Retreat

It's been more than a month now since my batch graduated from high school so I thought it'd be a (sort of) good idea to post some of the pictures that I got from retreat.

The past four years have been amazing and I can't thank God enough for placing me in this particular batch and allowing me to meet some of the best people in the world. To have been welcomed with so much warmth was such a blessing when I first came to ICS as a new student. To have not only grown physically and spiritually but too also see how others have grown too makes me smile and feel happy about the past four years. I only noticed in our last two plays how well we actually set up our sets together. It wasn't as smooth as we hoped it would be probably because of all the emotions, but looking back now, I can say we work well as a batch. I'm proud to be a part of Batch 2016. We've gone through so much together especially those who have been here longer than I have. I wish we could have more time together but I guess we wouldn't value the time and memories we had as much if we had more time. From main characters, we now become recurring characters or special guest stars in each others lives, but I hope that that our roles in each others lives won't change. Knowing how we love batch bondings though, I'm positive that we'll see each other often. Although, the last batch bonding was sort of a fail since barely one-fourth of the batch came. Oh well, we'll just have more of that I guess. Anywho, this letter is getting long so I'll end it with another paragraph. I'm kidding. It's been real, Batch 2016. I'm happy to have slayed high school with you guys. I can't wait to see how we'll all slay college. God bless, friends!

Until Next Time!
~ Luis ~

Previous post: http://whatdoesluissay.blogspot.com/2016/04/quality-over-quantity.html



P.S. We always say how our batch never get to go on field trips anymore because of what happened to you guys during your Grade 6 field trip. So, I hope this post was a feel trip for you, Batch 2016.

Quality Over Quantity

I've always believed in the concept or philosophy of quality over quantity. Whenever work is given to me, I don't ever want to settle for mediocrity. I always say to myself: Never settle for mediocrity. I don't want to just do the work. I always want to be able to give 100% in the work that I do, but there are days though where I do settle for mediocrity and I feel horrible when I do. It's just something that I can't do. It's most definitely a struggle for me especially here on this blog.

Working on this blog has definitely proven how much of a struggle living out "quality over quantity" is. I've been blogging for over a year now and it's one of the best things that I've done in my life. I have this little space on the internet where I can happily write about certain topics, share my thoughts, put my creativity to work. I always say that this blog is a privilege and not an obligation, but there are days where I completely forget that and so I go for quantity over quality.

When I'm not able to post on this blog for more than a week, I get frustrated with myself. I feel horrible because I think to myself that I should've posted that past week. In desperation, I would look around my room and search the interwebs for inspiration hoping to find something to write about. I would really stress out about this and it would frustrate me on so many levels.

If I found something to write about that isn't really something I'm 100% about, I would try to convince myself that what I found was okay and that I should just write about it so that I have something to post. It came to a point where I wanted to post something each week because I thought I should post something each week. I became more concerned with how many posts were up on this blog rather than how was the quality of each post that I put up that I put up. It's been a struggle and I've been trying to overcome this struggle for awhile now.

I would write all the ideas that I'd have and work on a structure for all of them (quantity). If I was really happy with an idea, I'd go with it and the ones I wasn't really happy with, I'd set aside for me to improve on for another day (quality). If I ever feel while writing that I just chose to write that post at the expense of quality, I would stop writing for awhile to just step back and reevaluate. 

I think it's important to reevaluate ourselves once in awhile. It's an opportunity for us to gain a brand new perspective or, in my case, regain perspective on certain things which is good especially for writing. You can write so much and yet have no direction (which I feel like is this post but I'm hoping it isn't). Remembering that my blog is a privilege and not an obligation and why I started this blog in the first place is the most effective method for me to get back to writing with the right (pun intended) mindset.

It's easy to settle for mediocrity and prioritize quantity over quality nowadays especially in school and at work. The temptation to just do the work for the sake of just doing it is really strong. If you ever find yourself settling for mediocrity and prioritizing quantity over quality, take a step back and reevaluate yourself. Objectively think about why you're doing whatever you were doing. Check if you've been giving a 100% or not. Take a break from whatever you're working on because it might be tiring you out too, but don't forget to work on it again. Voluntarily taking a step back now can prevent you from unknowingly taking several steps back in the future.

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I don't think I've posted something like this in awhile and I'm really happy with it. Even as I was writing this post, I reminded myself from time to time that this is all a privilege and not an obligation. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. There'll be more to come soon, but that's all for now!

Until Next Time!

~ Luis ~

Previous Post: http://whatdoesluissay.blogspot.com/2016/04/my-comic-book-collection.html

My Comic Book Collection

As a kid, I read and collected comics as a hobby. I will admit that I'm not a huge comic book fan as other people but I do enjoy them a lot. I've collected quite a number of comic books over the past few years and that's what this entire blog post is all about. Most of my comics are DC so if you aren't a huge fan of DC, I hope you still enjoy reading. Without further ado, here is my comic book collection. 

The New 52 Justice League

These are the latest additions to my collection. I just them a few weeks ago and I have been loving them. I've always wanted to read the reboots of DC especially Justice League so it's nice to finally have (some of) them.

Kingdom Come

This is probably one of my favourite comic books. I've had it since I was 7 or 8 and I have always enjoyed reading this one. It's done by Alex Ross who just might be my favourite illustrator.

Look at that art.

Now look at this art.

But then look at this beauty.

JLA vs. Avengers

Growing up as a DC kid, I wasn't super exposed to Marvel, so this comic book was one of the few things that introduced me to the Marvel Universe. The storyline is pretty interesting and I think it's worth a read.

Blackest Night

I don't know if you know this but Green Lantern is my favourite superhero and so it only made sense that I had Blackest Night in my collection.

Cosmic Odyssey and Justice League of America

In my entire collection, I think these two have the oldest content. Regardless, I enjoyed reading them as a kid as they were much different takes on the heroes I knew from the tv show Justice League.

Cosmic Odyssey

Justice League of America

The World's Greatest Super-Heroes: JLA

This comic book was one of the first few that opened my eyes to new versions of the heroes that I knew. Kyle Ryner was the GL of the Justice League and Hal Jordan was the Spectre. Also, Hawkgirl isn't in the Justice League but Aquaman is. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it a lot.

Justice Volumes 1 & 2

These are such amazing comics. It had a really good story and such amazing art. Look at that art. It's by Alex Ross, which explains why it's amazing. There's a third one that I don't have which makes me a little sad. Hoping to complete the trilogy someday because it's a really good set of comics.

Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 3

Much like Justice League of America, this is a compilation of old comics about the Justice League. This one I think is one of the first few that tackles multiple earths or the multiverse.

Infinite Crisis and Infinite Crisis Companion
I really enjoyed reading these comic books. I remember reading it a long time ago and just forget the time. I was so sucked into the story because I just found it so interesting. It's definitely one that I won't get tired of reading.

I found the story of Infinite Crisis so interesting that I forgot the time when I first read it a long time ago. It's definitely one that I won't get tired of reading.

Look at all those Lanterns.

Kababayan Komiks presents: Bayani
Issue # 1: Lakambini

My 4th year concept paper was about a making a comic book that meant to encourage nationalistic pride amongst the Filipino people especially the youth. That is the actual comic that my group made for the concept paper.

The story was done by my good friend Yumi Paras and the illustration done by my amazing friends Trixie Guerrero and Kayla Olleres. Hi, Angelo. You did some shading too.

I think this might be my favourite comic book in my entire collection. Even if I didn't personally contribute to the actual comic book (aside from shading some panels), I'm very proud of this comic book. It's very special to me and I'm just really happy with it.

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I realize now that most, if not all of my comics, aren't the actual issues but more of compilations of the issues. Well, I wasn't a huge comic book fan like I said so I didn't really wait around for each individual issue to come out. It was a once in awhile thing. Hoping to change that soon and catch up on all the New 52 comics that are out. I'm also hoping to get into comics made by Filipinos! It's really good and important to support our own products and artists! 

Anyway, this was more of a show-and-tell kind of post and not my usual kind of post where I talk about what's in my head. I hope you guys still enjoyed reading this blog post though! That's all I have for today!

Until Next Time!

~ Luis ~

Previous Post: http://whatdoesluissay.blogspot.com/2016/04/january-to-march-2016-favourites.html