It’s kind of funny how I’ve never really been to these book fairs in recent years. I remember getting “The Screwtape Letters” in one of the ones held at Megatrade Hall when I was in grade school, but I’ve never went to one with the sole intention to just buy books. Sarie found this to be ridiculous (since I’m pretty much a book h0) so we went to the one this year!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were tons of books everywhere. Normally, I would be diligent to take better photos, but I don’t fare so well in crowded places. Plus, there were so many books to see. There’s a Php 20 entrance fee (Php 15, if you’re a student) but it’s ell worth it, if you’re in for some serious shopping.

There were all kinds of books, most at 20% off and up. I very nearly fainted, to be honest. Here are a few of the ones I got, but I didn’t end up getting “LAMB” since I’ve got a copy already. This one was really pretty and looked like the Bible, though. I always wanted to get it, but I figured I needed space for other books in my life.

In the super bargain bin, we found a funny book about a stuffed panda bear. Here is Tink giving Minty some toilet paper as they pondered their options for staying together.

(We were too cheap to buy it.)

Rad Roald Dahl editions! I quite like the “James and the Giant Peach” one. I used to watch that over and over, much to my sister’s dismay. She hated it, and I could never really figure out why.

In the middle of book shopping, I got a headache (because I’m totally a nerd like that) so Sarie and I went out for coffee. We sat at a free table at a Dunkin’ Donuts café, which I guess is supposed to make it classier, but there was this lady who claimed it was her table even though she didn’t save it or anything. We left for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, because I hate dealing with rude people.

We commenced book browsing, and behold! My book loot!

I’m pretty happy! The most expensive ones were “The Art Director’s Handbook of Professional Magazine Design” and “Creative Space,” which is a collection of creatives’ workspaces and homes. “Teen Film” was pretty expensive, too, but I love these things. While working on my thesis, I was pretty sad at the lack of these kinds of books (media studies) in our library. At least, the ones I needed.

And then the rest are just… kind of books I’ve always wanted to get.

I spent quite a bit of money on this book fair, but it’s O.K. since it only happens once a year. I kind of wish I bought some of the ones I saw (like these local books that I decided not to buy, because I bought all of these already), but I’m glad that MIBF seems to be a pretty consistent event. I’m hoping my book purchases hamper any book-related impulses in the near future.

It’s going on until tomorrow, so if you’re inclined, drop by the SMX Convention Center. Here’s the link for more details.

I like it when my parents’ gallery opens exhibits. Aside from the obvious reasons (e.g. convenience, relentless bias), it’s always enjoyable because there are usually four shows up for display and consumption. Last Tuesday, four amazing artists—Mark Andy Garcia, Jigger Cruz, Dexter Fernandez, and Bjorn Calleja—had their works up! And I was pretty excited.

My favorite of the bunch were, predictably, Jigger’s and Dex’s. I don’t know if it’s because I’m most familiar with their work—it’s probably not—but I just felt so excited looking at their work.

Dead End
Jigger Cruz
Gallery 2

The one on the right is called “The Extremist,” and it’s a portrait of Jacques Derrida. My brother thought it was Freud. At one point Jigger was telling us the story behind it, and it fascinated me that there even was a story behind it.

Jigger’s work is the most aesthetically appealing to me, though, I like his old colors better. Comparing these pieces to his old works, there’s a lot more figurative images at play (vague but more pronounced renditions of what seem to me to be flowers?, for example) and a lot more paint. His applications are more liberal and seem more deliberate.

And, look! There was a sculpture, too.

X O X O X O
Dexter Fernandez
Gallery 3

Dex’s work is so cheeky to me. Looking through these works (I think there were about 40), I giggled and chortled so many times. In the words of someone that was there that night, but whose identity I have conveniently forgotten, to Dex, “Mabait ka kasi, kaya dinamitan mo sila.”

It made me think about subliminal messages, and what image our brains process, even when there’s nothing really obscene about what we see. Strictly speaking, Dex’s images are a bunch of people, with lots of different photos and colors strewn about around them. What’s funny is that even though those images and colors are loud and sort of in-your-face, it’s hard to keep your mind away from what you’re supposed to be seeing but aren’t (i.e., pornography).

I think it’s pretty clever, too, that these cover-ups actually somewhat calls to attention the lack of obscenity that you kind of expect. You end up filling in the blanks, whether you like it or not.

My favorite pieces were the ones with illustrations, and the one with cut-out holes that form a pattern. Optical illusion, sure, but you kind of know what you’re supposed to see anyway.

Acquainted with the Night
Mark Andy Garcia
Gallery 1

Some Failed Attempts In Creating A Good Image for Painting
Bjorn Calleja
Gallery 4

All shows will be up until the 8th of October.

Hello, all!

Winners for the Chabon contest will be announced in about four days. For this leg of giveaways, I have three books up for grabs. Honestly, a part of why I am doing this is because I have no more room in my room for new books. Another part is because of International Literacy Month—which is a “cause month” that I can get behind. And yet another part just likes being nice, I guess.

I got all three of these books in 2008 on a trip to the States, and they’re all what my friend would call airplane books. Which is to say, they were entertaining to read to pass the time, but I haven’t really formed any close bonds with any of them.

First up is Water For Elephants, which was apparently a NaNoWriMo novel. It’s been developed as a film with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon as the leads. It’s about an old man who reminisces about his days in the circus as a young man. It was a pretty quick read—I read it in a resort in Florida.

This book, I actually read on an airplane, and shuffling in airports before my flight from Florida to New York City. Possible Side Effects is an entertaining and amusing collection of personal stories by Augusten Burroughs.

Fangland, I got from CostCo. It’s a vampire novel. To be honest, I only reached until chapter thirteen, but it was a sufficiently creepy novel. It takes part in a shady part of Europe where vampires are said to roam.

Anyway, same general rules, but as there are three books in one entry, I had to tweak them a bit. People outside the Philippines are welcome to enter, but please be open to paying for shipping.

GIVEAWAY RULES & MECHANICS:
Winners will be picked randomly.

1. Comment on this blog post. Indicate which book you are trying to win. This counts as one entry. (Make sure your email address is valid.)
2. You can comment only once per book. (Make a new one for each entry.)
3. Tweet one of the following:
   - “I want to win a copy of “Fangland” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”
   - “I want to win a copy of “Possible Side Effects” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”
   - “I want to win a copy of “Water For Elephants” from Nothing Spaces! http://bit.ly/ns-three #BooksAreSoCoolLike”

   This will qualify as your additional entries in the lottery. You can tweet per book once daily.

   REMINDER: If your Twitter is locked, I won’t be able to see your Tweet.

4. You can comment until 11:59 PM on September 25, 2011 (+8:00 GMT).
5. Winners must reply to the email alert within 24 hours of receiving it. Otherwise, I will pick another winner.

Feel free to share this contest (link: http://bit.ly/ns-three) or to join the first leg.

Thank you! I have a bunch of other books to give away, so stay tuned.

This photograph is of the last (and probably only) time I’ve ever been to New York City’s famed Twin Towers. It was 1999 and the only thing I remember was how strong the wind was and how big the world seemed to be from all the way up there. The next time I would return to that place would be in 2002, and the world had changed.

My favorite book is Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” It’s about a nine-year-old boy, Oskar Schell, who is dealing with the loss of his father from 9/11. Essentially. It’s so much more than that. It’s about tragedy, loneliness, loss, and how beauty is still possible amidst and despite these things.

I don’t pretend to have had a special relationship with the World Trade Center, as a place or as a memory, because I don’t. I didn’t lose anybody or any place special that day, but what I did lose was hope. I lost the feeling of security, and I felt several different shades of grief, anger. I felt helpless. At least, for a little while.

It’s been ten years after 9/11. It’s been ten years and in so many ways, it still doesn’t make sense to me. Ten years ago, a heartless action damaged the world in a way that seemed irreparable. How do you pick up the pieces after this kind of wreckage?

But the human heart is resilient. Each time we remember, it’s not a giving into sadness and grief and loss. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come. We remember because each day that we spend away from that day is one of overcoming. Everyday, we choose to live on is proof that we did not let this tragedy win. In “Looking for Alaska,” John Green wrote, Those awful things are survivable, because we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be.

We remember because ten years ago, on September 11, millions of people banded together and found that we are so much bigger than what we thought we could be. In the course of one day, we saw the opposite ends of the spectrum of humanity. And while the human heart is capable of doing horrible things, we know that it is capable of wonderful, amazing things as well. We know that it is capable of compassion, selflessness, forgiveness, healing.

From “A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert:

“We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
We must admit that there will be music despite everything.”

We choose to remember because how could we forget?

What to do with a good head on some shoulders? The face you are now seeing is that of Lauren Hutton (shot by Irivng Penn in 1960) and is the “base” for Roberto Chabet’s Head Series, on display at Galleria Duemila currently. Works on Paper is comprised of several pieces from the Head Series spanning from 1986 to 1992.

The writeup that accompanies the exhibit was written by Ma. Victoria Herrera, who was my professor for “Narratives in Western Art” back in Ateneo. I thought it was an interesting piece, since she chronicles the history and progression of Chabet’s work, noting influences by Kurt Schwitters (who was referenced in one of pieces in this series). She also goes into the workings of collage-making, in an effort to understand the appeal of the process and the medium, as well as to provide its historical background.

A different and condensed version is up here, but I’ll try to scan the printed writeup soon because I loved reading it a lot. Nothing like a well-researched piece, really!

Anyway, onto the show! Works on Paper features over thirty works. It’s really cool to me, because it reminded me of the iteration exercises we used to have for design. By setting a limit or a boundary (in this case, that photo of Lauren Hutton), the artist is tasked to rework it several times. It’s kind of like trying to solve a problem using more than one solution, or looking for more than one way to draw a line. Or something.

For one project we had that dealt with iteration—it was aptly called “8×8″—we were tasked to make eight designs (that fell under a theme; e.g. mine was “animals”) and find eight ways to apply them on apparel/merchandise. It was fun because you really had to think outside the box and, usually, when you’re at your wit’s end, that’s when you come up with the best solutions and results.

Here are some of my favorite pieces. My camera setting was absolutely wrong for their lighting set-up, so I only have a few photos. You can view the exhibit over here, anyway. Or you know, go visit the gallery!

Galleria Duemila
210 Loring Street
1300 Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(view map)

Tel: (632) 831-9990 or (632)833-9815
Fax: (632) 833-9815
Email: gduemila@gmail.com
Website: www.galleriaduemila.com

Read the rest of the entry & see the rest of the photos!

September is my favorite month. For one thing, it’s my birth month. For another, I quite like the weather when the calendar hits this spot. Apparently, it is also (Inter)National Literacy Month! Which is kind of perfect because I had been meaning to do book giveaways for a long time now.

I’d like to challenge myself to be diligent in updating this September. Words and books have a soft spot in my heart, so I like putting them in the spotlight when I can. I’ll be having a few more giveaways and launching book-related projects until the end of the month, so watch out for those, too!

The first leg of these giveaways (because there will be several) concerns a book that I haven’t read by an author that I love. The Yiddish Policeman’s Union is a novel by Michael Chabon. I always pass by used bookstores and sales, and I always feel compelled to buy it because I totally judge books by their covers.

Unfortunately, I keep forgetting that I already have a copy of this book, and that is how I ended up with three. I’m keeping the first edition that I managed to find, but I’m giving away these two paperbacks.

I’m going to do a random picking again, like my last giveaway. Again, for international participants, I’d ask you to shoulder shipping fees, if you feel compelled to join.

GIVEAWAY RULES & MECHANICS:
Winners will be picked randomly.

1. Comment on this blog post. A “Hello, my name is!” is fine, but try to tell me something nice! This counts as one entry. (Make sure your email address is valid.)
2. You can comment only once.
3. Tweet the following: “Two copies of “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” up for grabs at http://bit.ly/ns-chabon #BooksAreSoCoolLike” This will qualify as your additional entries in the lottery.*
4. You can comment until 11:59 PM on September 16, 2011 (+8:00 GMT).
5. Winners must reply to the email alert within 24 hours of receiving it. Otherwise, I will pick another winner.

If you know someone who loves Chabon and does not have this book yet, feel free to share this link: http://bit.ly/ns-chabon.

Visit me for the rest of September for other book-y goodness. I’m also trying to revive my kind-of-dead book blog, so fingers crossed. I’ve actually been reading a lot. Not as much as Sasha, but I’ve been reading!

———
* Thanks to Val of QuietGirl.net for this idea! You may only Tweet once a day.