My Mama back in 1987. She was still 24, almost the same age as me now. I was told that my dad took this photo back when he was still courting her. I was also told that my dad liked her because of her radiant personality. Well fast forward to today, and her radiant personality is still as radiant as ever, even at forty… something. Haha! Happy Birthday Ma, I love you so much!
P.S. This photo was taken to document how excited she was to use her “new” PC in the office. God Bless the 80’s.
Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You
After what he revealed to the world, this song means so much more to me now because I’m able to relate to this song in its truest sense. To know that we’re the same age, and we experienced the pangs of heartache from a boy also at the same age really connected me to him and his music. Opening up about something very personal like unrequited love, let alone his sexuality, speaks a lot about his courage and bravery. And because of that, I am more empowered and proud to be who I really am. I finally have someone my age, and someone who’s like me, to look up to. I have nothing but respect and love for his fearlessness and amazing talent. He is my hero.
Sun Star Live! June 1, 2012
The outtakes for my BLANC shoot was featured for a story is Sun Star Cebu’s Live section for June 1, 2012. This is very special to me because this is my first newspaper feature. It’s a very surreal feeling to see your photo printed in an entire page of the best newspaper in Cebu for everyone to see. I am extremely grateful that I have this opportunity to share my passion to everyone, especially to the people of Cebu.
A huge shout-out to Stacy Avila Lloren and Cherry Claire Petiluna for making this feature possible.
Read the Entire Story Here: Project Pellon by Cherry Claire Petiluna
REYES, RN, MAN
The photo above says a lot. No need for a long photo post about my graduation. Just that one photo. It encompasses everything I achieved in that very moment of my life. Last Sunday, I finally finished graduate school and graduated with a degree of Masters of Arts in Nursing, Major in Medical-Surgical Nursing. And my thesis, A Comparative Analysis between Orem’s Theory and Roy’s Model in the Care of a Patient with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, received an award for Research Excellence. All my hard work, the years spent at school, all the time and effort working my butt off, was finally paid off at that very moment.
While we were going home, Miuccia Prada’s words was suddenly ringing in my head… “I think that you have to do your job, and who cares about the title.” Yes, who cares about the title. I can be two, three or four things all at once. I just have to do my job. And do it well. Now, I’m more convinced than ever that I should not just be one thing. I am a sum of so many parts. I am more than what I think I am. At the end of the day, I am still and will be a nurse. And I should not let my nursing career get in the way of my passion, which is photography and vice versa. I’m very grateful that despite my age, I already have achieved so much, academically. I can’t wait to see what my future will be now that I have this degree.
(Photo by Raphael Andrew Reyes)
Coasting Along
The thing with this blog is I don’t write about other things. I’m not even a specific kind of “blogger.” I just write about myself. And lately, I’ve ran out of words to say. I’ve just been coasting along, watching everyone else share about their oh so wonderful lives. I’m not motivated enough to do anything besides working on my thesis. All this downtime is alarming. And I’m starting to think that I’m in the middle of a quarter life crisis. I feel like I have thrown away so much time just to do one thing. But I know this is all for the best. I’m just thankful that I still have him in my life (11 months and counting) because I don’t know how I’ll “coast along” without him. I know this will all turn around very soon, once I’m done with grad school. I have so much plans for summer and I want to be creative and productive again. But I know everything has its own time.
Out for a Stroll
Lately, the weather permitted me to walk around in pretentious Fall/Winter wear here in the tropical island of Cebu. I needed a little inhalation of fresh damp air to clear my very clouded mind. I was too caught up in the rain and wind to even think of getting an outfit shot. Plus I didn’t want to get my camera wet. I got the sweater at the same place where I got my shoes. So that’s that. Sharing little mundane details of my life can be therapeutic, especially on a time like this.
Better Than a Photograph
Also, I finally received the actual illustration that Nicky Roa made for me months ago. It’s small but it’s so beautiful in real life. It was done on Japanese paper so holding made it feel a lot more delicate, and made it so much special. And it’s now sitting quitely in my shelf, with a frame of course.
Hello, It’s Been A While…
I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. You may call me a lazy blogger but whatever. I recently quit my call center job, which I never really liked, so I can focus on my thesis and be full time grad student. My working title right now is A Comparative Analysis between Orem’s Theory and Roy’s Model in the Care of a Patient with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Hopefully I’ll be able to graduate this April with my Master’s Degree in Nursing that I’ve been working on for almost two years now.
I don’t want to say that I’m in hiatus because it’s not like I’m never going online ever for the next two months. It’s just that lately I’ve been very busy, pressured and stressed out. When I’m online I’m either just on facebook, twitter, looking up Nursing Journals or reading unpublished nursing theses, essays or dissertations, for reference purposes. And I’m also downloading .pdf textbooks so I can be more efficient in doing my thesis. Think copy & paste.
However, the downside to all of this is that I don’t have enough time to take lots of photos anymore. But I’ll make up for it soon. I think another Life Lately post in the near future is in order. I’ve also been working on a lot of things. I can’t wait to share all of them soon.
I’d like to believe that I tell better stories through my photos than with words. These 10 photos is a little glimpse of what’s been happening in my life so far. There’s a running theme to this. But I’ll leave it up to you to guess what it is.
1. Twilight 2. Cebu at Night 3. Street Lamps 4. Starry Night 5. Caught in the Headlights 6. Reflection 7. Ceramic Flowers 8. Harris 9. Lanterns 10. A Self Portrait.
My New Haircut
I wanted to try something new. Something I never had before. It’s shaved on the sides but still very thick on top. I know lots of people have this haircut, but I really want to try it on myself. It’s very refreshing since I have the same old look since forever. Personally, I really like it on me. And if I’ll get tired of this, at least I know that my hair will just grow back.
Unlike most of you people, I’m not rich, yet. So sometimes when I buy clothes, I do an age old practice that my mom passed on to me, which I have mastered quite a bit. I do ukay-ukay or thrift shopping. Fortunately, there’s a lot of these stores near my place and I found these babies.
I got this really nice Bass topsider. It’s still in very good condition. And it’s very comfy. It’s even prettier up close. I feel like it’s very “grown up” because I always saw my dad wear this when I was younger. It’s a nice departure from my chucks.
I also got this Lumberjack topsider. It looks really old, but it’s still in very good condition. I think a round of shoe polishing and cleaning will make this less scruffy.
As an avid thrift store shopper, I think I’ve managed to stock my closets chock full of great vintage and thrifted stuff that I wear in my everyday life. It can be a challenge to make a thrifted item look more modern, but I think that’s the fun part of all this. It’s really amazing how much you can get without spending so much money.
Also, in keeping with tradition, here are my 12 resolutions for 2012. Because just like before, I’m still delusional enough to believe in them. I wasn’t able to stick with my resolutions last year. But that’s not stopping me from creating and recycling resolutions for the new year.
1. Focus on my long term goals.
2. Take more and more photos this year.
3. Eat Healthy and Work Out.
4. Travel outside of the Philippines.
5. Be more friendly and make lots of new friends.
6. Quit the affectations.
7. Slow down on the materialism and keep a simple lifestyle.
8. Be a better boyfriend.
9. I need to be nicer to myself and to other people around me.
10. Spend more time with my family (i.e. vacations, trips to the beach)
11. Give More.
12. Love More.
So that’s that. I hope I can’t stick to it as much as possible. It’s better to have goals set that to go on with the year without any plans at all. The photo above is the only decent firework photo I got on New Year since I was still buzzed from all the wine and from the food coma I was nursing courtesy of my mom’s lasagna and ham. Anyway, have a prosperous 2012 everyone! I hope you can stick to your resolutions as well.
In keeping with tradition, these eleven photos are some of the highlights of my life from 2011. This year has been a year of discovery, growth, loss, forgiveness and love. These photos really mean a lot to me, so I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed compiling them. Happy 2012 Everyone!
Merry Christmas!
It’s that time of the year again. And I’m so happy that I’m spending Christmas with my beautiful and loving family. Being with them after an entire month of work is the best feeling in the world. Also, since I’m in the Christmas mood, I made the photos look like Christmas Cards. I wish I could print this out and send it to all my relatives and friends. Anyway, I reflected on a lot of things today especially with my daily bout on materialism. It’s really not about what you get, but it’s about who you’re with on Christmas.
I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Yes, I am still alive. It’s funny when I have to explain why I have been away. I was very busy from work that I mostly spend my mornings and afternoon asleep. For lack of a good writing skill, here is a photo essay of what I have been up to since the I’ve been away.
1. A Beautiful Rainy Morning 2. A few of my favorite Books. 3. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein 4. Richel Reyes 5. Palm Trees 6. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 7. Scene of the Crime 8. Pretty Pastry 9. A self portrait of me wherein I am not wearing a shirt whilst I am enjoying the cold rainy day.
P.S. This might become a weekly thing now.
P.P.S. December is my birthday month. I will be accepting Birthday gifts in cash or in kind. You have at least 13 days to do that.
