Play The 7 Links Challenge

Before anything else, let me thank Ms. Wi of A Single Girl's Musings for inviting me to join this fun blog game. I have a soft spot for this girl, because she's also from Davao City. I assume she first noticed Mystic Nymph when I posted about Photoscape in my Something Very Short (SVS) blog feature primer. From then on, she became one of my avid readers who never fail to leave their thoughts down low when they have time. A million thanks to you, girl! I hope I didn't sound like Pilita Corales with that statement. Chuckles. Ok, let the game begin!

1. The Most Beautiful Post: Mama Bet's  Cookbook Episode 1

My dear mother, Emilie.

I consider this as my most beautiful post because I featured my Mom and her cake here. It was also my first episode for the newest bait in my niche called Mama Bet's Cookbook. She has baked a lot of sweets after that, but I haven't blogged about them due to lack of resources for documentation. Too bad! It's never too late! Check it out again soon.

2. The Most Popular Post: I'm A Woman and I Hate These Styles

I don't like Tattooed Men.

According to my blog stats, this post has already garnered 1,658 pageviews because of the men on tattoo. It's about trends that men love which I hate. I dished out a list of six styles that are very unmanly, at least for me. It's my version of Shine's Trends That Women Love Which Men Hate. Tessa of Fashion Facile also shared her views about it in her blog.

3. The Most Controversial Post: Unattractive Women

Natalie Dee's property.

I'm not sure about this though, but I think I've offended some women in this post. I also think I sounded like a bully who's so high-minded. But honestly, I didn't have any intention of coming off that way when I wrote that piece. That was solely to present my own list of ten unattractive traits that some women have. If I've hurt you with this, I deeply apologize. I hope you accept it.

4. The Most Helpful Post: Having Blogger's Block?

Pretty please let us blog more.

We experience blogger's block, more often than not. We get distracted, and sometimes it gets difficult for us to drift back to our beloved vocation (blogging). I'm sure you also get indignant about not having your daily fix of blogging like I do. Interruptions certainly are very disturbing! In this post, I compiled some tips that I deem are very beneficial to us, bloggers. I gave a list of ten.

5. A Post That Was Surprisingly Successful: Bollywood Fashion

My headless Bollywood Outfit Shot.

I blogged about my thoughts about Bollywood Fashion in this post (obviously). This is one of my effortless write-ups. By that I mean, there were no enough original words to describe the topic. I'm a wordy type of person, and when my posts don't have loads of texts, I get disappointed. But to my surprise, it became one of my posts that gained more than a dozen of unique comments.

6. A Post That Didn't Get The Attention It Deserves: Creative Juice (My Intense Devotion for ART)

Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory.

This post is actually part of my Top 5 most viewed posts according to my blog stats. I wrote this back when I  still had two followers. I think it only gained a number of page views because of the images. They didn't read the texts that were written whole-heartedly. That's what I don't like about some bloggers. They just drop by without paying attention to texts. They only look at the pictures, and that's it.

7. A Post I Am Most Proud Of: Mistaken Identity of Davao City

I love Davao City!

I'm proud of this post because I managed to lift the name of my beloved city to the whole world. I mentioned three distressing misconceptions they give towards Davao City gets, and then I hashed out their wrong ideas by highlighting every beautiful things Davao City can be truly proud of. Our city doubtlessly has an abundant array of good quality food and places that will surely make your life pleasing and delightful.

One of this blog game is to tag seven bloggers to do this as well. Too bad, I can't tag all my dearest readers and followers. Without further ado, I'm tagging...

Zahara of Scarlet's Walk

Sofia of Monstros No Armario

Bree of The Art of Being Cool

Lavinia of A Dash of Lav

Nicole of Simple But Fabulous

Pinguu of it's all because i'm a unicorn

Glenn of Gencified

I hope you enjoy playing this challenge, girls! And... for the last two links.. I invite you to LIKE my Facebook Page which can be found here -- Mystic Nymph (Blogspot). You can also connect with me on Twitter. See you there!

Something to Watch and Listen

I know this photo collage isn't related to what I'll be posting now, but let me just post this anyway.

I'm having cognitive overload as of the moment, due to overflowing scholastic requirements and personal problems. I don't want to rant about them here in my blog, so I chose to stay calm by not posting things and having a hiatus for the past few days. So to make up for my blogospheric absence, I'll be sharing you a YouTube video of me and my sister, and a Sound Cloud podcast with my dearest friends. I hope you check them out.

SCREAMatized Gossip - Davao's Mistaken Identity by Scream Radio

This is a podcast about the misconceptions Davao City and its citizenry get from people outside the city. This is created by a group of five ladies from the University of the Philippines Mindanao taking up BA Communication Arts major in Speech and Corporate Communication. This was created for our SPCM 102 Voice and Diction class.

Because my sister Janine wants to be a YouTube sensation, we decided to goof off and record a comedy video using our webcam. We call ourselves THE KJ WANNABEEES. This is the primer for our series. Stay locked in for the upcoming video episodes, ok?

Thank God for the 4-day rest period I have enough time to work on those stuffs that have been bugging me big time. Long live long weekend!

And... Advance Happy Eid'l Fiet'r to our Muslim friends! :-)

"Vote to Win" Giveaways

Cast your votes and win these stupendous goodies from Company Magazine and Break My Style. All you have to do is to read the following instructions:

Go to this link to do so: High Street Fashion Awards. You’ll have a chance to win a VIP shopping trip to London worth 1,500 pounds as stated in the screen capture.

1. Go to this link: http://tattoo.globe.com.ph/tattawards/vote

2. Find "Stylismo" and "The One" 

3. Vote for Laureen Uy!

4. Like/ RT this post with the hashtag #TattAwards, #BMS and @laureenuy

5. Like this photo on Facebook HERE and comment "BMS x Tatt Awards"

 

Only ONE lucky winner will get these:

Two items from Stylebreak

A dress from Coexist

A top from WAGW

1 necklace and 3 bracelets from Extreme Finds

1 pair of ballet flats from Suelas

1 necklace from SM Accessories

1 pair of booties from Schu


"If you win, I will be asking for a screen cap to make sure you voted for me and if you RTed/liked my post." - Laureen

 

I’m like “Whoa, I’m in for sure!” I hope I get to have those jaw-dropping items. It's time for me to wear my lucky color. You might want to join too! I'm not sure though whether Laureen' hosting her blog giveaway internationally. She didn't mention it in her blog. And by the way, today is the last voting period for Globe Tatt Awards. So, hurry!

Images used are not intended for copyright infringement.

Sucky Webcam Photos

I disdain taking photos via webcam. My reason? It reminds me of the defunct social platform, Friendster. Many people used to have their headshots (I prefer using this rather than profile photo) captured using webcam, and I thought it was very… tawdry, for lack of a better term. However, sometimes things slip through the net of pride. I broke my own rule that says “never ever use webcam”.

I know my self-made rule sounds so arrogant, but don’t worry I just made a fool of myself with my utter haughtiness. I now have a bunch of snapshots taken through my HP Mini Camera. I realized that it could also be fun having crappy pictures of myself. By crappy I mean, those that are too noisy you can only bear looking at them in thumbnails. On that note, I now present you my sucky webcam photos.

Because HP Mini has a low VGA camera, I figured posting them in the smallest size possible in Windows Live Writer. I goofed off because there’s no use trying to look pretty when the photo quality is ugly. Wow that rhymes, and that’s a laugh and a half. I also considered grouping my multiple photos to create these animations, which are called GIF for short. As usual, I was able to do this using the ever dependable Photoscape.

WARNING: Do not click the pictures to enlarge. You’ll just find yourself mocking them. Chuckles!

Child’s Play: Subdued

My Getup

Top: Comme ça Ism

Pants: Club Monaco

Flats: Chelsea

Bag: Issac

Bangles: Thrifted

Studs: from England

That collared top is my new favorite, because I saw Laureen Uy wearing a top just like that. Mom bought it for me in a vintage shop. It still has a tag when she got it. When I searched about the brand Comme ca Ism, I found out that it’s a Japanese brand although they used a French statement meaning like this. Japanese derived the name from a clothing line in London called Comme Ca. Sources claim that Comme ca Ism is like the GAP in America. They offer affordable yet chic fashion items. Credits to Osaka Nines: Street Intelligence for that tidbit.

I figured I can wear the top with my Club Monaco trousers to pull off a corporate chic vibe, and then I splashed it off with my red bucket bag. I love how the color red made a surprise appearance in my subdued get up. And by the way, this shoot was done at school. There’s a place in UP Min that’s just filled with messy greens, and I love how it contrasted my formality. Special thanks to my fashion buddy Ella for taking my blog outfit photos lately. I can’t wait for tomorrow! Do read my feature about her. Just click Cosmopolite: B-E-R-N-A-D-E-T-T-E.

“What Would Penis Do?”

I knew by then that this video from Lev Yilmaz is going to be as fun as the others, also from him. But I would admit that when I first heard of the title of this video from our professor, I panicked. I might not be able to watch this at home because I thought my mother is not that open to things about sex and penises. I asked my friend if the video is sensual, and she said it's not so I watched it home secretly wishing my parents won't see the vulgar title.

If you ask me, I agree with the Lev's statement “Guys doesn't have entire freewill as he has three governing factions: the heart, the mind, and the penis.” I don't think boys do things only from their mind as some psychologists claim. They say men use their mind frequently as women use their heart. Yes, it's true, but I think men's mind are more concerned with matters about sex, which we can say the job of the penis.

Men are really vulnerable to sex. From an outsider's point of view, I think sex for them is something they can't live without. They talk about it a lot, showing that they desire for it. If they could live with the one and only girl in the world, but with an alien-looking face, I bet they would still have sex with that girl. That's what I assume about men in terms of sex. I know it's quite offending in a sense, so I give you my apologies.

It really is true that some men brag about their sex adventures with different girls. I read it in a magazine that men don't feel like a real men if they haven't experienced having sex with many girls. They even kiss-and-tell it to their male friends to let them know they have just become a real men by having sex with such overwhelming number of women.

I should at least be thankful to that five-letter word because if it's not for it, I wouldn't be born in this world. I feel ashamed saying the word, but it's true. Just consider it as a metonymy. Lev Yilmaz's video opens our mind to views that are both practical and realistic. This video shows us that there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes with our dealings with the opposite sex, or even to the same sex.

I suggest you watch other videos from Lev's Tales of Mere Existence such as Procrastination, Arrogance and Confidence, A Typical Conversation with my Mom, How to Break Up, Boyfriends I Have Been, How I Found Out About Girls, and many more fun videos. He now has five new videos for 2011, like How to Get Out of a Rut and Times I Tried to be a Womanizer. Check out his homepage Ingredient X Entertainment and YouTube link, here

The video used in this post is not intended for copyright infringement.

Sonic Boom: Rock Songs

It was like more than a month when I last shared you some tunes here in Sonic Boom. Did you miss it? I bet not. Haha! The last song I posted was Arctic Monkeys’ track from their Leave Before the Lights Come On EP called Baby I’m Yours. I like that song a lot, because of the folk rock melody it leaves in my ears. My boyfriend also sings along with it now, because I’ve been pestering him to listen to it. I told him we’re going to play it on our wedding reception. VAVOOM!

I’ve been having a dose of smooth music lately so that I get an excuse to play them using our DVD player in the living room, and that made me miss rock so much. As I mentioned before, my family isn’t into rock music. In fact, they despise it. That situation made my heart grow fonder for my most-loved genre. It’s been a long while since I last had a rock music sound trip, so now I’ll be spoiling myself with it through this post. I’ll be sharing you three of my favourite rock songs from then and now. Here they are:

Juneau – Funeral for a Friend

Heights – Eyes Set to Kill

Sexual Man Chocolate – Attack! Attack!

I love Juneau because it’s very easy to the ears. The melody is also very catchy and captivating. About Eyes Set to Kill, I like it mainly because of their lovely lady lead vocals. It makes me believe that I can also be a band singer because I think I can dress and sing like her. Please just support my illusion. LOL! Their songs are not very hard to sing, well except for the screams of course. About Sexual Man Chocolate, I absolutely love its piano intro. The breakdowns are also superb. My boyfriend explained how Attack! Attack! Might have done it, and I’m pretty much amazed.

Check out my other posts about rock music: Invigorating the Soul and Supersonic Explosion.

That’s it for now. Bonne nuit tout le monde!

The videos used in this post are not intended for copyright infringement.

Cosmopolite: B-E-R-N-A-D-E-T-T-E

The newest blog series in Mystic Nymph has finally arrived. Hail to Cosmopolite! Join me as I rejoice in heralding the onset of another fashion filled posts ahead.

Here in Cosmopolite, I will be featuring living souls around me whom I deem to have fascinating sense of style and personality. In other words, we will take up close and personal with my friends and acquaintances whom I reckon having excellent social grace when it comes to their interests, passion and character. Because for me, those magnetic traits are what define a true cosmopolite.

This part is where I get to ransack their closets, bags and some other stuffs that have something to do with their promising lifestyle, to a feasible extent. I will also be asking them to share some bits on the trends they can’t help but succumb. I guess I’m going to have to dig their lives pretty deep, but I hope they won’t mind it.

To my dear comrades, flaunt what you have and shine in the virtual world as I scarf down all those fabulous information about you. That is if you’re willing to show a part of your modish self to my, ahem, growing number of readers. Chuckles! But of course, you don’t have to reveal too much. No worries.

To kick off this current undertaking I have, we will take a peek into the personal style of this girl who’s my course mate  from the BA Communication Arts Program of the University of the Philippines Mindanao. She’s also a Speech and Corporate Communications major. The underlying case she has to address most importantly is about her preferences on whatever kinds of comfort.

Spotlight on… Ms. Ella Berndette Rinos.

Ella is an 18 year old girl who loves fashion, music and photography just like me (that’s why she’s my new buddy). Would you believe she can sing with those hair-raising high notes? You really should. She’s UP Min’s very own Sarah Geronimo from the looks to the voice. I believe she’s also a good speaker, better than me. She’s also a G 12 (Government of 12) member, and soon, she will be my spiritual mother. It’s just nice to know people like her who never cease to spread God’s promises to every human kind.

Ella’s fashion icon are Audrey Hepburn and Camille Co. She also vies for the corporate chick look, because she loves formality. She hates emo or punk look. I didn’t ask about her reason why, but maybe because of the grungy vibe of the style. When it comes to food, she finds comfort on McDonald’s Sundae. I wasn’t able to check what’s in her purse/bag because of time constraints. Sorry about that. Next time, I’ll do for sure.

Check her out on Ethereally Stylish and hype her looks on Lookbook.

To my girl and boy buddies, please support this latest thing in my niche. Now, I’m on the lookout on who to tap next for the future episodes. With the power vested upon me, I hereby command you to get excited. Hah! I kid. See you next time, Cosmopolites!

Child’s Play: Amidst the Horror

Before anything else, I just would like to say that I’m using Windows Live Writer for the first time on this post, because Blogger’s not getting its act together. I couldn't post photos and all. Darn!

So, anyway…

School outfit for August 17, 2011. I have loved tucking in my tops lately. It looks so 80s, and for me it's edgy. It makes a simple getup look smart casual. I guess I'm just a huge lover of anything that's classic. ‘Nuff said. The theme for this amateur fashion shoot is obviously, Amidst the Horror. It’s actually because of the place I chose for the said pictorial. It was held at an abandoned plaza nearby our school canteen and clinic. There were huge and terrible-looking trees all over, but honestly, I wasn’t horrified at all. Without further ado, here are the shots…

Gratitude to Janice for patiently doing the  fashion photography for me. I was wearing my Dorothy Perkins top, Jag jeans, Parisian shoes, Issac bucket bag, thrifted bangles and other accessories from England. Can you feel the creepiness of our setting? I also went to McDonald’s MTS later that day to meet my good old friend, Maean. We talked about a business she was offering me to grab.

And by the way, I’m really enjoying Windows Live Writer. My blogging habit has never been this fun. The best thing I like about it is that, I can edit and add a watermark to my blog photos. I have to say WLW has it all! I suggest you try it yourself to see how cool it is. I’m lost for words on how to describe it for now. Special thanks to my sister Miko for introducing this application to me.