Goodbye 2008! My most productive year in terms of post(see side bar). Hope 2009 will be exceed that number and my work(pics) improve.

Some more UDD pics.

The thesis is killing me right now. I'm so close to letting unchecked data into the analysis stage. When will this end?! Oh yeah, jan 12. Right... I'll go tie firecrackers around my body now. Where can I buy that "Goodbye Philippines!" firecracker...





Sinfest... gotta luv it.

Saw Up Dharma Down in their show at the Block. They blew my mind away... twice. The show would've been perfect had my seatmates not be old people who complain a lot. Yeah, everybody is falling asleep that's why you see a bunch of heads moving with the beat.

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Hello! I'm twenty!

lantern parade

Happy Holidays!

Xmas - Birthday - Graduation wish list

Canon 50mm 1.8 lens - actually, bibilhin ko iyan pag nakaipon na ako. balik 0 ang savings ko
actually.

Canon 28-105mm 3.5-4.5 lens - hmmm... graduation gift from ninang? *evilness*

Flash Unit - kahit ano, hindi ako mapili. basta ung tatagal ng 5 years

Trabaho - ung part-time lang. kulang ang kita ko sa current "job" ko. tutor anyone?

Sci-Fi books ni Philip K Dick at Ursula LeGuinn

Sandman Graphic Novels ni Neil Gaiman - masyado siyang mahal para bilhin. Nakakapanghinayang dahil hindi naman ginto ang papel nito kahit gaano pa kaganda

Albums: Radioactive Gulaman, Space(Mishka Adams), Back to Black(Amy Winehouse)

Philippine Speculative Fiction Anthologies

Trip to Europe - hindi natuloy kasi ayaw ako payagan mag-isa at masyadong mahal kapag buong pamilya

1-2 years break before going to med school - parang masaya maging PHM

Fling - joke lang!

Caps - pref. ung sports cap in neutral or dark colors at adjustable ung size

Tennis shoes! - nagsisimula na naman sumuko ang mga sapotos ko. ang hirap maghanap ng matinong tennis shoes ah! puro reebok tuloy ang brand ng sapatos ko.

Tennis string - ang panget na ng tunog ng sweet spot ng raketa ko. samahan na rin ng bagong racquet kung mabait ang magbibigay. gawin na ring wilson dahil sobrang bait na naman niya.

Black and white... hm... interesting...

the hospital and university not the monument...

Canon 50 mm 1.8
Henry's - 4.9K (at least that's what the lady told me)
D Zone SM North - 4.5K

no stocks until January. Crud...

at walang CB 2LW chargers sa Hidalgo. Mayroon lang sila universal chargers na worth 1.25K. Kung ikukumpara mo naman sa CameraHaus price na 3K dun na lang sa Hidalgo kahit hindi siya Canon. Matanong nga ang nanay ng aking kaibigan.

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I need a job. I could be a HS tutor for Chemistry, Algebra and basic Geometry and Biology.

I got my driver's license renewed. Maybe I'll try driving on Christams...

Some more pictures. These are some of the good ones I managed to upload before my camera fainted from exhaustion.

slightly crooked "cross-processed" photoshopped photo


for the requisite Oblation photos


should be rotated but it's fine the way it is right now.


good thing I didn't delete this even though it is a bit soft



reg you're the best!

No watermark yet, as I'm using my PC to edit still I'd appreciate it if nobody steals these(assuming they're good enough). And the subtitles are not coming out right... hm...

just a teaser...

stars


Happy Holidays Everybody!

Collected data.
Walked around the Oval alone.
Met with high school friends and acquaintances.
Walked roughly around the same distance of the Oval, again.
Took pictures(mostly crappy ones) of the Lantern parade while standing on a precarious position.
The era of the SLR is really coming.
Noted how surreal the order of the parade is. Activists then Military group. Christian group then LGBT group.
Become amazed with the Fine Arts floats.
Went to the Ampitheatre and waited for the parade to end.
Moved to another location and watched the fireworks display.
Wow!
Went to SM, bought dinner and went home.
Sleep all day. Drat! my thesis!

Pictures soon... will be really late as I lost my battery charger.

Batch Christmas party last night.

I am so tired but I still have special studies and the UP Lantern Parade in the aftertnoon.

I recieved a limited edition of Bipolar, Up Dharma Down's 2nd album... the perks of being friends with the sister of UDD's guitar player. Happy happy

But this morning, sad sad. I lost the battery charger of my camera. It costs 2K, low right but I have no more money. I hope I just left it in my friend's condo unit. I don't think I dropped it in Pedro Gil.

Christmas break has started...

in my mind at least. I still have 5 days with classes and two weeks for data collection but I have no more exams so I can let my mind wander and think about non-academic stuff.

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I saw 100 and Dose a while ago. Good-bye 300 bucks! 100 is really good, Dose nyeee... whatever.

I found myself watching Dose with a lot of homosexual men. Why? I could think of a number of reasons, some not quite moral(no, it's not the homosexuality. oh please!). Anyway, I was ID'd by the security guard/ticket person(I had no problem buying the ticket). I was hoping for it. I want to affirm that I still look below 18. *evil laugh*

I hope Imburnal will be screened at a more accessible time slot next week(the poster said the screening of the Cinema One Originals will be up to the 16th).

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I'm excited to take pictures of the Lantern Parade in Diliman. I just don't know if my lens can handle the low light conditions. I fear that I must choose between blurry-hippy pictures and too dark pictures. Hopefully I won't be forced to use ISO 1600 since the pictures turn out so noisy.

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One of our classrooms caught fire last Friday(no pictures, wasn't there when the fire happened). At least the neighboring auditorium wasn't affected and no one was hurt. It's still sad though.

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I need to talk to one of my former professors(though he's really not a proffesor yet) for my med school application. And to my undergraduate advisor. Yes, application. Only one. Oo na! Mayabang na ako!

Christmas break has started...

in my mind at least. I still have 5 days with classes and two weeks for data collection but I have no more exams so I can let my mind wander and think about non-academic stuff.

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I saw 100 and Dose a while ago. Good-bye 300 bucks! 100 is really good, Dose nyeee... whatever.

I found myself watching Dose with a lot of homosexual men. Why? I could think of a number of reasons, some not so moral. Anyway, I was ID'd by the security guard/ticket person(I had no problem buying the ticket). I was hoping for it. I want to affirm that I still look below 18. *evil laugh*

I hope Imburnal will be screened at a more accessible time slot next week(the poster said the screening of the Cinema One Originals will be up to the 16th).

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I'm excited to take pictures of the Lantern Parade in Diliman. I just don't know if my lens can handle the low light conditions. I fear that I must choose between blurry-hippy pictures and too dark pictures. Hopefully I won't be forced to use ISO 1600 since the pictures turn out so noisy.

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One of our classrooms caught fire last Friday(no pictures, wasn't there when the fire happened). At least the neighboring auditorium wasn't affected and no one was hurt. It's still sad though.

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I need to talk to one of my former professors(though he's really not a proffesor yet) for my med school application. And to my undergraduate advisor. Yes, application. Only one. Oo na! Mayabang na ako!

I'm getting more annoying lately. Hmmm... I should stop making such snarky comments.

Again, people are asking about my love life. People, Stop. If I am with someone, I'll announce it to the world. Just wait and be prepared. Okay?

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I watched Hairspray while instead of studying. Good for me.

Ok. So an alleged someone seems to have a crush on me. Really, she should stop and face reality. I have no feelings for her and won't develop any romantic inclinations towards her no matter how hard she tries to force dates on me. At first I was humoring her but her constant advances are becoming annoying. I value her friendship and seems to be smart and have a practical way of looking at life(which I like). I think a confrontation is in order. Better hurt her now. Of course, there is still that possibility that my sources are wrong but I can't afford a P-C situation.

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Ew... love stuff.


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Ang walang hiya ko talaga. Sa mga ka-batch kong nagbabasa ng blog na ito, help me!

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I had a few of my pictures printed. I love it! The printing shop managed to get the colors correct. This means all my fiddling around can be translated into a tangible form.

I did noticed that many of my pictures are not as sharp as I'd like. I wonder what the problem is... it could be a weakness of the kit lens or my poor focusing skills but I did notice that even those shot in autofocus as still a bit soft. Fortunately, the Canon software is able to increase the sharpness of those shots.

So I woke up and discovered I can't walk without terrible pain. The bad news is I slept in my grandfather's clinic(I accompany him during weekend nights) and I have to walk home. The good news is my grandfather's a doctor and it is a clinic so I got meds for the pain. I'm sure using steroids for inflammation is overkill but I don't have any NSAIDs, it worked anyway because I can now walk. I doubt that the pain would disappear by Tuesday and this would be a good reason to get out of that performance I really do not want to do. *evil grin*

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About the debate for January, we finally got our groupings. I ended up in the negative side. Crud. The argument is on the beneficence of transgenic plants to human beings. Focusing on the ethics surrounding it.

Great! I support biotech and all those cool stuff but now I have to argue against it. I must resist the urge to use the argument, transgenic = artificial = bad. Ugh...

Must look on the positive side. This would be a really good opportunity to learn about the two sides of the transgenic organism issue. Though I doubt that I'd find compelling evidence that would say that transgenic plants would be or are harmful to man.

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We're really having nice weather. Perfect for data collection. Slightly sunny to cloudy. No to very insignificant rain(the amount where you don't need an umbrella). Wish this will continue over the next weeks. I'm still not sure if its already the cold dry season or the end of the hot rainy season. Must be the CC and GW.

Next week will be the last week of data collection, for the 1st batch at least. We do need 1-2 days of collection to replace those who have declined. I'm so tired and the tendon near my foot hurts so much. Wish I remember my anatomy so I could google a possible solution.

Start na pala ng 2nd sem... hahahaha!

Magkakaroon kami ng debate sa isa naming subject. Ang kulet talaga ng PH; ipinipilit lahat ng kailangang matutunan para sa tunay na mundo. Tutal, group naman ang activity at ang mas maganda, walang i-de-declare na winner. Kasi naman parang ang kawawa ng magiging mga negative kasi ang mga topics ay etikal naman talaga. Kailangan lang namin mamulat sa iba't-ibang bagay na tungkol sa mga topics. At delikado rin ang negative kasi may tendency na makagawa ng Naturalistic fallacy sa pagtatanggol ng kanilang claims. Pero exciting. Sa wakas magagamit ko na rin ang aking blog surfing skills at experiences.

I walked around a certain area of Manila yesterday. It was a good thing that Mr. sun is behind thick clouds because I walked and walked and walked. Surprisingly, I didn't become tired. More surprisingly, I only got lost once. Stupid me forgot that the street I was looking for has an alternative name. Good thing I have my handy dandy map with me. I looked like a tourist(promdi more likely) but fortunately, I wasn't robbed or anything. Guess it was too early for the evil people to roam the streets and it's not like I was in Tondo or any place in Kalookan(hah! I live in this city!).

I dropped by Quiapo and finally bought a UV filter for the kit lens. I didn't see Henry's again. I feared for my life so I quickly made my purchases. Yes, I'm a total Hidalgo noob. Next time I'm bringing somebody along to use as a meat shield.

It's supposed to be the first day of classes but I don't have classes today because well, I don't. I also do not have classes on Fridays and half of Wednesdays and Thursdays. This is the only other thing I love about second sem(the other is the fact that I'm graduating after this sem).

Saw a post about how a certain pro(or semi-pro) blogger hating on blogger/blogspot. Hmp! Sorry if I'm such a poor person who really wants to fiddle around with html, css and some other languages.

Nov 4. Time for the US election. Obama will probably win. I'm leaning towards Democrats because the Republican candidate(s) usually have anti-Science plans, proposals and policies. And the religious right seem to have a great hold on their Republican candidates that issues about equality(LGBT rights, women's rights, healthcare rights and, ironically, worship rights) are not being resolved.

In other news, I'm registered for my final semester at the CPH... until I return to take graduate studies at least. And the thesis is killing me. I have to go to Bacoor, Cavite tomorrow to attend the training on water refilling stations. And, based on my calculations, we are going to spend all our free days of November for data collection except Sundays. And I still have dance practice.

Speaking of dancing, I still haven't confirmed whether we are going to perform on Saturday for this seemingly big event. I hate being the communications guy.

I'm wearing jammies right now. I only wear them when I'm sick and I assure you I'm not. They're really comfy but it's too warm to be wearing them.

Yey vacation! Although I have that nagging feeling about our proposal... = (

Just pictures today. All are edited(curves maaaan...)

Ugh... my watermark is so ugly. I got to create a cool one.

Finally finished pre-testing our collection tool! And with the use of the City Health Office endorsement, we got a 100% response rate.

Yay us!

And with that my sembreak officially starts TONIGHT and ends on Sunday. I finally get the chance to raise my feet and relax.

We're going to Bulacan tomorrow and I'll probably end up sleeping all day. But I hope I'll get the chance to take pictures(hopefully, the weather will cooperate).

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Playing around with royalty free textures from sxc. I think it looks too sad and contrasts with how I'm really feeling. Yayness...

 

I haven't shot a bunch of pictures in days. I miss editing pictures. *sigh* When will this thesis end?

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That's my sax! I haven't played it for a long while. Usually when I feel the urge to play something occurs that forces me to not play. Sometimes it is the lack of the reed. Sometimes I feel sick(It's icky to play with a cold because you just know that you are creating a wonderful place for you virus to "live" in).

Speaking of reeds, I seem to have experienced all the bad stuff that could happen to them. Chewed. Bitten. Dropped. Accidentally chipped. Fungal growth. The fungi really creeps me out(even though I already took 3 microbiology classes).

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I'm re-reading Dune again. I really need to buy new novels. And I lost my glasses; need to get a new pair. At least my parents are funding this new one.

I'm still alive and happy.

Our proposal presentation went well. No major issues arose during the open forum; in my view at least. Just many many revisions in the data collection tool and I really liked that.

During the small group discussion that followed, many issues poured forth. The issues weren't really surprising ones as we already anticipated them and made back-up plans instead they were brought up.

Big changes in the sample size and study population and some re-arranging and revising of the tool is all that we need to do. And we need to write down our operational definitions of study variables. Fortunately, we already made operational definitions, we just didn't write them down.

Tomorrow is proposal presentation day.

I just found a glaring error in our methodology chapter. Instead of saying we would be asking them to perform a demonstration, we wrote that we would be asking them questions. This is inconsistent with the data collection tool that we'd be using. I just have to ask my group mates to explain it during the presentation proper to avoid long discussions during the open forum.

Crap. And I still have to worry about explaining to the committee regarding the probability of making our study analytic in nature.

Good news: Tomorrow Up Dharma Down will be releasing their sophomore album.

Bad news: The launch is in Taguig and I can't go. Sadness...

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Yes, it's brown and orange. I feel that purple is too happy for this blog, not that this isn't a happy blog.

2nd draft and counting...

I'm really excited about going around Manila. Collecting data. Commuting.

Getting burned under the sun or wet under the rain or just plain dirty under the not-so-blue sky of Manila.

I even got a map!

But seriously, we have 36 days(12 whole days and 24 half days) to collect data and I am not sure if we're going to finish on time.

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New template. Still temporary. Goodbye yellow dude in uniform! But the black-white-green remains. I'll clean up once I have some free time. Most of the features are built-in features(so much for designing a blog) but we still have much freedom over the final template. And I like it because now I don't have to fiddle too much with that dreaded "position" tag. I just have to brush up on html, css and learn some xml(since blogger is using it).

Hanging out with classmates outside your special studies group is really great. Because of one group, I learned about the amazing Google docs and Zotero.

Google docs allow me and other people to work on the same document at the same time. It can even be used as an online messenger. I really love it. The only downside is you have to be online to use it and the laptop I use at school seem to have issues with connecting to public WiFi.

Zotero is a cataloging tool. It makes researcher lives so much easier. It allows a researcher to create "bookmarks" of papers he read and at the same time creates the proper citation entry for it. It even comes with the option to change the format of citation which is really handy considering there are tons of formats out there. The only issue I have with it is it doesn't work with Opera, the browser in the laptop I use. And you can't transfer information from one computer to another because it is attached to the browser installed in the computer.

Unfortunately, I learned of these tools AFTER we finished writing the first draft of our proposal including the reference. But, I still transferred our docs to google docs and used zotero in order to clean up our reference section.

Now I need to go back to work. I still have this nasty 4 question exam. Three years in UP and I am not used to essay type exams anymore. *sweat*

Putek!

Wala akong sembreak!

now for a picture I took last June:

In my brother's room because I don't "catch" the sunrise in mine.

Surprise! No pictures! Well... maybe later. I'm using my PC and the laptop is where the pics are at.

Thesis writing.

It is a really good thing that our thesis is a group effort. Right now, I'm lounging around and waiting for the output of my group mates. My main job is compiler and editor and our deadline is 5pm so I still have plenty of time before I have to go crazy.

I do have some writing jobs but I have done them and I really need to see what the others made so I could finish it. I fear for the Data Collection tool that I am not writing because I really don't want to edit that thing.

Minor rant: It sucks that so many journal articles are behind paywalls. I hate Elsevier and Blackwell Synergy and all so publishers who demand payment for things they just print and not write down. I hate that knowledge has a high cost and the money for payment do not even reach the researcher. I hate it that articles which we crave to include in our RRL are behind paywalls. If I ever become a full-time researcher I will never publish in those journals.

We finally had our grad pics taken(mantra: I will graduate with honors... I will graduate...)! So, it took the whole day to shoot everyone in our batch(46 people) and I was (un-?)fortunate to be in the last batch to be shot.

One of my classmates had a very interesting idea she stole. I don't know from whom but we tried to copy it.

I managed to fool a classmate to do my take on the above look.

And, I finally managed how to do that slightly wrong color effect on pictures.

obviously, I wasn't the one who took this...


and this slightly blurred one here.

But I still have to do the Thesis, Fieldwork and Clin Chem(one of our toughest subjects ever!) before I can call myself a BSPH graduate.

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I just had the most interesting Tuesday yesterday. I had to perform on stage, organize an event, take an exam immediately after the event and then finish three group projects that need to be submitted before 5pm. I was near-suicidal when I woke up yesterday.

I, along with my batchmates, participated in a tree planting activity by the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change and NAPOCOR in Caliraya Lake, Cavinti, Laguna. I planted(dig hole + put seedling inside) 10 trees. I had to meet the quota so I "planted" some more. I have sore hands, torn skin and sunburned arms to prove it. 

It was fun except for the fact that we had to suffer constant insults and side comments from some not so nice people. Who cares if we are slow? Really... some people are so insecure that they have this need to exclaim the weaknesses of others. Good thing that I look really nerdy and people automatically think that I am weak physically which is not completely true and not completely false.

And we had to endure some really bad speeches from politicians. Yeah yeah, we know you are all important and sh*t but why do you have to come really late and then make this stupid and long speeches?

Random question: What is the appropriate Filipino translation of Climate change? Why doesn't the task force know the answer?

After the planting, we did some jump pics. Yeah, we are so mature.

I think I need to buy some UV filter and polarizers.