The Slap Bet

THE BILL OF SLAPS

1. A slap bet is created when two parties involved in a disagreement, argument, or difference of opinion mutually agree that whichever party is proven right (or winning party) gets to slap whichever party is proven wrong (or losing party) across the face as hard as they possibly can.

2. In all Slap Bets, a Slap Bet Commissioner must be appointed. In the event of a discrepancy, the Slap Bet Commissioner makes the final ruling. The Slap Bet Commissioner must be someone fair and unbiased, someone kind hearted but not afraid to rule with an iron wrist.

3. When issuing a slap, the slapper must avoid lips and noses at all costs. The goal is for the palm of the slapper’s hand to connect with the meaty part of the slappee’s cheek thus providing utmost enjoyment and pain. If you’re seeing handprint on cheek, you’re doing something right. In the event of a bloody nose, the Slap Bet Commissioner shall award the slappee three slaps to be used in succession. Suggestion: The Dead Man’s slap (rule 8.)

4. When issuing a slap, the slapper must not wear any rings, gloves, or other finger/hand ornaments to protect the safety of the slappee.

5. When issuing a slap, the slapper must keep one foot on the ground at all times to protect the safety of the slappee.

6. In the event of Premature Slapulation, (when the slapper slaps the slappee as hard as he or she possibly can and then afterwards, finds out that the slap was not warranted), the slappee gets to slap the slapper at least three times.

7. The Blind Man Slap: If the Slap Bet Commissioner deems the slappee particularly deserving, the Slap Bet Commissioner can issue The Blind Man Slap in which the slappee must close their eyes while being slapped.

8. The Dead Man Slap: Backhanded slaps are permitted only if used in succession. For example, if the Slap Bet Commissioner awards the slapper multiple slaps, the slapper can use a backhand if and only if it’s preceded by a forehand. This is commonly referred to as The Dead Man Slap and is the only existing slap that allows the slapper to connect with both sides of the slappee’s face thereby earning maximum slappage.

9. When the slappee gets slapped, he/she must accept the fact that they’ve just got slapped. Any retaliation against the slapper, by the slappee, will result in no less than ten slaps (with a set number to be delivered by the Slap Bet Commissioner.)

10. The most important rule: Enjoy! Few things in this world match the sheer joy one receives from slapping a friend right across the face. Especially after being proven right. So slap away!

From now on, this is how I will resolve all arguements. No more petty name calling, straight to the slap bet. I was inspired by two noble men, Barney Stinson and Marshall Eriksen. Obviously this will not apply to arguements with girls because, I wouldn’t hit a girl.

Okay so, I’m going to be running two simultaneous blogs at one time. This one, and this one. They’ll be laid out differently, and the latter will be more focused on photography, art, and graphics. While this one, will continue as is. Though you’ll still get a bunch of overlap, there will be differeing content because I want to see which I like better before settling. Also if traffic on the other blog gets busy enough,  I might actually go spend some money to set up an actual website-blog-thing. So here’s to running two blogs at once, hopefully successfully. Note the other blog isn’t set up yet, and I will announce when it is though.

“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.”
- Psalm 103:1-19

So I pretty much quoted the whole of Psalm 103 because I couldn’t pick which part of it I really wanted to highlight. I realized I wanted to highlight most of the verse. I first encountered this verse back in highschool during sunday school. We were supposed to have this memorized, but, unfortunately I’ve forgotten it. This whole passage gives me such a rich description of God, and who He is. Though one part I do love is “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” It makes my day when I read that. No matter how big a mistake I make, no matter how stupid a decision I make, God’s love for me is unyielding, unending. That and if we truely repent he’s faithful and just to forgive, and if he removes our transgressions that far away from us, that’s pretty good. At least I think so. I think the biggest reason this passage sticks with me is the imagery that’s painted throughout. How great God’s love for us is. How forgiving God is. Just, how amazing God is.

On that bombshell,
Good night!

DIY Project One

Ah back to the regular updating… this definitely is a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. So here we go.

So onto my first DIY project! A homemade lightbox, because I don’t want to go out and spend loads of money on something I can make at home for a fraction of the cost. It’s not perfect but it’s a work in progress. The materials I used were:
- cardboard box
- duct tape
- scotch tape
- exacto-knife
- wax paper

Pretty simple but I think it works. Needs some fine-tuning, but like I said, it’s a work in progress. Maybe this summer I’ll build a new one with a wood frame so I can buy some clamp lamps to fix to the frame. But we’ll see. Basically I measured a 2cm border on three sides of the box and cut them out, covered the windows with wax paper, and taped it all up.

Here’s the result:

So after taking some photos, I realized I need to make the light diffuse a bit more, and a second light would be nice as well. The shadows still seem pretty hard there but I’ll try with another layer of wax paper tonight. Otherwise, I might have to find another diffusing sheet thing. But overall, I’m hapy with the effects, though I need a bigger box to accomidate for my lack of a macro lens. It’s hard to get just the object and the white background in the photo as my box is a little thin. But that’s okay, now I know.

So for next time, I’ll hopefully be able to build a wooden frame for more strength. A couple clamp lights. And maybe a different material for diffusing that’ll be slightly stronger and easier to maintain than wax paper. Frosted plastic sheets seem like a good choice. But this all depends on cost and everything. Next project however, is, a flash diffuser.

“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
Luke 12:28-31

So keeping in line with last post on God’s provision. Here’s another little excerpt from the coolest book like… ever. The Bible. Oh just a little fact, did you know that the Bible is the NUMBER ONE most stolen book in the world? I don’t know whether or not to be proud or kind of sad for it. But back to the verse, it’s definitely comforting knowing God has a plan. Just like the last post, you can’t just leave it up to God. He’s got a plan, and definitely not a plan to hurt you, but to prosper you – though you got to have God in the center of everything you do. Time to keep that in mind as I’ve got about 2 months before I leave for Hong Kong.

On that bombshell,
Goodnight!

Excitement!

Oh man, so it’s not that I’ve neglected posting. Maybe a little, but, mostly because I haven’t done too much lately in terms of photography. But now’s as good a time as any to update!

So, the past month and a bit has been pretty good, I haven’t gotten into any kind of trouble, which is nice. In fact, I’ve done a lot of things that I’ve always wanted to try, but never gotten around to trying. Stuff like… baking, exploring Edmonton, and reconnecting with old friends. All that good stuff. Of course the camera has been put to use a couple of times, but lately not so much. However I am proud to say my camera has broken the “3500 photos” mark. Yay!

On other news, oh yes, this one I’m particularly happy about. Elated really. So giddy in fact, it’s keeping me awake right now. At one point I was actually shaking with excitement. Okay time to spill the metaphorical beans, I got a new d… S… L… R. Don’t know if I’m actually going to get to keep it yet, but things are looking up. Here’s the story: So my dad has been looking for a camera that shoots 1080p videos, and I’ve been pestering him about the T1i since before the T2i came out. Unfortunately, he did bite. All is not well, because the T2i was released just recently, got rave reviews, and my dad decided to go out to Future Shop and chance a peek. Lucky for me, there was a promotion going on which bagged us $100 off, on top of an “oh-so-beautifully” timed price match with London Drugs, giving a grand total of a $150 off! Long in short, I’m currently the proud user of a T2i, though I won’t say owner quite yet. Dad’s still deciding, though he did tell me sell my camera after we get back from Cambodia. So I guess that’s a good sign.

Yay. Still jittery. I still love my XSi dearly, and if I had to go back to it… I would. In a heartbeat.

Other than that I got to play around with my camera and explore Edmonton with an old friend, Jackie. Weather was great, just before the little snow stint that Edmonton’s adventurous weather pulled on us. Got to pretend to do a photo shoot, with no actual goal in mind. Just a camera, and a friend. All you need really. Oh just so you know, two fo the pictures I uploaded were photoshopped, nothing big, just a bit of softening and bluring and all that jazz. Found some pretty fun spots in Edmonton to shoot at too (Reminder to self: Go back this summer and take photos to my heart’s content). Oh, and with the whole catching up with old friends and what nots, that’s still happening, or at least, in the process of happening. So that’s good, managed to at least get in touch with some, and meet some others.

Right… photos…

Uploading those photos made me remember some stuff. My first time baking a cake and succeeding. YES! I’m so proud of myself, it tasted pretty good too and I think I did a pretty good job on the presentation. At least for that slice. Cooking is a bit of a passion for me, but I’ve always stayed away from baking because I thought it’d be all messy and what not. But it really isn’t, if you keep track of things. That and you get an oh-so-tasty treat after you’re done.

Oh yes, and I recently (or well not-so-recently anymore…) received my SIGNED Kina Grannis CD. Yay! I used a lot of yays in the entry but all is well, means I’m that much happier lately. Awesome CD, though I can’t drive listening to it. It’s got the same effect on me as Priscilla Ahn and Chris Tomlin. They make me sleepy, in a good way. Soothing voice is all.

“in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:6

So, as of… today actually, I’ll be done school. For a little while, I think. Anyways, it’s time to find a job. Not some summer job, or part-time, or casual job. A real job… a job, job. Big kid stuff. I’ve also come to realize how comfortable I am with not working, with not having to have that responsibility. In the same way, sometimes I look at this verse and think; “I don’t need to do anything, God’s got a plan”. I know that naive, childish, foolish, and that lot, but I sincerely think that sometimes. I’m not proud to say I think that way, but I do, and it makes the ever dawning realization that I actually have to do something that much easier to deal with. I guess it’s a good thing that I realize that, and now that I’ve written it down, I kind of have to keep myself accountable. Or at least I assume, Nathanael (I’m banking on you reading this blog everyday BAHAHAHA…) will hound me on it now that you’ve read it. Possibly several others too. The other way I look at that verse is; if you do what you can do to the very best of your abilities, God’ll open doors. I mean, I believe that the bible doesn’t lie, so if it says that if I put my faith in God, he’ll open up a path. However, if you read more carefully than I do, you’ll notice that it says “in all your ways acknowledge“… which, correct me if I’m wrong, means you got to have God centered in EVERYTHING that you do. I know a lot of times we leave studying, homework, or something simple like job applications to the very last-minute and think to ourselves “God’s got my back, it’s all good”. And then we fail, and in turn, retaliate against God, shun him for not making us pass that test, fail that assignment, miss out on an opportunity for that job. Again, if you look at that first part, ask yourself. Was God centered in your actions when you chose to procrastinate, when you chose to be lazy, when you chose to sleep in. I’m pretty much speaking to myself more so than speaking to any of you who read this, but I think it’s something we’ve all struggled with, or are struggling with. I, for one, want to change that. I’ll do what I can, and pray for the best.

Note: So I used a total of 4 “yay”s in the making of this post. Yay!… Correction, five.

On that bombshell,
Good morning! (It’s actually getting bright out already and it’s ONLY 6:30am)