Chrono-geno-nutrition diet blah

in a desperate attempt to lose weight, i kinda bit into this deal i saw at www.cashcashpinoy.com hahaha

i'm planning on starting this monday but i realized i'm too broke to afford the meal plans they recommended for my "chrono-geno type". i don't even know if i can afford the entire thing. and i found that i can download an almost exact diet plan FOR FREE, if only i just searched around the web before falling into this trap. haynako.

i appreciate the entire plan. in fact i believe it really works. but i guess they forgot to consider asking in their surveys (yes they let you fill out a survey which will determine the diet plan that best suits you) two of the most crucial things any "dieter" would consider in taking such a deal...

1) they didn't ask HOW MUCH MONEY someone is willing to shell out in order to follow their diet plan. a groceries worth for their meal plans cost 1-2k already. AND I FRKN DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY FOR FOOD. if that's the case i could just starve myself to my desired beach body but heck i already tried and it didn't work. haha

2) they didn't ask HOW MUCH TIME someone can dedicate to preparing all those crazy recipes. crazy in a point of view of someone who doesn't regularly cook and is unfamiliar with the entirety of the plant species available at the grocery. see, the only time i allot for breakfast is 30 minutes and that consist of eating alone. 

yes yes. i'm complaining right now cos i feel like i just wasted 990 pesos for something i can't even put my head into. i'm too busy and poor.

yeah right yeah right. i'll see what i can do. i wonder if replacing almost 70% of the ingredients with cheaper and more common ones will help. >:P

gawd, i wish i just enrolled myself in a sports clinic though. grr

i just probably need some motivation right? like money? >:7

passion talk

there's a trend happening in my life right now and it's getting me really confused. you know how i'm all about discovering my REAL passion and wondering how to live it to the fullest without compromising my state of wealth? i haven't got a solid resolution to that. i already know what my passion is and it's actually quite spot-on in my case because you know, it just shows.

during "the search", here are a few pointers that helped me...

you know you're passionate about something when...

• you love doing it
• you're good at it. you don't have to be the best. you just have to be good.
• you can do it for food. haha who cares about money, you just need to be alive. hahaha

if you're still unsure, just think of your passion as something you love doing so much such that when you STOP doing it, someone will hurt more than you do. you're passion is probably a place where you're most appreciated. it's a comfort zone where you can build your own world.

then i came about listing down stuff i do, regardless of whether i love doing em or not... as long it's a major part of my life, and here they go:

1. my nine to five - programming

- i don't love it. unless you consider html/css as programming languages then maybe there's a chance i love it like 60%. otherwise, no. nada. urgh.

- some say i'm good at it, my classmates and college professors believe i'm good at it. BUT I DON'T. you know, there has to be an agreement between you and the world before you can admit you're good at something. and i'm breaking that balance. confidence is a big thing huh?

- somehow i do it for food cos technically, i'm getting paid a steady amount of income. but i definitely won't go around the streets looking like a hobo, carrying a sign "will program for food". the horror man. the horror.

joker said that if you're good at something, never do it for free. but i daresay that if you're doing something you don't like for a living, charge higher. eventually you'll need the buffer on mental and emotional stress medication.

and finally, if i ever stopped programming, i'm pretty confident that NO ONE WILL CARE (well, HRs are default). in fact, I WON'T.

whew. how come this item is so easy?

daily news flash? i'm at the wrong path buddies! that, or i just need some kind of motivation or something or NOT.

2. writing - blogging, reviewing, freelancing blah

- i love doing it. period!

- i think i'm good at it. not really good, but good enough to still be able to feed this thing since 2004 hahaha. writing for me has a lot of perks... so far my writing has rewarded me a lot already... lemme go through them... boxes of coffee, movie ticketsssss, cash, paypal funds, gift checks, invites...etc! and all of them made me soooo happy. >XD

- can i do it for food? definitely! i don't know why, but i think i can live off as a poor writer or something. WAHAHAHA i'm imagining if ever it happened, i'll dedicate myself to publishing this one twisted story i have in mind. running and pleading over publishers to take a look at my story and invest! hahahaha

if i ever stopped writing i know not even a fraction of the world will be affected. direct effects only reflect on my paypal funds hahaha but it's gonna be extremely hard for me to give writing up. even though i've gone 9 years without establishing a steady readership, in the first place, i never wrote to please anyone. this abode is all for myself apparently and and, it will hurt so much if it goes down. huhu

with that i could say i'm 70% passionate about blogging, and 30% passionate in blog monetizing. hahaha >XD

3. drawing, illustrating, designing, blah

- i super duper love doing it. even though i don't draw as much as a write, i guess i can say i never draw mindlessly? or something. hahaha

- i'm good at it! i know i'm good at it. and i believe i have a lot of my friends' support on this. i'm good. and i want to be better.

- heck i can do it for free. but it woudn't hurt to charge. haha >XD

if i quit this. i might as well die. i'll never be more appreciated anywhere else.

this is it goys. this is what i want. what i love. what i want to pursue (in my dreams). i want to be a great illustrator, artist, layout designer. art makes me feel alive! wherever i go, it seems like i'm always being remembered as the artist. and it sucks that until now, i'm still not the artist that i want to be.

here's the sad part though. i don't think i can pursue it anytime soon, for practical reasons. yeah right. yeah right.

sucks right? i mean, if i want to land on a pot of gold in this field, i have to invest a pot of gold as well. and right now, i only have a pot. arts, baby.

ah the trend? i feel like the relationship between passion and income is indirectly proportional. hahaha it's like, i can program for a hundred bucks, write for food, and draw for free. see that? haha

trouble learning?

back in the old days, private tutoring services are considered only for the rich. whenever i learn of someone who has a private tutor in math or science, i always get the impression that he has very strict parents who can afford to spend on top of what they pay the school to do. but now, access to one has become so much easier...

thanks to the internet, finding a tutor is made more convenient. at the comfort of your homes, you can easily search web pages and screen teachers according to your own preference like gender, specialty and location. For example if you live in WC New York you can easily find Westchester tutors in just a few clicks. If you want someone who's an expert in math and at the same time can relate to kids, you can easily filter that info on your searches. if you want someone credible, you can drop at a legal site offering tutoring services and inspect their resumes with all 

the best part in hiring a tutor of course is that, with its very intention, it will help the student learn better and become more academically on track. the personalized environment that private tutors offer give the students a chance to be more interactive with the lesson, thus encouraging him/her to be more interested in learning. 

Kadayawan Banner

7ft (approx.) Kadayawan themed banner

yesterday the IT department held its annual RnR (rewards and recognition) program. this year it's festival themed and one task is to create a banner design for the group. i was one of those tasked to do it, and well, that's how the picture above came about.

it was really stressful. the contest was announced last week, but they took it back on friday. come monday, the contest is up again. and well, it's due the next day! without any solid planning in mind we thought of just covering the whole plank of wood with festive colors and whatnots about kadayawan (which is basically fruits and harvest and a splash of colors). so i took 6 cartolinas, drew a head on each of them, and painted with mon and ricky.

painting was the hard, well exhausting, part. we started 9am and the program will be at 2pm so the banner has to be up before that, and we still need to eat lunch yknow. so we ended up laying down all 6 heads on the floor to paint them simultaneously, one color at a time. i thought it could save us quite some bathroom trips to refill the water bowl (yknow what i mean?), and also the brushes (yknow when... basta).

for the most part it was extremely tiring! yknow... having to bend over painting for hoooours! by the time we're done my back was hurting so bad and i feel super haggard to the bones! >XS

sorry, but i was actually expecting to win. so i kindof feel bitter that we didn't haha i felt really proud (inside) of that work. it was literally on the spot. and despite the short notice it did turn out quite nice naman diba? haha grr

this morning i wake up with a really really bad muscle pain. it's funny cos all i did was paint. it can't be that physical, can it? haha my entire back, thighs and arms hurt. HAHA beats me why my body hurts like i just had a heavy workout argh. >:S

thank you, pastor!

one morning while i was eating breakfast (somewhere between this week), my mom told me that pastor rutti morata (or pastor ro-te as we call him), has passed away. it was a shocking moment, i knew he was sick and confined and needed lots of financial aid recently, but i didn't expect that his illness was that critical. i don't even know what it is he suffered from. >:'( i felt really sad, he's very close to the family, you know like if there's a family doctor, he's our family pastor. my parents make it a point to always invite him on every special occasion we're celebrating. he has blessed our house and has prayed over our family a lot of times. he was someone who contributed a freaking lot to our family's spiritual life. and most importantly for me, he taught me how to play the piano better so i can serve God. he taught me how to read piano chords and encouraged me to be part of their music ministry. and i was, until i became too busy.  >:'( he taught me how to play the guitar. >:'(

he might have lived a short life but in that span, i'm sure he has maximized his days serving the Lord like no other. his death only marks the rise of all the churches he has planted. i also know that God will not leave his family feeling abandoned but rather they will feel more comfortable knowing that their beloved's soul is now up and secured. <3

late night rant

GOODBYE. GOODBYE NA TALAGA. AYOKO NA. >:|

yung tipong di ko na alam gagawin ko kasi wala na yung taong naging foundation ko dito. yung taong pwede kong pagtanungan ng mga dummy questions without fear of being judged. yung mga tipong pag sa iba ko tinanong, mao-offend na nga ako, di ko pa maiintindihan yung explanation kasi sobrang technical. tas dahil di ko nagets, itatanong ko ulit. tapos mafufrustrate na kami pareho kasi ni-lowest terms na nya yung explanation nya, di ko parin magets. wahahahaha >XD

di na uubra cheerfulness ko dito kasi ultimo sa pagiging cheerful, kelangan competitive parin. HAHAHAHA

BYE

cartoon house illustration

done with photoshop cs4 using this awesome tutorial: http://vectorboom.com/load/tutorials/illustration/cartoonhouse/5-1-0-241

yeyy! i dunno why, this took me like 4 hours in total but i really enjoyed doing this and discovering new techniques... playing with gradients, filters and opacity waaaah <3 <3 <3