old picture = new picture + sepia

with too much time these days, i am able to browse through computer files that i have accumulated for the past three years. most of them of course were useless, a reinforcement of that new-agey adage that 90% of everything is junk. i, however, chanced upon this old picture of UP Cebu lying idly in a corner of my disk drive:

if you are from UP Cebu this picture should be of interest to you. notice the absence of the concrete "square" that so attempts to give the university symbol some degree of importance by giving it the more regal-sounding dwelling: the oblation square. notice too the existence of the two palm tree-like plants on the opposite sides of the administration building. in the name of progress, these trees have been promptly cut -- once stately, they are now reduced to irrecognizable stumps on the ground. the building is also still fresh and bright, a far cry to the almost Adams Family-like dread the building invokes today. the Oblation, however, is still the same as it was before.

now notice the picture below taken just recently during one of the block's hysterical pictorials. with a little sepia effect, we are taken almost decades from now when this photo shall have been old and, uh, antique-looking:

digital pictures continue to be as fresh and crisp as the day they were taken. we no longer have to deal with the ugly stains and discoloration caused by the acidity of paper and some good 'ol wear and tear. a sad fact as i like the look of an old picture. the browns and the scratches add an entirely new dimension: age -- the feeling that so many fruitful years have passed, been survived and lived through. that no matter how many decades passed by, the people in the photo, like the Oblation behind them, would continue to be strong, unwavering, and loyal, except that they make funny faces and strike pa-model poses once in a while.