http://alabira.multiply.com/ <center><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.tinypic.com/6ybztlk.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0"></a> </center> Fri, 4 Jul 2008 16:18:39 -0000 Fri, 4 Jul 2008 15:35:44 -0000 http://images.alabira.multiply.com/logo http://alabira.multiply.com 100 100 Yesterday afternoon was spent with my dad stomping through the bush in Bundeena. Bundeena is an hour and 45-minute drive away through paved motorway, and seemingly endless, winding forest roads with a stunning, panoramic view of mountainous bushland. It's a sleepy town that boasts of virgin beaches, untouched bushland, and the world's slowest drivers (owing to the fact that all the residents are all 90 years old and above... or something to that effect). Our mission: to find 3,000 year old Aboriginal stone carvings of whales, supposedly one of the finest collections of ancient stone carvings in Australia. That sounded very Indiana Jones, didn't it. We walked under the scorching sun, hiked through the brush, wound our way along coastal cliffs, and plodded through kilometers of sand with only vague directions given to us by strangers on the street. For awhile it seemed we'd never find http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/152/A_three_thousand-year_old_art_exhibit Fri, 4 Jul 2008 15:35:44 -0000 Have you ever been caught lying? I don't think I've ever really been caught lying. I mean yeah, I've probably made thousands of little white lies in my life, most of which have been found out about 5 seconds after I've said them.<br><br>Things like<br><br>"Did you clean the sink like I asked you to?"<br><br>"...yes."<br><br>"No you didn't."<br><br>"I didn't have time."<br><br>I once lied to my teacher in 3rd grade to save face. She had reprimanded me unfairly in front of my entire class, bordering on humiliation. To top it all off, she set up a private audience with me that afternoon to give me a chance to apologize to her for setting her off that way. Being 9 years old, I thought the whole ordeal was my fault, and I showed up feeling like the most wicked child in the world.<br><br>So when she asked me to explain my "behavior" in class that afternoon, I burst into hysterical tears and told her that my parents didn't love me, that they ignored me, and that the rest of my family mistreated me.<br><br>It was a total lie. But it distracted her from wan... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/175/And_the_moral_of_the_story_is... Tue, 1 Jul 2008 09:05:18 -0000 It's the Biennale right now, which is a big, international contemporary art festival that takes place in Sydney every 2 years. Parts of Sydney are flooded with installations. For today's design excursion, we went to check it out, mainly the 50 or so video installations on Cockatoo island which is a 15 minute ferry ride away from Circular Quay. Cockatoo Island is a Corregidor of sorts, abandoned, and filled with tunnels, ancient, rusting machinery, old deserted buildings, cannons, etc. It was a fine winter's day, with beautiful soft-box lighting, and it had rained in the morning, and there were big puddles all around the island reflecting the sky. The mood and the color palette reminded me of a Miyazaki movie, and the ancient, nut-and-bolt, rusty machinery reminded of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". It was a strange and beautifully dreamy industrial scene. I'm in love with rust. http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/151/A_Miyazaki-esque_day_on_Cockatoo_Island Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:05:05 -0000 I haven't drawn anything just for myself in months. This one isn't going to be graded, it's all just heart. Knocked it together in an hour on the train. Got home, scanned it, and colored it in. Still, it's therapeutic to go back to good old paper and fine-liner. I'm glad I know how to draw. If I didn't have this outlet, I would have gone crazy a long time ago. Uploaded both the uncolored and colored version. The font is computerized. http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/149/New_drawings Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:08:36 -0000 I'll always remember the exchange between me and my dad when I showed him my life drawing sketches: "I think you made his dick too big" "Hindi! Malaki talaga." (No, it really is big) :-D!!! Our model is great. We've had him twice, and my somehow most all of my drawings turn out nice or at least decent when he's our model. (I've learned that there are some models that I just don't "feel", and my drawings don't turn out as nice). Some teenager asked to see my sketchpad on the train, so I had to flip these huge pages, which caught alot of attention, and I ended up showing my nude drawings to an entire audience of strangers. http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/147/Some_of_my_nudes Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:44:17 -0000 Our surprise farewell thingy for our manager, http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/146/Happy_Starbucks_family_Cristines_farewell Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:44:07 -0000 Last term it was puppets, puppets, puppets. This term, it's fairy-tale inspired furniture. Chairs to be exact. Using the Ikea Ivar chair as a base. http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/145/The_latest_thing_Ive_been_working_on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:37:25 -0000 So I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown a while back. In trying to be a superwoman design student and a model employee, I successfully eliminated my social life, my family time, sleeping time, and my spiritual life. I lived in the same house as my mother but never had real conversations with her. I gave up all hope of just sitting with my friends for an hour over coffee. I learned to function even though I would randomly fall asleep here and there during the day. I haven't prayed in ages. Having time to plop down on the sofa and watch some telly for even 15 minutes became a distant memory of the past.<br><br>I guess the last straw came when extra homework was dumped on us, and I saw that the only possible way to squeeze it into my impossibly tight, meticulously planned schedule was to quite my job and not sleep for the next 3 days. I turned around, walked out of the classroom, found the nearest bathroom, and broke down. I didn't know what I was crying about. I suppose I just completely lo... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/173/Morning_has_broken Thu, 5 Jun 2008 09:40:06 -0000 Several days ago, police <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/art-obscenity-charges/2008/05/23/1211183097197.html">raided and shut down an art exhibition </a>by renowned and celebrated Australian photographer, Bill Henson. The exhibition featured photographs of adolescents, some as young as the age of 12, captured in the nude. The artworks were denounced as obscene, with prime minister Kevin Rudd calling the works "revolting", and commenting that we should "allow kids be kids".<br><br>However, the arts community, the law society, as well as his former models, stand by the artist saying his works are not pornographic. <br><br>Verbatim from an SMH article: <br><br>Although Henson could not be reached for comment yesterday, he told the <i>Herald</i> this week he had chosen to work with children at the beginning of puberty because they were "half in childhood, half in the adult world" and this "creates a floating world of expectation and uncertainty". He told the <i>Herald</i> in 2006: "It's an impossibly oversimplified notion, this 'loss of innocence'. It's not like you cross a painted line on the floor; it's a prog... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/170/important_art_never_wins_the_popularity_vote Tue, 27 May 2008 13:53:36 -0000 Lesson learned today: you gotta think with your own brain because in the end, you know best. <br> <br> Ok, so I have this teacher whom I really want to impress, and it's precisely that reason why I always seem to fail horribly in her class. It doesn't help that she's an ice-queen, a harsh critic, and just plain intimidating. And it's not like she doesn't have the right to be that way. She's a book illustrator. A damn good one. She wins awards and shit. And&nbsp; because she has done so successfully in one of my dream jobs, I look up to her as much as I hate/ fear her. <br> <br> I make beautiful artworks when I am NOT in her class. Once I start on something in her class, I tend to try too hard and end up making stupid decisions because I want to please her. Her subtlest comments can make or break me. I've churned out some pretty horrible stuff in her class, stuff I wouldn't make if I weren't in such a state of anxiety. <br> <br> Anyway, today I decided that was all going to change. I decided it was absolutely... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/169/Patay Tue, 20 May 2008 11:08:34 -0000 My workmates always let me do the chalk sign boards in store, and this is the one I made for our Coffee of the Week, Cafe Estima. <br><br>O diba? Have you ever walked into a Starbucks with such damn fine chalk board signs?! <br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com/"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i27.tinypic.com/ih0br5.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 525px;" border="0"></a><br>Too bad I'll have to erase it by Monday when our Coffee of the Week changes. Bugger.<br><br><br><br>You, Me, and the Tree<br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com/"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i28.tinypic.com/2qtzo04.jpg" style="width: 491px; height: 327px;" border="0"></a><br>At the Botanical Gardens last Tuesday. What a beautiful Autumn sky. <br><br><br><br>Ohmygash! Faneekees!<br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com/"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i29.tinypic.com/2j46ijd.jpg" style="width: 462px; height: 308px;" border="0"></a><br>Freakishly large bats. Everything in this country is freakishly large. <br><br><br><br>Coffee and cigarettes, the Sincek Diet. <br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com/"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i28.tinypic.com/2z90c1y.jpg" style="width: 327px; height: 491px;" border="0"></a><br><br><br>Me with my favorite Frienemy, Nelson. <br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com/"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i25.tinypic.com/23kxe2s.jpg" style="width: 360px; height: 540px;" border="0"></a>:-<br>:-)<br><br>---<br><br>I never though Robert Downey Jr was sexy till now. <br><br>God, I love his 3D, futuristic work station in Iron Man. I can imagine myself designing puppets on that thing (geez, how sad). <br><br>And yeah, yeah, yeah I loved the movie and all that. Everybody does. I don't need to explain it yet again. <br><br>Will maybe watch it again on tight-ass Tuesday. <br><br>---<br><br>I think I'm sick. I feel flu-ish. Oh no. http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/168/pictures_i_love_iron_man_bla_bla_i_think_im_sick._ayon Fri, 9 May 2008 15:14:53 -0000 Do you think you've ever found your gift? The one thing that you just seem so innately good at, it almost seems as if you knew it even before birth? We all have a gift, and I believe we're each crafted a specific way to perform a specific purpose. <br><br>I've always felt that I particularly have the gift self-expression, and it was evident at a pretty early age. All the things I can do well like drawing, writing, or performing, are all just by-products of that gift, the gift of being able to produce output. <br><br>We all have our ways of connecting with The Higher Power. To me, when I'm creating, I feel like I'm praying. I feel like there's this energy centre at the top of my head that just opens itself, like a satellite dish catching signals from The Source. Where else does all this creative power come from? I am only a channel. <br><br>And I always wonder if it really is possible for a person to be creative, and not believe in God. For what is creativity but an act of faith? Why embark on any creative pro... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/167/post-show_contemplations Sun, 4 May 2008 11:28:09 -0000 This is all the action onstage taken on my ma's http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/144/Trolley_Dollies_onstage_Showtime_pics Sun, 4 May 2008 10:06:11 -0000 Finally, the big show is over! I have plenty photos backstage. The photos of the actual show still have to come in from friends and family. My puppet performed beautifully, and the other people were fantastic! The people in black who look like ninjas are all puppeteers (I was one of em). http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/142/backstage_at_trolley_dollies Sun, 4 May 2008 08:40:57 -0000 And all I can say now is that I'm glad the confounded thing is over and done with! The damn thing consumed my life for about a month, and drained me of a social life, rest, and finances! And all I've got to show for it now is an empty wallet, eye-bags, and well... an almost perfect score from my hard-to-please teachers :-) :-) :-) Well, ok, so I'm proud, especially since this whole puppet making thing was something I never felt inclined to do. It's good to know I can do a good job on something I don't really want to do. And admittedly, yes, I would do it http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/141/My_puppet_evolution Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:41:58 -0000 Number of people who RSVP-ed by Friday: 15 Number of people who showed up on Saturday: 35-40. Awww, I love you guys! I was a happy girl (not just coz of the http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/140/Alas_small_bday_gathering_turned_full-blown_party Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:03:18 -0000 Spent it quietly but had a great day nonetheless. Had a visit from a good friend (Thanks Trish!), dinner with the people I love most (family!)at a fabulous Lebanese restaurant we discovered tonight (thanks to Nelson's recommendation), and was able to spend the very last few minutes of my birthday with my favorite guys http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/139/Alas_25th Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:10:21 -0000 I turned 25 in the shower. I suppose that's a good thing. I sort of did it on purpose, to symbolize renewal. And also because I didn't want to begin the next quarter of my life looking like shit and covered in paint and polystyrene. <br><br>The puppet is a beauty. I'll be working on her some more today.<br> <br> Anyway, I wrote this yesterday i think:<br><br>It's a few days before I hit 25, and already I've got birthday greetings pouring in. Starting with my workmates.<br><br>They surprised us with a cake during our last meeting. Awwww. I was a happy girl. :-)<br><br>And on Thursday I turn a quarter of a century old. I never imagined myself to be 25. When I was a little girl, I couldn't wait to be 17. It seemed the perfect age. Everyone in Archie Comics was 17. My favorite New Kid on the Block was 17. All the character in teen movies were 17. My favorite magazine was Seventeen. I thought 17 was the be-all and end-all age, the apex of life, where I would be able to wear bikinis, go to cool places, and have boyfriends.<br><br>Thus, I ... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/166/april_17 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:34:47 -0000 At a partner meeting earlier in the store, the team surprised us 4 April celebrants with a cake! Aaaaaw. Happy birthday (belated and advanced) to me, Ally, Reese, and http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/138/Happy_birthday_to_us Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:54:10 -0000 I never, EVER imagined I would lawn-bowl. Lawn-bowling was not something I ever dreamed of including in my life's experiences. Oh well. This is Australia. Celebrating the end of Term http://alabira.multiply.com/photos/album/137/School_Lawn_Bowling_Partey Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:34:25 -0000 A place to keep your doggy in while you go off for a holiday is called a kennel. But a place to keep your kitty in is called a cattery. I discovered this when a "Meadowmist Kennel and Cattery" transport vehicle cut me off while driving to school the other day. <br><br>"Cattery" is a funny word. It sounds like some sort of jail cell for catty women. I imagine a padded cell full of catty girls doing their nails while spreading nasty gossip about each other. I can almost imagine a police officer arresting someone and saying "Do you where catty women go?! To THE CATTERY MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"<br><br>Oh boy, the words I learn in this country. Do you know that I have used the word "spruik" in a sentence? And that I've used the word "besotted" in ordinary banter? This country makes me say funny things. Like cattery. <br><br>---<br><br>Apparently I did myself proud at work today and got on my boss's good side. I know not how. She has described me as a complacent person. <br><br>Complacent. Placid.<br><br>Well, maybe so, but only in that part of ... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/165/far_out Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:04:38 -0000 A couple weeks ago there was a <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/27/heroes.andersen/index.html">report on CNN</a> that a Starbucks barista in the US, Sandra Andersen, donated her kidney to a female customer to save her life. Wow. Talk about pushing customer service to a new limit.<br><br>Made me wonder what lengths I would go through for a customer. Imagine the exchange! Are you in need of any internal organs to go with your mocha? Before you know it, Starbucks cards will also double as organ donor cards. Do I get an extra large tip for that? (Too bad Australians are not into tipping... my charm is wasted on a nation of non-tippers. I could be rich by now.)<br><br>I am all too familiar with the barista-customer relationship. It's a great relationship, and it will continue to be great so long as you don't majorly, majorly stuff up their coffee, and if you see to it that you always have the espresso bar to separate you from each other. You get to know each other always at arm's length, through chirpy, glib little exchanges once a day, without ever letting familiarity rea... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/164/would_you_like_a_kidney_with_that Mon, 7 Apr 2008 13:06:07 -0000 TICKETS TO TROLLEY DOLLIES NOW ON SALE! GET IN QUICK, ITS A SELL OUT EVERY YEAR!<br><br><a href="http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/boxoffice/program_trolley.shtml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/boxoffice/program_trolley.shtml</a><br>Design Centre Enmore presents - Seymour Centre - The University of Sydney<br><a href="http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/boxoffice/program_t" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/boxoffice/program_t</a>...<br>Thursday 1 &amp; Friday 2 MayTimes: Thursday/Friday 8pm &amp; Thursday Matinee 1pmTickets: Evening Performances all $25, Special Matinee Offer $7.60Bookings: Seymour Online Box Office: 9351 7940 http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/163/tickets_to_my_schools_big_show_onsale_now Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:34:38 -0000 I first discovered Craig Thompson when a chance meeting with my friend Gabriel at the launch of "Fully Booked" at Fort Bonifacio turned into a crash introduction to the world of graphic novels. Gabriel approached me, introduced himself as a reader of my blog, and before I knew it, I was being given a personal tour of the store's extensive graphic novel section by a certified comics geek. And because he was so deeply passionate about the subject, he insisted on buying me my first "gateway book" into the world of graphic novels, even though we were virtual strangers. And that is how a copy of "Goodbye, Chunky Rice" landed in my hands, which I love dearly and quickly landed a spot amongst my favorite reads.<br><br>That chance encounter was one of the coolest random things to ever happen to me, and I will never forget how generously Gabriel shared his passion with me.<br><br>So last Saturday, to celebrate my Two-Years-in-Oz Anniversary, I trekked to Konokuniya with a friends bought myself a copy of Craig... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/162/Blankets Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:31:37 -0000 I'm feeling that steady sort of inner peace that comes when you know you've finally reached a good place after slaying your dragons and befriending your demons, and you know you have no regrets.<br><br>I will have been here two years come Saturday. March 15. How can I ever forget that day? I had been crying for a week before I boarded the plane. I've described that day many times as a funeral. It was the death of an old life. I knew that even if I did return to the Philippines, I would never have it back. It was such a solid sense of finality, like the thud of a coffin as the gurney lowers it into the hole in the ground and gravedigger starts heaping dirt on it. No turning back.<br><br>And if you've ever left home, you will probably understand what I'm feeling, how much the past two years mean to me, and how sweet it is to have gotten where I am. Sweet.<br><br>I don't want my old life back anymore. I want newness. Even if I were to return, I would want to do things differently. I like how dynamic my life is... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/161/two_years Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:18:44 -0000 Presenting to you, protoype AKA mini version of "Bronzed Goddess", topless, sunbathing, cat-headed babe of the Nile.<br><br>The teacher didn't like the earrings I put on her ears on my technical drawing of her, so I put them on her nipples instead. <br><br><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/29ktaj4.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0"></a><br><br><br>I took time to light her properly with two desk lamps. She took about 3 days to make, working in 3-4 hour "shifts". She looks so nice under the lights! And don't you love her tan-line? Inspired by all the topless women at Bondi Beach. <br><br>Here's a full-body shot. <br><br><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i25.tinypic.com/5bpn2h.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0"></a><br><br>The hole in her belly is where my face will be coming out. I'll be manipulating her arms with those rods. Her ankles will be strapped to mine so that she'll look as if she's walking. <br><br>This is how big she is. <br><a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.tinypic.com/16h593k.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0"></a><br><br>Bow.<br><br>Also finished my gray-scale project for my color theory class. We were asked to pick a reference picture and make a gray-scale interpretation out of it using collage and gouache. <br><br>I picked Gustav Klimt's "Danae". I think she turned out quite well. <br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://tinypic.com"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" src="http://i29.tinypic.com/dbs55.jpg" border="0"></a><br><br>---<br><br>I think I am beginning to find some s... http://alabira.multiply.com/journal/item/159/Id_like_you_all_to_meet_my_kitty Sun, 9 Mar 2008 11:25:03 -0000