Thursday, October 29, 2015

Blog Post #701

Apparently my previous post about reading was my blog's 700th post. I was not expecting that, to be honest.

I started this blog way back in 2005 when I was still a relatively rookie 3D artist. I didn't have any special plans for this blog, I just needed an outlet. If you read past articles you'll see my writing style was very different from the way I write now. You will also notice that I was angrier at the time.

Times have indeed changed. My posts aren't as angry now, and I sure have learned how to censor myself a lot more than before. I don't post all my thoughts now, though there are times I will lose self-control and just blast away.

How has life been since I started? I can't complain, to be honest. I chose to have this life, and no one made me do so otherwise. So here I am, thirty-five (!) years old and a father of one hyper-energetic daughter.

I look forward to having a few hundred more blog posts in the future. And hopefully more posts will be things I want to write about instead of filler I write just for the sake of posting something on this blog.

Out.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Reading

I used to devour books when I was studying in Naga. I would bring one or two novels and read it in the boarding house to kill time. Unfortunately I'd get so locked in I would finish a book in one or two days. It was that fast because my last year of college I had one or two subjects a day and the rest of the day was free time.

I also used to buy a lot of used magazines in one of the used bookstores in Naga. If I ran out of reading materials I would go to centro and buy a few magazines. Anything that caught my interest, anything that would increase my (trivial) knowledge of cars, video games, and the occasional "gentleman's magazine" (FHM and Maxim, both local and US versions).

The reason why I was able to consume reading materials so much was because I had no TV or computer at the boarding house. So I used to read, draw, and write a lot. Before this blog I had a big notebook full of thoughts. I still have it somewhere.

Now I can't even finish reading a long article. My attention wanes easily, and I try looking for the TL;DR section. The iPad has replaced the trade paperbacks and magazines I used to read and now I usually just play games on the iPad.

Of course I miss reading. And I really want to remedy my problem. I have one solution, in fact. I want to buy "The Hobbit." I've never read it. I've seen parts of the three movies, but I wasn't able to read it because the copy we have at home is so old the pages fall off with every turn.

When The Lord of the Rings trilogies were shown I made it a point to read the books first, so I had a point of comparison. The last good book I read was Bill Simmon's The Book of Basketball. I tried reading a biography on Michael Jordan but it was too boring for me. I can't believe I got bored with a book.

I miss reading great books, reading books that stimulate my imagination. Books that make me escape this reality for a few moments as I immerse myself in the world I am reading.

So what's my wishlist for books? Aside from The Hobbit, I've been thinking if I should read the Narnia series and the Game of Thrones series. And no, I've never seen any of the movies or episodes of the two books I mentioned.

I just hope I can push myself to start reading again.

Out.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

My Thoughts on Lamar Odom

I've been a Lamar Odom fan since he was drafted by the Clippers in 1999. The reason I became a fan was because of his cover story in SLAM magazine.
Pic taken from SLAM magazine's website.
I was a relatively tall, left-handed Filipino youth entering my 20s and I still loved to play. Chris Webber was still my number one favorite player (and to this day he still is) and while I tried to emulate his post up and rebounding game, I knew I hated contact too much and I wanted to handle the ball too much.

Lamar Odom changed all of that. I had never seen anyone that tall handle the ball from back court and make it seem easy. And no, I actually can't count Magic Johnson since I was too young to appreciate his game.

Watching him grow as a player in Miami, then move to the Lakers, I could not help but be happy for him. He deserved his successes, specially since he was such a team-first character.

Odom was amazing, and as he fights for his life now I would just like to say that I still am a fan. I still believe in Lamar, and I hope for the best.

Out.