It was a long week. Was at work until late for most of the week, and it’s rather tiring. It’s relative though, comparing my work hours with those in Malaysia who start around the time I do but leave at 10pm instead. After that, you just look forward to the weekends to chill out.

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Today is Labour day in Victoria, and a welcome break from work.

There is just a tranquil quality of sitting in front of my PC listening to instrumental tunes and surfing the web. Used to do this more often during my school days and it was a very good way of relaxing the mind and getting it off the daily grind. Looking at some really amazing photos now. If you look at the styling of the photos, everyone has a different way on conveying their subject matter. The framing is excellent, capturing the essense of the subject matter and the colours are subtle yet punchy. Heh, like taking photos very much and are envious of people staying in Europe, where they have access to some very beautiful scenery in the countryside. Where I stay in Melbourne, there’s been a draught going on for the last 4 years or so and most things seem to have dried out, making it looking very barren and desolate. Maybe there are scenes I haven’t discovered yet but I’m wanting to learn how to visualise photos in a surreal, impressionistic manner.

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Been printing photos again, and currently playing with those wide angled photos. Heh, printing now is a guessing game as I try to match the colours on my printer to that of my monitor. Reds come out redder than what I see on screen and images come out darker than the images on the monitor. Probably mentioned it before, but there is a different feeling towards seeing a nice picture on screen and actually seeing it on a print and holding it in your hand. Colours on paper are less jarring to the eyes as it is reflected light of a print instead of light eminating from a monitor. It could also be the glossy feel of photo paper and it’s reflective surface that gives you a fresh perspective on the picture.

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Mid day now and the clouds have gone. This morning it was threatening rain and now the clouds have all evaporated. Heh, it’s kind of like life, where something seems evident to happen just fizzles out and the complete opposite occurs instead. A little wary of events that will happen this year. It’s March already and it seems to be just anticipation, about New York and looking forward to things. Sometimes, I just want to live the here and now, of what I have and not anticipate so much but instead just enjoying what I have. Then again, I wish I could read the weather forecast for life. Heh, not that they are very accurate most of the time.

As my boss would say when you get a windfall from a bet or other things, you should spend your earnings on something frivolous. Heh, I’ve always found that statement a little amusing.

Over the past week while busying myself at work, I was hankering to buy something for myself. Had a few options, a Nikon D200, which was in the vicinity of AUD2k or a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens, which also floated around that price point. I know I’d never get either here in Australia, when it can be had for a few hundred dollars cheaper in Malaysia. So I opted for something at 10% the price.

So I ended up looking at things I always wanted/needed but never really felt something that was in the price point I wanted. So it came down to two things, a Nintendo DS Lite plus any of the highly recommended DS games. The other was a compact camera that I could easily fit into a pocket and the Canon A550 popped into the picture.

Went to look at both items yesterday and the Canon A550 was a little overpriced at shops compared to what I could get if I were to have bought it online. Heh, there’s something about instant gratification to me and I wasn’t keen to spend over $250. Moved along to look at the DS Lite. Mmm. So tempting but the shelves didn’t stock any of the games I was interested in and I didn’t feel like asking. Alas, I went home empty handed, but not any poorer. Heh.

Prior to this, the ideal thing I’d have bought would have been a Sony Ericsson k800i phone. It’s got a decent built in 3.2MP camera that took decent shots that would look good on a 4 x 6″ print. That would have been the best portable camera as I’d never leave my phone at home. However, at the price of one phone, I could have bought both items listed above.

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I guess I’ve bought so many gadgets over the last few years that I’m a little apprehensive about getting anything as I don’t want to spend on something I’m not likely to use very much. In fact like I noted, the things I spend the least on I use the most, like my $20 electric kettle from 2001 which boils the water that makes me coffee day in day out. Okay, maybe it’s an odd comparison.

Lastly, Final Fantasy XII is out. If I had a proper TV and livingroom, I might shelf World of Warcraft for a few weeks just to play it. Recalled spending winters freezing under a blanket playing Final Fantasy X in 2002. Those were the exciting student days.