ROYAL MAILBAG!

Cool! I didn't realize there were a bunch of recent comments on some earlier posts. This gives me a chance to pretend I'm doing one of those reader mail columns (or as the British call it, "another thing soon to be privatised"). Let's get right to them:

wow wonderful.looking forward to following you on twitter. the LLDD-baby is so cute! happy new year! Posted by aNgeLjOy

Why thank you ms. case-sensitive-username-I-cant-spell-because-im-typing-right-now-while-eating-a-burrito. But I don't think I'll ever take to twitter because taking care of the LLDD-Baby uses up most of my time now, plus it's too hard to tweet with one hand while carrying the little monster in the other. I can't multitask is what I'm saying.

amateur

Your blog posts are always amusing :) and of course right on target. I took the 2011 exam and made it to the written exam. You are so right about the preparation part. No amount of cramming will ever help if you're not a wide reader. I nearly made it to the cut-off missing it by 6 points. I will take the exam again this year hoping that last year's experience will help me to be more at ease and finally get that 6 points to make it to the next level :) Posted by Anonymous

Atta boy! Er, girl? UP Student Council President? Whatever, you just keep reading the good newspapers, practice your long-form writing and every so often break out into public speaking/interpretative dance, and you should be good for the next exams. And I wouldn't fret about the cut-off because (I think) the thing's moveable depending on the number of open slots to fill, and should never be taken as the end-all be-all. As a very wise man put it, "There's just so much talent this season, dawg, and we can only put through the best of the best of the best, and we have to send home some really talented people, you know what I'm saying? I mean, we got to look at everyone's entire body of work...it's hard dawg, it's hard. But you know what? YOU'RE GOING TO HOLLYWOOD under the consular jurisdiction of Los Angeles PCG!

You can EARN TWICE MORE, confirm your real abilities and knowledge with the diploma. It is YOUR CHANCE Some people are spending many years for getting their degree! But you can get it within a shorter period of time! Bachelors, Masters, MBA and/or Doctorate (PhD). Moreover you don’t need to go to university and suffer all those boring long lectures! Posted by Bliss

Ok, that one might actually be spam that somehow got through to the comments section. Still, good to know Bliss can hook me up.

On the picture "Baptism of Fire", I know that church and the priest :) It's the parish where I serve... Nice :). Posted by Anonymous

Funny thing, the priest throughout the baptism ceremony kept on asking the LLDD-Hyphen-L and me "Why did you choose this day? What is the significance of this date?" We weren't quite sure what to answer other than "Ngayon lang hindi booked ang Kamayan Padre Faura function room". It turned out the priest kept asking because it was his birthday! We only found out later because people outside were setting up tables and putting up a large tarpaulin banner greeting him. A lechon may or may not have been delivered. Had we known, we would have cancelled the Kamayan booking, dropped your name, and held the LLDD-baby's party right there!

Thanks for the funny blog! I'm also an aspiring LLDD. Cheers. Posted by LLDD#2

No, thank you LLDD#2! I like that you've adopted my name -- it gives us a Sith master-apprentice kinda vibe. Although you do realize, when people ask about us, they'll be asking "Number One or Number Two?"

speaking of Siths and Number Twos....YOU HAVE FAILED TO CHANGE MY NAPPY FOR THE LAST TIME, DADDY!

Well that was fun! Let's hope the mail keeps coming!

(Unless it's from the UK. They'll probably be on strike again)