Posted by Riz on September 4th, 2009.
My friend Olivia and I were just talking over YM about how frequent we’ve been receiving wedding invitations from friends these days, and how many people our age are, at this point, settling down and starting their own families — another obvious indication that we, indeed, are coming of age.
While I don’t have any plans of tying the knot just yet (and this post has got nothing to do with getting married), I admit that I like browsing through wedding blogs lately because let’s face it, weddings (excluding all the marital shenanigans that come after the wedding) — the color motifs, the photographs, the flowers, laces, and ribbons, the diamonds, the giveaways, the letterpress-ed invitations — are just so pleasurable to look at.
Check out these two unique wedding invitations that caught my attention while weddingblog-hopping. Promise me you’ll read ALL OF IT.
Hannah and Lee’s Save-the-Date (Source: A Day in May):
“Confused, she opens it to read, ‘Will You Marry Me?’. Lee is on one knee. She says yes.”
And Jill and Matt’s Wedding Invite (Source: Share Some Candy):
“(Dinner and dancing and eternity to follow)”
I’m really digging the vintage-inspired wedding effect (okay, okay, I’m digging vintage, period). I find letterpressed invitations with layouts that look like they’re from some advertisement from the 70s so chic and classy. But vintage aside, I like wedding invitations that tell a story. There’s got to be more to a wedding invite than date, time, venue, map, and seat numbers, right?
Lastly, I’m not saying go and be inspired to get married. I’m saying, go and be inspired to do something out of ordinary. ;)
x o x
UPDATE: Inspired by these two wedding invitations I posted 2 years ago, I made one for my own wedding last August. And here it is:
Our friends loved it! Meh. I’ve been waiting for my chance to do that. (:
Posted by Riz on September 3rd, 2009.
I thought it’s not enough that I twitted and posted a Facebook status message about my quest for Polaroid sheets in this third world country, so now I blog about it too. Again. Because I still can’t find Polaroid sheets for my One 600 (ever since I got it 4 months ago), and now that I have acquired a new toy — a Polaroid Spectra 1200FF which I won from an ebay auction, woot! — I’m even more desperate to find both Polaroid 600 and Polaroid Spectra packs.
Where in the Philippines can you get these stuff anyway? I heard there are stores in Hidalgo, Quaipo that sell them, I still have yet to check that. (But I also heard that finding polaroid film packs in Quiapo is unlikely, so yeah, I don’t know what to believe anymore).
In the meantime, I torture myself some more by browsing through pages after pages of Flickr photos such as these:
by Lilacmoon
by Toni
by Lyptonvillage
by Dreamincolour
by Lilylove
by Susannah Conway
Why issit raining Polaroids everywhere in the world BUT the Philippines? Is it wrong to sometimes wish I live in a different country because of this?? Haaaay.
Posted by Riz on September 3rd, 2009.
Alexis Tioseco may now be gone, but these very words he once wrote that was published on the pages of Rogue Magazine is eternal.
I was not aware of film critic Alexis Tioseco’s existence — I’ve never really been one to appreciate indie and/or art films, much more the Philippine Cinema, sorry Alexis — until yesterday, when I received this text from Marian:
My friend, film critic Alexis Tioseco and his Slovenian girlfriend, Nika [Bohinc], were robbed and shot yday night in their house in QC. Please pray for comfort for family and friends they left behind. They are a lovely couple and among the nicest people I know.
It was sad, I thought upon receiving the text, knowing how it’s like to lose someone you love, how much more to lose someone over such a tragic fate. But you see, my real “attachment” to Alexis and Nika started about 30 minutes ago, when I read this article written by Alexis himself sometime last year.
So that was their story, I thought after reading Alexis’ love letter. Brought together by their love for film (Nika was also a film critic in Slovenia), Alexis and Nika shared a love story that was not bound by cultural differences, nor the distance between Manila and Slovenia. They could be anywhere in the world living a comfortable life together, but Alexis chose to stay in the Philippines because of his love for Philippine Cinema, and Nika, having understood this form of love, agreed to move here as well.
“The first impulse is always one of love,” Alexis said. Those words, along with this beautifully written love letter, were enough for me to know what kind of life Alexis (and Nika) lived.
My dear Nika,
If there has been a single cause of strain that has stuck out in our relationship it is this: the idea of my attachment to the Philippines, the strong desire you see that I have to live and work here, and the way that, perhaps, you see this as a matter of misappropriate priorities. Does a place mean more than a person? Does my work in the Philippines mean more than the possibility of a life with you, somewhere, anywhere else? Must it be you that moves, makes the (I know you hate the word, but let us use it) sacrifice of moving? And what, if anything, does that say about us—that the scales of our love weigh more heavily on your chalice?
I know you’ve come to terms with the idea of moving here, hopefully next year, we discuss—but I still feel the need to talk a bit more about some of my reasons for wanting to stay, at the very least for the meantime. I’m not attempting to compare my affection for Manila with yours for Slovenia, but only to explain the thoughts that go through my head, the things I feel I must do, things that, perhaps, we can do together.
Yours,
Alexis
It has always amazed me how a piece of article or letter you wrote years ago, or a sentence you unknowingly said, or a photograph you randomly took, can speak not only a thousand words but anecdotes that people will talk about and draw inspiration from for years to come, long after you’re gone. Such is this year-old article written by Alexis.
What happened to Alexis and Nika — their life, their written work, their passion for the film industry — is a reminder for all of us to stay true to our word, to live a life worth sharing to others, to love unceasingly, and to live each day as if it’s the last.
“The first impulse is always one of love.”
Thanks Alexis and Nika, for living up to those very words. May you both rest in peace.
Edit. A few hours later.
Other blog tributes to Alexis and Nika:
*Alexis used to blog at http://alexistioseco.wordpress.com.
