books/magazines – BRYOLOGUE

My colorblind art: blue irises

May 20, 2013bryologue 1 Comment

Until now, I’m reconsidering what things to put in our apartment in order to personalize the space, but I was pretty sure I wanted framed things inside. Aside from a framed silk scarf fantasy from last week, I also recalled that I wanted to frame this painting of irises I made on a boring summer about thirteen years ago. I had leftover poster paint bottles and a sketch pad from the drawing/drafting class of the school year earlier, and I thought it would be such a waste not to use them. I had copied these flowers from a children’s book I got from my grade school library:

So when I thought of framing it at the same time with the silk scarf, I also began to question whether I had the color right. Again, I am colorblind and I have a curious problem of identifying and confusing colors from one another. Before I bring this painting to the framing store, I reconsidered whether it was done correctly. So under the pretense of curiously asking Faye about the color of irises, I was stunned to hear that they are normally purple/violet/lavander. I was dumbfounded. All my life, I have deluded myself that irises are blue and I really loved them for that. I have never thought of them as blue. I was living a lie.

Well, a quick Google image search informed me that there are really true blue irises. The catch was I have copied my irises from a children’s book that I loved so much because it was one of those general knowledge textbooks that one can just read on and on. I was recently informed that the iris on top was violet, and the one below was on blue violet. I don’t remember ever using violet in my painting because I only had the basic (labelled) poster paints. My irises painting is still existent in the natural world. But if we were to consider its provenance, then it would be another story because the flowers in the book had different colors.

An incomplete drawing of Geri

So aside from the irises painting, I was also surprised to see other things I have made in the same sketch pad. It was evident that I have a tendency to draw faceless figures because it was something I was unable to do. But come to think of it, it is still something I cannot do. LOL Look at the gay overtones of the two: Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were definitely having a moment (and whose author, Mark Twain, was also incidentally colorblind!). Meanwhile, Geri is clearly a gay icon, with that iconic Union Jack dress on from the Cool Britannia period of the leate 90s. It was really funny and nostalgic at the same time to peruse old drawings from more than a decade ago. That irises painting might be no Van Gogh, but it deserves its own spot inside my new place. In the bathroom, perhaps? LOL

Frenemies Betty and Veronica for MEGA magazine!

February 4, 2013bryologue 2 Comments

While browsing Facebook earlier, I was elated to see this photo:

(Photo from Mega magazine’s Facebook page)

Growing up reading Archie Comics, I always find the dynamics between the two to be interesting and exasperating at the same time. What’s with Archie, anyway, and why were they fighting tooth and nail to catch his attention and affection? Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are definitely the epitome of the cartoon version of what frenemy is. Frenemy, a portmanteau of the words ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’, which readily gives us an insight on what sort of relationship that exists between people who consider each other frenemies. But in the entertainment industry as a whole, how many men frenemies can you identify? Maybe not a lot, or if ever, none at all. This frenemy phenomenon must be exclusively existing between the ladies, and popular culture from generations before until now have its own version.

(Photo from Gawker.com)

(Photo from MSN.com)

Another notable thing: the brunette-blonde dichotomy. Joan Crawford and Better Davis, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, and of course, Betty and Veronica. There seems to be a fascination on the difference between the dark-haired and light-haired girl.

Anyway, back to the magazine cover, Archie comics’ Dan Parent has illustrated the girls wearing local designers’ collections, presumably from the Holiday 2012 collection (because we obviously don’t have Fall/Winter here). Betty’s wearing Veejay Floresca, while Veronica’s donning a Cary Santiago piece. Reading the text next to Veronica, it mentions the girls being the new faces of MAC. O_O How will that exactly work and the simpleton me was left wondering how on Earth do you make use of cartoon characters as the “face” of a cosmetic brand. But reading from this article on Dailymail, it is actually more of the personality of the girls. Now, it brings us back to the supposed dichotomy of personalities between blondes and brunettes because product names such as ‘Girl Next Door’, ‘Summer Sweetheart’ and ‘Kiss and Don’t Tell’ (for Betty) or ‘Boyfriend Stealer’, ‘Past Curfew’ and ‘Double Trouble’ (for Veronica) actually reinforce such split. Not to mention, “Archie’s Girls” — they were not even “Betty and Veronica”, but are still attached to Archie’s identity.

(Photo from Trendland.com)

As for concept of the shoot, it is definitely not the first time that cartoon characters are used for a fashion magazine editorial. Sure we had Disney characters posing as designers for the April 2010 issue of Elle España, or even an appearance of Shrek characters in VMan May 2010 (which was controversial because of the ‘sexy’ nature of the shoot), the most famous and notable one is still the “Simpsons go to Paris” editorial from Harper’s Bazaar’s August 2007 issue (for more pictures, view it here on harpersbazaar.com). I think it is a very wise decision for the MEGA magazine team to have this clever cover featuring Betty and Veronica. I’m not too sure if there will be a spread inside but I might be actually buying my first ever MEGA magazine just to own this unexpected cover. Unlike the Shrek and Disney ones, Betty and Veronica would hopefully be wearing the clothes, similar to the Simpsons one. If I see that inside, I’ll be extremely happy. =D

I got the book I wanted!

January 28, 2013bryologue Leave a Comment

The BookSale in UP Diliman did not have a world history textbook, which was quite a letdown because they have one of the best selections of foreign language literature books. But the BookSale in Cityland near our workplace had a hardbound world history textbook for sale. It was sold at Php 415, though, and I debated for a few minutes whether to buy it or not but a brand new book definitely costs more than Php 2,000 and photocopying an entire book from the library will cost me about the same as the secondhand one — that is if I can borrow one because I’m no longer enrolled, thus can’t borrow from the library.

So, I gave in and bought the book. I now have my own copy of Comprehensive World History – Fourth Edition. I even asked if I can have a discount but was told that it was originally tagged at Php 1000. Yikes. I also found a Complete Idiot’s Guide to American Government for only Php 45! I had no idea why I bought this book but I thought that I will have a good use for it in the future. LOL

I also had to notarize an application form and I first thought of getting it done in Marikina. But Mon mentioned that there were was a row of notary publics behind Makati Medical Center, just past McDonald’s in the Aegis Peoplesupport building. We walked to the area from our office and entered the first one, near the short bridge over the creek.

I presented my application form to the lady in the counter, and she asked me for a government-issued ID. I always have my Voter’s ID with me, but when she noticed the form, she suggested I present my passport. I did not have it with me but I recall having a spare photocopy of the first page containing my personal information in the office. I just asked Mon to wait for me in the Notary Public and I then walked back to our office and feverishly searched for that important piece of paper. When I at last found it, I ran back to the Notary Public. Done, all done! And best of all, I only paid Php 50 for the notarization fee! Bless this place!

ETA: 25 October 2017

This place above, as far as a I know, no longer exists. LOL But as this posts gets viewed a lot, let me recommend another notary public in Makati around the area. If you know Rodic’s in Salcedo Street, Makati (which, by the way, will close at the end of October 2017), the notary public was about 2-3 stalls to its right.

This is near Salcedo Street corner Rufino Street along the same side of Watsons and Slimmers World — practically walking distance from Makati Medical Center. It cost me less than Php 100.

Well, I’ll just put a map here. Easier to follow, right?

Interesting secondhand items

January 11, 2013bryologue 3 Comments

A week after my adventure to fix my requirements in the university, I was back earlier to get some of the papers that require shorter waiting time. According to the OUR, my Transcript of Records won’t be due until the 29th and I can’t do anything but trust and hope that they will release it on the said date. I desperately need my TOR on the 31st.

I first went to the Shopping Center to have one of my classmate’s book photocopied, then I took the TOKI jeep to the Registrar. I was really hesitant because I have no idea how the route would be, and the last time I have taken this jeepney during my undergrad, I was made to walk from Mathematics to FC because the driver told everyone that it was his last stop. I was forever traumatized. LOL Anyway, I reached the Registrar to claim the Certified True Copy of my undergraduate diploma. I must admit, I was expecting that it would be just a photocopy of my diploma in a bond paper, but I did not know they will be using the same fancy paper as the original one. The only difference was the university seal. In lieu of the foil material bearing the seal in the lower left-hand corner, the CTC just had a dry seal indicating that it was a “Certified text of the original”. I also got my True Copy of Grades from CAL and CSSP, just in case.

Before leaving school, I dropped by the BookSale in AS Walk to see if they have interesting books for sale. I saw a very old copy of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan but I did not buy it. This was the same place from which I previously bought a now-lost copy of Albert Camus’ L’Etranger and I was hoping to see other French novels as well. While perusing the Language, Arts & Poetry shelf, I saw these two books::

Upon seeing Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, I suddenly remembered my classmate who made a thesis around the book. She was having a hard time with the book because it was admittedly a handful to read even in English, and to do it in the native language that it was written was way harder. The other one was Voltaire: Romans et Contes, which was far easier to digest in the manner that it contains shorter stories, compared to Hugo’s. The best thing about these books, they only cost Php 120 each. I think I had a great bargain.

Two days ago, I expressed my desire to buy more cotton shirts for the upcoming summer season and I had unexpectedly begun earlier. On my way to work from school, I decided on a whim to kill time and challenge myself to look for interesting finds in the big Ukay complex in Cubao.

I ended up buying three shirts for a ridiculously low price. The white Graniph shirt with the old-school camera print was sold at Php 35 (not even close to a dollar). Then I bought from another stall this cross-eyed Abraham Lincoln shirt for Php 89 and the shirt with the Atari logo print for Php 59. The overall total: Php 183 or barely US$ 5. ^_^

Tomorrow, I will be returning to UP Shopping Center to get the ‘original’ book (as it was also a photocopied book) and hopefully return it to Tin. =D We will also be watching Ang Lee’s The Life of Pi tomorrow in Trinoma after eating dinner in Mashitta. I also wanted to watch Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty but maybe we can have room for that next weekend. Of course, I’m also most excited on the 16th — Les Misérables will be finally screened here in Manila!

Glasses and Papers

December 28, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

It is the last Friday of 2012 and I had to make sure that our medical/optical allowance did not go to waste. Mon and I met past lunch time in Farmers Cubao to get our glasses done in Spectrum Eye Express, found at the Ground Floor of the mall. We originally planned having them done in Paterno St., Quiapo, Manila but as we did not have enough time to got there, out best bet was Cubao.

Mon has been complaining over his astigmatism for years and we only had time today to finally have his eyes properly checked and corrected. Out of all the shops there, I knew right away that Spectrum Eye Express has the lowest price on their services. A normal lens with frame starts at Php 995, and additional Php 1,000 for multicoated ones.

I was the first to be checked and the optometrist checked my glasses as well. To my surprise, the grade of my right eye has increased. It was just checked last month during our Annual Physical Examination in the office and it was deemed okay. Mon was checked next and it took him a shorter time. We chose the same style of frames (and I got my old frames back), except the color. For him, the dark red ones, while I got the dark blue pair. It will took two more hours for them to work on the glasses, though, she we’ll just come back tomorrow.

We then went to the same Dunkin’ Donuts café where I hoped to bring him months back. We only had 30 minutes to eat our snack and Mon even bought three pieces of doughnuts to bring back to our office. The bunwich was as good as ever but I only have one gripe. We ordered two 12oz coffees and they gave out four sachets of sugar and two sachets of creamer. I asked Mon if he could ask for two more sachets of creamer but I was infuriated to hear that they charge Php 1.50 each. What the hell was that about? I understand that some people might be too excessive with their sugar and creamer cosnumption, but can they just at least serve two sugars and two creamers as a standard serving? That was a rip-off and it was ridiculous to put just a sachet of creamer n a 120z cup, unless you like your coffees black (then you don’t even need a creamer at all). I was so disappointed with Dunkin’ Donuts. Yuck.

Anyway, before our short time eating ended, I had to rush to National Bookstore a floor above to buy a 2013 planner. Since the end of 2010, I have refused to join the Starbucks planner bandwagon and started using a vitnage Mulberry wallet that I bought from Ebay as a makeshift planner. I still have the 2011 planner with me and I will soon be removing the 2012 one and replace it with the 2013.

However, I noticed that they did not have the same ‘style’ of planner that I’ve been using as a filler. I could be wrong, though. Last week, when I bought Mon’s Christmas card, I’ve seen a 2012 version of the same filler. I’m now kicking myself on why I did not buy one when I already saw it. In all fairness to the 2013 planner, it is thinner and less bulky but it will be definitely more tricky to work on. As you can see from the previous pictures, I ‘murder’ the planners as they have sturdy cardboard first pages. I still don’t know how can that be achieved with the 2013 one as it does not have the same cardboard material.

I also bought this very nice-looking orange notebook, with sketches of three smiling cats. =D I still don’t have an exact use for it, but maybe it can be my ‘idea notebook’. I look forward to being more organized (than the usual) and inspired this 2013, and hopefully my new paper purchases can give me a headstart on planning for the year ahead.

Kindle scare

November 2, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

It has been a long time since I tinkered with my Kindle and today, I had to open the wireless connection to wait for the book I converted to arrive. To my surprise, it automatically went to the screen above. Of course, it was just a normal update and I just let it do things on its own.

When the ‘loading’ screen was done, it then went into the screen above. But what happened after gave me a good scare. For a good ten minutes, it seemed on loop with the ‘reboot’ screen. O_O It scared me a lot and I was already blaming myself for carrying on with the update (though I have no idea how to stop it mid-way because it was automatic when it detected WiFi connection). It went on and on and I was already Google-ing DIY troubleshooting given the scenario. And all of a sudden, this screen appeared:

It was just a notification that my Kindle was now updated. LOL Anyway, it contains what are the new things that my Kindle can do now. So aside from the ones listed above, it also has new function for viewing children’s picture books, enhancement on table and image viewing, as well as Whispersync for Voice. I was unnecessarily scared out of my wits and it could not have happened if I were not neglecting my Kindle. I now promise to do more reading with it and periodically keep the wireless connection open, so I get more familiar with updates. =D

That awkward moment when Uranus is over the Moon

October 27, 2012bryologue 3 Comments

No pun intended, but when I was checking Stellarium to check what was supposedly up in the heavens if it were not cloudy surprised me. I knew that the Moon was almost in West but I had an unexpected planet. Not to sound like Professor Trelawney on Lavander (“It is Uranus, my dear.”) but I really did not expect the planet because: 1) I was very sure that given my limited equipment, I will be having a hard time searching for it, and 2) IT WAS CLOUDY, so no use wasting my time.

It stopped raining but there was zero visibility of whatever celestial object of interest. I have been hoping to try my luck with my brother’s bridge camera (a GE X500) because I saw other amateur astrophotographers having great luck with the ones they have. But given the current weather condition, I contented myself with playing with the dials/buttons that I don’t normally touch.

My jaw dropped because I did not expect the photos to look like that. It was honestly very dark in the room and very dark outside as well, and I can barely see any details of the clouds in the sky. LOL That was amazing. Now, I can’t wait for the skies to clear so I can try my luck photographing the Jupiter, Taurus and Orion grouping almost directly above around this time.

I’ve been ranting all afternoon about how much I want to buy another telescope — a more powerful one. I really want to do astrophotography but I’m on a budget. I originally wanted to buy a webcam with a CCD sensor, but since my brother has apparently ceased using his bridge camera, I can settle for it now. Back to the telescope question, I really want to research hard on which scope will best fit my needs. If only budget were not an issue. Anyway, I’ll just push what I currently have to the limit and hope for clear skies ahead!

I’m also that abysmally delinquent!

October 16, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

Last July 24, I was exasperated over the two books that were not returned on time by the person who had borrowed them (which turned out to be a classmate of mine). But now, the due date of these books that I borrowed were on August 9, 2012 but I only had the sense to return them earlier. Last week, I saw a post of a classmate thinking out loud whether the library checks on people who borrowed books, if they were still alive because the ones that she needed were still not yet returned. I have a nagging feeling that she was looking for these two books — of course I did not reply to her status. >_<

So before going to work, I went to the library to FINALLY return them. I paid Php 90 pesos per book, for a total of Php 180. In UP, they charge Php 2.00 per day for regular circulation books, but it costs higher for reserved titles.

I just realized that it will be the last time that I’d be entering this library, well hopefully. I’m optimistic over the results of my comprehensive examinations and after this semester, there’s no point in enlisting for residency with library use.

As I was carrying books, I just brought this little sling bag. But it was surprisingly spacious as I was able to fit in a lonn wallet, a pouch full of trinkets, my IDs, iPod, a digital camera, an agenda, keys with lanyard, a USB flashdrive and an umbrella. This is actually Hermione Granger’s handbag. LOL I can’t remember when was the last time I used such a small bag to work; but carrying a convenient bag was, after all, liberating. My shoulders and arms were briskly thanking me.

After leaving the library, I was surprised to see Tin rushing towards my direction. She was on her way to submit her term paper to one of her professors, and as I found out, she’s still trying to finish another paper for her 299 class. Well, I’m not going to pretend that I miss all the rush of beating the clock when the semester ends, but it made me wonder what should I be doing next. I went to graduate school in 2009 due to the sheer interest of learning new things. And now that I’m about to finish it, what’s next?

Four legs good, then two legs… what?

October 7, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

For years, I’ve been hearing about George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” but it was only last week that I’ve bothered reading it.

Pardon my ignorance but I initially thought that the title was just metaphorical and the characters were human. However, after reading a spoiler-free synopsis of the book, the characters were indeed animals so it definitely tickled my fancy.

Hoof and Horn Flag - Animal Farm

(Photo from orwellsanimalfarm.weebly.com)

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If Gaga were not on the cover…

August 27, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

Honestly, I never thought that it’d be this difficult to get this year’s September issue. I usually see the following month’s issue two weeks even before that particular month arrives, but I was surprised how tasking it was to obtain US Vogue September 2012.

Since I finished my exams on the 23rd, I resolved to buy an issue because buying it prior to the exam was a sure way to distract me from reviewing, given that it will be the largest ever in their 120-year history, surpassing 2007’s September issue by 76 pages ~~(of advertisements)~~.

National Bookstore Trinoma

I was puzzled when Fully Booked (Gateway) did not have them, because I usually buy my copy from them, and even other book stores did not have a stock. I never thought I’d see the day that I’d hate seeing Marion Cotillard’s face everytime I comb the magazine section.

Last Saturday was my ultimatum. Mon and I went to Trinoma: first, Powerbooks and they did not have one. Next, to National Bookstore and I was first happy to see these fabulous ladies holding copies of the issue:

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