Indulgence

a life filled with art

Francis Ford Coppola
Not taking risks in art is like not having sex and then expecting there to be children.

Last Friday, I went to a friend's birthday celebration-slash-gallery exhibit. My college friend, Paolo Francisco, made some money in real estate and then he gave it up and went back to school to take up his first love -- Fine Arts. He's now a sophomore Fine Arts student, doing the whole band thing with the group Bagetsafonik (he's the guitarist) and now, he's got another exhibit of his work out there and he's good. He's really good.

Saturday night found me at the opening of Teatrino in Greenhills. My friend Marq works with Kuh Ledesma and so he invited us to the opening. Fantastic song numbers from a lot of great artists. Memorable to me was Pilita Corales, Asia's Queen of Song and funny girl, Nanette Inventor. Pilita Corales knew her voice may not be the same as it was, so she used the low registers so well and really turned I Will Survive into a gorgeous ballad. She sang it with so much conviction and heart and soul that it tore you apart. Nanette Inventor sang a very powerful Respect by Aretha Franklin. She may not have Aretha Franklin's set of pipes, but she has the attitude to carry the song to a powerful climax. Show-stopping number!

Sunday found me working, really seeing one of my scripts come to life and then shooting another segment for the show; back to work for me, officially, I guess. I also wrote a lot last night and I've just received my DVD copies of Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, City of Lost Children and The Pirates of Penzance. I'm so happy. I can't wait to have time to see it.

Here's a picture of me zipping in Boracay during new year morning. That's me in the white shirt
with the pony-tail. My friend Doors, whom I haven't seen in a long time is in the red pants and the other guy, I don't know. He introduced himself to Paulino, my teacher (who took the picture, by the way) and said he was a flagger. He wanted to try out the zips, so we lent him a pair. He was pretty good! It was a gorgeous morning, filled with the energy of happiness and hope. It was filled with potential energy for the rest of the year and there was this gorgeous beach and the tide was slowly coming in and the clouds were making beautiful shapes in the sky and everyone was there with a big smile on their face. It was inspiring. That life can have these perfectly beautiful moments and you can end up being so filled up by so much you could burst. I'm happy to have that in my life.

I want my life to always be oozing out art. To constantly challenge myself to be creative and original and thought-provoking. Life really is beautiful. It's just knowing when to open your eyes and when to close them.

posted by wanggo @ 6:06 PM