Editor's Letter: MOVING FORWARD

New year, new theme. Plus an important editorial update.

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Editor's Letter: SINGULARITY

Thoughts on feeling lonely when you’re constantly surrounded by people. 

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Editor's Letter: Nostalgia

Nostalgia isn’t in the past. It’s bright, vivid, and here. 

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Editor's Letter: BLACKOUT

This month, we’ll be tackling taboos, honne and tatemae, secrets, and ~the dark~.

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Editor's Letter: INTERMISSION

Hallo Thingamabobs!

Summer is over, and school's back in session for the lot of you. At this point, all the adrenaline left over from all the beach trips, t.v. series binge-watching sessions, and late-night snack runs must have since worn off, and you're probably back to your old ih8school, homeworksux attitude. Getting back into the daily grind of pop quizzes, seatworks, and papers can be tiring, so we're here to help make the next two months fun, if not at least bearable.

Our theme from July to August is 'intermission,' and we'll be tackling everything from gas station pit stops to the short pee breaks that they let you take while you're watching a theater show.

And while we're on the subject of breaks... Full disclosure: I ended up putting off writing this letter until this morning, because I am suffering from the brain-numbing effects of a five-month long summer. Yes, I am writing this editor's letter today, July 17, because there's nothing like an extended vacation to increase the frequency of brain farts and fluffy thoughts (though I have to admit that at one point, you start questioning your being and the existence of the entire universe).

Procrastination isn't a very good tactic, but I bet everyone's guilty of doing it*. The point is that while it's OK to put things off sometimes, it's also very unhealthy in the long run. Sometimes, you just need a little breather to get you back in the swing of things. That's what the next two months are going to be about. So go ahead and browse through the site while taking that much-needed study break – we guarantee that it'll be worth it.


OOOO∞ (awkward hugs as always),
Gaby



*Unless you're Leslie Knope, then you keep doing you.

P.S. We're having an Instagram giveaway to thank you guys for your support. Check out @thethingonline on Instagram to see how you can win the prizes in the photo below!

Poster by Elle Shivers

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Editor's Letter: REVIVALS

Shing Sha Ji, Thingamabobs! 

(It means Happy Summer , you guys.) 

I'm feeling extra refreshed and ready to write this letter today because IT'S FREAKIN' SUMMER!

Isn't it just rejuvenating to wake up on your own time, and to realize that you have absolutely nothing on your day's agenda? That, my friends, is truly living. 

After a stressful 10 months of projects, homework, and tests, summer break is supposed to be a time of “re-s” after all. Rest, relaxation, rejuvenation—all of which are adjectives synonymous to the word “break” because dying students like ourselves want to use this time to reset and reboot, and maybe set our priorities a little straighter (#fixyolife). 

In case you haven't picked up on it yet, we'll be celebrating REVIVALS for the next two months! Most of you are still enjoying your summer break, while some of you have got a few more weeks to go 'til freedom, so we want to focus on the rebirth that comes with having to not think about school work for two (in some case, four!) whole months. 

Speaking of coming back, you might have noticed the lack of content on the site these past few weeks. Below is a video message for you guys that we would like to offer up as an explanation. 

In all seriousness though, The Thing went off the radar for a while from April to May in order to work on improving the site. On behalf of the team, I'm sorry for the lack of any formal announcement save for what we wrote in the Ed's letter of our Revivals Zine. We'll be sure to properly notify you all next time this happens (if it does happen at all). 

We had our break, and now it's about time for us to help you enjoy yours! As much as we want to be lazy bums, we all know it'll get boring at some point. To keep your brains from melting, we've planned out an entire two months of content that may or may not involve cryogenics and Marvel, ukay finds, and Toy Story 2. 

Basically: Be productive! Especially since less school-related deadlines = more opportunities to focus on the things you want to do (e.g. stalk Taylor Swift's tumblr, get Taylor Swift to notice you)(wait—that might just be me)

Do good and try not to die of heatstroke! Always a good idea to keep yourself hydrated. 

Happy summer! 

♥ Gaby

P.S. 

We're planning to redesign the site soon. If you have five minutes to spare, please answer this survey to help us out! Thanks a bunch :)

P.P.S.

We're also looking for people who might want to join our staff! Head over here for more info. 

Poster by Ginny Julian

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Editor's Letter: DISTANCE

Happy Galentine's Day, Thingamabobs!

It's Friday the 13th! I honestly can't think of a better way to start off the month. Galentine's Day and Friday the 13th are two very special holidays, and we're celebrating by launching our spankin' new theme, DISTANCE.

PaCho (a.k.a. our managing ed and controller of the Universe) and I were trying to think of a good random word to turn into a theme as we were wrapping up our staff Skype meeting.  Most of the brilliant ideas are exhausted in the first hour or so of said meetings, and everyone gets all sabaw after that. Distance came up because we knew that it'd be Valentine's day, and we wanted to be funny.

Later on, we decided that it couldn't be more appropriate. The way PaCho put it when we were discussing the theme really hit the spot, so I just have to share it with all of you:

I've always been interested in the distances between people -- not necessarily in a "we just fell apart" or "we're not as close as we used to be" way. I can't quite describe it in my own way when U2 (surprise, surprise) does a better job at it:  

"Now the wolves are every passing stranger, every face we cannot know -- if only a heart could be as white as snow." 

I think about how we, as persons, fit into a world of people, a majority of whom we will never truly know. I think a lot about how "I" easily becomes "we" despite all its reckless inclusiveness and inherent exclusiveness; how we're chasing individuality in a sea of billions of individuals. You know that feel? I think they're ideas that manifest themselves in small and big ways alike, as seen in a lot of the ideas we've already gotten so far.

More on that, in addition to stuff on choosing to stay away, six degrees of separation, communism and capitalism, space time relativity, and traveling this month (and next), so check back every weekend!  

Awkward hugs (and kisses this time, because GALENTINE'S)(ok fine, VALENTINE'S),

Gaby

P.S.

We're distributing physical copies of a Valentine's zine we made for FEELS @ Satchmi later at 6pm. The PDF is going up Sunday night, but wouldn't you prefer tangibility? Drop by for a night of coffee, music, and #hugot! The event is at Satchmi, SM Megamall Mega Fashion Hall.

P.P.S.
We still want to hear what you think! Send your virtual g/valentine's candy (preferably sour gummy worms) to thethingonline@gmail.com, or on Twitter and Facebook. 

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Editor's Letter: LIGHTS

Salut, Thingamabobs! (I am taking French 1 now, so it's sort of appropriate. I used salut instead of bonjour because I think that we're on a casual level by now anyway, and I have no idea what time you'll be reading this).

It's finally the most wonderful time of the year! We're at the point in the season when EDSA becomes a parking lot (more than usual), malls are overflowing with last-minute gift-shoppers, and people are scrambling to re-wrap and re-label gifts they've received! Ahh, I can already smell the queso de bola and bibingka...

All of those things are probably what also make this season double as the most stressful time of the year. I don't know about you, but what makes up for all of that is getting to see all of the festive decorations and Christmas lights strung up everywhere I go. More houses are all pimped up with blinking lights and inflatable Santa figures.

Our theme for the next two months is LIGHTS, and we hope to wring out as much as we can in that time. One of the key things that we'll be exploring is the flexibility of the word itself. After emailing the other editors, I found out that it can be interpreted in so many different ways depending on the situation you currently find yourself in.

Since I've been studying about the Renaissance period this semester, the first concept that came to my mind was enlightenment. For me, there are two kinds of instances where one becomes enlightened: those thrilling 'aha' moments (think: when you're in the shower and suddenly figure out the solution to that math problem you'd been working on for forever) (hello psych and Wolfgang Kohler), and those life-changing realizations ("in that moment, I swear we were infinite" and all that jazz) that make you feel as though you've uncovered all the secrets of the universe.

Those are all very sparkly insights that make me think of describing them as “dandy” and “swell,” but there are also darker sides to the theme. I am writing this upon getting home from a long day out. It is late, and I am drained. You know that you've had it with life and everything when it's 12am and instead of writing the last page of a paper due in a couple of hours, you're watching a vine of a cat giving a presidential speech on Ebola (over and over again) or aimlessly scrolling through your Facebook news feed. Finals and midterms and projects and papers are exhausting to study for and at one point, you just know that you need to take a break from everything.

In the sense of electrical lighting, no matter how bright your light source shines when it is first turned on, it will eventually burn out. (unless of course someone invents/has invented an infinity light or something, then forget I said that).

In other words: there are so many different ways to interpret lights, and I sure hope that you share what it means to you with us! I don't know what I'm saying anymore, so I am going to take the easy way out and wish you guys a Merry Christmas (or merry Christmas break for all you people who don't celebrate it).

Here's to the real kind of Christmas cheer and holiday spirit! Also: bring on 2015!!!!

Au revoir and more awkward hugs,
Gaby


P.S.
Please take a moment to appreciate our new sparkly header.

P.P.S.
We are still accepting submissions for the 2nd wave of LIGHTS. Send your photos, OOTDs, and writing to thethingonline@gmail.com! (or else).


Poster by Reese Lansangan

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Editor's Letter: PHASES

Sawadee kap/krab, Thingamabobs! 

(I watched the Thai movie Crazy Little Thing Called Love recently, so please bear with me)

I am writing this amidst the clutter of old and new things—relics of the past conserved in this carefully curated life museum otherwise known as my room. Our October-November theme is 'PHASES,' and I realize that each of my own phases are represented in each and every one of these items. 

I look around and see the same dancing clown wallpaper from when I was a baby, each figure smiling at me (in a jolly, non-creepy way) from each of my four walls. The pastel drawings of stick people that I made in grade school, though faded and worn, are still in the same spots that they've been in since my mom stuck them there years ago. My Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie poster, and Jonas Brothers (circa '09) poster still hang in their places by my window, as glossy as ever. A bunch of watercolor sayings and poems borne out of boredom during the summer of my third year in high school still hang above my headboard, greeting me every time I look up. The sparkly “17” sign I made on two sheets of pastel colored paper at my 17th birthday party are still taped up there next to a poem, because I haven't yet found the time to change the seven to an eight. 

I've got books, notebooks (mostly empty), piggy banks (also empty), and a bunch of other odds and ends from years prior scattered on the floor, piled on my bed, and sitting atop shelves—all of which carry with them specific memories of certain people, places, and events.

They say your bedroom says a lot about you, and mine is no exception. After reading the above descriptions, you may probably think that I am a hoarder (which I am), but they unearth something else at the same time. My relationship with change has always been strained, and I end up writing about it a lot because I've always struggled to figure out why it has to happen.

I got to thinking that the way all this stuff is gathered together in once place clearly describes one of my main quirks (if you could call it that): my inability to fully accept change. I keep all of these little odds and ends because a part of me wants to stay the same forever. The passage of time makes change inevitable, and I now realize that I have accepted change simply by living. 

“Oh, it's just a phase,” is a common phrase used to dismiss a person's (generally disliked) behavior. It also implies that phases are periods of our lives that we eventually get over. The truth is, we don't. You can never really get over a phase. Moving on is essential, but that doesn't mean that you have to disregard who you were in that previous phase. This month will be all about looking back and embracing the fact that we grow from all our experiences, no matter how cringe-inducing they may be. 

I was thinking of something that would tie the concept together perfectly, and it was this the concept of time and nostalgia that stuck out. I dunno why, but listening to Lorde's Pure Heroine album over and over has made me feel so contemplative of teenage life. More on my messy room in a future photoset, because I may or may not decide to showcase this glittery dump of a living space. 

I don't want to feel weird, so I am operating under the assumption that it's perfectly normal for people to be thinking about these things whilst digging through their old junk. I just wanted to clean my room, okay! Oh well, whatever. I'm glad that I got to thinking about all of this. Please excuse me now while I go clean up (or rather, shove everything back into my cabinets).

For now, enjoy everything that The Thing has to offer as we enter a new PHASE! 

Chan rhak kun! ♥♥♥

P.S. 

We are still accepting submissions for the second wave of PHASES! We'll also be compiling mood boards from you all! Send everything over to thethingonline@gmail.com. Please and thank you :)

P.P.S. 

We know that all you Thingamabobs are so many levels of awesome, and so we're organizing a get-together so that we can all meet each other and eat food! Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter

accounts for more info.


Poster by Ches Gatpayat

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Editor's Letter: AFTERMATH

Hey there, reader!

It's finally August! You know what that means? The Thing has officially survived to see the light of another theme, which means you're going to have to bear with more of our puns for the next two months!

As of this writing, we've reached over 18,000 views. I'm still trying to get over the fact that more than a thousand of you have even seen the content, so knowing that we've even got a following makes me so kilig. In the last two months, we've also received a bunch of pitches, submissions, and well-wishes from you girls (and guys). On behalf of the staff, I'd like to say thank you for that! Without your interest and participation in this 'ol thing (hehe), we'd probably have abandoned the whole project by now.

We've had a riveting two months of DEBUT, and as much as we'd like to dwell in beginnings, it's time to move on. The August-September theme is (fittingly) AFTERMATH, which is naturally supposed to cover everything that happens after. The idea for it was almost a given because we thought: Wait a minute, we've talked about all these significant experiences - of explosive firsts and grand debuts. But has anyone ever really elaborated on what happens after these big events? What happened after you won the top prize in your school's science quiz bee? What did you feel the night after your 18th birthday party? What did you do after the storm hit?

This time around, it's these stories that we want to shine the spotlight on.

In a country that's plagued by so many different kinds of natural disasters each year, it's no wonder that the word itself is usually associated with the negative: destruction, loss, catastrophe. By making it our theme, we want to be able to show that there are also good things that come in the aftermath of the storm - that it's just as easy to bounce back from the bad things.

Also: this month is buwan ng wika (month of language) in the Philippines, so expect a couple more articles on Philippine culture (in Filipino!).

It's going to be real exciting, so be sure to check back every weekend for new content!

In the eternal words of The Amanda Show: Stick around, and we'll be back in a second to do stuff! Wooo!!!

OOOO (awkward hugs),

P.S.
Submissions are still open, and we are also looking for people to join our team! Click here for more information on where to send your work!

P.P.S.
We ♥ to hear what you think (and it isn't our intention to start comment wars), so don't be afraid to comment on the posts that you enjoy reading through. If you're too shy (or if you just want to talk), send us a note at thethingonline@gmail.com.


Poster by Jan Dabao

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