last night, penny treated the harkadah [ half of us at least - jenny, wex and me ] dinner at big buddha, in greenbelt 3, then at bizu for dessert. i always look forward to seeing the harkadah because we always relive the good old college days when we're together. it's comforting to know that no matter how long it has been since we last saw each other, no one has changed one bit. we don't have to be pretentious or anything in front of each other. we can dress as casually as we want and no one would even care. we can be as jolog as we want and well, no one would even care. we could also talk about serious stuff more openly, without any apprehensions or setbacks, without any threat that our well-hidden secrets might find their way out of the group. and they're the only ones who share the same interests as i do. wala lang. i just miss them is all. i just hope we could see each other more frequently despite the time constraints.

good buys

crayons

i've been feeling artsy fartsy these past few days that i've actually started drawing on my sketchbook journal. it's not yet done, so i haven't uploaded the drawing. anyway, i bought myself a set of caran d'ache crayons. i know it may sound unreasonable to spend 1050 bucks for a set of 30 crayons, but i've been obsessed with this brand of art material since i was in 6th grade. this is actually my third set already - the first one i got from my dad [ i can't remember really how or why he gave it to me. all i know is that it was bought from some other part of the world ], which i overused until i was in first year high school. the second set i got from hongkong, when we went there for vacation during the summer before 2nd year. i decided to buy it since it costs much less there than in the phil. i kept on using that set in all my school projects and i always came up with pretty good works. my teacher/classmates would compliment my works and the crayons, as if it was more responsible for the result than i was. i distinctly remember sir fernandez [ our asian history/homeroom teacher who we hated at the time, but looking back, turned out to be one of the greatest teachers in high school ] saying that i should take care of it because it may prove to be useful even until i get to college. sadly, all throughout college, the set remained untouched, stored in a box hidden under my bed. i never actually drew anything when i was in college and always felt that i was too old for it or i had more important things to do. besides, i was happy with my life as it was. although there was an urge to draw every now and then, i would easily brush the thought away and continue doing other things i find equal satisfaction in. so anyway, i missed using my caran d'ache crayons when one of mr. sena's assistants in art class told me that the best brand for cray pas would be caran d'ache, but it costs more than 1k. when i went home that day, i looked for my set at home, only to find it missing. i suddenly remembered that i gave it away to patti/bianca because i felt that i won't be using it anymore anyway. besides, the pieces were all broken and they would be too inconvenient to use. i felt so bad about it that i just had to buy a new set. hence, this set. buying it felt like being reunited with an old friend i've neglected for a time. i hope i could find the time and confidence to draw more, no matter how ugly they turn out to be.

and i'm getting all mushy over a set of crayons. hehehe.

a copy of "wala lang" by bud tomas

i read about this in inquirer last week. it's a collection of essays on just about anything from the point of view of the author. what makes it interesting is that he wrote these essays and sent them through e-mail as an outlet for his thoughts/stress reliever during his law student years in UP law.

a copy of "neverwhere" by neil gaiman

i've developed a liking for neil gaiman lately, since neil lent me issue 2 of the sandman series. i just started reading it, but already i want to read the rest of his works. [ oh yeah, i already read his children's book, "coraline" before i gave it to patti as a present on her 8th birthday. hehe. ] i also liked the graphics. i hope someday i'll learn to be an illustrator.

Labels: artsy fartsy, birthday, books, harkadah