I have forgotten so many things. Talking to someone yesterday, I remember I used to paint and draw. These days I just doodle...


Best Friends

The best friends are those who can tickle your brain, make you laugh, have a great sense of humor, are witty, just have the right dose of sarcasm and are critically honest yet remain kind.

You volley back and forth ideas and engage in intellectual fencing, agreeing, or opposing without rending or wounding each other. You are both thoughtful without being morose, and silly without being foolish. You may opine upon and critique a range of ideas or persons without engaging in calumny.

Between you, honesty is not negotiable and loyalty is standard. Trust is the tie that binds. You share that which matters the most. Caring glues you together. You laugh together, a lot. You watch out for each other, catch each other when you fall.

You may be in each other's company, yet remain taciturn. You spend time away from each other without weakening your bond. You may be near together yet allow yourselves to wander silently in your own minds, thinking, reading, meditating.  You are never bored with one another because neither of you are boring.

You are renaissance women. You create, you fix, you solve, you lead. You are present. Many people go through life looking for such friends. If you find even just one, you have more than enough. It took you a long time to get where you are. Keep each other.


Februum: Remembrances and Celebrations

Februum. Remembrances and Celebrations. Pen and ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board

Goodbye my dearest, beloved sisterfriend 
Arija Pilskalns Schwerdtfeger

Thank you.


Goodbye My Dearest Arija

Goodbye my darling friend. Your wise and kind words echo in my mind. They comfort and warm my heart. You have taught me many things and you made me a better person. Thank you for the lessons. I will always love you. Sleep now my dearest Arija. You have finished your journey here on earth. Rest in peace my beloved friend. Tsup! Tsup!


Farewell Professor Ernesto Adorio

Farewell Professor Ernesto P. Adorio. Pen and Ink Drawing on 22"x19" Bristol Board.

Three days after I published my last post, my brother Ernesto passed away on February 29th, 2016. He died on the Leap Day of the Leap Year. It's been a sad spring since he left. My brother was an electrical engineer, mathematician, code developer, a much beloved mathematics professor, who loved photography, plants and trees. His Python programs and recipes are used in research and several university curricula in the US, South Korea, Sweden and Australia as well as his works in Physics. His thesis in crystallography have been cited by NASA, MIT and Stanford University. He loved to travel to record the many species of plants, flowers and trees of the Philippines. He was a gentleman, good and kind, a loyal friend and most loving brother. He was my childhood playmate. I miss him terribly. I think of him every day.

I started this drawing a week before he passed away. We visited each other's Facebook pages and exchanged comments while I drew this picture. It took me a long time to finish this drawing, perhaps because I did not want to let go. I finally illustrated him doing his favorite pastime - photographing plants and then waving goodbye. Rest in peace Toto Ernesto. I love you.