Punzi's Corner Blog

It's beginning to be a frenzy over at work these past few days.

Personally, I'm swamped quite a lot of big cases and projects. To put work into perspective, I had a major project between late 2006 and early 2007 that had me working through the holidays, my birthday and a good part of January 2007.

Now, I have around five of those, maybe more. I forgot to check.

One good thing though. On that one project in the past, we were only three people working on it (clients not included). Now, we have an entire complement of lawyers, secretaries and other non-legal staff working on these projects.

As I said to my law partner, it was a good thing we expanded. We could not handle the big leagues if we were just a fledgling practice of two.

And for all of these, I am truly grateful.

It was Nico's graduation from preschool yesterday. Before getting their certificates, they had some production numbers. For the first number, he donned his Muslim dress and joined his classmates in a number with peace and co-existence as its theme. Then, he put on some casual clothes for a "hip-hop" dance number. Then the whole student population (of around 25+ pupils) gathered to sing "I Will" of the Beatles.

They were a small graduating batch of only 6 pupils. As their teacher said, each of them passed the schools they applied for. Nico himself will be attending my alma mater, Ateneo de Manila Grade School in a few months.

I myself attended a "Awareness of School Expectation Session" with AGSB last Thursday, where a teacher explained to me what they expect from Nico attending a big school. I'm pretty sure that the school he graduated from prepared him well. But just the same, I will discuss with his present teachers these expectation to see if there is still some things I can do to prepare Nico for Ateneo during the next few months.

Nico has proven to be a smart, alert, curious and resilient boy these past two years in preschool. I hope he grows and develops well in his new school.

Last night, our firm celebrated its first year of formal existence.

We had a small gathering with family and friends. So my kids and my parents saw our offices for the very first time.

I think they liked our office and are proud of our achievements so far.

We also had the privilege of having Paolo Santos play a few songs for us during the festivities. I wish I could have brought my flute, Al or Clarry 2 last night but of course, I did not want to ruin Paolo's performance, you know.

Much as I would have liked to stay, Bea still has some exams today and my parents are not used to partying well into the night. So we went home at around 9:00 p.m. Thought about going back but I was tired already.

As our managing partner said last night, we are looking forward to seeing our friends for our second, our third, the fifth, the tenth, the twentieth anniversary of our firm and beyond.

Let's see...

Yes, I know I had to show up in the office early because I had some crucial meetings.

Yes, I had two major meetings, both of them with the valued clients of our office.

Yes, I know there were about three meetings in the office at one time.

Yes, I know that our PABX contractor chose to install our system while all of these were happening today.

Yes, I know that I have to read and study all the documents as a result of all these meetings.

Yes, I know that another major concern of another client popped up a while later.

But I'm a dad first.

I had to go home earlier so I can help Bea review for her final exams. She was studying Science, but she needed help in Math.

So after a few hours reviewing Science, we sat down and I took her through her Math content.

And I can't believe Grade 4 Math is so advanced already. It's not as if I can handle it. I'm not sure, though, if Bea and her classmates can handle math at this level.

Anyway, I did what I could do and we just finished. Bea's sleeping now.

And I'm exhausted from all I did this day.

But there's still work to do...

It was a full day yesterday.

Helped Bea with her studies in the morning and then had a meeting in the afternoon.

That meeting spilled over until about 11:30 p.m., making my Sunday an actual working day.

The good side of yesterday was the opportunity to eat at what everyone considers as the best buffet place in town. While the food was good, and the place really expensive, I've eaten in better places. Clearly, it's not the best place I've eaten.

This does not mean I did not have my fill, though. But I'm already a veteran of buffet places. I already know not to heap piles upon piles of food at one go. I now go for small portions, sampling rather than going for quantity.

Hence, I did not overeat.

Also, it was a chance to catch up because we had a meeting with an old friend from law school. Plus, I bumped into a teacher-couple from law school who dropped off their daughter for her prom.

So now, I'm preparing for what will be a very busy week for all of us. But I think this Monday will dictate the tempo and mood of the entire week.

Let's just hope this Monday will be a good day.

Things the office has become a bit hectic lately, and will become even more hectic in the days to come (leading up to the Holy Week break).

So I'm savoring this day of rest.

But this is not entirely a slow day. Ran a few errands and attended Nico's school function. Chamber session in the afternoon. Choir service in the evening and the monthly practice afterwards. This day will pretty much end for me at around 11:00 p.m.

But still I have a couple of hours just to relax. And of course, the chamber and choir session is not work for me either.

This is my only rest day for this week. I have work tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow is Sunday.

So have a good weekend.

Just goes to show how old I'm getting.

My old boss once told us, you'll know you're getting old when you can't keep up with the latest songs. So there he was sometime in the late 90s accompanying his teenage daughter to an Alanis Morisette concert when he was in his middle forties.

Back to the topic, I just recently discovered this indie band from UST called Mithi (rough translation: yearn) that features a flute player. I think that's cool (to borrow one of Nico's favorite phrases). This song is in Filipino but I don't have the time to translate it. I can't even find the lyrics for the song.

I particularly enjoy the flute licks. But that's probably just me.

Enjoy.

By some twist of fate, my workday yesterday started at around 6:00 p.m. and ended at around midnight.

I had a meeting with a potential client about their direction they will be taking in the future. Hopefully, that future involves some work opportunities for us.

I was really taking the task they had to accomplish lightly until that meeting last night. But after that meeting, the enormity of the task at had dawned upon me.

But mind you, they endeavor to improve the lives of the poor in this country. And I personally think it is a worthwhile task. Also, it will give as a chance to work with the finest minds in finance and the developmental field.

Hope this is the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with that group. And it's also another chance to work with my best friend, who brought me in that meeting yesterday, again.

First, I like to state for the record that chamber sessions last Saturday was the perfect prescription for the blues. We started at 2:00 p.m. and ended about 6:00 p.m.

As we were packing up after mass, I was approached by a neighbor asking us a favor. They had to sing for a mass this coming Wednesday and they had no instrumentalist to accompany them. She asked us to record the instrumental accompaniment.

Had she had some recording equipment that time, we could have just performed the song for a few minutes. But she did not.

So I had no alternative but to record the songs in the computer and merely email the midi file to her the next day.

From experience, I used the think that will be a long, slow process. I am a bit rusty in the keyboard, as I have been concentrating on my wind instruments of late. Because of that, I thought it would take hours of repeated rehearsals to put up a decent recording.

But technology came to the rescue. The software I used allowed me to easily cover up or correct my performance mistakes. It was just a matter of deleting or correcting the rogue notes. I even re-recorded a new intro and simply pasted it with the rest of the song.

With that, it only took me just a little over and hour to do. But it was nothing fancy though. I only made the piano track and did not put additional instruments.

Anyway, we had a visit from some next-door neighbors from my old house (and hence, very good friends). And we enjoyed that visit, as they stayed way into the night. It was a good time to catch up on stories. It was also a good time for Bea to spend some time with her best friend.

In all, it was a very good weekend. It was just the thing I need to get through what happened last week.

Here's to a better week ahead of us.

Swiped this from someone's Facebook profile. Not waiting to get tagged on this as I desperately need a change of pace this week.

LASTS:
1. Last beverage→water
2. Last phone call→ a few minutes ago to Ynzal
3. Last text message→ a few minutes ago also
4. Last song you listened to--> Entr'Acte from Phantom of the Opera (original London cast)
5. Last time you cried→ recently I can assure you.

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice → Of course.
7. Been cheated on? → Of course
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → No.
9. Lost someone special? → Yes.
10. Been depressed? → Yes
11. Been drunk and threw up? → Yes

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS:
12. Blue
13. Gray
14. White
15. Blue-grey

HAVE YOU:
16. Made new friends → Yes
17. Fallen out of love → Yes
18. Laughed until you cried → Yes
19. Met someone who changed you → Yes
20. Found out who your true friends were → Yes
21. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes
22. Kissed anyone on your friend's list→ I don't think so.
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → most of them, the others I know from blogging
24. How many kids do you want to have→ already ok at 2
25. Do you have any pets → No
26. Do you want to change your name→ No
27. What did you do for your last birthday → Small reunion party at home
28. What time did you wake up today → 8:00 AM.
29. What were you doing at midnight last night? → Taking the fifth on that one
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for → Godot
31. Last time you saw your father→ A few minutes ago
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → No regrets.
33. What are you listening to right now → Audio of "How Stuff Works" TV show in Discovery
34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes
35. What's getting on your nerves right now? → none
36. Most visited web page → Facebook, Blogger, Multiply, Bukas Palad online
37. What's your name→ not putting it in this blog
38. Nicknames→ Punzi
39. Relationship Status: Single.
40. Zodiac sign → Capricorn
41. Male or female or transgendered → Male
42. College → ADMU
43. Hair color → black
44. Long or short → very short
45. Height → 5’5
46. Do you have a crush on someone? → not now
47: What do you like about yourself? → always smiling
48. Piercings → none
49. Tattoos → none
50. Righty or lefty → Righty
51. Recreation- computers, TV, books, music making and listening

FIRSTS :
52. First surgery → None
53. First piercing → None
54. First best friends → don't remember
55. First sport you joined → Soccer
56. First pet --> dog
57. First vacation → Baguio
58. First concert → don't remember
59. First crush → a girl named...

RIGHT NOW:
60. Eating → about to
50. Drinking → no
51.I'm about to → eat
53. Listening to → the audio of the TV as it's behind me while I do this entry
55. Waiting for → Godot?

YOUR FUTURE:
56. Want kids? → Already have
57. Want to get married? → Get unmarried is more accurate
58. Careers in mind? → musician

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
59. Lips or eyes → The eyes
60. Hugs or kisses → hugs
70. Shorter or taller → shorter
71. Older or Younger → Younger, definitely
72. Romantic or spontaneous → romantic
73. Nice stomach or nice arms → stomach
74. Sensitive or loud → sensitive
75. Hook-up or relationship → hook up na lang
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → hesitant. had enough trouble already

HAVE YOU EVER :

78. Kissed a stranger → No.
79. Drank hard liquor → Yes
80. Lost glasses/contacts → I don't think so
81. Sex on first date → Invoking my right to remain silent.
82. Broken someone's heart → I think so. I really don't know
83. Had your own heart broken→ shattered
84. Been arrested → no
85. Turned someone down → no
86. Cried when someone died → of course
87. Liked a friend that is a girl? → I'm male, remember

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

88. Yourself → Yes
89. Miracles → Yes
90. Love at first sight → Probably not
91. Heaven → Yes
92. Santa Claus → yes
93. Kiss on the first date? → yes, a friendly kiss goodnight
94. Angels → Yes.
95. Your bf/ gf is your bestfriend --> yes
96. Fate/ Destiny- no
97. Love is a decision- Yes.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
98. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → No.
99. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → No.
100. Posting these as 100 Truths? → Yes

All 'Bout the Money
Meja

Sometimes I find another world
inside my mind
when I realise
the crazy things we do
It makes me feel ashamed to be alive
It makes me wanna run away and hide

It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum.......
And I don't think It's funny
to see us fade away
It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
and I think we got it all wrong anyway

We find strange ways of showing
them how much we really care
when in fact
we just don't seem to care at all
This pretty world
is getting out of hand
So tell me how we fail to understand?

It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum.......
And I don?t think It?s funny
to see us fade away
It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
and I think we got it all wrong anyway
Anyway

Cause it's all 'bout the money

It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
And I don't think it's funny
to see us fade away
It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
and I think we got it all wrong
Anyway

It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
And I don't think it's funny
to see us fade away
It's all 'bout the money
It's all 'bout the dum dum...
and I think we got it all wrong anyway
Anyway

Sorry for not blogging as much of late.

Going through some tough times, so this entry will be brief.

Yes, this, too, shall pass.

Wish us all luck.

What about that continuing Legacy saga that unfolded some more today?

At some point, I think our government regulators and officials feel the same as Rush Limbaugh feels about Barack Obama. Seems like our regulators, like Rush, want people to fail.

Because in their failure, there are opportunities. Opportunities to earn... experience.

When government is already at that level, it's time for a purge. And there will be a purge, one way or another. We all have our breaking points, you know.

On the home front, I had to perform a little purge of my own. Again, I won't go into details.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day. I'm just grateful for this one, one way or another.

I hope you had a good day today, too, more or less.

Kaleidoscope World
(the late great Francis M with Parokya ni Edgar)

So many faces, so many races
Different voices, different choices
Some are mad, while others laugh
Some live alone with no better half
Others grieve while others curse
And others mourn behind a big black hearse
Some are pure and some half-bred
Some are sober and some are wasted
Some are rich because of fate and
Some are poor with no food on their plate
Some stand out while others blend
Some are fat and stout while some are thin
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most

Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world

Some are great and some are few
Others lie while some tell the truth
Some say poems and some do sing
Others sing through their guitar strings
Some know it all while some act dumb
Let the bassline strum to the bang of the drum
Some can swim while some will sink
And some will find their minds and think
Others walk while others run
You can't talk peace and have a gun
Some are hurt and start to cry
Don't ask me how don't ask me why
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most

Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world

Stay
Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories

You say I only hear what I want to.
You say I talk so all the time so.
And I thought what I felt was simple,
and I thought that I don't belong,
and now that I am leaving,
now I know that I did something wrong 'cause I missed you.
Yeah yeah, I missed you.
And you say I only hear what I want to:
I don't listen hard,
don't pay attention to the distance that you're running
to anyone, anywhere,
I don't understand if you really care,
I'm only hearing negative: no, no, no.
So I turned the radio on, I turned the radio up,
and this woman was singing my song:
lover's in love, and the other's run away,
lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay.
Some of us hover when we weep for the other who was
dying since the day they were born.
Well, well, this is not that;
I think that I'm throwing, but I'm thrown.
And I thought I'd live forever, but now I'm not so sure.
You try to tell me that I'm clever,
but that won't take me anyhow, or anywhere with you.
You said that I was naive,
and I thought that I was strong.
I thought, "hey, I can leave, I can leave."
Oh, but now I know that I was wrong, 'cause I missed you.
Yeah, I miss you.
You said, "I caught you 'cause I want you and one day I'll let you go."
You try to give away a keeper, or keep me 'cause you know you're just
scared to lose.
And you say, "Stay."
And you say I only hear what I want to.

Have to take a break from dealing with so much work today and tomorrow to take care of things in the home front.

Yes I know I'm getting busy these days. But I don't want to neglect the home front, especially now when I have to deal with something. And believe me, it's something serious. I just don't want to put details here.

I was hoping I would deal with these matters later than sooner. But as fate would have it, I have to deal with them now. I'm still grateful, however, that I'm dealing with them now so I can nip it in the bud.

So, if there are no pressing matters tomorrow, I will not be in the office and I will choose to be with my kids instead. Kids trump work anyday.

Wish me luck.

Yesterday was mainly dedicated to administrative matters both in my consultancy and in our law office.

Since it was Nico's field trip (that I could not join), I went early to my consultancy to file some reports. These reports were mainly paperwork needed as a formality to getting paid.

Then, it was off to my office to announce and implement some of the things we agreed upon during the planning session. We gathered our non-legal staff (translation: our employees who are not lawyers) to announce the matters that would affect them. We will do the same with our legal staff today during our weekly lawyers meeting.

I will have some time, therefore, between now and that meeting. I'll just do some work from home and probably start on the things I have to do in my consultancy for this month.

I have to go now. I have to prepare to take Bea to school and then get some rest.

Three words: eat and work

We started our 3rd planning session at around 10:00 a.m. when the last of our partners arrived and ended about twelve hours later.

It was a grueling session. There were a lot of hard decisions, decisions that will change lives.

Of course, I cannot go into details. But suffice it to say, it was a very productive session. And it was light years away from the first session we had about a year ago. Then, we were just making plans. Yesterday, were looking forward and backward.

I arrived back home around 10:00 a.m. After resting and eating, I'm just gearing up to go to mass because I did not play yesterday.

Hopefully, it will be a good week next week. Hopefully, it will be a good year this year.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.