The Hours

In a few hours I'll be meeting up with Butch Perez for work.

Two hours ago, I was rushing my Manny Villar feature for MANual, cutting illegally into office time.

Yesterday at this time, I was purchasing an iTalk for my iPod.

I do up to ten interviews a week, and this tiny thing will make life much easier for me.

When I was still using my good ol' tape recorder, which has been with me since college, I'd tape over precious, never-to-be-repeated-again interviews by mistake: my interview with the Webb family in prison, where Hubert talked about what it's like to have to be in a gang to survive Bilibid, taped over for an interview I'd conducted with some no-name band; my interview with writer Marianne Villanueva, whose article never saw print, gone in lieu of a short feature I did for an ... insurance company.

So this, my new toy, should prevent that from ever happening again - I can already see my exclusive with the future President (whoever it may be) being digitally recorded for posterity. As I set my iPod on the table, he or she will ask, tentatively - my, what is that?