September 17th marked a few of my friends’ birthdays, and also the opening of one of the most anticipated Philippine art shows in 2009. Just to give you an idea of how much of a big deal this is, every single artwork (except one that was not for sale) has been sold, and the waiting list was easily over 100 names long. Geraldine Javier is definitely one of the most hyped artists in the Philippine scene for the past few years, and with good reason. I pretty much wanted to die after viewing all the works, because they were all just so pretty.

Ever since my parents introduced me to her work a few years ago, I’d been a huge-ass fan. It’s hard not to be because her works are made with such a clear and unique perspective, wrought with both thought and feeling. It helps that she’s actually good at painting. And when I say good, I really do mean good. Since starting out, she’s added a few choice elements in her work (delicate embroidery, metallic insects, ornate frames, to name a few) and so far, Butterfly’s Tongue is absolutely the tightest I’ve seen from her.

For the photos of the pieces, please visit the West Gallery website’s post on this exhibit. Or better yet, drop by the gallery.

West Gallery
48 West Avenue, Quezon City
411 0336

A MAP:

The exhibit’s mounted until the 19th of October, so right now, there’s still quite a bit of time to check it out. Better do it quickly, if you know what’s good for you!

Here are some photos that I took. They’re not very good (haha) but you can look at them anyway.

Continue reading Geraldine Javier: Butterfly’s Tongue….

I should have known.

That Blog-a-Day idea was a failure in the making. But really, in my defense (and I am going to be defensive), school was piling up¹, and I was away for the weekend.

My friend, Eira, and I went on a self-organized² “immersion” trip as part of our requirements for a Theology class. Essentially, you go to an area that is considered to be “less fortunate” or “underprivileged,” for a weekend, so that you can “immerse” yourself in what they go through and come out, hopefully, with a better understanding of how they live. I think that it’s also supposed to ignite some desire in your heart to reach out to the poor and make the world a little bearable for them.

We went to an orphanage over at BF in Muntinlupa. It’s called “My Father’s House,” and it’s run by Christian missionaries (Benny Hinn group) from the States. Compared to several other orphanages here in the Philippines, this was actually one of the best, I would say. They split us up (tear!) so I ended up with the girls (aged 3-13) and Eira ended up with the “toddlers,” which were the younger boys (3 to around 10, I think).

Their stories were so sad to hear. One was left in a Jollibee by the dad, after he bought the kid a meal. Another was left in the mall after her mother bought her shoes. The children were around 3 or 4 when this happened. Lots more horror stories that I don’t have the heart to tell.

What’s great about “My Father’s House” is that they teach the children to be responsible for themselves. They’re assigned chores and some of them have a “buddy system,” where they look out for each other. It’s not in the least nightmare-ish like in Annie. A lot of the children have been adopted by foreigners (from the USA, Italy, Sweden) and it’s nice to see that, unlike Filipinos in general, who tend to adopt baby-age kids, some foreigners choose to open their homes to older children.

This is Ella. She’s three years old, and she’s got a home
in Sweden now, I think. :)

My Father’s House seems like it has a considerable amount of funding, but what they really need are volunteers. As much as I would like to return frequently, I live up north (reaaaally far from the area) and it’s hard to find time to go there in between school, church and life in general.

In case anybody out there who is reading this wants to help out, My Father’s House is located at 135 Ramona Tirona Street corner Sison Street BF Homes, Parañaque City, Philippines.

In other news, I bought some books today:

• Erich Fromm’s “You Shall Be as Gods”
• Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”
• Sir Thomas Browne’s “Urne-Burial”
• I.E. Mozenson’s “Behind Beavis and Butt-head”
• Larry Sloman’s “On the Road with Bob Dylan”
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “When the World Screamed”

On yet another note, I took down the Dumbledore’s Army Sign-Up Sheets, and I have to say that the other sheet (the one I put up on the way to the library) has more promising members. Will post them later, then you can be the judge.

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¹ Last week, I had to worry about my non-moving thesis, a Theology long test on the same day as my notorious Philosophy long test plus a few other things, so really. I was pretty stressed out.

² A small rant: It is my personal opinion that if a “branch” of the school cannot dole out enough areas for immersion for all the Theology classes, it should not be a requirement. We had to look for our own areas (Eira found us ours) because OSCI ran out of areas. I know a couple of people who still do not have areas. Just a thought.

Today, instead of doing the work I should be doing, I watched a certain Teen Nick show and also I made a video blog urging my 51 YouTube subscribers (including my daddy) to register for the upcoming Presidential Elections (2010, baby!). Here I am, making a fool out of myself:

Seriously, though. Please, please, please take time to register. I really believe that if all goes well with the elections (i.e. if nobody cheats, tampers with results, et cetera), and if we do our part, as in to register and to vote, we can really make a difference towards the Philippines that we want it to be. So, go register if you know what’s good for you!

In other news, I am dying from my academics. Which is actually my fault, so I don’t blame anybody, really, I just enjoy whining and complaining and annoying other people with my unpleasant ways. However, this little video (yes, a video! again!) will never fail to cheer me up. I seriously watch it about five times a day ever since discovering it a few days ago. PLEASE ENJOY THE PUPPY THAT CANNOT ROLL OVER:

DUDE. I totally forgot to blog yesterday. I was out of the house most of the day, and I promise I had a pretty cool blog entry in my head (“What I Will Not Let My Band Do. If I had a Band.”) but yeah. I went to church, had family lunch, went out to watch District 9 and came home to watch that Wizards of Waverly Place movie. (Don’t hate, David Henrie is GUH.) So, yeah. I’m lame at making excuses, but I speak the truth.

In other news —

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
ISABEL MARIA!

Isa is my best friend in the entire world. She turned 21 today. This photograph was taken in high school, so it’s pretty ancient, but it mostly illustrates how I am around her. Which is to say, not at all inhibited, and also pretty silly.

Funny story, we hated each other’s guts unknowingly. (The hate was unknowingly reciprocated.) I sent her stupid e-mails when I was on vacation, I don’t know why, and the rest, they say, is his-tee-ree.

(Just kidding. I’m probably the only one that says that.)

If you’ve been around for a while, you might remember a post I made a few weeks (months?) ago where I talked about my friend, Gabby’s portrait project called “These Portraits”. Today, we did a different, although also portrait-related, shoot. I took some behind-the-scene shots. A preamble to this preamble: I was in a pretty nasty mood the day before. So, when I pulled myself out of the house, I resolved to take a few photos. I sort of fell out of the whole photography thing (for reasons unknown even to me), but taking photos today, even if they were kind of dumb, made me feel really nice.

I think I’m bringing the camera around a bit more often. I miss they way I used to see the world, when I held a camera.

My Flickr • Gabby’s Flickr

Paulina Paige.

Gabby and her medium-format camera. Drool.

Yay.

The rest of the photos: Continue reading September Five was a Portrait Saturday….

No, I do not play an instrument.

I do, however, write, layout and take pictures and people like me give birth to publications like TUBE, which feature mixes like this one I am about to post. I write pretty long preambles, I hope you are not pissed off.

SONGS TO LISTEN TO, WHILE TAKING A WALK IN THE PARK

• Walk in the Park • Oh No! Oh My!
  If it is a particularly good walk.
• Just (You Do it to Yourself) • Radiohead
  If it is somewhat nihilistic.
  
• Where is my Mind? • Pixies
  If it is (curiously) apocalyptic.
  
• This Modern Love • Bloc Party
  If you feel like taking a skip, instead of a walk.
• Start a War • The National
  If you are feeling mellow.
• If You’re Feeling Sinister • Belle & Sebastian
  If you’re feeling sinister.
• Like a Rolling Stone • Bob Dylan
  If you feel like mouthing the words to Rolling Stone magazine’s #1 song of all time.

Below are some photos:

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¹ By this, I mean my music blog with Petra/Patty called Warmest Corner. It’s a lovely little place. I kind of feel bad leaving it un-updated for so long. It’s nice to look through, though. Most of the links to the songs should still be up.