I’ve been pretty lazy about taking pictures and getting them developed lately. It seems the meter in my Nikon FM is going a little wonky, so the rolls keep coming back mostly under or overexposed. However, there were some nice salvageable ones.

Both of these were taken about a month ago on Oahu’s north shore. We went there for a friend’s birthday barbecue, but the waves are so huge in winter we couldn’t really go swimming or anything. Made for some nice shooting though.

These photos also remind me how much I absolutely adore Fuji’s NPS 160/160S film. I’m a firm believer in trying out all different types of film, but this is the one I always go back to. Gotta love those soft tones. It’s a shame my scanner is so crappy it was hard to really do much with the scans to fix them up.

I was searching the internet for totally unrelated music, when I stumbled upon this gem. Verdugo Hills is the second album of Caroline, an indie singer-songwriter, and the younger sister of Olivia Lufkin, the famous Japanese pop singer.

Caroline’s music is a mixture of pop and ambient, overlaid by her soft, comforting voice. The songs on this album are breathtakingly beautiful, in an ethereal, almost eerie way, with more pop-ish songs in between. The lyrics are also very well-written: melancholy and longing, but down to earth.

My favorite tracks on the album are Swimmer, Lullabye, and Sleep, but there is not one song on the album I don’t like, so I suggest you check it out. Swimmer is easy to find on YT and elsewhere, so I leave you with a different sample.

Caroline – Sleep

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Yet again, I’ve deleted all of my posts, hoping for a new start. I know I’m really bad at this whole blogging thing, but I want to give it another try.

It’s hard to believe that 2010 is over. All-in-all, a great year. Of course, there were many bad things, but the good ones made it that much better. I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions, but I’ve discovered that I need very outlined goals to get anything done. So here are my very simple resolutions for 2011:

* Always carry a camera. I want to shoot more film, but if not possible, digital is fine too.
* Save as much money as possible. I’d like to travel this summer, and it’s not going to happen if I spend everything on clothes.
* Blog regularly. This one is a little.. obvious.
* Have healthier relationships. Long story short, I’ve gotten involved with guys this year that have hurt me. So in 2011, I want to go for guys I know will treat me right.

That’s it! I don’t think it will be too hard to keep these — not that I usually “check myself” when I make them.

I hope everyone has a good new year’s eve/new years day, and here’s to a great new year!