Whimsical.nu

Hand-bound photo albums

Last Christmas, I decided I’d try for a little more personalization with my gifts to relatives, and went materials-hunting and planning for a hand-bound album. The whole set is on Flickr.

I wish I took closer note of the materials I used, the thickness of the paper and whatnot, but it didn’t really cross my mind at the time. For each album, I prepared five signatures of four A3 size black sheets (relatively heavy paper), folded in half to have A4-size pages for the albums. I covered illustration boards with this pretty wrapping paper I’d been keeping in store (er, kind of hoarding, lol), and used silver thread for the actual binding. I had been planning to wax the thread as usual, but I was worried the thread would lose its shine, so I didn’t this time around.

I had also prepared a good number of self-adhesive photo corners, but in the end, I didn’t stick them ino the albums, just included it in the gift package itself. After all, who am I to dictate how they wanted to arrange photos, or what size photos could they use in the album? Additionally, the covers also have a thin sleeve on the inside for various thin…things.

Each album took me around three hours to do, from preparing the materials to the actual stitching. It should probably have gone faster, but I was quite careful, especially with the first binding when I wasn’t used to the rhythm and the thread yet. It’s quite a soothing experience, sewing the signatures together and piecing the book slowly together; and I really like Coptic binding since the book can lay flat on its covers without destroying the spine.

I finished each album with each family’s name in glittery letters on the front, but alas, no pictures of those.

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Move forward, say yes, choose happiness.

I haven’t done a proper year-ender or new year post! (How obvious.) So I’m doing a one-week-into-the-new-year post.

My 2009 was…interesting, to say the least. I’ve been going through my journal entries starting January last year, and it’s interesting how the year has gone on, some things have been under way long before you started noticing! I’ve gone to more new places this year, re-discovered old friends and made new ones even in the unlikeliest people, and found heartache in the ones I thought I could trust. It’s a curious mix, of happiness and sadness, of boredom and stagnation and exciting new vistas. It’s bittersweet; for all the pain that’s been my share, there has always been a silver lining somewhere.

2010 is a new year, and what better way to spend it than moving forward? Things will not always fall into place, and I will get hurt, and I will cry; but this year, I will focus on moving forward, saying yes, and choosing happiness.

I will move forward: sometimes, things just don’t work out. No amount of fixing, tears, and hours spent on it works, and the only result is a lot of baggage being carried along for the longest time. I will learn from the past, and then close the book on them; I will move forward with the things that matter.

I will say yes: admittedly I saw this from a friend’s journal post, and I loved the idea. (I also realize there’s a comedy movie on this. Yes, I’ve not been watching my movies.) So many things in the past year happened only because I said yes, when it was easier and more comfortable to say no. So many good and wonderful things, I must add. So what better way to spend the new year than saying yes? (Warning: only works when the thing in question is reasonable. Lol!) I’ve started doing this consciously and it feels so liberating.

I will choose happiness: life is too short and fleeting to dwell on what hurts us.

“I find it hard to forgive.”

“What is there to forgive?” demanded Rochester. “Ignore forgive and concentrate on living. Life for you is short; far too short to allow small jealousies to infringe on the happiness which can be yours only for the briefest of times.”

(On a very random note, my room is pretty once again! Admittedly I might just be a bit attached to the new mauve bedsheet and white pillows.)

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The day the sky fell

Well, almost literally.

I went to bed over half past two this morning, and just as I was falling asleep, I was jolted back awake upon hearing a loud crash, like something falling, and then a heavy downpour of rain. The crash sounded like right above me, and I worried that a tree might have fallen into the roof. Hearing no other sounds, I settled back down. I was actually giggling to myself, thinking I was a ditz for getting scared.

Rain inside my room at three in the morning

Rain inside my room at three in the morning

And then I realized that the raindrops were loud…and rather disturbingly too close. I snapped on my lamp and, lo and behold, my left wall was leaking. From the ceiling. Streaks of water, some of them grimy. What happened to the roof?!

I hurried and got my towel and started piling it against the wall. Then the portion of the wall near my aircon unit started leaking too. Badly. No help for it– I got one of my rugs and put it under. As I stood up… my ceiling light started gushing. Gushing! Think of an old shower with the sprinkler not evenly releasing water. Turn to high water volume. My ceiling light became a damn showerhead.

Rushed off to get a pail. Noticed the water splashes near my desk, panicked at the extension there, and went to turn it off at the socket. Looked back into the waterfall. Not enough. Rushed off to get more pails, including the top of my laundry container. It should hold for a while. Water not lessening, and what will happen if the ceiling can’t take the weight and starts to crack?! Whisked off my Macbook into my closet, wondering if I should hide it elsewhere. Pails almost full, need to bring it to the bathroom. Ooof, laundry container top too big and heavy, sloshed water around. Resort to moving off water from container top into one of the smaller pails. Pails under control again. Stare blankly at the disaster.

Rinse and repeat.

At around half past four, or maybe closer to 5am, the downpour lessened. I lied back down on the bed, completely exhausted and dreadfully wanting sleep, but not daring to sleep because what if the rain starts up again? I open and close my eyes. At six I kept telling myself, I will get up in a few minutes to take a bath, then call my landlady at 7am. Seven rolls around, and I give up trying to get up from the bed, since it’s Faye’s turn at the bathroom.

Round two. Water splashing everywhere :(

Round two. Water splashing everywhere :(

And then the rain starts up again. PANIC. Rearrange pails. Look out of my window to see how bad the rain is. But…wait. There’s no rain. Wut?

No time to wonder. Room downpour getting worse. Wall dripping extending throughout the whole length of the wall, increasingly heavy. Time to move furniture, so I push and shove things around to the other side of the room, wipe down where needed. Pails and containers filling up far too fast. Dammit. What now?

Apparently, it’s not the rain. It’s our water tank, which is situated above our ceiling and below the roof. Closing off the water keeps my room safe. Opening it, even if it’s being used, transforms my room into a waterfall resort. The water tank person (lol) who came by in the morning found out that the pressure tank rusted and fell clean off (which is the loud crash I heard). Our hallway was also affected, with the water leaking off the hallway light fixtures as well (it cartainly put me into a panic when I opened the hallway light to go downstairs to get a mop).

It looks like this has happened in some form before, since one of our neighbors very kindly turned off the water for us the first time the room downpour happened; although that incident seems to have been more of an overflow, which meant using the water wouldn’t cause an overflow with the water on. Well, we learned otherwise. The hard way, lol.

As I am flying to Jakarta tomorrow on business, I needed to pick up a couple of things from the office, so after getting an hour’s sleep, and making sure things were in relative control, I was off. And very shortly after I left the house, the rain started. Zomg. I had rain inside my room for most of the morning and now I even have rain outside my house?!

My landlady and the repairmen came by again to replace the water tank while I was out. Elvie says our landlady even went and mopped up my room with clean water <3 although portions still feel pretty sticky, and my floor needs a good coat of wax, I daresay. It will have to be next week. I still haven’t packed up my luggage, too. QQ. So now I need to get some semblance of order back into my room, make sure floor and furniture is dry, pack up, get a few meetings out of the way, and get some sleep (!!).

(Photos and more photo commentary at the Flickr set.)

Well, at least I got my tees from the last Threadless shopping spree I had. <3

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A (determined plan to) return to making notebooks

Today was one of those roller coaster days, and true to my sex, a bit of shopping seemed to be the best way to cheer myself up. So on the way back, I dropped by the newly-opened scrapbooking/paper crafts store in Raffles City and picked up a couple shiny new toys for paper crafts, like bone folders and stuff for punching holes and scoring. (I know, retail therapy usually means pretty frills like clothes and shoes. But, these are shiny!) My hunt for that elusive book press and other bookbinding tools here in Singapore is turning up to be a bit of a dead end; and I don’t have access to encyclopedias (!!) for a makeshift book press. (Am I desperate enough to buy this book press online?)

Coptic Binding by Moira Clunie (moirabot)

Coptic Binding by Moira Clunie (moirabot)

Maybe it’s a sign I should seriously try my hand at Coptic stitch binding, which doesn’t need a book press. Coptic binding is plain sewing, and doesn’t necessarily use glue for the spine (though it can be done as well); and when nicely done it’s a beautifully stitched book–most (if not all) books bound this way have open spines to show off the stitches. Plus the book can be opened all the way without any spine damage.

Unfortunately, I’ve tried my hand at it before, and the result was quite a disaster :( I’d be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a klutz with crafts (well, with almost anything, actually). I’ve only done it once however, and hopefully practice will make perfect? After all, once I get the hang of it, it should actually be “better” than the old way I’ve been binding–Angela and glue doesn’t mix.

I did find quite a lot more resources online on Coptic binding now than before, such as this gem, which is much more helpful than plain diagrams. Now I just have to get myself some needles, thread suitable for book binding, and nice pretty (well, at least thick) paper. Hopefully Spotlight has huge needles and thick thread; I really have idea where else I can get them. If all goes well, this weekend will be (note)book binding weekend! *rubs hands in glee*

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Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana)

I find it difficult to write about events such as this. What is there to write about? Cold hard facts you can get from anywhere, and they change as the days pass, even as the hours pass. Yesterday, there was a hundred confirmed dead; now the toll is up to 240. My family is safe in the south, but the same cannot be said of many, many others who live further north and were affected by the heavy rains and flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy/Tropical Storm Ketsana. Reports are also around that there is one, two typhoons still coming after this. Only days after.

Phonebooth becomes a makeshift boat by rembcc

Phonebooth becomes a makeshift boat by rembcc

We are a small country, and maybe we brought this on ourselves by the poor state of flood prevention mechanisms available, the pollution, and whatever else–God knows Taft flooded a bit everytime there was a storm when I was still in college. But no one deserves to go through this disaster, losing all possessions, losing friends, losing family, and even possibly losing their lives.

Shot from V. Mapa station, street flooded at depths between 4-5 ft., by rembcc (n.b.: yes, that is a man trying to keep afloat)

Street flooded at depths between 4-5 ft., by rembcc (n.b.: yes, that is a man trying to keep afloat)

Please help, if you can. Prayers, good vibes, or something more tangible. The Yahoo! Philippines Answers team are compiling a list of ways to donate and help out, if you are so inclined.

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The mundane things

I’d been feeling rather “off” recently–feverish and generally achy all over. Not a very swell thing to be. But, my sisters did come two weeks ago for a weekend’s visit, which was fabulous. We had a rainy Sunday, but we still had a great time. Since they’d been here before, this weekend was really just more of a going-around-and-bonding type thing than a tourist-y thing (same with my parents’ coming over earlier this month).

Biel and the scientist

Biel and the scientist

I’d never been to the Science Centre before, and this seemed like a good time as any to go. We had brunch, then went on it and took two IMAX tickets, for Sea Monsters and Van Gogh. Just our luck — we ended up picking show times at just the times when they’d power up the huge Tesla coil for viewers. When we arrived at the Tesla coil room, Ate commented that she felt like she was playing Red Alert 2 again. Hee hee. I miss that game.

The exhibits were pretty good, though — the most enjoyable ones for me were the optical illusions, and the human body/virus/etc exhibits. We spent a good couple of minutes on the projected game were you use your shadow to direct cells (like macrophages) around and help make this little boy well. That was fun! The IMAX shows were good as well, although I found the Sea Monsters show more enjoyable than Van Gogh; I ended up yawning every two minutes with the latter. Ate got dizzy with Sea Monsters, however.

After that, we went on to Settlers’ Cafe, which I had initially planned for them when the whole family visited Singapore for the first time. I think, at the start, they felt a little shell-shocked with how noisy the gamers were (haha) but we had a good time; I especially loved the last game we played, a strategy card game called Dominion. Makes me want to buy it :D I almost did, but got over since there’s really no one to play with, anyway.

Up Poster

Up Poster

The next day was spent mostly in malls, and commuting in between. We watched the 3D version of Up in Iluma at Bugis; damn animated movies, making me cry. (Ahem.) It was really good though–Dug is my favorite. I wish translating collars are real XD

We had a nice lunch at Empire State (reminds me of NYNY), then went around a couple malls in Orchard Road. Biel found My Girl (the Korean drama) at one of the video shops; Ate was content with just eating and sampling all the food (though we ended up not getting anything remotely asian… go figure). I’ve never watched My Girl, so after a bratwurst dinner, we went home and watched it while Ate packed up some. They ended up asleep all over my bed, which left me no space <_<.

My Girl was quite enjoyable, though, I’m glad they got me to watch. I don’t usually go for asian TV dramas, although I have a soft spot for the Matsumoto/Mao Hana Yori Dango (yes, I am biased, because I love my Hanadan). Gongchan/Yoorin reminded me of Tsukasa/Tsukushi, although they’re quite different. It must be the comedy moments! I don’t know exactly if I find Lee Dong Wook cute or not; he definitely has his angles and his moments but a big chunk of that is probably the role.

All too fleeting, though :( I accompanied them back to the airport on Monday morning. I’ve had the whole family come visit one after another the whole of August XD which has prompted my officemates to ask why not just come all together. Yeah, why not? Tee hee.

It was certainly nice to spend a rather “ordinary” weekend with my sisters, and doing random, non-tourist-y things. I don’t suppose tourists would actually sit and play board games if they go to Singapore? And watch movies. But the mundane things are often the dearest things, the ones that I miss the most.

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Hello world!

Welcome to Whimsical.Nu! I’ve long been itching to do something new, and considering my rather lackluster involvement in anything hobbyistic online recently, I’ve decided to pretty much change everything up. The best result of this is a new domain, and something that I feel closely matches a large part of who I am. ;)

As a result, Whimsical will be my personal blog where I attempt to reconcile different parts of who I am: the geek who is in love with Web and tech, the reader who loves getting lost in books, the writer who is still trying to be courageous enough to dare to write, and the gamer who loves both casual games and RPGs.

This change does come with a cost, however; a number of my websites will soon be retiring, or taking a significant backseat.

  1. Scripts.Indisguise.Org will return to its “roots”; it will be back to a script archive, and scripts will move to an “as is” stage. This is one of the saddest changes I’ll be doing; I don’t know when (or even if) I’ll come back to linkware scriptwriting. Entries have been moved over; comments are closed on these entries.
  2. Seasonal Plume will also take a backseat, and will be “shut down” with a link back to here. I won’t be letting it go (ah, the memories!) but until I figure out what to do with it, it will be… well, existing. Entries have been moved over here, but comments are closed.

Naturally, you can still see me over at my personal journal. The difference between that journal and this blog lies in precisely how they’re called; the journal is writing for myself but to an audience, and this blog is writing for an audience.

I realize that this change may concern a number of you who are interested in Indiscripts and/or Enthusiast. I’d like to go into more detail on what may happen to both, but it will need to be for some other time. Please check back sometime!

As for new things, I’ve added a “Gamer” category. At the moment there is nothing there (hee), but for a while now I’ve been sucked into playing World of Warcraft, which I have been studiously avoiding ever since it went out. Being a bit of a gamer back in college, I just knew it would take up a lot of my time if I started. WOW isn’t the only thing I play, although it’s the only patently “gamer”-esque game I play. My iPhone has three pages full of games, and I’ve deleted about half of the ones I’ve played. ;)

Well, so that’s the new Whimsical blog, please excuse any exposed plumbing you come across while I continue to do a bit of spring cleaning! It can’t help to tell me about it, as well. I’ll get everything scrubbed and polished soon enough. ;)

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Getting tickets for awards night

Okay, non-writing post. Bear with me, because I’m also a little confused at how this goes. I’ve been waiting for an email from them since I expect that hey, someone will get in touch with me regarding attendance on the said event. I’m concerned that they haven’t started disseminating information about the awarding night earlier, but well that’s that. I’m a little confused now since I haven’t gotten an email yet but on the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards blog, they posted that you post about the event on your blog to get your event tickets. Uhm, alright? So if I didn’t think to visit their website, I won’t get a ticket? Or, I’d have to pay on the event itself? Or, OMG what if I arrive late? And all the tickets are gone since it’s limited seating? What if I plan to bring a friend along? I have to post twice to get two tickets?

Seriously, I don’t think this has been thought through very well. I also don’t think it’s been thought through about the whole semi-formal/formal dress code for the evening. Last I know, the Webbys don’t ask people to go in such glamorous attire. And these are bloggers, for crying out loud. I’m not saying bloggers aren’t capable of being glamorous and dressing up for an affair, but bloggers, more often than not, are casual people. They’re everyday people sharing wonderful tidbits and thoughts and opinions. You’re asking these everyday people to come dressed up to the nines?

I suppose I will still go, after all, I don’t want to seem like I’m treating the whole event like it’s not that important. It is and I’m very honored to have been chosen as a finalist, given that stellar panel of judges. I’m just a little disappointed at how apparently difficult it is to get tickets, to facilitate me bringing along a friend or two since I don’t want to sit in some corner.

If anyone wants to argue that it’s not really difficult, then I’m all for discussing it. Maybe it just boils down to a lack of proper communication and dissemination of information.

Edited to add: Apparently it’s (just?) a lack of proper communication. Tickets are given only to bloggers to make sure the night is for bloggers, hence the procedure. Finalists get two tickets each. There, that’s the basic rundown of who gets tickets, and how.

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