consummatum est!

This is not part of the radical changes I envisioned for this blog.
However, I regret to inform you that this will be the last entry… All good things must come to an end.

In a week’s time, this blog will officially close.

Nevertheless, we will still meet soon… Maybe through a dot-com… (kidding!) You all know where to reach me, just in case… I’ll try my best to regularly visit your blogs too… I am still contemplating if I will maintain my other personal blog.

Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. – Richard Bach

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace… – Numbers 6:24-26

Changes

In the coming days, I’ll be doing some radical changes in this blog.

I will start by significantly reducing my blog roll…

Blogs that will remain will be those who truly matter to me in terms of style, connections beyond the blogosphere and by visits…

I guess my short hiatus has revealed much on whom to keep…

dreams are woven free

I am yet to be convinced of the peculiarity and the importance of the ongoing fad of giving special awards based on strata-clustered votes in most award-giving bodies even in the Philippine blogosphere. For one, its doors are wide open for the lack of or for the limited criteria of making a “more justified” choice rather than a personal one.

While I ruminate on the merits of critical acclaim, popular appeal and the productive union of the two, I find it quite ironic that I, always shunning popular choice categories, am making a choice and I am voting for Joseph “Otep” Zablan’s blog “Libre Lang Mangarap” as my pick for the Blogger’s Choice Award in the Philippine Blog Awards 2009.

Otep’s blog is a far cry from being a literary haven. It is littered with misspelled words, disagreeing tenses and redundant non-words even when it is written in his native tongue. Sometimes, his posts lack coherence and form. But then, his entries are always engaging, with the unseemly pair of pomp in his optimism and the raw honesty of a struggling young man trying to find his own place. He acknowledges his fear of highfaluting words and sticks to his own standard: self-expression. He admits he is not a rocket scientist. He chose to fly rockets instead – in dreams like most dreamers do. This I believe is the endearing quality of his blog – dreams are woven free…

Maybe the inspiration that his struggles and dreams give has appealed to his many readers. Life may serve us with different color-coated chocolates, but not all chocolates are sweet. Along with the joy of having his little dreams fulfilled come failures and heartbreaks. Sometimes, he stubbornly wallows in the sickening taste of bitter chocolate for far too long but in his own time he picks himself up, takes his own sure strides and dreams again.

If this vote would make him dream more, why not? In our current times, perhaps we need more dreamers like Otep. Perhaps, the future will be much brighter and more colorful…

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

Allow Me To Wander

Allow me to wander.

My inkwell has dried.
Only dews can refill
Gathered from cool mists
In early morning walks.

Allow me to wander.

The brooks and creeks
Await my heavy feet.
The hills and mountains
Long for my climb.

Allow me to wander.

My ceaseless spirit misses
The wind’s soft kisses,
Its silent, low whisper
To ever bowing grasses.

Allow me to wander.

I stilled long enough.
Do expect my return,
In time not far
But not that soon.

Allow me to wander.

 

 

(*photo from the archives of Al Michael Caballes)

Corona

A corona is the the last phase of a drop’s impact on a liquid surface.

The corona has gained prominence in commercial advertisements of liquid products such as milk and several fruit juices.

So what does it take to capture a picture of a corona?

Drops do occur quite fast. And the corona on a surface is quite small. Perhaps one thinks of a high speed camera with a very powerful zoom.

Wrong!

We will tell you on our workshop on September 12 – 13, 2009.  Furthermore, we will give you the chance to create your own picture of a corona.

Many people think this for those who own SLR and high-end cameras.

Wrong!

This workshop is intended for all those who want to improve their photo taking skills.  There is much, much more to know than just taking out your camera, turning it on, focusing on your subject (and perhaps counting 1 – 3 and “Say cheese!”), and pressing the shutter.

We will impart to you what we have learned, not as professional photographers but as persons who also believe in capturing those moments but in capturing them better.

Most people think that this workshop is expensive.

Wrong!

Most photography workshops usually cost from PhP2000.00 to as much as PhP10000.00.

This workshop is only PhP800.00, with lunch, 2 snacks and flowing ice tea on the first day.

For more details, please visit our site:

http://igotapsingsipyat.wordpress.com

* photo credit: Al Michaael Caballes