Holidays aren’t as fun

» Written on February 19, 2007 at 3:43 AM «

When you’re coughing worse than a guy who’s been chain-smoking cigarettes all his life. Add a raging, intermittent fever and the decidedly uncomfortable constriction of my airways, and you’ve basically just about encompassed my symptoms for the past few days, ever since I walked home in that goddamn Thursday rain.

Not to mention the green sputum that comes up every hour or so. That stuff is fucking disgusting, ranking just below putrid sewage on the grossness scale. It’s like coughing up hairballs, only with less hair and more pain.

What could possibly have made all of this worse, of course, is the fact that it would inconceivably strike just as I get an extended break off school hours. But hey, look on the bright side, at least I’m not dead, right?

Right. Of course, that’d be conveniently overlooking the small fact that all of this pointless debacle could have been avoided, had our tutor decided not go all PMS on us that fateful Thursday and kept us back until the rain started. Thanks a lot. For an extra 15 minutes of nothing does seem like a good trade for barely being able to inhale gases that some would say are critical to survival.

This, of course, has meant the inevitable abstinence from all the New Year treats and goodies, something which I would have forgone without (much) complaint, had it not been for the fact that I would still need to visit relatives.

I will say this, here and now: I am apprehensive towards family reunions. They are, quite simply, a mere excuse for the older generation to make exhibitions of themselves, and for the younger (read: really young) generation to make, ah, bigger exhibitions of themselves.

I think I’ve just derived a new English idiom right there.

It’s not all bad, of course. Especially when you consider the kind of loot I’m getting here: my mom practically plopped 500 out of nowhere, which is actually quite astonishing, considering she still owes me around 4 grand, thanks to a certain bet we had. (Since I don’t think I wrote about it, basically, she bought 4 packs of cheese, which is, to say, a lot. I bet with her my entire savings, times ten, that she, or for that matter, the entire family wouldn’t be able to finish it within the week, and she accepted. Naturally, she lost. I mean, really, how in hell did she think she would win!?) I might just trim off the 500 from the main course.

And, of course, the loot doesn’t end there. Oh no.

Let’s have a bit of background, though. My father’s side of the family has always been slightly less financially generous in their distribution of tax-free dough, but I guess I can’t really complain since it is free cash, sans the attached strings. My mother’s side, on the other hand, gives out cash like it grows on trees. Seriously, it’s almost frightening the way they distribute those red packets, it’s almost like watching a free flow of ale and rum on board the Black Pearl or something.

This year saw a slight dip in earnings collected, but with the recent increase in our local Goods and Services Tax (GST), that was to have been expected. I do, however, have abundant capital to attempt a purchase of a new workstation, something that could have unprecedented consequences. ATi or NVIDIA? Intel or AMD?

Choices, choices. At least, that’s assuming my mom doesn’t snatch up all of my hongbaos and dump them into my bank account, all the while cackling like the evil witch or something.

That debit card sounds really good right about now. I still have about half a month to go before I reach the rank of eligibility, though.

Anyway, the D50 has had a little workout over the festivities, of course, and you can view the album filled with joy and, well, I guess all you can really find in photos of holidays is joy.

Of course, while walking with my family to dinner at a restaurant over at our local park, chance would have it that there were some water skiers over at the lake nearby, and chance would have it that I would have my telephoto lens with me.

So I tried something different. ‘Panning‘, as they call it. I didn’t actually have the chance to do this before, I think, since every action-oriented event I’ve covered so far hasn’t exactly involved smooth, fluid, and most importantly, predictable movement.

You can see the results here: naturally about 30 or so were dropped into bins meant for recycling. One result I particularly liked is now also available in my Flickr photostream. No, don’t trouble yourself, just scroll down.

Wakeboarding

There was another shot that I think I nailed, but this one was done at 300mm (my lens’ maximum focal length), so, I don’t know, it’s cooler?

Anyway, I’m also working on the Implacable font, and right now, I’m down to the hinting and the kerning left on the to-do list. So if you don’t mind, I think I’ll stop here, finish the job, and get a good night’s rest in the vain hope of waking up tomorrow to find my health completely restored.

Just in time for school, of course.

   

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