Click here for photos and stories!

If you read my last post, you will be familiar with what I have come with as a “motto” for 2013, which is Pay attention. Generally, I don’t have mottos in life or anything, and I don’t come up with a special one each year. However, this one just seems to be fitting, especially after everything happened last year.

Aside from occasional coasting, I’ve also neglected to be financially responsible last year. Mind you, I don’t spend over my means (which only means that I don’t live in debt). I don’t buy things that I know I can’t pay for. I do have a habit of accumulating material things and impulse buying, especially online. I suppose it’s only a matter of time, since I’m quite accustomed to clicking around the Internet.

The thing is, I know I can pay for what I buy, so I know I won’t reach that point of desperation where I have to sell one of my kidneys just to sate my taste for the material world. It’s just that I know that some of the things I buy, I don’t really need. It’s not bad to have nice things, but sometimes, it’s wiser to scale back on some things. Especially when it just feeds the hungry consumer who is, in reality, already full.

TL;DR

Often, things feel like one big blur to me and everything just becomes a vague compound of emotions and memories, save for a handful of stark and special instances and experiences. That’s partly why it’s helpful, keeping a blog. Many times I get swept away by the want of more hits that the pressure to create “good content” becomes paralyzing, resulting in no content at all. But then, I remember that I do this for myself anyway, and anybody can choose to read it or not read it. And then the mysterious weight is lifted and I can post freely again.

(Of course, there is still some semblance of censorship, which is something that I want to get rid of especially when I see how I used to post with no cares in the world. So, I don’t know, I guess I’ll have to work on that.)

Anyway. 2012 was an interesting year. It started off quite busy for me and I got to focus on more of my art-related pursuits early on. I got sidetracked by big-ish design projects and I was plagued by the thought of being stuck in a rut… which made me feel like 2012 was a colossal waste. I hate being proven wrong, but in this case, I was glad for proof of the opposite of waste.

January 2012

In January, I dreamt that I wanted to be a Hobbit when I went to Mayoyao, Ifugao, and lived in the mountains for three days. You can read more about Mayoyao by clicking here. Truthfully, you haven’t really lived until you watch a sunrise from a great height.

Photo by Gracie

In Nothing Spaces news, Avalon sponsored a super duper cool Field Notes giveaway.

Click here to read the rest of the entry

So, my mom casually commented on my lack of updates here which confirms two things: a) I have been away for a longer time than is healthy for someone who keeps a blog, and b) my mom reads this (hi, mama!). In any case, I was going to make an update, when there was a server error here (that I did not appreciate), and then the moment passed and I wrote on my beauty blog, Softly Sometimes, instead.

My mom pointed out that I hadn’t even finished posting about Europe yet, and now I have begrudgingly put together a photo post of Belgium. Now, Belgium wasn’t a major destination in terms of our itinerary. We took a day trip there because we were in between places (Amsterdam & London) and we figured it would be worth our while to make a stop over.

Because we were going to be walking around, I stashed the digital camera I brought along with me in one of the train lockers. These are the only pictures (aside from a few shots on my Diana Baby/110 camera) you will see of Brussels. The wider angle photos were taken with an LC-A+ (with a wide lens attachment & loaded with Kodak Ektar 100) and the more close-cropped ones were taken with a Nikon FM2 (loaded with Lomo CN 400). I hope you enjoy!

Fun Fact: Tintin is of Belgian descent, apparently!

See more glass. I mean, pictures