я в России!

I'm unfortunately back from a tour through Slovenia and Croatia. I went backpacking with a friend for 12 days and I must say that I really miss the relaxed atmosphere. Our itinerary was: Ljubljana - Postojna caves - Zagreb - Plitvice Lakes - Split - Trogir - Dubrovnik so it was quite a big distance, considering that we always moved by train and coach, but I'm happy about it because it gave me the opportunity to see a lot more than I would have if I had gone there by plane. Croatia was an incredibly contradictory place: Zagreb is really a lively city, but just within an hour from the capital all you see is scattered houses on whose walls you still see bullet and shell holes from the war..it was almost paradoxical. Plitvice Lakes are one of the most impressive places I've seen in my life, I'll mostly be posting pictures from there but it's almost impossible to capture their atmosphere, which is a good thing because otherwise there would be no point in seeing certain things in person and not on a screen^^ but anyway I did my best to convey what it looks like and feels like to be there so I hope you'll enjoy!

Hey everyone! Sorry if I've sort of disappeared, but I moved from my hometown to Forlì, where my university is, and I don't have internet OR a telephone there! So you can understand why I'm so laggy..
In other news.. I'm taking part in a contest whose subject is ''freedom of movement''..unfortunately, I am not allowed to post the picture anywhere before the results come out, but I'm quite happy with it. It's basicly a cracked mirror, one of those you can see at turning points in the street, with buildings and people that sort of looked trapped inside it and deformed..I'm quite happy with it, because the cracks look great in the printed version, but being a mirror,and a broken one too, it kinda lacks focus!
So...keep your fingers crossed!

I wanted to say something about photobooks. I haven't seen too many in my life, but I found most of them quite unsatisfactory. Usually, I like the pictures but I see nothing new, as far as the layout is concerned. I don't know about you guys, but I'm totally uninterested in those endless pages of text that you find at the beginning or in the middle. Plus, the layout I saw was always the same: text, then pictures in the middle of a white page or sometimes full page, then maybe more text. In the end, there's more 'else' than pics.. I would like to do a photobook at some point in my life, and I'd like it to be more than a collection of pictures and boring text...actually, what I was thinking was that I'd put in no text at all and just make a sequence of pictures in a sort of colour gradient, and possibly make them full-page or with a black border. I'd just like to produce something that has unity, that is more than just a collection of pictures.
So, I'd like to ask about your personal experience...what do you think about photobooks? Was there any particularly striking ones? And if you could produce your own, how would it be?

You get to ask me *THREE QUESTIONS*, no matter how crazy, inappropriate, or just random, and I promise to answer it 100% truthfully (thats the "truth" part) ..........now I dare you to repost this and see what people ask you!

Copied this from Ipoke

** EDIT: 1000 pageviews!!! Yay! Thank you all!

GENERAL

(001) Your gender: Female
(002) Sexual orientation: Straight
(003) Single? No
(004) Do you want to be? Surely not!
(005) Your birthday: 05/05/1987
(006) Age you wish you were: Dunno..over with schooling maybe..but then work...blahhh
(007) Your height: 1,60 m (sorry..I suck at English measures)
(008) The color of your eyes: brown
(009) The color of your hair: dark brown
(010) Piercings: used to have one in my nose, but it came off every night and it was too painful to put it back in place
(011) Tattoos: I'm a sissy!

DO YOU

(012) Smoke? absolutely not..it's disgusting for me
(013) Do drugs? no
(014) Read the newspaper? quite often
(015) Pray? it happened
(016) Talk to strangers who IM you? had bad experiences
(017) Take walks in the rain? I forget my umbrella all the time..I run in the rain
(018) Drive? I was unable to
(019) Like to drive fast? see above
(020) Hurt yourself? I trip and fall all the time

HAVE YOU EVER

(021) Been out of the country? many times!
(022) Been in love? I still am
(023) Done drugs? only booze
(024) Gone skinny dipping? this be's high english 4 stoopid foreign person
(025) Had any type of surgery? luckily not yet
(026) Ran away from home? No, but sometimes I wished I could get out of a car where I was having a row
(027) Played strip poker? c an't even play normal poker
(028) Gotten beaten up? no!^^
(029) Been picked on? mostly behind my back
(030) Been on stage? yup..at 5 with my best friend
(031) Slept outdoors? yes
(032) Thought about suicide? ages ago
(033) Pulled an all-nighter? I don't think so..am too lazy
(034) If yes, what is your record? see above
(035) Talked on the phone all night? not all night, but for long
(036) Slept with the opposite sex without having sex? yup
(037) Slept all day? my parents wouldn't allow that^^
(038) Killed someone? no, but I stung voodoo dolls with needles
(039) Made out with a stranger? No
(041) Had sex with a stranger? why is number 40 missing?
(042) Kissed the same sex? On the cheek with friends
(043) Done anything sexual with the same sex? Never in teenage years..I think I maybe undressed in front of a friend with 4 or 5...��
(044) Been betrayed? by someone I thought was a friend
(045) Broken the law? I exist
(046) Met a famous person?the woman who sings cartoon themes on italian tv lives nearby^^
(047) Been on radio/TV? at primary school
(048) Been in a mosh-pit? Yup..and I was at armpit-height of the others��
(049) Had a nervous breakdown? had it sometime..
(050) Been criticized about your sexual performance? No

(051) Had a dream that kept coming back? I have recurring Shining nightmares^^

APPAREL

(052) Shoe brand: Munich all the way!And Gola, but those cost too much
(053) What are you normally wearing to school/work? jeans that are either too tight or too loose and t-shirts
(054) Wear hats? No, I have too much hair for that
(055) Are you guilty of judging other people by their clothing? of course, and I also gossip
(056) Do you wear make-up daily? too lazy
(057) Favorite place to shop: marrrrkets!
(058) Favorite article of clothing: scarves
(059) Are you trendy: hmm..dunno..own style?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN


(060) Life on other planets: I think so
(061) Miracles? some things appear to have no explanation
(062) Astrology? hm..I do have my zodiac sign's features..and we need something funny too^^
(063) Magic? I wish I did
(064) God? I wish I was sure about this
(065) Satan? Mankind
(066) Santa? sure..and finnish reindeer XD
(067) Ghosts? possibly
(068) Luck? only bad luck
(069) Love at first sight? yes
(070) Yin and Yang? yes
(071) Witches? I love vampires^^
(072) Easter bunny? Easter egg
(073) Fidelity? of course!
(074) A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? lost wallet?

LOVE

(075) Did you get frightened or uncomfortable seeing that as a section title? kinda like *oh noes* ^^
(076) Do you remember your first love? Yes
(077) Still love him/her? No
(078) Do you consider love a mistake? it can be
(079) What do you find romantic? being cared for
(080) Turn-on: paleness, people who are good at doing something
(081) Turn-off: branded clothing, hairy guys, guys who have pink shirts
(082) Do you base your judgment on looks alone? Usually not
(083) Have you ever wished it was more "socially acceptable" for a girl to ask a guy out? No, but I wished I were less shy
(084) Have you ever been romantically attracted to someone physically unattractive? No
(085) Do you think the opposite sex finds you good looking? humm...dun think so
(086) What's the last present someone gave you? A sweater from my mom
(087) Are you in love? truly

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON...

(088) That you laughed at? teachers..
(089) That laughed at you? hmmm..haven't noticed
(090) That turned you on? my boyfriend?
(091) You went shopping with? mom
(092) To disappoint you? Myself
(093) To ask you out? not happened in a while
(094) To make you cry? Myself
(095) To brighten up your day? my boyfriend and yak
(096) That you thought about? school people
(097) You saw a movie with? dunno..I see so few of them
(098) You talked to on the phone? boyfriend
(099) You talked to through IM? yak
(100) You saw? mom
(101) You turned down? in what sense?

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU

(104) Smiled? not long ago
(105) Laughed? Yesterday evening
(106) Cried? Yesterday evening
(107) Bought something? russian book for school^^
(108) Danced? some months ago
(109) Were sarcastic? today..I usually am^^
(110) Hugged/kissed someone? mom
(111) Talked to an enemy? If I have any, then I don't know about them
(112) Watched your favorite movie? all of them, a while ago
(113) Talked on the phone? today
(114) Listened to the radio? last week
(115) Watched TV? news, today..I dun watch anything else, really
(116) Went out? this afternoon
(117) Helped someone? I think today
(118) Sang? I almost never do
(119) Said "I love you"? Sunday
(120) Got drunk? seriously drunk, never..chilly..maybe 2 weeks ago

Hope you enjoyed.. ^^

Hey..I figured I might start selling prints of my photos, but I still need to define a lot of details^^..first of all, I'd need to know if anyone would be interested in them ...not meaning that you'd buy them the next day, but interested. Secondly, I don't know which would be the biggest format I could offer (my camera has a resolution of only 4 mpx) and consequently the price. For now, I'd just like to know whether anyone's interested, and if I get feedback I'll start working on the details!

Hey! I'm back (sigh..), I managed to take 122 photos in one week, which I will carefully select in order not to flood you, and, what makes me happy, I'm starting to figure out how to use manual settings on my camera! But I have some questions about those, so if anyone feels up for giving Vale tech support on that..drop me a line on ICQ! Many thanks for your support as always, and I hope you're having a nice end-of-summer time!

Hey everyone..I will be away for a week in order not to think about the possible result of the university entrance test ( I will know if I'm in only on Sep.19th^^) So you won't hear from me for a while, but I promise I'm gonna check through everything when I'm back! Have a good time!

After the combined death of my processor and HD, I had been trying to get a new pc..I had to move pretty far in order to get to 2 stores where they had offers..In the first one, the offer was out after 2 days, in the second one, they didn't have any of the offer objects, although it had been advertised in a brochure..so 2 trips for nothing (And sucky customer service^^)
Then came the solution: my brother's GF offered me her old pc, which runs fast thanks to Win 98 (It's got 64 MB RAM, like my old one^^) and other improvements that my brother made..So, now, in spite of the sucky customer service, I'm back with a new (and free) pc..MWAHAHAHAHAHA and yay for old Windows versions!!!!

OK, it's stupid...but funny^^

[A is for age]

19

[B is for booze of choice]

uhm..Bailey's? I don't drink too much though

[C is for career of choice]

If I knew! Something with languages though + I'd like to sell my photos

[D is for your drug of choice]

Sloth

[E is for one essential item you use everyday]
Pc addict

[F is for favorite song at the moment]

Seeed - Ocean's 11

[G is for favorite game]

Sloth-ing

[H is for Hometown]

Bologna

[I is for instruments you play]

None, they forced me to learn flute at middle school but I hated it

[J is for favorite juice]

Grapefruit (tastes horrible when you drink it, but it's addictive)

[K is for kids]

Some point around 30...?

[L is for last hug]

My mate

[M is for marriage?]

willing to!

[N is for nickname]

Just Vale


[O is for number of overnight hospital stays]

One, when I was around 5

[P is for phobias]

too many! hornets, firecrackers, spiders, louses...

[Q is for quote]

'' I love work. I could sit watching it for hours'' (Murphy)


[R is for biggest regret]

Trying to take a driving licence xDDDD

[S is for singing]

I spare people from that...

[T is for time you woke up]

8.30 I'd say..(I rise early)

[U is for underwear]

Usually too tight

[V is for vegetable you love]

Raw paprikas rule!

[W is for worst habit]

Pc > normal life

[X is for number of x-rays you've got]

mhmh...2 of my brain and others that I don't remember

[Y is for yummy food you make]

Pasta? (national pride xDD)

[Z is for zodiac sign]

Taurus

Hey everyone! I'm back from Finland, where I tried to escape the heat of Italy, which was lurking for me when I came back anyway! Had a reallly good time and overall relaxed..and took some 200 photographs (will be busy selecting^^)..AND..I got another entry for my contest, from Farx! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/164730/
so now I will be commenting on all the artwork that I more or less lazily neglected in the past 2 weeks, so expect feedback!

I got the first three submission for my contest, from Kobra. I will link them here, together with the other ones that I (might) receive^^
So, here they are:
www.furaffinity.net/view/157596
www.furaffinity.net/view/157598
www.furaffinity.net/view/157599

As a reminder for everyone, the theme is transparency, photomanip is allowed and there's no limit to the number of submissions per person!So be numerous!

Another thing: Vale goes on holiday, so she will be away to Finland until August 4. I will probably not have internet connection up there, so, if you enter a submission for the contest, note the Vale, so she doesn't miss it in the huge number of submissions that she will have to check when back. Have fun everyone!!!

Yes, since I don't think there's been any photography contest yet, I just decided to hold one, so that the whole photocommunity would get together a bit more! I'm not the best photographer in the world, but no one else offered to be a judge, so I will have to do it!
The theme is TRANSPARENCY, in any form (photomanipulation allowed) and the deadline should be around mid-august. Anyone who wants to enter should note me with a link to their submission..please give me some feedback on this journal so that I can see how many people are interested.
And now, for the fun part: The winner gets a prize, which would be a drawing of the winning photo by this person here: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ipoke
(advertise advertise^^) whom I thank again!!!
and now, a little request: if you want to, you could advertise the contest a bit by adding a link to this journal to one of your own journals, so that there will be a bit more people in and more entries for you to see
so, do let me know something and ..have fun!!!
EDIT: Italia - Germania 2 - 0!!!! !!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*solemn voice* ..TODAY.. I finished all of my exams and I officially graduated from secondary school! *yays* I feel a lot better knowing that I won't see the damn building anymore..now, I need to think of a way to celebrate, apart from burning all of my schoolbooks

Yay 102 PWs!!!!!!!!Thanks pals^^ I could take photo requests as a 'thank you' gift^^ (I suck at drawing^^)

Cheers for the warm welcome, everyone!I wasn't expecting so much feedback..from now to mid-june I will be pretty busy (upcoming final examinations..damn^^) but I'll try to keep myself up to date with comments and stuff..thanks again!

Disappointed DA user tries to find new ways to receive feedback^^
Ok, mine is not even art, strictly speaking, but I'm trying to improve and I hope I can do it through comments..will give attention back^^
Enjoy!
Vale