The Art of Chismax

Last Saturday, before we had dinner, my friends and I were at my living room and take a guess on the first thing we did: CHISMAX.

"Chisims"

Photograph by Tammy David

But hey, don't get me wrong because the scope of the chismax session was entirely harmless. We just exchanged stories that we heard from different people or we encountered in the small town of Metro Manila. To make the stories more exiting, some of the girls were boisterious in narrating the juicy stuff. In other words, performance level ang pagkwento nila! Hahahaha!!Subjects or "chismax factors" that were brought up that lovely evening:

1. A young designer who still carries a pleasant and positive disposition in life, despite the fact that she's the only one working for their start-up family (what's the story... I won't tell... hahahaha!). * my comment: Common comment from peeps -> if you're having a sh**ty day and you suddenly bumped into her, she'll instantly bring sunshine into your lives. She always throws that radiating smile and pleasant greetings. In other words, she's super kind, ultimately kind. I want to meet this person heh.
2. Newly-wed designer (who applies super red lipstick on a daily basis... pouty lips daw eh... hahaha!) strongly epitomizes Imelda Marcos from head (pati na hair noh) to toe (why Imelda... I won't tell... hahahaha!). * my comment: In fairness to the Imeldific-factor, she's a diligent, disciplined and organized entrepreneur. She knows the "pasikot-sikot" of her business. Process-wise... kahanga-hanga!
3. A woman in her 20's coming from a brood of the "professional mafia", does not talk to the poor and feels that bargaining or "making tawad" at this semi-chichi place along c5 is "nakakahiya"... Huwat! (Are you curious who's this person?? Haha lalong I won't tell... Hihihihi) * my comment: People find her a bit odd: "Ano ba? From what planet ba is she from? She's so out of it ah! Grabe baka naman pagdumikit ako sa kanya, sabihin... 'eeww germs!' " Hahaha!! There are more stories about her but I'll just step on my breaks and stop from here. Hehehe! But in fairness, I met this girl and she's really nice... super nice... she's just misunderstood by so many people. Sometimes when she tells a lot of out-of-this world stories (too chichi to handle), my inital reaction would be "whoa ok fine di kita ma-reach, pobre nako" but I just keep an open-mind that she's just raised that way. What I like about this person is that she intently listens to people's stories and laughs her heart out if she finds it really funny.
4. Dami pa.... hanggang dito na muna...

try to guess who i'm talking about here... hehehe!

As were were all complete for dinner, the chismax sessions continued and it even got more animated when our friend (fabulous writer and stylist) arrived and told us about a wedding of someone known in the fashion industry. The wedding was held somewhere in the South Luzon area. With her friends from the fasyon industry, they weren't that eager to be on time at the occassion. As they were on there way there, she suddenly saw Max's Fried Chicken resto on the side. She said to herself that she hasn't gone to Max's for the longest time. So they decided to stop-over at Max's and ate the sarap-to-the-bones fried chicken. Hahahahaha! Talk about a funny story! After her Max's story, we asked her about the wedding. She said it was good and festive. But the moment that made her a little bit surprised was that the occassion was used to plug the bride's racket, by placing some product catalogues on each table. Talk about nax... rumaraket sa kanyang big event ah! One of my friends just had to say this (after hearing the rumaraket moment): "naku kelangan siguro rumaket para makabawi sa gastos ng kasal". Hahahahahahahha!! Talk about major hirit talaga!

When the chismax session started to slow down (what can I say, naubos na kasi... hahahahaha!), Rowee brought up this blog by Cecile Zamora, which is entitled Chuvaness (http://chuvaness.livejournal.com/). She said that she has been updated in the crazy world of Philippine showbiz because of this blog.

I got curious. So I got connected to the net, checked on the blog and fervently read on her entries.

I couldn't help but laughed out loud! It's so funny! The blog's essentially full of wit and substance, it's doesn't sound so tabloid-ish (mala-Taliba ba itoww?? hehehehe!). I love the way she ranted on LaGreta and Ruffarigno and the way she "hearts" or empathized for Ylmaz. Hahahahahahahaha!!

At the same time, she also talks about fashion, latest trends in the metropolis, current events around the globe and the buzz in Hollywood. Oh and I must say that she has an eye on LV... tasteful... even if she found a fake Damier Azur at Shopwise, she needed to affirm it... in fairness... Hahaha! Galing!

If I rank her blog from 1 to 5, I'd give it a whopping 5!! Woohooo!!

But after reading the blog, I just realized something. In chismax, there has to be art. We do not just spread chismax like wildfire and there's always judgment on the side. We have to be objective and have an open-mind on the chismax factor of this particular someone. We have to keep on asking WHY on so many items. In other words, critique on the details and see both sides of the coin. At the end of the day, not only we laugh and rave on the chismis but we get to appreciate the characters involved in every story we hear. To be honest, it's pretty hard, but I try my best to go into that direction. Oooohhhh, have I grown and "leveled-up myself in this world of chisims? Hahahhahhaa.. I hope... I hope... =)