It’s The Little Things

Last night I hardly slept. I should have, you know, snored halfway to valhalla, if we  factor in the copious amounts of brandy I had in my system (I came from regular  hangout with friends from way back and needless to say, alcohol and food is a  staple in those parts). Not that I am complaining, I didn’t spend anything. And  these friends know that. These are the same friends that held my hand when I was  about to break from the endless deluge of rejected job applications and failed  business deals. It’s these small handshakes, the little pat on the back that assures  me they have my back. Even a brother whom I bothered too often about my  financial predicaments suddenly sent help, and in the most timely manner,  because I am really going for the loanshark at this time, which my Mayor Street
friends discouraged.

So, short bursts of sleep, and series of graphic books in the works, a life saving  rescue by my brother, and the unflinching loyalty of friends, what else is there to  be thankful for?

It’s the little things.

• Those free Uni Ball Eye pens that went with my purchase of three felt-tip pens at National Bookstore. I was looking for drawing ink but bought a 03, 06 and 08 Uni Pen and didn’t realize till I was home that the freebies were put in my bag.
• Books and audiobooks.
• Pares and Mami carts that provide delicious sustenance for the thrift. The chili and fried garlic added liberally makes it better.
• Gigabytes of data riding tiny USB flashdrives. The 80s saw a Chess Grandmaster square off with Big Blue, a machine that was powered by 1Gb of data that was stored in something as big as a house. Nowadays you could carry the data you need 32 times over on a thumb drive.
• Coffee. No buts about it.
• Street corner laundry service. Even if I try to do my ow washing, sometimes it’s better to have them done, just because I have nowhere to hang the laundry to dry in my current inhabited space.
• Mp3. Digital music. Yes, I long to hear music the way it should be heard, on vinyl, on a phonograph, with the amp and speakers tuned through an extensive equalizer set up and played loud. But I need a home to do that, and in this city living, Mp3 is my saviour. I could write and draw continuously with my favorites playing in the background.
• Mall comfort rooms. Don’t ask.
• Analog mobile phones. Smirk at the idea, but the way I see people griping about battery life and lugging extra powerbanks just so they can browse continuously, I go for the bar phone that lasts a week with a single charge. And don’t get me started about android updates, nor iPhone upgrades.
• Twitter. And no, not for reasons most people think.
• Internet connection. However shitty the service is, still something to be thankful about.
• Blogging. Not for fame, nor profit, but for my sanity.
• Wix!
• Technology in general. Most people take this for granted but growing up with less, access to modern technology is still a joy to behold.
• Movies. In data format. I could marathon The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings as often as I want. And all the films I want to seeover and over.
• My landlady. Her kind heart let me stay even if I can hardly pay the rent. She understands, bless her.

And we could go on and on about the little things that make life worth going through each day, but go list your own.

And so I slept. But then I woke up.

And this is strange, coming off on a drug-induced sleep, me being under the weather for two days now, sneezing frantically and a while ago, a huge headache and that feeling of cold remedies have no long lasting effect.

But I did go to work, albeit I was rather disconcerted at one time, and one more thing, I was so disappointed with how the other department treated our hand-drawn part in the documentary “Mula Buwis Hanggang PDAF”. Infuriating, really, because they should have requested a dark or black background for the illustrations. It ended up with the motion graphics with the colors inverted, you know, where white is turned to black and vice versa, but no, they had to use tint, and they all looked burnt.

And while I should be sleeping, but is wide awake at 2:22am in the morning, and my nose just keeps on free-flowing, and while Jackson snores up in his room, Gerard probably has to keep the tv on to buffer the noise, ha ha ha! I am down here, just finished a bowl of hot noodles, followed by the last cold med I had to take, and wide awake.

An old illustration updated

So I ended right here, polishing an old design for a friend. I knew I have reasons keeping some of the stuff I drew earlier. This one was modified, added a male silhouette, and at the new owner’s behest, take away the nipples, of which, now that I look at it, makes the logo more respectable. Originally I had this down for a tattoo, but now Mike Carlo Caparas will own this one, for keeps, for his new venture, I think.

Logo Study for FANM

Needs more work though. There are a couple of versions I have done and will be finishing these, as soon as I feel better.

I enjoy this.

It’s the kind of thing that keeps me on my toes.

I know I have a style some people may or may not like but it is my style. My creation. Some people used to ask me to do this and that and not bothering to supply the materials needed, so I created based on what I like the project to look and feel. It was pro bono and they had the gall to say

“WTF is this?”

and all I can say is

A thank you would have been sufficient.

It would have been a different conversation if they had given me something to work on, not just links to videos, or a [gasp] THE peg, whatever that means. It’s tiresome, when you do stuff for people for free. They seem to get the idea that artist create for the sake of creation.

Well, we do.

And we need to earn a living , too.

So I’m better off contributing my artwork for other artists. At least we share a common goal.

Unlike some people I know who are glorified keyboard warriors and button pushers, give them a title and they flaunt it like it’s a great skill to load something up and push play, huh.  Give them something creative to do and they just stand there in bewilderment, thinking “not in my job description”, as if a bigger salary is an excuse for lazyness.

And oh boy, some people at work could use a little sense hammered to their skulls. If things continue with the way they are, people will be leaving. I, myself feel If there is another gig I could do and earn from, and be away from people who think too highly of themselves, I’d get on that train and never look back.

I’m sick, because I am tired.

I am tired because I did some double shifts just to rush up some stuff for the documentary.

I’m sick and tired because, some people have no reason to be arrogant about stuff they think they know.

I’m tired of being sick, because I feel old with a cold.

Nicottaenneaous Caffeineiac Musings 102313

• News – is when a known celebrity couple splits up and the girl deletes all photos of them, together, from their instagram account. Really interesting stuff.
• The German Embassy in Manila donates Php13.7M to the earthquake-hit Bohol and Cebu. The Philippine government agencies, however, are still arguing amongst themselves whether to let filipinos know that we have money, just not for everybody.
• Did you know there are more people who can afford DSLRs and yet shoots the same damn thing every time? And they have the gall to watermark all their photos and upload them online.
• Did you know using someone else’s photograph should be called theft, and not plagiarism? There’s a difference. Look it up. It’s the reason you have search engines.
• Do you understand that photography is a kind of theft? What else would you call a captured moment? Why do we call them “take the shot” in the first place.
• We should really start monitoring our politicians and government agencies. They seem to have flunked mathematics and we readily put them in positions that desperately needs some mathematical prowess. Case in point: Taxes, PDAF, and disaster relief funds.

Just a random image to accompany a blog post.

• Admit it. You put too much weight on people’s appearance.
• When asking for help, try to ask in a manner that would tip the favor in your side. People will do it for free, if you ask nicely.
• I’m losing my faith with news and journalism. There’s too much fluff and frills that go with the daily broadcast.
• I’m getting tired of living in the big city. My thoughts are now geared towards landing a big freelance job, or some really steady flow of  low paying but consistent jobs. I’m up to here with city life.
• Lay off of Freddie Aguilar’s love life. When you talk about his love life, you must ne talking about his sex life. And that’s none of your business. People who aren’t getting laid are the ones holding a grudge against people who are getting it.
• You might have guessed, even blogging has taken a back step when I’m illustrating and drawing.

…and I’m just killing time, letting some steam out before the weekend sets in and once again I barricade meself in me batcave and draw some more.