# 25 you've got mail !!

mr. postman, look and see if there's a letter in your bag for me....

when this beatles song was number one, the post office was the only way to send mail.  no one called it snail mail in its heyday.  when was the last time a postman came knocking on your door? centuries ago? then again, who sends mail via the post office nowadays? anyone who submits a post office-stamped envelope when asked for a self-addressed envelope for a college entrance examination cannot expect the test permit to arrive before the date of the exams. when there is much to be desired with  the local post office, as it is in our part of the world, you just have to grin and bear it.  ours may not be as slow as a snail though.  a sloth perhaps.  once again,  our postal service is filipino pacing at its worst.

time was when writing on someone's wall embodied bad behavior.  in the  twenty-first century, someone's wall is the new post office. in this time of tweets and posts, e-cards, email and e-everything else, real time is of the essence. sending that birthday wish or congratulatory greeting is done in a nanosecond. touching base with someone using a stationery or specially-designed card is abandoned in favor of the digital kind of correspondence.

handwritten cards and notes warm the heart.  it may come in ordinary envelopes but the coziness and familiarity that exudes from longhand scribbles transcends  trite acquaintanceship.

how many times have you heard yourself say that you have not written anything on paper for the longest time. you have forgotten how to write legibly.  this is true.  sad but true. the keypad, keyboard and for that matter, the touchscreen has paved the way for the extinction of the pen and paper. this progression is inevitable. without doubt, its benefits far exceed its handicaps.

once in a while, however, you long for the warmth of a handwritten card.  out there, someone you know may be on the same wavelength as you are. someone may be homesick for your handwriting. go ahead, send that card.  never mind if your writing is illegible. she will figure it out.  put in a little smiley all drawn out in ink. paint it with those highlighter pens that come in different colors. that will surely put a smile on someone's face. a smiley for a smile.  isn't that awesome?

# 21 spellbound !!!

you have yet to read his books.  you are introduced to one of his works;  it comes with a good recommendation.  a must read you are told. you put it aside thinking you would come back for it sometime. it would take months. there are other titles more appealing, more covers on the shelf that seem to beckon you like a lighthouse to a passing ship. his books can wait. or so you thought.  one day, you get curious and finally open his book.  the prologue holds promise.

such promise indeed !! nail-biting suspense, heart-thumping thriller, cliff-hanging storyline, bone-chilling drama, mind-twisting whodunits - okay, enough said of meltzer's books.

captive - that's you after reading his first book. you are held hostage by the pages. you have errands to do but you can't do anything else until the last page has been flipped. the last line finally brings you that sigh of relief as you dab the sweat off your brows.  calm now, you tell your beating heart, it is over. the good guy has won - wounded, dazed and bloodied but victorious. you know you have to get a hold of his other books and you know exactly where to go.

booksale is a haven for book hounds whose tight budgets forbid them to buy new books. this nook has treats for everyone - fiction, non-fiction, soft bounds, hard bounds, cookbooks, maps, children's books, magazines, review books.  it takes a lot of searching but you find a couple more of meltzer's books here. you swoop them up and head straight to the cashier.

there is only one book missing in your meltzer collection. you know you will find it the next time you go to booksale. a good price for a good read. isn't that awesome?

# 6 collect all 5 !!!

a double take....that's what happens when you see one of those eye-catchers on a grocery shelf -- a very cute basketball and and an equally cute soccer ball right beside it!  and wait, is that another ball behind it? you tell yourself you are not a sucker for those impractical and unusable marketing ploys and yet the balls endear themselves to you.  in a practically hypnotic spell, you reach out for one. just one, you tell yourself.

each ball comes with a one-kilo pack of MILO

in a heartbeat, five 1-kg packs are in your cart like a typhoon advisory has been issued and you are panic buying.  that's more than you would need for the next quarter of the year. for a split second, a guilt trip snakes its way into your consciousness but you shake it away. you tell yourself, it is not just any chocolate drink, it is THE chocolate drink of your childhood and yes, you know the lyrics of the jingle and aren't the balls so adorable?  if you buy one pack at a time, the balls might be all gone. without turning back, you go straight to the next aisle, all 5 packs securely piled up in your cart.

you can't resist the urge to collect all 5, impulse buying be damned !

a toast to marketing gurus and the suckers who keep them goin' !!!  isn't that awesome?