January 2012
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At Ease
Art director at twenty-two.
In the end, it was easier saying no. Much easier than leaving it all behind, making magazines that is—that was the toughest.
It was easiest to slip into this newness, what I have now. The ease of all these things rolling off my back as soon as the newness settled, it’s a wonder and a blessing, nothing less.
December 2011
5 posts
October 2011
1 post
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Tonight I had my lemon chicken dinner, alone, at 9PM, everyone else retired and tucked away in various areas of the house. Mid-bite, between the tangy sauce and the chicken meat, I realized for the first time that I am, in fact, not doing this the first time. For months and months now, I have been having late dinners by myself.
I have never felt so young and so adult in my entire life. I am...
August 2011
2 posts
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In which I consider uncertainties
Yesterday, I thought of where I am right now considering I’m twenty-three and promptly launched into a moment of blinded panic, and then I realized I am only twenty-two and felt so much better about myself. I am learning to be more patient and kind to other people, but it is hardest of all to be patient and kind to myself.
These days, I see a thin straight line to walk on, with everything...
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July 2011
3 posts
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“Nice people with good common sense do not make good characters. They only make...”
– Isabel Allende
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“The role of a designer is that of a good host anticipating the needs of a guest.”
– Eames Demetrios, dynamic design duo Charles and Ray Eames’ grandson
June 2011
11 posts
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An exercise on honesty and acceptance
A decade ago, I imagined my future self to be a writer sitting in a cafe, writing, wearing black, having coffee; an editor with a corner office up high, sunlight peeking in. Today, I was in a cafe, not writing, but wearing black and having coffee with someone I write to but hardly ever write about; and today, I’m a magazine designer, sitting ten paces away from a corner office up high,...
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Doing everything you can is often more than...
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Great expectations may lead to great...
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There's a difference between going to work and...
April 2011
1 post
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It's a Good Friday
Recent events are too much to even properly narrate. As much as I want to, I find myself at a loss for the right words. Bullet points will have to suffice.
In the past three weeks, I have:
met and interviewed a celebrity
started school with three morning classes a week
made a coptic-bound, pop-up book
bought and signed a gift as ‘from Tito Jude and Tita Ais’
acquired a slew of...
March 2011
10 posts
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Sweet Dreams
With the horrific realization that Archer, albeit being a superb typeface, was not what I was looking for at all— I trawled through the vast world wide web and found this. There are SO many magazines in the world. Aaaaaauuuuuugh. I still haven’t found it. :(
The typeface I was looking for is in Elle Decor UK magazine and Sagmeister’s Things I Have Learned in My Life so Far. It...
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There's a difference between being comfortable and...
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On Clarity
It is extremely unsettling to have the weightiest things in life just tossed up in the air, completely under the universe’s control, whim even. I quake at the thought of not getting to settle where I want to be, of not getting to be passionate and happy and grateful with what I do with my life.
I consider the offer of a scholarship for another design degree, if only circumstances will allow...
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“I’d have worked seven days a week, 24 hours if I could, and I almost did. I was...”
– David Carson
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Plan D or--How I'm Going to Get My Mojo Back On
Currently learning the hard way that life really has a tendency of not going as planned. Back-up plans are necessary. Right now, I’m already on Plan D in a span of more or less 6 months. Crazy thing is, this was Plan B a year ago. Of course, this is all career-related.
In any case, there are always incredibly good things in life, including but not limited to: family, friends, good food,...
February 2011
1 post
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On turning twenty-two
Today, I cross the threshold and inevitably shake the hand of the big two-two, the kind of handshake you give a new boss, as if to say, “Yessir, I’m going to make it work, sir,” all the while nursing butterflies and nerves and jelly knees at the prospect of Things to Come.
When I was a young twenty-one frustrated with the publishing industry (which is what I always dreamed it to...
January 2011
5 posts
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January 2011 Reads
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
I just read this now, but well, better late than never. Despite the plot and character inadequacies people might condemn the series for, it’s still a delightful read. I rediscovered why I loved Harry Potter so much when I was a kid.
For me, there’s just no other book which has that kind of magic and pull and hugeness of a world...
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On writing seriously
I have always wanted to be a writer since I was little. Writing has been a passion, a compulsion, and a necessity—a natural fact of who I am, really. I have never questioned it, whether I wanted to do it or not, in all my years.
Despite that, I have consciously avoided all professional pursuit of it. I have always reasoned that I didn’t want something that personal to me, to be...
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In light of 2010's passing
With the passing of year 2010, I did not feel the momentous roar of the new year. Maybe it has to do with all the clean slates I’ve made up for myself, the way I so often say, this is a brand new start and I am going all out now so you better watch out for me world, again and again. Maybe I’ve outgrown clean slates. It is a little overrated after all, because strictly speaking,...
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December 2010
3 posts
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November 2010
13 posts
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Have you read more than 6 of these books?
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.
Instructions: Copy this into your post. Bold those books you’ve read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish or read an excerpt (or those that you read the kids’ version of).
1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte...
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In which I contemplate on this blog's use and beg...
I realize now that lumping my portfolios together with my personal blog is not really a great idea. It’s simply TMI for professional contacts. In any case, it does feel great to have everything together in one place.
***
I don’t know how many times I’ve said something along these lines, but I’m going to say it anyway. I think I’ve found my dream job. I also realize...
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