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August 31, 2005
Grace, short of seemingly effortless.
Previous attempts to record Farizah's first steps had been frustratingly futile.
Posted by quickness at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2005
A little section of an emotional rollercoaster provided by cartoons
Nothing much has changed since January, except that she has less tears when watching a sad cartoon.
Posted by quickness at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
Another day's worry
Apart from being bald soon after we shaved her head, Farizah had never had a bad hair day. I think the short hair suits her well. She's quite rebellious when she doesn't get her way, which have left me dreading the time when we need to give her a haircut.
No matter what the outcome of her first haircut, she can be sure that it would be documented. And when she learns how to surf the web when she's three, she will have the option of telling us how, or how not to, cut her hair.
Posted by quickness at 03:28 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Saturday Dinner
Before anyone criticises my lack of knowledge about certain bivalves, I'd like to point out that I have admitted that I didn't know about Pinnotheres Ostreum. There... I said it. I also admit that I have only opened less than a hundred oysters. I admit I might have swallowed several of those pea crabs whole.
Anyway, why does food feature so much in here? Well, since we don't live with our parents, who are incessantly worried about our health, we'd like them to know that we are indeed eating healthy. And not spending a lot on restaurants.
Saturday's starter was grilled tomatoes and eggplant, drenched with olive oil. And for the main course, barbecued beef strips, on tri-color fusilli with 5 cheese alfredo and pesto.
Posted by quickness at 03:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 27, 2005
If you're happy and you know it
... touch your neck.
This was taken end of April this year. Azmina was 2 years and a bit when she thought the song went, "If you're happy and you know it, touch yer neck..." instead of.. you know... say your name....
But anyway, as usual we didn't correct her just like the other time, if only for our amusement.
Posted by quickness at 09:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 26, 2005
You and me, and all of the people
It could be a song, it could be a thought, or even another image. Whatever its manifestation, a vivid image can replay itself out of nowhere, initiating a series of physiological responses that can nearly be duplicated by nicotine.
Ever since I've started taking photos by the hundreds, I could remember specific moments in time through the perspective of a lens. Like having a song ringing in one's head, I would look for a specific image in my archives hoping that expectations are met. And what's more, it doesn't have to conform to any standard of perfection.
Note:
Above photo from set found in here, here, here, and here. Well, maybe here.
Posted by quickness at 05:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
Fascination about bubbles: Thursday's lesson
Posted by quickness at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2005
5 on it
Posted by quickness at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2005
Sunday Meal
Okay. I admit when I saw one large oyster among eleven others that we got this afternoon, I secretly hoped that I would find a pearl.
Pffftttt...
I found something alright. At first I thought it was a stomach sac. Upon close inspection it was a transparent baby crab. Inside the giant of an oyster. Alive. Possibly dying a slow and painful death inside a pool of digestive oyster juice.
A vomit burp would have killed off any apetite that I had left. I wouldn't have been able to eat something which is in the middle of having its dinner. I thought the oyster grew so big that it could swallow a baby crab. N said it grew big because it ate things like baby crabs, and other things. That thought totally blacked out any ideas of washing the giant oyster and frying the carnivorous bi-valve.
Posted by quickness at 10:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 20, 2005
Playing Alone
A day short of 2 years and 7 months, after evening bath.
Posted by quickness at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2005
I got 5
I’ve been looking at rumors of the EOS 5D that have come up over the last few weeks. Pictures of the new camera body had been floating around for several days now, there’s even a pdf spec sheet. Nobody knows if any of it is true, but people have started drooling.
I don’t need a full frame sensor. I don’t need better dynamic range, if indeed that’s what the 5D is offering. I don’t need low noise at high iso’s. I also don’t need a lot of other stuff. I don’t need a car with 19 inch wheels, one that can shift gears in less than a tenth of a second. Or the way-too-expensive-for-me 35 1.2L, or the possibly-affordable-in-less-than-a-year 200 2.8L. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting them badly.
My 10D has served me well. The LCD screen is cracked in 17 places but it works. The sticky shutter isn’t sticky anymore. The 20D is too close to the 10D for my type of use. And it’s not like I’d have the time moonlighting as a photographer – I don’t even consider myself to be even an amateur. So for a hobbyist, a 5D won’t be able to pay for itself in the future.
But after all that. Ultimately. And we all know this. Acceptance would come after denial.
I know that if I can't take good pictures with what I have now, I'll never take good ones no matter what the camera is.
Nevertheless, I feel dehydrated.
Posted by quickness at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2005
Mid-Summer Night Dance
I absolutely love images created by 1/2 to 1 second shutter speeds. It represents the atmosphere better - the movement, the lack of urgency. The sounds we had made, the laughter that been had - this is how this piece of memory was played as I brushed my teeth at the end of that night, and during the last few moments before my eyes finally rested.
Posted by quickness at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2005
Cooler than hot, warmer than cold
Azmina has been talking A LOT lately.
She seemed to be able to grasp reason much more than she did a few months ago - and this had led to her ability to maintain long conversations.
This new expressive skill that she acquired has made it so much easier and more conducive for negotiations. Sometimes she even offers possible answers to her questions, which she would find acceptable:
Azmina: Bread with peanut butter... bread with peanut butter...
Me: No, dinner first.
Azmina: We'll buy bread later?
Me: Err, yeah.. we've run out of bread. We'll get some later.
Azmina: (Smiles) (Runs to N) We're buying bread later!!!!
Something like that. Of course she hasn't got the grammar all figured out.
And consider the current peanut butter situation with one not too long ago:
Azmina: bread with peanut butter... bread with peanut butter
Me: no, dinner first....
Azmina: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..... bread with peanut butter!!!!!
Me: ....
Azmina: WAAAAA.... WAAAADE ... WWAADE (runs away)
But the most significant development related to all this is that she now understands me better.
Azmina had previously rejected ... well... expressed strong displeasure for anything I do that doesn't please her. This includes getting involved in giving her medicine; and it doesn't matter if N has the job of pinning her down while I squirt the 5 drops cough syrup into a throat that screams of unworldly pain, or the other way around - N gets away with presidential immunity while I... I get to be given the Azmina special for several weeks. Even if she forgets why she was mad, she'd still remember that she had planned to ignore me for two months.
Where is this going? I don't know. But I mean... just look at her face... I dare you not to be happy.
Posted by quickness at 02:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 08, 2005
Je suis libre ce soir
I am in a predicament.
I can't process/edit hundreds of photos that I have currently backlogged if I have no assurance that I'd post them here.
I don't feel I can post those photos here without something to write about.
And I can't write without having that (related / pseudo-related) photo in front of me.
I think it's the way that this site/project has evolved. Most of the entries here have meaningful (atleast to me) photos AND text, which may or may not be related to each other.
Being unable to translate a mood, a thought, a memory or an inspiration into BOTH photos and words, would mean a serious disconnect between intent and consummation, which we all know would lead to serious health problems.
Posted by quickness at 03:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 06, 2005
Farizah Month Ten
Dear Farizah,
You are 10 months today. This is how you looked like today. You scratched yourself just above your left eye, presumably during your sleep. I could have photoshopped it out, but you might not have a permanent record of how you looked today. Your dad is good at misplacing his jpeg files.
You are quite comfortable standing up by yourself without any kind of support. We weren't surprised since you had started doing so when you were exactly 8 months. We had expected that you could have walked by age 9 months like your aunt did, but you decided to take your time. You seem to be enjoying yourself as much as we enjoy being around you.
Even your sister is amused with all the little things you do. You are a bit different from your sister. You tend to want to eat things. Even when we say to you, "No, Farizah...!"; you would respond with a smile showing your lower teeth, a dimple on each side of your smile. But fear not, we had not been easily disarmed by this trickery. We would always prevent you from eating old cheerios that managed to find its way to your hands. Even your sister would raise alarm at the sight of suspicious mouth movements. Nevertheless, we had bought a portable vacuum cleaner just to be safe.
Lately you've been the first to wake in the mornings, and you've been good at it. You would usually wake at 5:30am to feed, after which you would sleep till around 7 when you are finally up, waiting for the rest to catch up with you.
You're quite close to your sister, arguing and laughing together. You argue about your sister's cup designed for much older babies than you. You have skipped a couple of "cup stages" - you have been drinking from a straw for nearly 2 months now. And you could finish your sister's diluted apple juice if we don't take the cup away from you.
The weather has been really hot lately, and we could not take you out as often as we'd like. Apart from your naptime which starts just after lunch, you've been quite accomodating for short trips to the park. Rarely did we have to worry about losing our sanity in public places.
There are more things that I could say, but won't. Know this though - the tomorrows that your mother and I look forward to, are very much because of you and your sister.
Posted by quickness at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2005
Aries Iscariot
I have just remembered that it has been 8 years and one day since I started having a proper job. I have promised myself not to talk about work on this site so, there isn't much to say, except that it doesn't mean much - it only says I am no longer young.
Posted by quickness at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)