She was my best friend and I have known her since we were small. She knew all my secrets, which reveals my feelings for her, that I love her not only because she's pretty and smart but also the way she laughs at everything and the way she sees life and love. I could still remember the first time we met; I was five years old then. It was one windy afternoon having no one to play with except for my best friend, Troy. He and his family just moved out to a neighboring state at transfer because his father got promoted. And so I climbed up our tree house, I saw a moving truck coming down the street. I watched it approaching and noticed a family station wagon following it. It stopped in front of the house and out came a family. I was about to glance away when came out the loveliest girl I've ever seen.

A Tale from a First-timer

I've never been to any bloggers social gathering before. I never had the courage to join, especially when I know nobody.  Last Friday, May 3, 2013, was different. I decided to join Davao Bloggers Acquaintance Party just because. I was apprehensive but at the same time excited. In fact, too excited that I forgot to bring my camera and my phone *facepalm*

The venue was at Krispy Kreme - SM Lanang, but to me it felt like I was in a jungle. Really. I felt like a very little mouse in a jungle full of big unknown creatures. I do not know anybody, except perhaps for the familiar faces I've seen during my usual rounds of blog hops. I was intimidated and too anxious to go anywhere near the big ones, like they're a predator and I'm a prey.

Nobody knows me. But that's probably a good thing. I can just sit there quietly, try to be as small as I can be, and assume that I am invisible to everyone else. And for the win, I didn't have a phone that I can tinker so that I can pretend to look busy. I just sat there and read Krispy Kreme's paper placemats featuring their Mickey Mouse treats even if there's really nothing there to read. Muntanga lang. hahaha =D

It was a perfect fifteen-minute pathetic moment. But I didn't want to be pathetic (yeah, 15 minutes too late). So I flashed a gawky smile to the first stranger in front me and started a small but awkward conversation. Then one stranger after another, they came welcoming me with big, warm, friendly smiles. In a heartbeat, I snapped back into my senses. Hey, I am not in a jungle. I'm in a Davao Blogger's Acquaintance Party! And these creatures here aren't scary after all. Armed with shy His and Hellos, I made my way through the jungle meeting new people.

Yes, I survived.

To cut the story short, I enjoyed the night. I enjoyed their presentation of how Davao Bloggers started, their previous and incoming activities, and their goals. Which makes me want to slap myself for not joining this group ages ago. What have I been missing? Sigh. I am so amazed by their camaraderie. The fellowship they have shown is different. They are a family. The more I see them together, the more that I yearn to be part of it. Which I believe I should be. (Brace yourselves, new member coming! hehe)

I enjoyed the games and of course, the food! It was an awkward start but ended with a blast. A big one at that. And now, I look forward to more blogger gatherings like this.

 I'd like to grab this opportunity to thank everyone, especially the officers, behind the Davao Blogger's Acquaintance Party. Thank you for bringing us together. We, especially the newbies, need events like this. A chance to gather, mingle, share and just enjoy the day with our fellow bloggers.I certainly think this is still, after all, a jungle... only filled with crazy but beautiful and friendly creatures.

The attendees. Me, the girl in yellow green.  Photo courtesy of Algene Cutamora.

My love for digital art started from a simple photo manipulation. I was 17. All I did was edit a photo by adding fancy texts, splatter some brushes here and some glitters there, and voila! I called it art. And I was so proud of it.

Then one photo after another, I started to improve. I explored almost everything that has something to do with pixels. From photo manipulation to vector to vexel to digital paint. It became more than a hobby... it became my passion.

Today, I'd like to share with you my firsts on every type of project I made. These are just a few of a hundreds of my projects during the early days of  still learning how to unleash creativity using the digital technology.

When people learn that I work from home, I get different reactions. Most people would say "Ka hayahay."  Hayahay is a term from our local dialect which could mean any of the following: relaxing, comfortable, convenient, ease, and all other terms related to it. It is as good as saying "It must be nice to have a stress-free work."  

No, not really. And there's no such thing.

Sometimes, people envy me, thinking that I hold all the time for myself. Note, thinking. It seems most people with "real jobs" think home-based jobs can be as easy as just clicking the mouse, (e.g. paid to click, networking, referrals, ponzi schemes) earning while doing almost nothing. No. These are real office jobs we do, only we chose to be at home.

Working from home is not what you really think it is. I am well aware of the perks of working at home, and I absolutely love it. However, I can't deny the fact that I also need to acknowledge the perils that come with it.

My Workstation

I have this callous. It’s thick and it’s dark.

Ten years ago, I chose to study nursing because I thought this career could take me to a good life: work abroad, have a car and build my dream house.  One hundred hospital duties, thirty absences and countless pink slips later, I dreaded the fact that I chose Nursing.

I regularly slept in class, I flunked a major subject because of accumulated absences, and I loathed every second of every day of every 8-hour health care lecture. I just do not like it. It costs more or less than half a million pesos to send me to nursing school and I ended up being a disappointment.

You know what's so depressing? it's when you're down to the last 50 pages of the book that is totally gripping and has held you captive and awake at nights. The fact that you're about to leave a different world that you have loved and the characters you got attached to. You're excited to know how it's going to end and at the same time saddened because you know that that's the last of that world.

This is exactly how I feel right now

This is the best epic fantasy series I've read in a long time, and it has finally come to an end. Brandon Sanderson, I hate you so much. You should have just shot me to the head instead.

Will probably get hardcover copies for these. :)

Anyway, I feel like I've been Brandon Sandersoned. I just got more books from him and these are next on my reading list.

The Way of Kings Part 1 was out of stock, but still I got myself a copy of Part 2. Excited lang. hehe