Web Spring Cleaning

I think I mentioned it before but I’m really annoyed that I have so many accounts that I don’t use so I’ve been spring cleaning. I might regret it though… it’s not bad to have open accounts everywhere but… I don’t know. I feel like starting over. But usually I can’t for sentimental reasons… that’s why I’m a pack rat. I always cling on to sentimental things and cry over the littlest things. Like I remember crying before when I was little because my mom bought me a Goody hairbrush but I broke a tooth on the first day. (Not so durable is it?) I cried bec I wanted a new one bec I didn’t like imperfect things. I’ve realize that until today, I’ve had this attitude. I cry over the littlest things even if I am 18 yrs old. Like now I want to cry because I lost my mini-Cabbage Patch doll and I’m afraid it might have fallen over the cabinet and into the trash can a long time ago. I’m trying to find it now. But… I’m trying to be less sentimental even if I guess that’s really my personality. A clingy person who cries a lot. Maybe I’m trying to change because of theology. I mean, we are being taught that there are more important things than material wealth, but I can’t help but cling on to these material wealth. Although, technically I’m clinging on to the memory of the material wealth. Ahh I don’t know anymore. Anyways… I’ve deleted a lot of thing already.

***

I deleted my Friendster Account. I couldn’t delete the other one because I can’t remember my login info.

I deactivated my Facebook Account.

I’ve deleted my 2nd Livejournal account and kept the first one. (Actually I deleted the first one but I activated it again after a few minutes of thinking that I might regret it bec it was my first blog and holds many memories… It doesn’t delete until after 30 days thank goodness.)

I’ve deleted my Xanga account.

I deleted my Wordpress.Com blog.

I can’t delete my minitokyo.net account… How sad…

***

I still have a lot of inactive accounts like old MMORPGs that I don’t play anymore. Some game accounts of the companies that made some of those MMORPGs. Anime sites. Etc. There are even some that only allow deactivation like Facebook. Or some that don’t allow deletion of accounts like Wordpress.Com But I can’t remember them anymore. So I’ll just leave them be for now until I remember them then I’ll delete them. I know it’s in my mail but I’m just too lazy to look through them properly.

2008
10/17
CATEGORY
Technology
Web
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Ral Arrogante: “Parang” Artist

I went to Tito Ral’s workshop last Wed night with my mom. I was supposed to interview an artist for bonus points for my FA165.1 class. It was a great experience and I really learned a lot. Tito Ral is so charismatic and so very creative. With his words, I couldn’t help but agree with his ideology. And I was so surprised bec even if he has no formal background in art, he really sounds like an artist. He said, “Art Studies inspires, but the real challenge is what to do next.”

Ral Arrogante is a ‘junk art’ sculptor. He uses brass and copper from junk shops to create sculptures. He doesn’t weld them, but instead he collects materials and with his own two hands (and a few basic tools), he shapes them into something new. He says his real talent is, “sourcing materials”. He’s not afraid of his artwork being copied because it takes years of collecting materials, and a lot of patience to do what he does. Besides, even he can’t make copies of his artwork because the materials would differ.

It all started out with his dad ordering him to go to the library to borrow a book. In the end, he’d usually take his time and read other books such as art books. He was inspired by American sculptor, Alexander Calder and his mobiles and tried to imitate them. His artwork started out like puzzle pieces, finding out which part to put where and how to put it in order to make something. But through the years, his art became planned art wherein he now knows what he wants to make and how to do it. He then uses anything and everything to create his art. He can even use the little things to make his art because he believes that everything has a purpose.

He had a lot of things I could quote like “Let your hands do the thinking.” Tito Ral believes that his material dictates the work. He said something to the effect of, what’s the use of thinking if you can’t do it? But he also believes that what you sell isn’t the piece itself but your creativity, your ability to create something new. That’s what makes art. Art shouldn’t be about copying Old Masters or even trying to beat the Old Masters. It’s about self-discovery, about self-fulfillment, and about creating something new. You shouldn’t be afraid of breaking rules or having no limitations. Ideas should never be compromised by limitations. Art, to him, is about not being afraid to create, and not fearing rejection.

His work then becomes what he calls as ‘parang’ art. He lets his viewers interpret his works. It’s called ‘parang’ art because… “Mukha siyang parang _____”. His artwork is non-abstract but open to self-interpretation. He also does not follow anatomy rules because he feels like his art should not be restricted to those rules and limits. He lets his art then become ‘parang’. What matters most in his art is that he is able to create SOMETHING from NOTHING. His art is his way of being able to freely express himself. Like sometimes, he’ll have little things jotting out from his artwork and people always ask why it’s like that. He doesn’t answer them because there really isn’t a purpose for them except he wanted it to be like that. 

Through the years, he his work has become a path of constant discovery. He now knows more about his personality, as well as his subjects such as machines. He also teaches, and is hopeful in spreading his attitude and way of thinking. It’s not about the money, but about art as a way of sharing inspiration. He also gives heavy importance to recycling which is why he uses materials from junk shops. He hopes that through his teachings and through his artwork, he will be able to gain honor, and inspire more people to create.

For pictures, pls refer to my Multiply Account at http://hirika.multiply.com (Friends Only) But if a lot of people request to view the pictures, I can open it up for everyone. :)

2008
10/17
CATEGORY
Features
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Restaurant Review: Secret Recipes

Before going to Tito Ral Arrogante’s place, my mom and I went to Shangrila for dinner. Located at the 4th floor of EDSA Shangrila was this restaurant place called Secret Recipes. I liked the layout of their restaurant because it was minimalist (plus they had sofas: I love sofas) so we decided to give it a try.

Now the first thing we did when we entered their restaurant was look at their cakes. They all looked really really yummy and mouthwatering. It was so hard to choose especially for someone like me who LOVES and I mean LOVEEESSS cakes (well… loves desserts more than food)! They even had fiber cakes. Or I think that’s what it was called. Even if it was a healthy cake, it still looked good. It was so quite funny because we wanted to eat dinner but were so caught up in choosing out dessert.

We didn’t order a lot bec we weren’t that hungry… except maybe hungry for cake. We ordered Caesar Salad, Fish and Chips, and two Fruit Yogurt Shakes? I think that’s what they called it. Mom had mixed fruit and I had strawberry. Their Caesar Salad was so-so. It was different from the usual caesar salads you have at perhaps Pancake House or Burgoo or CPK or those restaurants often visited. I didn’t hate it, but it tasted a bit weird for me because it was not the usual caesar salad and I wanted a normal one. It seemed a bit tangy and had little parmesan on it.

The fish and chips were also weird. The chips aka fries were okay. The tartar sauce was okay. But I really don’t understand why the fish tasted weird. I’m not sure if it’s because of the lemon or because of the fish. But still edible and so-so. Just weird tasting. In comparison, Fish and Co. would be better but then they specialize in fish and chips.

The yogurt shake, or at least my strawberry shake was very good. It was probably the best part of my meal. It was more shake than yogurt but I really liked it. It was sweet, but not diabetic-sweet (if you know what I mean), and it wasn’t fresh strawberry sour. It was…a strawberry yogurty shake. :)

Finishing our meal, my mom and I ordered cake. We ordered their fruity cake because it wasn’t too heavy. This cake really made my meal. It was really fruity, but not juicy fruity. What I mean by fruity is that it had a lot of fruits in it. But I liked the cream part the best. I think they called it custard cream and it really went well with the fruits. Not too fruity that it’s more fruit than cake, but not too much cake that the fruits are like toppings of the cake only. It was just right.

The meal prices were roughly around P180-P300 if I remember correctly. I’m not quite sure so don’t believe the price range I gave. They had soup, rice meals, pasta, salads, and I can’t remember what else they had. They didn’t have normal drinks such as Iced Tea though so you’re forced to buy some kind of shake or coffee. I remember the cakes, per slice were either P120 or P160 depending on whether you bought a cheesecake or a cake. The whole cakes would go up to a P1000+ though. Their service was good though. The waitress who served us was really friendly. She even asked us if it was our first time there and to “make yourself at home.” Plus their service was quite quick, but there weren’t a lot of us at that time.

Pictures are on my Multiply. Friends Only.

Random. I don’t have a Plurk. Plurk is for Stalkers like me but I don’t have one anyways. :D

2008
10/17
CATEGORY
Food and Resto
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New Macs

Small Note: I’m sabaw atm so forgive my bad grammar. No. I’m not drunk.

Oh how I love new Macs… Steve Jobs is god. What would we do without him? But somehow I don’t like the new design of the latest Macbook and Macbook Pro. They keep on looking more and more like PCs. I liked it better when every part of the computer was the same color. I especially dislike the keyboards being black while the rest of it is aluminum silver. But I guess it just takes some time getting used to. Although I still find the old iMac cute, I finally got used to the newer design bec I see one everyday at home. I definitely need time to get used to this “iMacbooks”.

I’m quite interested and sad about the new graphics card. Interested bec I wish I had one of those. Sad because my Macbook is totally outdated now. I can’t even play Spore on my Macbook bec my graphic card suxs. Fee, my bf and resident high priest of Apple in ID (Information Design) @ AdMU, was telling me before how surprised he was that Apple was focusing on gaming. He told me they didn’t care before. I told him I wasn’t surprised bec the gaming market is huge and would make them a lot of profit. But he told me that they didn’t want to focus on that market before and was wondering why they were doing so now. Something like that. Maybe they all got addicted to Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone. 

I’m also curious as to how that ‘glass trackpad’ feels like. That’s gotta be interesting. But looking at the pictures, it still looks like the old one. Fee, who stayed up for the announcements, also tells me that the whole thing is one giant button now. Not a separate button like the old Macbooks. (I’ll just use the term Macbooks for both the Macbooks and the Pros cuz I’m lazy.) I haven’t watched the Keynote yet so I’m also wondering what’s that like. I was having a hard time imagining how that worked.

But all in all… I seriously want that Macbook… actually I want the Macbook Pro… mostly for the graphics card and the multi touch trackpad. I’m having a hard time with my Macbook bec I can’t play games… (More like I can’t play Spore), and it’s so hard to do graphic work bec it keeps lagging. Well… I guess it’s also because I only have 1GB of RAM, but I want a nice graphics card in preparation for Adobe CS4.

2008
10/16
CATEGORY
Technology
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Fads, Links, and Opinions

Here are some things I’ve tried out and their current status.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Friendster. It was cool at first. I even made accounts of anime characters and wrote profiles on them. Lots of people added my characters then. I also had my own personal account… but I guess I’m not really one of the popular ones, also because I opened an account much later than everyone else, but I never got to make a 2nd or 3rd personal account. Right now, I don’t think anyone uses Friendster anymore. Maybe because there were a lot of Trojans on it. As of now, my Friendster accounts still exist because I still get email from them, but I never open my accounts anymore.

Facebook. I honestly didn’t want to make one. Based on past experiences, once the fad’s done, it really is a hassle. I don’t like to make accounts I don’t use. It annoys me. However I do have a lot of them. But in the end, I gave in because Facebook was a way to connect with my cousins from Australia. At first it was a bit fun, especially the Heroes game. I got a bit addicted to that one, and I also became OC with the layout of my profile. However just a few days ago, I decided to deactivate my account. I didn’t delete it, just deactivated it.

I never had and never will have a MySpace, Hi5, or any of those other social networking sites accounts.

Plurk. I dislike the idea of Plurk. It’s a stalking machine. Why do people have to know what you are doing everyday? All the time? It’s weird. Although honestly I’ve stalked people on friendster and multiply as well… but I don’t think I’ll create a Plurk account unless I give in to peer pressure bec people keep sending me invites and I just keep on ignoring them. Twitter had the same concept but I think I liked it more than Plurk although I did not have an account there. But my mom has both.

PHOTOS

Flickr. I have a Flickr but I don’t update it anymore. I use my… Multiply account instead. It’s Friends Only though. Or at least most of it is. At first I didn’t want to use Multiply for the same reason I gave a while ago, but I gave in because it was useful to me. Everyone posts their photos on their Multiply account and in order for me to view…well…pics of me, I have to have an account. It is also an efficient way to show people pictures I’ve taken of them.

I have a Photobucket account. In fact I have two but it’s for personal use. Although I only use one now. I created a new one because I became OC about my folders and blah, but I was too lazy to fix it.

BLOGS

I once had a Livejournal account under the name carauy. I stopped. I moved to Xanga under the name carauy. I stopped. I moved back to LJ under carauy. I stopped. I created a new one hirika. I stopped. I had another one called paradisiad. I stopped. I have a DEVIANTART and MULTIPLY blog. But I rarely use them. I had a paradisiad wordpress account. I think I have a hirika one too. I actually can’t say how accurate this is bec I created many accounts and lost track already. And this is my latest blog hosted by my significant other who probably never reads this bec he is too lazy.

Other accounts:

I have a lot of other accounts for many different things like forums and such across the net, but a lot of them are inactive. It makes me really sad. Maybe one of these days I’ll hunt down my accounts and delete them one by one.

2008
10/09
CATEGORY
Technology
Web
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Sem Break is Finally Here

OMGosh. I’m so relieved. My sem break is finally here. Well, I still have a paper and a presentation but I think I’m okay with those two already. Now I just have to wait for the grades of doom.

  • I wish I could get a B for Theology… It’s really funny that the difference between a C+ and a B as my final grade was like… a 3 letter grade difference in the finals. I needed an A in the finals to get a B, and a C+ to remain a C+. I think… 
  • In SA21, I got an A in my finals. Nerd. Haha! But I think I’ll still get a C+ in my final marks… possibly a B. I’m hoping it’s a B also. 
  • I can’t determine my standing in my FA classes but I’m hoping for a good grade like B to B+.
  • I’m hoping to get a C+/B in History class as well. Although I’m okay with just a C+ since my pre-finals was only a C. 
  • I’m hoping to get a C+ in Fil although I really don’t know what my current standing is. 
  • And then I’m hoping for a B+ to an A in my PE and NSTP. 

I’m aiming higher this year than my last. One of the reasons is that I think the subjects this sem are relatively easier than last year and also because the QPI requirement is higher now but that never was a problem for me and I’m hopeful it still wouldn’t be. I’m hoping to get a decent QPI though… I really want to go to Japan to study for a few weeks, maybe as a summer study program or as a study tour or something. All my siblings have gone to China for summer study/ a term and I’m the only one left who hasn’t had that kind of experience. I don’t want to study in China though so I’m hoping to get into Japan somehow. Problem is money. Japan is freakin expensive. I’m also a bit regretful I didn’t take Asian History. Maybe I would be eligible for a minor in Japanese Studies if I somehow get into a Jap language/culture program. I didn’t choose Asian History bec I knew it was harder especially those names. I’m really poor in memorizing so I opted for the easier history rather than pick the one that interests me. Maybe I’ll take Asian History some other time. Maybe.

Sembreak. First thing I’m going to do is sleep for a whole day or something. Then I need to get my license. I’m not confident in my driving skills. I don’t want a license. But I really need to get one bec my dad’s kinda old and so is my driver… I sense that in the future… I’ll be driving my family around all the time. I guess it’s not too bad but I also sense that I’d be really irritable in the future. I don’t enjoy driving.

I’m turning 19 this sem break too. My last teen year… it makes me sad. I hate my birthdays. In fact, the only thing I like about it is eating out, having cake, and getting money. But it makes me sad. I don’t want to grow up. I wish I could have stayed 16 forever.

I also need to polish up on my design skills and catch up on gaming time. I haven’t been able to touch my Spore account since…well…for a few weeks now. I also need to finish my FF8 game and start on FF9 and hopefully finish it. I also want to play a new MMORPG and I think I might play Atlantica Online Beta. I’m still downloading the client though.

Hopefully, I may also go out of town like abroad perhaps. Dad was inviting me to go to Xiamen with him. I want to take up on that offer… except my chinese is really bad. I don’t remember anything anymore.

2008
10/07
CATEGORY
Ateneo
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UAAP Season 71

Hoorah! We’re the Champions!!! It’s really great. I even got myself a glow-in-the-dark championship shirt with the signatures of the players on them :o And I just attended the not-so-awesome giant bonfire. Not-so-awesome because the mud in Bellarmine Field was mostly ankle deep, sometimes even past the ankle. O_O Mud Mud Mud everywhere. My feet have now been given mud bath treatment or whatever you call it. Oohh! But the fireworks were absolutely fantastic especially the last one because it (exploded?) above the BellField, and it was really high and huge. It looked like it showered gold sparkles over everyone. :3

Yet despite the Championship… I’m not really happy with the aftermath of our glory. It’s just really annoying. I didn’t watch the game live and thoroughly, plus I’ve only heard talks about the game, so I don’t really know much but this is what I think. (And I’m not a die-hard fan of basketball, or the UAAP, so I don’t really know much aside from what I hear.)

I think Ateneo did a really great job this season. I heard it was a clean sweep except for that one loss and I really think Ateneo deserved the championships. But all this annoying squabbles with La Salle is seriously pissing me off. Hold on a second.

Based on what people told me about what happened during the final game, this is what I think. I really think that complaining about the referees is really useless. As my mom said in her blog, any objections towards referees should be raised before the game. Once the game starts, you are to accept the calls made by the referees. Now, we are not positively sure if the calls made during the game was due to biases, but it really annoys me because we’ve all been through this before – many times even.

Ateneo has had their share of unfair calls in the previous seasons yet I think we’ve managed to accept our defeats with dignity. It really annoys me because the trash talks this year have been rampant and severe. Just because the tables have turned against La Salle’s favor, doesn’t mean they have to bad mouth Ateneo for being immoral and stuff like that. But I’m not all against La Salle. I think Ateneo’s been really arrogant about their win as well. Maybe it’s because we haven’t won in 6 years… but I think the giant ego should be controlled. We say La Salle’s a sore loser, and although I believe so also (sorry), I don’t think it’s proper to trash talk DLSU the way people have been doing recently.

I think we won as fair as a UAAP game could be (I mean referees are humans too. They don’t see everything the camera does. Plus, I’m pretty sure everyone does something they shouldn’t during the game whether intentionally or unintentionally), but we should not bad mouth La Salle, and La Salle should accept their loss with pride and dignity because they also worked hard. It really saddens me when I heard BOTH DLSU and Zobel did not accept their trophies? awards? It honestly doesn’t make sense about the argument that they weren’t called. How could they forget about it? Why do they need to be called out anyways? Why didn’t anyone go out to check or something? Even on the premise that no one called them.

Oh. Fyi. AdMU won… in both basketball and swimming. Blue Eagles, Lady Eagles (Swimming Team), and Eaglets? ( is that what they call the junior basketball team? )

PS. Pls. don’t get offended if I don’t approve of your comment. I reserve the right not to accept it if I think it will cause a fuss (in the event someone actually comes across this little blog of mine). XD

2008
10/01
CATEGORY
Events
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My Birthday

A friend of mine sent a PM to me on my YM with a link. http://www.dayofbirth.co.uk/

It’s a site which gives you a few details about your birthday. :)

Here are the details I received!!!

Results for 28th October 1989* :

  • You were born on a Saturday.
  • Your star sign is Scorpio.
  • Your birthstone is Opal or Tourmaline.
  • The season was Autumn.
  • You were born in the Chinese year of the Snake.
  • The US President was George H. W. Bush (Republican).
  • The UK Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher (Conservative).
  • You are 18 years 11 months 0 days old.
  • It is 30 days until your next birthday.
  • In dog years you are 2 years old.
  • You are 6,910 days old.
  • You are approximately 165,855 hours old.
  • You are approximately 597,079,019 seconds old.
2008
09/28
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Graphic Design

Beware. Highly Opinionated. (duh. it’s my blog. XD ) Semi-bashing some things. Praising others.

Graphika Manila. And Comments.

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2008
09/24
CATEGORY
Events
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Hodgepodge Updates

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog… But I have managed to update my wordpress by myself… although my blockmate, Ena, did tell me what to do. :) Yey Ena! I seriously need to learn how to code…

Firefox has also been acting up on me… So I couldn’t update my blog. I gave up and am doing this on Safari. Except, Wordpress on safari hates my line breaks.

RANDOM Updates about my life:

1. School’s been really hectic. We’re approaching the end of the semester and I can’t wait for the Sem Break… I really need to sleep in for a whole day or something to make up for lost sleep.

2. My whole family’s been sick… I was the last to fall…except I never got the fever… Just the colds and the cough…

3. I’m so poor. And so fat. And so heavy. It makes me sad. Stress makes me hungry.

4. I went to Graphika Manila! It wasn’t worth P650 but it was cool. I loved Tokidoki the best…of course… but I really loved Acid House’s music video. I loved Japanese themed things. I also really liked Collision Theory’s t-shirt design. I especially like how AJ showed how a panda design by his friend became an angry panda…into a saliva spitting crazed angry panda. It was cool. O.O I liked Pixar’s talk too! Although I didn’t really understand much. I didn’t have a background on 3d animation and couldn’t really understand the process of animating. We missed Robert Alejandro though… /sob

I’ll make a new update about Graphika Manila…if I have time.

2008
09/22
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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