Spending money for other people feels pretty damn good. I've never been much of a shopper. In fact, I tend to buy everything from the first store I step into, as compared to my brother who spends hours deciding on a pair of jeans. He always used to walk from one end of Greenhills to the other, trying stuff on and putting them back. Trying stuff on and putting them back. Trying stuff on and, finally, getting yelled at by our mother.

Today I bought things for BJ, something that I rarely get to do because, apart from him being 8,000 miles away, really, how much more difficult can it be to shop for a boy? It's so easy to make girls smile. Lou got me 3 pairs of socks for Christmas once, and it made me so happy that I rotated all three of them twice a week (washed, mind you). There was a blue pair with a butterfly with "Happy Birthday" written on (a friend of mine who saw it said "Ang labo, bakit have a nice day?"), a pink pair with a bear (astig, rhymed!), and a neon green pair with bees (so ugly it was beautiful).

Anyway, yeah. Boys and gifts. When I was in high school, it was mandatory that you give gifts to half the kids in your class. Well thought out gifts. If you gave them picture frames you were so out of it. It took away a massive part of my allowance. Imagine, starving yourself for kids you were never even sure you liked? Never again. I was always in a big rut when it came to thinking of gifts for my guy friends and one day, having had enough of it, I gave three of my best guy friends Sesame Street dolls. The useless, palm-sized Elmo dolls that had no function, whatsoever. They looked at me like I was insane. Bahala sila.

Here's a tip for the boys out there: Just tell us what you want, dammit. Actually, that goes out to the girls as well. I don't like having to think my brain off and then end up disappointing you. That's actually why I always tell everyone what I want. When my friends ask me what I want, I hit them back with, "How much are you willing to spend?" or else just straight-out "I want ____. Can you afford it? Great. Thanks, now what do you want?"

Easy.

That's it for today kids. Tomorrow, our lesson is, "On Pretty Words and How To Use Them." Or "On Reading and How Much I've Missed it."