the little red camera that could

my youngest sister was once given a small keychain digital camera which she doesn't use anymore.  she was already also given a small videocam that could also take still photos, so the keychain cam remained hardly used in her cabinet.  i remembered it when someone at the lomomanila yahoogroup offered to sell similar cams.  so i asked the sis if her keychain cam still works, and if it does, if i could use it.

since it was her 18th birthday yesterday and she received a lot of cool stuff i think it was a great time to ask her for it. heheh.

so here it is!  the vistaquest vq1005 keychain camera.  i named her pinch.  thanks b!

slide to open and reveal the lens & pop-up viewfinder.  the space between the tip and joint of my index finger rests on the shutter button.

the little button turns the camera on and selects different modes.  the camera has options for picture quality (low, normal, fine), and photo/video mode.  there's also a little lever at the left side that gives you the option to take photos in macro or inifinity.

here are some sample shots:

laptop display. my mom was watching something biology-related.

walking to commonwealth to catch my daily bus to work.

it was still pretty dark.

the girl in front of me in the bus.  across sandiganbayan.

the guy seated across me. 

pavement in ust, by the fountain of wisdom.

i didn't use the tiny viewfinder; just did a lot of shooting from the hip, hehe.  the post-processing i did on the photos was simply the work of the "i'm feeling lucky" button in picasa.  :)

intruder!

arthur found my niece miel's playtent.

thesis it, spider killer

For several days now, I have been writing short journal entries in my notebooks.  I do my morning pages as soon as I get up and sometimes while I’m having my breakfast.  It doesn’t make my metaphors come out of hiding, but it sure is good exercise at reflexivity, which I’ll make use of when I write for my thesis.

The thesis.  Well, here’s good news: I finally have a topic, a working title, and an adviser!  Would you look at that!  Floating for two years and finally in a few months I will be defending my proposal.  In preparation, I’m reading, checking internet posts, and trying to relax when I feel I can’t absorb anything anymore.  Sometimes ige shows me an inspiring design-related link and I feel tempted to drop my books, grab a pen, and just doodle my way out of my misery.  Hee.

This is also the year I am tasked to do a documentary, and edit and possibly do the layout of a manual.   Big enough projects to keep me busy and consume time and precious neurons.  Remind me to save some (time and neurons) for my thesis.

In other news, this is the spider I killed last night:

I had to.  The thought of its presence in my room bothered me.

  

My weapons of choice:  the magical volatile liquid that is isopropyl alcohol, the deadly scent that is Victoria’s Secret So In Love perfume which I use occasionally, and my trusty Fila running shoe (the left one).  Oh, and a piece of crumpled paper I threw at the spider before it scampered nearer to me, nearer to its death.  Bwahahaha.  I made it dizzy first before plakking it to the wall. 

I couldn’t sleep immediately afterwards.  The endorphins and heady smell stayed around for a while.

The next time I see a big spider in my room (yes, I spare the small ones) I’ll go spray it with kerosene and make sure to record it being engulfed by flames.  Then I’ll post the video on Youtube so that other spiders may be warned, and stay away.

Stay away, I say.  I mean it.

pencils

i was brought up to think that pencils, or rather the writing made with pencils, is temporary.  pencil marks can be erased after all.  pencils are given to kids who are learning to write.  prone to making mistakes, they can easily correct with gum-smelling erasers.  pencils are used to make pictures in art class before you apply color, to outline edges before you cut, to define shadows before you paint.  they are used to draft formal themes before you take that ballpoint and do your neat handwriting.  pencilled drafts are a must before you take the tech pen and make your perspectives all over again.  my brother nearly flunked an exam once because he didn't 'finalize' his answers with a pen.  pencils pave the way for the more serious, more final, tools.

i was brought up to think that pencils cannot achieve finality.  that pencils are not impressive, since they are easy to erase.  and chew.

now comes grown-up 'art' and you see pencils again, but this time you unlearn how to use them.  you unlearn how to make temporary, erasable lines, you unlearn that a pencil mark must be covered with something more serious, more final.

and then you decide which tastes better, incense cedar or basswood?