"i should've..."

...taken the community kids' photos yesterday. i had my fisheye with me, and when i found out about this photography contest this morning, i knew i should've. i didn't because we were talking very seriously with someone and i didn't want to be rude by leaving the conversation. still, i should've.

...finished writing all those articles for the university journal last week. now i'm cramming.

...allotted time for my readings for today's class.

i should stop thinking i should've and let all pass, since there's not much i can do about things that have already happened. i should keep a positive outlook and think there's always a next time, i can still do some things just to say at least i tried, at least i did. i shouldn't be so hard on myself, like a control freak oc.

but dang, i know i should've!

**************************************************************************

IN other news, my dad found my lolo's old old old Argus C3 Rangefinder (it was actually just in my lola's room all this time). When my mom texted me about it (I was doing fieldwork in Mabalacat), I quickly responded with a "Mine!" My dad said it didn't work anymore that's why lolo bought the ohmygoodness-heavy SLR Canon FTQL (which I, four years ago, declared to be my mana).

[Still pride myself in using the FTQL for a friend's poetry book photoshoot. That book won a National Book Award, plusplus,--but that's another pagmamayabang story, for another time when I don't feel so bad about myself, hahaha.]

I haven't gotten around to tinkering with the Argus but I might take it to Hidalgo one of these days for a checkup (or a resurrection, for that matter).

I'm thinking the old Argus deserves its own blog entry. So stay tuned.

wishing i have cash for this one

Bili Na Mga Suki!

Expand your lomographic family, feed your cameras, play vinyls and meet lomoheads at the Bili na Mga Suki! Lomomanila Bazaar at Cubao X this Saturday (Nov. 17) from 2PM to 7PM. See you there!

Lomography has taken the country by storm! Thanks to LomoManila, a local photography group advocating a new form of photography rooted in individuality and freedom of expression, Lomography has recently captured the imagination of Filipinos from all walks of life.

This November 10 to December 1, LomoManila celebrates this triumph with LomoLove Too!, a repeat of last year's successful exhibit LomoLove at the BlackSoup Projects Artspace in Cubao Expo. This time, the exhibit is bigger, noisier, crazier and filled with anything and everything lomo.

This Saturday, November 17, lomographers and curious newbies can come to the Bili Na Mga Suki LomoManila Bazaar, Analog Afternoon and The Newbie Sessions at 2pm. Lomo cameras, film and other special lomo-inspired merchandise made by LomoManilans and their friends will be available. Vinyl collectors can also bring their favorite vinyl records for an old-school playlist party. Share tips and tricks and learn secrets from the lomo masters with The Newbie Sessions.

Poster Illustration: Patrick Jamora
Art Direction: Edgar Alan Zeta-Yap

Lomolove Month

LOMOMANILA celebrates another year of creativity with “LOMOLOVE TOO!” Lomography has taken the country by storm! Thanks to LomoManila, a local photography group advocating a new form of photography rooted in individuality and freedom of expression, Lomography has recently captured the imagination of Filipinos from all walks of life.

This November 10 to December 1, LomoManila celebrates this triumph with LomoLove Too!, a repeat of last year’s successful exhibit LomoLove at the BlackSoup Projects Artspace in Cubao Expo. This time, the exhibit is bigger, noisier, crazier and filled with anything and everything lomo.For four Saturdays, the Cubao Expo, commonly known as Cubao X to the art community becomes the center of the world with activities to bring out the best in Filipino Lomography.

From photography, music, crafts and cinema, LomoLove Too! serves to become a venue where artists can come together, celebrate and inspire creativity in one another.The fun starts on November 10, 8pm on LomoLove Too!’s exhibit launch party where more than 100 lomographers bare their best works at the BlackSoup Projects Artspace. The launch is also a concert with live performances by the country’s top bands The Dawn, Cambio, Taken By Cars, The Ronnies, Top Junk, Corporate Lofi, Ang Bandang Shirley and Pasok Mga Bwitre.

On the next Saturday, November 17, lomographers and curious newbies can come to the Bili Na Mga Suki LomoManila Bazaar, Analog Afternoon and The Newbie Sessions at 2pm. Lomo cameras, film and other special lomo-inspired merchandise made by LomoManilans and their friends will be available. Vinyl collectors can also bring their favorite vinyl records for an old-school playlist party. Share tips and tricks and learn secrets from the lomo masters with The Newbie Sessions.

LomoLove Too! enters a new arena of imagination and artistry on November 24 for the Cinemalomo and Rock the X. Inspired by the movement of multi-lens action cameras, LomoManilans present the global premiere of their own lomo movies starting 4pm. A collaboration with Rock Ed Philippines, Rock the X is a film screening of the Rock the Rehas documentaries on Philippine jails. Music will also be part of the event with a mini concert to rock Cubao X.

Finally, on December 1, 4pm, LomoManila closes its exhibit with a bang with tLomopalooza, a jamming party with the best indie bands with special participation of Bitaw! Artists. Serving as the group’s Christmas Party, another Internet based community called Multiply Pilipinas is expected to join us.

“With LomoLove Too!, LomoManila hopes to spread their love of lomography and give individuals the power to unleash their own creative prowess. We may have grown so big and accomplished so much this past year, but for us this is only the beginning,” At Maculangan, LomoManila Founder, said. “Lomolove is our way of sharing what we love and enjoy about Lomography. It promotes the spirit of collaboration not only among our members, but the local art community and anyone who shares the same interest and passion. We encourage participation and also challenge our members to extend into other art forms and other communities." "Lomomanila believes in sharing, collaboration and having a lot of fun doing things!” Bong Rojales, one of the prime movers of the group added.

Lomomanila’s LomoLove Too! is made possible through major sponsors Smart Communications, Fuji YKL, Linksys and Geisler Maclang. This special event is also supported by Serye, TeamManila, Kolektib, Yocard, T-box, Havaianas, David & Goliath, Digiprint and Rock Ed. Media partners are RJ Underground Radio 105.9, Mobile Philippines, Super and ClickTheCity.com.

whattaweek

seriously can't work in the office. morning i try to do some editing. then a highly respected older person whips up a conversation and of course i have to take part in the interaction. so work, zilch. then the phones ring. again and again. i'm beginning to think having a solid workplace isn't good for me. that maybe i should have taken a work-from-home stint instead. actually, i don't really have to stay at the office. there are other options. but then, students come to look for me to consult about a project. so i still have to be at the office. so i'm stuck and i hate it.

by next month we are scheduled to move to another office on the same floor of the building. already we are not liking it: no shelves, chairs too big, looks more cramped, no divisions, no private conference room, and that sofa set they paid several thousand bucks for the effing prussian blue shade is just too bright for the eyes. the hell. there's really something wrong with the way this institution does things.

wednesday we had a meeting about the month's activities. and next month's. good luck i say, with the puny workforce. wonder when the university finally admits it needs more community development staff. for good.

thursday, i enrolled for my (hopefully) last semester before doing my thesis. eh. it was okay, a breeze compared to what others experienced ever since UP modified the enrolment scheme. got tuesday and saturday class. afternoons. which means i'll be missing half of the lomo bazaar next saturday, which means no slide film for me. oh well.

friday, the mother of all traffic jams. spent almost an hour along espana. was it because: 1) it was a friday--quiapo day; 2) it rained that afternoon; or 3) everybody just decided to go out to the streets at the same time? all of the above? hell. i was stuck in a jeep that blared damnable remixes that can be heard all the way to montalban.

saturday, the lomolove too exhibit opening. my mom wanted to see. before heading to blacksoup she got enticed by the ukay-ukay shop in cubao x, so she proceeded to purchase some items, all in all totaling 400bucks (at 20bucks each). yay. my dad was there too. at blacksoup mom asked why my photo had a dark circle around it. i said that was the effect of the camera. she was disappointed that my photos were hung at the topmost-leftmost corner of the wall. i didn't really mind. makes them easier to find.

exhibit launch was a blast. didn't stay long with the lomo peeps because i had von to mind. he was in a better mood. more patient and enjoying a seat in front of the chinese store, eating his stash of dikiam. he's not into bands. i went back and forth, looking for my film suppliers, making casual conversations and shouting hello's amidst the noise. saw joko and macy again. glenn dropped by. i had to leave early to pick up my sisters. von still had some dikiam left, his take-home treat. i gave him a teammanila lomomanila shirt i was going to keep for myself, but realized it was too large. he said it was too easy to do we should make the shirts ourselves.

last night i had a very disturbing dream. my fears the past week have been haunting me. very upsetting. i hate it when this happens. but i have to try to trust him this time. i just get suspicious when he gets unusually thoughtful. like it's a cover-up for something you-know-what. oh yeah. didn't realize i could be so upset in a dream. sad, sad, sad.

sunday. yeah. stuff i have to do for tomorrow: 1) write the two articles for the university journal and 2) finish editing one of the office journals. it's so darn difficult to edit someone's work if the author has no writing background whatsoever, and thinks little about grammar and style. i. hate. it. and it's not really part of my friggin' job to write, edit, and do layout at the same time. it's just that it's a big office project. really big, two journals to be launched in january. even with my 'publications assignment', i am not exempted to do my fieldwork. haha. now that is my primary job. but then again, no one else in the office would and could do the journal edit-layout thing (in my opinion), so it's my fault for just being okay at this. siyet, ang yabang ko.

i know that someday i will quit my job, or ask not to be renewed. i just know it. i'm not entirely happy with where i am. maybe because of all the pressure on the journals, the disappointment with certain people, the stupid policies, the distance, the difficulty in getting a ride to and from the university i'm so tired of already, the way the admin regards staff like us, the pay, everything else. it's just that it's difficult to leave a job like this, the way you get to know people and they count on you. i feel like if i leave, the program stalls or stops. but then again, that's the way life goes. in the end my happiness comes first, because if i don't feel good about myself, i won't feel good about anything else that i do.

let's do diz!!!

Because I found it funny, I therefore tag myself by the power of Martin. He says,

Go to Google and type in quotation marks your name and then "likes to" (ex. "Tom likes to"). Type in the first ten things that come up and repost in your own blog.


1. Lauren likes to joke that it was the roommate that scared him into getting married so quickly (a male Lauren, wow.)

2. Lauren likes to read books. Lots and lots of books. She likes to cook for her husband when he least expects it, and she also enjoys total body exfoliations. (yes, i like to read books. but not lots and lots. haha. and cooking? hmm...mebbe in the future eh? but this is the best: total body exfoliations!!! wheee!!!)

3. Lauren likes to holler at the officials. (do i not?)

4. Lauren likes to do lots of things, like be a communication major and play the tuba in the UDMB. (the tuba...now, that's a grand instrument to learn!)

5. Lauren likes to yell boobies! (BOOBIEEEES!!!)

6. Lauren likes to read. Her choices mirror her career aspirations. "I like to read murder mysteries," she says. (Reading again? murder mysteries? eh, close enuf)

7. Lauren Conrad Likes to Party! (oh yeah. very nice laurens out there)

8. Lauren likes to listen to the music of Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, John Mayer, Dispatch, Tragically Hip, Bob Dylan, N'Sync and Britney Spears ... (I liked the first part, and then...N'Sync & Britney Spears? is this lauren sick or what?)

9. Lauren likes to hang out with her friends and watch Chinese television series. (ahhh...that's the life!)

10. Lauren Likes To Show Some Leg. (what the--? either laurens of the world are bookworms or true-blue party animals. oh, and male and showbiz stars)

Now, I tag everybody who reads this and finds it funny.