Newness and being Comfortablly Challenge

I have a confession to make: I feel most at ease when there is something new in my life - disclaimer: I am not referring to relationships here. Simple NEW things, like when Twiggy (the car) gets a new shine or when I get new shoes or a new DVD boxed set (Transformers 2 disc set is out). And there is this other thing when getting something new, like when you get to open the (damn) plastic wrap and removing the (disgusting) price tags. Newness can come also old things - like getting a vinyl record or laserdisc (the big ones yes) of a great film just for the sake of it.

Newness can very comforting.

The fixation with newness on the broader spectrum may not be so. Don't we just love the idea of spending millions on a beautiful (usually fully glass windows these days) building (facade) or landscaping or both - only to realised that a. We don't need the new building in the first place. b. The monumental structure that gave way to this newness need not be pulled down. c. The maintenance bill for a fully glass cascade in an equatorial country wastes more paper.

Newness comes with a price tag.

PS: The new space at Old School is coming along. (Looking at the red seating and putting up the banner, gleaming like a proud parent.) We should be operational in a couple of weeks to fit the kinks. The other office in Katong will be undergoing a face lift soon. None of which gave way to an previous structure, both kind of in a conservation bit and no glass cascade.

Confession #02: I have this (almost) sick obsession to fight as the underdog. There is really no fun if you have the means to succeed - by which I mean monetary. It is when you are low on funds and have no idea what KPI means that makes it interesting. 6 years ago, my design agency was started with a 12" Mac, a box of Adobe software and a printer. We have not grown to a huge agency with big accounts - which is something we don't really want actually. What is interesting is always the pitches against the 'big' boys and winning the account. Haha!

Then there is film-making. The almost impossible in our country to make a buck but the crazy nature to want to keep making them. And the good fight against all odds to get the word out of what the hell we are up to.

Challenges can be very comforting.

Just got a call a few nights back from an old friend who I have not met up with for a long time (try 10 odd years). Chat. Chat. And this popped out: "You are always up to strange things." No, I am not. I think I am doing things and making thinks happen - things that have not happened before - and it is not strange, it is challenging.

When you have an idea and everyone else thinks it wouldn't work it means only 2 things - the idea is crap or it is something special. Either way, you have a 50:50 chance. Look, I am not totally stupid here. The odds on this is much better than striking TOTO or even 4D. And usually, it is a calculated risk - not pure calculation - as most people would know I can't count very well. And most importantly, it is fun, it is different and (sounding like a warp record) it is challenging.

Being comfortably challenge is different (obviously) from the usually 2 state that one could be in. Uncomfortably Challenge - must be damn stressed. And I think worst: Uncomfortably UnChallenge.

So I am kicking back tonight as I prepare for the weekend. It is going to be a long one, packing and moving the office and may be helping in a shoot. I still have the new(ness) DVD and some Scrabulous to challenge.