PUMPKINS!

The dreamers and the realists. 

There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You'd think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists. But more often than not, the opposite is true. You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists... well without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground. - Cameron Tucker, Modern Family. :)

Happy Thanksgiving. 

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Learning to draw different characters from Christopher Hart's Humongous book of Cartooning. 

old drawing I did for the Student Council giveaways.

doodles from moleskinne. 

Coloring outside the lines.

Simple things come from the simplest beginnings. It all starts with a single step. 




I love kids. I love their whole idea and notion of joy, simplicity and innocence. I love how they never let any single being or circumstance complicate who and what they want to be. :) I guess that's why I never get tired of them, because somehow through them I get reminded of the true meaning and essence of life itself-- to enjoy every bit and moment of it, to seize the day and take time to actually LIVE!               


So last Saturday (on November 19) was the day we've all been waiting for. It was the BLUE CHRISTMAS 2011 event! :) It's a yearly student organized charity event held at my college, Ateneo. It's basically an event dedicated for unfortunate kids, making them the ultimate stars of the day-- treating them special, playing with them, making them happy and etc. :)                                          


So there, I volunteered as a facilitator for the kids. :) 

Facilitators, Class Hosts, and the kids in our group!:)  

I woke up at 4am since the call time for the facilitators was around 5:30am till 6am. It was so early I could barely get up. I got to school at 6am (HA! Just in time hohoho) and registered. I met my fellow faci, Shelly, and off we go preparing. We sort of panicked at first because our other faci member was running late and we were worried that we won't be able to handle the 24 kids assigned to us (There are usually about 4-5 facilitators assigned per group of children).  Anyway, we decided that I'll be the jeep representative ( the one to fetch the kids at their area) while she prepares the stuff needed for our next venue. I was so confused, I didn't know where to go. I was to ride the jeepney to the area (which I absolutely have no idea where). I was so scared of getting lost that I ended up being so panicky and jittery while waiting for our 48 A Jeepney. But at the last minute! My other fellow faci (Elaine) who ran late, finally came and went with me! 

Elaine, my other fellow faci (Photo taken inside the jeep!!) 

THE SCHOOL! where we fetched the kiddies from :)

We went to Project 3 Elementary School and fetched the kiddies. After the roll call of names, instead of the supposed 24 kids we will be handling, it lessened to 23. We were so blessed that the 23 kids we handled are all active, hyper and just absolutely bright and incredibly happy. :)

The kiddies! (girls) (L-R, cherry, biancs, bangbang, ruby, daph, char, janna, suzy,  pocahontas (I like calling her that, I told her she looks like pocahontas don't you think? kiddie version), rain and charm. 

(L-R) Francis, Aj, christian, raphael aka dugong (he likes to be called that),  Jorell 

He's such a cutie don't you think? Jorell is Top 1 of his class!  :) Bright, bright kid indeed. He amused me by showing me his books. For a 10 year old kid, he reads philosophical books! (The book was entitled, What does it mean to be happy?) He also brought with him his Spanish book. He told me he wanted to learn. :) [He was able to teach me a few words!]

Sweet sweet, Paolo!:) He chose to spend his birthday with us!:) Happy Birthday kiddo! 

Raphael, a.k.a., Dugong. :)) [One of our most hyper kiddo that day!]

It's Christian! :)

                               

                                                              Francis said he wanted this to be his new DP in Facebook. 

At the jeep, on our way to Ateneo!:)

At the classroom, waiting for the activities prepared by the class hosts. :)

Ruby, the half mexican kid. :) [cool right?] [She said she wants to grow up to be an actress. :)] + Rain [the tough girl who likes pellet guns. waddap! :))]

:)

Meet my fellow faci's!:) shelly + elaine! :)

Shelly + elaine +  our other faci member! mikee

yes. because we are cool asians. harhar.

they really love the camera. hahahhaa.

Kids having fun.

THE BOYS.

The very tired BUT happy faci's!:)

Nix and I with miss juniPERRR.

Our last pictures with the kiddies before sending them off!:(

Funny how God really works in mysterious ways. That same week, the sunday message was all about being radical. It's all about going outside the norm, building on your principles, starting something right, having an advocacy, evoking a simple change. And with that said, I'm glad that I was able to end my week happy by participating in this wonderful life changing event. I was bone tired, but heart happy. Looking forward to do this again. :)

You just have to try harder.

(As i opened my ever so favorite things we forget website! The recent post-it is perfect for what I'm going and feeling right now)

It's always easier said than done. Committing to something is real a tough job. 

I think I need more zeal to finish off all the things and responsibilities that I have to fulfill this semester. It's only been a few days since the start of school but I feel so drained. I don't want to do anything school related anymore. I'm not entirely sure if the reason of such is because of my lack of passion and drive for my course. I've made my choice and I'm going to stick to it. I'm not really much of a quitter. I know I have to take this course for my family and well for practicality-- even if my love for arts far outweighs them all. So for now, I don't really have much choice left but to stay and strive harder.

Sometimes I feel so frustrated at myself on why I handle things this particular way or on why I always feel so small about myself. I see myself as strong. However, I can't help the times where in I feel so incredibly weak-- that all my doing is not enough. I'm no genius, but I think I'm smart enough to work my butt off? :( 

I was finding inspiration when I came across Bo Sanchez' blog ( We don't have the same specific religion though, he's a catholic, I'm a Born again Christian. But we love the same God- - and well, he has really good posts!) He said..

 "The older I get, the more I believe that commitment is the magic sauce of all success. It’s the secret ingredient. There can be no success without commitment.

What is commitment?

       Let me throw away complicated and boring definitions. Let me give you my very simple, homespun, easy-to-understand definition: Commitment is doing the hard stuff. 

All success comes from doing the hard stuff."

" God Cannot Fully Use You Without Commitment

Let me give you an analogy. 

You’re the boat. God’s power is the wind that will push the boat. And your commitment is the sail of the boat. It’s your commitment that catches the power of God. 

The power of God is always available to you.

But are you using that power?

Mind you, without the sails, the wind can still push the boat. But it’ll be very slow. It’s your commitment that uses the power of God to do great things.

God cannot fully use a person who isn’t committed.

Do you want to do great things?

Be committed to your dreams.

Every success in the world happens because of commitment.

Henry Ford is known as one of the richest men in history. But five times in his life, the man failed in business and became totally bankrupt. But Henry Ford didn’t stop. He kept doing the hard stuff. Finally, he built the Ford Motor company—now the second biggest carmaker in America. What made Henry Ford succeed? Commitment.

Rowland Macy failed in 7 businesses. Can you imagine how depressing that was? But he had commitment. He didn’t stop. Finally, he built a store named Macy’s in New York. The rest is history. Macy’s is now the largest department store in the world. It has 800 giant stores in America. What made Rowland Macy build his store after failing 7 times? Commitment.

Col. Sanders was rejected 1009 times by restaurants who didn’t like his fried chicken recipe. He later built KFC,which has 20,000 restaurants all over the world. What made Col. Sanders go knocking on the doors of 1009 restaurants, selling his fried chicken recipe? Commitment.

Stephen King submitted his book manuscripts to 30 publishers. All rejected his book. He was so discouraged, he threw away the manuscript in the trashcan. But his wife picked it up and mailed it to another publisher. They accepted it. Today, Stephen King has written 49 books and has sold 350 million copies. What made Stephen King submit his manuscript to 30 publishers? And what made his wife pick up the manuscript from the trash to submit it to one more publisher? Commitment.

Friend, it’s always commitment that will make you succeed.

Here’s another definition: Commitment is stickability amidst difficulty.

What dreams in your life have not yet come true?"

And indeed it does, which reminded me all my mini-commitments for myself (c/o the commandments I made for myself). I've been trying hard to really live it and well, most of the time it's working-- except for the do it now part because I'm still struggling with procrastination, but mostly I struggle in denial-- that I really really have to do these things even if I don't 100% like it at all. 

This is precisely why again, I'm asking God for strength and zeal for my commitments and my responsibilities. I know I cannot do this on my own. I have my own masterplan laid out. But still, I know My God has the better "masterplan" laid out for me. For now, I just really want to do my best and I want him to guide me to that. :( I hope in time, His will be revealed to me. This is one of the moments I need Him more that ever. The extent of my asking does not only pertain and limit to my studies, but more of my whole self. It's like a hodgepodge reevaluation of what and who I make myself to be, as well as the many other things I'm going dealing right now--- self issues, insecurities,school itself, my course, family issues (the usual-- dad) -- not to mention my desperation to think of some crazy way to earn money (just in case, we run off and detach ourselves from dad's control)

1 Peter 5:7.

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Hebrews 10:23

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

1 Peter 1:6-8

" ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy"

Feeling Artsy Fartsy

In line with my reading of "The Happiness Project", I finally mustered up my ball of energy to FINALLY finally clean and de-clutter my room. I'm so proud of myself, I can almost cry in happy tears. I've never felt so organized before. Gretchen Rubin was right. Organizing stuff never felt this good, not to mention fulfilling. The much more free space appearing on my cabinets and drawers here and there made me feel so incredibly happy. :) OH, and on top of all that! I rediscovered(? haha) my old drawings, priced possessions, the different letters written to me,  sentimental little things and so much more. I also was able to put away some good stuff for donations! I gave away all my little scrunchies, hair clips, pretty pins and etc. haha. They're all still in their good shape anyway, depreciated through time but still pretty and usable! haha! Siiigh. I could still remember wearing those bow clips to school on my first pre school day, till my very first day as grade 3 in my alma matter. hoho. 

So much fun reminiscing. Having said that! I would like to share more of my old sketches! (I'm so happy now, they're all tucked away safely in my clean pretty clear plastic envelope. HA! I hope it doesn't get lost this time. I vow to be more organized.) 

Here it goes!:) 

Quickie Doodle of Lucy. She looks dazed. hahaaa.

Bored Sketch two years ago. I really love drawing monsters. HOHO

Submitted a drawing proposal for SC. (Though it was not used, my other design did. I'll post that later on)

Old drawing two years ago.  

More monsters. rawr.

More recent ones? Mostly done during the summer. 

Copied from Mom's cute figurine

Scary.

I LOVE CARTOONS. I still don't know what to name these two people. haha!

I got inspired by Pocahontas' eyes.

Monster, inspired from Chicken Little? hahaa! As for the girl, I don't really know.

One of my favorite's so far. (Summer, 2011)

Sometimes, I feel like I get the "drawing juice" better flowing when I draw on clean smooth bond papers than drawing on my newly bought moleskine. :( The only trade off with me drawing on loose papers is more often than not, I lose them. :| So I thank God so much when I found almost all my favorite drawings. Anyway, I hope with my moleskine :( I can push myself to try harder and make more interesting drawings and characters. 

I'm still aiming to do finish that 30 day drawing challenge, given by my friend. And I think taking on that challenge will surely hone more my so called doodle skills. haha. I hope I'll be able to set the time. Second semester's about to start in TWO MORE DAYS! I want to focus on my studies, though at the same time, not to much. I don't want to explode middle of the semester, stressed and pulling my hair out just because I didn't have time for my art. It's still important to me. God wish me well in all my majors and subjects this sem. 

A new perspective

Hello there. 


I've recently been reading this wonderful book by Gretchen Rubin, "The Happiness Project". I never really saw myself reading a self-help kind of book. But "The Happiness Project" of Gretchen Rubin, intrigued me. Anyway, I think it's very timely that I'm reading this before the second semester of college starts (oh gah, 3 days more and counting-- I'm so not ready to go back to school yet.) 


Well, without further adieu...

:) I'm not even half of the book and yet I'm already hooked. Am I planning to start my own "happiness project"? Maybe. But for now, in line with the book's context and content. I'm inspired to do my own twelve commandments just like the writer did, after she had an epiphany moment at a city bus about finding the secret of happiness. I had my own epiphany the other night, quickly running off to my study table, getting my pad of paper and immediately jotting my random thoughts down. And here's what I've come up with: (Excuse the randomness, it was 2am and I'm not quite sure if I'm still making sense)

1) Go for the vision. Go for the goal. 

2) Don't think, just do.----> (not being impulsive, but I've learned that over contemplating something loses your act of actually doing what you want to do)


3) Always have a good perspective. (Optimism) ---> (I suck at actually being optimistic, I advice a lot of people to be and most of the times it works on them, but I can never apply my words to myself.)


4.) Love until you have nothing to give.


5) Listen. Actually listen. 


6) Don't count. 


7) Do your best, leave God the rest.


8) You reap what you sow. (I still like to think that, even if it doesn't hold precisely true for most of the grades I got in last semester, not that I failed most of them. But expected more)


9) Never expect, never assume. (Now this, holds true for a lot of things.)


10.) Be contended. 


11) Enjoy now.


12) Be more open. 


It's not arranged by any sort of order if you ask. I realized that reading through this book not only made me go for the goal of finding true happiness, but also it made me think about becoming even more as a better person than I am today. I want to improve further my growth and maturity, because somehow I think to be able to actually and truly make a difference in the lives of others, I should mirror the kind of life they should be living. I should be a person worthy to be emulated. But of course, sometimes being the goody goody is just so darn hard. Like let's say before I have my outburst, I have to think twice. 


Anyway, I'm never really good at keeping resolutions. But I hope by setting the scope of my so called version of my twelve commandments will keep me sane and good or be better at handling things. I hope this next semester will be better than the last time. I want to try even harder, and do the very best of my efforts. I'm not going to lie and say I won't procrastinate because somehow in the whole process I know I'll end up still doing it. But I'll try hard to deviate from it nevertheless. Like my 1st commandment says, I'm going for the goal. I know it'll be hard and I can never assume (as said from my ninth commandment), but I still hope I could be one of the DL's. It's still my dream, not for anyone but for myself. (OKAY OKAY fine, maybe for my grandfather (angkong) too. I want him to be happy. He really brightens up when he hears I get good grades, and the fact that he's sick (His cancer cells depleted, yes but he still holds it in his system), I want to put a good use of my time and make him proud. :) Besides that, I think getting a higher grade will increase the chances of me picking a really good school for my Junior year, in the JTA program, my school holds. I know this is quite farfetched, but it's still worth a try. I really have big dreams you know? Thinking of the future gives me the hibbie jibbies. Future's future, it holds another story for itself. SO for now, I'm trying NOT to over think and fast forward things. Though..I feel like I'm contradicting myself at some point for my saying that I'm going for my vision. Anyway, my point is that, I have this goal in mind. But for now, in the process of going through that goal and hopefully completing it, I'm going to enjoy now (eleventh commandment) and hope it's worthwhile. 


Okay. This is for now. 3:10am. (Sigh, it seems like my brain always works better at this time. I think I'm sleep deprived. Another reason why I think I should add "sleep early" to my commandments or lists of things to do. ... I'll save that for my next post, but till then. This will be as far as it goes.)


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(From now on, I'll try to include some of my random sketches per post. :). This might just be another way of pushing myself to practice drawing everyday, not that I protest against that-- I love drawing. My passion for it will never ever die. (haha how cheesy). But, making this commitment means that, I have to spend each day with accomplishments, and one of which is to have fun and make art. 

(a sketch I did I think last year-- at school. bored. HOHO)

(I can say one of my proudest so far -- I think I drew Randall from the Monster's Inc. pretty well.. not that I'm gloating. hahaa)