At wits end

Posted On 6:08 PM by nerdluck | 8 points of view


"Just when I thought things can't get any worse..." I found myself repeating this phrase innumerable times that day when the above photo was taken. That was the day I was supposed to take my drivers license card from our very customer friendly people of LTO Pasay.

The day started like any other day except that I had this nagging feeling that this is not a good day for me. A week before, I applied for a drivers license but I wasn't able to get the plastic card because their computers we're offline and couldn't process my records. This is the day I came back for my card. I went to the records window and gave the lady the receipt of last weeks application and asked me to wait by window 2... It was either that or she asked me to wait 2 hours... 'coz that is about the time I waited by that window before I asked the lady why all the other people I came in with 2 hours ago had already had their photo taken for their card. I found out my form was missing...What the Hell!? You can imagine my frustration. It was already after lunch break that they found out that my papers weren't missing but were in fact found at the hands of an evaluator who neglected to inform anybody that there was a problem with my application. The LTO database showed another license application of mine from 1999 that expired in 2002. I had to go to the main office in Quezon City to pay the penalties and come back to Pasay to reconcile my records.They could have told me this before they went on lunch break. Off to QC I go... This is where the photo up there comes in. The cab I was riding turned right from Timog Avenue to EDSA when 2 buses (seemingly) racing against each other slammed on both side of the cab pushing us about 10 meters. I couldn't get off from either doors so I had to climb out of the car from the driver side door. IM IN A HURRY FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I didn't even think that I could have died in that cab if I had my head against the window. I had to walk the rest of the way to the LTO main building and guess what... It began to rain. I love rain, but at a time like this... uhhhggg... I was ready to go ballistic that I sneered at the fixer who offered to "help" me transact faster and avoid all the bureaucracy inside. It took me another 2 hours inside the Licensing office before I got my turn at the licensing officer... I am literally at wits end. It was too late for me to go back to Pasay so I elected to go home. There was no cab in sight and since it is raining, I took the bus going to Makati... I felt miserable as I shivered in the air conditioned bus for the whole trip home. In 2 weeks I'll be going to the Pasay office again to put this exercise in stupidity to rest... If anything like this happen again... I'm going to give up driving for good.
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The day the music died

Posted On 9:13 PM by nerdluck | 2 points of view

American Pie
Don Mclean
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

We were cleaning out some old stuff a couple of days ago when I found this old guitar pick. It was THE first guitar pick I bought around 12 years ago during my garage band years. It was the one I learned the basics with. I had mixed feelings the moment I held it between my thumb and index fingers just like I would when I was playing. It's been years... I have not played the guitar in years. The last time I was in a band, I was singing... I was writing... I have given up on the ax long before I have given up on the music. Probably because like most of the things I do, I think I wasn't good enough to be taken seriously. Looking at this worn out guitar pick, It makes me wonder. Had I kept on believing... Had I kept on working on it... Had I not given up... Could things have gone a little differently?

Posted by Picasa Photo available for FREE download. Just click the Picasa logo

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So Far, Too Good...

Posted On 11:20 AM by nerdluck | 1 points of view

The past few weeks had really been a blast. I didn't know I would enjoy blogging as much as I do right now. I have a list of things to blog about and I am nowhere near half of it. Only time constraints and intermittent connection (courtesy of my disappointing Broadband provider) prohibits me from blogging everyday. A roadblock that I may still consider, a blessing of sorts since in the first place, it was never my intention to post an entry everyday. I just get easily inspired whenever I see a new comment posted or when feedburner scores another reader. I get excited by the simplest of things, by the way.

Adam Hay of Rookie Designer said in one episode that one of the common distractions designers had to battle out with these days is the internet... More accurately, the urge to spend extended time in the cloud. Something that most bloggers (i think) are guilty of. I think the tendency for procrastination is aggravated when one is intentionally lost in the world of his or her favorite blog authors... which may or may not be another person entirely if you catch my drift.

Ten years ago, when the internet was young, My girlfriend (my wife now) would ask me how I can spend hours on end in front of a computer doing nothing but read... Waitaminit.. I think that was what she told me last week...
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The Empty Crib

Posted On 9:12 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view


I Cry Alone
By LMK
If I prayed for you, would you come?
Would you come to me and hold me
in your arms while I wept?
If I prayed would you be here?
Would you come to me, if I wished
for you with all my heart???

"The Empty Crib" is featured as main visual for the article "Baby I'm-a-want you" for the August 2007 issue of Baby Magazine. The article speaks about a situation where one spouse want to have another child but the other prefers not to. Catch the August issue as soon as it hits the stands.

A high resolution copy of this photograph is available for FREE download at stock.xchange. I can also send it to you if you ask real nice. It is also available in my picasa web album but I prefer you get it from stock.xchange. It boosts up my download count.
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Dafont.com

Posted On 4:35 PM by nerdluck | 1 points of view

I am usually a three-font designer. Most of what I do uses either a type from the Helvetica or Garamond font families or a cursive script type font and I am happy about these type faces that I consider them the everlasting ones. There are some instances, though, that I think there is something missing in my visual equation that my usual font ingredients somehow lacks (gasp). On these instances I seek assistance from dafont.com.

From fonts adapted from pop culture like bands, TV shows and movies to iconic dingbats, dafont.com's database of around 7500 fonts are available for download. More fonts are added every week. You can also test drive any particular font you fancy with its custom preview feature. And the best part, It's FREE. Don't get me wrong though, with almost 7500 choices, nothing is going to take the place of my everlasting ones.
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She cries but...

Posted On 7:51 PM by nerdluck | 5 points of view

She cries but...CRYING
CJ Heck
I cry when I am hurting
and sometimes when I'm sad.
I cry when I get punished
'cause I've done something bad...

Nobody bullies Dad... That is one lesson my little girl learned in an odd way. After quite a lengthy tantrum, I snapped a photo of my little girl and showed it to her. She was all smiles after that.

Posted by Picasa Photo available for FREE download. Just click the Picasa logo
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Better luck next time

Posted On 9:25 AM by nerdluck | 2 points of view

In preparation for the synchronized Baranggay (Town) and Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) Elections in October, COMELEC, opened a special registration from July 15-22. Why does that have anything to do with me? Well... I have just realized that I have a civic duty on this city that has been home to me for the past four years. The last election I participated in was the 1998 presidential election. We all know how that turned out and I lost interest in the electoral system.

So there I was, somewhat excited about officially being a citizen of Makati City by being a registered voter. I went to the COMELEC office in Makati but what I saw made my heart sink (refer to photo.) What you are seeing in the photo is not even half of the number of the people there since the COMELEC office IS ON THE SECOND FLOOR and there is more on the other side of the building. One particular middle aged guy was telling us that some of the people was already there as early as 5AM, apparently, the COMELEC is only going to accommodate 200 of the lot. Cutting the long story short... I got up and went off to blog about it. It could have been a lot easier (and faster) if they set the registration at each baranggay. Then they wouldn't need the whole week. Citizenship will have to wait 'till after the October election when regular registration resumes. My fault, really. I should have registered last year.
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August 2007 goes to press

Posted On 8:15 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

It's time to celebrate as another issue of Baby Magazine goes to press as of this writing.

What's in this issue? It's all about wanting that little bundle of joy against all the odds in the August issue. Read about APAS and a couple's struggle (emotionally and financially) to finally have their "Million Peso Babies." On the other hand, what if you are physically able and but your problem is actually an uncooperative spouse? Read about the underlying causes of the "fear" of having too many children in "Baby, I'm a-want you." Learn how and why some babies are born premature in "An early birthday" and how the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is equipped to help babies survive premature birth in "Handle with Care." How do you care for your premature baby at home? "Preemie Proper" will help you through.

There is lots more to find in every issue of Baby Magazine for new parents because we all know "Babies don't come with a manual"
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Rookie Designer

Posted On 10:43 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

Unless you we're living under a rock for the past year, you would know that podcasting had become a phenomenon of sorts. It sort of became the new blog... and in a lot of ways that is accurate.

For the benefit of those who have no idea what a podcast is, Wikipedia defines a podcast as:

A podcast is a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. A podcast is a specific type of webcast which, like 'radio', can mean either the content itself or the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

I have about 30 podcast subscriptions. And I make it a point that I listen to the latest episode as soon as it is available. Most of my podcast subscriptions are design related. For the main reason that I believe that there is yet a lot of things I need to know about the career I chose for myself. Adam Hay, the author of Rookie Designer, has done a good job of bringing the most important issues that concerns us rookies into the clear. I have been listening to RD for over a year now and have learned a lot about the business of designing and the common mistakes that we, rookies, often commit. Although there are some software tips on the podcast, this is not a venue for learning a particular software. There are other podcasts for that in future posts. In the meantime, take my advice and subscribe to Rookie Designer now.

I use iTunes to manage my podcast subscriptions. I believe it to be the best aggregator available. Download iTunes from the apple website. Available for both Macs and PCs.
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While I was waiting...

Posted On 11:33 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

I was a bit too early (about an hour) for last Fridays seminar and I had some time to kill. I'm not a big fan of walking around malls so I opted to stay on the greener, less populated side of the Greenbelt. The first thing I saw when I got there was this pond with about a hundred kois and started shooting. A few minutes later... other guys began snapping as well. Before I knew it, it was already time for the seminar. I came in 5 minutes late.

A high resolution copy of this photograph is available for FREE download at stock.xchange. I can also send it to you if you ask real nice. It is also available in my picasa web album but I prefer you get it from stock.xchange. It boosts up my download count.
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Death and Children

Posted On 8:49 PM by nerdluck | 6 points of view

Is the title too morbid? Well... we all have to cope with the loss of a loved one... even children. In the August '07 issue of Baby Magazine, find out how you can help your little ones accept the loss and learn how you can guide them in dealing with their loneliness.

The illustration above is featured as main visual for the article, "Goodbye for good?" for the August 07 issue of Baby Magazine. For a free editable vector copy of this piece, all you have to do is ask.
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Color Management Seminar

Posted On 10:00 PM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

At the moment I am typing this, I had barely warmed my seat. I am literally fresh out of Power Mac Center's FREE Seminar on Color Management for Photographers... There was only about 10 of us who came to listen to Digital Photographer Philippines' Nino Carandang as he illustrates the finer points of being Obsessive Compulsive about monitor and printer calibration. I learned a lot, especially on loving my photos more. I only wish there were more of us participants so we could have put more questions to light.

One of the many points he raised that struck me on a personal level is remembering that photography doesn't end in getting the photo posted online. A photographs journey is ultimately realized on the print level. Sad to say, I am guilty of such sin. I have denied my photos the right to getting printed. I believe it stems out from the fear that It will not be printed the way I wanted it to.. or maybe the realization that I may not have what it takes. But I refuse to let that fear cripple me. I will get better... I will bring my photos into printed glory... Time to save up for that Printfix Pro and Spyder Pro...

Special thanks to Pinoy Mac Lovers for posting the seminar schedule in time for me to make some magic with my schedule. I am sure glad I stumbled on your blog.
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What's in a Diaper?

Posted On 9:20 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

Baby Magazine will be at The Podium on Saturday, 14th of July for an event entitled "What's In A Diaper: A Symposium"

The symposium will feature a host of activities to help parents learn more about diapers. Speaking about Diaper Education is Baby Magazine's Childbirth101 columnist, Rome Kanapi. Another feature topic is Toilet Training for Baby. Also, take a sneak peak at what our August issue has in store at the Baby Magazine booth.

Event will run from 2:30PM to 5:00PM at The Lounge at the 2nd Level.
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Stock.Xchng

Posted On 9:49 PM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

I'm on a roll... It's a very rare situation indeed that I can blog for more than three consecutive days. I thought I was taking a break tonight but I decided to start something with todays blog. As a designer, I always appreciate the stuff that is available to me online. From tutorials to seminars, designer tools, stock photo resources, podcasts and designers blogs... I am really glad I know where to go whenever I need a little help.

One of the Designer resource I frequently visit is Stock.Xchng, the leading FREE stock photo site! I have been a member of stock.xchange for a few years now. I use the site to download high resolution images that I use mainly for comps. After downloading quite a number of stock photos, I have, since November 2006, started contributing some photos myself. Stock.Xchng maintains a level of quality that they screen every photo submission. Being a newbie photographer, I have only 4 approved images in my profile. (sigh) But that will change soon... I do believe I'm getting better at it. Besides they were downloaded over 300 times already.
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By the Sea

Posted On 7:38 PM by nerdluck | 2 points of view

After a stressful week, I figured a day by the sea will clear my head. Off we went to Manila Bay one Saturday afternoon to soak up some of the sea air... and a lovely shot. The sea lends me a moment of peace from the daily grind.

When I was a boy of seven years, My family took a trip to Bohol. I remember being afraid of the sea before the trip. Probably because the MV Doña Paz tragedy was big news back then. Or I probably watched a lot of Swiss Family Robinson... I don't really remember. I overcame my fear halfway through the trip and fell in love with the sunset and the sea that kisses it goodnight.

A high resolution copy of this photograph is available for FREE download at stock.xchange. and Picasa. I can also send it to you if you ask real nice.
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What's in a Name

Posted On 7:03 PM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

If you we're somebody around my age you would have already deduced that I ripped my blog's name off from the now defunct kiddie show, Sesame Street. It was from a song called "That's about the size." I chose this particular line because it means a lot of things for me. For one, it identifies me with my generation. I believe every kid who lived in Metropolitan Manila in the 80's to the early 90's would remember this song... in their sleep. It probably has the most memorable tune out of all the early sesame street songs (second only to the main theme and right up there with 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.) Most of all, I found it brilliant that the song encourage kids to look at things differently. I took it to mean that all of us should look at things by "where we put our eyes" and not take something as an absolute truth of the size of things. It taught us to have our own perspective. I maybe taking the song out of context but... THAT IS HOW I SEE IT... and that is why I named my blog like so. And that is why I write the things I do.

Special thanks to Nostalgia Manila for posting this video first and making me remember.


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July Issue Now Available

Posted On 5:00 PM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

Baby Magazine July 2007 issue is now available at all leading newsstands and bookstores. For subscription inquiries, you may contact Baby magazine through the following:

Phone: (+63 2) 728.36.55
Email: babymag@globelines.com.ph

Baby Magazine is the Philippines' first parenting magazine and is celebrating its 11th anniversary issue this coming October.
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It has been a while

Posted On 8:55 AM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

I love walking in the rain. I love a steady downpour, not just a drizzle. If it weren't for the expensive camera I was toting along, I would have jumped right in. I wouldn't mind getting my feet wet... or my hair getting messed up. This is one of the moments I was so happy inside that it radiates to my face. When I was a kid in the old hometown, My siblings and I would always find an excuse to play in the rain. All the neighbor's kids were there too, running after our little rubber slipper boats. Walking in the rain reminds me of how carefree life was as a child. I missed this feeling. Come to think of it, It is quite late for rain like this. Considering that it is already july. In our part of the world, the wet season starts in june after an intense summer heat. Rain is the earth's blessing on its parched residents.

Posted by Picasa Photo available for FREE download. Just click the Picasa logo (Pardon the poor quality of the photo... It was quite dark when I took it.)
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Butterflies in Flight

Posted On 2:03 PM by nerdluck | 0 points of view

Celebrating eighteenth birthdays are a part of Filipino culture. I don't really know if we got this tradition from the Spanish colonizers or the Chinese settlers (I didn't bother to research on it, so sue me.) but today, it ranks up there with weddings as one of the most important events for a lady.

Every little girl dreams of being a princess for one night. This is the night that she leaves behind the little girl and step into her colorful wings as a woman. With her wings she takes flight... The love from her family and friends as the wind beneath her wings.

Butterflies in flight is part of a set of artwork commissioned for a Debut celebration last June 30. An editable vector copy of this illustration will be available for FREE download soon. For the meantime, you just need to ask nicely for it.
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