I can honestly say that I was distraught when I heard he was gone. It’s not because I was a huge fan of Michael Jackson (although his music is incomparable to say the least). His passing made me think about what it really means to live.

You know he’s bad, he’s bad, he’s badass.

Sometimes, as any human being, I feel as if work is a pause button and my life can only resume once I’m done with my tasks and responsibilities. When really, life is the NOW. I believe we can prolong life and ensure its quality by breathing and focusing on any specific moment that is within what is now. If we did things half-assed, then we are just bound to the consequence of regret and making mistakes, or we do something worse by unconsciously repeating old mistakes. I’ve always thought that peace of mind is kind of like a destination. That once I get there, then that’s when I can say that I am living the life. But I was wrong.

Life is in the awareness of presence. It is in finding the peace and freedom that’s always been in our very core. When we are genuinely peaceful, we are free claim our right to all things extraordinary. When we are fully present, the feeling of aliveness resonates through our veins and flows into what we do. We see and appreciate the little details and the memories we create are more meaningful. This is when we feel thrilled and enthralled and ~hee hee~ happy to be given the gift of life.

So it’s been two months since my last post. Things (good things) have been happening left and right here in Passionistta headquarters. I’m extremely busy and I am very happy to be busy. Well two months in Passionistta time can be pictured like this:

Meet the new kitten. His name is Mouse.

From a sleepy baby, he is now a playful kitten. Notice his cute gloves and socks, thanks to his Mom for passing the cute genes.

Now onto the moleskine. I finally gave in a few months back and bought two mini notebooks. I’ve always wanted to do a collage of my goals and dreams and I thought it would be nice if I can carry it around easily. Well I was new to the art of making collages, and I could say I enjoyed every minute of it. And now allow me to share them with you.

Just be. I also wrote my affirmations on the next page.

I’m amazed how bits of random pieces of paper can create a theme.

These pages inspire me everyday.

Here are some parts about travel. My top destination will always be Egypt.

And of course, for Passionistta. Someday I want to be like Diane von Furstenberg. I admire her wisdom and passion.

Some pretty things and artists I want to see perform live someday.

My moleskine is obese!

I hope this post was able to spark some inspiration. So how about you? How do you visualize your goals? :)

Baaku playing with my concert ticket

Last night, I went to my second concert for 2009. I became an accidental fan of John Legend when I saw a random home-made video with Save Room on the background. I could say I immediately got hooked.

I was quite nervous at the concert because I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve always gone to rock concerts, that’s why. However, John Legend absolutely rocked the place with his soulful voice. The love songs brought me into unfamiliar territory but it was delightful. He knows that his voice is such a deadly charmer. We were captivated, almost hypnotized, by his energy. Only the first half of the coliseum was full and yet the people were surprisingly lively. I tell you, that is so rare here in the Philippines.

We danced and severely enjoyed the night as he seamlessly played his songs. My favorite part is when he performed Green Light. His band made us celebrate, he sang and worked the crowd, he mixed a little of bit sexy singing a part of a Snoop Dogg song (this made me go crazy), and he got on top of his piano. For the encore, he came back alone dressed in a suit and sang a very memorable Ordinary People while working his magic on the piano. I had goosebumps hearing people sing the “take it slow.. this time we’ll take it slow” part, we sounded so good. There wasn’t anything ordinary that night.

Today was a normal summer day in our house. I was peacefully watching TV when I saw, from the corner of my eye, my dad approaching while holding something in his hands. My automatic response was to scream and jump away in fear. I was expecting a creepy creature. But it was a bird’s nest with an actual bird in it.

What are the odds that you’ll find something like this in your own garden?

Apparently, he was trimming some of the trees and found this nest. I was seriously captivated by it that I totally abandoned a show that was a few minutes from ending. I followed my dad as he called the attention of every person in the house. I had to take a picture so you could see it too. Magnificent, huh?

My dad put the nest back as soon as he was done gardening. It seems the birds like to build their nests in our humble garden during the summer because the same occurrence happened April of last year. It makes me proud that my parents’ green thumb is making a difference in the birdies’ world.

How long did it take for mommy birdie to build this nest? How did she weave such a fine art piece using her beak? Did she transport the twigs piece by piece? The questions keep on coming while I look at this picture. I cannot fathom how a little mommy bird could form such an intricate nest. I guess we’ll leave it as one of the countless miracles of life. It is in the simple little things that we appreciate our significance in this world. Happy Thursday. :)

Tribute is a series of artworks designed in honor of people, websites, interesting things, etc. For our Volume 3, it is about the Eraserheads. This band’s music made such a big impact in the Philippine music industry. It is wrong to say that they were just a band. It is unfair to say that their songs were merely, just songs. The Eraserheads, although they disbanded years ago, still affects people with their timeless music.

From tasteful renditions of songs, a pink Hello Kitty guitar to sneakers, guitar picks, drumsticks thrown about, and personal pictures and videos taken, we all went home swelling with pride. I wished the people sang more and jumped more, but I guess at this day and age of blogs and Youtube, people are so into recording moments. My brother, who is the biggest Eraserheads fan I know, beamed like a kid on Christmas day. I’m actually thankful he was that addicted to the band because I didn’t have to review the songs since Eraserheads music was like air in our house. I really believe in the importance of doing your homework in knowing at least most of the songs, that way you’ll notice the slightest changes and the real effort of such geniuses in putting on an epic show. Actually, even noticing the inevitable disorientation and forgetting lyrics, it is all part of the show. The band is composed of humans after all. It adds to fun and makes you chuckle. To me, this is one of the best concerts I have been to.

More than just a concert, it was a celebration of great Filipino music. We also paid tribute to our master rapper, Francis M. who died days before the event. At one part of the concert, we shouted his name and sang the chorus of his extraordinary song Kaleidoscope World while waving our hands in the air. Hence, Tribute 3.0’s kaleidoscope design. Here’s to genuinely passionate artists. Thanks for giving us walang humpay na Ligaya (never-ending happiness) through your music.

All photos courtesy of Dino Lara and Madge Lejano.