Drawing is a valuable exercise for graphic designers. It is a sacred time to unwind and step out of the face-frying rays of the computer monitor. There is something about holding a pencil and experiencing the effect of each stroke on the paper. We are also advised to treat paper with reckless abandon, to not be afraid of making lousy drawings, to capture something as it is, to watch the world and draw it blissfully and imperfectly. This way we not only learn to draw, we also learn to see.

Booni is an excellent subject even if he’s all white and fluffy like a cloud.

I turned twenty seven a couple of days ago and I spent half a week quite lost about the things I want. I buried my face in books trying to look for answers, I tried to write my dreams down and ended up falling asleep. Then, it suddenly occurred to me to try drawing for a change. I spent one whole rainy afternoon drawing my biggest desires and the activity left me feeling good and hopeful. I found myself on a very exciting journey.

That’s me in all my girly glory.

One of my greatest desires is to go to Egypt and be in the presence of the pyramids and all the fantastic Egyptian art and architecture. I want to see a falling star, to go to the United States and attend the HOW Design Conference 2010, to see New York and Texas, for Passionistta to take me places, to grow my garden of love, friendship, knowledge, gratitude and um.. savings! I carry a big bag filled with love, with beloved Booni the rabbit always with me on my life journey. But for now, I just want to start and embrace with my art since it’s what I truly love. And to be a proud and responsible Filipino or Noypi, of course.

Drawing what I want keeps my visions clear with strong determination to get them. And in the words of Deepak Chopra: Release the list of desires to creation, remain willing to accept something better. In putting my desires on paper, it’s like I am drawing the fulfillment of each closer to me. It is like setting the wheels in motion. In every line, in every exerted effort, I am starting to receive the things I seek. And most importantly, I start by genuinely doing and giving.

Little wants are fun to draw too.

So what’s not to love about drawing, right? To top it off, I get to improve my drawing skills (even just a little). Do you have a visual journal? Share some drawings if you do, or if not, it’s time to make one, my friend!

My visual journal is a Moleskine Volant Extra Small Notebook. Read about my other adventures with pretty Moleskine notebooks here.

Social networking has become part of our routines. It is a very effective way to communicate with people and even find those who you haven’t seen for ages. We have Friendster, Myspace, Multiply and Facebook (at least they are the leading the industry). My beloved sister likes to update her profile and torments me by making me her photographer so she can update her pictures. Hahaha. It’s funny how we’ve become addicted to these sites. I’ve had my share of logging excessive hours just trying to catch up with everybody. But which of them is the best?

Personally, I’m not a fan of Friendster because it’s too cluttered for me. I don’t like how it’s so easy to clutter it with booming music and backgrounds/images that make the text hard to read. Myspace is not pretty for me. And while Multiply has fantastic functions, again, same with Friendster, it’s just not friendly to my eyes. I guess, it all depends on your taste, and the setup you’re comfortable in. For some, it’s where their most friends are at.

Facebook is the ultimate winner for me. I love the fact that it is very clean-looking. The functions are marvelous and I’m floored by how easy it is to share and communicate with the updates carefully shown and logged. There are no random music that almost gives you a heart attack if you’re not aware. No clutter of cutesy, tacky things. I like the privacy, too. I wish it stays looking professional while making it fun for the users.

And just as we have these sites, our famous pet rabbit, Booni has Bunspace. Bunspace has come a long way in improving their features and making it as a community that is very much alive. They have photo contests, you can give virtual carrots and gifts to other bunnies. There are blogs, forums and simply everything buntastic. It is as if our pet bunnies have finally found their voice and started showing us what their world is all about.

In the end, I’m just glad we are finding new ways to communicate. It seem we are magnetized here in the dork side. But if dorky makes us smile and dorky helps improve our relationship with others, then so be it. :)

I have this one picture that will hopefully make you giggle as it did with many bunny owners over at Bunspace. On Monday, Booni won the “Bunnies acting like humans” contest. My family was thrilled and Booni is now more spoiled than ever.

Because I’m one of the boys!

Booni was still tiny here and he wanted to play with my nephews but it was past their bedtime. So I guess he just joined the slumber party. You can just imagine how we giggled and laughed but tried hard to not wake these boys up and ruin their perfect sleeping position. I hope you liked it. :)

Where do you and your pets socialize?