Althea Writes Here

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with old friends in Quiapo. I had posted on Facebook that my dog ate my glasses, and Tracey suggested we get new pairs made on Paterno Street. Two other friends decided to come, and that's how four of us bespectacled Gen Xers ended up in Quiapo one afternoon, having glasses made and eating Jolli Dada's pancit palabok, then buying marble mortar and pestles under the Quiapo Bridge. Later, we'd decide to have coffee, cake, and nachos at La Cathedral Cafe Intramuros.  I've gone back to Quiapo two times since.  First, I brought Keona and we had a tour of Escolta, Quiapo, and Intramuros. Escolta was pretty much empty so the walk was pleasant. We went to HUB: Make Lab at the First United Building, where we shopped a little and had coffee. Then we walked to Quiapo where we also did some shopping. Keona didn't realize she was hungry until we had fried chicken and rice in front of us at Ristorante delle Mitre in Intramuros. She'd been there

I finally opened my personal laptop today and was reminded of this blog. So: hello. I'm in the market for a new laptop because the one I have is already excruciatingly slow. But the process of buying a new gadget if you have little technical knowledge and limited funds can also be a pain that I find myself avoiding. Anyway. A lot has happened since my last post. A lot of heartbreak and disappointment, but also a lot of things I am grateful for. It's been slow, but I have been moving. Since the end of January, I've been focused on doing well in my new job. But in July I decided that I was slipping back to my old habit of making work the center of my life so I decided to do a little decoupling and recoupling.  As each day passes, I am increasingly aware of how short life is and how limited my time is. I want to spend my time on beautiful things and I can do that at work, thank God, but I can do that even more in my life outside of it. So that is what I will dedicate August to