Doodling

For as long as I can remember, as long as I have a pen or pencil on my hand and a piece of paper in front of me, I will definitely doodle. Whether this act is just a necessary impulse, or just a habit that I’ve grown into, it just happens. Anybody who has been my seatmate or has seen my notebooks and books throughout my schooling life from early elementary to college can attest that no page is safe from my doodling, sometimes it just takes up one small corner and other times it takes up whole spaces. I think it’s a sort of a release for me, a way to channel my focus into something else. I’ve always had a difficult time focusing on a certain task for long periods of time, I need something to distract and shift my attention to, I guess you could say I get bored easily.

I still doodle to this day, like I said earlier, a pen and a piece of paper, that’s all I need. I would say it’s something that became part of my life and it lead me to a path in my life which led me to where I am now. Let me further elaborate, during my early years of doodling, a lot of what I drew was influenced by comics which I read growing up. I read mostly Marvel and DC superhero stuff with some occassional manga like Dragon Ball. Of course back then I thought that I had enough talent to maybe pursue a career in drawing comics, that was before I realized that perhaps it wasn’t the best way to make a living. Money isn’t everything but growing up in a capitalist society and a family that put emphasis on business and making money, it’s not so easy to put passion over money. It’s a struggle that I have with myself until this very day, but more on this in the future.

From this dream of becoming a comicbook artist grew my love for the arts, particularly in the early years, graphic design. Now, this was something I thought I could really sink my teeth into, but at the time, I was past the midway into finishing my degree in Business Administration, and I just couldn’t push through with a resolve to shift courses and finally pursue something that I felt passionate about. I still tried to learn about it and with the help of the internet, I self-studied and actually was able to become decent with Photoshop, but the basics of art wasn’t there and it just fell apart from there.

If there was anything good that came out of learning more about design, I was exposed to a big variety of arts and it’s various mediums, and it’s something that I follow to this very day, in particular graffiti as well as pop art derived from different sources like album covers, magazine covers, promotional materials and the like.

And now I am back to where it began, I’m doing what I do best, doodling. Funny how things have come to a full circle or rectangle, whatever. I don’t regret much that I wasn’t able to pursue a career as a penciller or a graphic artists. Trying them out as possible careers, opened my mind up to so much more things and ideas, and basically a lot of who I am now and what I know myself to be now. It is the path that took me to where I am, perhaps if I took a different road earlier, I would still end up here, the most important thing is that this is who Jason is.

And with this parting, I share something I read in the Philosophy Zine which inspired this whole post. From a verse written by Naoyuki Inoue:

“The path you have taken has led you to where you are now. Who you are now creates the path from here on.“

Your Lifestyle - A Top 10 List

Hi! I figured this would be a good way to introduce myself. Basically it’s a list of things that are ‘must haves’ in my life today. Idea and title jacked from Superfuture.

1. Family

Not much explaination needed. Family is the basic foundation of society, yes? We are not the perfect family, but we do okay.

2. Basketball

Flashback, the 1993 NBA finals, Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson and the Phoenix versus Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls. Jordan with his swagger moves, Barkley with his power plays, it was a Wednesday night I think, it wasn’t even a live telecast. But ever since that time, I was hooked to, no, LOVED basketball. If there was any one constant thing in my life, this was it. My interests have come and go and some come back again, but this was one thing that never changed while I was growing up.

Not just limited to watching basketball, I grew up playing the game, I was never and ever will be good at this game, but I’m a decent player. I could probably do better explaining the technical aspects of playing basketball like shooting, defense, running plays,etc. than actually playing in the game.

I’m 25 now and it’s been 15 years, and this will be forever.

3. Sneakers

Playing basketball meant you needed the proper kicks to play. Most people just wore whatever back then, as long as it was ‘rubber shoes’, it was okay. But I saw more than just shoes, I saw great design and a certain connection to the player wearing or endorsing the sneakers. Early years I was enamored by the designs on Reebok shoes, the Shaqnosis worn by Shaq or the Kamikazes that were designed for Shawn Kemp, as a kid unknowingly learning to love how good design affect our lives. Eventually I caught up with Nike and Adidas, with Penny Hardaway rockin’ Zoom Flight 96s and of course, Jordan with his Air Jordans. Later on was the love for the 3 stripes, with great Feet You Wear campaign banned by then-rising stars Kobe Bryant and Antoine Walker.

I always wore mid-level priced kicks back then though, because my parents would never buy me expensive shoes. I would always buy at sales and shoes that were from the previous season, and I would wear ‘em till the soles fell off. It was only recently when I got into the working world that I had the capacity to purchase whatever shoes that I liked and still there was still a certain frugality that was instilled to me that prevented me from going wild with shoe purchases.

From basketball shoes I grew to love casual sneakers as well, and it just grew and grew to what it is now. Whatever pair I have now doesn’t just look good but appeals to whatever personal ideals I have, it’s many different stories in each pair. It’s not just something that conforms to the body but to the person wearing it, to me.

4. Comics

One of the other things I got growing up. This was one of the ways my father used to get me to read. I loved comic books, those Superhero types most of all. It kinda waned off when I grew older, probably due to the fact that I couldn’t afford to follow every issue, but later on I got back to it. Just like when people say it’s meant to be. The internet did help a lot with downloadable scans allowed me to follow the current storyline, and after a while I got back to buying the trade paperbacks and hardbound books as well. As of late, I’ve been buying hardbound books because I figured I would start my own collection and perhaps it could be something I could show my kids later on and hopefully they’ll love it too.

5. Internet

The Internet has been revolutionary, it’s been said a million times and they should keep on saying it. I’ve just learned some much online which I wouldn’t have access to without it. Growing up in a 3rd world country meant being limited to whatever resources available locally, and with people starving and jobless, those resources would be scarce as most funding would be needed for more important matters. I admit that I grew up on the Internet, most of my interests now are influenced someway by what I’ve learned online. From the type of music I listen to, to my personal ideals, even to the shoes I wear. I’m just sick and tired of being satisfied of the things that are just available here, I want something more, I want something different, something that not every Jack walking in the street is wearing, or every Manang is listening to. I want to say something is cool because it is, and not because everybody says it’s cool. The Internet helps me do that.

6. Design

I got into design by way of comic books. Naturally I dreamt of growing up and becoming a comic book artist one day, perhaps in the mold of a Jim Lee. I used to copy a lot of comic book covers and tried to make some of my own characters. Used to think I really had talent, but that kinda fell apart especially when I stopped developing. I can still draw decently but it’s nothing compared to the skills Pros have. But that led the way to me learning to appreciate design on another level, on how a certain line can change a whole scene or how proper placement of shadows can set the mood of the panel, just how color affects a certain piece. Graphic design was a natural next step for me, I did try to self teach myself and was able to decently handle Photoshop, but without the proper education behind me, all plans of doing design just fell off too.

Design will always be an interest, whether it’s a book layout or a great CD cover, I’m always looking out for that something, that spark of inspiration. It’s a great feeling.

7. Glasses/Contact Lenses

I’ve had glasses since grade 3, and been wearing contact lenses since I was in 3rd year high school. I wish I could live without them but for now this is something I must have, unless I want to walk around ‘blind’. I hope that someday I can avail of Lasik and live a life without worrying about my glasses getting broken or losing my contact lens.

8. Music

I’m a pretty late bloomer. While all my life, I was surrounded by The Beatles and The Carpenters playing in my parents’ radio, I never really got into music until I was around 13-14. And even then I only got into mainstream stuff, I was downloading songs since I was around 16-17, so it just grew from downloading songs that was on the Billboards Top 50 singles and discovering songs that were not available locally, and then hearing 2Pac doing ‘California Love’ or Jay-Z’s ‘Can I Get A’ was when I learned about rap and from then I kept listening and researching. I joined an mIRC channel back then where I got to know about the Wu-Tang Clan, and more underground stuff and I was lovin’ it. It was around 2000 and I was probably 7 years late. I moved on to more rock oriented songs while still maintaining interest for hip-hop and r&b ballads, and it just kept expanding, from mainstream alternative rock songs to more emo songs and to indiepop and the list just kept growing and growing. I just like good music, irregardless of genre and no, Akon doesn’t count.

9. Friends

Now these are the people that keep me sane. There will always be a side of me that most people won’t see unless I’m with friends, it’s the Jason who is totally unguarded and relaxed. A place where I can say pretty much whatever I want without any discrimination or fear of acceptance. Like most people I have a few sets or groups of friends but one in particular, the Monztarz, is like family to me, I’ve known most of these people for more than a decade now.

10. Water

I’m a water freak and I probably go to the john more often than most guys. I just have this need to be constantly hydrated and just feeling dryness for just a few moments will make me uneasy. So for me, it’s gotta be H2O for life!

So what’s on your list?