I met up with Nina last Saturday and thanks to her, I got more insights about Pinky:St and I think that I won’t regret getting assimilated. Nina brought two of her girls with her. Forgot their names but they’re adorable. We were in one of the areas with fake grass in Trinoma and this picture was taken by the plant boxes.

I love the poses. It’s as if the two girls on the left were talking about Mikimiki while she’s passing by. It’s as if they’re wondering “Who’s that girl?”

Mikimiki is technically my first Pinky. I have yet to receive Arc and Sacchin in the mail.

There are seasons in a person’s life.

Though I don’t think they come in cycles similar to the ‘typical’ seasons we have like chilly, spring, summer and monsoon. (We don’t really have winter and autumn here, I think.) I think that the seasons come and go in varying durations and cycles.

These days I can’t help but think that I am in the season to just explore other creative stuff I haven’t really been exposed to or wanted to try before but didn’t have the resources. That or I didn’t have the courage to try them out. Maybe it’s because I think I ‘missed out’ on some other things because I focused on particular interests I had/have.

Some things I am interested in right now didn’t appear to be this interesting before. While other interests I have, I still like them but I don’t feel like spending so much time on them, if you know what I mean. Like technology, I am still interested in technology but it’s not the same as before. I don’t think it has died down. It’s probably just taking a bit of a backseat for now. Maybe I’ve tried too hard to keep with it more than what was enough for me. Maybe right now, I might be saturated with the technology because I work in the IT industry and I just feel the need to keep work and play as different things.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s because I don’t feel that there’s a tangible thing to work with when it comes to analysis. I mean, the situations are there, the people are there but I can’t hold it physically and I can’t mold it physically. I noticed that I’ve been fascinated with personal projects that give me something tangible or at least immediately visible and the ‘high’ I get from that is something I missed a lot.

Like poi. I have the poi in my hands and I could spin them in directions and learn new things to do with them and it’s nice. I could see the results of learning and practicing poi.

Blogging. I could easily see if my blog’s layout sucks, or if my writing is terrible or too verbose.

Now I am getting fascinated with PinkySt dolls and the thought of modding some. That’s something really tangible. But I have yet to research on materials.

My creative side is itching to do something different, something I could say is my work and physically see it. I want myself to be reflected in the things I do. Maybe I spent so much time on working with other people’s template documents and submitting analysis of other organizations’ systems that I am now wanting to just express things in a different manner than before. I don’t really know yet because I don’t understand what’s really going on with me either.

I am just letting all this be part of the season I am in right now. It might pass quickly or it might not. But I am sure that I’d learn a thing or two, somehow.

One of the people who I really look up to when it comes to developing all sorts of skills is Sir Igor. When I was in college I thought he was one of the cool profs who didn’t make his students feel bored to death. He was my prof in at least 3 major subjects. I am not sure if I was his student in more classes. I might have to ask Trebs, Marj or Tyran about that. From the classes to his love for anime and J-rock, now I look up to him because of his poi skills. He makes his own fire poi and apparently, even his own LED staff. (Waaah! Inggit ako. Seryoso.)

Anyway, check out his new videos. One shows off his use of the fire staff and his LED staff (both are homemade) and the other shows him using his fire diabolo.

I haven’t mastered the poi yet and I have to practice my reverse weave and overhead weaves. I am still sloppy with those two moves. And yeah, all the reverse butterfly moves kill my arms too. Waah!

Site maintenance time. I finally put up an index page on the root folder of craftyneko.com — nothing fancy. I haven’t been able to bug my sister to draw because she’s been really busy.

Things I’ve been working on this afternoon:

• Subdomains and the respective blogs - I have to set up multi-author plugins in the blogs. Also, I am looking for themes to use and/or tweak for these blogs on the subdomains.
• The index page on CraftyNeko.com so that you at least have something to read.

There are several things I want to accomplish this summer. I will list them down so I won’t forget.

• Create a room for the Pinkies that are coming my way (and my sister’s way too!)
• Make new poi with colorful ribbons at the tail.
• Get new clothes.
• Make my custom blog layout.
• Spin fire.
• Jumpstart the group blogs JM and I planned out.

I realized that my fashion sense is more Japanese than anything. It must be the effect of watching all those anime and J-drama all these years. I don’t even always check out Fruits or In-style, but it’s just the way it is. I may not wear the fashion but when people ask me for fashion advice, more likely than not, I’d give a Japanese style recommendation.

I don’t even know what’s on tv these days so I don’t really know what Filipino movie stars are wearing. I have an idea what Filipino pop and rock artists wear on their videos and I kinda like those clothes. As for office wear, I know what people in Makati are wearing so that’s it. When it comes to formal wear, I kinda look at what’s in a J-drama or an anime. Sometimes I refer to K-dramas too.

There was a time in college that someone told me that she found the Japanese weird because of their socks. She said that they don’t match. Even then I was fond of wearing colored socks. Sometimes they match, sometimes they don’t. It doesn’t matter as long as I find the combination cute.

Oui sent me an email regarding an event in Cubao. If you’re going, let me know! I might be in some kind of get-up you won’t normally see me wearing so it’s better that I warn you about that

Saturday, APRIL 5, 2008
10AM onwards

LIST OF ACTIVITIES

KABUWANAN: KOMPETISYON: TULA
An internet-promoted Poetry Competition
whose final best 12 will be read by the poet on the day of the Fair.
The theme will be “Kabuwanan” or “Time of The Moon”.

KABUWANAN: KONSYERTO: A 2-part concert:
a. KLASIKAL: Part I: A classical/jazz concert from 6pm-10pm..
b. KABALIWAN: A rock/modern music concert to start at 11pm.

ART EXHIBIT AT THE CUBAO EXPO
Several tents will be put up within the Cubao Expo Compound
where Artist participants will be exhibiting their works
in a no-wall / freestyle manner.
Art pieces will be displayed for the day.

KABUWANAN: KODAKAN!
A major photography exhibit.

FULL MOON FILMFEST

KABUWANAN: KOMEDYA!
Improvisational comedic skits

CUBAO EXPO COSPLAY
Cosplay enthusiasts (individuals who go to entertaining extremes
to dress up as their favorite tv/comicbook character)
will be invited to show their personal Cosplay best during the day.

KOSTUME!!! KOSTUME!!!
Twenty young student designers
will be invited to showcase their fashion+art skills
by having their models walk around Cubao Expo wearing their original
designs.

VINTAGE EXHIBIT
Vintage Volkswagons, Vespas, bicycles & select antique furniture.

POLAR EXPRESSIONS
The poles that hold up the roofs of Cubao Expo’s walkways
will be decorated/painted freestyle by participating artists.
Paint will be the primary medium. The theme “The Pull of the Moon” will
prevail. Period of painting/decorating is from March 28 to April 4,
the poles to be finished/ready by April 5.

DRIVEWAY CHALK-ART EXPOSITION
A select group of Artists will be asked
to create several works of impermanent chalk art on the driveway of Cubao
Expo.

AUCTION AT THE EXPO

INSTALLATION ART PARTS REPOSITORY
Participants to the Artists’ Fair will be asked
to bring their clean junk to be gathered during the fair,
where interested artists may take what they want for free
to turn into art on that day itself, or to keep for future use.

THOSE INTERESTED TO JOIN,
PERFORM,
HELP ORGANIZE,
OR DONATE / GIVE SPONSORSHIPS TO,
please text 0917-5222100,
or email inquiries at
cubaoexpo@gmail.com

It’s hard to look for dresses I like. Some dresses are too formal to be worn on a daily basis.

In any case I found some blouses which are long enough for me to wear them as dresses if I dare. They are both black and are quite girly. I could wear them with jeans or my black strechy pants. I like it that they could be treated as short dresses. It means more girly stuff for me!

I also found a sleeveless blouse which I plan to wear over my frilly blouse when I try to look a bit gothic lolita for next week’s party. Papanda will be my doll. They say he has a morbid look so maybe that should be interesting. Hehe.

Last night I was taught the overhead weaves from the left side and the right side. It was harder for me to learn the overhead weave from the right for some reason. My planes are wrong and so it looks really bad.

I have been practicing the overhead weave earlier. I guess one of my weakness is my upward spin. It’s the foundation of the reverse weave and that’s where the overhead weaves start from. Aiya~ Ramir even asked me to practice certain movements just so I could get used to it.

One other thing I realized is that my footwork is bad. I am off balance when I turn. I must observe myself better when I spin poi so I won’t be thrown off balance.

Well, I am geeky and it will show in my blog entries, no matter what. I don’t want to say that this is a geek blog simply because I plan to write about all sorts of things.

Also, I may prefer Linux over Windows and I may work in a software development company but it doesn’t mean I’d have to be really geeky all the time. I know I strive to be excellent and stuff but sometimes I just feel like hanging out and this blog is that place for me. And the name Crafty Neko could mean so many things. I could mean being crafty in terms of arts and crafts. There is also being crafty in the sense of being proud of one’s craft or skills in whatever field. And it could also mean ‘cunning’ in terms of dealing with life. I am not a total geek as other people might think. Sometimes I think it’s the influence of people around me that makes me even more geeky, rather than my natural aptitude. Some people seem to have that natural knack for things.

So, yeah. Welcome to my blog on CraftyNeko.com