Maraisms

What's Making Me Happy This Week | 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 10:40:00 +0000

Ahoy! I am taking a cue from my favorite podcast to date, Pop Culture Happy Hour, and rebranding my Friday's 10 Happy Things to What's Making Me Happy This Week.

But to be honest, I just really can't keep up with a scheduled Friday post of 10 things so I am throwing caution into the wind and posting whenever and whatever - but weekly! - happy things.

On to the list!

I just passed the Google Analytics Certification! Yay, me!

Grace Helbig's reaction video to Nicole Arbour's Dear Fat People video.

I really just want to hug Grace Helbig like she's my best friend after watching her reaction video. Grace made a a good point: if you're opening an alternative discussion about a sensitive issue, don't hide behind the guise of satire and comedy, don't disable the comments section, and don't brag about gaining so many subscribers while you're at it.

Rita's Italian Ice. Is it ice cream? Is it shaved ice? It is awesome. Get the Gelati if you're curious.

The network of people you meet through the Internet. Now, I don't have a "squad" on the webz, but I find it truly surprising how you can recover a missing ballpoint pen through Twitter. It happened to me last week and it is surreal: I found my missing pink Lamy pen through Twitter and the kindness of (not so) strangers.

That I got to spend more time with my family doing nothing, lazying around, watching movies at home, pigging out. I love it! Between work and my social life, I get at most 1.5 days out of 7 in a week with them, so I'm really thankful I got to get away from work for a while.

Today's shenanigans #vscocam #xperia
A photo posted by maraisms (@maraisms) on Sep 25, 2015 at 5:49am PDT

So that's what making me happy this week (more of last week)! Please do join in if you're so inclined because it really gets rid of the BVs (lol, hate this term).

If you're on Twitter or Instagram, hit me up!

Rita's Italian Ice Cream branches in Manila:

G/F VMall Greenhills Shopping Center
2/F UP Town Center

Oh hell yeah "Fresh Off the Boat" is my new favorite show!

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:30:00 +0000

Source

I tend to remember my years by the TV shows I've seen or obsessed about. The year 2004 will always be The O.C. years. Years 2006 to 2009, years that I considered the golden years of my TV watching life, will always remind me of House M.D., Veronica Mars, The Office, Arrested Development - I was a very voracious TV viewer then. And although 2010 onward has given us your Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and other epic TV shows, my heart still bleeds for the now defunct The Newsroom and the McAvoy Team of Champions.

I was pining for TV shows of days of yore, wishing there's another grumpy, foul-mouthed doctor or news anchor to come my way soon, because Veep episodes couldn't come faster. Until my friend Z, who happens to be my supplier of awesome television shows, told me to look up Fresh Off the Boat, I was hooked so fast enough that I think I will remember 2015 as my Fresh Off the Boat year.

When I asked what's it about, Z answered a universal truth: it's about us. "What do you mean?" I asked again and she only answered "it's Asian funny and what we find funny," a statement I'd like to think ubiquitously acknowledged because even my Singaporean friend understood what I meant when I described the show as being about us.

So am I saying I'm part of a Tawainese family trying to make their way in America in the 1990s? No, but I'm saying anyone with the same upbringing can totally relate to having rice as a basic food group and this show.

Have you ever had your grandparents live in your house and take control of what you watch for the night (news) because they are your esteemed guests?

How about bringing pinakbet for lunch and have your classmates who eat SPAM day in and day out ask you why you're eating bitter vegetables?

Or have everyone assume you're frugal because you're Ilocano (and other regional stereotypes here).

Well, grab a chair; you'll love Fresh Off the Boat.

But I have to admit, once I got past the totes can relate because I am Asian moments, I realized it's really the growing up in the 90s as a kid that endeared the show to me. Having a Eddie Huang re-live how he is an Asian kid who likes the other end of the music spectrum -- rap -- makes me remember the days of how I was as a 10-year-old who likes reading about the life and times of two blonde girls named Jessica and Elizabeth.

I know, I know, I am not a snowflake for doing so, but living in provincial Cavite makes it really difficult to get access to someone who has the same hobbies as mine. This may be a false memory but I got the impression small town Bahayang Pag-asa, Imus, Cavite assumed that all 10-year-old girls want to do is be part of the town pageant.

I have been raised by American TV shows so early on in life that I don't remember ever relating to a television character as much as I relate to Eddie Huang right now. Is that weird or am I alone in this connection with a kid who likes hip hop?

But take away the relatability and I would still watch this show because of its irreverent brand of humor that I like. I love how the characters are OK to acknowledge the stereotypes. They don't tip toe around the topic, but when they take a crack at it, they go all out in a way that it's celebratory, kind of like how we Filipinos like to make fun of the Titas and Titos of Manila are but we love how there's one or two in the family. Does it make sense?

Think of Fresh Off the Boat as the Ober Da Bakod that made it to American prime time televesion, with characters you can relate to because you sort of grew up in a westernized Region 4 and/or Manila, and it all will make sense to you. At least I think it will.

So, got any new favorite show for 2015?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

Friday's 10 Happy Things | Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 04:00:00 +0000

"Really? Mara? Looking at the brighter side of things?" you may ask. But I just want to have a mini celebration in honor of me this week because for some weird, fortunate reason, I do not hate everything as much as I used to. So on with my list!

Also posted on a Sunday BECAUSE I CAN.

I FEEL BETTER. And with that I mean not everything is as hateful or gloomy or annoying as it seems. Maybe my hormones have normalized or something. Thank you, Body.

"Please better have my money" is what my 11-year-old niece thought Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" is.

Facebook Memories. Sometimes I get really sick of how everyone is just fronting/humblebragging and posting about life events I do not care about on Facebook. But this week, Facebook Memories reminded me of something that warmed my tiny, cold heart.

Having what I'd like to call a New York movie moment. It's when you coincidentally bump into a friend and end up having dinner with said friend. This has never happened to me! Can you believe that? I love living in the city!

Toby's Estate's Iced Flat White Coffee. My Avon Lunch Friends and I have started a habit of getting coffee from Toby's Estate around the corner from our office instead of Starbucks. Their coffee is just the right pick-me-upper that we need to get us through half of the day.

My work KPIs are on fleek! Probably not using "on fleek" in the right context, but I am feeling #blessed my midyear work results are on track.

Office friend (who will remain unnamed) shared this meme the other day. I'm happy I have someone in the office I can be gago with and doesn't expect positivity and glitters to shoot out of my eyes. She gets My Hatred (sentence case because it's real) because she has her Own Hatred, too.

Going home to real food after a hard day's work. Photo below is my favorite comfort food - Laoag longganisa with dinengdeng na malunggay pods. I like to keep it real when I'm home. We Ruizes do not care of Instagrammable food because we know our grub is the best no matter how it looks.

Huhuhu real food. I miss you. pic.twitter.com/U1RAQqJ1Op
— Mara Ruiz (@maraisms) August 22, 2015

Planning a sleepover to watch scary movies with my #TrueFriends. In which we just avoid setting a date because most of us live alone and are too chicken sh** to go home afterwards if we do push through with this Horror Movie-themed sleepover. Never change, #TrueFriends.

I've decided for the mean time that I will be pimp walking to Jay Z's Can I Get A. I say for the mean time because I read the lyrics and I'm not sure it's something I want to pimp walk to in the future. I just like the beat and how it reminds me of Rush Hour and high school. LOL.

Friday's 1o Happy Things is Helga's weekly blog link-up in which "we list ten things that made us smile this week so that we can start the weekend on an even more positive note!"

Please do join in if you're so inclined because it really gets rid of the BVs (lol, hate this term).

If you're on Twitter or Instagram, hit me up!

Beauty Hack #2: How to make your foundation look like skin

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 10:30:00 +0000

Without using the Blur Tool!

So it may seem like I'm sliding back to thinking this is a beauty blog again, but TBQH, I just really, really, REALLY love beauty-related things that I can't stop talking about it. There are so many beauty knowledge out there, and it gets me so frustrated to not have anyone to share it with.

But anyway, I am trying this new thing where I test drive tips I find online so I can share them with you or anyone who cares to read. So I hope you enjoy this tip and let me know if it works for you!

How to make your foundation look like skin without using the Blur tool.

Backstory: Again I blame humidity for making my favorite sunscreen that perfectly worked last summer to go haywire on me come June. Confession Hour: I don't moisturize in the morning. I just put on sunscreen because I am more afraid of premature skin aging than dry skin.

Beauty Hack: I picked up a few pointers from this Refinery 29 article and parted ways for the mean time with my sunscreen. You can say I have been begrudgingly using moisturizer for the day. It's just so sticky in the morning, you guys.

But as I've found out, the reason moisturizer gives me that icky feeling in the morning is because I have been using it wrong. Sure, I've read about tips of waiting for a few minutes for your moisturizer to dry before putting anything on your face, but who has the time?

It turns out, allowing your moisturizer to settle into your skin before putting on foundation avoids having all that product on top of your face. Moisturizer gets absorbed by your skin, foundation goes in after a few minutes, foundation melts with the natural oils on your face instead of your moisturizer, giving you that coveted luminous, dewy look.

Ta dah!

So there goes my Beauty Hack! Try it and let me know how if you get the same results.
If you're on Twitter or Instagram, hit me up!

Beauty Hack #1: How to give your hair volume with just one hair product

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Living alone stripped me the luxury of time (chores all around!), so I always try to find ways to make my life simpler and my day-to-day going ons faster. I know some people plan their outfits for the week or have an outfit "uniform" to take the guesswork out of dressing up. But since my first love is Beauty and I just randomly pick whatever is in my closet, I tend to find ways to hack my Beauty routines. Of course, this beauty hack is not universal, but feel free to try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Please expect gratuitous photos of my face.

How to give your hair volume with just one hair product.

Backstory: Every time rainy season comes, there's something crazy about the weather that makes my hair limp and my scalp super oily. I even had my scalp checked by a dermatologist to see why I seemingly have a river of oil coming out of it (she says I can't do anything about it).

So when I went to my hairstylist, I asked him to give my hair texture by cutting it into chunkier layers, the least I can do to avoid floppy hair. But I disgress.

Beauty Hack: Long story short, every day, after I wash my hair with volumizing shampoo (no conditioner because it can weigh your hair down), I don't comb it immediately to give it that (for the lack of a better term) puff that you get when you forget to comb your hair. While it's still wet, I put it in a twisty bun using a hair clamp. By doing so and letting it air dry using my car's air conditioner, it frizzes up in glorious ways that make me end up look like this:

And this if it's really humid.

Not bad for someone who lied to you about a Beauty hack and used her laziness and perennial tardiness as an excuse to not comb her hair. If you can get away with not combing your hair for the day, good for you, but I still do post hair clamp. I sitll do work in an office setting. I just twist the ends a bit to make the fly aways work to my advantage.

It stays up this way up until around 4PM, but under the conditions that you stay inside an air conditioned room and do not sweat a lot.

P.S. People have been complimenting me about losing weight and having slightly thinner face, but I think I can attribute it all to having a great hair life as the moment!

So there goes my Beauty Hack! Try it and let me know how if you get the same results.
If you're on Twitter or Instagram, hit me up!

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 04:30:00 +0000

I was slated to write something about National Lipstick Day, but I realized that writing about lipsticks without mentioning shades or brands* is really of no value to anyone. It also makes me sick to think that I'll be writing drivel if I try to skew the messaging to confidence, freedom, etc. Besides, we all know it's really not my style to write Things to Make You Feel Better. I tried my best to be positive throughout this post, drawing Inner Strength and Grace Under Pressure while I wrote, but if it's not to your liking, please know that I have done nothing but love and support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each, wait.

So what happened on July 28, 2015, Tuesday, for it to deserve to be called My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

1. A guy hit my car while it was parked. PARKED!!

Upside: He left his number with one of the parking attendants, who in turn, gave his number to one of my office friends. I called him the minute I got his number and he turned out to be one of our vendors. He was very apologetic about it and said he will cover repairs. So technically no biggie. I felt nothing, really. Even if my car just got a paint job two weeks ago. But if you think about it, this is pretty unlucky, right?

2. My condo got flooded with murky, dirty water twice in 2 days because the unit above me's sink is clogged

:(((

Upside: We have a 24-hour service maintenance crew who went up and woke up the unit owner above me to tell her to clean up her s***. I don't want to lash out on these guys. I really don't. They have stayed up with me while they cleaned my clogged shower drain at 2:00 AM, picked up my garbage even if the cut off is 6:00 PM and I go home at 8:00 PM, said countless "Good morning"s with a smile even if I just left dirty footprints on their newly cleaned floors. But someone's going to pay for what happened to my unit and it's going to be the engineer who promise to look at unit 2013's leaky sink yesterday when I complained.

3. I took a longer-but-with-less-traffic route to get home but ended up getting stuck in a traffic jam 15 minutes away from my condo.

Upside: My friend who lives nearby called me and invited me to dinner at Wingman. It turns out #NationalLipstickDay is also #NationalWingsDay and all orders of wings are 50% off! If you're a pessimist, which surprisingly I have not been in this post, you'd think dining in a day before National Wings Day is ill-starred, but we wouldn't have known about the deal have we not eaten there. Besides, wings for two nights in a row is not that bad.

I'm pretty sure nobody cares about what happens to my days, but if you made it here, thank you, friend. I just needed to shake off this bad juju.

*It's against our company policy to write opinion about our competitors' products and write about ours least we want to appear biased. Also as a personal choice, I have decided to keep this blog free from any company-related content as much as I can.

So there goes my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Got days like this, too? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram!

Read Lately: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 11:48:00 +0000

Source

Dear Rainbow,

At this point, I have already read all of your books - Fangirl, Landline, Eleanor and Park, and lately, Attachments. Can I call you Rainbow? I think I should be comfortable in the First Name Basis territory after obsessively reading your oeuvre. But, ya know, Rainbow, I have to confess, this one didn't hit the right nerves as Fangirl did.

I mean, sure, it still has your unique writing style that makes ordinary people sound multidimensional, short of saying it's like reading someone's journal. I got that feeling A LOT in Fangirl and then it regressed with each of your book that I've read.

For one, it felt like there's a disconnect with how you envisioned Lincoln to be a curly and burly guy who works in IT to actual curly and burly guys who work in IT. I just couldn't shrug off the image of IT guys in the company I work for. This is to say the character descriptions in the book were not strong enough for me to put on my casting director hat and imagine my own version of Lincoln while reading the book.

I was actually imagining him to look like this guy:

until I Googled "Lincoln" "fan art" and came up with results that is this guy

and it was OK because I love Chris Pratt. Also, contrary to Andy Dwyer, I imagined Lincoln to be of course smarter, but still dresses like Andy Dwyer.

I'd be totally honest: I did not care about Beth and Jennifer. I couldn't tell them apart and I couldn't sympathize. I don't blame your characterization though. I chalk it up to not being in a state of my life where I could relate to your characters. I felt the same way, too, when I read Landline. I am just looking out for you Ate Rainbow. Maybe I am not your target demographic for both books.

But I totally rooted for Lincoln, however, much less when I imagined he's actually Chris Pratt. Also IT guys who snoop on your email and fall in love with you? It crossed the line for me, even if you gave Lincoln a conscience.

You see, Ate Rainbow, I've seen enough Star Cinema movies and imagined my own office romances when I was still an intern to have such high expectations of how this book would end. Maybe more missed chances, maybe a note to invite each other for coffee, maybe Beth's boyfriend ending up talking to Lincoln about Beth. As they say in internet slang, "s*** got real" in this book, so maybe it really was not for me.

I would still love to read more from you, and I heard Carry On is coming out this year

Love,
Mara

So, everyone else, what have you read lately?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

What's Keeping Me from Blogging Lately

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +0000

So I feel like I have to come clean that it's just plain laziness that's been keeping me from blogging. But please do read on; I have been doing pretty legit stuff to kept me away from blogging lately.

Legit Reason #1: I went to Australia and made questionable outfit choices, you guys!

Sitting at the edge of a cliff. Behind me is the Jamison Valley and The King's Table in Katoomba, Australia

It's the trip I've been hinting a few posts back, and I must admit that I haven't been as excited as I should be about it. But Australia has it charms, all of which have been heavily documented in the hashtag #RuizOutbackAdventure over at Instagram for your perusal.

At the Sydney Opera House

We arrived right in the middle of winter, so my dreams of seeing washboard abs were crushed immediately. However, I love Australian coffee! I never knew Toby's Estate is an Australian brand and the ones we have here is a direct franchise from Australia.

It was also my first time to go to Australia and all the information for our 5-day itinerary came from the internet. I am pretty proud of myself for being able to do so. I didn't want to ramble on about how I got a visa, where did we go, etc, unless someone asks for it. So if anyone is interested in our Australia plans, do let me know in the comments!

Legit Reason #2: I picked up another hobby in the form of brush pen lettering

Tweeting words and short mantras for the day over at @maraisms

My friend Dawn and I have an ongoing joke that I have #onedayhobbies, hobbies that actually require commitment, practice, and learning but I jump on them head on the first day (or weeks) with so much commitment, you actually think I'm going to stick with it.

Okay, I must admit that I have a few hobbies that I have started and abandoned because I was too impatient to practice, but I actually think I can follow through with brush pen lettering. I try to write/practice as much as I can, and I even write on unused pages of my 2015 planner as seen above. I also don't want to write quotes in the future, so I just write whatever comes to mind. My end goal? I just want to learn how to write prettily.

Been tutoring my 10-year-old niece on figures of speech, so this came about.

Legit Reason #3: My best friend Z is back again in the Philippines!

And we have been using her comeback as an excuse to meet up with friends. I am happy I get to hang out again with people that "get me". JB said it best when he said "Thanks, guys, for keeping me grounded."

In retrospect, I have been around privileged, titled, landed, people in college, but these guys never made me feel like I have to keep up. We are still the same dorks that watch Pangako Sa'yo (the revival and when it first aired!). We still set budgets for meals per head every time we go out. We still make each other laugh.

You know that Tallulah Bankhead quote?

"Only good girls keep diaries. Bad girls don't have time"

Well consider me a good girl who's having way too much time with life lately to blog.
But I will make up for it and write more often, I promise :)

So what's keeping you from the internet lately?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

3 Important Life Lessons I Learned from My Father

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 03:30:00 +0000

First off, Happy Father's Day to all dads and father figures out there! I am so lucky to have a dependable, hilarious, and very super so much hero of a father. I look up to him in every which way and he has taught me so many practical life lessons of which I want to share with you.

1. Ignore the guy behind you who honks his horn when it takes you a while to get your car moving.

I learned driving on a stick shift before I got my automatic transmission car. My father said I had to first learn how drive correctly before I learn how to drive comfortably. Anyone who drives a stick shift knows that for beginners, it may take a while to change gears, step on the gas pedal, and get the car going. And in greater Manila, there will always, always, ALWAYS be that douchebag behind you who will honk his horn like he has somewhere very important to go to. IGNORE HIM. Don't get rattled. Give him the finger. Or better yet, tell him to fly if he wants to just like my father tells them.

Remember: your and your passengers' safety are more important than an impatient prick. That's what my father told me.

2. Work hard to earn your keep and to be self-sufficient.

My father instilled in me that he and my mother will not always be around, so my brother and I have to look out for ourselves and not rely on anybody.

At the end of the day, aside from being able to afford the bare necessities, there's nothing more satisfying than paying for your own airfare (let's admit it: even business trips are not that thrilling after a while because you know, you have to work). Nothing more rewarding than buying your own property and not just waiting for a husband to get you one. More importantly, nothing more important than having your own FU Money, or money that you have just in case you want to give a big "FU!" to life, to failed relationships, and to work situations that are not working for you.

3. Find a guy you can have endless conversations with.

Because at the end of the day, it's the conversations that will keep you together - not the grand gestures, not the physical attraction, not the money. I find this really working for him and my mother because after 30 years or so of marriage, they can still talk each other's ears out and not even notice that we are around.

So there goes 3 important life lessons I learned from my father. Care to share what you learned from your dad?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

What Personal Independence Means to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 04:30:00 +0000

So before I fall off the wagon (totally out of context) of not writing again, and as much as I resolved never to mix work with this blog, here I am sharing something I wrote for work. I really was not in the writing mood over the weekend, so I hope to get a pass for repurposing content (It's what I do).

The article blurb says A young woman's narrative of finding her own meaning to freedom like Movie Trailer Guy is reading it out loud, but this is totally me. I asked my manager not to give me a byline and not show my photos because I am shy that way, but I am totally adding photos here for reference.

Please read below the cut if you are so inclined.

A Journey to Personal Independence

Freedom comes in different forms and meaning for every individual. For our forefathers, the Philippine flag waving unchallenged in June 12, 1898, at the patio of Emilio Aguinaldo's house in Imus, Cavite, meant independence from our Spanish oppressors.

For the Avon Representatives whom I’ve met in my various functions working in Avon Philippines, freedom for them means being empowered to earn for their families, to be free from debt, to be free from worrying about the future.

Each Avon Representative has her own version of HERstory (HIStory for our few good Avon Men). Each journey is unique but every path leads to an inspiring narrative of success, to a woman’s own financial and personal independence. Having heard their stories encouraged me to reflect on my own passage to personal independence and I would like to share them with you in this article, hoping that you, too, can find your path to your own independence.

For my then 19-year-old self, graduating means freedom from homework, freedom from strict teachers, and freedom from the daily routine of a typical college student. Little did I know that like everything else, freedom comes with a price. Yes, I have the time to do I as I please but it also means I have to fend for my own – using what’s left of my allowance to go out with friends and purchase the things I want, all these while job hunting.

It didn’t take long before my allowance was exhausted and I had to ask my parents for support – lunch money, car rides to job interviews, and the occasional-turned-weekly asking for wardrobe allowance. My short-lived, sought-after independence was gone after a few weeks because I was reckless.

One of my curriculars as a researcher was to do corporate communication materials. This was once made into a billboard along Paranaque. It stayed up until I left my job. LOLz.

I got my first job as researcher soon after. It felt great to be finally free of my parents’ stipend. I felt infinite – I bought an entirely new work wardrobe and exhausted my month’s salary in a day of shopping. Come Monday, I was back to stretching my weekly budget of bringing packed lunch to work, again care of my mother’s good heart. Again, I became a prisoner of my own doing and money is my tyrant.

I gave a high five to my Past Self for working hard and bringing Present Self to Hogwarts.

Eventually, I learned to manage my finances better (saving at least 10% of your salary is the key) and I saved enough to travel on my own, to go on casual shopping trips, and to eventually move out of my parent’s house.

Living on your own is an experience every young woman should aspire for to get a sense of independence. But like every bright-eyed lad’s dream comes the realization of monthly association dues, groceries, laundry, and housekeeping, exactly the things I felt chained to when I moved in the city on my own. There are times I wished I was back in my parent’s house where everything is free but at what cost? Yes, I’ll live a more comfortable life, but I will have missed out on exploring the city on my own, missed out on learning the value of back-breaking household labor, and missed out on the opportunity to make it in life on my own.

One of my favorite views.

Independence means differently to each person. Through the years of seeking independence, I have learned that freedom is not absolute. You have to constantly fight for it, make sacrifices to attain it, and make your own definition of it to truly treasure your journey to independence.

Originally posted on http://bit.ly/BFAP

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

Currently Week 4: Tomorrowland; Love, Rosie; Beauty Saves & Splurges

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 04:00:00 +0000

This week weighed heavily on me, and I spent my days mostly working and nights mostly in recluse. But better days are coming. Like Winter.

CURRENTLY

READING / READING ONLINE

I might as well substitute Currently Reading with Currently Reading Online since that's what I have been doing lately.

Life Advice in 50 Beloved Characters from Kid's Entertainment. I always teach my nieces to "Have courage and be kind" Cinderella 2015 style, but my personal favorite from the list is Edna Mode's "I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now." You? Sometimes I also secretly whisper "Remember who you are, Simba..." to myself. Inspiring stuff.

In the Pink: Mindy Kaling is the New Queen of American Comedy. Obviously an old article. But I find myself reading up on writers whose writing style I want to emulate. Obviously, I want to be like Mindy Kaling - writing-wise but Mindly Lahiri fashion-wise. I cannot live on blacks, whites, and grays alone. This girl needs print on print on print fashion layers.

When to splurge or save on cosmetics and skincare. I am totally on board with Liz's splurge-save technique. Check out her blog post to know which beauty products you should invest your money on.

WATCHING

Tomorrowland. Part dystopian/utopian, love story (not between George Clooney and Britt Robertson), environmentalist. Loads of adventure and retro sci-fi. Mostly confused. I understand that the movie is a summer season opener, so it tries to be a lot of things, but I wish it just stuck to one story line and not try to be everything for the family.

Most heartbreaking scene in the movie. Also what turned on the waterworks for me.

Love, Rosie. And this week's Bawlfest Movie is caused by this Lily Collins and Sam Claflin starrer. If you've ever fallen in love with your guy best friend and had said love unrequited, then this movie will get you crying to the core. It's the perfect mix of angst, missed connections, and childhood best friends turned love interests plot that I can't stay away from. It's my favorite movie trope. Also, can we also talk about how Sam Claflin is the unmatched actor to play pained/tortured roles? Case in point: He also plays the role of Finnick Odair.

LISTENING TO

Quiet Evening Playlist by Spotify. Great playlist to cook dinner, watch TV, cry, and write to.

WANTING TO

How about that vacation I've been thinking about since last week, huh?

Watch Jurassic World this weekend! Jurassic Park is one of those landmark movies that I've never forgotten as a child, and I can't wait to watch it again with my family like it was 1991. Yes, I saw the first movie in the cinema. So like a geek who has a "Here's what I love, let me share it with you" and not a hipster "Here's what I love, stay away from it" mentality (Pop Culture Happy Hour, 2014), I can't wait for all of you watch it so we can spaz together!

LOVING

This spaceman wall art in Bonifacio Global City! Check out the man on the lower right of this picture for size reference. It's on my driving route to work and it cheers me up every time I see it. I saw on Instagram that there are more like this around BGC, so I'm going to make it my life's mission to see all of them. Don't you just love BGC? We don't get things like these in Makati or Cavite.

And that's about it for my week. How was yours?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

My Social Media Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 04:00:00 +0000

I've been working on the internet for close to five years now, and I've always had my self-imposed rules on how to use social media. There are rules, too, carried out by the company I work for, but I do have my own personal guidelines that I also follow. However, admittedly, sometimes I forget my own protocols . So here's a little reminder to myself and also a personal declaration of how I want to conduct myself online.

On Blogging and This Blog

Please add me up on BlogLovin', too!

There will be minimal mention or blog posts about the company I work for. When I started working with my current company, social media was still in its infancy and bloggers were, well, personal bloggers. Save for a select few who were then making their niche. I was a blogger then, too, but a personal one. I think working with a beauty company had me disoriented with what I really want to do with this blog. Do I write about the company, its products, and its events? Having worked in PR, the things I mentioned are practically the things that my life revolved around then. Hence, the only things I can write about.

But then I realized that blogging about the company on my personal blog is beyond my scope of work and I might be too exhausted to talk about my own life if I let my work life crossover my blog. So today, I am making a decision that I will talk as little as I can about work in this blog mainly because I want to keep this online space mine and not bound by the company's personality and writing tone.

If I can, I will choose to write introspectively rather than write about experiences. That is, except for the Weekly Currently's that I do, which serve the purpose of recapping the experiences I have throughout the week.

The reason I am doing this is, firstly, I want to know myself better by delving deeper into my motivations and experiences. I want to take the way I write into the path of self-discovery. No matter how new age-y shit this sounds to you, to me, it makes perfect sense. Secondly, I want to be brave, and doing reviews and run throughs of what vacations I've taken are not really reflective of who I am. As cheesy as this sounds, I want to write straight from the heart, as open and as direct as I can permit myself to be.

On Facebook

A few weeks ago, I made a choice to limit access to my feed only to close family members and really close friends. Office mates, bosses, and casual acquaintances can still connect with me on Facebook but will have a restricted view of my feed. That is, they will only see content that I posted with Shared to Public privacy settings. We are connected, I have accepted their friends request, but they will not see particular posts that are posted with Shared to Friends privacy settings.

You may think I am taking Facebook very seriously for being selective about who I give access to my feed, but I have my reasons.

1. Most of the content I post on Facebook are crossposted from my Instagram and Twitter accounts, which are public. Everyone is free to follow me on my public accounts.

2. Colleagues, office mates, and bosses can connect with me via LinkedIn, which is a more appropriate venue.

3. I treat Facebook as a networking site to connect to friends and family members. To me, it is very personal. I post updates about my life, current mood, and honest opinion for instance. I expect that the people I connect on Facebook will respect that the content I publish is my own and not the policy of the company I work for. However, I have been given the privilege and the burden to represent the company in the digital realm, and whatever I write is indirectly reflective of the company.

To be quite honest, I felt like I lost control of my personal account. So as a compromise, I am keeping my private persona on Facebook - which is again shared only to people who I trust - and anything public like my Instagram and Twitter accounts will adhere to be the person the company expects me to be.

On Instagram

As I checked my 2014 iPhone photos, I noticed I took mostly photos of my sleeping dog. I "styled" and posted so many stylized tablescapes for work that I think I developed an aversion for too stylized photos already: both looking and taking them. I missed taking snapshots of people I love, getting that high when you capture that perfect moment when they smile. So this year, I think I'm taking a break from attempting to style my own shots and picking up a camera (now that the person-to-camera ratio at home has increased to 1:2). Oh, and teach my niece how to smile.
A photo posted by maraisms (@maraisms) on Jan 9, 2015 at 1:59am PST

When the year started, I made a resolution to stop taking too stylized photos of my life. Again, styled photos are not reflective of me or my life. My work station is a mess and not everything arranges themselves beautifully and Pinterest worthily. It may be what others want, but as Amy Poehler said: "Good for you, but not for me."

I want my Instagram feed to photographically show where I've been, what I've experienced, who I shared a moment with. Whatever slight rearrangement of the items on the table happened because it's the best way to take a photo of and not because I laboriously, painstakingly styled it.

Besides, if anyone wants to know if I can style and envision Instagram posts, I can. They just have to look at my online portfolio here.

On Twitter

Is Twitter still relevant?
— Mara Ruiz (@maraisms) May 23, 2015

To be quite honest, I don't know what to do with Twitter. I mainly use it to get my breaking news and local gossip. But I want to make it relevant by making more connections online. So for Twitter, I resolve to stop subtweeting and I'll try to reply to people's tweets. It takes courage to actualize your thoughts into 140 characters and the least I can do is assure that person she's not tweeting to the abyss.

So there goes my social media self-imposed rules and resolutions. Got any?

If you want to connect, you can follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram ;)

Currently Week 3: On Likeability, Lisa Macuja, and Patterns & Shapes EP

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 31 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Did it start raining in your part of the world/country? It did in Cavite and in Paranaque while I was there. In a country where torrential rains can be cause for alarm, I just want to take a moment and bask in the reprieve it brought us after experiencing 30- to 40-degree days.

My week was pretty eventful, but it was all about work. Now, inasmuch as I want to talk all about work for my weekly roundup, I made a resolution to distance my blog from my occupation. Something I plan to write about next week perhaps. But for the mean time, here is how my week went.

CURRENTLY

READING

I realized (too late) that a weekly currently that asks you about what you're reading forces you to read a new book every week. So, yes, I am still stuck in Gone Girl.

I've also read an article from NYMag.com quoting Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:

If you start thinking about being likable you are not going to tell your story honestly, because you are going to be so concerned with not offending, and that’s going to ruin your story, so forget about likability. And also the world is such a wonderful, diverse, and multifaceted place that there’s somebody who’s going to like you; you don’t need to twist yourself into shapes.

I think this goes well with the new blogging philosophy that I have. And I'm happy that an acquaintance (who's kind of big in the blogging world) noticed that I was blogging again and liked that I have a "I don't give a fuck" attitude about it anymore. Because at the end of the day, I am not writing for anyone anymore. I am writing to be honest, to be brave.

WATCHING

The Crazy Ones still. I'm close to finishing it with only 3 episodes left before the finale. I'm awfully sad that there won't be anymore episodes to look forward to, for obvious reasons, and that it was cancelled before its prime. I really have high hopes for this one. It has the right amount of comedy - slapstick, situational, contextual - that makes for a great serialized comedy TV show.

LISTENING TO

Patterns and Shapes EP by Royal Tongues. One of those albums Spotify recommended that I listen to. The album reminds me a lot of M83 and Passion Pit, both of which I also like. Currently liking Awkward Arm and Just Want to Live. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

WANTING TO

Go on another vacation. Who doesn't want to, right?

I actually had a full day of watching TV this week, so yay! Now I just want to get over Gone Girl and move on to a new book. Don't you just love that moment when you finish your book and you get to choose what to read next?

Get a new exercise regimen! As much as I loved yoga last year, it's getting too tedious for me to do. I need a workout that's 30 minutes tops. Cardio, preferred.

LOVING

That I got the chance to listen to Lisa Macuja, the only Prima Ballerina in the Philippines, talk about passion. She talked about how her ballet teacher told her how she's never going to be a ballerina and how her Russian ballet teacher told her she will never dance Swan Lake because she's short and very Asian looking - only to defy all of them.

Hearing a world-class Filipina talk about how she got where she is just ignited my passion for the things I want to accomplish in life. I've had a lot of people not take me seriously, not believe in me, and not listen to me. But as Lisa said, have passion for what you do, commit, put a lot of hard work, and practice to succeed.

And that's how my week went!

So what did you do this week?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you want to connect ;)

Quick Write: What inspires you?

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Thu, 28 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Now, I don't want to make a turn into the sappy for this blog, but this question was being thrown a lot at work lately. A lot of people have been unsurprisingly answering their families and their kids. I mean, yes, it's a given. But I feel otherwise. Does that make me selfish?

So let's not go into the semantics of whether inspiration is the same as motivation. But for the sake of this post, let's say they're equally the same.

So whats inspires me?

My first reaction was: Beauty. As abstract and hipstery this sounds, what makes me want to create is because there are so many beautiful things to draw inspiration from. There are so many ways and so much potential to create Beauty - whether it may be art or a good deed.

Inasmuch as the world is already beautiful as it is, if you could only add one more beautiful thing to it, then to me that's what drives me to do more.

I am inspired by great women who came before me, those who paved the way, the crazy ones as Apple called them.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

I want to be the next Bossypants like Tina Fey, who knows when a person is in between her and what she wants to do. Also does not hire people who were jerky to her.

So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.”

- Tina Fey, Bossypants

Source

I want to be like Mindy Lahiri (more Lahiri than Kaling though) who likes shopping, not into culture (except the popular kind), and watches bad TV. Aside from the fact that she's good at what she does, she knows what she wants and goes for it.

I inspire ME.

Lastly, I am inspired, as self-centered as this sounds, by myself. I am given the privilege to wake up every morning and think of no one else but myself. My parents gave me a comfortable life to only work for me and enough assurance to not always seek for their approval. I wake up every morning for me. Some people might find it lonely, but as comparison is the thief of joy, I only find happiness in besting myself and nobody else.

How about you, guys? What inspires you? It can be as shallow or as profound as you want it.

Tweet me your inspirations!
Show me pinspirations at Pinterest!
Let's be friends at Instagram and share inspirations that make us feel #blessed!

Currenty Week 2: The Crazy Ones, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, and Adult Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 24 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

I don't even know where I got the energy to power through this 6-day work week. But I'm home in my parents' house in Cavite now and I'm relaxed as hell. My niece's Mood Indicator app says so.

CURRENTLY

READING

I'm still stuck in Gone Girl with no hopes of finishing it within the week or next. It's not even worth noting in this week's currently. But I've also been reading a lot of personal blogs to see how the writers develop their online writing voice and personality over time. So I guess that counts as reading, right?

WATCHING

The Crazy Ones. This is one of the shows I got buried deep in my hard drive. I've always thought Robin Williams hit his peak in Patch Adams and everything he has done after is just over acted. But the first few episodes got me hooked, and this is my Do one activity you enjoy before going to bed thing this week.

Total Divas. When I go home every night, I put on E! Channel and practically zone out on their entire programming list - Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Botched, and lately, Total Divas. I don't even watch wrestling but the girl drama in this reality show is the best. It's just the right amount of catty, and ridiculous, and backstabbing that I want in a show.

My favorites are the Bella Twins, Eva Marie, and Cameron (of The Funkydactyls) coz she's so fly!

LISTENING TO

The Happy Hipster Playlist on Spotify. Particularly Left Hand Free by alt-J, Digital Witness by St. Vincent, and Reflections by MisterWives aka the first three songs in the playlist. After that I just tune out after putting on the playlist while working.

Also, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast! You guys, I'm obsessed! It's what I've been listening to when I drive to work every day. I find that I like listening to talk radio instead of music in the morning, and Pop Culture Happy Hour gives me enough information for the day's lunch hour conversation.

These guys know their Pop Culture, and I like that their analyses are not derivatives of other people's opinion. I also appreciate that the hosts' interests are so varied -- from comic books, to books, to movies, to sports -- so they give different perspectives on a certain topic, but eventually connect to make an opinion about something in the end.

My favorite episode so far is the one where they talk about movie tropes they wish exist in popular culture. The one that really made me laugh is "That gay friend who is totally useless during makeover montages."

If you're into podcasts or pop culture or both, or if you just want to immerse yourself in popular culture but do not want to take part of it, OR if you want to listen in a conversation with your nerdy friends and then disconnect after an hour without feelings getting hurt, this is for you.

WANTING TO

Finally catch a break.
For people to realize that their idealized self if not their actual self because at the end of the day, we can all do without the pretension.
Have a full day to just watch TV and nothing else.

LOVING

My Adult Problem today: waking up early on a Saturday to get my car tire vulcanized. Also classified under Single Girl Problems.

Having conversations with my college friends about our Adult Problems, of which mine is pictured above. I find myself reconnecting more and more with old friends and find comfort in how I can already go straight to being my worst without the judgement.

So enough about me.

So what did you do this week?

I'm also on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, if you like what you see here (that did not sound right).

NO-stalgia: 5 things I'm happy to no longer experience

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Thu, 21 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

There are a lot of things I wish I do not have to experience - fear of frogs, Perennial Need to Create Meaning (damn you, millennial feels!), and FOMO. But if there are things that I am extremely, over-the-top, #thankful and happy not to experience anymore, it's these 5 things under the cut.

1. Public Transportation.

Every time I see the snaking line at the MRT. Every time I cry meekly inside because it's been 45 minutes and I haven't gotten a cab yet. Every time there's a 2x surge in Uber and other middle class people problems. I say a silent prayer of thanks that I know how to drive and that my parents gave me a car for my college graduation.

It's not that I do not take public transportation anymore. I just avoid it like a plague if I can. I've been commuting to and from work up until I turned 23 years old, so you can't really blame me if I don't want to show up for work sweat drenched anymore. Or that I can be a bag lady and bring all my makeup with me because I can leave them in car the anyway. Or that I can go anywhere and leave anytime.

I also live in Cavite, so you can just imagine the hell on earth I experience if I still commute to and from Cavite to Makati.

2. Going to the library to find quick answers to win an argument.

Of course I know better than to get my information from Wikipedia. But there's no greater glory than winning a pronunciation argument because yours is Merriem-Webster app and internet validated.

Also, no more "Which movie that guy appeared in again?" thanks to IMDB.

3. Pretending to care about what an uninteresting person has to say.

My really close friends and I have this special understanding that we can cut off anyone at anytime if we're not interested with what he/she has to say. We call it the "I'm so bored with this conversation card"or ISBWACA, and I use it liberally. If I can ISBWACA the s*** out of a boring conversation, I would. But there's Normal People Decorum to adhere to.

4. Having your smile down pat because anything shot on photographic film is eternal.

I learned to practice my plakado or default smile back in high school, back when everything was shot in film. Years and years of class photos, group shots (not groufies), and studio barkada shots have taught me the valuable lesson that the group will not retake a photo they already look good in just because you blinked.

5. Strictly setting up a meeting place and time because not doing so will mean you won't see each other inside the mall and you have to use the PA system to look for each other. BTW, do malls still have PA systems?

Remember those days when you have to call your friend's landline to ask if she's left the house already? I do and I don't miss it. Thank god for text messaging and "WRU?"

So I just realized how this post ages me, but it's fun to reminisce. Enough about me. How about you?

What's on your NO-stalgia list?

If you want to connect, you can follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram ;)

Currently Week 1: Pitch Perfect 2, Gone Girl, On Long-Term Friends & Going Back to Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Mon, 18 May 2015 00:30:00 +0000

So, guys, I'm going to start blogging again. But unlike before when I didn't know what the hell I'm going to write about, I'm just going to talk about myself, my life, and not give a care about it anymore. I'm not going to care if people will read what I've written, or if I don't take great pictures, or if I'm not wearing enough makeup to be camera ready. I've left that part of my life when I transferred out of PR. I'm just going to write for me now.

I give mad props to Helga and Bea who made me realize that's it's OK to talk about me without the guilt. I particularly appreciated it when Bea wrote:

I always forget that sincerity can be a more powerful force than sarcasm or derision. Not that sincerity equates to positivity and eternal sunshine all the time – sincerity can be clumsy and mean and strange and horrible, but at the end of the day, sincerity is brave.

I'm going to be brave this time and, you know, try not to give a damn anymore.

And what better way to kick start a writing habit than do a weekly recap! I've been seeing a lot of The Sunday Currently's out there, but TBQH, I don't think I would go as far as sharing what I'm wearing and smelling at the moment. I'd like to treat my Currently's not as descriptions of what I'm doing right then and there, but more of a way to backtrack what I've done for the week. I've snooped around and I've found Life Documented Manila's version sits well with me.

Reading

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This is the second book-made-movie book that I've read this year. Also the second book I've read this year. But it's only because I picked up The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and then abandoned it around 1/4 of the way. Also, I didn't count audiobooks I've heard like Yes Please by Amy Poehler and The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas, which I both finished, and Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris, which I also abandoned midway.

So back to the book. I'm kind of liking the movie more than the book, mostly because I've been reading at odd times - while waiting in line, while waiting for dinner, basically while waiting, and I haven't really sunk my teeth into it. I also came from Donna Tartt whose way with describing scenes is so intense and flowery, Gone Girl tends to sound like juvenile somehow.

But hey, I like mysteries, even if the mystery has already been spoiled and solved for me because I watched the movie. Therefore I am soldiering on with this!

Watching

I love you, guys. I wish my workmates are more like you. LOLz.

Parks and Recreation season 7: Huhuhuhu! The series ended beautifully and I could not ask for more. When I first started watching it, I thought Parks and Rec was just a lame duplicate of The Office, but it came out of its mocumentary shell and blossomed into one of the best shows on TV.

The Mindy Project season 3 aka their last season on network television. This again perpetuates my belief that the moment I start liking a television show, it gets canceled, or in this case, transferred to Hulu. The Mindy Project has been the only constant source of joy for me whenever I watch television so it pains to see the only female lead on TV that I can relate to go.

I also went to see Pitch Perfect 2 over the weekend, and as much as I agree when The New Yorker said the underdog feel is gone, there are definitely more laughs to go around this time. But is it too much to ask for better music from an a capella movie? It seems like they focused on the comedy and gave all the good singing parts to Das Sound Machine. But I went to see a movie not a concert, so that's that.

Listening To

Everything on my Currently Playlist on Spotify with emphasis on Steal My Girl by One Direction.

Wanting To

Basically just clear my head. My officemate S showed me a chart with the ages of when successful people had their turning points. Most of them have lived mediocre lives until they hit mostly their 30s. This got me thinking, and not that I am saying I'm living a mediocre life now, but have you ever had that feeling of wanting more?

Loving

For Coffee Lovers Only and Strawberry Blonde. #OurGangstaNameBelIke

That I got to spend time with my best friend Z before she flies off to Tokyo again :( You know, spending time with her made me realize that a girl in the city only needs one good friend to make it. When I moved in the city, my natural instinct was to go out and meet as many people as I can. But new friends, no matter how great the relationships are, do not have the years of solid foundation you get from people you've been friends for a long time. People who have seen you grow up know your worst and they have accepted it. They have your back. And in the simplest of terms, they get you.

So there goes my week -- a sampling of the sap to my unintelligible ramblings about television.

So what did you do last week?

If you want to connect, you can follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram ;)

About Me

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Fri, 15 May 2015 04:00:00 +0000

There was a slight kerfuffle over a post I wrote on Facebook weeks ago. It was a minor tiff, but it threw me off guard. I never thought a friend would call me out and other friends who probably did not want to stir the pot, but agree with Friend 1 nonetheless, Facebook-liked Friend 1's public outcry.

As I was writing that status update up until I hit the post button, I never imagined people getting offended with what I wrote. All along I thought everyone understood that what I've written was just a friendly jab and not an insult to their hopes and dreams. But I was wrong and feelings were hurt.

While my friend Z and I were discussing the incident, Z pointed out a valid reason: How I've written that post is not reflective of my narrative. It's out of character. Out of my character.

She gave me a for instance. I always tell Z stories about my other friend S -- how S reacts to certain situations, how S dresses, how S talks. Z said I painted a consistent picture of S and the way I describe S is invariable. People pick up exactly how S wants to present herself.

My narrative, my identifier, on the other hand, is a bit scattered. It's like people have a completely idealized version of me in their heads. Maybe I just slipped that time I wrote that post and didn't bother to screen my thoughts -- hand/keyboard-on-mouth disease.

** ** **

It's no question we wear different hats in our lives. We don't exactly tell our parents about our fetishes the way we can openly tell them to our friends. However, I've hit a point in my life where I do not want to filter my words and actions for everyone's consumption anymore, within reason of course. I'm tired of wearing different hats. I just want people around me to see the same Mara across all social circles - but with context. I still don't want my officemates to see me crying or my parents see me losing it on a supplier who does not follow instructions.

But that's where the problem lies. People who've seen me in my nicest, my best foot forward, they are probably not used to seeing me unfiltered -- irreverent, unapologetic, likes bad TV.

I am not exactly sure if I should let it all hang loose at this point. I understand certain spaces on the internet are mine, but whatever I put out is fair game. So I respect obligations and who I represent. It's a bitter pill to swallow that no matter how much distancing I do to the labels people associate me with, I am still an employee, someone's daughter, someone's friend.

But I just want to say that at this age, I'm done worrying about what everyone thinks. People around me should understand that I can lose my self, too. I need to stop apologizing for who I am not.

On Writing, Writer's Block, and Renewals

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Ahoy!

And as much as I want to say "I've brung sexy back," there's really no coming back to speak of. And no sexy either. That is if you 73 bot readers are actual human beings who lurk around this space. Anyhoo, I have some catching up to do, with whom, I don't really know. With what, well, this blog.

Let's try something new-ish wherein I type the first thing that comes to mind and hit POST without really thinking what I put out onine.

Lezzgo.

I have come to terms that I really have nothing interesting to say (or share) and that I will never be a niche blogger. So what do I do with this place? I'll keep it around as an avenue to keep my own voice, in the most cliche meaning of that term possible. I write for a living (shocking as that may sound to you), and inasmuch as I churn out thousands and thousands of words everyday, I feel like what I produce really isn't my voice, not my own.

For my day job, I have to sound preppy, engaging, professional, and corporate when I write. For my part time jobs, I have to sound authoritative yet friendly, like I actually know what I am talking about (confession: sometimes I don't, but it's not something research couldn't make me feel that I am already the boss in what I am writing about). Sometimes when I go home, drained from all the writing (and copy writing) I did throughout the day, I don't even know how to write on my daily log (diary if you're sappy and sixteen; journal if you are a pretentious wannabe novelist). Do I write like I am reporting my day's events or do I make it sound as exciting as I can? Do I go all existentialist and ponder the meaning of my existence?

Because Google is my only friend, I found a tip somewhere that says writing shouldn't be difficult if you treat it more like a job, something you have to do, rather than an art form. If you treat writing like laying one stone at a time to build a whole wall, then that's how you overcome your Writer's Block (no pun intended). But how do you separate the trash from what's exactly fit to share?

** ** **

Today, my domain registration for www.maraisms.com got renewed. It says I can use my domain for a full year again. I asked myself, "a full year of what, exactly?" As you can actually see, I haven't written anything here (or went to yoga) since April. But maybe that's why renewals are made possible: so I can have another year to try.

So, what have you been up to lately?

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

My Bikram Yoga Manila Makati Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:12:00 +0000

Last Christmas, all I wanted was time to find a workout routine that I could stick to. I've tried running, one class of Crossfit, and cycling. However, admittedly, I never had a commitment to live a healthy lifestyle - may it be through clean eating or a regular workout routine. But like all previous Fat Kids Inside, all it took for me was, NO, not debilitating bullying (please, I embrace my inner Mindy Lahiri), but an Epic Flu of 2014.

It took a lot of convincing from my friends to finally get me to step into a Bikram Yoga studio. In 2013, the night I was supposed to go to my first class, I got gastroenteritis. True story! But I finally caved and had my first hot yoga class last February.

A real woman does not workout and brag, but come on, surviving a room at 40 degrees Celsius is no mean feat when the only goal for first timers is to stay inside the studio!

I liked my first session a lot that I enrolled for a full month's class right then and there, only to be derailed by said Flu of 2014. Long story short, it took me more than two weeks before I went back for my second class. But as you can see, my commitment to Bikram Yoga is unparalleled compared to my other Life Choices that I've finally made it Facebook official as of press time.

So how's my Bikram Yoga Manila experience, you might ask?

If you haven't Googled it yet, Bikram Yoga is the 26 postures sequence selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury from Hatha Yoga. Classes are done inside a studio at a minimum 40 degrees Celsius at about 40% humidity. Each class runs for 90 minutes or 1 1/2 hours. So yes, it may sound like Hell the way I describe it, but believe me, it's not. If you can last in said conditions for 90 minutes, just imagine what more you can conquer in this lifetime?

"Why Yoga?" and if I only have a peso for every time somebody asks me this question and other cliches

I've heard a 360 Fitness coach once say that it is best to start with workouts that carry your weight - running, walking, and the likes. Bikram Yoga does just that but not as strenuous and is as forgiving to couch potatoes like me. You carry your weight through leg lifts like Standing Bow, Balancing Stick, and Locust Pose but not just enough to not hurt your knees or joints.

Bikram Yoga also encouraged me to go on a sort of forced diet. On my first week, since I attend the 8PM class, I can honest to blog really feel every morsel of my lunch go up my throat every time I had to bend down. It gets worse if I had a rice meal that day. So Bikram Yoga, in a way, forced me to choose salads over full meals, quit after lunch coffee runs, and stop eating after 4PM for around 3 weeks. I even had to plan my meals depending on days I had to go to Yoga because that means I had to eat a heavy breakfast, salad and protein for lunch, and nothing at all after 3PM.

But this was before my body got used to it. You don't really need to diet if you're doing Yoga. The point of working out, if not really to lose weight, is to maintain your eating habits while you shed of the pounds, right?

Just kidding! It all depends on how your body acclimates. I'm no dietician nor health professional, but since I've been practicing Yoga, I feel like I don't crave rice, junk food, and sugar as much as I used to anymore.

So will you lose weight if you do Bikram Yoga?

Our teacher Chris told us that depending on your metabolism, it may take you a year to lose weight. What you should be measuring rather are inches - your arms, your waist, your belly. You might say it's a let down if weight loss is your ultimate goal, but weight is just a number.

I've lost around 2 kilos since I started Bikram Yoga, but what's more fulfilling for me is to not feel like wearing sausage casings every time I slip into a pair of skinny jeans, hearing people say my face seems smaller, and finally getting to wear that dress that used to be tight around the tummy.

Another point I'd like to share as what really drew me into Bikram Yoga is that it's a sport (Facebook says so) that can be totally sustainable if you want to transition into more active activities. Running made my knees hurt before - probably because my form was bad, or because I'm overweight to start with and my knees cannot carry me - but Bikram Yoga promotes strength, balance, and flexibility without putting your body into immediate, repetitive shock. I figured Bikram Yoga is the best way for me to jump start my sedentary self into exercising.

And you know who else does Yoga?

Iron Man and Loki. Come on. Why wouldn't you?

Tom Hiddleston doing the Master Pose or what our instructors call the summit of the practice.

Robert Downey Jr. doing a variation of a Toe Stand.

Convinced? Y/N?
Leave a comment and ask me anything about my Bikram Yoga practice!

If you want to join me do Bikram Yoga, get in touch with

Bikram Yoga Manila Makati
15/F, 88 Corporate Center, 141 Valero St. cor Sedeño St. 1227 Makati

Phone: (02) 576 8391
Email: info@bikramyogamanila.com, makati@bikramyogamanila.com

Email or call for class schedules and rates!

Read about my and my friends Sheng and Dawn's adventures about yoga at

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Movie (not-so) Review - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:03:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've seen a movie that compels me to write much less give my opinion about it in public. I've seen so many movies for the past years that watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier feels like I was just watching another token Marvel Movie. I wasn't expecting to get any feels given that the first Captain America made me fall asleep (sorry, Lyra!). But for some reason, Captain America: The Winter Solider hit a nerve I never thought was there.

Yeah, really.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

The movie begins post Loki's attack on New York, like most Marvel stand alone movies took off - Thor 2: The Dark World and Iron Man 3. Of course, point of reference will always be Loki; Tom is our core.

Here we find Steve Rogers, 92 years old, a living fossil, no known relative alive, and half halfheartedly working for S.H.I.E.L.D. I mean, what else is left for him to do? Most, if not all, of his friends are dead, he's living in a confusing era of selfies and Miley Cyrus, and assuming the government cannot trust Tony Stark, who else could they control just right to uphold freedom for Great America? No one but the government's very own science project and namesake.

But wait, if Captain America's World War 2 era paranoia (which was of good use and intention as we later find out), isolation, and longing for his BFF is not enough, there's also the problem of dating. Plot twist (not really).

Admittedly, Captain America is not my favorite Avenger. Zhorai and I agreed that he's too much of a goody two shoes for our liking. We're Stark fans you see. But in a moment of introspection, right after the Smithsonian scene where Rogers was welcomed with bittersweet images of his glorious past and not-so-ideal homecoming, I realized "What would you feel if Fate decided to Rip Van Winkle your life?" I bet you'd feel pretty awful and become externally uptight yet internally bag of cats-y.

After being able to relate to Captain America better, I was ready to root for him. He is, in fact, the leader of the Avengers and the epitome of Truth, Honor, and Justice or whatever it is that's good in life. Also, biceps and hot abs.

For me, he's not just a brawny, uptight Capsicle, yawn fest anymore. After watching this movie, I actually saw Captain America in a more badass light. Blame it on my non-evolving Bad Boy Complex. After the elevator scene where he asks everyone "Before we start, does anyone want to get out now?" and everyone ends up smack on the floor, I was sold.

And in as much as Captain America and The Black Widow seemingly had nothing in common, aside from being officemates if they were in the usual corporate set-up, I love how this odd pairing worked albeit non-romantically. If anyone out there is shipping these two, I'd love to hear your motivation because seriously, I sensed more of a Harry/Hermione vibe than anything else.

Also, Confession Hour: Scarlet Johansson is my ultimate girl crush, so let's throw in some plus points for this movie because of that fact.

Another character that has my heart is the titular role himself - The Winter Soldier. He got the shorter end of the stick being a victim of circumstance. There's something about Marvel Villains that doesn't make them just the Bad Guys. Like how I feel for this other Marvel Bad Guy, I just want to hug The Winter Soldier, make him feel better, and tell him everything's going to be all right.

In the end we can talk about how The Winter Soldier might be the best stand alone Avengers movie, or the political drama, or the new characters that I did not discuss at all because this post is getting too long. But what I appreciate the most is how the characters developed from their previous introductions and even within the movie for the new ones.

It's been a while since a blockbuster movie, let alone a superhero one, resonated with me. In a world where things change so dramatically in an instant, I find myself relating to Captain America's issues like they were mine - Trust, Isolation, Friendship. And you know, sometimes, that's all the nerve that it needs to hit for me to change my opinion about heroes.

So, have you seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier?

Tell me what you think about it on Twitter!
Let me show you my Marvel Crack Board on Pinterest!
Follow me on Instagram (Sorry, no related call to action for this one)!

January - February - and Some March Reading List Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:26:00 +0000

Eating alone, classical music on iPod, book. I have taken introversion (or basic pretentiousness) to new heights.

After I have disclosed my embarrassing 2013 Book List, not only have I come to peace that I am not missing the zeitgeist of my generation if I don't read 50 Shades of Grey, I have also reprimanded myself to know better. You see, I will never prove BBC wrong, that I am thrice as well read as they expected, if I don't start reading the classics. Classics, that I enjoy. I also don't want to miss out on inside jokes and references anymore. So with that, I am proud to say that for the first quarter of 2014, I have:

Not done any re-reads
Read four could-be-considered classics
Only listened to two audiobooks
Expanded my reading list to comic books and graphic novels

and in effect stayed true to my reading goals.

Of course, there's no use reading books if you don't talk about or eloquently discuss it. But through my Road to Self Discovery, I have found out that over analyzing a book so I can write about it is one of my greatest deterrents from actually just writing about it. It must be the Yoga, but this year, I say "Fuck it. I just want to read books and tell you how I feel about it." #GoodToBeBad

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

How do I write about The Great Gatsby without sounding pretentious?

For one, I am not going to talk about how it represents the waste of the Roaring Twenties or the misinterpreted American Dream. Instead, let me admit that part of my motivation to read this book is when I saw Tom Hiddleston play F. Scott Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris.

Let me confess that I am a sucker for unrequited love and "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" types of stories. A believer of the One True Love concept, too. So even if I already know how Gatsby and Daisy's story will go down, I couldn't help but feel a prick in my heart to read that Book!Daisy is more indifferent than Carey Mulligan!Daisy.

Allow me to say that although the movie did not ruin the novel for me, watching the movie before reading the book gave me that sinking feeling in my pith that shit's about to go down. With that, Kids, let it be a lesson to all to not watch the movie version of books before reading the actual book if you can avoid it.

A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"No shame in reading pop genres like say, chick lit; reading extensively in a genre enables you to sift through the dross. But if you want to expand your reading list, what you can do is think about your comfort reads (or even favorite movies or shows) and determine why you like them. Is there a milieu, voice, archetype or trope that appeals to you? Then browse through appropriate bookshelves."

Wise words from one of my (I'd like to believe we are) friends, Ate Trish, who's been my constant source of anything Tom Hiddleston and anything geeky in between.

So I took her advice and recognized that I love a good mystery, that I value great story telling, that if it's Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock that will encourage me to read the actual novels then so be it.

Given that the first two books are dated, and that people on Goodreads should just stop nagging about the racism (everyone's a little bit lacist), suffice to say, both books kept me at the edge of my seat. It is also interesting to read about the roots of my current favorite show and how fresh Mark Gatiss and friends have actually rebooted the franchise while still staying true to the literary characters.

P.S. I love you, RDJ, but Cumberbatch is canon.

Loki Agent of Asgard #1

"Tom is our core."

- Me talking about how I pick up Loki-related hobbies because of Tom. And, ya know, because only losers quote themselves.

Truth: I've always wanted to start a comic book hobby, but where does one begin? Lyra, my fairy godfriend of all things Loki, helped me out and made it possible for me to have my gateway drug to comic books. I was stressing out whether I should read Young Avengers, "OMG, do I have to read all the way back?", but Lyra told me to read Loki #1 first and see if I like it.

And like it, I did! The puns, the banter, the recurring One Direction reference, Hawkeye surprisingly having more personality than his Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart (sorry, Jeremy Renner!). Couldn't really comment much about the art without sounding like a poser, but storyline is interesting enough for me to reserve the first six issues.

Also in picture: The Return of Sherlock Holmes which I am currently reading.

Not discussed but audiobooked: The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner, read by Tom Hiddleston, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling.

So there ya go. My first quarter-ish Book List that doesn't involve any chic lit (hurrah! OK, maybe there's one that I didn't disclose) and one that I can truly be proud of.

How about you? Read anything interesting lately?

Care to tweet any of your book reviews?
Got a To-Read Board on Pinterest? Or better yet, add me up on Goodreads!
Find out more of my freakish bookfaces over at Instagram!

My 2014 Goals: I Firmly Resolve That I am Up to No Good

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 09:18:00 +0000

Not my actual goals. Source.

So it took me a while to come up with my resolutions for the new year because I don't want to be caught up in the sentiments of turning a new leaf and making new goals. I also want to examine myself first to know what I want to accomplish for 2014 because really, at the end of it all, it's all about what makes you happy, right?

Do I really want to lose weight by doing workout plans or crash diets that do not make me happy? No.
Do I want to get ahead in the rat race regardless if I take a route that does not feed my passion? Definitely not.
Do I want to join the bandwagon and dream of New York and Paris even if I have no genuine interest to travel there yet? Nope.
Do I really want to save up for a designer handbag? Why?

After reading Kelly McGonigal's TED Talks transcript saying that "People come up with resolutions that don’t reflect what matters most to them, and that makes them almost guaranteed to fail," I have resolved first and foremost to fail-proof my year, as much as I can, by Doing Things That Makes Me Happy. Kelly goes on to say "The best resolutions are ones that strengthen something you already are, but you may not have been fully investing in."

I hear ya, Kelly. So for 2014, I resolve for my goals to answer these three prerequisites before I pursue them.
Because, come on, knowing your music is a noble goal, but if you're not going to aim to write for Rolling Stone, there's really no point.

What makes me happy?
What am I good at that I haven't been fully investing in?
At the end of 2014 — on January 1st, 2015, looking backwards — what am I seriously going to be grateful that you did?

So what do I firmly resolve to do this 2014?

1. Save up.

When people tell me you can't buy happiness, they obviously enjoy being broke. OK, so that's not really what the saying means, but I like to live my life easy if I can. Easy as a status achieved by not just coasting along but achieved because it has been worked hard for. And when you work hard, you get money. Quarter Life Crisis has taught me that money makes everything easy if you don't have the charm nor the patience to deal with life.

THE GOAL: Save up at least 4-6 months' worth of my salary as contingency. Tyra Banks calls it her "FU Money." For when times are hard, for when you just want to quit your job, for when you just want to pack up and go to London to look for Tom Hiddleston. "FU, Life!" Here's my money!

Will accomplishing this goal make me happy and grateful that I did it?
Of course! Who doesn't want to end the year with more money than they started?

Which attribute am I good at will I be fully investing in if I pursue this goal?
I love ticking items off my list, so for this goal, I tricked myself into thinking that I am ticking to-do lists items from a 52-Week Save-Up Plan.

2. Keep learning.

Post by Benilde School of Professional and Continuing Education.

My school is very hipster.

Now that I have transferred to legit Marketing, granting it's Digital, I sometimes catch myself feeling a bit uneasy calling myself a marketer; it offends my Starving Artist Psyche. In my heart of hearts, I still want to be a published writer. So, Marketing. In a way, what I'm doing right now marries two things that I want to do: Write and ~~Judge People According to Their Preferences~~ Infer About People's Behavior and Motivations. I am just missing the marketing piece to ~~make me Super Human~~ give my activations and strategies more meat. For that, I will use Education! Science! Schools!

THE GOAL: Continue taking classes for my Strategic Marketing Post-Baccalaureate Degree in DLSU-CSB. It's the best continuing education path for non-marketers who, like me, have been somewhat steered towards the marketing road without meaning to. Call it Marketing for Non-Marketers. None of those vague theories; all action. And at the end of each course, you get to create plans and strategies that you can apply to your company.

Will accomplishing this goal make me happy and grateful that I did it?
Definitely. I don't remember why I never took business classes in college. Oh, right. Writer Dreams.

Which attribute am I good at will I be fully investing in if I pursue this goal?
Being an insufferable know-it-all. I am confident that I can rock my activations and strats, but if industry-recognized certification can bring me into Hemione levels of reinforcing that "I got this" then why not?

3. Lose weight

Honestly, being fat, or called fat, doesn't bother me. I've learned how to deal with relatives and their tactless observations of "Hija, what happened? You used to be so thin!" (Answer: "Tita, that's what happens when you work hard; you earn good money to pay for good meals"). I've stopped aspiring to fit into Forever 21 clothes lest I want to look like Hannah Horvath. I've come to embrace my inner Mindy Lahiri. It's just that when my health took a beating last February -- Flu of 2014 -- it's outright denial that my lovely lady lumps have nothing to do with it.

More Mindi Lahiri. Less Hannah Horvath.

THE GOAL: Lose 65 lbs. This is The Biggest Loser levels of weight loss, you guys!.

Sixty-five pounds ago. I am my own thinspiration.

Will accomplishing this goal make me happy and grateful that I did it?
I can't say I will miss my 65 excess pounds if I lose it, but I am not getting any younger. Also, this would make my parents very happy. I think they miss the old, morose, thin version of me versus this confident, hedonistic Mara that presents herself to them as of late, but I could be wrong. Maybe they just want me to live longer than them.

Which attribute am I good at will I be fully investing in if I pursue this goal?
I am secretly very competitive, but only with myself. I have come to realize that there is no better satisfaction than to up yourself. "Take that, Self!"

4. Not be too hard on myself.

In Getting Ahead in The Rat Race. I will choose the type of success that is important to me and not the type of success everyone expects me to have.

In Keeping Up with the Joneses. I can be pretty materialistic. Can't blame me; I like shopping. But after some introspection, I realized that sometimes I'm just influenced by people around me to buy crap I don't really need. This year, I will think really hard before coveting something out of my means.

Eva Chen is my fashion icon.

In trying to define my signature style (if there is any). In music, in fashion, in preferences. So what if I am the girl that has fleeting-but-sometimes enduring hobbies? I like that I am a Jane of All Trades, that people wonder where I get the energy and the time to do my hobbies.

In trying to define this blog. I won't burden myself anymore with trying to find my niche. If item above is any indication, I will never find my niche. I have resolved that this blog is my way of putting myself out there - may it be to market myself, make me searchable and all that SEO shit, or just simply being comfortable enough in my own skin to share a part of me with anyone who will care to drop by. And that, Humanity, is my way of letting go of my selfishness.

How about you, guys? What do you resolve to do this 2014?

Tweet me your goals!
Show me pins of quotes that ~*inspire*~ you to do better this year over at Pinterest!
Let's workout and brag over at Instagram!

So This Is The New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:07:00 +0000

Source

And it's not fair to say "And I don't feel any different," because I do. Every year is different (as it should be) and I've always defined my years in themes, if you may.

2009 was my Year of Great Lull.
2010 was my Year of Great Push.
2011 was my Year of Running Around Breathless and Dizzy and All at the Same Time Ecstatic.
2012 is my Year of More Please, Thank You.

Writing an entry about my 2013. By the looks of it, my 2013 in a nutshell is "I am grateful I am alive." Good/Bad?
— Mara Ruiz (@maraisms) January 22, 2014

As cliche as this may sound, 2013 taught me the meaning of just being plain Grateful to Be Alive - to learn, to have doors close so that windows can open, to have opportunities to travel. But I am already getting ahead of myself.

So what about 2013?

The Highs:

I went back to school!

I had to miss weddings, night outs, movie dates, and family time for this, but it's one of the best decisions that I have made in my adult life. Last April 2013, I enrolled in De La Salle - College of St. Benilde's Post Baccalaureate Program in Strategic Marketing. I chose Marketing even if it's like, to quote my friend, "being a cat person who owns a dog," because I don't want to end up like other digital marketers who supposedly knew all about the Internet, and Social Media, and Engagement, but knew nil about Marketing basics. Believe me, Folks, it matters.

The Program has 12 courses, but I only had time to take two for now - Special Course in Digital Marketing and Marketing Trends (which was just like munching on peanuts for me. Naks!) and Integrated Marketing Communications (which gave me hell).

Our final project for Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) was an IMC plan. We had to launch a product, draft pricing and discounting schemes, art direct a print ad, prepare a story board for a TVC, create merchandising proposals, and draft an above the line and digital media plan.

It was the most nerve-wracking 8 weeks of my life and I love it! It was the perfect jump start that I was looking for in my professional life. I came back to work after those classes revitalized and ready to attack my deadlines head on. And for that, I thank myself for earning enough to put myself back to school.

I went to Japan!

I know I've talked about it several times already like it's the only thing that made my 2013 awesome. But you know what? It is. If not the best then at least one for the books. It's one of my and my late grandfather's bucket list destinations, and I'm just grateful I get to fulfill it for both of us.

My best friend came back to the Philippines!

Also, not her most flattering photo.

Some people have specific best friends for specific times of their lives -- high school, childhood, college, whatever -- but I only have one. It's Zhorai. I'm grateful she came back to the Philippines after abandoning me to work for Singapore.

Professionally, I met new people, chartered new territory, and gained enough corporate street cred

Enough corporate street cred to say "Know what? Bitches get stuff done" the way one of my role models Tina Fey would say.

Me with the Glamourbox Team as we wrap up our Avon New Makeup Collection collab.

I know 100,000 is not a mean feat, but we did this with little to no paid media at all. Also, Social Media Team, i.e., me and one girl from our PR agency.

I fully embraced the Single Lady/Apartment Living Lifestyle

I've been living in my condo for close to 3 years now, but I never really lived a full year alone. Until 2013 that is. Last year was the year I gained the Single Lady Living Alone in Her Apartment Wisdom. I know 15-minute meals like I was Rachel Ray. I practically have an extra closet in my car in case the need for an impromptu all-nighter arises. I emanate a "don't shit with me" vibe so easily for creepers in our elevator. I'm thankful I get to do this before anything else because it really changed my entitled, bourgeoisie opinion of my self.

The Lows:

There was just so, so, so much to do

And I was exhausted. That's the exact same thing I told my manager when he asked me to describe last year work-wise. But it was the good kind of exhaustion, the kind that when you take a step back and look at everything you've done, you get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside you. It's nothing I will harp about because "Death is bad for business."

Also, if I didn't do all the things I had to do last year, I wouldn't end up with this and more. I always gripe about not having enough time for my supposed hobbies, but who needs hobbies if you can't afford them? I like complaining there's a lot to do; I wouldn't shut my trap about it because it only means I am alive to do whatever it is I have to do.

In Retrospect

2013 flew by like it was nobody's business! I may not be remembering things as they happened just because of the volume of events that happened, experiences gained, and people I've met last year. But whatever it is I may have forgotten, good or bad, I am just grateful I am alive to do all the good or bad things I have forgotten or remembered I've done.

So how was your 2013?

Tweet me your 2013 recap!
Show me pins of things you did or did not do at Pinterest!
Show me how many selfies you've taken on Instagram (Come on. I won't judge)!

2013 in Books and My 2014 Reading Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Mara Ruiz) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 04:02:00 +0000

Happy New Year, Internet!

I think there's no better way to start the 2014 than recounting my media consumption for the year. Indulge me; it's a tradition I like doing.

Mara Confession Hour: for someone who writes for a living, I haven't read a lot of books. Based on my Shelfari account, I have only read 149 books since 1997. That's an estimated 18 books a year, 1.5 books a month. One and a half of a book. That's like finishing one, picking up another, and getting too lazy to finish it within the month. One of my greatest pretensions in life is to say that I like reading. Of course, I do. What kind of human being are you if you don't? But to say that I read a lot is a lie.

Loki: Liar; Thor: Truther.

I read when I can. It's just that reading books is like dating for me. I judge you by your cover, your synopses, and your first few paragraphs. I rely heavily on friends' recommendations. When I fall in love with a book, I re-read and re-read. But as much as I am picky with the books I read, sometimes you end up with the bad kind, the sleazy kind - chic lit, Vampire fantasy, (bad, hipster-y) Young Adult. These are exactly the types of books that I ended up reading last year, and I would like to apologize to my 2013 Self for what I did.

So without further ado, I share with you my pathetic excuse for a 2013 Reading List.

source

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I will not slander John Green in this blog lest an army of young 'uns tirade me with their angst. Let's just say he's a YA writer and his style and voice suit him and his audience. I'm also not going to say that I didn't shed a tear for this book. It happens when you're dealing with cancer. But I will also not say that this book will keep a permanent place in my library.

2. The Undead-Betsy Book 1: Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

Vampires + chic lit = The deadliest combination. Chic lit is my guilty pleasure. You know when you just want your brain to shut down at the end of the day? You read chic lit. You also say goodbye to your literacy and vocabulary. Truth be told, I'm not really too engaged in the story (and Betsy's, supposed shoe addict, taste in shoes is a bit pedestrian). I just love fancasting Gabriel Macht as Sinclair. Wouldn't you?

3. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.

How do I say this without sounding pompous? OK, here goes: as a self-proclaimed Pop Culture Enthusiast, I read best-selling books that I absolutely have no inclination to pick up on my own just to see what the fuss is about. Before it was Coelho then SMeyer. Save for time lost, I see no love lost if I haven't read titles by these two authors. The same thing could be said for this book.

Seriously, Humanity. Seriously.

P.S. I couldn't get past Book 2.

4. The Undead-Betsy Book 2: Undead and Unemployed by Mary Janice Davidson

5. The Undead-Betsy Book 3: Undead and Unappreciated by Mary Janice Davidson

Source. Also how my physical copy of the book would look like if I have one. Thanks to the Sisters Vega for introducing me to this awesome book!

6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Finally, a fanfic writer turned novelist who does it right. Of course, it has to be a Harry Potter fanfic writer. This is how shit is done, Twilight fans.

In Tumblr lingo, "I have so many feels for this book." I have never bravely and confidently answered the question If you were a character from a book, who would you be? but after reading this book, I knew: I am Cather Avery. Sans fan fiction writing. The level of obsession, having your life revolve around your fandom, was so relatable, it felt like reading one of my journals. If only my life played out like Cath's and I ended up having a Levi. #WishList

7. Every Day by David Levithan

My first David Levithan book. Friends say they find the pacing too slow, but it makes sense if you're living day-to-day. I love a good love story, but I do not like half-baked science fiction.

8. Gossip Girl: Book 2. You Know You Love Me by Cecily von Ziegesar

Source

I guess it's befitting to punctuate this post with my 2014 Reading Resolutions, seeing that my 2013 list is no better than a fifth grader's.

1. Read More; Less TV.

I am happy to report that I have cut ties with my internet provider in Taguig to pave way to a reading habit.

2. Classics. They have endured for a reason.
My ineptitude in Sherlock Holmes made this even more apparent. This has to change. Also, it may be age, but there's something lyrical about classics that makes me want to read them now more than ever (and without my Literature teacher breathing down my neck).

I'm not ready to go hardcore Shakespeare yet, so I am starting with English and American authors first.

3. Just finish the Gossip Girl, Undead Betsy, and probably Pretty Little Liars series and be done with chic lit.

4. Re-evaluate the legitimacy of audiobooks as official entries into my Book List.
Because a Book List is serious business. Or maybe I can just listen to chic lit and consider it radio drama.

5. Only 1 re-read per 2 months.
So choose wisely!

6. Pick my Top 10.
And eloquently discuss why they are on my list.

7. Read at least 24 books in 2014.
So help me God.

I hope you have read better books than I have. Care to share your reading list?

Tweet me your reading list!
Show me pins of books/book quotes you love over at Pinterest!
Let's freak each other out with book faces on Instagram (because selfies are so 2000 and 13)!