may never get the weight of the grief and sorrow that the hostages and their families carry with them today.

But what I do get is that I can do something about the way I feel, think and act.

I can be a better person.

I can be a better Christian.

I can be a better Filipino.

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to let you know that I am a disappointed, disgruntled customer.

I applied for the BlackBerry Internet Service last August 14 (at around 11am) in the Sun Shop of SM Marikina. The transaction went smoothly and I was told to wait for 24 hours before the service would be fully activated. So I waited. Exactly 24 hours later, I called the Sun Cellular customer service rep who had texted me the night before to confirm my contact and billing details. She said that my application wasn't approved yet.

That was the first hurdle. I was not aware of the fact that one's application needed to be APPROVED FIRST. Because when I was transacting in the Sun Shop last August 14th, I was given the impression that I was a shoe-in for approval; that there would be no REASON to delay the approval.

Nevertheless, I waited. I gave it another full day before contacting that same customer service rep. She told me to wait (again) and on the 50th or so hour after I registered for the service, she said that my application was approved, that it was a matter of just activating the service. Since I was out of town when this happened and Sun reception was fluctuating on my cellphone, I told her to just hold off the activation for my return to Manila on Friday night, the 20th.

Come the 20th, I rang her back and she said that she couldn't process the activation because her superior needed to be the one to do it. I asked when that would actually take place. She said MONDAY, because her superior was on leave Saturdays. That infuriated me once again because I would have to wait another full weekend for a service that I was already paying for.

Nonetheless, the following day (Saturday, the 21st), I paid the Sun Shop a surprise visit. True enough, it didn't look like anyone there was expecting me and I expressed my frustrations to the manager. She said that they would find a way to speed up the activation process. The same customer service rep who serviced me a week earlier and was texting me the whole week happened to be the one who dealt with me yet again. She disappeared and left me seated by her desk for a few minutes. When she came back, she gave me a sheet of paper (BlackBerry Service Add-on Plan Demo Checklist) and told me to expect the activation within the day.

GUESS WHAT? THAT STILL DIDN'T HAPPEN.

She texted later that evening to say that, upon checking my records, I had an unsettled balance of P511. Which I could've easily paid that morning had I been informed. She said that so-and-so head officer couldn't process my activation without paying that.

I pretty much had it up to my neck. It felt like every excuse in the book was given to explain the cause of delay. How simple is it to activate the BIS anyway? My friends who use the same service with Globe and Smart had their applications approved AND phones activated within 24 hours. The only reason I chose Sun over Globe or Smart was because it's P300 cheaper per month.

But now I'm regretting my decision.

I had that unsettled balance paid for yesterday, Sunday (the 22nd). Now it's Monday, August 23rd, 1:45pm and still, no one has told me what's happening with the activation. I am beyond appeasing right now. I don't care anymore for excuses or pathetic attempts at trying to explain what's happening. I am a customer who'd been paying for a service she hasn't used for the last 10 days.

As an advertising writer, I should let you know that you are doing your customers a HUGE disservice by promising them a speedy approval and application process. My experience may just be one of many similar horror stories. Next time, if you have a hard time fulfilling your end of the bargain, don't even bother putting out such promos and services.

It's raining really hard outside and it's so dark, one might think it's midnight. This sight was worth taking a picture of.

Used my iPhone and CameraBag app to give it that Holga feel. Not bad, right?

I never leave home without it. I wait by playing games with it. I go online even when Internet connection isn't available. I snap a photo with it when I forget my camera.

In other words, my iPhone is an extension of my hand.

Prior to being an iPhone owner, I had always been a Nokia loyalist. I got my first Nokia (a 5110) in high school and worked my way up the Nokia ladder in college and my early days of employment.

Then Steve Jobs created the first generation iPhone. I admired it (cyber-salivated, more like) from afar since it was still out of my reach, budget-wise.

A couple of years passed and social networking made its rounds online. Soon, it wasn't enough to just check Facebook or Twitter from your computer. Mobile technology dictated that we tweet or update our Facebook statuses from the road so that we could tell our friends where we were. A Nokia phone just didn't cut it for me anymore. I needed something more.

Enter the iPhone. I got one, fell in love with it, and basically never looked back.



So this is me today. A happy iPhone owner. And for the benefit of other iPhone owners who happen to stumble across this site, I decided to list down my favorite iPhone applications. For potential iPhone owners, this may encourage you to consider getting one for yourself.

Facebook for iPhone



If you're a Facebook user, you'll definitely need to download this app. Almost everything one can do in Facebook with a computer can be done with its iPhone counterpart. You can update your status, check your newsfeed, write on people's walls, upload photos and videos, and comment. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family when you're away from a computer.

Twitter for iPhone



Now I've gone through scores (and I mean this literally) of Twitter applications, both paid and free, before settling down on the two that I use: Twitter for iPhone and Tweets iPhone. The former, which used to be Tweetie for iPhone, is completely functional. The features you look for in a Twitter desktop application are present in Twitter for iPhone: retweet, reply, uploading of photos, shortening of URLs, etc.

But sometimes I use Tweets iPhone because it loads faster. The app does away with the complicated features of other Twitter apps, which makes it faster. If I want to check my Twitter feeds really quickly, I just load Tweets iPhone and seconds later, I'm done going through them.

Tweet Now



As the name suggests, I can quickly post a tweet without the hassle of waiting for people's tweets to load. I use this app when I'm literally on the run and have just enough time to post a tweet.

Scrabble



I play this when I want to give my brain a workout. Which is usually when I'm stuck in traffic on the way home from work.

Life



I was a fan of the boardgame as a child, and now I have the mobile version. Again, I play this when I'm bored.

Tap Tap Revenge



I can't keep track of how many versions there are (last I checked, there were three) but the Tap Tap series is great fun. Reminiscent of the Dance Dance Revolution of yore, your thumbs (or index fingers, if you like) have to keep in step with the rhythms of the music.

Dictionary



One of my favorite sites to visit is dictionary.com because you can also consult its thesaurus and online translator. Needless to say, I was more than happy to learn that they developed an iPhone version. It's what I use when I need to look up certain words or find their synonyms.

iTranslate



Since my third language is Spanish and I took French classes early this year, sometimes, I try to practice writing in both languages. iTranslate is a handy app that approximates what you need to convey in those languages. You can't rely on an accurate translation all the time, though, so be sure you know your basics and make the necessary corrections if needed.

BlogPress Lite



I've been able to update or edit the entries you see on this blog using BlogPress. It's pretty easy to use since the font size is readable. Scrolling around entries isn't complicated either. This app is surprisingly really useful for mobile blogging.

CameraBag



I can get various photo effects from this simple app. An ordinary image can turn into a Lomo-fied one, a vintage one, or be converted into black and white. I love how this app shows, with the flick of a finger, how your photo looks in different modes.

Quad Camera



This app reminds me of an Oktomat Lomo-type camera, except it shoots in a series of four shots. It's great fun to use with friends and it almost always renders old school colors.

Skype



I recently discovered just how easy it is to call up my Skype contacts with my iPhone. It's like calling them up without having to pay to call. It's great!

Kindle



I'm now addicted to buying e-books using this app and reading them during my free time. I love that I can have digital copies of my favorite books and easily go through them wherever and whenever.


And last but definitely not the least:

The Holy Bible



Although having a Bible app can never replace the actual Bible, it's a good thing to have. I can look up verses in seconds and it's what I use when I forget to bring my Bible to church.


In a nutshell, owning an iPhone has been loads of fun and it has allowed me to be instantly connected to the rest of the world. The only downside is its battery life. After playing a game for several minutes, I'll definitely notice a 10% decrease in battery life. If I'm online and using my Twitter or Facebook app for 30 minutes or more, I'll have to charge my phone within a few hours.

Also, I wish it had a similar messaging app like the BlackBerry messenger. The BBM's one solid come-on for me to consider getting a BlackBerry as a second phone (since I use two phones anyway; my second phone is the jurassic Nokia E61).

I can't say much about the iPhone 4 (I hear that it has a lot of signal issues) so everything I've written thus far came from my experiences with the iPhone 3G and 3GS (my brother's). And I have to say that if battery life weren't a problem, and if it had its own a messenger like the BBM, my iPhone would be a perfect phone. Or close to one anyway.

I'm a happy camper indeed.

I've been trying to put off writing about this mind-blowing (literally) film, but I just had to write about it sometime. And I guess there's no time quite like the present.

I saw Inception twice. The first time was a Friday after work, which happened to be a payday Friday. I was feeling pretty steamed by the time I got to the mall two hours later. I met up with my girl friends, Rom and Mitch (who has yet to write her first blog entry)for dinner, and later, Mitch and I saw the movie. Needless to say, the grouchy monster that decided to inhabit my body disappeared as soon as I entered the movie theater and got sucked into Christopher Nolan's masterpiece.

I suppose that everyone's said everything there is to say about this film. Because, really, it defies words, explanation and comprehension. It's literally unlike anything I'd ever seen. But I'm going to try and say my piece anyway.

In a nutshell, the story revolves around a psychological heist. Think Ocean's Eleven meets The Matrix, in a way. Dominic Cobb, played by Leonardo di Caprio, is a thief who possesses an entirely different skill. Together with his sidekick, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), he is able to get into people's dreams and steal valuable information from them.

Enter his client, Saito (Ken Watanabe). Saito asks Cobb to try something completely different. If Cobb can successfully incept, or plant an idea in someone's mind, he will guarantee Cobb's return to the USA. (I won't say why he's away; that's for you to find out.) The victim in this case happens to be Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy), the heir to a huge corporation. By the way, this corporation happens to be Saito's biggest competition. That's why Cobb is tasked to incept Fischer's mind by making him dissolve his father's corporation.

Cobb then assembles a team. Upon his father's (Sir Michael Caine) suggestion, Cobb chooses an architecture student, Ariadne (Ellen Page), to join them. She's in charge of constructing the worlds wherein the dreams will revolve. She has to structure them in such a way that the subconsciouses of the dreamer (who will be Fischer) will have a hard time navigating the dreams, which will then reduce the chances of interrupting the inception process. To complete the team we have Eames (Tom Hardy), who is in charge of deception (like a chameleon, he can change and impersonate people in dream states) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist. He gives the team a chemical solution powerful enough to make a person sleep for hours and enter dream state upon dream state upon dream state.

What makes the film so compelling are the several dream states that all the characters have to go through, just to get that idea into Fischer's head. Also, there are subplots involving Cobb's past that could potentially ruin things in these dream states as well as their conscious (err, "in reality") selves.

I loved that I had to figure out which sequences were dream states and which were real (in the beginning of the film, at least). You catch on eventually and come to understand what's happening. When you do, you feel like you've discovered the 2010 version of E=mc².

I loved the whole concept of the film itself, to put it more succinctly. Back in college, I remember being intrigued when we were taught about dreams, memories and the subconscious in Psychology class. Dreams, in particular, fascinated me the most, and ever since, I've been conscious (no pun intended) about taking note of the dreams that manifest thenselves more than once.

I was in such an Inception hangover after the first time I viewed it that I needed to see it again. I read blogs, reviews, and critiques. I took note of the various things that bloggers and critics pointed out; especially those little details that would give us clues as to what the open ending might actually mean.

So last Sunday after church, I dragged my 15-year-old brother (a certified Christopher Nolan fan, especially after The Dark Knight) and my mom (who was probably the only one in her office who hadn't seen the film) to the cinema. I was so desperate to watch it that I paid for all three of us. Talk about excited. And to think that I generally don't watch movies in the cinema more than once.

And my awe didn't diminish one bit as I viewed it a second time. Sure I could predict what was going to happen next. Sure I knew what to look out for this time (clue: wedding ring). But once again, I was blown away by the very idea that ties this whole film together.

So in a nutshell, I'd sum up my thoughts this way:

The Good

• The plot. Enough said.
  
• The acting. Leo, as always, was stellar as Cobbs. I can't imagine who else could've pulled off this role as convincingly. Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were a joy to watch as well.
  
• The special effects. Can you spell "OUT OF THIS WORLD"? I loved the dream sequence, in particular, when Ariadne made the city meet in half on a vertical scale, so much so that the top half and bottom half paralleled each other. A close runner-up would have to be the hotel dream sequence when the absence of gravity became a problem for Arthur.
  
• The screenplay as well as pacing of the story. I didn't find any scene dragging at all. In fact, every second was so fast paced that I couldn't find time to go the bathroom.

The Bad

• The [somewhat] lack of characterization. But this isn't even a big deal for me, honestly. Since I already mentioned it though, I might as well say that I wish I could've learned more about the other characters instead of just seeing them come together to perform the task. Like Arthur, for example. I know practically nothing about him. It might have made the story even more engaging if we saw some more characterization.
  
• The pace. Not for me, but for viewers who need a bit more time to process plots and storylines in a film. If you're the type who takes a while to understand what's going on, you might get lost all throughout the movie. So try and keep up as fast as you can.

The Ugly

• Nothing. Inception and ugly can't be in the same sentence, unless written this way.

Kudos to Christopher Nolan for making this 10-year dream of his a reality. (Are you sure someone didn't incept Inception into a dream of yours?) And another round of applause for the whole cast who made this film believable and real, despite its surreality.

If you actually pored over this blog entry but haven't seen the film, I hope you were convinced. Really now. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Must. Buy. Movie. Ticket.

I give this movie an 11 out of 10. Yeah, in my dream world, an 11 out of 10 exists.

I'm on a roll, I suppose, because I feel like writing another entry. Not even writer's block can stop me right now. Ha!

Anyway, I decided to write about something which became quite close to my heart. That's biking.

A lot of my childhood memories involve biking. I remember my very first bike. It was completely orange (it was a favorite color back then). I was five years old and it was the best birthday gift a kid could have ever received. Shortly after, however, someone stole it and I remember crying my eyes out. It wasn't a surprise to receive another bike (this time, a red one) for my sixth birthday.


^{Me at seven years old in Burnham Park, Baguio.
You could (and still can, to this very day) rent bikes and bike around a winding dirt road.}

Cuts, bruises and scabs were very much a part of my growing up years. Band Aid boxes lined our medicine cabinet as did bottles of antiseptic. When I outgrew my training wheels, finally, it was the most liberating experience. Second only to figuring out how to stay afloat while stroking the water (that's for another blog entry; I will and should write about my love affair with swimming).

Even in my preteen and early teen years, I was still biking. In the sixth grade, my girl friends and I would bike around a friend's village to spot the neighborhood basketball heartthrob. I asked for a 7-speed mountain bike for my 13th birthday. In the village where I lived, my neighborhood sidekicks and I would spy on our "enemies" and race back to the village park whenever we were caught.

Years later, as I grew older and busier, biking became obsolete. The surface area of rust that ate into my bike became directly proportional to my interest to pick it up. My mom won a bike in a supermarket raffle when I was in college and I didn't disagree when she asked if we could give it to our then driver. I had other things to do, like studying, going out, meeting up with friends, and yes, swimming.

When I started to work and listen to my colleagues' stories, I was intrigued by what they were sharing. A number of them would bike for long distances. A few of them engaged in dirt trail biking. I'd see pictures of their biking adventures and wish that I had a bike so that I tag could along. But I didn't and couldn't afford a decent one.

What I learned about bikes (which I obviously didn't know as a kid or even a teenager) was simple: you get what you pay for. This, I remembered suddenly as I remember seeing visions of myself fixing my bike chain while my rich neighbors, who owned imported Huffy mountain bikes, would cruise along without interruptions. To be able to bike for 20 kilometeres on average, or to overcome the various bumps and curves involved in trail biking, I'd need a mountain bike with front suspension and branded gear (i.e. Shimano). In my first jobber's mind, USD 195 (or around PhP 9,500) was a lot of money to shell out for a decent mountain bike.

So I let the envy pass and accepted the fact that I would be a biking spectator for a while, listening to their stories, seeing their photos, and wishing that I could try what they talked about. More and more people started to get into biking and this made me really pray for an opportunity to get one of my own.

And an opportunity finally presented itself to me just in June of this year. My boss, who owned a two-year-old Merida Kalahari Six, decided to upgrade to a newer bike instead of spend money to upgrade his bike's individual parts.


^{Photo taken from the Merida website.}

Soon enough, I was sucked into the world of mountain biking. I read up on its various parts and on the different brands. I made sure to note what I needed (i.e. helmet, gloves, hydration pack, odometer, bike bag, bike light, etc.) as I learned more and more about my bike.


^{This was taken the weekend I got my bike.
My accessories, obviously, were pretty basic.}

Then I started to look forward to trips to bike shops as more officemates became equally addicted to biking. I'd make sure to buy at least one accessory every time we went somewhere. Which meant hello to a depleting savings account. Not that I minded, really.


^{Photo taken on my first biking "trip" with colleagues.}

As I started to update people on my biking progress, I soon discovered just how many of my friends were actually into biking. I guess you really have to be in the loop to pay attention to who else shares the same hobbies or passions. Prior to this, I probably would've never been on the lookout.

I found out later on that a good friend from college, Mia, used to bike a lot before. When we were in college, apparently, she and other common friends of ours would bike in school after classes. I never knew that until she told me. I wonder if I would have picked up biking had I known that I'd have friends to bike with.

She said she was inspired by my rekindled love for biking that she was determined to get a bike for herself as well. Just a week after that conversation, she asked if we could meet up. To my surprise, she did get a bike.


^{With my sister (left, on a generic mountain bike that the family now uses) and Mia (right) with her Fuji bike.}

I've since found out about church friends and fellow advertising geeks who bike regularly. A number of us have even formed a non-exclusive, non-serious Facebook group. With matching bike jersey designs to boot, I might add.

Also, since buying an odometer, I'm now more conscious about the distance I cover, even for quick workouts. Since I don't get to really bike every weekend (by "bike", I mean long distances or trail biking), I try to make up for it by going around my village or in the university campus where I studied. I try to log in between 10 and 15 kilometers per session. I'm getting kinda bored of biking around the village, though (imagine whizzing past the same streets, houses, and scenery over and over again, just to reach 10 kilometers).


^{With friends from the advertising industry.
Biking is love!}

I'm still a dirt trail n00b, however. I've yet to work my way over and around bumps and master the very difficult art of climbing.

But I really can't wait to really get my tires muddy and work up a good 30 kilometer-induced sweat. I hope this happens real soon.

Forgive my absence these last few months. I attribute the lack of updates to my laziness (i.e. I could only write in 160 characters) and general lack of a desire to update my blog.

But now that I'm back (hopefully I'll be a regular blogger once more), I have something to tell.

This has probably been the biggest change — if not one of the biggest changes — in the lives of my family members and I: the addition of a third furball.



This is our baby, Buddy, our first Golden Retriever. This photo was taken on his first weekend with us when he was six weeks old. We'd been breeding Labs since 1998, when my uncle gave me my first Lab, Ashley. Since then, we kind of grew addicted to the breed and we were only raising Labs. My sister, however, decided that she wanted to get a Golden Retriever last April since: a) she got really high grades in school the semester before (she's in the running for Cum Laude in March 2011, when she graduates from university); and, b) she was so affected by the movie Hachi (the one with Richard Gere).

So I looked at online dog ads (that was how I got Cassie, our chocolate Labrador, four years ago). After going through several ads and contacting several breeders, my sister and I eventually fell in love with the baby picture that his breeder posted.


^{Seriously. How could you say no to this face?}

We got him when he was six weeks old (normally, breeders release their puppies at eight weeks, after they've been weaned) but the breeder had other buyers in mind, just in case my sister were to decline his offer. Being one of the most competitive people on the planet, she said yes to him and made her rounds in the house. With a "Buddy Fund" envelope in hand, she asked the rest of the family to contribute to the acquisition of her dream dog. That's the way she rolls.

One week later, this seemingly shy, sleepy-all-day, cream-colored Golden Retriever joined our six-human, two-dog family. He was the sweetest, gentlest thing. Or so we thought.

Until he started to grow. And until we discovered that he had razor sharp baby teeth.


^{Buddy at eight weeks old.}

He was a good puppy toilet training-wise. But he loved to chew. Plants, wires, shoes, slippers, socks, rugs, carpets. You name it, he chewed on it.

He soon outgrew his puppy cage and we upgraded him to a bigger cage. Then at 11 weeks, he completed all of his puppy shots and he was free to experience the joys of walking on a leash.


^{Helping himself to a doggie "buffet" at his first dog party.
Photo taken when he was 12 weeks old.}

From being trained to do his business in our garden, he learned to do it outdoors. Now, he looks forward to being walked at least twice a day: after breakfast and after dinner.

He continued to grow almost an inch a day (I'm not exaggerating). Soon, he was able to jump on or over couches and furniture.

At 16 weeks old, he discovered the joys of lying down on the couch while his humans watched TV.


^{Buddy snacking on his favorite doggie biscuits.}

He looked like a lanky teenager around that time. He had lost his cute "puppy size" and he was shedding all of his baby fur.

Suddenly, he grew almost overnight; not just height and length-wise but fur-wise as well. He had this new layer of wavy, coarse fur that we weren't used to. Our Labs' much shorter but equally dense coat never needed brushing. Suddenly, we found ourselves brushing Buddy's fur every chance we got.


^{At a very young age of 20 weeks, he was just two inches shorter than our full-grown Labradors.}

It's really amazing to see how fast he's growing. He outgrows collars and leashes in weeks. His adult-size crate is too small for him now. Our two adult Labs can't bully him anymore since he's practically their size.

Also, he's pretty funny to look at after being given a bath because his wavy coat isn't quite the long, silky kind that adult Golden Retrievers have. Yet, at least. So he looks more like a confused lamb when he's wet.


^{Buddy at 21 weeks.
Photo taken just this weekend.}

Needless to say, you can expect more Buddy Chronicles in here within the next few months. I wonder how much bigger he'll get, really, considering he's not even six months old.

Other updates/musings/reviews/whatnot to follow in future blog entries. I promise not to be a negligent blog owner anymore.

(Also, because I'm paying for this domain. It better be worth every cent I shelled out.)

I hope you're doing well, Blog Reader, if you're still out there!