Young Artist

This young very talented artist is not bothered at all by people milling and kibitzing around her as she draws her 4-year-old subject. She concentrates and focuses, as she listens at the same time, on her iPod. At first she sat quietly at a table then drew a gentleman sitting across the table from her. It impressed everyone, including me. The gentleman offered her a couple of dollars, which she refused, but relented on the insistence of the gentleman. More people came to her to be drawn and they all offered gratuity which she promptly took. In the end she made money enough to buy her 2 orders of quarter pounder combos at McDonald's.












She's 14 years old, the granddaughter of one of the guests at the Christmas Eve party. She likes to draw anime characters, the favorite of young people like her. She handled her pencil like a pro, stopping only to look at her subject and then continue to draw on the paper. She draws her lines fast, no hesitancy, no mulling...she's very confident.
















At work and (background) her squirming, uneasy 4-year-old subject.

The finished likeness and the shy, unwilling subject.

Greetings to all!

Night Delivery

UPS man came a-knocking
At my door left something.
Lo and behold! What have we got?
A Christmassy looking box
It has some nuts
And other whatnots.
A couple of delicious red apples,
Some sweets of truffles.
Umm, said Mick,
As the chocolate he licks.
Love those pears and cheese,
He eyes them and gives me a kiss.

Thank you UPS man
Send my love to that friend
Who had sent...
The lovely present
As sweet as she,
None other than Nini.

Thanks my friend, I love it.










Psst. For perfect ball shape I used a template.

Five More Days and Counting...

And then it's that day, Christmas Day. Finally the most awaited day of the year will be here in a few more days . Christmas cards started trickling as early as November...then it came by deluge last week. Most came from former co-workers, friends and family. They came from all over the country and as far away as Australia and from back home, the Philippines. One of the cards that stand out most for me was from a young man, age 19. He's going to school right now, and for him every peso counts, but he managed to save some to get me one special card. His was the first to arrive.

Thank you, Esjay, the card means a lot to me. I know that it came from the bottom of your heart.
















The card with a photo frame, has my friend's (Nancy) self-portrait picture, a mug handle accessory and a bookmarker.

Still Alive!

I’m still alive and kicking, just busy working on my Christmas cards to send to friends and kin. I’m doing the design myself and printing. But, it didn’t come out as I expected…I mean the colors. It came out too dark, not as bright and cheerful as I wanted it to be. It must’ve been the paper I used. There was no white Strathmore any more, so I have to settle for the buff color. I suppose the mixture of the paper color and the ink changed the outcome. I couldn’t change it anymore as it’s too late already. Redoing, reprinting would take time and they should have been in the mail yesterday, already!. I’ll just have to settle for what came out. Just another lesson learned on this one.

As soon as I finished printing them, I suddenly remember I have gold leaf, so I tried it on a few of the cards and they looked a lot better. But, again, I have to do it on each one of the cards. Forget it! It’s the thought that counts.

......

I quit the chase.

The chase went on, but I quit. It went too fast for me... sliding down the hill. Vanity is what it is...but no more for me, my wrinkles are here to stay.

Here's a poem by Maya Angelou, describing herself...

On Aging

When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don't think I need your chattering.
I'm listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don't pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise I'll do without it!

When my bones are stiff and aching
And my feet won't climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don't bring me no rocking chair.

When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don't study and get it wrong.
'Cause tired don't mean lazy
And every goodbye ain't gone.
I'm the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain't I lucky I can still breathe in.

Mail

Parcel post by USPS
It'd be there the soonest.
Handle with care,
Please do not tear.
Do not bump
On a hump.
Do not crunch,
I'll give you a punch.
Come what may
Bring to her doorway.
It'd be there by Monday,
If not maybe Tuesday.
Mr. Mailman do not delay.
She'd been waiting so many days,
Dreaming of it in so many ways.
Parcel post by USPS
It'd be there the soonest.

Can you read me now?

Mnie of yeras ago
Now taht fcae I don't konw.
Oevr the yeras,
Wlkrine hree and tehre,
Hvae cmoe and hvae not gnoe.
I ceshad,
It was a wtsae.
It pekicd up seped
Dwon the hlil lkie a seld.
I gvae up...
I'm gworn up,
And gworn old
Wtih so mnay flods.
Tehy are hree to saty
And I can say,
Been three, dnoe taht.

The poem above I posted as comment for Songs of Nini's blog. It's jumbled, but it doesn't matter in what order the letters are in a word, as long as the first and the last letter are in the right place. The rest can be a mess, but it can be read without a problem. The human mind read the word as a whole, not by every letter.

Try it here.

Out of Commission.

My desktop pc is out of commission. Its innards is now exposed and the computer geek is working on it. I have all my pictures, documents and other files there. Hopefully, it's going to be working pretty soon. I'm having a hard time with this laptop that Mick has lent me. I'm not used to it and besides I can't do much with this as all my programs are in my pc.

Getting to my email is another story. Spam mail would automatically pop up in a window, while here, a different ISP, I have to take a peek if my spam folder has any mail that wandered there. Aah, and there it is, one from a visitor on my blog. I want my good old mouse, not this little rubber thing stuck between the keys. It's so hard to navigate with it. I guess, I have to get used to other instruments and gizmos no matter how old they are. This laptop is obsolete by today's standards, but, at least, it serves its purpose. I should be thankful then I could still use something, be it old. Better than the ancient typewriter--the ancestor of the computer. How far then could I go with a typewriter? Far. I could go around the globe with a letter written in a typewriter, but getting there will take a long, long time. While an email will take only a few seconds.

It's almost midnight. Today there were sales in every department stores all over. I have not done any shopping...not a single thing, yet. Maybe, I should just hide from everyone so I won't have to get presents for them. Funny. I have started working on my Christmas card design. I finally have the idea on what to make. I did a rough sketch already, in pencil. Pen and watercolor, I think, would be the best media for it. By tomorrow, I could start coloring...hopefully there won't be any distraction.

......

At the Pier

Saturday, Nov. 25.
A stroll at the Redondo Beach Pier and International Boardwalk after a seafood lunch resulted in shots of our feathered friends.



A one legged pigeon, who manages to hop with his stumpy leg while it scrounges for food. I wonder what happened to it?







Sharing man's contraption, quenching its thirst.








A stork on flight.
Would it be bringing a baby to a new mother?









A casualty of man's carelessness.
A fishing nylon is wound around its leg constricting blood flow to its foot, which hangs limply. It hops around on one leg. This bird needs help, but doesn't trust man who gets near it.










Planter with red flowers on the boardwalk.

............