photograph each day 28 February 2007
a non-analytical post (for a change)
An excuse to post pictures of the get-together last Sunday night:
Imman's birthday/Dad's birthday/my sort of despedida. So much fun! And good thing Kuya O was able to come, imagine, straight from Ilocos I think.
A real bummer though because I'll still be there this Sunday and I've said goodbye to most of them already hahaha. Flight's on Tuesday, not yet sure what time.
Oh and head over to my multiply, tonsss of new pictures.
Mon's Sunset Strip photo shoot
Pics with Lokomotiv and of Lokomotiv (and click here to view their official site)
Mon's amazing rock and roll party
My lovely high school friends --- Pau's birthday
Macabre photo shoot
Photo shoot with Sir Bong (Vintage Pop owner) and Mr. Roberto Bellini
Carlyn's photo shoot --- Part Une and Part Deux
Dad's birthday!
Jo's fab photo shoot
I realized I had tons of photo shoots in there. Woot! haha. I should start making a career out of taking pictures. Oh and look what I found:
Two sketches (or artistic interpretations haha) of me. This was last year during the Jazz Festival, when Kakoy asked his artist friends to draw me as well as Kate. It was mighty awkward while they were doing it though, since I could not move. But it turned out great --- I think I look more like the first one.
Imman's birthday/Dad's birthday/my sort of despedida. So much fun! And good thing Kuya O was able to come, imagine, straight from Ilocos I think.
A real bummer though because I'll still be there this Sunday and I've said goodbye to most of them already hahaha. Flight's on Tuesday, not yet sure what time.
Oh and head over to my multiply, tonsss of new pictures.
Mon's Sunset Strip photo shoot
Pics with Lokomotiv and of Lokomotiv (and click here to view their official site)
Mon's amazing rock and roll party
My lovely high school friends --- Pau's birthday
Macabre photo shoot
Photo shoot with Sir Bong (Vintage Pop owner) and Mr. Roberto Bellini
Carlyn's photo shoot --- Part Une and Part Deux
Dad's birthday!
Jo's fab photo shoot
I realized I had tons of photo shoots in there. Woot! haha. I should start making a career out of taking pictures. Oh and look what I found:
Two sketches (or artistic interpretations haha) of me. This was last year during the Jazz Festival, when Kakoy asked his artist friends to draw me as well as Kate. It was mighty awkward while they were doing it though, since I could not move. But it turned out great --- I think I look more like the first one.
20 February 2007
euphemisms
Two relatives passing away in a span of one week may just be too much. Not unbearable in its truest sense, since I don't really have a close relationship with them. Too much uncertainty, too much reality. And when reality rears its ugly head, our tendency is to run off in the opposite direction.
No, reality isn't always this disconcerting. There's the reality of life and love, the ones we've come to experience and revel in. The fact that everything is potentially beautiful, the comfort you find in family and friends. The thrill in knowing there is more to conquer, there's more of the world you have to see. The happiness which emanate from people, and the love you're willing to give in return. These are endless retaliations to all that we consider cynical, hoping against hope that life would be infinite.
Then another reality sinks in. The reality that renders an abrupt end to everything --- plans, dreams, life. When people you've actually known pass away, death becomes tangible. We're not faced with minor changes but major life overhauls, where people and families are involved. We're reminded that everything is fleeting, that we have no control at all over things.
An uncle in Florida passed away because of complications due to leukemia. He was diagnosed just a few months ago, just when he was about to retire and planning annual vacations in the Philippines and Europe with his family. He was under chemotherapy a few weeks after that, then he was bedridden. Then we received the news that he died of cardiac arrest. Now tell me what's reality.
An aunt in Tarlac passed away this morning because of excessive bleeding after a normal childbirth. The baby lived, but she failed to make it through. A life in exchange for a life --- it's almost hurtfully ironic. Now tell me what's reality.
In some ways, life may be the euphemism for death. You're given the chance to live just to mask the grave fate we're all headed to. Incidentally, we need not follow this train of thought. Seeing through that perspective defeats the purpose of living, giving little importance to all that makes the ride worthwhile.
Experiences yield consequential results. You either dwell on it or move on. In times like these, you wonder if we live to die, or if we die in order to live.
Love precedes life, and life entails loving. We have to remember that because we could not afford to be disillusioned. When euphemisms, whether abstract or definitive, aren't enough, it could only mean one thing: you're closer to the truth.
And the truth tells me I'm only human, and I could only know so much.
No, reality isn't always this disconcerting. There's the reality of life and love, the ones we've come to experience and revel in. The fact that everything is potentially beautiful, the comfort you find in family and friends. The thrill in knowing there is more to conquer, there's more of the world you have to see. The happiness which emanate from people, and the love you're willing to give in return. These are endless retaliations to all that we consider cynical, hoping against hope that life would be infinite.
Then another reality sinks in. The reality that renders an abrupt end to everything --- plans, dreams, life. When people you've actually known pass away, death becomes tangible. We're not faced with minor changes but major life overhauls, where people and families are involved. We're reminded that everything is fleeting, that we have no control at all over things.
An uncle in Florida passed away because of complications due to leukemia. He was diagnosed just a few months ago, just when he was about to retire and planning annual vacations in the Philippines and Europe with his family. He was under chemotherapy a few weeks after that, then he was bedridden. Then we received the news that he died of cardiac arrest. Now tell me what's reality.
An aunt in Tarlac passed away this morning because of excessive bleeding after a normal childbirth. The baby lived, but she failed to make it through. A life in exchange for a life --- it's almost hurtfully ironic. Now tell me what's reality.
In some ways, life may be the euphemism for death. You're given the chance to live just to mask the grave fate we're all headed to. Incidentally, we need not follow this train of thought. Seeing through that perspective defeats the purpose of living, giving little importance to all that makes the ride worthwhile.
Experiences yield consequential results. You either dwell on it or move on. In times like these, you wonder if we live to die, or if we die in order to live.
Love precedes life, and life entails loving. We have to remember that because we could not afford to be disillusioned. When euphemisms, whether abstract or definitive, aren't enough, it could only mean one thing: you're closer to the truth.
And the truth tells me I'm only human, and I could only know so much.
17 February 2007
lost and found
In less than a week your life could have significant changes.
There's the photo shoot with none other than Sir Bong (Vintage Pop owner) and Mr. Roberto Bellini. There's just some magical vibe down there at Cubao X (or Marikina Shoe Expo) which brings out one's ingenuity, as well as an earnest appreciation for vintage and everything that comes with the idea. Knowing them widened our perspective regarding art and its connotations, and further proved that the fact that no one understands you doesn't make you an artist.
Then there's the wonderful opportunity I was blessed with. I was chosen to be part of the seven-person marketing team flying to Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) in the next week or so. I'll be working as a writer/photojournalist (ads, prospectus etc) and web designer for the company, and we'll be there three weeks. They'll be shouldering all the expenses so it's really great, and I've already met the rest of the group and they're all great people. I can't wait to start working and see the company's plans materialize.
Too many things happening all at the same time, and I can't grasp the middle line. I can always claim I'm searching for myself, but it sounds immensely impersonal coming from me. Maybe because you don't say things like that --- after all, life is an ongoing process of defining who you really are, and we're all trying to live. It could also be because old wounds are exacerbated this way --- when you've found your meaning in other things or people apart from yourself, it all goes downhill when you realize how empty you've been all along.
Or maybe because I've reached this point wherein I've put down all my defenses and realized I've finally let someone else define me. A feasible option, not a very welcome idea. You tell me, because oftentimes it gets too tiring thinking about you.
There's the photo shoot with none other than Sir Bong (Vintage Pop owner) and Mr. Roberto Bellini. There's just some magical vibe down there at Cubao X (or Marikina Shoe Expo) which brings out one's ingenuity, as well as an earnest appreciation for vintage and everything that comes with the idea. Knowing them widened our perspective regarding art and its connotations, and further proved that the fact that no one understands you doesn't make you an artist.
Then there's the wonderful opportunity I was blessed with. I was chosen to be part of the seven-person marketing team flying to Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) in the next week or so. I'll be working as a writer/photojournalist (ads, prospectus etc) and web designer for the company, and we'll be there three weeks. They'll be shouldering all the expenses so it's really great, and I've already met the rest of the group and they're all great people. I can't wait to start working and see the company's plans materialize.
Too many things happening all at the same time, and I can't grasp the middle line. I can always claim I'm searching for myself, but it sounds immensely impersonal coming from me. Maybe because you don't say things like that --- after all, life is an ongoing process of defining who you really are, and we're all trying to live. It could also be because old wounds are exacerbated this way --- when you've found your meaning in other things or people apart from yourself, it all goes downhill when you realize how empty you've been all along.
Or maybe because I've reached this point wherein I've put down all my defenses and realized I've finally let someone else define me. A feasible option, not a very welcome idea. You tell me, because oftentimes it gets too tiring thinking about you.