Graphic Design Euphoria

For the longest time I have wanted to make infographics but I find that it is too tedious. I have no patience for such organization and design making. Mostly because I would have to do it in Photoshop and that I would have to make it from scratch. Just making a publicity poster for the organization took me 3 hours and an electronic illustration I made for my friend’s children story book’s front page took me 7 hours. So, finding piktograph.com really saves me a lot of time plus the templates are so cool. *hipstergasm/graphicdesigngasm

I will totally share this with my friends if they don’t already know it of course. I’m always late with these kinds of things and I only discover sites months after other people have seen them. But I am really really excited for all the projects I can make using this website. I’ll keep on practicing because despite the simple graphic layout, I feel like there is more to this site that can be learned from continuous use. And of course the aim is to make my own layout and not use those which are already on the site.

I like infographics because they are eye catching and easy to use. They communicate things better especially to a generation that is used to brevity and direct messages. People are sometimes even too lazy to read tweets, imagine those are only 140 characters, what then would happen if data was still presented the way they were 20 or so years ago. We’d all have astigmatism and migraines every day. With the use of images, the eyes can easily navigate through the presented information and digest the data more quickly and efficiently.

Gone are the days of boring reports! I’ll wow my classmates with awesome infographics and charts on my next presentation. Hahaha. #ExcitedKid

The Problem with Boolean Algebra

Algebra is fine. In fact, I really liked Math 11 for some reason. But Boolean Algebra is a whole new thing. The laws are confusing and are not exactly similar to those of algebra. Maybe my weakness is that. I keep trying to find the commonality between Boolean algebra and the usual Algebra and I find myself alienated.

With this recent assignment, I found it really difficult to simplify because I kept looking at it as an algebraic expression. xy+yz+xz looked like ax+by+c and I kept looking for b. Multiplication’s also different because you can’t simply multiply things. Or maybe it’s because I feel so limited by the Laws and Common Identities I have to consider. or maybe its because I don’t know the logic behind them.

I kept questioning myself whether x’+z'(x+y) is in the simplest form. Maybe this comes from the fact that I can still see 2 xs and I keep thinking that they can still eliminate each other. I nearly gave up because of exasperation and hopelessness. Since math is a difficult subject for me, I rely on up close tutoring. In fact, I only learned Algebra because my classmate used to tutor me nearly everyday at lunch. And he’s the main reason why I passed Math 11 today, and also the fact that we were all scared to fail Math in high school because the teacher was a terror.

I need to find a tutor and its too bad that all my friends who’ve taken IT seem to have forgotten all the parts about Boolean Algebra. Anyway, this just means that I should double my effort to learn the subject. No more daydreaming during lecture. 🙂

In Lieu of the Recent Rape Case

Back in 2011, I wasn’t really bothered by the rape cases and murders that plagued LB. Yes, I was shocked and angry but I have never been so affected as what happened with this weeks rape case. I was suddenly shaken with fear. Fear not for myself but for the women I know and love. We have 33 members in our organization, with 6 brods and 22 sisses.

I feared for every one of them. Every female student I passed by or that passed by me, I looked at as potential rape victims and not as future engineers or teachers or whatever they become.  This was extremely alarming because I suddenly teared up every time I thought about the possibility of violence not just against women but to any sector of our society. How could one human being fathom or even consider harming another? Are we all just animals lorded over by our desires?

I lost hope in humanity that day and it was a very heavy weight to carry around. I attended all my classes but by 3 in the afternoon I could bare it no longer and skipped my IT lecture. I trudged back to our apartment and crawled into bed. Formed a cocoon with my blanket and pillows and slept. I slept at 4 and woke up at 7 still burdened by such heavy feelings of depression that no one could get me to talk. At 9 PM, I called my mother and just cried and cried. I also feared for my mother’s safety being the most important woman in my life. After that I felt a little better.

I’m usually so strong but on that day I just felt so vulnerable and hopeless. I guess with all the stress of acads and pressures from org work, the weight of the issue just broke the dam and let loose all my emotions. I hate feeling vulnerable. I need to be strong because if I can’t push myself up then who will? I’m thankful for my family because they are their to support me but in the end its still all up to me whether I go down or go up.

Dyahe ‘pag Com Arts

Dahil sa sobrang conyo ng mga nakaraang post ko, naisip ko na mag-Filipino naman kahit tapos na ang buwan ng wika. Hindi ako sanay mag-Filipino at mas lalong hindi ako eksperto sa spelling sa Filipino kaya ipagpaumanhin.

Halos dalawang linggo nang tinatalakay sa klase ang binary arithmetic at noong nakaraang linggo ay ipinakilala na sa amin ang tinaguriang Boolean Algebra. Sa isip-isip ko, “L*ntek! Math na naman!” Akala ko iniwan ko na ang mundo ng pagsusuma at pagmimenos, akala ko iniwan ko na ang mundo ng pagtatalik ng letra at numero, akala ko iniwan ko na si x pero di pa din pala. y? T.T

Haist.

Para sa isang Com Arts student na tulad ko, na sanay sa sandamakmak na readings at discussions, hindi madaling ituon ang pansin sa pinakamililiit na detalye tulad ng ginagawa sa matematika. Sanay kami na pinag-uugnay-ugnay ang mga konsepto, tinatahi ang diskurso, at pinalalawak ang tingin sa lipunang pinagagalaw ng symbolismo at komunikasyon.

Pero aba! Ewan ko ba. Natutuwa akong mag-math. Siguro kasi hindi siya madali para sa akin kaya kapag nakukuha ko ang sagot natutuwa ako. Para bang, “A pakshet! Woooo! (-6) = (-13) = 11101100!” Pero siyempre kapag ‘di ko nakukuha ang sagot nanlulumo ako at nabuburyo.

Tulad kanina sa exercise sa lab, di ko makuha ang sagot sa (-7) – 15. Paulit-ulit kong kinuha ang 1’s complement. Pabalik-balik sa pagpalit into binary pero lagi kong nakukuhang sagot e 111000000000 to infinity (medyo OA). Pareho kami ng partner ko na nahirapan. Pero ewan, weirdo ata utak ko kasi inulit ko yung komputasyon ng bara-bara lang, yung di masyado tutok sa kung ano bang nangyayari tapos nakuha ko yung sagot. *cue magical explosion of rainbows and unicorns kasabay ng pagtugtog ng Alapaap ng Eraserheads*

Siguro kasi ganun naka-wire yung utak ko. Yung di niya gustong pagtuonan ng pansin masyado ang mga bagay-bagay kasi nalilito siya. Parang Com Arts lang talaga, wholesome ang atake. Tumitingin sa detalye gamit ang kabuuan. O, ‘di to pagyayabang ng course. Na-amaze lang po talaga ako. At di ko din sigurado kung tama ba yung mga sagot ko, pero nararamdaman ko ang malakas na baka.

Sa susunod, Boolean naman. Yun yung di ko sure talaga. #Pray #HelpMeMathGodsxz

Tanong para kay Ma’am: Sumasang-ayon po ba kayo na ang “Bahala Na” ni James Reid at Nadine Lustre ay nagtataguyod ng unprotected sex leading to quite possibly, because of the demographic of their following, teenage pregnancy?

*okay lang po kung di niyo sagutan. hell week na po kasi, kailangan ko lang itong ilabas sa mundo. hahaha

Weekend Roller Coaster and the Hot Pink Mess

Last weekend was my birthday. I was happy, I mean genuinely, I laughed and ate so much with my friends I felt ready to burst. But I do have this belief that if you’re happy now that entails sadness later. That’s the rule of life, you can’t remain a certain way forever. So, after all the fun walking around Binondo and food tripping all sorts of Chinese food (fyi I LOVE Chinese cuisine), we sat down at Sa Lido and started talking. The talk turned to nostalgic remembrances of when Ron and Brylle were still here in LB, when we were happy (they’ve graduated) and it took a turn for complaints and grievances about our lives, our org, and people. We felt like old men and women meeting at the usual coffee place to chat and groan because we were in fact drinking bittersweet coffee and munching on Shanghai fried siopao while we talked.

Anyway, my mood has not lifted since then. I am so frustrated. There are so many pressures coming from here and there and I just about am ready to slap my committee mates on the head. I’ve been tasked to create the video teaser for our upcoming party and whilst still struggling with shoddy cinematography my laptop, in its glamorous hot pink mess, suddenly decided to reveal its awful sickness.

“Sorry, cannot render video. Low memory…” BLAH BLAH BLAH. I almost punched the screen.

The IT lesson and exercise today just reminded me of the problem I have to face later on. I know my laptop has 4G RAM, it even has an Intel Core i5 and an Nvidia video card. So how the hell can it have low memory? All my files are on my external hard drive. I curse the technological gods because they never fail to spite me for my insolence in believing that I could dabble in the works of demigods like ITs and programmers or whomever tech sprite they lord over. Now I have to face the truth that my laptop has reached its max 3 years optimum performance. This is another rule in my life. “Laptops only last 3 years. After that, they’re garbage. (Or close enough to garbage).” I only hope I can find a solution to this. I don’t want to buy new RAM. A new laptop would be nice but I’ve already gone through 3 these past 2 years. Yes, I therefore conclude that the gods of computers have cursed me. Thank you so much. *Please note the sarcasm.

 

— Love, HippieGirl Who Doesn’t Belong In This Goddamn Decade

Twenteen This Weekend

I’m turning twenty this Saturday. Hard to believe really. When I try to think about the fact that I’ve been on planet Earth for two decades, my brain goes into that existential limbo it so passionately loves and equally hates. What have you done with your life? Where has two decades and a good school gotten you?

Well, to address the second question, it got me here, writing this post. Today’s IT project was to create a blog – tedious, I think, but rather exciting partly because I’ve always wanted a blog and this whole thing is new to me.

New.

Another part of today’s lesson was to use a terminal to navigate and manipulate the computer. Interesting because it made me think of young Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in the 80s staring into the black and green screens of their jurassic “computers”.

Most of the time, I wish I was born before the modern computers. At around the 50s I think, then I could be part of the hippie era. Because goddamn who doesn’t love The Beatles. And I’d be boogying in the Disco Era and wearing shoulders pads as a goal driven career girl in the 80s. Like Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in 9 to 5.

But, I had to be born 20 years ago in 1994. It sucks because I can’t really cope very well with this generation. Maybe I’m an old soul or maybe I’m a just a tired soul. That’s why the IT lesson today was so exciting because I got to learn something new. That at least shows that there are more things to learn and discover. Makes life more exciting really.

 

Ma’am’s Age: Maybe 24?