Spitfire Stories

Buhay Buhay Bagong Buhay is now Spitfire Stories.

10 Must-Haves

3. Apple iPod Touch (or iPhone)
I do not have an iPhone. Probably would consider it in the future, but as many of you know, I don't adapt early and quickly to technology. Until then, the iPod Touch should do. I do not listen to an enormous variety of songs—matter of fact, if I count the songs I enjoy listening to over and over again, the number would probably not even go beyond 100. (And when I get to that number, I'm really trying.) Regardless, it's a handy piece of gadgetry that goes well with my digital life.

Photograph from Apple.com

10 Must-Haves

2. Kiehl's Stylist Series Malleable Moulding Paste
I've been sporting what many call a faux-hawk. (Click here for an idea what it looks.) A small amount of this paste is all you need to have a non-sticky (boo-ya, wax!), non-shiny, and non-crispy (sorry, hair gel!) hold that you can easily restyle by just running your fingers over your hair. (A little water helps, too, but it isn't necessary.)

Photo from Kiehls.com

Dude the Bargain Shopper: Jared Leto

Easy, breezy summer style for guys. I would even argue that two layers (even though one of them is a tank) is a bit much for 85-degree days. But that's just me.

Shirt ($39.50) from American Eagle Outfitters.
Jeans ($29.90) from Heritage 1981.
Sunglasses ($89.95) from DKNY / Sunglass Hut.
Tank ($19) from American Apparel.
Top cuff ($9.50) from American Eagle Outfitters.
Bottom cuff ($245) from D&G / Neiman Marcus.

Photo from AKM/X17online.com which ran in men.style.com.

10 Must-Haves

(Edited for grammar and clarity. Man I'm such a finnicky editor.)

In the tradition of men.style.com's 10 Essential Things featurette, I decided to make my own. (Partly, I also needed to get into the routine of posting at my blog! It's been neglected for way too long a time.) Note that this is not a 10 Must-Haves list, instead it's a compilation of things, fashion-wise that I personally like.

1. Dior Punk Sunglasses
This fantastic pair of sunglasses were my first (and currently, only) eBay purchase. Unveiled in the Spring 2003 Womenswear collection (yeah, women's—will elaborate in a second), it's a wraparound-style sunglass with a severe rectangular shape. But curiously, it complemented my round face perfectly—matter of fact, no one else on my circle of friends wore it with the same, shall we say, stylin' attitude that I do to it. And I also get compliments. I got the basic black one, just so I'm safe. Had I been extra flush then, I would've bought the red-framed one too.

My thing with sunglasses is, if it fits you, look past the gender it's meant for. Many men's sunglasses are aviator-style, and they look horrible on me. And I mean horrible. Just be careful not to get a pair that's too small for your face—a common style with women's sunglasses—or you'll look even more plump.
Purchased for $99 on eBay.

Photos from a Google Images search with "Dior Punk Sunglasses" as search term.

The Good Parent Handbook

Whenever someone I know gets to a fight (or a disagreement) with their parents and confide with me how annoyed they are about how their parents are "immature about it," that is, the parents don't take the apology that their child gives too quickly, I tell them one of my most favorite canned responses: You have to understand, they never got the "How to be a Good Parent" handbook.

Silly sounding, yes, but think about it. It makes total sense.

Last week, a good friend of mine was, in his words, bummed out over a disagreement he had with his father. According to him, they haven't talked for two days and he's a little more than pissed off that his dad's giving him the cold shoulder (or silent treatment, forgot which is the correct one). I came up to him and told him the whole HTBAGP deal, and that this is compounded by the fact that you're talking about your father, another man.

You see, it's a very unfortunate fact that our fathers were raised in a society where showing any kind of emotion—or in the case of my friend, humility to forgive and acknowledge pride—makes them less of a man. When my grandfather died, my dad only cried for a good 30 seconds—no kidding—before he basically pulled himself together and said "I'm okay." I think me and my brothers' eyes weren't even welling up at this point. We were just absorbing the shock of the news, and already my dad's all composed. I didn't get it at first, but it made more sense to me once I've put some more thought into the whole thing. He probably didn't want to be seen as weak in front of his kids—and just break down and cry—because I would think that if he did that back in those days, he would've gotten a slap in the face, with whoever doing the slapping yelling at him "Real men don't cry!"

Long story short, I told my friend that things would be okay. Just let his dad's pride mellow out a bit, and it'll be better.


(there's more I wanna talk about the HTBAGP, but for another post. Happy Father's day)

TV Watch: Running in Heels

I'll say it first: Any show that gives other people a glimpse of how it is like to work in my industry will get my attention—the first couple of episodes at least. Running in Heels is a reality show (not competition) that chronicles the day-to-day operations of Hearst's Marie Claire, seen through the eyes of all levels of staff: From Joanna Coles—the French publication's Editor-in-Chief—down to the 3 interns: Talita, Samantha, and Ashley. Of course the focus is on the interns, and how they just do a crappy job at it—treating the entire thing like Marie Claire should be kissing their toes whenever they enter the Hearst towers. (Maybe it's just the editing, but geez do these girls complain way too much, be fucking happy that you're still able to get an internship and get clips that would help you get an edge the moment you leave school—and this economy gets on the road to recovery.)

I've been watching the 30-minute show since its debut the first week of March, and think it's a good show. It's definitely better than that joke Stylista. (Damn, did that cast Elle in a ridiculously bad light.) I really honest to goodness care not one iota for the random bitchings and frustrations of the interns—because truly, it makes me wanna smack Ashley every time she schemes. But I stick around because it gives a realistic view of how it's like to put a monthly glossy together. Last week's episode had the magazine's Senior Fashion Editor, Zanna Roberts, put together a run-through (magazine-speak for a meeting where the clothes that will be used for a fashion editorial shoot are previewed by the EIC and the fashion team) for a story in the April issue. She wanted to do a story on investment pieces (everyone's doing this nowadays if you haven't noticed yet). When she told Ms. Coles the price of a pink skirt, she was, shall we say ripped to shreds over justifying a $1995 skirt and calling it an investment piece. Same thing happened when she tried to hawk a $25,000 crocodile bag. Joanna basically said something to the effect of "Are you kidding me? We can't even put those in as a joke."

Situations like these are what keep me glued to my TV screens. Sure we editors get a lot of free stuff—and at times even pricey clothes and toiletries—but it's no excuse to forget that not everyone has a "Press" badge that they can flash to get discounts, designer garb, and even exotic vacations.

There's another scene in an even earlier episode where the interns were given the task of photographing women on the streets of NYC to illustrate a trend. They had a week to work on it, and when they handed their stories in, I couldn't laugh hard enough at the level of crap that the three displayed. Talita's had a spelling error, Ashley's was obviously rushed, and Samantha's was just drab-looking.

Because of this, Joanna basically tore them. They deserved it. They're no longer in college where they can wing every single assignment given to them. This is the real world, girls. Step it up!

It's situations like these that make Running in Heels a curious show to watch, and I'm more than okay to stick around until it concludes.

In these Economic Times...Magazines Drop Like Flies

Wow. This is really bad.

Since this whole crapfest called the recession started, a handful of magazines that I read have already closed.

There's EGM, Plenty, Blender, Best Life, Men's Vogue, and PC Magazine. Other titles I'm familiar with but don't read that've shuttered are O at Home, Radar, Hallmark, Domino as well as a ton of others that although I don't pick up, it still is reflective of the industry I chose to work in.

Sucks.

On a related note, in the same way that writers and journalists back then have used and abused the word "juxtaposition," now you can hardly read a news article or blog post that doesn't have the phrase "In these economic times." Article here.

Music Break: Circle of Life (Broadway)

Although I'm very bummed that I never got to watch my favorite Disney flick, Beauty and the Beast, the Broadway adaptation of Lion King seems breathtaking regardless—and you see that in the beginning act.

I am so watching this soon.

Dude, the Bargain Shopper:Ryan Gosling

His aura is very cool—and he makes a very good point about mixing dressier elements (formal watch, tux jacket) with those that are casual (T-shirt, jeans, and belt).

Tux-style jacket (on sale at $120) from Topman.
T-shirt ($19.50) from American Eagle Outfitters.
Jeans ($39.90) from H&M. No US online store.
Belt ($195) from D&G Dolce & Gabbana.
Watch ($105) from Fossil.

Ryan's photo by Sara De Boer/Retna Ltd. for men.style.com

60-Second Style:Do Some Spring Cleaning!

Not with your clothes (for now), but with the grooming products that you use!

Whenever you buy any sort of grooming product from the drugstore or the supermarket—even those you purchase off of a high-end boutique, look for the icon above with a number inside it. That's called the PAO—short for Period After Opening—icon, which tells you how long after you've opened that particular product before it expires.

Understand that this doesn't indicate the shelf life of the product, because that's what the expiration date stamp is for.

Once it's past the PAO period, the efficacy of the product goes south. While you can still use it for a couple of months more, if it's a year past the PAO, then please, throw it away already and get yourself a new one.

Photo from commons.wikimedia.org

That Thing Called Technology

I consider myself as a late adopter of technology. Never really was the type of guy that would salivate over the newest and latest gadgets the minute they're released—even though for most of my career, be it in the technical training, multimedia, even publishing, it requires some degree of knowing the trend in order to tell everyone else about it.

One event triggered this. Six years ago, flash drives were anything but commonplace. The sizes range from a puny 32MB to a wallet-busting 256MB. I was a college student in multimedia then, who needed the extra storage space but doesn't have access to a burner-equipped notebook (I didn't even own a notebook then) to constantly create a copy of my Flash or Photoshop files on a disc. A 128-MB flash drive was the best option—matter of fact, it was the only sensible option I had. So off I went to the local Best Buy. I asked one of the sales associates what I wanted, and he stared at me for what I swear was 10 full seconds. Only then that he I guess got over the initial shock of not knowing what the hell I'm talking about, did he direct me to the PC peripherals section, and said it's right next to the floppy diskettes. (He probably just guessed it, but it was a good one because that's exactly where I would start to look.)

Off I went to that section, and imagine my shock when I saw the ticket price of that flash drive. The damn thing was $60. I don't know about you, but when you're a college student, sixty bucks is a lot of money. But I said I needed it so I swallowed my pride and gave up 3 $20 bills, begrudgingly, to the uncaring cashier. (She was just there to work. She doesn't care that I will spend the next 2 weeks not eating out, partying out, even taking the bus home because I don't have the money.)

Then, before I knew it, the price of flash drives went south—and the capacities went up, and I mean way up. For the same amount I forked for a 128MB drive, you can get a 1-Gig one a year later.

With this realization, I told myself, "hell, I'm never going to be first in line to get whatever's new."

And from then on, I kept my word.

Two of my most prized "antiques" (I put it in double quotes because they're just over 3 years old—and by computer/technology's standards, would make them practically obsolete tech) are my Apple PowerBook G4 and Nikon Coolpix 3100 digital camera. Both came out the top of their class back then. The PowerBook was the default machine of serious multimedia users, like graphic and web designers; while the 3100, though a point-and-shoot, received rave reviews for its fantastic photo quality, excellent flash, and remarkable image stabilization for a consumer camera. I didn't buy them the first year they came out: I essentially waited for something new that's aimed at trumping their respective thrones so that their prices would be reduced. Then that's when I picked the notebook and the camera up.

If I didn't get new phones from T-Mobile on a regular basis, I would gladly stick to using my Nokia 7650. Yeah, that 7650. It has 5MB of internal memory, VGA digital camera, and it's good for nothing but texting and calling. I don't care about the camera, and consequently I don't care about the storage space because text messages take up next to nothing, space-wise.

It seems to me, as well, that these guys are sturdier than the McTech that we get of late. The MacBooks? They break easy. Eight-megapixel cameras? Takes noisy or mottled images. For what I do, I don't need the latest and greatest—and really, who does if you're not a serious hobbyist? Nobody prints 25-inch photographs on a regular basis, no one needs 2 gigs of RAM to browse the web and check their email. I just refuse to be sold things I know I won't need now or in the immediate future.

True, I can't say the same for tech-virgins or tech-newbies. So it's understandable that while the SAs at Best Buy, Staples, or wherever they choose to buy their tech products are well-meaning, meaning they wouldn't mind explaining the advantages of getting one computer over the other, they are also trained to sell the customer as much stuff (and sometimes, junk) as possible.

That's why as much as possible I try to educate people I meet about this one fact: You don't need the latest and greatest. In many ways, you're better off just buying something used (but of course you have to know who you're buying it from) and really be happy about the purchase.

Me? My friends think I'm long overdue for a prosumer digital camera, and I should retire my Coolpix—in some ways it's true. I require so many things off my cameras nowadays. And that my PowerBook's slightly sluggish with rendering Flash and playing DoTA. But until I see some absolute need to retire my gadgets, I think I'll be fine for now with my tech.

Photo from Chivers Dixon/Getty Images. I kept the watermark because I didn't buy the image, I'm just linking for illustration's sake. If you want me to remove it, please let me know.

Back in Action (Soon!)

I have not forgotten about this blog. I've just been a little swamped with work. Or maybe it's because spring's almost here and I can't wait to head out and do stuff.

60-Second Style and Dude the Bargain Shopper to return next week, as well as a new blog post.

I'm also thinking of debuting a new recurring column about magazines. Maybe an issue review or something like that, to the tune of Wendy Felton's Glossed Over. Stay tuned.

Image from Kevin Rohr/Sxc.hu

60 Second Style:Entrenched by Trenches

Now that the weather has slowly begun to warm (well, by 5 or so degrees...), expect more precipitation than snow in the coming weeks—making the months of February and March the perfect time to don a cool trench coat.

Created by Thomas Burberry (yes, the founder of the iconic British fashion brand), trench coats are waterproof coats that used to be worn by officers as an alternative to greatcoats during the World War years.

Eventually, trench coats became both a business-like (think epaulettes and rank insignias decorating the top portions of the coat) and a fashionable piece of garment, and this duality persists up to today.

Before, only tall guys could wear them. Because of its length—many reaching or even extending past the wearer's knee—it wasn't the best choice of outerwear for vertically-challenged and average-height guys. This is no longer the issue nowadays, as designers and high street brands all have made interpretations of the trench to fit a wider range of guys. There even are now single-breasted variants, which will be perfect for the lithe dude.

From left: Dean & Trent, Topman, Heritage 1981, and All Saints

Street Fighter IV: The Live Blog

2:31 PM: Came back from GameStop with my copy of the collector's edition. Ready to play!
2:37 PM: Playing Challenge Mode. It's very much like SFEX's Expert Mode, except it's slower and you can't jump to the harder challenges immediately.
2:38 PM: Dan's pose is elaborate!
2:39 PM: Took me a while to do a crouching heavy punch two-in-one to a Shoryuken. Rusty!
2:42 PM: Gotta really learn how to do focus attacks!
2:45 PM: Enough Challenge Mode. Time to play Arcade Mode!
2:46 PM: Chose Ryu. Neat, they have an anime intro about the Blece Project. Now that's what I'm talking about.
2:47 PM: Eat my Metsu Hadouken, Zangief.
2:48 PM: Ooooh, Ken. How fun.
2:50 PM: Metsu...Hadoukeeeeen!
2:56 PM: Man, I'm rusty. I just lost to Abel on medium-hard difficulty.
3:03 PM: Okay, forget about what I said in a previous post about the announcer being "ok." He gets really annoying after a while. Meh.
3:08 PM: Ryu's American voice actor sounds so much like Arthas from Warcraft. Listen to him say "The answer lies in the heart of battle."'
3:26 PM: Apologies for the delay. I was practicing my focus attacks. Man, I really like this.
3:33 PM: Don't use your super combo meter for super combos. They're weak. Save them for EX attacks or Focus Cancels.
3:46 PM: Thank goodness you can change the language. Some characters sound silly in their English voices.
3:50 PM: Hey, it's Yun and Yang! I'm starting a game as Chun-Li.
3:54 PM: Character-specific win quotes. Neat. I didn't notice that before.
4:15 PM: My rival is C. Viper. Not surprising. She's the only other female in the original SFIV cast.
4:18 PM: There are even character-specific battle-cries. Chun-Li says something before she attacks with her Housenka against C. Viper.
4:21 PM: Warning, system overload...it's almost like the Jean-Claude Van Damme Street Fighter Movie. But instead of M. Bison, it's Seth.
4:33 PM: Have to master Ryu's signature juggle–crouch medium kick, Shoryuken, Focus Cancel, dash forward, and Metsu Hadouken. It's really tough—maybe I should've bought the arcade stick. But I can't afford that yet. Oh well.
4:34 PM: Okay, time to head out. Will play the game with friends over pizza and beer. Tootles!

The Masthead: Myron's Magazine Roundup

Number of active subscriptions: 33
Men’s general interest
GQ, Men’s Health, Maxim, Esquire, Details, Men’s Journal
Science and Technology
Wired, Popular Science, PC World, Mac Life, Mac World, Seed
Lifestyle
Prevention, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Organic Spa, Blender, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle Decor, Tennis, Saveur, The Smithsonian, Interview, Nylon
Others
Art in America, Psychology Today, Ode, American Photo

(Not photographed: Harper's Bazaar, Saveur, Elle Decor, the magazines that have folded, Martha Stewart Living, American Photo, Popular Photography, and Body + Soul—these are all magazines that I haven't received my first issue yet.)

Number of magazine subscriptions that have folded: 3
Plenty, EGM, PC Magazine (although it still will continue as a digital magazine, I consider it a moot effort now)

Number of magazines that aren’t available as subscriptions, but buy on a regular basis: 5
V Man, Vogue Hommes International, Another Man, Fantastic Man, and GQ Style

Favorite coverline ever in a magazine: “Do you have douchebag hair?”, Details November 2008

Of the 6 men’s general interest magazines:
Best style advice: Details
Most memorable articles: Men’s Health
Widest breadth of articles: Men’s Health
Not interested at first but grew on me: Men’s Journal

Of the 5 science and technology magazines:
Best coverage: Wired
Interesting articles: Popular Science
Read the most pieces each issue: Mac Life
Widest breadth of articles: Wired
Not interested at first but grew on me: Wired

Of the lifestyle and non-categorized magazines:
Favorite publication to read: Psychology Today
Best in page layout: Town & Country (very clean, which is really how I like it—despite it being a women’s magazine, and I only get to read a page of it, Style: Men, each issue).
Has the most number of great-looking photographs: Art in America (come on, this one’s a clear winner. Even the ads look awesome.)
Not interest at first but grew on me: The Smithsonian
Title with the best of intentions: Ode (it’s the magazine for intelligent optimists, which is really just saying that we should stop looking at everything that’s bleak in life—there’s still a lot of good to look forward to and to smile about)
Women’s magazine I don’t mind reading: Marie Claire. I like their human interest pieces

Average price of subscription: $0/year. I get lots of free subs because I’m part of the industry.

Earliest magazine to arrive: Hearst publications—Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Town & Country

Magazines with the most prompt customer service: Condé Nast—GQ, Details, Wired, Domino

Magazines that arrive in my mailbox in the best shape: Condé Nast

Magazines that arrive in my mailbox in the worst shape: Hearst

Magazines that have the most number of subscription cards stuck in each issue, even though I’m a subscriber already: Rodale—Men’s health

Magazine I’d like to get a subscription to: Wallpaper*

Next in line: New York Magazine

And third: Best Life—not my market, but I like its fiction and interest stories the same way I like Men’s Health’s.

Section of my magazines I almost always get to read: The Front-of-Book (these are one-page stories that are found in the first few pages of the issue, usually has industry news, vignette-style reporting, or what’s new and what’s hot pieces)

Section of my magazines I almost never read: The celebrity cover stories. I don’t care about what the celebs are up to. And I really don’t like the fact they’ve invaded a lot of my magazines. I can count the number of exceptions with my hand.

Magazine that inspired me to become a magazine journalist: EGM. I thought playing video games for a living is the best job in the world—I still think so, although now it’s all about writing stories that would make a difference in the reader’s lives, whether it’s in giving a bad game a bad review just so they wouldn’t waste their $60 buying it at Gamestop the first day it’s out, or in reporting the latest breakthrough in curing or treating Alzheimer’s.

Best magazine article I’ve read: “Simplify Your Life,” Men’s Health July/August 2005. Full article can be found here.

Mangez, Mangez, Vous Mangez Avec Moi

No one in my family—immediate or otherwise—is a chef, yet one common trend I see all of us having is our shared interest in cooking. My mom cooks a ton of things, my dad second in number of dishes in his repertoire, and my two brothers not minding breaking out the pots and pans every now and then. Speaking for myself, I’ve been handy in the kitchen since I was in middle school. While I did have it quite easy in the beginning because all I’ve done was to cook breakfast meats—sausages, spam, and eggs—they still were considerable challenges because it wasn’t all about drizzling a heated fan with fat and plopping the meats in. For the sausages, I’ve to use a knife to make small slits so even the insides cook (I remember the first time I didn’t do it—the outsides were charred but when you bite in the sausage, the insides were so cold it was just disgusting to even attempt to recook), slice up the spam from the can (and the can wasn’t exactly easy to deal with either), and finally, the whole mess of having to crack open the eggs and making sure you don’t break up the yolk as you firm up the whites. Small feats for the more experienced cook (moreso a chef), but for a kid like me back then, they’re a big deal.

Eventually I got tired of the same thing—perhaps I got tired of the fact it’s only during breakfast that I get to eat my own cooking—I told myself I need to graduate to cooking an actual dish.

My mom helped me out. She was cooking pasta one day and basically asked me if I can finish up the sauce after browning the meat (it was bolognese, a meat-based sauce with celery and carrots), and I didn’t have problems picking up the wooden spoon and emptying two cans of crushed tomato and seasoning with sugar, pepper, salt, italian seasoning, and a handful of basil.

This continued for a while—I’d come in halfway through the cooking process—until she finally thought I was ready to take the reins. Ingredients were easy to come by and didn’t require so much in terms of prep: You can buy the beef ground up, and there’s the personal processor to chop the onions, garlic, and the vegetables. (Although I must say this: Any cook who refuses to chop their own onions is not a cook. You have to cry. No exceptions.) It was a matter of being patient with the entire thing: The onions and garlic have to release their aromas first before going on, the beef has to brown evenly, and the vegetables have be cooked just slightly so they don’t disintegrate to mush.

Pretty soon, after a few not-so-successful tries (and I only say this because it wasn’t as tasty or well-spieced as I thought the sauce would be) I was conquering the realm of pasta sauces.

My dad came in next. He does a mean pot of upgraded pork & beans. His signature dish required more patience from me: The beans can become mush or crunchy if they’re not cooked properly, I’ve to slice more things like chorizo, chicken, andouille sausage, plus of course garlic and onions; but at this point, I was used to the discipline of “cooking things through”—true with pretty much all tomato-based dishes—that I picked up on the procedure after the first try.

Finally—and I remember when I did this: The Friday before the week that I’d start a new job—I told myself I’d have to cook my own. My recipe? Rachael Ray’s Country French Chicken. (Recipe here.) I’ve seen this episode a number of times on FoodTV, and I’ve always thought of it to be quite easy. One thing I was looking forward to is the use of red wine to flavor the dish. So off I went to the grocery, bought the ingredients—they were all easy to come by, even the creminis—and started with the process.

For some reason, I didn’t season as much as I should have, thus the finished product turned out bland, but because I salted the egg noodles and used salted butter to flavor them, things fortunately balanced quite well in the end. My dad seemed to like it when he tried the same thing that same night, commenting about the need for more salt and pepper in the chicken itself. I made a mental note to myself that if it’s chicken or a nice piece of steak that I should season generously.

It took me two more tries to perfect Country French Chicken, mainly because like Ms. Ray, I eyeball seasonings. (Actually, I picked up the habit from her, so....)

That one dish jump-started my still-growing plethora of recipes that I can whip when necessary. Matter of fact, I have enough that I’ll have something new to eat every day for three weeks:

Pasta
Country French Chicken
Bacon Mac & Cheese
Bolognese
Basic Spaghetti and Meatballs
Carbonara
Lasagna
Pad Thai
Beef Stroganoff
Shrimp with Feta
Penne della Terra
Seafood Alfredo
Puttanesca

Rice toppings
Sesame Chicken
Mongolian-style Chicken & Crab
Cajun Jambalaya
Chicken Curry
Thai Beef Curry

Sandwiches and wraps
Asian-style Chicken and Vegetables
Philly Cheesesteak (a big hit among my friends!)
Steak Sandwich with Mayo-Mustard Sauce
Croque-Monsieur (and Madame)

One-pots
Chili Tots
Beef Bourguignon
Shrimp and Scallop Gratin
My dad’s supercharged Pork & Beans

Among these 25, my personal favorite dish is the Beef Bourguignon. I’ve long salivated doing this French stew ever since I saw it advertised in the FoodTV.com website. Besides, doesn’t it sound so sexy?

For those whom I’ve prepared the Bourguignon to, know that you’re special to me because I’ve whipped up my signature.

Every now and then, I would buy a food magazine or two just to see if I can make something new. I used to just be fine with getting the recipe online, but I found out that I required to see a photograph of the dish before I’m enticed to actually try it out. That’s why cookbooks such as Nigella Lawson’s, Rocco di Spirito’s, and Tyler Florence’s appeal to me so much: They hire photographers and awesome food stylists to make sure each dish that makes it on the pages of their publication stand out and actually entice you to make them at home. I’m actually considering a subscription to the Food Network magazine just because I wholly support the network and its endeavors to make everyone try out cooking.

Now, do I have any interest in pursuing cooking professionally, i.e. train to be a chef? I sincerely doubt it, but I never thought of myself to cook for the satisfaction of others. Basically, I started making my own food for my own personal enjoyment. When friends and family compliment what I make, then that’s a very welcome extra.

So, when are you coming over to my house? I’ll be sure to have at least one day when we’ll not eat out, and I’ll have you try my food. I promise it’ll be good.

Image from thegutsygourmet.net

Uh, No Thanks.

Snapped this at a convenience store in the Philippines. Yeah, if you can't "garantee" that whoever wrote the copy of your product can spell the most important word in this 3-word phrase, then I don't think I'd feel "garanteed" that your knife's gonna be sharp. So, no thanks.

Music Break: Just a Love Song and Beautiful in my Eyes

Okay, I admit, I have a soft spot for ballads and love songs. But I have strict standards as to how sappy it has to be. Boyband ballads are disgusting and I wouldn't go anywhere near them. For the most part, remakes of past hits are acceptable, since they build on an already successful foundation—i.e. they're already good to begin with.

Christian Bautista, a Filipino singer and a good friend, released an album last year called "Just a Love Song...Live!" and it contained these two songs. Both—well, I'll give him this because he rendered them so well—are remakes, and actually I don't mind.

Simple lyrics, soothing melodies, and both registering low in the too-sappy scale. My favorite of the two is "Beautiful in my Eyes." I got choked up a bit the first time I heard it. Seriously.

Live Blogging Street Fighter IV

I'm such a nerd for doing this, but on February 17th, I'll be liveblogging my experience playing Street Fighter IV for the XBox 360. Yeah.

60-Second Style:10 Rules I Abide by as Fashion Editor

1. Many times, it’s the most expensive garment in an outfit that’s the most plain-looking.
It might not make sense at first, but the first fashion rule applies here: Invest in classics you’ll wear forever. You can definitely spend on trendier pieces from designers, but how long will you be able to enjoy them? Two, 3 months the most? Not much mileage there, right?

2. Always try a size lower than what you think you are.
Believe me, you might think it’s too small but more often than not, you’ll realize that it’s your true size. (If a size down is too tight then no worries, at least you tried.)

3. And always try everything on.
Sizing across designers and brands are never consistent. I’ll use myself as example: I’m S or XS at Gap and Old Navy, but I’m a medium in Zara and Topman. Regardless, #2 rule still applies—I thought I was an M at Old Navy, but found that size too baggy.

4. The only time you have to match your belt with your shoes is when you’re wearing black and brown.
Black shoes and black belt (and black watch if you have one); brown shoes and brown belt (match the hue as closely as possible). When you’re wearing sneakers, or any other hue, feel free to relax—even break—this rule.

5. I’ve talked to many women’s-magazine fashion editors, and they all agree on one thing: Your pants are too baggy.
They wanna see a nice outline of our asses, guys.

6. I’ve also talked to many women’s-magazine beauty editors, and they all agree on one thing: Your unibrow is disgusting.
Shave it, pluck it, wax it, laser it, thread it, do everything you can to get rid of it. Whenever I have it professionally done, I decline when they ask me if I want the rest of my brows fixed as well, because they always mess up. No unibrow: Good. Girly arched brows? No, thanks.

7. Everyone looks fantastic in a garment with epaulets.
And there’s the added bonus of broadening your shoulders—a study shows that women look at a man’s shoulders to perceive how “strong” and in-control they are. So wouldn’t you want it?

8. Your shoes: Never pointy, never square.
Rounded, slightly elongated toe: Now you’re getting the idea.

9. Try on as many brands as you can.
I know I may be asking for too much—adding an extra hour or 2 to your trip to the mall, but really, having access to many brand names and designers taught me one thing: There’s always one that will completely impress one guy, but will disappoint the other. Once you find a clothesmaker that churns out things you always like, show some love—but don’t be exclusive, because there’s another one that will impress you equally.

10. Finally: Clothes will wear, colors will fade, and jeans will tear.
Throw. Them. Out. I guarantee you’ll find a replacement for them in your next shopping trip.

Images 1-5, 7-10 from men.style.com; image 6 from bellasugar.com

Bad Crap.

Haha. Really? First you do a bad impression of a Mac window (fonts are Windows fonts, not Mac), but you also screw up in the spelling of your supposed "good" software.

So really, thanks for telling me that my Mac supposedly has bad cookies and compromising files, but no thanks. You're no better.

Music Break: Vincent

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) - Josh Groban
I got interested again in Vincent Van Gogh's art after reading a piece about his mastery of evening painting in an issue of Smithsonian magazine. (One of my newest acquired magazines. I just lost three: PC Magazine, EGM, and Plenty—all have folded. Boo recession.)

Very nice melody, the vocals are soothing (even the original one by Don McLean, though I prefer Mr. Groban's rendition) but it's not something you would want to dedicate to someone for one simple fact: It's a song about Van Gogh, who may be a fantastic painter, but this is the same man who cut off part of his ear lobe and committed suicide. Not exactly a "romantic" song to offer to someone.

Happy New Year!

I know, I know: This post is 11 days late. There's no excuse for it, except I've enjoyed the holiday season so much that I didn't have time to sit down and collect whatever thoughts I have to a composed blog post. When it was over, the avalanche of back-to-normalness was also kind of overbearing for me, despite it really being just this week.

Well, that hopefully explains the absence, now let's get on to the meat of this post, shall we?

2008 for me started on a high note, then came very low points, and ended well. Those who've been following my life definitely would be able to deduce that the high note is really the exhilaration of moving to the US. I've always set my sights on the land of milk and honey for the longest time, and having the opportunity to actually live here is something I'm unwilling to trade for anything. Not that I didn't love my country, the Philippines—it's been my adoptive country for so long and it deserves my unending gratitude. I guess for me it's really a decision I had to do for myself, because I've long known I'm meant for greater things. And grass being greener on the other side, this was it.

I was in a high when we stepped foot in Philadelphia airport—this time as people who wouldn't be on the same airport after a month. The snow, the chill, and the early morning sunlight was all precursor to a fresh life, something I was ready to immerse myself into. For the first time I saw relatives, family members I haven't seen in ages, some I never even saw at all until we went here.

One particular moment that I savor with gusto is our trip to Florida to visit Walt Disney World. Believe me when I say it's been 13 years since we were last there. (Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is a different story, however.) The place really is as magical as everyone made them out to be.

But things started to go downhill after coming back. The reality of having to look for a job set in—and the fact that 2008 wasn't exactly a shining year for employment. Just as I started polishing my résumé, news of layoffs started pouring on TV much to everyone's chagrin, the country that has enjoyed years of flush living slowly had to reevaluate their spending habits, and really, life just started to become tough for many. I was caught in the midst of it all, an earnest editor and multimedia artist from a third-world country trying to establish his life in a country that became alien to him for so many years. Weeks of fruitless job searching became months, and as the months progressed, life became difficult for me. I've had to constantly dip into my savings just to be able to afford whatever necessities my job-hunting—and really, living—had to entail.

While this was happening, I was battling homesickness. While it's true that I was quite the loner in the Philippines—preferred to keep only small company, and stuck with them with a passion—to suddenly be in a country where there's no one that you can call your friend, is something I do not wish on anyone to go through. Because it's hard.

This continued during the summer months of June all the way to August. It was the worst summer of my life (didn't help that it was, you know, freaking hot—yeah, I'm intolerant of the heat that way). The extended period of unemployment, I can deal with. I had my family as support system throughout the months I wasn't bringing in money; but it's the lack of peers that got to me. It's a known fact that we are social creatures, and that we actively seek out like-minded people who we can—dare I say it in young people lingo—hang out with.

I am proud, however, that despite the thousands of miles separating us, me and Diana, my close confidante and friend of many years, have never been stronger than we are now. This helped me remain sane and have stopped those nights when I'd just give up and head home. She is, and continues to be my rock.

Regardless, I remain unable to just call her just meet up for dinner and drink on a whim. Frustrated with this thought, and trying to stem what might've been the beginning of a minor depression (OK, too strong a word, but it's close to it), I decided to look around. I contacted the guys I play World of Warcraft with, see if anyone's in the area I can hang out with (no luck); I talked to friends of friends, and tried to extend acquaintances from there (no luck); until, just on the verge of giving up, I posted an ad online. Insanity? No, but desperate? Absolutely.

On other news, things were looking up, jobhunting-wise. (Well, kind of.) I interviewed and got an entry-level Junior Editor position at a small New York City-based magazine. My crowning achievement is the fact that it gave me entry to the magazine industry here. (You have no idea how much I was jumping around when I saw the copy of the issue with my name on the masthead.) Now, I'm building my reputation, establishing a network of contacts, and really slowly but surely making my way toward taking a slice of the opportunities available in the industry.

Unfortunately, another roadblock came: This time the crumbling of print media, due in large part to the looming recession that America—and eventually, the rest of the world—faced. Companies went on hiring freezes, some publications closed, and aspiring editors are forced to seek alternative means of earning their incomes while they wait the craziness to pass. I had to really cross my fingers the publication I was in doesn't close, and that my dreams of establishing my name would come to a screeching halt.

The magazine still stands up to now, which gives me a sigh of relief.

However, it remains that I'm not earning enough to be able to actually help me transition to the way of life here, so I continued to look for one-time, part-time, or contractual gigs. Again, this happened in the midst of the bloodbath that the economy faced. So again, for several more months, I was passing my résumés around with fevered enthusiasm (though even the most optimistic of optimists felt the blues in some degree because prospects just continued to dwindle) to deaf ears.

I didn't bother remember the things that happened in the months leading up to the holiday season, because it was really disappointments after disappointments. There were several highlights: My awesome brothers turning a year older full of life and in the best of health; I met Bill, who really was my first friend here—my bro!—and because of him, I'm spending a couple of days a week in the company of the bestest group of people a guy could ever have; and I guess because of all the madness, I learned how to eat my humble pie—and I emerged the much wiser man.

November was when things slowly picked up, leading to a good close to the year. I was able to get a job working as trainer for Apple, my editor at the magazine started talks with me about a full-time opportunity in the near future, and things in general really started falling in place, whereas it was nothing but chaos weeks before.

Now I'm here, year 2009. Whatever mess came about during 2008 I have already let go. I'm writing this with much higher hopes for a brighter future, a much better year (which I think will really happen), and a much fuller life. To be an optimist is to understand—and find what's good in something—even if the general mood points on the contrary. And this is the attitude I'm carrying with me—and I hope you will, too—as you start your own journey in search of great adventures.

Happy New Year!

Image from www.firebirdents.co.uk