The you-are-invited subject line

Received several invites last week to theater shows, new museum exhibits and an awards night. May I say that all of them sounded tempting? If only I had more time, I'd be around all those, but this is wishful thinking.

To make up for my lack of presence virtually anywhere except the office, the house, and some select place, there's the hapless blog that can make one ubiquitous. As if she'd been there.

First up, the Pinto Art Gallery in sweet home Antipolo. My friends and I visited it twice last year, but there's something about its air of mystery and seclusion that can make even art newbies want to return. The gallery reopened yesterday and its invite promised the graces of the likes of Anthony Palomo, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Mark Justiniani and Plet Bolipata.

The map to the Pinto Art Gallery, Silangan Gardens, #1 Sierra Madre St., Grand Heights, Antipolo City.

Then of course my alma mater bias. The Vargas Museum at the University of the Philippines Diliman has a used book sale at its west wing porch until the 9th. Sales shall go to the museum's upkeep and projects. The Vargas is perhaps the art destination with the cheapest rates around. So we're looking at Php20.00 to Php30.00 here, okay? With that coveted UP identification card, entrance is way cheaper than chips.

Some ongoing exhibit at the Vargas, "Doll Eyes" by Joy Mallari. Opening and launch of the children's book by Eline Santos who adapted Mallari's work is on Friday at 4:00pm.

"Doll Eyes is a story of Tin who searches for her missing friend Ella through the busy and treacherous streets of Quiapo. The author, Santos, initially wove the story from the first large-scale painting created by Mallari, and in turn, Mallari again painted another set of works that best expresses Doll Eyes, thus the conversation between literature and the visual arts." --from the Vargas Museum Blog