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We asked Jay Lozada to design the cover of our new book of short stories.

First he took a paper bag. Because he knows that we often wish we could wear a paper bag over our head.

Then he added text.

Then he added the full title, and our glasses so readers would know it’s us.

Design by Jay Lozada, Photography by Jo Ann Bitagcol.

The Stories So Far, new short stories by Jessica Zafra, will be out in November on our online store.

After we walked out of The Lone Ranger (It wasn’t as bad as we thought, but as far as we could tell it had no reason to exist), we wandered around the National Bookstore flagship in Glorietta 2. Beside the Illy Cafe on the ground floor is an Umbra store-within-store. Umbra is a Canadian houseware brand (Umbro is an English sportswear label) specializing in slightly whimsical items like the whiteboard globe above.

You can write reminders to yourself on the globe (It comes with an erasable marker) and feel like the ruler of the planet.

We also spotted some ring holders, which we need to dissuade the cats from playing football with our rings. The ring holders come in assorted animal shapes: these are the cat and the octopus.

Voila, our rings have been organized.

Memosphere whiteboard globe, Php1,000; Cat and Octopus ring holders, Php500 each at Umbra in National Bookstore Glorietta 2.

Teapots. All photos by JZ.

Erika Koch Arroyo’s solo exhibit opened yesterday, 12 May, at the Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo.

Thingummy

Art, Function and Fantasy from Fired Earth features ceramic art pieces such as teapots, masks and bowls. Whimsical and provocative, they seem to be taunting the viewer: “We have personality, do you?”

Mug

Suddenly matching china seems unspeakably boring. Why should all your plates, cups and saucers be of the same design? Are the people at your table clones of each other?

Masks

Erika, a cat person, also makes jewelry. We’re looking forward to the rings and earrings especially. Love the idea of wearing fired earth.

Noel bought this teapot that looks like a candelabrum. Those are cups.

The exhibit runs until 2 June 2013. Here’s a map to Pinto Art Museum.

Make it a day trip. See Erika’s exhibit, wander through the gardens, look at the art in the galleries (A restorative for your eyes after months of hideous campaign posters), have a drink at Siraulo cafe. You need a break.

Not many notebooks call for an impression of Edina Monsoon. This one, found by Ryan a.k.a. Our Embassy in England, does.

It’s a Lacroix!

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The New Yorker/Penguin postcards we ordered in bulk have arrived at National Bookstore in Rockwell. If you ordered postcards, please post your full name in Comments (It won’t be published) so we can tell Customer Service that you’re picking up your share. Each box costs Php895. You can claim your orders any time till June 6.

The latest in the Project: EDSA series of murals is now taking shape on the Rockwell EDSA wall between Buendia (Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue) and Estrella, Makati. When finished, it will cover 1,000 square meters of wall.

Designed by the creative team of TBWA, “Lungs” is being painted with Boysen KNOxOUT. KNOxOUT is a revolutionary air-cleaning paint that turns toxic air pollutants into a harmless residue that washes out in rain. Making “Lungs” a massive air purifier.

You can see the murals in the KNOxOUT Project: EDSA series on the San Lorenzo Wall between Ayala and Pasay Road, Makati (by Jose Tence Ruiz); the pylons and parapets of the MRT on Ortigas, Pasig (by B+C); the Aurora Cubao underpass, Quezon City (by Tapio Snellman); and under the southbound flyover on Tramo, Pasay (by Erika Tan).

“Lungs” and the Boysen KNOxOUT project have nothing to do with the wall paintings under the Buendia flyover, which are being undertaken by a another company. It’s nice to see different groups taking an interest in the highway, but with vast areas of EDSA in need of attention, they need not squeeze into the same intersection.

We cannot resist postcard series—we get so attached we end up not using them. While prowling around our neighborhood bookstore we spotted these boxes of postcards: 100 Penguin book covers and 100 New Yorker covers from the 1920s to the present.

Available at National Bookstores, Php899 for a box of 100.

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Update: The postcard boxes are sold out. Sorry to have whetted your postcard lust. If you absolutely must have them we can put in an order through National, but we’ll have to buy 12 boxes (Should be easy enough, our friend wants 3).

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Update: We’ve ordered the postcards for UVDust (1 NYer), RonTab (1 NYer) and HumanPonyNotPetra (1 NYer, 1 Penguin) and our covetous friend. They should be here in 3-4 weeks; we’ll alert you. Sorry, we’re not taking any more orders.