Nothing can be too serious

This week was pretty intense. Spent 2 whole days just working on the photo exhibit which led me to experiment with elmers glue, mighty bond, double-sided scotch tape (with and without padding), clear liquid glue, masking tape, and even rugby. I used them all. Paper was another preoccupation. Used cartolina paper, illustration board, chip board, art paper and bond paper. Went to the hardware/bookstore 3x for supplies and to the printing shop 3x as well. The drivers were a big help, thank God.

Patience and precision this art work required. I couldn't help wishing for some of Bayani's expertise in knutsellen to magically find their way into my glue-burnt hands. Would have preferred to do the planning and let someone more aesthetically-minded do the executing. But all's good.

The photo exhibit had me calling program officers and managers first to urge them to send me pictures and then call them again for advice on what captions to put. Had to ask stuff like when was the picture taken, where, who are the people in the picture, etcetera. But palpak gihapon. When i arrived in the office yesterday, Mags and Gemma informed me the Mayor of Paglas noticed a discrepancy between one caption and the name of the person in the picture (him). Big mistake.

Had to send out invitations to the media, write a quickie press release, finalize the program for the collaboration signing to be witnessed by our CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) vips. On top of this, the nameplates and the backdrop had to be fixed. Good thing I was able to mobilize the more handy Gajer who solicited Leno's help, who in turn, got the girls to take a break from their finance papers and offer a hand. That's how Leno, Gajer, Margot, Rena, and Grace spent a good hour debating about how to position the native cloths around the letters to be posted on the wall in the conference room. Twas my first time to have my cubicle crowded by so many people while I sat listening to them and typing away, amused at all the effort put into finding the right twist to the native cloths which had to be held up with pins, safety pins, and double-sided scotch tape. Lotsa laughter and teasing and congratulating each other for a job well done. I just love working with Filipinos. For us, nothing can be too serious even during tense moments when there's so much to do in so little time.