Rejection

They offered it. How they found me, I will never know. Basta all I know is that the letter was addressed specifically to me and to no one else. And they withdrew it. :(

Why? Because they wanted a travel writer, meaning, somebody who has a published hard core travel article on her back, and not just some lifestyle writer, who, according to my friend Yogi, "can turn something she doesn't know into gold". So what if I don't have a real-deal travel article on my portfolio? I have been writing lifestyle pieces for as long as I can remember and, hello, I have churned out numerous pieces and reviews on different bars and restaurants, on people and their customs and behaviors, and even about furniture for crying out loud! But noooo, they want someone with a "travel article" daw, and my experience writing all sorts of articles directly related to travel writing were not enough.

So why did they contact me in the first place? To mock me? To invite spite? That's how it is with the powers that be, huh? When you have it, you can't help but throw weight around. Despicable people.

Who Doubled My Cheese?

There are things you miss only when they’re gone; and there are those you only remember when they have reintroduced themselves to you. I am talking about pizza.

I have forgotten how a normal pizza looks and tastes after being away from it for over two months. Now that’s an incredible statistic, knowing how, during my idle days, I would devour pizza as if it were Happy Peanuts or fish crackers. Yesterday, we rekindled the age-old romance … tripled stuffed. Did I miss it? Yes. Was I excited after I put the phone down and commenced waiting for someone to knock on the door? Definitely. Did I want to have it the next day? Er, no.

Surprisingly, I seem to have lost the drive to munch on the greasy junk I used to call my life. I had two theories as to why this happened. 1) It has lost the crunch to its crust to give way to the sausage, pepperoni and cheese stuffed within (which I hate, because I like crunchy pizza), and 2) It had too much cheese. Cheese in the body, cheese in the crust was enough for me to swear it off for, probably, another month.

Maybe it was the choice I made. Maybe I shouldn’t have plunged into a cheese-fest knowing that I hadn’t had it in months. Maybe I should have been more concerned with my tastebuds and aversion to grease. Maybe I should have agreed with Animator when he insisted that we have fried chicken for dinner, instead.

And so there it was; all the excitement and anticipated evaporated in a blink of an eye, all because I had not been thoroughly prepared to see my old love again. Pizza and I will have to endure long months before we reunite. Meanwhile, I gradually psych myself to get accustomed to cheese.

All these, ladies and gentlemen, sum up how we view life. (eh?)

At first I was afraid, to eat my picha pie....

Alien Invasion

Animator and I endured going hungry for the weekend, because the last of combined finances was spent for a Region 1 DVD copy of Invader Zim. If you don't know what it is, it's the new cartoon series on Nickelodeon (or was it Cartoon Network) about a half-wit alien who's bent on conquering Earth by posing as a grade school boy. It's a cartoon, but it's not for kids. I should, at least, give credit to Animator for choosing the most whacked of shows without really meaning to.

When I found out that we had to pay for the DVD Friday, I almost fainted. Here I was, trying to squeeze out what little value our cash had and all he could think about was acquiring that copy ... an original at that. Not that I support the proliferation of pirated videos, but, hey, in poor periods, YOU DO NOT BUY A REGION ONE.

But he did. We did. And I had no choice but to dish out the cash. (I'm the couple treasurer.) I swore under my breath that if I did not get a barrel of laughs out of this series, I would shove the copy down his throat and throw his DVD player out the window. Fortunately for him, I enjoyed it. I immediately forgot that we were going to live on canned and processed meat and Homi noodles for the entire weekend (Yeah, and I thought weekends were for rest and relaxation).

My awe hasn't reached fanaticism yet, but just the same, if you have the time, seek it. Watch it.

Perils of Freelancing

TODAY is wear-a-red-tie-to-work day.

It looks like things have been pulling through smoothly toward the end of this week. I was nearly at my wit's end Monday trying to haggle a deal with this company I have been writing content for… which extended to Tuesday, to Wednesday, to Thursday… until, FINALLY, I got what I wanted. I expect to receive payment Friday afternoon.

If you are a freelancer, there is one thing you should always keep in mind. No matter how friendly your client appears to be, and no matter how deep your friendship is, never enter into a paid project without first agreeing on and signing a contract with includes specific dates. It is the harsh reality of freelancing that when the day comes that the money you toiled for is due you, your client will find ways and make up excuses to not pay you on time, or worse, to not pay you at all.

When getting into an agreement with a company alien to you, research on its financial standing first before you give your "matamis na OO" (sweet YES). You do not want to have anything to do with a rickety startup or a potential fly-by-nighter.

Fortunately for me, I had half the mind to come up with a contract when I agreed to provide content for them. Although initially, the company told me there would be no need for a written agreement as they were not "tuso" (shrewd). Animator told me to insist on having a contract, just for formality (I nearly bent over backwards and gave in to their "request"). For nearly two weeks, I used up about three call cards trying to track down the executives responsible for the payment (who, by the way, have suddenly transformed into the most conniving escape artists). I called every day, every hour; at first seeking audience and consideration, and when I did not get a single reply, threatened lawsuit.

I have no lawyer. Nor do I have an extensive knowledge of the law. But I can write kickass contracts and make them sound as if a true lawyer crafted them. Nevertheless, I called up my friend Tuesday, asking for advice. She is no lawyer either. But she soon will be, and to me, if it were only to scare the company, it was good enough.

Never in my life had I threatened to file charges against somebody, much more a corporation. For that, I feel powerful. It was a week of hell; but I survived. Scratched and bruised, but I got my money. And that's all that mattered.

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This week's lessons are:

- Always place agreement in black and white
- You should have these three people as friends : a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant

Artist emerged, where Speech failed

Because Angelfire wreaked havoc on my old, poor, defenseless blog (My Subtle Speech), I have decided to move house and sink into this new look; where, hopefully, better content would be posted. This is my first entry.