Happy Mothers’ Day to the most beautiful mom in the world! :)

Ahhh, ladybugs on my corkboard!

Just kidding. I bought my ladybug pushpins the other day… and they are absolutely adorable! ♥ 

I’m also really excited about having my photos printed, although they might have to wait since my allowance is pretty depleted already. Too bad I’ll have to settle for 2Rs (or even smaller!) because my corkboard won’t be able to accommodate everything!

Hardcore pila mode last May 4 for Free Comic Book Day at Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street.

It was my first time commuting to Serendra (and Taguig in general), and from Dasmariñas no less! We arrived a little past 10 AM (though we initially planned to arrive at around 9 but couldn’t due to constraints) to the sight of a line that stretched several blocks, and under the scorching heat of the summer sun. Neil and I had to wait for more than 2 hours to finally step inside Fully Booked. Haggardo Versoza, indeed!

I also bumped into Jovi, who texted, briefly wondering if she was hallucinating about seeing me, haha!

I really wish it’d be Free Comic Book Day everyday so I could save up enough money to buy discounted graphic novels on a regular sem. [/brokeforever]

Because I feel like being a lazy writer today, I’ll list down the “highlights” of yesterday in (not-so-concise + incoherent) bullets:

• Spent 6+ hours holed up in Krispy Kreme while studying for my organic chemistry exam scheduled that night. I couldn’t even get a restroom break because no one would watch my things for me! (The place didn’t have a security guard) [/foreveralone] (Patrick, my awesome OrgChem guru showed up by pure coincidence later, though, so I had company for my last hour of studying)

• Discovered that I can no longer drink coffee after the events (read: adverse reactions) of yesterday. I only got a medium-sized drink yet I felt like I suffered from some sort of caffeine overdose. I felt so sick afterwards. I think my violent aversion to dairy products is getting worse.

• Neil called to ask me to check the results of the UP Fine Arts Talent Determination Test for him because he had a spontaneous swimming trip with the family that day. Initially, I was upset at being disturbed from studying (coupled with my feeling sick that afternoon). Anger turned into a weird mixture of happiness and tears though as soon as I saw the list of passers. I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy for someone. I’ve never taken on the “supportive girlfriend” role throughout the ordeal. Rather, I became the “nagging mother” who constantly critiqued and scolded him for a multitude of things. Despite this, I’m only glad that all his hard work has paid off. Perhaps the second time around really is the charm. :)

• Short but sweet description of my lovely encounter with my OrgChem exam: a 2-hour (6:30 to 8:30 PM) test with 30-item multiple choice (2 points each) and 5-item problem solving (10 points each) sections.

• As if my day couldn’t get any worse, Cavite traffic made a grand finale for the night. Seriously, am I allowed to declare that Bacoor traffic is worse than EDSA traffic now? I mean, I don’t even understand where the congestion comes from! It’s still a mystery to me how people could get stuck in the same region of space for 20 to 30 minutes (True story). I felt my stomach churn due to inertia, which essentially occurred every few minutes because of the traffic. Anyway, I’m guessing it must’ve been aggravated by “payday”… err, day and the forthcoming holiday. (But if not, then holycrap, someone needs to fix it ASAP)

• Thankfully though, I ended my night peacefully. After a brief exchange with my mom, who was so stubborn to force me to eat anything even if I already complained about being too exhausted, I retired to my room. I thought my mom already let the issue go, but to my surprise, she returned. And she was sweet enough to even bring water and hopia to my room (!!!) even though she was probably tired herself. I love her. She’s the best. :)

I’m still practicing basic strokes, so forgive the inconsistency on the skin (Still figuring out how to do soft/light washes for my base skintone). Also, I decided to do wet on wet for the first time! It was so fun! And being the color junkie that I am, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use as many colors as I could. Hahahaha!

I’ve still a long way to go, though. I hope I get to work my lazy ass on actually studying proper human anatomical proportions so I could take myself seriously for once. Haha.

(Thou shalt not be fooled by the postprocessing, I can never do clean pencilwork even if my life depended on it. My hands are just too smudge-prone -_-)

I’ve only started drawing again recently. School had been really hard this second semester, well not that I had a lot of subjects this semester to begin with, but I had to take extra care to pass more than 50% of my units so I could lift the probation I incurred the previous semester. UP is pretty much known to extend the second semester way into the summer break, so while other students spent their days being bored or booking beach trips, we had to pass last-minute requirements and study for final exams. (My official last day was on April 3, but I knew other people who still had exams and went to school that Friday, so go figure) I spent my subsequent days catching on sleep and doing nonsensical stuff. (Also, I’m about to enroll for summer classes this coming Tuesday, so I guess it’s time to bid my barely 2-week vacation goodbye)

Anyway, the drawing on the second and third panels was loosely inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s works for Studio Ghibli. My sister and I were discussing the other day how Studio Ghibli films often were an avenue for multiple interpretations, and how their style distinctly reminded us of Filipino folklore and other stories of superstition. Miyazaki’s works are different from all other works of animation in the very sense that, like riveting fantasy novels, they have the ability to pull the viewer from reality and immerse him/her into a universe that’s both enchanting and philosophical. Every Miyazaki film leaves you with a feeling of nostalgia, with a feeling that you aren’t quite prepared to let go of this alternate world just yet.

Some of my nailpolish from The Face Shop and Etude House.

The huge irony here is that, I like collecting nailpolish in different colors, but I never seem to have the time to actually do my nails. Plus, I suck at painting my nails bigtime. The nails on my right hand always end up looking horrible. Hahaha.

If I could add just a couple of yellows, reds, and a bunch of pinks more, I’d die a very happy girl. Yep, self-confessed color freak here.

UP Fair 2013 - Day 6 (Speak UP: Loud, Proud, and Unbound)

Last February 16 was the sixth and final installment of UP Fair 2013. I was particularly glad that I chose to go on the last day, because the lineup that night was completely compact and definitely worth the 100-peso entrance ticket.

The weather appeared to be cooperative this time around, as compared to last year, which left the Sunken Garden in a state of disarray, drenched and slippery in all its muddy glory. It was relieving to find that the crowds seemed relatively tamer than the one I encountered the previous year (though I’m not sure if it’s because of stricter security or the absence of the Jumping Jologs, or so they’re called).

Anyway, the Saturday lineup consisted of the following acts, among others:

Rico Blanco
Kitchie Nadal
Tanya Markova
Sandwich
Callalily
Moonstar88
6cyclemind
Mayonnaise
Pedicab
Peryodiko
Gracenote

Performing late into the evening were also some popular Fliptop artists like Abra, Loonie, Apekz, Mike Swift, and Rjay and Alex of LDP.

I didn’t get to finish the entire thing because I was already drained by the time the Fliptop artists started performing onstage (That time, Neil and I actually attempted riding the Octopus again, and as expected, he still screamed himself shitless, and hung onto the “safety” bars for dear life, haha. Our heads were spinning by the time the ride was over). I’m still happy that my UP Fair experience was better than last year’s, though I’d probably be happier if my high school friends could join me next time! :D

P.S. One sweet thing that Neil did that day was wear the exact same clothes as he did when we went to UP Fair last year, as if to commemorate our second time attending the same event together. :)

After going on a desaturation/hue-subduing spree, I now return with shamelessly, in-your-face, rainbow-vomit photos of my trip to The Collective on the night of my birthday.

Ye olde photodump.