Word of mouth.

Monday happily concluded my workshops at the NAPOCOR Daycare, with the presentation of certificates during the company flag ceremony, an exhibit which will run for week, and good feedback from parents and students.

I'd say good feedback because today I got my first referral for a one-on-one art tutorial. I just met up with the parents and their six-year old daughter a few hours ago. I hope this pushes through. :-)

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I'm taking things easy now that there's more breathing space. Yay, more time to catch up on books and movies. :-D

From errand girl to gig rat.

While Marnie was away on an urgent trip to the province, I ran bank errands for her family yesterday before heading over to the daycare to set up for my students' Monday exhibit opening.

At the exhibit venue, I started mounting my 16 students' best works in glass panels, to be put on display at the lobby for one week. Then Teacher Marge and I sorted out all the remaining works by activity (we had 11 activities in all), and started mounting them on the panel boards. (Those will be on display for the duration of the opening only.) We finished all the work a little before 6:30 p.m.

I met up with Joey at Megamall afterwards, and had dinner at his place. Then we went off to SaGuijo's second anniversary bash. Daming tao! Parking at SaGuijo at 10 p.m. sux.

Lots of bands played. Blast Ople played my Pixies request as I melted in the heat beside Anne Curtis (who, that night, looked like never pa siyang pinagpapawisan sa tanang buhay niya). Still and video cameras were all over the place.

The gig was fun, but weird at the same time. I saw people I haven't seen in a long time and found that we have nothing much to say to each other (err...). :-/ Sometimes I miss the good old times.

Oh well. I'm still glad I took the night off. It's been a while anyway. ;-)

Happy! Sad?

I squealed when Indira handed me this thing she bought for me in Hong Kong:

WAAAAH!!! Merchandise! (n_n) But wait, there's more! Clickety-click to see the flipside of the can. Ang saya! (Thank you, Inds!)

But after a while a sad feeling started to sink in. Parang ayaw ko munang kainin 'yung fruit drops. Bubuksan ko na lang ba siya kapag mamamatay ako na sa gutom? Ewan. Heh heh.

Sleep-over.

Last Friday coming from the hospital I slept at Guia's secret studio. We spent Saturday vegetating, and Sunday morning swimming at the Cervini Hall pool.

I might not be swimming again any time soon, though. I just had my hair color retouched last Monday. It's now a nice shade of burgundy. :-D

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I went to the closing of Indira's group exhibit with Libay, Carol and Len last night. Galing. :-) (Congratulations, mah friends!) There were performances by Isha, Carol Bello, and a group of lively percussionists from some region of Africa which I can't spell or pronounce. Masaya 'yung vibe, kahit feeling tandercats na kaming lahat sa area namin because we were all feeling tired and sleepy at 10:30 p.m. (Hahaha di na kami sanay gumimik!) Penguin Café was still jampacked by the time we left.

I went home with Indi's afterwards, and slept in Trinka's room beside Papatya, Indi's uber-fat adopted cat. Super-cute and extra-large! And jumpy, too. (n_n)

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Today was a long day, Inds and I left early for our respective jobs. I spent the whole day (nine hours!) at the daycare giving different make up classes to a handful of students simultaneously. I visited Marnie and her mom in the hospital afterwards, but I was mostly useless during my stay. My lower back and thighs were sore from bending and squatting down low tables.

Hmmm... actually masakit pa rin ang katawan ko hanggang ngayon. But I feel good. :-)

Absence.

Hello. Long time no anything.

It's not that there's nothing much to write about. I'm just too lazy is all.

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My two-week workshop was cancelled after the second session due to low headcount (the school had different classes running simultaneously, and they had the same pool of enrollees). Sayang because I missed the Pahiyas for it, but at least I got a well-deserved break. The daycare workshops are almost over. I only have one make-up class to give to frequently absent students (gadsh I'm so nice), and the culminating activity, my students' exhibit.

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Marnie's mom is on a roller-coaster ride. One day she's almost well enough to go home, the next she's on the brink of getting intubated again. Malapit na silang mag-isang buwan sa ospital. :-(

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Today, Sel and Mark are officially engaged. Congratulations! And happy birthday, Sel! :-D

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I finished watching all the episodes of Transformers Season 1 this week. Time to borrow Season 2... ;-P

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...

...

...

It's the time of the year for missing things-- old habits, friends, gigs, movies, and everything else.

*sigh*

Today isn't my day.

Bleah.

I'm swamped with work.

I missed Kawayan's exhibit opening.

I wasn't able to do hospital duty for Marnie.

I'm a sucky Seeker.

I'm stuck at home while my friends are playing poker because someone forgot to SMS me.

Tae desu.

*****

I've been visiting Marnie's mom at the hospital thrice a week now. I really, really hope things get better. Yesterday I saw progress. Tuloy-tuloy na sana ito.

*****

I'm almost done with the daycare workshops. I just need to give a make-up class for absentees, and curate my students' culminating activity (exhibit).

Monday marks the start of my Raya School workshops. Isang tulog na lang at magpapaka-morning person na ako ulit. :-Þ

Bloghop.

Haha. ;-D

(If you clicked on this at a rather late date, hop on to the entry dated May 3.)

'Yun lang.

Weary.

Ang sakit ng katawan ko. :-(

I am physically and emotionally weary.

Where are friends when you need them?

Is it time for another break?

Awestruck.

I just came from our exhibit opening and the concert and WOW-- I'm still giddy from the experience.

I arrived at the venue early (3:15 p.m., after my morning day care workshop and a visit to the hospital), and found that our set-up from the day before was all jumbled because the manongs at Crossroad77 placed spot lamps on the ceiling near the exhibit space. I rearranged the easels, and helped Mariel put labels beside each of the framed artworks.

(Moment: nakita ko 'yung long time crush ko na naghihintay ng soundcheck tas chinika niya ako! Haha. Wala lang.)

We had one and a half hours down time before the exhibit opens, so I hung out at Mariel's. I used the opportunity to freshen up and wash away the daytime grime.

There were people already lined up when we arrived at the venue. I waited for InKies to arrive so I can hand them their tickets. It was a pretty long wait, because at the last minute there were technical difficulties concerning sound and feedback, and the concert started only after these issues were fixed.

(Disappointment of the day: Of the several hundred people I messaged, only a handful called/texted regrets, and two came. Great turnout eh?) \;-Þ

Finally we went inside the Convenarium and took our seats on the second row from the stage. Award-winning vocalist Mon David started the show with a jazz number. Magaling nga siya! Ate Cynthia A. and her band came up next. They played their usual 70s Bistro/Conspiracy set, but they played wonderfully. Even the overplayed Comfort in Your Strangeness was a pleasure to hear live. After they went offstage, I thought: sulit na 'yung paghihintay namin.

I was wrong. Watching Mon David, Cynthia Alexander and the Antonio Forcione Quartet in one show for FREE was a steal!!!

Honestly, I didn't think much of Antonio Forcione Quartet's recorded music. I knew Antonio was technically good, but I thought the recording was too clean and overproduced. My work which was based on one of AFQ's songs was uninspired, as I was not moved by what I heard on the cd. I expected to be impressed with the live performance.

Needless to say, the group exceeded my expectations. As in. SOBRANG GALING nila Antonio Forcione!!! *gush, gush* The recording did not do justice to their talent and music! And for the first time in my entire life, I saw and heard a tambourine being played the right way. Adriano, AFQ's percussionist, made the thing sound like jazz drums (the performance truly deserved a standing ovation). The quartet's stage dynamics were as good as their music. They're funny, too.

After the concert I was sooo awestruck. So awestruck that I asked Guia's permission to use her camera, walked up to Antonio and asked if I could have my picture taken with him! Hee. ;-D [Pic to follow, it's still with Guia.]

Ang saya. Hehe. Thanks, Kathy and Jan (and Jan's friends) for showing up. :-)

(You guys who didn't even text back, you suck. Dami pa namang free VIP tickets.)

Starstruck.

Earlier today on my way to ingress, I saw Michael V. standing in front of Kimono Ken Tomas Morato, gabbing away on the mobile phone. Haha na-starstruck ako. Ambabaw ko hehe.

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I arrived slightly late for the exhibit set-up. I saw Mariel in the Creative Futures office then both of us were escorted to the exhibit venue where we saw the Doctor sisters and the framer guy and all our artworks waiting for us. We were given 9 small easels and several huge ones and we tried our best to fit all 17 19 artworks on those. Brian and I sort of curated our upcoming exhibit.

I'm excited about the opening. I hope you guys can make it.

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I left ingress earlier than usual to watch Mission Impossible 3, free premiere ticket courtesy of Beej. It was okay. I like this one better than the first two movies. It's a bit predictable, but the flick is still on my okay list. It's got this Alias feel going on throughout the film. There are too many Tom Cruise close-ups, pero kebs. I'm not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, and I don't hate him to death either. So there.

Sux.

Pansin ninyo, biglaan ang update nitong blog ko? That's because I've been writing entries at net cafés, saving them in drafts. My landline's been busted for almost two weeks, and my phone service provider sucks big time at customer service and it's taking them forever to repair my hotline. Arrrgh.

I've taken to working at public puter shops when I can (which is to say, not too often), but with the techy user interface and all, I can't download or save docs from my e-mail. Kakainis!!! Hassle talaga. >:-(

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I took the opportunity to paint and do some layout stuff while I'm offline. Ok naman. I'm not too happy with what I did, but I'm proud of my work na rin. Hehe.

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My workshop sessions are back on track and going well. (I had to skip a session due to my out of town trip.) I have three students with behavioral problems, but thankfully, I am slowly but surely getting through these kids. They're more responsive to the activities and to their other classmates now.

Starting tomorrow I'll be doing double sessions. I'll be finishing this workshop series sooner. Yay!

*****

After yesterday's workshop I hung out with Marnie at the hospital, and traded mp3s, kept her company. Her mom's on a feeding tube, but we all hope she starts eating normally soon. Her dad and their driver took me home a few minutes ago. Mejo mabagal kasi magmaneho si Mang Charlie. Hehe.

*****

Exhibit ingress later! I invite you all to drop by our group exhibit, Cuadros y Cuerdas, Ang I.n.K.'s visual rendering of songs by the Antonio Forcione Quartet. It opens on 04 May 2006, 7pm at the Convenarium, Crossroad77 Convention Center, Mother Ignacia corner Sct. Reyes, Quezon City. Antonio Forcione Quartet will be performing alongside Cynthia Alexander and Mon David at 8pmfor a fee, but exhibit viewing is absolutely free!

(May work ako rito, punta kayo please!) Ü