Planning to Invest

Today's trip to the mall led me to buy these from Fully Booked:

I was originally planning to buy just Eats, Shoots & Leaves, but after getting it from the shelf, I browsed through the other shelves and Kiyosaki's Rich Dad's Guide to Investing caught my eye. I'm familiar with Rich Dad, Poor Dad's success even if I've never read it, and a lot of people say it's a good book to guide you in money matters. I should probably read it, too. Haha. Anyway, Rich Dad's Guide to Investing caught my eye because I've been wanting to have a source of passive income, and investing is one way to do it. Sure, I have savings and I can say I'm saving pretty well, but I know it's not enough to just have savings. Money that's just kept in a bank won't last. 

I don't know a thing about investing. The word alone makes me picture graphs, charts, percentage signs, money, numbers, and everything Math-related in my head, and the universe knows how much I hate Math and how much Math hates me! When I hear people say how it works, I can't understand it, but I know I need to understand it because I need to invest. I'm turning 25 this year, and my dad always tells me that it's best to invest while one is young because once one starts a family, priorities change, and family, especially the kids, will always come first. 

I'm turning 25 this year, yes, but time flies so fast. Before I know it, I'll be 50, and it won't do me good if all I have are a few pesos saved in the bank. I've started reading Rich Dad's Guide to Investing while waiting for my mom, sister, and nieces at the mall, and so far, I like it. I like how the book explains how investing will help. In the next chapters, I'm hoping to learn how to invest regardless of how much money you have, and by the time I finish the book, I hope I know how and what to invest on. 

How about you? Are you keen on investing? Do you have sources of passive income? Would you mind sharing how you're doing it? :)

Voting

It's just noon but I think my day has been eventful already. Today is elections, so it's a non-working holiday. My parents and I planned to go to the polling precinct early, but we ended up leaving our house at 10 a.m (well, I woke up at 9.15 am haha!). But despite our being late, there was no queue at our assigned polling precinct, so it only took us about 15 minutes to finish voting. That's good for us, but I can't say the same for the other polling precincts. Others have voters queuing up for hours under the heat of the sun. Not to mention election-related violence, cheating, missing election paraphernalia, and other problems which I hope and pray wouldn't happen (even if that's shooting for the moon).

Some people do not vote because they're already jaded with the system. They say nothing will change anyway, or that the same trapos (traditional politicians) will just end up getting elected. While there is a lot of truth to these, I don't believe these are excuses not to vote and to just set aside this right and civic duty. Yes, nothing might change, but all the more nothing will happen if we will not vote.

My vote has been cast, and I believe along with my accomplished ballot is my contribution to change this nation. And every election day, we are given that power--the power to help make a difference. To overhaul this system and create a new one that would benefit the poor, the marginalized, and everyone, not just the rich and the powerful. We may be miles away from achieving the Philippines we envision as ideal, but with every intelligent vote we cast, we get closer and closer to that.

Pixie Cut

Because I've grown fond of my short hair, I decided to go for a shorter hairstyle. Yesterday, I went to the salon to have my layered bob made into a pixie cut.

My New Hair

I love it. I never knew I could rock short hair, and ever since I had my hair cut short, I don't think I'll ever go back to having long locks. Short hair is easier to maintain. All I need to do is to have it dried in front of the electric fan (using the hairdryer is fine too, but the heat makes my head ache) before going out and apply some hair product (Vitress works for me!) to control the frizz. On a bad hair day, I just have to put on a headband and I'm good to go. Plus, Manila's heat and humidity aren't hair-friendly, and I neither have the time nor the money to have regular hair treatments. I only go to the salon for a haircut. 

As I've said earlier, I love my pixie cut, and I plan to keep this for quite a long time. Or if I get tired of it, I'll probably go back to my layered bob. But definitely not the long hair that I used to have. How about you? Have you found the right hairstyle for you?  

The Long and Short of It: My Hair

Today, I'm going to blog about something trivial:

My hair.

Hehe. I've been sporting a short hair since late December last year. I had my hair cut last December 30 so I could welcome the new year with a new hairdo. How profound, isn't it? Haha! I've been wanting to cut my hair short for a long time, but I was hesitant because my hair is wavy and it has a sponge-y texture. I was afraid that it would mushroom if I cut it short since there would be nothing to weigh it down. So I would just tell my stylist (not my personal one, but the salon's. Haha. I'm just one of his regular clients) to just give me a haircut that would suit my hair condition, something that wouldn't make my hair mushroom. And he would give me a layered hairstyle, which looked great.

But I really was longing for short hair. So one day, I decided to tell him to cut it short, but not too short that I would have a "big hair". So he gave me a shoulder-length bob.

It's great. I loved it. After a couple of times of having my trimmed to that length, I decided to really go for a short hair. So I asked my stylist if it would be possible for me to have shorter hair without it going big. And because my stylist could work miracles (haha!), he gave me a short hair sans the mushroom-like look:

How my hair looked like right after having it cut

When I saw myself at the mirror, I was like, "Wow!" I loved it! Even my officemates, friends, and relatives said it looked good on me when they saw it. And so I've been sporting this hairstyle since December. My hair grows fast though, that's why I now regularly go to the salon for a trim (I used to be a salon-slacker. My hair trims were months apart haha!). I don't mind doing that though. Having regular trims are cheaper than having my hair undergo treatments like hair spa and others for maintenance. I've never had a hair spa, even if my hair used to be long. Hence the frizz and dry ends. 

So let me just recap my, ehem, transformation:

 


The last photo is a picture of me at the launch of furniture store Space Encounters's new collection. I was wearing contact lenses (yeah, since December I've been wearing contact lenses during events and whenever I feel like it.).

I'm happy with my hair, and I'll probably keep this style until I decide to get a new one. A pixie cut maybe? We'll see. :)

Choosing

I missed blogging. I've been away for sooooooo long that even I thought my blog was already dead. As usual, I'm always busy that perhaps everyone is tired of hearing this "excuse". Work and other commitments have left me with little time to spare for reading, blogging, hanging out with my family, and other things. And because I thought I could juggle everything, I held on because I knew I was pursuing two of my passions--I'm a writer and that's what I do for a living, and I get to sing in a choir thanks to my love of music.

However, I'm not a superhuman. My energy has its limits, and I don't have 26 hours a day to finish all the things that I have to do. Increasing demands both at work and at my choir led me to choose. Even if I'm saddened by it, I had to let go of singing in the choir so I could focus on my job. But choosing is part of life; sometimes, we just have to make tough decisions and we have to let go of something, even if it's our passion.

Since leaving my choir, I got to focus more on my writing. I got to spend more time planning my articles and writing them. If I needed to spend more time working, which means having to catch the last trip of the train going home, I could do so without worrying about rehearsals I would miss. And I wouldn't want to burden my choir, too, with the uncertainty of my attendance because of my unpredictable schedule at the office.

Maybe my life as a choir member is over for now. I don't know when I would have the chance to sing again, or IF I would ever have the chance to sing again. Whatever lies ahead in my musical life, only God knows that, and I'll always be thankful to Him for giving me an opportunity to sing for Him, even if, I'm not sure, that opportunity was handed to me just once in my lifetime.

Sleep

Come to me

And take me to a wonderland

Not of Ferris wheels and roller coasters,

But of an eternal respite from this busy world. 

Escort me to a world

Neither of darkness nor of light,

Neither black nor white,

Just a world of stillness and calm. 

Take me as I surrender

And let my body fall into your embrace.

Whisk me away to serenity

'Til the crack of dawn. 

-Katherine Lopez
27 June 2012

Tales of Auditions Past

Singing is one of my unspoken dreams. I've loved singing ever since I was a little girl, but it's not something I tell people about as much as I tell them that I want to be a writer. I know I can carry a tune, but I feel that my singing talent is raw, so raw that I'll drown in a sea of people who can sing better than I do.

When I was in fourth grade and I didn't make it to our school's drama club, I thought of joining the chorale. When my drama club teacher told me to look for another club to join, I knew what I wanted to audition in. And so I proceeded to the classroom where the chorale audition was going on. I peeked inside and knocked on the door, but not loud enough for anyone to hear me. However, instead of knocking again, I just stood there, watched, and walked away. I settled for the speech club, and joined the school paper in the two school years that followed.

I transferred to another school came freshman year, and I brought my interest in writing for the school paper with me. That, along with my love for singing. However, I kept on missing the audition dates; I would only know about it after it was over. When I was in my third year in high school, I finally got the date. I went to the music room on the said date and time, got myself enlisted, and sang Colors of the Wind, one of favorite songs. I probably went flat on the bridge part, or probably wasn't good enough, or both. I knew, after singing, that the music teacher wasn't satisfied. She played some notes on the piano--scales--for vocalization, but I couldn't follow. I was out of tune. Of course, when the list of the new members was posted, my name wasn't there. I was disappointed, but I somehow expected it. I didn't try again the next school year; I was a senior after all. I chose to focus on my studies and the school paper, of which I was a part of since freshman year. "Not so bad," I thought. "I can't have everything."

I went to college and joined U.P. ICTUS, a Catholic organization in U.P. It has a choir, which doesn't require an audition, so I volunteered myself. We would sing every Tuesday, at the 6 p.m. mass, at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice inside the campus. I was happy because I was able to do two things I love: writing, because I was taking up journalism, and singing in the choir.

Trying out for the choirs in U.P, like the U.P Concert Chorus and the U.P. Singing Ambassadors, came as shooting for the moon for me. There was no way I could get in, because I knew my capabilities. My singing skills were so raw; I wasn't good enough. So I pushed the thought of auditioning aside, even if I was captivated by the voices of the Singing Ambassadors singing Moon River in my Sociology class when they went from classroom to classroom to invite students to try out.

I was satisfied with singing at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice with the ICTUS Choir. We had no conductor or a maestro to teach us, and it would've been better if we had one, but it just wasn't the case. Some members who were also part of their respective parish choirs, or those who were part of their high school choirs, shared their music know-how. We would play the notes on the keyboard, schedule practices, learn the pieces, and sing during masses. Come Christmas season, we would go caroling to raise funds for the org.

One of my orgmates, Angel, who already graduated, invited me and another orgmate to audition for Bukas Palad of the Jesuit Music Ministry. Angel was a part of that group, and auditioning is by invitation only. I felt honored that she saw something in me to invite me to join. However, I had quite a lot of things going on--my parents were very strict at that time and I couldn't stay out late. But still, I decided to give the audition a try. When I got to the venue and was standing in front of the seasoned BP members, I got so nervous that I couldn't project my voice. It wasn't loud enough and it was airy.

I thought I could deal with not getting in because my parents wouldn't allow me to join either had I been accepted. But after the audition, when I went out of the room, that was the only time when I realized how much I really wanted it. So I cried. And of course, as expected, I didn't get in.

I graduated from college and worked, but my singing dream didn't die. I wanted to keep singing while working as a magazine writer. So, last December, when my friend Kuya Marco asked if I wanted to join their choir, Kammerchor Manila, I quickly said yes. That night, I went with him to their rehearsal to audition. If I didn't get in, at least I tried. If I didn't get in, that would be my third rejection, but it didn't matter. At least I tried. I sang I Seek You For I Thirst, one of my favorite mass songs. I went out of tune in some parts, but I just repeated the phrase and continued to sing while staring out the window to keep my nervousness from devouring me alive. After singing came the vocalization and singing with the members of the alto section, where I was auditioning for. The conductor then said they're taking me in as trainee, and was told that my evaluation would depend on how I could keep up with the songs they already knew. There were also pieces which we would still learn in preparation for the group's 20th Anniversary Concert.

Five months since I've auditioned, I can say my singing has changed, but I'm not yet there. True, as I've written in a previous post, I was part of the choir's concert. But I still have a long way to go to be able to contribute a lot to the choir. I still have a long way to go to achieve that rich, deep tone that is needed from the alto section. I have to practice more so I can project better when singing while blending with the other voices in the choir.

It's true that there are times when it's hard to juggle work, family, and the choir. But I don't want to give this up. Looking back at my past auditions, I know how much I want to be part of this. I'm thankful to God for giving me this opportunity, and I don't want to waste this.