What I Learned Today

Apparently this is where my happy food comes from. Oooh.

Dad came home from Saranggani today and handed me this orange-y wrinkled fruit which I didn't recognize AT ALL. Turns out it's the cacao fruit!

I've called myself a 100% certified chocoholic all these years and I don't even know where my manna comes from. Such travesty! After the boards I'm dedicating a week to the study of chocolate hahaha.

Anyway, that's just one of the new things I learned today. I also learned on TV that wolverines are actual animals, which despite their cute size, are ferocious and can kill bison in one on one combat. Whoaaa.

Impulse Control

My friends know that I have problems with impulse control, especially when it comes to two things: shopping, and reading. Oh okay, three things -- eating too.

I struggle the most when it comes to book shopping and reading. When I see an interesting book, I'll  feel an irresistible urge to buy it; when I buy a book, I'll feel an uncontrollable desire to read it, and when I start reading a book I need to finish it and cannot stop.

The past months, I have consciously avoided going into book stores and buying books because I know I should be studying for the biggest (and longest) exam of my life. But whenever I see a book store, especially a book thriftstore, I am drawn in and I am powerless to resist. For the most part I still can't stop myself from buying books, but so far I have been very good about not reading them. Yay, trust me, it isn't easy!

Today I faced another challenge. While walking along Padre Faura I saw a guy hawking novels on the sidewalk. Oh wow. Haruki Murakami. Chuck Palahniuk. Kazuo Ishiguro. David Sedaris. Looked good as new and for less than two hundred bucks each. I immediately opened my bag to take out my wallet, but the little voice inside my head started muttering things I knew to be true:

1. If you buy any of those books, you WILL NOT be able to resist taking a peek.
2. When you take a peek, you WILL NOT be able to put it down.
3. If you finish one novel, you will start thinking, "oh wow how i missed reading!" and you WILL pick up another book, saying you read fast anyway and it will take you 3 hours max.
4. Once you get on a roll, you WILL NOT be able to stop and you will end up reading all those 20-ish novels stacked on your desk and you will not be able to study and you will faillllll.

Ooh scary conscience. Good job.

I walked away from cheap Murakamis, which, at any other moment in my life would be unforgivable, but for today I think gets me a clap in the back. :D

I just hope I'll see Mister-Sidewalk-Novel-Hawker again. Next time, ubos paninda nya.

Picnik Fun.

My favorite free photo tweaking chrome app Picnik, is closing soon. 

Although most of the free photo effects are now incorporated in the most recent version of Picasa, and are also available on Google+ Photos, I still feel a little sad about it.

Yesterday I took some old photos and tweaked them with some Picnik magic. As expected, these photos are mostly of (half eaten) food because I go trigger happy with my camera when food is around. :D

Shadows + Contrast

Vibrance

Cross-process

Cinemascope
(Got this ecotools brush set for 399php at PCX. Crazy!)

Cross-process
(This is "my corner" in Starbucks. Nothing to look at but passing cars.)

Spot focus + Lomo

Boost + Curves

And my favorite photo:

Cross-process

Go try it, Picnik Premium (with advanced editing, fancy collage templates etc) is free until it closes in April! I'll try it once I figure out what I want my next project to be. :)

Call Me Doctor

Call Me Doctor with Rachel Bilson from Rachel Bilson

I love Dr. Zoe Hart on Hart of Dixie! And Rachel Bilson is adorable. :)
Plus she has a point, who says a doctor can't dress pretty? ;)
My favorite part of the video, of course, is the participation of Wilson Bethel. Wade Kinsella you are MINE!

Sweeping the Cobwebs Away

It has been twenty days since my last blog post. If my blog had a ceiling it would have cobwebs.

Those twenty days in a nutshell: I fried my laptop charger (fixed now), finished several board review books, quit Facebook, and got obsessed with Survivor Philippines and Hell's Kitchen. Plus I think I have stress gastritis from all this boards-induced anxiety. :\

The one good thing that came out of this non-blogging was that I managed to pick up a pen and write in a journal. Yes, DEAR DIARY hahaha!

It actually felt good to write stuff down, uncensored and unfettered! (I've wanted to use that word for ages yay. :P) I promised to keep this blog positive, insightful and rant-free, and I intend to keep it, but sometimes I think it's a pity because I am really eloquent in expressing distaste and annoyance. Now my talent won't have to go to waste. Hahaha.

Anyway, just wanted to break the silence and say hello. I have to go back to studying because I've wasted too much time on Picnik today. :D