Over two years ago our hospital pathologist, Dr. Cassie Sandsmark, gave me one of her Persian kittens. We named her Clawie. She grew up to be a moody, feisty cat with bouts of niceness, but she was definitely not nice… Read More ›
Blogs
In The Balkans
The first thing we noticed when Alanis Cornucopia emerged out of the Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport was her limp. She had taken a flight to Croatia after attending an oncology convention in Madrid, and waiting for her at the… Read More ›
Not A Junkie This Time!
So I was able to visit Hongkong again last December. The last time I was there was in 2012, when I was still an oncology fellow-in-training. It was our section outing (Section of Medical Oncology), and it was memorable because… Read More ›
Hemorrhagic January
I recently had my sister, Samantha Lee Mulder, admitted for abnormal uterine bleeding. Initially she just wanted to “observe” it, insisting that her hormones were just not working properly and that she thinks she’s approaching menopause. She finally relented when… Read More ›
Smoketh’s State of Sullenness
We were finally able to pull Smoketh out of bed for our Christmas dinner with Mrs. T and Amelia Borrelia, and to be fair it didn’t require blackmailing, threats of physical violence, or the use of a magnetic crane. Six… Read More ›
Philhealth Day
Was able to renew my Philhealth accreditation yesterday, and as always whenever I successfully complete a transaction with a government office I feel like I have majorly achieved something. Similar anxiety-inducing transactions include drivers’ license renewal with LTO, passport renewal… Read More ›
The Calorifficest Weekend of 2024
Went on a quick trip to Boracay, as in Friday to Sunday quick, and I am now feeling the repercussions of my debauchery! Two days back into work and I feel like I need to plot a mini-vacation again. It’s… Read More ›
First Christmas Party of 2024
Attended my first Christmas party of the year, primarily because it was organized by my friend Dan who is the husband of my friend Hatchett. The Department of Internal Medicine of the Healthway Qualimed Sta. Rosa hospital held the party… Read More ›
The Surprise Weeknd
Our flight to Sydney was delayed an hour, then two hours, then three. The Qantas staff said it’s some engineering concern. Three hours later we still hadn’t boarded, so we just gave up and assumed it wouldn’t push through. Besides,… Read More ›
Velvety Star
Back in elementary school one of our first quizzes in grammar involved supplying the correct article of a word. I got a zero, because “a elephant” and “an crowbar” sounded mighty fine to me. My seatmate, Frannie Martinez, got five… Read More ›
Beware!
Was able to drop by Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Baguio to get my fill of Filipino-authored books. As a vanity exercise of course I checked if my book was still being sold, and I couldn’t find it anywhere in the… Read More ›
No
As soon as I saw the name Dr. Louis La Fayette blinking wildly on the caller ID I developed the sudden compulsion to whine, throw the phone on the floor, pour boiling coffee on it, and give it one exasperated… Read More ›
New Shelf!
For a couple of years now I’ve been stashing my books in an old closet, and I realized that because I don’t really see these books all that often I tend to accumulate unread books! To solve this I bought… Read More ›
My Gen-Z Day
I see I’ve forgotten all about this blog again! I just console myself with my belief that most of the writing happens in the brain, while taking a shower, while eating lunch in Jollibee, while staring at the ceiling, but… Read More ›
Transitive
And just when I thought I have successfully scheduled an entire week just for writing, I realized that many of my patients’s chemotherapy sessions would have to be scheduled on the Monday of that week. I said, ok maybe the… Read More ›
Trying Out Blogging Using The New Jetpack app…
… by posting my new Street Fighter II action figures from Jada Toys! I haven’t bought new action figures since a year ago, but these are too nice to pass on, specially for this SRP! Pardon the disorganized books, yet… Read More ›
Summer Kneading
This terrible summer heat–the type that makes me feel like I will combust in the middle of doing chemo–reminds me of a situation that my friend Mrs. T had found herself in a few decades ago. I asked her if… Read More ›
Interview with The Post Ph
The challenge with interviews is not repeating most of what I’ve already said in the previous interviews and book reviews, and teacher Mok’s questions had allowed me to tell more behind the scenes stuff. More than anybody can have any… Read More ›
EDGLC Wins at the National Book Awards!
Had a great time at last Saturday’s awards night for the 41st National Book Awards. Even Ducks Get Liver Cancer and Other Medical Misadventures wins for the Best Non-Fiction Prose in English, tied with the biography of Senator Rodolfo Biazon… Read More ›
& More. For More!
When we were discussing where we would hold my book launch way back in November 2022 my publisher, Atty. Andrea, suggested to have it in this coffeeshop which I refer to in the book as The Shrine Motherfucker Cafe. Obviously… Read More ›
Supposed Former Melancholia Junkie 