Notes and Things on the Creative Geek Life

It’s my final week for the first semester at Uni, so I’m extremely time-challenged at the moment. That’s why I haven’t been online all that much lately. Blogging and social networking just have to be put aside for the time being as I try to complete mountain loads of assignments and final assessment presentations.

Yes, I can’t believe I’ve just about completed a full semester back in grad school. It has been exhausting and stressful, but exciting and fulfilling all at the same time. I’ve met some really interesting people and learned heaps. And, I’ve been rewarded with incredibly great marks (so far!). Also getting wonderful feedback from a few of my tutors/lecturers. So yes, as I said, I’m loving it. However, I’m also looking forward to my almost three-week break before I start teaching.

That’s right. I’m being allowed in a classroom mid-July as a student teacher for my first practicum. I’ll be co-teaching a Reception/Year 1 class (5 to 6 year olds) for about four weeks. Pretty much the same age range as my son’s class. I’ve done some school visits this term and I’m already taken with the kids. I know it will be quite a challenge, but I am looking forward to it. I’m sure that some days, I’d be flying high, and other days I’d be wondering what on earth I got myself into (felt this way and that during my visits!).

Anyway, I gotta run now ’cause I’ve got a few more major assessments I need to complete in the next few days. But, before I go, here’s another delayed “Look of the Week” notes (this time, doing fashion + photography notes):

Style Notes:

• Black long-sleeved shirt/top (inside) - from Valley Girl
• Brown polka-dotted sleeveless shirt-dress (?!) - No label, another hand-me-down from my sis
• Black belt -Another no label item from dear sis
• Brown pants - from S IS
• Brown flat-heeled leather boots - Not sure where I got these from, as I bought them a few years ago. However, my guess is that I got them from Target.

Photography Notes:

Yes, this is another self-portrait series using my trusty ol’ Nikon D40x. For this series, I’ve tried to capture the look/style without taking a full-length photo. I wanted to see if I can communicate the whole effect of what I’m wearing by taking pics of each section of my “look”. One thing I liked about this series is that it proved how angles can make such a huge difference in communicating with photography. But, it is a bit of a challenge when you haven’t got all the gear you need. Having broken my 18-55mm kit lens, I’ve been using my Sigma 30mm f1.4 a lot more lately. I love this lens, but I find that taking full body length pics with this can be tough. And yes, unfortunately, it seems that my remote control has also lost its steam, so I’ve been doing the good old self-timing, mirror using and/or arm’s length photography with these self portraits. I’ve forgotten how tough it is to get a decent shot without my remote. I guess that’s another reason why I haven’t taken any other LOTW self portraits after this series. But, I’ll try to get back to it some time when I sort out my tech issues and such. For now, I have to make do with what I’ve got.

Catch you all later!

Hugs and all the best of life to ‘ya,

Shai

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Friendship is a very strong theme for me lately. Of course, I’ve always valued friends. But, for one reason or another, I have been thinking about the whole thing a lot lately. Partly because I’ve been meeting a lot of new people through my graduate studies — and partly because I’ve been reconnecting with some old friends. And yes, there are a few other matters on friendships that have come to my attention recently.

So, I’ve been pondering about what makes people click as friends… what makes friendships last… how do friendships work… can men and women be really “just friends”… how do you develop friendships… what makes a friend a real friend… Well, you get the picture.

Over the long weekend, I’ve had the privilege of celebrating friendship in three different forms — through a long, ongoing friendship (with my good friend Bern), through a newly introduced friendship (Hi, Cleng!), and through a long-distance friendship that’s now finally cemented with a face-to-face meeting (Yay, Christine!).

Christine and I met through blogging over five years ago. I saw her name in the blogroll of our mutual blogging buddy (Melissa), and decided to pay her blog a visit. Then, after reading Christine’s blog entries, I decided to email her to say hello. It was a life-changing email.

You see, Christine has a number of special gifts. One of them is being a “connector”. Connectors are people who don’t only know a lot of people — they love introducing who they know to each other, one way or another. They take joy in the whole process of making a difference by connecting people. That’s why if you have a connector in your life, you will definitely find yourself blessed with all sorts of things. If you don’t have a connector just yet, go find one - you’ll see how great it is to have one (or more) in your life. And, if you’re a connector yourself — good on ‘ya. You’re a rare breed who can bring a lot of interesting things in to the lives of people you come across.

Anyway, within weeks of our first email, Christine ended up introducing me to Bern, her long-time friend who happens to have just migrated to Adelaide at the time. Bern and I became good friends. In fact, we did our online video show together for a while. And, she is now my daughter’s godmother.

Christine and I have been hoping to meet each other for years. So finally, when she found another one of her long-time friends who moved here in Adelaide a few years ago (Cleng), she knew that she just had to come and catch up with the three of us. And so she did. Booked a flight from New Zealand to visit us here in Oz over the long weekend.

So, for 3 days, we talked, giggled, teased, ate, talked some more, shopped, laughed, joked, went sightseeing, took loads of photos, gossiped, ranted, raved, drove our partners a bit insane, and yes… talked even more.

It was bliss. Crazy, girly bliss that can only be shared between friends.

And, I realised one thing: I miss that kind of fun.

Being entrenched with day-to-day living, work, projects and studies, I really don’t get to spend a lot of time hanging out with friends. As in, just hanging out and being silly. Talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

I know it’s never going to be easy to do this sort of thing on a regular basis. So, I can only just be grateful when I do get the chance to have fun and celebrate life and friendship with wonderful people - both long-lasting friends and new.   

So yes, friends, thanks again for a gorgeous, memorable weekend. I’m already looking forward to the next get-together.

Cleng, Bern, Christine, Me - Dinner at home

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So, I’ve been trying to avoid online shops lately. Well, I’ve been avoiding most shopping, really - other than the grocery variety. But today, I caved in and visited Etsy.

Yes, I’ve just about survived it without any damage to my bank and Paypal accounts. But, I did find this section on Geek Chic Gift Guides and I just know that I’ll be in trouble one of these days.

Well, how can I resist Geek and Chic combined?!

Anyway, these are the Etsy items/shops that are bound to hook me in some time…

• Laptop Sleeve with Strap - annyandme ->> Love this! IF I ever buy one, I might choose a different coloured fabric.
• CTRL-ALT-DEL pillows set - diffractionfiber ->> Cute - but would love it to be more Mac-ified
• Faux PCB resin pendant - beadworkbyamanda ->> Cool. I just love resin pendants and I’ve been longing for one for a while now.
• Superheroes Among Us art - estasketch ->> Nice, huh? And the artist is Oz-based!
  
• 20-sided die pendant - pawandclawdesigns ->> I’ve just been reconnecting with my RPG memories lately, so seeing this was such a thrill. So, so tempting! I’d probably opt for a different type and colour of chain, though.

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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” -Viktor Frankl

My world has been through a lot of transformations over the years. This is even apparent in my life online over the last decade.

I first joined the web primarily to seek connections… friendships. And, to explore the possibility of sharing my writing to a wider audience. Within the first few months of being online in 1997/1998, I started to get writing jobs (both paid and gratis) while I was still living in Manila. It was such a rush. I then turned all my passion for creative and freelance writing in to my first official online project — eWriteLife.com.

eWriteLife enabled me to connect with many fellow writers from different parts of the world. I made a lot of contacts and friends through that project. Many of them, I am still in touch with even after 10 years.

Through that site, I also found out how to run my first official online business. I learned to manage affiliate marketing, to run direct advertising (this was before Google Adsense was around), to sell products, and even to venture in to running online workshops. The site also received a few accolades, including becoming a finalist at The Philippine Webby Awards and being featured on The Reader’s Digest (Australia).

It also helped me to gain a couple of other gigs - including landing a job as a Guide (Writer/Editor) at About.com for Language Arts for Kids (2000-2001). Then later, as the first Guide to Web Logs (2004-2006), when About became a company of The New York Times.

In my first role as an About Guide, I ended up concentrating on that aspect of my life while I was working on my Masters’ degree in Applied Psychology, specifically on psycholinguistics. At the same time, I was getting used to living in Singapore and being a wife. My role then as a Language Arts for Kids Guide, my studies in psychology, and my new life in Singapore really worked well together. That’s why when About decided to get rid of their Kids’ Channel at the time, I was really devastated. I felt lost at the time.

But, instead of staying lost, I decided to try something different. I ended up taking a lot of art lessons at the time - through private tutorials, non-graded classes in art school, and various workshops. And somehow, I found myself reinventing my online world to reflect that phase of my life.

That’s when I ventured in to exhibiting and selling art online. I gained a decent enough following to allow me to make a few hundred to over a thousand dollars a month through selling art in various places. It really amazed me when people actually wanted to pay me to own something I created. I was so thrilled when people started writing to me about my art - from the US, Australia, and Canada. I even had an avid art dealer collector from the Netherlands. Then, there was that very surreal experience when one of my art collectors in Singapore invited me to her beautiful home to have dinner. It felt like an out-of-body moment when I saw almost a dozen of my paintings framed and hanging in her posh condominium unit.

Of course, I loved it all. And, while I didn’t know where I wanted to take my art at the time, I knew that art-making will always be part of my life, regardless of whatever change life may bring again.

And indeed, just when my art-making was in full swing, a few things started to change in my life again - including moving to a new country (Australia), the online art world transforming, and becoming a mum.

During that period of my life, art-making slowed down and I began experimenting with all sorts of blogging software and business ideas. Then, on a whim, I decided to apply to become a Guide again at About. That’s when I ended up having another online reincarnation. This time, as a voice of blogging expertise.

That life brought on a new set of highs and lows. Once again, I loved being an About Guide. And, thanks to the growth of weblogs, I managed to go on an incredible journey.

As many of my current contacts know about this part of my online life, I ended up establishing my blogging network - AboutWeblogs. This then led to the much talked about merger with b5media. Of course, this meant I had to leave my About life once again, in order to start a new one with b5.

And yeah, the b5media ride was good for a while too. It led to all sorts of amazing things - from meeting so many great people to having so many incredible experiences (such as this, this, and this). Plus, a few other side benefits.

Now, I am going through another transition phase. I made the decision to go through another life change by going back to Graduate School. And, while most of what’s happening in this new life is offline, I am beginning to see how it’s slowly working its way in to my online life again. And somehow, it all seems to start fitting well together. I find that scary and exciting at the same time.

Yes, there’s a new ride in town. And, I’m so loving it.   

Difficult situations may sometimes appear to be the end of dreams at times. But, I’ve slowly come to see that they may actually open up to better dreams.

Isn’t it amazing to watch what change can bring to our life?

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It’s time to do another 52 Weeks of Blog Community task. This time, I would like to encourage everyone to find a way to reconnect with something or someone, as a way to enrich our blogging (and personal!) life.

This was partly inspired by my recent wanderings on the web, where I ended up reconnecting with a few people in my past that played a special role in my life. Reconnecting with them made me see a few things in my present world in a much different light. It helped me to appreciate some things a lot better. Reconnecting with self-portraiture and a couple of other interests had also been really good for me lately.

So, I thought, perhaps, this might be a great way for 52WoCers to experience the power of reconnecting too.

So yeah - It’s up to you who or what you wish to do with your reconnection task. You can reconnect with an old friend, a lost item, or a neglected hobby/interest. It’s up to you as well whether you want to tell us the story behind your reconnection or not.

All you need to do for this task is to commit to finding time to reconnect with something/someone in the next few weeks. Then, make this commitment by leaving a comment in this post.

What do you say?

In any case, here are the wonderful folks who took part in our 52WoC#41: Your Top 10 List -

• Melissa W
• Rachel Cotterill
• Nenette
• Toni

Thanks again, everyone. I loved reading each one’s list. Lots of stuff to look in to.

And by the way, I haven’t forgotten about our 52WoC parties. I’m definitely hoping to get one going again one of these days. So, stay tuned!

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I’ve been planning and planning my contribution to 52WoC#41 task. And, I thought I’d be able to complete my list before the month was over. But, sometimes, things don’t go according to plan. But, that’s okay. I’d rather that I take my time when it comes to completing this list of special people, who I fondly refer to as “The Dream Builders”. I’m not ready to go in to the details of the actual dream building just yet, but we’ll get there in time too.

In any case, here’s my (unfinished) list of Dream Builders…

1. Kari Rohl

2. Nikki Katz

3. Christine Gooding

4. Nenette Alejandria Mayor

5. Heather Goldsmith

6. Kristyn Maslog-Levis

7. Mel Yang

8. Jane Pickrill

9.

10.

Now, I’m just waiting to fill the last couple of spots. I’m sure it’ll happen soon enough.

And, to these wonderful people in this list - You know why you’re here. And, I just want to say it again: Thank you.

Here’s to dream building together…

Photo: Kyle (xsphotos)

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Yes, I confess. These “look of the week” self-portraits were actually taken a couple of weeks ago (on my dad’s birthday). But, I didn’t really feel like posting them at the time.

And, since it has been a while since I last posted my first LOTW, I thought that now might be a good time to share these photos. It’s really cool to know that some of you definitely liked my return to self portraiture. So, I’m really going to try and do more of these. Hopefully, push it a bit further.

In any case, in true fashion blogging style, here are the details of this simple look (which I must say, has become a personal favourite for this autumn season):

• Black tank top - from ICE
• Grey off-the-shoulder knitted sweater top - Not sure what to call these things! They’re actually too light to be a real sweater. But yeah, it’s something from NI9NE
• Jeans - Another hand-me-down from my sister. And, my second favourite pair of jeans. Its label says LWR. I have no clue what that means.
• Black wedge shoes - Ledger, from Zoe Wittner (my favourite pair of shoes at the moment!
• Black scarf - Not sure where these are from!
• Silver leaf earrings - Gift from my mum, I think. Or was that from my sis? Heh.

Whenever I wish to use this look, I try to vary it a bit by changing the sweater top (I have a black pair that looks similar), the tank top, the jeans, the scarf, and/or the earrings. Sometimes, I wear my hair down as you see here. Other times, I wear my hair back in a ponytail.

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