Monday, November 30th, 2009 marks the third annual International Blue Beanie Day in Support of Web Standards. Show your support to help make the internets a better place.
A few things I learned + reaffirmed within me this morning...
These are notes for me to think about + remember, but if you'd like to read them, too, feel free.
• Being anxious is painful. Pain tells us that something is not right. • Anxiety is a gift from God. • Don't be anxious in anything, but in everything, by prayer + petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. —Philippians 4:6-8 • Prayer is an ongoing conversation with God. • Declutter your spirit of the silent things piling up inside through prayer. • Prayer recalibrates us spiritually.
So far, it has been a humble Thanksgiving feast for 2 spread out over the days since we were so busy with work + home updates. But, trust me there will be more food to be had over the weekend. :)
Hope you all are enjoying your Thanksgiving leftovers!
After 5 months, I felt like the previous incarnation of sissyphus.com was too crowded + stuffy. So, it was time for a quick refresh. Plus, with a new house + new workspace—even if temporary till we get our floors redone in my studio this weekend—it just made sense. :)
I posted a new web design project on my portfolio site. We just launched the site this week. You can check it out here.
--- National Community Church's lead pastor Mark Batterson recently published his third book Primal + asked Bittersweet Creative Group to design + develop a microsite to go with it. I designed a layout which, upon site reveal, would immediately evoke an earthy, dark + mysterious mood, but juxtaposed the luminous warm tones + textures from the cover design to help bring light to the composition. ---
After being open for over a year, we finally went out + tried Top Chef's Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery in Capitol Hill.
Mutual concensus between me + J: We choose Five Guys over Good Stuff hands down. Good Stuff [herein referred to as GS] was yummy + flavourful, but price-wise they were a third more than what we would spend at Five Guys [herein referred to as 5G]. Their "large" fries were smaller than 5G's small fries + GS's regular size burger was comparable in size with 5G's little burger. All that aside, the one thing that disappointed me the most was how greasy GS' burgers were. The majority of the hamburger buns was sopped in grease before I even took my first bite. At 5G, not so greasy.
Nonetheless, it satiated my appetite. And, no, we didn't get to meet Spike nor was their a Spike spotting. But, I did get a photo next to him. ;)
Feeling nostalgic + melancholy while going thru old photos from my ViRGOS days. Got a call from his dad Jim today to tell me the horrible news. I'm still in shock. I can't believe my talented, creative friend is gone at such a young age, too. He had so much more life to live. Ted, you are sorely missed. :(
Be in peace, Ted "Deacon" Ledbetter. Till next time... { 1975-2009 }
My cousins invited us to their room next door for a night cap after spending a day on the island. J was pooped from surfing, so he turned in early + fell asleep reading. Good times + good stories. I love my family.
_ 15 Oct 2k9 _ Philippines 2k9: Pundakit _ Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales, Philippines
This was the best shell + rock collecting I've ever done at any beach. The potpourri of shells at Camara Island was so beautiful. I found so many of the shells that they use for the Sungka game! You never see them in the States so I felt like I was finding treasure. I felt like such a little kid on that island. I didn't even want to leave, but we were all hungry + Oreos was just not cutting it for all of us. :)
_ 15 Oct 2k9 _ Philippines 2k9: Pundakit _ Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales, Philippines
I was so worried + overprotective of them that I wanted to set them free. Growing up as a kid on the island of Guam I used to collect hermit crabs from the beach. There were big ones + there were little ones. I kept them in a brown Ovaltine canister filled with sand + would feed them cold cooked rice. Some of them needed bigger shells to move into once they outgrew their own shells, but I didn't know about that till it was too late. Eventually, they all died. Years later when we moved out of our house, I found some hermit crab shells + exoskeletons in other parts of the house. Apparently, they escaped + didn't survive due to lack of food. :( I learned my lesson.
My mom got upset that I kept them as pets because they were stinky from the beach water, so when my cousin Ching brought them back with us to Olongapo she didn't want his pets kept in the ancestral house + put them out on the porch. I replaced them in a bigger plastic tub with a lot less water [they didn't like being immersed] so they weren't climbing all over each other. Ching wasn't looking after them + even forgot about them at one point so naturally I adopted them + fed them pan de sal crumbs. At that time, some had already died + the remaining crabs were not as energetic as they were in Pundakit. I told J that I had plans to kidnap them + return them to sea because I didn't like seeing them struggle outside of their environment. I didn't think Ching would notice anyway.
My cousin Joel had contributed a tiny white sand crab to the aquarium as his pet. Joel, Ching, + I were looking at the aquarium a few days after we got back + we couldn't find the little sand crab. We dug around the sand to see where it was + when we found the crab it was dead + had turned into a dull grey. We were all upset + Joel said in Tagalog, "Aww, look at it. It's not bright anymore." He said that he was going to bury it in his dad's garden, which he really followed through with. A half hour later, he showed us the little crab's grave site + even put up a cross tombstone made of twigs. :)
When our trip was coming to a close, I woke up one morning + J told me that he went to Subic Bay to bring the remaining hermit crabs that were still alive back to the beach for me. I know they are tiny little things, but it really meant a lot that he did that for me + for them. :) Hopefully the sea will take them back to their home in Pundakit.
_ 15 Oct 2k9 _ Philippines 2k9: Pundakit _ Pundakit, San Antonio, Zambales, Philippines
I made this as my costume for Halloween 2009. It was kind of inspired by big-head mode seen in videogames. I really wanted to get the faceted geosphere look with wireframe.
This is my journal. I am a full-time interactive designer + freelance photographer with immense love + respect for art, travel, food, technology, + music. Back in 2000, when I first began writing my musings online the content was solely based on my life experiences. Over the years I've meandered from writing on the introspective side + found myself expressing various thoughts, ideas, + interests through photography-inspired posts with little to no narrative. Though, when I tend to think aloud I share them on Twitter. The entry style may have changed, but this site still serves as my chronological journal of random occurrences, introspective or not.
I love{ sketching, design, photography, good typography, XHTML, CSS, constant education, staying current, being with the mister, family, preserving social ties, respect, islands, all things music, plucking guitar strings, sushi, henna mehndi art, photo booths, house hunting, Zumba dance, Body Pump, video games, road trips, rice, spicy food, nature wandering }
Feeed me, Seymour.