Dollar redesigned

One of the featured topics on yahoo today is about reinventing the US Dollar. Well, I thought that the dollar was going to get a real major overhaul, but it's actually still a concept/project from a non-government site run by Richard Smith called the Dollar ReDe$ign project. I'm not sure if it has gained enough steam for it to reach Pennsylvania Avenue but it has gained a pretty hefty following. Basically the site lets anybody submit their modern interpretation of the US dollar, and the entry with the most number of online votes cast wins a....limited edition t-shirt? Richard Smith could do better. But it's not as if the stakes are so high, so I guess a cool tshirt will do.

The designs range from fresh and modern, to humorous to downright stupid. And I have some samples here, taken from the site of course...


this is my favorite among the designs. it's clean, fresh streamlined and easy on the eyes. plus the vertical orientation makes it unconventional.


old and new coming together in this design also makes it a standout



BUT this next design has to take the cake for its humor value...



homey, ya betta have my dolla. hahahahaha!

and I have no idea why this next one is even included in the first place...


We have to give props the brains behind this whole scheme. What a way to rouse America from its gritty recession slumber.

Now if the Philippine peso would jump on the bandwagon, that would be interesting...

flimsy

our lives are built on flimsy strands.

i am unsure, stoic, hanging on by a thread with no reason either to hold on and to let go. i am hardly there. i am silent, unobstrusive, and a minute impasse in life's grand construction.

*****
Don't get me wrong, I'm not morose. Just doing something out of character for once. Let's pretend it's just the string talking. lol. i took this shot at the back of our house, which is still under construction. I can't wait for the big move this October - November!

Gooood lumpia

I confess, I'm a lumpia freak. Throw away that bag of potato chips, give me fried lumpia and I'm all good. These tender morsels of finely ground pork (or beef) are wrapped in a thin flour wrapper and deep fried, best served with a thick homemade sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and cornstarch. But bottled sweet and sour sauce will do. Here in Zamboanga, there are a few note worthy food joints that serve really tasty lumpiang shanghai. And out of the blue (and because I just ate lumpia a few hours ago), I decided to name my top 3



1. Lejan's Ice Cream House - they're not really known for their ice cream though. I love their fried lumpia and I think that's what keeps their business alive. Juicy meat-y heaven served with sweet and sour sauce.

2. Aristocrat Luncheonette - I just ate their lumpia over lunch with friends. The taste is similar to the Lejan's variety, but the latter just holds a place at the top.

3. My aunt's homemade variety - The word 'extremely ground' meat is the best way to describe my aunt's lumpia. She makes this for us during fiestas and birthdays and most of the time it's through an order basis. The homemade sauce works best with this one. Plus she adds shredded carrots to the filling!

So what makes a "good lumpia"? Well it's pretty simple. The wrapper shouldn't take up 80% of the lumpia. When you bite into it, you should really taste the well-seasoned meat, not the wrapper. The filling has to make a lasting impression. Lejan's takes the top spot for me because even if I haven't eaten there in a while, I could vividly remember how juicy and tasty the meat filling was. Hence, balancing the natural flavor of the meat with salt, pepper (and other stuff) is key.

forever yearbook-ed

remember my previous post where I poured out my heart and soul about my hopes and dreams for a good yearbook photo yada yada? Pffttt....well....



I have no idea what the hell I was doing in this shot but like my philosophy essays, I still hope for the best! :))

The shots were taken using my camera. I think it's pretty clear that a guy with a sound mind will never ever think of using this for his yearbook shot. It was good that the photographer was cool with us taking photos of ourselves while the shoot was ongoing, as long as we didn't steal his thunder by using the flash.

And I liked the college yearbook shoots way way waaaay more than my high school disaster shoot. There was professional equipment and everything. Thank god there's chance my high school yearbook won't get published, even after 5 years of waiting. haha

Remembering myself

Today I asked myself something I never thought of before: How would I like people to remember me? I asked that because in a philosophical sort of way I would like to reflect on myself and how have I changed in the past four years...AND my yearbook pictorial is tomorrow and I've been spending the better part of the night thinking about what to wear for my "other" shots. So yeah, something good comes out of being vain.

I've been tossing around a few personas in my head, to see where I fit:

A nerd who knows stuff but lacks skills in the socialization department
an indie/eccentric photographer who can't wait to show off his photos
a one time editor-in-chief of the school's newsmagazine
a frustrated chef who vents on binge eating
a boy-next-door who is extremely inept when it comes to mixing and matching (and who turns to his friends to ask what looks good on him)
Jason Mraz meets the guy who knocked up Ellen Page in Juno meets John Mayer sans singing abilities (you get what I mean)....or maybe...

just another face in the crowd, sporting trademark apple earphones listening to whatever pretentious song is next on his play list

But after another failed attempt at matching a suit with a v-neck sweater did I realize one thing: I'm graduating and there's no turning back.

I can't undo the image I made myself in my four years in my school. Neither can I build myself up to be somebody I'm not because 1. there's no time left, 2. I think I'm old enough to know that being pretentious won't get me anywhere.

So what "college image" did I create for myself? More importantly, 10 years from now, how would I like to remember myself in college?

I know I wasn't cool, and I didn't hang out with the cool crowd, nor did I drink and smoke my Saturday nights away, nor did I spend it memorizing every textbook I can find.

But that's not really the point. Will a definite image of myself matter 10 even 20 years from now?

I think it's suffice to say that I really can't fit in a definite clique. It's not because I'm a rogue nor am I trying to be pretentiously "indie". Above any clique, I would remember myself like my blog. Actually come to think of it, the reason I named my blog as such was because I realized that expressing myself give me...what's the word? peace? contentment? a smile?

There's something in being "spontaneous, impromptu, deconstructed, and all the things in between" that appeals to me, not because it's like a shiny toy in can see from afar but it's something inside of me that can't be contained and properly defined.

I'm proud of myself that I didn't really try so hard to make people like me. As with the bulk of my early adolescent mistakes, I made that mistake in high school. But at least college gave me an opportunity to make things right.

So when the time comes for me to open my class of 2011 yearbook, 10 - 20 years from now, who will I see on the page that's supposed to bear my name?

I hope to see myself. No immature clique, no pretensions. Just myself...in all my timeless awesomeness.