That's it, I'm indebted to the internet (not just for the easy tutorial above)... and addicted to youtube. It is my official tutor for photoshop.

Why else would I want to spend hours flipping through dogearred books for one effect when I can learn it for free under 10mins with step-by-step guidance? When u're handling the currency of time, u realize just how vital it is for business.
But this is not my main point.

With every skillset attained, comes the invaluable revelation of potential in each of the tools and applications used in that tutorial. This naturally leads to "what happens if I do this before that" and before I know it, I have created an effect I don't even have a name for. With the endless possibilities and permutations, no wonder it doesnt make sense to write just 1 comprehensive manual -- new ones are being uncovered every second.

In the world of Photoshop, a definition for "mistake" does not exist... cos nothing is a mistake and everything is a creation. To me, this is art... and my playground for 2009 & many years to come ;p

It's the day-to-day stuff like this that make me realise how amazing God is.
One earnest prayer for creativity and He gives you a simple revelation to blow ur mind away and keep u inspired to keep trying when the going gets tough. Man, He's awesome!

It's not that I'm having post-chat reservations, even though I do think I've been revisiting that saved msn conversation a tad too often for my liking.
Let's just call this a post-chat reflection.

I'm thankful to God for protecting the friendship between the 2 of us, despite what had happened in the past. By conventional/mainstream/social definition, we wouldn't even be talking right now and I would still be yearning for a life created by false hopes and dreams that will only shred my heart from shards to smithereens when cold hard reality b*tch-slaps me across my tear-stained cheeks. So, thank God for His presence during the guitar worship sessions. I thought He wouldn't show up but He did (everytime) and that memory itself lends a weird calmness when I think back about it, reminding me of how I should put God in the centre of every relationship. Guess I've to break out of old mindsets about how He operates.

It puzzles me... How did we learn to block ourselves from destructive words spoken by the ones we look up to? When did people like me become architects of emotional walls? What price do we pay to really move on, for real? Could we have unconsciously entered a state of numbness that gave birth to our unreasonable expectations and, worse, missed opportunities for escape?

I'm not scared cos I know God's with me and according to His time, eventually, I will be alright. I'm just apprehensive of the screwups that I'd keep making in moments of weakness because I'm not as emotionally strong as I should be.

So, God help me. I'm pretty much... numb.

"it's like a beautiful dress that doesnt fit.
it's not that u have a horrible figure or that the dress sux.
wrong cutting... and if someone who suits the dress comes along, voila.
the dress brings out the best in the wearer and the wearer does justice to the dress"
- soulvibes

thanks guys. what would i do without u...

ok some break time in 2009 and then i can perhaps stroll casually by "new stables for new stallions" and see which one sweeps me off me feet...

"we want the best thing in the candy shop to be ours and no one else's - even though that "best" may not be best for us" - PseudoDarling

Guess i still have alot of things to learn in the department of "giving" in a relationship...

I think the threshold needs some more tweaking and drawing but this is the best I can come up with in 10mins...

Think I'll use this photo for playing with other effects:

Original




Pop Art (from luv2help)




Sin City Effect (as per previously posted)



Pop Art Poster (from freetutorials) I dig this one!

Was surfing for some mindmapping inspiration and totally lol-ed at these:


This one's cool. Did you get the joke already?

I have a story to tell.
One I don't even know where to begin.

You have no idea how many times I've visited this space to try to write an entry, only to blog abt a youtube video. How does one illustrate with words what God moved with His hands?

Fine... I did attempt with a planned & heavily-condensed testimony at "谢谢你的爱" cgm a week ago. But that wasn't enough... cos even as I was sharing, that still small voice kept reminding me that things are only just beginning.

Then it struck me at candlelight service last weekend... a melting pot of feelings enveloped me, so suddenly I didnt dare move for fear that they will go away. There was the all too familiar "by faith"-anticipation-of-the-unknown and the "i-dont-even-dare-to-think-about-it, the "but i don't know how!", the "why not"s and the realization of "that can be me".

This year, I didnt fuss with the camera and just stood still. Didnt even bother to sing, just stared at the naked flame in my hand.

I'll try. Be back here again before 2008 ends. Watch this space.

one of my fave songs for bachata prac (fingers crossed i get to partner kit or anand)
funny how there's an mtv for it...

Since I'm relatively free now, me thinks it would be a great idea to grab a few longtimenosee friends frm Facebook & catch up. Ok so I ended up cooking chili tuna linguine for dinner (surprisingly edible considering how it's just whacking ingredients without giving a thought about proportions, balance of flavours and "what recipe?!?" Hahaha maybe when you pray for creativity in the workplace, God gives you creativity in the kitchen too!

Browse browse browse click click click... without consciously counting, there're about ten 25-yr-old friends who:
1) got engaged/married
2) got pregnant
3) threw a full-month celebration for their baby
in 2008.

Then came the dwelling (yet again), that my generation has really moved on from Phase "Yea we're single adults woot woot!" to Phase "I will love you, til death do us part" to Phase "We are honored to share with you the joy of our son/daughther's birth."

Which brings me back to the amusing (well, at least to me) conversation Mum and I had a re-enactment (if u're lost, please see this.) of a couple of weeks back. Ended that by gently asking her if she'd rather I'm stuck with a man who's not mature enough to handle the unforeseen problems marriage will bring or I'm happy, whether single or not.

Okokok, I don't mean to get started on how seemingly (I bolded it k!) hopeless Singaporean men are but recent encounters with one particular specimen of the opposite gender has rendered me absolutely baffled as to what happened to the men of my generation. To summarise, he has proven himself to be petty (retracted, I repeat, retracted his offer of help to female friends in need), ungentlemanly and does something only if he gets something in return. Which is my personal and ultimate pet peeve - selfishness. Sigh. Then again, I shouldnt be so harsh since one takes a while to learn that the only way to win someone to oneself is to give.

Anyway, I'm gonna kick my stiletto-heeled feet back and let God do His magic in the love department. I have faith that it'll happen cos He had fulfilled my heart's desire a couple of times before and He has never let me down. And He'll not let me down this time either. Just wait and see.

Which is perfect since I don't have time for love right now anyway. Put Mr Right in front of me i cfm bak chew tak stamp. Focus on the other gazillion things to do heh :p Another time.

For the sake of ending on a light note, here's a quiz I found from Jo's blog:



Tadah!!! Boh liao, I know :p

It would be great if there's a search engine for laptops that can give me a list of recommendations for this:


Notebook PC


- IntelCore 2 Duo Processor T9400 or P8600
- 3GB RAM (at least)
- 320GB Hard Drive (or 250GB at least)
- 512MB Graphics Memory (or 256MB at least)
- 2kg (at most)
- 14.1" WXGA High Definition Brightview Widescreen


And the only babies that embody the above specs...


HP Pavilion DV4-1141TX Notebook PC
Pricetag: $2,399

and

Compaq Presario CQ45-122TX Notebook PC
Pricetag: $1,999

For an additional 400 bucks, I'm getting a faster processor, integrated TV tuner and extra 256MB graphics memory... Hmmm....

Met up with my bff for a long jog last night and after Jo reminded me abt my dream machine with a 要买就要买最好的, I went home to relook the system specs for a Macbook Pro... only to realise that I don't have Adobe CS3 for Macs. Very smart, Jean.

So it's PC... for now. And when the moolah starts rolling in regularly, I can then consider being the proud owner of a heavy-duty, lightweight and uber chic Macbook Pro with Adobe CS4 (or CS5). Drool...