here goes the genie...

credit: all from hb19's skyplay set on flickr; how did he do it? Read Sky Play: Rethinking The Cloudy Day

Today, I stumbled across http://www.photojojo.com/ through my friend's 365 project on tumblr, and boy was I hooked! I spent this afternoon clicking through interesting articles, funny manips and amusing ideas to try!

From practical guides like Capturing motion in photography; to fun ones, such as: Scratch-N-See: Vandalize Photos in the Name of Art.

They also have mean DIY projects for making flipbooks and The Perpetual Photo Wall Calendar.

For those who are not really into photography as an art, but just to capture memories of people for their Christmas cards, MySpace or blackmail... There are links to Tricks For Taking Good Group Photos, and Taking Family Portraits That Break The Rules, reiterating the fact that candids are always nicer to look back on than posed shots ;)

Kill boredom and monotony, try and laugh at yourself once in awhile with links to silly manips and face drawings: Send This Guy Your Face, Put your face on any magazine. Also, I bet you didn't know your camera is the new gameboy- Play Games With Your Camera.

For street style bloggers and photographers, here's an easy way of getting willing people to pose for your shots: How To Shoot Street Portraits. If anybody decides to sue you because you are shooting them without permission, you might want to read this so you can wave it in their faces.

Yes, we love music. We love live music even more. But we hate it when security people are telling us we can't take photos of our favorite band. But rule 10 says:

"If someone tries to confiscate your camera and/or film, you don’t have to give it to them. If they take it by force or threaten you, they can be liable for things like theft and coercion. Even law enforcement officers need a court order."

Seems like my friend shouldn't have given up her memory stick after all!
PhotoJojo has a short but sweet guide on capturing the concert experience, with more detailed venue size-specific links in the article. I found this useful.

... and when I found this, I started regretting my deleting dozens of shoe photos I've taken on holidays or walks in the mall when I was clearing out my hard drive. Time to start again.

I reckon the best place to start is the 22 New Year's Photo Resolutions. Simple but effective to try. I'm doing this one, starting with organizing everything onto my new External HD!

I hope my PanaLumix doesn't take a beating... xD

♫ Wake The Dead - The Used

P.S. I couldn't help but link one last article I found super cool- . One of my favorites ^_^

Poupee Girl: Insanely Addictive

I found Poupee Girl (yes, funny name when you say it aloud, harhar.) while blog-hopping, read a random one talking about her Poupee account.. so I signed up and ended up stuck on it for 3 HOURS.

It's kinda like a doll site crossed with chictopia, and costs nothing for 'ribbons', their currency.
When you sign up, you customize the appearance of your doll/person - hair, eyes, skin tone, etc.But you start off with nothing in your closet.

To give your doll some dignity, you have to upload photos of YOUR (yes, YOURS as in real-life) items - clothes, hats, shoes, toys, etc.
By doing so, you earn some 'ribbons' and free items as an incentive. I think they're made to be similar to the pictures you uploaded as mine were black, white and red on the first uploads =_=".

It is worthy to note, though, that there IS a limit to daily posting for rewards. Once you post something and don't get anything for it, STOP AT ONCE and wait until tomorrow to continue doing so.

Sometimes, you get SHELLS instead of wearables.Please don't make the same mistake I did by selling the duplicates. When you have collected 5 shells, go to the fountain and throw them in for a ~FREE ITEM. *headdesk*

Another free way to obtain ribbons is by saving your daily snapshot. Drag and drop the clothes onto your person like a paper doll and click save snapshot. ONE EASY RIBBON.

Not to worry, most of the site is in English; but most of the users are Japanese. It won't be much of a worry to those who can't read it, though. The comments usually say similar compliments like kawaii (cute), ai (love) or similar things. After all, why comment it if you didn't like it?

The SUTEKI button under an item is for you to click on if you like it; suteki meaning COOL in Japanese. It's like adding "Hype" to a lookbook outfit.

Your ribbons are used to buy items either from the Poupee Market (off other users, where you can also sell) or Katharine Shop; the ONLY "shop" on the game, much like a department store.

BUT BE QUICK!
I'm playing while typing this out and items are bought just like that *snaps fingers*.

Oh, and for Purikura aka Neoprint freaks like myself, I discovered recently that they had a Pupecula, Poupee Girl's version of sticker pictures that you can even drag and drop Pupe friends you've added on the site to!

I wish you the best of luck with backing away from the computer once you've started. It's silly but addictive.

P.S. If anyone has a fedora, I'm interested! (nickname = shinigami)

the best way to chronicle life (and death?)

credit: Ann-D

The only thing people enjoy as much as reading someone else's diary is leafing through their own old journals, laughing at their past; and what better way to make the activity more entertaining than it is; than keeping a SPIFFY MOLESKINE.

Why yes, that moleskine rage sweeping nations. Thanks to its dedicated followers sharing the moleskine love on the internet, the limitless uses can be fuelled by insane numbers of inspiration, ideas and simply eye candy online, like:

~ Moly_X: an international moleskine sketchbook exchange
~ My Moleskine
~ Moleskine Alchemists
~ Moleskine: One Page at a Time
~ Moleskinerie
~ jr__nal
... and many more! Just search 'moleskine' on either Livejournal.com or Flickr.com and you'll have HEAPS of results.

Ideas:

- a dream/wishlist book to stick or draw pictures of things you want to have/do/own/achieve and tick them off as you accomplish them. Keep adding over time and shock yourself with how much you've actually done!

- a fashion notebook for collecting loads of pictures to inspire you, whether it's clothes, makeup, hairstyles, shoes, photography... ANYTHING! Designers use these to help them come up with new ideas, and you can also use it as a reference for when you want a certain, say, haircut! ^_^ You can even have a What I Wore Today with a daily polaroid!

- a city guide which you should fill with anything and everything about, in and from a certain place. Maybe even include a shopping directory or glue business cards of restaurants you loved with a mouth watering illustration of the tasty meal you had. Watch out, Lonely Planet: Moleskines are the new tour guidebooks!

- a book of friends, like an autograph book or dedication book, you get your favorite people to fill in stuff about themselves and write you a cute/stupid/funny little note. You can designate each friend a page in the journal, let them take it home overnight to spice up in any way they like, pictures and whatnot with the usual writing using a page or double-page each. It's more personal than a yearbook and requires minimal effort on your part!

- speak a thousand words by filling your journal with lyrics and quotes you love, complemented by a matching drawing alongside. For added eye candy, write them in fancy or messy handwriting. Maybe an idea for a future tattoo? Possibly...

- immortalising your inner fangirl/boy by keeping old concert tickets, photos and/or magazine clippings of (and with! If you've met them) your favorite musician/actor/celebrity/etc. Write an imaginary letter (which you may end up sending one day, who knows?) or simply rant and rave about a new album or movie. Hilarious? I know mine would be.

The possibilities are ENDLESS, but instead of wasting your time reading about what you could do with your moleskine; get to it now and freeze in time a little piece of the current you in its pages.

Tell me, what do you use your moleskines for?
Because I'm sure you're more creative than I am ;)

For more Moleskine Inspiration, hit http://galadarling.com/! Excellent blog right there.

♫ Shockwave - Black Tide

2009

credit: sloshspot

I have decided to start the new year on a clean slate and stop harboring resentment.
I am going to do things that I keep saying I will do but never seem to act on them.

One of those things is this:
Revive the use of blogspot; not for my personal ramblings and blow by blow of daily life so I can look back on them a little later and laugh at myself, but the kind made for anyone to read.

This year, I want to be inspired.

2008 proved wishes do come true.
Surprise me, 2009.

♫ Disconnect - Pennywise