The 110 essays in this collection were selected from many hundreds that I wrote and published for my “Penman” column in the Philippine Star between 2000 and 2019 … I decided to choose my more lighthearted pieces to entertain the reader and afford him or her a moment of relief and refuge, to remind ourselves that a gentle smile can be as precious and hard-won as a triumphal scream. Humor and comedy may yet be the best way of surviving a period seemingly intent on reducing us to tears and despair.

— From the Preface