Wish list

So the holidays are coming, and whether it’s Christmas, or Hannukkah,  or Mithras day, or Newton day, its quite expected that people are to give gifts to each other in this occasion.

People somehow have many different opinions on the whole gift-giving craze of the holidays. There are those, for example, who think that gift-giving and the holidays in general are extravagant and nothing more than a ploy to get consumers to blow off cash and stimulate the economy. Then, there’s the stress and hassle of it all, especially in the picking out of gifts. I think it was Bridget Jones who said that people should just pay other people to buy them things and wrap it for them. This would make much more sense than the usual disappointments we get when a poor, misguided loved one decides that a muffin-maker or some other horrid item is a good gift idea.

On the other hand, if we did do as Bridget wanted, it would do nothing to distribute wealth evenly across the people. Only rich people would get the best gifts, and the poor would get the more shoddy ones. Inequality is such an awful thing, and should at least be mitigated. After all, the theme of the season is generosity and sharing.

But if we really were to be logical about the entire thing, we should ask ourselves this: is the thrill of not knowing what to expect for presents really worth the risk of disappointment over bad presents? A simple cost-benefit analysis is in order, and for me, I’d rather have a pretty good idea of having a good gift rather than have a chance at a pleasant surprise, if I run the risk of being disappointed. And we also have to take note that this also minimizes the waste of all those presents that were never wanted and so were never used.

So with that in mind, I’ve decided to publish a list of suggestions – and take note, these are merely suggestions – for presents for me. Now there are probably only like, 3 people who give gifts to me during the holidays, so I’ll try to make the list interesting to the rest of you.

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In which I draw semi-okay and show you the pictures

Oh gods! Haribon did not tell me to do this, I promise! It’s just I didn’t have anything else to write and this seemed like fertile material. On the other hand, since this is what I’ll be discussing, let me take this opportunity to pimp out our fun run.

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Last week, somebody at work convinced me to draw a few pictures for the Million Hectare Challenge ads. And before you say anything about the grave error in their part for asking me – somebody who is not a professional artist – to do it, they did intend to get amateur and home-made drawings from Haribon Members, so that’s ok. Anyways, I was asked to draw three wildlife species for the ads.

I sometimes geek out on a particular project and devote a lot of effort into it for no reason in particular, other than the satisfaction of obsessing over something. That is definitely what happened here, and so I figured I might as well show the pics.

The first one is of the Philippine Hanging Parrot, also known as Colasisi (as in the poem-games of the olden times for the Bisaya). Loriculus philippensis is a small parrot endemic to the Philippines (surprise, surprise) and it lives in forest areas. It’s quite common, actually. I’ve seen more than a few in the many birdwatching trips that I’ve been in, and I’ve seen many being caged as pets in houses and illegal vendor’s stores.

My right wrist was really aching by the end of drawing this one, and this was only the first of three. I don’t own a digital pen-thingy, so I had make do with a mouse. It was quite fun though, and I’m glad of how it turned out since this was my first time to paint anything remotely realistic. You will note that the background suffers from lack of detail, something that is common for all three drawings. That’s because I get tired after having drawn the subjects themselves and just went “oh to hell with it…” and did a few strokes for the scenery.

Grave messages

Yet again, I have found my blog devoid of an entry for more than a month. I’ll try to make this at least semi-regular again and mean it this time. How have I been doing? I have been busy with work, which will probably soon spill into this blog in one or two articles coming soon. Anyways, here’s a belated halloween-themed article. Hope you like it.

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Today I got to visit the cemetery with my Aunt’s family. There wasn’t much to say about the trip, really. We only came to visit one gravestone (Somebody I did not know personally from her husband’s – my Uncle’s – side of the family). The trip was long, and the weather was hot and humid, but I enjoyed the long walk towards the gravestone, which was a the far end of the cemetery. Only a few birds were out (Lanius cristatus and Gerygone sulphurea).

I had to think up of a way to entertain myself during our brief stay, so while the cousins were off to the long queue of the drinks stand, I was busy looking at the gravestones in the field. I got the idea from Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, actually. He used to introduce the ghosts in the story by their year of birth and death, and their epitaph. I listed down a few notable gravestones.

While most of tombstones had run-of-the-mill boring epitaphs that said things like “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15) and “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” (Psalm 23), some really did try with their own quotes and managed to be mildly interesting.

For example, one went:

Diosdado V. Todifa
January 23, 1993 – September 9, 1996
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven – Ecclesates 3:1

Another was a stone which I had read only as we were going, and so I couldn’t list down its details. It’s epitaph went:

“Parting is all we know of heaven”