I haven’t been taking loads of pictures, so imagine how gravely disappointed I was when I found out that the black-and-white roll I tried came out of the developers as a long, black strip. Apparently, the ‘X’ meant that it was “exposed” and not “expired.” Lesson learned, I guess.

What I’m about to share with you right now is a chronicling of my first foray into Lomography. My cousin, Nicole, was the first person I knew who had a really cool camera that shot multi-framed stories instead of capturing single stills.

I was intensely attracted to the idea and so I got my own—a Supersampler! I loved pulling the string and hearing the four clicks when I pressed the button. The results were always surprising and fun, too.

I brought that thing with me everywhere. And it was nice how my dad indulged this obviously non-cerebral, anti-art—at least in the way that it’s supposed to evoke deep meanings and underlying themes—kind of photography. I mean, it was really nice of him, because look at what I have now! A bunch of memories from a really fun time in my life. I had no idea how expensive film and lab fees were. Now, I do, so I appreciate it all the more.

It’s just funny how photos from this camera represent to me things that I miss, as well as some of my oldest dreams. I miss being silly, and I miss feeling big enough to actually maybe live in New York City someday. In high school, I always thought I would be there by the time I was in my mid-twenties. Now that the date is nearing, I kind of doubt anything will come of that dream, but it’s still nice to have a reminder of who I was, precisely, when I fell in love with that city.

Here are some more photos of New York and me coercing my classmates to make silly faces.

Quarterly Co. launched a few months ago, gripping my attention immediately with its solid branding and clean design. The idea behind it is interesting, too. They select contributors—well-known and respected in their fields—and users can subscribe to them. Each quarter, you receive a special mailing put together by the contributor you’ve subscribed to—all for $25.

Essentially, you’ll get “personalized” (in that each contributor will think of something special and unique to send) snail mail from a famous person. Exciting idea, but risky, too, since you have no idea what you’re going to be in for. With that in mind, I subscribed to Bobby Solomon, the mind behind The Fox is Black, because I follow his blog and I trust his taste.

Here’s what I got in his second mailing (I missed out on the first):

A zine and a letter explaining the contents of this “issue.”

A die-cut sticker of The Fox is Black’s logo.

A typographic poster.

Here’s some selected content from the zine:

Let me start with my disappointments. On the whole, I enjoyed the content of the zine, but there were spreads like this one that I felt were unnecessary, or could have been represented better.

I enjoyed this interesting though short feature on weird circular produce. I wish there had been more fruits or veggies, so I can learn about them, too.

Great interview with analog photographer, with a selection of his black-and-white photos.

An illustration of a pug yin-and-yang by Gemma Correll.

Verdict: Though I enjoyed flipping through the zine, I don’t think I can justify spending $25 for it, especially with the exchange rate and all. That’s one hard-bound book! I took a look at other contributors, though, and am interested in subscribing to other people’s mailings once they open up subscriptions again.

On February 27, Winston kindly invited me and Sarie to a soft opening of The Mind Museum in Taguig. It was a great experience, but I don’t know if I’m willing to shell out Php 750 for it. I think it’s probably more worthwhile to check it out if you have children, or if you can avail of the student’s and/or teacher’s discounts, which is a dramatic decrease from the price.

I’m in love with the design and the structure itself, but there’s a lot of improvements they can still make (i.e. displays, readability/copy, screen presentations, etc) for it to be truly “world-class.” It was still pretty fun to see all the displays, though. I wish I paid more attention in science when I still had school.

The Mind Museum opens on the 16th of March. Book tickets here now: http://www.themindmuseum.org/

We were greeted by this robot-type thing named Aedi. I don’t actually know if she functions via a motion sensor because she was already talking when we got there and then she kind of stopped mid-sentence.

After an informative (but pretty text-heavy) display on The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, there’s a “fork in the road.” To your left is a Filipino-centric area where you can learn more about native animals and the state of the environment in the Philippines. It’s more concentrated on biodiversity and ecology. It’s kind of sad to see how it doesn’t seem like the right people are focused on the conservation of our natural environment. We have so many beautiful animals that I’d never even heard of and I probably won’t be able to see them either, since they’re habitats are continuously destroyed.

Read more about our trip to The Mind Museum

Nownow began as a series of mixes Petra made for the music blog we used to run. A nownow mix is a bunch of songs that are:

- the single songs from a freshly-acquired album that happen to appeal to me most
- music that has recently been associated with a particular experience
- a song i smoke to
- guilty pleasures
- classic can’t-let-go songs

the NOWNOW turnover rate: the reason i call it NOWNOW is because it changes almost every day. songs get added, a couple get taken away. the really high turnover rate makes it forever new. this is my fickleness in its most flattering light. it’s the one playlist i’ll never tire of, & i’m happy to share it with you guys.

And now, I’m going to steal/revive this idea. Nownow is for the things I have been consuming and/or obsessed with as of late. Hopefully it’s helpful, entertaining, etc. At the very least, it’s documentation for myself.

Clockwise from the top left:

• The Drums’ Portamento, which I have been listening to a lot ever since coming back from Singapore. I’m scared I’m going to get sick of it so I put it on rotation with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Death Cab for Cutie, in preparation. Anyway, I love Portamento because it’s refreshing and nothing exactly like I’ve heard before. Also, I’m pretty smitten by Jonny Pierce. He’s amazing to watch perform.

 

• Daytum! I’ve abandoned and come back and abandoned etc. over the last few years. I’ve found a great use for it, though—tracking everything I need to track, i.e. savings for big purchases, work hours. Plus, it provides a visual of my work vs. play vs. errands.

 

• My Planner! I used to be attached to my planner’s non-existent hip. And then, I wasn’t, and then my life fell to pieces I became super disorganized. This is to get me back on track, and so far it’s working. Plus, it’s really pretty.

 

• COCO SUGAR. THIS IS THE BEST SUGAR SUBSTITUTE I’VE EVER COME ACROSS. I was skeptical (but hopeful!) at first, because something this good couldn’t possibly be a healthier option, but lo, it was. It’s safe for diabetics because of the low glycemic index, and it has a lot of nutrients. No dangerous chemicals, additives either. 100% natural. Hard to believe, but I’m just happy this exists and that we make it in the Philippines. I want to make my lola try it. I’m tempted to just eat and eat and eat it but I’ve read that sweeteners in general aren’t particularly healthy, heh.

 

• Solaris by Ferrania, which is a film I’ve coveted and found in Singapore! Part of me wishes I had hoarded, but I’m waiting for my roll to develop so I can decide if I should ask someone to get more for me.

 

• My Lomo LC-A+. I put this away for a while because I didn’t understand how to use the focus (lol) but Shine taught me estimates, so I’ve been taking it out whenever I go out of the house. Exciting!

I hope I can do this every week or month. Just to keep track and remember and sometimes, share.

I am by no means an expert on the life and times of Ray and Charles Eames. All that I know about them by heart begins and ends with the iconic lounge chair and ottoman, and also the fact that they made movies. I am not an expert, and it’s a shame that I’ve only looked into their lives just now.

“Eames: The Architect and The Artist” came out on November 2011. Having only looked at this short trailer (still cannot find the film!), my heart has been roused into action. Truth be told, I’ve always wanted to be something remarkable—not in the way that people are remarkably famous or notorious of fame, really. Rather, I’ve come to realize that I wanted to be remarkable in the way that Charles and Ray Eames were. I just never quite understood how to do that.

It’s not really something you outright seek to do. I don’t think they did things so that they would be well-known, but that they became illustrious and indispensable because of the things that they did. That’s something I’ve thought about fairly frequently—how the “fame culture” today has been poisonous more than helpful—but that’s another story.

Now, I’m beginning to think that everything great begins with the relentless pursuit of solutions and beauty, without expecting the promise of success. It’s an unwavering desire to make things that make what exists better. I’ve often wondered why I don’t seem to be progressing as much as I thought I ought to, and it’s perhaps because I have been taking so many detours, big and small, but maybe it’s also because I don’t really think of what will propel the action. I do things with this tremendous pressure to have something to be good at, and not really for the purest motives of discovery and solution-making.

Another thing I admire from the Eameses is their partnership. There simply isn’t anything like it. Their lives and philosophies bled into their Venice Beach office, and it was so inspiring to see how the people they’ve worked with still light up when the Eameses come up. I can just imagine their energies being so tremendously contagious.

I was doing my Life Plan for 2012 and paused only to watch this trailer, but ended up being so encouraged by seeing how they were into so many things, were good at them, and did what they did with a genuine interest and spirit. I’m so driven to “excel” even more just because they have proven it possible, being armed with a sense of wonder and an understanding of things that work.

I think I gravitate towards the Eameses because they have imbued their work with a feeling of warmth and perhaps even love, not necessarily in their output but in their approach. They loved design, and so they were good at it. And just thinking about this, there is this weight that is lifted from me, which I got from examining the future and my 2012. My challenges are still there, of course, but it’s nice to see that it’s possible to get through them in a way that won’t destroy me.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the Christmas rush. Christmas 2011 is exciting for me because I actually got pretty good gifts for my family and some friends. It was a particularly stressful thought because of the horrible traffic, so I decided to buy a bulk of my good cheer (capitalism, what have you done?) online or through friends coming home for the holidays. This bright idea proved to also be stressful, with the added cost of shipping and tracking parcels in my head.

Luckily, an alternative is to be found in this vast digital sometimes-wasteland: Deal Grocer! It’s essentially a website that sells you top-notch products at prices you’ll love. I’d like to think of it as getting more for less. Besides saving up to 50% from over 200 Deal Grocer partners (hotels, resorts, restaurants, and stores in the country), you get to save on the time and gas you’d have spent on trying to find the perfect gift. It really is a one-stop destination for the finer things in life—especially if you are stumped!

My mom especially likes buying the food deals on Deal Grocer. We’ve tried a lot of new restaurants, thanks to her. Right now, I have my eye on this deal for Opus, and an overly postponed Borough breakfast with two of my best friends, Isa and Barby.

What’s also great about Deal Grocer is that the deals are of the best quality. My friend Karen is a mainstay, and she swears by their lineup. Dream purchases for the travel bug in me would be an El Nido getaway for 2 or a spa trip with underground river tour. (I’ve never been to Palawan!) I would also love this Illy espresso machine, if only I didn’t already have way too many.

There are tons more holiday-perfect gifts such as a Valrhona chocolate cake from Park Avenue or these dairy free cupcakes from Dairy Free Delights—for the lactose-challenged like myself. These are also great gifts to give to your loved ones, because everyone knows that Christmas excuses us from being gluttonous pigs.

It’s a pretty cool way to pamper and show extra love to the special people in your life, with just a click of the mouse. With Deal Grocer, you can give something you’re sure your friends or family will love, which they can enjoy at their convenience. No shipping fees, awful lines, and wasted wrapping paper (although, I will still wrap you, gifts. I will still wrap you).

Remember your loved ones this holiday season by giving them a gift they’ve always wanted, without hurting your pocket. Sign up on www.dealgrocer.com and commence holiday shopping!

I realize it’s a little late to be releasing holiday gift guides (how in the world is Christmas two Sundays from now?) but I’m still making one. To be released when I am not as frazzled, aka hopefully the day after tomorrow.