Just in case you’re unclear of what everyone is screaming on Twitter, Plurkm blogs, comments and etc, TGIF simply means Thank God It’s Friday. The phrase represents the optimism one will have as he looks forward to a weekend spent doing the things he likes (for most people, that is).
Before I start the post, I’ve decided last Saturday (I was a little grumpy that I made that decision on Saturday, instead of a day earlier) that I will run this Fonty Friday feature every week if I manage to find some lovely typeface to share. I am considering doing a Foto Friday too, but given that exams are within 2 weeks I don’t think I can churn out any good photos for the next month or so.
So here we have the first run of Fonty Friday, bringing you Museo Sans, a lovely sans-serif font:
Museo sans comes with five different weights: 100, 300, 500, 700 and 900; and with two different stlyes: normal and italic. Only the 500 normal and 500 italic are free – for the rest, you’ll have to pay. But Museo Sans 500 Normal/Italic is already too beautiful to resist. You can download Museo Sans (weight: 500 is free) here. In order to proceed with the download, you will have to register as a member though.
A little upate from the web this week:
- YouTube undergoes a small redesign, and succumbs to the power of Twitter.
- Create triangles by using purely CSS – an interesting way of utilising the border property!
- Twitter’s FailWhale immortalised in Lego bricks (thanks @inf3ktion for the heads up!)
- So… are you participating in Earth Hour? Just one hour. Make a difference.
- Best WordPress Design Awards just released the list of participating websites/blogs/online portfolios. Interesting to see that quite a few websites are still not using pretty permalinks. Eheh! I’ve got a few friends who’are participating in the competition – Aki, Dayna and Ivy. All the best!
Finally, some photo updates!
All thanks to the never-ending stream of tutorials and lectures (that I always fail to keep up), it has been ages since I last seriously brought my camera out on a photoshoot. However, I do have a whole bunch of photo backlogs piling up in my harddisk as well (8.8GB of free space left, most of them dedicated to big bulky RAW files, meh). Here are some photos that I’ve taken in the past few months:
I remembered heading to Jurong Point with my coursemates on one Monday afternoon – Mingyun, Marianne and Cheryl, if I wasn’t wrong. Cheryl was always her chirpy self, and she couldn’t stop yapping about how nice the food was at the cafe she was bringing us too. In the end, the food turned out to be pleasantly tasty, although I have to settle for a rather small serving of spaghetti bolognaise.
Marianne and Mingyun in the background. The godly spaghetti bolognaise in the foreground.
Ah, and the photo above reminds me of Mingyun’s long locks. She sacrified them when she decided that she’ll have shorter hair instead. I remembered myself failing to recognise her on the first day of school after she returned from the revolutionary haircut – she was sitting right down the row and I had the balls to ask where she is (because I couldn’t recognise her from her new hair). Now I got used to her short hair, and I think she looks great in it :)
Brownie and a melting ice cream.
I am a certified brownie-evangelist (kind of). I find myself instantly falling in love with anything made with chocolate, so… brownie is naturally included in my list of food fetishes. The cafe topped it up with a lovely melting vanilla icecream with caramel/chocolate sauce porued all over it. Divinity!
The Moon
This photo is actually a combination of two different photos – one whose exposure is metered against the clouds and the other whose exposure is metered against the surface of the moon. The former causes the moon to be overexposed while the latter underexposes the clouds. But combining the two different photos together and then masking the irrelevant portions of each photo, I arrived at this photo. I also used a little trick with the cloud rendering filter to add dimension to the clouds.
At a NTU bus stop, a HDR.
This is one of the first ten photos I’ve taken using my newly acquired Konica Minolta 50mm f/1.7 lenses. The photo was shot in RAW and then passed through Photomatix Pro 3 for pseudo-HDR processing. Saved the psuedo-HDR as 16-bit TIFF, imported it into Photoshop and did the basic tweaking with levels, curves, saturation and contrast. It was taken during the evening rush hour time where students will flock to the bus stop, hunting for an empty space in the next available bus. People would swarm their way into the packed crowd like bees to honey. Sometimes I secretly give thanks to being able to live on campus, which saves me from all this rush hour madness.
That’s all for this update :) have a great weekend!
I hate you for the first 2 pictures because i’m really hungry at the moment. But when I look at the 2nd picture, my mind calmed back. And I really love the last picture !
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Why are you staying up so late? Poor thing! You could always grab instant noodles or something :) teehee.
Thanks for the compliments!
Museo is a lovely font. I even used it for my current layout :D
Oooh, food *drools* The ice-cream and brownie looks lovely. Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten ice-cream in ages *feels deprived*
And thanks :D
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Aki, the Museo font you’re using in your design is the serif version, right? I’m not too sure though, heh. I know that the font was used on BubbleSoc’s blog too :) it is indeed a very, very lovely font.
That was the first time I actually had brownie and ice cream together. And the brownie is warm! I’d love a cold brownie, but since they have an ice cream to complement, I didn’t make a fuss, lol! Why aren’t you eating ice creams? It’s okay to pamper yourself once in a while.
p/s: Sorry to hear about the ReviewMe incident. She’s just trying to get back on you for personal reasons. How unprofessional. I hope you’re okay!
Yeap, the serif version :) I haven’t eaten ice-cream because I keep forgetting to buy them! I actually walked out of department stores several times without them! This is really unforgivable according to my “I NEED ICE-CREAM” standards :P
The rev.iew.me incident is more of lulz than anything else to me XD Naturally, I don’t take her insults personally, but it would be fun to see what other people felt too. Maybe I’m mean in that sense O_O
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Lol, very interesting way of not eating ice cream – by forgetting them! I bet lots of people out there would love to forget everything about eating ice creams. What kind of ice creams do you eat? The tub ones, or the small ones served on cones?
Seriousl, the ReviewMe incident is just so lol. Gave me a good laugh hah. She must be so bitter about your review… mmmhmm.
Oh, the font looks nice. Off to download it now. ;)
Brownie with ice cream is one of my favourite dessert. Absolutely delicious but expensive at the same time.
The photo of the moon makes me think of Twilight. Maybe it’s because of the colour.
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It is indeed a lovely font :) it was an instant fave when I saw it. I have to sheepishly admit that I’ve never tried brownie and ice cream before. I usually just grab a brownie and stuff it in my face, devour it in seconds. Chocolates are just too nice!
I forgot how much the brownie-icecream combo cost us, but we shared among all four of us so it wouldn’t be too expensive, heh.
I’ve actually added a cooling filter to the moon photo because it was too warm (Sony Alpha cameras have a tendency to give photos a more orange-tinge). I didn’t know it looked like Twilight *googles for photos*
Yummy food pics! I can’t help but wonder what were you guys waiting for in that first photo – instead of diving into the (seriously good-looking) food like my friends would always do, haha!
And your moon photo is amazing! The last time I tried taking a photo of it was during the Lunar New Year and it ended up as a tiny overexposed blob in the middle of the frame. Maybe I should try stacking different exposures together too, been hearing so much but never got myself to try.
About the Design Awards, gah! I was so goddamned busy I totally forgot about it and the dateline quietly slip under my nose. Blame the semester! *facepalm*
Anyway, can’t wait to see more of your maiden 50mm lens shots, Teddy! =D
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Oh, the reason why they’re not digging in is because I was taking photos. They’re too nice to wait for me to get the photos taken before starting to eat… I feel a little guilty, heh. Actually as I snapped away I’ve got this impulse to stuff my face with food too – but I got to wait till I’m done with the photos first.
I forgot to mention that the photo was taken using my telephoto lenses. The regular lens that I use for normal shooting couldn’t zoom in enough, and it kept overexposing the moon too (unless I use SP or M). Frustrated, I headed back to my room and whipped out the telephoto lens, and took two photos of the moon before it was covered by clouds. Exposure blending can be done with an automated programme, but the two (or more) photos have to be somewhat similar. The two photos I took were totally off, so I had to do manual exposure blending. I stacked the two images on a canvas in Photoshop, and used masking to hide the underexposed clouds (or you can mask the overexposed moon, it works either way).
It’s okay! You can always join next year :) heh! It’s never too late.
Hey! Nice moon shot. I also did that cos the moon was just too big and round for me to resist last month. Hehe.
Anyway I didn’t realise the moon rise so fast! I was like snapping pictures will it was just above some rooftops and after 15 minutes it was around 45 degrees up already!
And that 50/1.7. I’ve been eyeing it so long. How’d you get your hands on one? Did it cost over SGD250? Its so freaking overpriced.
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Ooooh, I haven’t seen you post any photos of the moon (or did I miss it?)… if you haven’t, quickly, share them! Oh, regarding the rising moon thing, I think it’s because the moon is already halfway up in the sky when night falls, so it rises pretty fast? I’m not sure about this though.
You should try getting 50mm f/1.4 instead, if you’re intending to get bokeh lenses. f/1.4 is more expensive, but give better bokeh effects and allows you to shoot better under low light conditions. I bought mine for around SGD210, it’s reasonably priced.
I so enjoy your blogs! I think I check it at least once a day in hopes to see a new entry. :P I am really looking forward to more Fonty Fridays as well as Foto Fridays! Very cool idea. I wish I could do something like this and actually keep it up.
I love your photos. Especially the one of the brownie. OMG. I am a chocolate lover as well and that brownie looks like heaven on a plate. I made brownies last night, and although they are delicious, I wish they looked as good as THAT one! hah
Beautiful photo of the moon, wow. You really should teach me your ways. I think my DSLR has a horrible time getting photos of the moon, or maybe it’s me.. I love astronomy and I would kill to have a camera (or the knowledge) to photograph the moon.
OH! And of course I am participating in Earth Hour. Have been looking forward to it for months now. I hope others do as well! Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Also, Teddy. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful comments you have left me on my blog recently. They are so heartfelt and really means a lot to me. So thank you :)
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Wow, I’m honoured, Trina! I’ve never heard of someone so eager for updates… since I don’t think my updates cater to the taste of my readers. Do tell me what you would love to read more on my blog – I’m always open to suggestions and constructive criticisms. Foto Fridays will be a substitute of the Project 365 I was intending to kick start this year, but I chickened out last minute before New Year because I felt that I couldn’t commit myself to do such a huge project, heh.
“The brownie looks like heaven on a plate.” Definitely yes! I love it how succinctly you’ve put it. Haha! Mmm, as you mention the brownies you’ve baked I can feel as if I’m smelling them! I should seriously learn how to bake brownies so as to free myself from the dependence on brownies sold outside.
Your photos are equally lovely. I always drop by to check out the new photos you’re posting. The one with you standing underneath a tree with the sun shining behind the branches, is simply lovely!
Earth Hour here turned out beautifully – we even organised a movie screening of Who Killed the Electric Car in an amphitheatre. Not a lot of people attended, but I’m glad that some actually showed genuine interest.
You’re welcome! Reading your blog is such a big pleasure and is now becoming a favourite past time to me. Keep up the awesome writings!
I am the one who should feel honored, my friend. :) I absolutely love getting comments from you, they really make my day. You are one of the few people who are inspiring me to write more! So thank you. :D
I think the Foto Friday is a great idea. The 365 Project seems to fun but I’m like you.. I doubt I could keep it up. I really love your photos, as well, and the stories you share with them sometimes. As for more ideas, I’m not sure. You seem to be doing well! But if I come up with any new ideas, I will certainly let you know.
I can’t believe you enjoy those tiny photos of mine! haha, then you would be thrilled to know that I am in the process of starting a photoblog. :) It’s something I have wanted to do for so long now and I finally got the urge to do it! Plus, it will inspire & encourage me to take more photos.. so I think it would be fun. :D
As for the brownies! Oh my gosh. I would love to make some homemade some day.. but I came across this mix that is absolutely delicious! I had my own spin to it, of course. :) I can’t remember the brand but it’s the brownie mix that comes with chunks of chocolate in it. You bake it normally and when it cools, cover it with milk chocolate frosting! And stick it in the fridge. Yup, cold brownies. :) Soo yummy the next day, or even in a few hours. You should try it!
Wow. I wish my community done something like that for Earth Hour. I don’t think many people even participated. I was infuriated when I looked out my window and saw so many people’s lights on! :| I would have greatly enjoyed a film outside! The fiance and I played cards in the candle light, so that was pretty nice. I told him we should shut the lights off more often. I remember as I child, I grew up some what poor, and our lights had been cut off on a few occasions.. and my parents always made it fun for us! Candle light, ghost stories, and board games. We actually looked forward to getting the electricity cut off, haha. Pretty great parents I had. I’m sure most kids now a days would be pissed without their television and computers. :| I do miss being a kid some times!
Wow. I apologize for the long comment, heh. Sometimes, once I start it’s hard to quit.. I am a rambler. :)
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No, I should be the one. It’s really my honour to know you… and Chris. I read his entry today of how he proposed to you, and I was all teary-eyed near the end! Both of you are such amazing and inspirational writers, I wish I could write half as good as you.
Thanks for your compliments! I don’t think my photos are particularly nice (and I’ve already junked more than 90% of my photos – I don’t display them unless they’re up to my personal standards).
Oh, how can I forget! The brownie mixes! You’ve to be careful when choosing them though – I remembered this classmate of mine baked a huge oven of brownies, but she picked the wrong mix and it was too sweet. She made everyone in the class to have at least a piece (because she didn’t want to lug all that brownies back home). Haha! I remembered feeling so darn thirsty after that. But since then, she baked really, really heavenly brownies.
In university, I’m yet to know anyone who knows how to bake brownies, or else I would have jumped at the chance of learning how to do it. For the moment being, I’m a regular customer of this nifty sundry shop in my biological sciences school basement. They sell these Two-Bite brownies (made in Canada) – a little expensive but they’re just too nice! Dry on the outside and moist on the inside, with bits of chocolate inside. Ooooh. I shall stop yakking about it or I’ll risk salivating all over the keyboard :razz:
It’s really sweet and nice for you and Chris to have a romantic candle light dinner on Saturday night! Kudos to you for joining in the fun of Earth Hour. I’ve read so many negative comments online, with detractors claiming that it’s just a pseudo-environmentalism move. What they don’t understand is the hype and optimisim behind this movement. In my university, the school turned off the corridor lights, although they had to keep all the stairwells lit because of some local regulation.
The astronomy club held this star-gazing activity at the ADM school rooftop (photos here and here). I couldn’t go though because I was stuck at the amphitheater helping with the movie screening. Nonetheless, it’s nice to spend the night doing something meaningful :) I usually spend my Saturday night in front of my computer *weak smiles*
Sorry to hear about experiencing poverty in childhood, but I guess it was that experience that moulded you into such a compassionate and caring person you are now. People who haven’t been through the hard times wouldn’t know how to appreciate things around them. I feel so sad when I read about your childhood experiences of living with constant cutoffs from the power grid, but you’re so optimistic! I’ve got to learn to be like that too.
Have a great week ahead, Trina!
You blow me away. I have never thought of myself as a good writer, not even decent, really. Chris has always had the knack for words and I have always been so envious of his creativity in creating something so profound with words. Although I do think my writing has improved, I am.. just shocked to hear that you think I’m an inspirational writer. That is so wonderful and it really has encourage me to write more. Thank you! :) I have always thought & felt that I had so much to share with the world and I am so grateful that I have found my outlet. And to have just a few readers.. I am very grateful, to say the least! Wow.
“Dry on the outside and moist on the inside, with bits of chocolate inside.” Sounds a lot like the brownies Chris and I make! Mm. We just finished them off tonight and now I am ready to make cookies! haha, I am so glad we have a gym right across the street. Knowing that it’s there lets me feel okay of eating more sweets. hehe
Wow. I am blown away by the architecture of your school. I can not believe you can walk on the top of a building.. and it has grass! That is just brilliant. And the star gazing sounds soo lovely! Too bad you couldn’t join them, but a film outside is just as awesome. :) Another reason why I admire your blog is that.. it’s different from the ordinary here. You’re from such an amazing & beautiful place.. I look forward to your photos because it always showcases something new! The food, the buildings, clothing. I love it!
“People who haven’t been through the hard times wouldn’t know how to appreciate things around them.” You’re absolutely right! Reminds me of my recent blog. :P ..I would have not changed my childhood for a thing. You’re right, it really has molded me into the person I am now. I am a very happy & grateful person and it’s all thanks to my wonderful mother & grandmother and the crazy adventures I had as a child.. Even if we were struggling, my mom always got my siblings and I the newest and greatest toys. It’s admirable what parents sacrifice for the happiness of their child.
Ok, I am rambling again and filling up your page! Thanks though, you’re making me think a lot… and reminiscence. I love it! :P
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Ooooh, I hope you didn’t get blown too far away, haha! Trina, you’re being way too humble. Your and Chris’ writings are top notch, and the choice of words are just perfect. Reading your entries are like putting oneself completely in your shoes – I can feel my tummy stirring with emotions.
Stop teasing me with brownies – now I’ve developed a rather serious craving for them and I’ll check out the store tomorrow and see if their new batch of Canadian-baked brownies have been air-flown over. They come in limited quantities, I don’t know why. They get sold out really fast, and the restock takes about a week or two.
That building I showed you is one of the newest buildings in my school. Tastefully designed, it exudes this minimalist and brutalist appeal. It uses glasses, reflections on the facade and smoothened concrete on the rest of the facade. Simple, and yet very elegant. The grass roof is part of the environmentally friendly design, as it keeps the warm air in at night and keeps the cold air in at daytime. Pretty smart! Plus, they make perfect picnic spots on weekends.
I bet your place is very beautiful and amazing too! You should try taking more photos of your neighbourhood and show it :) I’m tired of the stereotypical American suburb portrayed in television and films (just to name a few: Smallville, Desperate Housewives, Charmed, Click and etc).
I feel so sad everytime you mention the sweet memories of my mom. I wished I could be around there for emotional support during the harder times back then. You’re one brave lady, Trina.
I want to attend your school. That building is ridiculously stunning. Having a picnic on top of a building covered in grass?.. brilliant! I am adding Singapore to my list of places to visit. :D
You honestly want to see pictures of the place I live? Heh, I often come off pretty critical about the place I live.. It’s a beautiful place.. I guess, simply because it’s home and it’s what I know. I think it’s my ambition & urgency to see other places is what makes ‘home’ seem so.. bleh & ordinary. But, I do have to say.. we have some of the most beautiful sunsets! You have inspired me to get out and photograph my city more often. I am sure there are beautiful places out there that I have yet to explored. I am excited now. :)
Oh, and you shouldn’t feel bad at all! I am perfectly fine and like I said.. I have learned so much about myself, about my mom, and about life from not only her passing, but her life as well. Thank you, I do like to think I have a little bravery in me. :)
..Did you notice I did not mention brownies this time? hehe
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The school is definitely beautiful… but not the courses – the School of Art, Design and Media is one of the few schools that offer challenging courses to students. My roomie studies in the school (he’s majoring in Visual Communication) and the portfolio works are just too overwhelming. I always fall asleep before he comes back (and I sleep at 3am in the morning), pretty scary stuff! But anyway, the view of the school is definitely stunning. Their library is also top-notch – the study area has an apple-green and white colour scheme, which is so Apple-ish! Plus, most of the students and lecturers there are Apple fans, which isn’t a big surprise, right?
Yea, I would love to see how your neighbourhood looks like. Must be a very lovely place – I saw the photo taken by you outside your house window, and it’s such a lovely scene. Serene and quiet.
You’re indeed one strong lady, kudos to you! I checked out the grocery store the other day and their brownies were sold out again, jeez :P
oooo…nice moon shot…how did you take it? just point and shoot?!?!
i damn like the bus stop photo!
I’ve tried baking brownies! They looked like stone, felt like stone, and.. I shan’t go on. :X
Now, I love the pictures! I miss my locks! Dude, I think I’m gonna grow them, I’m totally over the idea that I have to get up earlier to blow dry my hair, curl them inwards… bla bla, troublesome girl stuff.
People who are reading my comment, you’ve totally missed how Terry reacted after seeing me after our term break. First, he brushed across me, thinking I’m “some other random person”. Later, he asked, “Where’s Mingyun?”. The ladies pointed towards my direction and said, “THERE!?!?”
Terry blurted out a very startled, “HUH. OMG.” O.O
He actually needed some time to settle down on the new look. HA HA. I like surprising people!
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You’ve tried before? I didn’t know about that. Maybe your skills have improved tremendously after that, so you might want to give it another try again, haha!
So you’re planning to let it grow back? Well, at least you’ve tried a shorter hairstyle before and know which one suits you better… personally I think you look good in both! :)
Thanks for the description of what happened on that day! How embarrassing haha, I felt so bad afterwards because I promised you that I won’t be surprised or shocked to see you in your new hairdo. I was totally caught by surprise, lol. That dumb look on my face must have been so priceless, yea? Haha!
Hhaha, you are still a gem. No doubt about that! ;)
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@med: Yeap, just point and shoot, as easy as that. I’ve used a telephoto lens for the photo, that’s why the moon look pretty huge.
@smashpOp: Thank you, haha!
Teddy! I’ve been famished, and your blog made it even worse. That brownie looks delicious.
That is such a nice font. I love serif fonts, just as much as handwriting, and cursive. :) Ever see the “Pea” fonts? They’re some of my favourites.
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I hope I didn’t make you too hungry, Brandy! Serif fonts are indeed lovely, but they’re so hard to find – I definitely don’t want the Times New Roman kind of serif…
I’ve never heard of the Pea font family before! Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll be checking it on Google shortly, heh!
Hey teddy!
I’ve gotten myself a Minolta 50mm/1.7 as well. I wanted to get a 1.4 but it was really too expensive – around RM1k
I think the 1.7 is really good enough for my usual walkaround now. X)
Next up is a flash-strobe. Then I guess I have all I need to start up my printing business X)