Author: Ricci Chan

<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="margin: 0px auto 0px; cursor: hand; width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.photography-colleges.org/wp-content/themes/hello_d_wp/hello_d/images/photography.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></p> <div style="font-style: italic; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;"> <p style="text-align: center;">image borrowed from <a href="http://http://www.photography-colleges.org/wp-content/themes/hello_d_wp/hello_d/images/photography.jpg/">Photography Colleges</a></p> </div> <p style="text-align: justify;">Eight years in the beauty business has taught me one singular thing: there is no such thing as mediocrity. You're either just beautiful or you're not; just ugly or not. Plain is a white polo, or a place where you plant rice, not a beauty standard.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The same, I guess, goes for people who call themselves "photographers." With the advent of new technology (read: digital photography, and the countless list of "cam-whatevers" - from phone cams to mp3 cams, etc.) more and more people are getting into the realm of photography. But few, I declare, are worthy to be called photographers. It's meshing a great eye with technical savvy; clicking at that right moment whilst making sure one has prepared that perfect moment to begin with.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Let me keep this simple. The title says it all.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2009/04/10-things-i-hate-about-wannabe-photographers/#more-17" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1064687668614_2003/09/28/350queereye,0.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img class="aligncenter" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: hand; width: 348px; height: 375px;" src="http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1064687668614_2003/09/28/350queereye,0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> Ok ok I know it's been a while (read: almost half a year) since I last posted. I have been a deliquent. But in between bouts of writers' block, procrastination, and pure boredom, business has been booming, and life has been quite active.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">But now that I have found the time to write (much like finding the time to go to the gym and haul my 15-pounds overweight ass), I will try to keep it as regular as possible.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Let me keep this simple. The title says it all.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2009/04/10-things-i-hate-about-home-makeover-shows/#more-16" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

Believe it or not, this is the photo I present on my travels. <p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sXbaVJTh3xQ/SSqByHngMsI/AAAAAAAAACA/PY1aRQx0LuU/s1600-h/4197801223590l-jpg.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272169011828765378" class="aligncenter" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: hand; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sXbaVJTh3xQ/SSqByHngMsI/AAAAAAAAACA/PY1aRQx0LuU/s320/4197801223590l-jpg.jpeg" border="0" alt="" /></a> I will admit, though, that there has been some assistance (the operative word being SOME) from CS3, but the photo is still a testament to the photographic talent of Ronnie Salvacion and makeup savvy of Juan Sarte III. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, life's a ball when you have the country's best do something as mundane for you as your passport picture. It is such a good thing.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/11/christmas-contests-ka-cheapan/#more-15" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://petitinvention.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/stinky_trash-petitinvention.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img class="aligncenter" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 0px; text-align: center; cursor: hand; width: 320px;" src="http://petitinvention.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/stinky_trash-petitinvention.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">image borrowed from <a href="http://petitinvention.wordpress.com/">PetitInvention</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">I've always held a great respect for tenure. In fact, my life is filled with positions that are held for long periods of time: my family I've had all my life; my real friends are at least a decade old; exes last at the very least 9 months (or at least long enough to get someone pregnant); careers are several years in the making; even crushes (the palpable ones at least), I've kept for more than 365 days, and so on. The same thing goes for things I hold in great value -- my grade school exams, the first notebook I bought in Europe, pens I got on sale during high school, and love letters I received from relationships of yore (read: 1990) -- all these are still stored in a locked place in my house waiting for the day I decide to re-file them, or finally throw them away.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/11/secure-empty-trash/#more-14" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

America gets a new chance, and Hollywood's long-time prediction (or joke) is proven true: Obama wins, there is a Black president in the White house, and everyone (well, at least majority of the US -- and the world) is happy.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/11/time/#more-13" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div>

In lieu of new posts, and as I try to hurriedly catch my brain to write again, here's something you guys might find interesting. It's a new set of lyrics for a new song I'm cooking up. Let me know what you think. :) <div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/11/new-words-new-music/#more-12" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div>

<span style="font-style: italic;">"When was the last time you did something for the first time?"</span> -- Emirates Airline TVC copy<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/you-win-none-you-lose-one/#more-10" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div>

<p style="text-align: justify;">HOPE. It's one of those words we closely attach to Hallmark moments and Praise & Worship. It has always been a "positive" word (if ever there are), usually given the all-too-overstated concept that everything will be fine, or that everything will turn out okay. It is one to push people to the belief that sitting down in passivity will yield a promising eventuality, or that the all-too-powerful notion of positive thinking will change the reality of life from one that is forlorn, to one that is filled with optimism. Few have dared to look at hope for the exact opposite of what it is believed to be - that it can be an agent of despair, and could be one to encourage blind faith.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/on-hope/#more-9" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">There are some things money can't buy. Sure, you can think of "precious" memories, "loving" moments, even "embarrassing" anecdotes to name a few. More important for me, though, are those little details in life that, no matter what you do, you will never get back; things you wish you could have just paid some money to hang on to, or even keep forever. Those memories, those moments, those anecdotes you wish you could put in a small box and lock up for God knows how long.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/mastercard-moments/#more-8" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Abstinence, as defined by the dictionary, is a noun that refers to the act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite, or the practice of choosing not to do something one would like. It requires an absoluteness of perspective, and is never a whimsical forethought, as in the case of "abstaining" from white chocolate, and not from dark; there is no such thing. It is never balanced, nor is it borne out of vague profundities; it is definitive, bound, and a slave to its own end. It is the nonreturnable fruit from the Garden of Good & Evil, and has never been part of the vocabulary to which "annulment" and "divorce" belong to. It is black or white, and never seen in tones, and will never be an "or" or "but." It simply "is."<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/the-difference-between-subtlety-and-crap/#more-7" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Nico is sleeping, I am still awake, and eating my 3rd pack of Mallows. Life is good.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/sweet-nothings/#more-6" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">** This post has been plucked out from my ElChay (Livejournal to you who don't yet know) because it seems like it fits my current mood for nostalgia. <span style="font-style: italic;">O baka naman kinikilig lang ako dahil nakita ko siya ulit sa</span> G4M (Guys4men to you who don't yet know, or pretending not to know, or to you who don't yet know when to come out).</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Enjoy.<div class="qodef-more-link-container"><a itemprop="url" href="https://www.riccichan.com/2008/09/someday-aka-rantings-of-the-kacheapan/#more-5" target="_self" class="qodef-btn qodef-btn-medium qodef-btn-solid"> <span class="qodef-btn-text">Continue reading</span> </a></div></p>