Krissy's Digest...

I have been assisting my daughter in doing her school project. It has something to do about Filipino Heroes and Greatest Achievers, in the process of doing this, I have recently renewed mtyinterest in some of the great Filipino people of our history and one of them is Fernando Amorsolo, The first Filipino National Artist...

Let me begin by telling something about the great painter. He was born on May 30, 1892 at Paco Manila as the 3rd in the family of 4 boys. As a young boy he had been tutored at home and was also an apprentice to his Uncle, a painter. He had painted sceneries for postcards and sold it to a local bookstore to make ends meet. He entered the School of Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines in 1909 and was one of the first graduates in 1914. He had went to study further in Spain through the sponsorship of a prominent Filipino, Don Enrique Zobel. Amorsolo have also worked as a draftsman at the Department of Public Works and had taught at his Alma mater and later became the Director of Fine Arts of University of the Philippines until his retirement.



His “Rice Planting” (1922) was a staple of tourist brochures and his style became most sought-after by American soldiers who wanted something uniquely Filipino to bring back home to the United States.




One such client, Capt. Robert Kennedy, brought home a few Amorsolo pieces and had them framed at the Art Center Gallery in New York. The gallery owners inquired about the artist which led to Amorsolo’s first one-man show in New York. Of the 40 pieces, 24 were immediately purchased.

Amorsolo often uses his family members to pose for his paintings. Mostly his wife and his daughters. At one time, he had made his house helpers pose for him, after posing he had paid them. His daughter asked why did he have to pay them when he is already paying for their salary? He replied, "We have hired them to do housework and not to pose for me, therefore, they should be compensated for posing for my painting".

It is said that he had made over 10,000 pieces in his lifetime. Every painting reflects his mastery in the use of light and his craftsmanship evident in every stroke in his canvasses that describes day to day life of people in the Philippines.

Women are painted with such detail that one could see the love he has for his wife and daughters. His sketches are done randomly of no particular subject. He just draws what he sees. May it be Philippine scenery like the Banaue Rice Terraces and the Pagsanjan Falls, the Rice Harvests and Ladies doing laundry by the lake or the war torn country that he had agonizingly depicted in his drawings.

He had done numerous art exhibits both locally and abroad and always with such a critical acclaim. Due to his popularity, he had sold almost all of his creations and it is very expensive to own one of his works. Those who own Amorsolo pieces are the rich and famous art collectors.

One of his works, the Markang Demonyo, is still used up to this day. It is the design to one of the most popular gin in the Philippines, Ginebra San Miguel Gin.



He had died in 1972 at the age of 79. His sketches and some of his works were divided among his wife and children. He is truly one of the Philippines pride. We are proud of him...

The Aspire M5641, a new consumer desktop computer that is offered by Acer. This computer boasts of great specifications and is said to be very fast and very efficient. Having the Core 2 Quad Intel processor, 18.5 LCD widescreen monitor, a roomy 320 Gb SATA Hdd, 2 Gb DDR2 Memory, Nvidia Graphics and a very sleek design, its definitely one great PC to have.


The only flaw I have seen in the unit is the installation of the Operating System. We installed windows vista starter edition in it. I am actually new to using windows vista and a Core 2 Quad PC unit. The guys at the computer shop almost took the whole 3 hours trying to install windows vista to the computer... Unlike the previous versions where you just put the installation disk at the drive bay and then it automatically starts. Here they went through a complex way in installing the OS. That I am afraid to even reformat the pc because I think I wouldn't know how to install the OS back to the machine again...

I think I have to study that and blog about it separately in another entry.

After the installation, tried the unit and it is so fast... You can do multi-tasking in it. Write your blog entry, listen to internet radio, watch youtube videos, download torrent files, play a favorite PC game at the same time and it won't budge... A powerhouse computer...

Will try to use it a few more days and would be back blogging more about this amazing PC... So far, it is worth the price tag of almost 35,000 Php... Definitely recommend it to other pc enthusthiasts out there.

And if you don't know a thing on how to install the operating system, better leave it to the experts. Have the computer shop technicians install it for you, or else, you'll have a real big problem installing the OS.

It is of no secret that I have been a fan of the Beatles since I was in high school. I still do follow some news about the 2 remaining Beatles namely Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. But it seems like Sir Paul McCartney is always the one who is in the hot seat as always. From losing his beloved wife Linda McCartney to breast cancer, marrying Heather Mills, who turned out to be a monster and now being engaged to his current love interest Miss Nancy Shevell, who is also divorced from her equally rich husband, lawyer Bruce Blakeman.





Sir Paul McCartney and Miss Shevell have been together since the post divorce hearings of Sir Paul to his estranged ex-wife, Heather Mills. Since then, Miss Shevell have been photographed a lot and been followed by paparazzi. The once private life she had, is not so private now, because she is with Paul McCartney.




News broke that they are also engaged, which Sir Paul brushed off as lies, all lies. There is absolutely nothing wrong if they do get married. They look so happy. And I haven't seen Paul McCartney so happy, not since his wife, Linda McCartney.



Sir Paul McCartney deserves to be happy. He is a good man with a good heart. What happened to him with Heather Mills is unfortunate which cost him $50 Million in divorced settlements. But I am glad that he got rid of her... She's not good for him... :)

Before Linda Eastman McCartney, Paul McCartney is also engaged to his long time girlfriend Jane Asher. Maybe they are not just meant to be...



What matters now is, Sir Paul is Happy.... And we will probably be waiting for some wedding bells to ring, in the future that is.... Good luck to you Sir Paul...

I am a huge lover of the arts. From music, poetry and paintings. God only gave me the gift of music. So I can't really draw great pictures and write romantic poetry, although I did try in my younger years. Everyone could be a good poet, depending on what they feel inside the moment they write something for that someone or anything particular.

There are many forms of art and one of this is drawing. But can you ever imagine drawing a picture using crayons and could still look lifelike? At first I was skeptical but when I saw the works of Don Marco, I was stunned. The pictures are absolutely flawless.



Don Marco or Mr. Crayola as popularly called is a master of this medium. He uses common crayons to do his art work. He was born on Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's. He served in the Army Air Corp when he was a young adult and then began his life long career in Air Traffic Control. He does his art works on his spare time.

Before retirement, he have mastered a technique of using crayons for his artworks. He became in demand and is sought after by the likes of Burt Reynolds and other famous people.

Here are some of his artworks from his website.



Burt Reynolds



Tom Selleck



Apache Warrior


Clint Eastwood

View more of his amazing works at his website.

Great works done in crayons. Enjoy and share with everyone...

Christmas is over, another new year had passed...People who have work, had a long vacation. Approximately 2 weeks of it. Now everything is back to normal. Back to heavy traffic, busy people going to work and students dreading going back to school after a long vacation. Welcome 2009!!! I wonder what's in store for me this year. Last year was a roller coaster. Me and family have been through tough times... I hope this year would bring more hope and blessings for us. I am happy for my mom, finally, she's going to be with my step dad, and she's starting her life all over. Me? I am next... Can't wait to be with my husband, with all the trials that we have been through. I am just glad he is still there... Supporting me and loving me always... But for now, got to do a lot of things... Through all of this, God is there, supporting us all the way. I am so happy and I feel so blessed.

We went to church last Sunday and I was really touched by the pastors message. As today's commercialism get more and more absurd, we all forget the true meaning of Christmas. Who is this season for and why we are all celebrating it?

First point, Santa Claus Vs. Jesus Christ. Nowadays, most people see Santa Claus as the symbol of Christmas, which is really not supposed to be. Whose billboards are hanging around tall buildings? Who are on all the commercials on TV? Who do children expect to come and give them gifts at Christmas? Answer to all the questions is Santa Claus. Who is Santa Claus anyway? Why are people revering to him more than Jesus during Christmas?



1881 Illustration of Santa Claus by Thomas Nast



Saint Nicholas - is a Saint and the bishop of Myra, part of what is not the modern day Turkey. He came from a wealthy family and had the reputation of secretly giving gifts. He is also the patron saint of sailors. He have supposedly saved life of a young sailor who fell from ship's rigging during storm.



He also have brought to life 3 young boys who have been butchered and placed in a barrel for curing to sell as ham.

Another popular on is the tale of the 3 virgins. A man who is so poor cannot afford dowry for his 3 children. He feared that they wouldn't be able to marry and wouldn't be employed. The only possible thing left for them to do is to be prostitutes. Hearing of the man's plight, Saint Nicholas, helped him. But he was modest and wanted to help the man secretly to avoid embarrassment, he threw gold coins into the 3 socks that were hanging on the fire place. This have been a tradition to a lot of homes up to this time. Hanging socks at doors, windows and fireplaces.

Saint Nicholas is just doing the deeds of the Lord. He is not supposed to be more popular than Jesus Christ, especially on the Lords birthday...

Jesus Christ, was born in a manger. He was clothed in rags and was born with simple parents. Mary and Joseph the carpenter. God the father, gave him to us, to save us from our sins. When in fact all of us are not worthy of it. He is the greatest gift that have been given to us. The gift of forgiveness and eternal life...


Second Point - Gift Giving



Why do we give gifts? What is your purpose in giving gifts? Gift giving has been a tradition especially at Christmas time. We have our exchange gifts and we expect to receive and give gifts to people we know and care about. There are about 5 types of gift giving.

Obligatory - Where you feel the need to give the gift. For example, every Christmas, your God children (Inaanaks) come to your house asking for their gifts. As a dutiful Godparent, you either have prepared a gift for them or give them cash gifts.

Exchange Gifts - Where you give gifts with each other.Like you have exchange gifts at home or at your workplace.

Favor Giving - You give gifts because of a favor done to you.

Sacrificial - Where you sacrifice some of your precious belongings or some of the things you usually do during Christmas and give to the poor instead...

Anonymous - Secretly giving gifts or help to people without disclosing your identity...

Which of these are you? Some people just give gifts because they know if they give, they will also receive. I wonder where the true spirit of Christmas is? Giving without expecting to receive, helping people in need, celebrating the true cause of this season, which is the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.


Third Point - Christmas for us

Who do we love at Christmas? Who do we prioritize? What is Christmas for us?

Christmas now has different meaning for people. Instead of thinking and being happy for the birth of Christ, we have made Christmas as time for worldly things.

Having the much awaited Christmas Vacation Leave for those who are working. Relaxing time, time to go on a tour, receiving/giving gifts, Christmas parties, getting new things and More money from Christmas bonus and gifts from relatives.

Now, where is Jesus Christ in all of this? What is our focus? We should all be grateful. The very best gift given to all of us is not wrapped in fancy gift wrapping, is not expensive, it is eternal but given for us free. Jesus Christ... Now think , What is Christmas for you? How do you celebrate it? What do you teach your children about it? Just a thought... Merry Christmas to all...