Do You Believe in Life on Other Planets?

There is a hilarious and wonderfully crass website that is popular in the Philippines called Tunay na Lalake, or TNL. I'm not going to deny just how immensely I enjoy this shit in all its honesty, grossness and satire.

I mention this because, in light of the fresh bequeathing of privilege and responsibility and general katarayan, I came across this post of Ms. China Universe 2011's web interview a few weeks ago which proves that based on the Tunay na Lalake manifesto, si Miss China Universe 2011 ay isang tunay na lalaki:

Here She Comes

I had to rush to work at 8 this morning to edit the live feed of the Miss Universe pagaent, copy of the program script in hand. Ahhhh, the perks of being in the business is seeing all the intestines of things like this.

Anyway, hitting you with a Howlin' Maggie song called "Miss Universe" because, you know, we like to dress for the occassion.

My Mother and Her Daughter

I came across this article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer (via Facebook). As I browsed through my news feed, I thought it was just another negligible article that my uncle posted. And then I spotted my last name! And the middle name that I share with my mother! And then her name! What the hell?

Of course I clicked it and this is what I read. I've been told tales of how astoundingly beautiful people think she is. I've met older men who, upon discovering that she is in fact my mother, would get that dreamy, nostalgic look on their faces as they look back on their youth and say, "Oh, I used to buy Jingle Magazine because of her." My cinematography teacher in my senior year knew her from when she'd model for him. I've heard stories of how boys would visit her, and how the guests at my grandmother's diner/inn would frustratedly ask her why my mom wouldn't date them (she had dignified reasons).

Read the full article here.

Being my mother's daughter, there was always some pressure to measure up, or at least bear some semblance of kinship. It doesn't help that I look nothing like her, or that I'm twice her waifly petite frame, or that my hair was crazy, and that I look every bit the Godzilla mutation that she isn't. But I guess at 24 years old, being around her for all those years, there's nothing else to do but to be okay with it. Much like the recent childhood-shattering scientific discoveries that the dinosaurs had feathers, I've grown to realize that I have feathers too, and I've grown to be quite comfortable with my skin.

But at 24 years old, I feel like I'm still nowhere near what she had down-pat when she was 24. I'm not meeting any new boys. I'm even going to go as far as saying that they might even be somewhat scared of me.  I haven't done the remarkable thing that will establish my existence with the one thing that I will be remembered for. But in my mother's case, her remarkable thing was something she was born with. The lucky duck.

Instead, I'm sitting behind this computer, typing this out. 

Nevertheless, I am a daughter that is proud of her mother in many ways! And what this is, is circuitously really just her lighting a fire under my ass and telling me to get off it and be great already!

Revival

Well, I haven't seen you in a while!

Since I last dabbled in this page, I've decided to take my hobby towards a more serious direction. And you might wonder how one might do that? Well, I made a Facebook page for it! I'm now managing more things than I need to handle, but I don't know if you're as aware as I am that there are different tiers of information disclosure that correspond with these accounts -- Facebook is exactly what I needed for a comprehensive online portfolio that's easily accessible for maximum exposure; Tumblr is for when you want to share something without having much to say and somehow, someone somewhere is going to feel like you totally just spoke their mind; Blogspot is somewhat the opposite; and Google + is, well.... like "fetch" - it's never really going to happen.

But I've digressed. The Facebook page is over here:
Makeup by Abi Portillo -- The Name on Everyone's Lips
And I have honestly never been more grateful for all those times that people laughed at how my last name sounded like "portfolio." Look at how well that turned out. Ahaha.

Apparently, not everybody thought that I was serious about this. Well, for a long time it was on the back burner, that's true, but I was surprised that people were surprised when I injected a semblance of seriousness to it. Fine.

What they didn't know, I guess, was that I've been booking jobs here and there. The best parts about it is the rush that comes with being in one's element, and of course, the fast cash. HEEH.

But more often than not, I've struggled with people taking me seriously. It's either that, or people in general are just not convinced that they need to pay their makeup artists. Which is a terrible mistake, as far as I'm concerned because we're the ones that are going to either make or break your face. A could-have-been client once took a group-discounted salon booking over me, and I'm sorry to say it, but she did look every bit the 20% that she didn't pay to have her face done. Lesson learned? I sure hope so.

On other occasions, I do take delight in some of the "pro bono" work that I've done. The Hansom video gig was tons of fun, mostly because I got to do both boys' and girls' makeup. AND while they didn't pay me in cash, they did pay me in other kindnesses. :D

The last offer I got maybe one of the best so far:

It's this like this -- tiny complements from people who genuinely believe in you -- that keep me going. Abi Rode has had one outright, random, non-family fan so far, and I treasure that immensely! It's fuel to the fire in my belly.

Needless to say, I'm not going to pass this baby up! Hell yeah, I'd swap a new tattoo for a job! But it's not even the monetary value that matters to me (although I have been saving up for a new tattoo or a fixer-upper. Those bitches are expensive!). Mostly it's the feeling that people recognize your talent and skill, and perceive it up to par as theirs. And this lady is incredibly talented. See for yourself!

Despite the fact that I absolutely hate what I'm doing professionally today, there are so many things to be excited for, and right now, I'm mostly excited about this. :D

Lines are built and rails will carry you past those who would surely bury you

Penguin Prison, "Golden Train"

I went a little nuts this morning trying to look for this song I heard on the radio on my way to work. I couldn't help but notice of the fact that this song sounded like Sam Sparro and BabyDaddy had a... well... a baby, but don't you hate it when you catch the tail-end of the song and there's not much lyrics to take leverage on? Yep. Nevertheless, this is one of the very rare occasions when I'm kinda glad that my god-forsaken CD player doesn't work. Hurrah!  It took me a while and just a teeny tiny shave off of my better judgement, but after some persistence -- Eureka! I found it.

Now dance with me why don'tcha. :D

Now dance with me, why dontcha?