edit : it seems the flash badge was causing problems by jamming up the loading of my blog. sigh, it figures. so i've moved it under the 'Imaging' section as of April 4.
So I finally created a Flickr account in order to get that cool little flash badge you see on the left. I'd seen it on a few blogs before and always liked the idea but I was (am) too lazy to deal with the hassle of uploading pictures to it. With my camera (however wonderful it is), it would have been a tedious affair to upload the pics to the main computer first, resize them, then upload them to Flickr again. Trust me, the whole process takes a lot more time than it sounds.
But now, with my new snazzy i-mode account and accompanying i-mode phone (which unfortunately is not really that cool), I just snap a pic, send it to the Flickr account, and that's that. Yes, really, it's that simple.
However, the pic quality straight from the phone is really quite appalling, to put it mildly. They look decent only when they're in thumbnail size, like how they're presented now. So this will just be a fun showcase of the really bad pictures that I can take on a casual (and hopefully frequent) basis to be inflicted upon mankind.
Online personality tests are hardly known to be accurate or in-depth. The limited questionnaire caters specifically to casual web-surfers who possess notoriously brief attention spans. A bona fide personality test, in contrast, takes hours to complete and still may not truly define the undercurrents of the subject.
But whatever, right? Online tests won't put pyschologists out of work (just yet!) and they are surprisingly fun to take, if only to huff at the sacriligious outcome with an indignant,
"That is SO not true!"
And they cost nothing, so that's another big plus for the current generation used to downloading freebies off the WWW.
This particular test is the well-known Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI) which was designed to identify a person's personality preferences. As popular as the MBTI is, it is also one of the most unscientific psychological tests, so much so that many educational institutions distance themselves completely from it.
But, just for fun, let's just try it, shall we? My profile turned out to be INFJ which refers to the following with its accompaning strength of preference:
Intuitive [25%]
Feeling [12%]
Judging [44%]
The first analysis describes my type as the rare Counselor Idealist. Apparantly only less than 2% of those who have ever taken the MBTI fall in this category. The second assessment goes into greater detail and surprised me with its general accuracy. So my initial compartmentalizing of this test along with 'answer-a-few-questions-n-win-a-free-trip-to-the-Bahamas' advertisers along Orchard Road turned out to be grossly erroneous and I had to make a profuse mental apology.
Well, take the test yourself here and tell us what your profile is, but don't place that much weight on it. For a fascinating and unbiased read on the MBTI, history of personality tests and other related info, click here.
small unthreatening steps towards it...
The past weeks of excuses can't cut it anymore. I simply have to get the lyrics and music of the church anniversary musical out soon; or face a gruesome death by riotous stampede from the growing-impatient-by-the-week cast.
It's quite amusing when I think about it though. I'm usually quite adept at coming up with melodies on-the-spot though they are normally of the comedic (or downright heinous) nature. One would have thought I could somehow refine and extend this "talent" to serious music making. Instead, I can be found staring blankly at the shiny piano keys. So pretty. It seems unproductive, but in reality, all my creative energy is being furiously channelled into preventing myself from descending into full-throttle panic and hair-ripping hysteria.
Sometimes a nice melody rings in my head but because it's 3:45m I don't get out of bed to record it down. In the harsh light of the next bleary-eyed morning, I can't even be sure it wasn't really a Chinese New Year ditty.
It seems Inspiration and I are on different time zones.
Of course, what I really need to do is to roll up my sleeves, hunker down and get my hands really dirty till the deed is finally done. But I admit I'm somewhat fearful that after giving it my all, the final product will be the cause of mass suicides and a music eradication movement to arise worldwide.
Well, stalling won't help me. So this is my extra deep breath before the plunge from which I'm not sure I can ever return. Everyone, please pray for me.
I enjoy planning. I like the process it involves; brain-storming ideas, organizing people and coordinating schedules. Of course there's also accompanying stress but I try to minimize that by over-eating and bullying my colleagues.
This weekend is going to be a fun one. Here's my 'to-do' list:
1. plan worship order for sunday
2. get scores ready for ssc rehearsal on sat afternoon
3. plan music camp for tomorrow and saturday
3. get devotions, scores, music and activities ready for music camp
4. resist urge to murder someone, or worse, eat a whole box of chocolates
5. get scores ready for good friday/easter choir prac on sat afternoon
6. plan lesson for CEF on sun after worship
7. plan rehearsal for anniversary musical on sun afternoon
8. take a month-long break to vegetate and be generally useless
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a month-long break to plan for.
I had been dreading this moment. For years.
Back when I was a wee teen banging away on the piano for worship service practically every weekend, I had tried to avoid putting on the shirt and tie veneer. For nearly 2 decades I've managed to side-step the issue of a formal 'uniform' for service. People have mentioned it casually (or maybe not) to me over time, but now, there's no fleeing from it.
Can one outrun conventions?
I'll have to be in a tie when I'm leading the music in service from now on. It's been such a long 'battle' that I'm not even sure why I'm so dead against it; subconscious rebellion against authority, freedom of personal choice or just plain refusal to succumb to staid fashion? You pick one. Maybe it's the simple convenience of being tie-less which appeals to me, which would imply that I'm nothing more than butt lazy. In any case, I'll just have to get used to it soon and then get on with my life, right?
The Vacation Bible School (VBS) was in full swing today, with the children from our churchs' kindergarten participating in a day of games and music instead of lessons. All this means extra work for the helpers and teachers because instead of attempting to keep some semblence of order within a classroom, they now have to run after a rowdy group of derangedly delighted children in 5 directions.
I was involved in the music station (big surprise, I know); and it was with much initial reluctance that I even woke up today as I didn't relish the idea of being in such close proximity to hundreds of kids just itching for the opportunity to sprint out of sight while screaming their heads off.
For some reason, I don't quite know how to engage them, even though I'm their psychological and emotional peer. Maybe it's because I can't stand it when kids don't follow simple instructions such as,
"Sit still and don't make a sound for the rest of the week!" or
"Finish my 20 page thesis by the time I get home from the movie!"
You totally understand, don't you?
So as the first batch of highly excited children entered the sanctuary and stormed down the aisles like Vikings descending upon some hapless medievil village, I was fully expecting myself to be supremely annoyed along with the harried teachers. Much to my own surprise, I found the whole spectacle midly amusing instead. I didn't have to say much at the sessions for my job was to provide piano accompaniment for the theme song, so there was plenty of time to observe the children, and for they, in turn, to sneak shy looks and conspiratorical giggles at me. It was totally disarming, of course, and I had my socks charmed right off by the time the first group ended their session and the children flounced off, merrily waving goodbye to me with wide toothy grins.
Ack, what just happened to me? Is this what people call 'mellowing'? Or have I finally learnt to just expect kids to, well, just be kids?
I won't go so far to say that I'm looking forward to the next VBS, but I guess I'm not that averse to it either. And that's a start, right, kids?
Last week, I placed a bid on a 2nd hand long-distance lens (100-300mm) on the photography forum that I lurk on. I didn't expect to win, but no one else bid on it so the lens found its way into my hands.
A long distance lens is very useful. For instance, if you are on the upper floor of the shopping mall and see something that interests you on the ground floor. Instead of physically making your way down, simply use the lens to zoom in on your object(s) of interest, like so:
You can then determine if it's really worth your time to see it up close! Shopping made easy.
Haha. Nita and I were at NAFA last night for a recital. After a long day on our feet, we plopped ourselves down on the comfy seats in the lobby outside the recital studio. I wanted to see what the vending machine offered, but didn't really want to muster the effort to actually walk there.
*start deep and booming TV announcer voice*
"Sounds like a job for long-distance camera lens!"
*end TV announcer voice*
So I snapped a pic and in the comfort of where I was, browsed the vending machines' offerings without having moved an inch.
Ah, technology.
Well most of you know that I enjoy videogames, or at least, claim to enjoy them. In the early days of this blog's infancy, I unabashedly proclaimed myself an avid role-playing gamer (RPGer) and acknowledged how that contributed to seal my fate as 'geeky kid who can't grow up'. Over time, this blog took a slightly more 'sophisticated' route with poetry, the occasional tear-jerking angst and personally-shot pictures of random stuff I spied; so my seemingly unbreakable bond with videogames became obscured and maybe even forgotten...
Well, not any more!
Today, I proudly announce that I've spent 30 hrs so far with my hands fused tightly to my PS2 controller and my eyes locked on the TV screen playing Grandia 3, the latest RPG adventure by GameArts. It has interesting and likable characters, jaw-dropping attack and magic effects, addictive battle engine, stunningly gorgeous environments and more.
It's been a really long time, years in fact, since I've been so enthralled to bits by a fun and challenging game that's also easy on the eyes; playing for hours at a stretch, staying up till I'm the only person awake in Pasir Ris and crawling out of bed zombie-like in the a.m. just became hip again. In fact, it's been several years since I've actually invested significant time with any game. Of course I've bought a couple in recent years but they've mostly ended up unfinished...
It's hard to say what exactly about this title is so darn engaging. Grandia III doesn't have the best story or sense of sprawling scope, nor does it have that much to do outside of the main game. This is one of those situations where you can't quite articulate precisely why you like something so, but you just know emphatically that you do, you know?
Well, Grandia III and me, we're just like that! As Forrest Gump used to say, we was like carrots and peas.
Now to see if I can get the gf interested in videogames too... :)
images courtesy of RPGfan.