Agua de Mayo

Yesterday night it rained—the first for the month of May. Agua de Mayo, as we call it here, traditionally marks the start of the monsoon season. They say bathing in the rain on Agua de Mayo brings good luck and cures skin diseases. I got rained on while waiting for the bus, does that count?

It's also prime jellyfish season. Around this time the water turns into a murky gray and these small jellyfish start to swarm the seaside. Colloquially we call them "dikya." You never know when a bit of floating mass is just some seaweed or jellyfish until the itching starts. Late summer is the worst time to swim in the sea. Even simply taking a dip is enough to set off a little skin irritation.

It doesn't seem like it, but the print above is actually of a jellyfish. It's not the actual print per se. This was the result of a happy accident, part of the process of preparing the zinc plate for the jellyfish print. After etching on the initial design we cleaned off the dried soft ground from the plate and using tongs, heated it with a candle. Hard ground was then applied to the surface of the design and after coating it evenly, we decided to use a couple of materials to add some texture to the jellyfish design. We used bit of gauze and some straw, placing it on top of the hard ground rather haphazardly. We did try to stick to the jellyfish imagery.

Afterwards we set the plate down on a piece of scrap paper (hence the stray blue ink) and ran it through the press. The idea was to remove excess hard ground to cut on the drying time. This is what happened.

"You know, you can consider this as art instead of just an edition" my teacher said. I was leery of the idea since he technically did half of the work and he of course can make art like no one's business. We should've used better paper, I thought, maybe then I'll consider it art instead of a stroke of luck.

Our teacher was rather impressed yet I, on the other hand, regard it as some sort of bastard child. I love how the  texture of the gauze adds depth to the piece and how the spots where the hard ground ran thin gave some color variation but since it wasn't entirely my creation, I cannot claim it as my own. It's a good piece, sure, but not mine. Such a trifling problem but it prevents me from fully appreciating the print.

This Weather Can Kill You

Thrifted gauzy tunic / Vest repurposed as a half skirt / Same old jeans / Docs

I'm not kidding with that title. That's not even the first casualty for this year.

Manila is literally unbearable right now. Temperatures average 36°C and add to that  high humidity and terrible pollution and you've got yourself a populace making their best impressions of Meltman. I'm lucky I'm cooped up in an office with the AC on full blast most of the day away from the searing heat, but I commute to work and let me tell you, rush hour stuck in a train filled to the rafters with fellow sweaty commoners does not set a nice tone for the rest of the day.

Yet it's not even May but from the looks of it monsoon rains are fast approaching. You know those flying insects that swarm the lights at night that signal the rainy season? We had those a week ago. My unsubstantiated observation is that the Philippines is having shorter but much more intense summers. In the meantime we gnash our teeth and suffer through hell on earth, only to wade through chest deep floodwaters once the typhoons start coming. You cannot win in this country.

Things That Happened

A review of stuff that went down over the past weeks:

1. I got this unusual wrap-around skirt for 50php at a renovation sale in one of the thrift stores along the Ayala MRT station. Made from a rather substantial material, it has two vents at the slightly scooping back and two thin straps at the waist that tie into a paperbag waist of sorts. Despite the fabric it wasn't stifling at all and drapes beautifully. Paired with a sheer dress (seen here) with panels that echo the lines of the skirt. 

2. I found myself trapped in a conversation with a bizarre woman while waiting for the train. Note to self: do not engage eye contact with strange people. She spoke in a wheezy whisper and clutched her neck with her hand as though she was trying to strangle herself every time she speaks. I had to restrain myself from asking what was wrong with her. She inquired about everything from my religion to whether I had high blood pressure. Charming. 

Turns out she was looking for work. Our company does not hire high school graduates, I said. She babbled on and on in the way that lonely people do when they hadn't talked to anyone in ages and continued talking even though I had plugged in my earphones. I wished her luck in her job search. 

3. Graphic design coerced me into buying an expensive box of muesli. Screw you, packaging design. I was merely shopping for milk and oatmeal when these caught my eye. Very nice. Before I knew it I was seriously considering buying it when I've never had muesli before and a damn box cost four times over my regular bag of oats. I even chose it over a Waitrose one of the exact same thing even though it was cheaper and weighed more. But the box is so cute! It's organic! Support good design! 

I'm gonna punch myself in the face if these turn out to be a dud, I muttered to myself as I handed over my money at the tills. 

Well what do you know, I'm almost through my nicely designed box of organic muesli and I do not feel ripped off. Sometimes superficiality can render good results.

4. Osaka trip next month confirmed with a mostly open itinerary so I might be able to squeeze in a Tokyo detour. Needless to say I can barely sleep due to excitement. May cannot come any sooner. Any recommendations?