before the year ends

hello.

i haven't been posting anything here lately. i think i've become too easily distracted, out of focus, and i can't say anything longer than a paragraph. so i think i'll just list down some stuff (see? i can't even think of a 'better' word!) and recent goings-on that i want to note before it's 'next year' already. so, here goes.

1) our high school barkada's get-together pushed thru last night (the 29th) at oyster boy araneta center (sans susa, bart, and eliza). dash had a new (very, very short) haircut (the bf disapproves). bogs arrived with his dear, mich showed up clamoring for rockefellers, and i had my first beer in months. ige had a little exchange with bogs about some people they both vaguely remember from lourdes. hahaha.

probably because oysters don't look good on the ceiling.

2) today's my sister carla's 20th birthday (okay that made me feel really old). her bestie dropped by and gave her an ice cream cake, the mom made spaghetti and salad, and we also had some pizza we bought from sbarro earlier. welcome to carb-a-lot.

3) christmas day came and went. ige & i were talking about how the christmas spirit seemed "late", and even considered wanting the day itself to just pass so we could move on.

4) my niece miel likes fridge magnets very, very much.

5) i've been posting most of my single/miscellaneous photographs over at tumblr to save blogspot space.

6) two notably awesome christmas presents i got were from ige and his mom. i badly needed a 'real' watch and i received a very cool one that's water-resistant and that lights up! purrfect. also, ige never fails to surprise me with his amusing christmas creativity. i now have a wooden bust of him, a grinning ige with a cat on his head. now i can 'honk' his chin any time i want. heehee.

no, that is not a ponytail.

and he got my wink!

7) aside from the digicam ('introduced' in the previous post) i got myself a portable drive (finally!), a murakami short fiction collection, hydrocultured little plants (i plan to bring one to the office and put it over my desk) and a betta twin tank kit with two gwapo fishies named castor (dark blue) and pollux (crimson).

8) ige and i to the highest maximum level with four thumbs up recommend tostitos chips with the creamy spinach dip.

9) ige's newest discovery was a uni pin tech pen that has a .05 tip. that's very, very fine. i wonder what he'll come up with.

10) and last on the list: 2009 has been a good year for me, with the right mixture of highs and lows (meaning more highs than lows, hahaha). my wish for 2009 came true, and though i don't really have a wish for 2010 just yet, i'm actually looking forward to another year, whatever it brings. i hope it's another good year for everyone too. :)

we love cheese, and we're suckers for it too. happy holidays everyone!

test shot

using my (own) point and shoot/carry anywhere digicam. :D

Experience

talaga ang Quiapo pag Christmas season.

Kung mahina-hina lang ang loob ko, siguro naiyak na ako sa dami ng tao. Habang nagpapalipas ng oras (hinihintay madevelop ang black and whites) sa Hidalgo, tumingin-tingin na ako ng powent-en-shoot na camera na ireregalo ko sa sarili ko ngayong Pasko.

Malaking challenge ang pagtakda ng budget para sa isang bagay na hinahanda mo ang sarili mo na maaaring mawala, manakaw, mahulog sa imburnal, madaganan ng kalabaw, etc. Naghahanap kasi ako ng digicam na pang-araw-araw ko, para hindi ko na rin hiramin 'yung camera sa bahay. Madalas kasing nagkakasabay ang mga gimik namin at alam kong medyo napi-pissoff sila pag kailangan 'yung camera at nasa akin pala. Hennyway. Matapos ang 2 oras na pagi-interview sa lahat ng natitirang nagbebenta ng camera sa Hidalgo (and alas, so few remain!), may binalikan akong isang tindahan sa may kanto (na natatakpan nu'ng nagu-ukay-ukay sa tabi ng nagbebenta ng tuyo na kasosyo 'yung nagpapatugtog ng mp3 sa kaliwa nu'ng nagbebenta ng croocs).

May kasabay akong girlalu na bumibili. Di ko naman masyadong pinaglawayan 'yung bibilhin niyang Nikon D3000. "Okey na camera yan," sabi ko, "hobby mo talaga ang photography?" "Ay hindi, frustration ko lang," ngiti niya. Nakanang. Susyal ang frustration niya ah.

Pagkaalis ni photography frustrationist, tinanong ako nu'ng katabi ko. "Magkano mo nakuha?" Nagi-inquire kasi siya sa mga presyo ng cams doon. Nasa listahan niya ang latest mowdels ng Canon, Nikon, at ang matagal ko nang pinagnanasahan, ang Lumix LX3. Nasa 23thousands up up up ang nasa listahan niya. "Uh, ____ lang," sabi ko. Di ko kinayang sabihin na sa totoo lang, kalahating buwang suweldo ko 'yung halaga ng bago kong camera, na di na talaga bago ang mowdel. "Aaah," sabi niya, parang naaawa pa na hindi man lang umabot sa 5 digits ang presyo.

"Ate, wala na bang tawad 'yan, maski 'yung memory card lang, imbes na 440, 400 na lang, sige na..." ang pagmamakaawa ko. "Nagmahal kasi ang memory eh," sagot ni Ate. Gusto ko sanang sabihin, oo nga ate, ganyan talaga ang memory...minsan may gusto kang kalimutan pero... hindi ko na tinuloy kasi baka taasan pa ang presyo. Ayun. Di ko na pinabalot sa plastik dahil nagkasya naman 'yung buong box niya sa bag ko.

Bago umuwi, dinaanan ko na 'yung pinadevelop at scan to CD kong pics. Ganito mag-paint ang aking labidabs:

hindi mawawala ang kape

di naman gaanong malaki 'yung work niya 'no?

yun.

And dat's it from reddd my blackbird, fly TLR + Lucky BW film. Di masyadong oks 'yung galing sa 120mm (Holga). Kaya eto na lang, oki? Hennyway ulit. Sa susunod na post ko na may pics, siguradong 'yung bagong cam na ang pinangkuha sa mga 'yun. Naks.

yay!

Created by Oatmeal

I'm very proud to say I know my grammar.

And I know the rules before I break 'em.

I get peeved whenever I see an ad or a label that's grammatically incorrect: "savor it's rich taste" or something like that. I saw a boo-boo on a product label of a popular ice cream. Tsk. Sayang. What are proofreaders for? I want a job like that on the side, taga-check lang ng it's vs. its, your vs. you're. Hahaha.

boxed 2009

In 2006, Boxed was conceptualized by artists J. Pacena and Buen Calubayan as a series of exhibitions for artists and the artistically inclined. Each exhibition would gather together those from a wide variety of ages, backgrounds and creative training, showing their art—loosely bounded by dimensions—and prompting reminders on the presence and significance of the artistic community. From the initial exhibition in Big Sky Mind to the hallways of the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the Cubicle Art Gallery show themed with erotica, Boxed is, in the words of Pacena, 'the idea, that we can be boxed, in one time and one space in order to connect and create a larger box, the idea of creating a universe and a dialogue in between.'

In the fourth installment of Boxed at blanc compound curated by Clarissa Chikiamco and Rica Estrada, over forty women artists think, converse and relate their practice with one another. Within a set chain over four groups and starting from thoughts of the curators, each artist must reflect and respond to ideas of the previous artist in the line, documented through dialogue and then enacted in actual production. The dialogue, done through email, SMS, phone or in-person chats, is exhibited along with the art, putting primacy on the stages of art's conceptual development and the ability of artists to discuss and negotiate their practice.

Subtitled The Start of a Conversation, the show begins a dialogue but anticipates its extension beyond the exhibition. Believing that all different kinds of dialogue—direct or indirect, formal or informal—impresses upon and subsequently shifts artistic identities, however subtle, the exhibition challenges the idea that art is made in isolation. Highlighting the importance of artistic networks, the exercise of the show attempts to encourage networks in a system in which artists are able to both verbally and visually communicate their ideas with flexibility to others' artistic practices. Boxed: The Start of a Conversation discloses a normally concealed process as it commences it, acting as an index for the future dialogues it trusts to instigate.

Boxed: The Start of a Conversation opens on Saturday 4PM, December 12, 2009 at Blanc Compound Mandaluyong. Blanc is located at 359 Shaw Boulevard Interior, Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City. For more information, please call or sms 752-0032 / 0920-9276436, email info@blanc.ph or visit www.blanc.ph and www.blancartspace. multiply. com.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Ambie Abano
Clare Alegado
Janet Balberona
Cathy Lasam-Ballo
Mica Cabildo
Con Cabrera
Kim Carlos
Marika Constantino
Grace Corpuz
Ranelle Dial
Karen Flores
Mayang Frigilllana
Dina Gadia
Angela Garrido
Sarah Gaugler
Eva Gubat
Alon de Guzman
Abi Jao
Helen Jose
Amihan Jumalon
Lea Lim
Lesley Lim
Michelle Lim
Raquel de Loyola
Kat Medina
Maan de Loyola
Jhoan Medrano
Donna Noda
May Tobias-Papa
Cheng Pimentel
Brenda Praico
Alma Quinto
Ling Quisumbing
Marga Rodriguez
Julie Cola Shen
Reine Shih
Bru Sim
Yasmin Sison
Mimi Tecson
AJ Tolentino
Teta Tulay
Anna Varona
Shakira Villa-Symes
Jazel Kristin Villamarin
Tanya Villanueva
Lauren Villarama
MM Yu

Boxed will run until January 2, 2010.
Written by Lisa Chikiamco

the red shoe post

red polka dot wedges from Artwork. been eyeing them for a looong time. wore them the first time last week. heheheh.

smile! :))

St. Thomas, illustrated

shouldn't it be "a UST CFAD Adveritising Arts Graduate"? consonant sound on a vowel="a". (heheheh)

(Intro note: I'm posting this without the knowledge of my pare/boyfriend/co-thursdaykid/labidabs Ige. I'm sure he'll find out soon anyway. :P)

Ige was one of the artists who contributed to Fr. Aureada's book on St. Thomas. After submitting his work last May he had not heard from anyone involved in the book, and I don't think he was really interested. His mom and I were more 'interested' in whether he ought to have his own copy as compensation, or a small sum for his efforts. He shrugged the questions all off. He didn't want a copy for his birthday, and I'm sure he wouldn't want one for Christmas, either. Practical kid, that one. :)

Anyway, since I was *interested* in how Ige's illustrations came out and I wasn't content on simply browsing the hard-bound glossy coffeetable book, I got a copy of my own. It's about our university's patron saint anyway, and I've come to realize that I know so little about St. Thomas Aquinas' life, even if I've been in UST for more than ten years already. We had Aquinas-related teachings in our philosophy and theology subjects though (of course!).

The book is available from the UST Publishing House. A discounted price of Php 1250 is given to Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers, and Fr. Aureada's grad school students. I got my copy care of our Father Vice-Rector for Religious Affairs (thank you Fr. Deng & Ma'am Annie!). The regular price is two thousand pesoses.

So there. The book I will share with Tita Aggie, and if Ige wants to have a look, he can borrow from us anytime. :)

our early Christmas giveaway

Last Sunday, my family bade the puppies, now a month and a half old, goodbye--it was adoption time. The pups (a cross between a part-Golden Retriever mom and a Yellow Lab dad) have already been dewormed and given their first shots. Their 'adoptive parents' are relatives and friends of ours, people we know would take care of them well.

Keeping them all was out of the question, since the 7 boy puppies and 1 girl puppy would surely cause mayhem as they grow up (dogpoop, dogbaths, dogfights and all), not to mention the amount of food that they would consume would surely be thrice as much. So it was decided that we would just keep the girl puppy, temporarily called Pink (that was the yarn color tied around her for identification). Not that she needed any of course, because she was the only one with the different uh, anotomy. :)

Nanny Rox saying goodbye to her babies.

The puppies eat their last meal together as Miel looks on, wearing the new slippers Tito Ige gave her. :)

Miel's special puppy delivery!

My bff Susa became a puppy parent that day--here's her aww-some entry about her new baby!

thursdays 'til christmas

...is a new tumblr blog i made that's all about (you must have 'guessed' it already) christmas (and beyond). hahaha. sort of a little christmas project. come see! :)

at around this time last year...

:P

with the orokids Ige, Tissa, and Tad at the Sigwada Gallery. On exhibit were Bunch Garcia's works.

Photos taken with a Fuji Instax camera.

Sunday

Yesterday, iggy and i sweated it out over at the Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig run. Wearing our matching yellow shirts we crossed the finish line of our 5k event HHWWPSSP. :)

My parents did the 5k too, with my dad in corduroy pants and my mom in cotton slacks. They both wore yellow collared shirts with their race numbers tied around them.

It's a sad thing though, to see so much litter along the route and at the Quirino Grandstand, during a race that promotes a green future. Anyway.

We had a Jollibee breakfast afterwards. iggy had a new item on the menu--a pancake sandwich. I had a taste. It was a bit 'soggy' for me, for a sandwich. iggy liked it, though.

It was difficult having to drop him off at his house and saying goodbye. Oh well.

We picked up some dog and human food from Suki Market on the way home.

Back home we gave the dogs baths. That's eight puppies, two doxies, one golden retriever, and one yellow (white) labrador.

I had a nice after-lunch siesta before Mass.

I put new sheets in the rat cage and gave Gypsy and Dublin sapin-sapin for snacks.

Miel and I watched Barney before she had to go to bed.

I wrote a couple of postcards that I mailed out today, this time to Finland and Spain. Wondering where my next Postcrossing postcard will be from.

I slept knowing that my body will ache more in the morning.

not carne norte

when i think of cdo now, i remember sitting at my laptop at 1am and squeezing out thoughts for my paper that i would be presenting the next day. i think of walking around the city looking for breakfast at 6am, and the short 3-minute walk to xavier university from where i was staying. i remember eating every couple of hours during our conference, and i can still taste the iced coffee i had at one of the cozy coffee shops before my return flight to manila. i am still a bit disappointed at the low turnout during my presentation, and i am still very sore at that presentor who shouldn't have been there at all--fifteen minutes of my life i wasted listening to that person. my professor admits he made a mistake by forgetting that that person had been blacklisted already due to his consistent blah during conferences.

anyway, i had a good time in cagayan de oro. i wanted to take in the city as much as i can given the span of time i was there, to feel the rhythm, to be part of the city. i think i was pretty successful on my last day there. hahaha. good thing i had classmates to go out with during my last night in cdo. and we went river rafting!

do excuse the lack of words to describe my experience. i'd been writing nonstop the whole week, and i was able to relax only last saturday. hehe. i guess i'd like to take a break from writing for a while. :) for the meantime, here are some photos from my cdo trip.

high five after the rapids

okay we conquered that one

and i was still smiling at the camera

cute :)

my, what a big boat you have! (acel & i)

after emerging from macahambus cave

i walked in first and i had to fire my flash so that i could see where to walk. i think i blinded them with this. hahaha.

waway saway and his group during the welcome dinner

they were amazing

miming! :)

ongoing call for help

From the UST Office for Community Development.

[The original photo was taken in Lambakin, Marilao, one of our partner communities that was severely affected by the flood, during a relief operation. Edited with Picasa.]

yellow team

it was the green team's turn for milk.

on climate change and everyday's little things

Hello, I'm back from a dialogue-forum on climate change.

While I've been slowly turning into an ecowarrior (little steps, baby steps), I'm not much of a stay-on-one-subject blogger so I won't write the details or 'what I learned' or 'what happened' here. I'd rather (literally) talk about the subject. Mahabang usapan eh, tinatamad lang talaga akong mag-type. Hehehe. There you go. So what the heck am I doing here? Just a few thoughts from my end as a school-based development worker: I have to get moving beyond our Styro-free Campaign. I want to do more, but with the amount of (other) work I have to do, it's going to be very difficult. As much as I would like to focus on our advocacy, I can't do everything on my own. I need the support of the office, of the whole university. Someone has to do my other work. Hahaha. Fat chance. Oh well.

What I really want to say, really, is that I learned a lot and I feel good about learning a lot about issues about the environment. The learning part is, I think, what I can share with others for now--after all, one of the 'perks' of working in my office is getting to suggest what the next training for our partners will be. Climate change is (really) here, and we need to adapt. So what can we do? [As a little step, we--our office--could conduct awareness campaigns and such.] Do we care about healing the world, about making it a better place for all, not just the entire human 'race' but including all living things (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather)? Do we care about the next generations' right to life? Then we have to make others understand, for it is only when one understands that one loves, and it is through loving that one protects. Kaya nga I'm very fortunate to have someone who understands me, and I understand him, and we understand each other. Hehehe. Naks. :)

Hunnyway, here are some photos of my the event and of some little things I found interesting. :)

The group photo. I am very easily found.

Workshop, placing metacards.

And I was "volunteered" to report. I gave a very concise paperpoint presentation.

I must have looked like such a geek.

Another workshop output. Applying the tape that way was my idea.

And here I am working on that output. I like pasting stuff.

Okay, now for some interesting little things!

Of course I got the bed by the window.

I liked our curtains.

Charlie was my roommate's bedmate. I was so envious. I should have brought Mr. Kite along!

Makati na raw 'yung nasa malayo.

Filinvest property.

So that's why they call it 'soul-searching'. :))

:)

Line up.

Probably the most dangerous kiddie pool I've ever seen.

I miss taking photos.