Gadgeteering

My latest 'tech-quisitions.'

I am most inclined to leave the gadget-speak to former T3 Magazine EIC Vince Sales who now writes the blog, Third World Nerd. He also happens to be the husband of my very good friend Frances of Topaz Horizon and MORE (by that I mean author of two other popular blogs and EIC of entertainment mag, Ok!).

So, for you techies out there, the disclaimer for this post is simply, you won't find technical specifications here; Google and Amazon would be better for that.

Anyway, the two above are my latest 'tech-quisitions': a Nokia C5-00—a gift from my husband who knows me too well to not have gotten me a QWERTY phone, as I am old school that way—and a Western Digital My Passport Essential Ultra-portable Hard Drive, Robot Limited Edition (isn't it so cute?).

Two things:

1) If you regularly read this blog, you'd know that I'm not once to switch up or buy gadgets very frequently. But, since my Acer netbook has been with me for close to two years now (time flies!) I've started to get that nagging feeling to back up. Up until today, I've never owned an external hard drive, unless you'd count my old iPod, the one with the black-and-white screen. The Western Digital My Passport 'Robot' actually feels like a wider white iPod. Again, very cute. It's plug-and-play meaning I have to get used to not manually dragging and dropping files for back up.

2) I've had the same Nokia 6300 phone (photo here) since 2007—it still works great, is mega-sturdy, and reliable. Hence, it will be a little bit of a challenge to transition to the new C5-00, as I've come to rely on my 6300 for many things, which includes cooking and baking (for the countdown timer), notes (for blog ideas), calculating, etc. It will now house my Smart SIM card for roaming. That's all for now. I wanted to write about an aborted iPad purchase, but the details are kind of boring, so I'll save the iPad talk until I actually own one; which, by the looks of it, won't be until January.

Cute little things.

Oui, Wee!

In America, the articles I've read so far have all referenced 2009 as the year Phoenix became 'famous' in this part of the world. Yet, the French band from Marseilles has been churning out tunes waay before that, as early as 2000. I picked up my first Phoenix album It's Never Been Like That in 2006, when the single, "Long Distance Call," started playing in a radio station I'd listened to in Manila. Prior to that, their song "Too Young" was part of the Lost In Translation movie soundtrack in 2004, although I wasn't familiar with the band at the time. I eventually did find out that vocalist Thomas Mars was the boyfriend of director Sofia Coppola, whose movie mentioned above I particularly enjoyed (enough to have purchased the OST).

2009 was when the band's latest cd, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, came out, which contained the now popular "1901" (featured in a Cadillac commercial), along with plenty of upbeat, happy songs that have been featured in a slew of movies and TV shows. That's when the bigger part of the U.S. started seriously noticing the French foursome. The Saturday Night Live and late-night talk show circuit guestings may have also helped.

What a great show!

The setlist, minus the awesome encore.

So, on October 20, my husband and I finally got to see them live at the Madison Square Garden! It was awesome! Plus, a SURPRISE performance by the electronic duo, DAFT PUNK! You can read about it here and here.

I want to be them next Halloween.

Images courtesy of http://pitchfork.com (album cover and Daft Punk) and http://www.brooklynvegan.com (concert and setlist).

Something to Smile About

Click on the photo for my latest (short) post at AllMySugar.com. Quite an amusing (and tasty!) breakfast cereal I've recently come across at the grocery store.

Tell me if you got the joke right away! And I'll know how old you are :)

Goodbye, mark.

I love how this picture "speaks" so many things.

When I got laid off from my job as a copywriter last week, I didn't feel as distraught as I'd had in the past when I'd experienced the loss of a job. For one, this was an honest-to-goodness, budget-related layoff—no boo-boos, no office drama...at least that's what I'd like to believe and what I've been reassured of.

In the 12 weeks/3 months I was working for Avon, I've come up with memorable taglines, emails, and collateral copy for the trend brand that is mark. I've met beautiful and amazing people in the course of my time there—so no regrets, more or less. I only wish I'd had more moments to grow and blossom within that environment, but I believe that the time one is given in a place, is the time one has in that place, like I've said in this post.

And, unlike in the past wherein it took me months, or even more than a year to pen my thoughts, this time I'm speaking out while it's fresh. It was such a very pleasant conversation that I'd had with my boss, that I now have fond memories of the office and of mark. Plus, I still have the eBoutique I'd put up for research, so maybe now I could actually market it; or at least finally shop for items online.

The photo above was taken over the weekend at a friend's birthday party. I love it because it speaks a thousand words: the mark. outfit and lipstick; the genuine smile and excitement that comes with the anticipation of dessert; the way my stacked rings were captured in the photograph; the delicious banoffee pie a friend of mine made (a recipe that a former colleague shared), and more. And just like how newlyweds cut the cake as a symbol of their new life together—or, as I've learned from an elderly, soft-spoken painter I'd met at the party, how stomping on a wine glass in Jewish weddings signifies "getting the first disaster out of the way"—I welcome this change with the same sheer anticipation of all great things to come.

With friends Kat and Happy at the latter's birthday breakfast where I got to borrow one of these gorgeous Alexis Bittar necklaces on my last day at mark. (the two actually had no clue that it was).

Martha My Way

Martha Stewart Weddings, September 2010–February 2011 issue.

Yahoo! I'm one degree less separated from one of my favorite people in the world, with the recent feature of our beautiful/wonderful/fun/exciting wedding in Martha Stewart Weddings Philippines. Special thanks to editor-in-chief and my good friend, Tata Mapa, who had requested for the exclusive 'rights' to be the first to feature our wedding in a publication—print or online. Now, I'm not one to say no to anything Martha, so, here we are! Tata had actually met her in New York City and later on received a handwritten note from the domestic diva and kitchen maven herself. Love the gracious gesture and manners.

So now I can really share our photos with the rest of the world. You'll find some in my blog posts, "I got married!" and "Talking about suppliers," and of course, the YouTube slideshow below that I doubt I'll ever tire of viewing (and listening to) by photographer Pat Dy and team.

(Music by Jon Schmidt, "Love Story Taylor Swift meets Viva La Vida Coldplay Piano Cello" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfH2BY5pdLw.)