I finally got myself a Copic set, and I opened them just a couple of days ago.
I learned to acquaint myself with Copic’s behavior and style. Copic colors are generally more muted and softer, while my Unicorn Art Marker has a more vivid color which gives a really nice variations.
This pond drawing is one of the firsts. I started the drawing annoyed because Copic LOOKED too dry for me. I spent coloring the water with a stream of curses left and right, but as I added more details and the sky blue color from Unicorn, it looked pretty great.
The second one is the usual house drawing.
The colors were flat and weird. At first, I decided to ditch the drawing. But then I revisited it again on the next day and used bold lineart as I’m feeling more comfortable with it. I’m pretty happy with how it looks like now.
As for the latest, it’s actually a drawing of my friend: Anien.
I am now thinking of buying a Copic set. Unicorn Sketch marker set is great, but the colors are too vivid and too neon to my likings. I’m looking for muted gray-ish colors, and from what I see, it seems like Copic provides such colors.
Earlier today, we went to the hospital for Rey’s doctor appointment. For the past week, Rey has been having cough, sneezes, and mild fever. We usually let the illness on its own for three days along with some paracetamol and vitamins since that’s how virus usually works. The illness, however, stuck for more than three days, so we decided to check it with the doctor.
What we didn’t predict was Rey seeing the doctor appointment as an opportunity to dress up.
There are good books, and there are books that made you react like this.
From what I can remember, there were two books that I have read in my life which make me react exactly like how I illustrated above.
“Maus” (Art Spiegelman) and “The Handmaid’s Tales” (Margaret Atwood).
And now, it comes down to three books: “If Anything Happens I Love You” (Will McCormack, Michael Govier, Youngran Nho)
And no, the books are not not good. The books are fantastic, emotional, and they exude such strength which pulled you in and you are left with uneasiness on your gut because you know, you know, how the stories are not that far from our reality. You are faced with letters and pictures in front of you telling the truth and the horror, and you feel nothing but the immense urge to throw and slam the book down because you know the words inside it stepped a little bit too close for comfort.
I was in Kinokuniya Suria KLCC when I saw the book “If Anything Happens I Love You” at the lower shelf in Young Adult section. Children’s and Young Adult’s book section are my favorite area. “When the story is too difficult and too much for adults, make it for children,” some said that. Well, actually Guillermo del Toro said that in an interview with a Tiktok user. I forgot the link, and Tiktok UI/UX is a nightmare.
The book started with death.
Everyone talks about the day I died, which is a shame.
I love how the book does not glossed over life and death, and it just — wham — straight to the point. The book, however, celebrates life in all its glory through the eyes of death and talks about grief. At least that’s what I can take as a summary between me trying not to do ugly crying at the bookstore and having my eyes blurred from the tears.
It’s a story about a little girl named Rose. Rose had a wonderful family — her mother, her father, and her cat named Arnold. Math was her least favorite subject but her Math teacher, Ms. Rivera, was her favorite teacher.
Then one day, Rose died.
I was hoping they were fireworks, and then we realized what they were.
That’s when… … All the curses popped out inside my mind, you know. All the expletives went like a flood. Something bubbled, and I almost threw up.
I want to throw this book because it’s that good. 10000000/10. Must read.
So, what’s new? I had my birthday, that’s a start. Nothing super fancy, though. The four of us — my husband, me, and our kids — rarely celebrate our birthdays with parties. It’s always a 6 AM birthday song with a cake and our sleepy faces and bedheads. Sometimes, we had a day trip to amusement parks or a nice lunch or dinner at an upscale restaurant, but most of the times, it’s always us looking for noodles because noodles represent longevity.
We also have another Animal Crossing player in the house. It used to be me and my son, then my son decided to delete the game because “it’s too boring.” My daughter got her brother’s Nintendo Switch Lite, while my son got my Nintendo Switch — a pretext and an excuse for me to buy a new Nintendo Switch. And no, not the OLED version. I am still preferring Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing design.
My daughter got hooked up on Animal Crossing in no time. She always watching me play, and she’s really happy she can finally play the same game like I do. My son, looking at his sister and his mom playing Animal Crossing, decided that “it’s high time for me to return to Animal Crossing” ?
The kids visited my island, and we had a blast. We took a visit to Brewster cafe to chill and drink coffee.
The year 2022 is coming to an end, and 2023 seems like another episode of uncertainty. I’m leaving you with some digital wisdom from Kapp’n and Pascal.
I just remembered, and realized, I went radio silence after my last post about Covid where I literally grilled myself on my apartment’s rooftop in the noon-time.
As you might all know, I am now Covid-negative. So, yay. The test kit shown that wonderful one stripe on Sunday, and I had to attend a workshop on the following week, so another yay recovery.
Our workshop happened in Kuala Lumpur, so that was a huge plus for me. No timezone weirdness and no long-haul flight. With the Division Meetup and Covid, I don’t think I would be able to face through another long trip.
During the workshop, we talked a lot about leadership and team dynamics. Interestingly, all those chats about leadership and management made me think on how I would like to close this year and open the next year.
I really don’t want to “close this year strongly”, or as kids used to say: “With a bang.”
I’m too tired for that. I don’t want to close the year of 2022 with a bang, pow, or anything like that. It has enough surprises already, so I don’t think I want to add more noise on it.
I’m aiming to close the year gently and feeling content. I also want to open the next year feeling mindful and calm.
I actually have this thing in mind: I want to eat less and more.
Why “eating”? It’s one of our basic needs, and I love food.
I want to be more mindful with my eating pattern, hence “eating less”. As in, understanding the food I consume and actually enjoying it instead of being a glutton (something I’m really good at, other than being a sloth.)
At the same time, I want to eat more. With more gusto, more understanding of the food and the food’s history and story, more mindfulness, and more quality of life. This does not mean I will only look for expensive (in monetary sense) food, no. I’m looking for appreciating food more, and enjoying the process itself: Cooking and eating.
