The Yellow Paperclip Goes to Pampanga... and then to Idaho!

I'm so excited! Five books will be traveling quite a bit in the next coming weeks. I dropped the books off at the Air21 counter this afternoon at the Alabang Town Center. By Wednesday, they should be in Angeles City in Pampanga. By mid-May, they should be somewhere in Idaho.

I got an email last week from Claire, a teacher, part-time writer for the Idaho Press, and on-the-way mom. What a surprise! I haven't quite traced where she heard about the Yellow Paperclip, but she says she is on the constant lookout for new Filipino books for her kids to teach them about being Pinoy. I warned her that the book is hardly a Filipino folktale! Yet she still ordered five books. She asked me to send them to her mom in Pampanga who will be visiting Idaho in a few weeks. Wow, these books will be some of the most well-traveled ones!

Claire, I hope your family, especially Benjamin and his baby brother, enjoy my story!

Lost (and Found) Paperclips

I see these paperclips as I walk to work, in the short distance between the parking lot and the Philippine Stock Exchange Center. I know I'm probably one of the few, if not the only person who has seen them. And I've been seeing them for several days now. Can you see them?

El Clip Amarillo del Papel con Puntos Púrpuras Brillantes

That's The Yellow Paperclip with Bright Purple Spots in Spanish! (Well, at least according to a quick free translation on the web!) No, it hasn't been translate YET but thanks to a new friend, my story just might be in Spanish someday in the future.

I had dinner with two new friends from the Powerbooks Megamall Book Club tonight after we had our book discussion on Pride and Prejudice. One of them, Zoe, will be flying to Barcelona in June to take up a three-month Spanish program. I knew her from the good ole Ateneo days, but I think I only really got to know her tonight over a three-hour non-stop gab fest. She's a writer (yet like me, was also intimidated with literary groups in college), closet kikay-girly-girl, a language buff, and a true romantic (I can still remember her argument when we discussed The Time Traveler's Wife: "There are worse things than waiting. I'd rather wait than settle.") I think it's cool to get to know people outside the confines and expectations of college.

Thanks to Zoe, she got me thinking about trying out for a French language scholarship. Perhaps I can dream and work for Le Trombone Jaune avec les Points Violets Brillants?

A Yellow-and-Purple Merienda

To share my happiness with my DDI family, I thought of having a simple but yellow-and-purple merienda this afternoon. Can you guess what yummy food I bought?
A big thank you to our resident photographer, Wacky Salazar, for these awesome photos of butter macaroons (yellow) and an ube cake (purple) from Goldilocks. Here are more snapshots of our little celebration.

I wonder what our merienda will be for next quarter's royalty check. Any suggestions for fun yellow-and-purple food?

The Yellow Paperclip Gets its First Paycheck

Yahoo! I got my first check yesterday from Adarna based on September to December 2005 sales of The Yellow Paperclip with Bright Purple Spots. It can't buy me a house (just yet) but I'm still one happy kid. I have to share my happiness...

One Red Paperclip = A Dream Come True (Almost)

Wow. Kyle has sure gone a long way since he posted on my blog last year. His dream of trading One Red Paperclip for a house is almost fulfilled. After a cross-continental trading trek involving a fish-shaped pen, a town named Yahk and the Web's astonishing ability to bestow celebrity, MacDonald is getting close. He's up to one year's free rent on a house in Phoenix. This, according to a recent report on CNN. Read the full news article here.

One red paperclip, something so small and seemingly insignificant, can bring you so much. Kyle shares his biggest lesson: If you say you're going to do something and you start to do it, and people enjoy it or respect it or are entertained by it, people will step up and help you.

The Yellow Paperclip Meets Fr. Stein, a Jesuit Friend

Fr. Thomas B. Steinbugler, S.J. is a dear friend from many years back. After a wonderful prayerful and paperclippy Holy Week, I dropped by this Easter Sunday to give Fr. Stein a copy of my book as I had promised.

Our friendship started sometime around 1998 or 1999 in my sophomore year when I went to confession at the Gonzaga Chapel in the Ateneo. I don't remember what I had said, but it must have been significant enough for the kind Jesuit priest to slip me his calling card through the confessional box and invite me to breakfast the next day. I remember being pleasantly surprised. He read my mind (How will I know who you are...?) and reassuringly said: "I'll be the only old Caucasian fellow there."

Fr. Stein and I had breakfast at Pancake House along Katipunan Avenue the next morning. We shared sausages and pancakes, and thoughts about life. I can recall him saying that all Jesuits wish it were like the good ole days when they could have regular one-on-one talks with students, when they could build friendships with all of us. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. We took a tricycle back to campus. I remember the feeling of happy disbelief: Wow, did I really just have breakfast and share life stories with a priest? We became email buddies after that, with a healthy exchange of questions and stories about God, relationships, books and love. But eventually, we lost touch...

Until I tracked him down more than five years later (it was on my To-Do-List) and paid him a surprise visit in November 2004, just weeks after I found out about winning the PBBY-Salanga Prize. He is now with the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) house in the Sonolux Building in Ateneo. I was the more surpised when he remembered me and our email conversations! After telling him my happy news, he gave me a practical, one-liner piece of advice: KEEP WRITING. He also told me to come back into his life every couple of years. I will.

As strange (or pretentious) as it sounds, I really think The Yellow Paperclip is meant to connect and reconnect people from different worlds. One of my mom's best friends, Tita Vicky Faicol, had worked with Fr. Stein at EAPI for many years. Tita Vicky's six-year-old nephew, Elijah, reads my story almost every night and named the Paperclip "Lorenzo". When I told him about the PBBY-Salanga Award, Fr. Stein asked if the prize is named after a certain Freddie Salanga. The late Alfrredo N. Salanga turns out to be an activist and archenemy of many American priests during his time in the Ateneo. How strange and cool is all this?!

Fr. Stein, I look forward to seeing you again soon. I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank you for your friendship throughout the years. I promise to keep in touch.

Prayers (and Paperclips) this Easter Weekend

I spent the long weekend in glorious silence at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches for an individually guided Holy Week retreat organized by the Center for Ignatian Spirituality. Prayers, yes, of course you can expect that... but paperclips?

On the first day, mid-morning of Maundy Thursday, I saw a yellow paperclip on the side of the road. Later that day, as I walked in silence around the beautiful grounds, I saw a blue one, then a red paperclip. Three paperclips. One for each full day I'm in this sacred place. (I think it might be too much to link three paperclips with the Trinity. Hee-hee.) The three paperclips stayed with me, happily clipped onto my cool prayer journal from Yelle. I couldn't help but smile though; thank you, God! Imagine: three paperclips in one day! Wow! In the deep silence of my heart, You make me truly happy... with or without paperclips.

On Good Friday, I gave my spiritual director a copy of my book. Bro. Charles is an angel: in his earnest, most authentic self, armed with a ready smile and a generous heart, he helped me articulate my feelings and identify God's footprints in my life. My storybook was a symbol of God's love and desire to realize my own deepest desire. My big dream came true, and for that I am completely grateful. On Black Saturday, I saw another blue paperclip near the Main Hall's garden. But I used it on a note for Bro. Charles that afternoon. (So it's now a Pilgrim Paperclip. Hee-hee.) On Easter Sunday afternoon, I visited my old Jesuit friend Fr. Stein at the Sonolux in Ateneo and gave him a copy of my book as I promised during my last visit in late 2005. (This story is for another blogpost!)

Lines from one of my favorite e.e. cummings' poem capture my Easter weekend: i thank You God for most this amazing day... this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings... (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

A Model for a Day

Today was the photo shoot for the magazine feature. Eeeep. It was awkward and unnerving. It was so intimidating to be around so many pretty skinny girls with flawless skin and clothes that hugged them in the perfect way. It was uncomfy sitting in a high chair, feeling underdressed in just a white t-shirt and jeans. I got transformed by the expert (yet kind and patient... and funny!) make-up guru Ara Fernando. I announced from the start my honest disclaimer: This is my first photo shoot! I was so happy to hear her reply: Don't worry, you're in good hands.

Oh and I sure was! An hour (or two?) later, after sharing some laughs with Ara and realizing we have common friends (more connections!), we headed to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf next to The Ortigas Park. There was just the round table, a chair, me, my paperclip... and my smile. I didn't realize how hard it is to look and feel naturally happy when 1) there are people staring, 2) it's windy and so my hair kept getting messed up, 3) it's mid-afternoon and I felt my face was melting (it wasn't though), and 4) I was upset because of not-so-good news at work that morning. I hope my eyes weren't sad in the photos. Oh well. We'll see.

I haven't seen the photos and I haven't read Nikki's article. I'll post them both once I have them. Eeeeep. I hope the magazine turns out great.

5,000 Paperclips = 5,000 New Adventures

Adarna House ran an initial 5,000 copies of my book. According to their marketing department, all copies are out in bookstores around the country... and they have no more copies in their stockroom! WOW! And just when I was thinking of sending it to Oprah... Hee-hee. I hope we'll print some more copies... especially since the mag feature will be out by June. Hooray! You can just imagine: it's another my-heart-is-bursting-happy kind of happy time. I'm one happy kid.

If you're one of the 5,000 with a Yellow Paperclip as a new friend, pause to think: if you have a paperclip, what colorful adventure will you start today? Let me know so I can include your stories in the sequel. (Yes, thanks to an impromptu brainstorming session with Papa last month, it looks like we have a sequel... and possibly even a prequel! I just need to get it out... and write.)

GOAL: 100 Spots in 2006 (and More)

When we set goals in DDI, we want them to be SMART objectives. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. When I pitched to blog for www.2dobeforeidie.com, I needed to write my goal in a SMART way too. So I wrote: By December 31, 2006, I want the Yellow Paperclip to travel to at least 100 unique spots.

Here are our bright purple spots since August 2005:

1. Anaheim, California
2. ATD Street Library
   
3. Ateneo de Manila University
   
4. Bangkok, Thailand
   
5. Blue Eagle GK Village
6. Boise, Idaho
   
7. Boston, Massachusetts
8. Cagayan de Oro
   
9. Cincinnati, Ohio
10. Davao
    
11. De La Salle Zobel Library
12. Delaware
13. General Santos
    
14. Gunalda, Australia
15. Gurgaon, India
    
16. International School Manila Elementary Library
    
17. Jakarta, Indonesia
18. London, England
    
19. Los Angeles, California
20. Malate Church
21. Melbourne, Australia
22. Milpitas, California
23. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
24. Montreal, Canada
    
25. Muenster, Germany
26. New Jersey
    
27. New York City, New York
    
28. Newport, Kentucky
29. North Carolina
    
30. Norway
31. Ohio, Cincinnatti
    
32. Oxford
33. Park Ridge, Illinois
    
34. Peru
35. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    
36. Polytechnic University of the Philippines
    
37. Queensland, Australia
38. Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches
    
39. San Diego, California
40. San Francisco, California
41. San Jose, California
    
42. Seattle, Washington
43. Seoul, Korea
    
44. Singapore
45. Slovenia
46. South Cotabato
    
47. Suffolk, England
48. Texas
49. Toronto
50. Vancouver
    
51. Victoria, Australia
52. Xavier School
53. Zambales
    

If you have my book and you're in a unique spot that's not on this list yet, do let me know! In the next nine months, where in the world will the Yellow Paperclip go?

But what is it really all about? Ultimately, the goal is to make the world an even smaller place, to connect people and places and things like they've never dreamed possible, and for people to realize that hey, we're not so different after all. I want to do this one Paperclip at a time. Yeah, I know, it sounds idealistic and almost foolishly childish... and that's what I love about it.

I've been tagged as the Princess of the World Cafe. Let's see if the world agrees.

The Yellow Paperclip Gets an Email from a Girlfriend

Here's another great surprise in my inbox. I can hardly contain myself. What a way to end a crazy-busy week at work! End with a bang!

Greetings from GIRLFRIEND magazine! We are one of the newest titles under Mega Magazines & Publications, Inc., the first maga-logue (magazine and catalogue in one) in the country. We cater to single working females aged 21 to 28 and we have everything from fashion and beauty to career, relationships, and fun.

I got your contact details from my Editor-in-Chief Gina Abuyuan, who suggested that we feature you in the magazine. Every month, we intend to feature a woman achiever. For our second issue, which will be out in June, we're hoping that you'd grace our pages.

I must admit that I know very little of the book you wrote that won an award, so I was hoping you'd grant me an interview soon. Of course, we will also be requiring a photo shoot with you. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me through this email address. Thanks so much!

Nikki Domingo-Constantino
Managing Editor, GIRLFRIEND magazine
Mega Magazines & Publications, Inc.

And of course, this is yet another conspiracy in my life: Gina is the cousin of Dona, one of my sister's best friends. I met Gina at Dona's bridal shower last November when Ate and I partied the 80's way. I will contact Nikki soon. I can't wait. The Yellow Paperclip can't wait!

953 Books... and Counting

I got a copy of the 2005 sales report from Adarna House today. As of December 2005, we've sold 953 copies of The Yellow Paperclip with Bright Purple Spots. Wow! I think we may have already passed the 1,000 mark by now. I am stunned in disbelief and excitement. Here's to the next 4,000+ books...

SHAMELESS PLUG: If you want to buy a copy (or two), check out the Adarna House shelves in Powerbooks, National Bookstore, Fully Booked, and Books for Less stores. Or, if you'd like a copy with a personal message, you can send me an email at yellowpaperclip@gmail.com and we could plan to have coffee somewhere so I can pass you the books. A book is only PhP65.

The Yellow Paperclip Goes to Milwaukee

Who would have thought...? Here's a wonderful suprise in my inbox on a Tuesday morning:

Dear Yellow Paper Clip ladies,

On my coffee table, I found your wonderful book, chilling in the 32 degree weather here in Milwaukee, WI. Do you know where it was before landing here? My 16 month old son, Zach, had just come back from Manila, and he brought a dog-eared, apparently well-used copy of your book home with him.

I just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed the story and the illustrations, just as much as Zach probably did. Congratulations on a wonderful job. I hope to keep reading this with my son until he is 10 (the recommended reading age!). I look forward to more books from the two of you.

Best regards,
Diwata

The Yellow Paperclip Meets Jayvee

Over savoury and sweet crepes at Cafe Breton tonight, Jayvee and I talked non-stop (pauses were punctuated with "hellos") and caught up with each other's lives. It has been many months since we last sat down for a long chat. I ran into him in Greenbelt one night last month and we agreed to meet up soon.

Jayvee is the Managing Editor for m|PH, the country's most visible home-grown magazine on mobile technology. But he is also SGV-DDI's first ever student trainee back in 2001, when I was also new (so we learned and struggled together). Jayvee is a teacher, an urban farmer, a photographer and writer. He is an uber-blogger as he writes and gets people bugged. Jayvee is also a cool connector with links to my family (KV), old friends (Ails), colleagues (the old DDI folks) and new friends (Dickoy). An evening with Jayvee is guaranteed good conversation across a variety of topics, with lots of hee-hees, interesting insights and funny facial expressions (so do you think he looks like Mr. Bean?). And that's what I got... and more.

I gave him a copy of my storybook so I can get bugged! Woohooo! I can't wait to be bugged by Jayvee! Abangan...

Synchronicity, Serendipity and Grace

ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA...

• SYNCHRONICITY is a word coined by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung to describe the "temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events." Jung spoke of synchronicity as an "acausal connecting principle" (i.e., a pattern of connection that cannot be explained by direct causality). Plainly put, it is the experience of having two (or more) things happen simultaneously in a manner that is meaningful to the person or persons experiencing them, where that meaning suggests an underlying pattern. It differs from coincidence in that synchronicity implies not just a happenstance, but an underlying pattern or dynamic that is being expressed through meaningful relationships or events.
• SERENDIPITY noun to make discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things not in quest of.
• GRACE noun unearned favors or mercy received from God

ACCORDING TO ME...

• Mom clipped an article entitled Lost and Found by Rica Bolipata-Santos where she wrote about a yellow paperclip she lost as a child. What a coincidence, I thought.
• I was intrigued. I also couldn't shut out the little voice inside, telling me to get in touch with her. I decided to send her an email, offering to send her a copy of my book so she can "find" her yellow paperclip and relive it in a new colorful way.
• An excited email exchange follows. I sent her a copy of my book to her, and she promised to send me hers.
• I watched a Bukas Palad concert in Ateneo and decided to buy their CDs. As soon as I scan the list of BP members, a name stood out: Rica Bolipata-Santos.
• I received a copy of her book one day at work and I drink it all in in a couple of bedside reading sessions. She writes about love, children, writing, her relationship with her mother. I love her stories and how I feel like I am less alone when reading them. I like how I can almost hear her voice even if I've never heard what she sounds like. I like how even if I've never met her, I feel like I have.
  
• On the front cover of her book, she wrote: Dearest Nikki, Here's to synchronicity, serendipity, grace. Love, Rica.
• I look forward to the day we meet.
  

15 Books and 1 New Story

The Yellow Paperclip went back to PSTD today for the March Tipanan where I had a table for a book sale and signing - a small fundraiser activity for the organization. Some members wanted to buy books after my presentation last month. We sold 15 books! Not bad for an afternoon. Thank you again to my PSTD family... and yes, I don't mind doing this every Tipanan!

This month's topic was Spirituality in the Workplace and I'm glad I went. Not only did I sell 15 books, I also heard one of the best stories ever. Actually, it's THE story. The Ultimate Story. Fr. John Leydon, an Irish priest based in the Philippines for the last 30-something years who is now the parish priest of the Malate Church, shared The New Story of Creation, his personal version of a "cosmic creation story, empirically verifiable, told as an empowering myth". His story is sparked by Genesis, enhanced by the Big Bang Theory, supported by scientific facts yet inspired by The Creative Force - God Himself. The story is beautiful. Let me share some of my favorite excerpts:

I hope to tell the story of the Universe as if it had a personal identity, as if it were alive and has a "numinous" (sacramental) quality, as if it were a subject.

Galaxies are self-organizing systems. A star swirls and it brings with it a chain of other stars. What is it that attracts one star to another? We know it as the force of Gravity. But that does not fully explain the force. From our viewpoint, we can say that the Universe is permeated with ALLUREMENT. It is the most basic law of the Universe. It is what makes everything move. If there were no allurement then stars would fly away from each other. Atom would disintegrate and there would be no world, no us. The starting point for the on-going creative activity of the Universe is allurement. We see it clearly in the waltzing stars and galaxies but remember that the Universe continues its creative activity through the allurements that we humans experience in our daily lives.

As I write these words, I am aware of my fingers moving over the keys. I am aware of the bones in my fingers. The bones are made of calcium. That calcium came from an explosion of a Supernova, ten billion years ago. Five billion years ago, the atoms of the elements that make up my body were floating about in the heavens. I am the fruit of a five to ten billion year project! How are we to react to such musings? For me it evokes awe and wonder at the mystery of it all. Here is the starting point of religion - wonder at the mystery of it all - not shame and guilt which is where much of our present religion starts. The purpose of the recounting of this story is to evoke such sentiments, to awake allurement in us for Ultimate Mystery.

For so long we've considered the Earth as just a big dead ball of dirt. But the New Story tells us that the Earth is alive and moves. Copernicus said that the earth moved, but he meant moved around the sun. When we say it moves, we mean that the whole process is alive. The Earth moves. In a sentence that is the heart of the cosmic revolution.

Wow. His story was a real eye-opener. I'm glad the Church has married myth and science together in this New Story of Creation. The next time someone challenges you that the Big Bang never happened, tell them it's the same moment God said, "Let there be Light!"

I gave Fr. John my storybook and he accepted it gladly, with a smile and an invitation to visit the Center Ecozoic Learning in Cavite which he founded. I'll look forward to that... and many more stories from him.

Happy Paperclips

My mom gave me these happy yellow paperclips! Thanks, Ma!

Paperclips Launched Matchstick Missiles

Here is another story about paperclips from one of my favorite uncles:

In my younger days, I was about 15 or 16 then, we were managing a Magnolia kiosk in Naga City and I used to hang out there after school. While waiting for customers to come in, I played with matches pretending they were missiles. I used paperclips as a launching pad - yes, you read it right, a launching pad. How did I do it? Well I didn't know then how to make the match stick soar like a missile... then I thought of using paperclips.

I took one clip from my dad's office and slightly opened it up on a 45 degree angle. I covered the match head with the silver foil from cigarette boxes, leaving a small opening where the "smoke" would come out after I lit the stick. By lighting the match head, it would build up enough pressure and push itself up in the air with the help of the paper as a lauching pad. That was how I spent my idle time until your lolo caught me doing it and told me that I might end up burning something.

That was the end of my missile launching career... but my respect for the paperclips still remained.

He has some of the most interesting paperclip stories. Read another one here.

Elijah gives The Yellow Paperclip a Name

Me: "Is the Yellow Paperclip a boy or a girl?"
Elijah: "Ummm... a boy?"
Me: "Does it have a name? What would you name the Yellow Paperclip?"
Elijah: "Ummm... Lorenzo!"

Elijah (pictured here with the book and his paperclip strand!) is the son of my mom's friend's niece. Let me say that again: Elijah is the son of Jenina, the niece of Tita Vicky, one of my mom's good friends from STC. Tita Vicky bought Elijah a copy of my book last year but he only started reading it the last few months.

Here's one of her text messages to me: Elijah enjoys my reading the book to him. Last night, while reading, he made sure his paperclip strand was on the bed too. Bet you I will be reading it again tonight. Soon after she sent that message, she sent this nice surprise through snailmail:


The attached Post-It reads: Hi Nikki! Here's Elijah's Thank You drawing for you (on recycled paper, sorry!) for writing the book! Love, Tita Vicky.

I visited Elijah this afternoon to thank him for his drawing and to give him a couple of paperclips to add to his paperclip strand. He's one cool kid. He practically memorized the story. He showed off his paperclip strand. He said his drawing is a picture of the Grim Reaper (but I forget why though!). He believes the Yellow Paperclip is a boy named Lorenzo.

I'll definitely include Elijah in my group of "Work Content Experts" when I brainstorm for my next story. Hee-hee.