To All Tomorrow’s Parties
by Nicole on December 31, 2011
I gotta be honest, 2011 was a rough ride for me. So many changes, I could hardly keep up.
January was when I was officially single on Facebook. It was a misunderstanding of epic proportions but it was a premonition of the things to come. After Bohol, I went to Davao for a vacation but I found myself coming back every few months. By February, I was absolutely, without a doubt, single. March came and April too, and all of a sudden, my family in Davao were visiting Dumaguete for the clan reunion. By May, I had climbed Mount Apo. June found me in a quagmire of bad habits and by July, I was back in Davao for good. I travelled to Surigao, Pantukan, Santa Cruz, Digos, everywhere accessible by bus, for the smallest of reasons. By September, I was contemplating of re-enrolling and quitting my freelance gigs. And in beautiful October, I was back in school. November was a blur and now, its almost 2012.
Honestly.
But don’t get me wrong. I have a LOT to be thankful for this year. My family, fragmented as we may be, have been nothing short of supportive and candid about my decisions, guiding me as to which paths to take. The friends that I have missed so badly are all within reach. Things have changed, certainly, but it’s all good. My relationship with God is steady, communing daily through our family’s prayer circle every morning. School has been a challenge, but it’s all going well. My programming skills are a little rusty but I’m enjoying Java, despite the learning curve (BLAME THE RETAKERS LELZ) and I found my new favorite subject, Database.
Drinking, holidays notwithstanding, has absolutely declined in frequency. IDK but I just don’t feel like it anymore. So I suppose this is where I write about my resolutions for next year.
1. Strengthen my relationship with God.
2. Lessen smoking.
3. Wear more feminine clothes.
4. Take better care of my skin.
You might notice the lack of a Christmas wishlist this year. And I know it’s cliche to say so but I have absolutely nothing more to ask for. I am content with what I have and thankful for what blessings may come my way.
2012, if you’re the end, then the end has come too soon. I’m only getting started.
Protected: Bound By The Surprise of Our Glory Days
by Nicole on December 22, 2011
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
by Nicole on December 4, 2011
This blog is slowly turning into a picture repository. LOL
There’s too much to say, too much going on. I can barely carve out me time.
Yeah, so my sister wanted to practice her lighting chorva. She got flash and a reflector thingie for this shoot, along with some Christmas lights for props. I was browsing some albums on Flickr and was inspired. Seems the LED/Christmas tree lights self-portrait is a staple for Project 365. As usual, you can click to biggify.
Getting the lighting right was a major pain in the ass. Just look at the outtakes.
I honestly do not know where I got the guts to pose in my underwear but my sister was shooting and I was in my room so it wasn’t that awkward.
I want to do another concept shoot but I’d my have to convince my sister who’s coming down with a major case of tamaditis. A lonely road, middle of the night thing.
We’ll see.
I learned that photography takes some major dedication. I thought it was going to be easy but it took more or less 3 hours. After we finished uploading pictures on Facebook, the dumbass (aka. ME) realized that I had 3 exercises for my Java class that I had to upload to Moodle before midnight.
I then proceeded to code, the exercises were harder than I thought. So I crowd-sourced my blipping assignment. LOLOLOL
TL;DR I passed the assignment with time to spare.
Bla bla bla estudyante blues. Hectic. Busy. Whatever.
But The Arms Of The Ocean Deliver Me
by Nicole on November 7, 2011
The overzealous folks at Ateneo scheduled November 3rd to be the start of classes for the second semester of the school year. But in truth, with late enrollees, adding and dropping, the holidays – school officially starts tomorrow. And in the eve of a staggering change, I wax poetic of the steps I have taken, both deliberate and unplanned, in order to bring myself here.
Any good story of redemption begins with a train wreck. Dumaguete has always been a safe haven, ask anyone who has been transplanted there. It is an idyllic town where they come as students at first, young and full of promise, and leave as educated adults. What they never fail to mention is the sense of being lulled into a bubble where everything is comfortable, easy and uncomplicated. Dumaguete is very easy to love but I remember resenting being sent there. After seeing what the city has to offer, a small town seems too cramped, too provincial.
But it grows on you, and what Dumaguete lacks in night life, shopping malls and pace, it more than makes up with charm and warmth and ease. My adult life has been spent shuffling between two cities that I love with fervent admiration equally. Not many can lay claim to have been influenced greatly by living in two cities, because one would always be relegated as the home town. But this fractured years that I have spent between these cities are nothing more than magnificent and cruel that I often feel torn.
I had every intention to come back in August but significant things were set in motion. I found myself extending and re-scheduling my flights twice before I gave up and realized that it was beyond my control. And all of a sudden, I was talking to friends about school and education and my future. Before I knew it, I was filing my reinstatement papers and enrolling.
Going back to school is tough. I’ve been employed for a long enough time to be comfortable with earning my own money. Having to go back to a student allowance is a challenge. But I’m getting old and I have to go somewhere with my life. I cannot go on with just existing and going from one post to the next. I owe it to myself to move and conquer my greatest hurdle – higher education.
Wish me luck and pray for me because the hardest things are yet to come.
Also, how great is Ceremonials? The new Florence and the Machine album. I can’t seem to get enough of it.
Ciao.
