Glamrock for the soul

My iPod's been with me for... Oh, I don't know, 6 years give or take. Its a 3rd gen 30g iPod video, which to my honest, albeit little, opinion, is the best iPod in the world.

It holds God-knows-(and likely iTunes) how many songs, everything from the Beach Boys to Vanessa Hudgens (yes, I have a couple of her songs...so sue me). Its got a few movies, too but that's for a different post.

Going back to the songs, by far my most played list is my Glamrock Rules album. Its a made-up album of mine where I compiled my favorite late 80s songs from the big haired, wild make-up days of rock and roll. I have songs from REO Speedwagon, Heart, Roxette, Def Lepard, Harem Scarem, Mr. Big, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith....the works, I tell you!

Something about these songs just ease my restlessness and calm my nerves. The bad day's stress somehow melts away as I listen to Bad English sing the lines "when I see you smile, I can face the world. You know I can do anything..." *sigh* Can't you feel the love?

I think Glamrock calms my soul because its the music I associate most with childhood. I don't know who taught me to listen to these songs...likely the radio, particularly 96.3 WRock because that's the staple FM station in our cars back in the day... I just know its not my mom and dad...their taste is, naturally, older and more eclectic.

What I love about technology though, is how its enabled me to build my own playlist with these songs I find most comfort in, for me to just turn on and play whenever I need the reboot. My iPod may by old but it still does what its meant to do.

THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET

Here's an interesting article I saw on LinkedIn. It basically says that employers and employees should tap into their (social) networks to get/fill in jobs, that there is a hidden job market available thru asking around and its much broader and more reliable than the public job market listing found online or in print.

Hidden job market eh? Sounds interesting. Too bad I'm not much of a social butterfly, on- and offline. But desperate times call for desperate measures and these just may be the days to peddle my self-worth out on the streets to shape up and ship out of here.

If you, dear friend how has not heard from me in a million years, suddenly get a text or a call... that's me exploring the hidden job market. :)

You've been forewarned.

As we wait in joyful hope...

A wise priest reminded me once that patience, waiting, breathing, anticipation... Areanot bad.

Taking time and being open to the next big thing is something worthwhile, worth doing. Kind of glad to be reminded of this today, of all days. Today when choices and changes have to be made and life directions may sway one way or another.

Glad to have known a brilliantly kind, gentle and patient mind such as Fr. Lenny.

Father, I wrote this pohttp://www.insightsfromthemovies.blogspot.com/2010/07/as-we-wait-in-joyful-hope.htmlst on your sermon almost 3 years ago. Words still as true as they were then as they are now.

Rest in peace.

Coming back to Baking

Whenever I'm stressed or high strung or just plain sad, I find myself heading out to our kitchen. I cook, or at least help our yaya cook. I was the dishes or rearrange the pantry. But more often than not, I bake.

Baking has become my therapy the past few months. Coming home to the kitchen and surrounding myself amidst the soothing aroma of flour in eggs and butter have always calmed my angry nerves. The past few weekends have been busy though, leaving no time for frou frou baking. Til now.

I'm happy to report that I've made two baked goodies this afternoon, in preparation for the long night of waiting for a dear friend to cross her 42-kilometer marker (Yey Palawan Budz!!!!). But before I get into the specifics of what I made, here's a quick rundown of my baking essentials:

Sucker for magic numbers

We're calling this race "21 at 31."

This is it, kids. I'm getting back on that running horse, by hook or by crook.

With numbers like that, who wouldn't be inspired.

Sorry, really mababaw like that when it comes to running.

WOOHOO! Let's go do this!

10Xer and the fight against mediocrity

I'm reminded of a concept in Jim Collins' Great By Choice today.

My google search for 10Xers led me to this article, with an excellent closing statement:

On the one hand, 10Xers understand that they face continuous uncertainty and that they cannot control, and cannot accurately predict, significant aspects of the world around them. On the other hand, 10Xers reject the idea that forces outside their control or chance events will determine their results; they accept full responsibility for their own fate.

(Source: www.27gen.com)

Inspired, I search for Jim Collins on Twitter. Although I don't find his account (he may not be socially connected here as he's busy touring the world to research content for upcoming great works) I find quote after wise quote:

The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change but rather, a chronic inconsistency.

(As tweeted by @MaryIrungu)

Its these little bits of learning that get me thru the daily grind. And become a fount of inspiration for the passionpreneur in me.

Temporary Bio

This was my bio on twitter yesterday...

"Not-yet-master baker. Online shopper. Theater dreamer. Introvert at heart. Extrovert for the job. Kinda dumb and comes with anger issues."

Me, in 160 characters (spaces included) or less.

It was the first time I'd put something under bio on that social medium, seriously, since I started tweeting ... last ... Jan 2012 (apparently not too long ago!). Not sure exactly what compelled me to put it in there but it felt like this sudden need to be able to identify myself.

I deleted it three hours later.

I realized putting myself in a box that way limits me. Yes, true that I am getting a groove on baking, but it's not the only thing I do in the kitchen. I make awesome pastas and entrees, too. Yes, true that I just bought a ton of stuff online, but that mostly because 1) lately I haven't been to the mall, and 2) browsing thru pretty and nifty kitchenware takes away my stress. Its the same as any other homemaker who calms down whenever she nears pots and pans in the department store. Yes, true I've always dreamed of being part of a theater production, as either a chorus member or a stagehand but it's been relegated to the backburner, revived only recently (as in, yesterday) by an ad for Miss Saigon auditions within the month.

But there is much more to me than these. These statements may represent me now, or over the weekend, or for a quarter or two but it doesn't seem right to limit me to these. I sing, I work too much, I'm obsessed with cable TV, I apparently like to decorate things, I enjoy writing the senseless ramblings of my brain, I used to run, I have never eaten dinuguan, ever, etc etc etc.

To be asked to describe yourself in 160 characters or less is insane.

Online Shopper

Hello.

I'm Tippie, and I'm an online shopaholic.

Gah! Yes. I admit it! I'm into internet shopping. Surprise, surprise!

I have thus far bought:

1) my wedding gift of a friend
2) my baby shower/hello baby gift for a "new-mom" cousin
3) a food processor for miself
4) 5 Christmas lights
5) 2 ceramic frying pans
6) and 2 non-stick cookie sheets

To-date, only the wedding gift has been retrieved (and already given away). *tear*

Items 2 & 3 are arriving on the 29th, while 4, 5 and 6 get here on Friday.

I think I should stop with 6.

Please disconnect me from the world wide web of happiness...

But seriously, have you tried to shop online? It's actually very... soothing. Okay, fine, that's justification talking but really, there are tons of great deals online.

Take the soon-to-be-mine-but-already-paid-for food processor I got from www.cashcashpinoy.com. I paid 1,500 bucks for it, when normally food processors cost 3k and up. How reliable is the brand? What brand? I don't know! It's not like I'm going to use it on a near daily basis for foodstuff. It'll be worked weekly, max, for the baking thing. It'll be fine! (Justification talking again.)

Then those ceramic frying pans I got for 730 and 480 (large and small, obv). Its home shopping advertisement prices them at 4,000 bucks! Granted they're sold as a set but who needs a set of 3 pans? I got two for less than the food processor. From where? www.lazada.com. And I only pay when the items are delivered. Not bad at all.

So yeah, there are risks in shopping online, but there are great deals and excellent buys, too. Not trying to turn anyone else into an online shopper like me but hey, shopping's just so much better with company, right?

LOTR vs GoT... Hello! No Contest!

I had this conversation once, with a friend, who asked me, as a fantasy sci-fi reader, which do I like better: Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones?

My adamant reaction was, how dare someone even ask that? Nothing compares to Tolkien. NOTHING! N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!!

Wrong. Three months later, I figure it out and realize my answer should have been... nothing. LOTR is much too different from GoT, so much so that the only thing they do have in common is their section in the bookstore.

Plus the fact that I have not read a single book in the GoT series (even though I have two of 'em sitting and gathering dust in my library), I really had no right to even answer the question.

But first, let me explain my near-violent answer three months ago.

I am obviously a very righteous fan of Frodo and the great Hobbit adventure. I think I've read the books 3 times each on average. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the movies (the extended versions are part of my yearly Christmas break ritual). And The Hobbit was the very first technically adult fantasy novel I bought for myself and devoured whole. I've said hobbit one too many times in a paragraph, haven't I? Might be 'cause I'm EXCITED for the movie.

So yeah, I'm a fan. But more than being a fan, I've considered myself to be a believer, of the themes and ideas Tolkien wrote of in his masterful trilogy.

Back in the (when were they published) 1950s/60s, as industry boomed after the war, Tolkien knew Mother Nature would struggle under the steel wheels of mankind, so he wrote of the importance of trees and the forest, how everything is better with good tilled earth. Amazingly even, he wrote of nature fighting back. Ents gatecrashing Saruman's dilly-dallying is one of my favorite scenes in Two Towers. He was, essentially, one of the world's first environmentalists.

Tolkien was also one of the first to write in women as strong characters into his storyline. Sword wielding Eowyn. Serene, collected yet strong-willed Arwen. Awe-inspiring Galadriel. They all had their role to play in the road to free Middle Earth from the fear of the would-be wrath of Sauron. Arwen steers Aragorn to accepting his fate as King of Gondor. Galadriel gives Frodo the bottled light of Earendil which saves him from Shelob. And Eowyn destroys the Witchking of Angmar ("I am no man!", another favorite, this time from Return of the King).

And Tolkien's presentation of good and evil is as clear cut as it gets. You knew goblins, orcs, Sauron, the Balrog, the Ring Wraiths and the Urukhai were evil. And you knew elves and dwarves and hobbits and eagles and men were good. Black and white. Good had to conquer evil and there's no going around that.

That was my main argument to the question posted. I said, I find the notion of politics, intrigue, cheating and lying and not ever knowing who's on whose side, makes GoT blurry and complicated. Guess it's why it makes for a good series. Its a book per season, you know. So GoT fans who rely solely on the telly, you've got a long way to go.

Fast forward to today, and I look into the books I'm into now. Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time blurs the lines of good and evil too, exploring the weakness of men (and women) to the temptations of power. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn explores cult formation and history manipulation, to rile the oppressed to fight or hide an unbearable truth from the general public. From my reading of Stromlight Archives B1P1, looks like Sanderson'll further delve into questioning what is right and what is wrong and peel back more layers to expose humanity for what it is.

Maybe its the trend of the new millennium. These are complicated times we're in. Nothing's as A or B as 20, 30 or 40 years ago. There's not just one road-not-taken here. The fork has morphed into a superhighway cloverleaf. Inasmuch as we'd like it to be, the world where Tolkien wrote his story is gone, replaced by this muddled sense of "hey, your own mother-in-law could be a serial killer". Okay, that may be too weird or extreme an example, but you get the point. Good isn't just simply good anymore. Good may be the president who calls in the explosion of an Afghan town that wipes it off the map in order to rid the world of the Al Qaida. Bad may be the corrupt police officer who just needs the extra money to pay for his son's school book photocopy. It's not as black/white clear cut anymore.

So, dear reader, people do turn over new leaves and sometimes eat their words. I honestly still prefer LOTR but I'm not going to put down GoT or any other budding fantaseries in the process of defending it.

Except maybe 50 Shades of NO WAY. But that's another entry for another day.

Been too long

 but tides' a-changing and its high time I steered mi boat into a brand new adventure.

:)

Erm, no. Not quitting the job. As imperfect as it is, its still waaaay better off than most things.

Erm... no, nothing drastic's happening either in the realm of familia. And no change either in relationship status (to answer your awkward unasked Q).

One new thing is this entry. After a lull and a silence, I'm back to writing. Hope you don't mind all the other (howmanynumberof) posts here tonight. Its a writing spree, I tell you.

And I'm off!

If you want to get paid for your freelance work...

...then you ought to find and lead a tribe, build a base of people who want you, and only you, and are willing to pay for it.

-Seth Godin

Words to live by. :-)

Derailed, and the slow road of getting back on track

The past 9 months of 2012 have not been the best to me.

Nix that.

For the past 9 months of 2012, I have not been the best to me. I've let myself go, be moody, not read, not write, and get lost basically in a hullabaloo of work. As much "fun" and "experience generating" going back to media is, it's come at the consequence of losing focus on loving myself.

The past few months have found me angry at anything and everything in the world: inane drivers, idiotic pedestrians, worthless traffic enforcers... yes, they're mostly found on the road home after my rage has reached its tipping point for the day. I've been known to even lash out at colleagues, granted they weren't unwarranted but uncalled for nonetheless.

A few weekends ago, though, hope shone thru with the rediscovery of a passion for baking. It started with an episode of Everyday Baking, when host/baker John Barricelli showed how damn easy it was to make lemon custard squares. I couldn't believe how simple it was that I had to try it out for myself. Amazingly, they turned out pretty great!

That started a trend of experimentation of trying different things: red velvet cheesecake, blueberry lemon cheesecake, milk choco butterscotchies, choco swirl blondies, oatmeal apricot cookies... And hopefully to many more as the weekends push on. I have a few ideas to try out but I've built up a good repertoire of goodies for a viable SME.

And a good miniature, tiny tiny SME is the next step for me. The most of 2012 may have derailed me from a certain track but maybe its because I had to eventually find this new one I'm fixing my wheels on. I still hope to get back my healthy, fit self, but right now, the burning desire to make something out of nothing is so much stronger.

So how does "Hip to be Square" sound to you?

Big Fish

(I wonder how many of my posts begin with...)

Seth Godin's latest blog entry talks about being #1. He figures being #1 in a small market is a whole lot better than being #3 in a big market. Ouch. That might feel like a slap on the face to a certain businessman somewhere... not anywhere in particular.

It's good advice, me thinks. Small market doesn't necessarily mean smaller profit nowadays. Hollowing out a niche for yourself allows leverage to dictate price due to remarkability of your product. And as your niche catches on, it eventually becomes the norm of the masses. Small pond gets rained on with habagat-like proportions and turns into... what do you know! Big pond!

It's like the real MVP announcing his twitter account today. He chose to sell this piece of info to the market who worships: the newbies of professionalismdom obsessed social media. He's king of that pond. Of course the entire fish population of that pond have their smart phones in tow, start following him in microseconds, tweeting and retweeting that they're now a techy degree closer to their demigod. Drip-drip-drop little April shower and now there's a game on twitter called "Watch the followers grow." 2,590 followers in less than 30 minutes. All this and not a single tweet to his name.

So, lesson learned. For passionpreneur project, I shall be the big fish in my bar none pond. I have no idea how yet but I guess that's something I have to figure out in the next few weeks.

4,016 followers already, and a tweet! Wonder when he'll get the "verified" tick mark...

Unforgiving

I have a temper.

It's the kind of temper that fires up with bad driving, stupid pedestrians who don't use the sidewalk, the self-absorbed, and negligent workers.

It comes in bursts, granted they're short but of late they've come too often in a day. I try to control it but to reel it in would be untrue to myself. People are afraid of me because of it nowadays. They think of me as a sort of Jekyll/Hyde monster. Sweet and understanding one moment... Angry and hotheaded the next.

I guess there must be some way I can adjust my temper a bit for some to be less fearful of me. My boss advises I learn diplomacy and poker-faced-ness. I kind of don't agree because when I find something to be wrong, I am unafraid to speak, and speak loudly about it.

I hate it when people hide behind fake laughter and forced smiles, which is unfortunately the very base of the industry I work in. Unfair though, that for being truthfully unforgiving I am marked as near evil. Just because I can't force myself to be friends with the shallowly gorgeous faces of the media industry, I am dubbed mataray. Just because I rant over the stupid mistakes of others, I am dubbed ill-tempered.

I am not two faced. I am sweet and kind and caring. But push me far: don't answer my questions, ignore my emails, don't do your job so I can do it for you... that calls for a beating 'til you're a bloody pulp. And I will.

Inspiration

When I want to take a step back from work, I look for comforting images that remind me of my passionpreneur project.

Here are some inspirations I found online today. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake

Twix Cake

No Bake Strawberry Milk Cheesecake

Southern Caramel Cake

Aren't they gorgeously, outrageously, delicious looking? I can't wait to try these out when the Kitchen Clean-up is finally done.

The Power Of Words

I got this video link from my dad. He forwarded an email with the link to me with a simple one-liner. "Tips, this is one form of marketing."

I guess he wasn't referring to the obvious viral video execution.

On Being A Manager

Don't think I fully understand what it means...

Don't think I was quite ready for what it entails...

Realizing only now how ironically weak this position is...

It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Devil and the deep blue sea. Sylla and Caribdis. Wait. That's the same thing. Oooh! Frying pan and the frier!

Can't believe I'm possibly losing friends because of this. Seriously. I need to know how to deal with people better. Need to know how to project myself to 1) the bosses, 2) my peers, and 3) the real people who do the nitty-gritty.

But for tonight, I think I'll just sleep on it.

The Passionpreneur (A.k.a. Getting off the 9-5)

I was talking to an officemate earlier today about starting a business. Another colleague of ours recently tendered his resignation citing he needed to focus on one of his budding businesses as his reason, and the thought of entrepreneurship came to her (like the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles... only less holy and more greedy).

Her first question was how she could get money without doing any actual labor. I was tempted to retort, "Have you tried the lotto?" when she explained herself a bit further. Our recently-resigned colleague's business is... tadah-dahdum... a spa; they're opening up a branch somewhere in QC and he's going to be basically in charge of it. Safe to say, though, he won't be the one doing any of the actual massaging. At least we hope not. So that's what she meant. Money coming in from a business where the owner isn't doing any of the manual involved. Basically be the manager of her own business.

Of course I couldn't help but chime in with my thoughts.

I believe there are two types of entrepreneurs. There are those who simply have a knack for business: gleefully diving headfirst into any business opportunity, whether its a sari-sari or hardware store, a load-a-phone franchise, or a spa, and getting ROI by the 5th monthsary. These are the businessmen who treat business as a field, the same way marketers treat marketing like a field. Coffee is coffee is coffee to the regular folk, but a marketer knows how to position a Starbucks Komodo Dragon from a Nestle 3-in-1. These businessmen-by-profession only have one goal in any project they get into: turn a profit.

Then there are the entrepreneurs who start a business based on a passion. These are the people who don't necessarily have a business degree, admittedly know nothing about starting a start-up, and look at the 30% profit margins last. All they know is, they're tired of the day job that stresses them out incessantly from 9-5 and would simply rather be doing something else. I call them the passionpreneur, and their journey starts with a simple question: What would rather be doing on everyday than this?

Doing = Labor. But then again, its laboring over something one loves. Something one is passionate about.

Passionpreneurs are the likes of Chris Guillebeau, Sweetapolita, Carlos Celdran, the folks of Las Casas Bataan, U2, JK Rowling, Steve Jobs and Seth Godin. Businessmen-by-profession are Richard Branson, MVP, Donald "You're fired" Trump, and now our officemate who's resigning to do this spa thing. His other businesses include a restaurant and a bar. We kinda wonder why he wanted a day job in the first place.

If I were to choose a path to take to get off the 9-5, I would choose to be a passionpreneur. Not that the other way is the wrong way. I'd just rather be focused and work on what I really want. Now, to answer the question, what WOULD I rather be doing on a daily basis than this?

I think I'll save that for another post. I know it already. I really, really do. :-)

Books I want

(a.k.a. Books to grow mi collection with)

(a.k.a. If-you-love-me,-you-will-give-me Book List)

The latest from the goddess of supernatural writing. Off her affair with the religious, Anne Rice goes back to her roots of mystical beings. Done with the vampires and the witches, she now takes on the challenges of lycanthropy and the elusive werewolf. Not a read for everyone, obviously. But when did I ever read the books everyone else liked.

Another awesome book from one of the best business authors on the planet. Jim Collins further delineates the good from the GREAT by identifying his "10xers." Reading the except has made me a believer: "Nature only evens out the playing field. Behavior that makes the difference."

@Lord_Voldemort7 most intriguing interview of the young twenty-something novelist drove me to do my bit of research on the developing Divergent Series. The plot kind of reminds me of 9 (Nine), with each of the factions representing a uniquely human characteristic. Pitting factions against each other brings about the question, which trait is best to have, and which ones are better abandoned. I predict the ending will be, "have 'em all" but I'm intrigued by how Roth will end up with that conclusion.

I just got Part One over the weekend, and I'm hooked as always, in the fantastical world weaved by the words of the master. As always, Sanderson sets up Roshan, it's dynasties, political intricacies and religious factions. A true society build, if you ask me. (I'm such a nerd!) Kind of torn between gobbling up Part One soon as possible or not, because I don't have Part Two yet! Gah! I so want to get in the world of Shallan and Kaladin already. Fully Booked, get your act together and shit out Part Two (Gollanz) already. kthanksbye.

Those are but a few of the ones in my dreamlist. Maybe someone from far, far away will give me these books tomorrow! I need a book sponsor.

Food post

You know what's good... and I mean extremely, superbly, unbelievably good...

The devil made this.

Sisig Hooray's Barkada Pork Sisig with 1 cup rice.

Damn it.

I swear to you, those bits of chicaron are laced with something... crushed E maybe...