So, how'd you spend your weekend?

Quezo de Talle for Mama.

Lasagna for Marty.

Did my two favorite chores for the house: 1) Shopped for Sunday Lunch and 2) made Sunday Lunch. Of course, a family of 6 can't eat all of these in one sitting so we're having QDT and Lasagna all week long. So, how'd you spend your weekend?

Stories

My mama and papa are storytellers. They have stories on everything: the perfect tocino, childhood in Bangkok, italian-chandelier hardsellers, concerts of Jose Marie Chan in Padre Faura, how the AdMU-San Beda rivalry turned to Admu-La Salle; you name it, they'll have something interesting to say about it.

I grew up listening to these little stories, sometimes told over breakfast, lunch or dinner, sometimes when I'm trying to teach one of them how to operate YM, sometimes while scouring Daiso for the perfect squeaky toy. But it's always on the weekend, when we get to spend the most time together.

As Papa was telling his story of the perfect tocino this morning over brewed coffee, I couldn't help but think, these two deserve to have grandchildren. It would be the most beautiful thing in the world to behold: my parents telling their stories to their grand kids. Ha! I'm actually getting teary-eyed with the thought.

My brother's five kids live with him and his wife's family in Canada. Mama and Papa have only met and interacted with their five real grandchildren twice, and I think because of that limited connection, there's just this wellspring of love in them that spills over to us, the 3 adult offspring still living with them here in the Philippines. Maybe it's why, even if I try my darndest to act like an adult, they still treat me like a high schooler.

Today's realization opened a window in my mind. I've never been the daughter inclined to having children of my own. In fact, I've been very vocal about my being childless. Forever. But today... I think my mama's and papa's stories deserve to be told and heard. I dunno if I'll be the one to give them their new audience, but say if I do, I don't think it'll be so bad. My mental picture is Mama and Papa, on the couch surrounded by awe-struck kids, telling the stories I've come to memorize. It'll be beautiful.

I love you, Mama. I love you, Papa.

Creativity Quotient 75%

One of yesterday's minitivities was rating our own creative quotients with zero basis other than gut feel. Eric Villarama just quickly discussed that just like intelligence and emotion, a person's level of creativity can be measured. Then he asked us, the participants, to rate ourselves: "Using percentages, what do you think your Creative Quotient is?"

I gave me a 75%. No real reason why, other than I'm used to grades in the line of 70s and I actually thought it was a pretty low score already. Turns out, a grade of 75% is still a high CQ.

According to Eric (I quote him as I wasn't quick enough to note his source):

Kindergarten kids average a 95%+ CQ.

Primary students hit around 75.

The average High School senior gets up to just 50.

University grads only 25.

And us measly adults are lucky to reach 10.

So, the pattern obviously is as we age, we lose more and more of our creativity. Sad and true. I mean, ask yourself, right now, do you really even need scientific data to back that up?

Although I have no idea how to measure CQ exactly (there are probably a few artsy-fartsy tests out there which I'll find when I google them) but I think the immediate point to handle here is how can we work on it to bring a diminishing CQ up?

And I realize this is what Y@H is all about for me. The opportunity to bring back a fuel of happy, give that push and spark with the use of the colorful, stimulate the both left and right brains with trivia, games, and laughter. Y@H wants to invade the broken, bland workplace and turn it to something unified and alive.

I am thankful I was given the chance to spend a day with Eric and the rest of my classmates in the 6th leg of Nokia's PEP talks. I'm on an idea overdose now and even though it's confusing, it's also refreshing. And I think I'll stick to my 75 just because a girl can dream.

To Leaps of Faith & Happier Pastures

A wise old man told me today: "I don't really look at this (change) as a move to greener pastures. It's more of happier pastures for me."

So akin to Seth Godin's recent post about perfect problems that cause us to get stuck. Seth talks about how the perfect problems are the ones left behind, the ones we can't seem to get over, because there are assumed constraints and limitations binding the problem to unsolvability.

His solution is to break the constraint, be unafraid of the results and just dare to move. My friend has reached this conclusion I think. He's dealing with the perfect problems of his industry and of his work overall, by breaking the constraints that bind him to it.

I initially thought he's off to greener pastures because where he's likely going will be a place more open-minded about the type of work he does, giving him more freedom and more room to breathe. He thinks of it as happier pastures because, I guess, he's looking forward to a sense of settlement there, whether or not he stays in the same industry he started in here.

I'm happy for him, he's taking this leap of faith to grow not just his career, but his self, too. There's a whole world beyond the borders of one's comfort zone just waiting to be explored and he's taking it. Told him I wished I had that drive, too. Someday soon, I will.

He says, it comes with age. :)

(Dedicated to G-Third. Tanda mo na dude.)

Hi. I'm Tippie and I'm a closet Tom.

(I wrote this entry at the start of the year, for a different blog entirely. It was my online journal, and the stuff that were written there were... not really for public reading of any kind. I decided to let go of that blog but I wanted to save this post. Hope it sheds a bit more light about myself and my state of life right now. Happy reading.)

"Where’d that come from?" you might ask. Well, it came to me after my second helping of (500) Days of Summer which I just watched with my sister, who saw it for the first time and came to the same startling conclusion I did when I saw it the first time... “I’m a Summer.”

I’m a proud Summer. In fact, I'm mostly happy to be one. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked, why don’t you have a boyfriend, and I keep repeating my standard, but true answer of "because I don’t want one."

It’s actually a half-truth. I also don’t have one because I’m not being courted by anyone. And I haven’t been courted for quite some time already. Yeah, yeah, the days of courtship are over. Call me old fashioned but I still believe in it. I haven’t added a guy friend to my current pool in years. I think it’s because I’m also not one of the friendliest people on Earth… Pilipinas Hospitality apparently doesn’t apply to me… but yeah, that’s another entry for another day.

So going back however, proud Summer. Happy to be free, always keeping the icky luuuv stuff away with outstretched arms held up to a halt, not really into the “risky business” of emotionally investing.

But after my 2^nd helping of the movie, I realized there are aspects of Tom that I also can relate to. Such as the reading too much between the lines and finding a sign in every move. Okay granted, I try my best not to do these, but there have been times when I just couldn’t help myself.

Like, when someone suddenly YMs out of the blue. Or when someone is the very first person to congratulate you for something that makes you wonder, "How'd he even know about that?" Or when he comes to an event you’re attending, too but decides not to sit with you (Gaaah! What do you make of that!). Of course no one knows these insane little thought balloons, none of my friends know… because I think I’d never get the courage to finally admit I think I could’ve found the one.

What makes me a Summer… I’m not doing anything about it. I’m afraid my one (if at least one for the right now stage of my life) has left the building and moved on. I compensate by acting that way, too. The ship has sailed… another line I’ve said one too many times.

Maybe someday, I’ll find another one who’ll be able to pry my Tom-ness out of its closet. Because as of right now, I just think its safer for my Tom to stay in there and let my jaded Summer face roam free.

That doesn’t mean I don’t look forward to the day. Someday. I won’t be a closet Tom, and hopefully like Summer in the movie, that’ll be the day I fall in love.

ABvertising

I pass this billboard of JAG near Nagtahan, northbound on Lacson, daily on my way home.

It's the one with Robin Padilla, halfbody, good as naked with his shirt undone, 6-pack exposed in all its glory, leaning back on a car I think. Can you say distracted? Thank God, I'm not the one driving.

But seriously, after you've seen it in on a daily basis, you get to study what the ad is all about. It's for JAG's weather beaten jeans. Go ahead, take a 2nd, 3rd and 4th look at it... there's barely any demin to be found on. Heck, hardly any sort of textile is in the picture. Its all Robin and his 6-pack abs.

This brings up the question, does ab-vertising work? I wonder how sales of JAG for this particular item is doing. Or maybe their goal wasn't to sell just this SKU but the whole JAG brand in general.

However, I am reminded of this one ab-vertisement that's forever carved in my brain.Zac Efron on Rolling Stone. (*wipe laway away, ladies*) Although I wasn't able to get a copy of this issue, I would've loved one just for the sake of staring into those baby blues and that delicious cut! Ok, so fine, Rolling Stone always has scantily dressed celebrities in the mag, but I think Zac Efron doing the cover ushered in a new generation of giddy girls like me to be part of the Rolling Stone potential market.

I think ab-vertising works in terms of imagery and brand building because sex sells. Not exactly sure how it translates to actual sales but maybe a JAG or Rolling Stone marketer will stumble unto my site and give us enlightenment.

So 'til then, let's have fun drooling.

Apples to Oranges is Erroneous

On the way home yesterday, this blacklight challenge of an anti-dandruff shampoo went on-(radio)-air. (Inasmuchas I'd have loved to have a link of the commercial, I could not find it online.)

It went on saying how their brand has bested other products in the blacklight challenge and how great (blah blah blah) their stuff is. Then at the end, the VO goes something like this: "Results from testing C**** Anti-dandruff shampoo versus other non-antidandruff shampoo products."

(insert A-NYE-NYE! here.)

Okay... so if this were a TVC, that final VO would've been a fine print at the very, very, very bottom of the screen, right? But it was a radio commercial. The VO of the "fine print" was just as loud as the claims of the entire ad, and ergo made the whole thing erroneous.

People, this is why the masses think we're liars! We don't tell them the exact truth, we give a semblance of it and hope to God no one notices the fine print. But they do! Consumers are smart nowadays. If you're seriously claiming to be the best anti-dandruff shampoo in the market, then release the results with your direct competitor. Don't be saying, "Oh, these results are versus products of similar use, but not necessarily of same niché." Don't think you're market is dumb!

Lying to your market may have been the cool thing to do two or three years ago, but the masses have evolved and so should you. Be the storyteller now. If your brand failed the scientific blacklight study versus directly competing brands, then go for another angle. Say you're the best smelling, the long-lasting, the non-drying, WHATEVER! It doesn't make you less of an anti-dandruff shampoo.

Needless to say, I'm not buying that particular brand should I ever need to use an anti-dandruff shampoo. I'll go for their competitor, with the idea that it probably bested this brand in the C**** Blacklight Challenge.