I visited the Left 4 Dead blog a couple days ago and noticed that they’ve referred to The Passing’s release date as “Spring” instead of late March. I guess this means the release date for the new DLC “The Passing” has been pushed back. I find it weird since they were selling Left 4 Dead 2 at 50% off a couple of days ago. It would have been great to do that on the same day as the DLC’s release.

I’m not that bothered since I haven’t had time to play lately. This month is going to be chock-full of work and preparation for a few shoots, and in May I’m going to trek up a volcano’s crater. Good times.

I discovered Lights a few weeks ago. I was intrigued because the album art sort of reminds me of how a purple iris looks like. Her sound is a little synthesized, although I have to admit that I do like the lyrics. She sort of makes me think of a female version of Owl City.

I don’t think her music is something that I’ll be hooked on for a long time, but it’s definitely something I’ll be listening to from time to time.

I’ve been looking at my photos from high school, and I’ve realized how much my friends and I have grown up. I’m still friends with a few people from high school (I had a lot of friends in high school, but I wasn’t overly friendly, so I never really formed many relationships that were long-lasting – mainly because some of my high school classmates acted like flaming retards), and seeing how much we’ve all grown since we were in our teens is a little amusing, and also mind-boggling.

I find it really funny how some of us are thinking about things like term life insurance, gas bills, rent, and taxes while just 6 or so years ago we were worrying about our grades, or we were just plain slacking off.

Funny how things can change in the course of a few years.

Our family has made a decision to be more environmentally friendly this year, so we’ve been finding ways to turn stuff that we normally throw away into fertilizers, compost, and stuff like that.

We’ve also been doing research on things like alternative energy, clean coals, and renewable energy. We found a great site, N-viro, that has technologies that turn wastewater into renewable energy, or soil enrichment products. I think it’s a great idea, and something that should get more exposure.

We’ve also been looking at their soil, which my mom is interested in particularly since she does a lot of gardening in her spare time. It’s definitely something worth learning about.

This was what I was up to the whole of yesterday afternoon. I set this up near a window with a lot of light coming in, used white paper as a backdrop, and went crazy with the apple. I won’t say how I set it up, except that it’s easier than it actually looks. It took me about 5 minutes to set up.

Canon EOS 20D
18-55mm lens

I’m keeping this list to remind me of things that I plan to get or make within the year:

• 2 canvas texture backdrops – it’s part of my plan to assemble an improvised home studio by next year.
• DIY Backdrop Stand – I still need to make sense of the diagrams before I can make it.
• 5-in-1 reflector – at the moment, I am using a car’s sunshade as a reflector. It’s pretty good, but I’d like a real one.
• A new camera – I won’t need this for a year yet, since I have plenty of other cameras. I’d really like a new DSLR by next year, since mine is a little old and while it still works perfectly, I’m not sure if service centers will still be able to service it.
• A strobist yet – I’ve always wanted to try working with strobes.

Photography is an expensive hobby. Anyway, I have to go. I told my friend I’d help him prepare for employment screening, and job hunting. He should be showing up soon.

Last night, I decided to fix my Photoshop workspace, by adding a few more windows, such as the histogram and navigator, which I don’t usually use. I’ve been making a concentrated effort of going into a deeper study of Photoshop during my spare time. At the moment, I have a bunch of Photoshop books waiting to be read. I’ll probably tackle them during the weekend.

Diventare is turning 3 years old soon. I still have no idea what else I want to do with this site, although I do intend to keep it for as long as possible, and see how I can improve its PR, etc.

I’ve been toying with the idea of turning this into a niche blog, something geared toward a specific topic. I’m still not sure what, though, maybe best hgh supplements? I’ll still have to think about it.

I am waiting patiently (yeah, right), as the release of The Passing draws closer. I’ve seen some of the gameplay videos, and I’m really excited to finally see the old survivors (which they didn’t show in the gameplay videos, to keep the element of surprise alive). Anyone interested in relacore?

If only they’d announce a specific release date and pricing (if they’re going to make PC users pay) already, instead of just saying “late March”.