So, I’ve been a little bit busy (in the head and away), but people have been asking about where I find out about exhibits, and stuff, since I mostly post entries of the exhibits that I go to, and not ones that are about to happen. (Sorry.) In any case, here are two exhibits that are spaced pretty much a month apart, so you can go to both! Or something. I’m really excited about the both of them is what I’m saying. Enjoy!

The show is going to be up until August 14, I think. So, you have about two weeks or so to see it. I’ve seen the works already. They’re primarily in black-and-white, but Nona played with a lot of mediums. It’s pretty interesting. I’m a big fan of her oil paintings (duh, who isn’t?) but she has a lot of really pretty pieces up for this one.

West Gallery
48 West Avenue, QC
(632) 411 0336
Open: M-S, 10am – 6pm

Another exhibit that I am excited to see! It’s a collaborative show by two of my favorite artists, Mariano Ching and Yasmin Sison, and their kid, Haraya. I’ve only spoken to them about it, and it sounds really, really interesting. If you couldn’t already tell from the title, the show is centered around childhood. They both have said that the show’s going to feature a lot of different mediums as well. I cannot frakking wait for this show, to be honest.

Blanc PMN is located at The Peninsula Manila G/F Shops 9 and 10 Ayala Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Makati City. Not so sure about the gallery hours, but you can call or send an SMS to this number +63920-927-6436.

I’m also excited about a lot of different shows that will happen in between, but I don’t have the invites yet. I’ll be sure to post them, once I get a hold of them. If you’re a lover of art, I would really advise you to check out these two shows. Probably out of personal bias, because I do love these artists, but there’s a good reason why I do, and it’s because they’re amazing.

So, I’ve been toying with the idea of selling stuff I make online. I’ve been working on some badges/buttons (like the ones I used for my thesis, but also another new ‘set’ that, in my humble opinion, is pretty exciting), since people seem to love those. But then, I’m thinking of making some prints as well.

These are A5 in size (or half of A4) and 3/4 are references of things dear to my heart.

Yes/No? What do you think? Should I make more or should I just stick to my day job? (LOLJK, I don’t have a dayjob.) Let me know what you think, please. I’d really appreciate it.

Suggestions (of what else to make—as in, shirts, tote bags, etc?) are also most welcome.

Love,
Carina

P.S. Sorry for the stupid title. I haven’t even read that play.

In which we talk about goals.

Now, there are many types of goals. I, for one, have a variety of them, falling into a variety of categories including health, organization and personal growth. But I suppose being a recent graduate, what seems pressing to me are the goals that fall under the career variety. Having graduated in March, a lot of my schoolmates are now in more-or-less stable jobs, and some are in careers that they more-or-less like.

I took a job in May, found out, quite unfortunately, that it wasn’t the path that I wanted to take… and I quit it a month after. Kind of a sucky story to tell, but it must be told. Now, to avoid similar career blunders that I foresee in my future, I’ve been trying to narrow down my “action points,” choosing to concentrate on the ones that will lead me to the things I most want to be.

Which brings us to the first step…

ONE: Outline Your Goals. The simple task of listing down major goals is a big help. Personally, I feel like something is way weightier if I commit to it, and write it down on paper, instead of having it float around in my head. For this blog post’s intents and purposes, my goals involve a) Being a Writer, b) Being a Designer (Also), c) Working Primarily From Home, d) Learning How To Paint, and e) Selling Stuff. Learning How To Paint seems a little out of place in this list, but I suppose I put it down so that it would seem more urgent. I find that writing stuff down really works better than thinking about them, no matter how well-meaning the intent is. Ink on paper is a glaring reminder, whereas fleeting thoughts are not.

TWO: Produce Attainable Steps For Each Goal. Brainstorm and write all of the tiny steps you could take that you think will eventually lead up to the attainment of your big goal. Just write down whatever you can think of, that will help you achieve said goal. For this example, I used goal a) Be a Writer, and have outlined the following steps.

The possibilities are basically endless (unless you run out of them LOLJK), so list down everything you can think of that might help. If it turns out to be a bad idea, you can cross it out anytime, anyway.

And lastly, a bonus step involving…

See which goals go together. You might be able to kill birds with one stone. All the goals are related to goal c), for example. You can be a writer, a designer, a painter and a MERCHANT (I just wanted to use the word, sorry), while working at home. You can e) sell stuff that you d) paint. And so and so forth. This way, there is a quicker progression, and you end up really getting down to business. (Or something.)

My actual list is pretty scary and ambitious and I have weird-ass diagrams and lists and things. Maybe I can post that some time, when I’ve polished it. There are just so many things that I want to do, and too little of time and too little of me to go around. And then I end up really just wanting to do nothing, but feeling bad because I know in my heart that I want to be somebody great.

Is that lame? That’s kind of lame. But, it’s true. So, here’s an attempt at putting the more important goals first, and maybe actually getting them done.

While I am a firm believer in the age-old adage, “There’s something about Sunday night that makes you want to kill yourself,”¹ this Sunday night was pretty good. First, even though I had no money, I got some books from the Powerbooks sale:

“Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life” by John Sellers (I have no idea what this is about.)
“The Collected Works of T.S. Spivet” by Reif Larsen (Mikka lent me her copy and I needed to have my own.)

“Akimbo and the Elephants” by Andrew McCall Smith
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz
I peeked inside the second book and it is… pretty much amazing. I’m excited.

We also went to Nona Garcia’s house. Pretty sure I’m not allowed to post photos of the works (for the upcoming exhibit this week; troop down over to West Gallery, y’all), so here are nondescript photos of things around her house, and exhibit-y things up-close. Oh, and of her cute (but snobby) little dog, Jacob.

Also, got this on Friday, from the Meiday gig/Hato send-off over at The Collective.

Also, today, my sister and I got a session of IPL Hair Removal done. But there are obviously no photos of that. Unless you want to see my kili-kili… in which case, I will probably not show you, anyway.

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¹ OK, not age-old… more like, from 1994, as articulated by Angela Chase. (back to top)

Was supposed to post the winners yesterday, but I had server issues, so apologies for that!

Anyway, because my parents are amazing people, I have drawn 5 names, instead of 2! So, I’m giving away 5 pairs of tickets to the ManilArt 10. I used http://random.org to draw the names.

1. #2 Mara
2. #8 Krinessa
3. #23 Jeric Rustia
4. #25 Nante
5. #29 Tim

Because I drew Tim’s and Krinessa’s names first (so they are, technically, the original winners), they will be the only people I can probably LBC/mail the tickets to. Please send me an e-mail to yankee@nothingspaces.com. To the rest of the winners, let me know if you can pick up the tickets from West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday to Saturday. If not, send me an e-mail so we can arrange something.

Yay, congratulations!

For other ticket concerns, please send an e-mail to jonsy@manilart.com. I’ll ask about the tickets (if they will sell onsite, etc) and make an update for everyone else interested.

… LOL not really. But this post is about a fantastic book, so the title half-counts! So, I’m sure that y’all have books that you love so frakking much, but come by so infrequently, that whenever you see them, you buy it and think of a wayward soul to give it to. A friend of mine buys Franny Billingsley’s “The Folk Keeper,” and he gave me a copy a few years ago. (It’s a gorgeous children’s book, really.)

While I do have a lot of books that I feel this way towards, I’ve only done it twice, and both times, I bought the same book. It’s not “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” because, while that is My Favorite Book In The Entire World, it’s not that hard to come by. Also, for some reason, it is expensive. But anyway. The book I am talking about is John Green’s “Looking For Alaska.”

“Looking For Alaska” kind of shot up to Internet popularity, when this particular quote invaded Tumblrverse. I was floored, and I wanted to read it immediately, but couldn’t find it anywhere. I found Green’s “An Abundance of Katherines” and “Paper Towns,” no problem, but I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for “Looking for Alaska.”¹ Finally, however, out of the kindness of his heart, Armando who is a Tumblr friend from the UK, sent me a copy of “Alaska” and okay, finally, I understood what the fuss is all about. It’s overposted, and has somewhat reached a “Perks”-esque² notoriety, but I get it.

Anyway. I gave the book away on this site, when I first found a copy here in Manila. (Still haven’t figured out what to get the runner-ups, oops.) And I found another copy of the book two weeks and sent it to Raymond. He got it earlier this week and has been reading it and is reportedly liking it so far.

Because it had a dinky, girly cover, I made a sort of book sleeve that I held back from posting until the book got to him. I’m posting pictures because I worked hard on it, damn it. Behold, my masterpiece!:

Looking like a serious craft project with a cutting board. It wasn’t. I just needed to cut stuff.

Close-up of the lettering! Kinda badly rendered, but at least it is not pink.

The back!

The quote on the back goes: “I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do it.” And, you know, it’s a promise I intend to keep.

Anyway, I just wanted to ask if you had any books (or anything, really—albums, films, what-have-you) that you love so much, you’re willing to shell out a few bucks or spend some time to let someone know about them? Would love to hear about them, if you please.

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¹ See what I did there? (back)
² Where haven’t you heard, “And I swear, in that moment, we were infinite”? Stephen Chbosky’s book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” is really, honestly beautiful, so it’s kind of sad how this quote has turned into a little joke. I still love it, though. (back)