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That guilty munchkin-eatin' bitz

{Don't text and Drive} by CaioBraga, on Flickr

Driving can be a monotonous activity so for some careless motorists, they entertain themselves with iPhones, Samsungs or other androids.

Boy, am I always glad to be a passenger! ~lancelonie

Morning weekdays are always the same for me...  I wake up lazily like I need more sleep.  I drag myself to the kitchen to get my mom-made coffee.  I go back to my room and get ready.  I come out telling mom to pack my breakfast.  Then I rush my way to the car where hubby silently screams, "Faster!"  (He’s such a cool dude though.)  On the road, it's just the same-ole same olds.  We cut through the HOV lane.  (I always applauded hubby for that, like he was a superhero . . . ‘cause the truth is I can’t fly my car like that.  I’ll vomit.)  And while my super-maneuver daddy zooms with his power-steering ability, I juggle my car breakfast with putting eye make-up on.  (Wonder woman!)  It's also a skill, ya know.  Boy, am I always glad to be a passenger!

But this morning, I got a little bit of variation.  I wasn't able to bring my breakfast but I was glad to have my mascara and all.  So this time, the direction of my black-outlined eyes was outside.  Starting to my right...

There's this lady looking down on her lap.  My gosh! (in utter disgust)  She’s texting!  On an early morning rush hour?!!  What a shame!  . . . and she knew I was AIMING at her.  I must’ve sent a mental text to her cellphone.  Hehe.  Her response?  She picked up a bag of munchkins to show she’s busy breakfasting...  Ha!  The bitz thought she can fool me with that powdery crap.  Who would stare down on some donut holes between her legs? . . . unless she’s checking on a rather interesting hole down there . . . or maybe an air-stale eclair that squirted out its cream filling...  I don’t know... Just sayin’...

Besides, eating on the wheel is also distracted driving.  Double ha!

Don't text and drive. It's the law.

Despite our government's campaign and stresses about road safety, people are still trying to get away with distracted driving.  Take texting for instance.  We know a neighboring driver is finger-happy when he had his head down for a considerable period of time.  This becomes more obvious when traffic stops, right?  I don't think a bag of donuts will ever be more interesting than a phone notification. Do you?

So, yo is guilty, bitz!
(I know...  My slang sounds funny.)

SO, WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM HERE?

Driving can be boring.  We get it.  Our iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, android smartphones or any palm-candy you may have will then take us away from that drab.  Just that drab, folks.  We don’t want to be taken away to an ER nor anywhere else other than this physical world...

A very important cliche:

If you want to text or call, wait till you’re not driving.

Mmmm ... Mini-Donuts by annkelliott

(Come on now!  There are other ways to die without including others . . . some place where you can take your stupid donuts and stick 'em in your ugly guts, ok?! . . . Just sayin' . . . bitz.)
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Well, the truth is...  I care for y'all.
Please drive carefully, my friends!  Care for some donettes?

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Angry at being angry

Pinoy Dinuguan by mhel1, on Flickr
(Diniguan or pork blood stew, fondly called chocolate meat,
is a Filipino dish cooked with chili, vinegar and pork blood.)

I had an unpleasant evening.  My blood boiled that I almost cooked "dinuguan" for today's lunch.  Oh, hot chili peppers!

For me, one of the perks of living away from family is being able to avoid disagreements.  I am glad to get away from quarrels as petty as losing socks and finding them in your sibling's drawer.  Plus, being away becomes even better when you are ocean's away.  That means less talk and less talk means getting your peace.  But it does make any overseas call specially important.  If there are favors to ask by either side, you always try to give in any way.  It is almost always a yes.  If not, you willingly say next time. 

But that was not the case when I placed a call at 10:55 last night.  The sound of pessimism hit like a sharp blow to my ears.  It must have been worse if my iPad had earphones.  It would have sounded louder... 

It's not that I only take yes and yeses for answers.  I do have plenty of nos and noses that I put them in a glass jar in my closet.  (What do you mean the late pop king?  Beat it, ok?!) 

Anyway, no was not an option because the favor was in our Dad's behalf.  My request was to simply arrange something for him so he could fly back to US and be with Mom.  I can't be more detailed than that or it may be a long boring story for you. 

I am glad to get away from quarrels as petty as losing socks and finding them in your sibling's drawer. ~lancelonie

Angry birds, for Macro Mondays group by +_Jan_+, on Flickr

Well, it's my fault anyway.  I knew that it was wrong timing for me to deal.  I was already a ticking bomb - an angry bird inside - around 9pm.  I was so moody that I wasn't able to take even a slightest snarl.  (Ah, women!)  So then it only took two words – one coming from me and one from the other – to activate the bomb . . . and this land mine went off.  It struck both ends and there we were – my sibling on duty and me on my bed – back to our childhood ways.  It's funny 'cause now it seems petty like those lost-and-found socks . . . and, oh, how it sucks! 

This morning, I came to work with a heavy heart.  One of my team told me to check my voicemail if I wanted to laugh.  Little did she knew that I needed it.  I was still angry inside and I wanted to share the whole world at that very moment.  My brain got divided between numbers and words.  While I was downloading a monster file in Excel, I was also mentally composing my thoughts. 

Then I realized...
I'm not really angry at someone.  I'm angry at being angry and the fact that I can't fight this ill-feeling. 

I'm not really angry at someone.  I'm angry at being angry and the fact that I can't fight this ill-feeling. ~lancelonie

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What are slashers?

Last Sunday, Lancelonie joined actor Anthony Franchitto's film production crew that shot a pilot for a possible series of episodes.

The Production Team, posing for
another photographer by the pool

The weather and the team, left photo, were both wonderful.  It was really nice to be surrounded by like-minded people, as I always said about Fox Entertainment Group.  (I miss being with that fabulous family.  But anyway...)  We all enjoyed the sunny afternoon - meeting and greeting - as I waited for good timing to take still shots with Big Daddy Mark.  As for hubby, waiting was no luxury.  He had our Little Baby Canon Rebel xsi propped up in time-lapse mode.

After an hour of camera snapping, auto-bursting and friendly chit-chatting, Lancelonie left the building.

An email for another weekend crew headcount came to me after a few days.  But before I was able to reply, Franchitto sent a notice of project cancellation.  Prompted by an experienced director he has contact with, Anthony delayed his pilot shoots for further creative development.

It was really nice to be surrounded by like-minded people, as I always said about Fox Entertainment Group. ~lancelonie

Slashers

Is there a limit or rule to writing slashes, Ms. Grammar?  You know I write differently when it's an official article, right?  I STRICTLY follow the standards of writing.  No bubble-like comic-book-inspired statements enclosed in parenthesis, such as this: (I can't help it, okay?).  No contractions, made-up idioms nor too much hyphenated words, which you read earlier.  No distractions nor deviations whatsoever, like I do in blogs.  No...  Okay, somebody's saying shut the front door, Mrs. Strictly-Following-Standards-When-Not-Blogging-Writer! Shush!

Anthony Franchitto,
getting his hair done

Going back to Sunday's production, Tony was the executive producer slash writer slash director slash lead actor.  He mentioned that wearing four different hats created some sort of gap.

Now, what do I know about gap?  Let's see...  Hubby has Gap in his closet.  I have gap between my back teeth.  We have little gaps at home once in a while.  And GAAP is written all over my Wiley book.  (What a Tom Babbler, you say!)

Back again to our main man, who was getting a hair spray on right photo, what I do know about many hats and slashes in his title is he is talented.

That sounds like me when I wrote something about 50 things in my brain, you know?  I'm actually an accountant slash analyst slash photographer slash blogger slash writer slash songwriter...  Can I stop now?  I think I beat EP/writer/director/actor on the slashes already.  And I think I heard somebody said 'shush' again.

My point is multi-talented people tend to have many roles.  I call them us "slashers".

So, if you are a person of many arts just like Tony, AND ME, lala-whatever, hehe, you multi-task.  I'm actually memorizing an analytical speech while typing this.  (What'd you say?!  Shush?)

My point is multi-talented people tend to have many roles. ~lancelonie

Thumbs-up to slashers

In spite of that cancelation-gap-revamping, whatever-the-director-say, the experience was remarkable.  I say kudos to Slasher Tony, his company and model/actor/producer, Hope Rosemary!  (Yes, she's a slasher, too.)

Even if I have not watched the footage, I'm giving everybody my two thumbs up . . . where one will be on Facebook, hehe.

Please stay tuned for more photos.

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Pardon me with my arm candy

Too many pictures taken from too many events, with a sheepish upside-down smile, those should-have-been shared memories are still in my archive.

To those who are probably expecting, including my family, pardon me.  Your humble writer-photographer sometimes "pre-thinks" too much and moves forward right away that she forgets her trails.  "No, lancelonie, you can't do 50 things in your brain in a day!"

Here is the foremost reason why I bought forced hubby to birthday-gift me an iPad last year...

Ipad with flickr colors^^ by ♫muxu, on Flickr

Three little birds sat on my window and they told me ♪ ♫ I could write any where anytime if I had a WHITE handy (finger-friendly?) flat-screen sidekick.  (Love a metaphor that almost sings during persuasion but be a little more specific, like color, so he will think nothing but Apple.)  Life would be easier with just one button.  No more back arrows and 'Droid home icons that reminded me of buying a new house.  Plus, I heard its camera is a nice alternative to my bulky Canon DSLR.  (Hubby says, "Sweet!"  He is no longer my PA.)  And yes, a retina display sounded optically tasteful!

Love a metaphor that almost sings during persuasion but be a little more specific, like color, so he will think nothing but Apple. ~lancelonie

But now that he handpicked this pricey white Apple for me, it sometimes turns into a mere arm candy.

But let me explain (after all that jazz, right?)...  Daily office work tires you out that you come home snoring on the couch.  (It's not that I sleep on the couch and snore, ok?  Metaphor, remember?)  Then you move forward to a weekend of summer dog days.  Saturdays - you pretend to read your electronic CPA reviewer as you wait for your kid's hour-long ballet-tap dance class to end.  Later on, you fill your handy hard drive with videos of her learning to swim in the afternoon.  Sundays - you do another CPA-reading pretense because you keep peeping at how she progresses in gymnastics.  After lunch, you quietly sit up straight as if you're up next to her 5-minute piano lesson.  (Yes, five minutes. It takes longer to get there.). Then back home, I play my online friend - Pandora - while I sort our infinitely disorganized wardrobe.  (I bet you thought I was gonna say Candy Crush.  No, I was a Bubble Witch minion who loved stealing all top spots from my Facebook friends.  I'm sober now though...  I will beat you, [insert FB friend here] !!! #@*% !!! . . . Hi, I'm lancelonie.  I'm a BW addict...)

To those who are probably expecting, including my family, pardon me.  Your humble writer-photographer sometimes "pre-thinks" too much and moves forward right away that she forgets her trails.  "No, lancelonie, you can't do 50 things in your brain in a day!"

my pink iPad by ecindy, on Flickr

So today and hopefully moving forward, I'll turn my pink-covered candy gadget into a MORE useful writing and photo-editing tool.  At all times!

This message goes to those lovely people on my long writing-photography list.  The same goes to you, Sophia, my (hold your breath) ballet-tap-dancing-swimmer-gymast-five-minute-piano-playing BFF.  I'm throwing your Minecraft, Toca Boca thingies and all cutesy-tootsies up to the clouds.  (As if!)

Again, to those concerned, please excuse me while I take time to nap compose. You will be served.

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Soon.☺

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Stress-releavers at home

On the patio, right beside the gated car exit is a smoking area.  I'd like to call it a temporary space because I'm giving in to hubby's so-called stress-releaver.  I don't know when I'm going to get rid of it though. (sigh)

Going south from here is my mom's bedroom adjacent to the main gated entrance.  My mom enjoys crafting jewelry here (as you can see above).  When I don't see her in the workroom (below right), I know for sure she's sitting on the carpet focusing on little things, which I suppose eases her day.

By the way, this room is also where I take most of Sophia's portraits.  Natural light here is fabulous.

Hubby's number one rest-and-recreation is his online games.  His kingly laptop takes most of the space here. I had this glass top moved close to the living room to make way for a work-and-play room by the terrace. However, the supposed-to-be dining table functions more like an anything-but-plates counter.

As for little Sophia, we know kids don't get stressed a lot.  But one of the things that will make her cry is not being able to play with friends.  One time, she got heartbroken with an online gamer who kept "fleeing" from her.  Of course, she quickly got over it.

My stress-releaver?  I can't say it's really Flickr, Facebook or any online activity.  Sometimes, they do . . . when you're really able to connect.  But if not, it can weigh you down.

The real thing that makes me smile is seeing my family de-stressing themselves... :)

...and maybe if I can go back to being young, I'd be happier?  Hmmm...

I mean, just look at a child!  There's so many things he or she can do in a day...  I guess the only thing that will make him or her worry is not being able to play the next day.  That simple.

I wish I can be as carefree as a child and simply stress-relieve with a little play-dough.  Don't you?

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Photos by:
Nelonie Crelencia aka lancelonie
| lancelonie photography © All Rights Reserved.
DO NOT ALTER MY IMAGES. |

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Day 42: On a beautiful Sunday morning

Those Grandma-made Dresses

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Sophia's grandmother, my mom, is a wonderful dressmaker. She had sewn our clothes since we were kids. She is very detailed up to the smallest hand-stitch. In fact, she even made intricate Barbie gowns for my cousins, younger sister and me...  How I wish I would have saved at least one of those clothes.

Now, I keep those she made for my daughter.  Those outgrown sizes, we use to dress up some of her dolls and bears. The only problem is how to keep them clean.


The white-ruffled dress on these photos has two versions (or three, including mine, on left photo).  The texture on the fabric and the details sewn are fabulous.  I love them! Thank you, mommy dearest!

. . .

By the way, Sophia's photos were taken on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, right after Rozene Ann's christening in St. Brendan's Church. Reception followed in a buffet restaurant in Glendale. The (sea)food is great. We're going back to the place one of these days...

♥ Thoughts To Ponder

Have you kept any sentiment like this?  It doesn't have to be home-made like mine.  Someone may have probably bought it for you as a gift.  Do you still have it with you?

You know, it's not just for your own keepsake but it's a lovely gesture to show the giver your appreciation.

What's that???  Second-hand or "unwanted" gifts?  LOL.  That's another story... ♥

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Photos: 10.09.11 Details On A Dress By Grandma

by Nelonie Crelencia aka lancelonie

| lancelonie photography © All Rights Reserved.
DO NOT ALTER MY IMAGES. |

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Day 41: Remembering a Toyota audition

Naturally Shy

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I gathered her hair with my hands and tied it up with a grandma-made headdress.  Some hair strands shot up like I styled it.  Without too much direction, she posed against that cream-colored door (photos below).  The light shone beautifully from the huge glass windows through the slightly open blinds into her bedroom.  Everything was spontaneous.

She is a natural.  But things would have probably been better if she was not really shy...

The last audition we went to was a Toyota car commercial.  All she had to do was sit and relax while strapped on a car seat.  Really simple questions were thrown at her but she barely answered.  Her body was obviously tensed as she sat uncomfortably towards one side of the seat.  As I stood in front of her close to the casting agent, I, too, was getting uncomfortable.

There was another Asian girl who sat on a bigger car seat beside her.  I think she was 2 years older.  She said she was in gymnastics.  While being further interviewed, I just hoped Sophia would be that smart or even smarter.

This Toyota audition was about two years ago.  Let's see if she'll open up (if there is a) next time...

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Photos: 10.08.11 My Baby Doll Sophia

by Nelonie Crelencia aka lancelonie

| lancelonie photography © All Rights Reserved.
DO NOT ALTER MY IMAGES. |

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