Zero Degrees

Oftentimes, my shoots with Alex never really go exactly as planned, and this time was no exception. 

Alex had just come from a long week of work, and when she finally got to my place to shoot, one of my lights started acting up. It was an unexpected incident that forced me to compromise my set up, thus ultimately changing the overall look and feel I was initially going for.

Oftentimes, my shoots with Alex never really go exactly as planned -- but for the most part, the final results tend to be worth it in end.

It's an everyday struggle, trying to wrap my head around the notion that some things are not my fault -- at least not entirely, I guess? -- and that there are some things that are just out of my control.

Things don't always go according to plan -- trust me, I know that better than anyone -- but it's shoots like the ones I have with Alex that make me see the silver lining in the unexpected.

A man ate a seagull and then he died.

Gasp, an outfit post? Really? TRULY, IT IS 2016.

I wore this last Sunday when it was unnaturally chilly for Manila standards (hence the coat). While I wasn't planning on photographing this properly -- let alone blog about it, even -- I liked what I wore, but missed the chance to take a snapshot via mobile phone when the sun was still out. So, in a way, you could say I was almost 'forced' to document this outfit. Almost.

I don't remember what brand this shirt is from ('cause I totes suck at this blogging thing), but I know I got it from Hong Kong on sale some time ago. I like how it basically tells people to eff off, but the background print is still pretty hippy and fun and-

-2016 and I still suck at talking about my outfits. Seriously, while photographing this, I thought back on the time when I was HELLA dedicated to documenting my outfits and making blog posts on them. I honestly don't know how I managed to become so devoted, putting so much effort to photograph myself and what I wore for the day. On one hand, I want to get back to doing such, but on the other hand... meh.

And then, less than an hour after I had documented this outfit, I received a call from Terry telling me I was coming with her to visit some friends of hers. I suppose they're also friends of mine (??? to an extent, at most), but I had only hung out with half of them maybe one other time -- or perhaps two times before -- and y'all know how I've always felt about calling people my friends. Most times I refrain from using the label until I'm sure a certain degree of closeness has already been established, only because I don't want to seem like I'm overstepping boundaries a.k.a. feeling close.

It was already 4 AM when I got back to the house, the knowledge that I still had work in about two hours time slowly creeping its way into the back of my head. By the time I got to my room, I could barely keep my eyes open. I was exhausted -- mostly from all the laughter induced by the company I was with. The night was unexpectedly lively -- much more enjoyable than I had anticipated, to be honest -- and I think that made the lack of sleep all the more worth it.

Sometimes these spontaneous moments turn out to become very meaningful memories, and these days, having such happy feelings stirred within me -- while lovely -- have become rather fleeting in their existence. For my own sake, I need to come across them more often.