Moment Musicaux

I (sort of) pounced onto my colleague’s Mac mouse and declared it mine — for now. He’s on long leave, so I conveniently borrowed it. At least I’m nicer than my CD. He took the 23" monitor in exchange of his 17" other-brand monitor. My colleagues and I were like -___-'’.

Anyway, I’m using my personal laptop which is a PC. Which poses a slight problem because there’s no right-click on Mac mouse-s (’mice’ just doesn’t sound right in this case). Or is it really?

Well, after trial and error and a stroke of genius (haw haw), I’ve figured out THE SECRET.

There IS a right click on the Mac mouse!

All you have to do is imagine that there is a right-click button and voila! The right-click menu appears!

I googled for solutions after my amazing breakthrough (ha!) and realised that some desperate souls have actually created applications for the purpose.

Not that anyone’s REALLY going to use Mac mouse on a PC, but whatever.

Cheap thrills hoo! 

I’m really looking forward to payday, because there are too many things that I want to buy. And I’ve been having serious bag-envy issues of late. Oh, add iPhone-envy to that too.

Every time I begin sub-dividing my pay, my heart leaps with excitement at the possibility of fulfilling some of those wants. Then I remember my responsibilities, and the excitement goes poof. Meh.

YaWA? is recording an EP, which means about a quarter of my pay is gone. Then there’s the family, to which a half goes.

The last quarter remains for daily expenses. And of which a quarter goes to the Boy for helping me tremendously during those times of financial difficulty. Take that, kaput-envy!

On work:

It’s been a helluva experience. It’s challenging yet fun, and immense satisfaction comes when briefs are cracked and my team’s (uber juniors L and I) works are approved by the Creative Director (CD). Not bad for my first month, I say. Granted, the initial stages were a bit shaky, trying to get used to each other’s working style and swimming in the deep end without much hand-holding at all, but we pulled through in the end. We’ll be cracking on a Levis’ brief next, so that’s one more thing to be looking forward to I’m glad the CD seems pleased with us thus far.

But pity — L’s leaving for NS soon. Which means I have only that much time to secure a full-time job. Or should I look elsewhere too? I’ve made an O&M bigshot-to-be contact. Venture, venture. The future is still quite hazy…

• Leeched from Bonk’s blog:

"YAWA? is playing [sic] the Ballyhoo Album launch!!
Time: 19th April, 7pm
Venue: Playden, The Arts House
Price: Pay as you please or buy the CD."

• Am also playing keys and back up singing for Kevin Mathews at Timbre (Substation) tonight, so that’s some moolah and music therapy for me

• I guess I have to be even MORE on-the-ball now. Heard slips of hopeful information that I may be able to go onboard full-time, so that’s a thing to work hard towards. Can’t be complacent now… This agency is well-known for being ’boutique’ and tough to get in. The learning curve has been supremely steep, and it’s been quite a big swing, having to switch from being extremely slack to extremely tough on myself.
• I feel bad having to let up on YF sessions because of work. But work has to be my priority for now. And the next couple of years at least. It’s time for a re-evaluation…

It’s been a long wait.

I have till maybe July to prove myself, and I have no choice but to.

Thank God. =)

The interview went quite painlessly.

The CD didn’t say much; he just browsed through my portfolio and made comments like "Soccer and cars? Isn’t that quite hard to write?" I just smiled and said that I enjoy both, so he asked me a bit more about cars. "You’ve got quite masculine tastes huh". I smiled and shrugged.

Verdict:
He said that they’d just restructured, and there would definitely be some permanent slots in a while. By doing freelance first, we both can check out each other’s style (he didn’t put it exactly that way, but that’s the gist) till something’s firmed up. I wonder why he said that they usually don’t hire junior copywriters, but now and then they do. And repeated himself twice.

I want to start ASAP… My finances are drying up. Pray hard he doesn’t bail out on me.

I start my 10-minute walk to the bus stop at KAP with no music in my ears. I’m determined that my morning time with God isn’t distracted by music. Alas, I’m air bass playing - borrowed the boy’s other bass home - to practice for youth camp. Funny how there once weren’t enough drummers; now there aren’t enough bass players. Taking turns, are we!

I arrive at the bus stop, perspiring slightly from the humid morning. Yet again, the bus takes the longest time to come. A 74 comes by. It seems packed. A few people manage to squeeze on, leaving behind a guy around my age and a 60-year-old lady. The lady sits back down and reads her Straits Times newspaper. The bus drives off, and I see a whole lot of empty space at the back of the double decker bus. Neither of the left-behinds seem to notice it. I seethe silently.

Barely 30 seconds later, another 74 comes by. The guy gets on, but the lady remains glued to her newspaper. I stare at her, hoping she feels that sensation (you get from being stared at) and looks up. Oh, she does. But she takes nary a glance at the 74, which doors are closing, and looks out onto the oncoming traffic. The bus seems to move off really slowly. She buries her face back into the paper.

My bus comes. It’s almost full and I squeeze myself up, looking intently at people who don’t move in. I spot Geri at the next stop, but the packed bus plunges on. Most of the students on the bus get off at NP, so I get empty seat and pull out my Bible. At SIM, I chuckle when a mini game of ‘big wind blow’ takes place. I wonder if people get offended when the person beside them leapfrogs to an empty seat. They’re probably more relieved that they get an empty seat. Everyone’s happy.

I alight and begin my final 5 minute journey to the office, only to be ’stalked’ by a guy singing falsetto. Not very well sung tho. I reach the office, smile sheepishly at a fellow stranger-colleague and grab a copy of the Financial Times.

I’m late, but I’m king of the castle. Whee.

It’s the first year of the boy and I Thank God! We really look forward to the challenges ahead and growing together in Christ. I also would like to thank all my friends who have been a great support to the both of us… It’s only healthy that we spend time with our other friends and not just together all the time So don’t say the ‘couple time’ and leave us alone — that we surely can find — because all of you are very important too!

Today is also the first time I ever emcee-d in an external (out of church), corporate event. It was a seminar on Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting for non-profit organisations.

Oh, if I haven’t mentioned, I quit my previous job. It was just a matter of time that I did anyway, and now I’m doing a temp job in NUS Biz School while searching for a new one.

Anyway, I must say that some of these gahmen people can be really quite grumpy, act aloof or even holier-than-thou. Rahh. I shouldn’t have let slip my displeasure to my colleague though. It was reflex… The secondary school one ><’ Patience, sponge, argh.

3 professors from NUS were giving a seminar, plus another 3 accounting/auditing big shots on a panel. Much as I was rather clueless with all the jargon they were throwing out, I must show my admiration for these professors who can really teach. And think on the spot. They were really great public speakers and intelligent (duh) people. And I was pleasantly surprised that one of the 3 profs (I know already one other) ever gave a sermon in my church before.

So yeah, apart from trying to crack 2 witty remarks, switching the letters of the centre’s (where I’m working at) acronym to something-something FC (too much soccer, yes) and saying "panel of judges" instead of "panelists", I think I did… Okay lah. Mehh.

(Ignore the un-transformer-like pose, please. I was just propping the helmet up because it was too heavy and uh… Being random.)

One of the guys in the other company (we share the office premises with another company, under the same director) is a Transformers nut. He has all the figures that appeared in the movie, and more. The Optimus Prime helmet that I’m wearing CAN EMIT OPTIMUS’ VOICE how cool is that! I loved the movie. I felt so emotional whenever they transformed. 2 eprops to Computer graphics!

I need to stop snacking on Tao Kae Noi Seaweed and mint chocolate biscuits. Not when I haven’t been exercising regularly! I FEEL FLAB COMING.

Work’s not too bad. For what started out as a blah week and a creative dry, I feel pretty accomplished so far — I’ve completed 2 jobs, and got a job (that’s usually a pain) approved by the client. Ah, the wonderful feeling of going home by 8pm and doing nothing.

The poor BF’s up to his neck in rehearsals over the weekends and for the weeks to come, so I guess that’s less time together I’m looking forward to Shrek 3’s premeire on Tuesday with him, though. (The brother got tickets that ended up in my hands, heh.) A good break’s definitely in order for the boy (not that break lah) – I certainly don’t want him to burn out, nor neglect his fillial duties.

Exercise is back! Tennis tomorrow morning!! YEA!! 

The gig is in less than two weeks. Two more jams squeezed into all our crazy schedules, and it’s… Bar None! I’m jittery!

– By Elder Andrew Sabaratnam. Elder Andrew is an Academic Director at NP’s School of Engineering, with 19 years of lecturing under his belt. (A Young Adult Fellowship Talk, 12 May 2007. Here are some pertinent notes I took.)

Why do we have to work? God first created man to take care of His creation. It was when man sinned, where work became toil (Genesis 3:17-19).

So first and foremost, we should learn to see our vocation as our calling, rather than it simply being a job. He has placed us in that workplace for a purpose. From there, we’ll be able to understand how we can be a light to the world and live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1).

An example to take would be Esther. She was a Jew, an orphan, who eventually became a Persian queen to the King Xerxes. He was a King whom nobody could meet unless there was an appointment made; this extended to even Esther herself. Amidst politics that stemmed from her uncle’s refusal to bow in worship to the conniving prime minister, the king was insinuated by the latter to do a Jewish holocaust. This meant that Esther herself was liable.

As the Jewish community mourned, Mordecai, her uncle, said to her (Esther 4:13-14), "Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

He persuaded her to stand up to speak to the king, and her action saved the lives of thousands of Jews.

She was put there by God for a purpose; so are we in our current situations.

Next, we have to free ourselves of the notion that every job we have must be weighed by its financial worth. We can rest in the promise that God cares about everything that He has created, what more us who are made in His image. Being taken in too much by monies will divert our attention from listening to Him and taking note of His direction and admonishments.

It’s also then, when we will be able to listen to the still small voice. We are reminded not to separate work and spiritual life. With a close spiritual walk with God, we will be conscious about His word and our actions in the workplace.

On vocational integrity:

2 Timothy 2:15 - "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

1. (15a) Do your best, no matter how much you like or dislike your work. Again, it ties back to perspective. Seeing your job as a calling means acknowledging that your job is in God’s plan for you. So when we work, we work for Him.

2. (15b) Doing your work truthfully and handle the truth correctly. In circumstances faced with moral and rule bending, ask yourself if such is the environment you’d want to continue working in.

3. 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 … Be committed to the message of reconciliation as Christ reconciled the world to Himself, not counting man’s sins against them.
   
   Regard no one from a worldly point of view. Man disappoints, but God never does. Also, do everything generously. Freely serve, as Christ served us. Serve in response to Christ’s love and do it in His name.
   

Finally, take the Sabbath rest. God rested on the seventh day of creating the world, and we should follow suit. It doesn’t have to be a Saturday or Sunday per se — there is a reason — to prevent us from seeing work as a burden. And thus prevents us from burning out.

— 

Romans 12:3 — "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you".

My colleagues thought I was a bit demented.

But what’s wrong with Radiohead? I love it when I listen to Thom Yorke’s haunting and soaring vocals. Even though they’re a bit piercing to my ears, it’s pretty ignorable when the music comes together. Thom Yorke’s an inspiration. Thinking of his great songwriting skills puts me in the mood to write lines. Another reason is it not being the extremely-riffy sort, because the beats distract me.

The other band on my playlist is The Observatory. Similar reason to Thom Yorke; Leslie Low is another genius songwriter. Just local. And because whenever I listen to the Blank Walls album, I feel Adam’s presence with me — on the drums.

Thinking up ideas the whole day, writing, more brainstorming.

I’m ever grateful that I have the job of my dreams. It isn’t easy to come up with ideas or copy that pleases both the CD and the client, but satisfaction does come in different forms.

God has worked in my life again, and I never fail to be amazed. He is my shepherd, and I shall not be in want. Hallelujah!

I can take leave for church camp! Hooray! 

Yes, I’m employed.

It’s copywriting still, at a small local agency. It’s okay here; less of the bureaucracy than DDB because of its size, so it’s somewhat easier to get to people. They’re pretty nice.

Was just a bit unsettled because I’d only gone for an interview on Friday — the creative director asked me to start work this Monday. All’s fine here; I guess it’s about time I stopped slacking and brought some moolah home. The pinch of being broke was creeping up on me too.

So let’s see how this goes. (: 

This was my ‘departure-mail’ to the agency. Soppy, yes. But it was 99.9% true.

It was a step of faith for both the agency and her.

For an agency to put its dollars into a greenhorn; for a curious student who didn’t know what was in store for her.

That step proved addictive for her – she fell hard and fast for Advertising, and came back thirsting for more. At the old building along Outram Road afloat with ideas and ambition, yet grounded with wont to solve its clients’ problems, as how all responsible and effective agencies should.

And it was the occupants of the building that kept the agency flying. Apart from them being literally always all over the place, they were also crazy but down-to-earth, grumpy but loving, serious but funny, weird but wise, random but hardworking…

To a girl all of eighteen (now nineteen), that was awesome.

What kept her head on her shoulders, however, was the patience of the seniors around her. Though unobligated, they willingly guided her despite her inadequacies – towards her newfound goal of being a good copywriter.

Such, many tell her, is very rare in this industry.

Rare?

She was baffled.

How could such a big, rare secret be kept under wraps for so long?

Surely juxtaposing the name of the agency with something that rings (for a pussy in the well) wasn’t to make it easier for taxi drivers to understand the pitches they’ve been winning. Or any other person on the street to see the sweat, blood and tears that make up a ’simple’ black and white ad in the newspaper.

But the Chinese saying goes: A fire cannot be subdued by paper.

So, as this is being written, the secret’s slowly revealing in itself – and she feels even more reluctant to leave. She wants to remain part of this family and join them as they create greater fires.

(Not the Indonesian kind, of course.)

However, the educational system asks for her back.

She has to go, but not without a heart brimming with pride for the agency she’s spent a total of 9 months in.

She’s the intern who’s temporarily leaving, but whose heart never left DDB.

Thank you Alex, Cozette, Ida, Yvonne Low, Jimmy, Justin, Alan Lim and his team, Chris Lim, Joel, Benson, Thomas, Chooi, Samantha, CK and the visualisers, Ling, Hui Chin, soccer boys, MoF – and all of you DDBers who’ve made this a fantastic learning experience for me.

I’ll work even harder to get back in.

With much love,
Benita.

Today was nice.

Sir Silver and the RSAF team treated me to lunch at Pete’s Place, an Italian restaurant in Hyatt. Food was good, company even better. All good things do have to come to an end, like the end of my gobsmacking spaghetti when I took a dump an hour later.
 
It also marked the last of soccer I’ll be playing with my ex-colleagues-to-be. For now. It was kinda bittersweet, with me scoring my first goal — yes, after 9 months. Significant, huh. I couldn’t help but wonder if that’d be the last time I play soccer with them as a DDB-er.

Well, it was great fun even though the air was at PSI 83. I almost cost a senior his um, descendents, despite his wife currently pregnant. Haw haw. Damn paiseh. My knee still feels rather shocked. Haw haw.

16 of the promised 20 turned up for my ‘testimonial’ match. Great turnout still. Here are the 11 who made it for the shoot. Haw haw.

Left to Right: CK the Head of Visualisers, Ben the Senior Art Director (SAD haha) victim, Alan the Group Account Director, River the visualiser, Leoric the IT support man, Mr Nanyang the production hand (if you remember a certain old post), TT the Creative Director, Melvin the Finance Director, Jimmy the Associate Account Director, DQ the Regional Finance Director, Justin the Head of Traffic.

Thanks guys. I’ll miss you all. (:

P.S. They made me pose lah. 

I was carrying my bag and about to step out of the office when Y asked me if I’d done up the copy (for a rather tricky brochure). It definitely felt good to be able to reply her with a confident "yes". The boo-boo 2 weeks ago had rattled my confidence, despite it being my first major boo-boo ever.

Well, I had forgotten to sign off an ad that I was working on. That was the first time I ever had to OT to sign off an ad; something that I didn’t really know I had to do. Despite already being on the way back home, I went back to sign it off anyway, so it’s all cool. I’m glad that they were very constructive about it too. (Wow those sentences rhymed!)

"You’re only as good as your last ad." — Sir Silver. 

Work’s coming to an end soon and frankly, I’m not eager to leave. It’s funny how work hit top gear only at the end of my stint. I don’t want to break the spell — not when it’s in the midst of getting the right brew.

This is the part of my whole stint that’s the most draining. Mentally, and emotionally.

Because of the length of stay that I’ve been at DDB, there’s not much left of the ‘intern’ tag that covers me anymore. Neither can I shy away from internal bureaucracies and responsibilities and hide beneath the wings of Sir Silver, who’d veto everything for me.

I jump into doing briefs that I’ve the least inkling about what’s been going on, and then improvise and learn as I move along. And it’s stressful. Not deadline stress, but a sort of debt-stress. To put it simply, I’m surviving on favours now. Favours of seniors who’re still patient with my inadequacy, lack of experience and skills. I’ve no idea what’s being said about my performance as of now, but S.S.’s reminder that there’s a limit to their patience haunts me.

I’ll slog these last two weeks out.

The company’s going places right now. It’s won another couple of big accounts recently, and working there has become more desirable than ever.

I’ll work even harder to get back in. 

Excerpt from the latest Friendster testimonial I’ve received. The first after quite a while, I must say. But who cares. I realised that I never really touch that thing anymore, save going in to kaypo now and then and when some email bugs me to check out some oh-so-different-person-already picture.

"beni!! noe wat? i just dug out my huge pile of collecting-dust-and-still-in-the-process-of-collecting-more-dust nh pics and came to a conclusion that u r both the same and different ever since i last saw u..sounds contradictory eh?

different because of ur looks la…u pretty lady transformed from the one-leg-on-the-chair-girl!!!"

I subconsciously put my leg down.

Then put it back up again.

Right, and I’m going to Gold Coast!! With 2 cousins and 2 nieces. I’ve managed to get a week off for the trip in early September. My trip with ECYY will be postponed till we both become financially stable. Hmm. =(

Work’s been good busy and good fun. Wait — when has it not been? Oh, when I don’t think of my girth’s piling on.

Anyway.

Went to this really sweet photography studio (more like big warehouse) today. The Shooting Gallery, it is. And golly me, the place is fashioned like a super nice home. That explains how busy shoots can get, eh. Of course, what took the cake for me was the 9ft pool table! But they have only one working cue for the many they have there.

Darn, I really gotta keep my playful streak down. It’s leaking out slowly. Hard to suppress for too long, it is.

I’ll put up a couple of pictures that I snuck into my phone’s lousy camera in the next post. Ugh, woe is me for being slave to aesthetics. Geshundeit, I’m past that Superficiality phrase. I’m aiming to get that phone-in-a-camera. Teehee. Cameras-in-a-phone are not cool. Don’t really want the N80 anymore.

Did I just say ‘not cool’?

Whatever. My colleagues are rubbing off me. But I’m not complaining! Apart from them loving food and creating birthday surprises too often. Heh. Welfare rocks.

And did you hear about the spellchecking company that couldn’t spell?
Talk about egg in your face.

Bummer, but this shows that anything can happen. Anything.