Yes I am alive, thank you. :3

Things have been very interesting for me lately, but not all of them will make the light of day here for very personal reasons.

However, what I can tell you is that I've put up a new fanblog to contain my Granado Espada fan ramblings here: Cartas y Dibujos con la Familia Lucido. Thanks to my friends DeSanggria-player and NineMoons-player for the patience! Thanks to this game my interests in drawing, writing, European history, European culture and historical fiction have resurfaced. Don't worry guys I'll be posting my stuff real soon. v^_~v

Also, I have been getting into Hello Kitty madness bigtime, that I have bought PhP1,200.00's worth of merchandise (basically DVD+Rs, a parasol and a showerhead) off my friend Jac's sister. I KNOW I shouldn't be spending, but honestly, just you wait as I will be walking into the nearest Sanrio store today! XDDDDDD;;; I even got back into SanrioTown.com, and reclaimed my old username "pusakat" ... ack, wait, that was supposed to be "pusacat"! >_<000 Neener neener.

I want a Hello Kitty layout for this blog! Would anyone out there know of any?

Anyway, I'll be off again!

PS To a stalker of this blog: I haven't been updated with whatever fuckery you've been doing in ages, and I think we've established long ago that I highly dislike everything that has to do with you, so it is just so very sad that you have to keep stalking this fairly insignificant blog of mine. X3

PORTED FROM VOX: PRAY FOR FREEDOM

PRAY FOR FREEDOM
Originally uploaded by Photographic Design

Sorry for the delay, I couldn't post this soon enough...

Courtesy of the Free Burma Group @ Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/479791@N25/pool/). 

Quoted for Truth: The AE as a Masochist

I received this as a fowarded message from a co-worker, a fellow masochist. XD Translated some lines to the best of my ability, for the sake of my friends and contacts who aren't able to read Filipino.

Yay to all Account Executives (or Account Managers, as in our case here in the office) everywhere!!! XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

PS I have no cleavage to speak of, so leg exposure na lang, lol. X3

THE AE: THE MASOCHIST

I truly believe that people who enter the esoteric (read: misunderstood, misconstrued, or in layman's terms, because most people don't really know what it is exactly) world of advertising are the truly insane. Those who leave the industry have VERY good common sense and a sound sense of self- worth; those who leave and come back are certified nuts; and those who stay forever (and do not even entertain the thought of shifting into another field) -- or for a long, long time, at least -- are the ones who love to suffer.

But the inherent, unarguably 100% purebred masochists are the ones advertising people call the AEs. They are the Account Executives, the so-called unsung heroes of product launches and successful market performances since time immemorial, or, to quote a recent essay on a similar subject, the quintessential advertising person.

The AE has a thousand definitions to her name, but allow me to narrow them down into five:

1. Your parents do not understand your job description.

Excerpt from a real-life dialogue between an AE and her mother:

AE: Hey, that's my TVC!

Mom: Really? You mean ikaw ang nag-isip ng idea for that commercial?

AE: Uh, not exactly.

Mom: But you did write the script, didn't you, anak? Idea mo lahat 'yon diba?

AE: Erm...well, it was more like I orchestrated the entire production, Ma.

Mom: Honey, I don't understand. Ano ba talaga ang ginagawa mo? (What do you really do?)

In a nutshell, parents don't understand that advertising is more than just being a creative.

2. You are the sounding board of everyone. (Euphemism: Everyone yells at you.)

Your client yells at you. Your creative yells at you. Your boss yells at you. Hell, kulang na lang that even the company driver yells at you for making him drive all the way to Bicutan and then to Marikina, AND THEN back to Makati.

In actuality, they all yell at you because you are their connecting vein. You are the DNA of the system. You are the air trafficker who decides which plane goes in which direction to avoid an airborne accident. Take heart: Without you, all of them can't function properly. Shempre kailangan ng (of course, they all need your) JO/JOB ORDER!

3. You are supposed to exercise your (I quote) considerable powers of PR (Read: kaplastikan).

No matter how much you hate your support groups, you'll always have to be nice to them even if your insides are producing enough acid to burn your digestive system. This is because you need them and they, in turn, need you -- though they refuse to acknowledge such. After all, without you, where else would they get their salaries -- through sidelines?

4. You are a VERY high-paid maid of Clients.

The common perception of other advertising people is that the AE is a Client's yes-man. "The customer is always right," goes the saying after all. This is because creatives see AEs as the Clients' sidekicks when in the agency. I've actually heard one co-AE say despairingly, "Prostitutes are better off. They can say no if they're tired and want to call it a night." Not the AE. Even though you're having a bad hair day, experiencing extremely painful menstrual cramps, not to mention having to deal with spoiled creatives, you have to make sure your Client gets his deliverables, which were needed "yesterday." (Sound familiar?)

But, in defense of the AE, they do not say yes to Client all the time: it just seems that way. The AE, in relation to her kaplastikan prowess as discussed in point #3, has to do a lot of verbal ballroom dancing in order to make the Client see his or her view. In fact, the general rule among AEs is (paraphrased though): You cannot just say no just because. In line with the advertising motto that all campaigns must have a strategy, so do the AEs when it comes to dealing with Clients. As most Clients are sensitive about being brutally rebuffed, AEs have to massage their egos if they disagree with them.

And on that note, notice how, in advertising, the word "client" is spelled as "Client?" With a capital C? Isn't that equating "Client" with "God?"

God forbid.

5. You are ... McGyver.

Resourcefulness is your middle name. Advertising urban legends claim that AEs have gone through hell to make sure both Clients and creatives (and to a lesser degree, your other support groups) are appeased: sitting in the broom closet until the creatives finish the compre for a print ad, hiring a kalesa's horse to ride through traffic in order to present a storyboard to Client, even bribing a DTI representative to give you a DTI number for a promo poster.

These are not myths. They have actually happened.

In the same vein, AEs learn how to be jacks-of-all-trades and masters of disguise and deception, because they know that at the end of the day, managing to deliver (and deliver right) is what matters.

The AE is a celebrated case study for borderline personality or schizophrenia because all sorts of persuasion and coercion methods have been exercised by him or her: the use of charm, tears, and cleavage exposure are patented trademarks of an AE who knows how to get what she wants.

It may sound as if the AE is a person to be pitied, but no. Because while AEs love to whine about their dismal existence, they know, in the deepest recesses of their beings, that they feel like comic superheroes at the immense agony they have gone through and will be going through. If you listen carefully enough, you'll hear the pride between the angst, the complaints, the sighs. They know they are strong people and while not a lot may be able to understand and appreciate that, they have each other to turn to for a metaphysical sense of empathy.

And, even if, an advertisement will merit awards for the creatives and the brand manager gets a raise for a product's market performance, the AE knows that she (or he) was the one who did it all.

And that unspoken truth is the reason why the AE is deemed a masochist.

Back-to-fit.

Wai, it's been AGES since I last updated. XD; But then that's mostly because I couldn't afford to get to the gym for a while with all the projects at work that I had to handle, plus my increasing responsibilities in other aspects of my life.

Anyways, I've been taking sessions almost religiously for the past three weeks (save for when I was feeling ill, like this past Sunday). Of course, it all began because those weeks have been marked by heavy rain and even a couple of storms, which contributed to some brouhaha over my broadband connection - and yes, that meant the agony of not being able to play Granado Espada. Couple that with the fact that Presea asked me to cosplay the rather svelte GE NRPC Brunie Etienne, and the upcoming wedding of our friend and fellow cosplayer Dukesa, I decided that it was high time to return to getting healthy. Because I had to jumpstart my return to the world of fitness, Kuya Rommel has made it a point to end every session with SO MUCH PAIN, but at least - unlike before, when I'd be lying awake counting sheep like this: O_O - I can now sleep earlier after a tiring but very gratifying workout. In fact, I'm proud to note that I hardly open my computer anymore normally don't sleep any later than 12:00 midnight, which is a huge achievement because I've gotten so used to being the last one to fall asleep at home due to spending too much time on the internet (and playing Granado Espada, hahaha). Go me! ^0^/

(Then again, a few days ago I kinda blew my diet going on a fast food binge like a woman possessed. Ah well. XD;;; Must work harder.)


While doing some exercise and fitness research for work, I stumbled upon this quiz. I was answering very conscientiously until I got to number 5:

When I do sit-ups, I am working towards reducing fat...

• only in my abdominal area.
• only in my "love handles".
• in all parts of my body.
• Doing sit-ups does not reduce fat. It does, however, increase my sex appeal.

... Um, ano daw (what)? 8DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Okay, back to real work! I'll add the correct answers to the quiz tonight after my trip to the gym, whee. X3

Cosplay @ Cinemanila's CINEMANGA!

In recognition of Japan's amazing contribution to world cinema, most notably in animation, the Cinemanila International Film Festival celebrates CINEMANGA. CINEMANGA is instrumental in introducing acclaimed anime films to Philippines shores. In 2005, it screened the award-winning films Appleseed by Shinji Aramaki, Steamboy by Katsuhiro Otomo and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence by Mamoru Oshii.

Cinemanga will happen on August 12, 8 pm at Cinema 1, Gateway Mall. It shares twin billing with Cinemanila's Young Cinema Night, a showcase of the some of the best short films by the country's budding filmmakers.

This year, the film screening will now feature the Philippine premiere of Toki o Kakeru Shojo (The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time) by Mamoru Hosoda which was hailed Japan's best animated feature for 2006.

Gracing the event is none other than Mr. Quentin Tarantino of the Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction fame. Mr. Tarantino is a big fan of Japanese pop culture, often incorporating J-pop elements into his fims. Most notable is the anime sequence in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Gogo Yubari, also from Kill Bill Vol. 1, is inspired by characters from anime.

In partnership with CINEMANILA, Cosplay.ph Members who go in costume get FREE ADMISSION to the screening as well as the CHANCE TO MEET AND GREET QUENTIN TARANTINO himself!

So mark your calendars and we hope to see you in this once-in-a-lifetime event!

====

Terms and Conditions for the Cosplayph @ Cinemanga
1. Confirm your attendance by submitting the following information:

• your cosplay.ph username
• real name
• contact details
• character you are going to cosplay

Send it via email at cosplayph@gmail.com with the subject line: COSPLAY @ CINEMANGA

2. As slots are limited, we shall accept only the first 50 registrants.
3. Deadline for confirmations will be on friday, AUGUST 10.
4. Kindly refrain from wearing costumes that are too sexy or revealing.
5. Be at the GATEWAY MALL Cinema 1 Lobby IN COSTUME by 7.30pm.
6. Bags may be temporarily stored in the Cinemanila Gateway office , but be responsible for your own valuables. COSPLAY.PH and CINEMANILA shall not be held responsible for lost, stolen or misplaced valuables.
7. Cosplayers will meet and greet with Mr. Tarantino prior to the screening.
8. You may take off your costumes once the screening begins.
9. CINEMANGA ends at 10 pm.


For more information
You may view the CINEMANILA event schedule here
Visit the CINEMANILA website at: www.cinemanila.org.ph
Visit the CINEMANILA discussion group here

 

====

UPDATES as of 7th August: For those who will not be cosplaying but want to watch the screening, regular ticket rates are at PhP100.00. Students get the discounted rate at PhP75.00.

The festival is issuing and selling Gold Tickets, priced at PhP750.00, at Gateway Mall. These cover entrance to the An Afternoon with Tarantino event and also serve as free passes to 10 movies.

Finally, QUENTIN TARANTINO HAS ARRIVED IN MANILAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! \^0^/

OMG we did it!!!

Yes people of the universe, I have achieved my first (and hopefully not the last) mecha cosplay.

Thanks to Mr. Paolo Manalo for the post and photo. \^0^/ (Let me know if you're re-locking this post please.)

EDIT: MANY THANKS to Mr. Robert Wong, Mr. Ricki Buzon, Ms. Jac Ting Lim and Mr. Wilson Tortosa for all the help and the inspiration. Plus as always, DAD - we did it! (Cosplay is an excellent parent-child bonding opportunity. v^_^v)


... Oh and I almost forgot. Please support Transformers Cybercon, the pre-movie event organized by Cybertron Philippines, the officially-recognized Philippine Transformers fan group. It's a family affair to be held this weekend, June 23rd and 24th. And yes, WE WILL BE THERE. v^_^v Entrance is free so make sure you come! ♥ Please check Cybertron Philippines' official site (http://www.cybph.com/) for more information.

Kaligayahan!

Maraming salamat Blogger/Google! \^0^/

Ngayon, mapapalitan ko na ang pangalan ng blog ko, whee! XD

* For our few foreign readers, this is because Blogger, like the rest of Google, now finally comes in my native language, Tagalog/Filipino. X3

EDIT: WTF? Bakit bumalik na naman ang interface ko sa Ingles/English? >_<0 Hindeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. T~T

Malayo na ang ating narating...

...Ngunit malayo pa rin ang dapat tahakin.



Maligayang Kaarawan Pilipinas.

Kinuha ang larawang ito at saka isinaayos ni Bb. Jac Ting Lim (http://jactinglim.blogspot.com) noong ika-12 ng Hunyo sa taong 2007 mula sa Pasong Tamo, Lungsod ng Makati.

Nagsilbing inspirasyon ang larawang dine sa ilalim.

A short rant

I need to get away. Not a lot of good things are happening lately offline, and sadly being online isn't much help either.

Gah.

Wow. LJ has been too hot for comfort. XD;;;

Tere needs YOU! \^0^/

Yes, it's time to vote for Miss Universe 2007!

And of course, you all know who I'm pimping promoting. XD

Please, please, PLEASE (x 100000000000000000000000) vote for Miss ANNA THERESA LICAROS, aka TERE!!! I've been very fortunate to have experience her brilliance in everything she does back when we were classmates in UP Diliman, which is why I believe she is most deserving of the title out of everyone in the tilt.

Voting commences HERE. (If your browser can't automatically open that link, it's http://hs.interpolls.com/cache/nbc/missuniv2k7_88DFA/americas.html.)

Please leave me a comment if you voted for her. (If you didn't, don't bother. XP)

Thank you all so much!

PORTED FROM VOX: QotD: My Daily Dose (includes shameless plugging!!!)

What websites do you visit every day?
Submitted by Chez Michelle.

Hmmm... I regularly visit the following:

• Yahoo! (for Mail, MyYahoo, and Groups, particularly the ones I'm moderating ... oh, and of course YM d^V~b)
• MSN (for Hotmail, MSNBC and MSN Messenger)
• Cosplay.ph (moderator)
• FilCosplay
• CosplayKada
• The Oracle
• Livejournal

Sadly, Vox isn't one of them especially since I'm still attached to my LJ. XD; Sorry Vox! D:

PORTED FROM VOX: QotD/Vox Hunt/Hand Of God: Call to Action

 I count myself as lucky. Those who have heard my origins normally continue to disbelieve the dire circumstances we once came from. I guess that that's what ultimately pushed me to contribute actively to charitable causes through financial and voluntary efforts.

I am for children's and women's welfare, the rights of the transgendered, the disabled and the terminally ill. I'd like to support the rights of the aged and WWII veterans plus animal rights, but I've still got to get my act together and actually go vegetarian. (*Author's Note on 2010/09/04: This blog lists all my causes. Please check the left-hand side.)

Let me tie this to today's Vox Hunt question, since the documentary in question is one of the things that inspired me to become a volunteer: Minsan Lang Sila Bata (Children Only Once, 1994), by Ditsi Carolino and the Ateneo Center for Social Policy, in cooperation with the Archdiocese of Manila Labor Centre. It's quite graphic with its portrayal of child labour in the Philippines, with its feature of children working for more than 10 hours with little food or monetary compensation at slaughterhouses, warehouses, meat markets and shipping yards, among others. It shows child labour in all its ugliness, and what makes it even sadder is that the children involved are very much resigned to their fate, but continue to be rather cheerful in their work.

How very timely the appearances of these questions are, right when I'm about to embark on relaunching RO2.

PORTED FROM VOX: QotD: My Dream Room

In your ultimate dream house, what does your favorite room look like?

Right now, I already live in my dream house, and I have my favourite dream room! \^0^/

Only, it's not just as clean and as organized as I dreamed it to be. XDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Photos after the cut! (If you're wondering why I'm here, it's because I was camwhoring for some LJ-based fashion communities. :P)

{points down}

I put on a BOX widget at the bottom of the page! v^~^v Yahooey!

...Wala lang. XD

PORTED FROM Vox Hunt: Weekend Results

Show us something you did, made, saw or bought this past weekend.

Race Queen Haruka. View original at DeviantArt.

I made the little photo at the right. XD;
How do you like it? :3

...I really, REALLY wanted to post a photo of the blue-and-white striped halter summer dress I found on Lulu Castagnette, but I'd been unable to take a photo of it. ;_; I didn't even get to buy it! {weeps}

PORTED FROM Vox Hunt: Just Doodling

Do you doodle?  Show us.

Here are some of my doodles! XD I'm not too proud of anything I draw since I have never had formal education in fine arts, but I rather like these the best. :3

More of this can be found on my deviantArt account, ~ligaya. ;)

Pit Stop 23

Race Queen-Paddock Girl Haruka

Well, seeing as tomorrow today is the start of another lap in the race of my life, let me look back at everything I've gone past so far.

Checkpoints:

1. Graduating from college
2. Eurotrip!!!
3. Getting a job pretty quickly - twice
4. Getting in touch with old friends especially from Poveda
5. Making many new friends especially through cosplay and RODCon
6. Getting in touch with more senior college friends
7. Learning more about myself and my capabilities
8. Making the decision to stay fit and healthy - and actually keeping it
9. NOT getting too sick, yay
10. Remembering that many other things, and not my whims, must command my attention
11. Reviving Reach Out Otaku, bit by bit
12. Enjoying my job, finally (well it's not all THAT good, but I'm finding it much better now)

Chicanes:

1. Choosing to be an accounts manager in the marketing-advertising field, instead of a journalist, a writer or a production assistant
2. Becoming the family breadwinner and taking over my older sister's duties (I didn't expect it to happen MUCH sooner)
3. Being forced to confront my shadows (since the one thing that occupied my faculties enough to keep them in check and not remind me of them was school)

Roadblocks:

1. Being an account executive in one of the crappiest below-the-line marketing companies alive, where I was hardly paid at all for all the work I did
2. Lack of time or memorable bonding moments with my blockmates, some other college friends and ICTUS
3. Never having enough money for myself or my loved ones
4. Never having enough time for my loved ones
5. Not knowing enough of the chores to do around the house (my sisters and I pretty much divided chores among ourselves and never really switched responsibilities)
6. Spending my birthday working, and with very few of the people I wanted to spend it with so badly

Pit Stops:

1. Turning 22
2. Graduating from college
3. Working and earning money
4. Turning 23

Though I'm still not as recharged as I'd hoped to be, I'm definitely ready to go through the next lap of my life.

PORTED FROM VOX: QotD: Secret Family Recipe

What's one family recipe that you wish you knew how to cook?

Actually, there's a whole lot. XD

As a few of you already know, I am proficient in cooking leche flan, a velvety custard made of milk and egg yolks, so much so that I know how to substitute egg whites in the recipe without anyone ever knowing or tasting the difference. XD This recipe I learned from Mama, my late father's mother.

But there's one other dessert I wish I learned from her, and that's to make ube (oo-beh) jam. My dad would describe how Mama would cut up and then mash the purple ube yam, before boiling the mixture, adding water while she stirred. It sounded easy, but then I learned that she cooked the very sticky ube mixture in large batches of at least four yams, in a gigantic saucepan that was half her size. And judging from her pictures, she was always a petite woman, so it was amazing how Dad told me that "stirring the mixture was difficult" in such a nonchalant way.

It's an acquired taste, sweet yet bitter, sticky yet grainy. I'm a HUGE, HARDCORE ube jam fan (I can finish TWO large jars in one sitting!), and so is my mum. That's why I want to cook it.

And I'm drooling on my keyboard now. XD;;;

I love you Jollbee, kahit sa graduation ko~! {hum hum}

Proud father! ^_~
Originally uploaded by Ligaya Diwata.

This is one of my favourite graduation photos for so many reasons. The main reason is that as a family, we didn't eat at the grad lunch buffet (to the sadness of my friends in the graduation and yearbook committees XD;), but had lunch at good ol' Jollibee Katipunan instead since we were in a rush for the university commencement exercises (in my case, both the college and university commencement exercises had happened in the same day). It was terrible that we were only given around two hours at most to have lunch, since we spent the rest of the time that was supposedly going to be the start of the exercises suffering under the summer heat. XD;;;

When I logged in today, I saw this comment from Flickr user dffcao: "This can be a Jollibee commercial! Don't know if JB already thought of featuring important events like graduation meal at Jollibee. You can pitch the storyline to JB's advertising agency. Just some wild idea."

Now seeing as I actually work in a marketing company and have friends that work in the agencies, I'm thinking this is a great idea. XD More so because I'm also a Jollibee fan and our family has had some connection to Jollibee, employment- and career-wise. But I don't want to take credit for this idea since it simply isn't mine.

That said, who among you buddies at the agencies want it? I just ask in behalf of dffcao that he gets any form of credit or recognition for the pitch. :P (And, well, me for the photo since it inspired his pitch. XD)

Ah well, it's just a thought anyways. XD But if any of you ever take this seriously though, thanks! ♥

Oh, and you can still browse through the graduation set here. You may also add me if you're a personal contact (meaning, you want to see more of my non-cosplay photos and chances are you're actually in those non-cosplay photos XD) here. v^_~v