Stand By

I'll be taking a little break for a few weeks.
In a creative's life it is often necessary to retreat in order to reasssess and focus on what needs to get done.

After the talking about, the analyses, and the planning, comes the hard part, the "doing". It's actually show time.

I have often said that I want to be the one that people write about, that I do not merely want to just observe and talk about others' great creative, but I want to be the one whose work they are making a big fuss about.

For me to begin getting there at this point in time, I find it necessary to pour all my energy on my personal tasks at hand.
I'll be taking care of my SoCal move and will be back to share my adventures and misdaventures after I've settled. This trip that I'm about to make is a very important journey for me.

In the mean time, keep living the best life you can live, full of passion and action!
I'll catch up with you and your muse soon enough.

Are you brave enough?

I was reading the magazine, FAST COMPANY the other day when I chanced upon an article on designer Yves Behar of fuseproject.
In it he had a quote that stayed with me.


This made me think about fear.
To start any kind of change or uprising in life, bravery is called for.
Bravery is not really the absence of fear.
It’s having fear but choosing to overcome it.
It’s having fear but behaving productively “inspite of it”.
Is your fear going to be your friend or your foe in your pursuits?

A few questions for you to reflect upon:

Are you brave enough to fail?

Are you brave enough to look like a fool?

Are you brave enough to be imperfect?

Are you brave enough to be original?

Are you brave enough to be the only one?

Are you brave enough to love regardless of return?

Are you brave enough to sweat?

Are you brave enough to do what’s right?

Are you brave enough to lose everything?

Are you brave enough to get back up again?

Are you brave enough to dare to take the road less traveled?

Are you brave enough to question?

Are you brave enough to admit when something’s not working? And then change course?

Are you brave enough to disagree?

Are you brave enough to leave your laurels behind?

Are you brave enough to be wrong?

Are you brave enough to start all over again?

Finally, that "thing" that you really, really want,
how badly do you really want it?

Because your answer pretty much determines whether you’re on your way to getting it or not.

Front and Center

We all wear masks to a certain degree whether we care to admit it or not. Sometimes I wonder who the real me is. Is the "me" that I think is me, not the real me but the product of a programmed version of myself through years of what others thought I was, or what I thought the world expected and allowed me to be?

We all play a certain role in our lives.
My recurring role was always that of middleman, a very tiring position to be in.

We should all be leading ladies/men in our own lives instead. I read that once somewhere. And it hit me hard. Most of us do fall into the trap of behaving like we don’t deserve to be stars in our own show that is our lives. Our days are spent in type-casted, supporting roles to others’ quests. We let others play director and a few others dictate the look and feel.

It’s never too late to turn that spotlight around on “you”. Life is short and film is not only limited but expensive.

The version of me today wants to defy being defined. I’d like to think that I am much more imaginative than that. I have found that the most inspired me is when I’m just left to be “me”.
No second-guessing. No editing.

This Halloween, I was an "unkempt, zombie-ish rag-doll-that's-out-for-revenge-on-the-little-girl-that-did-not-take-very-good-care-of-her". A last minute change in what I’d originally wanted to be---Sally from "Nightmare Before Christmas". Same family but with a twist.

In my movie, even the disheveled and the imperfect can be headliners. Sure it wasn’t a pretty, princess costume, but then again, who said I ever wanted to be a princess?

Tomorrow I don't quite know what I'll transform into. But for now, let's have a go at it, Superstars!

A to B

I’ve been caught in a flurry of very emotional and very big decisions lately. It’s as if I’ve opened a number of canned worms and I have so much to attend to all at once. I am very overwhelmed to say the least. Tired everyday and completely losing steam.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In my quest for satisfying my creative hunger and following my true passion, I’ve not only disrupted my own life, but also that of my family’s and co-workers’. I’ve been praying deeply about this for a very long time now. And each time I know that the decision to pack up in a few months and head to SoCal in pursuit of my creative passion is my next level.

All of us climb through stages. Each time we make a move, we can only hope it’s towards the next level. The next level, presumably a better level. To have a calm, quite acceptable, comfortable life turned into a pool of uncertainty is core-shaking. It feels foolish to abandon a very safe space. In the middle of the frenzy, you start to wonder if it’s all worth it. All the new drama. All the discomfort. All the painful details. But when I look at the alternative, all I see is mediocrity.
And that to me is even more crazy scary.

Now I guess on days when I’m crawling into bed in tears from sheer stress and fatigue, I almost want to “abort mission” just to make it instantly easy on me and everyone else. But these are also the same moments that tell me just how much I really do want it. And boy, do I want it bad. Because if I truly didn’t, I have every excuse, and every exit door to take in order to revert back to my quiet, albeit expected life.

One of the many things I did last weekend as part of my preparation for this big move, is I got myself a used minivan. That’s right, a minivan.

After several weeks of test-driving and painful deliberation, I settled for an old, yet highly reliable soccer mom vehicle. It’s a decision that still has my head reeling. It’s not the fastest, and certainly not the coolest. But the price was right, and I realized that at this very moment, I didn’t need a “financed” flashy vehicle. What I merely needed was a decent car that’ll take me safely from point A to B. And so, I will drive this van of mine with head held high.

If you ever see a “cherry chocolate” minivan in the highway, honk twice before passing me by in support of following your own life's missions. Nope, I am not going to any kid’s soccer game, at least not quite yet. I am however, headed for my dreams, and what a ride it will be!
Now excuse me while I primp my ride. And please don't block the driveway.

Cleaning House

Drama queens. Blamers. Downers. Toxic people. We all know a few. The number one way to identify them is, they normally drain the energy out of you within 15 minutes of activity with them. You must try to detoxify every now and then. Cleaning your immediate area of all these wind-uppers or what a friend calls "spinners" is a survival act.

Because a number of them might be people we're actually stuck with, be it by blood relations, common workplace, or shared apartment building, the idea of cutting them off completely might be an improbable thing. But limiting your exposure to them is the next best thing. If you let them, they can suck the inspiration out of you. The gloomy cloud above them is also very contagious. At times it may be necessary to come up with ways of dodging or gracefully shortening the experience. I think this may be the real reason behind the invention of answering machines. The way I see it, it's not mean, it's a duty to onesself.

A very uninspiring object, or an apartment layout can be just as lethal for you. I like things to always stir something in me somehow. It could just be a kitchen towel, but I'd like to “love” that kitchen towel a lot, so much so that by just placing that piece of cloth on my refrigerator handle, I smile everytime I reach for it. Conversely, I could walk into a room and all of a sudden tense up. This of course reminds me to seriously clean the clutter in my office desktop. Not good “chi”-harvesting composition.

Sometimes, the toxic person might actually be you.
(And we're all guilty of this from time to time)
Here are few ways of telling whether it's time for you to chill:
-"buddies" in your IM list are suddenly "not at their desks" as soon as you come on
-every topic returns back to "you"
-you take the joy out of otherwise delightful moments, making them unbearable for other people
(example, "if I wear flip flops, sand will get between my toes, but if I wear sneakers, no one will see my cute nail polish. Of course, I can wear closed-toe sandals, but it may be too hot. What do you think?" Then you ignore the other person's response anyway and keep whining.)
-you think you're the only one who gets caught under the rain
-your compliments sound insulting
-you look at a half-filled coffee cup and think, "not a Venti Latte"
-it never seems to be your fault
-you gather a group of people and ask them each to explain why you were not invited. Afterwards, you cross reference.

If symptoms persist, watch a movie or something. It just may be time to take yourself less seriously.
Happy cleaning!

Becoming RED

When I was just beginning my creative career, I sported the perfect messy, bed hair with an inch thick, blood-red streak of color along the side my face. I’d show you a picture, but at the moment, I can’t locate the mug shot that would implicate me. I took it not as punk or goth, but just simply a way of expressing my non-conformism.

Red depending to the eye of the beholder could mean love, anger, courage, fire, or passion, to name a few. A number of years ago, I realized red clothes generally looked good on me and so I started wearing more of them. It may be too loud for the "sweater set-wearing" crowd, but I’ve never been one for too much gray. Gray literally, grays my skin out. In fact, I always tell people this…it’s not easy being in the gray. What I mean by being in the gray area is being right smack in the middle of not knowing whether you're happy or sad, but feeling listless just the same, or quite simply just plateauing. It’s a very scary place to be. At least when all hell is breaking loose and you’re aware of this, however bad, you still know enough about what’s going on to try to repair it. With gray, you just don’t know and therefore, you’re just very fearful and frustrated. You're downright paralyzed. Deciding to move out of this safe zone or non-participation in life is the only way to start moving and growing. It might get a bit more complicated and so you must approach this with the utmost commitment.

Remember the movie RED?

It’s the third installment to the very ingenious and quite literally very colorful, "Trois Couleurs" by Krzysztof Kieslowski (the first two were named, "Blue" and "White"). RED follows the character, Valentine as her life crosses paths with several characters who each have their own tumultuous struggles. The film ends with ultimately redemption and the message of second chances. Watch this movie for the first time, or watch it again for the nth time. It’s a good way to renew our commitment to a meaningful, vibrant life.
Time to put some color back in our lives and into our cheeks.

Once A Groupie, Always A Duranie

I saw the moon the other night and started to hum one of my favorite 80’s tunes. My Fab Five for the longest time were Simon, John, Nick, Roger and Andy. No, they were not ex-boyfriends---though for awhile I was convinced that John Taylor just had to be mine.

They are Duran Duran.

They epitomized style with breakthrough music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy in very exotic places like Sri Lanka and Antigua. A very unheard of thing at the time when MTV was just starting out.
The band had the look, the sound, the girls and the hats.
Duran Duran - New Moon On Monday

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Living in Manila where the Tiger Beats were 6 months delayed, it was hard to be a groupie. But that did not stop me from obsessing. I traded videos with other fans around the world and collected articles sent to me by either family or friends from Europe and America. When I finally migrated to the U.S., I more than made up for the drought by lining up for autograph signings, waiting for them to go in and out of back doors en route to The David Letterman Show, and then camping at hotel lobbies, meeting other Duranies eager to share their stories.

I was too busy swooning over J.T. to have paid real close attention to his bass guitar skills. After the height of their popularity and before they branched out into The Power Station and Arcadia, I did finally realize that there was actually more to them than just eye candy.

The original five has since disbanded, partially reunited, and fully reunited again. Throughout their ups and downs, I was right there with them, and them with me.

I read somewhere that we meet certain people, some fleeting, some for a longer time, and we go through phases that we might be moved forward in our lives. That these people and situations are actually brought to our lives for a particular purpose. During that period of time, Duran Duran was my reprieve as my parents' marriage ended.

They’re still putting out albums and doing gigs worldwide. Only now they have haggard faces and their leather pants much too snug. What has not changed however is their ability to rouse the audience with great live performances. Such catchy lyrics like, “please, please tell me now” afterall, is just too damn hard to shake off your system.
Duran Duran-Is there Something I Should Know? For Myspace

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The Art of “Silly”, Silly

I often thank my lucky stars for having the "easily amused" gene. It may seem shallow at times, but it’s really what I need to do to rise above and reach a certain depth in my everyday existence.


The ability to find delight in random little things is an act of survival. Without this, it's harder to bounce back from disappointments and challenges. Without this, we are less in tune with and less appreciative of what we have around us.

I like erasers. I admit I really do. As a child, I had this Danish Cookies tin box that I kept under my bed. In it weren't sweets, but rather a wide assortment of erasers in every shape and scent. I even put them perfectly in place in the plastic mold tray (ok, I just told you too much). I never really used them, but they were there for me to look at and be delighted. Silly yes, but I was onto something.

While I don't keep a tin can under my bed anymore, I do have a number of little things still around that make me smile when I need to. For instance, I have a "Chinese Combo Lunch" Robot set. One is a beef bowl 'bot, the other an Oolong Tea. Together they fight off alligators and Account Executives on my desk.


I don't mean to be constantly going nuts and raving joyously at anything and everything. That would be too annoying for everyone around you. What I do mean however is looking for joy, humor and value in unexpected places or situations. And when there's none, create it. This is why I love torturing one of my co-workers. In always trying to one-up each other in fun little ways, we find “comic relief” in an otherwise monotonous environment. I also smile at this homeless man's jokes every night as I pass him on my way home. Sometimes I even laugh out loud 10 seconds after, when finally I get the corny joke. And just like that, it could turn my day around. And his.

Every day will always be a constant battle for all of us to stay up and running, but when we find amusement in things or in people, it gives us a little boost to keep going. This is not silly, it's how we get a fighting chance at happiness in life. For only when we allow ourselves to laugh at ourselves, can we be prepared for the more serious stuff up ahead.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Like all creatives, I have a number of tricks to beckon my muse.
Some are tried and tested, some are spur of the moment discoveries in which my muse actually came and found me.

Here are the first 20 off the top of my head:
• fresh or dried lavender next to me
• new office supplies
• music, various kinds
• cooking. Particularly, mincing, dicing or chopping
(depends how much anger you need to release. Just be careful where you wield)
• eating a nice meal (mom and pop joints)
• the scent of cedar and grass after the rain
• a visit to Target (relatively new but believe me, very, very effective)
• the sight, the breeze and the smell of the ocean
• a baby's hard grip on my finger
(If he's my nephew, it's 200% more effective)
• Cinema Paradiso
• reading anything and everything
(note: drawing inspiration, good. Blatantly copying, not good)
• a good cup of Joe (jolts the snoozing goddess)
• great conversation
• a solo stroll (or a workout)
• getting a hair cut. It’s a weird thing, but I’m the opposite of Samson.
• competition. "Anything you can do, I can do better."
• awesome work from other creatives that makes me say,
"I wish I did that"
• awful work from other creatives that leaves me speechless
• sleeping, showering, brushing my teeth (very underappreciated, but very classic. This is called the “walk away and forget about it” tactic)
• everything in the Julie Andrews song except for the wild geese bit
(see: http://youtube.com/watch?v=c5dNV7a3vck)

I Heart Saul Bass

A picture is worth a thousand words. And Saul Bass’ film posters and opening sequence designs have always managed to evoke the narrative of the movies he created them for. His body of work is the stuff of legendary images that have surrounded us for decades.


Growing up, I used to watch a lot of old films courtesy of the neighborhood video store, aptly called “Oldies But Goodies”. Of course at the time, I had no concept of bootlegging whatsoever and so at least once a week, in broad daylight I’d go there and check out home-dubbed VHS tapes (before this, I was also renting betamax tapes, but that’s another story).

I looked forward to these movies. When I say this I mean the whole experience of watching a movie. I wasn’t running to the bathroom when the opening sequence played, nor was I discarding popcorn kernels when the ending credits rolled. I would sit there absolutely riveted.


Saul Bass’ film posters were not only avant garde for his generation, but to this day, they still mesmerize me. Unlike mug shots of million dollar celebrities in the world of key art, they always had a key message instead. They had heart and soul.

Nowadays, while I judge these things with a trained creative’s eye, and sometimes admittedly with some pretentious snootiness, the young girl in me just really wants to be moved and amused, regardless of composition, color theory or hidden meanings.

A Coming of Age

So what inspires me? Anything that moves me. Anything or anyone that drives me to become better. This past weekend, it was the concept of reinvention.

I was looking at a magazine on Saturday when I came across two articles that touched upon the concept of change. The first one featured a new line of greeting cards for midlife women called Naughty Betty. Anything naughty always piques my curiosity, so I kept on reading. It’s a line started by a Creative Director at Ogilvy and Mather Advertising along with a writer colleague. It talks about midlife concepts, not as a crisis but rather, as an opportunity. And how it talks about it ever so boldly. In a very irreverent, and unapologetic way, it restates it as a very positive event. There is no cowering here whatsoever.


It’s very liberating for me to see women who attach no disclaimers to what and who they are, no matter how imperfect. No careful retouching of words, sugar-coating of reality and fudging of the date of birth.

A few more pages after, I saw another article. An article on a nationwide model search. More specifically, a “40-year old and above Model Search”. I immediately thought about my mom, my first muse.

Let me tell you a little bit about my mom. Growing up in a house full of mirrors, watching my mom strut, I pretty much knew that she was a frustrated celebrity. She is a supermodel in her own world, always properly dressed and accessorized, arriving fashionably late. She always carried herself as if she was walking on a stage. She was a housewife for the longest time and before that a nutritionist. My grandparents wanted her to be in the medical field to have a solid full time job, and so offers of showbusiness were skipped. While I know she is pretty content, I also know that she always felt that she missed out on her true calling. In other words, her passion was still waiting. And here's her chance for rebirth.

If I could give someone another stab at pursuing his or her life’s passion, I'd give them a ticket to Hollywood. If I could spread the word that for as long as you’re alive you’re vital, and you should aim for the stars, I’d wrap it in a box and ship it. If I could provide for my mom, the same chances towards her dreams as she has given me, I’d fill out a form and send in an 8x10 glossy. And so I did.

atchara-etchetera: tees, trinkets and toys

“atchara-etchetera" is a fresh take on the words, thoughts, and unique flavor of the Filipinos. The collection is designed to empower Pinoys and Pinays wherever they are, making the rest of the world take notice.

atchara-etchetera.com coming soon.
atchaka (misc): greeting cards in the works