So many things are happening for me right now, and I am currently officially messed up. Ah, the pain is unbearable.

But I guess it should be alright for me. I have plans of setting something up to earn a passive income while I am at work. It will not profit much this time round, but I can see a potential budding from it. It is not failproof, but worth the try.

Oh, it looks like my Vivitar UWS is going to part company soon! It needs to find a better owner than to sit there in my box under-utilised. And she had just been reserved for viewing at noon later on. I love you baby, but you have to go.

Be a good girl with your new owner, please.

:(

Congratulations to the winners of SP Most Photogenic 2009, M3 Keith and F4 Petrine!

All good things must come to an end though, and it was fun while it lasted. It was great to have found lovely new buddies like classmates Hisyam and Jamie who were finalists M1 and F1 respectively; and to have worked hard with the other SP Photographers was an experience never to be forgotten too.

Especially when playing with the studio equipment! KENDRICK! :)

(Gay buddies! Gayness FTW! xD)

It was also a time full of trials; a time that revealed who our true friends were. Seriously. What does not not kill, will only make one stronger. And someone had to learn that the harsh way. Of course I was disappointed but I do hope that we all learn and extract something valuable from this misfortune.

Ah. Forget it man.

(My wife gets handled by alot of people, seriously. But I guess sharing is caring! :D)

But there were definitely more magical moments for us to find comfort in! Like real ones! Like how my instant films could pop out of my Instax just like that! Developed right away infront of someone somemore! Real fun! Real joy! MARCUS! ;)

And we will hopefully remember only those times that made us happy. Not the negatives. Forget the negatives. We cannot afford to be sad. We need to move on.

(Leave..)

“You must dare to disassociate yourself from those who would delay your journey… Leave, depart, if not physically, then mentally. Go your own way, quietly, undramatically, and venture toward trueness at last.”
— Vernon Howard

And we will never be foolish again..

I just wish to share with all of you my joy, my joy, oh my joy! If you did not realise, I actually turned PRO on Flickr just yesterday after much contemplating on whether I should fork out a portion of my income just for this premium account. It did not cost me much heartache to part with the sum but it really meant alot to me — afterall, I am serious about photography. Flickr has already been a useful platform for me to share my photos to the public, and coupled with Twitter, I have actually gained an exponential growth in the number of followers to my photography. I am happy to say that I have thus been greatly satisfied with the progress I achieved so far.

(Got this book from the Lomography section in Kinokuniya. Great buy, really.)

All of a sudden, my love for analog is reignited! Film cameras have once again become the objects of my desire and my desperate wish to own another one is actually bugging me so much. I tried asking Denise for her Dad’s Nikon SLR but I have yet to get to play with it; I asked Justin if he owned one, and he mentioned his family had this Fujifilm SLR which were no longer in use. Looking at the current situation, I highly doubt I will get either one of them anytime soon — and that is sad.

The GF excited me though when she showed me photos of her late Papa’s Canon and Minolta film SLRs!

And my advice for her was to clean and maintain them, and to hold on to them until I finally get to lay my hands on those two beauties — not sure when that will be but at least we have one more thing to look forward to.

Oh, and a photographer’s GF should own a camera too right? But of course! I definitely cannot wait to purchase and send that sweet thing over to the GF. Chocolate, chocolate! :P

Poosiang had a job opportunity for me that would pay me well and he asked if I have a portfolio of all my event
shoots. And he received a negative from me.

I guess it is due time for me to selectively compile photos to be included in my proper photography portfolio. This
will definitely help me in the future in case my clients decide to have a look at them — which will always be the case —
before they decide to hire me.

I frequent Zack Arias’ site where he used to post videos of him and his wife doing critiques for other photographers
of their submitted portfolios — that will be a great place to begin with.

I should also focus on the type of photography I want to be in. So far, all my photos were more diverse than anything
that is why I need to be more specialised in a certain field eg people, architectural, nature, etc. That way, at least
I have the chance to be truly exceptional in an area, instead of just mediocre in everything.

I am still looking at becoming a photography assistant first though — that will be best for me.

What I really need before I can start anything: A proper storage disk of at least 1TB, and a Speedlite. Anyone?

(I decided to give this kitty a name, and her name happened to be Joonies. LOL.)

When I grabbed the paper this morning, the cover page got my attention:

(Already twelve deaths this year..)

You young photographers are creative but can you be less reckless? Justin used to talk to me about having
a shoot at the same railway and I was thinking Evon could be our model but I guess there are better locations
now like the edge of UOB Plaza One’s roof or the Henderson Waves Bridge where we could possibly suspend
below it and start going crazy with Evon. She will be thrilled, I promise.

This girl, she told me she recently had her wardrobe ‘updated’ and ‘filled’. Give me some attitude girl, and then
Justin and I will bring you out and do some serious damage, no, business. After the exams, when your nerves
are settled from the mugging, when this gayboy comes back from his Genting trip, we will rock the nation —
Oh I love this, what an ambition! But seriously, we are serious about you — your crazy nose and delible nails.
Oh yeah.

Stay safe alright?

Three years back, I did not really quite make it to becoming a Medical Technician. Now that I have my
second chance, I better end up graduating as a qualified Optometrist.

With whatever I have right now, — my love, my friends, my family, my hobby — I do not see a reason why
I will never make it through.

Back then, it was a distraction having someone; she was definitely not like you, dearest. She could never be.

I better make it happen now; if I really want it, I need to work hard and earn it.

Thank you fate for the second chance, oh God..

I am in the process of counting the number of hours left before I meet my fate in my beloved Wan Fen’s class.
There is nothing general about General Optics module. I wonder how it will be when it becomes less ‘generalised’
and gets a little more challenging and confusing — though I heard the practicals will be more fun (which I
highly doubt so based on the previous practicals involving lens we just did) and less ‘physics-y’.

Heh.

Anyway, I have not revised much; I am doomed; and how can I be indulging in my cheese fries right now
spending quality time with the GF? Ohmygod.

Today time was spent at SAF MMI with this medical Captain who was furiously trying to encourage me
to accept another checkup at CGH which could present me with a monetary compensation if the doctor
there thinks that my torn ligament caused my left ankle to be unstable — which I think is not the case
anymore — and allow me to downgrade my PES status. Thing is, I am someone who honours my current
appointment now and I have no desire to be given a slacker vocation since I love being in the battle zone
as an infantry soldier. That was why I even enquired the MO if it was possible for me to reject the
compensation since I did not want to be downgraded to PES C at least.

But the MO advised me that I should, since he thought that for my case it is highly likely that I will receive
the compensation and the sum is not going to be small at afterall.

All the while, he was pushing me for it.

I guess I will not lose anything if I go ahead with the checkup. If they deemed me fit and require no
downgrade, then oh yes it will be the best. But if they decide that it is better for me to be downgraded
to not stress my ankle, then I will be given some cash to shut me up. Heh.

In the end, I signed the form agreeing to another checkup at CGH.

I hope I made the wisest choice.

PS. This was what the GF thought after reading this entry:

“Good thing ur medical doctor thing was persistent..cos knowing this stubborn donkey here..he wouldnt
have opted for a second checkup if not the doc kan?”

Oh, she knows me well. Hehe.

The thought of having a new addition to the family —
Well sort of, once my sister finally gets herself engaged —
is kind of interesting eh? Suddenly, there is someone real is
in the family, not those from unofficial, kiddy relationships.

And then I can play with this small baby. Ah too cute eh this mushroom.
But she always had this sad look on her face! Scary too!
>< "

The best solar eclipse for the decade in Singapore will occur on 26 January 2009.
About 80% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon at maximum.
This eclipse is an Annular Solar Eclipse of Saros 131 series.
The circumstances of the eclipse for Singapore local time is as follows :

Eclipse begins at 4:30 p.m.
Max eclipse at 5:49 p.m.
Eclipse ends at 6:58 p.m.

An eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth form a straight line.
A Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun.

This year there will be five eclipses that will occur.
Only two out of the five eclipses will be visible in Singapore, subject to weather.
The next eclipse, after 26th January, will be another Solar eclipse, which will occur on 22 July 2009.

Attention : Do not observe the sun with your unaided eyes as it may cause permanent eye damage or blindness.
To view the solar eclipse safely, you can use the solar eclipse viewer.
To order please e-mail alnitak@alnitak.com.sg.
Each viewer cost SGD6 (not inclusive of delivery charges).

Solat Gerhana will most likely be conducted at all mosques during the event.