Clickety-clack

Once upon a time, a few dozen young people who loved to draw found themselves together in a  nondescript room. Surrounded by pencils, paints and lots of paper, they set out to learn all there was to learn from a renowned figure from a foreign land.. For days and days they listened and they learned, they imagined and they drew. By the end of their time together, each of the young artists had created wonderful magic on paper with the expert guidance of their visitor. The nondescript room in which the group was gathered was somewhere in the former Goethe Institut Manila in Quezon City; the gathering with the guest from foreign shores, a children’s book illustration workshop with renowned German illustrator Reinhard Michl, with budding artists in attendance, most of them in their 20s and had just started their professional careers. It was 1991 and it was only the beginning of an adventure for these young people armed with their pencils and their paints, for when the workshop conclude...

Blowing your budget isn’t a prerequisite to enhancing your looks. Here are simple things you can start doing right now to boost your beauty without spending anything. How many times have you heard someone explain the pretty looks or the radiant quality of women by saying that such women have the money to maintain their presumably pricey regimen? “ Magastos magpaganda ” or “ May pera siya eh ,” you yourself may have uttered at some point to dismiss fresh-looking ladies who seem beautifully put-together. The good news is, while money can buy things that offer solutions (not necessarily the right ones) to your beauty woes, many of the things you need so as to bring out your natural radiance are a matter of lifestyle. And by making a few simple changes in your lifestyle, you’ll see positive results in your appearance  and  in your well-being, too. If your body could talk, it will certainly tell you these three simple things: “Give me enough sleep.” Movies and fashion features may ...

  The diagnosis of cancer is too often equated with a dead-end sign on a road. It may feel that way both for the patient and his family, especially upon being told the news by the doctor. But the fact is, while there are indeed some dead-end signs on the road of life, cancer is not one of them because life goes on amid the treatment sessions, physical pains, expressions of concern from relatives and friends, and the regular day-to-day tasks, which all cancer patients go through. Life remains a journey headed for the same destination, and a terminal illness – like any other significant condition or incident one experiences – simply means making adjustments and preparations accordingly. Call them “detours” or “bumpy roads” but as with any challenge a family member faces, the rest of the family ought to be there to guide him towards the destination, accompanying and supporting him through rough roads, bleak stretches, and serene moments. A serious illness affects the entire family, an...

What may be utterly trivial to one person may be the ultimate source of happiness for another. But one thing that is common among everyone is the desire to be happy. Where do you look for your bliss? Are you at peace? More importantly, is happiness meant to be simply a for-the-moment thing or one that can last a lifetime -- and beyond? Here, musings and pieces of advice that are meant to encourage the optimistic, the jaded, the broken, the weary, and everyone in between. "Hindi lahat ng nagpapasaya sa atin, tama. Pero lahat ng tama, masakit man sa simula, pasasayahin din tayo sa bandang huli. " (Not everything that makes us happy is the right thing. But that which is right, however much it hurts at first, will us happy in the end.) The woman who uttered those lines was tearfully but resolutely bidding a loved one goodbye, having chosen to end their illicit relationship (he was married) for good and to live free from the burden of guilt (the scene is also from a 2007 movie ...

"Don't judge a book by its cover" goes the adage, but in many instances, it was precisely the cover -- along with the title -- which determined my choice of reading material as a child.  Doesn't a title like The Mystery of the 99 Steps sound absolutely intriguing? I certainly thought so for I remember picking it out as my first Nancy Drew book. Frankly, the specific details of my acquiring the book escape me now, though I do recall that "mystery" and the prospect of a 99-step staircase caught my fancy.  Before reaching my teens, I had finished reading about Nancy's adventures, her friends Bess and George, haunted mansions and secret panels, and learned words such as "astonished," "hunch" and "blood-curdling" via the classic Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series from volume 1 to 55. Only recently did I realize that there was a number 56. "Huh? The Thirteenth Pearl ? How come I had never heard of that?" I asked in aston...