Monday, August 31, 2009

I Tried to Do Handstands for You

* Well here we are once again, doing our respective jobs and stuck in the routine of life. Well most of you are on vacation right now but some of us aren't bound by national holidays. But routine is not that all bad. These moments of complacency, assurance of what would happen during the day, and repetitiveness are sometimes necessary, if not essential, in our lives. These lull moments will pass, then something insane will happen, be it a positive or negative form of insanity. Something totally unexpected or something anticipated and well-prepared for. We must bask in these moments and rest ourselves and find comfort in the arms of routine.

* One thing I realized after college is that students are among one of the luckiest people around. Why? Because they live in a routine. A life that is scheduled, planned out, and laid out for them. You know that this subject is on this time, you know when your midterms are, you can prepare yourself for a long weekend and stuff. Things like that. Although there are some elements of unpredictability, like a pop quiz or a typhoon, or an unplanned failed exam, you have to admit that the life of a student is structured in the structurest way of a structure!

* When you wake up after your graduation you'll realize that you are no longer bound by some school's requirements. Unless you found work early and you have to go to the office at once. In my case, I didn't have work for a year. I did the classic PMA (pahinga muna anak) way after grad. Typical soul-searching and stuff. I strongly recommend that to anyone who is reading this that would be grauating this year. Unless your parents are pressuring you or you want to earn money immediately. But being a bum really detoxifies your inner-being. haha! Yeah it does. It gives you time to think of what you really want to do and totally prepare for it.

* And now here I am, after two years, still in a routine, but it's a routine that I made for myself. No one's asking me to blog or maintain several social networking accounts. Our bosses in Dumaguete didn't tell me to do that (yes, this is a full-time labor of love). But I want to. At least the pressure comes from myself. I'm writing this blog because I want aspiring young entreps to know what goes on in the heart and mind of a 23-year old full-time cafe owner in a little town called Los Banos. Yeah, these are just random thoughts indeed.

* A friend of mine saw our new paper cups and told me, "now you're like Starbucks!" Uh, yeah, somehow. I wasn't really offended, I don't want to be a hypocrite, our crew hangs out at Starbucks when we can, but from the start of the business we didn't really want to be like Starbucks. Maybe in terms of brand recognition in the Los Banos (UPLB) and Dumaguete (Silliman) areas, yes we do want to be known for our good coffee. But in terms of the overall image, we decided to stray away from the quiet-couch-WiFi crowd. Instead, we welcomed the noise from a thousand youths and played genres from techno to RnB to metal (right now we're alternating indie singer-songwriters and post-grunge playlists).

* I have something planned out for the cafe this year. As you have noticed we have mellowed down on the posters, videos, promos and stuff. But no, we did not slack off. We're just coming up with something different, something new. I won't tell you what it is yet, I don't want to spoil it! It's still in the drawing board. The question will always be (at least for me), "What does it take to be different? What will set us apart?" Oh, I'm loving the dynamism of this job. After a few years I hope we can get good at this.

* I view my life like that of a musician or a novelist. You spend a lot of time under -the -radar, reflecting on what to do, what to write, what new material to create and all that stuff. People won't hear from you and they'll think you're dead. And then you come out of nowhere and come up with a mega project that's totally cool. Yeah, that's the kind of life I like.

* Like what my friend Aaron Zara told me last night, "I like your life, it's like everyday's an adventure." Yes it is, and thanks for reminding me cause sometimes I tend to lose sight of it. God bless everybody!

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