mad solid

finally.  the end of mercury retrograde.  

not that i'm blaming astrology for all the month's effery.

well, pwede rin.

cut!

my hair: even if i want to sport a more impressive length, my scalp says no, and warns me by letting go of oh, a handful a week.  i know i've reached my length limit when hair fall happens.  time to snip.

and by snipping i mean an extreme amount of hair, rather than just a trim.

ige was joking (was he?) about me sporting a short, gel-ible style and he having the long hair which makes him look like russell brand.  i can't, i said.  i have a big round face; i'll look too butch!

the change may also do me some good to disguise me from the bad luck that's been hovering around me this month (like my beloved rats getting sick and dying).  folkloric, yes?  hmm.  anyway, the haircut would also go well with the other changes that's been going on: in work, my studies, and who knows, perhaps even in doing projects and my photography!  i've been terribly bland photo-wise; i need something to perk me up--definitely not a new camera (hahaha) but a new idea, just--something.

(sigh.)

i'm going for some coffee.  i'm currently into 7-eleven's mocha cappuccino and croley foods' ensaymada-flavored butter cream crackers.  [little bits of consumer happiness for the burnt-out office girl with a dream bigger than all of the world's pimples combined!]

what i do to vienna sausage

this post is inspired by ige's lunch today ("may baon ako byena soseyg").  :)

i like vienna sausage, but i don't eat them straight out of the can.  they look too pale, too "raw" for me, and so i do a couple of things to them before they move in to my stomach.  kinda defeats the purpose of its being 'ready-to-eat', huh? oh well.  good luck to me when i have to eat them "raw" during an emergency!

so what do i do to vienna sausage?


A - The American (or so i think, obviously stereotyping)

i put all the sausages in the toaster and heat them up until the skin is almost brown, and almost crunchy.  i turn them over every once in a while to prevent the skin from sticking to the toaster tray, and for an 'even' brown.  (not that it matters.)  while they're toasting, i get a tall tumbler and pour in some coke.  then i hunt for some potato chips (preferably classic lay's--mmm!).  when the sausages are done i put them on a small plate and, munching chips between sausages, i watch a movie.  i would probably die in a few years if i did this often.


B - The Pinoi (just because i think i'm not the only one who does this in this part of the world)

as with The American, i heat up the sausages in the toaster until they're brown.  while they're tanning, i prepare around 3-4 pieces of pan de sal (or "tasty" bread) and grab some mayonnaise.  when the sausages are gorgeously done, i put them in a bowl and mash them with a fork.  sometimes i put the pan de sal in the toaster to warm while i mix in mayo with the sausage.  then i fill the pan de sal with the mayo-y, sausage-y goodness.  great with coke or coffee.  or iced tea.  and some kundiman in the background, yo.


C - The Simple, Pero Rock (i'm staying away from stereotypes now)

open the can and put 'em in the pan.  fry until satisfied, and you're done!  oldskool, greasy and good--eat with bread or rice (or both).  i think i must try this with beer.  ;)


i enjoy them all, but my favorite would be The Pinoi.  how about you, do you like vienna sausage too?  (wow, that rhymed!)

2am story

last night i slept early (9pm).  i was tired.  i set my alarm (4:30am), checked to see how darcy was doing (on his side, asleep), and slumbered peacefully until a CRASH! woke me up.

it didn't sound like paper.  or books.  or a water bottle.  or my bag, which would have sounded like a THUD.  it was a CRASH, the sort of sound you'd hear when something heavy and resonant falls to the floor, from a height.

it could only be one thing.

("oh shit.")

i jumped out of bed and grazed my hand on my desk in the dark.  what should have been there wasn't.

("shit, shit, shit.")

i ran to turn on the light.

and it was there, on the floor: my week-old laptop, bottom up.  a few inches away was the wooden book stand i use as laptop platform.

also there was one of my cats, the one who likes to sneak into my room through my window.  spassky jumped from my desk, sensing perhaps that he'd done something wrong because i was making all these fast movements and glaring at him.  i made him go out the window again with a spanking on his butt and a "no spassky! bad!".  i finally locked the window flap shut with a twist wire. 

i went over to darcy's box and checked him.  he was asleep (but in a different position).  relief.  good thing the cats haven't discovered that i now keep my lone rat in my room, and that i let him walk around freely while he's sick.

next, i took the laptop and shook it a bit, listening for anything loose inside.  didn't hear anything.  then i put the laptop back on my desk and hurriedly checked for anything broken.  pushed the power button on and wished so hard it was okay (warranty terms were already floating around my head, particularly the "seven days replacement" thing, then i remembered it's been more than a week since i bought it, and i didn't want to go through the hassle of having it repaired, bla bla bla).  the screen granted me my wish; the machine started up fine.  i found the memory card slot cover on the floor and put it back in.  the cd drive popped out normally-- i'll have to check if the reader-burner functions work though.  that was all my sleep-muddled mind was able to command my body to do at two in the morning.

satisfied that my rat was safe in bed and that my laptop showed no signs of brain damage, i went back to sleep.

Ako at si Jollibee

Naisipan kong gumawa ng isang tribute post para sa isa sa pinakamamahal kong kaibigan.  Nakwento kasi ng nanay ko na tuwang-tuwa 'yung mga pinsan kong Stateside noong unang nakakita ng Jollibee branch sa Pinas.  Ang laki raw kasi, di tulad nu'ng sa New York, na ga-booth lang ata.  Hehehe.

 Mahal namin si Jollibee.  Kung pwede lang taon-taon doon magbertdey ang pamangkin ko.

 Nagpapahalik siya.

 Yakap niya ang lahat.

Mahal kita, Jollibee.

I will always be your girl.

The Kodak Roll Mystery

When my scanned film photos arrived, I was excited to see how my Banaue shots turned out.  I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Photos from eight years ago.  Not mine.

They were photos of ige's family, including his grandparents--who have since left their earthly lives behind.

I was confused and bewildered.  I immediately asked ige if he remembers giving me a film roll.  He doesn't.

*dun dun dun dunnn*
 

First, let me go back to the circumstances surrounding the film.

I had in my possession a Kodak Max 400 film with its film lead (the part sticking out of the film) already inside the canister.  It's been with me for such a long time I don't even remember where I bought it.  I believe I was supposed to use it on a different camera before, then changed my mind, rewinding the film back into the canister.  I turned the rewind knob a little too much and ended up with the film lead stuck inside the canister.

This May when I was about to go on a trip to Banaue, I decided to use the film.  I had a photo lab pull the film out (I was too lazy to make my own film puller), and put the film in my LC-A.  Then I snapped away, taking pictures not only of the rice terraces but of family and friends as well.

When I finally had five exposed rolls (five being the maximum number of film rolls that can be scanned and burned to a cd), I took them to Digiprint, and waited.  I was excited because the films have been sitting undeveloped on my bedside table for two months--this is the kind of waiting that digital junkies will never understand.  Haha.

The cd containing the scanned photos was delivered to my doorstep three days later.  I immediately opened the package, borrowed my mom's laptop (mine's already zonked out of service), and popped the cd in.  I looked for the Banaue folder, clicked on the first photo, and saw this.

Ah, the view from my window in Banaue.  So nice.  And look, a frame lightleak/ frame burn!  

What's next, I thought.

Well, this came after:

 

 That's ige's grandfather Lolo Jim.  He died in 2005.

 Can you see the outline of the upside-down mountain?

 I also brought the camera on a swimming trip (if you look at the upper portion closely you'll see a poolside).

The double exposure, clearly.

So what happened here?

Obviously, I exposed an already-exposed film that resulted in double exposures.  My exposures didn't affect the pre-exposed film enough to completely wipe out the first exposure because it was brighter than my (dark) exposures.

The film lead was in the canister not because I thought I'd over-rewound it; it was in the canister because it was already exposed.  How long it's been in my film box, I have no idea.

How did ige's film get into my stash in the first place?  He says he must have given it to me, and must have forgotten to tell me to have it developed with the rest of my rolls.

But how come I don't remember?  I don't remember receiving any film roll from him, fresh or otherwise. 
And, even if he did forget to tell me, how come I don't remember asking him what is was, if he needs it to be developed, what do I do with it, etc.?

Neither of us remembers.  Weird.

Wanna know a bit more?  The day before I got the cd was Lolo Jim's death anniversary.

pens, pens, pens (and notebooks too)!

Fountain Pen Network-Philippines' Anniversary Penmeet last July 9 at Amici, Ayala Triangle Gardens.

I won notebooks and a blue Cross ink during the raffle!  :D

little girl using a fountain pen--how cute!

prizes galore!

the unofficial mascots

eilu doodling

beng & butch dalisay  :)
 

 all photos taken with my Canonet.  :)

friends on film

as promised, film photos of my friends' bridal dinners!

clear shot of my left toes.

 obligatory pre-wedding ugly pic.

 this is why we're fat

took the centering of the poster seriously.

all photos taken with a lomo lc-a and fuji superia 400 film.

the renegade lock

hi. the lock of my hair i'm holding isn't supposed to be that short.  the damn stylist who cut my bangs for a side sweep (this was in june) got too eager and snipped too much.  he clearly wasn't paying attention to how my hair falls around my head, and for that i am never going back to their salon again.

speaking of hair--i'm getting bored. again.

in other news, i'm finally getting my film rolls from may up to july developed.  i find it sad that digiprint branches are dwindling (i always avail of their film-to-cd-and-deliver service), and i was surprised to receive a call from one of their staff who said they were willing to pick up my rolls. :) haven't heard from them today, though, so i guess i'm off to the next nearest branch.  i'm still shooting film, don't worry  :)


will post long-overdue film photos soon.

bridal dinners!

two of my closest friends are getting married a month apart.  dash, who waited with me for our dads to drive us home on p.e. fridays back in our freshman year in high school,  is having her wedding this saturday.  mich, dash, susa, and i had a bridal shower/pre-wedding dinner last friday.  we weren't really into hiring gyrating males anyway.  :P

onay, whom i've always admired as the mature one in our group of twelve-year-olds (aside from her being the one who got her menses first, heheh), will be married on the tenth of september.  cha, who will be getting married herself next year, set up a bridal shower (minus the gyrating males too) at her house last saturday.

 best wishes cake from cha to the soon-to-be bride and mommy!

 i brought my spaceship fuji instax mini along.  it was a hit! :) 

 tinette, onay, laurie, and marvin.  marvin's a friend of cha and onay since high school.  look at our food!

angel's pizza (spicy tuna and cheeseburger), kfc chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and brownies.  fairview quickie takeouts for the win! :D

 mini cupcake toast!

 i think pink lipstick looks good on me.  :P (lol at my "juma-japan" pose)

 cute mini cupcakes!

 we watched the time machine and said a lot of mean things about it (ha ha ha).  i did share that the only thing i liked about it was jeremy irons.

 our little group of carmelians fourteen years after graduation from grade school. he he he.  tight as ever!

thanks to cha for the photos!