Gleniz da MenaceI’ve just encountered a great video on Youtube about photography but it actually applies to everything that I am trying to learn nowadays:
The phrase that struck me most is, “Learn and understand why you are doing this particular thing, and not just how to do them.” Aannnd I’ll leave it at that.
Para sa friends ni Kenneth, nagbook kami thru Airbnb ng place sa Tagaytay. Maganda yung room pero mahal. For me mahal. Sabi nila mura na kasi 9 pax kami tapos 10k yung accommodation. Syempre hindi ako gagastos ng ganun kalaki. Eh may Airbnb coupon kasi ako na worth 9k so 1k plus na lang binayaran namin. Hehehe.
Naglaro lang sila Xbox most of the time tapos naginom na nung gabi. The next day, may booking naman kami sa Narra Hill. Advance 2nd wedding anniversay celebration namin. Super ganda nung place. Nature trip. Naka-set na yung expectation na walang WiFi and walang TV. Wala naman problema kasi sobrang nakakarefresh yung lugar. Kahit 1 night lang kami dun nabitin kami. Ang ganda ng view nung room namin, masarap food nila, mababait sina ate tapos tahimik lang. Ang sobrang gusto ko sa place nila, paglabas ng room amoy fresh flowers. Parang naka-air freshener yung buong Narra Hill. Ang magical feeling ko may mga fairies na lalabas.
Nung next weekend naman, sa mga friends ko naman. Pero dito lang sa Lucena, videoke lang. After ng 3 hours namin sa Welkin Tower, lumipat na kami kila Benson. Tapos biglang nagpauso si Benson ng mga message-message saming dalwa ni Kenneth. Tapos sobrang natouch ako kasi naiiyak si Benson. Tapos nag-take turns sila sa mga messages nila sakin. Lahat sila umiyak (except Xali) nung nagbibigay na sila ng message sakin. Sobrang napa-aww naman ako dun. Huhu.
Ayoko pa din masyadong isipin ang magiging future namin dun sa Canada. Nakaka-overwhelm kasi isipin. Basta ang iniintindi ko lang eh yung mga dapat namin gawin like magpapalit ng dollar, mag-empake, etc. Pero yung mismong iisipin ko yung pag dun na kami nakatira, na wala kami friends dun at konti lang ang family namin dun, nakaka-sad. Mapapaisip ka for a split second kung talaga bang tutuloy kami dun. Talagang tutuloy naman kami syempre at resigned na kami pareho at kung ano-anong preparation na ginawa namin. Pero di mo lang maiwasan na indi maisip yung mga ganun. Scary talaga ganun talaga.
Yesterday was my last day of work. So what I did was:
Then we went home. It was raining hard. When we got home, I felt weird that I didn’t need to login to my laptop to work. I felt weird that I don’t see my office laptop anymore in our room. It was really an uneasy feeling — up until now. It’s uncomfortable but exciting at the same time — because I could do anything now! There’s just a lot of possibilities.
For today, I’m thinking of cooking Kenneth’s dinner later. I’ve also been meaning to start working again on the wedding invitation project. I hope I’ll be productive today because recently, I have the tendency to just lie around and watch YouTube videos all day long. Or I’ll just lie in bed thinking of the things that I should do but actually doing nothing. Until it gets dark and it’s time to go to sleep. Another day wasted.
I just remembered that I had to pack some orders from my online shop. Brb.
First solo international flight ko ngayon. Hindi naman ako masyado kinakabahan kase twice na ko nakapuntang Japan. Nakapag solo flight na din ako dati nung pumunta kong Cebu pero andun naman si Kenneth. Ngayon solo lang talaga ko. 3 days lang naman mabilis lang. Ang ayoko lang sa trip ko na to eh naka parang dorm lang ako (para tipid). Eh medyo paranoid kasi ako feeling ko laging may mangyayaring masama (PTSD). Siguro next time hanap na lang ako ng mura basta solo lang ako sa room. Safe naman sa Japan pero mas ok pa din yung sigurado.
Kailangan ko nang maligo in 10 minutes. Sana wala akong malimutan. At sana wag ako masyadong maligaw dun kasi hindi na ko nagrent ng pocket WiFi. Wala naman ako masyadong pupuntahan.
Mamimiss ko si Kenneth and Almond. ❤️
Ang ayoko sa office work ko, alam ko na kung anong gagawin ko from start to finish. It’s a matter of gano ko lang sya katagal matatapos. Parang nagsisimula pa lang ako, gusto ko na mag-fast forward sa finish line. Atat na atat na kong matapos para petix na ko. Pero ang gusto ko sa graphic artist side job ko, once mag-start ako, hindi ko alam pano sya tatapusin. Wala akong idea kung anong magiging final result. Parang masusurprise na lang ako sa huli kung ok ba or kulang pa. Ang bawat minuto ay discovery and experimentation. At pag tumigil ako, pwedeng tapos na or bukas ko na lang ulit ipagpapatuloy. At kahit nakakapuyat, masaya ako. Basta bayad. 😅
Had fun with my younger sister yesterday. Na-cancel class ko so naisip ko dumiretso sa condo na tinitirhan nya.
Tapos gutom na gutom na daw sya eh nagkataon madami pagkain at leftovers sa bahay kaya niyaya ko sa apartment.
Pagdating namin dito apartment kumain tapos nakipag video call kami kay Illysa. Nakakatawa bigla na lang sumayaw at nag-perform 😂
Tapos bigla naisipan nya i-try yung calligraphy so tinuruan ko. In fairness kinaya naman.
Tapos dumating Shopee order ko yahoo! Tagal ko inantay yung calendar stamps para sa bujo ko. Hihi.
Then nag-Mercato kami after kasi gustom na ulit.
Then pumunta kami sa BGC Art Mart naningin lang ng mga art stuff.
Nakakatuwa lang. Bigla ko naisip yung past na ako pag naniningin ako ng IG feed ko tapos nakikita ko yung mga post ng magagaling na calligraphers tapos ang gamit nila eh oblique pen holder. Like diz:
Sobrang sobrang naa-amaze ako sa kanila. Una ko agad naisip, “Never ko to magagawa. Sobrang hirap nyan hindi ko yan ita-try.” Pero ngayon minamani ko na lang. Wahaha! Minamani daw ulul! Ok yung totoo, ngayon eh kaya ko na. Tamang kaya lang. Pero hindi pa ko magaling. Pero nagagawa ko sya. Kaya ang lesson dun, bago mo sabihin na hindi mo kaya, i-try mo muna ng mga three times. Kase sa case ko yung una kong try, nakaka-frustrate. Pero nung umattend ako ng workshop, kaya naman pala. Kelangan mo lang matuto from the expert para ma-practice mo yung tamang way. Same thing nung nag-try ako ng watercolor and drawing. May tamang way pala talaga sya. Kaya worth it naman yung mga pera kong pinambayad sa mga workshops na yan.
At ngayon, sana worth it din ang pagbili ko ng MacBook Pro. Haha! Graphic design naman ang trip ko ngayon. Magkaka-connect pa din naman. Pero mejo lito pa din ako kung ano ba mamasterin ko. Ok lang. Mafi-figure out ko na din yun along the way. Nag-apply na nga ako sa mga companies na kailangan ng mga graphic artists. So far, merong isang nagkamaling company na gusto akong interview-hin. Haha. Pero mejo parang ang engot ko kasi nagdadalwang isip pa ko. Choosy pa. Makati kasi ang layo. Pero nag-try ako magpa-resched para lang ma-experience ko pano ba sila mag-interview ng graphic artist applicants. Ngayon na kasi yung interview eh nahihiya pa ko mag-leave kasi bago pa yung boss ko and kaka-approve lang nung super requested ko na shift (mid shift). So sana pumayag sila na i-move. Mag sick leave na lang ako if ever.
Valentine’s Day kahapon (mga 3 hours ago). Super sweet and thoughtful nung gift ni Kennetski. Art related kasi. Isa na to sa mga pinaka-favorite kong gift kasi wala ako idea tapos related pa sa art-art ko. Usually kasi pag magreregalo yun magtatanong sakin ano gusto ko tapos ako pa mismo yung bibili. Kaya medyo once in a blue moon tong nangyari. Tapos sabi pa nya kanina saka na daw yung mga susunod. Aba may susunod pa?? Wow talaga. Eto pinagpractice-an ko na agad. Ang gandaaa.
I’m reading quite a lot now ever since I got my new Kindle. It’s my Christmas gift to myself. I’m so in love with it. It’s easy on the eyes and the battery lasts for weeks. I’m (still) currently reading A Storm of Swords. The Red Wedding just happened. Catelyn’s death was quite different from the series. In the book, her face was attacked by ravens and she was laughing. Weird.
I just finished a new series called The End of the F***ing World. It was weird as well but very entertaining. I even shed a few tears on a couple of episodes. I love weird characters. They’re very interesting to watch and they make you think a lot. I feel like painting Alyssa. The girl protagonist. So the series is about an angsty teenage girl (Alyssa) who has this idea of potentially falling in love with this another weird kid in school after saying to his face that he’s a shitty skater (an odd way to start a relationship). And a psychopathic teenage boy who wants to upgrade from killing animals to killing people. And his first target? Alyssa. Twisted, I know. A romantic black comedy. I love it.
I started having diet meals delivered to me again. One, because I want to eat healthy. And two, because I’m lazy. It’s quite expensive but it’s healthy, delicious, and worry-free.
My head hurts. I got super annoyed earlier then I felt pain at the back of my head. I need to be more insensitive.
Days ago, I figured something about myself that I do not like. It’s either I think too far ahead or I dwell too much in the past. It’s like I’m forgetting to live in the present which makes me out of focus. I want to change that.
My head is hurting a bit more now. Bye.
PS:
I drew Alyssa but it doesn’t look like her.
Yesterday, I finally started my graphic design career track. I enrolled for a package course in PCCI (Philippine Center for Creative Imaging). A training center for Adobe applications (and others) with Adobe certified instructors. At first I had second thoughts in enrolling; but I decided that this kind of environment, where there are instructors and hands on activities, would be more beneficial for me rather than self studying everything.
I would be taking up the Adobe classes next month; but yesterday, I attended a 1-day class about the fundamentals of digital imaging. It was like an intro class before you get to deal with the main Adobe stuff. It was really informative and I learned that digital imaging is sooo complicated than what it seems. That’s when I realized that enrolling with them was worth it.
Funny thing about attending classes (in my experience), you will get to meet different kinds of people in each class. I had this same feeling when I attended my drawing and watercolor workshops last year. I feel intimidated by them because most of the people that I meet in every class are the so-called yayamanins. Kung hindi coño, English ng English. It’s very obvious that they were brought up differently. But in fairness, they are very friendly. I’m just not used to being around with those kind of people.
This one friendly girl approached me because she noticed that I wrote my name in calligraphy. We started our conversation from there. Syempre napapa-English din ako. English sya eh. Haha. Then at one point in our conversation when she learned I was a nurse, she asked me, “You graduated from UST?” I’m not sure how she assumed that. Maybe most of the nurses she knows graduated from that school? Haha. So I said no. May naalala tuloy akong kwento ni Benson na may isa kaming batchmate from highschool na nagppretend na hindi sya sa probinsya nag-graduate ng highschool. Poser much. 😅 Even though the people I commonly meet are not my kind of crowd, they were very amusing to talk and listen to (a sample topic that they had were their trips in Europe 😄).
So going back to the main topic, I’m so excited for next month. I would get to learn Adobe Illustrator first. I’ve been using Illustrator for some time now but I know that I have so much to learn still. I can’t wait to include these trainings in my resume.
Last week, I painted this:
I received many good feedback so I was very pleased. I hope tomorrow I get to paint again.
Also (another thing that I’m very excited about), I will be joining BGC Art Mart!!! My very first bazaar! That’s why I need to create more products to sell before April. Hihihi. Participating in a bazaar is one of my goals late last year. I can’t believe that it will happen real soon. ❤️
Thank you Kenneth for being supportive in everything I do. He lets me do all of this without question. The Adobe classes were pretty expensive but he was still really encouraging. Thank you! 😘
PS: My Christmas gift might arrive today! 😁
I’ve been meaning to do this kind of post to just put everything that I want to remember for 2017 in a nugget. So here it is:
Paalam 2017!
Gleniz da Menace