square mode

half frame mode

For more of my lomographs, do visit my lomohome. The photos from my Holga 135 BC are posted there, and the vignettes are just lovely.

It’s our beagle Bailey’s birthday! My mom texted me to go straight at home after work. Apparently, this spoiled little dog cousin of mine has a dinner party. We’ll be having spaghetti and fried chicken–the quintessential party food.

She is spoiled and sometimes acts like the pack leader of the house, but I love her to bits. Happy birthday (not-so)  li’l doggie. <3

On the bright side, I may have finished stalking Lisbeth Salander on paper, but I’ve yet to see her on the big screen. Rooney Mara will play Lisbeth Salander in the American version of the movie; if I do say so myself, it’s inevitable to be curious about Rooney Mara if you’re also curious about Lisbeth Salander. With a little bit of researching, I found these:

Well whaddya know, she’s the cover for the November issue of Vogue!

So beautiful! Major girl crush!

The movie won’t be showing here in the Philippines till next year, and I really can’t wait.

photos from vogue.com

Two tables filled!

We ordered 3 dozens of wings, each 6 a different flavor. We had lemon pepper, mango barbecue, honey mustard, their new flavor jamaican jerk, and the other two I forget.

Cajun-grilled fish fillet. Yummy!

Fish and chips

These onion rings are HUGE! So huge that they kinda remind me of bangles.

What a feast!

Gotcha!

Right after lunch we did a little bit of exploring.

We saw a teeny-tiny kitten

and oh-so-pretty graffiti

and Rene Requiestas

Wingman can be found at The Collective, 7274 Malugay St., San Antonio Village

Towards the late afternoon we then headed to SM North Edsa to catch the advanced screening of Real Steel at the IMAX theatre, no less!

Real Steel doesn’t show until Wednesday, but when it does, I really recommend that you watch it. The movie showed a future very similar to our present today, the only difference is that the gadgets are cooler and that robots have replaced boxers. But the movie isn’t only about robots bashing at each other. It also shows a father and his estranged son rebuilding a relationship through robot boxing. Kind of Kramer vs. Kramer meets Transformers, haha.

So this was our Saturday. How about you, how did your weekend go?

It's a Diana Mini!

I haven’t blogged about this before but I truly love shooting with film. There’s just more mystery when shooting with film compared to shooting with digital cameras. I love imagining what’s in the roll of film I’m about to drop off at the lab, and I love holding the developed photos in my hands. For sure some of the photos will appear overexposed or underexposed, or the multiple exposures will be wonky, but even if just one photo comes out the way I imagined it, it will be enough to make me buy more film and repeat the process once again.

My first baby is a Holga 135BC, which I named Albinus Maximus Cornelius. The name seemed apt for such a strong looking camera. Albinus belongs to the family of Holgas, the medium-format camera famous for its plastic lens and for producing dreamy square photos coupled with extreme vignetting. The only difference of my camera with its predecessor is it uses 35mm film instead of 120 film. The vignettes can still be achieved through the black corner (BC) mask in the camera.

Albinus Maximus Cornelius hamming it up for the camera.

The Diana Mini is my second toy camera. It’s the little sister of the Diana+ F camera, also a medium-format camera. When I saw her up close, I was surprised at how tiny she was. My phone is probably even longer than her! So adorable. I named her Amarantha Cynthia Celeste.

I haven’t taken her out for a spin yet but what I like about her is that she also uses any kind of 35mm film, may it be color negative, slide, or black and white. What drew me most to this camera is its ability to take half frame photos. That means instead of shooting just 36 frames, I’ll end up with 72. I can capture contrasting scenes and make stories through my pictures.

Comes with the Diana F+ Flash, 12-pack color gels, Diana-to-hot shoe flash adaptor, Hot shoe-to-Diana flash adaptor, lens cap, and neck strap

This "Shoot Forever" book is also included

"Your life will never be the same again" (I'm sure of it!)

I’m so excited to take my new baby places. And I also can’t wait to use the flash and the color gels. Analogue really is love.

Are you also interested in film cameras?

For more information on the cameras, visit the Holga and Diana Mini microsites.

I just want to greet the person who introduced me to blogging a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thank you for all the kind words about my writing, those mean a lot to me. Enjoy your special day and be happy!

My TV time starts at 9 pm, when dinner is done and my boyfriend has already gone home and I just lounge around in my bedroom. I have a schedule of the shows stuck in my head and I just channel surf when I get bored with what I’m watching.

Last night as I was channel surfing I saw that Toy Story 3 was showing on Star Movies. I’ve watched it for about five times already so I wasn’t really interested in watching it again. But since there wasn’t really any TV show up in line, I settled with Toy Story 3.

Again, I’ve watched it for about five times and those five times I’ve watched it never failed to make me tear up. Last night wasn’t any different. The part where (for those who haven’t watched it yet, there’s a spoiler ahead!) Andy passes down his toys to Bonnie before going to college is the culprit! He plays with them one last time before saying goodbye. Hay…Maybe I just can’t fathom the thought of having to do the same thing with my stuffed toys (yes, I’m already in my 20’s but still have my stuffed animals around me). But at least there’s someone who would take good care of the toys.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to watch Toy Story 3 again but I’m pretty sure I’ll still be shedding tears. Itchokay, it’s part of being human, haha.

I didn’t know much about Temple Grandin before I watched the movie. All I knew was that she was diagnosed with autism and that she changed the way of cattle handling in the States, which was all but enough for me to regard her as some sort of an inspiration even without knowing her. But when I saw the movie, I realized that she wasn’t just an inspiration, she was a hero. My own personal hero.

The movie showed how she struggled with autism, or perhaps more appropriately, how she worked through her autism. There were many things that her autism prevented her from doing like touching people and having friends. When she was a child the doctor who diagnosed her even recommended having her institutionalized instead. But she worked through all that with the help of the people who surrounded her. Through their help and encouragement she was able to attend college, and after that, even pursue higher education.

One thing that I loved most about her is her fascination for the cattle industry. It was a strange choice for a career but perhaps she knew that it was for her. After being consistently put down by the “cowboys” who deemed themselves faultless for the job, she stood up to them. The result? She discovers a more humane way of treating cows in a slaughterhouse.

As an animal lover, I was most fascinated in Temple’s quest in finding a way to make the cows calmer. She understood that cows were meant to be made into beef, but she also understood that before all that, they were still creatures that deserved respect: “Nature is cruel but we don’t have to be. We owe them some respect. I touched the first cow that was being stunned. In a few seconds it was going to be just another piece of beef, but in that moment it was still an individual. It was calm and then it was gone.”

The real Temple Grandin

Everyone in the film was great but Claire Danes was especially exceptional. She portrayed Temple Grandin to a tee, perfecting her voice, her walk, all her idiosyncrasies. I even forgot that it was Claire Danes only acting!

Catch Temple Grandin on HBO this September.

*Autism and cattle handling are two of the most diverse topics in the world yet Temple Grandin paved the way to make people more aware of them. Want to know more about these two yourselves? Visit www.ejournals.ph

So far I’ve been consistent with the guys I like. Put me in a crowd, and my eyes would instantly try to spot the tall and lanky guy standing or sitting (or slouching) in the corner. I have a penchant for faces with a well defined jaw line, and a mysterious gleam around the eyes. I’ve stuck to this standard for the longest time, I even remember (and so do my mom) having a childhood crush on Vic Sotto. Vic Sotto doesn’t have that “mysterious gleam around the eyes” attribute, though, but these guys do.

Keanu Reeves

Maksim Mrvica

Reeve Carney, new eye candy

Over the years though, I’ve come to love a guy that is the exact opposite of my ideal guy.  Out of my criteria, he only ticked one of the boxes: tall. He is so far from having a well defined jaw and mysterious eyes because he has such a round face and the friendliest eyes. And the lanky guy I imagined? Definitely so not him as he’d rather walk around and go food tripping than just sit all day.

The thing is I don’t need my ideal guy. I’m happy and very much in love. Everything about him has made me a better and stronger person. He made me come out of my shell. His friendly eyes taught me how to meet and get to know other people. His love for food introduced me to a variety of tastes and delicacies. We even relish street food, trying to find the best tasting isaw, tukneneng, fishballs, and proben. Somehow, I’ve also influenced him: he’s become an animal lover ever since we became a couple. For our first anniversary he gave me a turtle. When he gave it to me it was no bigger than the palm of my hand. It just turned four today, and I can’t even hold it properly in one hand.

One love that we both share is traveling but compared to him, he is much well-traveled. Whenever he tells me his adventures abroad and in the Philippines, it opens my eyes to the beauty of this world. It makes me want to go and explore places with him because I know that he’ll take care of me in unfamiliar territory.

I guess what I’m just trying to say is that I’m really blessed to have this person in my life.

Happy 4th anniversary, honey! <3