PHOTOGRAPHY. A not so new hobby.

Photography. It is defined as the art, hobby, or profession of taking photographs, and developing and printing the film or processing the digitized array image. During my junior year in high school, I was taught basic digital photography in Computer Class and I had tons of fun with it. In fact, in that specific class we were tasked to select 12 photos from our portfolio of  pictures of the different photography scenarios and our teacher would select the best photos. 7 of my 12 shots were chosen. Many said that I had an eye for photography, I simply shrugged their comments off thinking "Oh Photography is an art. I'm not good at art." But little did I know I was closing the door to a fun and great hobby.

I continued on with my life without further training on photography as digital photography was only taught for half my junior year. Actually, I'd say that my photography took a back seat to volleyball, academics, student politics and many more activities. The camera I owned would only be taken out on certain events like birthdays, barkada bondings or when I felt vain and bored. I actually used the camera mostly to promote my vanity. :))) Yet, after about a year of no serious, non-human photography, my mom thought it best to take my grandmother to this garden show in the University of the Philippines Los Banos Campus. My mom told me to bring the camera and to take tons of pictures to document our little spur of the moment trip. So I did just that. I took tons of pictures. I took pictures of my mom, my grandmother, myself (hey it can get very boring there plus I wanted a new picture in facebook) and the plants. I used the little knowledge I had in photography to take the pictures. I mean, it's not rocket science after all the camera I owned was just a point and shoot one. Anyway, I took tons of photos and some of those shots astonished me. My God! I took great photos! Some were amazing! Some were blurred but worked it. In general, I blew myself away with the shots I took. Still not convinced of their quality I posted them on facebook so that people could comment on them. And SHOCKER!!! people thought they were great too. It was then that I realized that hey I could be good at this. So I took more pictures and explored the possibilities that maybe I did have even just one artsy bone in my body. HAHA.

 But my camera was just a point and shoot, if anything the quality of my pictures could simply be a reflection of how great my camera was because with that type of camera I simply had to look for something to photograph, compose it and click. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to upgrade my camera to a DSLR.  But a DSLR costs around 30k at least! and I didn't have that kind of moolah. Luckily, my Uncle, who's a photography enthusiast gave me his other DSLR ( DID I MENTION I REALLY LOVE MY UNCLE??? :))) ) and VOILA!!! Now I have all the goods to try my luck at this artsy hobby.


I will make this my new year's resolution: PURSUE PHOTOGRAPHY AS A HOBBY :D


to check out some of my most prized photographs click this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035350&id=1598243835

LIFE'S BIRTHDAY GIFT TO ME. :|

HAHA. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. :)


LIFE. It is so complex. So full of wonder and problems. So amazing. And little did I know Life was also a very good gift-giver on occasions such as BIRTHDAYS and CHRISTMAS. Why? Well, I'm going to share the wonderful gift that life offered me this year. 


GIFT #1 THE COLDS. 


yeah. I'm sick. I have the colds and this really terrible cough. Last night, I had a fever and I had very congested nasal pathways. WOW thanks life.


GIFT #2 THE EXAMS


yeah. yippeeedoodledoo... :)) almost all my subjects have exams this week. YIPPEEEE. :))) so fun. This is my exam schedule for the week.


DECEMBER  14


PHYSICS 10 exam- yeah :) waaah I haven't studied yet. I don't want tooooo~


DECEMBER 15

VOLLEYBALL PRACTICAL EXAM- yeah sounds easy right? 'Cause I can easily serve with an overhead 
spike. UHUH!. yeah and the best part is my shoulder doesn't hurt every time I do this. :))) WOW.


DECEMBER 16


MATH 53 (calculus)- yeah :D the best subject to have an exam on the day before your birthday :))) XD 'cause I just love my calculus. I need it sooooo~ much


STAT 115 (methods of hypothesis testing)- yeah a major. :)) soooo fun. :D I really love memorizing the formulas @_@ so fuuun! :D The best part is, it's on the same day as my Math 53 exam. OYEAH!. the best possible combination EVER!!!! :D TRY IT. I guarantee you won't survive.


GIFT# 3 THE GIFT OF SARCASM


because this entire post is sooo~ sarcastic. DAMN. I hate this week @_@ Were you able to catch that?


NOTE:
sorry for sounding bitchy but yeah I'm like that when I'm sick :( sorry :D

INA. nakakahiya ka, @_@ grabe lang.

OK. the plan backfired. @_@ 

I sent my mom the link to this blog so she could see my Christmas Wishlist. OK. Plan successful. She got the link but little did I know my devious mom sent it to almost everyone in our family. 


HAHA. surprise surprise. @_@ GEEEE thanks mom, thanks for the love :)))) SOOOOO~ embarrassing. @_@. 


That post was intended for her alone. My mom and I are close you see, so I have no problem whatsoever to impose what I wanted for Christmas but as for my other family members... :| hehe... May Hiya pa naman ako :P


It is also okay for my friends to read it 'cause hey let's face it I lost my "SHYNESS (?)" with my friends a long time ago... but my relatives @_@ WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. crap. THIS IS GOING TO BE AN AWKWARD CHRISTMAS @_@ THANKS MAMA! :P 




NOTE TO SELF: never ever ever make another Christmas wishlist that my mom could easily spread. @_@ 


NOTE TO MAMA: I'm not mad. I'm LOL-ing right now. I'm going crazy. I'm :|

LOL wants. :D

OUTRAGEOUS WANTS!!! :))) this is a funny part (i hope)

- LOVE. My sixteen years of being single must end sooooooon :)) LOL. :P XD

*CORY MONTEITH. yeah I know. He's hot. XD

*PAUL WESLEY. yeah he's hot too... XD

*RYAN REYNOLDS. yeah sexiest man alive. :P XD

*hmm si ano. yeah he's real. sino kaya siya? XD

- A GLEE CONCERT IN THE PHILIPPINES. yeah.

-CHARICE PEMPENGCO OUT OF GLEE. and for her to stop being in the news. :P

**** TO BE UPDATED SOON****

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS/ BIRTHDAY IS....

MY MOM'S BEEN BUGGING ME WHAT I WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS AND MY BIRTHDAY... I TOLD HER RESEARCH ABOUT ME AND YOU'LL FIND IT IN THE INTERNET.... BUT THIS LIST ISN'T JUST FOR MY MOM... THIS IS FOR EVERYONE :)) FRIENDS, FAMILY MEMBERS.... I PRESENT TO YOU:


LEANA'S WISHLIST
(***WHOOOOSH*** bright light... angels singing :D)




HAHAHAHAHA. hey mom/ friend/family member!! :D you might be reading this right now... so here are the possible answers to your questions... :) HOPE TO SEE SOME OF THESE THINGS AROUND THE HOUSE SOON :P loooove yah :P




It's basically simple what I want for Christmas/ My birthday....


**DSLR Camera. (ahem ahem)


**Telescope (weird? I think not... think of all the possible things I could do with one???)


**External Hard Drive (500 GB) (NEED MORE PC SPACE)


**BOOKS (which ones?? choose any of the following)
- Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
- Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- For One More Day by Mitch Albom
- The Hunger Games Collection by Suzanne Collins
- The Immortals Collection (Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame) by Alyson Noel
- Brida by Paulo Coehlo
- Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn
- Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
- 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Any of Nicholas Sparks' books. :)
DISCLAIMER: these last two books I'm not sure if they are available in the country... but I do hope soooo~
- The truth about forever by Sarah Dessen
- Kiss me Deadly by Trisha Telep




** Clothes, Bags, Accessories :D 


** Cute Stuff ( I'm a sucker for these things HAHA)


**actually you could get me anything you think I'd like... :) I'll appreciate it no  matter what as long as it came from the heart... PLUS i loooove surprises :))))))) 




All i hope is I don't get a PICTURE FRAME :)))))))))))) lol.

I really need to calm down. :)))

HAHA.


LOL. A few moments ago, I saw this blog post from a friend. It had in its url something about variety... and I immediately thought "SON OF A BITCH... he stole my blog concept". So I decided to click on the link just to see what it was about, then when I got to the page I saw it was a stranger's blog and it had nothing to do with VARIETY. Actually, it wasn't in any way similar to this. HAAAAAY. The reason this is soooo~ funny to me is that I was ready to go all RAMBO to tell my friend to f*** off and get his own blog concept.... :))) good thing I didn't blog immediately. :D 


LESSON LEARNED:
click and read before I rant. :))))

WHO THE HELL AM I?

WHO AM I????? 
WHO THE **BLEEEP** AM I???


Those are the million dollar questions I have to answer for this Activity in our Comm 3 Speech Communication Class. Sounds like a simple question right? All I have to do is answer with my 
bio. My name, status, parents' names, religion blah blah blah.... but what if I couldn't answer those questions but instead I have to reveal some really deep and substantial information about myself? 


HMMM... now that sounds like a challenge. SERIOUSLY. Yeah, I may come off as someone who is very open, talkative and out there but seriously I'm not that comfortable revealing so much about myself to people who don't know me that well. YUP. These people don't know me very well which is why I'm having this dilemma. I only show the "LEANA" most people are acquainted with when I am extremely comfortable in my environment but when I'm not OOOH I'm as shut as a clam. <--- SURPRISE SURPRISE FOR MY FRIENDS :)))))


BUT YEAH. I'M LIKE THAT.


So going back, how can I show them who I am when I'm not yet that comfortable around them? How???????? ALSO, who the hell am I anyway???? HAYYYY. I seriously don't have the faintest idea what to say.... :(


So guys can you help me out? WHO IS LEANA ISABEL VIBAL??? :) can you acquaint us?

NASANGKOT- cool word learned from a not so conventional place

NASANGKOT!


A very harsh cool word. I usually hear this in cases involving a violent murder or any heavy crime but I never expected to see it in a simple car accident. WAIT car accident implies something big like a crash... a better term is a CAR MISHAP.


I was intrigue by the word NASANGKOT. I even said to the police officer "wow ang harsh naman ng term na NASANGKOT". The policeman answered "tagalog iyon ng INVOLVED".  It was then that I was hit with the realization that Filipino words sound more dramatic than they really are. HAHAHA.I don't know why but that is how I perceive the Filipino language to be... OVERLY DRAMATIC. just like its people. SOOOOO DRAMATIC.


BUT WAIT. what was I doing at a Police Station....

Long Forgotten - A short story by ME :)

This is one of those short stories I said I was going to post... :) This is an original ok? please don't be harsh... I'm not really a feature writer... :) GUYS this is 100% fiction ok? This isn't a true to life thing. :)
__________________________________________________________________________________

Christmas is near… Christmas is near…

Long Forgotten

Leana Isabel Sarfati Vibal

          It is Christmas morning. Everyone is supposed to be full of joy. Everyone must be surrounded with the people they love. Sad to say, the same is not for me. My mom isn’t here. She’s somewhere doing her job. I have no siblings and well my dad was never there for me since I turned five. Christmas Eve was ok but it wasn’t that big of a deal unlike in other families. It was basically just me and my mom the whole night.

            Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom. She’s always there for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better mom. It’s just that in my heart lies a memory, a memory of a happier era in my life. This memory if I didn’t hold on to it too much it would’ve been long forgotten.

                That memory was about my Christmas 20 years ago. My last real Christmas was such a long time ago I’m relieved I didn’t forget about it. It was a happier time. My family was still complete then. We stayed with my grandparents for the holidays. Almost all our relatives were there. Hugs, kisses, gifts, food and many more were abundant. How I could wish I could bring it back! I can still remember how my father would tell me “Alena! Smile for the camera” or “Alena, come and give me a hug”. I can’t ever forget that Christmas because it was my last with my entire family.

             After the holidays, things started going wrong. Every morning when I wake up, I could here my mom and dad arguing. But still, I never imagined it ending up this way. I thought on the day I woke up with no screaming or shouting everything was perfect again but I was very wrong. There were no screaming or shouting because my father left. He left without saying goodbye.
            Weeks passed and I waited by the window smiling at every stopping tricycle, only to be disappointed every time it wasn’t him. This lasted on for months then I just waited. I always hoped that he would come back. I never gave up even if my mom would tell me to stop hoping because I’ll just be disappointed. Then when it was time for the holidays again, I noticed a difference. It was like something was missing but I didn’t mind it for the first couple of years but as time passed I started longing for the happy feeling again. I never doubted that he would come back. That was before the 10 year mark. After that I began doubting him. I started to lose hope. After a few more years, I no longer cared. I just lived my life.

        Graduations, birthdays and holidays, after 10 years of disappointment I stopped caring if he was there or not. After 10 more years, I could barely remember his face. By this time, I no longer cared if he would ever come back. I was already used to this life, just my mom and myself.
       Today is just like any day when I didn’t have school. I’d stay with my friends from across the street. I stayed there till I felt like it. The only odd thing was today when I looked out my friend’s window I saw a man staring at our house. I didn’t mind him thinking he just liked the old Spanish façade of our home. But when I checked later, he was still there. Then an hour later, he was still there. I made a deal with myself, if after 30 more minutes he was still there I’d go out and ask him what his problem is. When the time came to check, I noticed he was still there. I went out while preparing my speech for the man but once he saw me, he started walking hurriedly away. I was confused. If he stayed there for over two hours, why did he leave so quickly when he saw me? Also I didn’t quite know his face but something inside me stirred.  It was like a memory I’ve buried inside me was suddenly unearth. Feeling confused, I just decided to go home. I pushed the rusty old gate then suddenly something fell down. It was a piece of paper. Written on it were these words:

I’m sorry Poinky…Merry Christmas… I love you dear always have and always will

         It was then that I realized that the man across the street from me moments ago was my father. No one calls me Poinky aside from him. The father I waited for, for many years finally came back. I started looking around. I ran from corner to corner checking to see if he was still there. But he was nowhere to be found. I soon gave up and just went inside contemplating on my stupidity at not recognizing my own father. I now know the memory that was suddenly unearthed was the long forgotten memory of my father. After all these years of waiting, I didn’t even notice when he came back. It was then I started remembering all the feelings of longing I long forgot. I feel both happy and sad. I feel happy ‘cause now I know he still cared for me. He still called me by my childhood nickname which means he remembered me. My father didn’t forget about me. However, I also feel sad. For many years, I always wished he would come back. But why would he choose to come back now? Why now? Now when I’ve already forgotten about him. Now when I’ve stopped caring. Why?  I know it may seem weird, but right now I wish he just didn’t come back so that I wouldn’t remember the hurt and longing anymore. So that, I could live my life peacefully as it has been for 20 years now. I just wished he remained long forgotten if he didn’t want to stay.

 _________________________________________________________________________________

Sad? :( Dunno why I wrote it this way... I'm generally a happy person GUYS this is 100% fiction ok? :)

Why a blog leana? why a blog....???

I could barely update my plurk and post regularly in tumblr, why must I sign up for a blog?


I honestly DON'T KNOW. Seriously. 


Well, I have seen a lot of people with blogs. Some tend to annoy me because of all the grammar faux pas their posts contain. While, others inspire me because of the insight and reflections. Though I don't want to level with the really good ones, I just really want to express myself. WHY? (you may ask do I need to "express myself") Hmmm... Maybe because a little bit of self expression is good for your health? Or maybe because I just like to vent. HAHAHAHHAHA. Yea. You read right. VENT. There are times I read things that peeve me so instead of telling my friends about I think I'd rather vent it out with a more creative approach. But rants aren't the only things you'll see here... there are times when I feel creative so I might post some short stories or poems... 


You see I hope this blog will be a smorgasbord of ideas and creativity... I don't want this to be all about the shit of my life.. I want VARIETY.


sooo... well this first post is like a DISCLAIMER huh?
yeah maybe that's it... :)


DISCLAIMER:  
IF YOU CAN'T APPRECIATE VARIETY (whether in style or in opinion) DON'T READ ANYMORE.