Day 303, Feb 05, 2012

New Jacket:

This jacket was something I purchased in my LSGH homecoming the night before - I was intending to get one for myself... unfortunately, due to some limited planning on the manufacturer's part, they did not consider the fact that a lot of the alumni wouldn't fit in the usual student sizes... hence nothing that I liked fit me, so... I just decided to get a jacket for Bryce instead.

I liked this particular design because it showed the basic La Salle design; complete with the stylized LS letters that; when combined with the traditional colors of Green and White, symbolizes the school I studied in - the same school that Bryce now attends for his college.

On the bright side, the makers of the jacket did give me their number, so I can order and have said jacket delivered to my place (with an additional delivery charge of Php100), and I just might order one jacket. But will I order one exactly like the design I got for Bryce? Why not? It is a cool design. Then again, if I can make some changes to the current design, I'd opt for a more predominant green (maybe make the white sleeves green as well) - after all, great looking as white can be, it can easily be dirtied. Hence the reason I'd go for an all green design.

Meanwhile, it really is nice seeing Bryce enjoy his new jacket.

Day 302, Feb 04, 2012

A Verde Homecoming!

Yup, its another LSGH homecoming, and once again, I get to mingle with people I normally see at least every February, July (or August) and December. I refer to our 'Bastardic' get togethers - and normally, we enjoy visiting our old Alma Mater during every first weekend of February.

As you can see with the picture I took, my batch mates (not all of them seen in this picture, mind you) are enjoying the night with each other's company. It was just too bad that I would up having my camera batteries dying out on me that evening (it was a very busy day, so I was unable to recharge the battery before going to the homecoming). Too bad, I would have wanted to get a whole lot more shots.

I like the shot's background - on the left side, you can see portions of the evening's stage, while on the right side, you can see a portion of the St. Benilde's lighted ceiling - so it really shows where this event was happening.

Day 301, Feb 03, 2012

Friday night!

This little get together was an imprompo'tu thing. It started with Gina just mentioning that she wanted to drink Friday, and I readily said 'sure, let's do it.' or something similar.

Gina then started texting the usual suspects - in this case, Jingo and Brian, while also asking a few more friends/colleagues if they wanted to join us. When Brian and Jingo agreed - we know it was a 'go', and Gina started asking Batchie and/or her yaya to prepare some pulutan.

After the Application Analysis class, I, for one, was glad we'd be having this. And even if I had to fetch Bernice in Greenhills, do the groceries and get home, I was determined to be a part of this 'winding down' with friends - some of whom were not able to join our January Bacardi session (I, of course refer to Gina and Brian).  We loosened up with some beer, Jingo brought wine and I brought some Jagermeister. So yeah... we did enjoy each other's company, stories and discussions. It was a perfect end to a work week.

Jingo took the shot - I chose it because most of us (except Jingo) were in the picture. Again, this would have been better had I brought the tripod. Perhaps I should keep it in the car's trunk - but then again, I was using the black car during Fridays, so I might have forgotten it in the other car's trunk anyway. So... two tripods - one in each car?

Hnh, yeah... right.

Day 300, Feb 02, 2012

My bag... sometimes.

This is a Camelback, as the label proudly announces - and for military people, or weekend warriors (like I used to be), this means its not a large backpack at all - after all, these bags are designed to primarily carry a few liters of water - specially for dessert missions.

I don't use it for water though. Instead I find it useful when carrying 'light' - meaning not carrying too many stuff at all - so its for convenience. Its large enough to fit a book or two (though not the very large or thick ones) so I'm not sure if, say, a hardbound copy of Harry Potter 7 would fit into this... but it can definitely fit several comic books (with backing boards, of course). It can carry my cell phone chargers as well, and yes... I can squeeze in a few cans of drinks here too.

So yeah... this bag is what I use when I don't plan to carry too many stuff. As for the photo, I decided to go macro shot with the label... hopefully capturing some of the bag's texture as well. So yeah... sue me if it alsmost looks like a product shoot again. Guess I've got a hangover from the previous product shoot.

On a side note once again... post 300!!!

Now it really is a countdown with the remaining 65 (or 66, since its a leap year) days for year two of my project 365.

Day 299, Feb 01, 2012

Suddenly... Analysis:

Why such a title? Simple... this was not originally scheduled to be my training. In fact, as I said two days back, I was looking forward to having a week-long vacation. On one hand, I was glad for the rest - on the other, I was rather worried about the pay cut I'd be having due to this.

Lucky for me, a colleague (Fiel) felt sick, and had to request I take over from him starting with day 3 of his training. So suddenly, my 'vacation' was cut short after the two days, and unfortunately, I was unable to finish all the needed home chores I had planned... but, at least, I know I'd be paid for these three days. The training in particular was Analysis, and I get to partner with Gina.

Let me just say that prior to this sudden change of assignments, I was getting worried that February would match the dearth performance of January's conducts. I guess God (or kismet or fate) has other plans, after all.

Whichever the case, I'm grateful - I just hope my better luck is not always at a friend's (or worse, my family's) expense.

Day 298, Jan 31, 2012

Product shoot:

Yup, I'm doing this - not professionally (as I'm not getting paid to do it), so that Barbie's office mate can use the pictures (this is just one of several) for presentation purposes.

Normally, they'd tap some other professional photographer - and chances are they still would, had this been a more formal marketing thrust. But in this case, the sudden need (so lack of time to contact a pro) and possibly even budgetary constraints, made Barbie think of me. Personally, I welcomed the challenge - after all, I've not been in too many product shoots (though there was the food blog which I could count).

I definitely learned a few lessons while doing this - foremost being I may need a product shoot tent (a small one) for times like this... and another is that I should use a tripod, as I tend to move... specially should this shoot last longer than a few minutes. I have this... in fact, I've got two tripods, so this should not be a problem for me.

Another possible lesson learned? I need to invest in lighting. So yeah... more lighting and the product tent. I'll need to save up for the light - as for the tent, I think I can get them easily enough in Greenhills. I've seen them in the past - I just did not think I'd be needing them - not yet, at least. Apparently, I was wrong. Oh well...

Day 297, Jan 30, 2012

New batch!

Got these comics, and a trade of Daredevil yesterday, but its only just today that I can enjoy reading these titles. As it turns out, I've got a long vacation (unplanned) so I can just look at this as my catch up time with some of the things I need to do at home.

But before I do those home chores, I'm going to sit back and enjoy these titles. Of the comics shown here, I'm looking forward to reading Aquaman, Captain America and Bucky, X-force and Justice League. Naturally, I'm also looking forward to reading the first few issues of Mark Waid's Daredevil. I've seen reviews about this new direction of DD, and prior to my getting this compilation, I was really searching for back issues of DD; with little success.

Now, I need not search. I'm relatively updated with DD.

Day 296, Jan 29, 2012

Bernice"s 2nd shoot:

Her first one was sometime December last year (if I'm not mistaken), and now with the help of some friends (and their photo studio), she and two friends got to experience one today.

This was my first time in a studio shoot, and I did learn a few things - probably a lot more (though I can't remember them all right now). I really enjoyed watching and participating in the shoot - thanks Marvin and Alex for the great time.

So what did I do in the shoot? For starters, I learned about some set-up techniques, how much focus is needed, and got to use a synchronized switch for the lights/diffusers. I basically acted as a 'behind the scene' One other idea that came to roost was that we would hold a Bacardi night in the studio... and somewhere along the way of said night, we'd shift to a fashion photography session... that is, for those who aren't drunk enough - yet.

Day 295, Jan 28, 2012

First Bacardi Night for 2012!

Tradition dictates that since Sheila's birthday falls in the month of January, we try to celebrate our first Bacardi night at her place - so far, this has been two years going... albeit the previous one had a whole lot more people.

Still, it was an interesting evening; as Jingo would say, small group Bacardi nights allow for a more intimate, more personal evening of discussions... and the things one learns about others in such a small group.

Some I file under 'nice to know', others under 'that figures' - but regardless of where they're filed, one should not try to make a possible altered state of understanding into some kind of huge thing. Just take things in stride, and hope its not the alcohol talking... after all, 'blame it one the a a a a a alcohol' isn't supposed to cut it.

That said, looks like next time, we'll be drinking less Rum and more Wine - let the health conscious efforts begin! For me, it doesn't really matter what we drink - its more the company that makes the party. But, I won't say totally goodbye to Mojitos just yet.

Day 294, Jan 27, 2012

And he's Two!

Yup! Today is Jude's birthday and we just had a simple celebration with a not so simple set of food - for example we had two (not one) over-sized pizza with the thought of having several guests (some kids) in mind.

Aside from the pizza we had had three servings of White Vongole Spahetti - where one serving could easily feed five adults (okay... maybe four of my kind of adults), a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and I can't remember what else... after all, with just those three mentioned, I'm sure Id have a great eating experience - and I did. Jude, just like any two year old, will probably not remember all these - as he'd be transfixed with the gifts he'd be receiving (as this picture points out where he's riding a toy car (or scooter - I really don't know how to call it), oblivious of everything else happening around him.

Anyway... welcome, as some would say, to the terrible twos stage - may we all survive the experience. Hehehe.