canon_20d's Xanga

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:54:50 GMT

Monday, January 05, 2009

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:17:35 GMT

I accomplished nearly all of them in '08. Yep, I'm that resolute in finishing what I start. It shouldn't be hard to figure out which goal I had to carry over from last year ROFL. So here's to 2009...

= Pursue happiness through an active lifestyle and live adventurously
1) Hike at least 100 miles of the John Muir Trail and/or Pacific Crest Trail.

2) Dedicate winter to making the purest, edge-only turns on my snowboard. Consistently leave pencil thin trenches on the groomers.

3) Hike outside of California.

4) Lose 5 lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle.

= Nurture creative passions
5) Take 2 breathtaking pictures that no one can believe I took in pursuit of 1) and 2).

6) Learn story telling through film and editing with Final Cut Pro. Use 1), 2) and 3) in my stories.

= Self improvement
7) More family time. I may go crazy with this one.

8) Food/drinks/fun times with friends at least twice a month.

9) Find a significant other. I get enough lectures from family elders as is and will probably get more in pursuit of 7).

= Increase hacker cred
10) Write a Ruby gem that parses weather data from a ReST service and open source it on GitHub.

11) Become proficient with Prototype, Scriptaculous, and RJS.

12) Deploy a Rails site that does something.

13) Learn the basics of Objective-C, Cocoa and RubyCocoa.

14) Write a reference webapp that uses BlazeDS, Java, and Flex.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:54:05 GMT

An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress.

The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship.

The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the passion and mystery he found there.

The engineer said, "I like both."

"Both?"

Engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work done!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:10:14 GMT

I'm so ready for my first trip outside the country. I leave for Canada in 10 days to snowboard on the greatest resort in North America. It's a much needed distraction.

Also, having a passport means I can explore other parts of the world that fascinate me. The list of places to tour and/or backpack through is long, but off the top of my head:

- Patagonia in Argentina & Chile
- Mountains of Pakistan
- Vietnam, for obvious reasons

I recently invested in an HD camcorder, a book on Final Cut Pro, and a book on documentary film making. My goal is to become proficient with video as I am with photos. Than I can really show friends and family back home how utterly breathtaking the places I visit really are :)

Why the iPhone is so kick ass

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:57:08 GMT

Trade in your Blackberry or Windows phone now :)

So I'm still practicing the Ocarina and transposing songs. I bet I've got the first Vietnamese song on YouTube =D

Somewhere Out There - American Tail

Almost Like Being in Love

Friday, November 21, 2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:25:04 GMT

Raaarrrrwwwwwww!

THIS ECONOMY IS DRIVING ME MAD! I'M POWERLESS TO AFFECT MY CAREER PATH. IS ANYONE ELSE ANGRY? DOES ANYONE ELSE UNDERSTAND?! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE? WHY NOW!? RAAAAARRWWW

But I'm no one special, no different than anyone else who's afraid of lay offs or anyone looking for work. We all share the same frustration and worries. The bills never stop coming and the responsibilities keep growing. The Man takes and he takes.

I will give thanks for the job I do have and hope that doesn't change.

Misery loves company. Bah humbug, friends.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:52:22 GMT

Economy sucks. Work sucks. Job hunting sucks. Raises will suck. Bonuses will suck. Wait, I'm not even sure if I'll get the last two. This year is probably going down as the worst ever for working people and people looking for jobs. The economic cluster f* has finally hit the tech industry and I don't know how many more rounds of lay offs I'll survive.

If I do get the pink slip maybe I'll give more thought to becoming an AP Comp Sci teacher. I already love sharing knowledge and who can beat 3 month vacations? I can hike all 2000mi of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2 or 3 summers!

Gawd does everything suck right now. I miss school.

--

Ski season started early. Tim and I went on an impulsive trip up to Mammoth for some very early season skiing. Check out the HD video here:

A Mammoth Adventure from Loc Nguyen on Vimeo.

Coworker: So did you find anyone to go to Whistler with us?
Me: naw nobody
Coworker: what about all those girls you're seeing?
Me: please, the well's dried up my man
Me: i went through a list of girls i could ask
Me: and none are awesome enough, like really awesome
Coworker: dude c'mon
Me: seriously! i only want *awesome*
Me: i'll try not to bother you and your gf up there hahaha
Coworker: dude it's not like that
Me: right right no worries, i'm destined to be a soul rider
Coworker: ugh
Me: they see me ridin', they hatin'

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:10:19 GMT

The snowboarding season's begun! Mammoth opened today and I have crazy thoughts of going up there this weekend. But I'm coming to the realization that no one is that eccentric and I'm alone in my insanity. Would I go alone? I so would. This soul rider doesn't like driving 6 hours alone in the middle of the night though. I will probably be homebound, shackled to the confines of city life.

I really should be living where there's more nature to see and take pictures of. There's just no grand adventure and escape around these parts.

---

Some more photos:

Never letting go.

I really love capturing these moments for couples. Usually at the end of a session I let them do what they want. Here they were probably unaware how their raw emotion and unrehearsed intimacy was lending to the photo. Their embrace couldn't be any more genuine.

Every so often I come across a picture that reminds me how overwhelming love is and it makes me smile.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:35:18 GMT

Her: those are really nice engagement pics

Me: aw thanks
Me: I just press the button really

Her: but you show them what to do and how to act

Me: nah they know what to do, they're a couple

Her: yea right, then everyone's pic on FB would look like these
Her: somebody's shy about their romantic side...

Me: lol please
Me: i'm a monster, incapable of love

Her: uh huh =)

Me: rawr >:D

It's like being in a dream...

An endearing kiss between two lovers as the sun sets for the day. My vision was to use a partial silhouette and gold outline on the bride's figure to add a touch of sensuality and mystery. Her veil blowing in the wind was an added bonus.

Been awhile

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:03:11 GMT

Just starting to edit photos from a wedding last week and engagements taken today. Critiques welcome ^_^