TGI(summer)F

woohoo! they just gave the official announcement the other day here in the office that we'll be having summer fridays again this year starting may 27th til september 2nd! what that means is that fridays over the summer (given that im done with all that i need to finish) i can leave the office by 1PM. and what that tranlates to is more time to do more of the real real high priority tasks of self-development.

more time for some of the things similar to those that've kept me "busy" the past days:

peace one day
tuesday, got a reply from london-based organization, peace one day, to an email that i had sent them earlier. unfortunately, the director is in buenos aires currently but they had forwarded my message to him and he sends his thanks and regards. they are sending copies of the film to the people i had referred to them asap. that's good. the project of having the philippines actively participate on the september 21st's celebration of global peace day and ceasefire is moving.

staten island ferry lamp

light, gesture and color
wednesday, attended this talk given by jay maisel, well-known photographer (apparently), at the art director's club. he talked about how light, gesture and color serve as key elements to great photography. he showed some slides of his works. personal favorite was one called bearing witness, a series of photos he had shot of people's faces over the 2 days after 9/11. very moving. though all you could see were the faces of people and not what they saw, in looking at their eyes, you just knew the horror they were witnessing. very moving. he showed other slides of his work, of his daughter, of his travels, of his advertising work, etc. and in seeing all that he had shot and captured, greatest lesson i learned was the importance of living life, experiencing life (and if lucky being able to capture it too which is why now my camera's a constant companion wherever i go, well almost).

cocktails at saks 5th avenue

cocktails at saks fifth ave
thursday, yesterday, got invited to a lacoste-sponsored cocktail event at saks fifth avenue. free booze and free food, always good. plus, i finally made great use of my newly rummage-sale bought burberry suit to match with my hand-me-downed grey lacoste shirt, clearance-sale gap jeans and gotten-free now-dirty white converse sneakers. always wanted to wear one of those preppy casual numbers so was great to finally have had the occasion for it (such a loser's wish). bumped into a few familiar people so it didnt appear that obvious that i was there really to score some freebies (although i wish i had the money to buy that nice white and red soccer jacket). still a long way til i live the lifestyle of the rich and famous (not that id want to) but it was nice to at least have a taste of it.

friday, today, had a nice 2hr+ extended lunch out with my sister and family. thank god no one here in the office's said anything so far of my extended lunchtime escapades since i did the same thing yesterday (with some friends from college who happen to be in town). meeting again with sister and family later after work coz im taking my nephew with me, he's sleeping over (and hopefully helping me clean up the apartment in time for tomorrow when the rest will move in). got my paycheck today as well and realized that my take-home is now smaller coz of my retirement fund contribution (starting to save this early for retirement, hopefully i wouldve saved enough to travel the whole world with whomever i wouldve married by then when that happens).

it always feels good being able to keep oneself busy with things aside from work. in fact, i realize that one's job really becomes even more worthwhile for what it allows you to do while away from it more than what you actually accomplish while on it (well, except maybe for full-time travelling philanthropists). and so, for giving us the time to venture out of work, thank god for fridays! (and mondays. and tuesdays, and... you get what i mean.)

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one of the things ive realized living here is that filipino culture is very much driven by institutions. school. work. church. family. i notice how "normal" filipino conversations and actions very often revolve around and are sometimes limited to these institutions. having been made aware of this oft-taken-as-universal-normal trait, it feels good every so often to explore experiences that are not bound by these well-established institutions. it makes for a fuller life, i believe. or at least, a more dynamic one.

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upcoming things i look forward to: treating family out to phantom of the opera next tuesday, florida with family by saturday (6 of us siblings are going to be there, that's all but one, wow). AND for a "change", a possible ticket to the live taping of the final episode of the apprentice on thursday.