Weekly Ketchup 06 - The Big Cs: Career, Creation, and Children

Earlier this week, as I do on a monthly basis, I changed the profile picture across all my social networks.

This prompted a visit to one of my least used accounts: LinkedIn. And lo! I came across a job opening with a list of qualifications that perfectly matches where I am in my career: Associate Creative Director for a global firm based in Makati with headquarters in New York! Although I wasn't really looking for a job and I had no plans to leave my current company anytime soon, I thought I'd update my LinkedIn profile anyway. I realize then that it hadn't been updated with all the additional responsibilities I've been undertaking the past couple of years - the same responsibilities that made me eligible for this new opportunity.

(*Sidenote: Funny how I edit my job title on my profile and LinkedIn interprets it as a new job - I got a barrage of congratulations from my connections because of it.)

I really found myself really getting excited about the possibility. I started gathering my portfolio and I even contemplated filing my resignation letter already because I was so sure I could nail this position.

This week's fun discovery: Furrocious!

But then, something hit me really hard: A career in advertising was only supposed to be plan B. The next option. The fall-back.

That's the reason I never aspired for the big agencies and was content with being a small fry. I even wrote about it on a Facebook note sometime ago. I wanted to get into something that I had the proper training, experience, and passion for just so I can afford my hobbies. But I didn't want it taking up much of my time because I still wanted to pursue my main interest: Stories.

What suddenly scared me about this opportunity is that taking on a bigger responsibility means practically giving up the dream. That I won't have time to do anything else. For the most part, I've been lucky that the company I currently work for allows me enough time in the day to pursue other projects. That my office is so close to my house is a bonus since I don't spend that much time on the road.

But then, something hit me even harder: In the four years since I've been with the company, I haven't really produced or written anything in my spare time (and I'm pretty sure I had a lot of it) that has anything to do with the stories I want to tell. My head is constantly swimming with ideas to the point where I'm practically drowning in them, but none has yet to materialize.

While daydreaming is nothing new to me - I've been doing that since my conscience and consciousness materialized, the difference between me now and me of more than four years ago is that I have all the means I need to condense my vapors of ethereal ideas into a deluge of corporeal stories. Now I have the means to produce graphic and animated projects, in addition to the traditional short stories and novels.

To be fair, I have racked up quite a folio of published works this past few years. I've been fortunate enough to get a variety of writing gigs and other creative endeavors, all of which I'm proud of, most of which paid. Most recently, I got published in UNO Magazine and I just received a new assignment from Planet Philippines, so all is good on that front. This past week I also developed a bunch of studies for a new campaign for an old client, all of which I particularly feel strongly about, so I know I still got it.

Yay! I'm in this issue!

But I still want to be known as a creator. Not just as a writer. Definitely not an advertiser.

With that realization in my mind, I let the new opportunity go and spent the rest of the week trying to jumpstart any of the numerous projects I've had lined up to define my life's work.

And once again I failed.

I would come home and not turn my laptop on, just to avoid the weapons of mass distraction, but my mind keeps going on different places and tangents and I just couldn't bring myself to focus. I would start working on one project and then immediately think of ideas for another. Then there were days when I just want to curl up and daydream.

By the end of the week, the voices in my head were arguing thus:
"Can't I make you understand: You're having delusions of grandeur?"
"I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so."

This frustration has led to a bit of a drinking binge this past week - and that's not good.

What I think I need is a system. I need to set deadlines, just like with any job that I have.
I also need to get off the Internet and technology in general. For that reason, I bought a pen. Yes, this thing has gotten so bad that I felt the need to make something grandiose out of something so mundane!

Wish me luck. I hope that by writing about it and sharing it with the rest of my world, I can hold myself accountable - just as I did in a previous blog.

In other news:

I didn't go to Relik Quiz Night last Tuesday to work on my endeavors that spiraled into a depressing, frustrating, drinking binge instead - but I did go to Amici Quiz Night last Thursday just to break the cycle. We lost but it's about time, if you ask me. Winning every month has gotten a bit stale.

It was also Lemon Montejo's birthday. We were in Jon's car on the way home, singing along to the Lion King soundtrack - and I realized that the movie is actually older than her! Damn! How time flies!

Speaking of friend's children, I forgot to mention that since we spent the Chinese New Year with Jon's family last week, we also got to spend some time with his son Darren who introduced myself and Alec (who he calls "Uncle Carmine") to a new card game that neither of us knew how to play but won anyway. He is now sporting facial hair. Meanwhile, his sister just went to her JS prom.

And today, I'm off to have a little picnic with a few friends - and their children.

If there's any indication that time is running fast, it's that: The next generation is here and I have yet to pull myself together.

Weekly Ketchup 05 - MORE Wicked, Chinese New Year, Idolatry, and Showbiz

I did mention last week that I was going to see Wicked and I did. It was as spectacular as I expected! I've been listening to the soundtrack since I discovered the show in 2007 and I've seen some of the clips from YouTube but man, but man! The live show was something else!

From Mabelle's Facebook

However, the experience of my Sunday night show was mired by the Santo Niño procession. Thankfully I knew about the damn thing beforehand and was able to give myself more travel time. Still, I ended up walking a stretch of the way, which was apparently still shorter than what my friends endured.

Now I couldn't help but raise my elitist eyebrow at the absurdity of such a pedestrian exercise. Aside from the obvious traffic situation, isn't the whole thing a practice of idolatry, which Moses specifically warned against? I'm sure I didn't imagine Charlton Heston bearing the tablet down on that golden calf.

If you ask me, the Catholic leadership of this country should really do what they're mandated to do and curtail such deliberate disregard for the teachings of their church. If they relegate their energies towards making their principles consistent instead of waging their war against sex education and reproductive health, then maybe they'd get my respect.

Incidentally, the 7th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights concluded around the same weekend that I got to see Wicked. A bunch of my friends were a part of that event and I was invited to be a member of the social media team but I had to decline because I had a job to attend to.

It's a good thing I did because I actually had a writing gig last week and I wanted to finish it before I left for Wicked. I wrote an article about how Philippine cinema would come to be defined by great independent movies and not by the idiotic fares that sell at the box office. My conclusion was that the few are likely to remember a great movie like On The Job while the many are likely to forget a movie like My Little Bossings.

I could only approach the subject from an academic perspective since I'm not a showbiz-oriented person. Obviously, I'm also not a populist. So imagine how annoying this week had been for me when the real and virtual world both kept blabbing about this incident. No joke: There were days when I just wanted to hide from the world.

ONGPIN!!!

After Wicked, I got to satisfy my week-old craving for mantao with cuapao, which is apparently the same thing. I had some last Friday as well. I met up with some friends to join in the lunar new year celebration at Binondo. Like with CCP, traffic was so bad that I had to walk part of the way through, which was expected.

As soon as I got to Chinatown, my first thought was "Where are all the Chinese people?" Seriously, I was just one in a throng of tourists who came to experience an authentic Chinese celebration. Jon said that their family go through all the activities they need to do in observance of the new year the day before, so all the action on the streets of Binondo was mainly for the benefit of the tourists - and wow! What a party it was! It was like One Short Day at the Emerald City, except it was me and my friends in Chinatown!

Photo from Alec's FB

Yet, while we're all in a revelry mood, I couldn't help but notice the extreme poverty on some corners of Ongpin. I suppose I will never understand the masses' predilection for idols - the religious and showbiz variety, until I have nothing else.

Anyway, I did finish a few things this week: Neil Gaiman's "American Gods"; and the "good" campaign of Warlords Battlecry. And just so I don't go on a somber note, here's a funny song that I just discovered this week!

Weekly Ketchup 04 - WICKED, Disney Songs for Guys, Jonathan Groff

Wicked week is finally here! And yes, I'm off to catch it TODAY! But no, there won't be any review because I already know it's going to be AWESOME!!!

But follow my trail of thought here: Wicked - Idina Menzel - Frozen - Jonathan Groff.

I bring this up because I realized this week that while altos despair the lack of Disney songs for their range, I lament that there really aren't that many thematic Disney songs for guys.

The last three Disney animated musicals all had female leads, which is great and all, but left no room for songs for guys like me. I was so looking forward to Jonathan Groff's contribution to the Frozen soundtrack but that turned out to be a dud. Oh well.

In all of Disney history, I can only think of only two male anthems: Hunchback's Out There and Hercules's Go The Distance. Not even Aladdin, The Lion King, or Tarzan had good themes in the same vein as Let It Go. Guys like me have had to content ourselves with lowering the pitch of Part Of Your World, Colors of the Wind, Reflection, or all of Belle's songs! Either those or the goofy songs like Under The Sea and Be Our Guest.

I mean, that doesn't change my appreciation for those songs. They're great to listen and sing along to, and if I really want to get my slow, power ballad fix, I can always turn to the live adaptations. Thankfully, the stage versions of the The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King all have additional songs for Eric, Aladdin, and Simba respectively. I can only hope that the Frozen stage musical they're currently developing would also add songs for Kristoff or even Hans.

Outside of Disney adaptations, recent stage productions have been my go-to to get my fix of male-centric songs - like Newsies (also a Disney production), the Book of Mormon (which also starred Frozen's Josh Gad/Olaf), Catch Me If You Can, and the new production of Pippin, as well as some off-Broadway work like Bare and the discography of Scott Alan.

I suppose there's also such a thing as the tug of the market. The Disney princess line is a successful franchise and female empowerment is such a popular theme, and I probably belong to the 1% in this case. I can't help but wonder if this feeling of under-representation is comparable to the plight of the female readership in the comic industry. Probably not. It's probably just me.

(*On a somewhat related note: I've been writing an article local cinema this past week and, not surprisingly, the idea that the "tug of the market" dictates production also popped up.*)

Now back to Jonathan Groff. I got to check out his new show, "Looking", earlier this week. I thought it was gonna be a funny show and I was a bit disappointed. I already gave it my short review so I'm not gonna get into that anymore. Just thought I'd mention it since it ties up with the rest of the blog.

Weekly Ketchup 03 - Making Time and Catching Up

I've been walking home since work resumed for the year.

I find the exercise to be very calming. It allows me to collect my thoughts, gather ideas, and draw some general realizations. Just a couple of results from this week's "spirit walk":

FRIENDS AND ASSERTIVENESS

Earlier this week, I got to thinking about people, mainly my friends and why I seem to enjoy the company of some more than others (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way about the circles of people they hang with). Anyway, what I realize is that I generally enjoy the company of people who are more assertive. How many times have I tried to schedule get-togethers with friends only to run into a blockade of "I can't" responses because of so and so reasons. Most of the time, I didn't even call for the gathering. Someone else did but somehow I got appointed to initiate and organize the damn thing, which I wouldn't normally mind, except that defeated responses are so annoying and discouraging. And just like that, plans fall and friends are never seen again.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the friends I hang out with the most are always available. It just means that these people are assertive enough to offer solutions instead of problems and answers instead of questions. Speaking of questions, perhaps the most reviled one I keep hearing is "Who else is going?" Then there are those who wait until everyone else has confirmed before confirming themselves. There is something wrong when your participation is dependent on other people's attendance. Frankly, I find it insulting. For me, it's a simple matter that someone cared enough to invite me and unless I actually had something else planned, I should be able to go - regardless of whether our common friends would be there as well.

And that is precisely how I got myself jumping from one gathering to the next over the course of 24 hours. The thing is that I liking making myself available to friends, especially those I don't get to see very often - even for just a short appearance. It's a simple effort to maintain relationships that could go a long way.

Maybe "assertiveness" just means that: taking the time and making the effort.

The first episode of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's kinda sorta variety show is on YouTube.

MISSING OUT AND CATCHING UP

The other thing that got me thinking this week is that I seem to be perpetually playing catch up with the rest of the world, or at least my peers. It started when I shared that I had only recently learned of "A Dog of Flanders" and its anime adaptation, which everyone apparently had lingering memories and strong feelings about. Of course, that was just the latest in a string of references that I was oblivious about. And it's not just about pop culture, sometimes even snippets of general culture, eg language, that is common for everybody is alien to me. But let's stick to the pop cultural aspects for the sake of brevity.

I've long figured out the why's and the how's in this phenomena of my life - so I'm not gonna get into that. What got me scratching my head this week is: If I'm constantly playing catch up, how or when am I gonna get ahead or at least synced with everybody else? Then it hit me: Why should it matter that I catch up with what everybody else had known or enjoyed? I mean, the hours that I didn't spend watching or reading about the worlds and the stories that everybody else enjoyed, I spent discovering other worlds and even crafting my own. The characters and stories I imagined when I was a kid are still with me to this day.

I also realized that in some respects, I was ahead of everybody else. I was into A Song of Ice and Fire and The Avengers way before either had become prime commodities, and now I'm not as interested. I also look at the things I tried to catch up on and I just don't like them as well as their fandoms thought I would. Firefly and Battlestar Galactica both have really ardent fans among my closest friends and I tried watching them but I'm just not as fascinated. I tried Harry Potter and couldn't move past the fourth book. I'm reading Neil Gaiman now and I'm bored to tears (granted it's only been one book so far). For these very reasons, I am always suspect when people tell me "You're gonna love it."

Riley Rewind - It's a short time travel film. All five parts are on YouTube.

I remember this quote from Glee that went something like "the first step to growing up is to quit apologizing for the mistakes of your youth".

So maybe I should stop feeling sorry for missing out and stop catching up for the sake of catching up. Maybe I should just continue to enjoy the things I do even if nobody else does. Obviously, I'm not a populist kind of person anyway.

Although as a creator and not just a consumer, I do need to know what has come before and what has already been done, maybe even uncover what I've been missing. Though I feel like getting into something for academic purposes muddles the experience. I have yet to get into Doctor Who or Hayao Miyazaki's work but to do so because either everyone else are into them or to understand why that is is just the wrong way to go about it. I have to be genuinely interested and I may get there eventually, give it a year or ten. It's worked so far with my GOG.com games, most of which were titles I was interested in a long time ago but didn't have the means or access to at the time. I suppose it's still catching up - but at least I'm catching up with myself, not with everyone else.

DNews is a channel that present entertaining science news daily.

PS: I did mention that I want this blog to be a depository of my ramblings, discoveries, and recommendations, hence the filler YouTube videos, all of which I chanced upon this week and really liked!

Weekly Ketchup 02 - Book Sale, Saving Money, and CES

Just a few hours ago, I decided to check out Fully Booked Gateway's 50% off renovation sale - against all sound reasoning. I say that because:
a) I still have close to 75 eBooks in my digital library (all paid for, by the way)
b) I had just done my financial projections for the year and I really shouldn't be impulsive with my purchases (but more on that later)

To be fair, I wasn't really in the market for a novel. I was hoping to score one of those heavy, big-ass graphic design books that are always so damn expensive. Either that or a nice illustrated reference book for fantasy, mythology, and such. Or a nice non-superhero graphic novel like these ones I found some months ago:

Manga Shakeskpeare

I find that illustrated books are much better in printed form rather than digital, though I do have some graphic novels in my eBook collection as well. Reading illustrated digital books, for me, is a horrendous experience, especially since I have to zoom in and out just to get the whole picture.

I also like randomly perusing the graphics in a book, which is an I impulse I don't get with novel passages. As soon as I'm done with a novel, it's either put on the shelf for display or packed in a box for storage, never to be read again. Seriously: I have never read a novel more than once. The two times I read "A Wrinkle In Time" were school requirements. I didn't even finish book one of "Wheel of Time" when I thought to do a reread of the entire saga in preparation for the last book.

Lastly, I like the idea of pulling up information without having to boot up, go online, and search Wikipedia. So a handy reference book is still best for me. And I was hoping to find one, especially of the Tolkien universe at the Fully Booked - but alas, no avail.

I actually left the store empty-handed. And that's okay.

I shouldn't be here.

Earlier in the week, I did a spreadsheet tracker and projection of my income and expenses. I started doing that sometime in 2006 but I can't remember when or why I stopped. As a result, I've been fairly loose with my expenses these past few years - and I often wonder where my money go.

In fact, if not for the numerous sources of spikes in my income last month, I wouldn't have any savings. AT ALL. Yeah, it's that bad.

A year ago, I really wouldn't have minded. Then, I was still holding on to the returns from my PrudentialIfe plan but now that that has gone kaput, I really gotta think about financial stability. Actually, this matter has been in my mind for sometime now. Not only have I been incredibly impulsive - I have also not made the kind of money to support my interests. Yes, I've come to realize that I have been living WAY beyond my means. I'm not even supporting a family or paying bills.

That has to stop.

Hopefully, having an expense matrix will help me keep track of my expenses - and determine when and how much I can allocate to books, theater, movies, comics, toys, gadgets, and all the geeky stuff that I'm interested in. Thankfully, I already have a bank of books and games to keep me occupied.

I need to stop

And that brings me to the last matter I wanna touch on.

I did my first income-expense matrix on my old Palm E2. I can only surmise that I stopped tracking when that device conked out. Fast forward to today and I have three Android devices - a keypad phone, a touchscreen phone (that I use like an iPod touch), and a tablet. I've had them for months yet it only occurred to me this week to make them as useful as my old Palm. My new matrix is stored on all three devices, so I can immediately update it on the fly. Ironic given that they were my biggest impulsive purchases last year.

The thing is that I wouldn't have been on this whole Android binge had my very capable feature phone not been stolen. I hesitated to get on the Android/smartphone/mobile OS wagon because I knew I would be obsessed the same way I was with Palm. True enough, in less than two years, I've already gone through five devices and, more recently, a couple of accessories that turn out to be duds.

I only mention this because it's also CES week. A year ago, I would've been excited with all the new technology. Now I just kept thinking "How much of this do we really need?" Though at the same time, I know I'm going to want some of them (those smartwatches are looking particularly good).

Somewhere along the line, I know I'm going to be tempted. I need to remind myself that, at this point, spending on new gadgets is more of a vanity than an actual need.

I realize that these might be personal matters but I'm putting this here as a reminder and to hold myself accountable.

Weekly Ketchup 01

No, this is not a New Year's resolution to blog more, write more, or even share more (I think my rampant social media activities do a good enough job of that).

This is actually an idea that would have seen realization sometime last year had I not thought it would be better, clerical-wise, to begin with week one of the year.

And so here we are.

The concept is simple: I want this blog to be a weekly curation of my experiences, recommendations, interests, discoveries, etc. Because I do believe that: a) Minute-by-minute updates about one's life can be quite annoying; and b) some things deserve more than 140 characters and a minute of attention.

That's not to say my ramblings here are gonna be less vapid though.

So what have I been up to this past week?

Well, Alec, Hec, Jovan, and I went to Tatcee's annual year-end get-together with Plurk friends last Monday. We inflicted Cards Against Humanity against a bunch of new people. I also learned how being creative with clues on Taboo can be especially daunting with people with whom I have no shared memories with.

New Year's Eve was also a big thing. For some reason, I wasn't psyched about stepping to see the street ablaze with fire crackers, though I don't think I was the only one. The noise and smoke barrage lasted for only about 15 or so minutes. Either the neighbors were cutting back or celebrating elsewhere.

I did get to see some friends  haven't seen in forever later in the day though. Jovan and I visited Rocky and Tobie (after a year) and we played some games. I got to try Takenoko and Love Letter before we headed off to to Jovan and Paul's place to see (Zuri who's in town for a couple of weeks). We tried Fortune and Glory - AND I WON! Definitely a good start to the year.

From Jovan's FB.

Speaking of games, I finished the "light side" campaign of Age of Wonders about a week ago and I really wanted to check out another one from my GOG.com vault before the break ended , so I started on the first Warlords Battlecry. It took me a while to get my bearings but I managed to master enough of the game to complete the first two campaigns.

One thing about this side of me, though, is that I'm really playing not for the gameplay but for the high fantasy, which is obviously a thematic interest of mine. My taste in books more than clearly reflects this, but right now I'm reading something that's just a little out of my comfort zone: Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Admittedly, I'm only interested because popular opinion seems to be that Gaiman can do no wrong and I wanted to see what I've been missing. Urban fantasy has never really been my thing and this book hasn't swayed me yet. I'm only nine chapters in and, unless there's some element of fantasy or mythology in a scene, I seriously get bored.

I also read the first few issues of Jonathan Hickman's "New Avengers" and Rick Remender's "Uncanny Avengers" thanks to Comixology's holiday sale, as well as Hickman's initial story arc on "Avengers" care of Marvel's digital collection promo. I thought that the best way to really enjoy them is quit to pining for the Avengers of old. I just have to deal with the fact that they're never coming back.

Speaking of old things that are never coming back, Chevy Chase is really gone from Community (well, somewhat). I just caught the first two episodes of the new season, and yeah, I'm still on board.

So anyway, that about wraps up the first of what I hoped would be a consistent weekly thing. I just came home from playing EVEN MORE games with Jovan, Alec, and Marks Poa and Escay. We tried a Pacific Rim game, a 3D Monopoly game, and a Back to the Future game. Gee, I'm sensing a pattern here.

2013 in Photos

Going through my photos on Facebook, I realize how much of a blast this year had been!

So I thought I'd compile this little blog, Buzzfeed style.

1. First, there was that final book in the series that I followed for ten years!

2. Speaking of fandom, the Avengers turned 50!

Original to movie logos

3. And my friendship with my high school friends turned 18!

4. There were those couple of times I got published ( NAME INCLUDED) internationally.

Planet Philippines

San Diego Comic Con Souvenir Book

5. Then, those few times I tried something new and physical like running...

Outbreak BGC 2

Color Dash

...and rafting.

Magdalena, Laguna

6. When I got a new dog.

His name is Manong and he's a constant presence on my Instagram.

7. Or when my friends got married.

Armi and Jay-r

Duds and Carlo

Han and Bon

Pat and Carlos (Photo c/o Andrea)

8. And had babies.

Bea!

Nathan!

9. A couple of friends returned after so many years away.

Alec's birthday

Hec's (plus Elaine and Rej's) birthday/s

10. And we went places!

UP Fair

Picnic

Anawangin

11. We also said a goodbye to a fellow geek. RIP Vic.

Honoring Vic's favorite past time: GAMING!

12. Speaking of the geeks, one of the proudest moments I had this year was helping to raise funds for Yolanda survivors doing what we love to do - BE OURSELVES!

I even got to design our promotional materials.

13. I got obsessed with PAYING FOR digital content.

Kobobooks.com

GOG.com

(Not in picture: Imagecomics.com and CDbaby.com)

14. And even got new gadgets!

My 'Droids

My e-book reader!

15. I didn't get to travel much this year but I still got to discover brave new worlds.

(Not in picture: Elantris)

16. I also started wearing glasses and got my teeth fixed (but we don't want a picture of that now, do we?).

17. Perhaps the best thing to ever happen this year (that don't get to happen often) was getting to spend more time with family since my grandma and my cousin were here.

That happened to be our first trip in forever - and I'm glad to have been the one to organize it!

18. Oh, and I turned 32.

For the most part, it's been a bit of a banner year. But it also left me with a lot to think about. It was the year of the elections and Yolanda, after all.

On a personal level, I realized I had some growing up to do.

I've been holding on to the returns from my Prudentialife college plan for quite a while only to see it fizzle out into practically nothing. That I'm unprepared for so many things was a harsh realization.

Still, it was a good year. The only regret I had was I seemed to have lost a friend.

My only wish for the coming year is to see that bridge rebuilt.

Kobo Glo and eBook Shopping

Earlier this month, thanks to a seasonal spike in income, I finally got myself a dedicated ebook reader. And as one can surmise from this blog's title, I got a Kobo.

Why a Kobo?

Because it's not a Kindle.

Look, I don't want to turn this into a Kindle vs Kobo thing because I've only ever had the experience of using the one device. And while I have nothing against Amazon (except maybe the closed ecosystem), I do believe in growing the industry by encouraging competition. So while everybody and their mother enjoy their Kindles, I'm going for the alternative experience.

National Bookstore also made the accessories available, so I got my Kobo a nice sleep cover.

Sidenote: This is pretty consistent of me. As I mentioned on Instagram, back when the iPod was king, I went Creative. Heck, I'd be using Palm/WebOS right now if the platform was still active.

Anyway, I got the Glo, which is Kobo's mid-range offering that competes directly with the Kindle Paperwhite and Nook Glowlight. The model was launched last year and I've all but given up on ever getting my hands on one locally.

Then something near to miraculous happened when National Bookstore partnered with Kobo Inc. to be the official distributor of Kobo products in the country. The Glo, along with the Touch and the Arc, was officially launched at the Manila International Book Fair mid of this year. But I still bided my time because: a) Limited income; and b) I still had a collection of droids that I can read books on. For the same reasons, I also waited for a sale that never happened and mentally debated whether I should just get a Mini from one of the local online gray market shops.

Image credit: Kobo's device line-up

All the while I keep thinking that I don't really have a collection of eBooks to merit a separate device specifically for reading. I have a small collection of pirated epubs but every time I try to read one, I just couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. As a writer, I just didn't like the idea of cheating authors out of their due royalties. Also: most of these typed up epubs are really crappy.

Then fate handed me a good one once again when just last month, Kobo sent me a 50% discount code that I can use multiple times on their online store! I also stumbled upon other discount coupons online that went as high as 85%! Long story short, I'm almost broke by P10k thanks to my eBook spree.

TIP: BPI My ePrepaid has a down-time from 10am to 6pm. Paying either directly or via Paypal can result in failed transactions during that period. My account was locked after three unsuccessful attempts, so I had to use my Metrobank Mastercard debit card.

The great thing about the Kobo eBook store is that their prices are already in Philippine peso. The downside, I notice, is that there is no Add To Cart option. I had to Check-out every item individually, which can get pretty taxing.

By the end of the promo period, I had acquired a good number of ebooks and the Kobo virtual library on my tablet was looking pretty filled up. I got books by Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jim C. Hines and young adult fantasy series like the Last Apprentice/Wardstone Chronicles, Ranger's Apprentice, and Septimus Heap. Gee, I think it's gonna take me a couple of years to go through them all!

A small section of my virtual library from the Chrome app.

When I finally got my Kobo Glo, all that content was waiting and ready to go! Theoretically, I can also load pirated epubs and other non-Amazon formats as well as the free titles I got from Google Play Books but I have yet to try them.

It's been three weeks since I've had the Glo and I've experienced no problem with the hardware or the store. And if there were, I'm glad to report that the customer service has been excellent. I sent a request for a change of cover and I was promptly advised to contact the publisher, which I did. Within a week, the cover had changed but wouldn't sync to my device. Contacted Kobo customer service via email; they gave me instructions; and presto! Nice, updated ebook cover!

Is it worth reading on a Kobo than on a tablet or smartphone? Hell yeah! I don't know what it is but reading on either devices make me sleepy and disconnected from what I'm reading. I've also tried reading in a moving bus but I got dizzy and nauseated. On the Kobo, I felt more engaged. I also didn't have problems reading in a bus. I don't really know if this adds to the e-ink vs. LCD debate but that's been my experience.

Oh, and don't even get me started on ComfortLight! There's really something about reading in a dark room with the only light coming from my back-lit book that's so engrossing! I love it!

ComfortLight in action. Kobo Glo in front, laptop LCD in the background.

If there's one feature that I would like to add, it's a dedicated notepad app. After all, the Glo does have some games and even a web browser. Evernote integration perhaps - similar to what they've implemented with Pocket?

Either way, it's been a pretty amazing experience so far and I dare to say that next to the PDA and the PMP, I think the dedicated ebook reader is my favorite gadget ever (though I'd probably say that with any ereader).