Caffeine Connection is also the name of the article on the july 2007 issue of Baby Magazine where this piece figures as main visual. The article talks about the effects of caffeine on women who wish to conceive. You can also find out how much caffeine is in the beverages you take everyday and learn how to get off the coffee habit when you think you're hooked. Grab a copy of Baby Magazine as soon as it hits the stand. An editable vector copy of this illustration will be available for FREE download soon. For the meantime, you just need to ask for it.Caffeine Connection is also the name of the article on the july 2007 issue of Baby Magazine where this piece figures as main visual. The article talks about the effects of caffeine on women who wish to conceive. You can also find out how much caffeine is in the beverages you take everyday and learn how to get off the coffee habit when you think you're hooked. Grab a copy of Baby Magazine as soon as it hits the stand. An editable vector copy of this illustration will be available for FREE download soon. For the meantime, you just need to ask for it.
I came in at about 12 mins before 7 o'clock in the morning. I think I was the 20th guy there. Today is the day I filed an application for my social security ID card. It was long overdue since I have been a worker ant for more than 6 years now. But years of procrastinating and poor time management coupled with the fact that I always just make my deadlines by the skin of my teeth lead me to this day. You see, I never was a crowd person coz I always find some people weird that they creep me out. You can imagine how I feel about sitting in a room full of strange strangers... let me tell you about the characters I encountered.
I surveyed the room and saw "the box" where we [applicants] put our E-6 forms face down. The logic was for the first ones there to get their papers processed first. Like what the posted announcement said, I placed my "duly accomplished" form in the box and went to sit down to ready my "two valid ID's. People rarely sit beside each other on these occasions so there where a lot of gaps between applicants. I elected to sit on the third row, and as I was making my way to an empty seat, some ladies would put their bags on the seat next to theirs. Probably trying to say "there are lots of other free seats, do not take the one next to me..." as if! I sat down between a 50ish woman and a middleage overweight fellow who smells like toothpaste. I noticed that there were only a few forms in the box before mine and that most of the people who came before me hadn't put theirs in.. There was a big glaring announcement infront of us, how could they miss that? People started lining up to put their forms in the box FACE UP [don't these people know how to read?] One particular lady caught my attention. instead of putting her form on top of the pile, she had the gall to lift some of the papers and put hers ahead of most of us. I was amused at the pathetic effort to get one up on other people.
A lot more was coming in. A particularly annoying girl in her 20's couldn't stop pacing and shifting seats. She went to one of the list of postal code in a bullettin board and then to another. [the list were the same] she then went back to the box to get her form. She must have realized she put the wrong zip code. True enough, other people went shifting between the lists and checking their forms. Everyone was on their mobile pretending not to care about what anyone else was doing. And yet, they mirror everything anybody does. The constant beeping and ringing can drive anyone nuts. The girl infront of me didn't car to put her phone on silent letting everyone suffer her "pogi-rock band" message tone. A few seats to her right where two guys dressed in smart casual attire. They had matching tumblers and they have their sunglasses on their heads like rudy project models or something. They are what you would now call "metrosexuals." in gym-enhanced physique. They were also on their mobile phones and couldn't stop giggling like little girls who knows a secret. I'm not saying they're gay, just because they can't stop touching each other's arms and keeps getting lost in each others eyes and the only girl who was with them was seated 3 seats away with no one in between... no, I'm not saying they're gay. [Disclaimer: Im not a homophobe. I have gay friends whom I respect so much. Some people - gay or otherwise - just don't have a sense of propriety in public.]
Another character is the one I named block head. A 6-foot tall guy who constantly pestered the lady in the booth to ask if his name will be called soon. He also didn't bother to bring his own pen and had to go around to borrow one from. He hurriedly grabbed another guy's pen and did not even say thank you afterwards. Jerk. I couldn't recall the other colorful toons I encountered. Maybe when i start having nightmares, I will. I got out of there at half past eight, only an hour and a half... It felt a lot longer than that.
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I surveyed the room and saw "the box" where we [applicants] put our E-6 forms face down. The logic was for the first ones there to get their papers processed first. Like what the posted announcement said, I placed my "duly accomplished" form in the box and went to sit down to ready my "two valid ID's. People rarely sit beside each other on these occasions so there where a lot of gaps between applicants. I elected to sit on the third row, and as I was making my way to an empty seat, some ladies would put their bags on the seat next to theirs. Probably trying to say "there are lots of other free seats, do not take the one next to me..." as if! I sat down between a 50ish woman and a middleage overweight fellow who smells like toothpaste. I noticed that there were only a few forms in the box before mine and that most of the people who came before me hadn't put theirs in.. There was a big glaring announcement infront of us, how could they miss that? People started lining up to put their forms in the box FACE UP [don't these people know how to read?] One particular lady caught my attention. instead of putting her form on top of the pile, she had the gall to lift some of the papers and put hers ahead of most of us. I was amused at the pathetic effort to get one up on other people.
A lot more was coming in. A particularly annoying girl in her 20's couldn't stop pacing and shifting seats. She went to one of the list of postal code in a bullettin board and then to another. [the list were the same] she then went back to the box to get her form. She must have realized she put the wrong zip code. True enough, other people went shifting between the lists and checking their forms. Everyone was on their mobile pretending not to care about what anyone else was doing. And yet, they mirror everything anybody does. The constant beeping and ringing can drive anyone nuts. The girl infront of me didn't car to put her phone on silent letting everyone suffer her "pogi-rock band" message tone. A few seats to her right where two guys dressed in smart casual attire. They had matching tumblers and they have their sunglasses on their heads like rudy project models or something. They are what you would now call "metrosexuals." in gym-enhanced physique. They were also on their mobile phones and couldn't stop giggling like little girls who knows a secret. I'm not saying they're gay, just because they can't stop touching each other's arms and keeps getting lost in each others eyes and the only girl who was with them was seated 3 seats away with no one in between... no, I'm not saying they're gay. [Disclaimer: Im not a homophobe. I have gay friends whom I respect so much. Some people - gay or otherwise - just don't have a sense of propriety in public.]
Another character is the one I named block head. A 6-foot tall guy who constantly pestered the lady in the booth to ask if his name will be called soon. He also didn't bother to bring his own pen and had to go around to borrow one from. He hurriedly grabbed another guy's pen and did not even say thank you afterwards. Jerk. I couldn't recall the other colorful toons I encountered. Maybe when i start having nightmares, I will. I got out of there at half past eight, only an hour and a half... It felt a lot longer than that.
This illustration was used as main visual for a feature in the june 2007 issue of Baby Magazine entitled "And they spell fatherhood as T-I-M-E." Baby Magazine is available at all leading magazine stands in the Philippines. This vector piece, however, will be available for FREE download along with other pieces as soon as I get a host I can afford. I have them hosted on a free hosting site but as you know, bandwidth is very limited. In the meantime, email me if you want me to send you a copy. Just remember to ask nicely... :)
Catch the july 2007 issue of Baby Magazine as soon as it hits the stands on.... july, of course.What's in this issue? Get tons of tips on caring for twins, telling them apart and keeping your sanity intact with the "I love twins" special. Learn the best things to do to keep your toddlers safe and what should be in your first aid kit to be prepared for the times your kids curiosity gets the best of them. Take a trip back on memory lane with fatherspeak where we look back at our memories with our dads as we make new memories with our kids. Get to know thespian, Nor Domingo and learn his brand of Involved fatherhood.
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"
What is this thing right here? Are we on the right blog? There is a pretty good reason that photo is there... Yes, i took it. Is that so hard to believe. Digital Photography has been a new hobby of mine for a few months now but it is just recently that I stumbled into Picasa, which gives me a decent 1GB of space of photo gallery using the same email address I'm using for this blog. Now, I can get into a lengthy rave about how cool this thing is but that is not the issue in this post. Starting with this particular post, I will be showcasing some of the photos I have turned my "evil eye" on. Yep, starting with this one here. Here goes..."Out my window" is a shot taken from what the name says... it's a view from where I spend the most of my waking days for the past year... The office. It's a view of the western Makati skyline on a most amazing sunset. It is actually the first shot I seriously put some effort on as it was a desperate race against the sun. It was the first time I used a DSLR camera and didn't bother to read the manual because I was hard-pressed to get that sun in my lens. I am pretty satisfied by the result and I was really motivated to get some shots I can be proud of. 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 nicely.
My sickday turned out to be a sick week... a couple of weeks. Oh well, where was I? I was supposed to check back on the things I planned to give up. So far it's been a rough 2 months since i decided to put my dharmma into an indefinite hibernation. I found myself constantly battling the impulse to click that tantra icon on my desktop to focus on getting some work done. I gave my password to my 9 year old nephew, Francis, so he can use the level 2 accessories (plus asba and BOTGB) that I have painstakingly acquired through 2 years of playing. By now, I have gone past the strong impulse of ignoring 5 dozen pages of magazine layout to play tantra. I don't even feel the invisible force that used to make my behind so heavy that I can sit for hours on end (pun intended.) I play war rock (ahem, probably another distraction) once in a while to get me off the stressful cycle of work, art and family. Although I still encounter rude apes in war rock who can't seem to grasp the concept of playing for fun but I refuse to let that bother me as much as it did in Tantra. I even get some degree of satisfaction to get them as irate as ever.
I have involved myself more in photography, and silk screen as well as planning my portfolio site (at last.) I still have so much things I want to do now that I found the time to actually do them. I want to learn CSS coding (WTF?!) I want to learn video editing. I want to finish my bleach ebook project (i compile scanlated bleach manga to pdf for easy reading rather than open 1 page at a time, afterwards i want to start coloring them... shhhh.) I want to start a photo blog. I want to sell stuff in ebay. I probably want to do lots of other stuff as I go along this happy journey called life. It really IS more fun than playing.
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I have involved myself more in photography, and silk screen as well as planning my portfolio site (at last.) I still have so much things I want to do now that I found the time to actually do them. I want to learn CSS coding (WTF?!) I want to learn video editing. I want to finish my bleach ebook project (i compile scanlated bleach manga to pdf for easy reading rather than open 1 page at a time, afterwards i want to start coloring them... shhhh.) I want to start a photo blog. I want to sell stuff in ebay. I probably want to do lots of other stuff as I go along this happy journey called life. It really IS more fun than playing.
Much as I would like to make a life-changing commentary about our mortal existence (as if) or reveal the secrets of the universe(wow), this weeks blog wouldn't even be close to making sense. I've been sick the whole week ever since labor day. This cough is driving me nuts. I mean, I can't even get four (4) hours of sleep, I feel like a zombie, and I still haven't seen spiderman 3 'coz I don't wanna run the risk of having irrate theater goers turning into a lynch mob upon hearing some hacking cough destroy their, otherwise, fun movie experience.
I should be in bed right now, I should be resting this tired throat. Instead, Im at the office being the dutiful worker that I am. Bumming around with a blog and not even doing a single page of my rather "late" magazine layout doesn't really qualify me as a "dutiful" worker but hey, I'm here, ain't I?
During these times, I remember my Mom. A nurse by profession, she always has a quick remedy for anything that ails me and my siblings. We can never get any excuse to skip class through her. Whenever I pull out the "Mom! I'm sick, I can't go to class" excuse, she comes in my room, armed with paracetamol or mefenamic acid or salbutamol or loperamide or carbosistein or God-knows-what-else. In fact, I remember generic names of medicine more vividly than anything else in my childhood.
I gotta stop doing this now... My head hurts just thinking of my next sentence. Spiderman's gonna have to wait.
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I should be in bed right now, I should be resting this tired throat. Instead, Im at the office being the dutiful worker that I am. Bumming around with a blog and not even doing a single page of my rather "late" magazine layout doesn't really qualify me as a "dutiful" worker but hey, I'm here, ain't I?
During these times, I remember my Mom. A nurse by profession, she always has a quick remedy for anything that ails me and my siblings. We can never get any excuse to skip class through her. Whenever I pull out the "Mom! I'm sick, I can't go to class" excuse, she comes in my room, armed with paracetamol or mefenamic acid or salbutamol or loperamide or carbosistein or God-knows-what-else. In fact, I remember generic names of medicine more vividly than anything else in my childhood.
I gotta stop doing this now... My head hurts just thinking of my next sentence. Spiderman's gonna have to wait.
I came across this video ad in the apple website a few months ago... I pondered about the charting method for a while and decided that It could be a good way to see how I've been living my life. To my horror, my charts show that I have too many unnecessary activities cluttering up my schedule that I have little, if any at all, work done. And by work I mean doing my commitments, fixing this blog, finishing my portfolio, and exploring talents that I have recently been given the opportunity to explore (e.g. photography.) Among other things. (Actual chart being processed.. watch this blog for updates)
I realized that 24 hours is not enough for me to do all the things I HAVE to do, let alone things that I wanna do. I have to give up some of 'em. No, sleeping and eating is not dispensable.
Here is a list of things I have to rethink my involvement in... Warning, try them out on your own risk.
1. Youtube (and every other video sharing sites) - YouTube is THE popular video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video clips. Videos can be rated, and the average rating and the number of times a video has been watched are both published. A year ago, I was sucked in on Youtube because of my search for "hard-to-find" anime, music videos and commercial spo
ofs. I was hooked since then. It is very convenient that Youtube had started pulling out Bleach episodes because of Dattebayo's complaints. It will make it much more easier for me to go cold turkey. 2. Monstersgame Server 2- This browser game pits vampires against werewolves in a global war. As one of the leaders of the vampire clan, [D] Deathbringers, I have the responsibility to organize my clansmates and help them through the different aspects of the game. Some members come from as far as Romania, USA, Germany and UK. It IS lots of fun as we interact with players from different culture and exchange ideas and opinions on things other than the game. It would be hard to give this up but I'll try.
3. Tantra Online - ABS-CBN Interactive jumped in face first in the rapidly growing online gaming industry with Tantra Online, A neo-oriental fantasy game. This Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) boasts of stunning graphics and dynamic game-play for the hard-core gamer. Using any of the eight character classes, Players are tasked to defend the world of tantra against the mara forces on the different quests. Rewards in the form of items or in-game currency are given for every quest completed. The player vs player (PvP) feature of Tantra is also something the developers are proud of. PvP enthusiasts gets a blast in Tantra's "God War" wherein players engage in battle defending their respective god's castle. It's a battle royale whenever the followers of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu come across each others path in Kruma. I have been playing this game for well over 2 years already and I must admit that I would still like to grind levels with the best of them but alas! Nothing is meant to last forever. My ghandharva is going to hibernate for the meantime but will probably be back in a time not in the immediate future. I made up my mind on this one.
4. Happy Tree Friends Podcast - Senseless violence (extremely bloody ones) even among cute woodland creatures is only fun on the first few episodes... It gets extremely gross after a while. This one wasn't for me in the first place.
Maybe I can give these things up... Maybe I can't... We'll see in the coming weeks.
or alternate title could be "I'm mad at myself because it took me 6 months to put something in this damn blog..."
I started this blog almost a year ago to record my thoughts as it comes along... I hope this doesn't mean that I only had three (3) things to say since then. Now... what am I thinking about right now that made me pull out the notebook and "blog?" Is it about a life turning event? an epiphany? A scent that made childhood memories come rushing back? No!... I'm actually just thinking of myself. How's that for a thought?
I didn't find enough reason to tinker around with "blogging tools" or get myself a "real" blog site. I mean, all I wanted was something to remind myself of what I was, where I was and how I was feeling at a particular time. Heck, I don't even care if people read it or not. It's a trip down my thoughts and I prepared it all for myself. So, don't mind me... I'm just talking to myself.
Me: Hello Eman!
Myself: Hey, how've you been? It's been a while.
Me: I'm great... wish I had more time to blog, though
Myself: How come? you have time for lots of trivial things...
Me: Nah, You know how it is...
Myself: No, I don't.
Me: It's this blank page, It intimidates me... I know I want to put something in there.. You know I tried lots of times..
Myself: Uh huh..
Me: But most of the time, I feel that nothing I write is good enough.
Myself: Good enough for what? The Pulitzer Prize or The Palanca? Hahaha!
Me: Stop joking...
Myself: Sorry.
Me: Anyway, sometimes it all goes so bad. I just give up. I never have enough time to finish one.
Myself: You know? What you have is not a lack of time or good ideas but a lack of self-confidence. If you feel you wanted to write something then do it. You can only be as good as you believe you are. Be the best writer that you wanted to be..
Me: ...
Myself: what?
Me: Im not a writer. Im a graphic designer. I only wanted to do a blog.
Myself: ...
Me: ...
Myself:I'm actually at a loss for words whenever I talk to you. You know that?
Me: same here...
Watch out for more "blogs" from the shizoid mind of yours truly... that is, if the lazy bum part of me doesn't show its sleepy head anytime soon. (im talking to myself again) HAH!
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I started this blog almost a year ago to record my thoughts as it comes along... I hope this doesn't mean that I only had three (3) things to say since then. Now... what am I thinking about right now that made me pull out the notebook and "blog?" Is it about a life turning event? an epiphany? A scent that made childhood memories come rushing back? No!... I'm actually just thinking of myself. How's that for a thought?
I didn't find enough reason to tinker around with "blogging tools" or get myself a "real" blog site. I mean, all I wanted was something to remind myself of what I was, where I was and how I was feeling at a particular time. Heck, I don't even care if people read it or not. It's a trip down my thoughts and I prepared it all for myself. So, don't mind me... I'm just talking to myself.
Me: Hello Eman!
Myself: Hey, how've you been? It's been a while.
Me: I'm great... wish I had more time to blog, though
Myself: How come? you have time for lots of trivial things...
Me: Nah, You know how it is...
Myself: No, I don't.
Me: It's this blank page, It intimidates me... I know I want to put something in there.. You know I tried lots of times..
Myself: Uh huh..
Me: But most of the time, I feel that nothing I write is good enough.
Myself: Good enough for what? The Pulitzer Prize or The Palanca? Hahaha!
Me: Stop joking...
Myself: Sorry.
Me: Anyway, sometimes it all goes so bad. I just give up. I never have enough time to finish one.
Myself: You know? What you have is not a lack of time or good ideas but a lack of self-confidence. If you feel you wanted to write something then do it. You can only be as good as you believe you are. Be the best writer that you wanted to be..
Me: ...
Myself: what?
Me: Im not a writer. Im a graphic designer. I only wanted to do a blog.
Myself: ...
Me: ...
Myself:I'm actually at a loss for words whenever I talk to you. You know that?
Me: same here...
Watch out for more "blogs" from the shizoid mind of yours truly... that is, if the lazy bum part of me doesn't show its sleepy head anytime soon. (im talking to myself again) HAH!
as usual this post is suuuuper late
September 11 goes down in history as the greatest terror attack launched against the US. 9/11, as it is called, will always be remembered as the day that set a chain of events leading to wars, death and devastation. I couldn't care less...
September 11 for me holds a deeper personal meaning. On September 11 of this year, our (my wife and I) lives were forever changed by two persons named Lucille. One Light was born that day, and the other was buried.
Marga Lucille is our 3rd baby... We now have 3 beautiful little girls and the twins are really thrilled and excited about her. She came at a time of radical changes in our lives, some of them good and some otherwise. Whenever I get overwhelmed by the rate of which things around me spin, I stop awhile and share in the peace of mind that my only my three daughters can give me. I no longer fear the future.
Ninang Lucy Caliwanagan sure was a light to us in more ways than one. She had a jolly disposition that could always brighten our day. No trip to the hometown will be complete without passing by Ninang Lucy's house... her dinner table to be exact. A teacher by profession, she was unassuming and never judgemental of our childish angst about our own families. Just being around her makes everything bearable. Now suddenly, we can no longer indulge in her infectious joy. It's time for us to grow up deal with our own relational dilemma's. One thing I will always keep is the memory of her sunny disposition.
Happiness is a choice I am now making for myself. Even the simplest things can be the greatest source of joy. I will be happy because I choose to be...
