Day 195, Oct 20, 2011

New Photography Mag:

Yup, its the latest in Digital Photography (Philippines), and as usual, I bring it with me for those lull moments in between lectures. That way, I get to read something while awaiting my turn to talk. At times, I even bring the mag with me to read in Starbucks while enjoying either some Coffee Latte or Mint tea - whichever my mood feels like doing.

Rather than take it up front or from the top, I tried taking it from the side - trying to maximize the mag's coverage, while getting some angular perspective. Actually, I tried up front, side, top... even a 45 degree angle - and this one seemed the best of the batch - showing the mag in a rather dynamic... almost artistic manner. The Starbucks mug with water is just there to break the background monotony.

Day 194, Oct 19, 2011

Corridor:

The place looks deserted - but lighted. No this is not the evening - but it would be difficult to tel since there are no windows here. Not surprising, as these are the inner corridors of the workplace - the doors on the right lead to the offices - complete with cubicles, phones and yes... windows. You can also observe the large pictures by the wall.

The glass wall to the immediate right is the training room's wall and beyond it, a corridor with lockers, maintenance room, rest rooms and exit area to the elevators.

How many times have I walked these corridors? I don't know... not having bothered to count. After all, it remained a non-essential, so I just walk it, period. Whether its to just go to the pantry, the rest room, go for the elevator, or simply just walk it to relieve myself of boredom and at times, even to stay awake, I walk the corridor.

At times, I look at the pictures with a 'learned' eye -  thinking how the picture was taken, considering its angle, lighting... things like that. On some occasion, I stop at a picture (though not in this floor - as there are similarly posted pictures in other floors) and admire it... thinking of duplicating the shot should I even get the chance, and sometimes even, I wish I had taken that self same shot... admiring the photographer's work - or the photo's subject.

Day 193, Oct 18, 2011

PM class frustrations:

The room is small for the number of participants - the computers add to the tightness, and lets not forget the heat emitted by the monitors. We've hardly any room to walk around... welcome to training we conduct (in this case, Fiel and I) these days.

This isn't the first time such a situation has happened - and yet, for whatever reason, we seem to be experiencing the same frustrations week in and week out. We (all my colleagues) go to solution mode... meaning we find ways and means to work around these frustrations - but lately we've been doing this with great frequency that I think we need not be called facilitators, and rather be dubbed as trouble-shooters. And to think that we'll have to feel like sardines for four days.

Patience don't fail me now.

Day 192, Oct 17, 2011

Bulletin Board:

When I think about it, I've always seen these things in school (as early as Grade School actually - up to College days) and in offices - at least, the offices that needed a venue to keep people updated. Its basically a tool to communicate with their members, community, colleagues.

So if an organization is relatively small, maybe the bulletin board isn't that much a needed tool for communication and reaching out, as such organizations would use the huddle or status meetings as venue for the news and other tidbits that usually find themselves posted in these boards.

I've always taken these things for granted - for the most part, ignoring them in school... after all, what do they have to tell me? Then again, it may be that I was never really the intended audience - so the contents and layout were not attractive to me. In college, I even rarely helped the organizations I joined to update these things; though there was this computer-related drawing I did once to help promote the organization once.

These days, I look at the bulletin boards of the floors in Accenture - it gives me ideas on what's going on. Activities done, certain announcements, reminders - and yes, even policies. For the most part, i just give them a passing glance - but when I'm really bored while waiting for my time to lecture, I scan these items. Find out what's happening in the community, maybe even trawl for ideas I can use in my talks and lectures. Thus I find myself enjoying them more these days - just don't expect me to organize the contents.

Day 191, Oct 16, 2011

Grasshopper:

This picture was taken with my zoom lens - as we were visiting Daddy in the hospital, I spied this grasshopper hanging on the light diffuser within the hospital's corridors - specifically, by the door leading to daddy's room.

Never mind how it got here (we were on the 5th floor, so it either flew up and into the floor, or it crawled up - then decided to fly and cling to the diffuser), this was an opportunity to take a picture of this insect. I tried to compensate for the florescent light's brightness, to capture the grasshopper's details. Shadowy parts were less than expected - which is good, and I used my camera's flash to somehow counter the back-light effects (which would have resulted in a silhouette) and hopefully balance the grasshopper's look. I was simply glad to get a picture... and upon review of this particular shot, I was elated to realize that the grasshopper was (seemingly?) looking at me; and its eyes were relatively captured in the picture. Cool huh?

Day 190, Oct 15, 2011

New Stash:

Nowadays, Saturdays happen to be new comics day for me - which normally means I try to make sure I go to Greenhills in the afternoon, because this is the usual time the new batch of comic books arrive in the Filbars store.

This week happens to present a few exciting choices - the X-men titles are surprisingly good these days, SHIELD's latest title came out too - always a welcome surprise... though this one did not have any eureka or OMG moment, it still was great to read.

The Thor was slightly humorous and interesting, with the Silver Surfer turning human (at least in form... not sure yet about powers), Batgirl is great to read on its 2nd issue, and I really like Amazing Spider-man, in fact anime style aside, the cover has to be one of the better covers that has come out. I really hope they'd come out with a poster about this - one preferably done by a very great artist. FF is - as usual, a wonderful issue. I'm curious as to where its going, but I'm not worried about its direction... and if teasers are any indication, it looks like the Fantastic Four will be reformed (meaning the Human Torch will return). Then there's the kinda okay issues like Avengers and Batman and Robin... though the latter is better than the former.

Day 189, Oct 14, 2011

3rd Alternative:

This is the newly released book by Steven Covey (of 7 Habits fame), and when I saw this in National Bookstore, I just had to get it. I mean, I was really curious as to what new ideas Steven would share in this tome - and even if I had another book I was still in the middle of reading, I had to momentarily drop that book in favor of reading this one.

So how is it so far? Too early to tell, of course, but he reinforces some ideas that I practice in Coaching - and I was really amazed that we had a lot of ideas in said coaching that were apparently lifted from Covey's ideas. In hindsight, I guess I shouldn't be surprised... and after all, it is Covey - so what better source to get the ideas from, right?

As for new ideas, its surprisingly not really that new... but Covey presents it in a unique manner - and he even creates a model for it. I guess that's what makes him a best selling author.

Day 188, Oct 13, 2011

Analysis FGD:

At the insistence of my two colleagues - Fiel and Gina (okay... more Fiel actually), I had to join this special session to discuss the new 5-day Application Analysis course. Aside from Fiel and Gina, we can see Ariel, and not in the picture - but definitely part of this discussion are myself (I am holding the camera), Lovern and Kiko.

So why are we doing this? Consistency of how we will handle the topics, speaking points and other essentials. We did this in an upper room assigned to PhoenixOne, and I was literally still sweating here - luckily, I brought a towel to wipe my sweat (having learned from last Sunday's experience).

Day 187, Oct 12, 2011

Dad's Birthday:

I was feeling better - though not well enough, to stay and attend my dad's 74th birthday celebration. I decided to just fetch Bryce and Barbie - and we just showed up before the rest of the guests arrived for dinner.

Unfortunately, as I said, I was not yet 100% recovered, and that includes checking my camera - and focus, before and after a shot. I just took this then closed the camera - confident in its auto focus capability. Unfortunately, as I belatedly learned, it wasn't in auto-focus mode... hence the blurry shot... and honestly, it looked rather clear in the small viewer. Ah well... lesson learned - not to take settings for granted. Next birthday...

Day 186, Oct 11, 2011

Reading materials while recovering from the Flu:

You read right... I'm sick and I think it was because I sweated a lot while exposed to a lot of strong wind in last Sunday's fun fun that wasn't. That said, I really should take better care of myself, as I have not had a decent rest in a long time. Weekends would find me doing one thing or another (usually driving), and weekdays - like yesterday, I was teaching/training until I could not hack it anymore.

I literally had to go to the clinic yesterday and rest for almost half the day. Today... I'm bed-ridden, though not totally down I can't post this (though it can be a struggle to think what to say). That said, these are two arcs that I have not reread in a long time. The Iron Man and Doc Doom clash in Camelot - when it first appeared, was a great read... and to think I stumbled upon it by accident, plus the fact that I was not really an Iron Man collector back then - but great stories will do that for me. I even remember letting Ricky (old high school friend - and we were in college when this came out) read the comic. See, he had stopped collecting around this time - and prides himself with his Iron Man collection. Well, after reading it, he was sorely tempted to get back into collecting Iron Man.

As for the Guardians of the Galaxy, I also got to follow them in their debut... and later, with the Defenders, as I was collecting Defenders back then. You see, I wanted to start with certain titles that I felt were not too far off in their issue numbering... or ones that offered me a nice jumping on point. I had done it with the All New, All Different X-men, and I was likewise collecting Defenders for the same thing. Guardians was a nice concept... but somehow, it did not continue. Ah well... back to resting... and reading... and taking my medicine.

Day 185, Oct 10, 2011

More comics!

Yes, I got these onver the weekend too - albeit, separate from the previous batch I showed. These were from my Greenhills pull list, as the sales people there are starting to remember me and do set aside certain titles for my consideration. This time, its more DC related titles - with a lot of them being part of the Newly revamped DCU.

So which titles did I fancy? Well there's Voodoo - although this Voodoo happens ot be entirely different from the one in the WildCATS days of Image... very different - and I'm still on the fence about whether to pursue this or not. I mean, aside from the gratuitous sexy poses, the story has yet to convince me this is worth continuing. Flash looks promising - and the way his costume comes out is a different take on the old jumping from the ring thing. This seems better - but I wonder if Barry Allen will ever realize that this world is not his original one - but a different one. Will he once again pursue the change to how things really were? Aquaman was great! Then again - the creative team is the reason. Geoff and Ethan - whew... Red Hood was interesting too (with more gratuitous sexy scenes care of Starfire), and Chaykin's Avengers of the 50's is interesting... and worth looking further into. So there.. the rest? Well, as I can't recall, they're relatively negligible, I guess.

Day 184, Oct 09, 2011

Avon Fun Run:

No, I did not participate... I was just a curious witness to the program. You see, Bryce and his batch were assigned to report at the Mall of Asia area to do a fun run - a PE requirement it seemed.

So I woke up real early (around 4AM) to make sure Bryce got to MOA by 5:30 (sheesh...). Well, when I finally dropped Bryce off, I thought - why not take a few pictures while I'm at it. After all, its rare that I get up that early.

Unfortunately, as the time went by... the program started rather late, and the fun run wasn't happening (or it happened while we were still on our way - who knows? ), so I ended up nto taking any pictures of running students... and instead just focused a few shots on the program hosts and emcees - in this case, Rhian Ramos. I could have gotten closer, but I was already perspiring... and decided to go home. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling too well, so opted to rest at home.

Day 183, Oct 08, 2011

Comics for the Week:

Yup, this happens to be my stash for the week. Nowadays, I find myself getting my collection more form the Greenhills branch of Filbars - I mean, I still go to the Greenbelt branch, but the convenience of the Greenhills branch is - hands down - a whole lot easier to go to. Specially since I frequent Greenhills almost every weekend.

That said, my titles for this week did come from Greenbelt - and are more Marvel oriented - with just one DC title among the batch (just coincidence, mind you... the luck of scheduling. Which title do I recommend? For starters, FF... a constant exemplary story and art combination, then there's Captain America and Bucky - a nice nostalgic romp into WWII - this featuring how Bucky got the respect of Namor (no small feat). Then there's Avengers Academy - great story, great characterization - just felt a bit rushed. They should have made this a giant sized issue.

New Guardians was a curiosity... and at the end of the issue, I'm still wondering where this is headed... so I can't really comment on it yet. Secret Avengers is a disappointment - the sooner they dish out team stories here the better... ironically, this was a team story - yet it did not feel that way. New Avengers was a waste of a milestone issue. Bendis sucks at writing; and Neal Adams... yes, the great Neal Adams does a guest stint - but his art seems uninspired... or is it Tom Palmer who's not up to par? Whatever the reason, this issue fails to reignite the magic of Adams' older works. A wasted opportunity.

Day 182, Oct 07, 2011

PADD:

This is the class I've been conducting since Wednesday with Jinkee - its all about PADDs which means Packaged Application Detailed Design, and covers a whole range of topics meant for the developer to understand the importance of having solid designs to work with.

The room happens to be in Cyber3, and the desks are obviously of an older thought process - an attempt to hide the monitors inside the desks to have more table-top space. Unfortunately, these table tops are slightly angled, so one can't really use this table top type as a table, since anything placed on top - unless made of sticky material, will simply roll off to the bottom. Another flaw? The monitors lack ventilation, which means they would get hot under the glass. Oh well... it was worth a try, I'd guess. Besides... I'm glad we were moved to a larger room - as opposed to the original location that would pack around 25 of us in a room built for half that size. Counting blessings.

Day 181, Oct 06, 2011

iPod:

This I got as a Christmas gift for Barbie roughly around two years ago... so why bother taking the picture now? Simple... the man who envisioned - and gave us this device... plus the other Apple devices like the iPhone, iMac, Macbook Air and iPad - the company's co-founder, Steve Jobs, passed away today.

The internet is abuzz with Tweets of Steve, and Facebook has not been spared any Jobs-related links or quotes or pictures. Heck, even I contributed to such. This is the world saying goodbye to Steve - saying thanks for what he has done.

He has, after all, touched many other people's lives - not just with the above-mentioned devices, but with Pixar as well... and through it, sophisticated animation movies. He even introduced the use of a mouse in computing... and changing of fonts. To say that the landscape of the IT industry, the telecommunications industry and... the entertainment (film and  music) industry would not be the same without Steve will not be an exaggeration.

A friend text-ed me that Jobs influence can be compared to that of the Beatles way back when - I'd say his influence surpasses that. After all... the Beatles may have been influential - but their focus was just on the music industry. Steve's happens to be in at least three; four if you separate music and movies.

Thank you Steve... for making our lives more enjoyable with gadgets that are both cool to look at - and cool to use.

Day 180, Oct 05, 2011

My usual apparel:

Yeah, this is what I normally do with my spare time - take pictures of me to be posted in this Project 365... at least, once in a month. And this is my usual work outfit... barong shirt for top and slacks - not the rugged kind, unless its a Friday... then I can wear a less formal attire for a smart casual look (jeans, collared shirt, etc...)

I opted to use the window's natural lighting with hardly any room lights on - and besides, even if there were some room lights, they'd still be overpowered by the glare of the outside. I could have opted to use flash too... but I wanted the shadow to add dimension to my visage.

The room I'm standing in happens to be empty - hence my capability to pose without imposing on others. I naturally used the camera's timer option to set things up - then go to my designated spot to have my picture taken. Yeah... consider this to be my October picture.

Day 179, Oct 04, 2011

Simple Elegance:

The Figaro cup - taken on a clear table... with nary a background, aside from the dull white walls and just a hint of the cup's reflection on the table's surface, and I would have to admit that the picture's simplicity leads to its elegance.

I mean, lets face it... this could be an endorsement - and the plain and simple look makes the focus become the cup... not the background (as it hardly stands out), thus giving the cup one's undivided attention. Advertisement, anyone? After all, most professional pictures I've seen show hardly any background.

If you want more information about the cup - yes its a 16 oz cup (more like a mug, huh?) full (or at least, filled) with coffee... and it - that is, the cup, happens to be the main focus. Taking this kind of picture is practice for trying to take elegant shots.

Day 178, Oct 03, 2011

Light:

I was curious... this after looking straight up and catching a glimpse of the design patterns of the light's housing - after all, I wanted to see if this could be captured while the light was on.

So I grabbed my camera, leaned back on a table, focused, and took the shot - okay... several shots actually, as I experimented with combinations of focus and aperture.

Needless to say, maybe after the 7th shot - and after trial and error, I finally got the picture I was relatively satisfied with... relatively, since I was just able to get a glimpse of the pattern  - and not a full blown clear version (at least, not with the lights on, anyway). Oh well... if you look close enough, you'll notice all the holes of the ceiling. I tried tweaking the picture post-shot... but later decided, never mind. This little exercise helped me become familiar (once again) with how to use my camera's manual settings.

Day 177, Oct 02, 2011

Naira:

This picture was a welcome surprise... I naturally took pictures of people in the evening's Bacardi night - and since this extended to past midnight, this picture can honestly fit into the next day.

That said, this is a picture of the evening's Birthday celebrant... Naira... or Nai, for short. I took her photo as she was trying on Fiel's Chinese Jacket - and coincidence of coincidences, notice how the wall decor behind her seemed to look like a bun from her hair? When I first saw the picture, even I was fooled into thinking it was a bun, thus completing the Chinese matriarch look.

Nia found the picture funny - and so did others who saw it in Facebool - at least, those who know Naira quite well. Mon said it was a character shot... and I have to agree with this. Nai, will normally not be in this kind of shot - with those kind of clothes... so this can be considered a rare shot indeed.

The background, he clothing... even how Nai looks - and yes, that artificial bun on the background - all these add up to Naira's 'Mano Po' picture. Mano Po was (and maybe, still is... assuming another sequel is planned) a series of Chinese ancestral inspired Filipino movies - usually shown in a local film festival during December. So yeah... here's to our celebrator, and her Chinese-looking picture... Cheers Nai!

Day 176, Oct 01, 2011

Bacardi Night - 3rd Year Anniversary!

This evening was a night of get together, catching up, 'kwentohan', and celebration. We all (well... most of us who were free this evening) got together at Naira's place, to celebrate her birthday (which would officially happen on the 2nd) and naturally, share some Bacardi... and yes, we've actually been doing this for three years now. Imagine that.

This picture may show a Kool Aid looking drink, but let me say that this pitcher has a potent Bacardi mix - and it won;t be noticeable, since the Bacardi is clear - and the carbonated water (or the 7-up we later used in place of the carbonated water) was likewise clear as well, no one would be able to see the Bacardi mixed with the water - in fact, the red color is due to the Grenadine we added - both for flavor and the rich red color.

This evening's bar tender was Jingo, and he was more into mixing the drinks fast (and by request from some of the night's participants, strong), thus we did not use the mint that Marie supplied that evening - this despite the hardship of finding the mint. Hopefully, Gina will have some success in planting and letting the mint sprig she got grow for our future Bacardi nights. So who was present? Well I already mentioned Jingo, Naira and Marie... aside from them (and me, of course), Fiel was there... so was Mon, Brian and Gina. Alain and Alex joined us later. We would have wanted others to show up... after all, the more the merrier.

Ah well... there will be other Bacardi nights within this year. Marie's birthday is coming up... then we've the traditional Christmas get together... and who knows? We might even turn Gina's 50th into a Bacardi night as well.

Day 175, Sept 30, 2011

View from above:

I took this from the 18th floor of the CG2 - wanting to see a different perspective of what I normally see on a day to day basis.

I could see how small the cars and people were... and not meaning to sound a bit like a megalomaniac, but the people looked like ants; reminding me of a line once mentioned in a Marvel comic where people were compared to ants - I think it was Galactus or was it one of his heralds (not the Surfer) that said such a line.

From their vantage point, it does look like they have a pont - and what would normally sound like an insult now seems to be just a matter of fact. Amazing writing, huh? and to think - I was using my zoom lens here (albeit, in its farthest point, meaning I was not using the zoom feature at all).

Day 174, Sept 29, 2011

Leaders' Window (again):

Not that I'm complaining, mind you... but it seems that the past few weeks have been seeing a pattern with the kinds of training I conduct. It seems that I would either be in PADD with Jinkee - or Leader's Window with Alain.

So naturally, this class belongs ot the latter - and yes, I'm conducting this with Alain.

But what makes this a bit different, is the act that Lalaine (3rd from left and a former I/ACT employee - though not under my group) happens to be a participant. So I got to have very limited conversations with her, as I was conducting the course - come to think of it, this is the second or third training of mine that she attended - even if they are few and far between.

That said, it was your typical day 1 of the LW... and I did not show everything about the Leader's Window (more to come tomorrow) as Day 1 is more for leading individuals.

Day 173, Sept 28, 2011

Fountain:

This is the fountain (a relatively new addition this school year) at the front of the O.B. Montessori campus in Greenhills, and I've wondered at times, why they added this up front. I had a hunch it was for cooling possibilities - specially to help weather those hot Summer days.

Then again, that does not consider the fact that the fountain has many varied lights... and I doubt its for Dengue combating purposes. Maybe its just to add aesthetics to an otherwise droll front (which I suspect might be the case too).

Whatever the reason, I found one viable good purpose for the fountain... it serves as a likable distraction to anyone - specially those students needing to wait for their cars, or  for the guardians/parents/yayas awaiting for their charges/children to get out.

Such was the case I found myself in. And rather than getting restless with the wait time, I found myself observing... and later, taking pictures of the fountain. So what would otherwise be a stark raving loony of an impatient person, got reduced to a rather appreciative observer - and heck... have camera, will shoot.

Day 172, Sept 27, 2011

Storm's aftermath:

This scene  of fallen trees at the Campus One parking lot, was eerily duplicated in may parts of the Metro - both during, and after the storm passed us by (and to think that it did not even hit Metro Manila directly!)

Yup. This was one of the many reasons why it was a bit hard to travel yesterday. Trees were uprooted - or (as in this case) snapped from their trunk by the fierce winds of the storm. I brought with me a gold umbrella - but opted not to open it, for fear it would break.

Well, today was clean up time, and many of these trees had to be cut down to more manageable sizes to be properly disposed of. Too bad - after all, these trees do offer shade (at the very least). I wish there was a way to prevent such damage... but nature's capriciousness can't be contained - and we just have to move on.

Day 171, Sept 26, 2011

Stormy weather:

This is the day we woke up to a stormy weather - strong enough to suspend all classes in Metro Manila (so the kids stayed home), but not to suspend work in most private sectors.

So from having brought Barbie to her office, I had to take the C5 route to get to my work - and just to give everyone an idea of just how stormy it was, well... I took a picture from inside my vehicle as we were waiting for our turn at the toll gate.

Remember that this is supposed to be around 7am - so the sun would normally be bright and up... plus the lights of the vehicles would not all be turned on - a safety measure for all, since visibility was not too great. Though we were hardly affected in the office, it was later decided by management to make everyone leave a bit early (3pm), since mass transit had been closed due to the lack of power - many parts of the metro were experiencing brown outs (including it seemed, out place), and contact through phone was iffy - since many cell sites did not have power and a lot of power cables were affected by fallen tree branches.

I fetched Barbie and we got home safely to find two really bored and frustrated kids... he he, I guess to them, having no classes was a bummer - since they had no power to surf the internet.

Day 170, Sept 25, 2011

My latest picture:

Project 365 suggests I at least have a picture a month - that way, it does not just become a visual compilation of pictures I'm willing to share, but it also serves as a way of tracking how I looked all those months past.

Well, since my last picture here was some time  mid-August, I'd say it was about time I inserted a picture of myself for this month of September... and here it is.

This was taken at Chili's during the time Barbie was having some Chicken Wings cravings - and naturally, I indulged her - after all, its been a while since we ate at Chili's - back it the days when we'd meet up with Fred and Ariel on occasion to enjoy the great food here.

Well time has not lessened its quality it seems - and we did enjoy the bufallo (somewhat spicy chicken) wings. This shot was taken by Barbie as the setting sun's rays were piercing the window... hence the reason why half of my face seems too well lighted. Still, I find the picture a good enough representation of me. So with this, I fulfill one aspect of Project 365.

Day 169, Sept 24, 2011

Barako Gold!

Yes! Its back! Excuse my enthusiasm, but this particular coffee blend has been absent for some time in the Figaro's branches. It happens to be the real reason I take coffee in Figaro's at all - well... when they ran out of Barako Gold, I started to contend with Barako Blend, but somehow, it wasn't as... satisfying.

So when I saw this in Figaro's when Barbie, Bernice and I went to the Shangri La plaza, I was pleasantly surprised. I immediately ordered for a tall cup of coffee (Barako Gold, of course) and to make sure I don't miss out of this any time soon, I even got a bag of the stuff so I could brew it at home.

Yeah... I will be looking forward to a relaxing Sunday morning coffee cup. Of course, I could easily get (and do have) some ground Barako directly from Batangas - but I'm curious how my coffee brewing machine will handle this one. Only one way to find out - huh?

Day 168, Sept 23, 2011

Crazy Garlic:

Yup... the backdrop of Mon, Alain and Marimel is that of a painting (or is is a large wall poster?) of Alice in Wonderland - the scene where she's having tea with the Mad Hatter. The place is actually the Crazy Garlic - and the reason we're all here is to be part of Malou's birthday treat.

Yeah... we were the advanced party (another way of saying we arrived earlier than the rest), so I had the opportunity to take a few pictures. Unfortunately, the group shots were a bit blurry - specially the one with me in it - c'est la vie. Still, this picture is as good a reminder of what happened - even if it does not show everyone... and lets face it - the background makes the picture more alive.

Day 167, Sept 22, 2011

X-factor:

Its not a title I follow regularly - nope... even if I knew Peter David to be a great writer, I somehow did not take the effort to collect the title. Maybe because it was also hard to find the issues once they got out... maybe because I already had a lot of titles on my plate - and back then, I was not able to collect as much as I can these days. Suffice it to say, this title went under my radar - until now.

Heck, I even decided to give X-factor, the deluxe compilation, a try because I was... well, bored - with nothing new to read on the comics perspective. So try I did. Did I like what I read? You bet... I liked it enough to collect the succeeding compilations - not the complete set, mind you... but one at a time (and as you can see, I've already gotten to the first four). From here, I'm considering to get the others... maybe after a week... or maybe once I get my paycheck.

Day 166, Sept 21, 2011

New Comics:

Yes, I try to get these on a weekly basis - but sometimes, I find it difficult to pass my regular shop until a few weeks have passed. In this instance, though, I was able to get there when the issues just recently arrived - and it pays to be a regular, since they do set aside some titles for me to buy. Plus, there's also the fact that I sometimes only get to read the issues I get after a few days later... when I can find some time (like now).

In this instance, I've got a few of D.C.s relaunch issues - while I continue to get some of Marvel's Fear Itself related titles. Of curious note here would be the Grifter issue, since this is the first time this character - a mainstay in Image back then, makes his debut in the D.C. universe. So yeah, I'm curious as to how they'll integrate the Image heroes into D.C.

Aside from the D.C. 52 (as they call it) and Marvel's Fear Itself titles, there's also (at least for this week) a bunch of X-men titles - specifically of interest would be Schism, where I read how the X-men presumably get split in the middle. As I read it, I've got mixed feelings about how the story is going... personally, surprised with how things are turning out. I mean, I have to admit to being a bit affected as I read the issue, sort of giving a reaction akin to saying 'stupid, they're both stupid' - wow... its been quite some time since I've done that. Bravo... and kudos to the creative team... not because I believe in the direction, but on getting a reaction from me. And here I thought I was jaded to this by now.

Day 165, Sept 20, 2011

While waiting:

As I'm partnered with Tess for Testing, we normally half the conduct's lecture and exercise portions - and in this particular day, Tess has opted to do the morning portion, leaving me free to catch up on my reading and do other necessities (like charging my phone).

As you can see, my reading materials for now consist of knowing more of Jack Welch and GE, and if I find that too tiring a read, I also brought with me the Liberty Legion compilation.

I won't be surprised if few people get the reference, after all, few people would have followed the Liberty Legion's adventures - with no real A-lister as part of this World War II homefront team, and my finding out about them was relatively an accident all those years back. But find the issue they got together I did - and better, it got me to realize that there was another comic called the Invaders - this time, consisting of A-listers like Cap, Namor and the Torch. Still, I did miss out on a few stories of this team. This compilation gives me that chance... to both relive the enjoyment of reading the issues - and the chance to read up on certain issues I had a hard time finding back then.

I'd say, this is a swell manner to spend my time, as I await my turn to lecture, right?