Atrocious handwriting

Posted on March 30, 2022 by admin

*Printed exercise sheets for Twin I. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

My kids have atrocious handwriting that was not corrected in school because they had been at home for 2 years. I was too busy to pay attention to their handwriting and I didn’t know how to help them. My mother and their dad have bad handwriting so I thought it could be just that.

However, it was already Twin I who asked me for help so I had to sit up and pay attention. I remember when I was in third and fourth grade we had handwriting classes where we were taught cursive handwriting. We had writing exercises in which we shadowed the handwriting of our teacher or what was in our exercise book. So I downloaded some exercise sheets for my daughter to practice on. Hopefully this would help.

I had tried to imitate the neat handwriting of some of my artistic classmates but eventually I developed my own form/style. My father had beautiful handwriting, so did my older sister and brother. My brother’s handwriting is similar to my father’s.

I could say my handwriting is ok and oftentimes my notes are neat, even when I’m doing interviews or listening to conferences/seminars/lectures. I remember my high school and college classmates borrowing my notes because 1) they’re comprehensive; and 2) they’re neat. This skill helped me now in my note-taking as a reporter, especially when there are disputes with those complaining about my reportage. My editors in London or HK ask me to send my notes to them for defense. If my notes are unintelligible, I would have a bigger problem. So I have kept all my reporter’s notebooks from 15 years ago as they stand in court, in case someone sues me. That’s the power of good note-taking—and alongside that is good handwriting.

So I need to train my children how to take notes and improve their handwriting.

Meanwhile, my other children…

*Sushi lounging on my bed while I’m working my ass off. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

So far they haven’t destroyed anything this week and last week. But they chewed on Twin I’s school exercise lying around so that’s her fault for being untidy. 🙄

Oh yeah, I have to trim their claws and give them a bath. And shop for supplies again. Ah, the things you do for your pets. 😶

My post about Radiowealth had really gone viral. 7k likes and 5.6k shares. My neighbor sent me a screenshot of my post that has been passed around in Ateneo. One of my sources also sent me a screenshot of it that is being passed around in his Rotary Club.

Of course, the BBM camp is not remiss in their duty in bashing me. So I posted this today, translated in English:

BBM people have been sharing my post about Radiowealth and attacking it, saying the site I shared (blogspot has no SSL certificate etc). The main questions remain, is it true that Marcos grabbed businesses he, his family and his cronies benefited from it? Is it true that we began to sink with the debts we incurred because of his graft and corruption? There was a BBM supporter who sent me a private FB message disputing my statements, that the closure of Radiowealth was not politically motivated but it was about the radioactivity posed by the TVs. I had watched on our Radiowealth TV for long hours and until now I’m still alive. I haven’t transformed into an X-men. There were so many requesting FB friendship but NO, I don’t care about them. I’ve had so much experience with internet trolls. I just delete and delete friend requests and PMs. For fact-checking purposes here are links:
https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/starweek-magazine/2013/01/27/901409/domingo-guevara-road-industrialization
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/remembering-dmg-self-made-entrepreneur-091445720–finance.html
https://www.elib.gov.ph/details.php?uid=722235afc2209d5ce5dc064e1127bac3&fbclid=IwAR24bXlm6coSvRDSeDj1POyItA8dg-ZpYsxRehYflC3-tl7uu40kWC9xe2E
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2006068

There was one fact checker from Tsek.ph (group of volunteer Philippine journalists) who messaged me on Twitter and said they went through my post and marked it True. I wanted him and the world to know that I am a journalist and I do my research well. I don’t make claims lightly. Plus, I clearly remember interviewing one lolo who mentioned this to me, it was also discussed in one of my broadcasting classes, plus my father told me about this. <<< well this last one doesn’t count as an empirical evidence but this was the one that prompted me to research about Radiowealth.

As I said before, media literacy must be taught in elementary and high school so people can be taught critical thinking and not just be brainless consumers of mass media information. It’s my advocacy. However, it’s hard now that I’m no longer in the academe. The lectures and media trainings have stopped during the lockdowns and that TV interview I had earlier this month was one of the few I did in the last two years.

I have a feeling I will have my other foot back again in academe soon…🤔

You should have done this, Mommy

Posted on March 28, 2022 by admin

Twin I sent this to me and went up my room to tell me I should have done this. “You should have sold his gaming rig, Mommy.”

Huh?

“Tito J,” she said.

Awww. This girl is very sore about Tito J. Can’t blame her. She’s really hurt.

I should have done to J what Will Smith did to Chris Rock today at the Oscars for disrespecting me.

As for her dad? “Mommy, do you know you can sue a father who doesn’t send financial support to his children?”

“Yes I know,” I said. “Do you want me to sue him when he doesn’t have money?”

“Well he says he is stand to inherit xxx million from Lolo,” she said. Gee, that idiot is really not exerting effort to improve his lot and is just waiting for his father to die.

“Tell him to give you money for college tuition,” I said.

Losers.

Meanwhile, in satirical news that I wish they’re true:

This. If only my teachers in elementary and high school could be sent back to be re-educated 😣 The level of cognitive dissonance is unbelievable. And to think these are the same people that tried to shape our world view. 😥

The new plants that I will strive to keep alive during this season of intense heat.

There should be a better way of arranging these plants. They don’t make sense anymore. I need risers. Even if my world doesn’t make sense now, at least my container garden should.

I’ve told my new APAC boss that I need to be in Singapore for 8 days in July for our annual conference, which will be held face to face for the first time since the pandemic began. I just submitted to London HQ my request for travel to SG. But I think I need to be in Singapore even before July, probably May. I need to arrange a lot of admin work. *Le sigh*. The hiring process for new reporters is taking a loooooong time.

To cap off the weekend

Posted on March 27, 2022 by admin

*Massage via Zennya. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

Yey! I finally was able to book a home massage! I had a hard time booking them the past few days because 1) either I was too late; or 2) I was too early. It’s hard to time it because there are times I work way past my shift. I could feel my muscles relaxing a little bit but I think a dip in a hot tub is called for. However, I’m too lazy to drive all the way to Makati and I also don’t want to encounter the weekend crowd.

This is one of the reasons why I want a soaking tub in our future house. Whenever I’m at my mom’s, I hostage her bathroom and I spend an hour soaking in hot water in her tub.

Anyway, I received a message from my sister about the supposedly Leni rally on April 30th. It’s not going to push through. There was a notice from the Makati chapter that it was decided by the national HQ of the campaign that the Grand Metro Manila rally may not be in Makati as they’re still deciding which southern city will host. So those who have reserved hotel rooms can cancel their reservations because the Makati leg may be earlier.

Ehhhh, one reservation I had was a one-bedroom suite in a serviced apartment in Valero and that can be cancelled with refund. However, the one in Salcedo is a studio in another serviced apartment and cannot be refunded. That one is more expensive. So might as well we use that for staycation so the girls can enjoy the pool while I have my massage in the room. We’ll also take the opportunity to stroll and shop at the Salcedo weekend market. It’s such a shame though. The amount I will be spending could been channeled to a weekend in Anilao. Oh well.

This morning I woke up at 7:30 to water my plants before the unforgiving summer sun fries them.

*My mini roses are thriving under direct sunlight. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

I’ve learned now the quirks of my plants. So my roses love direct sunlight as long as they are watered twice a day. My other plants couldn’t take the heat and have dried up. Or others were over-watered/placed in a shaded area when they should be under direct sunlight so they just died, probably of root rot because the soil didn’t drain well/not under direct sunlight. Some plants, I have learned, have to be rotated to catch the morning sun or the others just like the afternoon sun. All trial and error.

*Morning glory. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

So all my morning glory that I planted from seeds have sprouted and are growing nicely. They love direct sunlight. This one bloomed this morning and closed again at noon. It chases the morning sunlight (hence the name). It would look lovely when all of my morning glory plants have bloomed.

This inspired me to go to QC Circle again this afternoon and bought more plants. I couldn’t take photos after I finished transplanting my flowers because it was already dark. My mom would be so envious of me when I show her tomorrow my container garden. 😄

I’m back to sewing for the meantime because I needed to repair some masks and I need to finish the curtains. I also couldn’t finish this sketch last night because this damned poppy is too complicated.

It may take me a week before I finish this.

Weekends are something I look forward to nowadays. I used to dread it because weekends meant endless hours of living inside my head, of crying, of hurting. I now take it all in stride. Whenever he enters my head, I remind myself of his betrayal and what an assh*le he is, then I banish all thoughts about him—and continue enjoying my weekend.

The truth really did set me free, albeit it was not an easy road. My entire February was all about trying to stabilize myself again. So I am closing this month of March with a healthier outlook and I hope there are no more curve balls coming my way.

Lupang Hinirang in unison

Posted on March 21, 2022 by admin

https://youtu.be/_TZAiluBw5A

Hearing this many people sing the national anthem in unison made my skin crawl. A lot of my friends and even my sister said that being there was surreal, something that you would only experience in extraordinary times.

That’s why when they said (social media is abuzz) that the next grand rally will be in Makati, along Ayala Avenue on 30 April, I told my sister we should book a room in Manila Peninsula for two nights to have a good view and at the same time my mom can also experience this.

I was asking my friend from my old TV network if the Makati venue and date is confirmed (he’s covering all campaign sorties/rallies of Leni nationwide), he said we can only know a week before the event because this is only arranged by the volunteers.

So let’s see if I can book with free cancellation, just in case they change.

UPDATE: It’s Paseo de Roxas, Makati

Today was so hot that my Twin A bought me an ice cream cone ❤️ while I was working this noon.

*Selecta ice cream. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

And it’s still March. It would be a lot hotter in the coming weeks. I’m already melting.

I don’t know how I spent the rest of my day but the time flew fast and I didn’t even do much. I just edited one story and for the life of me I could not figure out what else I did. Mostly admin tasks that really eat up my Mondays.

I just cooked egg drop soup with mishua and leeks for K and sent it with the Himeji Castle Gardens gate sketch tonight. He said he gets bloated with certain foods after his surgery but he can slowly take in rice in the form of rice porridge.

Tomorrow I think I’ll do bulalo since I bought beef shanks. I will make a clean soup out of this and lots and lots of veggies. I’ll cook it for 4 hrs on high or 8 hrs on low on the slow cooker.

The board under my desk’s drawer became loose so I had to repair it. I had to take out a lot of stuff and among the found stuff lurking in there were plastic pictures of Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro I bought from Donguri Republic in Taipei in 2016. It’s only now that I was able to frame it after hoarding frames from Ikea yesterday.

*Chihiro no Sen. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

*My Neighbor Totoro. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

It took me 6 years to have this framed and see it up. 😂 At least it would be there to lift my spirits when I am having a basura day.

I created a sanctuary here. When the world throws shit at you, you can retreat to your sanctuary and be surrounded by things that you love. That is the essence of home. Home is a place where your heart can rest, soothe your ruffled feathers, and feel protected. This is the first real home I had since I left my hometown. I never felt safe and really comfortable in all the houses that I lived when I got married. I never considered those houses mine because I never had a say in those houses. This apartment was truly a sanctuary for me, even if it’s just a rental. I created this home with my own hands.

I found my Sony Walkman mp3 player and I got to hear my playlist that had so much history for me on my Edifier speaker. 8 GB worth of songs. At this moment I’m listening to Porter Robinson‘s Shelter and before that was Yoko Kanno x Aoi Teshima’s Because. These songs brought me back to the a time and space I thought things were just right. When I was happy.

These songs also tugged at my heartstrings when I was broken.

When we transfer to our new home, I will have the freedom to play music as loud as I want. I don’t have to deal with neighbors. Especially when I play Soundgarden 😄

It’s that time of the month that I have to deal with finances. This is the amount of receipts that I have to tally and check where my money went.

*Too many receipts. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

I don’t throw away receipts quickly because I need to check them and record them on my daily diary to track spending. I have an Excel file of my monthly budget and I have to adhere to it. That’s how I get to have room for spending for frivolous things because I have earmarked xx amount for “fun money”. Sometimes I go overboard (like this month) but I have enough wiggle room as not to destroy my monthly spending.

When I was growing up, I often saw my mom hunched over the tocador (Spanish – dressing table) with a calculator and a little notebook, balancing the household budget. She’s very careful with money, which I think I and my older sister inherited. Whatever I spent for the month, it has to come from somewhere i had budgeted. This is the reason why I have many bank accounts—I treat them like my wallets where I distribute my income, including investments.

I’m teaching my children self-control and they are somewhat successful with it. They hold off spending the money they received from aunts/uncles (they just received advanced birthday money from their paternal aunt and uncle) when they are saving for something bigger, like the rollerblades that Twin I wants. For the little things they want like milktea via Food Panda/Grab or stationery from Shopee, they use their chore money (money they earned for doing chores). At least they know the value of the money they’re spending. When they pick up an item from the grocery store or mall, they equate it to how many hours they will spending on doing chores just buying that thing. That’s time value.

You got to start them young. That’s how my mom taught me while I was growing up.

Muddled

Posted on March 13, 2022 by admin

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but it seems like I got my dates mixed up. The TV interview is not on the 21st but tomorrow morning! La idiota!

I have checked the broadcast rundown but it’s difficult to express myself in pure Taglaog when talking about media literacy, echo chambers, propaganda, and grass roots communication. I tend to code-switch on topics like this, especially that I used to talk about this in the classroom and the medium of instruction is English. When I give communication trainings and seminars, they were always in English. I know I’m bad but I find it hard to explain abstract topics like this in my own native language (*face palm*).

I better prepare notes/talking points in Tagalog or else I might get carried away explaining in English.

I took it easy today because I was only able to sleep at past 4 am today. Too much milktea maybe. Ever since caffeine was cut off from me by my shrink (because of alprazolam), I had become more sensitive to caffeine, even just from a simple milktea drink.

Anyway, I grilled some skewered pork in barbecue sauce for lunch. Just because.

And my intention to be a good girl today flew out the window because I wasn’t able to go to UP and exercise and buy vegetables. I slept instead.

OK, I promise to wake up early tomorrow and work out indoors. *Really*

I was waxing the wooden floor of my bedroom when Twin I offered to take over and do it for me. My children are nice. I must be doing something good.

Ate C and I had been training them to do chores and they earn like 5 pesos for each. By the end of they week they have at least PHP 200 that they use to buy whatever. Twin I often buys milk tea while Twin A buys crafting stuff on Shopee. They hate doing the dishes but that’s the most number of chores they can do every week. They also carry shopping bags and put away groceries when I do my weekly shopping. Folding laundry and putting them away in closets. There are other chores that Ate C makes them do.

This is good training for them because when we transfer to my hometown, we won’t have any housekeeper anymore. Laundry would be done by each person. If you don’t do your own laundry, you won’t have anything to wear. I’ll just hire a weekly cleaner for general cleaning but it for the rest of the week would be “clean-as-you-go” style. Same with the ironing, I’ll just hire somebody to do the ironing for their school uniforms. Their mess would be confined to their room and it’s up to them if they want to live in a pigsty or not. As for the bathroom, I had always been cleaning the bathroom twice or thrice a week while I take a shower. For the cooking, I can batch cook or I’ll hire my mom’s cook to do it on a weekend and freeze them for the week.

That’s how we did it when our last stay-in housekeeper left when we were growing up. When I was in high school, we did our own laundry and we mostly kept our messes confined in our rooms. It’s only the public spaces that needed regular upkeep. We had a cook though because as I said before, cooking is not my mom’s thing.

This is why I chose to have a small unit (the size of a two-bedroom condo in Manila) so cleaning would be easier.

*Updated.* *Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

I had to completely dry the first layer and came back to this watercolor to do the second layer. The third layer should make the water grey and that should also fix hat awkward part above where it looked like a whale barfed on the water. The problem was I wasn’t able to mix the colors well. In my attempt to mimic impressionism, I ended up muddying the image (*face palm*). I will try to resurrect this on my third layer. I was attempting this technique below. I guess I’m really la idiota. I should have not completely covered the yellow with blue. It should have been in between and not over.

*San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight.* *Heritage Images / Getty Images*

I’ve always been drawn to Impressionists because there’s always something ethereal about their works. Juan Luna’s and Felix Hidalgo’s works are along the same lines that’s why they were the ones I remembered at the National Museum.

Anyway, a drawing a day helps me improve. I need to go to museums because my creativity is drying up.

I have cut some of my 300 gsm water color papers so I can concentrate on post-card sized drawings so I can attempt botanicals. When I was in Shanghai in 2003, I spent an entire afternoon looking and studying Chinese scroll paintings. It was the same thing I did in Taiwan in 2016.

*Chinese scroll painting at the National Palace Museum, Tapei, Taiwan. October 2016. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

Let’s see what I can come up with.

*Update. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

*Well, ok. Not bad but messy. Art and phooto by CallMeCreation.com*

Unforgiving

Posted on March 12, 2022 by admin

This Ukraine war is unforgiving. Many innocent lives even halfway around the world are affected and the poor are bearing the most burden. I just bought meat from Monterey (at Merkado in UP Town Center) and beef shanks cost more PHP 500/kg, pork cubes at PHP 400+/kg. Tomorrow I’ll see how much more expensive vegetables are.

I don’t know how jeepney and tricycle drivers survive this weekly exponential oil price hikes.

Another massive fuel price hike expected next week
By CNN Philippines Staff
Published Mar 12, 2022 11:31:35 AM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 12)— Motorists can expect another round of massive fuel price increase by next week, according to industry projections.
In its fuel price forecast released on Saturday, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said diesel costs may increase by ₱12.20 to ₱12.30 per liter, while gasoline prices may shoot up by ₱6.80 to ₱7.00 per liter for the March 15 to 21 period.

Better limit unnecessary long distance travel these days. *Sigh*

Cutting up the first batch of the Bento Picasso blocks

The empty watercolor half-pans that I ordered from Shopee arrived this afternoon and I began cutting blocks of my first Bento Picasso watercolors and added them to my portable watercolor palette so they can easily be chucked inside my bag.

We left home at 3 pm to go to UP Town Center because the Timezone there is big and the mall is open air so it’s better for the kids. Because, damn it, the variants of Covid are endless…

Got myself the fine watercolor brushes and the 0.05 Uni Pin fine liner. I should have gotten this earlier because it’s a game-changer when it comes to initial sketching since I can do more details without having to commit too much to the image. I don’t have to draw using pencil first unless the sketch is complicated.

I also like the Tokyo Finds rounded brush compared to the Monte Marte I bought from Art Bar. The 000 brush by Scrivo is hard to work with. I think the 02 rounded brush by Tokyo Finds can do the job better. Not bad for a local brand. Even its artist-grade water colors are comparable to Royal Talens’ Van Gogh line; it’s cheaper and it comes in a tin container with a flip finger holder so you can put the palette on your open palm while you dab on it—the ideal palette for urban sketching.

*My brushes, so far. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

We then had a late lunch/early dinner at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. I got the spicy ramen to wake me up. While waiting for our food, I started sketching Twin I.

After the meal, the girls hopped to Timezone while I bought milktea at Serenity, which was next door, and started drawing.

I love the 0.05 Uni Pin micropen!

It was already getting dark so I had to stop. I was already getting confused with the colors. We went to Merkado supermarket to buy meat and some snacks and went home. The girls were happy that they earned 1,000 tickets from Timezone and bought toys for Ate C’s nephew. They don’t have any use for toys and they need 6,000 tickets to buy earphones so might as well give the toys to someone else.

I continued coloring at home.

*Agggh! The grey color bled. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

NOTE TO SELF: Do not use waterbrsuh for coloring small and narrow things!!!

*My brush/pencil case. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

*The watercolors bled from the back. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

The colors from the sketch at the back bled through this drawing of Twin I so I need to have this completely dried before I start coloring this again.

*Still wet. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

Well, this sketchpad is for dry medium only that’s why I have to be more forgiving. I’m heavy handed when I do watercolors so bleeding through any sketchbook is expected. Except for 300 gsm watercolor papers but hardbound notebooks (a la Moleskine) with 300 gsm paper (cold pressed) are not readily available. I tried looking for them at Fullybooked and Art Bar. I’m about to order one online but I doubt the paper will be 200-300 gsm. I think I must make my own watercolor notebook by buying watercolor paper and bookbind them myself. I used to do it before but the results were rough because I didn’t have the proper tools. But after watching Rajiv Surendra’s bookbinding tutorial, I think I can attempt doing it and book binding tools are available on Shopee. I can buy the table clamps from Handyman or Ace Hardware.

I need a separate crafting table. My computer table could hardly contain my stuff when I sketch/watercolor.

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