Daily crackpot insights

"Studying is a peculiar undertaking - loathed when performed, yearned when abandoned."

Meet my inbox, a repository of gut-busting hilarious e-mails such as this:

Make someone smile by forwarding this message. No, I'm not endorsing chain mails, but this one is too funny to pass up. 

We' ve been friends for a long time ago. We come from the same alma mother. Actually, our paths crossed one time on another. But it's only now that I gave him a second look. I realized that beauty is in the eyes. The pulpbits of my heart went fast, really fast. Cute pala siya. And then, he came over with me. He said, "I hope you don't mine. Can I get your number?" Nag-worry ako. What if he doesn't give it back? He explained naman na it's so we could eep intact daw. Sabi ko, connect me if i'm wrong but are you asking me ouch? Nabigla siya. Sagot niya, The! Aba ! Parang siya pa ang galit! Persona ingrata!!! Ang kapal niya! I cried buckles of tears.

Na-guilty yata siya. Sabi niya, isipin mo na lang na this is a blessing in the sky. Irregardless daw of his feelings, we'll go ouch na rin. Now, we re so in love. Mute and epidemic na ang past. Thanks God we swallowed our fried. Kasi, I'm 33 na and I'm running our time. After 2 weeks, he plopped the question. "Will you marriage me?" I'm in a state of shocked. Kasi mantakin mo, when it rains, it's four! This is true good to be true. So siyempre, I said yes. Love is a many splendor.
 
Pero nung inaayos ko na ang aming kasal, everything swell to pieces. Nag-di-dinner kami noon nang biglang sa harap ng aming table, may babaeng humirit ng, "Well, well, well. Look do we have here." What the fuss! The
>nerd ng babaeng yon! She said they were still on. So I told her, whatever is that, cut me some slacks! I didn't want this to get our hand kaya I had to sip it in the bud. She accused me of steeling her boyfriend. Ats if! I don't want to portrait the role of the other woman. Gosh, tell me to the marines! I told her, "please, mine you own business!" Who would believe her anyway?
 
Dahil it's not my problem anymore but her problem anymore, tumigil na rin siya ng panggugulo. Everything is coming up daisies. I'm so happy. Even my boyfriend said liketwice. He's so supportive. Sabi niya, "Look at is this way. She's our of our lives."
 
Kaya advise ko sa inyo - take the risk. You can never can tell. Just burn the bridge when you get there. Life is shorts. If you make a mistake, we'll just pray for the internal and external repose of your soul. I second
emotion.

I thought Jay's ex-girlfriend was really out of our lives. But heaven only goes that I was wrong. Kakakasal pa lang namin nun when Jay received a uninamous text. "Meet me at the clinic." I had a stinking feeling in my butt. I told him not to go. It might in danger him. Pero sabi niya, ok lang daw because life is what we make. Tumahimik lang ako. Sabi niya, Penny for you talks? But I didn't know what to say. Beggars can't be losers. Isa pa, worried talaga ako na baka yung girl yun. Jay said, "Can't got your tongue?" I tried to smile at him. Kahit di ako nagsalita, actions speak louder than works, di ba?

Ang ex-girlfriend naman niya at si Walter, nakakulong na.  Detention is really better than cure. So the moral of the lesson is:  if symptoms persist, insult your doctor. 

Dem Red Beans and Rice - Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Adobe Flash CS3 Impressions

Resurrection - Common

Allow me to tell you beforehand that I'm no expert of Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash; I've only started using this application three days ago, so I don't claim my experiences as basis for facts. Also, if you don't know what Flash is, please google/wiki it up.

People wondering why Flash's name has changed from Macromedia to Adobe, here's what happened: On December 2005, Adobe acquired Macromedia, therefore the rename; also, every Macromedia products are now included in the latest Creative Suite (currently CS3).

I've worked with Flash 8 and Flash CS3, and as expected, I saw a few significant changes, some good, some bad. Take the interface. I don't know if this is a result of the merger, but most of the tools in the Flash now appear in the same way as those from other Adobe softwares (such as Photoshop or Illustrator). The new look is clearly done to streamline all CS3's applications, but it may confuse those who's become very efficient with the previous interfaces (although I imagine that there are ways of switching to classic views, so it's probably just a matter of personal idiosyncrasies/preferences).

I'm most happy with the changes done to Flash's pen tool. There's no other way of saying this, but the pen tool from Flash 8 sucks. Basically, pen tool is used to create Bezier curves. The problem is that Flash 8's pen tool is ONLY capable of creating curves, so that pretty much discards conventional wisdom of what a real pen does. Speaking for myself, I like using Illustrator's/Photoshop's pen tool to create digital vector arts. But given the limited capabilities, I can only create irregular curves with Flash 8's pen; I cannot create irregular shapes with unpredictable changes in contours.

Now for the good news: Flash's CS3's pen tool has been modified to work the same way as Illustrator's, and that greatly eases drawing of irregular shapes. This is quite hard to explain without visual aids, but imagine this: I want to draw a number "2". In the previous version, I can't do that with the pen tool alone: I have to draw a reversed "S", then adjust the base into a horizontal line by using the subselection tool (a very complicated process, if I may add). With Flash CS3, by adjusting the two magnetic points (they're points that force curves, which can be modified or removed with CS3's pen) irregular shapes can be done easily with just the pen. While it may not be quite as efficient as Photoshop's pen tool (i.e. the line is immediately drawn, unlike in Photoshop where the pen only makes a path and what's done with it is exactly up to the user), the upgrade saves a lot of time and trouble. As someone who loves to draw vector arts* , it's a blessing.

In fact, with the help of the new pen tool, I have drawn a vector art of Lucy Van Pelt: 

*I've drawn Van Gogh's Starry Night with just the pen tool.

Stormy Weather

Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix

So I managed to survive the previous week, which had been tumultuous.

At least I can say today is the last day for the a week's vacation granted to students of Manila's schools. Manila, and I imagine a huge part of our country, suffered (or is it reveled? I'm confused like a new member of the puberty group) from inclement weather last week. We had typhoons for many days, and I was affected. Like how elephants hate rats, my body wasn't very receptive of the sudden changes in weather; I was afflicted with sore throat, which was then immediately followed by fever, cold and headache. Not exactly pleasant. I skipped work for a day because of my sickness. And when I had recovered, the weather hadn't; the next morning as I was on my way to the office, I got so stranded by traffics and floods that I had no choice but to call another day off. Terrific. 

I'm actually quite ticked off. I don't like spending a week not being in my optimal state, but I was weak given the circumstances within and without. And thus, I've been unproductive, and my blog has been neglected. Unhealthiness can really get on my nerves; I want to be back in the state where I can appropriately say "'Scuze me while I kiss the sky".

I'll be back. 

Kris Jou is "nightdreamer"

I didn't know how i.ph notifies people about new blog entries, so when I first tried to notify my friends about my new posts, I opened my email and saw the notification's appearance.

It looked like an email message from someone completely random. If I haven't told a few of my friends that I sent the "nightdreamer" mail, they wouldn't know. They would've thought it's another one of those mails that promises p3n1s 3nl4rgm3nt. Gee, life is like a box of inconveniences; you never know how much you'll sweat.

The reaction someone in receiving a mail from nightdreamer may have is "Who the $#@% is nightdreamer?!" I put my name in this post's header to confirm that, yes, I am nightdreamer. Now you may start screaming, "Who the $#@% does Kris think he is sending me email like that?!" *Sigh* I don't even know how to answer that besides saying "I'm an egotistic and pretentious ass and like all asses I need love. " So there.

Apologies for these inane rants. I'll post a better thought of material soon. In the meantime, you can listen to the song I've inserted at the end of this post. It's Norah Jones' beautiful rendition of Vernon Duke's standard "I Can't Get Started", from her participation as an interviewee in Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. The album is rare and also very good; she plays standards, and tells a few stories about herself in it. It's worth tracking for any Norah Jones fan or, put simply, for fans of great music. Anyway, the song is among my favorites, and it contains a line that I can relate to (that is, had I been a better poet):

You're so supreme

Lyrics I write of you, they scheme

Anyway, without further delay, here's the song. 

I Can't Get Started

How Are You?

Do Something - Macy Gray

Since I'm in yet another dry spell, I figured this is a good time to get reacquainted with my readers (if any) and start good vibes with by asking the common "how are you".

Work has been monotonous and rife with politics. I have to deal with our office becoming a tabloid rumor mill. Funny how much people judge you based on assumptions they have of you. I daresay how much do they know me ba? I'm not telling them to look at themselves before singing the Eric Clapton blues, you know, about accusing others, because I'm assuming they're smart enough to know that cliche and to put that into practice. To think that "professionalism" is such a vogue word, its principle is often elusive to those who tries to project it. And before you scream "hypocrite" I haven't criticized my boss (who doesn't belong to the rumormongers). I can't say say the same for those band of rumormongers; don't they have anything better to do? I'm sorry about letting off some steam and I'm not going to do this often, but I just needed to vent.

I find my respite, during my free time, either by blogging or by being buried in a book and being tuned out of the surroundings. This habit led me to finish many books: 7 in total since Harry Potter 7 got released, and I've yet to read Harry Potter 7.

Then there's web design, a course I take on weekends. I thought last week was the deadline for my web design projects. On Friday night I meticulously applied all finishing touches, readied the project for submission, only to learn that the instructor intended to give us a week extension. And I slept 2AM because of FINISHING ON TIME! ARGH! As a result of cramming, I felt groggy the whole weekend. On the brighter side, I'm happy to announce that I've become quite better at Photoshop than when I started. Our next subject is Macromedia Flash and I can't wait to learn that. I may even study in advance.

Among all the work, study, and community service, I hardly have time to play videogames. But when I have found the time, I play a few hours of Dragon Quest VIII (which I intend to finish) and Sam and Max (the first 3 episodes I've beaten, and I'm currently at the 4th episode). On the other hand, I'm less busy this week than the previous, so I'm trying as much as I can to make this week fun-filled. As for the  7 books I've just finished, I might write about them soon. My next book? Probably Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.

So, how are you guys doing?

O Whereforth Art Thy Wisdom?

Happiness Is - Vince Guaraldi Trio

Jealousy is such a strong word, but I admire those bloggers who get lots of comments posted on their entries, and I wish to earn such privilege too on my dotph blog. It's very barren here and I could use more excitement.

Desperate for attention, I decided to add my list of contacts to the friends page of my dotph blog (this can be done on the Dashboard Tab way above) so as to be able to notify-slash-annoy my friends whenever I post new entries. Alas, because of some weird technical difficulties, I couldn't export my yahoo messengers' contact to my friend's list, so I had to type each emails individually.

Doing that was not only toilsome, but also depressing. I don't often have many reasons to look at my yahoo messenger's contacts, and I wish I hadn't looked today. Frankly the amount of contacts I have on my list is just an illusion of grandeur: I'm not close to a lot of my online friends. Only a few on my list of "friends" are people who I am willing to be stuck with in the same elevator.

Is this their fault? No. That's what makes it more painful. My immediate realization is in knowing that I don't go out enough. It's not that I don't like having fun (I do), but I am so busy it's not even funny. I keep recalling that, way back in high school, I was a more outgoing person and among the most adaptable to different cliques (cliques to me are meaningless). What happened to that time? I miss those carefree moments in my life where I can sit back, relax, kick my feet up, and have long chats with friends.

So anyway, this is my most recent blog update. Did I end up annoying you with this kind of whiny contents? My apologies. I still am trying, but it's not easy to nurture positive thoughts when I live a typical twentysomething's life that I despise. I wish I could ask someone out. The world is not a playground, but having fun every now and then isn't so bad.

In the meantime, you can brighten up my day by posting comments. 

Further Along, The Road

Legend Of The Purple Valley - Hiromi

I stated in my yesterday's post that The Road's first 100 pages didn't leave a good impression to me.

Well, because I do not jump to another novel without finishing what I'm currently reading, I forced myself through The Road. And because I was bored in scanning the book verbatim, I skimmed through it instead. I finished it, and in retrospect, the book did become better towards the middle. Although the same routine happened in the latter half of the book, the drama grew a little more intense (although it's still subdued, which was the intended tone of the book). Amidst the post-apocalyptic world's despair, the 2 protagonists (the man and the boy) did share a few happy moments, moments where all hope may not be lost. I believe that good times and hard times both reveal different dimensions of a character, and Cormac handled this pretty well in the book.

In my opinion, a reason the first half of the book was boring was because of the stagnancy. The book was expected to be depressing, and I do have high tolerance (and I actually like) reading depressing novels, but the mood was a steady state signal – without ups or downs. I didn't enjoy much of the dialogues because they repeated: the boy asked if they're going to die, the man said no, the boy asked if daddy's sure, the man said yes, and the boy ended with okay.

The latter half of the book was more refreshing, because good things happened to both leads. These happy moments became precious and cherish-worthy because they were so sparse. And like I said before, they showed different side of the leads' characters. I was moved by the heart-wrenching ending. The characters grew with the trials they face, and they learned to accept the things they cannot change. Without going to spoilers, I can say I was very satisfied with how the book ended.

Despite my praises, I still maintain that this book is flawed. The goal of going south was a red herring and I grew angry about that. I'm sure the book was rife with metaphors that require mulling, but I do not understand what going south was supposed to symbolize. And since the book's first half was a bore, I say approach the book with caution. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel went a long way. The Road may not hold up with other Pulitzer Prize winners (that I have read), but it does have its moments.