let the wild rumpus start!

i won 2nd prize! thanks for all the love everyone. thanks to jeff from booooooom and the good folks at weloveyouso. can’t wait for the next project!

next up: where the wild things are. imax. 12:01am tonite! yeeeeeeee!

have an extraordinary day, everyone!

also, if you’re in the sf area and have nothing better do, we’re holding a fundraiser for typhoon relief in the philippines. some of the bay area’s most talented musicians will be coming together to perform a gamut of COVER songs from the US to the Philippines – Michael Jackson, UpDharmaDown, Ray Parker, the Eraserheads and more are coming your way! who doesn’t love a good cover song to help those in need?

Kularts underCOVER
An Evening of Cover Jams to Benefit the Survivors of Typhoon Ondoy
8pm, Thu OCT 15
Admission: $10 @ the door, $7 advance
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79736

Co-Sponsored by Filipino American Development Foundation, Bindlestiff Studio, Kamay at Puso (KAP), Manilatown Heritage Foundation, Distortion 2 Static (D2S), Pilipino American Graduate Student Association of UC Berkeley (PAGaSA), Liwanag Kultural Center

A community collaboration to present a fun evening of COVER jams as (re)interpreted by some of our favorite local musicians and bands! From the US to the Philippines – Michael Jackson, Up Dharma Down, Ray Parker, Eraserheads, and more are coming your way! Let’s turn our classically Pinoy love of cover tunes into real aid for those in need!

A portion of proceeds from this event will be contributed to small relief groups in the Philippines made up of people we know and trust living in the Metro Manila area. Funds will go directly toward providing transportation for volunteers, food, goods, and supplies for flood survivors, and to support community re-building efforts. For more information on these specific groups, please contact Dianne at program@kularts.org.

Featuring:
The Dirty Boots
Mark Abella
Caroline Calderon
Kyle de Ocera
Yaminah Lunar
Ilaya Malaya
Chloe Nakano
Evelyn Obamos
Ronald Quesada
Eros Rosmini of “Pebble Theory”
Lendl San Jose
Kristine Sinajon
…and MORE!

* Please be advised that Howard Street between 3rd to 5th Street will be closed due to the Oracle Open World Conference Oct 8-16. Please plan your transportation accordingly!*

monday mantra

happy indigenous peoples day.

(via coolhunting)

my fort is on booooooom!

holy crap, i’m so excited right now i can barely contain myself. so the two awesomest blogs i know of right now, boooooom (launched by Jeff Hamada to honor all things creative & cool) and weloveyouso (THE Spike Jonze & Co. site for Where the Wild Things Are fanatics) teamed up to bring us the Wild Things Fort Contest!

The Project: To “build a world out of things from your everyday life” and to fill it with things you love.

after seeing the first batch of photos folks submitted of their forts, I knew I was in. the imagination and creativity oozing off my screen was just too inspiring. so, I went at it. above is my fort built from curtains, bedsheets, escrima sticks, chairs, and my tiny couch. I filled it with a few of my favorite things – yarnballs, kids books, cushions, and a star-lantern i built entirely from recycled bottlecaps! and VOILA! my fort – a cozy cloud cavern – has been up in my living room ever since.

oh, but that’s not where it ends! Just now (about 10 minutes ago), i jumped onto booooooom and saw my very own fort right there on the homepage! I was floored.

so, i really just thought i’d share my joy with you all. oh, and i thought i’d share an important life lesson i learned throughout this whole thing. i’m sure some of you are looking at this photo thinking “damn, she must have a lot of time on her hands.” actually, no. i don’t. in fact, i’ve been drowning in adulthood lately. the point is, i didn’t have the time, but i MADE the time…to do something i knew would be creative, liberating, and FUN. for a couple hours, i got to be a kid again. the lesson: reverting to a child-like existence (at least once in a while) is essential for good health. so take the time to free yourself from the “but i don’t have time, i have too much work to do, this is gonna take so long” thoughts in your head…and build a fort!

contest ends monday october 12 at midnight!

check out the AWESOME forts that folks have submitted:

Wild Things Forts I
Wild Things Forts II
Wild Things Forts III
Wild Things Forts IV

thanks, booooooom!

on joy and hope and sorrow

on joy and family:
today is the 6th anniversary of the passing of our dear sister-friend, elaine joy aton de la cruz. i was so blessed this morning to spend some time with joy’s family, our family – auntie ligaya, uncle bart, and sister christina – to mourn, remember, celebrate, and just BE in the spirit of JOY (over silog and sisig – pinoy soul food, if you will ).

on joy and hope:
in 2004, shortly after she passed, i named joy, “hope” in Story, KP UCSD’s 13th annual pilipino cultural celebration (pcc). at the time, though i know what i felt, i don’t think i could have articulated why i named her hope. only now am i starting to discover who hope is…

hope is the ability to find opportunity in every crisis.

hope, not just a feeling, but an ability, a skill, a craft that must be practiced, honed, and nurtured lest it be lost or forgotten. though i am still heartbroken, though i miss her dearly, in joy’s life and in joy’s death i have found opportunity…to cherish and protect my friendships, to make time for annual gatherings, to harbor a child-like imagination, to be spontaneous and daring, to live what i love, to seek truths, to love fiercely, to write furiously, to use commas, dashes, and ellipses with reckless abandon, to defend my dreams, and to discover the parts of me that are joy. because of joy, for joy, with joy – i have the opportunity to LIVE. because of hope, for hope, with hope – i can be joyful while living.

on joy and sorrow:
i stumbled upon the following poem while scrolling through facebook status updates (lame? probably). i found it too appropriate for a day like today.

happy joy day, everyone.

On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises
was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,
the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup
that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit,
the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart
and you shall find it is only that which has
given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,”
and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board,
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales
between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver,
needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

embrace your sorrow.

remember hope.

monday mantra

important to remember if you’re alive.

(via you are my fave)