Rx for My Bad Office Days
1. Coffee, in obscene amounts.
2. A box or cup of Chocolate - dark, milky, with nuts, hot or frozen, cake or mocha... which might probably be nice not to know because you really "don know what yer gonna git"
3. Any of these film combinations: Regine + Aga, Regine + Robin, Regine + Yam Laranas (Goma actually, but I thought the real star was the director for making Manila look good), Regine + Piolo (Now Showing!)
4. Make a work of art personal. (i.e. bought one off the gallery)
5. Don't replace the battery of my dead watch.
6. Turn off cellphone, kahit pa company phone yan. (Basta Lunch, lunch ako!)
7. Sneak into Baby Nephew
blog8. RED BOX!!! (Just came from the place, and it's nearly midnight. I sang Like A Virgin like I's on E.)
9. Peppermint Tea with Thai cookies.
10. Sit quietly in a church.
11. Love, love, love.
12. Promotion for one of my planners (which my boss approved this evening... and this is the reason I would be able to sleep in peace for the rest of the year, knowing I've was able to deliver something that she so deserved!)
She Blogs!
The Elusive Sally Magdiwang now blogs! Click
here.
Procrastination
I've got to do 48 slides for the 2008 Marketing Stategies. The presentation's on Tuesday.
Guess what I'm doing?
Definitely NOT working. I seem to have been sidetracked by the story I've been so constipated to produce to meet a June 1 deadline. Have asked (begged is more the word) to extend the due date. Add to that another work load back log hovering over my head. Since I've lost one planner, I've been doing some of the nitty gritty myself, and though I love it, it's time-consuming. It also takes time away from what I should actually be doing -- leading the team.
Add to that still, the management (in my market) making what I feel is a wrong business decision. Wrong in the sense that the timing is off. The objective is off. The hope that it would solve our sales challenges now is also off. But what can I do? They've practically cast the die, and I have to (in business speak) "align" to that.
Oh well. Ganun talaga.
Maybe they should eliminate what's left of my social life while they're at it.
Copywriting
This was tacked to the Creatives' white board years ago. I couldn't resist scanning it then. Thought to meself it would be a nice reminder not to torture copywriters so much.
(By the way, the handwritten note there was made by one of the senior copywriters.)
Story Philippines - First Ish for the Year
After so much dilly-dallying, I finally picked up my own copy of
Story Philippines. The cover for 2007 Issue No. 1 was surprisingly minimalist, focusing only on the titles and a fiery tone-on-tone pattern in the background. Its predecessors were usually artsy and frame-worthy, but were beyond my understanding of what those kinds of art had to do with the literature.
(However, the marketer in me objects SP1's simplicity, as it may be too blah for the target audience to draw them in.)
Like I mentioned to
sky, I am not a fan of SP's art direction and size. Both elements are too busy and wieldy that the mammoth coffeetable magazine takes so much effort to read. So, no, bigger is not always better. Maybe they should rethink title and change to Design Philippines?
(I seriously recommend that the publishers do an FGD and find out if the format is working for or against them. Might actually save them money.)
That aside, as a fan of sky's "(The) Chain Letter Siege" for the longest time, I was happy to see it finally in print. I remember the first time reading it in draft form and being blown away by the ubercool tone and detail. Its breath was unmistakably Pinoy with its references to pop and religious culture, and because of its honesty, it didn't come off as trying too hard. This story makes the magazine worth every buck.
On the other stories that I had patience in reading, the bizaare and provocative "Woman 19" reminded me much of my trip to Krabi where there were lots of women bathing topless on the beach. Unlike the lead character in Aguinaldo's story, I didn't stare long enough to count nipples (which brings me to why should I even do such a thing? there are other things to count...) I found "Dreaming Valhalla" too heavy as an opening story, as it burdened the reader with too much information that fettered the plot. "Japanese Green Tea" with its brevity can be classified as flash fiction, but maybe I wasn't paying attention that I don't remember what it's about. I have yet to read "Troll's Doll" because the linear doodles were too distracting.
(Why should I have "patience in reading" the stories? Just to clarify, it's not the stories that are giving me a headache; it's the graphic art that's all over the place. There I go again.)
But yeah, go get yourself a copy. I can assure of at least one good story going for you.
