Man, I Am In Aklan!

Yeah I’m having the time of my life here in Aklan. So that explains the hiatus. And I love it. I love being detached from this needy society. Oh We just bought two back issues of Inquirer. I heard that there were outrageous murders in my province.

Will post tons of photos when I get back to Laguna. But for now, hoorah, vacation!

Will keep this short and sweet. I just can’t stand to be qwertying here while this hot boyfriend of mine is right beside me. Toodles!

The Broader Filipino Time at Its Worst

…ironically at its worst.

Before I thought there’s only one thing that defines Filipino time, and that is being late by hours. But I realized it’s more than that. Extending hours, to days, to weeks, and even months make up Filipino time.

Last year, the World Pyro Olympics happened in January. So a lot of people expected this year’s contest to happen in the same month. Unfortunately it happened months after January. It happened on a rainy season. It wouldn’t be much of an issue if the organizers did not announce the official dates to be in April. The dates were posted in their official website so people expected and prepared for the world-class event. However, before March ended the WPO website was shut down, and new dates were posted on Multiply by photo enthusiasts. There was a lot of confusion and disappointment but there was nothing we can do. The show didn’t happen in April; it’s in May, so deal with it.

I joined the Images of Los Banos photo contest minutes before it should have ended. I got into some trouble just to submit my LB photos on time. I was one hour late but my entries were still accepted. This morning a Multiply user said the contest has been extended until May 23. I was pissed. Why, for crying out loud, would the organizers extend the contest? Last April 30 I asked the Informatics desk man whether there have been a lot of entries submitted and she said yes. Do the organizers want more photos? It terribly ticks me off.

Extending to days, weeks and months is for undisciplined people, and for those who are terribly desperate because they don’t “sell” yet. It’s a shame that prominent organizations with a reputation practice this broader Filipino time. And it’s a shame that I feel much bitter about it.

Well, one hour is also tantamount to one day, one week, or one month. At any rate, it’s still Filipino time… broadened.

Her Boyfriend is Gay

She’s a virgin and she never had a tangible boyfriend. She says she’s in a complicated relationship right now because the guy’s in Cebu. She hasn’t seen him in real life. They only text and exchange sweet nothings over Friendster. She doesn’t Google. She doesn’t background-check the guy… who’s gay.

I found the guy in a gay community website. There he is, with his unmanly photos and statements that say “I so like MEN” and “Hook up with me.” I also found him in Multiply. Gender preference? Men. All his photos look gay, the way he troubles her is just so queer. He flaunts himself on the World Wide Web like a female model waiting for hook-ups. And he calls her “babe.”

First things first: does she know that he is gay? If she does, does she care?

I don’t know if I should tell her. I probe hard but will it do any good on our ends? I don’t want to ruin her romantic fantasies, especially now that she has found an outlet for her post-teenage libido.

1. Ask her to come along, open all her boyfriend (who’s gay) pages, leave her on the computer and let her find out?

- I don’t think so. She might have this thought that I’m stalking the guy.

2. Create a bogus account on Friendster and send her links of her boyfriend (who’s gay) pages.

- This might work, but it isn’t like me to go that far. I haven’t created a single bogus account in Friendster in my five years in there. Besides, I cannot think of a clever email address.

3. Ask her out for a coffee then tell her straight.

- She might bitch. I can’t handle fits that well. Especially with coffee.

4. Threaten her boyfriend (who’s gay) to tell her the truth, otherwise, I’ll expose him.

- NO. Not good. Not me.

5. Tell it to her closest friends and have them tell it to her.

- I can’t think of anyone.

6. Hire a hottie queer guy to flirt with her boyfriend (who’s gay), and expose him.

- And just how should I do that? All my gay friends are TAKEN.

7. Leave him and her be.

- Maybe. BUT it concerns me because she’s gone gaga over him. It is not fair.

I think their pseudo-relationship must end. It’s just not right. And who am I? The man-to-woman relationship fairy? No, I’m just someone who’s totally weirded out with the fact that an über-gay gay meets a virgin via SMS and eventually calls her “babe”. And what’s worse is, SHE LOVES HIM!

I think that maybe, just maybe, her boyfriend (who’s gay) just wants to mix and match clothes with her when they finally meet. I think they need mocha frappe with that.

For Lack of Anything Better to Do

I found these knives on my dad’s office table. I guess these were my sister’s, but since she must have put them on the table for me to find, they’re now MINE.

I’m bored. It’s 11PM but I’m still bored. I had the urge to photograph things, but I ended up finding stuff which I forgot we had. The thing is, when I am in the mood to do something creative, and end up with over-thought ideas, I resort to just look for things inside the house to photograph.

Yes, something creative. I found my bag of shells (which I got last year) and I thought of doing something with them. But they’re too beautiful so i just kept them. It took me roughly two hours to think about what to do with the shells. And since thinking did not satisfy my hunger for something decent to do, I took my camera and started my second set of my Lovemaking (stills, metaphors) series.

Anyway, my classmates texted today. I don’t know but by the looks of it, some just wanted to humbly brag about their employment saga (which I don’t really care), and some just simply wanted to hear from the others. Well, I’m not much into post-graduation shit. As a matter of fact, I am off to Aklan next week with Ivan and his mom. I am going to look for a job after the trip. I’m considering a few positions, but I should deliberate. I’m savoring the last days of my freedom as a bum.

I’m still not posting to Multiply.

And I’m still bored.

December 7, 2007

Maybe I have to sleep all day and dream. People in dreams are mostly, unrealistically striking. And they don’t forget dates.

World Pyro Olympic Depression

Has it occurred to you that you felt like you are capable of taking great photos, but when you look at the LCD of your camera, you find nothing but plain images?

I have long waited for World Pyro Olympics 3. One, I got a new camera after last year’s show. Two, I thought I knew what not to do during fireworks shows. Three, I just felt prepared and confident that I can take better shots than last year. I was high-spirited. I was excited.

So I got my spot. Set-up my boyfriend’s tripod, did several shots and waited for the first country to launch its sparkling set of fireworks. My first few shots were not really good:

I used shutter speed priority because it varies depending on the luminosity of the fireworks — it can be utterly tricky. At F8 (that’s the maximum F-stop my plain camera has), and varying shutter speeds, I got horrendous shots. Preset-landscape is my last resort since I was so challenged to do what pros do: manual mode. But China’s show has ended and I got no good shots. I was also disappointed with China. The show didn’t have much impact. As one photographer buddy puts it, the lightnings did the show.

Since there was an hour and a half interval before the next contender started, I analyzed what went wrong. My spot, which was in 10:00 position from the barge was too close. The smoke and ashes brought by the fireworks were very much evident. So I went down from the usual viewing area, notwithstanding the limited view from there.

When Germany started its show, I fixed my shutter speed to 1.5-2 seconds, with maximum F-stop (F8):

The shots were improving compared to my first set. However they are not what I have expected. So to take more decent shots, I resorted to preset-landscape. It’s against my principle, but the fireworks show happened so fast and I didn’t have much time. Sometime between Germany’s show, an old man carried his apo and made her stand in front of my camera. She blocked my camera angle, which made me shout: “putarages, hindi n’yo ba nakikita?!” My mood was ruined and so were my shots. I was able to get back on my toes when the tallest set of fireworks were launched. During the last few minutes of the show, I just decided to turn off my camera, put my ankle on the tripod and just enjoy the show with naked eyes. It was so liberating.

But after the show, I asked myself what just happened. I couldn’t decide whether I took good shots or not. But I enjoyed the rest of the MOA moments with Ivan’s family.

It was after I uploaded my shots to Papitikpitik that I realized that none of them were good. I couldn’t help but look at other photographers’ WPO3 uploads. It made me all the more frustrated. So after 12 hours, I deleted my Multiply post.

I don’t understand. Last year I just used a point-and-shoot camera and the shots were great. The album got lots of comments and remarks from different photographers, and they couldn’t believe that I only used an Olympus C-370 Zoom. I was also pleased with the outcomes, which did not undergo any post-processing:

Isn’t it perplexing? I too can’t believe my shots this year do not work. I couldn’t look at my S3IS after comparing my WPO2 and WPO3 shots. Ivan told me to just make-up for the tragic shots, but having read what settings most photographers used makes me all the more depressed. My camera cannot do that…

It was a bad night for my photography… just when I thought I was equipped.

My C-370 named Kakidoodle is now dead, but her shots will remain a great contribution to my photography. As for my S3IS, I don’t know. I can’t explain. But it was tragic. The shots were tragic.

So this is a world-class depression for a world-class show.

PMS’d

People think that rapid change of women’s mood is just PMS. Nope, it isn’t just PMS, it IS PMS: hormones acting strangely, moods changing suddenly, appetite loss, dizziness, nausea… every woman must have had experienced one of these. And it is not good.

PMS hurts a lot on my end. I only got out of my room twice this day. I have been totally attached to my Vaio, which is why I have been in bed all day. I don’t know what pains me. I can’t even figure out whether it’s physical or emotional. It’s not weird. This comes once a month and lasts for a week. And my rants on being a woman start now.

I tinkered with my emotions by watching South Park episodes online and P.S. I Love You afterwards. I laughed hard then cried hard after. I even had to cry it out to my sister and mother. For them it’s weird because I don’t really cry in front of anyone, but I did and it’s all because of a brutal romance flick. I just wanted to determine what sort of emotion should I be dealing with… or should I say, feeling.

Crying hard was okay. It made me feel okay. Thanks to Gerard Butler, Ireland, and his alleged letters in the film. Now, I’m in the mood to watch Good Luck Chuck, which i haven’t finished downloading in my desktop.

So, PMS. It’s normal for women. We have this sort of unspoken understanding when we undergo the syndrome. It’s kind of, like, pheromones, except that it’s all in the brain and its connections. Some people think it’s just a flimsy excuse to bitch around and switch moods so quickly. And some would loosely say “ay magkaka-regla lang yan!” Then laugh. Since when is emotional and physical instability funny?

Right now I feel hungry but my mouth doesn’t want another taste. I feel sleepy but I don’t want to sleep. I feel dizzy. I wish Ivan is here.

So what about PMS, again?