Most people… adopt “sensible” goals based on the needs of their body – to live a long and healthy life, to have sex, to be well fed and comfortable – or on the desires implanted by the social system – to be good, to work hard, to spend as much as possible, to live up to others’ expectations. But there are enough exceptions in every culture to show that goals are quite flexible. Individuals who depart from the norms – heroes, saints, sages, artists, and poets, as well as madmen and criminals – look for different things in life than most others do. The existence of people like these shows that consciousness can be ordered in terms of different goals and intentions. Each of us has this freedom to control our subjective reality.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (excerpt from Flow, Chapter 2 – The Anatomy of Consciousness, page 28.)
August, 2009
28
Aug 09
On The Psychology Of People Who Break From Societal And Cultural Norms
20
Aug 09
There Will Be An Art Exhibit By Artists From The Manila Bulletin By The End Of This Year
Looks like there’s going to be an art exhibit for and by the artists from the Manila Bulletin by October or November.
It’s going to be a themed exhibit, with the goal of allowing each artist to not only showcase his or her artwork, but also to allow for the selling of such.
I’ve got a few problems to deal with regarding said exhibit. First off, since I do mostly digital work, I need to find a way to be able to print my work in a large-scale (we’re talking a size of at least two-by-two feet). It’s got to be of good-enough quality that people will want to buy it; it can’t just be like a poor-quality canvas banner that you see people hang up on business conventions and similar events – this should be like a museum-reproduced art print when it comes to quality (I read that somewhere, can’t remember which book it was).
Secondly, how much would it cost me to print one? Then, would I be able to sell at a reasonable enough price to justify the time and effort I put into it?
Self-defeating pessimism, engage!
16
Aug 09
Trying Out Letraset Markers
I thought I’d try out the three-nibs-in-one Letraset Markers that Fully Booked has been selling in my never-ending quest to learn how to ink manually. I have thus far learned a few things:
- I’m still horrible at manual inking.
- I shouldn’t drink coffee before inking because of the caffeine jitters (this is a huge problem for me, since I can’t imagine working on anything at all without drinking coffee first)
- A4 Paper is one of the absolute worst kinds papers to use for inking with markers. The lines just bleed all over the place, even when you’re careful with your stroke speed and pressure! (I’ll try using Bristol Boards next time)
Digital inking has spoiled me so; it’s just so easy to hammer out rough sketches on paper and still create a good-looking comic once you’ve inked it digitally. Good, manual inking really requires the artist to, firstly, have a carefully planned and penciled drawing, and then have great focus and concentration when laying down the ink work.
This will take me quite a while to accomplish. -_-
11
Aug 09
Government Finally Does Something About JELL Transport’s Killer Buses, Suspends Operation License
So, they finally decided to do something about the bus companies that somehow keep finding a way to stay on the road, despite consistently displaying wanton disregard for the rules of the road and human lives.
FTA:
The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday suspended a bus company’s operation after one of its units killed a 3-year-old girl along EDSA in Quezon City, Monday afternoon. The LTRFRB said the Jell Transit bus company’s operations have been suspended for 30 days.
…
The girl and her mother were crossing a pedestrian lane under the Santolan flyover near Camp Crame, Quezon City, when a speeding Jell Transit bus hit them.
The girl died instantly while her mother’s left arm had to be amputated at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital. The mother was identified as Christine Jumabon, reportedly a civilian employee of the PNP.
I’m just wondering why it took THIS LONG for a substantial reaction from the government to happen. What about the past few years when it was clear that they’ve been running people over and weaseling out of it?
What about the time JELL Transport killed my grandfather in broad daylight with a wild, three-lane swerve while he was on the pedestrian crosswalk?
Was that not newsworthy enough for the government to be shamed into a reaction? The bus operators sure don’t care about it. They needed to step in years ago, but they didn’t. So now more lives have been necessarily lost.
9
Aug 09
I Didn’t Realize Wristwatch Straps Could Be Bad For Your Health
Or, to be precise, your skin’s health.
A little over a month ago, a rash started appearing on my left wrist. I immediately suspected my wristwatch’s strap as being the offender, so I cleaned it up as best as I could and purchased some tea tree oil for my rash. The tea tree oil worked quit nicely, and my rash disappeared after a few days of regular application.
However, a few more days after that, the rash reappeared; the difference this time around was that the tea tree oil no longer worked, and the rash kept getting worse.
So I paid my dermatologist a visit the other day, and she told me that it was likely that my wristwatch’s metal alloy strap was leaking nickel, and that was what was causing the allergic reaction (contact dermatitis). She told me that it was common in old watches, and that I should swap in a stainless steel, leather, or plastic strap in for the old one to avoid this from happening again.
Anyway, for now, I’ll just have to do without a timepiece. I don’t want to spend on a new strap for watch I’ll be looking to replace anyway.