What's the story, Morning Glory?

 

There are many things that I would like to say to you, I don't know how 

-Wonderwall; Oasis

Fun under the sun

@ UP Diliman. Lots of folks go there early in the morning to jog and have fun.
view more here

Sketch from last week

Great Scott!

I’ve always been a huge fan of scientists, in fiction and in history. From Doc Brown to Dr. Strangelove, Tesla to Einstein, Dexter to Egon, and of course Dr. Sheldon Cooper. So when I saw this photo on deviantart of this mad scientist I just couldn’t pass on the opportunity to draw him.

Since a kid, I always dreamed of being a scientist experimenting on things and coming up with equations and creating death rays, anti-proton bombs and robot slaves. But the only experiment I experienced was dissecting frogs from a school activity, and bending chicken bones using vinegar. I even joined the science club in high school just to quench my thirst for experiments, but it only left me disappointed.

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” - Nikola Tesla

  

Sketch from March 18, 2011

The Magnificent Big Moon Incident

I heard from the news that a super moon event would happen last night. I heard that this is the closest the moon would appear in 18 years. Of course, after hearing that, I decided I would not let myself miss this.

MANILA, Philippines - Astronomers yesterday said there is no cause for worry over the so-called supermoon expected to appear over the Philippines at 3 a.m today.
Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of its orbit, with one end closer to Earth. The moon was expected to be 221,565 miles away - the closest to Earth since March 1993.

Source:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=667934&publicationSubCategoryId=68

10:00 pm I took some test shots of the moon. I set my camera for the right settings to see the details on the moon. The news said that it would happen at 3:00 am here in Philippines time. So I set my alarm clock to wake me at 2:45 am.

My alarm rang, I woke up, and I looked outside my room’s window and waited until 3:00 am. But the moon was covered and I couldn’t see it through the dark sky. Bummer.

I should’ve gone to UP observatory. The news said it would be open for public just for this event. What a drag.

The news called it a super moon. But I thought it’s bland, boring and ho-hum. I decided to call it “the magnificent big moon incident”.

more shots at my flickr account. here

 

via icanread.tumblr.com

No Direction Home

"People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent." – Bob Dylan

Back to basics

"A good artist must always be able to
destroy his own creation and use it as a
foundation for something entirely new." - Marko Djurdjevic

 

 

 

Today is the start for something better. I can feel it.

I'm going back from the start and relearn the very foundations that I learned from college. 

Fly Away to the Land of Colourful Memories

As a kid, I was fortunate enough to have grown up in a town that has a farm that was owned by one of our neighbour, a big open space to play, have fun, and run around all afternoon.  We would always sneak inside the open space for his crops just to play.

As a kid, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time when computers and internet wasn’t dominating my childhood. I was fortunate enough to experience what I think some kids are missing out on now. A time when imaginations would rule the playtime, where me and my friends could travel to different places and play different roles and think of whatever we want to be, we can be adventurers seeking monsters, or be sailors on a ship and facing the storm and catching that elusive, monstrous whale, we can be swordsmen clashing blades with each other or simply lay our backs down on the ground filled with leaves and look at the sky and allow our imaginations to run free. Or we can simply run around and fly our kites.

Kite flying, I think is an essential experience in being a kid. It made me experience a lot of things, thought me a lot of lessons that is essential in growing up and coping in a dog eat dog world we’re living in; the feeling of accomplishing something when I first made my own kite. The euphoria when I first flew my kite. And of course the anguish when the first time I lost my kite because the thread snapped, the feeling of hope when searching for it, and the feeling of letting go and finally accepting that it would never comeback. The drive of getting back up on my feet and creating a new and better one and to aim to fly it even higher and planning so that the thread won’t snap again. The camaraderie we develop with friends, friendly rivalries and to simply have fun and seize the afternoon. Run around and around having fun, smiling while flying a kite.  

Something that we simply forget as we grow old, something that I’m grasping the concept of today; the kite being a metaphor for people in our lives or it can be goals we’re trying to reach, it can be anything actually; funny how being a kid simply seems better than being a grown up.

Let’s fly our kite. No matter how some strings would snap, surely something better would come out of that. And I’m sure we’ll learn how to prevent it from snapping the next time it flies, and maybe this time we can fly even higher so it can finally touch the sky.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. – Charles Lamb

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill a Mockingbird became both an instant best seller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award – winning film, also a classic.

Back in 2007, I was already planning on getting a copy of this book, but I always didn’t like the cover it has. Of course being an artist myself, I want my books to have a visually enticing cover; I want my books to have a good cover for display purposes on my shelf.

Every time I'd go to the bookstore, I’m always on the lookout for a new cover on this book. Alas, after almost 4 years of waiting they finally released a new cover for the 50^th anniversary of the book.

I just finished reading Lord of the Flies last January. Once I finished this, Moby Dick is next. I have always been a fan of the classics, in music, films and literature.

I always liked reading books/fiction/novels, anything that I can get my hands on that seemed interesting for me, may it be textbooks on subjects, life of great people, conspiracy theories, science stuff, or the more classic literature like poems, short stories, novels, and fictions. Reading is a good exercise for the young and the old alike. And in a fast-paced world we’re living now it’s nice to slow down grab a book and fly away with your imagination once in a while.

7 Benefits of Reading Fiction

Source:  http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-22-2005-75260.asp

1. Providing an escape from the day-to-day
Fiction is a great way to take a quick immediate break, to be instantly transported into another world. Today you could be in America, in the deep south with Alice Walker’s ‘The Colour Purple’, tomorrow in the Australian bush with Tim Winton’s ‘Dirt Music’, next week in downtown London with Helen Fielding’s ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ and next month in Ireland with Jim O’Neill’s ‘At Swim, Two Boys’. There is no limit to the places fiction can take you.

2. Relaxation
There is something about stopping to focus on words arranged for our reading pleasure that is instantly relaxing. Maybe it’s staying still, something that doesn’t seem to happen often enough. Maybe it’s knowing that we are stepping into a secret world that we have to relax enough to enter. Then there is the words themselves. The beauty and rhythm of language has the ability to calm and relax us.

3. Stress relief
Taking your mind off your own problems, even for a few minutes, can have a therapeutic effect and be a timely circuit breaker. This is so effective that the National Health System in the United Kingdom has introduced a ‘Reading and You Scheme’. The scheme encourages mental health patients to read more as part of their therapy for reducing stress and overcoming anxiety, depression and social isolation.

4. Stimulates the right side of your brain
Reading opens your mind to new possibilities. It stretches your imagination in new and wonderful directions and takes your mind on a wonderful journey through others’ lives. What would you do if you were Jo Becker in ‘While I Was Gone’ by Sue Miller? Would you tell your husband and three daughters about a grisly crime that happened when you were a university student? Or would you try to pretend it never happened?

5. Entertaining
Fiction is capable of provoking many and varied emotional responses – it can make you laugh out loud, it can make tears spill onto the page, it can be edge-of-the seat terrifying, it can make you blush with embarrassment, it can challenge your core beliefs. There is a world of emotion in every story and you as the reader get to be part of it.

6. Enjoyable
Reading is a deeply satisfying pursuit. The expression ‘curling up with a book’ evokes a warm and cozy image and feels luxurious if you don’t get to do it often.

7. Rejuvenating
Reading is an easy and quick way to nourish your soul because it is for the most part a solitary pursuit. And being alone, or at least alone in your thoughts, on a regular basis is crucial to maintaining a sense of self. As I’m sure you know, it’s easier to give to others when you feel fulfilled and your needs are met. Even just a few minutes of reading can keep you going throughout the day. Of course, you know you’ve read something special when you find your thoughts continually re-visiting it.

Reading is like exercising – mental and physical benefits flow from a regular routine. So don’t feel guilty about taking time out to read. It’s good for you!

See, reading has a lot of benefits. Plus it’s free. If you’re tight on money you can always download free e-books on the web. As for me, nothing beats the feeling of having a book on your hand and the sour, chemical - y scent of the paper while reading. 

So, what have you read lately?

Saudade - Nostalgia

Nostalgia implies mixed feelings, a memory of happiness but a sadness for its impossible return and sole existence in the past. 'Saudade' is like nostalgia but with the hope that what is being longed for might return, even if that return is unlikely or so distant in the future to be almost of no consequence to the present. One might make a strong analogy with nostalgia as a feeling one has for a loved one who has died and 'saudade' as a feeling one has for a loved one who has disappeared or is simply currently absent. Nostalgia is located in the past and is somewhat conformist while 'saudade' is very present, anguishing, anxious and extends into the future. - citizendium.org

Most of us want to go back somewhere in time. In a time that we thought made us happiest. For some that would be back in high school, when most of us tasted the first glimpse of freedom, the first taste of the perks of being adults while still enjoying a hint of childhood.

For me, nothing got me interested back in high school. Our school’s curriculum didn’t help much for the development in the arts, it didn’t allow for any creative development. Maybe a little, we have inter- school competitions, like plays. I’d always join the props team. But, that’s all there is to it. That’s why most of the time I would go home early from school. Kind of a dork eh? But really, nothing struck my fancy back then.

Where I want to go back to, is in college. The first time I saw the black and white photo exhibits in our school, I said to myself, I wanted to do that too. I want to take the photography subject. Then I found out it’s only for senior students.

I waited and then I finally got the subject together with my friends. I could still remember the intoxicating smell of the dark room, the feel of the photo paper, the scent of the chemicals burning your lungs as you inhale, the correct way to count numbers when soaking the photo paper in the chemicals, long walks everywhere in manila to get the right shot together with friends, feeling hungry but not minding it because every shot is feeding the hunger of the passion in the heart, walking from afternoon to midnight but not feeling tired. Good times.

What I’m trying to say is; I miss shooting on film.

Appreciate the little things

As I was about to go out one day, it was a hot day, the sky was very clear. The type of day that I certainly loved to hate when going out.

No clouds were in sight to block the sun. No kids running around because of the heat. A very quite day in a city that's polluted with noises. I haven't left the house yet but I was already sweating. And I grudgingly said to myself "Ang inet!" ( It's hot!).

I left the house frowning because of the heat and my face is already covered in sweat. As I passed this vacant lot I looked to it and saw a sight that made me smile. I said to myself "I need to shoot this". I hurried home took my camera and as I was shooting the view, I feel contented and glad that I went home to get my camera.

I couldn't shoot for long because I'm already running late. But it certainly was worth all the trouble.

Some more photos of that day here.

New photos at my flickr page. Click here to view more.

-koi

Things that got left behind

I haven't touched my sketchbook for almost a month now. Looking at it last night, these are the last sketches I made. The two kids are character studies for a story I came up with. But I think I'll shelve it for now. I really like the kid with the glasses. Reminds me of me. Haha.

Some more shots!

Some more shots from inside the house and in the neighbourhood. The sky was cloudy so I didn't got the quality of light that I was looking for.

More shots here.

Test Shots!

Finally reunited with my DSLR after almost two long years!

Shot some random things just to get the hang of it again. Hopefully will be filling up this place with some more photos in the future.

Also I recently set-upped a flickr account for my photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectic-lights/

Hey!

Hey there! Name's koi.

Here is the place where I'll be posting things like photos, sketches, scribbles, and random ramblings.

Hopefully sometime soon.

Cheers!

-koi