Aspire to Inspire

Before I tell you about the wonderful world of the Romans, I’ll walk you through the current joy I have found in Adobe Ps Lightroom (Lr) cause I’m not yet guilty of tweeting too much about it gragjsh HAHA. So while happily downloading Adobe Photoshop plugs on the net, I stumbled across Lr images that got me excited and actually pushed me to install Lr asap. It’s not that I never knew about the program, a friend told me ages ago that Lr was perfect for photos, I just showed no interest since I knew I had everything I needed in Ps. Well, actually it would seem like I do, but what amuses me so much is that Lr gave me some sort of ‘fresh break’ from Ps especially when all I plan to do is curve, cross-process, or tone photos. Plus, it works pretty quick: no separate database, layers, exporting drama, and the like. It makes me feel like I’m working in a film darkroom and not on a blank canvass anymore. At least right now, I’m pretty sure that neither one of these two rockin’ programs would be out of my dock. Rockin’ - what a lame two-syllable word. 

#3 Adobe Ps Lightroom makes me happy. 

So off to Rome, off to the processed Lr images :)

Just the thought that my friends and I are standing in the very area where tons of saints and martyrs crossed (1) gives me chills and (2) makes me giddy - the happy kind of giddy. The area of the Vatican Obelisk, for instance, was said to be the place where St. Peter was crucified upside down. Chills. It is also the only well-preserved remnant from Caligula’s circus. Happy Giddy. 

I know, I definitely have to ditch the italics. Not cool at all.

 Jump shots! Just because.

I wanted to sit on those things since kids seemed happy about it, but it would look weird if I asked someone to lift me.

And since massacring text posts on off-beat topics make me feel like I’m on-a-roll. On a roll, pfft. I’ll end with #4 Movie dates make me happy. Thanks for today G :)

Venice (Italy), I don’t even know where to start. You know how movies, documentaries, advertisements, magazine spreads or television shows tend to exaggerate things? Well, for once in our lives the media was truthful enough, Venice really is pretty (understatement) despite its ‘peculiar’ breeze (they didn’t lie about it being a canal, what could one expect) hahaha.

Piazza San Marco is definitely one of the most popular nesting grounds for tourists entering the city mainly because of its proximity to the dock. It instantly gives off a grand impression with its rose colored lampposts, venetian painter stands, waiting gondoliers (with their stereotypical uniforms and gondolas), and of course the famous basilica, clock tower, and campanile where Galileo Galilei first tested his telescope haha! Plus there were loads of fat fluffy pigeons waiting to be fed! CUUTTTEEE FLUUFFFYYYY SQUUUIISSHHAABBLLEE PIGEEEEOOONNNSSS :))

But loitering around the Piazza isn’t the only thing that could keep one busy, there were also tons of alleys with restaurants, ice cream stations, and colorful little shops selling all sorts of Venetian souvenir icons. Too bad I didn’t get to buy that V-for-Vendetta mask, it was at the palm of my handsssss gaahjsfhkd.

Venice is a birthplace for all sorts of artists: painters, opera singers, writers, sculptors, and the like. The Venetian Island of Murano, for instance, made glassblowing a prevalent art form especially during the 12th century. Glassblowers, who were the most prominent group of people during those times, started experimenting on glass by adding color, curves, metals, etc. to make a murano glass piece. Luckily, my friends and I got to watch this glassblowing demonstration at Dogi’s with their witty Antonio Banderas look-alike speaker.

So to cut the story short, Venice is quite amusing. The thing is, I suddenly wrote about it since I recently saw this Venetian exhibit at Edsa Shangri-La (Second Level right in front of Senju) a few weeks ago and it made me nostalgic and giddy for some odd reason (I’m not quite sure if the exhibit’s still up, try calling the hotel first if you’re interested to check it out). It carried paintings mostly by Marcoroberto Ascione (whom my relatives met without even telling me they’d meet him haha) and his friend Nikola, plus tons of Venitian items (muranos, masks, etc).

All I had then was a shabby camera phone that wouldn’t allow me to switch the flash function off, hence the poor pictures without much detail hahah. Most paintings had crystal pieces and glittery powder on them, interesting enough, but what caught most of our attention were the paintings by Nikola directly done on old wood. Ingenious. Hahaha! 

And since I’m too lazy to take a snapshot of the Ballerina round painting series we got to snag. Here’s a picture of a troll I came across while looking for a picture of a doll for a Family Business report,

I hate trolls, they freak me out, and it sucks that I had tons of them when I was a child. Someday, I’ll dedicate one whole post ranting on my troll hatred. I can’t believe Dreamworks Animation seriously plans on making a movie about them. Man, it’ll make children cry.

Generalife is a summer and leisure palace bulit for the Nasrid royalty (the last Moorish and Muslim dynasty in Spain). It is located in the southern part of Granada, a ravine away from the Alhambra.

It’s the prettiest Moorish garden I’ve seen so far! Full of everything a hopeless-romantic-who-believed-in-fairy-tales-at-a-certain-point-in-her-life could wish for! And by that I mean: whilst fountains, water channels and stairways, flowerbeds and arches, cobblestones, Alice in Wonderland-like mazes, fresh air, and tons of red and pink roses in full bloom! Making you feel like everything was in slow motion and that it was so easy to stay in love. Okay, maybe not. It was close. Somewhat.

Generalife was a place where emirs used to meet their lovers, a place where they could just get away from the world filled with nothing but politics. I could just imagine how romantic the scene made them look especially when it was newly built, definitely better than strolling around some iron lattice tower which I also fancy but comes only second in my heart. 

But I’m a girl and I doubt if guys would even get all frenzied about this. With the exception of lovers.. so into each other that even sidewalks full of spit, cigarette butts, and overflowing canal water seem pretty. Here I go again. 

The Alhambra is a palace in Granada built for the Moorish Kings in Spain. Situated on top of a hill, the Alhambra served as a good fortress-complex used against Christian raids in the 14th century. Known for its Islamic Architecture and Andalusian Art, it has been an inspiration for many artists, poets, songwriters, and even architects. 

Advanced reservation for tickets is usually advised, our professor told us she had to reserve our tickets months before our actual visit since it’s said to be virtually impossible to get tickets on the spot or a day/week before. 

The Alhambra, literally meaning “Red Fortress” in English, got its name from the somewhat reddish clay used to build the fort. There were also loads of pools (with pitiful fish swimming in green water! tsktsk!), whilst fountains, and horseshoe arches. Plus the walls of the Alhambra were either filled with colorful tiles or engraved with poems, calligraphic art, arabesque detail, or religious phrases. 

Below are excerpts of some of my favorite engraved poems in the Alhambra (via alhambradegranada.org): 

Don’t you see how the water spills on the basin, but its spouts hide it immediately? It is a lover whose eyelids are brimming over with tears, tears that it hides from fear of a betrayer. - Found below the Basin of the Lions

When the one who looks at me carefully observes my beauty, the look of his eyes is deceived by an appearance. For when he looks at my marvellous background, he believes that the full moon has established her residence here and has therefore abandoned her own mansions to find mine. - Found on the arch of entry to Daraxa’s Mirador

The stars wish to rest there, and not turn around the celestial wheel, and they wish to await submissively in both courtyards, and serve tenaciously like slaves. - Found in the Hall of Two Sisters

Only God is victor. - Found in Comares’ Gate

God has honored you and made you happy. - Found in the northern Portico near Generalife

Post about the romantic gardens of Generalife soon :)