Lost photo collection

Over the past few days, I took the liberty of finding and uploading roughly 800+ photos dating all the way back to about 2004. These are photos that have either been sitting in the corner sectors of my hard drive or recovered from old cellphones and online photo-sharing services. There’s a lot of them, some more important than others, but they all bring great feeling of nostalgia. Taking a trip back into the past eight years, I’m having trouble concluding if I changed a lot or not. Some chapters seem to suggest it, others don’t. Regardless, seeing fragments of the past eight years getting pieced together is cool. If you’ve ever been in my life any time since 2004, there’s a good chance that you could be in any of these photos.

2004-2007

Cellphone Dump 2007 (and before)
Myspace Graveyard (Photoshops)
Friday Night Worship

2008

Cellphone Dump 2008
Post Fridge Transportation
Thanksgiving 2008
Sprint Ahead
Wataburger Run

2009

Cellphone Dump 2009
Shutter Shades
First time at Texas State
Developed Photo Scavenger Hunt
Birthday Photo Scavenger Hunt

2010

Cellphone Dump 2010

2011

Cellphone Dump 2011
Fall Getaway
Halloween RAVE
Epic Window Washing 

“Oh man Ruiz, that photo mosaic looks so cool!” Thanks, there’s a larger version here.

New Year, New Computer

For the past few days I’ve been working on upgrading all of the current computers in the house. My mom and my sister Eunice were always nagging about how they need a better computer. To be honest, I was nagging to myself about my own computer. Well, something had to be done. So all of the computers in the house were upgraded in a hand-me-down fashion. My sister gives my mom her computer, I give my sister my computer, and I simply build a new one. :)

My new computer doesn’t exactly need much, just needs to be faster and more reliable. I don’t play any games on it, but I do a lot of high resolution image editing and some potential HD video editing. All I needed to purchase was a new CPU, RAM, and Motherboard. In layman’s terms you could say that means a brain, memory for it, and a skull. I had everything else. I’m stocked up on hard drives and power supplies. I don’t do any PC gaming anymore so I could still use my old graphics card without any problems. And of course, the my new Antec Mini P180 White which I reviewed not too long ago is here to stay.

All of the computers in the house were upgraded to Windows 7. Home Premium for my mom and sister, Business on my netbook, and Ultimate on my desktop. I have to say, it feels good to have a unified, up-to-date home network. :) Below you’ll find the specs for my new build as well a gallery of of it being put together.

CPU: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz @ 3.4GHz
Motherboard: MSI P55M-GD45 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 PC3 12800 @ 1600Mhz
HDD: Some Seagate 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0 I should probably upgrade soon
GPU: XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB 620MHz Core 1600MHz Memory
PSU: BFG 450-Watt ATX
Case: Antec Mini P180 White

Noona

This is Jennifer. She is my one and only 누나, noona, or big sister in Korean. I look up to Jennifer because she reached out to me in high school and changed me for the best. Not that I was a bad kid or anything at the time, but she inspired me to attend church and be a more outgoing person. Her personality is one to envy and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be as outgoing to others the same way she’s been outgoing to me.

High school has long passed since then and we don’t ever get the chance to see each other as often as we used to. She stays in the great San An and I take it easy here at home. We only get the chance to see each other a few times a year, whenever she comes down to visit. It’s always great to play catch-up whenever I get the chance to see her. After eating dinner, we decided try a small photoshoot. I’ve always known that Jennifer is the photogenic type. She always has the right attitude when taking photos. We took a great amount of photos within an hour and I have to say, they came out really excellent. Here’s a small gallery of finalized photos that I’ve been working on for roughly about two hours. Please enjoy them and if you want, critique them!

I won’t be able to see Jennifer, as well as many others until next year. I hope that everybody will continue enjoy what’s left of 2009 and stay safe into the new year. :)

Whoopsiedaisy.

Hello! This past week has been quite a long one. Christmas hasn’t been the greatest thing in the world, but it has nonetheless been good to me. I didn’t receive too much, but then again, I didn’t give much either. I bought Christmas cards for about fifteen people and spent about 3-4 hours delivering them all. There’s still a few people that I haven’t been able to give their cards to and they know who they are. Hit me up! So remember how I spent over $1000 in gifts last year? Well this year, I decided to simply save. I spent less than $70, which I actually feel good about. There’s no reason to be wasteful again. So what did I get for Christmas? Well I got…

• A tie clip and cuff links. (Thanks Mom!)
• $370 over time. (Thanks again Mom!)
• Popcorn, candy, and a $25 gift card. (Thanks Melyssa!)
• This…

This is a framed illustration of Crimson Viper, also known as “my obsession on Street Fighter IV.” It was drawn, colored, and remastered by Eunice. I can tell that a lot of effort was put into this project. Though there may be some flaws with the drawing itself (disproportions) the message is clearly there. For the past year, Eunice has clearly paid attention to my interests and took full advantage of it. Hands down, this has to be one of the best presents I have ever received. My main problem is wondering where I’m going to hang it. My wall is already filled with cards. I might just have to move some of them. Thank you Eunice!

I’m sorry that I haven’t been pumping out posts like I usually should be, but I promise you that my blogging finger has been itching for a while. I’ll be sure to dish out posts well into the new year. I really hope that everybody had a good, if not decent Christmas. Looking at the astonishing number of negative Facebook status updates on Christmas Day really has made me worried. If your Christmas hasn’t been too bright then I hope that the new year will at least bring you a better memory. :)

60′s 70′s 80′s 90′s 2000 AND NOW?