Sketches

I can almost be sure I had warned you before: you will find your way here.

Chalk

The girl in the purple dress always feels a jolt when she walks into a club, no matter how hard she tries to prepare herself, and tonight is no exception. The lurch feels strangely strong now, she thinks, as two burly men in black open the glass doors for her and she steps into dim lights, blaring music (electronica, as they call it), cigarette smoke, black-clad people from the twenty-something demographic, laughter and talk, beer bottles, the smell of beer. A quick glance around the room points her to the friend whose birthday it is, the friend who had asked her to come. After the requisite smile, the peck on the cheek and the greeting, she singles out a seat in the corner of the bar and walks towards it, all the while holding her chin high and trying extremely hard to act nonchalant, even when all she wants to do is to turn on her heels and run away, out into the evening air, the friendly, quiet evening air. Instead, she sits down on her chosen nook, exchanges hellos with the couple nearby, orders a coke, and stares at the empty napkin holder on the table in front of her. The music seems to have gotten louder and she is grateful that the couple she is sharing the table with seems to be as spiritless as she is. Cigarette smoke starts to sting her eyes and she shuts them tight for ten seconds, feeling the urge to keep them closed for ten more. Instead, she opens them and sees the same tarnished lights blurring the same, nameless faces, hears the same thundering music drowning the small, shallow conversations. She takes a sip from her coke and thinks of her soft, warm bed.

Vantage Couch

Ted Neeley, "Gethsemane"

Slim, 40-something, Caucasian woman in a tie-dyed sleeveless top, sitting very straight and very tall. She is eating a muffin and sipping some iced, tea-like drink. She is reading something from her laptop. Or maybe she's just staring at the screen. Freckled arms. Shoulder-length, auburn, wavy hair. Very pretty bag, zebra print, red handles. It is lying carelessly on the floor.

Keri Hilson and Kanye west, "Knock You Down"
Skip.

Simply Red, "Fairground"
Good enough.

Man who looks like Santa Claus (hair, moustache and beard all white as snow) typing something on his flip-top phone. Message to Mrs. Claus, maybe? Hurry up, dear, I'm getting bored here..

Florence and the Machine, "Drumming Song"

Oh, turns out it wasn't Mrs. Claus sir claus was waiting for, after all. Some guy who looks like Ken Watanabe (from the back, at least) arrives and sits on the couch in front of Mr. Claus. His smile is warm (I could not see Ken, but I figure he's smiling, too). They talk. Mr. Claus's eyes are blue. He has very nice, very white teeth.

Fiona Apple, "Waltz"

Teen-aged girl reading Tuesdays With Morrie. Green shirt with white piping, denim shorts, sneakers. Hair tied carelessly in a ponytail. She seems so earnest, as if she were reading something really engrossing, something really... good. Hmm. I wouldn't wanna be in her shoes.

Oh, look, there's another guy with a white beard. I was gonna say "another Claus look-alike" but I figured he looked more like some character straight out of a Dickens novel.

Edie Brickell, "Good Times"

Differences

Tell me about your childhood.

Tell me about what you woke up to each day, and what woke you up. What time on your clock? Were your sheets soft? Were they thick enough? Could you remember the scent of the sun on your pillow? Or were there more important things than sunshines and pillows? And did it matter? Did it matter if you woke up early or not?

Did you get lots of presents during Christmas? Did you celebrate Christmas? Were Sundays fun days, or were they just gloomy transitions to Mondays? Did you have ice cream on Sundays? Or were there more important things to spend on than ice cream?

Tell me about the people around you. Were they nice to you? And what is "nice" for you? Did they smile a lot? Did they smile at you? Did they tell you you were pretty and did they tell you enough? Did they hug you when you were good? And what is "good" for you? What is "bad"? What did they do when you were bad?

I'll tell you about my childhood. Let's compare notes.

Then maybe we'd understand each other more, and judge each other less.

Pat Galang: Opening doors

Left: page from Preview's September '08 issue
Right: Russian-inspired Metal Zipper Top and Skirt by Patrick Galang

My good friend, Pat Galang is one of the young, up-and-coming designers introduced in the September '08 issue of Preview magazine (the only mag I buy month after month, without fail), in a feature called "Out of the Box" and he's really rockin'! He's fast making a name for himself in the fashion industry and am currently making an attempt to bribe him to design and make a dress for me. Ü

I've been privy to his flashes of brilliance, and the determination with which he pursues his life's passion is nothing short of amazing. What more, his feet are firmly planted on the ground, and that's really saying something.

Ten of his designs, collectively called Improvised Reflections, was among the collections featured in the recently concluded Philippine Fashion Week. My cousin, Dang, was one of his models in the show.

Of his collection, Pat has this to say:

"The woman I'm giving life to in this collection is a subtle raver. i was inspired by artworks that are made to last. abstract drawings that are not attached to a particular function and are infused with encouraging colors, like a "new wave" inspired collage replicating minimalist geometric forms. i tried to visualize them and think of a woman who is spontaneous and freethinking. a woman who loves to challenge herself along with a life enhancing playfulness that is compelling. 10 designs came out from my elaboration on simple principles of construction and form. In trapeze and cylindrical shapes, harmonized in different hues are dresses calculated to frame a personality rather than sexiness."
-from undernourished.multiply.com-

Congratulations, Pat! Greater things are waiting at your porch, so go, swing open that door!

Click here to go to Pat's website.