exploring the light

with rick sammon's book!
this is what i'm currently reading. to be honest i haven't gotten too far yet. i'm probably on page 26, so i can't give you a good review of it. but perhaps when i am done.. i'll let you know how it helps, or doesn't help, a beginner like myself. and just for fun.... i wanted to say: f-stop! f-stop. f-stop. f-stop!

love of reading

photo by suchitra prints on flickr.

after watching a small snippet of the movie matilda yesterday, i am eager to start reading everything i can. there's no doubt that reading is a wonderful way to open your mind to new ideas/concepts, vocabulary! and to learn about things all around you. but as a child i was like a woodworm, i never liked to read. i was 'too cool' for activity such as reading. instead, i glued myself to a television screen. and although television bestowed upon me the ability to speak perfect english (for english is my second language), it has not taught me too much more. this is probably greatly attributed to the types of shows i chose to watch (i.e. disney channel). and so, because i am at a stage in my life in which i want to learn a bagillion things (will this stage ever pass?), i have decided to dedicate myself to reading more about subjects i want to learn about. for example, photography, buying a home, investing my money, etc etc. and hopefully i'll increase my vocabulary in the process. yay me!

feel good noun: palm trees

this weekend i went to balboa beach with a few of my girl friends. we were actually celebrating a birthday. it was tons of fun. filled with a lot of jumps, and super high ocean waves. although i wasn't able to grab a picture of those crazy things, i was able to take one of the many surrounding palm trees. just seeing a palm tree immediately reminds me of the beach, of summer, and of a cooling breeze. now that summer's nearing it's end, i am trying to take in a much of it as possible. oh me, and not appreciating things while they're here. i need to learn better habits for the future.

the sunrise this morning

today i woke up before the crack of dawn in hopes of capturing some beautiful pictures of the san diego skyline from coronado's ferry landing. but.. damn those clouds! this was the best i could do. nothing but a plain grayish sky was captured. i was utterly disappointed. but there will be other days. other sunrises.

feel good noun: rocks

when i was younger i would hold a rock in my hand to stay calm in situations that made me beyond angry. knowing this habit of mine, one of my close friends had picked up a smoothed-out pebble from the beach one day and drew a beautiful pattern on it, couple with a poem, and gave it to me. absolutely priceless.

what do i find beautiful?

photo by annia316 on flickr

mother nature.

feel good noun: flames.

i really love this picture i took of the flames burning in my candle. something about it realy relaxes me.

tomorrow, it's really off to the sunrise. i've been telling myself i'll go to the sunset soon to take some amazing pictures (hopefully), but i never went. tomorrow morning, no backing out because my friend is picking me up. that's definitely one way to get me motivated!

feel good noun: rammekins

i've been wanting these things since forever! and one day, at one of my random walks through tj maxx, i was lucky enough to find these. a set of 4 teal colored rammekins for $3.99. how lucky was i?! of course i bought them! now i really am tempted to make a souffle. i've never had them and have always wanted to try one. i also got myself an handheld electric mixer. yay me!

sunset.

picture by kevindooley on flickr.

today i am inspired to go and take pictures of the sunset. sometimes, san diego offers such beautiful sunsets. i remember my first visit here when i was 13 or 14 years old. the sun had set on that day, leaving a beautiful hot pink/purple hue in the sky. it seems so random when the sky decides to give us a beautiful color like that. the last time i saw it was perhaps 2 weeks ago, while sitting in class. do you think i'll get lucky and catch it tonight?

1st feel good noun: hot tea

it's so cold in this office. i'm always freezing. i love my job, but i hate that it's in an igloo. i'm just not cut out for the eskimo life.

picture by joakima2 on flickr.

'feel good noun'

I keep up with plenty of blogs on my Google Reader, so much so that I don't even remember the names of the blogs anymore. Whenever there's an update, I simply scroll through it's content for something that catches my eye. One of the things that always catches my eye is on "kind over matter." The blog is managed by two women, Jenn and Amanda. Jenn always has a section that she does, and it's called 'feel good noun.' What it is is basically a simple photo of something that makes her 'feel good.' I thought it was an amazingly simple idea, but a great one! It's very easy to update a blog with a simple picture, but attaching it to the words 'feel good noun' gives you, and even your readers, an almost uplifting feeling. It manages to make my day just a little bit brighter. I think I will copy her idea and try to replicate it here! Of course, my pictures won't be anything as beautiful as hers, but I can always try.

I am excited to start! Class is over and I have a lot more free time on my hands to cook, hang out with friends, take pictures of anything, and just lay around and enjoy the summertime (or what's left of it).