Original version
|
KC version
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
KC from Paris to Pinas
incomplete
by audiovideomagix in youtube
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v1524253C72Y2grQ
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v1539580Y665xA3j
Thursday, June 23, 2011
KC Reads: Haruki Murakami
Book ListNorwegian Wood
South of the Border, West of the Sun
Sputnik Sweetheart
source: http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20110106-312911
Viena: I like this quotation from Sputnik Sweetheart, misquoted here in Nearly Famous relate dto the tragic story of Rose and 10 in Doctor Who.
"And it came to me then. That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits. From far off they look like beautiful shooting stars, but in reality they're nothing more than prisons, where each of us is locked up alone, going nowhere. When the orbits of these two satellites of ours happened to cross paths, we could be together. Maybe even open our hearts to each other. But that was only for the briefest moment. In the next instant we'd be in absolute solitude. Until we burned up and became nothing."
— Haruki Murakami (Sputnik Sweetheart)
KC's Bag: Chanel Flap 2.55 Reissue in Purple
from http://www.cosmo.ph/style-beauty/whats-in-my-bag/kc-concepcion-is-pretty-in-purple-with-her-chanel-purse/
Click the link to see what's in her bag:
iPhone
Christian Dior sunglasses
Goyard wallet
Gilchrist & Soames Lip Balm
Keys
Lavender Oil
Stud earrings
Click the link to see what's in her bag:
iPhone
Christian Dior sunglasses
Goyard wallet
Gilchrist & Soames Lip Balm
Keys
Lavender Oil
Stud earrings
The purse costs: $1,995.
Other celebrities who have this bag:
Blake Lively
Kirsten Dunst
from celebrityarmcandy.com Mischa Barton
from ibuybag.com
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Kace's Carousel Milenyo, Marilyn, Joe Malone and the moral of this story
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer
Posted date: October 06, 2006
"NO damage, really. Just wet," my Tita says about her open-spaced nest in lovely Laguna. Little did I know I was missing what is said to be the biggest typhoon to hit Manila in over a decade.
Uprooted trees
We Filipinos living abroad surely heard about the thousands of trees uprooted all over. How sad to see hundreds of trees with their roots up in the air--even in seemingly sublime places like Legazpi Village, Salcedo Village, Forbes, Alabang. Westgrove Heights lost 500 trees! So somber and disenchanting somehow.
And though some people were lucky to have untouched homes, a five-day power outage, cellsites down by storm, flying fastfood signs damaging parked cars, missing rooftops and ruined heartbeats tell us a tale of Nature being so violent. And three hours before the storm, who would have known?
After three and a half years of living away, yesterday was the first time my family and I reattended church. We spent much of our week praying for electricity, water systems, hearts, minds, families, lives and Metro Manila to be restored. I have to admit, though, that I was in the process of texting friends in Manila a few days before, sharing my escape in photography exhibits and guiltless imagination. To feel better about such indulgences, I convinced myself that I could just hear my aunt saying to me now, "Thank you so much for a spot of Paris and beauty and art. Haven’t had power for four nights now and although moonlight bathes my nest, I see stars when I take cold heater-less showers." Heater-less showers. Heartless storms.
All of us have high points and low points in our lives and who is going through better or worse is not really the point. For all of us, there are things we really need to sort out, our brain needs to absorb what happened, our soul needs to eat it up. This is when you know that in the end you will have to help yourself make a choice, and to choose a direction. Are you going to continue with your frustrations? Are you going to be happy? Are you going to pacify yourself by helping somebody else sleep better today?
Marilyn
Just as nature could be so unexpectedly intrusive and violent, so could other things. In a photo exhibit at the Musée Maillol, were the last shots ever taken of Marilyn Monroe before her death in 1962. Wrapped in images of her, I realized you can never really figure out how the mind of a larger-than-life movie star works (or anyone else’s for that matter). Her photos were ethereal, with her blond hair and light skin twisted between crisp and white linen against a blank backdrop bathed in natural light. The whole look was white on white on white. Showcased, as well, were photographs in a ’60s coral-orange tint that might be difficult to replicate today. However, what was more interesting about the Monroe exhibit was seeing Marilyn exist in so many different states of mind. On one wall, her photos made her look nonchalantly ready to crash into bed, solemn and drunk as a daisy. On another wall, she was stunning, a sweetheart, happy and high. One would also describe her with the words simple, subtle, and utterly smashed, as, at times, it seemed she was either one or the other. But then I would glance to my left, and on another wall were images of the icon, many different Marilyns, all scrambled together.
Doing that photo shoot could have taken her anywhere between two hours to a whole day, but one thing is for sure: there was something going on in her life at that point in time that led to her death less than a week later. Not knowing her story, sometimes all we can do is guess what is going on in another person’s life. The only way is to read between the lines, to understand things from both sides: false lashes fluttering over sad eyes, pearls and diamonds draping over a hungry body, fabulous white heels sinfully stained with drops of red wine. All these could have been clear signs that a suicide would happen a week later. But, maybe, nobody bothered to look hard enough. Maybe we don’t listen enough, or empathize enough. While some may do some acting and concealing ever so well, others might not be acting on things they should be doing, quick enough, or hard enough. We all need to learn when to keep things private, and when to share with the world, when to keep an eye out and when not to meddle. Some things are better left unsaid, other things deserve to be immortalized--in photos, in scripts, in spirit--neverendingly beautiful and alive. Marilyn will forever remain the latter.
Joe Malone
On a "lighter note" it is much too important to take things in with some humor and a grain of (perfumed) salt. Some may say I am a late bloomer when it comes to discovering British perfume brand Joe Malone, but prancing through the perfume boutique I also had the pleasure of discovering that, which others may not be entirely aware of. To all fashionistas, lo and behold, this perfume is actually less expensive here in Paris than in the UK from where the brand and product originate: a bottle may be worth 80 euros in Paris and 100 pounds up in London! The concept of it is that customers are provided the opportunity to concoct their own personal fragrance. The boutique then becomes a mini venue where the mixing and matching of various fragrances becomes possible with the end goal of being able to stand out in the crowd, quite possibly with your nose raised up high. Skimming through Grapefuit Lime and French Vanilla, Fig and French Lavender, I noticed that any scent that had the word "French" in it turned out to have a petite touch of baby powder. I then concocted a floral French Lime flavor to suit my young girl-regression needs, spritzed the oils on my pulse spots (as is common yet an obligatory demonstration is often required) and continued to what would be the yummy highlight of the evening.
Victoire de Castellane
Another important fact to know is that Victoire de Castellane, designer of Dior’s jewelry line, LOVES DESSERT. Coming to her jewelry exhibit while still at France’s first department store, Le Bon Marché, I doubted she ever got stressed with work with all that sugar and the means to afford Parisian pastries. On a screen via a video projector, there she was with her baby bangs and quirky clothing, pointing to four cakes and other desserts saying, "Ca, et ca, et ca, et ca. Merci!"
I sat down on one of her custom-made French chairs (with white fabric seasoned with colorful images of fancy rings, candy wrappers, and semi-precious stones) bewildered and thinking to myself: When you find yourself wanting this, that, and oh, that other thing, this is when you know you are going completely crazy. Not that crazy is necessarily a bad thing, but we all have to admit that we can hardly ever be all things for all people. After having a taste of the many sides of work, love, life, there will come a point sometime where you will have to make a choice: which dessert best suits my taste, which path is more valuable for me to follow? From where you are, you just have to stop and think, am I going to stay, or am I going to go? Once you decide, you then have to think of how to wait or how to leave. Someday there will be a tipping point waiting to be reached, and once you reach it, it’s up to you to decide whether or not to look back. And when you’re tired of thinking at all, then you just go where the river takes you, let some things go, and allow them to flow to where they will. Get hurt, enter the chaos, and through it all try to keep still. "Sounds yum," Victoire might say. Well, life with all its sugar and spice sounds yum to me.
So the moral of the story is this: when you can’t take the stress, instead of resorting to some silent way of exiting the universe, just run out in the streets and wake the neighbors up. Or you can just calm down, deal with your situation, pacify yourself and zen out. You have to make a choice, after all, and at the end of the day, it’s got to be yours. And time will really help you sort it through, which is something you’ve just got to force yourself to do.
I was about to sleep when I still smelled roses on my wrist and the faint hint of French Lime. And with just one whiff, for whatever it was worth, the world stood still while I thanked God for one calm evening, and one good afternoon.
Inquirer
Posted date: October 06, 2006
"NO damage, really. Just wet," my Tita says about her open-spaced nest in lovely Laguna. Little did I know I was missing what is said to be the biggest typhoon to hit Manila in over a decade.
Uprooted trees
We Filipinos living abroad surely heard about the thousands of trees uprooted all over. How sad to see hundreds of trees with their roots up in the air--even in seemingly sublime places like Legazpi Village, Salcedo Village, Forbes, Alabang. Westgrove Heights lost 500 trees! So somber and disenchanting somehow.
And though some people were lucky to have untouched homes, a five-day power outage, cellsites down by storm, flying fastfood signs damaging parked cars, missing rooftops and ruined heartbeats tell us a tale of Nature being so violent. And three hours before the storm, who would have known?
After three and a half years of living away, yesterday was the first time my family and I reattended church. We spent much of our week praying for electricity, water systems, hearts, minds, families, lives and Metro Manila to be restored. I have to admit, though, that I was in the process of texting friends in Manila a few days before, sharing my escape in photography exhibits and guiltless imagination. To feel better about such indulgences, I convinced myself that I could just hear my aunt saying to me now, "Thank you so much for a spot of Paris and beauty and art. Haven’t had power for four nights now and although moonlight bathes my nest, I see stars when I take cold heater-less showers." Heater-less showers. Heartless storms.
All of us have high points and low points in our lives and who is going through better or worse is not really the point. For all of us, there are things we really need to sort out, our brain needs to absorb what happened, our soul needs to eat it up. This is when you know that in the end you will have to help yourself make a choice, and to choose a direction. Are you going to continue with your frustrations? Are you going to be happy? Are you going to pacify yourself by helping somebody else sleep better today?
Marilyn
Just as nature could be so unexpectedly intrusive and violent, so could other things. In a photo exhibit at the Musée Maillol, were the last shots ever taken of Marilyn Monroe before her death in 1962. Wrapped in images of her, I realized you can never really figure out how the mind of a larger-than-life movie star works (or anyone else’s for that matter). Her photos were ethereal, with her blond hair and light skin twisted between crisp and white linen against a blank backdrop bathed in natural light. The whole look was white on white on white. Showcased, as well, were photographs in a ’60s coral-orange tint that might be difficult to replicate today. However, what was more interesting about the Monroe exhibit was seeing Marilyn exist in so many different states of mind. On one wall, her photos made her look nonchalantly ready to crash into bed, solemn and drunk as a daisy. On another wall, she was stunning, a sweetheart, happy and high. One would also describe her with the words simple, subtle, and utterly smashed, as, at times, it seemed she was either one or the other. But then I would glance to my left, and on another wall were images of the icon, many different Marilyns, all scrambled together.
Doing that photo shoot could have taken her anywhere between two hours to a whole day, but one thing is for sure: there was something going on in her life at that point in time that led to her death less than a week later. Not knowing her story, sometimes all we can do is guess what is going on in another person’s life. The only way is to read between the lines, to understand things from both sides: false lashes fluttering over sad eyes, pearls and diamonds draping over a hungry body, fabulous white heels sinfully stained with drops of red wine. All these could have been clear signs that a suicide would happen a week later. But, maybe, nobody bothered to look hard enough. Maybe we don’t listen enough, or empathize enough. While some may do some acting and concealing ever so well, others might not be acting on things they should be doing, quick enough, or hard enough. We all need to learn when to keep things private, and when to share with the world, when to keep an eye out and when not to meddle. Some things are better left unsaid, other things deserve to be immortalized--in photos, in scripts, in spirit--neverendingly beautiful and alive. Marilyn will forever remain the latter.
Joe Malone
On a "lighter note" it is much too important to take things in with some humor and a grain of (perfumed) salt. Some may say I am a late bloomer when it comes to discovering British perfume brand Joe Malone, but prancing through the perfume boutique I also had the pleasure of discovering that, which others may not be entirely aware of. To all fashionistas, lo and behold, this perfume is actually less expensive here in Paris than in the UK from where the brand and product originate: a bottle may be worth 80 euros in Paris and 100 pounds up in London! The concept of it is that customers are provided the opportunity to concoct their own personal fragrance. The boutique then becomes a mini venue where the mixing and matching of various fragrances becomes possible with the end goal of being able to stand out in the crowd, quite possibly with your nose raised up high. Skimming through Grapefuit Lime and French Vanilla, Fig and French Lavender, I noticed that any scent that had the word "French" in it turned out to have a petite touch of baby powder. I then concocted a floral French Lime flavor to suit my young girl-regression needs, spritzed the oils on my pulse spots (as is common yet an obligatory demonstration is often required) and continued to what would be the yummy highlight of the evening.
Victoire de Castellane
Another important fact to know is that Victoire de Castellane, designer of Dior’s jewelry line, LOVES DESSERT. Coming to her jewelry exhibit while still at France’s first department store, Le Bon Marché, I doubted she ever got stressed with work with all that sugar and the means to afford Parisian pastries. On a screen via a video projector, there she was with her baby bangs and quirky clothing, pointing to four cakes and other desserts saying, "Ca, et ca, et ca, et ca. Merci!"
I sat down on one of her custom-made French chairs (with white fabric seasoned with colorful images of fancy rings, candy wrappers, and semi-precious stones) bewildered and thinking to myself: When you find yourself wanting this, that, and oh, that other thing, this is when you know you are going completely crazy. Not that crazy is necessarily a bad thing, but we all have to admit that we can hardly ever be all things for all people. After having a taste of the many sides of work, love, life, there will come a point sometime where you will have to make a choice: which dessert best suits my taste, which path is more valuable for me to follow? From where you are, you just have to stop and think, am I going to stay, or am I going to go? Once you decide, you then have to think of how to wait or how to leave. Someday there will be a tipping point waiting to be reached, and once you reach it, it’s up to you to decide whether or not to look back. And when you’re tired of thinking at all, then you just go where the river takes you, let some things go, and allow them to flow to where they will. Get hurt, enter the chaos, and through it all try to keep still. "Sounds yum," Victoire might say. Well, life with all its sugar and spice sounds yum to me.
So the moral of the story is this: when you can’t take the stress, instead of resorting to some silent way of exiting the universe, just run out in the streets and wake the neighbors up. Or you can just calm down, deal with your situation, pacify yourself and zen out. You have to make a choice, after all, and at the end of the day, it’s got to be yours. And time will really help you sort it through, which is something you’ve just got to force yourself to do.
I was about to sleep when I still smelled roses on my wrist and the faint hint of French Lime. And with just one whiff, for whatever it was worth, the world stood still while I thanked God for one calm evening, and one good afternoon.
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20061006-25201
Kace's Carousel Ain't over 'til it's over!
First posted 00:43am (Mla time) Mar 11, 2006
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on page C2 of the March 11, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SOMEONE always used to remind me that you have to do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Filipinos out here are extremely good at doing this, all the while keeping their dignity despite hardships in their lives while in a foreign land. Of course most OFWs are concerned with more serious issues that have little to do with figuring out how to recreate home stuff through the arts and crafts, but, we might learn a little something from their resourcefulness and abilidad!
To think we’re from a place where if you can afford something basic like eat 3 full meals a day, then you are already considered lucky, sometimes we just need to calm down on the wanting and the buying, and feeling guilty for not having the latest version of something. Yes I’m quite aware that this is coming from a product endorser, but, in the end, we just really do not have to have it all! Okay, for some I should at least say … we don’t need to have it all, ALL the time! Tsk tsk! Make use of what you already have, reinvent it, and feel good about it! Here are 10 happy ways to reuse things around the house ’cos the second time can surely be sweeter! Have fun!
Eyeglass frames
If you have kid sisters or brothers who have outgrown old but super fun children’s sunglasses, you don’t need to throw them out or give them away just yet. If they’ve lost the glass lenses, then even better, because you can use the lens parts of the eye glass frame as picture frames for close up shots or wideshots of nice views from places you’ve been to. Colors like hot pink or red, for example, work well with glossy black and white photos.
CDs
Scrap CDs can be strung together with nylon strings and hung up as retro curtains. Others use beads, while others use old CDs -- mostly CDs that contained documents and word files instead of something sacred like music. You can ask your colleagues or someone who works in an office to compile old CD-ROMs for you. The most interesting part is when the sun reflects on the discs and bounces onto your walls like bubbles. The first time I saw the effect it reminded me of how I would play with the “dancing bubbles” reflecting on airplane seats while light from the windows bounced off my lolo’s watch. Kids could have fun with this!
Earrings
When funky earrings go out of style and you would hate to throw them away, you can turn them into table napkin rings! Just remove the backs with pliers, hot-glue them onto a cord and tie them into a circle to form the rings. They will make table settings look special even when using cheap paper napkins.
‘Bayongs’ and baskets
Medium-sized fruit baskets or little bayongs mounted on the wall or resting on a desk can make for a cute, functional, contained spot for invitations, notes, pictures, bills, incoming and outgoing letters, catalogues, or magazines. You can mount the baskets up on the wall, one on top of the other or in a row, about four inches apart, using nails and screws. You can sew things into them for a subtle personal touch, too. Just make hand-written or computerized labels that you can attach to the baskets with masking tapes (“Bills,” “Mail,” “Sketch Designs,” “Ideas,” “Don’t Forget,” etc.). For younger sisters and brothers, you can hit two birds with one stone: Have bonding time fun and motivate them to do homework, too. Ask them to help you paint the baskets, or color the labels for them, then show them their new homework in-box! I’m sure my sister would enjoy doing her super cool preschool homework if she sees it popping out of a big, red, ladybug!
Magazines
Speaking of magazines, my mother and I can (ridiculously) fill up a whole attic with just old beauty and teen magazines alone. If you are like us, then it might be a good idea to spend one whole day sorting out the articles you still find useful, putting them into clear folders or plastic portfolios, and then separating the parts of the magazines you won’t read anymore. Once you’ve done that, you can send them to Samahan ng Muling Pagkabuhay Multipurpose Cooperative (727-0681) to make woven paper boxes and creations that you can use for gifts, gatherings, or give-aways for events. Three years ago, for my debut giveaways, we sent them the stacks of old magazines that ranged from the 1980s black and white prints in English to the neon pop colors you find in Japanese mags of the year 2000. It made it interesting for us to see them make containers out of these dusty reads, but in the end when the boxes were made, we filled them up with scented poutpourri and crystal bracelets/necklaces for all the girls at the party. The attic was cleared up in no time and the giveaways were fabulous! Heads up though -- people who receive these magazine paper creations will surely see what you’re reading!
Plastics
Take-out plastic Tupperwares, trinkets and things over here, Chinese take-out doesn’t come in NY fashion. Instead of tall cardboard boxes with aluminum wires, we get plastic Tupperware-type containers. What’s nice about them (especially the hard-plastic ones that come with a decent cover) is that you can clean up the containers, and reuse them as jewelry boxes, a piggybank, candy bowls, key holders, or as open storage for things like tea bags. You can wrap them up and staple some felt paper (black, wine red, dark orange, or purple work well) around the containers, then hot-glue trinkets and things to cover them up with style. Seashells, pieces of broken glass, colored beads that came from broken bracelets and accessories … anything small or light or eccentric enough, really … It all depends on your theme! You can even take a wine-cork and stick it at the center of the plastic lid (hopefully your take out came with one) to use as a fancy handle to open up your new memory box, which would hold all the tickets from your favorite concerts, plays, and shows.
Shot glasses
For an inuman session or pica-pica dinner, it could be fun to fill up your extra shot glasses with rock or iodized salt, herbs (like rosemary, oregano, parsley) or chili flakes and other spices. Otherwise, you can use them as ash trays, candle holders, or plate holders if you turn several of them over, put them together to make a stable plane, then have the plates rest on their bottoms.
Baby bottles
I don’t know if you are one to try this out, but just to give you an extra idea to see how far you can go with this … There is a strange bar here that serves alcoholic beverages in baby bottles. Weird? Well, the basic point of it is that alcohol hits you harder when you down it in this way -- so, partygoer, are you one to dance and drink the night away, sucking in the vodka through a tsupon? Hmm … I don’t know!
Wine bottles
It would be sad to throw wine bottles away! They work well as nice carafes (instead of pitchers) for water, iced tea, juices for breakfast, or chilled cocktail mixes ready to serve. You can also use them as flower vases. Long-stemmed flowers work well, orchids look classy in translucent olive green bottles. Paint over the glass bottles, tie a ribbon or old necklaces around the bottle necks, or strip the labels and leave the bottles as they are for a simple, elegant, organic look that will go with any table setting.
T-shirt quilt
I remember the comfort of our mayor doma’s homemade quilt from when I was 12 years old living in Boston. Knowing she sewed together pieces of her old dusters with her very hands made it cozier to sleep in. Putting together favorite pambahay T-shirts you’ve outgrown, or cutting out squares from your favorite T-shirt designs could be a little bit of work but with a little patience you’ll have the advantage of reliving happy moments in your dreams! Sewing together a kind of quilt from old, worn-out, but fabulous T-shirts that you don’t want to get rid of, might have the power to put you back in a great mood every time you get cozy with it on a roadtrip to the beach, the mountains, and other travels.
The results will all depend on what kind of person you are and what kind of world you move in, but the philosophy is the same for everyone: Work with what you have, here and now, and hopefully you get what you want out of life when you’ve done this long enough. There is so much more you can create and reuse -- just look around and remember the whole purpose of doing this is so that nothing, which still has the potential to be something great, is thrown to waste. Bisous, beautiful ones, and ciao for now!
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on page C2 of the March 11, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SOMEONE always used to remind me that you have to do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Filipinos out here are extremely good at doing this, all the while keeping their dignity despite hardships in their lives while in a foreign land. Of course most OFWs are concerned with more serious issues that have little to do with figuring out how to recreate home stuff through the arts and crafts, but, we might learn a little something from their resourcefulness and abilidad!
To think we’re from a place where if you can afford something basic like eat 3 full meals a day, then you are already considered lucky, sometimes we just need to calm down on the wanting and the buying, and feeling guilty for not having the latest version of something. Yes I’m quite aware that this is coming from a product endorser, but, in the end, we just really do not have to have it all! Okay, for some I should at least say … we don’t need to have it all, ALL the time! Tsk tsk! Make use of what you already have, reinvent it, and feel good about it! Here are 10 happy ways to reuse things around the house ’cos the second time can surely be sweeter! Have fun!
Eyeglass frames
If you have kid sisters or brothers who have outgrown old but super fun children’s sunglasses, you don’t need to throw them out or give them away just yet. If they’ve lost the glass lenses, then even better, because you can use the lens parts of the eye glass frame as picture frames for close up shots or wideshots of nice views from places you’ve been to. Colors like hot pink or red, for example, work well with glossy black and white photos.
CDs
Scrap CDs can be strung together with nylon strings and hung up as retro curtains. Others use beads, while others use old CDs -- mostly CDs that contained documents and word files instead of something sacred like music. You can ask your colleagues or someone who works in an office to compile old CD-ROMs for you. The most interesting part is when the sun reflects on the discs and bounces onto your walls like bubbles. The first time I saw the effect it reminded me of how I would play with the “dancing bubbles” reflecting on airplane seats while light from the windows bounced off my lolo’s watch. Kids could have fun with this!
Earrings
When funky earrings go out of style and you would hate to throw them away, you can turn them into table napkin rings! Just remove the backs with pliers, hot-glue them onto a cord and tie them into a circle to form the rings. They will make table settings look special even when using cheap paper napkins.
‘Bayongs’ and baskets
Medium-sized fruit baskets or little bayongs mounted on the wall or resting on a desk can make for a cute, functional, contained spot for invitations, notes, pictures, bills, incoming and outgoing letters, catalogues, or magazines. You can mount the baskets up on the wall, one on top of the other or in a row, about four inches apart, using nails and screws. You can sew things into them for a subtle personal touch, too. Just make hand-written or computerized labels that you can attach to the baskets with masking tapes (“Bills,” “Mail,” “Sketch Designs,” “Ideas,” “Don’t Forget,” etc.). For younger sisters and brothers, you can hit two birds with one stone: Have bonding time fun and motivate them to do homework, too. Ask them to help you paint the baskets, or color the labels for them, then show them their new homework in-box! I’m sure my sister would enjoy doing her super cool preschool homework if she sees it popping out of a big, red, ladybug!
Magazines
Speaking of magazines, my mother and I can (ridiculously) fill up a whole attic with just old beauty and teen magazines alone. If you are like us, then it might be a good idea to spend one whole day sorting out the articles you still find useful, putting them into clear folders or plastic portfolios, and then separating the parts of the magazines you won’t read anymore. Once you’ve done that, you can send them to Samahan ng Muling Pagkabuhay Multipurpose Cooperative (727-0681) to make woven paper boxes and creations that you can use for gifts, gatherings, or give-aways for events. Three years ago, for my debut giveaways, we sent them the stacks of old magazines that ranged from the 1980s black and white prints in English to the neon pop colors you find in Japanese mags of the year 2000. It made it interesting for us to see them make containers out of these dusty reads, but in the end when the boxes were made, we filled them up with scented poutpourri and crystal bracelets/necklaces for all the girls at the party. The attic was cleared up in no time and the giveaways were fabulous! Heads up though -- people who receive these magazine paper creations will surely see what you’re reading!
Plastics
Take-out plastic Tupperwares, trinkets and things over here, Chinese take-out doesn’t come in NY fashion. Instead of tall cardboard boxes with aluminum wires, we get plastic Tupperware-type containers. What’s nice about them (especially the hard-plastic ones that come with a decent cover) is that you can clean up the containers, and reuse them as jewelry boxes, a piggybank, candy bowls, key holders, or as open storage for things like tea bags. You can wrap them up and staple some felt paper (black, wine red, dark orange, or purple work well) around the containers, then hot-glue trinkets and things to cover them up with style. Seashells, pieces of broken glass, colored beads that came from broken bracelets and accessories … anything small or light or eccentric enough, really … It all depends on your theme! You can even take a wine-cork and stick it at the center of the plastic lid (hopefully your take out came with one) to use as a fancy handle to open up your new memory box, which would hold all the tickets from your favorite concerts, plays, and shows.
Shot glasses
For an inuman session or pica-pica dinner, it could be fun to fill up your extra shot glasses with rock or iodized salt, herbs (like rosemary, oregano, parsley) or chili flakes and other spices. Otherwise, you can use them as ash trays, candle holders, or plate holders if you turn several of them over, put them together to make a stable plane, then have the plates rest on their bottoms.
Baby bottles
I don’t know if you are one to try this out, but just to give you an extra idea to see how far you can go with this … There is a strange bar here that serves alcoholic beverages in baby bottles. Weird? Well, the basic point of it is that alcohol hits you harder when you down it in this way -- so, partygoer, are you one to dance and drink the night away, sucking in the vodka through a tsupon? Hmm … I don’t know!
Wine bottles
It would be sad to throw wine bottles away! They work well as nice carafes (instead of pitchers) for water, iced tea, juices for breakfast, or chilled cocktail mixes ready to serve. You can also use them as flower vases. Long-stemmed flowers work well, orchids look classy in translucent olive green bottles. Paint over the glass bottles, tie a ribbon or old necklaces around the bottle necks, or strip the labels and leave the bottles as they are for a simple, elegant, organic look that will go with any table setting.
T-shirt quilt
I remember the comfort of our mayor doma’s homemade quilt from when I was 12 years old living in Boston. Knowing she sewed together pieces of her old dusters with her very hands made it cozier to sleep in. Putting together favorite pambahay T-shirts you’ve outgrown, or cutting out squares from your favorite T-shirt designs could be a little bit of work but with a little patience you’ll have the advantage of reliving happy moments in your dreams! Sewing together a kind of quilt from old, worn-out, but fabulous T-shirts that you don’t want to get rid of, might have the power to put you back in a great mood every time you get cozy with it on a roadtrip to the beach, the mountains, and other travels.
The results will all depend on what kind of person you are and what kind of world you move in, but the philosophy is the same for everyone: Work with what you have, here and now, and hopefully you get what you want out of life when you’ve done this long enough. There is so much more you can create and reuse -- just look around and remember the whole purpose of doing this is so that nothing, which still has the potential to be something great, is thrown to waste. Bisous, beautiful ones, and ciao for now!
Kulit Co. A Happy New Year Prayer ...for us to love more, do more, be more
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer
This is one of my favorite poems and I don't know what it's called! Here goes:
"It doesn't interest me
Inquirer
This is one of my favorite poems and I don't know what it's called! Here goes:
"It doesn't interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon.
I want to know
if you have touched
the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened
by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain!
I want to know
I want to know
if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own,
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy,
mine or your own,
if you can dance with wilderness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful, be realistic, or
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
if the story you're telling me
is true,
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself;
if you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful (sic)
I want to know if you can be faithful (sic)
and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day,
and if you can source your life
from God's presence.
I want to know
I want to know
if you can live with failure,
yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs
to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
who you are, (sic)
how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me
It doesn't interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself,
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments."
Happy, happy new year everyone!
2003 has been so crazy, I can't even remember what went on. Anyway, for the next year, the new year coming right about now... I pray that the year 2004 will bring you the things you want, the things you need the wisdom to decipher the difference, the openness to embrace the unexpected, the happiness to still appreciate the predicted, and the heart to accept and to see beyond the imperfections in each other... to grow... to change.
I pray you touch the lives of others, more than you have before, in your own ways, sane or (for some) a bit drunken. I pray for us to love more, do more, be more... and for the young I pray that we are shown things about us, and all things, for more depth, and more clarity, so that we don't end up wasting our passions, elasticity and energy on things that will just die even sooner than we will.
There is so much we can do because we are young. Much, much more than we think... For the aged, I pray for that youth, at heart and in spirit, so that they realize and remember their purpose, their beauty, and their importance to their friends, their family, colleagues and employees... and the difference--big and small--that they have made, unknowingly, in the world.
They are so much more than they know. For all of us, I pray that we are able to make the ones we lovefeel that love, and have it, and own it, and love it so much, they have to bounce it back.
Happy, happy new year, everyone!
---
Viena: the poem is The Invitation by Oriah.
Happy, happy new year everyone!
2003 has been so crazy, I can't even remember what went on. Anyway, for the next year, the new year coming right about now... I pray that the year 2004 will bring you the things you want, the things you need the wisdom to decipher the difference, the openness to embrace the unexpected, the happiness to still appreciate the predicted, and the heart to accept and to see beyond the imperfections in each other... to grow... to change.
I pray you touch the lives of others, more than you have before, in your own ways, sane or (for some) a bit drunken. I pray for us to love more, do more, be more... and for the young I pray that we are shown things about us, and all things, for more depth, and more clarity, so that we don't end up wasting our passions, elasticity and energy on things that will just die even sooner than we will.
There is so much we can do because we are young. Much, much more than we think... For the aged, I pray for that youth, at heart and in spirit, so that they realize and remember their purpose, their beauty, and their importance to their friends, their family, colleagues and employees... and the difference--big and small--that they have made, unknowingly, in the world.
They are so much more than they know. For all of us, I pray that we are able to make the ones we lovefeel that love, and have it, and own it, and love it so much, they have to bounce it back.
Happy, happy new year, everyone!
---
Viena: the poem is The Invitation by Oriah.
http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Kulit Co. Spilt milk, growing up and Life's incoherences
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer
WITH A BOOK ON SHAKEspeare's Measure for Measure in one hand and a large cup of steamed hazelnut milk in the other, I couldn't do better than hold down paper towels on the floor with my winter boots hoping desperately that they would absorb the milk I spilled on the classroom carpet.
"Don't be anxious about making black & white definitions -- your definition will be wrong." In my Writing and Criticism class, with a professor with a background in Theater Arts, we revised the logistics on the makings of an excellent term paper.
Still quietly stomping on the floor with the towels, I jotted down notes but my mind that day was thinking faster than my professor's pace of speech (to do this on a regular basis would be a challenge!).
Silently wondering what was going to happen to the carpet stain, I wrote down what he said. "Don't make premature incoherences on oppositions -- there are incoherences, but the point is you need to be precise as to when and how you will use them to support your main argument."
Reasons
And I thought, isn't that what makes life worth living?
Incoherences are like stories in our lives that happened and we find that they don't seem to make sense at all. These are stories that could be the makings of a great song and stories which could end up in a fantastic film -- if only all the scenes in it conspired to create something whole and we could right away grasp the reasons that they needed to happen. Too many times in the interesting conversations on life people fail to make sense of things -- some become impatient and decide on premature conclusions to end the misery of not knowing what is coming next, while others patiently wait from scene to scene, eager about not quite understanding how the story will end. For example, somewhere in the middle of being a girl and becoming a woman is a whole new place I had never been to before. Everytime you're in some place new, you don't always know how to deal, you don't always know what to do in situations. Whether it be in receiving a first good paycheck, a new apartment, a real emotion, true love or one real love that may last years. Now that I'm nearing 21, it feels strange that there are things I used to do that don't feel so right anymore all of a sudden. There is a change in the way I spend my day, the words I choose to use, the books I read, the way I wear my hair, the shoes I walk in, the joys and pains I open myself up to and even in the risks I am willing to take. Sometimes I think that maybe it is a passing phase-just to one day silently realize I might much rather leave the Mickey Mouse lingerie behind, or, if the opportunity arises, I would find myself returning to that, which I once loved dearly and unquestioningly make the choice to stay.
Growing up
"B & W definitions will be wrong." Transitioning from this girly, babyfat phase to walking into chill Brazil womanhood is definitely a scary thought. I was having a conversation with a friend as we transferred from one campus building to another and she mentioned that she feels Paris is making her grow up fast. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant but I knew it struck a chord because before I knew it, I was building a mental memory wall of all my defining, growing-up moments in the past three years (some of which are freeze-framed in past articles!). All the clickity-clocking of our heels somehow placed me in a trance and all I could do was float in awe thinking of how things managed to evolve and wondering how in the world I was supposed to piece all the separate fragments together to get out of Neverland for a little while and make sense of the changes between life as a girl and inching towards becoming a woman. In relating to the idea of figuring out where certain ambiguous stories in our lives are supposed to lead us to, my friend reassures me (and herself, too) that there is no set formula for a perfect life. For us who aren't rocket scientists, we can never really put things under the 'if, then' philosophy and be 100 percent sure it will result in that one thing we want to happen. Just as 2005 ended and it brought unexpected relief as the year was just a darling, not-so-little emocoaster ride filled with the inevitable ups and downs. For the ups (along with other college students around the world), sophomore year ended and I launched into junior year, I began taking more and more control of my finances and finally succeeded in learning enough to have them be fully turned over to me. During the summer I joined the Beauty and the Beast Manila cast for 3 months working in the musical from Disney. I recorded tracks for my first "album release," and rejoiced with the rest of the Saturday Super gang for the success of that year's Artists's Fair, which happily benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Hands-On Manila. It was a great, productive year! But of course, to balance things out, there were some painful downs that consisted of melancholic mayhem, hormonal changes, choices made without full conviction, friends who have graduated and moved away to launch the next chapter in their lives, and I'm sure there were, for some, hurt relationships, and tired hearts currently sunbathing somewhere in Tahiti, on vacation!
Life onstage
Theater has given me some life lessons on growing from a girl to a woman. When I first started in theater five years ago, I learned the basics: In theater, what you see before determines what you see afterwards. A play, like life, is an ensemble of things, there issequential logic (and for playwrights I guess this is also what makes it difficult to write): People come in and out, just as they do in life, and they need to do so in order to build the scenes. But no matter what happens, you have to keep at it, you have to continue and the show must go on. I realized last year that the point of theater really is to seduce the invisible into visibility -- it makes visible to us what is not seen, all within a structure that works like clockwork. What I mean is you do things for one reason at a time, and these reasons may make sense to you now and not later, or may not make sense now, but will in the future. We all know drama kings and queens, and the nice thing about them is that they live for how things are constantly moving and suck up the experience. Change is theatrical in that it can make clear the purpose of things that came before -- the worth of decisions you needed to make, the marks people left who came and went, work that was finished that you received recognition for, why things happened the way they did. But sometimes it's hard to see the reasons behind things, and it could be hell to have to be a believer of fate, yet not be able to avoid dwelling on the possibilities of losing something to time, ego, and passivity. Yup, rushing through life and growing up too fast is like running all the time until you fall apart. And falling apart means you need to pick up the pieces, and sometimes it takes time to see if all the pieces fit back together. Mama Lei (Lea Salonga who I love and respect and adore) gave me one of the best pieces of advice and was this: In playing a role, you don't constantly think of the ending of the story.
Change
You just concentrate on the work at hand. You need to go about it scene by scene, one moment to the next, otherwise you will be distracted, if not entirely overwhelmed by the big picture. At one point or another, we all find ourselves at a crossroads where we realize that we are shedding skin just as a city would, as seasons change and things evolve more quickly than we'd wish. For me, because in growing up so many feelings are new, but very, very real, I sometimes find myself intimidated by how much there is we can do. In anything really -- writing a paper, in acting for a play, in trying to decide which parts of the child in you want to keep, in putting something on hold, in jumping into something and taking the "bull by its horns"… I know now that when you do something, the choice has to be yours, because you understand what you're doing it for, you have a main argument and goal to work towards, and because you mean it when you say and do it. Whether or not you know exactly what will come out of the story, this is the only way you could hop on to whatever wave comes next, and the only way to, in real Madonna fashion, take a bow and be true to yourself.
A perfect paper doesn't exist. A perfect 2006 does not exist. A perfect woman, a perfect relationship, a perfect performance, and a perfect production do not exist. However (and this one I learned in class), we can all be more precise, and we can all avoid repeating our faults, or summarizing a premature plot. Your story is being written and there's only one way to complete it, and that's to give it some faith and some time. One of my mentors warned me in the beginning: "In theater, you can be rejected. You can have a bad show tonight. You can have a fantastic show tomorrow." Nothing is certain -- even in the world that changes faster than you can blink, you still cannot cry over spilt milk, nor instantly sort out incoherences, but you can definitely make choices to be happy even when there is the stupid temptation to stay stagnant and not make any choice at all. Somewhere in between the bitter-sweetness of closure and the excitement and hope of ambiguity, there are certain questions that only time will be able to answer. Then again, you never know -- certain stories made within the big picture may not need an ending, but it will always serve a particular purpose.
No accident
Knowing beforehand that because you learn to love yourself, and because you learn to love who or what the world has in store for you, that you keep doing it and continue on with each scene so that one day you can just touch a turning point! Tomorrow's performance will be better because you bring what you take from your last show.
Shakespeare says after all, that all the world's a stage. And all the world's a classroom where there are different other flavors of milk just waiting to be spilled on the carpet. But even that's no accident -- in the end, IF you do finally reach the end, these are the emocoaster moments, the incoherences, that will hopefully come together through time to support and to give worth to those things you fought and lived for. All the things that don't seem to connect now can still come together to make clear analogies in our lives. In other words, one day yours will be a kick-ass, rock-steady story that just HAS to be told and remembered over, and over again!
Inquirer
WITH A BOOK ON SHAKEspeare's Measure for Measure in one hand and a large cup of steamed hazelnut milk in the other, I couldn't do better than hold down paper towels on the floor with my winter boots hoping desperately that they would absorb the milk I spilled on the classroom carpet.
"Don't be anxious about making black & white definitions -- your definition will be wrong." In my Writing and Criticism class, with a professor with a background in Theater Arts, we revised the logistics on the makings of an excellent term paper.
Still quietly stomping on the floor with the towels, I jotted down notes but my mind that day was thinking faster than my professor's pace of speech (to do this on a regular basis would be a challenge!).
Silently wondering what was going to happen to the carpet stain, I wrote down what he said. "Don't make premature incoherences on oppositions -- there are incoherences, but the point is you need to be precise as to when and how you will use them to support your main argument."
Reasons
And I thought, isn't that what makes life worth living?
Incoherences are like stories in our lives that happened and we find that they don't seem to make sense at all. These are stories that could be the makings of a great song and stories which could end up in a fantastic film -- if only all the scenes in it conspired to create something whole and we could right away grasp the reasons that they needed to happen. Too many times in the interesting conversations on life people fail to make sense of things -- some become impatient and decide on premature conclusions to end the misery of not knowing what is coming next, while others patiently wait from scene to scene, eager about not quite understanding how the story will end. For example, somewhere in the middle of being a girl and becoming a woman is a whole new place I had never been to before. Everytime you're in some place new, you don't always know how to deal, you don't always know what to do in situations. Whether it be in receiving a first good paycheck, a new apartment, a real emotion, true love or one real love that may last years. Now that I'm nearing 21, it feels strange that there are things I used to do that don't feel so right anymore all of a sudden. There is a change in the way I spend my day, the words I choose to use, the books I read, the way I wear my hair, the shoes I walk in, the joys and pains I open myself up to and even in the risks I am willing to take. Sometimes I think that maybe it is a passing phase-just to one day silently realize I might much rather leave the Mickey Mouse lingerie behind, or, if the opportunity arises, I would find myself returning to that, which I once loved dearly and unquestioningly make the choice to stay.
Growing up
"B & W definitions will be wrong." Transitioning from this girly, babyfat phase to walking into chill Brazil womanhood is definitely a scary thought. I was having a conversation with a friend as we transferred from one campus building to another and she mentioned that she feels Paris is making her grow up fast. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant but I knew it struck a chord because before I knew it, I was building a mental memory wall of all my defining, growing-up moments in the past three years (some of which are freeze-framed in past articles!). All the clickity-clocking of our heels somehow placed me in a trance and all I could do was float in awe thinking of how things managed to evolve and wondering how in the world I was supposed to piece all the separate fragments together to get out of Neverland for a little while and make sense of the changes between life as a girl and inching towards becoming a woman. In relating to the idea of figuring out where certain ambiguous stories in our lives are supposed to lead us to, my friend reassures me (and herself, too) that there is no set formula for a perfect life. For us who aren't rocket scientists, we can never really put things under the 'if, then' philosophy and be 100 percent sure it will result in that one thing we want to happen. Just as 2005 ended and it brought unexpected relief as the year was just a darling, not-so-little emocoaster ride filled with the inevitable ups and downs. For the ups (along with other college students around the world), sophomore year ended and I launched into junior year, I began taking more and more control of my finances and finally succeeded in learning enough to have them be fully turned over to me. During the summer I joined the Beauty and the Beast Manila cast for 3 months working in the musical from Disney. I recorded tracks for my first "album release," and rejoiced with the rest of the Saturday Super gang for the success of that year's Artists's Fair, which happily benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Hands-On Manila. It was a great, productive year! But of course, to balance things out, there were some painful downs that consisted of melancholic mayhem, hormonal changes, choices made without full conviction, friends who have graduated and moved away to launch the next chapter in their lives, and I'm sure there were, for some, hurt relationships, and tired hearts currently sunbathing somewhere in Tahiti, on vacation!
Life onstage
Theater has given me some life lessons on growing from a girl to a woman. When I first started in theater five years ago, I learned the basics: In theater, what you see before determines what you see afterwards. A play, like life, is an ensemble of things, there issequential logic (and for playwrights I guess this is also what makes it difficult to write): People come in and out, just as they do in life, and they need to do so in order to build the scenes. But no matter what happens, you have to keep at it, you have to continue and the show must go on. I realized last year that the point of theater really is to seduce the invisible into visibility -- it makes visible to us what is not seen, all within a structure that works like clockwork. What I mean is you do things for one reason at a time, and these reasons may make sense to you now and not later, or may not make sense now, but will in the future. We all know drama kings and queens, and the nice thing about them is that they live for how things are constantly moving and suck up the experience. Change is theatrical in that it can make clear the purpose of things that came before -- the worth of decisions you needed to make, the marks people left who came and went, work that was finished that you received recognition for, why things happened the way they did. But sometimes it's hard to see the reasons behind things, and it could be hell to have to be a believer of fate, yet not be able to avoid dwelling on the possibilities of losing something to time, ego, and passivity. Yup, rushing through life and growing up too fast is like running all the time until you fall apart. And falling apart means you need to pick up the pieces, and sometimes it takes time to see if all the pieces fit back together. Mama Lei (Lea Salonga who I love and respect and adore) gave me one of the best pieces of advice and was this: In playing a role, you don't constantly think of the ending of the story.
Change
You just concentrate on the work at hand. You need to go about it scene by scene, one moment to the next, otherwise you will be distracted, if not entirely overwhelmed by the big picture. At one point or another, we all find ourselves at a crossroads where we realize that we are shedding skin just as a city would, as seasons change and things evolve more quickly than we'd wish. For me, because in growing up so many feelings are new, but very, very real, I sometimes find myself intimidated by how much there is we can do. In anything really -- writing a paper, in acting for a play, in trying to decide which parts of the child in you want to keep, in putting something on hold, in jumping into something and taking the "bull by its horns"… I know now that when you do something, the choice has to be yours, because you understand what you're doing it for, you have a main argument and goal to work towards, and because you mean it when you say and do it. Whether or not you know exactly what will come out of the story, this is the only way you could hop on to whatever wave comes next, and the only way to, in real Madonna fashion, take a bow and be true to yourself.
A perfect paper doesn't exist. A perfect 2006 does not exist. A perfect woman, a perfect relationship, a perfect performance, and a perfect production do not exist. However (and this one I learned in class), we can all be more precise, and we can all avoid repeating our faults, or summarizing a premature plot. Your story is being written and there's only one way to complete it, and that's to give it some faith and some time. One of my mentors warned me in the beginning: "In theater, you can be rejected. You can have a bad show tonight. You can have a fantastic show tomorrow." Nothing is certain -- even in the world that changes faster than you can blink, you still cannot cry over spilt milk, nor instantly sort out incoherences, but you can definitely make choices to be happy even when there is the stupid temptation to stay stagnant and not make any choice at all. Somewhere in between the bitter-sweetness of closure and the excitement and hope of ambiguity, there are certain questions that only time will be able to answer. Then again, you never know -- certain stories made within the big picture may not need an ending, but it will always serve a particular purpose.
No accident
Knowing beforehand that because you learn to love yourself, and because you learn to love who or what the world has in store for you, that you keep doing it and continue on with each scene so that one day you can just touch a turning point! Tomorrow's performance will be better because you bring what you take from your last show.
Shakespeare says after all, that all the world's a stage. And all the world's a classroom where there are different other flavors of milk just waiting to be spilled on the carpet. But even that's no accident -- in the end, IF you do finally reach the end, these are the emocoaster moments, the incoherences, that will hopefully come together through time to support and to give worth to those things you fought and lived for. All the things that don't seem to connect now can still come together to make clear analogies in our lives. In other words, one day yours will be a kick-ass, rock-steady story that just HAS to be told and remembered over, and over again!
Kulit Co. : Sunday mornings get me high on household work
MY HOME--a duplex (really just a ladder that leads up to the "bedroom"). First posted 06:08pm (Mla time) April 01, 2005
By KC Concepcion
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on Page F1 of the April 2, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
I'VE HEARD all their stories, been amused by their wildly varying personalities, recorded mental notes of their strange character quirks, and most importantly, I've learned actual life lessons from each one of them, no matter which cities of origin they've brought these lessons back from. I'm talking about my family's household help back home.
In the last century, women lived planning housework as a daily routine, dictating which household job would be done on each day of the week. Helpers are now, in effect, career women in this day and age, as they head out to new worlds to make cosmopolitan homes sparkle. Students, on the other hand, don't have the heart to dedicate their free time to household chores. I'm going to have to say that I've hidden behind the overly popularized reaction, "We're in college! Clean rooms? It wouldn't be right." But moving from my humble little 15-square-meter chambre de bonne to my 46-square-meter apartment has taught me a little bit about cleaning, especially as I have the space now to accommodate company in the forms of human and canine friends.
With their stories I remember I would daydream of one day being able to climb a coconut tree, and wondered why I never learned to do this in my childhood. I also remember spending a lot of time getting them to help me clean up the fridge, which was one of my favorite hobbies as a child. Years later, it is beginning to seem like they are eager to leave that particular job to me, almost to welcome me back home. But, it's okay. I've taken the opportunity and turned this into a regular bonding session with our "katulong." Throwing out expired goods, sectioning food products in both the pantry and fridge, defrosting, wiping up spillage, getting rid of clutter.
Cleaning
Sunday mornings get me high on household work.
My home--a duplex (really just a ladder that leads up to the 'bedroom'), start at the top, working down. I clean this area first, then move onto the living room, where I clean walls, floors, behind and underneath furniture.
I prefer to do the wet stuff first--washing windows or appliances, laundering.
Dry stuff next--dusting, then vacuuming.
I usually leave these to do last--bathrooms, kitchens, utility rooms--because they can get quite nasty, and knowing I've done half of the whole house gears me up to do this.
Then I do the hallway and 'cave' (storage room) and steps leading to my door, as well as the door itself (I don't know if it's even my territory anymore but somehow this made me want to clean the elevator and mailboxes as well.)
Bedroom3 things not to ignore:
1. Changing the sheets at least once a week! It's just better that way.
2. Vacuuming the mattress every couple of months and using a mattress protector you can wash once a month (especially if the bed comes with your rent).
3. Keeping the bed smelling real good by placing a fabric softener sheet under the blanket. Another (semi-barbaric) way of doing this is spritzing some rubbing alcohol on the protector then sprinkling some baby powder over it before placing the covers.
Daily Routine: Make the bed when you get up. Opening windows also helps to get air rushing into the room and into your system before you start your day. In case you have a bad day, at least fall into a yummy bed!
Living room3 things not to ignore:
1. Telephone receivers (cell phones need some disinfecting too), even if it's just to spray some Lysol or (tried and trusted) rubbing alcohol on a piece of cloth and wiping the receiver clean. This goes for computer, TV, and stereo equipment as well, but these call for more gentle static-free products that shouldn't be sprayed directly onto the surface.
2. Stain removers include baking soda mixed with water (also works for tea or coffee stains), distilled white vinegar for pet urine on carpets or to bring out shine in silverware (when mixed with soap and water), and calamansi peeled at the top and rubbed against a fabric stain.
3. Vacuuming every corner and angle of everything! Under furniture, lampshades, air-conditioning vents, electric fans, bookcases, cds, dvds, picture frames... Really, the vacuum cleaner is a luxury!
Daily Routine: Use a different cloth for each room. It's disgusting to cross-clean considering all the different kinds of scum the cloths pick up. Just imagine.
KitchenThe kitchen is always where the heart is, in our family. Soulfood gets cooked up, memories are made here (not to mention bonding sessions with the helpers), and so are the secret family recipes (mostly created accidentally in my lifetime).
I accidentally found a great way to make the kitchen attract the Gods... In attempting to make some real-true Chai tea, then naturally failing to do so. Fill up a small saucepan with water and bring it to a simmer. Dump in some cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and orange or dalandan peel, and let the sunshine in!
3 things not to ignore:
1. Wiping up the spillages in the microwave. Multitask! For 3 minutes, try cooking an uncovered bowl of water with a few slices of calamansi (or lemon) to let the steam loosen the dirt, and have it smell fresh at the same time.
2. Posting a list of what's in the freezer, to keep from opening the door frequently. You don't want your low-tech non-frost-free model to ice up quickly, because it is not fun at all to defrost a freezer.
3. Taking out the trash before the bin is filled up and greeting all the guests. Invest in trash bags or grocery "supots." This is good to keep flies away, as well (flies are known to carry up to 2 million bacteria, and are fast breeders--females lay batches of 150 eggs at a time, which hatch in a span of one full day)!
Daily Routine: When doing the dishes it's easier to wash the glasses separately, and it's important to try your best not to knock anything over unnecessarily, because you will be paying for either what you don't have, or what is not yours. Cups & mugs together, then the plates, then utensils, then the pans and cooking dishes. That's if you cook (after moving to a new apartment I found a lace thong packed in my friend's saucepan. Now we know what she does in the kitchen)!
Bathroom3 things not to ignore:
1. Baking soda rinsed in the tub with warm water works wonders.
2. Hang the shower curtain up after rinsing at least the ends of it with warm water and soap to keep it from going moldy.
3. I like leaving the door open to keep air circulating after a hot shower, unless there is an urgent need to clean up the tiles, which works easier when the bathroom is all steamed up, anyway.
Daily Routine: Bleach tablets or distilled white vinegar diluted in toilet water can make the toilet look a whole lot cleaner. College students, please flush after each use (I don't care if you are saving money by cutting costs on water use) and with a toilet brush that is either changed or disinfected regularly I think it is best to invest in a scented toilet cleaner and scrub after yourself at the end of each day.
Clutter3 things not to ignore:
1. Removing whatever's in the pantry before stuffing in new products, to see which ones should be thrown away. Also, check to see what you haven't used from a gathering or party, and decide whether or not you want to keep it there for the next get-together (I once found a poor little can of expired Chili con Carne which, in the first place, did not belong in the kitchen of a semi-vegetarian).
2. Putting away clothes, appliances, gadgets, wires, ANYTHING you don't use, or haven't used in the past two years. Pass on to those who will find use in them (helpers and their families are a safe bet), and don't even think of giving broken, useless junk away to someone who is not a magician, handyman, or artist!
3. Dealing with all the clutter could translate into quality time with the vacuum or duster. Storage areas could keep disgusting dust mites in your life, so please DO get them away! A Science project in 7th grade had us magnify a dust mite to the size of a basketball, and this image of hell has traumatized me ever since.
So that's my carousel of mother-hen advice. After a while, chores become second nature until you don't realize you are doing them anymore, and that's even more reason to start coming face-to-face with college-life dirt! A neat room has got to be worth fighting for. It helps to look at cleaning up like lovin' the soul. Ten minutes a day will save you hours and hours of extra time to work, play, study and party. As you plunge into the sweet smell of skin in the Summer sun... I'm all revved up for Spring!
Copyright 2006 Inquirer News Service. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2006 Inquirer News Service. All rights reserved.
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