End of 2018

It’s getting close to the end of this year. As I’m writing this, I have hardly slept and spent a few nights laying in bed wondering and thinking to myself. I have slowed down in writing my thoughts in my blog in this latter half because I haven’t been too well since my doctor passed away. I am still hoping I will get the help I need before it’s too late. I just have to practice and find a balance to everything which I hope can help me away from my malaise.

I haven’t picked up my camera in the past month. Starting to feel bad about it since I haven’t taken a lot of photos. Looking through it’s viewfinder, I miss how it feels and the joy it use to make me feel. Perhaps around Christmas or after Boxing Day I’ll take up photography again. The most difficult part right now is keeping up with work.

Getting a seasonal gig with my former employer is great, despite all the pain I went through last year. I hope eventually it will turn into a part time job considering the first time I felt fairly qualified to work more than a sales associate, assistant manager perhaps? Regardless I’m glad and I get to see all the people I’ve met before, though I have forgotten most of their names.

As what I hope to be the second last post of the year I guess I should try and make a list of all I have accomplished this year. As per my doctor’s last recommendation, I’m starting to look into a lot of cognitive therapy to cope. So…accomplishments:

• Went to Niagara Falls for the first time In January it’s still beautiful despite the cold, icy, wet weather. I wish I spent more time.
• Surpassed 300 photos on 500px. Also surpassed 10, 000 shots on my first DSLR camera.
• Bought a new laptop. For now I have two but eventually I will have one once I feel comfortable enough to part this old thing I found in the trash. You have served me well.
• New toys! Bought two used lenses, one (almost) brand new lens, and a used camera body. Overall I paid market price after having them professionally cleaned.
• More recent, started to look into sleep meditation and actively managing my depression. The ADHD behaviors I can accept but the feeling sad stuff needs a lot of attention.
• Enjoyed a long lost hobby, reading! I’m nowhere near attentive for novels but I’ll accept a good narrative after playing Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Which reminds me, I should preorder the comic book.
• Finished Fallout 4. Now I can move on to other games. Hopefully that gaming list shrinks quickly.
• Paramore!! Second time I saw them live. Still great but I connected more with their previous album.
• Getting on the dating scene? A bit embarrassing but I can own up to it. Been on way more dates than the last 4 years combined. No winners…yet.
• A year without Star Trek Online. I haven’t logged in for so long. I think I can finally move on since the Kelvin timeline and Discovery kind of gave me a sour taste for it.
• Nuit Blanche art event. Spent the entire night checking out all the arts and culture. Last year was way too political. Still very crowded if not worse.
• Bought CD’s. An old medium but once I get a portable disc player, I’m going to have fun.
• I got Instagram to share some photos.
• I got business cards, I wish I could add my Instagram on them. They came first.

Still more to come in the last few weeks. My plans are to buy the SNES Classic and maybe the NES. I’m thinking of another Niagara trip either Niagara-On-The-Lake or somewhere small. I still want to snap photos and hopefully punch through to 400 on 500px. Lastly…

…I want to write my final post for the year. Stay tuned!

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Inspiration from Others

This past weekend, I’m starting to participate in some local festivals. Of course a good way to start is a photography festival. And this past weekend I had the opportunity to see a couple things for the day.

Went to a seminar about self publishing hosted by a few mildly successful artists. It’s given an general idea of what it takes to really put my own work out there. Which explains why small runs of books and zines are popular unless it’s funded before publication.

After an hour long seminar about printed matters, I took a stroll to the closest gallery for a peak at some photographers using Fujifilm Instax. The product is very nostalgic to the old Polaroid film. Yet the colours still remain so vibrant and detailed . Though the small format of the Instax film makes it feel very compact to really observe any detail. So I guess it’s worth it for landscapes or portraits in bright light or with the built in flash.

The plan for the upcoming week is to check out more exhibitions and galleries until this festival is over. This is a great event I managed to stumble upon. I can’t wait to discover more.

On The Outside – Thoughts On Anime North 2015

Waking up at 10 am after a long night of visiting the Toronto Congress Centre, I am unsure where to begin. I guess starting with the statement “be gentle, it’s my first convention!”

Before I signed on travelling to Anime North, I knew anime culture was a trending undertone of the city. I remember the days of trading Pokemon cards and reading Japanese graphic novels. I have never been an active participate and I regret never being immersed into these worlds of fantasies and fascinations. After a brisk line up to receive my tickets, I went on to check out the booths. Marvelled by the products around the world, I was more fascinated with the fan art. I’ve seen artists do incredible things with a pen and paper, but there are things I’ve seen done in many mediums ranging from simple to complex, cute to magnificent. I’ve seem metalworking rivalling trinkets made for the same franchise by a large manufacturer. I’ve seen glass made into plump animals especially in pigs of various colours and sizes ranging from the side of a fingernail to something that fits in the palm of your hand.

From famous fandoms and things fading obscurity, the artist talent astounds me. There were a few things that stuck out for me which I wish I could have snapped a few pictures. While browsing the “Crafter’s Corner”, I was transfixed on a steampunk pocket watch and pouch. The engraved artwork over the over and the intricate overlaying gears atop the brown supple leather pouch, it was surprisingly subtle and detailed. Perusing the penmanship of various artists over the floor, some have a very tradition anime style while some have more western influences. I regard them for their amazing eye for the mixtures of colour in their medium. Best I could do is a stickman and a childish tree (and clouds; puffy round clouds). Next through these bay doors laid a bare room with dividers seperating a concert and what I would guess is a VIP hall. Here I strolled through the tabletops games, I realized they brought the main attraction of cards. Which doesn’t bode well in sharing and celebrating the gaming culture; I’m a gamer and I was expecting this place to be just as packed as the main hall. Beyond the Magic and Pokemon TCG’s, there were some much more obscure games as well as the popular offerings of Warhammer, Catan and vintage game cartridges.

Unfortunately I didn’t bring enough money to spend on all the things I wanted. No watch, no piggy, no Steampunk Palin (yes, this exists). So next year, I hope I have a job so I can at least splurge on a few things. Definitely I have an eye on neat trinkets if they haven’t sold them.

Though it was my first time going to a convention and for due reason in the past, I believe my exposure to crowds (and a proper breathing technique). The atmosphere was more like a festival than a classical convention. It was more to uplift fantasy into the real world and to solidify it as pop culture phenomenon. Beyond the cartoonish figures and artwork, there was a small presences of other pop culture niches like sic-fi and steampunk. Multiculturalists say we are the melting pot, then Anime North is a melting pot of youth pop culture. Connecting us from here to all over the world, it was an interesting experience I hope I can someday return to with the same friends.

It’s on me, folks!!! (Pssssst…it’s a giveaway…)

This is a shout out to Bolawan@bolawon in game for suggesting convincing me to do another giveaway in Star Trek Online. Also I’m getting my DS9 Bundle this week, so I thought I would celebrate by passing off some stuff to your guys.

I’ve been trying to think of what I could do this time around, so I’m planning on doing a bunch of things beside tossing freebies at your faces. Here’s a couple things I kind of want to do for the giveaway (events aren’t going to be in order, just stuff going around the game)…

• Give stuff away (duh)
• AMA (ask me anything) session (PG 13 please!!)
• Storyline missions teams
• Chat sessions
• Bum fights?

The Giveaway

Of course the first bullet point is easy, I just want to be damn generous and give people stuff. This ranges between stuff for your ships or stuff for yourself. I’ve arranged them in these packages (Quantity):

• Ground pack (1)– Mk XII weapon, a stack of hypos and energy cells. If you are too low level to use the weapon, you’ll get an another stack of hypos and energy cells or a ship console (I’ll ask you in game).
• Ship pack (1)– A stack of Shield, Weapon, Auxiliary batteries.
• Stack of 20 energy cells (3)
• Stack of 20 hypos (4)
• Random Mk X and up ship consoles
• Random amount of Energy Credits (ranging from 100 – 100,000)
• Other stuff (Placeholder for stuff not related to the stuff above, no lockboxes of course…)

This is kind of a first come first serve, but it would be pretty random on what you can get. One prize per account, just so everyone gets a chance for a bit of something. If you like, you can give away stuff to other people. Just trade with them or mail it to them.

Ask Me Anything/Chat Session

One thing I kind of want to do is an AMA like Reddit. Also I’m lazy for Reddit, so doing it in STO for the sake of doing it in STO. I’ll have a channel up and we’ll meet up, info on the bottom. Of course you don’t have to be in the zone with everyone else, but I kind of like to see where everyone is at in game in terms of customization and stuff. You can use this time to just address random thing about STO or my blog. Of course certain rules apply to the AMA and the chat session:

• Questions should be PG 13
• Show some respect; no racial, harassment, spam.
• No spamming for giveaway prizes (because that’s spam too…)

Currently I think socials zones have a cap of 30-ish people or something, so people getting into the same zone to check me out might be hard to do.

LFT’s

Of course Star Trek isn’t Star Trek  without getting a team of people together and doing stuff. So I’ll announce accepting LFT’s, 5 random players will be selected to join me to go gallivanting around the galaxy. From killing Klingons to obliterating the Borg. Though a few ground rules:

• No fleet actions, STF’s and Vault events.
• If you leave after invite, you’re place is taken by a random person.
• I get a say out of the missions people want to do (If they want to do a mission, help them out. You might get some loot at out of it).

Ye Olde Fisticuffs (AKA Bum fights)

From my last giveaway, I had some time to look around Andoria. So I’m thinking, lets do it again. This time no weapons or abilities, just straight up punching each other. You may even receive a prize from me if you show me your prowess in pugilism. Some ground rules so we can try and get some legitimate PvP going:

• You may keep your armour on
• No healing and no weapons (not even melee)
• Prizes award randomly for the sake of fair giveaway-ness

Information – Where, when, how, what

When is the event?

Starts at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time and will continue like an epic party! (Woop woop!!)

Where will this giveaway start?

I’ll be at Starfleet Academy, wandering about and chatting to people on our private channel.

Oh em geez, private channel. How can I join this channel?

Right click your chat bar and go to your Channels tab, from there type the channel name and click Join. I’ll post the channel at the end of this post. You will need this channel for AMA and any info of where I am in game…and to chat with people doing the same thing.

Hey, can I get something?

Come on Friday and see if you can walk away with a bit of something.

TIME: Friday October 5, Starts at 5:00 PM EST and ends until I pass out or get sleepy

WHERE: Starfleet Academy and other places (ESD, DS9, and anywhere you can beam down and chat)

CHAT CHANNEL: RomeosRompRoom

HOST: Romeo@Shooter-90 (That’s me!)

 

See you all on Friday!! Warp speed…awwwwaaaayyyyyyy!!!!!