First of all, let me take this opportunity to greet every woman out here for International Women’s Day 🙂 As some of you may already have gathered from reading some of my previous posts, I’m a fan of spoken word poetry and have dabbled in a bit of spoken word myself. So, to celebrate International Women’s Day 2014, I share here a curated list of eight powerful spoken word performances that I believe every empowered woman must watch in order to remind her of her…Continue Reading “8 Powerful Spoken Word Performances for Women”
Over a year ago, I was asking myself some life questions and came up with this doodle. I’d like to invite you to answer these same questions and reflect on what it says about you, your life mission, and your current priorities. I feel like for me, NOW is the perfect time to answer this again and see how things have changed since the time I drew this. I’ll definitely be sharing my answers on this blog. In the meantime, consider this my way of…Continue Reading “Answer these questions and define your own passions”
First Wednesdays of the month are Poetry Slam nights for my favorite hangout, Sev’s Café (which I affectionately call my “unofficial living and dining room”). The “slam” consists of a competition for amateur spoken word artists and poets, while the open mic portion–as the name suggests–welcomes anyone and everyone who wishes to share a piece (or more!). Here is a piece I’ve done for both the slam and our open mic sessions. I wrote it shortly after supertyphoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) flattened many coastal…Continue Reading “Poetry: “You are not Broken””
(First published on Rappler.com on February 12, 2014) MANILA, Philippines – What does it take to live a life less ordinary? At the recently held Graphika Manila 2014, luminaries from the creative world shared the stage to talk about their creative process, their best work, the mistakes they’ve made, and lessons they’ve learned along the way. We saw from their individual journeys that whatever the speakers’ backgrounds—whether they hailed from Barcelona or Bacolod, were a newbie or a veteran, worked freelance or in a studio—they…Continue Reading “Feeling uninspired? Wise words from top creatives (Rappler.com)”
Calling all Ateneo alumni! Do you have creative pieces that have been locked up in your drawers and hidden hard drive folders, waiting to be dusted off and shared with the world? Heights has an open call for submissions until January 4, 2014–and we can still be part of it! Here are the mechanics, taken from the Heights website: FOR CONTRIBUTIONS YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT You need not be a Heights member to contribute. Heights accepts contributions year-round; however, there are deadlines for special issues (e.g….Continue Reading “Calling all Ateneo alumni! You can still submit creative work to Heights!”
I’m a writer, first and foremost, but once in a while I am compelled by necessity to open Adobe Photoshop and do something with words and images. I definitely do not claim to be an expert–I don’t even know how to do the magic lasso thingy really well!–but there have been times when I look at the finished product and am really proud of what I’ve done. If you come across this post and are a professional graphic designer, I’d love to hear your thoughts on tips…Continue Reading “Adventures in Graphic Design”
I’m writing about my recent trip to Boracay for the conference called Geeks on a Beach, which I maximized by spending some post-anniversary quality time with my husband, Paul. While the articles themselves are awaiting release, I’m sharing with you here a home video featuring my mostly-Instagrammed photos of Diniwid Beach, the quiet side of Boracay Island. To see more of my photos from that trip, let’s connect at @ninaterol on Instagram! 🙂