Back to my childhood days… Back to my childhood days… Back to my childhood days… Remember this day It shouldn’t have been such a beautiful day. For an hour, I left my heart behind. Remember this day It shouldn’t have been such a beautiful day. For an hour, I left my heart behind. Remember this day It shouldn’t have been such a beautiful day. For an hour, I left my heart behind. Today is the first of many days in which… Today is the first of many days in which I shall wake up by 7 AM to monitor the sky for good weather. Today is the first of many days in which… Today is the first of many days in which I shall wake up by 7 AM to monitor the sky for good weather. I’m giving the P2 theme another shot. I… I’m giving the P2 theme another shot. It is just too damn convenient to have a post box on the main page of the blog. I’m giving the P2 theme another shot. I… I’m giving the P2 theme another shot. It is just too damn convenient to have a post box on the main page of the blog. 爱情开了我们一个玩笑 爱情开了我们一个玩笑 张智霖 爱情仿佛云朵 出没总是那么自由 完全不能照计划来走 碰头　分手 像作了一场梦 如果不曾交手 如果我们不曾心动 现在的生活会如何 快乐　寂寞 还是继续沉默 我们都太骄傲 我们也都太懦弱 所以把机会都错过 爱情　开了我们一个玩笑 我们都太脆弱 我们也都太慎重 爱给的时间却不够 今后　只有想念曾经你我 凝望　微笑　亲吻　牵手 爱情开了我们一个玩笑 爱情开了我们一个玩笑 张智霖 爱情仿佛云朵 出没总是那么自由 完全不能照计划来走 碰头　分手 像作了一场梦 如果不曾交手 如果我们不曾心动 现在的生活会如何 快乐　寂寞 还是继续沉默 我们都太骄傲 我们也都太懦弱 所以把机会都错过 爱情　开了我们一个玩笑 我们都太脆弱 我们也都太慎重 爱给的时间却不够 今后　只有想念曾经你我 凝望　微笑　亲吻　牵手 To you, the uninformed If everything was as simple as you thought, I’d be you. But I’m not. And I’m glad I’m not. Connector Posted in Photography Tagged: architecture, iphone 3g, snapshots Writers Talking to Writers: Tobias Wolff Each time out should be a swing for the fences. Don’t do base-running drills. You can do these on your own time. —Tobias Wolff Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Daybreak Posted in Photography Tagged: iphone 3g, skies, snapshots Writers Talking to Writers: Francisco Goldman My method back then was very much a fiction writer’s approach to journalism. I began to think of the way you world start a short story and begin with a character, and you hold that pen in your hand, and push it along, and wait to see what will develop. I had this theory that I would sort of put myself out there, and it was as if I was the pen, letting my own intuitions and circumstances guide me. —Francisco Goldman Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Space station Posted in Photography Tagged: architecture, infrastructure, iphone 3g, snapshots Writers Talking to Writers: Janet Malcolm The narrator of my nonfiction pieces is not the same person I am—she is a lot more articulate and thinks of much cleverer things to say that I usually do. —Janet Malcolm Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Writers Talking to Writers: Jamaica Kincaid All of these declarations of what writing ought to be, which I had myself—though, thank god I had never committed them to paper—I think are nonsense… You write what you write, and then either it holds up or it doesn’t hold up. There are no rules or particular sensibilities. I don’t believe in that at all anymore. —Jamaica Kincaid Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Writers Talking to Writers: Ian McEwan The dream, surely, that we all have, is to write this beautiful paagraph that actually is describing something but at the same time in another voice is writing a commentary on its own creation, without having to be a story about a writer. —Ian McEwan Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Happiness … is anything but, and isn’t a love story. Posted in Words Tagged: books, denis robert, happiness Protected: Pangs This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: Posted in Jottings Writers Talking to Writers: Siri Hustvedt I’ve never thought of beauty and truth as equivalent in any way. Some truths are ugly, sometimes beautiful, very often ambiguous and invisible. It’s that ambiguous and invisible realm I’m always reaching for in my writing. Because when we retrieve a memory, we dont retrieve the original but rather our last retrieval of that memory: we don’t walk around with original, pure imprints of our past. We edit them through the present. Neuroscientists call this reconsolidation. Freud called it nachträglichkeit. Reading is the avenue to writing, and after a while, the sheer bulk of influences begins to eliminate the question of influence. Even when my memory is spotty for a particular work I loved, I think it lives inside me in some form. Books we respond to become us. They don’t remain intact, of course, or unedited in our recollection, but nobody really writes alone. —Siri Hustvedt Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes I have idiotic friends I still have a desk at the office of my former employer that I use from time to time. It has been a while since I last stepped in, so imagine my surprise when I saw this note on my desk, left by a former colleague/friend with whom I remain on very good terms. Who needs enemies when you have colleagues and friends like that? Posted in Dailies Tagged: bitching, Friends For sale: Ricoh Caplio GX100 VF Kit, S$580 I’m selling a Ricoh Caplio GX100 on behalf of a friend. It was purchased in late 2007, but is still in very mint condition. The asking price is S$580. Featuring a 24—72mm zoom lens (35mm equivalent), this 10 megapixel digital camera also comes bundled with a removable electronic viewfinder, which tilts for low-angle shots, and a 19mm wide-angle conversion lens. From image quality to handling to build quality, the Caplio GX100 is, in my opinion, one of the best point-and-shoot cameras for the serious shutterbug. I hardly rave about a point-and-shoot digital camera, but the GX100 is such a good one I’ve been lusting for it since the day it came out, and I’d have gladly gotten it if it weren’t for the fact that I can’t afford it right now. While the GX100 has since been superseded by the Caplio GX200, tests have shown that the image quality of the GX100 holds up better than that of its successor. Which should come as no surprise, because the simple fact is more megapixel isn’t always better. What I find especially nice about the Caplio GX100 is that the zoom lens’ focal length can be fixed at 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 72mm, which is a great way to train your eye. Also, this camera takes some very nice macro shots, as you can see from Drag0nette’s many shots of her baby spiders, courtesy of its 1-cm minimum focusing distance. What’s also included in the box: (1) USB cable (2) AV cable (3) Rechargeable battery (4) Battery charger (5) Hand strap (6) Lens cap (7) Caplio software CD-ROM But do note that the English user guide isn’t in the box; it’s with the owner who is currently residing in UAE. Write me or tweet me if you are keen. I’ll keep this posting up for a week, after which it’ll go onto the ClubSNAP classifieds forum. Here are the major specifications of the GX100: Item Description CCD Effective 10.01 million pixels (total 10.30 million pixels), 1/1.75-inch primary-color CCD Lens Focal length: f=5.1 – 15.3 mm (35mm camera equivalent, 24-72mm) Aperture (F value): F2.5(Wide) – F4.4(Tele) Lens construction: 11 elements in 7 groups Vibration Correction Function CCD shift method Digital Zoom Optical : 3X (35mm camera equivalent, 24-72mm) Digital : 4X (Maximum 12X when combined with optical) Shooting Distance Approx. 30 cm – infinity from lens tip (Wide and Tele) Macro Shooting Distance Approx. 1 cm – infinity from lens tip (Wide), approx. 4 cm – infinity from lens tip (Tele) Approx. 1 cm – infinity from lens tip (Zoom macro mode) Shutter Speed Still image 180, 120, 60, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2, 1-1/2000 sec. Movie 1/30 – 1/2000 sec. Pixels Still image 3648 x 2736, 3648 x 2432, 2736 x 2736, 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536,1280 x 960, 640 x 480 Text 3648 x 2736, 2048 x 1536 Movie 640 x 480, 320 x 240 Picture mode* 1 F (Fine) / N (Normal) / RAW * 2 ISO Sensitivity(Standard Output Sensitivity) AUTO, AUTO-HI, ISO80 / ISO100 / ISO200 / ISO400 / ISO800 / ISO1600 Flash Off, Auto, Red-eye reduction, On, Slow synchro, Soft FlashFlash range* 3: Approx. 0.2 – 5.0 m (Wide), 0.15 – 3.0 m (Tele) Focus Auto Focus, Spot Auto Focus, Manual Focus, Snap (Fixed Focus), Infinity Exposure Adjustment TTL-CCD Metering method (AE lock possible for all meterings.) : Multi light metering (256 segments), Center-weighted light metering, Spot metering Exposure Compensation Manual exposure Compensation +2.0EV – -2.0EV (1/3EV Steps), Auto Bracket Function (-0.3EV, ±0, +0.3EV / -0.5EV, ±0, +0.5EV) White Balance Auto, Fixed (Outdoors, Cloudy, Incand., Fluores., Manual) / White Balance Bracket Memory Type SD Memory Card ( 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 MB, 1, 2 GB), SDHC Memory Card (4 GB),Multi Media Card, Internal Memory (26 MB) Storage Capacity (No.of Pictures)*4(Internal 26MB Memory) Still image 3648 x 2736 (RAW:1 F:6 N:11), 3648 x 2432 (RAW:1 F:7 N:13)2736 x 2736 (F:8), 3264 x 2448 (N:14), 2592 x 1944 (N:22), 2048 x 1536 (N:35), 1280 x 960 (N:62), 640 x 480 (N:276) Storage Capacity (Time)(Internal 26 MB Memory) Movie 640 x 480 @30 frames/sec. (12 sec.), 640×480 @15 frames/sec. (24 sec.),320 x 240 @30 frames/sec. (39 sec.), 320 x 240 @15 frames/sec*5. (1 min. 16 sec.), Storage Data Capacity (Sizes are approximate) Still image 3648 x 2736 (RAW:14.4 MB/Screen F:3.61 MB/Screen N:2.07 MB/Screen)3648 x 2432 (RAW:12.8 MB/Screen F:3.21 MB/Screen N:1.85 MB/Screen 2736 x 2736 (F:2.71 MB/Screen), 3264 x 2448 (N:1.67 MB/Screen) 2592 x 1944 (N:1.06 MB/Screen) 2048 x 1536 (N:672 KB/Screen), 1280 x 960 (N:356 KB/Screen) 640 x 480 (N:83KB/Screen) Recording Modes Still image modes (Still Image / CONT / S-CONT / M-CONT), Program Shift/ Aperture-Priority/Manual Exposure modes, Scene modes (Portrait / Sports / Landscape / Nightscape / Skew correction / Text / Zoom macro / High Sensitivity) , Movie mode, My Setting1 & 2. Recording Format Still image JPEG (Exif Ver. 2.21)DCF*6, RAW (DNG)* 7 Movie AVI (Open DML Motion JPEG Format Compliant) Sound WAV (Exif Ver. 2.21 μ law) LCD Monitor Display 2.5-inch Transparent Amorphous Silicon TFT LCD (approx. 230,000 pixels) Self Timer Operation time: approx. 10 sec. / approx. 2 sec. Interval Timer Shooting interval: 5 sec. – 3 hours (5 sec. steps)* 8 PC Interface USB2.0 High-Speed ( mini-B cable ), Choice of Ricoh original or Mass Storage driver* 9 AV Interface Audio Out , Video Out Video Signal Format NTSC /PAL Dimensions 111.6 mm (W) x 58.0 mm (H) x 25.0 mm (D) (excluding projections parts) Weight Approx. 220 g (excluding batteries, Memory Card, strap), Accessories: approx. 30 g (battery, strap) Battery Rechargeable battery (DB-60) x 1, optional AC adaptor (AC-4c),AAA battery (alkaline / oxyride / NiMH) x 2 Shooting Capacity* 10 Conforms to CIPA standard: using the DB-60, approx. 340 pictures (Using AAA alkaline batteries: approx. 30 pictures * 11) Operating Temperature 0°C-40°C Posted in Events Tagged: for sale, gx100, ricoh Writers Talking to Writers: Haruki Murakami What the novelist needs is not diverse opinions but a personal system of storytelling upon which his opinions can take a firm stand. Women often act as mediums in my novels. They guide the protagonist to “places out of the ordinary,” and they make the story move. What I want to do is write about lots of different characters in lots of different situations, and that way to create stories with greater breadth. New character types are beginning to appear in my books because I know now how to write them. —Haruki Murakami Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Writers Talking to Writers: George Saunders I see writing as part of an ongoing attempt to really, viscerally, believe that everything matters, suffering is real, and death is imminent. —George Saunders Taken from The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers Posted in Words Tagged: on writing, quotes Protected: More than This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: Posted in Jottings Protected: His words mine This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: Posted in Jottings Tagged: books, Words