You must have perfected the art of digital photography by now. You are adept in operating a digital camera, you can probably punch into the settings and menus with your eyes closed! I know I can (well, maybe half-closed). I am attached to my digital camera in as much as I am to my laptop. I never go out without a camera on my purse. I could leave home without a cellphone but never without a digital camera!

But what happens if you are handed a disposable camera? You remember those. You know, that kind where you wind up the wheel on the upper right corner and peek into this tiny window as you point and snap to take a picture at the same time you are pressing on that flash button on the front of the camera. That kind.

I bet that will be a real challenge! Well, are you up for it?

When I seriously started blogging two years ago, I have this nagging idea of finding a way to interact with others but couldn’t figure out exactly how. Until recently when everything just sort of fell into place. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I had to just take action and put it into a whole new website (like I need another one, huh)!

On December 5th, onephotoproject.com is born.

If you only have one photo to take when a camera is handed to you, what would you take? Are you going to shoot randomly or think hard?

A traveling one-time use camera is sent out to the world and asks people it meets to take ONE PHOTO of any thing, any event, or of any one that triggers interest, inspires, disgusts them at that particular first chanced meeting with the camera.

Wanting to connect with people more than the internet has been the motivation for this project. To be able to interact with different people in different places utilizing something tangible, one that can be touched and leave a mark for the world to see is the inspiration.

Out of sheer curiosity, check out a latest project I am collaborating with my youngest sister. Learn more on how you can be part of it. See you at the other side!

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon.
December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?”
- Dr. Seuss

For some lame excuse or another, I have failed in writing about this. I’m not sure how it got off my radar but it did. I’m sorry for the delay but I am truly grateful. I have very little “online buddies” and to get these awards mean a lot to me. BIG THANK YOU…

Two of the few blogs I do follow and read, check them out sometime!

Amazing Site Award from Bing of Warmstone!

Blogging Buddies Award From Stacie’s Blog!

Keep blogging you guys!

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“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon.
December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?”
- Dr. Seuss

For some lame excuse or another, I have failed in writing about this. I’m not sure how it got off my radar but it did. I’m sorry for the delay but I am truly grateful. I have very little “online buddies” and to get these awards mean a lot to me. BIG THANK YOU…

Two of the few blogs I do follow and read, check them out sometime!

Amazing Site Award from Bing of Warmstone!

Blogging Buddies Award From Stacie’s Blog!

Keep blogging you guys!

Ah, I’m finally moving in- permanently I hope….

Call me sentimental but I couldn’t delete this default page created by Wordpress that says “Hello World!”; maybe because I want to mark this day as THE day I actually switched! I’m not quite sure about this template I’m currently using. I might change it again! There are so many possibilities! Below is my old theme with Blogger.

Farewell my old Blogger blog. Farewell my old Blogger template. Hello Wordpress. Hello World!

I’m not much of a gut spiller online, I’d rather prefer what privacy I have left intact. I do share some here and there in my posts, and every once in a while I hide behind my poetry and fiction stories- real and fabled colliding. Still I would neither deny nor admit I’m that character or this character. Up to you to conclude and the twist may be, that you’re amiss!

Memes and tagging seem to be the trend for personal bloggers who want to be intimate with their readers. I dread that because it entails giving away inner thoughts; yet the hardest seem to be telling the whole world specific facts and current personal information about oneself. I’d rather hide!

To me that raises a red flag. I’ve encountered personal blogs who practically share every vital statistics about them that it is so easy to track them down, they just might as well hand in their wallets! They’re practically inviting would be stalkers and online identity thieves. I hate to break the party, I’m just saying there are unscrupulous individuals who make us their easy target based on what we say alone in our blogs!

Nonetheless, I somehow knew it was only a matter of time when someone would in fact tag me! Though it gave me a headache as to what I should reveal (or not!), I’m most happy to oblige in this exercise just because the Pinay Dreamer, one of my fave blog neighbors tagged me. This person is passionate at what she does. A blogger who is as super a mom and a wifey as she is a prolific writer and an expert wakeboarder all in one cool packaging!

She wants me to reveal seven things YOU readers don’t know about me! Fair enough. I think that I could share general pieces of me without inviting trouble to myself. Or am I just being too paranoid? I’d say cautious…

1. I belong to the 10% of the adult population who are southpaw or leftie.

I remember how difficult it was for me growing up as one. Although I wasn’t forced, I was strongly encouraged to write with my right hand. Arm chairs for lefties were non-existent at that time. Tools are always designed for right-handed people. Try cutting paper with your left hand with a right handed scissor! I get confused even now, following directions where a right handed person shows me how to do things and I have to do it with my left! I wouldn’t trade it to be right-handed though! Being a minority leftie is somewhat unique!

2. I have a terrible body clock.

My brain starts to work at midnight. I’m half-dead at daytime. On normal days, I sleep at 3am. On weekends, I could stay up til 7am and get up after five hours sleep or I could sleep in as much as 12 hours and miss an entire day then only to be awake the entire night until it’s daylight! When I’m out, I’m out like a light! Noise, light or any commotion don’t bother me. So I don’t hear the alarm. On important appointments, I’d have 4 alarm clocks running on snooze and still ask someone to call me or be there just to give me a nudge- perhaps throw a bucket of cold water on me! I don’t sleep on normal hours but put me in anything that moves: bus, car, train, plane, motorcycle, I’d be sleeping in 5 minutes anytime of the day with my mouth open and head banging all over the place!

3. I like animals but only if they’re not mine!

I don’t like the responsiblity that goes with taking care of them. I used to have lotsa hamster as a kid and loved them but someone would always attend to it after I’m done petting them. The same is true with kids right? you adore them, only when they’re not yours! haha! Oh sure, I’d love to have kids of my own someday- I just hope I can petition my fave nanny here to the US. If not, there’s always grandma! Ok, Ok I love kids and I’m going to be hands-on with them! Kids are different, you nurture and love them and they respond with such warmth and joy and they can talk! All the pressures and heavy load gone just seeing them smile. For now, I love my nieces to death!!

Cats are as popular of a pet as dogs are in America. I’m sorry but I don’t like cats- whatever kind (maybe Puss in Shrek, that’s it!). Perhaps it is cultural because in the Philippines, they aren’t really considered house pets. I hate crawling animals, insects, amphibians and reptiles with a passion! So goes without saying, I shriek at the very thought of even seeing any kind of snake or a toad! To touch it would be even worse! Eeewwww!! (Sorry Ivy, I don’t think I could go near Sedira!)

4. My first ever real paid job brought me many firsts.

First time to be out of the country. First time to live alone at age 22 for close to six months of training for an Editorial Assistant job in Tokyo, Japan. First real heartbreak! I broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years before I left the Philippines. First paycheck. First time to really cook- ate a lot of canned food, eggs, and instant ramen noodles– I found out, it wasn’t so bad for breakfast! First time to do household chores but with such great amenities and conveniences! First time to mingle with other culture. First taste of living in a rich, high-tech, first world nation and with such loving, kind and warm people. First international friendships. First sake (japanese wine). First Winter and Spring. First time to see Tokyo Disneyland! More firsts that I can’t tell you about…!

5. I suck in Math! I have a poor memory when it comes to names and faces too!

It has put me in embarrassing situations where up to the end of the meeting, I was still second-guessing who that person was! Not good at all! Anything to do with math and numbers, expect me to stare at you blankly. I’m bad with dates, where my keys are or what I did or ate 2 days ago! Phone numbers? I don’t even know mine! My notebook is my lifeline- I put every important factoids and numbers in it!

6. I hate public speaking and I have the so-called stage fright.

I think I’m a better writer than a speaker anyway. I prefer behind-the-scene work away from the limelight. So I’m a frustrated, aspiring, budding, wishful, striving writer. No one in my family writes so I could very well believe in the cliche, writers are not born, they’re made. I don’t have any writing background. I basically taught myself to write by constant reading and loving the English language.

I came from a small town in the islands of Mindanao, Philippines where I finished grade school. I moved to the big city of Manila for high school and I wanted so much to join the school paper but I didn’t have the confidence to apply! I was so intimidated by my new school! I sent anonymous poetry and articles and they published it!

I finally joined the school paper in college and was unwittingly good at it. I became a contributor, a section editor then eventually became editor-in-chief for the paper for 2 school years on top of becoming editor-in-chief of the school’s official yearbook. I also once worked closely for our Hometown Mayor, handling press releases, speeches (ghost writing), and the like. Not so bad for a self-taught writer, eh?!

7. I have a 4-inch scar on my bikini line from a near-death ruptured appendix!

It happened Christmas Eve some years back. I was in so much pain yet I thought I just over ate from all the Nochebuena (good night) eating! Went to the hospital that night and was (mis)diagnosed as that, having a bad case of indigestion by some kid intern. I woke up with worse pain and feeling very weak, had blood in my urine and thought I was gonna die! I was brought to the hospital again and immediately the more experienced doctor knew what it was and called for a stat operation! Dang, had it been here in the US- it would have been a major lawsuit! We could have sued the hospital but we didn’t! Oh yes, I still wear a two-piece bikini every Summer!

Note: If you have localized pain on the lower right side of the abdomen that does not go away, have it checked at once! Appendicitis is such a quick and easy surgical procedure when diagnosed early and if caught in time will only render a small scar of less than an inch not 4 inches!

_______________________________________________________________

There goes the seven things. Now you know! I would like to pass this on to:

Vienne, the 1. Eavesdropwriter, whose blog is another favorite! Her writings are always oh so compelling, inspiring and thought provoking! Michelle, the genius behind 2. Comics-Mix and Prolonged Absence. I’d love to see the 7 things about you in drawing with your usual witty quips and anecdotes! (if that’s not asking too much, lol). Louisa, the blogger behind 3. My Emotional Recycle Bin, whose quips and take on things and life is an interesting read. 4. Techie Girl whose Techology info site and Easy Life Guide brings current and relevant articles and reviews for tech and gadget savvy! Ding’s strong web presence in: 5. Inkblots and Viewpoint are always a marvel to see and read. 6. Malawika, who posts about blogging, making money online, SEO and more but hopefully will share some personal things we don’t know about!! 7. Zen Bitch Speaks whose posts and poetry are always delightful and sublime!

Well, you guys have just been tagged! It’s now your turn to pass on the headache as well… Do tell!

I feel blessed for all my serendipities. My chanced unexpected meetings and discoveries of people and places in my life. In the internet alone, I’ve met some interesting, real nice people. I’ve gained new friends through this blog. Without it (the blog) I wouldn’t have known them! You get a letter, a note, a comment every so often and it just makes your day! Finding yourself in a crowded place and seeing a warm smile across the room then that’s enough to start a conversation. Being in a place totally new to you and discovering how it would turn out to be one of the best places you’ve ever been. Serendipity!

But one of my greatest discoveries is rediscovering my friend from way back–in grade school! She was my classmate from kindergarten to sixth grade. We were close on those amazon years- a time when you didn’t need expensive toys to play. Simple thrills were enough to make your adrenalines pumping. No computer or video games, no gadgets, no funky game boards. She was my playmate in tumba-lata or tumbang preso (hitting a used empty can using one’s flipflops or a flat stone), piko (hop- scotch; step-no kind of game), shatong (a game of 2 sticks where you hit the shorter stick placed on a shallow hole with the longer stick), bagoong-ngay (anybody remember how this is played? for the life of me i can’t remember anymore!), patintero (two teams divided where one team runs and the other team tags), taguan (hide and seek), bulan-bulan (running around inside a big circle until the player outside of that circle tags one on the inside), step-no, chinese garter (a long garter or set of tied rubber bands stretched out and one jumps on it and the level of the garter gets higher each jump), chinese jackstone (one bounces a ball while picking up 10 triangular-thingy one by one, played with a lot of variations and techniques) and whatever other silly names we call our games then. (I wonder if kids today still play and call it that! OR do they even know these games?! I grew up with these games and loved it!). We played at the end of each school day with other classmates.

We did most things together sharing the same interests. We were part of the dance troop. We were both girl scouts. We had snacks and lunches together with other friends. Our last names being close, we always sat in proximity as we were arranged alphabetically in class. We shared assignments and perhaps at some points, shared answers in quizzes and tests! We were on the same group in ‘cleaner’s day’. She went to my birthday parties, I went to hers. We had petty quarrels when we wouldn’t talk to each other for days but then we always find a way and made up.

Despite the closeness, we just lost contact after graduation in sixth grade. She remained in our alma mater to finish high school and college in GenSan while I went to Manila and Davao for my schooling. So our lives went on. All those years counting ’86, we never saw each other. Our grade school friendship buried deep in our memories.

As fate would have it, our paths crossed again in 1999. I met her for the first time in our hometown General Santos (Gensan), after 13 years. The meeting was casual, very odd for two people who considered themselves great buddies in elementary school. After my stint working for a Japanese publication in Tokyo and Manila, I was back in my homestead on a respite. Of all the places to meet, I met her at an internet shop I frequent. As it turned out, she was friends with the owner. AND she lived literally 3 houses away from where the shop was! I was totally clueless! How could have I forgotten the street I used to go to a lot in grade school?!

…She is my alter ego, my partner in crime, my shock absorber, my “twin” sister, my adviser, my alarm clock, my handkerchief when I cry, my ‘resting place’,one of my sinigangs!

The time she walked in the shop, I was so wrapped up in front of the computer that I was just oblivious of my surrounding. She saw me first. She could have tapped my shoulder or called my name- my full name at that or both! Goodness, gracious! That made me jump off my seat, nobody calls me by my full name in public! It has to be someone from my past calling me! And there she stood, eagerly excited and obviously happy to ran into me. And there I was, mumbling some impersonal hi’s and hello’s. Going from glancing to her and glued back in front of the monitor (hey, I was minding my Php75.00/hour internet rate!) She was doing all the talking in her all too perfect tagalog which struck me because everyone else speaks visayan there or tagalog- the visayan way (it is a tagalog spoken dialect with a lot of visayan interjections or vice versa. Gets?) She candidly gave me her contact info and I said thanks. Then she asks for my number and I quipped in the vernacular- “oh, it’s listed in the directory- go find it yourself.” That changed her facial expression from happy to somewhat disgusted! Hey! I told you I was focused on the computer! So she left. I continued on with my surfing like nothing happened.

A week later, my computer broke down and I figured it was time for an upgrade so I can have my own internet connections at home as well. I was going over the telephone directory on where to bring my CPU. Aha! I remembered. She manages a computer shop! Perfect! I contacted her and she was almost giving me a hard time, meeting terms with my unit and all. She was getting even! Which serves me right anyway, after how I treated her at the internet shop. If I was her, I wouldn’t be entertaining me at all as a customer. Nonetheless, she was gonna make a sale so we met half way. That was the start of a renewed friendship.

The continuous security threats in the city at that time forced a lot of establishments to close down. Her shop included. I invited her to work with me on my family’s food business as I decided to stay in General Santos for a little bit longer. She joined the team! We moved on to open our very own business project in 2001. A restobar at the heart of Gensan. The business was flourishing and so was our friendship. We were inseparable since. I found my way into the United States in 2004. She is left back home taking care of our small business. Even at 13,000 miles- we text message, chat, talk over the phone and write emails. Stronger than ever. Our business, with God’s blessings, is as solid as our friendship and celebrating its 6th year!

She is my alter ego, my partner in crime, sometimes playing ‘devil’s advocate’ but most times my angel in disguise. She taught me a lot in life. I have only theories, she teaches me life. She’s my sparring partner, my shock absorber, my psychotherapist, my business partner, my “twin” sister, my adviser, my alarm clock, my handkerchief when I cry, my ‘resting place’, one of my sinigangs! my stress-reliever, my stress-inducer, my textmate, my IM buddy, my comfort shoes… the list goes on. Bottom line is, she epitomizes all my favorites in life. It sounds cliche but it’s hard to imagine my life without her in it.

This is a tribute to Jaz, a friend whom I love so very dearly. Happy birthday old friend. From little ol’ me… ©

note: photos lifted from notre dame of dadiangas for girls yearbook, class of 1980.