Okay, so I lied. I was going to save my hospital escapades for another time, when it was particularly bleak and I needed something else to rant about, or when I run out of things to blog about… which is actually kind of the case right now. I wish I had some pictures, but this is going to be mostly text-based because all the photos I have (meaning, the ones my dad took) make me look like shit, so I am not going to post them.

Anyway, my brief stint in the hospital… was actually the first time I got confined since I was in the third grade! It is not as enjoyable as I remembered it being. When I had been confined then, the hospital was actually better, but that’s beside the point. I think my first-time viewage of a John Hughes movie (Sixteen Candles!) made it better. I had to do homework then, but that was somehow OK.

This time around, I just kind of waited for the next show I wanted to see on television (although, one bright spot was probably getting introduced to White Collar‘s Matt Bomer, by way of a marathon) and also for the itchiness to go away. My legs felt super prickly and I couldn’t sleep, sometimes, because of so many minor discomforts that didn’t really count as pain, but bothered me to the point of I Cannot Get Any Sleep, anyway.

The nurses also liked going in at random times (3 a.m., just as I am about to fall asleep, dammit) to check my temperature (which never reached past 37 once my condition stabilized) and my blood pressure. They also liked checking my IV drip and regulating and re-regulating the flow, resulting into random stabby sensations up my right arm. Every single time. Annoyingly enough, at one point, they forgot to check the IV drip and it was almost all out when I noticed. I do not know what would have happened, but I do know that that would be bad.

On the list of other useless things they like doing is asking me how much I have peed or pooped since so-and-so time that day. I also got asked once how many glasses of water I drank during the day… at home.

That aside, the food was also always cold, and not very appetizing. I guess that’s not really their main concern. I only ate the yema (haha) and also the soup that came with one of the meals. But fret not, the food wasn’t wasted since whoever was watching over me usually ate the food. I mostly had Skyflakes with a healthy dose of IV drip on the side and lots of water and Gatorade. On the first day, I tried eating but then I couldn’t keep it down! TMI, but there you go.

Things I Have Discovered While In the Hospital:

• Charmed still airs on local TV. Every morning, Tuesdays-Saturdays. I will not tell you what channel because you are not supposed to see that atrocious show.
• It’s hard to read with only one hand. You would think it wouldn’t be so hard, but it really is.
• When you are not within reach of good music, you tend to hum them a lot or sing them. Even when you are alone, or when the person you are with is sleeping.
• It’s hard to be without a limb, even if it is only one hand. I think I would probably be significantly less productive if I was missing even a finger. But that’s just because I’m a weakling.
• Charmed is really bad.
• I am not the kind of person who likes having visitors around.
• It’s nice to read poetry when you have nothing else to do. (I read Sarah Manguso’s Siste Viator. It was good.)
• Your hair smells really gross after days of not bathing. Like, really.
• Being admitted to the hospital is not fun.

I have many other lessons and discoveries, but I’ll spare you. I wish I had some sort of epiphany or life-changing life choice to accompany this lame experience, but alas, I do not. The last time I was hospitalized, I remembered that I switched from grape juice to orange juice (I wasn’t allowed to drink or eat dark food because it could translate as internal bleeding via X-ray), and also I discovered a kindred spirit in Samantha Baker.

Now, though, I just really wanted to GTFO of that place. The people were uncaring and insensitive and my body was super upset with itself. And the waiting was really the worst. I have never experienced this kind of agony of waiting since high school, maybe, while waiting for the bell to signal dismissal. (Here is a photo of that AWESOME, AWESOME time. I hope the sarcasm translates, but if it doesn’t, now you know that I was being sarcastic. Because I just told you.)

I hated waiting, and I hated having to watch Charmed because nothing else was on.

But, I suppose that that was a necessary step and detour for me to get better. Because I don’t think that I would have recovered as fast without the sleepless nights, the bad television, the constant jabs of pain up my arm and the gross food. Maybe I could do without one or two of those things, but despite the discomforts, I’m glad that hospitals exist because I do not want to feel that shitty again. And now, I am better and I actually have that horrid place to thank!

Stay away from these people.

Hello! In the last post, I talked about how sick I was and how I’m supposedly on the mend. It turns out, I actually wasn’t and had to be hospitalized for a couple of days because I somehow contracted a mild case of dengue fever. (It is the pits.) I don’t know how that happened, since I don’t really go out… like at all. But anyway, the point is, I am all better now. I think I will reserve my Hellacious Tales From The Hospital for another entry, mostly because I don’t really feel like talking about that crap and also, it seems a little ungrateful of me to be whining about something when I am actually feeling a little bit better.

So I’ll reserve those stories when my day becomes particularly dour and I need a scapegoat.

What I really wanted to talk about is Book Report, which is a new microsite I’m working on. It’s essentially a book blog (“But, Carina, you already have a book blog!”) but I promise it’s going to be much more than reviews and flailing… I mean, I’m hoping.

That’s the Master Plan, at least. And, quite frankly, I am pretty excited.

Dear Internet,

I am sick. I got really bad flu-ey symptoms yesterday, and then I got really awful rashes on my face, so I went to the emergency room today. It’s not so bad that I can’t walk or anything, but I get bouts of nausea and my fever has been going up and down. I got my blood drawn, though. My platelets are low-normal (190; normal range is 150-440), so there’s nothing to worry about yet, thank goodness. I have to go back tomorrow to have another blood test to check if the platelets shoot up by then, though.

In any case, here is a list of things that have cheered me up considerably the past two days. Kind of annoying that the weekend was monopolized by sleeping (I get headaches if I do too much of anything else), but at least it’s not anything fatal.

Charlie’s! I have never been to Charlie’s and was supposed to go on Saturday.
But then I woke up feeling like crap, so I canceled on Raymond. So he brought Charlie’s to me!

How awesome does this look? I’m glad I got to eat it yesterday because I can’t taste anything anymore today.

Aside from a blanket of paracetamol, I’ve been ingesting a lot of liquids. Grape is my favorite Gatorade flavor.

Harry Potter re-read! I am nearly done with Azkaban now, which is easily my favorite book from the series.

A VERY POTTER MUSICAL! Funniest thing ever, no lie.
Click here to see the first scene of the first act, if you haven’t seen it yet.
You will not regret it!

OK, that’s all. Do we see a trend here? I just wanted to post something… about A Very Potter Musical, more than anything, to be honest. I will probably write something about it when I feel a little bit better, and it’s going to be totally awesome.

Today, I had lunch with Raymond, but first! I dropped by the AMP bench to see if I still knew people. I was pretty certain that I would feel like a lola when I got there, but alas! People I still knew. I think I will make it a point to drop by and befriend lowerclassmen just so I will be able to sit with them in case I need to drop by Ateneo in the future.

This is a horrible photo, but it’s the only one I have of people at the bench.

Then, then, then! I have heard of this famed drink being sold in school. So, I have always thought, “I MUST TRY IT!” But I never really go to school, but I did today. Anyway! It’s really good. I think I want to drink it forever. (Play the song to find out what it is!)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(LOLJK. I have apparently put a clue (i.e., the actual answer) as the post title.)

Then, we looked at Leeroy New’s installation. He was pretty excited about it, but I’ve only gotten to see it now. Franny has a blog post of when he was still setting up. The piece is called “Balete.”

Look, a bug!

Also in this post, loot from his recent trip to Singapore: Rhodia notebook (LOL he bought a lot and said he didn’t like the paper, so he gave me one), MUJI notebook (!), and Battlestar Galactica postcards.

He also returned my copy of Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” and on the way home, I was re-reading the parts that I had highlighted, and this one is pretty relevant to me right now:

“I think about all of the things I’ve done, Oskar. And all of the things I didn’t do. The mistakes I’ve made are dead to me. But I can’t take back the things I never did.”

You might be on to something, Universe.

P.S. In case you are a proper geek and want to see the BSG postcards up close, pictures are under the cut. :) Continue reading Horchatas in August & Leeroy New….

Online activity has dwindled a bit, and has been reduced to looking at YouTube videos, cleaning out my Google Reader and reblogging Things That Make Me Cry. My Macbook Pro’s in the laptop hospital, see. It’s been there for the past few days, maybe a week now? But I’m just glad that it started having problems while it was still under warranty, and not after it had expired. That’s some stroke of luck, at least, isn’t it?

Anyway, so things I have been up to:

Trying to get back into film photography!
This is the FM-2 I used in high school. I remember close to nothing about using it.
That’s kind of sad, but the important thing is that I am determined.

Tried Perfect Binding!
Success, mostly. I have two new blank journals right now. I will not sell them,
because they look really handmade, but I understand the binding process more now, so yay.
More photos of the journals and the process (sort of) under the cut, if that interests you at all.

Re-reading Harry Potter in between everything!
I finished “Chamber of Secrets” today, which is exciting, because “Prisoner of Azkaban” is my favorite.

Getting the most mileage out of this fantastic cup.
This is currently my favorite cup and has aided me in keeping hydrated.
It’s by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, featuring a double-walled ceramic body and a silicone cover.
I’ve since used it for coffee, water, hot chocolate, tea lattes. I’m thinking of using it for soup next.

In other news, I have been employed. (!) I will talk about it more in the next post, although I haven’t exactly really been working-working yet. (I start on Monday.) Still, it’s pretty exciting.

In other other news, my mother has been admitted to the hospital and has been there for the past three days. I think she’s on the mend now, so thanks to everyone who has shared a thought and a prayer for her. It really means a lot.

Continue reading What Have I Been Up To!…

I’ve been a big fan of Bernie Pacquing’s work, ever since I saw this piece from an exhibit at West Gallery, when it was still operational in Megamall in 2008. I don’t know why, but I’ve never really gotten a chance to see his work much after that. So, when I heard that he was mounting a solo show at Finale, I practically begged my parents to go with me. (The last we ventured into Makati on a Friday night, we were stuck on the road for two hours, so they were a little apprehensive.)

Thank goodness they agreed (I’m mostly incapacitated, transportation-wise, because I am not exactly the best commuter, and also, I cannot drive), and that the traffic was merciful.

Pacquing’s exhibit is called Earth Mounds, and I read it after I’ve had a proper look-through, so looking at each piece was sort of magical to me. This is really one of the most cohesive shows I’ve been to in a while, and it was such a big pleasure looking around and kind of realizing how things went together. I don’t think it really comments on anything much, but it really is one of the best shows I’ve been to this year.

my favorite piece from the Mound series

From the door, I started with his Mound series, and my mouth kind of hung in awe, and I’d let out a little chuckle, because it’s ridiculous how strong each piece was. And then I moved to the Arches series, experienced a heightened level of my initial reaction until I made my round about the room and was just completely floored by how, in tiny details, everything tied together. I even made like a pretentious art douche and wrote in a little Field Notes notebook, because I really just wanted to remember the little details about the show that made me smile.

In Earth Mounds, Pacquing uses the shape of the dome, lots of curves, and geometry. I don’t know if he intended it, but the installation pieces were also strong parts of the exhibit, providing a more tactile and tangible way of presenting the idea of mounds and domes. Most of his imagery is not representational, but Pacquing asserts forms of architecture, with the installations seeming like little buildings, little structures. The works on paper offer the feeling of standing as blueprints, working really well and closely with the rest of the pieces.

I’m also such a big fan of his color palette. In retrospect, the show also probably owes part of its cohesion to Pacquing’s mastery of color. See, I would never be able to think of these color combinations. But his nifty little mind was able to mix bright blues and yellows with soft pinks and a minty green. Look at this beautiful piece.

“Termitaria”

“Termitaria” (detail)

This particular one entitled “Termitaria” is, I feel, an excellent assimilation of the entire show. Combining the imagery of mounds, and playing with structural elements, with the inclusion of the material used for the installation pieces (wood), it is such a stunning and visual piece. It made me feel bad that I don’t have money to buy it, and my own house to put it up on.

So, this is a pretty late post (I went on the 6th of August), but you are a lucky lot because the show will be up until the 30th! Just go to Finale Art File between 10am and pm on a Monday-Saturday. It really is a beautiful show that you should see.

Here’s Finale’s address:
Finale Art File
La Fuerza Compound (Gate 1)
2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City
(across Philippine School for Interior Design)

Continue reading Bernardo Pacquing’s “Earth Mounds”…