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The Life and Times of a Filipino-American

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Archives for September 2017

September 29, 2017 By Phillip Retuta

Finding Balance and Creativity While Being Alone.

I think I’m beginning to find a sense of balance in my life. Ever since moving into the new place and settling down, I’ve found that I’ve appropriately managed my time between work, my personal well-being, and my social life. When you’re on your own and living by yourself, you don’t have to worry about cleaning after yourself or roommates and can easily ignore a call or text from a friend or family member. You can sit in absolute silence, blast Broken Social Scene on your speakers, or constantly watch The Simpsons without any concern that your preferences or actions or words have any consequence to someone else. The space (both physical space and personal space) is entirely yours, and your use of your time is unrestricted. You can eat when you want to eat, wash the dishes whenever (but it also helps to have a dishwasher), and you can clean whenever you damn well please — midnight, a few minutes after dinner, only on weekends, never? Anytime! It’s up to me!

After the move, I’ve found myself working on my personal projects a lot more — writing in this blog, for instance, or improving my photography skills. Sure, I’m living a solitary life of routine by going to work, coming home, sleeping and then going back to work, but I’ve managed to squeeze in a few hours each day devoted to a creative project: cook something new, storyboard a short video, read a book. As one of those fucking creative types, when you’re alone and there’s no one to talk to (yes, there’s my dog, but she doesn’t speak English), you find yourself focusing on an activity. You’re not distracted by anything or anyone, and on my endless quest for self-improvement, I always want to make something new. This time, however, I can do it anywhere or at anytime; I have a large enough space in my new apartment to set up a photo shoot. I don’t have to worry about interrupting a tennis game on TV while I record a video. I can smoke up the entire apartment with bacon — freedom like that.

Believe me, I enjoy the company of roommates — especially my last ones with Brian and Morgan — but if there’s one thing I cherish more, it’s me-time. It’s being alone. It’s that moment of selfishness of being who you are — all your follies, eccentricities, talents, and desires — out in the open without worry or hesitation. I lived my entire life under the expectations of other people, but as a functioning, independent adult with a sense of creativity I need that me-time.

I remember my senior year of undergrad, where I was finally living by myself in Urbana-Champaign. I solely concentrated on my studies, and I managed to return onto the Dean’s List after my grades faltered my sophomore year. I pulled myself out of the dark place I was at — even when I was constantly surrounded by friends and family — and graduated with honors all by myself. No distractions, no drinking at weird house parties, no family member nagging me.

Now, at 34, I got a good job, a good dog, and a desire to produce visuals. Yes, I’m alone now, but I finally think I’m happy with the direction of my life is heading towards. It feels balanced.

Filed Under: Art, Personal Projects, Ramblings

September 26, 2017 By Phillip Retuta

Experimenting with Lighting.

It’s my goal to always strive for interesting and therefore better work, so I’m trying to teach myself basic lighting techniques. In other words, I decided to step up both my photography and videography skills by playing with light in ways I haven’t done before (you can thank the editors and cinematographers at Corridor). I figured that:

  1. It’d make me a better designer/artist/art director.
  2. I can create better content for both my personal Instagram and Nico’s account.

Naturally, none of this came cheap: I bought an LED panel mount to better light my videos, a reflector, and a barn door with a variety of colored gel filters to try out different cinematic effects in my photography. I even found a good tutorial online that demonstrates where lights should be placed in order to get a particular look. It helped that I Googled “edge light” and how light can bounce off parts of a face or object, though most of the tutorials were subsequently implemented on portraits of my pet.

All in all, I’m very satisfied with the results thus far, and it’s easier to light a subject than I first imagined (it beats editing lights and effects in Photoshop or post-production). If only set up and clean up of the equipment — lights, filters, backdrops, and stands — wasn’t so cumbersome, but that’s just me being goddamned lazy.

Ultimately, it’s my goal to start using these techniques on human portraiture rather than my fucking dog. I still have a hell of a lot to learn, but you can see what I did here:

Filed Under: Art, Design, Nico Doggerton, Personal Projects, Photography, Technology, Videography

September 12, 2017 By Phillip Retuta

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.


I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens with my friend Gino. There was no real reason to go, especially for a $15 admissions fee, but it was a relaxing time for what was otherwise a perfect Saturday.

Filed Under: Friends, New York City, Photography

September 4, 2017 By Phillip Retuta

Liz and Carolina’s Wedding.

Yesterday was the official wedding of my friends, Liz and Carolina. They’ve been together long before I met them in 2011, and I wondered when the hell they were going to get married. And they’ve been through a lot: the launching of their respective art careers, the terrace barbecues at Gino and Monica’s, the sudden loss of Carolina’s son, and even the opening of their very own gallery in Bushwick. Those two were destined to be together through thick and thin.

The wedding itself was ideal: a ceremony outside, a procession accompanied by an a cappella version of The Chemical Brothers’ “Snow,” Carolina’s daughter Acacia singing Bruno Mars during their vows, personalized crystals and artwork to each guest, no seating arrangements (a perk to having to be forced to sit with people you don’t know, and a perk to any couple not worrying about grouping their guests), and a taco buffet catered by Dos Toros — Liz and Carolina’s nuptials was something that I’d only to aspire to imitate. Seriously, there was so much heart and carefree-ness to the entire affair, their wedding was one of the best weddings I’ve been to. It was a fucking party.

And now for the photos:

Congrats Liz and Lina!

Filed Under: Friends, New York City, Ramblings

    Welcome


Born 1983. Art Director, UX/UI and Digital Designer. Illustrator. Dog Owner. Coffee Enthusiast. Pizza Lover.

I love over-thinking the simplest of things and making stuff at every waking moment: comics, food, videos, photos... you name it. This blog is a record of my work, my exploits, and my philosophical, political, and psychological ideologies. So enjoy reading my dumb ideas and inane rants that I'd otherwise be ashamed to verbally speak out in public.

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