a little joke from upstairs?

For the past five Sundays I've been buying The Philippine Star not because I enjoy reading columns by the likes of Bum Tenorio Jr. and Korina Sanchez - or even Max Soliven, for that matter - but because it is the day they publish the weekly winner for National Bookstore's "My Favorite Book" writing contest. Like in Lotto, I'd been checking if I won anything more than another week of hoping.

But for some still unexplained circumstances, the Star my brother bought yesterday lacked one section. And of the nine sections the paper has every Sunday, the one missing was the one that had my (winning) piece on it. Imagine that! So I had to go out and make the Belmonte-Gos richer by buying another copy. (Sure I can always complain and return the paper to the source, but try doing that to a fat, tattooed news guy who looks like he gargles razorblades with gin bulag for fun. You're lucky if he only spits on your face.) Either God has a wicked sense of humor, or He just loves Filipino-Chinese businessmen very much. I was lucky my fiancee's uncle informed us of the good news (and asked for a balato in the process. But he's only kidding, I presume). Otherwise I'd still be spending Sundays reading Celine Lopez and wondering if she has other things in mind aside from being beautiful.