Urban Tips #1 - Dryer Sheets

For those of you who use dryers, there's this thing called dryer sheets. Their main purpose is to reduce static, make ur clothes smell nice and also decrease wrinkles in them (don't ask me how they do that).


(I am in no way promoting this item, just an e.g. of a dryer sheet brand).

But one problem I face every time I do my laundry is that I have to throw them out once they're used. I feel a little bad cos they still smell great (although not enough to survive another dryer cycle). So what I do is (I found this tip online) to stuff them into my closet, my drawers, inside my sleeping bag, near stinky sneakers, anywhere that you might want smelling a bit nicer.

So I end up sort of recycling the sheets and have clothes that smell great!

Urban Tips

So living in the US has been very different from Malaysia. Over here since the food is more expensive, standard of living is higher, etc. I've had to look for different ways to save money, make things last longer, cook better and yes even getting stains out of clothes. So I'll be putting together a couple of blog posts as and when I come across excellent ideas and call them Urban Tips. They will most probably be stuff that I came across online or just tips from friends. If I am able to, I'll quote the source.

You can use them anywhere you are. You may not even live in an urban area but hey I'm in a suburban area so who cares (maybe I shud rename it to suburban tips?:P). They may not necessarily apply to you in the condition that you are in. But the least they can do is entertain you.

They'll cover topics ranging from food, work, school stuff, shopping, clothes, to whatever that may be of interest to me.

I hope you'll like them and being the erratic blogger that I am, they may be far and few or a whole lot of these posts.

Cheers!

Jenny Sun!

It's been a while since I visited Jenny Sun's blog. Her new pics of her visit to Rome somehow struck me that my photography angle appears very much like hers. Haha... it's weird. But I do admit that her photography and love for light has influenced my picture taking style a LOT. Now if only I could get her vintage feel into my pics...

Anyway, if you're into awesome photogs, you've gotta check out her new blog site here

Beef

Probably one of the more controversial classes that I've set in since being here.

Not only does the course not have a syllabus (seriously uncalled for), but the lecture today really ticked me off in a few ways.

The guy kept on talking about production (granted it is a production class) and about satisfying consumer demand that the aspect that is the most important - the cow itself, was neglected. On and on about why u shud eat beef. Why the public perception is wrong. Why being termed factory farm is not a bad thing. Why ppl are given so much flak for working in this industry. Why natural and organic farms are not sustainable. Why hormones used in animals are safe.

One of the main things that some ppl forget is that you are working with live animals. Comparing your industry with that of the automobile one is not fair. Cars and trucks are inanimate objects. They do not have health issues. They do not have rights. There is no need for their welfare.

But animals are also sentient beings.
They have wants and needs.
They have discomforts and experience pain.
They are breathing.
They are alive.

CathyandDavidPhotography

so... a couple of weeks ago (on Apr 28th to be exact), the Purdue Photography Club organised a little event with wedding photographers Cathy and David Bock who were based in IL but studies in Purdue.

I was really looking forward to this session. we met at the University Church and was happy to see the good turnout that day:)

Cathy:


David:



After being surrounded week after week by Nikon ppl at the camera club it was so refreshing to see Canon users! yay! They both mainly used the 5D Mark II and shot with some sweet lenses i.e. 35mm f/2.8 (which is probably a new fav of mine:)) and of course the ever popular telephoto 70-200mm f/2.8. They also had the 5omm f/1.2 in their arsenal. so so sweet...

This was a shot of Rose's (a fellow camera enthusiast) Nikon. was playing around with the nifty fifty:



Am gonna show a few nuggets of advice that they so generously gave to us budding photogs:).

When shooting:

1. Get high, get low, get near, get far.

2. Shoot in M mode. They pretty much echoed Jenny Sun's sentiments on this. I still find shooting fully manual to still be intimidating:P

3. Take your safety i.e. cliche shots 1st. Then you'll have time to get the cool photos.

4. Get your detail shots before the crowd comes in.

5. Underpromise and overdeliver. I like this one.

6. Be interested. Don't be apathetic to your clients.

7. 3 things that make a shot (from Ben and Aaron photography): Light. Composition. Something happening.

8. For portraits. Find open shade where there's good even light. So even though the background may be crap, you just open your aperture bigger and throw it out of focus. Good light trumps good background.

9. Take portraits 2 hours before sunset so that your subjects don't have to squint.

10. Be relaxed with your clients.


Misc:

1. Backup your memory cards immediately!

2. Dare to crop pics.

3. Consider taking business management courses.

4. Take wine appreciation courses at Purdue!:P

5. Your network is your net worth.


Here's the 2 of them showing how to set up for a shot:



What to do when you don't have a tripod. Lock your arms into this position:



All in all a great time with the photogs. And they actually stayed with us from 6.30pm - 10pm. Really awesome of them. On top of that they gave us some freebies too:)

You can check out their website here.

Also, follow David's twitter: @cathydavidphoto

Rice Krispies Treats

so here's my 1st attempt at writing a recipe/ cooking post:)

Last Valentine's Day the ISS (International students and Scholars) at Purdue had us baking sweets and stuff. Came across this recipe which was so easy-peasy that even I had the confidence that I could pull it off:P

Things you'll need:

2 1/2 tbs of butter
7oz Marshmallow creme (you might be able to substitute this with 20 pcs of marshmallow)
Rice Krispies (secukup rasa i.e. as much or as little as you want)


1. Melt the butter over the stove. I substituted margarine for the butter cos that was wat's in my fridge.


2. In the meantime, heat the marshmallow creme jar in the microwave (15s) to facilitate ease of spooning it out later.




3. Add the marshmallow creme into your melted butter.




4. Continue to stir until the creme and butter are well mixed and you get a liquid kind of consistency. Careful to continually stir it and not have the flame too high or you'll get burnt creme! (personal experience)


5. Add in the rice krispies as much as you like. I advise you to add a bit more cos if not it'll turn out really really sweet (unless that's wat you like). I would say about 3-4 cups. But yeah, it's pretty subjective:P


6. Turn the fire off and start mixing it together.


7. Once you're happy with the mixture, press it into a pan. I put the parchment paper underneath cos the last time I did this it was a major b*tch to scrub the marshmallow creme out.


8. Stuff it in the fridge and after some time take it out and cut it up!


Indulge your sweet tooth!:)

AC

it's been quite some time since I picked up a book and actually finished reading it. Just last week alone I managed to finally finish one book on American Culture that I have borrowed since months ago, completed another book (which this post is about) and started on a new one.

I forgot how much I loved reading and how much I've missed it. Ever since the advent of the internet, you tend to get lost amidst all the clicking and youtubing and browsing and emailing and facebooking that the simple joy of being able to physically hold a book in your hands and feel the texture of paper has been lost. plus, it being summer there's a bit more time to do some reading.

So, the book that I picked up was by Anderson Cooper called "Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival".



Now the 1st time I ever heard of Anderson was when I started following the political uprising that occurred in Egypt. As I delved more into the topic, I came across this CNN journalist that was actually in Egypt at that moment giving live feed over his nightly show called Anderson Cooper 360. I admired his courage in reporting and also his passion for what he does.

A bit more digging and I found out that he had written a book on his past journalistic experiences. And whaddya know, he even covered Hurricane Katrina and Haiti. Having stepped on NOLA's (New Orleans, Louisiana) soil, I felt that I needed to get my hands on it.

In this book, Anderson covers aspects of his private life and his struggles as a person with a past that he wants to just erase. His poignant story telling shows that there are many layers to a person and that the face or facade that they show to the world on a night time show hides the complexity of the individual.

Some of the stories (especially the war ones) were quite graphically described that I was cringing so much at one point that my housemate asked me what was up. Haha...

The story that really struck home was his retelling of the occurrences and the conditions of MS and LA after Katrina struck. Having been down there for a week and having an idea of how it was, I could not believe that it was far far worse than I had ever imagined. The death. The suffering. The feeling of lost. Abandonment. The excuses. It makes you realise that however "developed" and "progessive" a nation is, that sometimes even they might not be able to handle their own crisis well.

I managed to finish the book in a record 2 days:)

I thank Anderson for publishing this book. For letting the world know the horrors of Katrina. For infecting ppl with his enthusiasm and love for journalism. And for being true to himself.

You can follow Anderson on twitter at @andersoncooper. He'll also be hosting his very own show that will debut in September this year. All the best AC!

The Lord is Risen!

So yeah, I know this post should have been a week ago but this past week has been sorta crazy for me.

This was my 1st Easter abroad and I was happy to be able to spend it with some friends.

Attended Easter Vigil mass which was absolutely beautiful. Was some sort of a bummer cos I didn't bring my camera to church and had to make do with me camera phone. I didn't expect them to have so many things going on with so many photo ops. Oh well, will be better prepared next time... But it was still awesome:



This was also my first Easter whereby it coincided with Spring and you could actually see life blooming and flowering all around you. It was quite beautiful:



this must be the upteenth time that I'm mentioning this but I really do love my nifty fifty!:



There were bunches of tulips elsewhere too but didn't manage to catch a photo of them.

That evening, Marsha very nicely invited me over to Judy's house for a little Easter get-together for those peeps who weren't going home for it. Very nice of her.

Judy's an excellent cook. And her freshly fried tortilla chips were amazing:



This is Lincoln, Judy's 3-yr-old (or so) Lab cross GSD. He reminds me so much of Tessa, the dog we had many many years ago. Thinking about it I'm not sure if she's still alive cos she would be 11 yrs old this year. But Lincoln's such a goofball and his ears are flopped down unlike Tessa's erect ones:



For those of you who've never tried pet photography. It. Is. Hard.

Judy's a crazy soccer/football fan and has scarves of so many many teams:



Dinner was awesome with carnitas and rice and chicken. Marsha's orange petal/flower cake dessert was nice too altho the icing looked quirky:P :



Judy's apmt was super cool cos you could go up to the roof and just hang out there:



We talked and walked around the roof till it started to drizzle before heading in. Did I mention that I love my shoes? Haha...:



Lincoln, thru the glass roof/skylight thing. He lookede very vintage thru the window's tint:) :



Alleluia The Lord is Risen! (yes we can finally say the "A" word! haha...) Happy Easter All!:D

Purdue Photography Club takes downtown Lafayette

This might be my longest title yet:P

I remember last sem, I did write on the slip during the club callout on things to suggest that they should have little trips/ excursions downtown where ppl can just take pics.

So a couple of weeks back, it was nice to walk out (eventho it was slightly chilly still... spring's here kononnye) and about as we went on a Photog Club walkabout.

But downtown Lafayette I feel has been seen so many many times and I've taken quite a number of pics that it was a little bit uninspiring for me. The shots felt forced and was quite bored actually.

Until we hit the train station that is and the other photogs started milling around the tracks:



Another shot of the very semangat ppl:P :



was kinda happy that I managed to finally get some decent shots. And then a train passed by. so that was sweet!:



Oh and did I mention that I'm wearing my Jack Purcell's that I bought from FL finally?! They're a size too big but with the proper socks they're kinda comfy actually:) :



finally crossing the bridge we started walking around town:



All in all it was a decent outing. Headed to church after that for Kegaraoke which was super fun!:P

facebook photo posts

so... ever since the advent of fb, I've been posting the majority (if not all of my pics there). but I kinda found out that sometimes you just have some pics that are nice/ great but does not warrant an album on fb.

so I'm back to posting pics on the blog again. just those pics that dun really fit into the facebook social media theme. pics that are more for myself:)

I'll try to limit me posts to about 5 or so pics so as not to overwhelm the post and also to make myself to have a more critical eye:)

and since summer's coming and the spring sem's almost over, that means I'll have a bit more time to do some blogging too.

Cheers guys and yeah Happy Easter!:)