HERE COMES THE SUN
» 2009 September • Wading, waking, water and willpower.

RELIEF. The moment muggy August makes its gradual departure, the moment the -BER months begin their cool descent from the north, the palpable change of weather is a warning that all things dry must soon be soaked in days of constant rain.

At this point the prudent designer––of course imagining the possibilities for the next great show––thinks of outdoors and weatherproof fabric and warp-free moulding. It is indeed wise to plan (and plan well), but perhaps only Noah could have foreseen that deluge; when they describe these as 'flash floods' the notion of the intrusively quick and unfettered force of nature comes as an overwhelming surprise.

Typhoon Ketsana [»] (Ondoy is its Filipino name) came and went like a rude, uninvited guest, sweeping its torrential rains over the capital city of Manila. I am ever thankful that Cebu––for all its sometime-humdrum––has generally mild monsoons.

But it is a beautiful thing to see so many people responding to those in dire need. Everywhere help is coming in in the form of donations, relief goods, money, ready-to-use commodities.

Sr. Luz of the Capuchin Order, whose endeavours I greatly support, and whose orphanage in Pembo Makati is located in a dangerously low-level area, remarks:

"We are alright, but our neighbors (are) not so; last night more than two dozen persons and families took shelter with us. Floowaters are receding, but we are still helping them get back (on) track...God bless us all."

Perhaps, I told her in a brief phone conversation earlier today, that is why it had to be YOU who remained untouched; it falls to YOU to be strong and to assist those who aren't.


Cirrus lounge in outdoor-resilient fibre; resembling a salva-vida, ready and steady for a good family of four to cozy into.

We call floating life preservers "salva-vida", Spanish for "saver of lives" To toss a couple to fellow humans in need (a hard downpour has resumed as we speak, a friend tells me), please consider these relief sites:

• The Philippine Red Cross [»]
• PayPal donations for Relief Efforts [»]
• Bayanihan Online [»]
(collates all information and shout-outs found in NGO Twitter pages, independent relief groups, and provides up-to-date status reports and requests from various sectors)

I remember an especially endearing quote from a childhood Sunday comic, "Peanuts." Charlie Brown, unassuming protagonist and posterboy for the modest wallflower, tells an especially depressed Snoopy: “Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede...the sun will shine tomorrow."

A fine torrent of hope then.

Labels: effervescent-effusions, events-ondoy, goodwill

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TURNING SEASONS
» 2009 September •

CHANGE. While a recurring phenomenon that heralds progress and evolution, it has not quite been put into pure focus as much as it has been this year, as evidenced in the successful campaigns that have wrought so much fervour, influenced so much of the bold movements in different industries. The triumph of Obama and his optimistic slogan is not the least of them; neither are the drastic, often daring strategies taken by all sorts of businesses in the wake of the recession.



It's all over the news. But while 'change' is synonymous with 'evolution', timing it to suit the occasion is crucial, as one puts many things at risk. The reason why the DNA helix is shaped like stairs (of course one can argue the inverse, especially where the iconic works of Ross Lovegrove [»] are concerned) is because change that begets a proper and long-term result, needs to be a progressive effort: one step at a time. Suddenly switching to a completely vegan diet [»] for instance, may have good intentions behind it, but certainly isn't advisable!


(Neither is cutting off all sources of sweets. I still prefer the occasional doughnut with my morning coffee.)

(via Tom Howard Design [»])

There are many things to consider when employing this keyword to major endeavours. It is strong enough to signal the end and the beginning of many ideas and plans, all of which in turn will affect other people. A word of caution then, in these changing times: know where you are going.

And always be sure to pack lip balm.

• • • • • • • • • •

There's a cold front pressing against the borders of the tropical island humidity these days, and there are mornings when I wake up with a sense of vertigo as I turn my head to the window: Surely this isn't -----? I ask myself, filling the blank with one of the many beautiful places I have been privileged enough to experience.

There are the rainy mornings of Milano, always ready in the seasonal grey-and-monochrome hue characteristic of springs in Northern Italy...about the same time we go for the Milano Fair. There are the even colder, muted sunrises of Cologne, of Frankfurt, that challenge the thickness of the most insulating overcoat. There is Paris, in the grey hour, where T.S. Eliot remarks how the weather is "like a patient etherised upon a table."



So when the sky dims over (even at high noon) and a chill breeze slips under the doors of a room, we lighten up and warm the the place.

• • • • • • • • • •

All this nostalgia for traveling!

The illustrious St. Augustine (for whom my husband is named after), intellectual and theologian once remarked that the world is a big book and that those who do not travel it read only one page, and I thoroughly agree. As a lover of books myself (while not as voracious as my niece and some of my friends, I do have a regular literary diet), I make it a point to pick up at least one magazine on design or interiors wherever I find myself in.

What a joy then, to find that friends from all over encourage the practice, by sending in samples of THEIR publications! An even greater honour and surprise to find that there's someone VEERY familiar in that Lifestyle section, and then suddenly I wish I hadn't eaten that evil little doughnut the month before, in a fit of guilty binging. One doughnut, or two?


from InsideOutside India [»] (click link to view PDF)


from Good Homes India [»]

And many more to come! These will be updated also on our Press page [»] as well, so do pass by and view other features.

Photos by K, Gus

Labels: effervescent-effusions, press-related

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