Sunday, July 23, 2006

The Wall

Hmm, that’s weird. No classes for the second time in a month! Apparently, it was on the news last night that classes for today are suspended. I don’t know if it’s because of the rain or because of the State of the Nation Address that I think is happening this morning. I’m not sure. I hardly ever watch the news these days.

Anyway, since I don’t have much to write about, I’ll leave you with a picture. I get to see this wall every Monday for my Elements and Principles of Design class. Our professor tacked all our first and second plates on the wall, probably to remind us at the end of the term how ugly our work was. Every Monday, I feel like I’m back in kindergarten art class where all we do is tinker with art paper and scissors and glue and various other art materials. Fun! But it’s getting harder. We have three plates due next Monday, one each for Triangles, Squares and Circles, which I will try to start doing right about…now. Bye!

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Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A Rainy Day

A SPECIAL SCHOOL

Today I woke up to a really dark and stormy morning. On the way to school, I got text messages from various people saying that their respective schools suspended class. I got text messages from my classmates asking if we had classes or not. We were all clueless. And then I got another text from my Mom saying that the street my school was on was flooded. Oh great.

On the first day of school, the welcoming committee consisting of one professor told us what made our school special, or rather, specialized. It's actually the only school here in the Philippines that offers only one course. Cool, huh? Well, this morning, I got to learn just how special our school is. While it was pouring cats and dogs, while the street just outside our school was flooded, and while most other schools have cancelled classes, we still had ours. Wow, how special!

But honestly, I don't mind. I love the learning. And I'm thankful for the fact that I don't have to come all the way from Cavite or somewhere else far away and have to commute every day like my other classmates.

Oh, I just got a text message from a classmate:

Wlang pas0k nati0nwide t0m,
dclred by pgma, prv8 n public in
ol levels. Sure na yn. Confirmd
na. Pls pass.

Hmmm, I wonder.


SUPERSTITIONS


In class this morning, we talked about some superstitions (mostly Filipino and Feng Shui beliefs) that people have about the design and architecture of their homes/buildings. Being mostly a non-believer, it was the first time that I heard of many of the examples.

My favorite superstition came from my seatmate -- Crazy cut tiles in the home will bring bad luck or will result to a broken family.

What are crazy cut tiles anyway? Ah wait, lemme google up an image...Here:

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Or something like that. Haha. I don't know, it just sounds funny to me. Crazy cut tiles? Broken family? Really crazy!!!

Here's another interesting story from class which my professor recounted to us:

Because of the Western belief that the number 13 brings bad luck, most buildings do not have a 13th floor. But when Don Ortigas built Emerald Building, he wanted to have a 13th floor. He did not believe in the superstition, but instead thought that the number 13 was lucky and unique. And so he got his way. What do you think happened? Well, the thing was, no one rented out any of the space on the 13th floor! Apparently, no one wanted to start a business, have it fail, and wonder endlessly if being on the 13th floor had anything to do with it. The 13th floor of the Emerald Building remained empty for 10 years! And only after those 10 unproductive years did Don Ortigas finally decide to not have the 13th floor. From a business perspective, he could have earned off of those empty 13th floor spaces if it simply wasn't called the 13th floor. So yep, you guessed it, Don Ortigas ordered that the 13th floor would now be the 14th, the 14th floor would now be the 15th, and so on, and so forth. This was not an easy task, especially for all the businesses that had to update their addresses and send it out to everyone. Hassle!!!

So whether I like it or not, I have to think like I believe in the superstitions that my clients believe in, or else I could end up losing a lot of money and projects!

But you know what? You could help me! Reply with any superstitions that you practice or know of when it comes to your homes, or buildings in general. Please? C'mon guys, let's make this interactive a little bit.

Friday, July 07, 2006

My Messy Room

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My room (the real one, here at home) hasn't been this messy EVER. My friends who've been here always remark at how clean and neat my room is. Well, it's not anymore!

But I'm surprised to say -- I don't care and I'm loving it!!! Since I started school, I've had to buy so many things and I'm finding I don't have any place for them in my room. As you can see, all those triangles, scales, pencils, my t-square, drawing board and other various junk are all scattered on my bay window seat, looking all forlorn without their own proper designated storage area. Before, whenever mess would start to accumulate anywhere in my room, I would fix it right away, or whenever I had the time. But now, I don't have that time anymore! I just can't be bothered right now to fix my room with work and school duties which are keeping me on my feet.

Haha, I'm saying I'm loving the Mess, but pretty soon, knowing myself, I'm sure I'll be making a mad dash to the nearest hardware store to buy all those clear plastic containers to house all my stuff.

My Dad just came in right now and told me how messy my room was. I know already!!!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Creative Nametag

My first project at design school was to make a "creative nametag." This was what I came up with:


















There were these three guidelines to follow:

1. It should be readable from a distance. -- Check! It has a big MISTY printed in front, and the dictionary definition of the word on the back.
2. It should use uncommon materials. -- Check! I used a shoebox, sticker paper, used noodle cups, spray paint, ink, and the most uncommon of all, dry ice (and hot water to make smoke)!
3. It should reflect your personality. -- Well, did it? I think so! So, check! Haha. I wanted to make it simple but witty, and that's why I chose the concept of literally interpretting my name and its definition through simple materials.

Homeless to Harvard was showing on Cinemax last night and I was watching it while I was doing my nametag. It was about this girl Liz Murray (great acting by Thora Birch -- I love her!), who literally went from homeless to Harvard! She had drug addict parents who didn't take care of her, and a lot of other crazy things happened to her as well. She was poor and had nowhere to live at 15, but somehow, through her incredible intelligence and sheer perseverance, she managed to get a New York Times scholarship to get her through Harvard. It was an inspiring movie, but not cheesy at all. I love it! Anyway, there was this scene I liked in the movie. It was when Liz got her first written paper back and graded -- she got an A minus. While most people would be more than happy with a grade like that, she wasn't! She went back to the teacher and asked how she could make it an A. She said something like, "I know I'm doing something right, but I might as well learn how to make it ALL right." Don't you feel that way sometimes? When you want everything to be perfect? I know I can be that way sometimes -- like with that 98 I got for my creative nametag...

Haha, nah, I was just kidding. I'm more than happy with a 98!