Contradiction in Terms
You say to-may-toe; I say toh-mah-tah. Deal with it.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Yes, I KNOW…

I’ve been blog-silent for over a month. So look, in order to prevent this sort of thing from recurring, here’s what I need you to say to me next December, when clients start offering me their annual reports and sundry projects for the first quarter of the coming year. You will know it’s time to speak up when you see visions of peso signs dancing over my head, in lieu of the seasonal sugar plums.

YOU: Listen, la femme Nikita, no doubt you have once more managed to blow all your cash on shopping for Christmas, your wedding anniversary, and your husband’s birthday.

ME (feigning wide-eyed innocence): Who, me?

YOU (ignoring my disingenuousness): Yes, you. And now you are desperate to refill the old cashbox, and all too ready to prostitute your time and what writing ability you have at the altar of the almighty buck.

ME: Hey, corporate capitalists deserve empathy and support, too.

YOU: As your friend, it is my duty to remind you that while pursuit of one’s career is a noble and high-minded thing, nevertheless, there are some things that are beyond even your ludicrous work fees. Such as your sanity, for instance.

ME: Oh, that old thing. I know I left it lying around here someplace.

YOU: I’m not saying you should turn all the projects down. Just take what you can actually do without risking insanity.

ME: Oh, come on. What’s a little insanity when the end result (i.e., money) can buy you really ritzy body lotion? And lots of books! And new toys for the iPod!

Please note that if you actually let me get that far into the conversation, you will have failed already, as I will then promptly go into rapturous vacuity imagining all the stuff I will be able to buy… at the bargain price of my mental health! You must be firm and unyielding, and self-sacrificing enough not to mind that I will probably revoke your Christmas present out of sheer pique at your having the nerve to be right.

Well, I’ve told you I’m not an easy friend to keep, haven’t I?
Nikki bit in at 3:07 PM :: ::

In the meantime, while I was out of the blogosphere…

Sage turned four and I turned thirty-three. My birthday has mysteriously been going on for over a month now, with Husband showering me with a plethora of presents that culminated in an iPod with video last week. Isn’t he just the bestest? Among other things, he also gave me a new worktable and a hardcover edition of Matt Wagner’s Mage: the Hero Defined.

Which is why I’m treating myself to a hardcover edition of the prequel, Mage: the Hero Discovered, from El. He’s selling off some of his old comics trade paperbacks and whatnots; and knowing El, all this stuff is no doubt in prime condition, so if you’re into grafiction, check out his for-sale list here.

Gigi’s got a new site, Beauty Jones, where she waxes euphoric on all things fashion-, fragrance-, and beauty-related. I had the privilege of finally meeting her in person for koffee and kibitzing the last time she was in Manila; and we spent a grand afternoon snickering and trading stories (about which we snickered some more). The woman really is every bit as cool as I always suspected. Gigi, let’s set a date the next time you’re in town, and I will go with you to Tiendesitas and whithersoever thou wouldst journey!

Jeremy also has a new site, a portfolio-cum-store of sorts featuring his terrific artistic work in a variety of media. If you’re looking for an illustrator-type person for whatever reason, check it out—and if not, check it out anyway, if only for the unholy glee of playing with the opening graphic in order to get Jeremy punched in the face by his monitor. Jeremy, man, I’m sorry, but I’m taking out my work stress on you—you are a true friend to make yourself available as an outlet for aggression!

Lastest but mostest, Dean’s first novel, Salamanca, will be launched this Saturday, April 1 at Fully Booked Greenhills at 4 p.m. Despite the somewhat ominous choice of date, this is Not a Hoax! Not a What If! Not an Imaginary Story! My brilliant husband’s magical tale of love, loss, and legend is being published just seven months after it won the grand prize for novel at last year’s Palanca awards. I will be verrry cross with you if you do not attend, so show up! Else face the magnitude of my Dire Ire… I’m responsible for, like, seven words in the whole thing, being its first editor, so when you read the word “abundant”, think of me, haha!
By the way, I tried weeding out the dead links in my links list; but if you, like me, are merely on hiatus and I’ve mistakenly erased you, do let me know and I will reinstate your name posthaste.
Nikki bit in at 2:55 PM :: ::
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Nikki Alfar is really not as sexy as El's illustration would have you believe... but she doesn't mind if you think of her that way.
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