knock, knock

Who's there? Oh, you know, your new spring uniform.

Which one???

I so, sooo LIKE these two but have money just for one pair.

I fell in love with this patent Aqua at first sight . This would totally make my Spring.


Or should I go with Grey? Cos you know, it's a just few shades away from my religious wardrobe staple Black. It's not just grey, it's patent gorgeous awesome grey.


In living color Nina aqua or My grey makes no mistake? Alin, alin, alin ang aking pipiliin??

happy <3

Dino took me to a fancy dinner at a winery for Valentine's Day. Everything was lovely :) Surprisingly, we didn't have to drive far. We discovered that there are lots of small vineyards/wineries near San Jose. We've always thought that they were all in Napa.
The place that Dino took me to was Clos LaChance in San Martin. It's only a half hour drive from the house.
We arrived early for our dinner and so we had some wine at the bar while waiting for our table.

the Spire

I visited the Spire at the Presidio last week. This is Andy Goldsworthy's tribute to the 100+ year old forest in San Francisco.
Goldsworthy is known for his temporary art and I was surprised to find out that the Spire is a semi-permanent work. Based on the photos I saw of its construction in October, the structure has a very solid base of mixed cement and steel wire frame. Still, the Spire is nothing short of astounding.
There is an accompanying exhibit at Building 49 on Moraga Avenue inside the Presidio. I wasn't sure if it's allowed but I sneakily photographed parts of the show with my iPhone.
Some of his sketches are framed and exhibited here.

Andy spent fourteen days at the Presidio to oversee the building of the Spire. In his first few days, he created this small version inside a cabinet based on his reactions to Building 49.

In another room is the 12 foot model.

They made an imprint of the base of the biggest and tallest tree in the Spire on this huge piece of paper. The picture doesn't give it justice, of course.


Around the Spire are hundreds of these baby trees.


For more visiting info, click here.

panawagan

I've been listening to the Fleet Foxes everyday for the last month. I'm actually late in the game as these guys made noise at SXSW last year and have gotten more attention in Europe. I just took real notice when they came on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago.
Photo source

I bought their album on iTunes and cannot stop listening to it since. Now if I could only get my hands on tickets to their upcoming shows in SF. Dino suggests I camp outside The Fillmore on the day of their show. I would like to see them at the Palace of Fine Arts too.

real world

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't been posting in etertnity. Life, as you know, happens outside the monitor.
Our show Shadows of War ended its run at the Presidio last week. It was the biggest crowd! We even had two Filipino American historians who answered questions from the audience.
No pictures from my clunky camera because I'm BOOOOO! I'm lame like that. A little distraction and I can't be bothered to look through the viewfinder. I like seeing things through my own eyes. Whatever.

Anyway, I stole these photos from my castmate TJ Basa. Thanks, Teej!

This is me being so nervous because of the huge crowd. We've had packed houses on our previous shows but the last night was crazy.

Our lovely cast and crew. Look at how I'm staking my claim on Dino with my hand. Mine! Bwahahhaha!

After Let the Right One In, there are only two movies that I truly care about this season: Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler.
I have seen Milk, Revolutionary Road, Doubt, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the first 10 minutes of Gran Turino. None of them come close to my "mad, pulsating affection" (as Danny Boyle said in his Golden Globes acceptance speech) for the first two films.
Just to clarify, I did not walk out of Gran Turino because it's bad or anything. I had an upset stomach and decided to leave the theater.
I have yet to find out if Eastwood's movie will have as much impact on me.


I recall having read some critic's review of Slumdog in November. It argued that the movie was primarily made by non-Indians and so whatever depiction of Mumbai life used would never be the genuine kind. It went on to say that the sentimentality of the film was nothing but a hollywood/outsider's view of India.
Wow. Desensitized, jaded, unfeeling, cynical, blinded, arrogant, ignorant, better than thou critics...
As far as I am concerned "love, the celebration of life and the triumph of the human spirit" was very much expressed in the narrative and visual of the film. It does not matter who does the telling!
Poor Danny Boyle. He didn't eat tikka masala enough for that lazy ass critic.

Some other sites did not take a liking to the dance number at the end of Slumdog. They said it was a satisfactory film until it was ruined by the Bollywood dance routine. Have these "experts" ever heard of the words tribute or homage?

Being so highly analytical of films make me such a dull and unhappy person.
I do appreciate it when Form complements Content or vice versa...I do get excited when I notice the motifs or immediately identify the long shots, the mis en scene or the different perspectives. More times though being affected by a film's story emotionally, even viscerally, is more than enough of a great experience for me. I don't stop a tear to drop just so I could ponder on Darren Aronofsky's nationality, or credibility to direct a film based on a character living in New Jersey.



Long live the heartfelt stories.

precious

I was so careless! After finding the journals from inside the Fedex envelope, I got too excited and did not bother looking for other things...like a note that supposedly came with it. I knew who it was from as the parcel was properly labeled.
I almost threw away the card that Armi made for us. Yes, I was so selfish and thought that the two notebooks were exclusively mine! It did not occur to me that there are two people in this household, the other deserving of a gift too.
How could I forgive myself if I had lost this card to the garbage bin as well?! It's a card that Armi made herself. I love the design! The shape of birds were cut out of the card's cover and they reveal the japanese paper underneath.

On the inside page, there is a paper crane attached to it.


Thanks to intarwebz technology, I was able to correct my mistake. I immediately sent a thank you note to Armi on Facebook. Impressed with the journals, I mentioned how I was looking for a tag or brand name.
Armi responded with a bit of alarm and asked if I didn't find the card. There was a letter too and in it she had explained that she made the two journal covers out of her own shirt :)

Thank you so much, Armi!!

beautiful things

A couple of days ago, I got a facebook message from Armi about a 'padala.' She said she sent me something thru Fedex. The gift from Manila came today!
It's funny that the delivery guy pointed to me that US Customs had inspected the package, thus the ugly green stickers. What did they suspect was in the envelope?

I can imagine the work hours and effort wasted on such unnecessary precaution. How could these lovely journals be of any threat?

The journal covers are made of jersey tee material with thick white needle stitching. Inside is a thick bind of recycled paper. I LOVE. They feel so homey and special. I can't help but plan that I shall only write joyful stuff on these notebooks.

first meme in 2009

So I was tagged by Lala to do this 10 facts about me thingy. I've never done one...not even in my first blog years ago. So why the heck not try it now? :)

Cutest Blogger Award or Ten Random Facts About Me

Here are the rules of this award:

1. Each blogger must post these rules.
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
3. Blogger that are tagged, need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.


Here are the 10 Random Facts/Habits About Me:

1. One piece of item I cannot live and leave the house without wearing, even under layers of outer clothes: camisole. Must be my half lifetime of catholic school uniforms/way of dressing.

2. I sleep mostly on my left side, so the end of my left eyebrow gets pressed upwards on the pillow. This makes it look shorter than my right eyebrow.

3. The back of my head is super flat. As my mom explained, I slept way too much as a baby and so my head formed that way.

4. When I eat, I kinda stick the tip of my tongue out first to taste the food in a spoon. Sort of like testing the pool water with your toes, which I never do.

5. I don't like sesame seeds, only when it's covering the rice on sushi.

6. I used to sing. Won a singing contest in 6th grade then competed at least twice in high school. I didn't win in my succeeding attempts and shunned singing and choir membership since then.

7. I love driving as it gives me so much mental space and sort of relaxes me too. At the very same time, I am extremely irritable and impatient with other drivers.

8. I hate being lost or not knowing my turns. I can drive without a GPS as long as I have directions memorized before I start the engine.

9. I refuse to take pictures when I want to enjoy a moment or an event completely.

10. I like watching movies by myself.

Okay, now I tag:

e.
thomas
gabriel
conrad
aura
judith
joedobo
miss kirsten
yato
the velascos