Dee Finally Tied the Knot (with John)

Dalisay, Dee for short, was my classmate and friend from elementary school.  We got reconnected here in the States in the early nineties.  Divorced for many years, I had been egging her to get married already to John, her boyfriend for sometime and they finally did today in Massanutten, Virginia.  Just the two of them, she said.  I got a call from her around eleven this morning and she gave me the go-signal to announce it to our friends and former schoolmates.  I am flattered I was the first one she called.  It seems like only yesterday when we posed for this picture in Prague (nope, I don't drink, just borrowed the beer from Ben) in 2004.  And it seems like only the day before yesterday when as a child not even a teen, I would walk to her home in Yacal in Sta. Cruz to read the Liwayway and Bulaklak magazines they sell in their store.  A 'Best Wishes' toast to the couple!!

Favorite Baby Pictures: Jared

Jared is my fourth grandchild.  I took this picture of him and had intended to frame it but never did, so I am displaying it on my blog and publishing it on facebook for friends (and relatives) to see.  Jared is ten years old now.  He has always been a restless kid, can't sit still, talks (lectures) a lot, so her mother has had frequent visits to the principal's office.  Lola of course gets mad at the school.  "They don't know how to handle smart kids! That's what.  He gets bored. What is wrong with a kid who hums while doing his work?"  He likes to hum because he likes music.  Unlike his Lola, Jared can sing.  When he was six, he dedicated and performed a song for me and his Lolo on our 60th birthday celebration. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb-C5lhJ9eY

Foggy Clarity

When we reached Peggy's Cove from Halifax,  I was extremely disappointed.  It was very foggy.  The tourist site was just big rocks and a lighthouse and a small general store, all gray in the dense fog.  The area visible around it was very limited.  We couldn't even have a glimpse of the sea past the rocks. Luckily, there was an inlet and a few low buildings I could see through the haze. Of course I took pictures for memories even if I expected them to come out blurred.  I was still using film then and when the pictures were developed I had my surprise and a very valuable photography lesson learned:  The fog acts as a sort of filter which gives one's pictures a special kind of clarity.  Without the fog I wouldn't have been able to capture the stillness of the scenery in this, one of my favorite if not my favorite photo.
(Nova Scotia, June 2004)

Those Were The Days: UE Fashionistas

I taught at the University of the East from 1968 to 1979.  Above is a picture of me with the younger group of teachers.  The photo reminded me of the fashion of those times:  miniskirts, long dresses, flared bottoms,    ele pants, bare midriffs.  I tried them all.  It was a pleasure having a hand in the making of one's dresses.  I bought the cloth or material myself, I made the design and then brought them both to my 'modista'.  I can't say I was able to compete with the other, usually older fashionable matrons in the college who were also always well coiffed and made-up.  I couldn't even fix my hair nicely but of course it was thicker then, so hindi halata.  Besides, youth is the best style of clothes, hair and make-up. Anytime.

Kim in a World of Colors

One of my favorite photos.
This was taken on one of my european trips (first with Kim, in 1998(?)).   We went to Amsterdam and took several day excursions from there to the adjacent countries.  This was taken in one of the stops of our riverboat in Dusseldorf, Germany.  I was so self-congratulatory because the picture appeared technically manipulated although it was just taken the way it was, Kim on a walkway where the walls were very colorful.