After I graduated, I made sure that I wouldn’t lose my own identity. Not that I was really distinct from other people, but I knew that I was a little more fearless back then. I’d still run away screaming like a girl at the first sight of a cockroach, but for everything else, I was open to trying anything once and take risks.

However, when I finally got a job, I failed to notice that I was starting to lose myself. I became a little more reserved and quiet, unwillingly stopped drawing because of my busy schedule, started wearing plain clothes. Day by day, the college kid was fading and started conforming to what society wanted me to be.

And then the best decision I’ve ever made happened–I quit my job. However, things still didn’t feel the same and I’m guessing it would take a while before the jolly ‘ol me kicks in. And as some sort of ritual for being reborn, I needed a big physical change.

Since high school, it has always been a small dream of mine to have blue hair but it has been difficult to get the dye here in the 3rd world. Thank the heavens for Nadin cause she ordered a few online and I bought a couple of bottles from her, Turquoise and Lagoon Blue. So I’m hoping they’ll last me for at least half of the year. And big thanks to my friend Carla, for the help with the haircut.

And I don’t give a rat’s ass if I look like an effin’ troll doll! I freakin’ love it! Hahahaha.

I’m very picky with the movies I watch and make sure I lurk around the internet to get a mild idea on what a film is about before willing myself to purchase a ticket. 95% of the movies I have seen so far were decent, some brilliant… at least, in my own opinion. The remaining 5% were results of bad judgment or because my friends wanted me to come see the movie with them.

In this case, for 2010 movie Legion, it was the latter. The moment I saw the trailer, I knew immediately that it wasn’t my cup of tea simply because it had 3 things that I don’t like seeing in movies.

1.) An end of days storyline.  I’m just NOT a big fan of the topic.
2.) Zombies or, in this case, people who were possessed by angels. Apparently, these guys didn’t have  strong enough faith in God so angels were sent to take over their bodies, act like zombies, and kill people. Uhhhm… okay.
3.) Gory deaths. As much as I hate bloody deaths (with a few exception, e.g. Kill Bill), when I do decide to pay for a movie that suggested gory scenes, I expect it to deliver.  I found the death scenes a little amateurish and totally predictable. The reason of their deaths were even cheesier.

I didn’t even understand why and how the birth will stop the apocalypse. But maybe it was because I was no longer paying attention because the dialogues were horrendous. The characterizations didn’t seem well-thought of, bland, and cliche. The possessed monsters were inconsistent.

On a positive note, I liked the cinematography.

Work In Progress, or simply WIP, is a weekly webcomic done by a good artist/lawyer-in-the-making friend of mine, Teddy Pavon, and his friend. To be honest, I don’t quite know what the story is yet since it was just recently launched a couple of days ago. The first 10 pages are a cliffhanger though, so I’m hooked and curious.

It updates a few pages every Wednesdays so I suggest to bookmark it and keep checking back. So whattaya waiting for?! Click on the image to visit the website!

For 2 consecutive years, I’ve tossed in the towel and quit my job right before the holidays. Was it a smart move? Financially, it’s probably the most idiotic step a fresh grad could make. Holiday season is the most expensive time of the year and you push away the only income generator you have. Yeah, you deserve a medal. Good job!

“I stand on principle where other people stand on money.” said Paula Abdul.  I’m not gonna be all self-righteous and say that I don’t give a rat’s ass about earning money but the former Idol judge does have a point. Heck it would be nice to get as much cash as I can but there are just some things that would push me off the bandwagon.

I may not have a lot of experience yet, but I thought I might share some good points to consider when it is time for you to move on. At least, these were MY reasons for deciding a full-on freelance life.

If you are working for any company here in the Philippines, you’d have to be prepared to hand in your freedom. The corporate world is where people get paid for the hours instead of the amount of work you do. Waking up early in the morning, battling with morning traffic, staying inside your small cubicle for how many hours, dealing with annoying officemates, rush hour, overtime. Sounds fun, right?

The moment you sign that contract, you’ll get slapped with all the company rules. It’s worse if your boss is a big prick in the ass and you have no choice but to follow his orders. He’s the king and you’re just one of the loyal servants in his kingdom. I’ve always had trouble with people in authority. Basically, if I’ve lost respect for them there’s no chance I can bring myself to obey.

If you realize that there’s no internal growth that will happen within the succeeding months or years then it may be time to move on. Why get stuck in a job where you’ve been doing the same stuff when you can try to branch out and explore other things? There are so many other options of earning money, even college dropouts make it big.

I just couldn’t allow myself to continue a dead-end job. I knew deep inside that if I didn’t leave at that moment, 2 years would pass and it would still be the same thing. So if I had to choose between a year of experience on my own, making mistakes, taking risks, trying different things AND 3 years of experience doing the same crap over and over again, following someone else’s goal… without a doubt, I’ll pick the former.

Say goodbye to your social life. Unless, of course, your idea of having a social life is by the number of friends you have on Facebook playing Pet Society or Farmville with you. Almost everyone I know who’s working for a company right now have had an inactive social life because of work, and it sucks because I don’t get to hang out with them anymore.

Bottom line for me is Freedom weighs more than Security. Passion over Practicality. I know it’s probably not the most popular opinion here but I stand by it. If it’s slowly sucking out joy from your life, then it’s not good for you.

Would I work for another company again? It’s hard to say. For now, I’ll have to get by being a full time freelancer and making the most out of it.

Ooops. I’ve been so busy with so many things that I forgot to greet everyone a happy friggin’ new year! 2009 sucked so much so I’m hoping for a better 2010.

By the way, I’m part of a group exhibit by InK at 1/of Gallery, Serendra at The Fort. Exhibit is open until January 9. =)

Emmanuel Malin has always been a big inspiration for me. If there was such a thing as ‘love at first sight’ then it’s what happened to me the moment I saw his works. Something about them that was enchanting and made me stare longer than I usually do with other people’s work.

Take a look at his website and browse his works. =)

I don’t really take pride of my photo-editing skills but if it’s vanity we’re talking about, I get very OC. The photo was taken by my good friend Karla on her recent photoshoot where she desperately needed a model for her class. I sort of forgot to wear my glasses when this picture was taken so I decided to just digitally put it on. Fixed the angle, and added an earring (I wanted to see how I will look like with one =P)

After 2 weeks of hiatus, episode 9 of Glee finally aired this week! And one of the good things about this particular episode was Artie’s solo. It was nice to finally see the episode’s focus on him and Kurt and the wheelchair group performance was great.

Another big plus in this episode was the diva-off of Kurt and Rachel singing Defying Gravity. Haven’t seen the actual broadway perf of Wicked, but it’s one of my favorite songs because of the cheesy, hopeful lyrics. Haha.

Now all I need is Tina’s backstory and this season would be complete. I’ve had enough of the baby mamma drama.

Dear Santa,

If you can’t give me a steady career for 2010, at least give the new The Little Prince Deluxe Pop-up Book. We took product shots last week and I saw this book and wanted to steal it for myself. I’ve been as good as I could and I didn’t get banned anywhere this year and I didn’t give anybody the finger.

Love, Robx