So my friend told me about geocaching a couple of days ago and decided to give it a shot. The closest one to us was supposed to be easy.
We'd been looking for 3 days and we weren't able to find it but we also didn't know what we were looking for. I had literally saw the geocache probably more than 5 times and dismissed it as a metal bolt. It wasn't until today when I saw a video on nano geocaches that I realized that I had already found it. Immediately, I left the lab and went hunting. And sure enough. It was exactly where I expected it to be :p
Gonna go hunting some more. Can't wait!
Us looking on Day 2 for the geocache:
Found it:
*** I'm out of breath because I literally ran from the office to this spot :p Excited much???
There was one point in my life when I honestly wanted to be an astronaut. Of course, that never happened, but watching this video gave me the fuzzies. And as corny as it sounds, I guess you don't have to completely let go off all your dreams. There's other ways to get a little piece of what you could have had. You just need to be a little creative.
Sadly, this video wasn't shown for it's intended purpose but at least I was able to post it and it's out there.
We had lots of fun making this video and thanks to the cast for sucking it up and agreeing to star in our video. And a special thanks to Ben for being such a good sport and even buying us the slurpees we used to slushee him :p of course, he didn't know it at the time, but thanks anyway for taking it like a man! ;)
I admit that I have a lot of books. I'm not one of those people (at least I'm hoping that I'm not) who are overly careful with their books and cover them and use tweezers to turn pages so as not to crease the edges. In fact, I have several books that look quite worn because I've read them and leant them out so many times. But I do try to take good care of my books and I do internally cringe and silently (or sometimes not-so-silently) freak out when I drop new or hardcover books.
So I have to thank Len for giving me this gift for my birthday several weeks ago (See pic below). I've only just started it but I'm hoping to get through the whole book and perhaps I'll get rid of my aversion to damaging my books and losen up a bit. Plus, I'm sure I have some pent up frustration that I need to release. And honestly, I've only done a couple of things in the book and already it feels kind of freeing to do something I wouldn't normally do.
Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith
(Description from Goodreads) For anyone who's ever wished to, but had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or sketchbook comes Wreck This Journal, an illustrated book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster up their best mistake- and mess-making abilities to fill the pages of the book (and destroy them). Acclaimed illustrator Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts-poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting with coffee, and more-in order to experience the true creative process. Readers discover a new way of art and journal making-and new ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative process.
Since you're not in town, I had to find a way to greet you that's a little bit more substantial than a Facebook message or a simple email. I thought about sending an eCard, but I've never been a huge fan of them and they always still seem a bit impersonal.
Anyway, I did this instead:
It took me just as long as looking for the "perfect" ecard and it was funner to do!
Friday afternoon... not planning on doing any more work...
My brother asks me to find the books called "Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction" by John Austin.
They two books are basically instruction manuals on how to make weapons out of random office supplies. So I made a crossbow since it seemed the easiest :p
My version was a quick and dirty trial with whatever I had in my desk but it worked pretty well and kept me quite amused for a good hour as I used a garbage can target practice.
As I was doing this, my coworker walks in, stares at me, and says "Cool! Can I try???".
I think everyone should be making office supply weapons every Friday :p
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Here's Zahra trying out her sharp-shooting skills with the crossbow:
The past weekend was Kiko and Razz's wedding (Congratulations!!!). Seriously, I had a blast that weekend and it was a beautiful wedding. I'm so happy for these two. And I'm glad that they asked us to make their wedding video. Honestly, when they first asked, I was nervous. You know... I didn't want to screw it up and, like always, I was afraid other people wouldn't get our humour. But God bless them for trusting us with it. You guys were awesome and it was really fun making this.
CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. AND MRS. FRANCIS MANLUNAS!!! :D
I've had the squid kite for a year but have never been able to fly it because the wind has never been strong enough. And I had just bought the shark kite so I was really excited about this day. And, apparently, our leisurely day of kite-flying wasn't exciting enough so some tangled kites and tandem kite-flying were thrown in.
I don't know what it is but I really do like to fly kites. When I think about it, it doesn't seem particularly exciting and quite frankly it just sounds a bit boring to just stand there and hold a string. But there's a strange peace in flying kites and it seems like a good time to pray and contemplate life :p
I found this poem when I googled "kite meditations" and it put a smile on my face :)
Meditation while flying a kite
If I had my life to live again, I'd make more mistakes next time I would relax, I would be sillier than I have been on this trip I know of very few things that I would take seriously I could worry less about what people thought of me And I would accept myself as I am
I would climb more mountains, swim more and watch more sunsets I would watch less TV and have more picnics I would have only actual troubles and very few imaginary ones I would feel only sad, not depressed I would be concerned, not anxious I would be annoyed, not angry I would regret my mistakes, but not feel guilty about them
You see, I am one of those people who lived cautiously and sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day Oh, I have had my moments and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them In fact I'd have nothing else, just moments, one after another Instead of living so many years ahead of each day I wouldn't place such a great value on money
If I had to do it all over again I'd go places and do things and travel lighter than I have I would plant seeds and make the world more beautiful I would express my feelings of life without fear I would touch my friends I would play with more children I would listen to more old people
If I had my life to do all over again I would ride more merry-go-rounds, and pick more daisies and I'd smile ~Anonymous
Again, another event from last year that I neglected to post...
This was the first time we took Boynky, our 25lb cat, out on a bike ride. Thank you Eric for the Boynky basket! :D
I'm not a huge bike rider but I do enjoy riding around with Boynky and friends. Half the time, people do double takes to see if they saw a fat black cat or a baby bear. Maybe next time, I'll attach the GoPro to Boynky or my back or something so we can see what he does.
It seems today is a day for catching up on many things... including my blog. I really do regret neglecting it.
Anyway, I want to back track to the very reason I started this blog. It's true I started this blog because it seems I'm always working on very random projects though, to be honest, I haven't been very good at documenting it here. So at the very least, I'm trying to write about the more interesting things I do, even though it's not exactly timely...
So the very first project that I meant to post on this blog was my cardboard talk. The idea of making a talk came about when we were talking about stage designs for SFC's 2011 PreConference ("I Stand"). It was an army theme, so we were like "why don't we have a tank?" and somehow the task was dropped on me. I went through various ideas... but I ended up settling on a scale model of a real tank to put at the entrance.
The blue prints downloaded from the internet and scribbled with scale measurements:
Here's some photos of the cardboard tank in-progress:
And the [mostly] finished product: (I was so excited to finish the body of the tank and put it together that I actually forgot that it needed treads :p)
This definitely was a fun project, though somewhat incomplete. I still have the tank a year later. Don't know what I'm going to do with it but I know I don't have the heart to throw it away.
Here's a video I meant to upload almost exactly a year ago. It was for last year's SFC 2011 PreConference. It's one of the more serious Fronda Farm videos but it was fun to make and our cast was awesome.
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But on a funner note, here's SFC Vancouver's Happy Birthday greeting to our Tita Rosana Ruiz :D
So I started this last night during the Canucks-Calgary game [we lost in a shoot out :( ]... It was easy, and I found it quite amusing to do.
I cut the oranges in half:
I took out the orange pulp with a spoon but with the first orange half, I got too excited when I almost got all the pulp out that I just ripped it out, leaving a hole in the skin. Lesson: Be careful with the peel.
I put the half orange peels in a muffin pan to stand them up:
I made jello (with 1/3 less water than the directions indicated) and poured them in the oranges. I had a bit of jello left over (not enough to fill an orange half) so I poured them into the holes :p
The next morning, I cut the oranges (flat side down) into thirds (but I cut the larger oranges into quarters):
And ta-da! I have orange jello slices!
Next time, I figured I'd add bits of fruit to the jello, or even make it in multi-coloured layers :p But for right now, I'll take this as a small victory :D
Since my failed attempt at a jello salad last Christmas (which I meant to blog about but I got too busy), I've been waiting for an opportunity to redeem myself... jello-wise. So I might try this over the weekend since I have tons of jello left over...
Jello Orange Slices
Cut oranges in 1/2 and hollow out (don't want any pulp left at all. Get it all the way to the white-ish part)
Set hollowed orange halves, open side up, in something secure so they don't move around when the jello is in them (I used muffin pans; easy transportation, great to keep them where you want 'em =D)
Prepare jello with 1/3 less water needed for recipe. Pour into orange halves
Set in fridge and chill completely
Take out of fridge, flip over onto cutting board (open side down so it's flat on the surface). Cut into slices, either halves again (1/4 of the whole) or into 3 slices. Make sure to use a really good serrated knife, and don't be really forceful with them, it's jello after all! =)
And voila! You have jello orange slices!
Option: I haven't done this personally, but I plan on trying this at some point.... Jello SHOT Slices! =D Oh yea, what a party that would be! But I don't recommend having both at a gathering where there will be kids... imagine the mix ups that could happen! =O
I just finished reading "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer and, honestly, I'm not too sure what to make of it.
It's not like I didn't enjoy the book... quite the opposite. I was so into it that I finished it in 2 days, which I think is quite impressive considering I only read to and from work and before bed.
I was really hesitant to read this book but in the last month I heard a lot of buzz about it and tons of good reviews. So I started off reading the prequel short story "Glitches". Immediately after, I picked up "Cinder" and read some more.
*** SPOILER ALERT!!!***
As a CINDERella story, I was disappointed. I guess I just buy into the whole Disney happy-ending thing that I'm sad that I didn't feel any closure. And I had guessed the "big twist" within the first couple of chapters. However, I really did like the main characters in the book, Cinder and Kai, and I truly sympathized with what they were going through. Which is why I'm upset that I'm left hanging after reading the entire book... what's going to happen to Cinder? What's gonna happen to Kai? What's gonna happen to Cinder and Kai? And now I'm left feeling like I need to read a feel-good book to perk up my spirits.
But don't get me wrong. I loved the book. And I can't wait for the second book of the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlett, which is supposedly based on Little Red Riding Hood. Also, Cinder is supposed to make an appearance in it as well. But, it doesn't come out until next year (torture us, why don't you?!?!?!). I think that's what added to my disappointment... thinking the second book is about a different character, I thought they would have resolved the story from the first book, but NO.
But I guess that's the mark of a good book... it keeps you wanting more. So It's not a bad thing when I say that I have strong love-hate feelings about "Cinder".
Gah! It's February already! Time flies... and fruit flies like bananas. Me too!
But seriously, I've been so busy that I've even to forgot to chronicle my own busyness for my blog... not that a lot of it is interesting. But then again, that was supposed to be the purpose of this blog.
So I thought it fitting that my next post be about making a video about being busy.
We made this video for a Singles for Christ (SFC) event. It wasn't my best work as we shot it in like an hour and I only had 2 evenings to cut and edit it on top of all my other busyness. But I'm proud of the video nonetheless :) Kudos to the "devil" for the idea ;)
Here's two behind-the-scenes, making-of clips from when we shot it:
And, of course, one of my favourite snacks during late night/early morning editing/studying/presentation-making sessions... HALF OREOS!!!
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When we made this video, we hoped that it would evoke discussion during the SFC event. And it did! (Yay! Mission accomplished!) And it went better than I'd hoped. Praise God! :D
I really do hope that others took something from the video. But more so, I hope I took something away from it, and I really wish it'll stick. So that's one of my resolutions for 2012... is to be more productive i.e. busy for the right reasons but also saving time for the "good" things and people in my life :)
