So like, I was busy with a lot of things. Some aunt's clinic to design, Manga, working out, Manga, the Apocalypto DVD I'd been meaning to watch, Manga, Anime reruns, and oh, Manga. The allure of "No classes tomorrow" was just too much not to give in to. I always believed that if it's the summer, it's meant to be experienced during the night. No. That's not it. I'm just nocturnal, period. Because I'm not making sense so far, do read on, as I tell you why the truth hurts.

I had continued with this "lifestyle", as my mother called it, up to this very minute. It was now 4 A.M., but my body clock said it was the hour before going to bed. It wasn't always like this. It used to be 2 A.M, then 3, and that was it. But for the three weeks that I had been living here, out of school and out of work, something happened. Lucky Star. For those who don't know, it's a show where you watch high school girls in 5-year old bodies, going through EVERYDAY LIFE. It was absolutely mundane it would blow my brains to near-orgasmic levels. For three weeks I'd been marathoning the show, watching these girls talk about eggs over lunch. And if I missed this ritual, my brain refused to shut down. But this is not a review about Lucky Star. I told you what this would be all about.

Today I decided to try if Lucky Star was really the culprit and avoided touching the DVD. My dad, for lack of better things to do, brought me to the Pirated DVD Haven in this so-called mall. We originally went for the old Indiana Jones movies, but I tried getting other titles to see if my father's facial expression changed. Nope, it didn't. So I got even more. When I got home I became really excited to watch them, but when I looked at this new pile, I wasn't in the mood for anything we bought. Still, I loved experiments, and this was no experiment if I started with Lucky Star again. So I pushed Apocalypto and Sweeney Todd aside. I started on a Japanese series which was about a guy who could go back inside old pictures. Boring. Then there's this anime about a photographer who could blow things up with his camera. Lame. I mean, compared to Lucky Star's scenes of conversations in the subway, these videos seemed lifeless.

Yet, I still tried to stay away from Lucky Star. After watching The Other Boleyn Girl, my head actually hurt. Then I thought, you know Baboysai, maybe you just need some manga. So I traveled those agonizing 7 meters from my bed to my PC because I had to walk on tiptoe or my mom would wake up. I hated that. Now when I decided to read manga, unless there were new chapters, I usually started from the very beginning, even if I'd already read some 113 chapters five times. 3:30 A.M. was when my mother usually walked in, dressed for work, fired up and ready to go, but she'd stop and look at me in the eye as if I was not her child but a devil's spawn, creature of the night. I always thought I'd feel better if I didn't look back when I'd hear her open the door, but I just couldn't be that disrespectful. You know, moms liked to see you feel sorry for yourself for doing something, so I would turn and look guilty, and she'd walk away. Once she asked if this was the "lifestyle" I wanted, and maybe I should find jobs that had these hours or else I couldn't function as a normal human being. I could have told her all the reasons I told you, but I'd grown up, see. I 'd learned to keep my mouth shut about these things. So when she asked, I said "No, not really", and "I'm trying".

For a few days she had accepted my answer. But today when she walked in again, I was in the middle of the 15th chapter, and I frantically closed the manga and opened my Gmail as if to check for job emails, she was no longer convinced. She looked at me with that same look, except that she was in a yellow polo, wearing a blinding yellow jacket, and that look just made me even more uncomfortable. She told me the computer would have to be disconnected because I was already addicted. My heart somersaulted. I did not say a word.

My transient roommates Lenibee and Enriqueh could probably testify that if my manga-reading was interrupted, and hastily so, I would damn the world. You could call me fat or irresponsible all you like, but interrupting me while I'm with my manga could piss me off so much that no amount of sleeping or emotional eating could make me move on. And mind you, those activities were two of my 5 favorite things to do in my life, so this level of pissing me off was pretty damn important. One time, my boyfriend threatened to leave me and I cried for five whole minutes. Then I read manga and went to sleep.

That time when my mother asked, I should just have said "Yes, this is what I want, I don't give a flying f*ck what happens to the world between 6 A.M. and 12 NN. I'm not trying to change because I'm too weak-willed for now, being that I have no job and I'm not in school yet". Then again, maybe lying wasn't such a bad idea. If I had told her this truth, she'd have kicked my head off my shoulders, martial arts style.

Now where was that Lucky Star?