Going wiredless

Despite saving this post as a draft since October 8 until I could think of something appropriate to say about the links below, I still can't think of much to say at this very moment, so here goes:

Some Tech-Gen Youth Go Offline

I never really liked MySpace much more due to the fact of people's outright superficiality as displayed on their profiles as well as the unsavoury ads which flaunt their disgusting sinfulness all over your screen. The young people mentioned in the links above make good points in their respective stories. I admit to have a Facebook account and funnily enough, it's composed of mostly people I don't talk to all that often but whom I'm still friendly with. A few folks there I do talk to on more occasions than not, but like I said, the majority is otherwise. I'm only allowing a Facebook account because it's still allows for more privacy and closer connections than MySpace but I say that very loosely.

Ah, the Warmth of Human Contact

It's quite silly, and I think rather pathetic, how some people would resort to online chatting over a "irl" conversation when confronting personal issues with certain people. I will openly admit I know how uncomfortable it is to speak to someone in person, as heck, I'm most definitely one of those people, but I do know how liberating it is when you can actually speak to people about problems. For me, I see it as trying to improve ones self, to overcome ones personal obstruction to take the courage to face someone in person and say what needs to be said instead of hiding behind a monitor, pecking away. I'm not perfect; I don't express myself well in person. I do try, though, and that's what matters. If people think that it's probably just easy for me, they're too narrow-minded for their own good. Sure, we're weak as human beings, but that excuse shouldn't be allowed to live any further when the first step out of such a mindset is to overcome ones own pride. People like to have strength in character and be known for it; well, they'd better live up to it.

Enough steam. Do read those links.
(And, yeah, I know what I said about the "much to say" earlier).

Re:

I have over 20 drafts for this blog. Some of them are pretty full posts that I just never got round to posting because I never finalised them. Perhaps they were meant to serve as mental steam relievers so that I could wash away excess worries without boring other people to death.

Anyway, aside from that, I don't usually respond to comments outside the comment window, but I wanted to do something different this evening. /shrug.

"You wouldn't have believed what I suffered in striving to get this photo."

I sense a story behind this...

I'd like to thank "Tasik" for being so kind as to either ignoring my error or subtly correcting it by not quoting my post word-for-word (and I've edited it, for the sake of my silly dignity). If you don't know what I'm talking about, please continue to not know and do not pursue to know why.

The story isn't all that great, but it is a silly tale at my expense. For over a year, I've passed that very traffic light on my way home from off-base excursions. In the first few times that I've come across the light combination of two green arrows with a red light, I was understandably confused. Since coming across it again several times afterwards, I began to actually like the peculiarity. It didn't really cause much harm, even to the overly confused motorist- at least, I haven't heard of anything bad that was caused by that traffic light. Well, I'm sure it didn't cause any or much physical harm but for me, it might've caused some mental disturbances. Months after my inital encounter with the strange traffic light, I vowed to get a picture of it.

It wasn't an easy drive-by shooting (heh). On some days I forgot my camera, or I didn't get it ready on time, or I did get it ready to shoot but I overlooked a preparatory step, or I did get it ready and set to shoot with all preparatory steps taken into consideration but because the light's frequency caused it to appear blinking in the (digital) camera display, I ended up with a photo of a seemingly "dead" light. I took those trips to daily Mass as an opportunity to photograph everyday sights, but most importantly, that strange traffic light. Mom could tell you how weird I got when it came to passing it. "Ah ha! I'm gonna get it this time!" or "Crap- oops, uh, we were driving too fast." She'd offered to drive slowly so I could capture during opportune moments and I even made mental notes of the exact times at which it lit the arrows and red. Eventually, I figured to do a long shot during a bright day so I could use a fast shutter speed. Duh- about time the clockwork got ticking. With a few shots, I finally got the picture I wanted with a story to tell.

I need a holiday.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

I know, another video and only a few words from myself, but this video (like all the videos that I allow to grace my blog with) really has something to say.



I want to be an e-car enthusiast.



P.S. Thoughts are stirring at the moment; that means a possible non-video, non-picture post is promising.

Make up your mind

From Okinawa Scenes

I've always chuckled at this light- but you wouldn't believed what I suffered in striving to get this photo.

What happens when you keep going

A lot of people have been awed by this video and I say that they aren't wrong to be so. I love the "organic" flow of the spray paints and markers. The artists in the video even made it obvious. Having an unending flow of ideas continue on a single board and recording it via camcorder as the only means of revealing what was beneath the newly applied art quite interests me. Quite a lot of black and white paint, though. Another fascinating concept- making various expressions with extreme tones. It appeared that the artists had some sort of guide though, a sketch perhaps. I was hoping the piece would be fully created without a preliminary aid but maybe that's asking a bit much. I still like the outcome.

I love visual art- yes, the author is one of the many who do, one of the many who try their hand at it. When it comes to visually assessing pieces, the author goes a bit crazy- sprouting ideas on the works and looking for others to join in. And even if no one cares to waste their time giving their bit, the author sprouts on joyfully anyway.

New web album

Getting away from my excess verbiage is a good idea. I've emitted enough for the time being. So until something worthy of blogging plops down into my head, let's indulge on visuals, shall we? After browsing around for a good place to have an organised web album, I've finally put my Gmail account and Picasa to good use in order to share some images that I've captured. Got started with four albums. Enjoy.

Okinawa Scenes

The Window

Art Photography

Sporadic Inspiration and Miscellaneous Untitleds

Plug it in, plug it in

When you start to use commericial phrases as post titles, then you know it's time for a break from blogging. But I already knew that and I have been preventing myself from posting yet another pathetic post after two days of binge posting.

I just wanted to let interested persons know that I updated my travel blog. However, by the time you read this, there will actually be more updates for you to update yourself with so, please, do compose yourselves.

Heh. After reading the posts in the other blog, you might suspect that I had been binge posting elsewhere. I can assure you that I wasn't indulging for the sake of just posting merely anything- wait, what am I doing; I don't need to explain myself.

What do you do when you have the house all to yourself but no car at your disposal and you have no idea when anyone else is going to come home? What can you do when you're home alone that you can't do when you aren't? I already sang out loud; played guitar too. I can't go anywhere on this boring base; you need a car to venture off anything American. I'd call or talk to friends but my number of such is nil in person and I don't know if an unexpected call would be appreciated. Frankly, the computer does not always interest me whenever I have free time, which proves that I have no social dependency on a mere piece of machinery. I could take a walk but I don't want to go outside and be in public today- there's nowhere interesting to walk. I already watched a movie (X-Men III: The Last Stand) and was rather unsatisfied, not to mention disappointed in it- all visual excitement, nothing worth noting for the mind. I've also already talked to myself numerous times throughout the day, so that's been done as well.

Today's the day for blah posting, blah existence; nonetheless, it's still a blessing to have a stable, boring life for the time being.

The doodle bug.

Got bitten this evening. Threw a few ideas on paper so I thought to share it with you. I'm prematurely enthused about a few ideas that are only hinted by the drawings here, so...that's been keeping me preoccupied lately. Having the antsy-artsy syndrome.



Insight: I'm not usually political (politics, although important to some degree, bore me to death), but I like to try my hand at expressing reflections of world affairs through my eyes with art- this is rare. Possibly more stuff to come. And yes, I know how to spell "graffiti."

Conceptual fan art

I never really liked the sound of "fan art," but I honestly couldn't think of anything else to call what this stuff already is. Click on the links for a more comprehensible look at the lyrics.

Nails In My Feet

Four Seasons In One Day

-200th post, amazing at how much blabber I need to emit to ease myself of my self-

It's just another typic Thursday

It always comes before Friday. Just an ordinary Thursday of the 26th week in Ordinary Time. But now and then I think about why I blog, what I blog for, to whom am I addressing these posts, etc. So, I write this for no particular reason but still for, though not limited to, the reasons following:

Therapy. Firstly, I write for myself. I come back to my own blog because I need to read what's going on in my own head without being preoccupied with those very occupations that are written in this blog. I find myself on the pc doing various tasks and I need to distract my already distracted self, so I might as well read something on the pc. I also never seem to have the right words to say in person and I never sound well-spoken; therefore, I'm never understood to be the person I am, just the person I faintly seem to be. Being one of the many self-proclaimed, expressively-challenged people in existence, I need an outlet.

Secondly, I write to update friends. It's usually easier for some of them to just read a post instead of me writing customised letters to each and everyone of them. Plus, the ones that do know me know how well I write personal letters (cue wry grin) and to write to no one but everyone is just easier for all of us.

Thirdly, I write to myself, to others, or to both myself and others. I sometimes intentionally write grammatical errors for a reason because I'm not gifted enough to express myself grammatically correct (I don't mean to say that I place myself amongst the great writers who also intentionally defy the laws of grammar).

Fourthly, I don't blog to solely entertain. Boring, exciting, funny, lame, profound, pathetic; what you read is what you get. If I gain readers, nice. If I keep them because they are compassionate, wonderful; I don't relate that often to others. If I lose readers, who the heck cares. No one looked forward to my starting a blog in the first place. I don't intend to become a world-famous blogger in the future since I cannot fathom how enthralling my story-telling could be to the millions. I prefer to stay low and be myself anyway.

I blog when I feel like it; sometimes in excess and sometimes during moments when I really need to. I blog because my critically creative eyes like the layouts on which the words are exposed. I blog because when the damn world doesn't have time to listen, then I might as well spill the thoughts out onto something which won't suffer my stress-induced handwriting-turned-chicken scratch (i.e. I save handwritten journaling for special cases).

Hm, this should've probably been a first post or something- oh well. And if this sounds like a long, winding post- oh well.

Into temptation

It's such a blessing to have daily Mass available to you...daily. I've been tempted to be a spiritual sloth, feeling like I don't want to make it to Mass today, feeling like I don't want to wait for my mom to finish talking to the others afterwards, feeling like I don't want to feel tired when I get home in 2 hours, feeling like I'd rather stay in the house and research places for me to live, feeling like I just want to go back to sleep, feeling like I wish I was going to Mass on a campus with friends and returning to class or going out to a cafe.

But then something prompts me to get dressed to go. Sometimes it's a few minutes right before Mom announces her departure. I bite down my annoyance at this tugging feeling to hurry. It's pathetic really, even hypocritical, for me to be annoyed at having to go to Mass. Yes, "having" instead of "choosing." But I can choose to stay home, so why do I go?

I always rush to grab my CD player and music. I need it in the car. It's like a pacifier. If I don't have something to calm my agitated soul, I might get even more annoyed at someone else in the slightest. But by the time we reach the parking lot, walk through the doors, and into the small side-room the base chapel calls the Adoration Chapel (it's the only Catholic real estate we have on this particular base that doesn't have rotating chambers to hide the statues of St. Joseph and Mother Mary as well as flippable Stations of the Cross, should we offend our other-denominational brothers and sisters), I'm relieved. I'm left to wonder what would happen to me if I didn't make it today.

I wouldn't say I did much to make it to daily Mass. Something's always prompting me to go and I always feel terrible at having this feeling of not wanting to attend. Regardless, I end up being glad that I made it. I probably have my guardian angel to thank for that (so, thanks, guardian angel, and happy post-feast day).

On a positive note

I've been looking forward to morning breakfasts lately- not usual. This is because there is a huge container of cholesterol-removing oatmeal and enough antioxident cocoa waiting for me. Mix and boil the two in water, sweeten the whole thing to taste, and you get some yummy stuff.

In other news

I lost 1/2 of my job today. Well, I really had two jobs in one but now I'm down to the main one again so my pay is suffering. Well, no, it's me who is suffering. I'm needing to pay for school and save up (for a possible transfer) so I guess I might have to increase my hours- and pray for a raise sometime before next year. Oh, and fyi, I didn't lose it on account of my charmingly mischievous tendencies...

That somehow doesn't sound right, no matter how innocently I mean it. Freaking stupid, corrupt world.

FYI:

The piece I'd mentioned previously is certainly an exercise I seem to find comfort in. I also found it enjoyable to make visual the specific phrases or words (especially from songs) that caught my attention at the moment. So, I thought to give a bit of insight on the piece by naming the songs (and band which performed them) and pointing out their respective lyrics since I know not everyone listens to the Finns or knows who they are. I intend to not rob the Finns of the credit due to them. By that I imply that each song was written by one or the other brother who were in both bands:

"Four seasons in one day"- (Four Seasons in One Day, Crowded House)

"Disobeying my own decisions/ I deserve all your suspicions/ First it's 'yes' and then it's 'no' I/ dilly-dally down to duo"- (Stuff and Nonsense, Split Enz)

"Somewhere deep inside, something's got a hold on you/ And it's pushing me aside/ See it stretch on forever"- (Better Be Home Soon, Crowded House)

"Tell me all the things you'd change/ I don't pretend to know.../ When you come 'round and spend my talk.../I (am) not afraid of the dark.../ When your seven worlds collide.../Dust from a distant sun.../ Still so young to travel so far.../ Wise enough to carry the scars..."- (Distant Sun, Crowded House) You can tell how attention deficit I am here, cutting off lines before they were complete, but then again I wrote the words as I heard them.

The rest were of my own thoughts that surfaced.

And I capped it off with one last bit,
"The bathroom mirror makes you look tall"- (Not the Girl You Think You Are, Crowded House)

You really (really, really) need to listen to the music and read the lyrics. I considered posting whole verses that appeal to me but I never got round to it; maybe later. The lyrics I wrote down don't do justice to the verses that I love. And if I had to answer one of those "Fav. Music/Bands" questions from those confounded surveys, I'd definitely include Crowded House, Split Enz, and all things Finn.

Woe is me

For some reason, either Blogger or Photobucket is being unkind to me. My header was adorned with my "Fretboard Rd." piece but now I can't see it anymore. It's so naked up there. Perhaps it'll return in a while, here's hoping.

For your visual reference, here's the photo I did of my guitar three years ago, in all its thumbnail-sized glory:


EDIT: Okay, okay...it's back now.