Friday, December 09, 2005
All in a day's work
A couple of people razzed me today for the lack of new entries in my blog. Hey, it's only been ten days! Heh. Besides, my life's been boring these past several days (hell, it's been boring these past twenty-one years). There's just nothing interesting to write about. Not that my life has suddenly become so interesting that I am now posting on this blog again. It just so happens that I find myself with enough time to spare to write a few lines.
Anyway, things are heating up on the thesis front. We have a publisher! Thanks to Danielle, we found a publisher that's relatively more affordable than others and that still seems to produce good books. We have to turn in the final manuscript by Wednesday, plunk down the downpayment and sign some legal contracts (Dang..."sign some legal contracts"...isn't that just sweet? heh :P). Fine Arts Festival itself is just a little over a month away. I'm still struggling with my individual project (God help me), along with all my other school stuff. Especially theo. Oh, man, why do I always feel cursed in theology?
Iconography is another problem. We don't do much in that class actually. Mostly, Fr. Javellana shows us ancient art depicting Greek gods, and just now, eastern figures. They're cool, but damn, I'm not quite sure how I'll study for that. An art connosseur (?) I'm not. I felt so stupid when we did that little quiz awhile ago to test our general knowledge on eastern art. How much do I know of eastern art? Zilch. Zip. Nada.
Speaking of art, Jace and I dropped by the Philo Dept to talk to Dr. Miroy about an introduction for the dramatists in the book anthology. There's this painting mounted on the wall of the department. Well, I suppose you can call it a painting. I mean, there's paint on it...in the simplest sense of the word. How do I describe it? Ever watched Princess Diaries? The part where Mia and her mom were throwing paint-filled balloons at the canvas on the wall? Well, the painting in the Philo Dept looked as if someone had filled a large balloon with blue paint then hurled it at the canvas. The painting is a canvas with one large splatter of blue paint (does that even sound right?). So, there we were, Jace, Mela (we ran into her in Dela Costa) and I, pondering the meaning of the blue-paint-splattered canvas, when Mr. De Jesus saw us (actually, he thought we were waiting for him, and we had to disillusion him on that).
Jace: Sir, did you make us read "Art" before because of that painting?
Mr. De Jesus: *snickers* Ssshhh!
Me: I feel so stupid because I can't appreciate the painting.
Mr. De Jesus: *shushes as again* It's kind of a sensitive topic here in the department.
Me: Sir, how much was it?
Mr. De Jesus: They said it cost six figures.
I thought to myself, six figures?!? For that?!? I said, "Sir! Gawa ako ng ganyan, bayaran niyo ko ng ganun kamahal!"
Hey, I told you I ain't no art expert. I'm a simple person. I like things that are easy to understand. That mean exactly what they appear. I've never been able to understand those abstract arts with indecipherable splotches of paint on canvas. I can't understand why anyone would pay six figures for a canvas with a large splotch of blue paint on it.
To my credit, I wasn't the only one who seemed to think of the painting as a joke.
Philo Dept Secretary: Yeah, that was what I told them, too. None of us here understands that painting.
Ha! So it wasn't just me!
Anyway, moving on. I stayed a bit later at school today despite the fact that I'd cancelled my mock interview. I wanted to watch the auditions at the Painting Room and I was burning copies of Veronica Mars episodes 9 and 10.
Bizarre thing happened. See, I was sitting in one corner of the painting room, working on revising my thesis essays while I waited for the CDs...er, burning. Aki suddenly came up and sat behind me. I thought she just wanted to get closer to the people trying out, or was just in the mood for company. To my surprise, she was suddenly trying to talk me into acting for Monette's play (she's the director). Huh? I told her I was a lousy actress, but she kept pressing me to take one of the roles, even though I insisted that I can't act to save my life. Apparently, I was what she had in mind when she thought of the character. Huh. I said I'd try, but I doubted I could give the character justice (especially after watching the way Ada blew us away with her audition for a role in Jihan's play).
I think I won't have to think about it, though. It looks like Monette's play is going to become a comedy, so Aki will have something different in mind for the role now. I have to admit that I'm partly relieved, partly disappointed. I like acting, though I'm no good at it. I love the theater, and I am something of a frustrated actress. But I've got stage fright, and I know my limitations when it comes to acting. I don't want to end up ruining Monette's play. *sigh* The sad, sad life.
Anyway, things are heating up on the thesis front. We have a publisher! Thanks to Danielle, we found a publisher that's relatively more affordable than others and that still seems to produce good books. We have to turn in the final manuscript by Wednesday, plunk down the downpayment and sign some legal contracts (Dang..."sign some legal contracts"...isn't that just sweet? heh :P). Fine Arts Festival itself is just a little over a month away. I'm still struggling with my individual project (God help me), along with all my other school stuff. Especially theo. Oh, man, why do I always feel cursed in theology?
Iconography is another problem. We don't do much in that class actually. Mostly, Fr. Javellana shows us ancient art depicting Greek gods, and just now, eastern figures. They're cool, but damn, I'm not quite sure how I'll study for that. An art connosseur (?) I'm not. I felt so stupid when we did that little quiz awhile ago to test our general knowledge on eastern art. How much do I know of eastern art? Zilch. Zip. Nada.
Speaking of art, Jace and I dropped by the Philo Dept to talk to Dr. Miroy about an introduction for the dramatists in the book anthology. There's this painting mounted on the wall of the department. Well, I suppose you can call it a painting. I mean, there's paint on it...in the simplest sense of the word. How do I describe it? Ever watched Princess Diaries? The part where Mia and her mom were throwing paint-filled balloons at the canvas on the wall? Well, the painting in the Philo Dept looked as if someone had filled a large balloon with blue paint then hurled it at the canvas. The painting is a canvas with one large splatter of blue paint (does that even sound right?). So, there we were, Jace, Mela (we ran into her in Dela Costa) and I, pondering the meaning of the blue-paint-splattered canvas, when Mr. De Jesus saw us (actually, he thought we were waiting for him, and we had to disillusion him on that).
Jace: Sir, did you make us read "Art" before because of that painting?
Mr. De Jesus: *snickers* Ssshhh!
Me: I feel so stupid because I can't appreciate the painting.
Mr. De Jesus: *shushes as again* It's kind of a sensitive topic here in the department.
Me: Sir, how much was it?
Mr. De Jesus: They said it cost six figures.
I thought to myself, six figures?!? For that?!? I said, "Sir! Gawa ako ng ganyan, bayaran niyo ko ng ganun kamahal!"
Hey, I told you I ain't no art expert. I'm a simple person. I like things that are easy to understand. That mean exactly what they appear. I've never been able to understand those abstract arts with indecipherable splotches of paint on canvas. I can't understand why anyone would pay six figures for a canvas with a large splotch of blue paint on it.
To my credit, I wasn't the only one who seemed to think of the painting as a joke.
Philo Dept Secretary: Yeah, that was what I told them, too. None of us here understands that painting.
Ha! So it wasn't just me!
Anyway, moving on. I stayed a bit later at school today despite the fact that I'd cancelled my mock interview. I wanted to watch the auditions at the Painting Room and I was burning copies of Veronica Mars episodes 9 and 10.
Bizarre thing happened. See, I was sitting in one corner of the painting room, working on revising my thesis essays while I waited for the CDs...er, burning. Aki suddenly came up and sat behind me. I thought she just wanted to get closer to the people trying out, or was just in the mood for company. To my surprise, she was suddenly trying to talk me into acting for Monette's play (she's the director). Huh? I told her I was a lousy actress, but she kept pressing me to take one of the roles, even though I insisted that I can't act to save my life. Apparently, I was what she had in mind when she thought of the character. Huh. I said I'd try, but I doubted I could give the character justice (especially after watching the way Ada blew us away with her audition for a role in Jihan's play).
I think I won't have to think about it, though. It looks like Monette's play is going to become a comedy, so Aki will have something different in mind for the role now. I have to admit that I'm partly relieved, partly disappointed. I like acting, though I'm no good at it. I love the theater, and I am something of a frustrated actress. But I've got stage fright, and I know my limitations when it comes to acting. I don't want to end up ruining Monette's play. *sigh* The sad, sad life.
# Lyn found a missing piece @ 8:08 PM 
