He ordered the Zink sheets from ebay, the package was shipped to the Philippines from California, and just like that, my love for instant photography is back. Mind reels that there’s a separate blog about this sometime soon. You bet. (:

2. Habakkuk 3:17-19. Last Sunday, David preached in church for the first time and the experience was awesome. I know, that last sentence was pretty biased, coming from his wife and #1 fan by default. But what’s truly awesome to me is how God prepared him for this. Sure, he didn’t have a degree in Theology, but his message felt so real to me because I’ve seen Habakkuk 3:17-19 happen in his life more times than my fingers can count and my mind can recall. I sat there front and center, listening to him preach God’s Word, feeling like I was getting to know him a little bit more, and feeling blessed and inspired of the message that God placed in his heart. So okay, I may be biased, but come to think of it, if there’s anyone who sees this man for who he really is now—ups and downs, good days and bad days—it’s got to be me. And I’m soo thankful to be a witness to how God is continuously working in his life, and our life together. (:

3. Link love. And now I send some link love to these people whose blogs/videos inspired me this week. After the jump.

+ Can you believe this music video? It’s a video made of Kinna Grannis, 288,000 real jelly beans, and 22 hours of hard work! Go see for yourself.

+ Do you know Pentatonix? We are crazy about them! I remember getting hooked to The Sing Off last year when I was in the US. Sadly, the show is not being aired in Philippine television, so my husband and I had to wait around Youtube and wherever Sing Off videos are being uploaded. We manage to follow the season alright, albeit delayed telecast, and we’re rooting for Pentatonix all the way! Here’s a Pentatonix playlist I made, mostly because we like playing the videos on loop at home, and partly so I can share them here.

+ My heart goes out for Jennie, especially this Thanksgiving, as she and her daughters celebrate their first Thanksgiving without Mikey. I feel attached to her, for some reason. Jennie encourages her readers to always be thankful, and to help The Liz Logelin Foundation, established to help people struggling with the loss of a husband or wife. So I’m sending some link love over there too, for whatever help this may serve.

+ Normi is moving in THIS DOMAIN with me! Yay! Chasingdreams.net’s first ever sub-domain, her blog is now residing at normi.chasingdreams.net. She thanks me for the space, but I said I should be the one thanking her for hopping on board. I have a vision for this domain, and I’m happy to announce that Normi is the first dreamer joining this chase with me. So hover over to her space, and read her take on Divorce. (Way to go for a first post, Mrs!)

+ Matthew Snyder’s take on sin and the message of the cross came at a time I needed to be reminded. It’s easy to be hard on yourself or other people, pointing out the things that you’ve done wrong, or criticizing others for what they’ve done wrong, sometimes sulking about them even. But Matt reminds us that the real message of the cross is not just in Jesus dying for our sins, but also in the empty tomb–it is finished. Done. He rose above death and we shouldn’t dwell so much on sin anymore. He said it better than I ever could, so go ahead and read it there.

I should make this a weekly thing, sharing awesome reads and websites I find here and there. Maybe I will. :)

I think I’m gonna dream of Polaroids and New York in technicolor tonight. <3

Anyway.. I managed to score 10 packs of One600 Polaroid films back in December after a loooong and winding quest to find suppliers here in Manila (which was, for the record, a failure, because we’re in a third world country and life’s not fair like that) and after finally succumbing to the fact that ordering from Ebay was the only way to go. So yeah, given that that acquisition cost me an arm and a leg, I’ve only used up 3 packs of Polaroid films so far, sparing the rest from impulsive, trigger happy shots and keeping them in the top shelf away from my itching hands.

I can’t wait to use up my remaining stock of Polaroids the way Andrew Farris did. Surely, New York (and Sydney) is worth saving up these overpriced boxes of expired films for.

(Via Design Vagabond)

Where in the Philippines can you get these stuff anyway? I heard there are stores in Hidalgo, Quaipo that sell them, I still have yet to check that. (But I also heard that finding polaroid film packs in Quiapo is unlikely, so yeah, I don’t know what to believe anymore).

In the meantime, I torture myself some more by browsing through pages after pages of Flickr photos such as these:

by Lilacmoon

by Toni

by Lyptonvillage

by Dreamincolour

by Lilylove

by Susannah Conway

Why issit raining Polaroids everywhere in the world BUT the Philippines? Is it wrong to sometimes wish I live in a different country because of this?? Haaaay.

So while I go on with my quest to acquire boxes of Polaroid films, I get myself inspired with people who are doing awesome Polaroid photography.

Check out SicoActiva‘s one-of-a-kind Polaroid mosaics, taken with SX-70.

I have to get myself Polaroid 600 films!! I’ve been using a lot of Instax sheets with my Fuji Mini Instax, but nothing still beats the real creamy, soft-colored images that come out of a real Polaroid Camera. I’ve seen awesome images taken with SX-70 too, Susannah and Amanda are my favorite SX-70 photographers. I think an SX-70 is next on my list! :)

30 Days of Awesome, 19/30.

1/30. Polaroid Cameras and Instant Photographs

As of Wednesday last week, I’m a proud owner of this baby. And as of today, I’ve consumed two boxes of instax films already, and have started using the last stack, albeit sparingly.

Some people ask me if it’s worth it, spending more than 30 PHP on a single instax photo (and about 50 PHP on polaroid, if you ever find one), in an era where digital cameras and phone cams are a way of life. But I say, I think the fact that you pay a certain amount to preserve a moment puts even more value to the photograph, right? Nod, I have a point. ;)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for DSLRs and digital cameras, I can’t live without having one close to me wherever I go. But capturing moments through films and polaroids is special. With film, there’s that element of surprise — you’ll never know how your photos will turn out to be until you develop your rolls of film. With polaroid/instax, on the other hand, there’s that giddy excitement of watching the colors and images develop before your eyes.

It’s an expense that won’t give you ROI, alright, unless maybe you want to be like Jennie Castillo, who made a buy-and-sell business out of it; or Scott Hammond and Jenifer Altman, who are by far the best polaroid photographers I’ve seen online, who can get away with selling their polaroid shots at about $25 a piece. (Whew.)

As for me, I don’t mind being just Riz for now, wasting on polaroid sheets, just because they’re awesome. :x

P.S. A bunch of people asked me where I got the “R” pendant. I got it from a friend, Elaine of Artecrafts. She sells made-to-order charms and keychains just like mine. :)

30 Days of Awesome, 1/30.