Cat Cinemagraphs

Live photos featuring Luningning the cat

Luningning head and tail flicks

Luningning tongue licks and tail flicks

My first cinemagraph using MS cliplets.

My first cinemagraph using MS cliplets.

No. 1 fan

Happy foot

Life Advice From 18 of the Wealthiest People in History (Interactive Graphic)

via eBay Deals

Success is Easy, But So is Neglect by Jim Rohn

People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn't matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I'm a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money - banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity - America, and much of the free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books – and they are free! It is not the schools – the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.
Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.
Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more... and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of "easy to" and "easy not to" that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy"; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

Self Sabotage

Beaten by Self Sabotage? Here's How To Stop

How to (not) FAIL

Awesome slides on the subject we fear most.

How to (not) Fail from Martin Weigel

I will survive!

How introverts can survive in this extroverted world

How Introverts Can Survive in This Extroverted World from Jonathon Colman @jcolman

Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara

I cook a Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner. 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

500 g spaghetti
¼ cup heavy cream
2 eggs
1 can Tuna
1 tsp cooking oil
Salt
Ground black pepper
¾ cup freshly grated cheese

1 medium size onion

1 clove garlic

Preparations:

Boil water in a large soup pot. 

Add a handful salt and a teaspoon of cooking oil. 

Drop the spaghetti into the boiling salted water and cook according to package instructions, about 6 to 9 minutes or until al dente, or tender but still firm to the bite.

On a saute pan, add cooking oil. Add the garlic and the onion. Put in your tuna.

While the pasta cooks, combine the eggs, cheese, cream and ground black pepper in a bowl and beat with a whisk until completely mixed.

Drain pasta. Put pasta in the sauce pan. Turn off the heat. Toss in the egg and cream mixture. Stir continuously. 

Serve right away, with additional grated cheese if desired.

48 minute productivity

48 minute productivity

I want share this awesome tip I got from a webinar. It is about being productive. I find this useful when I needed to get things done fast, especially those tasks which I am not looking forward to in doing. 

So, here it is. The 48 minutes productivity rule. 

- choose a specific task to focus on for 48 minutes,
- set the clock for 48 minutes,
- don't do anything else but do that task until the timer rings,
- do something else for 12 minutes, and
- repeat the process again until task is done.

The Pledge

I got this from my inbox. I am passing it on to others through this blog post. 

The Positive Pledge by Jon Gordon

Instagram Sunday

Sunday Pancit with bags of Umami

I love the pancit my mom cooked for lunch. It was moist and has a bagful of umami flavor. I need to get the recipe from her. I had watermelon for dessert.

Gramblr uploader is not working. It says "Gramblr is now loading..." but its taking forever for it to load. I wonder what happened to it.

So I started sent my Instagram photos through my smartphone. Let's see how much charges I get from this. 

Red Watermelon for dessert. So refreshing!

My back photo on paper artist Corallero and Instagram Hefe

I placed an Instagram badge here at this blog so you guys can check out my Instagram photos. Follow me if you like and see some photo arts I come up with using my favorite photo apps. I use the Paper Artist app which is in my Samsung Galaxy Note II smartphone to come up with electrifying photo such as this.

I will be sharing some more apps in future blogposts.

By the way, you can now see your Instagram feeds on your desktop. I wish I can also upload photos through my PC.  

Hugin - Stitching Photos

Last night, I tried using Hugin for the first time. It is a freeware for stitching photos. You use it to stitch photos into awesome panoramas. I experimented a bit using photos I took at my desk. It was a tedious process. The photos didn't come out good. But it is a start. I thought it was easy as demonstrated in the video tutorials I watched at YoutTube. 

It is not, especially when I am using smartphone photos. I needed to get many overlapping shots as possible. That is about 10-15 portrait shots with an overlap of 30% or more to be able to get many control points as possible. Hugin needs these control points as reference for stitching. 

To get the best panorama with a few click, I should get a full frame camera. With a full frame camera, I can shoot a 360 degree panorama in just 4 shots. For a crop camera, I need at least 6 shots. Using my Samsung Galaxy Note II, I took more than 10 shots to get a panorama photo of my desk. 

I also need a fisheye lens. I need to shop around to buy one. Looking at the world with fish eyes. Kewl!

White Creamy Spaghetti with Tuna and Cheese Recipe

White Creamy Spaghetti with Tuna and Cheese

I like to cook once is a while. And this weekend, I decided to cook a dish I am fond of cooking. It is white creamy spaghetti in with tuna and cheese. Here is the recipe

White Creamy Spaghetti with Tuna and Cheese.

Ingredients 
1/2 kilogram of spaghetti
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
ground black pepper to taste
1 white onion, chopped
2 cans of 155 gram tuna in oil
1 250ml All Purpose cream
1/4 cup cheese, grated

Preparation:

1. Fill a pot with water. Heat the water until it boils. Add salt and oil to the boiling water. Stir until salt dissolves.

2. Add the spaghetti into the boiling water and cook according to package instructions. Make sure it is al dente or tender but still firm to the bite. Set aside.

3. Heat a sauce pan. Add the oil from the tuna to saute your garlic and onions. Cook until onion is translucent. 

4. Drop in tuna flakes. 

5. Add cream. Add in some of the grated cheese. Cook in low heat up to a simmer. Stir until cheese is melted. Add pepper to taste.

6. Toss in cook pasta to the sauce pan until every strand is coated with the sauce.

7. Serve right away with some grated cheese on top.

How did you like this dish?

I will share more recipes next time. 

Naruto Shippuden 618: Shinigami and Hokages

Naruto Shippuden: Shinigami Masks

I am an avid fan of Naruto Shippuden. It is the only Japanese Manga I am reading now.

Things are shaking up in the Naruto world. Its getting more intense and exciting. The war is between Madara and Obito Uchiha alliance on one side and the whole shinobi world on the other. Madara and Obito control the most powerful chakra beast, the ten tails. On the other side, you have the 2 remaining jinjuriki, Naruto and Killer Bee who hold within them the 9 and 8 tail beast, respectively. Now both enter the war. The last time when the 10 tail attacked, many died. The latest casualty was Neji, one of Naruto's best friends. This week, the latest manga was released and its about Sasuke and his taka buddies with the resurrected Orochimaru. They are in a quest somewhere. The quest is a search for those who knew all. And it turned out these know-it-all beings are the first four hokages of the hidden leaf. 

As you know, the souls of these hokages were trapped under the reaper death seal.  This seal invokes the power of a Shinigami. Shinigami is a death god or death spirit in Japanese. This reaper death seal was not only used to seal the souls of these hokages. Minato also sealed a part of the 9 tails chakra using the seal and the other part was sealed inside baby Naruto. When Orochimaru broke the seal, he release the trapped souls with the reaper's stomach.

Naruto Shippuden: The four Konoha Hokages Ressurected

My question was "Why was the sealed 9 tail chakra not mentioned in Manga 618? What happened to that chakra? Was it released and where did it go?"

Merienda and diet tips

Lumpiang Sariwa (Ubod)

 I bought 'lumpiang sariwa ubod' for merienda. It's a big fresh vegetable roll with peanut sauce.  Ubod is Filipino name for bamboo shoots. Not only is it fresh but its healthy too.

I gained a bit of weight so its time to make healthy choices (all the time).

I need to trick myself to eating less. No more second servings from now on. Promise!

Super powerS

I said two days ago that I am not Superman. But would it be cool that you have a super power?

What is a super power? It is a unique ability beyond the human norm. 

If you can have a superpower, what would it be?

If you ask me, these are the coolest super powers to have.

Shapeshifters - the ability at will to change shape or form

Body thief - the ability to transfer your soul to another person or to possess/ inhabit another person

Mind control  - the ability to attract people and control people’s mind 

Immortality - the ability to be reborn, never die or get sick and be young forever.

Self-heal - the ability to regenerate

Time travel - the ability to travel to time or stop time at its track

Multiplicity - the ability to be in two or more places at one time, or replicate oneself

The Rotonda

This is Bonifacio Monument or commonly known as Monumento. I took a few photos from a distance. I can't get closer because of the rotonda's busy traffic and I don't want to risks getting caught by the traffic aids, or worst, getting mauled by speeding jeepneys.

 

 

Unbound

Image: 'Pierce The Sky Part II. Found on flickrcc.net

There is no great end. I am not bound to hell. There is no above or below. Only time and space matters. I exist because of fate and God is a culmination of a thousand possibilities.

The old has no more place in this world. Its time for new ideas, new ways and new ideology. It is time for man to defy the globe and claim outer space.

Don't want to be bound in doom. Set me free from your selfish reasons. If we stay here; you live. If we wake up; you crumble to the ground.

I am not Superman

You can only improve your self 1% a day. 

If more than that, you are Superman. 

So just try anything new each day.

Image: 'Maynila' 
Found on flickrcc.net

Moon

I love seeing the moon. Tonight is no exception. I feel one with the moon. I makes my heart at ease.

Moonshine

Sunset

I love witnessing the sun sets onto the horizon. It sets the end of the day and the beginning of the night. I feel at peace.

sunset peeking out

sunset in the hole

sunset afterglow

Trapped

I feel so trapped

Without your love

Locked in a prison cell

The day you went away

You left me all alone

And thrown away the key

——-

I am in despair

Longing of things we had

Just you and me

And the love you promise me

Now all is just memories

Of the way we used to be

——-

You made me a prisoner

Of the past, you keep me

Hanging on to the ghost

Of the last love we had

Oh baby you left me trapped

In a memory of you

——-

Now I am trapped

I can’t break free

I am trapped

In my memory

Of you, set me free

Come back to me

Set me free

——-

Oh baby I’m trapped

In your memory

Come back to me baby

Only you can set me free

=====================

06/01/2010

Diamonds

I been singing it all this evening. I don't know why. The melody is flooding my head. The song just haunts me to death.

Diamonds

RIHANNA

Investing

I have started investing in the stock market a year ago. I wish I had done it sooner as in 20 years ago. I would have made millions by now. 

Today, I am buying some of my favorite stocks. 

The economy seem to look bright ahead. The market is performing well for the past few weeks.  Love seeing my unrealized gain grow. I had to pep talk myself not to start selling. Come on PSEi, continue to do good.

Introverts

Presentations

A way to tell your story in an awesome way is by creating an awesome presentation. I detest doing presentations mainly because I don't know how to do a decent one. 

I'm posting this here for future reference.

52 Presentation Tips by SOAP from SOAP Presentations

Live Now

Going back to things that happen before is a landmine of heartaches and disappointments. I like to forget which is close to impossible to do.

Just live in the now.

Inspiring

The most inspiring audition so far. Lazaro has a remarkable story and I think he would do great in this competition. Sing all the time, Lazaro.

Lazaro Arbos

Were you also inspired watching this?

Outrageous

Keyword: Outrageous
Found on flickrcc.net

It is the 1st day of the Digital Influencer BootCamp, a free e-learning on how you can build your influence online. It is great to learn about this kind of stuff because  social media is a must now a days. 

And since I am a blogger and a social media user, there is only one way for me to evolve and that is to be an influencer. 

What I learned from this is that a digital influencer is a responsible human being who is not afraid to be him/ her self and share his or her story. People loves stories. Telling your story is the way to connect and influence others. It takes courage and also creativity to make others notice. Don't be afraid to be outrageous. Isn't that one awesome piece of advice? 

=====================

Today is the start of American Idol 12. We have a new set of judges. The Mariah-Nikki collide is so entertaining. Would you agree? And in the middle of it all is Keith who is not happy with the current sitting arrangement. Then you have Randy,  veteran judge. Now that makes an interesting foursome.

Watch out for WGWGs (white guys with guitars). They might not show most of the auditions, but I am sure there would be a lot of guys who will try out with their guitars on hand. It's been the winning formula for the past 5 seasons.

Blogging

Image: 'Beach Blogging, after Cassandre'
Found on flickrcc.net

I updated some blogs today. I also created a new one today which will showcase  on my passion on mobile and panorama photography. 

I am thinking of blogging something that is very personal and private. I have been asking myself this question for a while now. "How do I conquer myself?" I do wish to find the answer to this by blogging about it. I haven't decided yet. 

Why do I do these things? I don't want to be popular but I want to succeed and do well. I do this as an outlet. I just want to write.  

Fitness

My Fitocracy-Skillshare class starts today. 

powerpoint cover

I took this free online class to help me get motivated on my fitness this year.

Watch the 35 minute Video Lecture

========

Half of the first month of 2013 is almost over.

How much have I accomplished on what I set to do? 

Should revisit my plans for the year.

Remember what you promised!

Time

Wakey wakey!

Here are some thoughts floating on my mind while I was having fun taking photos of Luni, my Siamese cat.
It doesn't seem to make sense. I just want to harvest as much as I can before it goes out of the feed stream of my brain's thought wall. 

====
Time is infinite so why do we need to rush it? Because your lifetime is short.

So, do we need to rush? Or do we need to take our time?

I say...

Take your time to enjoy life.

Make each moment count.

Enjoy with a purpose in mind.

I think that would make the ride twice the fun.

Luni, the Sphinx

Online Marketer

Found on flickrcc.net

In an online marketing seminar, I learned that an important aspect of being a marketer is working yourself to becoming a better version of you. And one way to accomplish this is to watch a lot of self-improvement videos. One rich resource of such videos is TedTalk on YouTube.

An online marketer also needs to know very well is his/her target customers. Moreover, a marketer should know what they want. If you deliver on these front, then you will become valuable to them.

One way to promote your physical business is through Foursquare. You can also promote your business location using Facebook places.

Think day!

I clean all morning. Too much dust everywhere. When my mind is so clouded and when in a thinking state of mind, I clean. 

The air tells a promise of rain. I really love the rain. A little drizzle and not too much. The dust cloud would soon settle. I feel at peace knowing that.

After lunch, I walk around Monumento and took a few panoramic shots. I walk some more from one mall to another. 

Monumento Panorama View

Inside the shopping mall

Vertical Panorama View

I search around for toys and figurines to search for a spark. I just wanted to find some inspiration.

Collage

I found some things of interests. An old man, r2d2, metal stick man, and a smiley ball.

I had thoughts but no resolve. My left leg aches but pain doesn't matter to one who loves the walk.

I did not spend much time in front of the laptop today. It felt good not sitting down for long hours. No webinars! It is nice to spend a day like this once in a while and let the senses roam wild. Still the search continues...