Netnet Camomot “IT’s that time of year when good friends are dear/And you wish you could give more/Than just presents from a store.” Store? Did anyone say store? It’s that time of year when good friends go to the store to buy Christmas presents for you and me. Christmas? Did anyone say Christmas? Oh my gas. Aren’t you tired of listening to the same Christmas songs every year? Especially here in Pinas where the season starts in September. “Do you remember the 21st night of September?/Love was changing the minds of pretenders/While chasing the clouds away.” That’s the song you wanna dance to in September. It’s too early to “give love on Christmas day” since it’s not December yet––it’s still September! But then, here in Pinas, it was on Sept. 21, 1972 that the elder Marcos declared Martial Law, thereby, giving more power to pretenders, and inviting the clouds to gather above his opponents who had to hide and flee, that is, if they weren’t caught yet. But then, it’s October now, September is no longer here. It’s the last quarter of the year which of course would eventually lead to that oftepeated line, How time flies. You can even  imagine time flying away, leaving you alone to deal with the tension and pressure that surround Christmas. Tension and pressure? Well, aren’t you having a nervous breakdown yet? “People making lists.” Ah, list gyud? As in kilometric list? There’s the family list. The household list. The relatives list. The berks list. The neighbors list. The office list. The business list. The civic club list. The professional organization list. Politicians and political wannabes who are running next year even have more lists to add to the usual list. The barangay list. The city list. The district list. The province list. The region list. The island list. The country list. The continent lost. The world list. Meanwhile, aliens are making their universe list. No, I don’t mean the “presidentiable” who went from being Pinoy to American and is now Pinoy again. I mean, aliens as in ET. “People you don’t know/Smile and nod hello.” Hmmm. Do I know you? A friend and I were walking down the street many years ago, one human being we happened to pass by along the way smiled at me, and she asked, Kaila nimo? I was like, Nope! And she said, So, why did you smile at him? Me: Ah, because he smiled at me? And it wasn't even Christmas yet. “And you’d like to find a way/To show the things that words can’t say.” Should it be a mug, a memo pad, a pencil, a ball pen, a keychain, a planner, a desk pad calendar, a desk photo calendar, a wall calendar? “Every Tom, Dick, and Harry, every Susie too/Needs love every bit as much as you.” Ah, love ra diay. No need to buy anything. So, is that the kind of love that the AlDub pair has for each other? Love via a noontime TV show. Love to raise TV ratings to infinity and beyond. Love that conquers all––especially that other noontime show, you know, the one in the other network that’s desperately coming up with the many ways of sweetening their pastillas. Love. Sigh. A friend celebrated her birthday last Wednesday and there was her love declaring more love for her. Sigh. Don’t we all wish to have that kind of love, to wake up to and with that love, and to have that love lavishing us with kisses and hugs and... more. I remember Sting revealing that he’s into tantric sex. That’s a total of seven hours. But he made it clear many years later that the “Seven hours include movie and dinner.” If he's referring to the 1987 film “Resan,” which can go on and on for 14 hours and 33 minutes, where to insert the sex? But definitely no wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am sting for Sting. He must be the guy who loves to cuddle after. I’ve not watched AlDub and the Pastillas Girl but I’m guessing both are simply making pa-cute, meant to make the audience swoon for romance while having lunch. It's all clean fun, with no thoughts on tantric sex. But I gotta feeling AlDub and Pastillas Girl fans won’t mind watching them for 14 hours and 33 minutes daily, that is, if ever they evolve into a reality show with cameras following them around 24/7. Meanwhile, stop buying Christmas gifts, for all you have to do is to “give love on Christmas day.” Which could mean, though, that for the rest of the Philippine version from Sept. 1 to Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings on Jan. 6 next year, you may have to give gifts. Kris Kringle, anyone?