I didn't realize that I was neglecting my blogging duties already. It's supposed to be the holidays and since we're all in the mood, I'm going to write holiday themed posts from now until the end of the festivities.
What better way to remember Christmas than with music? My proverbial LSS's would be songs from my mom's CDs. It has a really nice R&B version of "Hark The Herald", so it's too bad I can't post the song/singer profile right now since I don't know where the CD is and my mom's fast asleep right now. Next would have to be..*shudder* Mariah Carey's version of "All I want for Christmas". I'm not really a Mariah fan but my mom constantly plays the song (it's her favorite) that I sort of always remember it now. It's the holidays right? So I think it's not a crime to admit that Mariah is your LSS.
This year I'm glad there are some really great Christmas songs from Glee + Coldplay. These songs are practically the hallmark of my holidays because they're really good....so I guess this is the part where I count them off:
and this non-Glee song is probably my favorite since I love Coldplay and the song struck a nerve:
edit: AND!!! I just discovered this literally a few minutes ago! I didn't know the Coke commercial's theme song was sung by Train! It's pretty good! (I can't say amazing since I just heard it once, so it'll take time for it to grow on me)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
gadget reveal
Riding home after buying my new phone yesterday, I thought about how similar my two gadgets are and because I'm my own psychologist and philosopher, I had my lightbulb moment.
I own a Panasonic Lumix GF1, a crazy little camera called a Micro Four-Thirds. Don't ask me what that means because I was so crazy for the camera that I never really bothered wondering what it was before buying it. OK, I'm joking. But the point is that this baby packs a sensor and capabilities that can rival a DSLR. In most respects I think it's really like a DSLR sans the bulk (and a mirror according to my readings). I love this camera to death because it's unobtrusive, easy to carry around, and most of the time, the pictures are stellar. I just wish I had optical zoom though, since its kit lens doesn't zoom and it doesn't have optical image stabilizer.
Two days ago I couldn't turn my old phone on, even after charging it for a few hours already. Since this isn't the first time my phone failed me, my mom and I decided to buy a new (albeit cheap) one. So after considering the big bulky ones with the QWERTY keypad and even a touchscreen (BUT I don't care for touchscreen phones though), I decided to get this....
This may look like your run-of-the-mill Nokia, but this new release actually has a touch screen AND the basic candy bar tactile keypad. I can access my facebook and twitter easily since this already has WIFI. It also sports 3G, Maps and Ovi (not that I understand what this is). And it's light weight, sleek and it doesn't scream for attention. I guess I can have the best of both worlds with this!
Anyway, given my taste for these particular gadgets, I sort of arrived at some conclusions about myself:
1. I like to keep a low profile (not that I didn't know this already)
2. Given plenty of options to buy a DSLR and a smart phone with a touch screen and Android ready, I guess I'm really not the person who likes takes drastic changes really well and I prefer being on the fence about some things.
3. I like to compromise
4. I like to keep things simple, easy, and most of the time fool-proof.
5. This isn't really a description but I think the phrase "So near yet so Far"/ "Almost there" still applies. Does this mean I'm half-baked? I hope not.
Some of these things I already know, some I'm not sure if I'm going to take seriously. Either way I'm having fun with both my camera and phone so I'm not complaining!
I own a Panasonic Lumix GF1, a crazy little camera called a Micro Four-Thirds. Don't ask me what that means because I was so crazy for the camera that I never really bothered wondering what it was before buying it. OK, I'm joking. But the point is that this baby packs a sensor and capabilities that can rival a DSLR. In most respects I think it's really like a DSLR sans the bulk (and a mirror according to my readings). I love this camera to death because it's unobtrusive, easy to carry around, and most of the time, the pictures are stellar. I just wish I had optical zoom though, since its kit lens doesn't zoom and it doesn't have optical image stabilizer.
Two days ago I couldn't turn my old phone on, even after charging it for a few hours already. Since this isn't the first time my phone failed me, my mom and I decided to buy a new (albeit cheap) one. So after considering the big bulky ones with the QWERTY keypad and even a touchscreen (BUT I don't care for touchscreen phones though), I decided to get this....
This may look like your run-of-the-mill Nokia, but this new release actually has a touch screen AND the basic candy bar tactile keypad. I can access my facebook and twitter easily since this already has WIFI. It also sports 3G, Maps and Ovi (not that I understand what this is). And it's light weight, sleek and it doesn't scream for attention. I guess I can have the best of both worlds with this!
Anyway, given my taste for these particular gadgets, I sort of arrived at some conclusions about myself:
1. I like to keep a low profile (not that I didn't know this already)
2. Given plenty of options to buy a DSLR and a smart phone with a touch screen and Android ready, I guess I'm really not the person who likes takes drastic changes really well and I prefer being on the fence about some things.
3. I like to compromise
4. I like to keep things simple, easy, and most of the time fool-proof.
5. This isn't really a description but I think the phrase "So near yet so Far"/ "Almost there" still applies. Does this mean I'm half-baked? I hope not.
Some of these things I already know, some I'm not sure if I'm going to take seriously. Either way I'm having fun with both my camera and phone so I'm not complaining!
Monday, December 06, 2010
my fiesta in photos
It's really not about the golden week of peace I get to have every year for the past eight years.
I really don't care much for the torch lighting
...And I hate the parades when I have to participate (I leave when I get the chance)
It's probably about the support every one needs during an event or a riveting game...but, this isn't what it's absolutely about
Maybe it's because my friends are part of the bigger picture this time around....
But then again....no, that's still not it.
Maybe it's the fact that you're part of the victory
And in one of your grandest moments, shines not just a silver but overwhelming satisfaction
The lights make everything shine brighter during this time of the year
And once in a blue moon, magic happens
Friends? Victories? Lights? Pretty much part and parcel...yet not quite there.
Now THIS...
this right here, is what my Ateneo Fiesta is all about.
From this is plate comes the real magic...morsel after tender, salty, sour morsel.
photos taken using my camera and from Jam's facebook, with my thanks
I really don't care much for the torch lighting
...And I hate the parades when I have to participate (I leave when I get the chance)
It's probably about the support every one needs during an event or a riveting game...but, this isn't what it's absolutely about
Maybe it's because my friends are part of the bigger picture this time around....
But then again....no, that's still not it.
Maybe it's the fact that you're part of the victory
And in one of your grandest moments, shines not just a silver but overwhelming satisfaction
The lights make everything shine brighter during this time of the year
And once in a blue moon, magic happens
Friends? Victories? Lights? Pretty much part and parcel...yet not quite there.
Now THIS...
this right here, is what my Ateneo Fiesta is all about.
From this is plate comes the real magic...morsel after tender, salty, sour morsel.
photos taken using my camera and from Jam's facebook, with my thanks
Thursday, December 02, 2010
The Silver has a Story
I currently have two silver medals under my belt. Both of which came from the Ateneo Fiesta Quiz Bowl. Both of them have their own stories, but I'd like to tell the story of the second silver, which I won a few hours ago.
I prayed to God to give me a gold this year. Since I've been joining the QB for three years now, it only seems logical for the gold to go to my team. But the gold has been elusive from Nursing's clutches for quite some time now. I felt it, with ever fiber of my being, that today's the day my team of three would win the gold. Yes, it's a feeling, and the feeling was strong.
But screw the feeling when my team got there.
It was not, in all aspects, an easy feat. First of, we started out shaky during the easy round, fumbling over questions that really didn't belong in the easy round. Like, one of our answers said "Camarines Sur, Region 2" (Q: Where is Mt. Bulusan?) - to that effect.
When the top three teams were announced, My team and with two others (High school and Education), placed third...So the judges subjected us to a cruel "sudden death" Tie - Breaker round.
It wasn't sudden death, since the questions kept on going and going. Almost all the time, all of us either got it right or wrong! But lo and behold, High school was eliminated first, which left us and Educ.
And on and on went the "sudden death" questions, until the Lit round, where they asked us about Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The question was about which sphere has men-in-arms supporting Christianity or something like that. We answered Mars, Educ answered Jupiter. We got it right, so we advanced!!!! and it felt so good - the adrenaline rush coupled with people cheering us on. That was our shining moment right there. We made it just by the skins of our teeth. We were kick-ass.
So The Big Three: Accountancy, CSIT and Nursing made it to the difficult round. I told my teammates that we thrived on difficult questions, and we didn't disappoint.
CSIT, the leading team during the easy round, was eliminated early on, so they automatically get third. Which left Nursing and Accountancy vying for the gold.
Yeah, another fight to the "Sudden Death". And the questions kept on coming I couldn't even remember some of them (answers ranged from Albino, Hyme, Charter 77 etc...), until we reached English.
The question asked the case of "We" in the sentence "We blah blah blah". Thanks to my MS Word assumption, I answered "Sentence Case" (you know, upper case, lower case, sentence case? LOL!!!), when the correct answer was "Nominative case" and Accountancy got it right so they won.
I admit I felt defeated after that, but I had the whole day to realize that it's not every day that you get to survive two sudden death rounds in a quiz bowl. And it's not every day that you knew the answers to questions you never thought you knew. We didn't get the gold, but the experience was priceless. I couldn't have asked for a better time with an amazing team to win a silver medal. And it's still shiny right?
Looking back, I may not have given Nursing a gold, but I think I proved to myself that we can put up a good fight, and if there's a chance to go down fighting, then let's take that chance. I'm proud of myself and my team. We had a moment during that quizbowl that made me feel that we were definitely kick-ass. And I'll look back at that crazy moment to remind myself that we did accomplish something amazing. And you can't place a medal on that. So I admit...Miley Cyrus was right.
I prayed to God to give me a gold this year. Since I've been joining the QB for three years now, it only seems logical for the gold to go to my team. But the gold has been elusive from Nursing's clutches for quite some time now. I felt it, with ever fiber of my being, that today's the day my team of three would win the gold. Yes, it's a feeling, and the feeling was strong.
But screw the feeling when my team got there.
It was not, in all aspects, an easy feat. First of, we started out shaky during the easy round, fumbling over questions that really didn't belong in the easy round. Like, one of our answers said "Camarines Sur, Region 2" (Q: Where is Mt. Bulusan?) - to that effect.
When the top three teams were announced, My team and with two others (High school and Education), placed third...So the judges subjected us to a cruel "sudden death" Tie - Breaker round.
It wasn't sudden death, since the questions kept on going and going. Almost all the time, all of us either got it right or wrong! But lo and behold, High school was eliminated first, which left us and Educ.
And on and on went the "sudden death" questions, until the Lit round, where they asked us about Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The question was about which sphere has men-in-arms supporting Christianity or something like that. We answered Mars, Educ answered Jupiter. We got it right, so we advanced!!!! and it felt so good - the adrenaline rush coupled with people cheering us on. That was our shining moment right there. We made it just by the skins of our teeth. We were kick-ass.
So The Big Three: Accountancy, CSIT and Nursing made it to the difficult round. I told my teammates that we thrived on difficult questions, and we didn't disappoint.
CSIT, the leading team during the easy round, was eliminated early on, so they automatically get third. Which left Nursing and Accountancy vying for the gold.
Yeah, another fight to the "Sudden Death". And the questions kept on coming I couldn't even remember some of them (answers ranged from Albino, Hyme, Charter 77 etc...), until we reached English.
The question asked the case of "We" in the sentence "We blah blah blah". Thanks to my MS Word assumption, I answered "Sentence Case" (you know, upper case, lower case, sentence case? LOL!!!), when the correct answer was "Nominative case" and Accountancy got it right so they won.
I admit I felt defeated after that, but I had the whole day to realize that it's not every day that you get to survive two sudden death rounds in a quiz bowl. And it's not every day that you knew the answers to questions you never thought you knew. We didn't get the gold, but the experience was priceless. I couldn't have asked for a better time with an amazing team to win a silver medal. And it's still shiny right?
Looking back, I may not have given Nursing a gold, but I think I proved to myself that we can put up a good fight, and if there's a chance to go down fighting, then let's take that chance. I'm proud of myself and my team. We had a moment during that quizbowl that made me feel that we were definitely kick-ass. And I'll look back at that crazy moment to remind myself that we did accomplish something amazing. And you can't place a medal on that. So I admit...Miley Cyrus was right.
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