Since thesis hell has died down a bit, I decided to take the time to enjoy things again ^^ I went back to reading for pleasure and also-- I went back to doing photography although I'm not armed with a DSLR. Anyway. Here's something for your reading/viewing pleasure. Friends on my plurk are probably already familiar with these photos, though :) I just added words to them.

Warm Light
Told from Ulalume's Perspective


( Any young mind would seek understanding. )

Okiedokie! First post to 2009. Happy new year, everyone! ♥
Although I think while most everyone else is bubbling with cheer and hope, I've been feeling kind of under the weather for the first two days of 2010. And why?

Well, it's not totally a complicated life-screwing reason, but it's more of a reason for some petty regret. Granted, I haven't been anything of a fandom person ever since I left high school, but somehow I wish I could make myself more active. Well, not in the fic-generating sense (since every time I wish to think of something, my mind automatically shoots it down like some stray game) but at least active as a fan of fanwriters or something like that? Sometimes it makes me feel real sad to realize that I'm but some kind of fandom ninja. I sneak around, read fic but never leave anything to praise or at least acknowledge their work ;;

Ah well, that should be one resolution to keep, I guess?

Another resolution to keep perhaps would be to watch my f-list more. I miss a lot of you guys. Well, that would be another reason for why this post is open and all. Meh. At times, I really think about f-locking this entire journal. But after running like... how many years on this thing without locking a lot of entries, it doesn't matter much, right? It's not like there are dirty secrets for my f-list to know that I can't share to the world. Blogging = exhibitionism. And that is that :D

Anyway-- how about a meme? ♥

( Go to your LJ Calendar and find the first entry for each month of 2009. Post the first line/paragraph/s (or such) of it in your journal. )

Ulalume looks pretty haggard today, I wonder why.

( More under the cut XD With bigger pictures. )

Today, I realize that I'm probably the most impulsive shopper anyone could probably meet :3 I think, once I start earning my own money, it would be really tough for me to stop spending XD;; Christmas just happens to be extra deadly because it's not just impulsive buying for myself, it's impulsive shopping for others. And it's a little more worse this year because I didn't get the chance to window shop and make a proper Christmas list before shopping. Oh dear.

Currently, I'm forcing myself to live cheap for a while and try to pool up money for proper things for Ichigo. Like lingerie for seducing wolves. And to do the last little bits of Christmas shopping while still being able to pull my thesis together and finish all those other annoying school shiz.

Wish me luck?

Chuu Lobo~! ♥♥♥

Ichigo's finally home from her stay in Singapore with Almark. And it seems like she totally blossomed into a gorgeous teen ♥ What do you guys think? Much thanks to Anj for the above photo XD

( More Icchan? )

Geez. One-hour breaks are really, really awful.

ANYWAY! Making a quick post so you guys will know: if you guys want to, I can sing stuff for you for Christmas ♥ I'm posting this early so you guys can send in your requests for me to study before I sing.

For those who haven't heard me yet, just to give you a brief description-- I'm an alto, who used to sing soprano, so I've got some range :3 I'm more trained in classical singing so I'm not very good at pop unless I'm singing at my chest tone which is... uh... pretty low. And just to give you an idea, if I was to cover one artist's whole repertoire-- I'd probably say Cher or Queen. XDD I can cover Kanon Wakeshima, too. But I think I'm best at ballads, jazz or just plain slow songs ♥

Oh! And I usually prefer to sing in Megurine Luka or Kagamine Len's range if you're into Vocaloid XDD

So, got a song you'd like me to sing? Just post away ♥ I promise to have something recorded for you before Christmas ♥

[EDIT] A quick reference!
1. Consider if you'd like me to sing for you ♥
2. If yes, then give me your request and a link to the song on YouTube or a download so I can study it :3
3. Wait for it...
4. I'll have something recorded for you before Christmas, hopefully XD

*Depending on the song, I might just cover it in a capella.

Lol, since I've just been told that these have been going around lately again...

Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 unlimited 8D holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

②
Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it. You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call. There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

( My Wishlist )

Apparently the only character I'm really good at playing is myself.

It's been a while since I've taken my time sitting in front of my personal library: two columns of five square shelves of dark hard wood, housing so many books that some even have to be piled on top of neatly arranged rows of them.

It's been a while since I've felt the magnetic pull of learning and the coziness of simply drowning in words. The last time I actually did visit a library was only for thesis materials. Although I do love libraries in general, there's something much different about being with your own personal library.

So, there I was, sitting by the first row of shelves: the dustiest books. This was where I kept old school materials: textbooks and notebooks. I was putting my Japanese text books (Genki I and II) back into the shelf and rediscovered two things-- my white Japanese dictionary (with Kanji, making it the most useful) and my long-lost Ladlad 3. Yeah, I collect Danton Remoto's books. I've got all the Ladlad anthologies and his book of essays, Gaydar. I have yet to acquire a book of his poems (I love his powers of description to death) and the book of horror stories he edited. Simply holding Ladlad 3 in my hands reminded me of that.

Then I look up and wonder what other things have I yet to acquire. Heck, there is so much I haven't even finished reading: A thick tome of War and Peace that I haven't touched since my high school days, a whole lot of plastic-covered books that haven't been exposed to the outside air outside their store-bought confines...

Yet there will always be some entries that I'd love to keep coming back to. It's like singing Manila:

Back to your arms, Manila. Promise me you'll never let go.

By now, everything I'm typing is but a stream of consciousness. But I'm no James Joyce or Virginia Woolf.

I guess it's about time I go back to the work at hand: papers.

I'll come back to your arms again soon, my library.

And my brain flashes back to lectures in Literary Criticism on deconstruction, debating on whether writing was superior to speech. Or was it the other way around? Either way, the conclusion came that both were on equal grounds due to one being simply a variation of the other.

I don't think it's on equal grounds when it comes to me. Sometimes, especially when I'm most tired or pressured, the words that come out of my mouth are but gibberish that only I can understand. Or they are but half-realized ideas, coming half-baked from the oven of my mind. Speech sometimes is a draining experience for me as sometimes my brain refuses to cooperate, only comprehending another's words at a very slow rate, making me take some seconds before actually replying.

I've always found myself more expressive through writing. It's only here when the sentiment is stronger-- when I am free to be angry or express nothing but raw emotion without the problematic that expressing it in sound would bring. Yet at the same time, writing empowers me by giving me more time to comprehend ideas in my head, and thus ideas are clearer and sometimes they come out beautifully through there.

Yet, there are times that sound is needed.
There are times when words will fail and leave me colder than I was before writing.
There are times when I would like to scream out the gibberish in my head-- to not bother to filter.

For sound is something you can let go of. Silence is but a knife that digs into you bit by bit.

Hello writing,

I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been all this time? Tonight, I think I'll shut off the world for a moment and spend a little time with you, for old times sake. The world within a world I've built had been rebuilt, bit by bit, from the ruins they once were some years ago.

Will you tour them with me? Let us explore them. Even for just one night.

( Moon )

I am very convinced that the Volks "paw" hands are one of the best hands ever...
Next to those half-closed hands that Ulalume has XD Those are perfect for holding little PSPs.

I'm a day late, but I still want to greet Lauren (pithetaphish) a very happy birthday! X3 I hope your move went smoothly! ♥



Meanwhile, I haven't gotten Ichigo any decent casual clothes, so I'll be going cloth-shopping today :3 But then I decided to have some fun taking photos with her before I get ready to go.

( Icchan Spam! )

I HAVE A NEW TOY 8D Lol. Yeah. I installed Vocaloid2 to my external HD today and I've totally fallen in love with it. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, though, to fiddle with the phonemes and make male voices out of a soprano voice.

But yeah, the world needs more classical music loving :<

Sooooo, here, I present to you guys-- a short clip of a choir made of all Prima voices 8D Prima isn't a very popular Vocaloid and is usually background vocals, but I found her perfect for choir arrangements, more harmonious than the other Vocaloids-- although I think I'd want to download a mature male Vocaloid like Gakupoid... or... uh... I don't know if Leon has an okay quality. XD;;

But yeah =3= Here's a portion of John Pamintuan's "Pater Noster".

I've affectionately nicknamed Prima's derivatives XDD
My alto Prima is Segunda, my tenor Prima is Terzio and my fail!bass is Quatre XDDD

I really need a better bass XD;;

Okay, so I've never shared it here on LJ, but it's been quite a crazy June. First of all, I moved dorms. Away from the comfortable yet capitalist dorm and into the strange world of the University Residences inside of the campus. I still haven't gotten used to it, honestly. I'm still very much used to the system inside of MyPlace. And the University Residences make for a very different world. But I'll definitely get used to it in time. I don't have constant internet there, though. Apparently I have to ask for it to be installed myself.

In other events, around the second week of the school year, my grandfather (on my mother's side) died of heart failure. We did see it coming as his body was already deteriorating from diabetes and such, but it was still a sudden death. And for a week, everything has gone into a stand-still. His funeral was yesterday. And that day was also the birthday of my eldest guy cousin, also on my mom's side.

Maita, a friend of mine who I met though Marts and Cat, asked if we were close. I said that I couldn't say so, but we-- my family and my grandfather-- lived in the same house for a large part of my life, until I was 17. And then she hugged me and went, "You were close."

I guess she had a point there.

Let's have some contemplative Lumie shots under the cut.

( Soft sunlight in a bare, new dorm. )

I remember that the last time I came to Zambales, I took Emiko with me :D Now, I took Ulalume with me this time around...



( +8 more photos without plot or reason! )

I honestly think this is the worst semester for me, ever. Never have I shown so much emoness (and too little doll photos) on my LJ. But then again, I think I can blame Plurk and Twitter for eating up all my positive vibes.

Perhaps positive vibes are things you'd like to share immediately, so you don't find yourself so excited to elaborate on them over here on LJ. But maybe it was really the lack of those happy vibes circulating that brought me down as a whole this year.

Hm. Let's have a discussion, then, to get the happy vibes going--

What was the happiest moment you've felt this year so far? :3