Niña's Notebook

The Sun's Curse: A poem for the heartbroken

2008-04-15T05:36:00.000+08:00

THE SUN’s CURSE

First read on 14 April 2008

during Romancing Venus: Heat

at Mag:net Cafe Katipunan

A single ray

It penetrates

Pierces

Enflames

Burns

It seeks out

That sweet spot

Where one touch

One kiss

Will send raptures

Through the skin

Consuming everything

That crosses its path

A light of

Eternal contradictions

It is forever present

But never reveals

Its face

It is forever searching

Yet it refuses

To be held

It is always fiery

Yet never warm

It gives life from afar

And kills from up close

Seek it out

And you will perish

I know

For you are like the ray

Your eyes

Scan the horizon

For a target—

A truth

It seeks to own

They pierce

And penetrate

Never stopping

Until flesh is exposed

Until one stands naked

Vulnerable

Bare

Until the fiery rapture

Of singular passion

Consumes everything

In its reach

Reducing everything

To ashes

To nothingness

Nobody ever understood you

And yet they all loved you

They all wanted to be found—

All wanted to be consumed

Even if it meant

Surrendering

To everything that you were—

Everything they did not know

Your eyes were forever present

Yet nobody caught a glimpse

Of your soul

Your face remained unknown

You were forever searching

Yet you were eternally impenetrable

Each glance

Each touch

Each kiss

Bore a hole

Through the heart

And left nothing

But emptiness

And pain

And where are you now?

High up

In the distant heavens

Where all you could do

Is watch from afar

And nurse your silent cries

For nobody will hear you

Nobody will touch you

Nobody will love you

Not anymore

~ Niña Terol

We Each Have a Post to Man (by Niña Terol)

2008-04-09T20:34:00.000+08:00

We Each Have a Post to Man

By Niña Terol

The most interesting emails that I’ve gotten lately are from friends who don’t usually participate in political or social discussions in our respective egroups, but who pipe in once in a while—and quite passionately—about where they’re coming from as young professionals trying to build careers and families.

“I am not being apathetic, but my priority now is to establish myself and provide for myself and my family.”

“My role in society is to run my business well, provide opportunities for growth for my employees, and make sure that everyone is paid well and on time so that they, in turn, can provide for their families.”

“I work hard, obey the law, and pay taxes. I think I’m doing my fair share already.”

“I care about what happens to this country, but I simply don’t know what to do.”

“I’m busy enough as it is. I want to make sure that whatever I do for the country will produce concrete results.”

I hear you. And I understand.

* * *

In my work as a volunteer of several organizations I have met many talented, brilliant, and passionate individuals who make their own significant contributions within their own lines of interest and their own skill sets. There is Frankie Varona, immediate past president of the Ateneo Alumni Association (AAA), who worked tirelessly to inspire the AAA and the Ateneo community to work on programs for Gawad Kalinga. There is Niel Lim, Team RP’s Communications Head, who uses his own passion for journalism and political communications to ensure that Team RP’s message cuts through the media clutter (and all this while working on his master’s thesis!). There is Czarina Medina, editor of Starfish Magazine, who contributes valuable time, expertise, connections, and passion to feed the minds and souls of young leaders from around the country. There is Anna Rojas, my “soul sister” from our Globe Telecom days, who went way out of her way to mobilize resources to build a library in Sta. Teresa, Guimaras. There are many people who seem to do extraordinary things simply by giving off a few hours each week to work on something they really believe in.

But then, not all of us can be volunteers. Not all of us have the luxury of time, or flexibility, or liquidity, or emotional support, to be able to give off ourselves without the benefit of a paycheck or a positive performance appraisal or an additional client. Not all of us can take off from work in the middle of the day to attend yet another committee meeting, or build a GK home, or plan a socio-civic event. Most of us barely even have time to really spend time with our loved ones or read a good book or take a walk. How can we be expected to participate in volunteer efforts or—God forbid—engage government in long-term reforms that might even not be implemented?

The answer, to put it quite simply, is this: Man your own post.

Yes, it is true that not all of us can be volunteers—and not all of us can volunteer for the same thing. We each have different beliefs, different value systems, different principles, different socio-cultural backgrounds, and so on, but one thing is certain: we are all good at something. Many of us use this “something”—whatever it may be—for work, while some of us keep “bread-and-butter” jobs and save our true passions for the weekend. But we all have skills, we all have talents, and we all have friends. Each of us can maximize these three elements to make positive change happen in society.

* * *

Use your skills. As a communicator and a project manager, I use my skills to maintain a freelance practice. Fortunately, this has allowed me to allocate a substantial amount of time for volunteer efforts. In my work with Team RP, I try to use my communications and organizational skills to get things organized, to move things along, and so on. I chose Team RP—a reform-oriented group that seeks to engage media, government, and key stakeholders in the pursuit of truth, accountability, and reform—because I love policy work. I enjoyed serving a legislative role in the student council when I was in college, and I enjoy being able to work on changes from a political/legislative standpoint. This kind of work might not appeal to others at all, but it does to me, and so I do it.

You might be an account executive, or an entrepreneur, or an analyst. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t volunteer for any socio-civic projects, but maybe you could convince your clients or colleagues to adopt a social dimension to your organizational efforts. Maybe you could adopt a community and tie it in with your brand’s strategic objectives. Or you might sponsor a video to convince first-time voters to register while it’s still early. You could find ways to help us policy-oriented folk by directing the private sector’s attention to our efforts. Or you could help us craft our messages. Or you could share with us some information you got while researching for a presentation. In your hands (or brains, or PCs) is something that somebody else needs. Maybe the best thing you could do for your country is share a little bit of that. (Or convince your clients and colleagues to do so.)

Use your talents. Once in a while, I get tapped to do hosting gigs. Just tonight I emceed for the induction ceremonies of the Ateneo Alumni Association. Every so often, I write articles for the AAA website, or for Blueblood—the alumni magazine. I’d do these things—write and host/talk onstage—even if I weren’t paid for it. So I might as well do it to help others.

Meanwhile, my beloved is a performance artist who gets paid to perform his Kali Drum and his water bottles at gigs and events. But every so often he does pro bono workshops to empower barangay children, or performs for free in fund-raising concerts or concerts for a cause because he believes that his music has relevance. Whatever your talent is, whatever you’re most passionate about, you could help bring about concrete change by mixing the two well, even just once in a while.

Use your friends. In this age of social networking—of egroups and social networking sites and blogs—everyone has friends. Everyone has a fan base. We can make the most of whatever influence we have by being part of the all-important social exchange. Let’s share information—about issues, about volunteer opportunities, about causes, about petitions—and let’s engage our friends in the causes we’re most passionate about. Let’s engage in what the folks at YPS (Young Public Servants) call “social conversations.” Once in a while, over a meal or a snack, let’s ask our friends and family members what they think about important issues. Should we go on a “family diet” in view of the looming rice crisis? Should we cut back on our Starbucks coffee session and use the money to donate to a charity? What does your brother think about the necessary qualities for a leader of the Philippines? Talking might not lead to concrete solutions yet—but they help clarify issues, crystallize ideas, and connect people. We sure need a lot of that in an age of snap judgements, shallow thought, and divisiveness.

* * *

There’s a saying that goes “bloom where you’re planted.” Each of us is a different plant (or flower), with different characteristics, and we’re all planted somewhere. Our society is facing so many challenges that it won’t take a single, homogenous group of people to find or create solutions. We need all kinds of people to do different things so that different issues and concerns are addressed. We need people everywhere to work on a specific area so that positive change snowballs and happens sooner rather than later.

So it’s okay if you don’t join my cause, or if you don’t support this particular project. But maybe there is a cause or a project to which you can contribute, either voluntarily or as part of your job. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that people everywhere recognize that change needs to happen, and that they have the power to do something. When we thought of the name for Team RP, we wanted to imbibe the “team philosophy” that permeates through sports teams. Wherever you are in the world, whatever it is that you’re doing, if you’re Filipino then you belong to one team—THIS team. And we each have a post to man. It’s just a matter of knowing where that is and stepping up to the plate.

Questions, comments, reactions? Email me at nina.terol@gmail.com.

"Despedida poetry": Marie Sol (Star of the Sea and the Sky)

2008-04-02T10:07:00.000+08:00

Marie Sol

(Star of the Sea and the Sky)

A despedida poem for our dear friend, Marie Sol Delantar-Gonzalvo

14 March 2008

When the Universe dreamed you up

It thought of bright skies and blue waters

Of the highest hopes and the deepest passions

Of the best of the sea and the sky

It was no wonder, then

That your childhood saw you

Drawn to the ocean waves

Gazing at the blazing heavens

And dreaming of infinite possibilities

Star of the sea

Queen of the sky

You are a wonderful conglomeration of contradictions

A beautiful pearl of a paradox—

A little girl’s fervent hope

Residing in a woman’s earnest heart

The Earth could not be more blessed

To have you in her womb

The Sun could think of nothing less

Than to share his light

Through your life

* * *

There was a reason why

Your name chose you—

Anyone else would have been

An injustice

To the gifts of the world

Nobody else could radiate

And fill all corners of the globe

With your energy

Your love

Your dedication

Your joy

Nobody else will compare

And as you go on your way

To bigger dreams

And distant lands

We will remember

Why we were once gifted

By the Sea and the Sky

It is to fill lives

With hope eternal

And wisdom unbounded

To open dreams

With unfolding possibilities

And infinite reach

To serve

With the deepest love

And stand

With the highest ideals

Thank you, dear Sol

For the gift of You

May the Universe’s light

Shine upon you

And make all your dreams come true

Quarterly Life Review (part 2 of 2): Our Ideals Can Feed Us, After All

2008-03-20T19:43:00.000+08:00

One of the most frequently-heard lines by young idealists such as myself is that “Your ideals can’t feed you.” We are taught that ideals are great when you are young and in school, but not when you are paying for bills, paying your taxes, and trying to climb up the corporate ladder or raise a family. No, at that stage in your life you don’t need ideals—you need money. Somehow, our society has taught us that if we are idealistic, then will be cursed with poverty.

If that were the case, then the idealistic, freelance “artist” that I am should be starving and homeless (and totally emaciated) by now.

However, as the Universe would have it, this quarter has been my busiest and my most liquid period in quite a while. (Certainly compared to the same period last year!) I have been contracted for projects that are not only profitable but also very much in line with my interests; I have been able to devote enough time, money, and energy to my socio-civic involvements (and work from cafés as often as I need to); and I’ve been able to afford my little luxuries as well. Oh, and there were the home and car repairs that Paul and I had to take care of as well. And the big party we had last month.

So far, the checks have been coming in steady streams for me, and the bookings have been coming in non-stop for Paul. (There are days when he has back-to-back-TO-BACK events—and, as of this writing, he has four out-of-town performances over the next four weeks!) All these when our ideals have been at their most intense, when our “for-the-love” involvements have been at an all-time high. All these when we should have been impoverished for banking on our ideals.

* * *

Now I totally, fully understand what it means to “Do what you love and the money will follow.” For both Paul and I, what we’re doing now is what we’d we doing anyway even if nobody paid us. I will continue to write, connect people, share ideas, and organize groups. He will continue to create music, experiment on new forms of expression, and raise the bar of his artmaking. Both of us will continue to stay tuned to the news, engage in political discussions, and take a stand when and where it is relevant and necessary.

Fortunately for us, other people seem to be seeing the value that our passion and our ideals bring into our work. Somehow, they see that this “value added” is worth paying for; it’s as if WE ourselves are becoming premium brand names. And, to a very large extent, that IS true—each of us is our own brand. It’s just a question of what our respective brands stand for and how others perceive and “valuate” our personal brands.

* * *

This reminds me of a new venture I’m working on with a friend based in London. She is an environmental scientist with an expertise in sustainable development, and our venture involves teaching corporations how to adapt to global standards in CSR (corporate social responsibility) practice and reporting. In the past few years, CSR has become all the rage in corporate boardrooms, and it’s easy to see why: people need to see what values, principles, and ideals you stand for before they feel comfortable enough to do business with you.

Working on this project has made me realize that, if I were a company, I’d probably have “CSR” written all over me. My freelance writing practice really stemmed from articles and blog entries that I used to write for free anyway. My organizational skills have been honed by years of involvement with volunteer groups. My political involvements began during my student council days in college, and they never really left. Everything that I’m doing now is anchored on something that I had begun doing just because I wanted to. And, somehow, they have all led to fruitful professional undertakings.

Even when I didn’t have money in mind, (above-board, untainted) money seemed to find me. I think it’s a pretty good way to live.

So the next time anyone comes up to me for career advice, I’d tell them: “Go ahead and do what you do best—what you’d do anyway even without getting paid. You’d be surprised how much people would be willing to pay you for that.”

And if you are one of those people who somehow believed enough in me to pay for what I’d do for free anyway, I thank the Universe for you.

The youth are asking for reform, not rhetoric (TEAM RP Press Statement)

2008-02-25T03:17:00.000+08:00

Please allow me to share with you the statement that we at TEAM RP released to the media during our presscon last Saturday.

To push our advocacy further, we are staging the TEAM RP CONCERT FOR TRUTH, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND REFORM THIS AFTERNOON (25 FEB, 4-8PM) AT THE ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS (GATE 2.5), LOYOLA HEIGHTS, QUEZON CITY. More than being just an ordinary concert, this event will gather TEAM RP volunteers from different institutions and sectors to help us in the necessary and crucial activities to follow.

For more information about TEAM RP and how you can help us work for TRUTH, ACCOUNTABILITY, and REFORM in governance, please email me at nina[dot]terol[at]gmail[dot]com. Please also pass this on to your friends who can help us.

---

TEAM RP

PRESS STATEMENT: February 23, 2008

REFORM, NOT RHETORIC

We are the generation of Filipinos who stand before you today, filled with high hopes for our nation despite the convoluted and confounding events unfolding before us. We acknowledge that we have tolerated and contributed to a system of dysfunction, corruption, and selfishness not only in public governance but also in other spheres of daily life. But we also realize that, just as we have contributed to the problem engulfing our country today, so can we work proactively to set things right. Therefore, we are here before you today to declare our commitment to pursuing TRUTH, ACCOUNTABILITY, and REFORM for the sake of millions of Filipinos who are hungry, desperate for, and deserving of real progress.

While the rest of the country is hooked on the unfolding telenovela that the recent spate of scandals have become, we see that the cycle of greed, malpractice, and corruption has gone on for generations already, and has been inherited by each generation after it. Though our outcry has been brought out by our gross appreciation of what has been going on and revealed to the public these days, we believe that anyone in public office is accidental to our call for genuine, fundamental, and systemic reforms. We will continue fighting for our cause regardless of who is in power.

In our pursuit of TRUTH, we believe that every citizen should be given the right and the freedom to access information—about how they are being governed, how public resources are being allocated, how their officials (whether elected or appointed) are performing their duties. If we are to effectively participate in democratic processes, then we must have access to information that we will need to make intelligent decisions.

In our pursuit of ACCOUNTABILITY, we believe that people should be held accountable to and by the public whom they serve—and not merely to and by the Powers that Be that direct their careers and their paychecks. We believe in upholding retributive justice by prosecuting unlawful acts and pressuring wrongdoers to correct their mistakes and effectively prevent such problems from happening again. Many crooks—not only in government but also in the private sector—have gotten away with their crimes simply because we chose to look away, let them go, or negate our laws and judicial processes. We have to make our democracy work by ensuring that our institutions are functional, regardless of the personalities within them.

In our pursuit of GENUINE REFORMS, we believe that specific policies, programs, and practices should be enacted and implemented—and others abolished—to bring about real, tangible solutions to age-old problems. The public's outrage and frustration should be channeled into efforts to change not just governments and personalities, but entire systems as well. We must act as a people to ensure that appropriate reforms are effected and that results are continuously monitored, evaluated, and revised in order to maintain ethical effectiveness. People change, times change; so, too, must systems change accordingly.

We may be young and lacking in experience, but we do not fall short of the passion, the belief, and the hope that the Philippines can still be a country to be proud of—not only in the future, but also in the here and now. We hope that our actions will encourage our fellow Filipinos to set aside partisanship, political mudslinging and grandstanding, personality bashing, and the protection of familial ties or friendship in favor of pursuing higher goods that will benefit each and every one of us.

Since the beginning of our collective history, many men and women—perhaps including you, in some instances—stood up and risked their own lives so that we in this generation may have the liberties we now enjoy. So now, we are putting these same liberties to good use to rise—rise above the system of inequity, injustice, and ineffectiveness that this current system has bred. We urge you: push for change, BE the change.

A CONCERNED CITIZEN’S 10-POINT REFORM AGENDA TO STRENGTHEN THE PHILIPPINE BUREAUCRACY

2008-02-09T10:37:00.000+08:00

I break my online silence with this open letter, which I drafted late last night.

---

8 February 2008

Dear friends and fellow citizens of the Philippine Republic:

I am writing this in the wake of several events that have greatly upset the balance of various forces that keep our teetering nation afloat.

Three nights ago, I awoke from a night-time nap to see a live telecast of the House of Representatives unseating its incumbent Speaker after an explosive (but not shocking) revelation and a long and tense voting process, and then installing a new Speaker from the same party.

Then, the day after that, I once again awoke from my slumber in time to see another live telecast—this time showing an emotionally charged man presenting a damning testimony about a large-scale government project and billions of pesos that we (and our children and grandchildren, and maybe even our great-grandchildren) will have to repay in taxes and foregone basic social services.

Through these past three days, I have kept close watch over the unfolding of events and have felt a deep sense of sadness, frustration, anger—and even rage—over what our country has turned into. Here I am, still in this country in spite of several opportunities to leave, and I’m wondering if this country is indeed still worth staying for, still worth fighting for. I feel sad that I feel this way; I feel frustrated because I don’t know if ANYTHING I do will really make a big difference; and I feel anger and rage because I do not deserve this. WE do not deserve this.

I am not here to take sides, or to lay blame, but to make my feelings and ideas known. The problems we face in our country are systemic; short-term, “Band-Aid” solutions will not work. In the same way, merely replacing our leaders (such as what the Lower House did) will not do much to change the system. What we need is to OVERHAUL the way we regard and treat our government (which includes the ENTIRE bureaucracy), the way we regard and treat our country and the way we regard and treat ourselves.

For as long as we think that our government is made up of the “latak” of Philippine society, then that’s what we will get. For as long as we EXPECT government workers to be small-minded and corruptible, then that’s what they will. So maybe it’s about time to DEMAND that our government be made of the best, the brightest, and the most qualified of professionals—with some degree of credibility, authority, and moral ascendancy over their posts. Then, perhaps, real change can begin.

What I propose, therefore, are some steps that will entail changing and strengthening the bureaucracy from within. These are by no means politically motivated or even politically focused; these ideas are more organizational in nature—meant to “attack” the virus at its core, regardless of who is in charge.

So please indulge me in sharing my ideas. I realize that I probably have no authority to say these things—I am, after all, merely a communicator with no degree in law or government, with no actual government experience, and with no PhDs to boast of. BUT I CARE. I care so much about what happens to us that I wish I were better equipped to actually make these changes happen. But like José Rizal, one of this country’s greatest thinkers with whom I share my alma mater, my only weapon is my pen—and, perhaps, my great love for this country.

If, after you read this, you think that there may actually be some merit to these ideas, please feel free to pass this letter on to those in government, in civil society, in the academe, or in the private sector who would be capable of putting these reforms into place. At this point, I simply need the catharsis or I will explode.

Reform and strengthen the bureaucracy

Change must happen not only in the top tiers of government, but also deep within it and across the board. I have heard many, many horror stories of the dysfunctions of the system not only because of its leaders, but also because of the very people who make it up. If we are working in the government, or transacting with it and acquiescing to the very ills that pain us today (as most of us are), then we are part of the problem, too. Therefore, the solutions must start at the grassroots level of governance.

1. Require ALL public officials to pass the Civic Service Exam AND a standard psychological exam before assuming an appointive and/or elective post. Corollary to that, require all legislative posts (and even all top appointive posts, from cabinet secretaries down to their assistant secretaries and group heads) to first pass a Constitutional Exam before even being allowed to file for candidacy. (This may require a constitutional amendment)

2. Conduct bi-annual metrics-based performance evaluation of all elected and appointed officials through a publicized scorecard showing officials’ Key Result Areas and Key Performance Indicators, and enabling citizens across the board to know how their officials fared. (For this, we can look to the BPO industries and other best practices in the private sector for the necessary templates.)

3. Regularly convene a Citizens’ Evaluation Board that will act as a jury to input their own evaluations of public officials and their legislations or projects.

4. Strengthen the hiring and firing system of the Civic Service Commission to ensure that only those who are qualified for posts are hired, and that those who are unqualified or fail to perform are disciplined, penalized, and/or fired.

5. Streamline the bureaucracy: eliminate redundant posts and ghost employees to free up government funds to raise baseline salaries (competitive to those of private sector posts, since nobody can live on a salary of P4,500 (!!) or even P9,000 a month) and introduce incentives to attract qualified talent to the government. How much is good governance worth? Why do we pay our government officials so poorly and then get surprised when people cheat, lie, and steal to make ends meet?

6. Convene think tanks from the academe, civil society, and private sector (Filipinos based here and abroad) to make specific recommendations about various priority areas in government. Make these recommendations public so that there is transparency and accountability in addressing these recommendations.

7. Require the publication of all elected officials’ and candidates evaluations prior to an election period (where applicable). Exploit the power of available technology to demand transparency and accountability from all government officials and employees.

Discourage and eliminate corruption

There is absolutely no excuse for corrupt practices. However, our current bureaucratic system has encouraged it because it has failed to reward achievements and punish offenses.

8. Institutionalize regulated and standardized project management fees for government agencies that manage projects. Perhaps the answer to all these under-the-table kickbacks and commissions is to bring them out into the open and standardize them. After all, many companies charge project management fees to run projects; maybe the same system can be applied to government agencies (so that we can stop denying that such kickbacks and commissions exist!). Make project management fees “receiptable” and their reports public so that everyone will know who is getting how much for what. Further incentives (performance bonuses, etc.) could be granted to project management teams that deliver exceptional results.

a. Example 1: For projects below P10M, a 10% project management fee may be allotted to the project management team/involved government agency. Of this 10%, the project proponent and members of the project team will get their own (standardized) professional fees as compensation for their time, skills, and expertise. Not only will this, in current events lingo, “moderate the greed;” it might be a good way to start correcting our government’s “dysfunctional procurement system.”

b. Example 2: For projects ranging from P10M to P99M, the project management fee may be lowered to 5-7%; and so on.

9. Publish a Web-based portal (developed and managed by academe, civil society, private sector, with the cooperation of all government departments, agencies, and branches) of all existing government projects (including infrastructure projects initiated by legislators) that will enable even ordinary citizens to track the progress of projects and demand government accountability when and where it is required. Corollary to this, require all legislators, cabinet secretaries, etc. to publish audited reports of their PDAF and department budgets the way publicly listed companies publish their annual reports.

10. Create support structures to encourage and protect private citizens who need to report cases of government corruption across all levels. From those of us who get stopped on the street for traffic offenses we did not commit, to those of us filing government documents and asked to be paid a small fee (“padulas”) to expedite its completion, to those of us involved in government contracts and asked to pay exorbitant amounts to get our projects approved, ALL of us—at one time or another—have been subject to graft and corruption in government. Can’t there be a better way of reporting offenses and protecting ourselves? Perhaps we can also use SMS- and Web-based technologies to make such systems possible. More than this, there should be a campaign to encourage reporting and “whistle-blowing” of government transgressions. After all, we should all be encouraged to tell the truth so that those who are doing underhanded acts are discouraged from doing so.

The events that have recently unfolded in our country only show that we can no longer turn a blind eye on the practical and gray realities surrounding us. Outside of the greed that permeates our society, people are motivated by sheer NEED AND HUNGER. They do not earn the proper wages, so they feel the need to resort to underhanded and criminal acts in order to feed themselves and their families. They do not get the respect they deserve as officials of the Philippine government, so they resort to bullying and power-tripping in order to feel their importance. They are not shown respect and dignity as human beings, so they trample on others’ dignity in order to feel a bit better about their plight. This in no way excuses people’s actions, but it’s, perhaps, the “dark side” of human nature that we ought to recognize and address squarely in the face.

I really hope that things can still be done to heal the wounds that are hurting all of us. More importantly, I hope that WE can be part of the solution. It doesn’t matter whether we’re earning P1,000 or P1,000,000 a month; this upheaval affects each of us, so the answer MUST lie (somehow) in each of us as well.

Thank you for bearing with me. If there is anything I can do to be of greater service to my country, please let me know.

Yours truly,

Niña Terol

Writer. Communicator. Filipino

nina.terol@gmail.com

My Surprise Act for Paul Ü

2007-12-11T06:34:00.000+08:00

THE MOON’S GIFT

Poetry by Niña Terol

Performed at the Romancing Venus Poetry Night, 10 December 2007

Mag:net Katipunan

For Paul, the man whose music has given me wings

In the darkness of night

As my world slumbers

And as I dream

Of forgotten wishes

Of friends long gone

Of the mysteries of the Universe

Your world

Is bursting

With music

With color

With life.

It is a world

I can glimpse

Only through your eyes

A life I cannot fully

Understand.

It is a force that

Separates us,

Keeps us distinct

As Sun and Moon

Although we share the same sky

And watch over the same world

I do not understand the Moon—

Do not comprehend

How it can affect the tides

Or cause me

To turn into a werewolf

At the stroke of midnight

I cannot read its Face

Nor decipher the smile or

The tears

That merge

With its light.

But I do know

That the Moon

Lights your way.

It shows you

Where to you

As you tread on your path

To greatness

To glory

To peace.

It gives you

The Strength

The Wisdom

And the Courage

To do what is right

To seek what is just

To summon the Will

To live

And love.

There are many things

I do not understand,

Many things

That often cause

The crease on my brow,

The frown on my lips.

But these are the same things

That give you

The power

To be the pillar of my world

The ground beneath my feet

The Force that

Pushes me

To reach for the sky

And shine

By my own light.

For as I slumber

And dream

Of princes turned toads,

Of genies and faraway lands

You are using your gift

To nourish me,

Keep me safe,

And make my dreams come true.

There are many things

I may not understand

But I thank them

For the gift of you

And for the gift of your love

That greets me

As the moon bades farewell

And leaves me to the

Warm embrace

Of Day.

My "Virgin Act" at Romancing Venus Poetry Night, 10 December 2007 =)

2007-12-11T06:26:00.000+08:00

INTERVIEW WITH THE CHRISTMAS STAR

Poetry by Niña Terol

Performed at the Romancing Venus Poetry Night, 10 December 2007

Mag:net Katipunan

When you shone your light

That night

A million moons ago

Did you know that

The Child

Was someday going to be

Taunted

Persecuted

But eventually become

King?

Did you cry when you saw

That your light

Illuminated

Even those whose hearts were dark?

Do you cry

When a child

Makes a wish

That you cannot grant?

Do you ever cry at all?

Do you ever wish

For something of your own?

What is it like

To be up there

Gazing at us

Down here

And hearing

Wishes

And prayers

And cries

But never really knowing

What it is

To live?

When you grant

A wish

For happiness

Or true love

Or peace

Do they ever stop

To thank you

And say how

Magnificent

Your light is?

Do they ever stop

To think

How you must feel

Standing alone

In the dark—

The nearest star

Light years away—

And dying just a little bit

Inside

So we could catch

A glimpse

Of your eternal smile?

Do you twinkle

When no one’s watching?

What has it cost you

To be where you are now?

Are you really happy?

When I look up

At the Heavens

And see you

Do you see me, too?

And when I wish

For nothing more

Than world peace

Do you smile at yourself

And say, “This girl is

A fool!”

Or are you relieved

That you got a wish

That is not yours to grant?

When you see me

Looking up at you

What do you really want

To say?

How much would you really

Give

To turn your light off for

Just a moment

And crash down on Earth

So that you’d finally know

How much it hurts

How much it costs

To be down here

When you see everyone

On Earth

Do you secretly say

A prayer of thanks

That the Heavens decided

To spare you

The agony of life

At the risk

Of never experiencing

Love?

Have you ever been in love?

If so

How much of yourself—

How many impossible wishes

Would you grant

To be alive

And in someone’s arms

Again?

How much would you really give?

Social Butterfly (published in Youngblood, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 October 2007)

2007-10-20T20:17:00.000+08:00

YOUNGBLOOD
Social butterfly
By Niña Terol
Inquirer
Last updated 03:48am (Mla time) 10/20/2007

“You have xxx friends in your social network.”

These days, the number in this statement is (potentially) as important as your credit card limit, your account balance, or your official designation. In a day and age when “virtual” friends are as important as the “live” ones you have coffee with once a week, creating the appropriate online persona and cultivating a fruitful online social network become imperative. Gone are the days when colleagues and clients have no clue about our lives outside work and about how we spend our weekends. These days, everyone knows what everyone else does, eats, wears, loves and hates.

This often puts me in interesting predicaments: My online buddies sometimes know more about my everyday life than my best friends (my “soul sisters,” who unfortunately have yet to be bitten by the social networking bug). My beloved -- the subject of most of my rosy ramblings -- meets acquaintances who are “fans” of my blog and who know details of our love life. Long-lost friends and high school classmates have become close connections not because of our after-work conversations but because of the virtual hugs, drinks, fortune cookies and notes we exchange online.

The upside is that, as a writer, I am given more avenues for creative expression and experimentation. I manage my numerous blogs as if they were magazines, with specific themes and formats. One is on the sweet details of life and romance. Another is about a girl’s exploration and journey toward authenticity. Still another is about “soul work” and about the tools that help us gain a deeper understanding of our inner selves. I have an online portfolio of published pieces. And yet another is a “best of” blog. Whatever doesn’t get published on paper gets posted online; it’s perfect for the work that I do and the kind of readership I want to develop.

But this does have its downside. Just as in real relationships, these social networks take time and effort to cultivate. If you’re serious about your online connections, you tend to spend more time in front of the PC doing “busywork” than you should. Instead of having coffee with friends or spending quality time with loved ones, you are kept busy “poking” someone on Facebook, posting photos and videos on Multiply or MySpace, or answering late-night surveys on Friendster. While it can be helpful if done moderately, it can be distracting (especially if your partner or the people closest to you are uninitiated).

Online social networking also comes with its own (self-imposed) restrictions. As a writer who makes a living on the thoughts and observations that make it to the printed page, I have no choice but to treat my online networks as an extension of my professional contacts. I have to be careful about everything I post on Multiply, Blogger, Facebook, Friendster, or i.ph, and I can’t (fortunately or unfortunately) blog about anything that will put my artistic or professional integrity in question. No griping about this or that client, no spilling the beans about a subject before the article comes out in print, no pre-empting any special events or launches that have yet to be announced, no ranting that will make me seem like a mess, and definitely no grammatically incorrect posts! The friends who make up my social networks are potential readers and clients; therefore, everything that I put out there has to be consistent with who I am and what my work stands for.

The online revolution has done much for the World, and online social networking has likewise helped to boost my career. In the past few years that I have been a member of online networking sites, I have reconnected with many classmates and long-lost friends, tapped many prospective clients, developed a following for my kind of writing and honed my craft in a way that I wasn’t able to do in the years before blogging. I have become more confident and more aware of my strengths, and I also have become more conscious of my social responsibility as a writer. Apparently, people find time to read what I write, so I had better make my posts worth reading!

In spite of all this, I feel that there’s a crucial element that I’m missing out on sometimes: personal, face-to-face conversations. I often find myself in front of the computer for far too long stretches that my social life suffers. Sure, my online contacts know what I’m going through and what I’m thinking, but my partner is wondering why my moods swing the way they do sometimes. (“It’s in my blog,” I tell him.) I take it for granted that not everyone is online, and that personal relationships are (still) far more valuable than online ones.

So even if I enjoy being an online “social butterfly,” don’t be surprised when there isn’t too much activity on my blogs. On those days, I am probably sipping a nice, warm cup of tea, enjoying great conversation with a good friend, in a place where hugs and drinks can be exchanged in person.

Niña Terol, 27, is a writer, editor, communications consultant, lifestyle reporter, and arts and culture enthusiast.

Art as Destiny

2007-10-06T12:28:00.000+08:00

* Note: This was another pitched piece that did not make it to the papers--or at least I don't think so!

Art as Destiny

Roy Veneracion at 60

By Niña Terol

There is something about art that makes it appear whimsical at first glance. Perhaps it’s because many of us equate colors, paintbrushes, and canvases to the idealized visions of youth—they are only passing fancies that tickle the mind while the gray realities of adulthood have not yet set in. There are others out there, however, for whom artmaking has become more than a playtime activity. For them, it begins as a whisper—a soft voice that suggests and seduces, and later on commands, rather insistently, that it be heard (and heard now).

For international visual artist Roy Veneracion, art is a statement of fact and being. It is an indelible imprint that cannot be questioned—defining what is, what always has been, and what always will be.

Having turned 60 this year, Veneracion looks back on over three decades of creating art and realizes that, for him, there was never a question of whether to pursue art, what style to employ, or what themes to focus on. For as long as he could remember, he has known that art would be his life path and his destiny—the one thing that would give him both the roots upon which to ground himself, and the wings with which to take flight.

“I’ve always enjoyed drawing since I was very young,” he shares. “I didn’t pass through childish drawings, like doodling in class—at a young age, I was already doing portraits of my cousins and my classmates, and was drawing even better than the adults were. I was designated the ‘artist’ in my class.”

“Since then, I have always known that art was my identity,” Veneracion confides. “I said to myself, ‘This is my role. I know where I am.’ I’ve always had art as my anchor.”

A self-taught painter

Having come from a family of artists (his aunt, Felicitas “Tita” Layag Radaic was a renowned ballerina and choreographer; his uncle, Bien Santos, was a student of Fernando Amorsolo; and even his late father, Atty. Geronimo Veneracion, could produce very good likenesses on paper and through sculpture), there was no questioning that innate creativity that the young Roy possessed.

“I was exposed to a lot of books (when I was growing up),” he shares. “Everything I could get my hands on—from the classics to comics—I would read. I would interpret whatever captured my imagination. Anything and everything that I could draw, from nature to my playmates, I would.”

He adds: “I used to have these ‘paint by numbers’—I got bored with them, but I learned how to use oil paint because of them.”

Every afternoon, as he walked home from the parochial school where we went, the young Roy would “linger by a sign shop where a master painter was endlessly painting huge portraits” of movie stars on large canvas billboards.

“He was painting so fast, and the likeness of FPJ then was very realistic—that I would stand there and just watch him. I learned a lot (about painting) just by watching him… There weren’t very many artists during my time, but these illustrators, these painters of billboards—they prepared the grounds for our generation (of artists).”

As it turns out, the young Veneracion had learned too much too fast that by the time he was studying Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines in Diliman in the late sixties (where he got in through “the University entrance exams and not the talent test that got you in through the side door”), one of his art professors had to send him out.

“I was getting all aces that my teacher. Professor Virginia Agbayani, told me that she had nothing more to teach me. ‘You can go on your own now,’ she told me. ‘Go ahead and experiment with whatever you want to do.’”

Their college thesis in UP at that time was turned into a contest where renowned artists were invited to judge. Veneracion won the first prize for his entry. For pocket money, the illustrious student did illustrations for the Wakasan Komiks and was paid Php75 for 2 to 3 pages of ink drawings.

“My style was kind of expressionistic, and I was told to practice more and be refined like the older illustrators,” Veneracion shares of his experience illustrating for Wakasan Komiks. “But that’s not where I wanted to be.”

An avant-garde artist

From the beginning of his artistic career, Roy Veneracion never had any qualms about being labeled “avant-garde.” He shares through his writings:

“I was initially concerned with uniting the dichotomies in abstract art practice. The geometric and expressionistic polarities, representing reason and intuition, symbolically, were reconciled in my work by means of a geometric divisionism that brimmed with impassioned markings, colors, and textures, but raised some eyebrows in the art establishment…”

Later on, other artists would adopt this style, but Veneracion would always be a step or two ahead of the rest—refusing to let the creative norms of the day overtake his need to branch out and explore art forms that the viewing public may not necessarily appreciate—yet.

“My approach to artmaking of testing untried combinations of techniques, of questioning established frameworks and attitudes, of cultivating stylistic inconsistencies and balancing visual contradictions, have led me to syncretism. [It is] the merging of opposing principles that carries implications going beyond art and leading all the way (at least in concept), to understanding, harmony, and peace.”

One might say that Veneracion’s approach to art is very risky given the Filipino viewing public’s taste for many things traditional, but the artist is definite about his approach.

“You cannot create new things if you’re on the safe side,” he asserts. “My art is dictated by my inner consciousness, my inner soul. My soul looks for it.”

Art as self-love

One may perhaps ascribe this kind of creative confidence to Veneracion’s Zen-like approach to artmaking. Free of the adolescent struggle “to art or not to art” and knowing early on that this is what he was meant to do, the introverted but eloquent artist has been able to develop and convey the kind of self-assuredness that allows one to test uncharted waters. For him, art is not a means “to belong” or “to be accepted,” it is a means to express one’s self-worth.

“My art has allowed me to understand my emotions,” he reveals. “It’s not that I am angst-free or ever was, I just do not want to specialize in angst as a subject matter of art—I like to express a wider range of human emotions, such as joy, hope, tenderness or humor, longing, disdain—even feelings for satire and rage… [My art] has allowed me to balance all aspects of my life [as an artist, a family man, an individual] and has taught me much about allowance and compassion. When you create art, you must do so with limitations—this teaches you to understand the limitations around you and to make [something good] out of these limitations.”

He is passionate about opening people’s minds and liberating their imaginations through his art.

“Even if you’re hungry, you’re [also] still hungry for something aesthetic,” he answered when asked about whether art is a luxury that only the wealthy can afford. “Even the tricycle drivers and the ordinary man on the street will have a poster or a flower vase at home; we all want to make our surroundings a little bit better.”

“I think it would be self-hate to consciously want things to remain ugly,” he asserts.

The Filipino as contemporary artist

It is this passion that fuels Veneracion’s drive to expose contemporary Filipino art to the rest of the world.

He writes: “I developed my theories [of Syncretism] around the eastern ‘yin-yang’ idea of finding ‘wholeness’ through the acceptance of the dualities in all experience. My attempt to resolve the contradictions inherent in the exchange of influences between East and West and the impact of the information age upon cultures, as well as the need to find the visual equivalents to contemporary thought and experience, led to this synthesis.”

It seems that Veneracion has hit upon a universal truth, as his works have been well-received internationally and have been exhibited in many important art centers worldwide. The Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan, the Art Forum Gallery in Singapore, the Sepia Workshop in Soho, New York, and Gallery 8 of the famous Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, are only some of the renowned hosts of Veneracion exhibitions. He has also exhibited his works at the Segunda Bienal de la Havana at the Wilfredo Lam Museum in Havana, Cuba and the Asian Art Festival in Bandung, Indonesia, as well as in Germany, Canada, Korea, China, and a traveling exhibition of ASEAN nations’ artists. Here at home, his works have been on display at the National Museum of the Filipino People, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Philippine Art, among other collections. He was a recipient of the prestigious Thirteen Artists Award of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1990.

Even now, with all these and with over 35 years of artmaking under his belt, the youthful-looking Veneracion feels that he has much more to achieve. He is currently preparing for an international solo exhibition in February 2008—the first Filipino artist to be hosted by the L.A. Artcore Center in Los Angeles, California. He has also been tapped to lead a cultural exchange program between 10 Filipino artists and 10 American artists, which will take place between the Philippines and the United States in 2009.

“What you ask for in life is what you get,” the artist states. “I have always seen myself as a role model for other artists, and am striving to achieve a balance between creating art and achieving success. It can’t be just one or the other… When I conduct workshops in art I don’t tell my prodigies how to do art and what art to do, but rather, like a gardener, I liberate their imaginations that their artistry may bloom.”

Roy Veneracion is an artist who dances to the beat of his own drum. But he does so unapologetically because he knows that, someday, in the not-so-distant future, people will hear the tunes that he is playing, and they will recognize it as echoes of their own hidden voices.

Filipinos Dared to Ask: Why Not?

2007-10-06T08:06:00.000+08:00

I attended a mind-opening event two Thursdays ago, and was so inspired by it that I decided to write an article about it. (I pitched it to a leading daily, but so far have not gotten a response yet.) I hope you wouldn't mind spreading the word to other open-minded, creative, and innovative individuals so that we can all begin to ask The Question that will drive Filipino ingenuity.

For more questions about the WhyNot? Forum, please email whynotforum@gmail.com or call (0928) 5055713. And, yes, I am doing this as a volunteer and supporter, because I believe in what this movement is all about.Ü

Thanks in advance for your support!

Nines/Niña Terol

P.S. If you wish to publish this in your publication or blog, please feel free to do so; just give us a heads-up so we'll know. Thanks again!

----

FILIPINOS DARED TO ASK: WHY NOT?

By Niña Terol

It was an ordinary Thursday night, and yet Warehouse 135, the hip warehouse-turned-club on Yakal Street in Makati, was filled to capacity. Only it wasn't filled with clubgoers and party scenesters—it was filled with young professionals, creative minds, thinkers, and dreamers who all dared to ask a question that would set the tone for the entire evening's talks: Why not?

The WhyNot? Forum, according to founders Mark Ruiz and Bam Aquino, is a "smorgasbord of great, brave ideas—an open-source innovation soup that will hopefully inspire other Filipinos all over to connect adjunct thoughts, take impactful action, and weave together new breakthrough ideas." Inspired by the TEDTalks of the United States (www.ted.com), it is based on the simple idea of gathering some of the best minds in the country to share their respective ideas for 15 minutes each. By asking The Question and challenging outmoded assumptions, it is hoped that WhyNot? Forum will spark a thought revolution that will encourage people to "think new thoughts, share big dreams, do brave things."

Seven Great Minds, One Big Question

The first WhyNot? Forum, held on September 27, gathered a group of leaders, achievers, doers, and dreamers from diverse fields. There was Dondi Gomez, the "Marketing Maverick," who is the youngest-ever Managing Director of Unilever Philippines at age 35; Gang Badoy, the irrepressible and bubbly lady behind RockEd Philippines, tagged the "Alternative Educator"; Professor Jay Bernardo of the Asian Institute of Management, the "Rainmaker" and "Entrepreneurship Guru" who owns the distinction of being the first-ever Filipino to have been named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) by the Junior Chamber International; "Technologist" Dr. Greg Tangonan, who teaches Innovation and Technology at the Ateneo de Manila University and has garnered 49 patents and numerous awards for his inventive work; Brian Tenorio, the creative genius behind the designer shoe label Tenorio Manila; Quark Henares, the "Filmmaker-on-the-Edge" who directed his first feature film at age 21; and Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ of the Center for Family Ministries (CEFAM), labeled the "Dreamer Priest."

Even the creative forces running the event are achievers themselves: Ruiz and Aquino are part of the visionary group behind Hapinoy, an aggregated value network built around sari-sari stores, microfinancing institutions, and key partners in industry and civil society; event documenter Ditsi Carolino is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker ( Minsan Lang Sila Bata, Bunso, Riles); and guest performer Radioactivesago Project is a groundbreaking musical act that fuses jazz, funk, and spoken-word poetry in discussing a variety of social issues. Supporting the project from behind the scenes are industry giant Smart Communications, Web and multimedia company Softrigger Interactive, and Young Public Servants (YPS), a group of young, dynamic individuals focused on promoting "Good Governance and Democratic Citizenship among the youth."

In opening the forum, Ruiz asked the audience, "What does the world think of when they think of the Philippines? ... Maybe the WhyNot? Forum can be our megaphone to the rest of the world [to showcase the ingenuity and the innovative spirit driving us Filipinos]... Why not?"

Of challenges, opportunities, irritants, rock, beauty, passion, and baboy

Gomez, in defining "maverick marketing" in the experience of Unilever Philippines' groundbreaking campaigns for Rexona, challenged the audience to adopt a non-conformist stance when it came to developing and presenting their ideas. "Great marketing gives people a taste of what could be... It provides imagination and courage to hope and to dream." He cites the worldwide success of the out-of-the-box campaigns First Day Funk and its follow-up, First Day High, which set record sales figures, won for Unilever Philippines numerous global awards, and established Rexona as the market leader in deodorants.

Dr. Greg Tangonan, for his part, discussed the worldwide movement marking the early 2000s the "Decade of the Mind Initiative." He shared experiments in mind control, mind mapping, "out of body experiences" in the virtual world, and other brain experiments. He ultimately asked: "[If brain activity could be measured,] could the Filipino concepts of hiya (shame) or pakikiramay (empathy) also be measured? Can this be our contribution to the 'Decade of the Mind Initiative?' Why not?"

When it was Gang Badoy's turn to speak, a technical glitch disabled her from using her Powerpoint presentation, but she masterfully held her own and gave the crowd an entertaining and engaging talk about the experiences that led her to found, and therefore commit herself to, RockEd, an alternative education movement that seeks to get young people involved in social issues through music. "We don't have to unite to progress," she challenges. "Even if we don't get along, as long as we get the job done, it's okay."

True to her signature style, Badoy brought along a group of musicians to drive home her point and entertain her audience. Radioactivesago Project rendered the thought-provoking intermission number, singing their hit songs "Gin Pomelo" and " Gusto Ko ng Baboy (I Like Pig)," among others.

The next speaker, Fr. Ted Gonzales of CEFAM, seemed to have been struck by Sago's quirky lyrics, often quoting them in his talk about integrity, passion, and "[embracing] the inner movements of your heart."

"Hindi tayo mga baboy (We are not pigs)," he asserted. Fr. Gonzales was the obvious crowd-drawer in the room, as many of the audience members were "graduates" of his hit retreats Life Directions, Agimat, and On Fire.

During designer Brian Tenorio's 15 minutes, the audience was transformed into an intimate group that listened closely to his ideas on love, luxe, lust, and beauty. Ironically, this shoe meister, who has gained fame for his beautiful and bewitching creations, maintained that it's not what you wear or the details that you place on yourself that matter as much as what's going on around you. "Beauty is not oppressive," he states. "Beauty unifies... It should allow growth. Beauty should allow love."

Unfortunately, the natural beauty around us is constantly being threatened by natural and man-made disasters. Mr. Ramon Isberto, Head of Public Affairs at Smart Communications, disclosed a groundbreaking project meant to help local communities around the country prepare for storms. "The Philippines has the highest number of Category 5 typhoons in the world," he reveals. "Why not be prepared for it?"

Likewise, entrepreneurship guru and AIM professor Jay Bernardo encouraged budding entrepreneurs to develop business ideas by seeking solutions to "irritants" around them. Citing the Chinese word and symbols for the word "crisis," he urged his listeners to "look at the opportunity before looking at the dangers... because once you see the opportunities, you will no longer see the dangers."

Quark Henares might not have been a student of Prof. Bernardo, but he exemplified the attitude of risk-taking in his talk about the experiences that brought him to the forefront of the filmmaking world. From the psychologically disturbing movie that he saw at age 11 (David Lynch's Eraserhead), to his "Eureka moment" after watching the cult classic Pulp Fiction, to making the movie that bombed at the box office but was praised by his idol, Quentin Tarantino ( Keka), Henares' candid insights proved to the audience that some rewards can simply never be equated to fame or fortune.

Why not more?

Although this event is only the first of what promises to be a long-running series of thought-provoking discussions, it seems to be coming in at the right time. Regardless of their inclinations, educational backgrounds, or lifestyles, Filipinos simply have become tired of turning to the government (or to the streets) for answers to society's nagging questions; they are now looking to themselves to develop long-term solutions to problems that have unfolded over several generations.

Indeed, the world is teeming with opportunities. Prof. Bernardo cites the "kanto boys" whom people look down upon during ordinary days, but who become reliable comrades and trusted allies in times of calamity, pushing cars and shuttling pedestrians over flooded waters for a small fee that anyone would be willing to pay. Anyone can achieve great things; anyone can make a difference. It only takes one simple question, and the guts to embrace the answers.

The next WhyNot? Forum will be held in November 2007. For more details, email whynotforum@gmail.com, call (0928) 5055713, or SMS 'whynot' to 2948. All videos from the WhyNot? Forum will be posted on www.whynotforum.com and may be viewed free of charge.

Parallel Journeys

2007-09-27T15:12:00.000+08:00

Text by Niña Terol
Photos by Jerome Apostol
Published in MEGA Magazine, September 2007 issue

Ian, Mikhail and Roy Veneracion pursue different paths towards artistry

“I am an explorer,” declares Ian Veneracion. The actor arrives at this label after a weighty pause—seemingly searching for a single word to describe his many undertakings.

A former child star and action movie star, a visual artist, a filmmaker, musician, a licensed pilot and diver, a family man and father of three, Ian has charted his life to be a process of creative exploration, a work of art that is always evolving and is never quite finished, a statement that is consistently a declaration as it is a question.

His art—abstract dreamscapes that reflect inner realities—undergoes a similar process of evolution. “I don’t want to be comfortable,” he reveals, adding, “Where others have a tendency to stick to their comfort zones, I try to get out of mine.”

To gaze at Ian’s paintings is to surreptitiously read an unlocked diary; in them, he expresses an inner language that words fail to translate. “My paintings are like a personal journal,” he shares. “When I look at something that I have done before, I remember my state of mind then—the memories, the fears, the insecurities, the hopes and dreams that I had at a particular point in my life.” Like a favorite scent or song, his paintings are quick to evoke a flood of memories and sensations from years past. The sojourner is forced to take a step back, to a time and place that may or may not be better off forgotten, to an experience that reminds him of how far along in his journey he has come.

Like his brother, Mikhail Veneracion captures time and space in his works, but his paintings depict a more grim view of the world as opposed to Ian’s fluid, dreamy renditions. Owe it perhaps to his day job as an information technology consultant specializing in automated trading systems; Mikhail’s works reflect the world as he tries to make sense of it, with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude that is congruous with today’s overly automated world.

Mikhail sees himself as a translator of reality rather than as a creator of new forms. “[The work] is already there before I put it there,” he asserts. His works are an explanation of what is; not a visualization of what could be.

“When I look at things, I ask myself, ‘I wonder how it would look like [in art form]?’… Most of the ideas that I find are worth doing, I get during extreme hangovers,” he confesses.

On one such occasion, Mikhail was watching a bootleg copy of a Japanese horror flick. The player froze while the movie was shifting from one scene to the next, and the merging of the two images gave him the idea for God’s Duality, which also shows a grasshopper being eaten by an ant. Another of his works—which sold very quickly—depicted the product of human defecation. These are everyday things that we would rather not acknowledge, but, to the youngest Veneracion, that makes for the worthiest subjects.

Ian and Mikhail’s approaches to art are as different as day and night, but they were both born and cultivated out of the same artistic and social sensibility—that of their father’s. Roy Veneracion is one of the Philippines’ premier abstract painters, a co-founder of the renowned Remedios Circle artist group and a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ prestigious 13 Artists Award. His works have been exhibited in different parts of the world—Japan, Singapore, Washington and Santa Monica in the US, Canada, Germany and even Cuba. Described by Raymundo Albano as “an artist with rather sophisticated hand-mind coordination” whose works are, in Cid Reyes’s words, “an aesthetic criticism of the cosmetic refinement that soon characterized the smooth and immaculately crafted minimalist Philippine paintings,” the elder Veneracion is certainly an artistic force to reckon with.

Using a style dubbed “syncretism,” Roy juxtaposes two seemingly conflicting images or ideas—abstract and form, intense and whimsical, Christianity and Buddhism—to create what are often visual commentaries with socio-political content. El Tango Final Antes del Diluvio (“The Final Tango Before the Deluge”), for instance, is a commentary on the effects of global warming on the environment. Some of his earlier works include depictions of terrorism and a nuclear holocaust, as well as homages to Juan Luna and Vincent Van Gogh, two great, controversial painters of an earlier time.

Of his style, he writes: “I developed my theories around the eastern ‘yin-yang’ idea of finding ‘wholeness’ through the acceptance of the dualities in all experience. My attempt to resolve the contradictions inherent in the exchange of influences between east and west and the impact of the information age upon cultures, as well as the need to find the visual equivalents to contemporary thought and experience, led to this synthesis.”

The pairing of this talented trio is, in itself, ‘syncretic’—Ian and Mik with their opposing abstractions of feeling and thought, Roy and Ian exposing the secrets of their outer and inner worlds, and Roy and Mik commenting on the social realities and the conflicts of their respective generations. Beyond this, all three men belong to the same family on a journey of understanding and expression, the same work of art offering three parallel, albeit different, views.

Roy Veneracion will hold an international solo show at the LA Artcore Center, Los Angeles, California, in February 2008. Mikhail’s next exhibit is slated for November 2008 in Mag:net Katipunan. Ian’s next exhibit will be sometime in late-2008 to early-2009. For more information about their works, email susanveneracion@yahoo.com or veneracion.art@gmail.com.

Nonoy Alcalde: Face to Face with the Cosmos

2007-09-01T16:30:00.000+08:00

In icon in the industry of local indigenous music shares his child-like wonder for all things—mundane and otherwise—through his painted works that explore the spellbinding dynamics of space, movement, and the cosmos

Every morning, Nonoy Alcalde starts his day in awe of the world. “I open my eyes slowly, then I sit up and look around,” he shares. “I feel the tips of my fingers—as if doing reflexology on myself—then I feel myself, the essence of my being… I meditate for a few minutes, saying a mantra in my head. Then I’m ready to begin my day, and it’s like I’m a newborn infant seeing the world for the first time!”

Nonoy’s childlike wonder of all things around him is quite unusual for someone who, as a musician traversing the worlds of folk, pop, rock, and world music, has seen it all. He is considered one of the country’s icons of indigenous music and was one of the first musicians to have been painted by master artist Bencab for Rock Sessions, the coffee-table ode to rock gods which features other local rock legends.

This self-confessed “outsider,” however, who at one time engaged in intense meditation and hardly spoke for three years straight, remains unaffected by the fame and recognition his contemporaries and other co-artists have given him.

“I don’t expect anything (for my work),” he admits. “I do what I feel—however creativity moves in my life, that’s what I do… Whatever comes, I let it come.”

This same free-flowing philosophy is evident in his painted works. Inspired by Pointillism, by aboriginal art and the words of a Tibetan lama whose book Nonoy had read in the early 90s, he paints abstract art in “dots and spaces.”

He explains the core message of the Lama’s words: “Our body is a micro cosmos—made up of molecules and atoms… There are spaces in between them; they vibrate—even those objects that seems to be so solid… Nothing in the world is what it seems … There is only the creative process of the moment.”

Facing Nonoy’s work, it is hard to resist being absorbed by the feeling of movement that it conveys. There is nothing contrived about his pieces; the interplay of dots, spaces and vibrant hues allow artist, medium and viewer to flow freely into each other, like distinct particles vibrating to a common rhythm. Looking at his works is like entering into a meditative trance.

It is by representing and expressing this energy that Nonoy feels he is fulfilling his artistic mission. He shares, “The miracle of being alive will always inspire me. Life—you cannot see it. It is expressed in all things that are created here. That’s the only thing that I can contribute to society—to show the beauty in all things.” And he radiates with a distinct brand of inner peace and serenity as he talks about his latest foray into painting. For someone who apparently sees more in the cosmos than what is in plain sight, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

By Niña Terol, published in MEGA Magazine, August 2007 issue

Fame Up Close

2007-09-01T16:15:00.000+08:00

The road to stardom is not only filled with rose petals of accolades and perks one can only dream of; it is also sometimes littered with pebbles of pain, struggle and tears. This month, delve deeper into the meaning of fame through these books that will make you smile, cry and realize that it’s not all smiles behind the camera

My Life so Far
by Jane Fonda
The Random House, 600 pages

If there were someone whom Jane Fonda is anything but, it would be her role in Monster-in-Law, where she portrays a neurotic, obsessive mother who will do anything to keep her son from marrying “a temp.” In her powerfully moving autobiography, My Life So Far, Ms. Fonda reveals much more depth and sensitivity than, perhaps, even she would like to show. The book communicates a universal compassion for the vulnerable—and even for the seemingly strong who are only struggling to hide their wounds.

With her mother’s tragic suicide and her father’s stone-cold distance in the background, Ms. Fonda plays out the different roles in her life with detachment and precision, refusing to let her emotions get in the way of “making things better.” She has become famous (and even notorious) for her film roles, her husbands and her activism during the Vietnam War, but these have only helped her, in her words, to see “meaning beyond the narrow confines of myself and my immediate life.”

In reading this book, one can easily forget that the author is a woman who has made Hollywood bow at her feet. She is over 60 and proud of it, an emancipated soul who can now turn to the richness of her years to cull gems of wisdom that would be more priceless than any award trophy.

Liz: An Intimate Collection
By Bob Willoughby
Merrell Publishers, pages 176

Many historians and academics now say that Cleopatra was probably an unattractive woman—strong-featured and intimidating, yes, but not beautiful. However, the world has come to know Cleopatra by a singular standard: the beauty of Elizabeth Taylor. Her delicate features, her voluptuous figure and her captivating eyes have made her a necessary ingredient in many a filmmaker’s box-office success, yet she is still every bit as enigmatic in spite of the open book that her private life has become.

Now, we are offered yet another peek into her royalty-like life. In Liz: An Intimate Collection, renowned photographer Bob Willoughby, who has been described by the magazine Popular Photography as “The man who virtually invented the photojournalistic picture still,” presents a unique collection of photographs that shows Ms. Taylor in her own Golden Age. There are images from such films as Raintree Country and Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf (1966), for which she won an Academy Award and there are also candid shots of the showbiz star’s personal life. It is a glamorized photo album, a portable museum collection, a certified collectible. Moreover, it is a closer look at fame and at the face that has defined the goddess-like glamour of a bygone era.

Legends: Women Who Have Changed the World Through the Eyes of Great Women Writers
By John Miller (editor)
Publishers Group West, 128 pages

On the cover is a visually arresting photo of Queen Latifah, a duotone image of a woman who has struggled, conquered and lived to laugh. Inside its pages are equally striking images of different women who have helped to define the 20th Century: Frida Kahlo, Margaret Thatcher, Marilyn Monroe, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martha Graham, Diane Keaton, Aung San Suu Kyi, Golda Meir, Oprah, Mother Teresa and many more. Some are celebrities while others have championed celebrated causes. Each face is different from the next, each life a reflection of a different series of struggles, triumphs, loves, and pains.

Their stories are captured by equally legendary women writers: Alma Guillermoprieto paints a portrait of dancer Martha Graham’s life. Camille Paglia shows what Amelia Earhart meant to her as an American teenager in the 60s. Gloria Steinem offers yet another peek into the soul of screen siren Marilyn Monroe. There is no singular theme to this anthology, really, except for the fact that each of the 50 faces in the book has changed the way women look at themselves and their world.

A worthy read, a certified collectible and a perfect gift for mothers, sisters, girlfriends—and yourself, Legends is a work of art that every smart and self-assured woman will want to have on her coffee table.

Memories of John Lennon
By Yoko Ono
Harper Collins, pages 310

Twenty-five years after John Lennon’s death, his widow, Yoko Ono, invited friends and colleagues to send her their written memories of the slain Beatle’s life and works. The result is an eclectic and interesting anthology of vignettes about Lennon, who was known the world over for his timeless compositions, his evocative lyrics and his social activism.

Perhaps Memories of John Lennon would have been more poignant and significant had Ms. Ono herself written the memoir. However, as she writers in the introduction to the book, “I could not open that part of my heart while it’s still shaking.” So readers instead see notes that border on the trite and trivial—Paul Reiser and Nils Lofgren calling Lennon a “friend I never met,” or Bangles member Vicki Peterson confessing that "John Lennon was my earliest sexual fantasy"—as well as intimate images of Lennon as a devoted husband. (For instance, family confidant Elliot Mintz writes of “how he used to brush [Yoko’s] hair… or when we’d be going out to a restaurant and she would put her coat on and he would adjust her collar so that it would look pretty and frame her face.”)

Memories of John Lennon certainly offers different glimpses of the man behind the legend, but it is far from being THE must-have Lennon biography. Still, anyone who appreciates music and the human souls behind it will appreciate this loving tribute to one of the greatest singers and songwriters the world could ever… Imagine.

Behind the Tears?
Photography by Jun de Leon

What makes a celebrity cry? What moves them to bring down their defenses, expose their vulnerabilities, and shed those little drops that can mean a million things? That’s what master lensman Jun de Leon sought to discover in Behind the Tears?, a coffee-table book featuring 50 Filipino celebrities who are not only among the Philippines’ “Who’s Who,” but who also—and more importantly—agreed to do the project in support of the the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines (EBFP).

For Lea Salonga and Tin-Tin Bersola, it was the exhilarating feeling of new motherhood that moved them to cry with joy. For Gary V, on the other hand, the tears were shed out of his never-ending battle with diabetes and its threat to his eyesight. For Ali Sotto, it was her grief over losing her son, Mico, and then discovering how donating his cornea could help others rebuild their lives. There were many reasons, and probably even more tears, but they were all shed for a good cause.

This glossy, groundbreaking collectible was developed under the EBFP’s Tears of Hope, Tears of Health advocacy campaign. It seeks to raise funds for the Foundation’s programs, specifically: making sight-restoring corneal transplants accessible to the masses, maintaining an eye banking training center and undertaking an information campaign on eye health and corneal donation. Proceeds from its sales will definitely go a long way in ensuring that many will see a brighter future ahead of them.

All books are available at all Powerbooks branches. For more information, visit

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By Niña Terol, published in MEGA Magazine, August 2007 issue

Seduce Your Senses

2007-09-01T15:43:00.000+08:00

From the best gourmet buys in New York, to the ultimate buys of a lifetime, these books will captivate your senses and show you what it really means to live the good life

101 Things to Buy Before You Die
by Maggie Davis and Charlotte Williamson
New Holland Publishers 160 pp.

Where will you find the ultimate lip balm? The all-important alarm clock? And the best in fashion, accessories, and yes, even cars? This definitive guide by globetrotting lifestyle journalists and master shoppers Maggie Davis and Charlotte Williamson takes you through the cream of the crop in clothes, food and beverage, health and beauty, home, jewelry, accessories and leisure. At the top of their list? Diamond rings by Wint & Kidd and Harry Winston, watches by Franck Muller, luggage by Louis Vuitton, stilettos by Christian Louboutin, stationery by Smythson and classic cars by Aston Martin.

If you’re someone who believes that your purchases are reflections of your individuality then this book is a must-read. It not only makes pampering yourself easy, it also makes you the ultimate gift-giver for special occasions. In fact, the book itself can be a great gift, too!

Gourmet Shops of New York: Markets, Foods, Recipes
By Susan Meisel and Nathalie Sann
Rizzoli New York 271 pp.

New York is the great melting pot of peoples and cultures. It is a city where sights, sounds, smells and sensations tickle the senses and remind one of life’s riches. It is no wonder, then, that New Yorkers are a discriminate lot who have a taste for only the finest things; when it comes to food, the New York tongue is perhaps the sharpest and the most discerning of them all.

Gourmet Shops of New York: Markets, Foods, Recipes is a culinary masterpiece featuring 180 best-loved gourmet outlets from all five New York boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. From the fruit and vegetable stands of Chinatown, to the meat market at East Village, to Despana in Little Italy and Dean & Deluca at Soho, authors Meisel and Sann take you through every nook and cranny of the “City that Never Sleeps” to the best, freshest, and finest ingredients for those gourmet meals that make you love NY even more. With 60 tried-and-tested recipes and 300 mouth-watering photographs, this voluminous coffee-table book will surely please any palate.

Gucci by Gucci: 85 Years of Gucci
By Gucci
Thames & Hudson

In 1949, Ingrid Bergman gained notoriety for her affair with Roberto Rossellini’s child while still married to Petter Lindstrom. In 1962, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were caught frolicking in Rome while filming Cleopatra. In 1974, Britt Ekland was chosen to play the part of secret agent Mary Goodnight opposite Roger Moore’s James Bond. In 1980, Nancy Reagan became First Lady of the United States of America. In 1996, Amber Valletta strutted into the catwalk with her hips swinging and her sex appeal rising. These women had one thing in common: they did these wearing (or carrying) their Guccis.

The fashion house established by Guccio Gucci has indeed come a long way since its inception in Florence, Italy in 1921.

Gucci by Gucci, which looks more like an encyclopedia of fashion than a collectible coffee-table book, allows one to sample 85 years of “la dolce vita” through paparazzi celeb photos, magazine spreads and engaging historical details. Elegantly printed in black and gold, this volume speaks of beauty and elegance in hushed tones, at once endearing and intimidating—the way haute couture almost always is.

By Niña Terol, published in MEGA Magazine, July 2007 issue

5 Things to Do in Cool, Classy, Cosmopolitan Cebu

2007-05-04T08:01:00.000+08:00

The word “cosmopolitan” may be a euphemism for that unsightly mishmash of sky-high buildings, traffic-congested roads, smog-filled air, and frenzied urbanites; but when one speaks of Cebu, one knows that “cosmopolitan” refers to urban sophistication blended smoothly with southern refinement; to technology that upholds tradition; to regional pride amidst global progress.

When you’re stuck behind your desk and glued to your chair, it’s difficult to “chill out” and to think of sunny skies and warm beaches. You know that you’d have to clear a few days on your calendar to officially take a break, before stepping out and saying “hello” to Mother Nature.

Cebu, however, makes it temptingly easy to mix business and leisure, to hop on your car and to drive to the nearest beach, to achieve that elusive balance of mind, body, and spirit.

To make the most of your trip to this Queen Island, check out these five must-do’s that are sure to calm your frazzled nerves and recharge your weary spirit.

Commune with nature at Moalboal and Malapascua. A tropical haven located 89 kilometers southwest of Cebu City, Moalboal offers diverse marine life that’s perfect for viewing from your goggles. The water around Pescador Island is a popular dive spot, and dive shops there can take you for fun intro dives that can later on be extended into a full dive course.

But if you’re looking for an exotic underwater adventure, then Malapascua may just be your thing. A once-sleepy island located off the north tip of Cebu, there are probably more sea creatures than humans here. There are only 4,000 residents in town, but the deep blue sea is inhabited by thresher sharks, white tip sharks, mantas, hammerheads, mandarin fish, pygmy seahorses, magnificent coral gardens… and the occasional shipwreck.

Connect to your spiritual side at Magellan’s Cross and at the Taoist Temple. The primordial symbol of Christianity in the Philippine isles, Magellan’s cross was planted by Fernando Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan), the Portuguese conquistador who had Rajah Humabon, Queen Juana, and about 400 other followers christened on April 21, 1521. This marked the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines and made the country the seat of Christianity in Asia. The Basilica Minore de Sto. Niño commemorates this historic event.

The Taoist temple at Beverly Hills, Cebu City, on the other hand, is a spiritual center preserving the teachings of Lao-Tse, the 600 B.C. Chinese philosopher. It is an immense, multi-tiered, and colorful attraction that houses souvenir shops, spacious balconies offering scenic views of the island, a mini-library, and even a replica of the Great Wall of China. Before you can cleanse your soul, however, you must first limber up your muscles and climb its 99 steps.

Immerse in local culture with the guitar-makers of Maribago District. Located in Lapulapu City, Maribago’s guitar factories will show you how indigenous raw materials are transformed into finely crafted instruments that will surely make your heart soar with song.

Connect with the past at Fort San Pedro, the heart of the first Spanish settlement in the country. Located at Cebu City’s wharf area, Fort San Pedro was once a single triangular bastion that was built in 1565 and completed only 200 years later. It has since been used as a watchtower against pirates, a prison for local rebels during the Philippine Revolution, a US army barracks, and a World War II prison camp. It is now a museum-park that offers visitors a glimpse of Cebu’s colorful colonial past.

Eat your heart out at any of Cebu’s casual, cozy, or classing dining establishments. Of course, high on our priority list would be Cang’s Lechon and Sunburst Chicken at Lahug, Cebu City, but you may also want to try the delectable offerings of Aranos Café Laguna, Fuente O!, Club Circus, or Café Adriatico (of Malate fame).//

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By Niña Terol, printed in CEMEX+ME 3rd Quarter 2005

Raul Manzano of Arrakis Oggetti: Bearer of Beautiful Things

2007-05-04T07:59:00.000+08:00

Beauty, as they say, is on the eye of the beholder. But when you’ve travelled all over the world for business and pleasure, have been exposed to different cultures, and have a keen eye for trends, you won’t only know beauty when you see it—you will help to define it.

For many of Manila’s styled set, Raul Manzano is no ordinary banker and businessman. For although he knows the fundamental Fs of business—Facts, Figures, and Finances—he also knows what’s Fashionable and Fun. But, no, he doesn’t dress up style icons and celebrities. He illuminates their homes and offices and enables the natural beauty of these spaces to shine through.

Business + pleasure = treasure

Raul is no stranger to business, having been an investment banker and entrepreneur for quite a number of years already. But it was while on a shopping expedition in Hong King when the franchise holder of Italian luxury brands Alessi, Artemide, Barovier & Toso, Venetia Studium, and Vistosi asked him if he would like to open a retail store in Manila. Raul took to the idea immediately because he has been a fan of these brands, frequently buying such items in Hong Kong and Italy, and because he has often been asked by friends to purchase décor pieces for them during his trips.

“(We set up shop) just before the Asian economic crisis,” Raul recounts. “It (just) so happened that the store opened at the right time… Everybody was building, and the economy was good.” People were primed to spend—and spend it on decorating their homes, so it seemed. So in 1996, Arrakis Oggetti was born.

Selling with a personal touch

When the Asian economic crisis hit the country in 1997, the peso-dollar exchange rate almost doubled (it is now more than double its 1996 rate at approximately Php56=USD1), causing the prices of Arrakis Oggetti’s merchandise to triple. To cope with the downward trend in spending—especially on luxury items—Raul closed his retail shop at the Shangri-la Hotel in Makati and instead focused on developing more personal relationships with his clients.

“We deal mostly with architects and interior designers,” Raul shares. “We deal with them on a project basis… instead of maintaining huge volumes of inventory which we have in the shop.

“We usually go to different villages. What the salesmen do is they check the construction sites, then they go armed with all the marketing materials that they have. And they go to the sites to meet the contractor, the architect, the designer. We sit down with them, then… we offer… (our five product lines).” Members of his sales staff have to work doubly hard to close sales this way, Raul says, but all their efforts have been paying off.

Perhaps it’s Raul’s sharp sense of style, or maybe it’s the work ethic that he and his staff bring into their work, but Arrakis Oggetti has accumulated an impressive list of clients from the Philippines’ crème de la crème, including the Amanpulo Resort in Palawan, DM Consunji Corporation (its President, Sid Consunji, was featured in our maiden issue), Malacañang Palace’s Premiere Guest House, social icon Imelda Cojuangco, industrialist and philanthropist Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, celebrities Sharon Cuneta Pangilinan and Richard and Lucy Gomez, tycoon Henry Sy, and partyphile Tessa Prieto-Valdez—who embodies Venetia Studium’s bohemian spirit.

Sensible style

What makes his merchandise a hit, despite their über-premium prices, is that they represent style and elegance that will never go out of fashion. Arrakis Oggetti’s pieces, therefore, may be values as investment pieces, or as family heirlooms that may be passed on from generation to generation.

In Raul’s case, his personal tastes once centered on the Asian tropical feel, a style that has characterized his Balinese-inspired home in Calatagan, Batangas. (“I went to Bali in one year a total of twelve times… (because I wanted) the details of the house… to come out the same way,” he reveals.) But once he got tired of the cluttered Asian look—“Asian is very cluttered… You have a lot of stuff, a lot of heads…”—he reverted to the old-world simplicity and charm that was very much Italian.

So what happens to the pieces that he simply gets tired of?

“I have six brothers so I can just dispose of them to the family,” he laughs. The great thing is: they’ll never have to feel that they’re getting hand-me-downs—and they’re probably just waiting for another round of giveaways. //

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Names to Know

Alessi
Designer items for the modern urbanite

Alessi equals streamlined and sassy. Its pieces are not only fun décor items that add life to any home, but they’re also stylishly functional. Take a look at some of these kitchen utensils, bathroom accessories, and cutlery, and you’ll see what we mean.

Artemide
Lights your fire

Think of light not only as something that enables you to see, but as something that accompanies and captures your moods and emotions. Artemide, which has been lighting people’s lives since 1959, offers a diverse range of architectural and decorative light fixtures to fit every personality.

Barovier & Toso
Handcrafted elegance

The name Barovier has become synonymous with the famed glassworks that characterize the island of Murano in Italy. Offering everything from handblown Venetian crystal to 14th-century-designed chandeliers and ceiling lamps, Barovier & Toso offers a piece of the romance that is Italy.

Venetia Studium
Bohemian rhapsody

This is everything but simple. From its hand-painted Fortuny silk shades to its delicately crafted stands and details, Venetia Studium offers opulence and indulgence for those who want to feel like royalty.

Vistosi
More Murano

Another pillar of Murano glasswork in Italy, Vistosi offers more lamps, lighting pieces, and décor items in handblown Venetian glass. From simple and streamlined to delicate and intricate, Vistosi showcases the finest in Italian craftsmanship.

* * * * *

Beautiful things, indeed

The store’s name literally means “from where good things come.” It combines the words oggetti, an Italian word meaning “object”, and Arrakis, the planet of all good things in the classic series, Dune. It exclusively carries the same brands as the Hong Kong shop, but with everything made in Italy, and with pieces selected by Raul and Ms. Brunella Bighi, their regional manager based in Hong Kong, to suit the Philippine market’s global sensitivity and taste for tradition.

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By Niña Terol, printed in CEMEX+ME, 4th Quarter 2004

Design 101

2007-05-04T07:55:00.000+08:00

How can you update your home or office space’s look for 2006? What should you know before making over a space? What should you look for in a designer?

CEMEX+ME gives you the basics of interior design, from only the best interior design educators in the country.

It’s easy to come up with a “design forecast” for the year based on “gut feel”. One just has to look around and take note of emerging patterns and past trends, and then come up with a recommendation on “what’s hot” and “what’s not.” However, for Jie Pambid, who’s been teaching interior design for 12 years already and is the Dean of the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID), interior design is a serious business that combines craft, science, art, and inspiration. You can’t just take it lightly.

“Our thrust is to train students to be very professional,” Jie shares.

PSID’s design philosophy is based on a healthy mix of academic rigor, industry exposure, and a designer’s own experience and personal taste. Students are taught everything from drafting and drawing, to coloring and rendering, to even accounting, budgeting, and design entrepreneurship. And with a faculty composed of the Who’s Who in interior design, PSID’s graduates are almost sure to come out ahead of the pack.

“We do not allow a student to take the board exams unless he or she is ready,” Jie asserts. “And, if you can see right from the start that a student isn’t really that interested or does not have what it takes, then that person is weeded out (of the program).”

Around 80 percent of PSID’s students come from the “mature” segment—those who have already been employed or those who have “always wanted to do interior design” but have not been able to in the past. (Jie himself was already a medical doctor before shifting to his true vocation.) Their age, experience, and maturity make them better students, Jie shares, so there are “almost nil disciplinary problems in the school… They can’t really cheat (in designing their plates), because we’d know.”

Be your own designer? Now you can!

It’s fun to think of the many possibilities that a space holds, and making a space over can be both challenging and exciting. What’s good is that, for those who can’t really afford to hire designers, a variety of DIY (do-it-yourself) kits are now available to fit every need and budget. Want to paint your wall? Do it yourself! Need some hanging shelves to create more storage space in your room? Do it yourself!

However, there are still many cases where designers are imperative—especially when one is talking about restructuring a space or maximizing limited resources for business purposes. In these scenarios, it’s still best to consult a designer that’s professional, licensed, and referred to you by trusted friends and colleagues.

And if you think that plates and blueprints and colors just might be your thing, PSID just might be your key to unlocking your design dreams.

The Philippine School of Interior Design is located at 2240 Chino Roces Avenue (formerly Pasong Tamo), Makati City. For inquiries, call 819 1197 or 819 1201 or visit www.psid.edu.ph.//

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What’s in a bona fide designer?

Designers may not be able to cheat while they’re in school, but how can we spot the genuine article out here in the real world? Jie advises readers to check four things:

Credentials

Check your potential designers’ portfolios, double-check their references, get feedback from former clients and colleagues—in other words, do your homework.

“There are a lot of people out there who claim to be interior designers (but are not),” Jie cautions us. “(Designers) are only as good as (their) last project, so try to get referrals because an ethical designer will not advertise.”

License

A certified interior designer is someone who has taken the board exams and passed it. The license, Jie points out, assures clients that a designer has had the necessary training to be a good designer and will most likely be worth your money.

Professional Affiliation

A bona fide designer will most probably be a member of the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers. According to Jie, this means that he or she has the “backing of the entire industry” and has already built a good relationship with suppliers and industry colleagues.

“With this, a client is assured that, whoever a designer recommends (to be a supplier), he or she will not be short-changed.”

Budgeting skills

Surprisingly, it’s not the designer’s taste that really matters. Jie asserts that good designers are able to provide clients what they need and want at a reasonable budget, and will give them professional advice based on the client’s desired result.

“A good designer must have good business skills because they will be the one allocating the funds (within a particular project),” he says. “If you’re after a particular look, a good designer will find a way such that you won’t have to spend so much. At the end of the day, your room or home should be a place that you would like to come home to.”

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So you want a makeover?

Makeovers are fun—if you watch them on TV. If you’re attempting one for your home or office space, however, a makeover can be the source of a lot of physical, emotional, and—of course—financial stress. So before embarking on this major move, Jie gives five pieces of headache-sparing advice:

Be O.C. about listing down things you’ll need in that space. No, he doesn’t mean the hit TV series, The OC. He means knowing exactly what the space will be used for, knowing everything that you’ll possibly need in that space, and making sure that everything fits. When building a home-office, for instance, make sure that there’s enough space for all your equipment, all your files, meeting space, and outlets for electricity and phone lines.

Light and ventilation? Go natural. There’s nothing worse than a space that makes you feel imprisoned. When making over a space, make sure to give it lots of natural light and natural ventilation so that even small spaces won’t feel so cramped. Go for large windows, high ceilings, or at least enough space to allow air to circulate. In lighting, use energy-saving yellow lights, and be sure to distinguish among general lighting, task lighting, and ambient lighting.

Let your personal preferences guide you. It doesn’t really matter what the design magazines—or even the designers—say. What matters is how you feel about a certain space, what you want to achieve in it, and what works for you.

Don’t dump your design debates on your designer. You and your business partner/spouse/roommate can’t agree on a particular look or feel for your space? Go ahead and ask for advice, but don’t leave the decision-making up to your designer. At the end of the day, it’s you (and whomever you’re debating with) who will use that space, so iron out your differences and agree on a particular design before getting to work.

Expect changes in the budget. Even the most money-savvy designer won’t be able to stop price fluctuations in the market, so Jie advises having a contingency fund equal to around 30 percent of your initial budget. Better yet, do your makeover in phases so that you don’t spend all your money in just one go.

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And now, the 4Fs of 2006!

After hours of serious brainstorming and research down at the PSID, here’s what Jie and his colleagues see to be the characteristics of design in 2006”

Function

Before designing a space, ask yourself, “What will this space be used for?” Always design with function in mind, because a pretty space will be worth nothing if it’s not useful and functional. Will your kitchen also double as a space for small cocktail parties? Do you need a working area in your room? For 2006, function definitely takes priority over form.

Fusion

Let’s face it: you can’t really throw everything out and have your furniture and décor look perfectly pulled together. It’s fun to mix and match materials that were once thought to be incompatible, and fusion is fashionable in 2006.

You like stainless steel and she likes wood? Go ahead—earthy and traditional marries industrial and high-tech in many new pieces now. How about matte and textured? This year’s all about that, too. Designers are now creative in their approach, Jie shares, so feel free to experiment in your own space.

Fresh

Think fresh, think healthy! In 2006, the colors that matter come from nature’s best: citrus fruits, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and the like. Jie says, “These colors are bright but cool, and they remind you of a refreshing taste. What’s more, color knows no age or gender, so go with a color that soothes and refreshes you.”

Fun

Huey Lewis & the News sang, “It’s hip to be square.” Well… not in 2006. Jie says that the shape of things to come is more curvy and biomorphic—resembling human figures, natural shapes, or anything that’s not too linear. This year, coffee tables just might resemble coffee beans, and couches need not be large, bulky pieces of furniture. To have more fun in 2006, think (literally) out of the box!

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By Niña Terol, printed in CEMEX+ME 1st/2nd Quarter 2006

Technology Must-Haves for Your Business

2007-05-01T20:13:00.000+08:00

EYP welcomes four new registered businesses. Niña Terol introduces them.

Whether your business is a startup with minimal capitalization, such as a training and consultancy firm, or a large-scale operation with specialized technology and ultra-sensitive equipment, such as a car assembly plant, you will need technology to power your transactions, operations, and especially your customer relationships. Because you are now competing in a global economy, where no business is too small or too large to make a mark in the international scene, it is essential for your business to have all the technology it needs to move quicker, lighter, and more efficiently than before.

Fortunately, many different types of technology solutions are now available to address your business’ core needs. From something as simple as a website or a mailing list, to something as intricate and complex as a cleanroom for a semiconductor plant, the Philippines now has it all—and you can find them all here at EYP.

Business essentials

To survive in these challenging times, you need to stay in constant contact with your clients, the lifeblood of your organization. The good news: falling costs and the rising speed of technology development ensure that you will always have a means to be in touch—whether it’s through a billboard, a website, an e-newsletter, or an SMS blast. Even better news: Adwealth Philippines and Mindgate Systems can give you mostly everything your business could possibly need to be visible and on your customers’ top-of-mind.

Adwealth Philippines offers a host of outdoor advertising products and services that promise high visibility at lower cost. With various prime locations around the metropolis, it takes advantage of urbanites’ mobility and the crawling Metro Manila traffic to offer enterprises the exposure they need—for a fraction of the cost of a 30-second TV commercial. If you need to introduce your business in a big way, then go outdoors.

Mindgate Systems, on the other hand, harnesses the powers of the World Wide Web to reach a tech-savvy demographic. It offers a wide range of "e-solutions" for companies of various sizes and competencies, including Internet access, web hosting, project management and consultancy, and website development. For companies requiring more customized customer interface tools, Mindgate, through its subsidiary Innovia, also offers text blasts to mailing lists, e-newsletters, web search and mailing list facilities, a Self-Care Update Facility (SUF) that allows you to update your own website, and even a poll-taking capability via SMS for surveys, contests, raffles, and other interactive customer communications programs.

Its roster of clients includes Inq7.net, JG Summit Holdings, Philippine National Bank, United Nations of the Philippines, and Asia United Bank.

Through Mindgate, your company will have more than just electronic brochures in your customers’ email and phone inboxes—it can strengthen relationships, build communities and transform customers into real business partners.

Technology to keep you on track

With so much technology available, it should be easy to keep track of all you and your clients’ information without sifting through tall stacks of paper, right? With Digital Dimensions, it virtually is.

Digital Dimensions, Inc. (DDI) offers various database management solutions to meet the complex needs of information-intensive organizations, such as retail chains, banks, schools, hospitals, and even restaurants and local government units. Its client-focused programs can help you increase revenue base and collectibles, improve governance through the fast and efficient delivery of public services, improve financial and resource management, streamline internal operations, and improve records management.

Some of its flagship products include the following:
· iGourmate, a restaurant management system that uses handheld terminals to help restaurants keep track of food orders and payments, view sales reports, monitor table turn and profitability, quickly correct erroneous food bills, and so on. Currently, Dencio’s and Gloria Maris use this.
· webHiS, or web-enabled Hospital Information System, integrates the clinical, financial, and administrative operations of a modern hospital or clinic, and eliminates the need for filling out repetitive forms and records. It generates electronic patient records that may be viewed by doctors, health care providers, and other authorized personnel, enabling them to give patients more accurate diagnoses and better service.

A quick visit to its website will show you how else DDI can transform your business. With these high-tech solutions, plus a lot of common sense, you can kiss bureaucracy goodbye.

Tech out there

If your company has specialized manufacturing or assembly operations needs, you’ll need the services of Taikisha Philippines.

A subsidiary of Taikisha Ltd. of Tokyo, Taikisha Philippines is an engineering enterprise specializing in the design, fabrication, and installation of cleanrooms, paint finishing systems, and controlled environmental projects. Founded in 1913 as a trading company, Taikisha has since become one of the world’s largest contractors, working for such companies as Fujitsu, Seagate, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Intel here in the Philippines.

It designs and constructs plant support services and support facilities, such as:
· Process gas and de-ionized water systems
· Piping works
· Air conditioning systems
· Enclosures and their supporting structures
· Waste water treatment plants
· Systems for decontaminating personnel and equipment

Taikisha also manufactures paint finishing plants—advanced facilities that incorporate heat, air, and water technologies to increase production efficiency and reduce pollution. Taikisha’s paint plants are used by automobile and aircraft manufacturers around the world, and are used here by National Panasonic, among others.

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By Niña Terol; published online in Electronic Yellow Pages (www.eyp.ph) on July 25, 2005

Volunteers For Progress: Scholar Sees Teleportation Being Put to Practical Use

2007-05-01T20:10:00.000+08:00

If she could have it her way, Christel Ann Fitero would be transporting people to different places in a snap—literally. For this Electronics and Communications Engineering sophomore, teleportation may soon be more than just a figment of our collective imagination.

“[Teleportation] will deliver people to different places [in] an instant,” Christel’s eyes sparkle and her lips curl into an almost naughty grin as she imagines the possibilities. “It will definitely [lessen] the traffic jams we have in our country, and it will assure us of our safety and make traveling a lot easier and less time-consuming.”

“We live in a world na mabilisan [fast-paced]. We want everything in an instant; teleportation can be our aid to that.”

A fan of the Matrix trilogy, this 18-year-old gets tickled at the thought that anything is possible. She admits that although she has yet to stumble upon a solid basis for teleportation, whatever she has read on Quantum Physics so far is leading her to believe that this kind of technology—as mystical and as supernatural as it may seem—is feasible scientifically.

Anything is possible

Christel herself has proved that dreams can come true, and that determination, perseverance—and imagination—can take us to places we’ve only imagined before. Although she has already had the inclination for Math and for “stuff na medyo mabutingting” (stuff that requires meticulous handiwork), she never really thought that she would make it to one of the toughest courses at the Ateneo de Manila University—and as a scholar at that.

Besides the science-loving genes that she seems to have inherited from her family (her elder siblings, Adelaide and Lloyd Frances, graduated from computer courses, and her youngest brother, Kenneth Carlo, is a nursing freshman), Christel credits her experience with Pathways to Higher Education as the key that unlocked a world of possibilities for her.

Pathways to Higher Education is an education development program, established at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2002, that equips students with the skills and the competence they would need to get a good college education.

About her Pathways experience, Christel shares: “I’ve learned how to appreciate life even more because I saw that somehow [I was] fortunate enough to be able to study at Ateneo . . . Pathways has been the door for me to enter Ateneo, giving my family fewer expenses since I am a scholar . . . I really am thankful for all the blessings that God has given me.”

A simple smile is all it takes

As lofty as her scientific goals may be, Christel keeps her feet on the ground. Amid all the glitz and gadgetry of the high-tech world, what she loves best are simple joys.

“Mababaw lang [ang] kaligayahan ko. Anything [that’s funny] can make me laugh. More often than not, I’m always accused of being corny. I laugh at the corniest jokes,” she admits.

Christel’s involvement with Pathways allows her to do just that. Besides being a scholar, she also helps other students cope with the rigors of academic life by giving Math tutorials.
Not just “world peace”

While she has the frame and the demeanor to be crowned “Miss Congeniality,” Christel won’t just tell you that she wishes for “world peace.”

“[My greatest dream for myself is to] be able to touch someone’s life and create a change, even if it is not as great as world peace,” she chuckles naughtily.

“For my family, I just wish that they will always be happy and content; [that they will] continue learning how to truly love and forgive so that they will be able to accept themselves and others as well.”

Her dream for mankind? “I wish it the knowledge that will guide it through its voyage toward innovations.”

Pathways to Higher Education is based at Ateneo de Manila University and has been helping young students like Christel reach greater heights. Get to know about Pathways’ groundbreaking programs by calling 426-6001 locals 4045 to 4049, by sending an e-mail to pathways@admu.edu.ph or by texting 0920-9508171.

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By Niña Terol, published online in the Manila Times Online on December 25, 2005

Smart Choices for a Better World

2007-05-01T20:06:00.000+08:00

AS ANOTHER school year ends and as the prospect of being thrown into the corporate jungle hits us, we think to ourselves, “What do I want to do for the rest of my life?” The answer comes immediately for others: “I want to direct feature films… I want to work in a large multinational bank… I want to be a product manager at P&G or Unilever…” To some, a vision of the future looms over the horizon, but the image may not be crystal clear: “I want to make a difference. I’m not yet sure how, but I want to make a difference.”

For JP Tanchanco, a graduating student of De La Salle University, the answer wasn’t always so obvious. This 21-year-old loves partying with a passion that he has been known to paint the town neon for days at a time. He’s so much into the scene that he chronicles the clubbing industry as if he had a Ph.D. in Macroentertainment. He loves jazz, techno, and Marvin Gaye, and his band, Ryde, won MTV Face of the Millennium in 2000. If you had asked him then what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d say, “Rock star!!!” And you would have thought it possible because he was already set to record an album for Sony Music. Even before he reached 20, JP Tanchanco was a party animal to the hilt—and he loved every bit of it.

But somewhere on the road to superstardom he realized that there was more to life than his music and his parties, and JP soon gave up what would have been a lucrative musical career to focus on marketing for Chimara, the neo-vegan café that he operates with his mom, Annie.

It all began when his sister, Jonina, shifted to a vegetarian diet at age 16. “I really didn’t think she was serious,” he admitted. “Sabi ko sa kanya, give it a few months, babalik ka rin. (I told her, give it a few months, and you’ll go back to your old ways)” But when Jonina was still an avid green eater more than a year later, he decided to check out what the fuss was all about.

What he uncovered disturbed him. While surfing the Net, JP saw a news article that talked about an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in chickens in the UK. “I learned that they were including [ground] meat bones in the chicken feeds. Imagine, foot-and-mouth disease in chickens? And that’s supposed to be safe na, ha!” That bit of information, coupled with his mom’s experimentation with vegetarian dishes for Jonina, encouraged JP to go veg—or semi, at least. “I loved meat, I still do. Pero ngayon nahihiya na `kong kumain ng steak (But now I’m ashamed to eat steak).”

Making a difference

Letting go of his rock star dreams to go full-time into Chimara was a difficult decision for JP, but his mom, who also owns and manages the funfood chain Taters, inspired him to use the café to fulfill his desire to make a difference. “If my own mom can really… support her own beliefs and really promote [them, through her business], then [I realized that] you can really make a difference as an entrepreneur. Your resources… can be showered upon something that’s more socially responsible… Me… I wanna make a difference!” Thus began JP’s immersion into the world of “enlightened” entrepreneurship.

More than giving Chimara its neo-vegan twist, JP, who will graduate with a degree in Applied Economics, uses the café to advocate larger causes of sustainable development and education. On the café’s façade is a quote from his fave economist, Michael Todaro: “Sustainable development is meeting the needs of our present generation without compromising the needs of the future generation.” In JP’s words, it is about “caring about the long run,” working now to make the world a better place for our children and the future generations of our own families.

The café is an excellent venue for promoting such a value. Aside from promoting a healthier lifestyle through the use of non-meat ingredients, Chimara also supports local organic farmers by tapping them as suppliers of its vegetables. With its consumers, Chimara promotes and practices philanthropy by donating 1 percent of all purchases to the Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (Centex), a school for bright but under-resourced students run by the Ayala Foundation.

Running a business with a social dimension is no easy task. Operating an organic café is, in itself, quite expensive, with ingredients costing almost double the chemically fertilized kind. But the mother-and-son tandem are committed to keeping their prices low without sacrificing the quality of their fare, if only to promote their philosophy of a better world, and mold a new breed of consumers.

Healthy food

If you judge Chimara based on the quality of its food alone, you’ll agree that it is, indeed, reason enough to support JP’s philosophy of sustainable development. There you’ll find cinema-and-café type food (chips and nachos, popcorn, sandwiches and pitas, and risottos) with a healthy twist. The café uses only the most natural, organically grown ingredients for its dishes, and prepares its food without the grease and fat that are mainstays in other fastfood joints. Contrary to many misconceptions surrounding vegetarian cuisine, Chimara does not sacrifice taste for health, and offers its growing clientele a gastronomic treat at very affordable prices. Most of the items in their menu cost less than P100.

Their must-tries are House Franks, Banapples, Vegan Chips, and Popeye’s Risotto.

JP Tanchanco is but one of the many young Filipinos who are using their professions to create social change. And his path, “enlightened entrepreneurship,” is one of the more creative and challenging ones to take. As you take another step closer to the real world, think of you how can use your skills and talents to fulfill your dreams and do good. Like JP, the answer may not yet be obvious, but it will show itself through the choices that you make and the actions that you take.

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By Niña Terol, printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 26, 2003

Four Steps to a Better World

2007-05-01T20:03:00.000+08:00

It takes more than money or power to make a difference in people’s lives, and oftentimes, the more valuable contribution people make are those that don’t involve money. All it really takes is a little self-assessment, some creativity and talent, and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

Step 1: Evaluate your knowledge, skills and talents. Before embarking on your save-the-world endeavor, take a hard, honest look at yourself and make an inventory of your knowledge, skills, and talents that you think can be useful to others. Are you brilliant at accounting, terrific at painting, or excellent at baking? Then you’re just the person the world needs. No skill is ever useless to anyone, and million of Filipinos out there need all the help they can get.

Step 2: Assess your values. You may be a genius in whatever task you undertake, but you will ultimately choose what or whom to support based on your core values. Do you want to spend entertaining children at the orphanage, or would you rather use photography to protect endangered animal species? It’s important to like what you’re doing so make sure to go with something that’s more “you.”

Step 3: Get acquainted with organizations in your community. Did you know that there are over 60,000 nongoverment organizations (NGOs) and non-profit organizations (NPOs) all over the country? These organizations work for particular causes (e.g., abused children, environment, theater and arts, religion, poverty alleviation, etc.), and usually work within a community or locality. Examples would be orphanages, charismatic communities, foundations, and cooperatives. Know what causes they work for, what they do, and what resources they need. Chances are you’ll easily find an organization that suits your liking, and one that needs your resources.

Contact the following networks for more information on NGOs and NPOs: Association of Foundations, tel. 913-7231, telefax 911-9792, e-mail afnatl@codewan.com.ph; Caucus of Development NGO Network (Code NGO), tel. 426-6001 to -60 local 2709/35, fax 426-5938, e-mail caucus@codewan.com.ph; Department of Social Welfare and Development, tel. 734-8649/47 (NCR office), fax 734-8649, email dswd-ncr@psdn.org.ph; League of Corporation Foundations, tel. 897-9043/44 fax 897-9054, email league@amanet.net; Makati-NGO Network, tel. 897-9043 to -44 fax 897-9043; Philippine Council for NGO Certification, tel. 897-6041 or 899-1359, fax 895-6169, email pcncet@mozcom.com; the Social Welfare Office in your municipality (visit your municipal hall for more information).

Step 4: Go out and do something. Now that you know what you have, what you’d like to do, and where to go, spend time to volunteer for a cause. Better yet, bring your friends along have a blast while reaching out to others in need.

Questions, comments or suggestions? Visit www.venture-asia.org, e-mail info@venture-asia.org, or call 634-8889 to -09 or fax 637-3545

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By Niña Terol, printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 31, 2002

Making a Difference 101

2007-05-01T20:01:00.000+08:00

It’s never too late to make a difference in the lives of people and organization around you. Giving and helping out aren’t difficult, really, and you certainly don’t need a massive amount of time, talent or treasure to make an impact in your community. All it takes is a heart, hands, and some creative thinking. To get started, here’s a list of small, almost effortless, things you can do in the next three months.

Get in the habit of giving:

• Make a resolution to read more about nonprofit organizations.
• Keep tab of causes or organizations that interest you.
• Know more about your chosen organization. Visit its website or call or visit its office.
• Find out what your chosen organization needs, and decide what you want to do or give, after reflection.
• Challenge yourself to save money for your organization and set a date when you will give it.
• Commit to support your organization regularly (even for just a year).
• Donate to a charity or organization to honor the death (or death anniversary) of a loved one.
• On your birthday, treat some kids (from an orphanage or shelter) to a museum visit.
• Make an effort to learn something about unusual causes (e.g., indigenous peoples’ rights, AIDS, human rights, etc.).
• Get a family and friends to your giving habit.

Be nice:

• Smile more and remember people’s names.
• Write to friends and loved ones and encourage them to support an organization of their choice.
• Take time to listen to the stories of your elderly relatives and friends. They need people to help them remember.
• Give a street child some food before s/he asks you for money.
• Take your prom outside the hotel and spend it with the less fortunate.
• Host a “clean-up party” in your village, beach resort, or anywhere else.

Teach a class:

• Get a group of friends together and host a livelihood workshop for jobless women in your community. This can involve teaching your audience how to make baked goodies, candles, or décor items that they can sell later on.
• Conduct a workshop where you can teach village folk to turn their household trash into home-made treasures.
• Coach a youth sporting team.
• Get out-of-school youth in your community into sports.
• Teach children first aid.
• Teach children in your community about illegal drugs and how this problem can be solved.

Nurture nature:

• Segregate garbage and other waste products.
• Reuse and recycle.
• Support environment NGOs by touring through the islands’ protected sanctuaries and wildlife reserves, like visiting the Philippine Eagle, Palawan, Siargao, etc.

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By Niña Terol, printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on April 14,2002

A Wandering, Wondering Mind

2007-01-02T16:21:00.000+08:00

My mind is always wandering, always wondering, always working. Whether I'm sipping tea, washing dishes, jogging by the Bay, boxing at the gym, or reading a magazine, I'm still working, thinking, writing in my head. Sometimes I surprise myself by not actually uttering a word for hours on end because the words are all in my head. They're there, penned in invisible ink, just waiting for the right mix of lemon juice and magical ingredients to make the ink come out.

Unlike my two other blogs, which are about Life's joys, jitters, raves, and rants, this will be about Work. And not just about my job/s or my career, but about Work with a capital W. The stuff of which a Living is made. That which distinguishes existence from a meaningful, significant Life.

Some days I'm a Wordweaver. Other days I'm a Manuscript Murderer. But above all that, I'm a Connector. I bring people and ideas together--sometimes for the profit, sometimes just for the heck of it, but always for the sheer joy of it.

I love Work, whether I get paid for it or not. Welcome to my Workaday World.