Karma Police

The Perfect Bowling Score

2012-01-27T09:31:00.003+11:00

Hello from the other side of the week - my absence has been due to a lack of burnable internet usage, therefore to preserve precious megabytes of downloads, my internet activity has been only between the hours of 12am to 12pm. The only problem is that I miss most of this 12 hour window because I am either asleep through most of it or I am preoccupied with other things such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (or Vice City, whatever decade I feel like living). So erm, yeah life has not been that interesting to blog about anyway.

One thing is that I got around to sorting out my timetable by calling UNSW, so now it is bloody awesome and time convenient, etc.

How do I make this thing bigger...oh well. Tuesday to Thursday, with ample time between lectures/tutorials. The whole time I was having trouble enrolling for a particular course, but after finally bothering to call up UNSW and COFA, I got manually enrolled into the course. Yay.

Now I can finally begin working - or begin to bother applying for work properly. Mum seems to rant about how Mondays are really bad for retail. Meh, work is work. Need monies. My resume even with judicious padding out with verbosity, only spans one A4 page. Why did I not do more things earlier on in life?

Daily life has literally slowed down to a crawl. Yesterday I was asleep for a total of seventeen hours. Three and a half of these hours were spent watching Federer vs Nadal (disappointed by the way) and the other three and a half probably spent playing GTA to boredom's content or eating leftovers. I can feel myself getting increasingly sloth-like and slower each day, but as expected I am not doing anything about it..........well I still have time to sort it out I guess.

I wonder how everyone is. I have not seen them for weeks, maybe they have forgotten about me. Ha, social leprosy. The prospect of meeting new people at uni is interesting. There are people I converse with regularly on forums, but I have never met them in real life just due to dodgy timing or bad weather hahaha. And the great distancing begins.......

This post is so rambley, I seem to be changing topics after one/two sentences and with my blog layout, it will probably be a line or two max so I will look even more crazy lol. And since when did I use "I" so much? Too much first person self-centredness....I will stop now.

Still alive, still in/sane, still lovesick, still fat.

Tired feet

2012-01-23T18:46:00.002+11:00

Woke up late, decided to not go UNSW for course advisory thing
Got a call from Shaz who was on her way to city too
Missed my train
Got on later train, down behind me sits guy getting high on spray paint
Phone playing up, unable to pick up Shaz's calls
Reached city at 12:10pm or so
30c short on phone recharge
SD card no fit in Shaz's DSLR, because it takes xD cards
Walked around city, occasional photos
Watched lion dance parade, ears bled, road blocked
Saw a few familiar faces
Climbed rope thing at Darling Harbour with DSLR, was very scared
Shaz showed me a cool alleyway with really interesting blue cloud art
Shaz left early
Walked around city for a bit more
Took about three trains to get home
Tired feet
Stuff on FB/Flickr

Retirement, tribute to a legend: Adidas Superstar 2 x Cope2

2012-01-20T16:55:00.019+11:00

It is common practice in some industries that a well-used or reliable tool has its use stopped - not because it is useless or superseded, but merely for the nostalgic reasons of retirement. A particular example is The Simpsons, in an episode whereby Chief Wiggum's car is completely destroyed by a tree that has fallen on it and he disappointingly says that the car "was only a day away from its retirement". Though now that I think about it, I associate retirement with Blade Runner, because it is a euphemism for destroying a replicant. Anyway, something that I am retiring today is something that has certainly been with me for a long time, my Adidas Superstars. I have had them for just over three years and while they were not one of my most well-worn sneakers (nor my favourite for that matter haha), there is certainly a lot of memory attached. I gave them a good scrub (they were serving as my 'beaters') and relaced, etc. I also put some shoe trees in them to keep their shape as they lie in their box. Maybe sometimes I will take them out to look at and reminisce, but I am certainly not wearing them anymore for it is time for new things (sneakers).

These have been worn practically everywhere, most notably to year 11 camp where coffee was spilt onto them and they picked up a heap of dust and mud. Good times. Cleaned up pretty nicely if I say so myself. They are actually almost two sizes too big for me, but that does not matter anymore since they are being retired. Oh, so how did I get these? Actually, Dad bought them for my fifteenth birthday so that explains the obvious nostalgia and such. And coincidentally, today, happy 55th birthday Dad ♥

Blergh.

2012-01-19T17:23:00.000+11:00

The thing that strikes me most is that we won't be going to the same places.

Losing my religion

2012-01-14T21:23:00.002+11:00

Woke up at 7:20am this morning, but had no point in being awake so I went back to sleep for another two or so hours. Got out of bed to find the house completely empty - just like old days, so I undertook the usual routine of hopping on the computer, but this time I ended up going on a Howcast roll and must have watched hundreds, from everything from How To Eat Ants to How To Make Donuts. But what was of most interest (and use) to me was learning how to whistle with my fingers, and a variety of culinary recipes. This left me craving a Vietnamese/French iced coffee, but it did not sit so well, probably because of dodgy condensed milk (should have used a new can). Still nice though.

Did nothing for most of the day, except a haircut (maybe next post) and bowling with about twenty of the Seftoners. Friend's mum was nice enough to give me a lift to prevent me being late, which was pretty funny because the two of us ended up being the first there and we did not start until 5:40pm. Games were $7 each, which was sweet, so we all played two games. Got a lot of gutter/strike combinations strangely enough. Magically disappeared as usual at around 7pm to find it raining outside. I had worn my Levis and suede sneakers too, sigh. Luckily, the run to the station was not that far, so not too much damage was done.

It was a strangely poignant (probably the wrong word to use here) trip back home. With probably 1km left to my stop when the bus driver asks if we can stop for a couple of minutes. I said sure, and he proceeded to pray on the floor of the bus. It was a repetitive yet solemn process as I watched him stand and kneel a number of times before we were on our way again. I certainly admire his faith, much more than mine haha. I asked him if he did it everyday, even on the bus and he told me it was five times a day. Damn man, dedicated. Makes my Buddhism practices extremely casual, but I suppose it is a matter of comparison.

l'orange

2012-01-13T20:54:00.000+11:00

Worried

2012-01-12T20:38:00.001+11:00

Damn, lost footage.

Kim's fun questionnaires

2012-01-10T18:18:00.004+11:00

As you can see, my layout has once again had a makeover, and has returned to its previous layout with some new additions. I will continue to build upon it, for I quite like the grey. Navbar is accessible by hovering the cursor over where it would be and it will appear.

1: Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time? I do not even tumblr. Currently life is mi goreng and sleep, dispersed by stints of various anime and photography

2: Name a favourite of each: food, drink, colour. Pho, avocado milkshake, blue

3: If you married rich and your spouse gave you $100,000 a week, what would you spend it on? Sneakers, camera gear, fast food and a new car

4: Name a favourite of each: book, movie, TV show. Brave New World, The Wedding Singer, "FLCL"

5: If you were given the opportunity to spend 48 hours with absolutely anyone (living or dead), who would you spend it with and what would you do? A weekend away with her ♥

6: Name a LEAST favourite of each: food, drink, colour. GREEN BEANS (especially the ones that end up in frozen mixed vegetables and squirt out the disgusting juice), watery milk e.g. skim and soy, not sure about colour.

7: What do you spend most of your money on? Sneakers and photographic equipment.

8: What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing? Boxer briefs?

9: Name a LEAST favourite of each: book, movie, TV show. Wild Swans (share my sentiment oh fellow Seftoners), the others I am not certain as there are many

10: If you were sat on a plane beside your favourite celebrity, what would you do? "Are you ____? Can I have your autograph? A picture? If I/you fall asleep, it's okay if I/you rest my/your head on my/your shoulder?"

11: What is the strangest thing you have in your room? An ornamental plate from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, more commonly known as Burma.

12: What is a weird habit you have, or people have told you have? Grammar Nazi, but I would not call that weird.

13: What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself? Saying I am shit at something, but not being any better themselves. If you are better than me at something, you have all right to put me down. Otherwise talk shit, get hit.

14: What are five things you absolutely have to have in your dream house? Will it be a two-storey house or just a simple one? A ROOM FOR MY SNEAKERS. A ROOM FOR MY BOOKS. A PERSONAL STUDIO TO STASH MY GUITARS. A ROOM FOR MY CAMERA GEAR. A KETTLE TO MAKE MI GORENG.

15: If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why? Probably into my Zodiac animal, the rooster. I am not certain why.

16: Which band (current or past) would you want to go on tour* with? (*Travel with, not preform with.) Guns 'n' Roses, because shit would go down.

17: Name a favourite of each: band, album, song. Van Halen, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, "Love Bites" (VH, RHCP, Def Leppard)

18: Why is your favourite band your favourite? Well it's not my absolute favourite, but Van Halen is 80s fun and shreddy

19: How many concerts have you attended? Which was your favourite? Least favourite? If none, who do you want to see live the most? I have stated before all the bands I want to see are deceased, broken up or have a different lineup.

20: What is one of your favourite song lyrics? (Who is it by?) "It really, really, really could happen / Yes it really, really, really could happen" from "The Universal" by Blur

21: Who do you ship? What does this mean?

22: What band merch do you own? If any, whose is it and when did you get it? I have a Lady Gaga t-shirt. Yes, I bought it some time last year.

23: How did you learn of the band that is currently your favourite? Watched 80s music videos on choob and my sonic palette was blown away.

24: What celebrity do you idolize the most? On and off with Gina Choi. Adoring IU. But none compare to Miranda Kerr.

25: Who would you most want to lather in Nutella? Oh Buddha, what a naughty question lol. It is a secret.

DIY Tuesday: How to take your own passport photos and save $$$

2012-01-10T16:44:00.023+11:00

Previously mentioned in an earlier post (is this tautology!?) was my desire to prove my legitimacy of citizenship in Australia by applying for a passport. Well, it appears that shades of my former life shine through (see what I did there?) in the sense that I want to save money and not fork out the two digit amount of money required for an in-store passport photo. I have finally prevailed in doing so. Below is my camera and flash setup:

As you can see, I am shooting against a white cupboard to provide the backdrop for the passport photo. Minimal direct light is coming in, so the white will actually turn out a pale shade of grey.

The gear and settings are as follows:
Pentax K100D (my brother's DSLR lol) + Sigma 18-50mm @ ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/8 sec. For the sake of convenience, image capture size is limited to 1.5MP for easier shrinking (covered later on)

Starblitz 3602DTZ flash unit on 35mm A setting, bounced slightly backwards (approx. 30degrees)

Inca i531 ballhead tripod, maximum leg height and centre column raised most of the way

As it can be seen, the wall behind the camera happens to be white. Not pictured is the ceiling, which is also white. This provides an effective medium to bounce off, and choosing the edge where the wall and ceiling meet allows a balanced bounce for the flash and results in an even exposure across the face, eliminating any occurrence of shadows (which is exactly what the passport criteria asks for).

Huh, it does not look quite so portrait orientation here, but trust me the photo turned out fine.

After taking the photo, it was a mere issue of creating a 35 x 45mm (passport photo dimensions) blank space on Photoshop, then adding the photo as a layer on top, transforming this layer and holding shift while dragging a corner inwards to ensure an even shrink to fit the 35 x 45mm frame. Any other issues such as border clipping were dealt with by sampling the background colour and filling in the gaps. It is very easy seeing as the background was the one colour due to no shadows. Now, in a new file, a landscape 4" x 6" blank preset was created, which would accommodate eight of these 35 x 45mm photos (just in case anything could go wrong when attaching two of the photos onto the passport application). Now, it was simply printing out this image at Officeworks for 10c (single 4" x 6" print) and a five minute wait (provided you are the only person in queue for prints). And of course there was not any scaling or cropping, for the image was exactly the 4 by 6. I think my local Post Office was going to charge me $15 for the same eight prints. Ha, a saving of $14.90 which is enough for many things, such as some Din Tai Fung.

And of course, the final result. To preserve my online identity of course I have made a few tweaks.

Slight return

2012-01-09T20:48:00.002+11:00

I have been bad lately, in the sense that I have not posted here recently. I seemed to be on the verge of posting everyday, no matter how minuscule or insignificant the issue was. Then one day, while on Dashboard, I decided not to post, probably due to a combination of laziness and a realisation of the worthlessness of posting about irrelevant things. But alas here I am again, hopefully posting my thoughts in a meaningful and articulate way. Wishful thinking.

I think the word of the week is frustration. Like this slight return to blogging, I also made a slight return to exercising. First four days into the new year I was physically exerting myself in various forms, e.g. running and biking. Fifth day, I go out somewhere so I decide that all this walking around is exercise for the day. Following days are likewise. Today, I went out to the park to kick the ball around, my first time doing so in at least two months. This is where the word of the week kicks in. I am absolutely terrible at it, much to the point of kicking the ball onto the road after five successive skewed shots at goal. I became vexed at my lack of skill towards something I had spent over five years honing in my peak. Eventually I got my rhythm back, but I was still annoyed at myself for not being able to pick it up faster. Which leads to the next point, I am frustrated at myself for my loosening exercise regime. It is as if most days I am just winging it, i.e. walking around, and telling myself "Good job you have exercised today." rather than really push myself like I once did and almost crawl into my room wheezing and feeling my chest expand and contract with each breath. Frustration.

Most other kids can probably share this sentiment with me, but finding a job is bloody difficult. Things like resumes, dropping in resumes, having connections, difficulty. Frustration.

Probably one of the most frustrating things in the past few days is the deletion of my Project 365 album on FB. I do not know what happened, but it was not anticipated nor appreciated. Either way, I was only able to recover two of the five photos from my hard drive, and the past couple of days have been smooth sailing. A reason for undertaking this year long project is not for the mere feeling of committing to something, but more so for expanding my creative bounds as a person. I want to become a better photographer with each daily photo. I want to explore the different styles and techniques of still photography. I want to have different themes for different photos. I want to take photos outside of my usual geographic location. And all that jazz. Even though it is only nine days into said project, sometimes I will struggle to come up with something different. Today's photo, a long exposure light write, was originally intended to be some sort of multiple exposure, but failing light prevented me from doing so. I wonder if I will encounter frustration in the future when I take pictures. I will have to see.

My feelings have also been frustrating me. How long do I keep evaluating and analysing before I do anything at all? I should at least say something soon. But how am I to know what will happen?

Something not so frustrating is Billy Idol. 80s music is just so fun hahaha.

Rotund and blubberly

2012-01-05T19:48:00.002+11:00

Last night, I received an extremely nasty shock in the form of fitting my jeans. I know. My 32" Levis 501 STF (shrink to fit) had supposedly shrunken to a claimed 30" (I should really measure though), but the waist was still slightly loose for the time being I had been wearing them with a belt. However, when I tried them on last night it came to my discovery that my waist could comfortably fit them without the aid of the belt. I was mortified. I almost wanted to cry, but my tear duct removal surgery prevented me from doing so. My lifestyle of fast ~~cars~~ noodles and ~~women~~ sitting at the computer has finally caught up to me. This is well shit.

Today, we went to submit my passport application since I had turned 18 recently and would need to be upgraded to an adult passport. Everything went smoothly except for the passport photo, which I knew the Officeworks people had screwed up. Oh well, at least I did not pay for it. So when we returned home, I took the passport photos myself with the D700 and a white/grey backdrop. Used Photoshop to change the dimensions of the photo to exact passport size and subsequently fit multiple copies of them onto a 4x6" photo which then I would get printed at Officeworks. $10? No, more like 10c. Also briefly caught a glimpse of a cutie working there on my way out haha. Went to Fairfield afterwards for lulz and almost fell asleep on the way home.

Quick ranty thingy

2012-01-03T22:25:00.002+11:00

Rather hot today.

Went out to Officeworks with Dad to print some photos. While we were there, there was just some Asian guy casually walking with a D3s + 24-70mm f2.8 with lens hood on his shoulder. Uh, who does that at Officeworks? Oh look at me, I'm carrying $7k of camera gear on my shoulder, please roll me. His girlfriend/ladyfriend was also lugging around a LV handbag. I could literally feel the pretentiousness they were emitting. Sure, if this was on the field and photos were needed to be taken every other minute, that is fine. But in Officeworks while looking at bluetooth headsets? Douchebaggery I say.

C'mon son.

Too cute.

2012-01-02T22:19:00.001+11:00

Watson, what time is it?

2012-01-01T22:06:00.002+11:00

So last night/this morning was a rush, grabbing stuff getting ready to go city. Bought the Inca i531 ballhead tripod at JB Hifi for $75 after some quick negotiation. Bing Lee sells the same tripod for $130. Really can put a price on anything these days huh. Camera House and Paxtons were trying to slag to me $300+ tripods, Manfrottos and whatnot. Though, in all honestly, I would like the Manfrotto 190PROXB. Down the track. Drove out with the family to city, trying to find parking in Glebe/Ultimo, then rushing down to Darling Harbour where we missed the beginning of the fireworks. In the three hours between fireworks, I roamed with the D700 and tripod, taking street photog. at ISO 3200-6400 and stunning myself with the cleanliness of the image. Dropped by Harbourside to say hi to Lissa, but the minute I turned my back she was gone, zzz. Then 12am came, where I was already sitting ready with the camera. One thing that was really cool was that the crowd was mostly Asian tourists, so no one was a nuisance or anything. Even sort of strange/interesting was that we all sat down in silence watching the fireworks. As Aimy put it, deep. Benefit of this was that the camera was getting clean shots without any obstructions, and I had ample time and opportunity to make adjustments throughout my burst. Yes, I sort of broke in the shutter - somewhere around 540 shutter clicks. Another 149,460 before it supposedly goes bust. Anyway, for what it is worth, ISO 100, f/8-10, 1-2 second shutter for firework photography. Pictures viewable on Flickr. They are actually pretty good I reckon haha.

So I started cardio again today. Went for a run/jog and it was alright, did not feel like collapsing midway, which is a good sign. Also started a 366 (thanks Ena hahaha) but unsatisfied with the image. Not that it is a bad photo or anything, but something meaningful would have been cool. Oh well, another 365 times to get it satisfactory. Viewable on Facebook.

How does 2012 look? I have no bloody clue. It is just 2011, but with a 2 on the end.

Psychosocial

2011-12-31T11:11:00.002+11:00

So I found a ballhead tripod I am thinking of buying. Also found some more casual job vacancies. Plan: get job, get money, get tripod.

Tonight will be the usual routine of heading out to the city to watch fireworks. This year I am presented with a choice. Either I hang with the family and face a feeling of familiarity and ennui; or I go a bit earlier and meet the others at somewhere near Milson's Point and subsequently wait eight or so hours. Honestly, honestly, neither are appealing to me. Is it laziness? Am I just not bothered? I sort of want to just sleep it through, start the new year with a proper night's sleep. Maybe it is a desire to see other people, different people. While it is nice to keep in touch from time to time, I can already feel things drifting. Pessimistic I know, but at the same time I can not help but feel I am right.

I just want to take pictures of the fireworks. 24mm, f/8, 1" shutter, ISO 100. But for that, I need a tripod.

I hate this sort of post

2011-12-29T21:09:00.002+11:00

But allow me to drawl on briefly.

Who the fuck do you think you are, using my name in your brainwashed diatribe? You even used someone else's email to get your point across. What the fuck? Would you like it if I used your name in some shit I decided to write? Whoever you wrote that email to doesn't even know me, but the principle of the matter is that you used me to attempt to strengthen your point. I don't want to be a part of your bullshit. And then you start accusing me of being lazy and good for nothing. Do you think it's that fucking easy to suddenly become useful? I've made enough sacrifices, and I'm not here to make any more. I am content with how things are, why can't you be too? Fuck you.

The Costco Experience

2011-12-28T18:15:00.004+11:00

Like many others before me, visiting Costco for the first time was quite interesting. The signup process was hasty, and once we were there, picking up the cards was a breeze. It was cool how they used webcams for the Costco card picture, and that they were printed within minutes. Well, mum's card had problems printing so we grabbed it on our way out.

Anyway, the rumours and stories I had heard about stock were more or less true. Notable mentions are heaps of Canon 550D's, Sony A35's and a bunch of compacts. Decent prices. PS3, Xbox 360 for usual retail. An electric guitar set for $180, guitar sounded like crap though. Digital grand pianos for $2K. LEVIS 501 FOR $48. <--Next time I am there, I will procure myself a pair or two. Shame they are not STF's though, for I would have truly gone bonkers. Stock was alright I suppose, lot of bulk/wholesale sizes and Hersheys, yum.

Every blog post of late seems to inadvertently make reference to an encounter with an attractive girl/s. Likewise with this post. Costco cuties, enough said lol.

Mum took too long to buy stuff, so Dad, brother and I sat at the food place eating chocolate wafer sticks that we had bought for $4. The place had an onion dispensing device, so amazing! Next time I go, I will definitely sample the food and get refills. My only criticism of the day? Old ladies manage the entrance/exits and they are rather stuck up.

Oh, I also saw Jennifer Nguyen there, who was also at Costco for the first time haha. I am sure there is at least one Seftoner at Costco at any given moment.

Currently waiting on Costco dim sim/dumplings to cook, yummers.

Random acts of kindness

2011-12-27T15:41:00.002+11:00

So I woke up at like 11am today, and within thirty minutes Dad asks my brother and I if we want to go with him someplace. Turns out someplace was the usual Nike/Adidas outlets. There was not much, but of course if I had more than the $90 on me, I probably would have bought another pair of sneakers. Also wanted to buy a new soccerball, but $35 seemed a bit too dear for me.

Anyway, at Adidas they restocked Sneaker Freaker magazine, so I decided to buy issue 20. It would not register on the scanner, so the guy told me "just take it". Which was pretty cool.

Being cockblocked by your mum is not funny

2011-12-24T18:33:00.003+11:00

Last night's Xmas party was fairly average, with people splitting into little bits around Sophie's house and the occasional mingle in the kitchen to eat food. Food was great, a variety of pasta shapes stirred through with tuna, delicious. Perhaps there was a seafood theme, for also present on the table was I presume Costco seafood pizza, with a couple of mussels and calamari rings as topping with the usual tomato paste. I had also gone to the effort to make a heap of my famous waffles and as such people enjoyed them especially after they were retoasted. Ate too much Hersheys chocolate and had a bit of a stomach-ache, but maintained my eat-till-I-die bravado. I also decided to use my D700 for the first time. To quickly run through it, I shot 6M JPEG Fine at ISO 1600. Yes, 1600 sounds like image quality suicide but on the D700 it is ridiculously clean. No noise whatsoever. I used this ISO since I was shooting inside, luckily my lens was f/2.8 - but I daresay I could have cranked it to 6400 and there would have been no problems. Shots can be viewed on my FB. Also, somehow the camera has taken almost 100 shutter clicks. That means it is rated for another 149,900 clicks according to the spec sheet. Rissa actually spammed a lot of photos early on, turned dials and knobs incorrectly, plus she tapped on my lens' front element, thinking there was a freaking filter on it. It gave me a bit of a panic, but I suppose the D700 is built for that sort of treatment. My camera no longer feels heavy - other cameras feel light.

Now to smoothly segue into today's post, I once again refer to yesterday. So I am was without a camera bag. The general solution (ha, suddenly memories of maths come flooding back)? Carry the camera around my neck or have it in my hand the whole time. I did not have a problem with it, but it seemed my parents did. They made a fuss about it, mum in particular. They thought I had some sort of issue about being embarrassed about using a camera bag, which was weird because I had always used a camera bag with my previous DSLR. The mere issue was that the current bag was too tight for the D700, putting it in was possible but it was a hassle. So the hassle happened, and then on the car Dad continued to talk about how easily I could get rolled and whatnot. Well of course, if I was not getting driven I would not be stupid enough to bring the camera with me. Anyway, today I half-heartedly went to Fairfield for the usual grocery shopping and sort of browsed for the limited stock of camera bags at the Bing Lee and Dick Smith Electronics. The bag I initially wanted was the Lowepro Slingshot 202 AW, around $115RRP. Not particularly wanting to spend that much, I began to consider the Lowepro Fastpack 200, $85RRP. It was alright I guess, but I was not too big on the fact it was a backpack since I prefer the sling design. So Fairfield was a fruitless expedition.

Some photos mum printed needed to be picked up from Officeworks at Old Guildford, so that is where we went next. It had so happened that another Bing Lee was next to the Officeworks, so I figured they might have better stock than the Fairfield store. And yes, I was correct. Manfrotto, Lowepro, stuff and stuff. They had the Slingshot 102 AW for $130, which was a bit odd, but the Manfrotto Agile V sling caught my eye since I had been thinking about getting that if I could not get the Slingshot 202 AW. The price was marked as $110, which was fair enough for RRP, and it was certainly a big bag. The Lowepro is tall and slim, while the Manfrotto is more short and stout. Now here is where the title of this entry eventuates. Bing Lee babe (LOL) comes up to me and asks if I would like to get the price for the bag checked to see if it could be any cheaper. Yes, I had said, as I began to check her out. Sorry readers. Slim Asian chick, probably 20 or so, bigish eyes and long straight black hair. She said she could do $80. Here, I could have easily bought the bag and be done with it, but I wished to prolong this transaction. I asked if I could load the bag up with everything in sight - cameras, lenses, tripod etc. Eyed a pretty cool ballhead Manfrotto tripod while I was at it. Anyway, mum starts talking to Bing Lee babe. WHY THOUGH? At least it was not some sort of usual crazy cultist diatribe and instead was the typical Asian parent talking about son finishing HSC and getting results banter. Bing Lee babe asks me how I went. "Oh, HSC, that old thing..." - yes those were my exact words. I told her what I got and she asked me what I wanted to do and stuff. Turns out she is in her final year of studying Psychology. Does that mean she could tell I was totally into her!? It was rather embarrassing because I did not have my wallet and mum had to pay for me. I am a grown man dammit. An unemployed one sigh. Bing Lee babe probably thinks I am a mother's boy now and does not want to date me anymore. Anyway yeah I got the bag and smiled at her yay. Also saw Beryl at Bing Lee, who was buying a waffle iron. I wonder why...

Oh and the bag itself? Fits a shitload of my camera gear, plus water and stuff up top. Adjusting the padding is quite a mission though, but now I can fit the camera and lens, flash, plus a little pouch for my strap how cool. With proper configuration however, I reckon I could fit my K1000 aswell. But oh well, I now have a camera bag and thus I can lug it around everywhere with slightly less risk of getting rolled. Winner winner chicken dinner.

My D700 is amazing.

2011-12-23T23:36:00.000+11:00

That is all.

Oh and fuck, this is awkies.

What's my age again?

2011-12-18T21:40:00.002+11:00

Ah, how we all regularly think back and realise how quickly time has elapsed. This time two years ago I was ranting on about being on my last day of fifteen-dom and how I had it all, things were the best. I had hoped I was to preserve my childhood despite being the arbitrary transitional age of sixteen presenting itself as a weird tangent where one cannot be neither child nor adult. Anyway, wow two years since that entry. How about now, on my eve of my eighteenth birthday?

First off, I would like to finally say that I have been putting off listening to Alice Cooper's I'm Eighteen until I finally turn eighteen, because then eponymously the song will mean something to me. I probably will put it on repeat all day tomorrow and drill into my head a feeling of misdirection and lack of enthusiasm lol. Good song though.

Let me look back on the past year. I can fairly divide it, maybe 60:40 or 70:30 into bad times and good times, generally with the first ratio of the year being bad times and the second ratio being better times. For the longest time, I felt that I was in a real slump in all facets of life. I was not living up to expectation at school, I was a lazy slob (well still am haha), I felt really alone most of the time because I was increasingly getting distant from people, all of which cumulated to a pretty shitty state of mind. Gradually I suppose things improved, especially of late. Getting over the line for school, hopefully making myself remembered as the sneaker guy/photographer/god of English (loljoke), somewhat exercising again, and slowly reconnecting with people. I do not really know, it is still very much a gradual journey for me. I think I am not adequately expressing this through words right now, but I guess it will have to do for now.

Do I look forward to being eighteen? I am looking more forward to receiving my D700+lens than turning into a legal adult. Hell, I am not even doing anything tomorrow to celebrate. I was gonna have pho, but nooo that is not happening. Other people that have turned eighteen seem to be embracing it. You know, the usual clubbing and drinking. Honestly, I do not want to be a part of that. I fail to see the attraction. Especially the drinking. After a nasty incident (ask me on msn), I vowed to not drink. I plan to not break that. Well, maybe a champagne when I get married or something, but no social drinking. Besides, I like coffee, tea and soft/energy drinks too much to take a dip into alcohol. Anyway, off topic there. I do not wish to drink because I wish to be in control of any situation I am in. Not to be controlling of others per se, but to not land myself into shit that I could do were I to be under the influence.

Tomorrow when I wake up, I probably will not feel eighteen. But one thing I am looking forward to - and it may sound rather stupid - is shaving for the first time. Sure, I could have shaved my wispy Asian mo off ages ago, but I always joked about not shaving it until I was eighteen, so I could be a real man. I suppose I held onto that joke for long enough, and I can finally shave my face. Vlog of me shaving tomorrow?

I do not really have much thought about turning eighteen, thus this entry being shorter than I had initially planned. But I will finish off with a reminiscence from when I was a little child. I never imagined one day being eighteen. It seemed an eternity away. Sorta miss that time, when I had not a care in the world. A time when I did not bury myself in walls of sneakers, a quest for photographic and literary perfection nor a gradual fight to win her over. Well, here I am.

I'm eighteen and I don't know what I want.

FIFTY ONE AUTOFOCUS POINTS

2011-12-16T18:05:00.000+11:00

COME ON BABY I AM WAITING FOR YOU.

Thank you speech

2011-12-15T09:09:00.002+11:00

I would like to thank:

Myself for putting in the hours despite bludging a lot and having a lot of distractions
Mum for pushing me when needed, even though sometimes I got really angry
Dad for not pushing me and just telling me to go with the flow
My fellow Seftoners, a bunch of amazing and talented people for supporting me and everyone else through our time at school. There were a lot of concepts and whatnot that I would not have been able to understand without your help and teaching.
Sefton teachers, we dislike some of you, but without you we would not have been able to do well.
And of course, Buddha, for giving me belief for so long. Prayers before my exams really helped.

Oh yeah.

2011-12-14T21:37:00.002+11:00

Congratulations to everyone, us Sefton cohort shone through and we have got the all-rounders to prove it. Good job guys!

FIFTY ONE AUTOFOCUS POINTS, I CAN NOT WAIT FOR YOU IF PEOPLE ARE SAYING ATARCALCULATOR.COM.AU IS ACCURATE LOL.

Oh and, short post:

Today went to Lakhena's party at Oly Park:

EXCELLENT food. Loved the chicken wings, chicken kebab sticks, spring rolls, potato salad, regular salad, chicken sausages, Schwepps Agrum in a variety of flavours (BLOOD ORANGE I NEED TO BUY YOU)
ADORABLE dog of Lak's. Sashi (is that how to spell it?) was really friendly and seemed to enjoy us patting it and carrying it and whatnot. Steven loved her.
A more intimate gathering, composed of a majority of the shelter people, plus a couple others.
People thought I was cosplaying Ash Ketchum from Pokemon because I decided to wear a trucker cap today, and it just so happened to be white at the front and red everywhere else.
Someone got some sorta sauce or something onto my windrunner.
I ran today to stations and back, it was damn tiring since I had not run in ages.
Eat till I die.

Me gusta. English and PDHPE, fuuuuu.

2011-12-14T08:24:00.003+11:00

Click to view larger.

Penultimate

2011-12-13T19:54:00.002+11:00

This is my current song on repeat. Apart from the cracking solo, sums up my cohort as we wait hahaha.

Hell, I have been more excited about the prospect of owning, and this is finalised by the way: a Nikon D700 paired with a Sigma AF 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM. That is if of course I get through the line and parents help up with the few hundred I am short on. But more on that later.

So there are about seventy thousand other kids anticipating HSC results tomorrow. The server will probably crash. I suppose I will just check it later in the morning before I head off to Lakhena's. I am looking forward to that, and also not having to carry around a camera. Yes, even sometimes I just want to chill and eat food. I hope for:

Eng Adv - Band 5
Eng Ext 1 - E3
Maths 2u - Band 5/6
Maths 3u - E3
Biology - Band 5
PDHPE - Band 6

If I get that, I will be happy. And so should the parents.

FIFTY ONE AUTOFOCUS POINTS.

Kim has fun questionnaires

2011-12-11T16:58:00.002+11:00

Pick 10 artists/bands that you love before reading the questions.

Van Halen
Def Leppard
Rage Against The Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Motley Crue
Radiohead
The Pillows
Beastie Boys
Led Zeppelin
The Jimi Hendrix Experience

What is your favourite song of 8? Hey Ladies
What kind of impact has 1 left on your life? Developed my love for 80s rock and guitar solos
What are your favourite lyrics of 5? "Woah, yeah, kickstart my heart"
What is your favourite song by 7? Hybrid Rainbow
Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad? No
What is your favourite song by 9? Either Dazed and Confused or Black Dog or Heartbreaker
When did you first get into 2? Earlier in the year, when I heard Pour Some Sugar On Me
How did you get into 3? Heard Bulls On Parade and decided this shit is kickin'
What is your favourite song by 4? Under The Bridge
How many times have you seen 9 live? Never, missing band members.
What is a good memory concerning 10? Monterey
Is there a song by 6 that makes you sad? Fake Plastic Trees
What is your favourite song of 1? Panama (Eruption does not count since it is a solo)

Untitled Saturday Night Rant

2011-12-10T21:33:00.001+11:00

Man, shit is so shit right now. Long post tomorrow.

A month of debauchery

2011-12-06T11:01:00.002+11:00

I am hoping that this post will eventuate to become a thorough recount and evaluation of the past month and a week - though it might not end up such a long post since most days are relatively similar. Anyway.

The HSC exams seem to be a fleeting memory from years yonder since I had completed them on the 31st of October. The feeling of immense relief and educational catharsis has been replaced by one of ennui and repetition. A typical post-HSC day for me comprises of:

Wake up at anywhere between 9:30-11am.
If hungry, eat leftovers of the breakfast mum prepared for brother
If not hungry, hop on computer
Check Sneaker Freaker forum/Sneaker News/DWI/Blog/Youtube/G.NA's tumblr/Facebook (in that order)
If 11am, turn on Nova 969 for Old School, half hour (now only 25mins) of songs from earlier in the decade and nineties stuff
If not 11am, iTunes on shuffle or Youtube music not yet downloaded
If games are available to play, Final Fantasy VII or Portal 2
Both have actually been completed, so.....
Guitar
Carry on the process until the wee hours of the night, sporadically broken up by food breaks and whatnot
Sleep anywhere between 9:30-2.

Well, that is a very hazy and umbrella summary of a typical day for myself. It almost seems I approach a fork in the road each day. One such fork is exercise. For all days but two, I have decided to not exercise and sit at the computer. More on this later.

I feel that the structure of this entry is quickly losing shape, so I will just dedicate a paragraph to each major happening:

Kitchen renovations have been currently undergoing at home. It has been a highly stressful period, with my parents frequently arguing about things such as cost (at the moment it's projected to be at least seven grand - the money which was going towards a family holiday but was diverted into this) to more superficial aspects like the pattern of the porcelain tiles for the floor. One such sub-event that I have found to be somewhat frustrating is my imposed "obligation" to help out. I have been called awake at ungodly hours (6:30am) to do the most menial of tasks such as chisel away the previous vinyl tiles off the kitchen floor, or interrupting me in the midst of my internet surfing to do something like move the kitchen table back and forth. Bloody hell, the contents of the kitchen, e.g. fridge, pantry, sink, etc. have been scattered to other regions of the house. The fridge and pantry currently reside in the living room, no joke. Bags of rice are in my room, along with all the consoles, yet there is no television to play with them. Most of the kitchen is down in the garage though, and it is a proper mess down there. I am almost certain it is a deathtrap, for there is everything from oil to knives to lighters and piles of stuff stacked up too high ready to fall. My brother's BMX bike is down there which I want to ride, but it is stuck down there so I can not do anything about that. So the other week, one of the daycare kids' parents was hired to do some of the stuff for the kitchen renovation. Nothing too complicated it seemed, to flatten out the kitchen floor with cement, then to do the floor tiles the following week. So that following week was just last weekend, and he managed to screw up the job by misaligning the tiles and wasting about ten of them in the process. He soon left unfinished after mum decided to start telling him how to do his job - I doubt he is coming back. To make matters more complicated, it turns out he did not have a licence and whatnot. Oh well, mum has been looking for other contractors to do the tiling. She found an Italian guy yesterday, with the most Italian of names: Giuseppi. Turns out he is very efficient and he will be doing our tiles tomorrow. Even after that is done, we will not have a proper kitchen until at least February next year. Yay.
The search for a job to fund my Nikon D700 has been a frustrating affair. Oh, you may notice D700, not D7000. I have opted to go straight into full-frame. The body will cost me about $2300, and the bloody memory card alone is $115. And for lenses, I really wish I could procure the 24-70mm f2.8G, which DWI has for around $1700, but as if I will have the money for that. Therefore my solution will be to buy two primes for the time being, 24mm f2.8D and probably the 50mm f1.4D. Perhaps later on for the wedding portrait stuff I will buy the monster 85mm f1.4G, but that is down the track. Lately I have been into the wide-angle stuff and the 14-24mm f2.8G would be lovely, but no I do not need it. Honestly, if I had the 24-70mm and either the 50/85mm f1.4, I would probably be set. But for the time being, the two primes will do. But of course, how to fund all of this. With my photography business of course, wait what? I will announce that maybe early in the new year. So otherwise I obviously need to find a form of employment that will provide me with a source of income. Of course I have been applying for the usual retail jobs, plus some oddities like film extras and attempts to tutor. Successful? No. My parents are becoming continually frustrated with this, and mum has gone the distance to scream at me every once in a while for being a lazy slob. But you know, it is post HSC, I am supposed to be like this. There are probably grocery shops everywhere happily ready to take store hands to carry stuff, but I am not really into that. So onwards I go with my domestic sloth. Would like to buy that camera soon though, amongst other things. (Casio x Parra DW-5600!)
Exercise is something I said I would commit to, but like any sort of physical commitments, I have not lived up to it. My bed is just too comfortable you know? Though yesterday was a different case. I was yelled at to wake up at about 6:30am and to do something productive. I am grumpy when I am woken up abruptly (well I am sure everyone is). So I limped around in my muttering zombie state and almost tripped over aforementioned bag of rice as I fumbled for some batteries to put into the DSLR. Went outside into the freaking cold morning air to try and capture the sunrise, but it was rather uninspiring, so I went back in to curl myself in the foetal position and lean back on my chair. Before I knew it, it was 8am and again I was yelled at to get changed. I know it is summer, but us Sydneysiders will know that the weather is far from it, so I threw on a padded overcoat and jeans and Lunarglide 2s. So after we had dropped my brother off at school - oh allow me to digress here briefly. It was a strange feeling, being driven to school at proper school peak time and seeing all these kids heading off into school. It was also Orientation Day, and the future year 7 kids are quite tall, much taller than average. Very surprising. Anyway, back on track. We went to a tile shop in Sefton to pick up more tiles since the other guy had wasted some. But alas, the tiles we had bought the other time were out of stock. This was pretty funny, because the store guy was very Arab and said in the very Arab accent: "You shoulda bought them all last time!" and had the corresponding hand action. Also pretty random was their receptionist/accountant chick, an Asian with a very nasally voice. So far, no mention of exercise right? Well, about two minutes later my mum hands me one dollar and pushes me out of the car on Waldron Road and tells me to grab a French stick from Woolies. What the hell man. So there I was, buying a sesame seed-topped French stick for one dollar. And then I proceeded to run the two kilometres or so back to my house. Thank Buddha I had chosen the Lunarglides huh? I was pretty damn tired once I got home, and was furthermore vexed when I was told to do laundry within two minutes of getting home. But you know what? Whatever man, instant noodles and BBQ Shapes and raspberry jam on French sticks is rendering me fat and plump - totally worth it.
I am having girl problems. ~~I wake up to find a bloody stain on the sheets lolwut~~ No, I have reached that point in life yet again whereby my feelings for Unknown Mystery Girl is at a crossroads. Do I continue my yet to begin quest or subdue feelings that could be very much a childish crush? For once I sort of want to conquer this romantic predicament and see where things go by asking her out on a date, but of course shit has to hit the roof and make things complicated. So, again I am not sure what to do, or even if my interest is legit. Do I see her as just more than a pretty face? Well yeah, she is a reliable friend - some of the time haha.

Well, back to my daily routine. I also turn eighteen in less than two weeks, how scary.

Was supposed to blog here, but mum's being erghh

2011-12-05T20:59:00.000+11:00

Being bloody shit, post tomorrow sorry.

Kpop spam

2011-12-03T11:40:00.002+11:00

Sorry. MNet Asian Music Awards (MAMAs) 2011 had some freaking amazing performances. And this is from someone that loves 80s hair metal. Won't weigh in my opinion about Hyuna and Hyunseung's stage kiss, but Hyuna damn girlllllllllllll.

Nice to see BEP still singing their classics.

Hyuna...

Will post properly next time haha.

From Ashleigh...From Tiffany...

2011-11-29T12:00:00.005+11:00

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Closed
2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?
Yes
3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?
Out, unless it's super cold.
4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before?
Yes
5: Do you like to use post-it notes?
I would like to be more organised but I never seem to use them :( <--What Ashleigh said, cause I agree
6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?
Yeah, so many Pizza Hut/Dominos I haven't cashed in
7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?
Come at me bear
8: Do you have freckles?
Nup
9: Do you always smile for pictures?
Expert forced smiler
10: What is your biggest pet peeve?
The inability of others to distinguish between homophones
11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk?
Nah hahaha, so OCD?
12: Have you ever peed in the woods?
No haha
13: What about pooped in the woods?
As above
14: Do you ever dance even if there's no music playing?
No
15: Do you chew your pens and pencils?
No way, so disgusting.... <-- What Ashleigh said, cause I agree
16: How many people have you slept with this week?
Miranda didn't stay for brekkie..
17: What size is your bed?
Single, ready to mingle (?)
18: What is your Song of the week?
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hey Joe
19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink?
If they can pull it off, thus I don't wear pink
20: Do you still watch cartoons?
Yes, reliving childhood at the moment
21: What's your least favorite movie?
A lot.....but on the spot I did not like Across The Universe <--- MOTHERFREAKING AGREE WITH ASH
22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?
Under my mattress, or in one of my twenty-five sneaker boxes
23: What do you drink with dinner?
If Asian, tea. If European, water. If fast food, soft drink.
24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
Chilli.
25: What is your favourite food?
I hate these sorts of questions, but most food is good food.
26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love?
The Wedding Singer, Scarface, Crossroads (NOT the Britney movie), DEATH RACE
27: Last person you kissed/kissed you?
Hah.
28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout?
No, sheltered existence.
29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?
Who would want me to though lolol.
30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?
Letter to Akko.
31: Can you change the oil on a car?
Yes
32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket?
Not...yet.
33: Ever ran out of gas?
Been in a car that ran out of gas mid-journey
34: Favourite kind of sandwich?
Sandwiches with three slices of bread are rather cool. But as a young'n, I loved chicken/lettuce/mayo.
35: Best thing to eat for breakfast?
Noodles.
36: What is your usual bedtime?
Ha, now it's like 11pm.
37: Are you lazy?
At the moment, yes.
38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?
Asians don't do Halloween
39: What is your Chinese astrological sign?
Rooster
40: How many languages can you speak?
Two
41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
I subscribe to The Herald 'cause I'm a thinking man.
42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs?
Lego is the OG Euro stuff
43: Are you stubborn?
Depends
44: Who is better...Leno or Letterman?
Letterman gets better acts on.
45: Ever watch soap operas?
Nah haha
46: Are you afraid of heights?
Not really, unless I'm dangling
47: Do you sing in the car?
No
48: Do you sing in the shower?
No
49: Do you dance in the car?
No
50: Ever used a gun?
Yes, both water and bullet variations
51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?
I take the portraits.
52: Do you think musicals are cheesy?
Not cheesy, but I hate them all except West Side Story
53: Is Christmas stressful?
No, I don't celebrate it.
54: Ever eat a pierogi?
Also known as perogie, they are the Western equivalent of fried dumplings. Therefore, yes I have.
55: Favourite type of fruit pie?
I don't like fruit pies. <---What Ash said
56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?
GP, or a chef at Star City
57: Do you believe in ghosts?
No
58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?
Yes
59: Take a vitamin daily?
My body is a temple
60: Wear slippers?
At home, surprisingly enough
61: Wear a bath robe?
Nah
62: What do you wear to bed?
Tee and shorts
63: First concert?
None - all the bands I want to see are broken up / band members are deceased
64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?
Target for the better stuff & Kmart for the cheaper alternative! <-- This is so true.
65: Nike or Adidas?
To me Nike is cyberpunk brave new world technology while Adidas is alternative steampunk cool. Wtf am I saying? I own about five times as many Nike products as I do Adidas, but both are cool.
66: Cheetos Or Fritos?
Cheetos
67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?
Either
68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien?
Very good
69: Ever take dance lessons?
Nah
70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?
I don't care what she does, as long as we can have satisfying conversation
71: Can you curl your tongue?
Yes
72: Ever won a spelling bee?
The Human Dictionary never loses.
73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy?
Yes :'(
74: Own any record albums?
No
75: Own a record player?
No
76: Regularly burn incense?
Yes, Buddhist
77: Ever been in love?
Once upon a time I might have <-- This.
78: Who would you like to see in concert?
Refer to previous. But Frusciante era RHCP, RATM, Mellon Collie era Smashing Pumpkins, Ozzy, etc
79: What was the last concert you saw?
MY YEAR 12 ONE <--Haha this
80: Hot tea or cold tea?
Both
81: Tea or coffee?
Both
82: Sugar or snickerdoodles?
Sugar..?
83: Can you swim well?
No
84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?
Yes
85: Are you patient?
Depends. I can wait for her, but I can't wait to get my D700.
86: DJ or band, at a wedding?
Bands
87: Ever won a contest?
Not yet.
88: Ever have plastic surgery?
I'm cellulose enough as it is.
89: Which are better black or green olives?
I find green olives to be firmer, depends on the food though.
90: Can you knit or crochet?
Yes, I actually can.
91: Best room for a fireplace?
Living room
92: Do you want to get married?
I think so
93: If married, how long have you been married?
I am Orlando Bloom.
94: Who was your HS crush?
:X It's not a past tense thing, eh
95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?
No, too civil for that
96: Do you have kids?
I help with the daycare kids.
97: Do you want kids?
I think so
98: What's your favourite colour?
Blue, and its variety of shades/tones
99: Do you miss anyone right now?
Yes

Hospitality

2011-11-27T19:23:00.002+11:00

Today I thought would be a surreal day, since I had woken up at about 8:30am after my phone finally ran out of batteries at 3am watching at least 120 episodes of Jake and Amir (youtube them, funny guys). I sleepily threw on a tee and my 501s, before rushing brushing my teeth and heading out the door, not sure of what to expect. All I knew was that my brother was cashing in his Medicare Teen Dental voucher after he had just received his retainers a few days earlier. To digress for a moment, it turns out the other week when I had my own teeth cleaned, mum had accidentally given the dentist my brother's voucher instead of my own, so this time around he used my voucher. Anyway, Dad, my brother and I went down to Cabramatta at about 9am to go to said dentist. While he was off getting his teeth cleaned, Dad and I walked around John Street for a bit, where I eyed out a Nikon F60 for sale at the photo store for $390, nice little blast from the past. Soon my brother was done and we dropped him off at his friend's house for some sort of assignment - probably to game or something, and Dad could not help but notice we were literally 100m away from our family friend's house, Bob's house.

It was the first time I had visited his house in almost two years, twenty-three months to be exact. Bob's mum was surprised at how much I had grown since I last visited, and noted that I looked grown up now. She asked me to clear their fishpond of algae and to feed the fish, which was fun. Watched the little koi eat flakes of fish food. Bob's mum suggested I have a pet.

Once we were inside after she had finished hanging up the laundry, Bob's mum offered Dad and I eat some buon bo hue. Sure thing, I was rather looking forward to it. While we waited, she made some Vietnamese coffee, which I am not exactly sure entails, but seems to be an espresso coffee, black, loaded with sugar and ice added. Usually it is made with condensed milk, but I chose to put just normal dairy in mine. I asked why Vietnamese people used condensed milk, and it seems to be very much a cultural thing as much as an inherited dietary intolerance to dairy milk. According to Bob's mum and Dad, when the French occupied Vietnam, a mini cultural revolution occurred and the French had taught the Vietnamese to make coffee with condensed milk due to a general lack of dairy milk being available. Also, the lack of contact with dairy milk meant it easily caused stomach troubles, at least for them I suppose. Either way, Bob's mum got a pretty good ratio, and I thoroughly enjoyed the coffee - another 3am sleep today.

The bun bo hue was soon at the table. I remember as a child, I particularly disliked the cut of meats used in the dish, but given my recent dietary history, I was not so picky this time around. Bun bo hue uses fattier and more tendon based cuts of meat, a mix of cheaper soup bones and scraps of meat. I remember wanting lean cuts of beef and refusing to eat it even if it had what I always believe to be veins in it - still not 100% sure what it exactly is. Anyway, this bun bo was more on the side of pork, and I ate it without hesitation. Bob's mum is a really nice lady, good cook too. I do not often receive such warm hospitality, but then again, rarely did I visit this family friend of late. Of course, she asked me about HSC and uni, all the usual banter, but the emphasis of conversation was more about the food and how I was going, which was a nice change.

What did I eat next...hmm...after a glass of orange/mango juice, I sat down with Bob and his brother Bill to watch MTV Classics. They had a top 50 countdown of Hard Rock Anthems, and when I switched on there were 40 songs to go. Hell yeah! Another channel, forgot what it was called had a top 100 countdown of 80s hits. Could it get any better? I switched between channels alternatively and got to watch some favourites such as Van Halen's Jump and Guns 'n' Roses' Paradise City. Eventually, Bob's mum again offered me even more food, this time red bean soup. It had clear rice (gluten jelly thing) balls with a cube of coconut in it, bits of ginger and of course, red beans. So delicious.

After a while, Bob started improving some jazz on his piano, so I decided to be musical and play his dad's guitar. Acoustic Ibanez, made in Japan from back in the day. The strings were completely rusted and I also managed to break his B string, oops. All of this while Bill was playing Nyan Cat on the laptop.

We were waiting for my brother, and he was taking his sweet time, so we ended up staying to about 3pm after arriving at just after 10am. My brother walked over at about 2:30pm and Bob's mum saw it ample opportunity to offer us Costco apple pie. It was rather extremely sweet and the apple was quite soggy, but oh well. Dad said we were leaving just as the solo for Pearl Jam's Even Flow started. Dammit.

I hope I can somehow return the hospitality later on, but Bob's mum sure as hell is a nice woman. So kind and nurturing - never seeming to run out of food either. Bloody hell, Bob's dad had to take the visit to the most Asian of levels (translated into our modern day vernacular by the way):

"Minh."

"Yeah?"

"Got a girlfriend yet?"

"...No"

"What? Not yet? C'mon son!"

To which Bob's parents and Dad discussed the best time to get a girlfriend. Lol facepalm.

Evaluation

2011-11-23T17:41:00.004+11:00

People frequently describe formals as the night of their lives. A lively four or five hours on any given night whereby food is served, music is played, some speeches made and lots of dancing. In short, in my experience of two school formals, they are somewhat a tad overrated. To the point that I have not bothered to blog about it until two days later.

PRE-FORMAL:
Perhaps it was due to the rushed nature of the preparation stage before the formal. It was not until 3:20pm that I realised I needed to get ready. I had a quick shower, but lost time because I had forgotten to grab my towel and had to wait for mum to grab it, embarrassing. I then threw my clothes on and started to throw some hairspray onto my still damp head. Not a good idea. It gave my hair a really wet and sticky look, which caused me to lose even more time. Once I got rid of it, my hair looked in its normal bed-hair state. Oh well. The rain had temporarily stopped, it was 3:40pm, so I started putting on my shoes - white Air Force 1s - when it started pouring. At this point, I honestly did not care anymore, and I thought to myself "I have twenty-five pairs of sneakers, what is the loss?" Mum decided otherwise, so I chucked on my backup shoes, my school shoes which I had cleaned and polished and threw on new laces the day before in anticipation of events such as rain. It was 3:45pm now, and I probably was not going to make it as I headed out the door in my cheese umbrella (ask me about this on msn haha) and ran into the rain. My jacket was immediately soaked, and the fact my laces became undone did not help either. However, a sign from Buddha suddenly appeared in the form of the 905 bus. It was a bloody expensive sign though, for the dickhead bus driver would not take my concession card and I was charged $3.20 to take a 800m bus ride. Having gained back a minute or two, my bus ride ate too much of my wallet, and I could only afford a 4 pack set of AA batteries for my flash for $1.20, instead of a 10 pack for $2. The store chick said "Oh wow, lovely day for a formal" and I could only agree. Running to the station, I bought my ticket and contemplated how to dry off my completely drenched jacket as I waited for the train to arrive. It was a tin-can train, sigh. I sat in the train awkwardly wet and humid, while texting Rissa about my current predicament, to which she was somewhat supportive. Luckily it was the Inner West line, so it was a relatively quick trip to Central. Once I got there, I made way towards the toilets where I used those high-tech hand driers to dry my suit jacket. It was a weird, but coolly efficient way and within a minute or two, my velvety jacket was good to go. Excellent timing as well, for the tram was already waiting when I reached it. This was the first time I had taken the tram, and I would take it again if my wallet was ever more jolly and full. Sat down, and watched the young Asian conductor guy make his rounds asking where people wanted to go and give them a ticket. He also had a cool coin dispenser thing on his belt, I want one. Sly guy, he flirted with this slightly fob chick by saying something along the lines of: "No concession? I swear you look 16" Sorta creepy, but I applaud his effort. Got off at Star City (for $4.40) and took the lift down to Piamma (?) Road. Walked the wrong way, before finding Jones Bay Wharf. At the time I arrived, a limo had just arrived and out came a couple of the shelter people, those ballers. Took the lift up, and waited in line while looking at everyone looking more dressed up than usual. Before going in, security checked my bag and camera gear, zzz.

FORMAL:
Tiny place. Some would call it cosy, fair enough. The candles were a nice touch and the dimness gave way for a slightly warm red light. I am glad I had purchased extra batteries, because tinkering with appropriate settings had killed the first set (which were on their last legs anyway). Many people were arriving fashionably late and most of the girls were awestruck with each other. A couple of the guys looked particularly sharp in their suits too. Shoutout to Terry and his light grey suit; and Tony Chan with his formalwear knowledge, amongst other people. The appetiser was sourdough with butter. Available drinks were cola and some sorta orangey mineral water/softdrink. Entree alternated between tortellini which as uber creamy and this cold guacamole which had lots of onion. I sampled both and they were decent. Main was not as good. The sirloin steak was inconsistently cooked, with some parts medium and others well done. Can't complain though, meat is meat. Also tried some of Sophie's fish, and wow it was really soft, not in a good way though. It was like playdough on my fork. Dessert was great, the bombe's icecream was delish while the passionfruit tart was crumbly and nice. Also, I played the role of unofficial photographer, enough to rival that of the hired photographer who was shooting with a Nikon D90 and SB-600. In Eren's words, I threatened the hired photographers. This was most obvious when they had put up the backdrop for some modelling contest, and I was standing behind the photographer, partially trolling, and taking pictures. Way to shut me down though, was I really that much of a threat, one that was "stealing our business"? It was a good photographic experience though, I got bounce settings down pretty good and I was very pleased with my photos. I shot exclusively in RAW (but had jpeg backups) so it would require more touching up afterwards. Many people struggled with my camera when I asked them to take a photo. They either did not know how to look through the viewfinder, or the DSLR-flash combination was too heavy. In the end, despite not being a photogenic person, I appeared in about 50 or so photos (well that is what Facebook tells me). A criticism I felt was that people started becoming impatient with me, expecting me to take all their photos. It was overwhelming to a point where there were about four different groups asking to get their photo taken, with some people telling me to hurry up and saying what sorta photographer was I. Rude much bro? Aside from that, I enjoyed event photography and managed to get creative with the shots on the dancefloor, such as one where I was surrounded by everyone while I was crouched and shooting upwards. The DJ was rather shit. Did not recognise 9/10 songs to be completely honest, and the bloody siren/klaxon sound effect he added between (remixed) songs was not effective. The dancefloor was cramped too, which others may have found annoying, but I did not care because I did not dance except for about 30 seconds to shuffle to Party Rock Anthem. At the end of formal, we had our handshakes and goodbyes, last photos and requests to give out my business cards (haha). We then all headed out of Doltone House, after a fairly average formal (in my eyes at least).

POST-FORMAL:
Janet accompanied me because my parents had offered to give her a lift home. Initially we walked with the rest of the group, but we soon separated at Harbourside where the others went for pancakes. I decided to be arty and did some night shots, which most were ruined anyway by the rain falling on my lens and flash. Yes, my camera gear got wet. My umbrella was dropped a couple of times too, I thought I had lost it. Eventually we made it back to Powerhouse Museum, where my parents were already waiting. It was a chatty ride back, between Janet and I at least. Upon reaching her house, Janet's mum gave us a box of mangoes, which then mum gave back and started saying that we didn't accept stuff like that and blah blah. Dammit mum, they probably think we were really rude now. My parents had a slightly heated argument about it on the way home, sigh. Got home, brushed my teeth and hit the hay. Glad I didn't have a V before the formal.

The next day, I got down to processing all the RAW photos in Lightroom. Had a crash course on histogram usage, and touched up the photos pleasantly. Things like blacks, highlights, etc. Adjusted saturation on some of images with dresses to make them pop out more. One thing that I importantly adjusted was the harshness of the flash, so many look a lot more natural. Added watermarks, then converted to jpeg. Filtered down 250 photos to 185 and it was a total of about 1.3gb. The upload to Facebook took only about 60 minutes though, which was cool. The reception to the photos so far have been welcoming, which is good. The other photoggy people have been uploading some nice shots too. I really need a Flickr Pro account though to properly showcase my other work.

Overall, it was a decent way to spend a Tuesday night.

A reminder of past glory

2011-11-20T16:53:00.002+11:00

A long time ago I was quite the fledgling athlete. I loved to just grab a soccerball and kick it against a wall, which then developed to bringing it to tutor where I would hone my skills during the break by playing street soccer on concrete and makeshift goals, sometimes giving blood and scraped knees to the cause. I played for my local team and put in the hours day in day out. Then I suddenly stopped because this thing called highschool started becoming relatively important, and I gradually declined into a state of laze.

There was then brief moments whereby I was active again, most recently at the beginning of the year when I decided to take up long distance running after a long absence from any sort of cardio work. It went well, then this thing called HSC Trials and HSC became life, so it stopped me from doing 4 minute kilometres.

Other events like just casual/representative school sport took a hit on my confidence as I had been out of the game for a long time and I did not play very well and nerves were holding me back, etc. Disappointment came in the form of losing winnable matches and squandering easy chances at goals. Needless to say, I was very disheartened and unmotivated to continue my athletic pursuits.

However, today I decided to give things another chance and I braved the 32+ degree heat and sun to go down to Cabramatta Sportsground to play a game of football (soccer) against a team comprised of people from Pal College with my team of a ragtag bunch from a number of schools. I only knew one guy there, but soon got to acquaint the others. We were quite the motley crue, but we meshed well together during the game.

We are really unfit. After only five minutes of gameplay, the guys called for a timeout which lasted fifteen. But after a while we adjusted to the heat and started playing a lot better. Actually, the Pal team was pretty average. I am used to highly physical and aggressive games, but this match was pretty chill, only occasionally did I really need to sprint all out. Had some good touches and passes, but I didn't really like the ball, much too padded.

Then came my moment of brilliance. It is one of those things that will replay in my head for the next couple of days because it felt so deja vu. I received the ball about 30m out from goal. I turned and beat an opposing player, then another player lunged in for the slide tackle. Once he was down, I chipped the ball over him about knee height, just to get it over him. Taking a quick glance at goal, my mind probably subconsciously noted that the goalie was off his line because the next moment my foot had already come into contact with the ball and I watched it go up and start dipping gently, centimetres over the goalie's outstretched hand. Then the ball went into the goal. Everybody lost their shit and I outstretched jesus posed my arms as my team mates started coming up to me for handshakes and whatnot. Gonna repeat in my head, in slow-mo, over and over.

We were rather disorganised in our defensive strategy though, leaving one player as sweeper and the rest of us lurking around midfield and attack waiting to receive the ball. Scoreline is forgettable, Pal sure take it seriously though. Overall good day, looking forward to the next time we play.

On the way home, bought a 1.25L bottle of coke and drank most of it..good work Minh. Also got rained on, plastic bag over head for the win.

I think I am gonna be sick, less than two days out from formal.

Partial abandonment

2011-11-19T20:51:00.003+11:00

I know I have not been posting as regularly and substantially as I do, which I blame Final Fantasy VII and Portal 2 on. Soon I will be changing my blog layout and hopefully that will breathe some fresh life into my blogging regularity.

Went Bicent today for grade BBQ, saw Akko there, wore my Opiums for the first time, etc etc.

Oh what a terribly short and fragmented post, sorry.

Opiums at home before wearing them into the wild.

Taking Tiffany's Tumblr Taken Tell-all

2011-11-16T21:50:00.002+11:00

Shoe Size: 9-9.5US / 8-8.5UK / 43EU
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Do you Smoke? No, don't plan to
Do you Drink? Not a drop of alcohol will enter my system.
Do you Take Drugs? Don't do, sell
Age you get mistaken for: No idea
Have Tattoos? Want any tattoos? Nah, probably not.
Got any Piercings? Want any piercings? Sometimes I contemplate left lobe
Best friend? Non-existent
Age: 17
Biggest turn ons: personality, resemblance/s to Miranda Kerr
Biggest turn offs: bitchy attitude
Favourite Movie: The Wedding Singer is one of my favourites
I’ll love you if: you can live with my sneakerheadism
Someone you miss: Black & White era Gina Choi
Most traumatic experience: almost drowning
A fact about your personality: I am a Grammar Nazi.
What I hate most about myself: I am a Grammar Nazi.
What I love most about myself: I am a Grammar Nazi.
What I want to be when I get older: Journalist/Wedding Photographer
My relationship with my sibling(s): mutual
My relationship with my parents: uncertain
My idea of a perfect date: food, fun, fine weather, fantastic photos
My biggest pet peeves: honestly, poor lacing of shoes and bad grammar
A description of the girl/boy I like: adorable
A description of the person I dislike the most: dickhead
A reason I’ve lied to a friend: the truth hurts sometimes
What I hate the most about school: don't go school no more
What my last text message says: "Happy birthday kient"
What words upset me the most: Degradation of integrity
What words make me the best about myself: Any compliment is nice
A wish that I’ve wished for repeatedly on 11:11: Why aren't I asleep?
What I find attractive in girls/boys: hair, eyes, lips
Where I would like to live: Los Angeles, 2019
One of my insecurities: self-doubt
My childhood career choice: chef
My favourite ice cream: Vanilla, a canvas to throw other flavours on
Who I wish I could be: A better version of myself
Where I want to be right now: Ikea, looking for shelves
The last thing I ate: garlic bread
Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediately: Miranda Kerr
A random fact about anything: Led Zeppelin's original name was Lead Zeppelin but they dropped the a in fear that some regions would pronounce them as Leed Zeppelin

Every day I'm hustlin'

2011-11-16T19:20:00.002+11:00

My quest to find employment has not been very successful thus far:

I applied for Advanced Life Photography. Yes, that is the company that did a terrible job of our school portraits. They didn't accept me.
I also applied for JB Hi-fi as a camera salesman. Waiting on their call.
Applied for Sanity. Gave them an essay of an answer for what I think of their store motto.
Applied for a whole load of things that I found on seek and gumtree.

Casting agencies seem to respond quickly enough though. Two called me today. Looking to interview me. One agency is currently casting for The Great Gatsby. I could met Leo Di Caprio. Could. But the entire process is too much hassle so I politely declined.

Anything for money. Even sign holding.

Trip to the dentist (afterthoughts)

2011-11-12T19:24:00.003+11:00

In my sleepy stupor whilst typing up the previous entry, I had failed to jot down the following thoughts:

I wonder what it's like dating a dentist. Would she make you brush your teeth before you kissed? Flossed? Listerine and rinse? Surely a person so well versed in oral hygiene and dental health would exercise their own learning and encourage it upon their partner. Would it be the source of arguments? How strict would things be?

Just a thought. But that said, talk about clean frenching hahaha

Trip to the dentist.

2011-11-12T14:18:00.002+11:00

So I spent Friday night alone at home, playing Final Fantasy VII, moping over my loneliness because of my temporary inability to walk and thus not attend Steven Truong's birthday. Sorry dude.

Today, I woke up at about 8:30am, rushed a shower (I hadn't showered for two days out of pure laze), then went to my dentist at Cabramatta to get my teeth professionally cleaned for free, thanks to this Medicare Teen Dental voucher thingo. One problem with having twenty-five pairs of sneakers is not knowing what to wear each morning, but today I felt adventurous and decided to wear shorts instead of denim and chose some sneakers that had not seen the light of day in a while. Not because they were ugly or anything, just because weather rarely permitted me to wear them without too much fret.

Anyway, we arrived at the dentist and the assistant came out of the room to ask me to go inside. I had seen her before, probably in her early-mid twenties, surely she had graduated from dentistry by now? She had a very quiet and shy demeanour, and pretty lavender painted nails. I could not check out much more than that, for she wore this giant bib thing, kinda like a cape that one wears when they paint stuff in primary school. The process itself was slightly tingly, for the dentist probably did not apply enough anaesthetic to my gums to numb out completely the pain of a mechanical spinning spike between my teeth and under my gums. The vacuum was frequently shoved into my mouth presumably to suck away all the blood and saliva - it must have been pretty messy viewing for the dentist and Jessica. Jessica was the name of the assistant, which I discovered when the dentist told her to pass over some dentistry tool to spill more blood in my mouth. But sooner rather than later the process was all over.

To quote the Prince song, controversy. The dentist asked me whether I drank dairy milk. Before I could answer, mum juts in and starts ranting on about being vegan and that we drink soymilk. Dentist assumes asian soymilk (loaded with sugar) and supports dairy, then mum says its Sanitarium which has more calcium and all that bullshit, and I wanted to tell mum to shut the fuck up but rather I somewhat explained that since mum buys and cooks 95% of the food for the family, I just deal with it, but yes dairy milk needs to be bought again. Afterwards, I told mum if she thinks she is more knowledgeable than the dentist, she should start her own dentist biz. That shut her up good.

Later in the day, went Fairfield, Cotton On massive sale. Bought a polo shirt, two hats and a pair of sunnies for $11. Bargainnnnnnnn. Bro also bought a Mickey Mouse tee, which was very uncharacteristic of him. Cotton On Girl was not there.

The Third Coming

2011-11-11T11:44:00.001+11:00

Once I get my guitar working again, I will be here.

The sorry state of the retail industry, well at least the state of the sneaker industry

2011-11-04T20:09:00.003+11:00

Initially did not feel like going to Parramatta, but the weather cleared itself up enough to make me sort of want to go. So I printed out some resumes and headed off to the bus stop.

The bus driver was ten minutes late. Maybe it was his first day on the job or something, but he did tell this chick to not talk on her phone while she was walking into the bus and just fumbling for coins without any sign of acknowledgement to the driver. I sorta did agree, it was rather rude of her to do that.

Despite the driver's tardiness, I still got to Parra within the specified time frame and found Jo waiting for me. We then went to Hype DC where there was this hot chick in a yellow singlet working there. Oh, and there was also the guy I had talked to last time, today he was wearing the chambray Jordan VII's and he had a little freakout when he saw my shoes:

"Woah! Where did you get those? I haven't sold a pair of Stabs in ages!"

Then to which we had a little conversation about colourways and ordering shoes from this guy and divorce. Then I finally asked him about work and that I had my resume, but he told me they had already hired someone new and maybe I should try Burwood - he would be happy to send my resume in but I told him to not worry and yeah.

So then we went to Platypus where this decent Asian girl was working and I asked her [s]out[/s] about vacancies, then she redirected me to her less friendly-looking manager and she told me no spots left, sorry dude. Sigh.

Oh so at Footlocker there was an immensely awkward situation. I walked in and was beaten to start the conversation by the store guy. Here is what was said:

"Hey man nice 180s"

"Stabs."

"=|" (that's a face btw :|)

The guy, who works at Footlocker got the model of shoe completely wrong. Does he know what he is selling? Does he know?

Spent the rest of the day aimlessly walking around Parra looking at stuff. We ate these really soggy hot chips, and I learnt that sometimes watching the people prepare the food is not the best thing to do:

Get out bag of frozen Woolworths brand chips
Chuck carelessly into deep fryer racks
Disregard and make pearl tea
Wipe a small shallow red bucket with paper towels
Pour chips into bucket
Add some sort of crazy doohickey powder/s
Serve to mortified Minh
Give Minh a shitload of chilli sauce

They were interesting, to say the least.

We also went outside Westfields and Parramasala was on, some sort of south Asian (India, Sri Lanka, etc) festival and upon walking past the Chai Tea stall, things really smelt like pho. Went to Parramatta River and Jo learnt to manual focus, sort of. If me presetting a focusing distance and putting the camera on liveview and Jo telling me to move closer or further counts, then she learnt to manual focus, lol.

Meandered for a bit more, then went home. Stuck with my resumes. Dammit Parramatta, y u no give me job?

Can't stop love

2011-11-03T16:49:00.002+11:00

The love I refer to of course is the one I have for sneakers. It had been many a month since I last bought sneakers, so I decided today would be the day to acquire myself a new pair or two. It was quite the long drive around to the outlets at Auburn but arrived ten minutes early so it was an awkward sit in the carpark for ten minutes or so before heading in. I eagerly powerwalked to the backwall where my Air 180s were waiting for me - then I wanted to cry because the smallest pair they had was a size 11. For reference, I am a size 9-9.5 so naturally I was instantly devastated. However, the other pair I wanted to buy, Lunar Elite Mid+, was there and I settled for a size 10 because of its mid-cut-ness. Then went to Adidas and found some cheap L.A. Trainers so I jumped on those too. Very happy.

So I did go to DFO and whatnot, but all of that is irrelevant.

Mum is still treating me like I still my HSC to do, and that I should not be wasting my time with leisurely activities such as playing Final Fantasy VII until the dead hours of the morning, or spending days sneaker shopping. She accuses me of "throwing my money out the window" because I just bought two pairs of shoes. It was a touch under $110, for two pairs of shoes that isn't really too much of a splurge. But she claims I am wasting my money. Sigh. Twenty-five pairs and she still tells me that something is wrong. I just like sneakers.

Perhaps now I have to rebudget for things like new guitar strings and yearbook payment, but I'll get by. Now I suppose I do have to find a job and get some dough for the D700. Oh and the shoes I bought today:

A serious post with a curious perspective

2011-11-01T11:30:00.002+11:00

So I finished my HSC exams yesterday, it was quite an emphatic feeling walking out of the hall after PDHPE and bro handshaking Steven Suh who had finished with me. I went home, ate dinner, played Final Fantasy VII for an hour or so. It was pretty smooth sailing, despite not being able to sleep like I had planned to since I drank half of Samson's V prior to the PDHPE exam.

Then there was a bit of an event to dampen my celebratory mood. My parents had a fight, and it became pretty bad, that is, it became one of those domestic violence situations. I was standing in my hallway playing with my camera flash when mum came into her bedroom where my brother and Dad were watching Kill Arman on TV and then she started full yelling at them for not hearing her tell my brother to go and brush his teeth. Fair enough I suppose, for my brother is an idiot. So Dad turns off the TV and mum starts yelling at him for being a lousy father and doing jackshit and etc etc, to which I thought "Lol that's a bit slack isn't it (maybe she's just in one of her moods)". Eventually people snap after patiently putting up with shit for an extended period of time. So yeah, Dad snapped. I wasn't there to see it, but Dad was screaming louder than usual and I heard plates or glass or something being smashed erratically and this was then when I thought "Oh fuck, this actually is not good." Honestly, I was pretty scared about what could happen next. I decided to hide out in my room for a bit while the screaming and arguing continued. I have never seen Dad hit mum, but I don't think he did. My brother came into my room and started playing with my camera and I tried to reason with him. He didn't realise that if he had listened to mum the whole ordeal wouldn't have started. But the fucking stupid cvnt was just like "So? I went ten minutes later than when she told me to. What's the difference?" To which I replied "What's going on right now (you fucking sped head, stop starting shit)". He doesn't grasp responsibility very well it seems.

So after a while the event was over, and to quote James Bond, I was shaken, not stirred. Honestly though, sometimes I feel as if my parents are just staying together for the sake of my brother and I; and that they will divorce when we graduate or finish HSC or something. Sometimes it is that bad. I wonder if Dad will come home from work today...

Also, curiously, why do couples smash stuff during domestics? What did the plate ever do to them?

Life begins

2011-10-31T18:20:00.001+11:00

See you there soon guys <3

post 255, ff reference for the sickos

Mild inconveniences

2011-10-17T14:18:00.001+11:00

Known as the Higher School Certificate.

I think I am as ready as I will ever be - maybe not. Still gotta memorise quotes, but that's a given.

Saranghae.

I Miss You

2011-10-16T22:34:00.000+11:00

Gina Choi <3

Unscholary.

2011-10-13T17:15:00.004+11:00

Woke up at 7am today rather groggy, then left home at around 8:30 to go with my brother and mum to Olympic Park to look at a Pentax K100D a guy was selling through Gumtree. When we got there, we were immediately surrounded by white-collar people walking briskly towards their appointments and whatnot. After some misdirection, my brother texted the guy and he said he would come down. Nice guy, very professional and polite when talking to us about the camera. I was there merely to help inspect the camera and try all the features etc. He took the camera for $150 and even said he'd happily return the money in the case of the camera stuffing up - which I doubt will happen.

The camera - it's actually pretty damn good. I prefer it to the current K-x because of mainly, the grip. It is so much bigger and nicer to hold in the hand, thanks to its bulkier construction. Honestly, I think the K-x was directed at the Asian market because its body and grip is damn tiny, which barely accommodates my fingers. Aside from that, the image quality is nice too, really clean and sharp. Maybe it's the Sigma 18-50mm kit lens, but perhaps it is the image processor too. Quite frankly, I am rather jealous of my brother lol.

Got dropped off at Cheso library where I initially got some work done - until more people came and then it became bloody unproductive. I figured either way there is not much chance of me to get out of this slump, but I suppose some work done is better than nothing. If I am feeling particularly ambitious, I will attempt to squeeze in a couple more hours of study tonight. The promising thing of today is that my writing speed is kinda back, hopefully as long as I don't blank out like I did today. 2 pages in 18mins, yey.

Went Fairfield after to grab some groceries, crowded as. Then home to do levitations. They are very fun.

Today's Levitation

2011-10-12T17:19:00.005+11:00

Inspired by http://yowayowacamera.com/ - always wanted to try it, and will try again later on outdoors with nicer shoes and much lower ISO.

Oh, by the way, Ashleigh, printing digital photos is not developing. Developing refers to preparing film that has been exposed to create a negative for printing/enlargements.

The Bohemian Budget

2011-10-09T19:21:00.004+11:00

Let's face it - journalism is a paltry paying job. Work irregular hours, continual hustle to get the big jobs, freelance work with no guarantee of employment, etc etc. But one does it for the love.

Anyway. As you are probably well aware from my truncated posts of late, I am desiring to purchase a Nikon DSLR, preferably the D90 or D7000 (though a D700 would tickle my fancy too. $2700 come in ma belleh.). All up, a brand new set would cost me between $1000 - at the least - to around $1500. I honestly wonder how I am going to procure this money in time for the formal. I am beginning to doubt I will be able to do so.

However, the prospect of taking professional-looking pictures the formal is one that is very hard to resist. Surely, I could attempt to wing it with my current Pentax K-x. Lens? Definitely would compromise aperture for autofocus and wider focal range. People are unable to use my manual 50mm and even then at the formal I doubt that even I would be able to get sharp images in due to the poor lighting. A big concern for me is flash. Apparently Doltone, or at least the area of Doltone where the formal is being held has terrible lighting. Well, if I don't have new gear on time, gonna improvise a bounce flash with my pop-up flash. Boho budget indeed. Flash sync speed is a max of 1/180. I wonder how this will go.

Above paragraph is if I decide to wait it out and save up for a D700:

Nikon D700 body - $2200
Nikon 50mm f1.4D - $400
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 - $500
Nikon SB-600 flash - $400
Memory card, batts, etc - $400

Good Buddha, that is $3900. But once I acquire that gear, I will not have to buy any more camera gear again - but knowing me I hoard gear. But, maybe such a big purchase will put me off buying more gear that I probably would not use.

Decisions, decisions. Still gotta buy my suit as well.

Stolen from Tiffany, who Ena also stole from. Buddha, we need to be more original.

2011-10-08T17:17:00.007+11:00

1. Think of the last person who said I love you, do you think they meant it?

Fuck, why start like this?

2. Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now?

Yes, and a certain 19 y.o. ;)

3. When’s the last time you were aggravated and happy at the same time?

Videogames, yes.

4. Would you ever smile at a stranger?

Yeah, even take their photo derp.

5. Is there someone mad because you’re dating/talking to the person you are?

Ahahaha no, not yet at least.

6. Have you heard a song that reminds you of someone today?

No one really reminds me of the 80s, so..

7. What exactly are you wearing right now?

Tee and trackies, the pinnacle of style.

8. How often do you listen to music?

Every single day, whenever I can. I actually listen to it more ever since I gave my ipod away.

9. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

Levis 501, all day every day (esp. once uni starts)

10. Do you think your life will change dramatically before 2012?

HSC which is a given, and also will start working legitimate jobs.

11. Are you a social or an antisocial person?

I don't have a book for my face.

12. Have you ever kissed someone whose name begins with the letter ‘A’?

Yes

13. What about ‘R’?

14. Can you drive a stick shift?

Yes. For those who don't know, stick shift means manual transmission.

15. Do you care if people talk badly about you?

If you got shit to say, back it up.

16. Are you going out of town soon?

Any time out of my bed is out of town.

17. When was the last time you cried?

See question 1.

18. Have you ever told someone you loved them?

Yes, and I wonder if it was the right thing to say.

19. If you could change your eye color, would you?

A lighter shade of brown I guess.

20. Is there a boy who you would do absolutely everything for?

Not for a boy lol.

21. Name something you dislike about the day you’re having.

Fruitless.

22. Is it cute when guys kiss you on your forehead?

Am I supposed to change where it says "guys" to "girls"?

23. Are you dating the last person you talked to?

Lulllllllllllllllllllllz no.

24. What are you sitting on right now?

Spinny office chair, high back, arm rests.

25. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

No, /forever alone

26. Have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have?

Def Leppard - Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad

27. Who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night?

Forum doods on sneakerfreaker about $95 wallets.

28. Do you get a lot of colds?

Nah, relatively healthy.

29. Where is the shirt you are wearing from?

Nike

30. Does anyone hate you?

Someone, somewhere.

31. Do you have any empty alcohol bottles hidden somewhere in your room?

32. Do you like watching scary movies?

Yes

33. Do you want your tongue pierced?

Nah, gets infected and shit.

34. If you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be?

Ha, hahaahahahaha. I could practically eenie-meenie this and life would still be comparatively shit.

35. Did you have a dream last night?

36. When was the last time you told someone you loved them?

It was a long long time ago.

37. Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years?

If Miranda or Gina or Quyen calls, yes.

38. Do you think someone has feelings for you?

Refer to above answer.

39. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?

Refer to above.

40. Did you have a good day yesterday?

Yesterday was Friday, and I played videogames. So kinda.

41. Think back 2 months ago; were you in a relationship?

42. In the next 48 hours, will you hang out with a girl?

/forever alone

43. Has anyone told you they don’t want to ever lose you?

There was a period of my life that the mentioned statement may have been said, maybe

44. What’s the best part about school?

Seeing people and stuff, lol

45. Do you have any pictures on your Facebook?

I don't even

46. Do you ever pass notes to your friends in school?

I have :)

47. Do you replay things that have happened in your head?

Yeah, things I could have done better. So much regret.

48. Were you single over the last summer?

Summer lovin'...did not happen

49. Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

Among other things, my handwriting has become a terrible scrawl

50. What are you supposed to be doing right now?

Sutdying, lmfao

51. Do you hate the last guy you had a conversation with?

Nah, bromantic stuff

52. Are you nice to everyone?

I try to be egalitarian.

53. Have you ever liked someone you didn’t expect to?

Ha.

54. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat?

It appears the composer of this questionnaire is a cynic.

55. Are you good at hiding your feelings?

By being morose, yes

56. Do you think you like someone?

I dislike this question, skip this.

57. Have you kissed someone whose name starts with a ‘J’?

Nup

58. Do you prefer to be friends with girls or boys?

Friends, how many of us have them, right before the time they start back stabbing?

59. Has anyone of your friends ever seen you cry?

Hm, I don't recall. So no.

60. Do you hate anyone?

Hate is a strong word.

61. How’s your heart?

Could lower its BPM by 10 or so

62. Is there something that happened in your past that you hate talking about?

Of course

63. Have you ever cried over a guy?

Did I cry when Rose let go of Jack? No

64. Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now?

Someone, somewhere

65. Are your toenails painted pink?

66. Will your next kiss be a mistake?

We'll just have to see, eh.

67. Girls love it when boyfriends cry; correct?

I don't know.

68. Have your pants ever fallen down in public?

No, I wear my pants like a normal person

69. Who was the last person you were on the phone with?

Social leper.

70. How do you look right now?

Fat

71. Do you have someone you can be your complete self around?

72. Can you commit to one person?

Miranda, Gina, Quyen and her? Nup, it'd be pretty hard to.

73. Do you have someone of the opposite sex you can tell everything to?

For sure, chicks are mad at understanding.

74. Have you ever felt replaced?

Yes, plain and simple.

75. Did you wake up cranky?

Nup, had a decent sleep.

76. Are you a jealous person?

Ahahaha sometimes

77. Are relationships ever worth it?

Who knows?

78. Anyone you’re giving up on?

Ha, no not yet.

79. Currently wanting to see anyone?

Yeah, I guess

80. Name something you have to do tomorrow?

Study

81. Last person you cried in front of?

I cry alone

82. Is there someone you will never forget?

Yeah

83. Do you think the person you have feelings for is protective of you?

I hope so <3

84. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?

Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

85. Are you over your past?

I believe I am

86. Have you ever liked one of your best friends of the opposite sex?

Yes, and what a bloody mess that was lol

87. Is there anyone you can tell EVERYTHING to?

Probably not EVERYTHING.

88. If your first true love knocked on your door with apology and presents, would you accept?

No, they done goofed.

89. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?

If it was someone else, ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

90. Have you ever liked someone who your friends hated?

Oh the controversy, nah lol.

91. Will you be in a relationship in 2 months?

Who knows! Yes I agree with Tiff.

92. Is there anyone you know with the name Michael?

Yes, 3

93. Have you ever kissed a Matthew?

Cynical composer sure likes kissing

94. Were you in a relationship in January? How was it going?

95. Were you happy with the person you liked in March?

March precedes April

96. Don’t tell me lies, is the last person you texted attractive?

Andon Brandon is juisy az

97. Who do you have texts from?

Anyone on Virgin, cause texts are free booyah

98. If the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say?

"That's rather devastating."

99. Have you ever kissed someone older than you?

Yes

100. Who’s in your profile picture with you?

Victor, sneaker broseph.

101. Ever kissed under fireworks?

Does one need to be drunk to initiate such an action?

102. Has anybody ever given you butterflies?

Cotton On Girl, far out.

Photograph.

2011-10-08T10:11:00.002+11:00

Really enjoying 80s stuff this grey Saturday morning instead of studying. I am home alone, so music is at a nice loud level.

How goes my studying? Non-existent really. Some days I pull in a dodgy 1.5hr sesh just reading formulae or theory or notes, whatever they may be. It would prove more beneficial to do practice questions. I am not bothered. lol. At least I have been producing some avant garde work in terms of creative writing. I had a piece of writing that was so postmodern and original that I was told depending on the HSC marker, my story would either be a Band 6 or a Band 3. That's intense. Honestly, I'd take that risk.

Apparently I have been distracted over the past week since I have been on the hunt for a new DSLR. My parents could be right.

Bleh, Ena I was reading your post about burning out. Honestly, for me, there was a period of time where I felt I had burnt out in terms of my English prowess. It was about this time last year actually. My results and writing was stagnating and plateauing - even now it's gotten a bit better but I sometimes feel as though it can never get back to how it once was. Likewise with maths. But I am a bit more hopeful about English though, I tell myself my style is evolving and it's only been repressed because everything has been so analytical and yeah. Hopefully after all this I can rework on my writing, even though it won't mean anything anymore in terms of high school assessment.

Speaking of burning out, I have been playing a lot of Burnout 3: Takedown. I've had the game ever since it came out in like 2004 and I love it. There is a certain track that I continually dominate, and I decided to record a video of my hands and all the nuances & movements that occur when I play. Watch in 720p.

Careless Whisper

2011-10-06T17:54:00.002+11:00

It was the end of an era today. Yes, it is a gross exaggeration, but the time I shared the presence of a particular person was what compelled me to categorise the period as an era. Eh, that was really awkward to type. However, the person I am referring to is a girl by the name of Quyen. I won't disclose her surname lol.

I do not have any sort of romantic interest in Quyen, but I suppose I have had a massive crush on her ever since I saw her some time last year. She has been, on the number of times I have seen her; pretty, cute, ditzy and most recently, freaking hot. I am not going to lie. Quyen is hot. She dresses hot. Two women I frequently fantasise about are Miranda Kerr and Gina Choi. Quyen is the third.

It was the last lesson of English tutor today, and Quyen was dressed in a slim black dress that was rather low cut with slightly dark stockings and black patent peeptoe heels. Oh, and a red trenchcoat, but she took that off pretty early on. She's too hot to wear a trenchcoat. I tried not to stare too much, but at one point during an intermission between our double lesson, Quyen was sitting at a desk with her legs hanging out the side. Needless to say, her legs are divine. I was about 2m behind her, not creepy at all. She made us all chocolate cupcakes and bought a triple chocolate and coffee cake with profiteroles on top. Instead of being the usual hungry me and grabbing a slice, I waited a bit until Quyen came up to me and offered me a plate. I accepted.

Then before I knew it, the three hours was over and it would be the last time Quyen and I would be situated within a 10m vicinity ever again (unless I go to USyd where she does pharm, derpderpderp not stalking at all). Her last words to me were "Minhhhhhhhhhhh!" because I forgot to grab a Module something essay I had written. I said to myself - and occasionally proclaimed - that I would get a hug from Quyen before our time was up. Alas, I did not ask for a hug because honestly honestly, once I was pried off her body with a crowbar, I would never wash again as to not wash away her scent.

Oh Buddha I sound like such a creep, but really, Quyen's that hot.

$300

2011-10-04T20:42:00.002+11:00

Honestly, if anyone can help in contributing towards that amount, I'll love you forever.

Nikon D90 + 50mm f1.8D

Money$

2011-09-29T21:59:00.002+10:00

For those that know me adequately enough, I am a person with ideas of big spending but more often than not my wallet is empty. I am indeed a dreamer and somehow end up with the dough to buy the item of desire. Examples of past purchases have been:

Nike Dunk Low Pro SB "Tiffany" - $600
Electric guitar - $300
New amp for guitar - $300
A number of sneakers - $$$$$$$$$$$$

Those purchases are chump change compared to what I have in my sights at the moment lol. I wish to buy:

Nikon D7000 - $1275
Nikkon AF 50mm f/1.8D - $152
Nikkon speedlight (maybe SB-400?) - $150
SD card - $60

This totals to a bloody $1637. I have $511. So in under two months, I have to make $1126. Actually, more like three weeks between finishing my HSC and the formal. On the Tuesday after HSC PDHPE, I am going to march down to Hype DC at Parra, beg for a full-time job, and work overtime. If minimum wage is like $10, then I'll just have enough money. Just.

Anyway, mum was nice to buy me a Ben Shermann jacket today. It's pretty nice, grey outer with their plaid lining in white/red/blue. Maybe a pic later.

Mum took away wifi, hence my limited access to computer and internetsssssssss. Sorry.

Hi and bye.

2011-09-28T15:00:00.002+10:00

It kinda really sucks thinking that you're falling at a time like this.

In other news, mum busted my bro picking the lock to the computer room door and subsequently took away the router, so there is only net on the computer I am using at the moment. And that means I can't use the computer aimlessly for hours. Which sucks.

Alive I Am

2011-09-27T10:20:00.002+10:00

Yeah, sup. Internet has been down temporarily, and not because cables got cut or whatever, but because mum is considering terminating our internet plan for an indefinite period of time. She's not gonna do it though, I know she won't. She knows how good internet banking is. It is fairly obvious to state that we could not survive without the wonders of the internet, however the absence of the world wide web has allowed me to re-embrace some interests I had as a child, mainly rediscovering card and board games. I was once a killer at Speed, but when I played it again last night, it was like a game of Slow. But yeah the wave still hasn't really hit me, but I have been studying earlier than I have expected, but shit there's like three weeks lol. Attempts to study 8hrs+ per day are half successful, and should become more so if I keep at it, so let us hope.

I am yet to fill out UAC, out of mere laziness.

Sorry that this isn't much of a substantial post, as evidenced by the heap of contractions, but it's just here to say that I am still alive and kicking (in case you were worried).

Graduation

2011-09-24T18:34:00.002+10:00

The curtain has closed on a stage of our lives that we had grown so accustomed to after six years of tumultuous emotions combining to climax in what I can only define as a surreal experience. The thought of not seeing people I have seen everyday anymore on a daily basis, structured lessons and other things that are going to abruptly not be there no longer existing has not exactly hit me yet - but the events of yesterday and I suppose the past week have been replaying in my head again, hence the surrealness of it all. And now as I type this entry in my groggy just-woke-up-from-a-nap haze, I realise I did not shed a single tear in regards to finishing high school.

The Thursday afternoon after the concert seemed to be the carthartic peak of our time at highschool. Much of the grade cried and hugged eachother, acknowledging that this would be one of the last times we would be united as closely as a functional family unit. In brief, disregarding collective bias and whatnot, I can honestly say that our grade was one of the best ever because we were just so damn close. Well of course there was the occasional beef between various members, but overall we were a very tight knit web, where each person had at least some sort of association with another and there would not be any awkwardness in any given situation. Our grade's closeness is what made high school all the more enjoyable for us I reckon.

Rather than focusing on a recount the events of yesterday, I more rather will reflect on the collective progression of what has been. Thousands of little moments accumulated over six years to make my experience of high school a memorable one, a time of angst and achievement, a phase of life that has set the foundations for the future, a period of existence with people that I have loved, hated, trolled and respected that I would not exchange for anything in the world. Perhaps it is a forlorn desire to be able to see everybody again all in the one go, but with how life changes our circumstances so suddenly, I can only hope that down the track I will not lose contact with anybody. The wonders of Facebook I guess.

More thoughts will come to me over the next couple of days, so I will jot something down here and there when it comes to mind.

Something that you lose track of in the final term of school is time. It is often said time flies when you are having fun. If the time went by so quickly, too quickly, does that mean we had too much fun? It was all fun and games, but for most, the penultimate and ultimate days came crashing down upon us in tears and sadness. I sound a bit cold and detached when writing this lol, but it is the way it is. C'est la vie. Admittedly, I was close to tearing up when Atkinson almost lost composure during his excellent speech, but I managed to hold it back. Micheal and Mina's speech was great too, I rather liked Micheal's extended metaphor of the Titanic. Again, the farewell assembly was very much a surreal experience, within barely a moment I was lining up to grab my graduation booklet thing from Coombes. As with the obligatory cheering and calling out from my classmates, all I could do was a quick thumbs up when I heard stuff like "On ya Minh", "sneaker freakerrrrrrrr!" (from Victor haha) & "Go Minhyy". I am glad that I will be remembered in that sort of light in general - I can be the self proclaimed god of English later. Oh, thanks Akko for the vague shoutout lol. And before we knew it, it was time for the Morning Tea.

Best $5 ever spent. Good food, good talk. I am disappointed that I was not able to get into a lot of photos, and those that I was able to get into were blurry or underexposed because of people either not knowing how to manually focus or turning the aperture ring to f22. I hope that photos of me taken with other cameras turned out okay. Oh, and a mention of Jade's dad - monstrous $11k camera setup - pretty sure it was a 1D (Mk 4?) and some sort of zoom L lens and a big flash unit.

Doubek in the library, pretty sure Richards went to snitch. Andon Brandon was at our grad lol sick kient.

I then walked home, got changed quickly and just managed to catch the train on time. Cabra people and some of the Sefton people were on the same train as ours so getting to Bondi would not be a loner experience. I owe Brandon $5.

Beach was alright I guess, I am not really much of a beach person. I wore my drug dealer sunnies (ask me for the story behind them) and the world was rosy and post-apocalyptic through them, pretty sick. When I got to the beach a lot of people were there already, and honestly, honestly, some of the chicks looked particularly fetching. And she was there in a bikini and I was like damngirliwasnotexpectingthisatallyoulookgreatbythewaytoobadiamtooscaredtotellyouhowifeelhowever iamnotevensurehowifeelaboutyoubutthereisdefinitelysomethingtherebutagainyoulookgreatinthatbikini. Anyway, Ashleigh looked like a freaking tourist because she wore black socks to the beach - with a summery dress. I don't understand lol. Played frisbee and soccer, then the wind suddenly went bonkers. I was prepared, windrunner jackets are the best. Hung around for a bit more and then took a number of trains and buses before walking home in the dark of night - a windy one. So it took me about 2.5hrs to get home, zzz.

Probably part 1 of 2, will post more tomorrow. Pics tomorrow too when I choose em out.

The last thing I learnt at Sefton High was that the caretaker/general assistant's name is the title of my blog.

2011-09-22T20:00:00.001+10:00

MR CROWLEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

It's pretty sick that Black Sabbath and Sefton are that closer together.

But anyway, I was unaware that today most if not all of my grade had come to school early to take photos and stuff, so when I came to school the bell had already rung and there were a lot of teary-eyed people, to which I thought "Wtf is going on?"

Maths breezed past. That was period 1, and I would have maths again period 2.

During recess, things happened. I spoke briefly to my year 7 peer support kids and went to expel nitrogenous waste in liquid form. Returning to the quad, I saw some of the mob circle around one of the handball courts. The centre of attention was no other than Steven Truong, apparently he broke his leg or something - but this was not the case, it was a mere occurrence of stacks on. Oh well. Something a bit strange I found was that Akko called us all over to our shelter over and gave the obligatory "tone it down guys" talk, to which some people applauded? Confused as. Some more tears fell at the end of recess, a recess that was strangely extended for a bit. Our last recess, at that.

Maths round 2 was a more casual affair with cake and presents. We made Dike cry, which was nice to see that she did indeed have a human side outside of her education career, kinda. Ellis also came in and I thought she was gonna eat us all because we were eating in class - a bloody delish tiramisu from Michels. I speculate that Ellis is always angry because she is allergic to two of the greatest substances known to Man: chocolate and coffee. Double whammy, goodgame. And at that maths finished and I wish I could say good riddance, but I can not feel that entirely because it's been a large chunk of my schooling for the past more than a decade and yeah stuff like that.

Free period, signed my name and quit. Did not want to see Richards. Glad that we had concert preparation, it went by quite quickly though.

Concert went great, had a mishap with curtains and Lissa's umbrella and whatnot, but yeah that's how things go. It was good fun and all, our grade has really bonded. Afterwards was a shitload of hugging and crying and breaking down to sobbing. I haven't cried, yet.

See you all tomorrow, Sefton class of 2011.

Windy

2011-09-20T19:41:00.002+10:00

Hot day, windy day.

Had our last English lesson today with the wonderful Ms Levick. We all wrote acrostic haikus using her name, and also bought her a shitload of stuff like pearl jewellery and books. My acrostic haiku was:

Minh's the author here -
Remember lexical chain?
Skrzynecki was fun,
Language and form
Ever creating style.
Vuong is my surname,
Indebted I am,
Creative writing needs work,
Kindly teacher, thanks!

Shirley and I were teamed up in a quiz and we smashed it - every single question correct. Suck it, bitchez. Because of our flawless victory, we each won a signed book (by Levick) haha. Don't have a pic, too lazy atm. I took Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy because Shirley was fast and snapped up Heart Of Darkness, dammit. Levick was sexist (and openly said that she was) by suggesting I take Robinson Crusoe, but alas I had already read it and it seemed to surprise/impress her that I already had, lmao. Crying is contagious apparently - Benno cried, then Sam cried, and then four minutes later Delia cried. Lol, maybe it just has not hit me yet.

Recess was an attempt at flashmobbing by dancing the macarena. It was fun while it lasted, then it was back to the obligatory lastweekofschoolletstakephotosformemoriesandstuff. I was supposed to give some stuff to my peer support kids with Guzman, but I didn't :/ Also had a twinkie, delicious shit. When its list of ingredients features "and/or", you know it's gotta be good.

PDHPE was a breeze, and to our surprise Mr Stanley was still here because he didn't get selected for the jury lol.

Crashed my former physics class again. They presented Saunders with the framed photos I took yesterday and to my surprise and delight, Steven Nguyen had a Nikon D80 paired with a Nikkor 50mm 1.8D - because it was a D80 there were no issues with AF, but one thing that displeased me was the incompatability of the aperture ring - it had to be locked and controlled via the dials on the body. It's a good camera + lens, I quite liked it. It just makes me all the more excited for my future D7000 + 50mm 1.4D.

Lunch and the subsequent rehearsals was a long and tiring process. Most of us got stuff down pat I guess, bit gutted that only Naji is doing Knights Of Cydonia, not Naji, John and I. Wore my 501s again, still stiff but will be worth it later on. We finished at 5pm, much to the inkling of my brother - Dad did not seem to mind so much. Got home, Mum yelled at brother about his year 9 NAPLAN results (don't ask me why they're so late or whatever) and it's quite shocking his creative writing is under the national average. Glad it's not genetic.

Tomorrow will be another hectic (meaning busy) day.

CARDBOARD DENIM

2011-09-19T20:45:00.002+10:00

Today was a bloody stressful one. Woke up at 5:30am to make waffles. I boiled water to drink some desperately needed coffee and the sound of the kettle woke mum up and I tried to shiftily make the coffee quickly and walk away but she told me off for I don't know, whatevs. Waffles were made fine, had excess mix so used mum's new Danish Pancake pan (pic sometime, it was bloody $60) from America, and made about 36 of them. They're quite cute actually. It's about the size of macarons, which is cool. So they were made, mum realised Dad forgot to pack rice and thus said she would drive out to his work to deliver it to him, and the peak hour traffic would mean she would probably not return on time to drive my brother and I to school, to which I replied "Yeah no worries, I quite like taking the train". I left the house at the required 7:45am and I had only walked for about 30m when mum rolls past - it seemed that traffic was much thinner than expected. So we ended up being driven to Bass Hill to drop stuff off and got to school at like 8:20am, a fairly nice early time.

So apparently our scheming grade filled A block with balloons. Nice idea, didn't get a chance to take a photo. Most people liked it, except Cree and Ellis. In English, I suggested to Victor that we walk into the Period 3 Year Meeting doing awkward turtles. Also, English was a massive bludge. All the class seemed to converge to my side of the room and I took a photo with Beryl's Canon Powershot G12 - it's not bad, nice design. Recess was bleh, obligatory photographs that did not turn out as nicely as I would have preferred. Free period I was plucked out of library to crash my former physics class and take some photos. Saunders offered me milk and cookies, coolio. Also had a chat with her about journalism and stuff, her dad was a foreign correspondent which is cool, he covered the Vietnam War and stuff. Also talked about my wedding photography (to be) and proliferation of Australian editorialised publications and reading the New York Times. Cool class, a class I would have been in if I had not dropped the subject lol.

Once the free period was over, we had the aforementioned Year Meeting. Ellis told us off, warned us and shit. Then Mrs Hans (?), the presiding officer presented herself to be a very strict but kindly lady (jellybeans + blind eye to candy), but she was also freaking morbid as hell LOL. Talked about being hit by buses and whatnot. Also, Ellis, so bloody rude in chiming in mid talk and saying shit at us loudly while. I thought we were taught to listen while others are speaking?

Lunch was nice. Everybody brought great food. Ganesh's curry and Eren's hommus in particular. Turkish bread + hommus, so goooood. So good. I'll let photos do the talking.

It also happened to be Prefect Cupcake Day to raise $ for RSPCA. Dunno how that went, but I took a pic of the cute toys:

And Eng Ext. we watched The Net staring Sandra Bullock. To be honest, late 90s conspiracy theories about the internet is hilarious. Some of the stuff was so outdated and whatnot it was actually kinda funny. It is proving to be an interesting movie though, about identity theft and over-reliance on the internet and stuff. I want to talk to McIntyre about improving my writing though D: Oh and Eren gave me his sister's laptop to transfer pics, it was funny lol.

In other news, I wore my shrunk 501s for the first time today to tutor. Cardboard stiff, fits waist perfectly if I tuck in my singlet (which I usually do anyway). Kinda uncomfortable around the knees, but the creases behind them are already starting to form yayyyyyyy. Cuffs are great. Prolly gonna dance Lucifer in them tomorrow to add to the process of my 501 story.

Oh, cute pic of Annie's pencilcase. f2, DOF too shallow, silly me.

Led Zeppelin IV

2011-09-18T20:27:00.000+10:00

I feel quite fucking dogged by most of you.

In other news, started running again.

Every rose has its thorn~

2011-09-17T17:36:00.004+10:00

Brief post today since rents are out grocerying atm.

Added another lifetime regret to my already long list: sprayed my shot in the match completely wide with so much time to line up the shot and whatever. Spewing, really disappointed at myself
Mr Stanley is leaving Sefton to be a deputy at Bossley Park so my PDHPE class was his last year 12 class. It was kinda sad during the lesson, but he made us little candy bags and wrote us all an individualised message. We also had blue/yellow (Parra Eels) cupcakes made by Jade and Zoe; and we gave him a signed Eels training jersey as a thankyou gift that became a farewell gift since he broke us the news. We'll miss you sir <3
Jennifer kept on teasing me about my infatuation with Quyen. Quyen leaned against me today. My name is in her hotmail. I have her hotmail. LOVELOVELOVE
Oh, happy 23rd bday Tom Robson dood.
Also shrunk my Levi's 501s today. It was a fun process. Will document later on. But it was bloody labour intensive. Picture sitting in a bathtub for 2 hours reading Frankenstein while watching the water become black from dye.

Some pics from the week, school's almost out

I'm still here.

2011-09-15T17:30:00.001+10:00

Yeah rents are just angry at me at the mo, so I am not really supposed to be on the computer lol. Nothing much of interest, looking forward to tomorrow's soccer game. Expecting violence.

See you soon.

This is horse shit!

2011-09-11T18:39:00.003+10:00

I started the day by watching more episodes of Zoids: Chaotic Century - in fact I am still watching it now as I type this entry, 47 of 67 episodes watched lol.

Anyway, mum came back from overseas and I was very disappointed that she didn't come home with a pair of Lunarglide 3s, so there goes any aspiration to start running again. Unless I order the Liu Xiang Lunarglide 3s, but that will set me back around $200 or so sighhhhhhh. And with the report coming as early as tomorrow, I doubt I'll even consider saving the money to buy them. What was the worse was that the moment she came home she started complaining about how the house was messy and whatnot. Apparently we had left some items in the fridge for about two weeks, such as some random leafy asian vegetables and some squeezed lemon juice, the latter of which grew a layer of mold on its surface, awesome. But yeah she kept complaining about shit and told us off for eating noodles daily etc, idgaf.

Mum seems to be in awe or fear of America. She keeps going on about how everything is supersized, especially food. She also said Disneyland doesn't live up to the hype, but then again shes in a cult. I have to say though, I wouldn't mind visiting America for all the outlet shopping. She bought a whole bunch of clothes and shoes ($20 Skechers down from $60 not bad). She also brought home some American snacks and choc, which is quite the spectacle.

What I am pleased with is that mum grabbed the Levis 501s I was after. 32x36 is baggier than I expected, so when I shrink them it should be interesting fit. She got me black ones, which should go nicely with most (all?) of my sneakers. I don't think I would pinroll with this pair though, I will probably leave that for my washed Mavis. But we shall see, I am going to do the shrink tomorrow.

Also, I took to the liberty of taking some snaps of my sneaker collection today, all 23 pairs. Would have been 24 if I had the Lunarglides eh >_>

Back to Zoids, at least until I decide to do some homework. Mod B essay and Bio past papers, but crappy dubbing anime is just so good.

IDEK

2011-09-10T19:30:00.002+10:00

I had a bit of a down night yesterday, just feeling shit about myself. Watched a shitload of Zoids: Chaotic Century to cheer myself up, which didn't really work for anything other than keeping me up late. Talked to Kim and Schare about random shit on msn before going off to try and catch some z's.

Woke up this morning slightly groggy but more active than usual. Had a breakfast of bread and sweetened condensed milk, which was pretty nice since I hadn't had it for a while. At tutor I bs'd Module C essay and also, apparently lessons have officially finished. Bit detached really, ending so soon lol. Tom gave me back my Mod B essay and said it was pretty good, which was promising =D What was interesting about today is that I sat next to someone that I hadn't sat to for a number of years; and their persona had really changed. I remember earlier this person went on quite the downward spiral with a life of debauchery and whatnot - at least from what I had heard over the years, but now this person has seemed to really knuckle down and gotten their life back on track, well at least this appears to be the case. Whatever the case, it is interesting seeing how people change. I have changed, too much.

Something else that happened today was a heated encounter with an Indian guy from a power company. It was about 3pm, and Dad was just about to sit down to eat lunch of noodles, then the doorbell rings. I'm sitting in my room watching Zoids when Dad calls me out to the front door to talk to some guy because Dad's English is not very good. So I'm "alright no worries" and the young Indian dude tells me about something involving 8% off a certain section of our energy bill or something; and that all we have to do is sign. The only thing that changes is that the bill becomes blue instead of our beigey yellow (we're under Origin energy). So this is a bit dubious indeed, but I act only as interpreter and I don't interject with my own opinion. Dad goes off to grab his wallet and the Indian guy and I just stand there quietly, until his phone rings. The ringtone is Flo Rida's Low, and in my head I'm thinking "Really? I don't know why you work for some sort of energy company with that sort of ringtone." But anyway Dad comes back and suddenly there's a kerfuffle about wanting the bill under mum's name and he starts Engrishing that this process has taken longer than the two minutes that the Indian guy claimed (I think his name was Patel or something according to his ID) and he responds by saying that Dad's questions and shit are why the process is taking longer than two minutes, etc etc. Dad starts getting yelly, and so does the Indian guy, which ends by the latter saying "Okay you know what you don't want the discount" and he tries to dramatically put a big cross through the form which I honestly think was a bit wasteful and extravagant, especially for a guy who has Flo Rida's Low as his ringtone. However, he forgets to click his pen and fails, so he ends up storming out of our house. I pop my head out and try to offer "Sorryyyyyyyy", but he mumbles something and continues walking off. During the whole argument, I facepalmed and knew that it wasn't gonna end well. But oh well, the whole situation was a bit shifty anyway. Note to self, don't act as interpreter for your parents.

Today is the last day that the house is occupied by just Dad, my brother and myself since mum is coming home tomorrow. This kinda makes me sad because I have grown accustomed to life without her - I rather enjoyed eating noodles everyday for almost every single meal (there are only four packets of noodles left in the house, I am panicking right now), I enjoyed walking to the station each morning and meeting up with the Cabra people then walking to school, I enjoyed the freedom that was attached to the responsibilities I had to accept (laundry and cooking mostly haha). So now that I have had a taste of freedom, I am afraid I am going to crave it during the HSC period where I am supposed to be most focused on studying and practicing past papers and whatnot, but I will be wanting freedom. Being a universal theme and all (lol Module B), freedom is a much more precious prize than say sneakers or Miranda Kerr covered in honey, or 89.25 ATAR for that matter. Nothing else matters when one is free, and that thought will be looming in my mind for the next two months or so, which will prove either to be a distraction or a motivator - or both. So Mum comes back tomorrow, honestly I don't really want her to lol. But at least she could bring back some Lunarglide 3s + Levis 501s. Then on Monday she will see my report and take the items back sighsighsigh.

In light of mum returning tomorrow, Dad and I decided to clean up most of the house because we haven't done so for the two weeks that she's been gone. He brought home a bottle of industry grade disinfectant (embezzlement hahahah) and we got the house smelling all good again. I cleared a lot of stuff around my room, rearranged some boxes I will never open, gave the floor a good clean and vaccuum, and packed my guitar gear away. I probably won't touch it until after HSC for good measure. I also managed to bother myself enough to clean up my English folders, or at least to straighten out the sheets and whatnot. So all I actually have to do now is some homework or something, but I am itching for some Zoids.

Speaking of such, I have managed to go through 34 episodes of Zoids: Chaotic Century in about two days. I remember being really mesmerised by it as a child being a mecha anime and all, but now upon rewatching the English dub of the anime just as I did a decade ago, the holes within the plot and the incongruities become really apparent. There are many to list, but if any, Van and Rudolf not recognising Veola and Rosco (Rosso?) in helmets was pretty stupid. Likewise with the Republic and Imperial forces attacking the colossal Deathsaurer instead of Prozan, the dood standing on its freakin' shoulder. Maybe it was to make it less dark for the kiddies, but really the Zoids could kill errbody without much trouble.

Well, back to Zoids - I was never going to do homework on a Saturday night lol.

Boycott.

2011-09-09T18:43:00.002+10:00

Today was a disappointing day, well it was mostly disappointing:

Eric dogged Derwin and I in maths today. However, I managed to somewhat get my head around projectile motion, which I think is still pretty shit as a maths topic.
Biology was alright, usual fare.
Receiving my Bladenstein essay back I was happy that I improved and got a B from Levick..which in itself for me is an achievement because she has given me C's since forever. The overall lesson was pretty bludgy though and I wanted to sleep.
Painstakingly brought my DSLR today in the belief that European Handball would be on for me to do photos of...it was postponed until whoknowswhen. Unnecessary weight in my bag.
Forgot to write down that I was part of the Yearbook Committee for the reference sheet...shit.
Rushed home during my free period to hopefully intercept my school report, it hadn't arrived yet. That means next Monday it will arrive and Mum will find it, subsequently seeing my possible three C's out of six subjects. (3U definitely, Ext Eng maybe, Eng Adv maybe)
Nike's release of the Air Mags (Back To The Future Part 2 shoes) being limited to 1500 pairs, auction only, no shipping to Australia. Pairs are going for over $7000, with some in the $10000 range and even one pair that sold for $75000. Ridiculous. At least it is all for charity to end Parkinson's disease, something lead actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with and has been battling for the past two decades or so. But even so, I kinda want to boycott Nike for making the shoe so exclusive, at least they should have made it somewhat accessible in a way that allowed average joe sneakerheads such as myself to attain a pair and to also keep the resellers off my back, but I guess that is never going to happen. Which sucks, because despite all of us saying we are going to boycott Nike, within the week we will undoubtedly buy some sort of item from the brand. Maybe I should start buying handmade Feit shoes instead (~$400 for handmade shoes from literally awesome materials). But yeah, slightly gutted. Who knows if they will come out again in 2015..

So yeah, overall not the best day out. Had a nap and woke up about an hour ago, but not feeling any better in body and mind.

Some photog from today at Sefton station:

Projectile Motion,

2011-09-08T21:34:00.000+10:00

I cannot be bothered with you. kthanksbye

Speculation

2011-09-07T18:14:00.000+10:00

I wonder if I am in her bad books hahaha

Icecream and Jelly

2011-09-04T19:36:00.003+10:00

Foodie's post today. For breakfast I made what was once an almost weekly weekend breakfast on Sundays: two eggs sunny side up, tin of sardines, lightly fried onions, open fire toasted breadrolls. Gasmic.

Actually did homework on a Sunday, I am quite proud of that (H) I chose to not touch my English folder all weekend because I am quite demoralised by it at the moment, yet again lol. I also displayed self control today by not going to the Nike outlet knowing full well there would be a sale on due to Father's Day. What I did was have a nap and ended up sleeping so long that by the time I woke up, it was closed hahahaha. Got some freakish bed sores though D: Then I went out to play soccer alone for about an hour and saw my old acquaintance Salem walking around being chill. Returned at about 6, ate hot chips for dinner.

Right now I am eating jelly and icecream.

Groceries / Father-son thing pt 2

2011-09-03T20:31:00.002+10:00

I decided to go to English tutor today, and much to my dismay we had a module B essay to do. Given 45min, I bludged and scraped together three pages with minimal techniques while trying out a new essay structure. Peter meanwhile drew a detailed diagram of the Saturn V rocket after watching Apollo 13 the previous day. He has also decided to quit English tutor, aw. So that was that, but after the lesson when I stood around waiting for Dad, Diab decided to go outside for a smoko, not really, but outside to her car to grab some bags and upon returning she asked me how I went for trials. I was like "Yeah Paper 1 was alright, we'll ignore the story though.." and it led me to explaining to her that Ellie had marked my story and also she informed me that he has never done HSC/senior level marking and that my story could have been marked less subjectively because apparently my use of the stimulus was reasonable etc, etc but now it means I am going to have to show her my Paper 1 and then she is going to be much more judgmental and disappointed. The highlight of our little chat was: "What do you think of Ellie, since I don't know him very well and all?" "....I don't know him very well either since he's not my teacher, but....my first impression of him is that he's a bit of a douchebag." "Yes, he does seem very egocentric. Well, see you next week."

After tutor I went Aldi with Dad to pick up some more "groceries". This time it consisted of another 1kg bag of hot chips, a tub of vanilla icecream, condensed milk and raspberry jam. Oh, I also bought some lowcut grey socks for no particular reason other than the fact that I did not have any grey socks. Maybe they will look good with some of my sneakers, and I can only think of wearing these with any of my sneakers which contain some form of grey or at least a dark colour palette...let's be honest, grey socks look kinda cheap lol. But the ones I bought have like either a green, blue or red strip down the side which I thought was kinda cool, which caused the impulse buy (sorry Ena D:)

We then went home and I had a brief nap before heading off to Fairfield to look at stuff briefly before heading home. Uh what did I do - oh yeah I ate a packet of noodles and proceeded to have another nap. I said I was gonna do homework today but it appears that will not be happening lol.

So why is this entry titled in part 'Father-son thing pt 2"? Well, tonight's dinner was particularly impactful for lack of a more appropriate adjective. Dad woke me up telling me to eat and when I groggily walked out to the kitchen table I saw that he had bought a roast chicken. So, this marks the first "official" time we have eaten meat as a family - sans mother - since she went crazy vegan. Well, I am sure there have been similar occasions many years ago, but in the past three or so years I would say that this has been the most, do I say, significant (sorry, my English vocabulary is really off tonight) occurrence of carnivorous activity. It was certainly a nice gesture from Dad, with Father's Day being tomorrow and all. I liked what we did, we just sat down and shared a chicken, with the odd comment about the meal here and there. Washed it down with a can of Solo and felt too full for icecream. Ah, it has been many a year since I've done that. Good times.

I may as well take the rest of the night off and hope to knuckle down tomorrow - risky move with the HSC coming up so soon. And I think I am going to a BBQ tomorrow too, ooer :/

Basquette.

2011-09-02T19:22:00.002+10:00

The whole day seemed to breeze by as we all eagerly waited for the annual lunchtime teachers vs students game of basketball. After initial uncertainty about permission to do photographs and whatnot, I think I got the all clear from Aileen and as such I proceeded to shoot the game with machine-gun mode, aka burst mode. On my Pentax K-x, it's a very respectable 4.7fps especially considering it's a cheap entry level DSLR, so for a lot of the plays during the game I have captured a frame-by-frame breakdown which could be interesting. At one point I switched to my 18-200mm so I could zoom and go wide, etc, but its autofocus was much too slow and the manual focusing was terrible, plus smaller aperture made exposure difficult. However, at 18mm I did manage to capture some cool blurs and it really helps with atmosphere. Despite this, most of the 340 photos I took were with the 50mm f2 at f2.8 and it really had things going sharp. A challenge I had this time around was not being as close to the action as last time I did basketball shots. I was at various points on the sideline so zone focusing was not too hard of an ask, but when they were close to me, the speed at which everything was moving made it very hard to keep the closer objects in focus so a number of shots are focused in the background but the people 1m in front of me are not, but oh well. Autofocus would have simply failed in situations like these, and again I emphasise the value of manual focus - it's just so much faster and reliable. Another problem I faced was the fact the game was under the awning while the outside sky was much brighter. What this caused was complete shadow, which was not helped by centre weighted metering, that is, the camera detected all the light from the sky and thus decided a faster shutter speed which caused underexposure (yes I was in Aperture Priority, if I was using manual I would not have been able to take such an amount of photos). To counter this I used flash fill, which slowed shutter down to 1/180 and I had to stop down a bit more to avoid overexposure, so some of these turned out well. Either way, it was a photographic challenge and I uploaded the cream of the crop onto my flickr, which you can find on the right of the page.

Oh and the game itself? Bloody crazily physical, all this contact everywhere. I am kinda scared for soccer now, to be honest. Cheong looked ready to draw blood.

Shutdown

2011-09-01T18:35:00.002+10:00

It was sort of forlorn today as I realised it was our last evacuation procedure ever at Sefton. Felt like usual business with the lining up and whatnot, with the usual shenanigans with Stanley, this time he was beatboxing and Tiff managed to learn a basic beat, boots and cats. And when Dimo announced on the megaphone that it was time to go back to class, it was a reminder that things were coming to an end.

Maths is increasingly becoming a less and less enjoyable subject. I really dislike Simple Harmonic Motion. I like guitar harmonics, but it's not like I'm being explained how they work in maths.

English was bludgeworthy also. Likewise with bio, so yeah the slump continues.

Photos were a frustrating process, with the administration stepping their foot down and cracking down on us yearbook photographers. We were required to relocate our shooting spot away from the view of any office-based staff and etc, bloody annoying. A couple of people I had rostered decided not to show up and the back oval shots were not as nice as my quad ones. Also, Akko told me no more cameras, only one camera with the school's paltry SD card with barely any capacity. I want to cover tomorrow's basketball game, but it seems that will not be happening. I will bring the camera anyway and see how things fare.

Bit annoyed at the moment, but Dad's attempt to cook was successful and chillaxed me a bit.

311293 441 - EPO

2011-08-31T18:39:00.003+10:00

Had a bludgy Eng Ext (I'm getting a C sigh), bludgy maths going through Ext 1 paper (got the Dike interview out of the way), bludgy Biology (poor Ganesh, I'm happy with my prac mark despite doing the wrong experiment) and bludgy PDHPE (lots of trash talking)

(Lot of brackets, lol? Just gonna upload a whole heap of photos from today's Teachers vs Students volleyball game, bit a debacle)

& the money shot..

Deep rooted regret.

2011-08-29T21:27:00.002+10:00

That feeling that I knew was going to hit but I hoped to delay as long as possible - even completely avoid - has hit. And I don't think I'm going to be able to handle it.

366379 100 - Travelling could have cost only $2

2011-08-28T17:33:00.002+10:00

I was on the computer until like one in the morning, so I was naturally a bit groggy when I woke up about six hours later. I was good and didn't chug down some caffeine to counteract the lack of sleep. Ena knows full well that I can indeed be a very impulsive spender, and as such I almost bought an iPhone 3GS today - $429 for an 8gb one with $50 credit from Optus. It was a pretty good deal and I almost went ahead with it, but ultimately I thought about my best interests and decided to let the deal pass, which now in reflection I am glad I did.

I only managed to write up about half of my English essay because I was still very tired, but at least it means I have less to do tonight unless I get distracted (let's hope that doesn't happen). Dad recommended I take the bus to Bankstown instead because he said I'd probably get rolled at Villa station on a Sunday morning hahaha. So I took a quick shower and took the bus out to Bankstown instead. The bus guy didn't see my concession card so he charged me double, i.e. normal adult fare, for the trip which was zzz. I then got to Bankstown fine, bought a return ticket to Olympic Park for and took the trackwork bus to Olympic Park station. It stopped at places like Yagoona, Berala and Lidcombe, and each time it stopped, the bus became progressively more and more crowded with fobs. At one point all the seats were taken and people were crowded even standing up. At least when we entered Olympic Park the bus driver turned on the fans to cool stuff down, but the air felt much better once I got off the bus.

I lost about twenty to thirty minutes trying to find people, and it took multiple text messages and calls until I was able to find everyone, but in the end I was there lol. It seemed Lyn and Derwin had not made it yet, so I took the opportunity to pig out on a variety of food that was already there: sausage rolls, meat pies, cheese+spinach pastries, fried rice, cookies, tuna sandwiches, the lot. And this was all while sausages and chicken wings were being made, chyeah. So eventually Lyn and Derwin came and we hid behind the BBQ to jump out surprise and sing happy birthday (two and's in the same sentence, terrible) and it was all good. Ate a lot of sausages + bread, yet only had one chicken wing because the other guys really wolfed them down quickly. A pasta salad would have been nice but what can I do lol, chilli sauce would have been good too, but oh well. If $10 from each of us was able to procure such an amount of food, I think we should do this more often hahaha. I should have eaten more fried rice though, it was delish.

Rissa came today along with some new faces which I met, and one of them was pretty cute, very cute actually, and single - but I will leave it at that. Ris also brought her D5000 and more importantly, the 50mm f1.4G. I opted out of bringing along my Pentax because of the travel changes and possible rolling, so I used her DSLR. When I had a look at her camera settings , I wanted to rip my jaw off in shock. She has a $800 rrp lens yet she uses the camera on auto settings, and she hadn't even bothered to change image size + quality settings. Oh, before I continue, I'm not having a bitch, Rissa openly admits that her "camera philosophy is point and shoot". Auto settings for some reason had meant her aperture was at between f5.6-8 probably for deeper DOF which was fair enough in relation to shutter speed and whatnot, but her ISO made me want to implode my head. ISO 2000 on a bright sunny day!? With the current settings my phone was taking better pictures lolol. And for the record, her 50mm didn't have a filter yet it had a lens hood!? I have a feeling the front element could have done better than what it did today lolll. So I kind of gave her a quick rundown of exposure in terms of aperture and shutter speed. She was still struggling a bit, so I just put the camera in Aperture priority and stopped it up to like f2, lowered ISO to 200, changed image quality settings to Fine and immediately the shots were turning out so much nicer (again, two and's. Shameful.). I had a play on the camera and the lens. I do not care so much for the D5000, at least it is easier to use than Canon EOS, so bloody confusing with the layout. Now the lens. I stopped it down to between f2.8 and f1.8 because it produced sharper images, but on f1.4 DOF was paper thin and bokeh was pleasant enough, but edges were a bit soft for my liking. Also, with the bright sunny weather f1.4 would have just overexposed, so I was not shooting any higher than f2 and even then shutter speed was in the thousands at ISO 100. And maybe I did not have enough time to play with the lens, but what's the deal with M/A focus? It allows you to manually turn the focus ring while still being able to autofocus, but if then there isn't really much of a point in manually focusing because the AF will focus it again for you before you take a photo. Maybe it's to provide reference for the lens to focus faster rather than begin at infinity or whatever, who knows but it was a bit strange. Autofocus wasn't lightning fast either, but adequate enough for stills and slow moving objects. Manually focusing works fine too, but it is fairly obvious the Nikkor G lenses were not made for manual focus because the focusing ring turns infinitely and feels very plasticy, though this may be only my personal bias because I am used to metal-bodied manual focus aperture ringed and DOF guided prime lens of days yonder. It is a nice enough lens and maybe if I get the chance to use it in low light situations I will be able to possibly see its full potential, but for now I'd rather much go for the 1.8G for its aspherical element and smaller size, plus it's about three times cheaper while still doing the job. So my current assessment of the 50mm 1.4G? Adequate, but a bit overrated.

I spent most of my time at the place eating and taking photos, occasionally joining in for frisbee and checking on the BBQ, time really seemed to go a bit fast. Lyn came late since she was the person being surprised, but strangely she was the earliest to leave because she had tutor or something :( But I was happy that she was able to be part of good day we parted with a hug or three haha. Benny Dai also dropped by today, nice to see him again after more than a year - he hasn't really grown much though lol. The general vibe of the BBQ seemed to simmer down a bit after Lyn left because all the girls just sat around and talked while the boys played ultimate frisby because earlier some Coreen fobs had taken over the BBQ plates and yeah.

On a side note, I wore my Pele windrunner + grey/navy gradient tee + my other pair of jeans + broke out my Footscape Motions (blogged about it last month). Some of the girls commented on the tee but the reception wasn't as accepting of the shoes lol, but whatever. That's the mere nature of sneakers, gonna have haters. In hindsight, I have to thank my friend May Lyn who advised me against wearing my Opium Air 180s because of the possibility of dirt and mud. She was correct, thanks haha.The bottom of my 'scapes are now brown instead of nice and white. Also, they don't breathe very well it seems because when I got home and took them off, I could feel moisture on the flywire panels. So I guess it's waterproof inside and out, cool. Derwin was quite the sicko, wore some nice Gucci boat shoes, and damn were they nice. They were a stony blue colour with offwhite leather laces and accents. And the price he got them for, what a sicko.

I left the place at around 3:25pm and damn I should have made more of a move today on her lololol. But yeah I thanked Shirley for putting on a good BBQ and waved goodbye, then proceeded to run to Olympic Park station. Some family of bicycles asked me where the bike track was - they were only about 30m from it lulwhut. Made it back to Olympic Park station and waited like ten whole minutes for the bus to arrive. Peeped a guy wearing the white/persian/pink swoosh BW's and the SF heads were right, future heat right there. (Note to self, track down a pair.) Half fell asleep on the trip back to Bankstown, and it felt much longer than the trip to. Waited another 10min for the Bankstown bus back home, and this time the bus driver saw my concession card so the trip only cost me $1. There was an Afghan guy on the bus that needed directions to Villa station, but my stop was before it, maybe I should have given him some tips but we had communication difficulties :/ The trip was kinda long too, and I arrived home at like 5:20pm. That meant it took me almost two hours to get home because of some stupid trackwork between Bankstown and Olympic Park. As Ben Pham said last night on MSN, "Shittyrail." So to my previous point of travel costs. Today, it cost me $5.70 to travel around where I needed to be. The trackwork bus didn't even bother checking for tickets - Samson got to Bicent today for free. If the first bus driver saw my concession, it would have only cost me $1. So all I would have had to pay for today was for the bus trips going to and from Bankstown/Villawood. Travelling could have cost only $2. Clever tie back to the title, eh? All in all, I was glad the alternative travel method was not too inconvenient, I just lost like three hours total of time that could have been for the BBQ.

It was a good day overall, nice weather, I got to eat lots of food and meat, catch up with friends, play with a $700 lens and meet a cute girl.

314206 581 - Atherosclerosis

2011-08-27T09:49:00.002+10:00

There is something very therapeutic about taking a long hot morning shower. The feel of the water hitting against your shoulders has a very massage-like feel and you watch the steam continually billow, filling the room with a warm fog that grows denser and denser until it becomes almost opaque. You tell yourself you should turn on the fan to pull out all the steam because the cumulative effect of such damp conditions would surely eventually strip the paint off the ceiling - but you disregard this. You end up standing under the showerhead for longer than you need to, just so you can get away from it all. In other words, I had a bloody good shower this morning.

Last night was kinda lonely on msn lol D: I also pigged out by arriving home at around 2:30pm and eating two packets of migoreng - then later at around 5:30pm my dad and brother and I made about 1.5kg of hot potato chips: this was dinner. I then bludged around on the computer seeing if anyone would be online that I could talk to. Not really, conversation was scrappy with a number of people. But, I did changed my phone again. I was too frustrated with my LG Renoir pocket-dialling and running out of batteries in two days flat, so Dad gave me one of his phones. I can not say it is particularly groundbreaking in terms of specs, but at least it won't pocket dial and the music player works so much better. Besides, I only have $3 of credit anyway sigh. But I do need to get all my contacts back, which is a bit of a pain. Also, the wallpaper function is kinda really, well, crap. I wanted to put a picture of Hyuna and it was already portrait oriented and everything, but apparently I had to do a landscape crop which makes no sense. That's a bit depressing, but I eventually opted to use one of the included wallpapers, some sort of black background with a splattering of little green/yellow/blue/red dashes so I suppose it will do. I still would like an iPhone 4 though haha.

I decided to not go to English tutor today considering that practically everybody will be going to university open days. My lethargic attitude meant that I was too lazy to go, so I wonder how the rest of the day will play out. I should really get that English essay out the way (such a difficult question) and other homework done so I feel less guilty about going out tomorrow, so hopefully I can knuckle down.

Probably will post again later today if anything exciting has happened.

Feeling very lazy today,

314206 111 - Acetone causes yellowing of nails, apparently.

2011-08-25T16:49:00.002+10:00

I woke up at 4:30am today to see Mum off for her trip OS. So apparently her plane was not until 10am but she left at like 5am because checkout was early as. Bloody hell travel sounds so troublesome considering all the recent terrorism stuff zzz.

After Mum left I flicked on the TV to find Champions League was on. First time I watched football on TV at an unearthly hour in ages lol, which reminds I have to start training again soon for the teachers vs student match. The match was the second leg of Benfica vs FC Twente with the score being 3-1. Aimar is a little Argentine beast, man does that guy go everywhere.

Had slightly soggy migoreng for breakfast because I was slightly frantically adjusting myself to my new found independence and responsibilities, but managed to lock all the appropriate doors and windows and made the train with much time to spare. School was a bludge, took a lot of photos while honing my zone focusing skills (manually focusing while judging distance without looking through the viewfinder) and they turned out nicely. Stop down my 50mm f/2 to say f/3.5 and ISO 100, and pictures turned out very pretty. Also got maths back, hit the triple digits so I'm happy. At lunch, took about 100 photos of the bball court people and a few with Helal and stuff. Speaking of shooting the bball, it was pretty challenging continually manually focusing on the action and shooting at the right time. Luckily shutter speed was at a crazy 1/6000 so things were frozen. Also got a few snaps of a fight between some lebs lol. Bio was a bludge, and Akko disappointed Eren and I lol, but let's hope it turns out well. Nice of Eren to give me a lift back to Cheso though.

Caught up with a Bass High friend, now I'm home and pondering whether to do the laundry or not considering I've run out of school shirts and singlets, zzz.

Proliferation

2011-08-24T19:51:00.002+10:00

Wasn't really bothered finding another Nike product code, soz lol. Lazy day at school, Cree told us some crazy stories, got some results back, bludged PE due to a year meeting. Played volleyball and rugby for the first time in years today, and it did quite well a job of reminding me to stick to soccer.

Got home, had a very long nap but I'm feeling pretty good now.

TWO WEEKS OF DEBAUCHERY STARTS TOMORROW, I CAN NOT WAIT.

Short post, feeling uber lazy, soz.

679066 571 - Staring Into Your Soul

2011-08-23T18:20:00.002+10:00

Maybe you don't know this, but my eyes are sensitive to bright flashes and they cause me to have really bad headaches. So when my brother took the above picture for submission to Sneaker Freaker Magazine, my head was ready to explode because my eyes hurt so much afterwards. Even now they're still a bit tingly.

Today was a particularly fast school day, did not do much in English except laugh when Levick mistook Victor's finger clicking for flipping someone off hahahaha. Didn't do much in PE either, evacuation was cancelled. Missed the early train so I decided to do the 3ish km trek home..my feet are sore because school shoes are not supportive. At all. Got home, bludged, still bludging. Think I'm not gonna get bio surfing done lulz.

Gina Choi, I love you very much, almost as much as Miranda Kerr, but could you please not release your upcoming mini-album? I watched your new MV today and I am afraid that you are turning into Hyuna. One is enough and quite frankly you do not fit that image, nor do I want you to. So if you're reading this, please go back to the table where you write your lyrics and write some nice ballads like your first album, Black & White. Kthanksbyestillloveyoudonteverchange

304717 001 - I get knocked down, but I get up again

2011-08-21T15:48:00.004+10:00

Generally, one week goes by for approximately 168 hours or 7 days. Inevitably, the human mind can make this period of time feel like either a blink or the time between Lance Armstrong's heartbeats (PE heads will understand this haha). Alas my blogging hiatus that has obviously ended with the publishing of this post had at times felt quite long and quite short. Everyday I had sat at the computer with a spare three hours or so and I thought to myself "How easy would it be to log onto Blogger and type up an entry?" However, I did not, in the vain hope that I would achieve the original purposes of imposing a blogging hiatus, that is, to get the computer back on track and to also resume a regular running habit. I did achieve the former due to its ease (took a weekend) but for the latter it seems my lethargy has become more permanent than I had planned to. Far stretch, but I hope once Mum comes back from LA with the Lunarglide 3s it'll motivate me to start running again. But for now, I guess I should at least attempt to intermittently engage in some sort of physical activity that is not walking around shopping centres.

So how has the past week been? Forgettable, to say the least. Received back Trial results I am more than glad to forget about. Took the week off, participated in Yearbook committee activities. I get the job of interviewing Akko and Cree (& Dike, but I really don't want to) but I found out just about twenty minutes ago that Eren will be interviewing Akko with me. I have nothing against the guy, but I fear the possibility of a clash of journalistic ideals. I would like to take the sincere, mano a mano path while slipping in some 90s alt. rock (his favourite band is Sonic Youth and he does not mind Smashing Pumpkins either) while still having an overall enjoyable and detailed account of our year adviser's time with us at Sefton. Eren on Friday said to me "You better come up with some funny questions for Akko aye?" which at the time I did not know he would be co-interviewing with me. I don't want to have a sledgefest with Akko (knowing that we'd both lose and it's not what I'm doing the interview for) but I don't know what Eren wants to do. Should discuss this with him.

Fast forward to last night. Found Mum's nail polish collection from when she used to be a nail artist. I feel pretty.

Today, instead of getting a bulk of my homework done, I decided to go Bankstown and have a browse around. Saw John, saw asian chicks at Old Bankstown. Also saw some pretty cool vintage styled runners at Kmart of all places. Nylon panels with microfibre and in grey/black/infrared, only $15. I would have bought them because they actually looked pretty good albeit dodgy shape and materials. Instead, I bought myself another wind runner jacket - which now makes five in the collection. It's by Pele Sports which I found out to be a company he started himself. I quite like Pele, he truly is the GOAT of futbol. I've already got his autobiography and some autographed Puma sneakers (which he once endorsed but now it appears he went ahead with his own thing), and now I have a windrunner with his signature in gold embroidery on one arm. Finally, I have a windrunner in my favourite colour and it can go with so many of my sneakers. Best of all it was only $20 from Insport!

It's good to be back. But for now, I gotta try and hurriedly finish all my work ASAP, starting with the interview questions and a bloody handwritten Belonging story for English, sigh.

308497 003 - Ulcers

2011-08-14T10:15:00.002+10:00

I would like to wish a very happy 18th birthday to Lyn Nguyen <3 I wrote her a nice card but I won't see her until Tuesday to give it to her :( I also realised that despite knowing her for ages, we don't have any photos together D: So I will try and get a photo with her by the end of the term. This is a brief paragraph cause most of the stuff I had to say was in the card. Anyway, happy birthday Lyn, hope you enjoy your day :D

I am elated that I was able to recover all my files, namely my music and iTunes library. The computer is near-perfect at the moment, no deadend registry entries, no excess junk files, no programs that aren't going to be used, etc. Windows Vista isn't too bad after all haha, but bloody hell I have literally restarted my computer over twenty times in the past eighteen hours to allow for the OS to update, and it's probably blown ten gigs of downloads. But oh well, everything is back on track and for once my Windows is actually legitimate.

Read my horoscope today (I'm a Sagittarius):
Swallow past reservations and a spontaneous feeling reunites you with an old love. Jupiter, your ruler, rewards you for a down-to-earth attitude to health and fitness. A potential investor wants financial control, but you can afford to wait before signing up.

Arghhhhh, what does this mean :/

This blog will be put on a slight hiatus, maybe for a week or two to allow me time to get back into the routine of a daily run and soccer training.

312748 031 - Acute viral rhinopharyngitis

2011-08-13T00:03:00.002+10:00

So my trials are finally bloody over, but I will blog about that tomorrow or something. And my eBay stuff came, but that is also for tomorrow.

Reluctantly upgraded my XP computer up to Vista Home Premium, at least it is 64 bit. Now have to painstakingly reconstruct my iTunes library. Sigh.

POUNDING HEADACHE

2011-08-11T17:17:00.002+10:00

Came down with sickness last night, so I slept early. Woke up with the worst headache, couldn't study at all and also had to fill in the census form for Mum. This gave me some enjoyable moments because for my brother I ticked the "not well" box for his English skills and also ticked that he did not have any high school education past Year 8. A spanner in the works hahahahaha. So my headache was still pretty bad, so I took some more panadol while I attempted to cram for English Extension, which proved slightly beneficial. A package arrived at the door, but it was only for Dad and it was not any of my eBay purchases (three weeks now). Stuffed some food in before leaving for English Extension trial.

At school I saw some people had gotten their jersey, but I was not really too bothered by that. Had about 3 minutes of freaking out about Ext I went in and whatever. Lol, Woodbridge was being a bit of a bitch, "Did I say you could write yet?" when people were filling in their attendance slips. I was too numbed by my headache to even do anything. My nose was also quite blocked and I didn't wanna blow my nose in case I disturbed my fellow extension examers, so I was reduced to continually wiping my nose but not actually clearing it. It was hell. My essay was alright, but the story I wrote was once again shit. Bloody stimulus. Character profile or some shit. The Sci-Fi question (our school does Crime Writing) for the creative task had a David Bowie reference which was pretty awesome: @major_tom, which is of course Bowie's persona for Space Oddity. But the stimulus for Crime was shit, wrote such a stupid story with a stupid role reversal at the end that happens out of nowhere ah Buddha gonna lose marks for it.

Picked up my jersey after the exam with my head about to implode. Went into Atk's room with a bunch of other Seftoners who bothered rocking up just to pick the jerseys up lmao. Ah omg she is so cute when excited about the jerseys <3 What who, nobody.

Got a text in broken English from Mum about something or other, so walked back to Cheso with my bro. Mid journey I stopped momentarily to spit like an Asian and I did not need Anne Duong in her voice to exclaim "EWW Minh that's disgusting." Let me spit dammit, don't need people commenting. I'm a sick man, not like pedo sick but physically sick, ill? Encountered Mum halfway towards Cheso and waited like 20mins for her to buy clothes or whatever. My brother saw an old Bass friend and it was the first time I'd seen him do a bro handshake lol. Then we went Aldi grabbed some groceries or whatever and went home.

My head is ready to cave in, ugh.

This is a pretty song.

London bridge is falling down..

2011-08-10T17:30:00.003+10:00

I am so angry that my post title does not even have a Nike product number.

I am not one to follow the events of the world, but the London riots are proving to be a "what the fuck is wrong with the world" event for me. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with society? I've watched a number of videos of chavs and shitheads looting small businesses claiming they were "getting their taxes back". How the fuck does stealing from a shop a person's worked hard to manage and keep alive justify getting your taxes - that you probably haven't even paid - back? Tell me how the fuck it does. What's also disgusting the video of the kid with a broken jaw bleeding his mouth out get "helped up" by some chavs who eventually loot his bag and just chuck the shit away. Fuck you. Just fucking hell, people like you are why sometimes I have no faith in humanity. To see you sink that low makes me want to run you over repeatedly. Get the army in, nuke them out, I don't care as long as some freaking peace is restored to London. Not really the Sex Pistols' idea of Anarchy In The UK I don't think. They've looted JD Sports. To have the audacity to try on shoes before stealing them - all on camera - is absolutely terrible. I don't believe in hell, but you should burn in some sort of fiery pit. Props to the various good people who are balls of steel enough to get onto the streets and show us what's going on. Must be scary as.

Man, PDHPE fucked me over. It was genuinely a difficult exam, especially the multiple choice statistics questions. They were very specific. Man, blanked out on the epidemiology question, there goes a mark. Didn't write as much, but hoping to prove quality > quantity. It was bloody hard, bs'd it at bits and don't think I will top lol.

Man, so frustrate with the world.

386130 200 - KICKSTART MY HEART

2011-08-09T17:48:00.002+10:00

WOAH, YEAH, KICKSTART MY HEART. Buddha I love 80s rock.

Mum was irritated this morning because one of the parents pushed her kids onto us half an hour before the booked in time and complained on the car lmao. It was annoying for me as well, because I had wished to get to school early to cram for speech which I ended up not doing.

Right, so it was quite cold today but I opted to wear PE uniform so I could wear my Suedes as part of my cobbler character for the speech. I was surprised (ignorant perhaps) at the fact that the speeches were to be done in A12 or something (the room across from A11/sewing room). Sophie's speech was very very good, Jo's was good too. But did they take off their shoes and jump off a desk? I think not. However I managed to go overtime and was asked by Levick to stop sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh D: I am glad I don't mind Sophie's Nike x Harris Tweed Air Royal Mid VTs either, might have to get myself the men's colourway. Or not, need to prioritise money lol.

So we had the luxury of being dismissed once we were done, and thus it was only 9:30am when we had finished our speeches and I went Sefton station rather than my usual Cheso with Sophie, Jo and Anita who then left me because their Liddy train came but fortunately my train back home was four minutes after. At Villawood, I was somewhat nervous for a split second because I j-walked the Hume Highway with a police car waiting across the road at the intersection, more so because what if they were to ask me why I was walking around Villawood in Sefton uniform at a time like before 10 in the morn'. Oh well, I walked past them without taking a look lol. I then heard the screech of tires, but looking back over my shoulder, it was not anything at all.

Got home at like 10:15am and Mum asked how my speech went. I mumbled "blerghblerghitwentokaylulzlulzlulzletmesleep". Actually, my afternoon/evening has been quite uneventful really - watched my computer scan for viruses, slept, skip lunch, play videogames. Well, one of the daycare kids barfed and it was quite disgusting. Yeah, I played Warriors Orochi and it's a game I would have enjoyed when I was 12, because the repetitiveness of button-mashing square for 40min per mission gets tiring. Very quickly. It's alright though, I'll clock the game first and then the characters should be stronger and the attacks get less repetitive. My brother is a noob, he grinds with one character to level 50 and the others are level 1. C'mon, really?

Right, so now I'm studying for PE, my best subject but funnily enough the subject I study least for. Weird this world is.

Ah yeah, also. RIP Aziz Shavershian, more commonly known as Zyzz. While I wasn't so much a fan of his whole culture of gym and bodybuilding and whatnot, he was quite the entertaining fellow and my condolences go out to his family. Keep on trollin' in heaven brah.

311378 001 - Fake Plastic Trees

2011-08-08T19:36:00.002+10:00

"No, that isn't legal, it's like cocaine of the gaming world" - EB guy, certified coolguy

Slept last night at like 12am 'cause I was helping people with their speeches and whatnot, but to be honest most of that time was spent on sneakerfreaker forums talking about Gran Turismo. Kinda regret it, because I found 2u challenging =/ That last question with the f'(x) graph and all, sigh....................hope I did it correctly. Minimum at 0, inflex at 1, maximum at 2?

Got home at like 1, sat on computer and didn't do much really except msn with people about everything from trials to Death Race. Just finished making palm cards for the speech, which I am not really looking forward to. Ten minutes is a lot of talking and I don't know if 1275 words is enough to reach at least eight. Guess I will just keep reading over stuff until it kinda stays in my head.

I am really looking forward to getting this week over and done with, Eng Ext and PDHPE won't be too hard in getting a decent mark and 3U is whatever to me now lol. Depending on the weather, as I have previously mentioned, I am going to break out the Opiums. Otherwise, probably the Footscapes. Derno.

Really I am just wasting my time at the moment so I should probably go off now lol. Sorry for the lack of substantial posting.

BLASPHEMY

2011-08-07T22:03:00.001+10:00

SCHARE; (*) says:
*what is halo :-O

heh, kinda ready for maths, and eng speech is whatevs. this is a catchy song.