A Presentation + A Workshop with Manix Abrera

My August schedule has been heavy in terms of events but September is proving to be equally challenging with my daily deadlines.  I told Ponggo before the month started that for me to be able to tackle this huge task, I’ll give up blogging so I can streamline my tasks.

Well, lo and behold, look who’s still blogging?  I just realized that I always have too many thoughts in my head that I always need to pour it here on my pensieve especially since I want to (a) share a lot of things & (b) remember everything I was thinking of (and laugh at how shallow my problems were someday).

So, how’s the mum-to-be? 😀
(To those who just tuned in, I made a tab for my pregnancy diaries).

Lately, I’ve been doing whatever it is that I can given my finite energy now that I’m pregnant.  By finite, I mean, I don’t know how I used to function before when these days, for me to survive, I have to nap in the middle of the day or if not, I have to go home real early so that the baby & I can rest (and eat, eat, eat).

One thing that I’m really enjoying these days with my big tummy is that everyone’s been so considerate so far.  Haha.  Call it the pregnancy card but I can easily excuse myself from an event or a dinner in exchange for more rest.  I’ve learned how to be kinder to my body.  If I wasn’t pregnant and I said no to someone, I would be up all night feeling guilty that I can’t go to wherever it is that I’m supposed to go.   Or, I’d probably say yes to something even if it will cost me a headache or a cold the next day. 😐

On the other hand, while I was always in slumberland during my first trimester, sleep has been challenging for me these days.  I can’t lie on my tummy for obvious reasons.  I can’t lie on my back because after 3 hours or so, the weight of my belly is going to give me back pains.  I’m allowed to sleep on my right side but in terms of blood circulation, it won’t be optimal.  So, I sleep on my left which is good for the baby’s nutrition & my back. 😀

(You, my friend, have just witnessed how I talk to my friends.  The geekazoid mom-to-be is always excited about new pregnancy facts & trivias.  I’m happy to spew share them with anyone equally curious). 😀

I’ve also been inhaling my food lately.  My tummy feels like a bottomless pit and I’ve been gaining weight at a rapid rate for the past few months.  Don’t worry though, I try to keep it within the range.  Operative word: TRY.  I used to deny the fact that I’m privileged to use the exucse eat for two.  I always say that the baby is not a full-grown human therefore, I’m eating for 1.25 technically or something.  I always consciously tell myself to chew my food slowly.

I must admit I have been talking to my tummy lately.  During my first few months, I read about this whole thing and I just thought it was plain weird.  Now, I feel like I’m someone  talking to an imaginary friend…except that I’m actually talking to a real human–a tiny one at that. 😀

Last but not the last, I also enjoy talking to moms.  Yesterday literally felt like an induction of sorts to the mommy blogging world.  I met Ginger Arboleda, Frances Sales of Topaz Horizon, Martine de Luna of Make It Blissful.   Haha.  This is the team responsible for  the Work At Home Expo by Manila Workshops where Ponggo & I shared our blogging & social media tips.

I was editing a few slides while preparing for our presentation & it reminded me of the process I go through each time I come up with a deck.

This reminded me of how I usually plan on coming up with a presentation that’s filled with so much graphics and photos that I tend to torture myself in the process.

Once I’m done with the content, I pretty much have an idea on what I want the presentation to look like.  Then, find myself obsessing over the color scheme & format. Somewhere in the middle of the process, I end up getting frustrated and blaming myself for setting such unreachable goals and regretting that I’m sacrificing on sleep.  But, at the end of it all, I just go back to psyching myself up until I’m done with the task! Whew!

More cycles here:
My Work Cycle
Cycle of Lateness
How Your Desktop Gets Filled WIth Icons: A Cycle
The Life of Your Favorite Pen

After every workshop or talk, I always feel refreshed & enriched to have been given the opportunity to share my craft.  But lately, I would also see to it that I get to attend other workshops so I can continuously grow as an individual. 🙂

Today, I attended Manix Abrera’s workshop about comic making brought to you by Meganon Comics.  I’m a fan of his KikoMachine Komix and when I’m scrolling on my Facebook feed, I usually end up on his website laughing the afternoon away. *Woops!*  I must say, I was able to achieve my goal today: that is, to contain my excitement and try not to appear like an eerie fan girl.

The name KikoMachine is a play on the ’80’s kids’ show Batibot wherein one of the characters was named “Kiko Matsing”.  During the entire workshop I was nodding & smiling every time he would bring up a point that I totally agree with (probably a total of 20-30 times).   I tried not to speak as I might risk saying something silly.

At the end of the workshop, I was really glad to have been able to have my books signed. I was #148 at the line during the last Komikon I attended and I regretted that I had to go to a dinner somewhere and I can’t stay.

I really appreciated Manix’s anecdotes about his childhood: His dad, Jess Abrera, also a cartoonist responsible for editorial cartoons on Inquirer, has trained him to look for his personal style at an early age.   He said that his dad wasn’t really truly impressed when he went home with a perfectly traced Donald Duck drawing.  His dad also didn’t like it when he would copy his comics & characters.  “Go make your own. This is my style” he was advised.  So, he shared with us that even if we have our personal idols, we should still aspire to be the best version of ourselves.    

(Related Article: Copying Other People’s Style by Pikaland)

He also shared that we should be more observant about the every day little things that are not usually given any attention because that enriches one’s content and so many other insights about making comics.  (I have 9 pages worth of notes in 2 hours! Haha).

Anyway, I really feel inspired to make more comics after the workshop and I hope I won’t jinx myself and my intentions just by declaring it here. Hehe.

Whew!
Congratulations for making it to the end of this blog post. 🙂
‘Til the next one! 🙂

XOXO,

Tipsy ♥

P.S. For more details, visit:
Manix Abrera
Main Website: ManixAbrera.com
Twitter: @manix_abrera
Instagram: @manix_abrera
Website: KikoMachineKomix..com
Facebook: KikoMachine Comics on Facebook

Meganon Comics
MeganonComics.com
Facebook
Twitter

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