I'm planning to get myself a domain name tomorrow to celebrate my 22nd
birthday. Geeky, huh? Well, it's about time I got something like that.
For extra symbolism I should've gotten it last year, on my 21st
birthday, but hey—better late than never. Jijo Sevilla of
QSR Hosting has offered to host the
domain name service for me, like the way he's currently handling
sacha.free.net.ph. I really owe him and Richi Plana a lot for hosting my mail and website!

For practical purposes, I will also get myself a 3/4 or knee-length
winter coat and perhaps winter boots as well. Yes, I know, it's the
height of summer, but that's a good time to start rooting through
vintage and second-hand shops. This is a hefty purchase, so I'm
treating it as an expensive birthday gift that will help ensure that I
have future birthdays. ;)

My friends are organizing a little Skype party for me tomorrow morning
(evening, their time). It's nice to be loved! =)

I'll blog some more tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me post letters
to two people who made all of this possible.

Dear Mom,

I really think that we should celebrate our moms during birthdays. It
must not have been easy raising me, and despite the fact that I seem
to be sorta doing well on my own (at least I can cook adobo!), a mom's
job is never truly over, is it? <hug> I wouldn't want you to ever stop
being my mom. I like having a mom: someone I can ask questions,
someone I can tell stories to, someone I can even disagree with every
so often because I know we're going to make up really quickly. Thanks
for teaching me so many things about life. I love you, mom. Happy
birthday!

And it _is_ a happy birthday. I'm really happy that I was born, and I
think a lot of other people are happy too. I hope to make thousands
and thousands of people happy about that, and thankful that I had such
a wonderful mom.

<hug>

I love you. =)

Dear Dad,

You always tell me, “Remember, I gave birth to you!” I paid attention
during my biology classes, so I know that's not _literally_ true—but
it's truer than people might think. You _did_ give birth to me.

You showed me what it's like to dream and to pursue that dream.

You showed me the sacrifices people make to do what they love, and how
they can help the world by doing so.

You showed me how to excel.

You showed me how to tell stories and how to get people excited.

You showed me how to get myself out of scrapes (and, err, how to get
myself into them, sometimes).

YOU GAVE BIRTH TO ME TOO!

I love you. =)

My parents totally rock.