Batang kalye

umiinog ang mundo mo sa kalye
dito ka isinilang
nakipagbuno sa kalikasan upang kahit papaano
ang katawan mong impis ay magkalaman

naging paaralan mo ito--
natututo--tungkol sa buhay, para mabuhay
nakikipagsapalaran sa bawat sandali
kung saan ay walang katiyakan
kung kailan ka matatapos
tanging Diyos lang ang nakaka-alam

palaruan mo ang bawat lansangan
nakikipagpatintero sa mga sasakyan
humahabol sa bawat taong mapaghihingian at mapaghihingahan
upang kalam na tiyan at
sikip ng dibdib ay maibsan
habang nakikita mo ang ibang bata
akay ng kanilang magulang
alam kong itinatanong mo din,
"Pano kaya ang magkaroon ng mas mayamang magulang?"

bata!
hanggang kailan
na ang pagkain ay guni-guni na lang?
saplot sa katawan
ang bahay na inaasam
ang katreng mapaglalatagan ng hapo mong katawan
ang lapis at papel na dapat mong hawak
ay mananatiling
drowing at
kathang isip na lamang?

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Inkblots: Double R [Rants and Rates]

Life is not always pleasant. You wake up one morning and some work issues greet you, making you grumpy the whole day. Save for the photos I see on Flickr in between work, and getting nice comments on my photos.

Then getting some not really good news from my sister, the morbid stories about the Romblon disaster, the spiraling prices of oil in the world market, and some saddening stories about my wife's cousin. Last Friday seems Friday the 13th!

However, I think God is really good. At least, the tax exemption is bigger now, which would at least gives me a bigger take home pay. I just hope they get reflected in my next pay check. Overall, my household is peaceful. My two sons are behaving well. Blessings! Blessings! I would count them instead.

In my previous post, I just started to count my blessings by discussing and expressing my gratitude to PinoyCentric as the second home for my photos in the net. Then, while reviewing the Technorati blog stats in Larawang Pinoy, to see if my groupmates are reading the LP blog after all. i was happy with the results in terns of page views and unique visits. Not bad for a baby blog. Then I noticed that there was a new link on Rate my Philippines. So I clicked it and saw something familiar screen shot -- and that is my blog! So I clicked it and indeed, it was my blog which is the latest review of the Rate my Philippines (RMP) Website.

Although it did not come to me as a surprise because, in the first place, I submitted my blog for rating and to be included in their review. What surprised me is the fact that it came too soon, add to to it the very nice review they gave to my blog.

I would say, it feels good to get a very nice review from people like the admins and website reviewers of RMP. There are not enough words to thank them for making me feel good about myself today.

Thanks a lot, Rate My Philippines!

God Bless and have a happy weekend!

...
P.S. I finally made a way on how to perform print screen, which you can see now posted here. I think the Print Screen button of my keyboard is not functioning. Then I looked into the installation icon, and found the function called "on-screen keyboard". So I tried if it works. It did! Cool A4Tech keyboard! Now I do not have to bug Alvin to do a print screen for me. LOLs!

Also, please visit THIS LINK and rate my blog. Just click at the stars below the review. Thanks!

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PinoyCentric - A second home

When I started with Flickr last year (2007), one of the first Flickr groups that I joined is PinoyCentric. It's group description says:

This is a place to share interesting your photos from around the world. Whether you're a pro or an amateur this is the place to showcase your best images of our people and culture - your own unique view of being a Filipino no matter where the diaspora has taken you.

From the links in the Flickr, I also stumbled upon their website with the same name. I thought it was a cool site solely dedicated to the promotion of Filipino culture, tradition, arts and crafts, and events and home-grown talents, both in the Philippines and abroad. Sharing the same vision of PinoyCentric, I was further inspired to hone my craft and capture through my lens the essence of being a Filipino, and the Philippines as a whole.

One day, I received a Flickr mail from Armand Frasco, one of the owners and admins, if they could possibly publish one of my photos and the accompanying story. Of course I was excited. It was the first time my work has been published in the net. This is the result of that short negotiation, which I also blogged here. Since then, by showing gratitude to PinoyCentric, I have contributed some photos in the group pool, and I was lucky enough that some of my works were also published in PinoyCentric. Some of these landed as weekly cover photo.

May this simple blog entry be my way of showing gratitude to Armand Frasco and the rest of the PinoyCentric Admins and Staff for recognizing some of my works.

May PinoyCentric continue to showcase the Philippines--its people, culture and the arts!

Maraming Salamat!
.....

You can view the photos included in PinoyCentric, HERE.

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My updated Lakbayan Rating

I has been 11 months after I got my Lakbayan rating. So I am now updating my Lakbayan Grade. Nothing much has changed ex except I think that I have been more often in Cagayan de Oro, been to Batanes, and Romblon in the past months.

My Lakbayan grade is B+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.


So get your grade now....I am now a "B+" from a "B" Traveler in the Philippines. I wish that I could be A- at least.

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Larger than life

I have always been fascinated with images that are larger than life. Looking at the awesome macros of my Flickr buddies is a delightful experience--and I realized that even a dreaded and despicable housefly or garden fly would look so beautiful--then I begin to realize that God's creations--big, small and tiny, have something good to offer. Definitely, they are an eye-candy!

When I decided to buy a 70-300mm Zuiko lens, I was not thinking only of street photography. Then I realized that I can also use this for macro photography. There are dedicated lenses for macro photography, but buying another would be too costly on my part. So I thought I should make it a try with my 70-300mm zoom. I already have the 40-150mm but I just can't get what I want from my macro shots. For a time, I was wondering how I would make use of it. I had a hard time adjusting using long lenses and it just did not augur well for shaky hands like mine.

Nonetheless, I succeeded in this venture. The photo is one of my better macros so far. Not yet the best, but I hope I would be able to capture more tiny creatures.

You can view the rest of my macro photography HERE.

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Esteemed

I was capturing people who are praying at the Pilar Shrine. Then I saw him in one corner. He was coughing hard and seemed so sick, which explains why he had a chair solely for himself. He seemed to be waiting the whole day for people who wanted to have their photographs taken. I wanted to get near him to conduct a short interview, but for some reasons, I hesitated. I just contented myself with taking his photo. I was glad he did not mind at all, or perhaps, he was too tired to mind me.

Photographers like him remind me of a funny experience in Baguio a year after my college graduation. I was in Burnham Park doing my photography when a middle-aged woman came to me and asked if they can have their photos taken. I did not know what to say but I was so amused. I just told them I am not a park photographer and it was just a hobby. They were so ashamed and apologized, but I told them it was okay and it was not the first time it happened to me.

I always admire these park photographers. Unfortunately, their livelihood is no longer as brisk as it was 3 decades ago, when there were fewer people who had a camera. To all park photographers like him, this is my tribute!

Taken at:
Pilar Shrine
Fort Pilar, Zamboanga City

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