2012 doables

i'll skip the intro that usually includes the year in review and instead go straight to The List.

continue:

1. sketching and watercoloring (practice, practice!)
2. journal writing (even snippets of the day)
3. film photography + joining photowalks
4. interval workouts + jogging on weekends
5. reading
6. crafting 
7. drinking lots of water. i love water.
8. getting haircuts (i like being a pixie!)
9. working for the anthropological association of the philippines (i'm the new secretary! wish me luck!)
10. blogging (this blog turns 5 in 2012!)
11. traveling with miss iggy!

start:

1. thesis (ugh)
2. reading (academic stuff / stuff that can improve my soc sci-media knowledge)
3. learning to drive again 
4. going back to yogilates (if budget permits!)
5. writing for a (semi-)living
6. creative journaling / a sketch/craft a day
7. cooking
8. scanning old photos
9. seriously saving up for batanes (and other stuff)
10. reviewing anthropology (since i'll be going back to school! hahaha)

so that's it. let's see how many of these i get to tick off this time next year.

(late) december sketches

i'll probably do a bit more sketching before the year ends, but let me share with you some sketches i did the past couple of weeks.  i'd like to think i'm getting better (ha ha ha).  my hands / fingers / wrist / grip really needs some loosening up (please do consider that for the past 25+ years i've been "trained" to (hand)write, so while i'd also like to think i have good penmanship (he he he)), i do love sketching, and i hope to be better at it.
my sketching goal for 2012 is to learn to draw faces.  i'm scared!  i've tried sketching some, and i'm tad embarrassed of the outcome, haha.  anyway.  here's to another year of sketching (and watercoloring!).

so.  here are my (late) december masterpieces, ladies and gentlemen. 

less than an hour after i got my 'new' camera i sketched it while having some pretty strong coffee.  didn't know what i was doing; i just needed an excuse to sit at the table and ogle at my camera.  i was actually waiting for the mall to open so i can make a beeline for the train terminal without having to sweat it out outside. heh.

the train would take me to ayala, and i walked from the station to ayala triangle for the fountain pen network-philippines' christmas penmeet at amici.  i had also wanted to drop by the urbansketchers-philippines' ayala triangle sketchwalk (since they were there at around the same time anyway), but i guess i got shy and i was late.  i'll catch them next time.  i did sketch what's on my table though.

ige and i met up to look for a christmas gift for his mom a few days later.  we had dinner at dragon wok, and i loved their pancit canton.

 

my family and i went to ayala triangle again a couple of days before christmas, to take my niece to see the lights and sound show.  while having merienda i sketched some dessert, a chair, part of a face (my dad's), and part of my youngest sister.  i really should learn how to draw faces.

and because we hadn't really spent some "us" time, ige and i had a post-christmas date.  while waiting for our lunch to be served we sketched.  i realized i like sketching stuff on the table.

then we went to market market to do more walking around and sketching.  afterwards we went to high street to window-shop.  because we couldn't really buy anything there.  we spent a good deal of time at fully booked though (notebooks!!! but i'm not supposed to buy any more!!!), and we had burger dinner under the stars.  with some dogs walking around.  then we went home.

that's it!  my favorite sketching tool would probably be the brushpen (the second sketch/amici table).  it's easy to make a so-so sketch look really nice. hehe. 

now, to draw a (proper) face.

the late christmas delivery

christmas has already come and gone, but because of the difficulty in land travel, we've discovered there were still some gifts that haven't been delivered!

 "there's still so many of them, mama!" said baby mammoth.

 "hey! this one has my name on it!"

"you can open your gift later.  off to helping santa we go!"

and away they went, trunk in furry trunk.

* * *

[thank you ige for the mammoth mama & baby, and the stegosaurus!]

the tuesday morning suitor

i was going to greet my cats a good morning.

 then i saw this guy.  i know all fifteen (or so) of my cats; this is not one of them.

 i saw him hovering around my girl trio.

so i chased him off.

after a while she seemed sad.

 her mom and sis were just watching

very closely.

they seemed okay with having him around.

but...you're my baby kitty!

he was still there, waiting.

he's kinda cute though.

and persistent.

see that look of determination on his face?

the final cut

 

 

ok, enough vanity posts.

happy christmas from pixie me!

Whilst We Wait - works

[For the benefit of those who were not able to see our exhibit last December 10.  Thanks for viewing my film photographs here!]

APRIL

 

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

* * *

everyday’s little things

One camera, one roll, thirty-six shots.  One year of waiting.

That was all I had for this project.  For some that might be too risky; it was enough for me.  I took my camera (a Canon FTQL SLR I inherited from my grandfather) around the house once a month—on a weekend usually—and shot three frames with one go.  My theme when I started out was “what’s new?” but eventually I found myself not wanting to take a photo according to the theme, instead taking photos of whatever caught my attention—the “right-here-right-now” subject—during that one moment.  

It’s a just collection of everyday things, really.  

These things are the ones we often take for granted.  Imagine yourself stuck in a locked room full of these everyday things, and I’m sure you’ll give them a second look, or consider them not-so-common after all.  I think waiting is also an opportunity to appreciate what you have right now and the situation you are in.  It’s learning to live in the present.       

Doing the project wasn’t all a zen-like experience for me, however.  The camera I was using was really old, and I haven’t had it cleaned up in years.  There were times when I doubted the integrity of the shutter mechanism, and I kept on saying to myself, “Three shots.  Just three shots this month—and you need at least one of them to be decent enough.”  I was worried that nothing would turn up at all, and I wouldn’t have anything for that month.  It was a risk, but it’s still part of what I have decided for the project.  It was nonetheless a pleasant feeling to shoot for the project once a month and then tuck the camera away again. 

The project made me realize that it’s not the wait that matters but what you do whilst you wait.  In a way it’s not really waiting anymore, but entertaining yourself by doing something you love.

everyday’s little things

Canon FTQL SLR

Agfa CT Precisa, crossprocessed

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