I was inspired to design my own calendar. The entire process took about two weeks (from sketch -> finished calendar) which resulted in a month-late beginning, but I finished January first so it could be utilized before I finished the rest of 2009. It’s designed to be versatile (it’ll be in production forever! Just write the dates in by hand before each month begins) as 12 un-dated months.

One of the silly decisions I had to make for my calendar was whether to start the week at Sunday or Monday; I ended up choosing the more conventional Sunday. A few of my friends would have preferred Monday, but, meh. If this ever gets popular enough, maybe I’ll create another version (digitally) that goes from Monday to Sunday? Also, I had originally wanted to add color and color the apple differently for each month (For example, Fuji for February, Granny Smith for September, etc.) but didn’t do the apple-research. So that didn’t happen, either. It’s okay, this way its like a color-book-calendar, too.

Anyway, the idea (if not obvious) is to eat an apple a day and to put the apple-sticker on each date you eat the apple. I saw this calendar on Etsy (it’s so genius!) and showed it to my neighbor (who really does eat at least one apple a day. It’s customized for him, check out the “sticker”!). I decided that twentyfive dollars was a bit steep for a calendar like this, so why not draw my own? I doodled a bit and sketched a few layouts before deciding on this one, and worked on it during my most boring classes.

I might research a bit on paper samples to decide if I’m really going to get it printed seriously, but first I’d have to decide/design a way to display/utilize it. We’ve been taping it to my neighbor’s closet very ghetto-ly, but I might try to make a frame for it…? Also, I plan on cleaning up a digital version of this as soon as I get my hands on a scanner. When that happens, I’ll be sure to share.

PS. I really like my hand-drawn apple-typography and days of the week.

This is wonderful. I especially like the dance-scene that starts around 2 minutes and 40 seconds. The video made me interested in the artist, Oren Lavie (last.fm here), who apparently had a song on the Narnia soundtrack.

His style kind of reminds me of Joseph Arthur’s, mellow and melodic, perfect for just relaxing and appreciating. One of these days I’m definitely going to use iTunes’ Genius feature to make a playlist with these songs on it.

(Source.)

I didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night, so when I woke up at 7am this morning for my 8am class, I groggily got up to get ready to leave. By the time I left Rieber Terrace, I decided I was going to cut class to crash in the yearbook office. I walked to Kerckhoff, and tried to get the office door open but it didn’t work! So I had to wait until 9 o’clock, for the front desk to open so they could open the door for me. Meanwhile, I fell asleep on-and-off at the table in the conference room for more than an hour until Doria opened the door for me, and then I only had a few minutes before class again.

I’m hella not getting enough sleep lately. I’ve been trying to get into bed by 10, because I can feel sickness creeping up on me. But too much work (on edit night, I didn’t get back until around 11) and too much homework (even though I skipped my last two homework sets).

Also, last night I went to redmango/Starbucks at 11pm, because I needed a break from work. Too bad I didn’t understand my MAE quiz at all this morning, anyway.

I ordered these Birkenstock Cozumel Silky Suede Toe Thongs in navy last week, and got them in the mail today. Especially for a pair of shoes that should cost around a hundred dollars, I found such an amazing deal on Amazon (with FREE Super Save Shipping!) that I was click-happy and just bought them. But I am so satisfied with my purchase. I got a size 36 (When I was in Irvine, I tried on another pair of Birks for size) and my only qualm is that the front (fixed) strap is slightly tight around my toe. But I have no doubt that a day or two of wear will loosen it up . The rest of the shoe fits perfectly. Apparently the cost went down two bucks since I ordered it, too. So either most people hate this show and it’s sales aren’t doing so great, or it’s just awesome.

When Emili, Layla, and I were in Westwood looking for 1920’s style clothes, I didn’t find anything I wanted but did drop by Urban Outfitters to pick up some nail polish. UO has been starting to sell more and more colors from this brand, and I really like it. It’s thick but still applies smoothly, and although you could pull of one coat if you did it neatly, two coats is how I like it. I have it in light grey, dark grey-blue, and most recently purchased dark dark blue. I noticed yesterday that I’m starting to stressedly bite my nailes again, so it’s time to reapply nail polish to deter my bad habit.

Same day, on our way back, I stopped at American Apparel to get a simple shirt to paint on. I’ve been on-and-off sketching out a design for a South Campus pride shirt, so I finally picked something up to draw on. I really like American Apparel because of how the sheer-ish material feels (super comfortable, imo), but supposedly their quality is a bit lacking for its price. Yeah, $22 was a bit much for the deep V black short sleeve shirt I bought but, well, it looks good on me, and it’s comfortable. And it’s a wardrobe staple!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement about my most recent awesome purchases. That is all.

You know those embarassing things that always happen to other people and then you hear stories about it and laugh? One of those things happened to me last night.

Last night my floormates and I went to the 1920’s semi-formal dance party at UCLA, held in the Covel Grand Horizon Room. It was a themed party, so of course we dressed up! I wore my halloween costume (tailored for me back in my Beijing days) of a pinstripe halter-vest-top and pants to be g. We took a long time to get ready so we didn’t leave until around 9:30. As expected, it was pretty much just a high school dance but much, much less crowded. As was the case in high school, I still didn’t know more than half the songs but the songs that I did know I rocked out 100% to. A lot of people I know get really self conscious about their bodies when it comes to dancing, but I’ve come to find that it doesn’t really matter. Dancing is just one of those things that nobody really cares about because as long as you look like you’re having fun, nobody will judge. (Or if they do judge, their opinion isn’t worth anything anyway.)

Okay so we’re there and all having fun and dancing and then the DJ plays Flo-rida - Low. Of course I’m going to get low. Little that I know that too low would lead to my pants ripping.

Yes, it really did happen. I wide eyed-ly grabbed my suitemate Lynn, held my hat over my ass (good thing I was wearing dark blue underwear instead of like, bright green like I had planned on haha) and dashed out of the building. Got back to my dorm, changed pants, then went back to the party.

The rest of the night was fun and drama-less. Pictures will be on facebook sometime soon.

When I was at RISD this summer for my industrial design classes, I came across Shepard Fairey’s OBEY campaign a few times both in the dining commons and at the RISD:works store (where they sell things created/designed by RISD students/alumni). I remember the OBEY poster being popular when I was in school in Beijing, but didn’t really know what it was about until more recently, when I saw it displayed/advertised at a few skate stores.

Shepard Fairey was born in 1970, which makes him nearly 40 now. I don’t know when he started his Andre-the-Giant-has-a-Posse thing, which led to the OBEY stuff, but seeing how universally renowned it is now, I can’t help but be amazed. Its a simple enough concept, yeah, which caught fire to the masses quickly and easily. Social strata (I’m using the word stratum way wrong but I can’t think of the word I’m looking for) is complex enough that most artists can’t avoid it. It’s the way we think and feel that affects, well, everything in life, which in turn leads to the creation of artwork.

But I’m getting off topic. I was surfing NOTCOT archives and came across Colbert’s interview with Fairey. (Source.) I had no idea that the guy behind the OBEY campaign also designed President Obama’s HOPE poster! I wish Colbert asked him more about the HOPE campaign, and how he did it, where the idea developed from, but I guess Colbert’s interviews are always just specks of hilarity and bits of information. I like they way Fairey described OBEY in a few sentences though, I wish I could boil my concepts down like that. Here’s the interview:

Welcome, President Barack Obama.

I haven’t watched the inauguration yet, but I did read the text of Obama’s speech. I never put in effort to foster any particular interest in American politics, but now that we have an amazing speaker as President, I’m sure I’ll be following the US government’s actions more closely. Plus, this is our generation. I’m ready for it, and so excited, too.

Why is the alt attribute for img required? I took this at shutter 1/160 f/5.6. No crazy settings or anything, but it turned out awesome. Obviously cropped for digital zoom. The moon was still up for the majority of the time Stanley and I were on the road to Irvine, and we got to see the sunrise, too.

One of my favorite pictures from the day. I loved the gradient of the sky, orange to blue.

There were a lot of new and old cars at Cars & Coffee in Irvine. I really liked checking out the old cars, like this Ford. So intense and awesome! (Stupid guy interrupting my shot, though.)

Super duper shiny car, I’m a fan. I took this shot lomo-style without looking through my viewfinder, but it still turned out the way I thought it would. Natural composition, luckily caught the guy’s expression the way I did.

Also taken like a lomography shot. He matched the car! I took a few candid shots before he left, but this is definitely the best. This kid is going to own like six cars when he grows up, I bet.

Playing with the dogs at Cars & Coffee made me miss Monty.

Metalwork and found type was so awesome, I just wish I had brought my sketchbook or something. Next time I definitely will, so I can practice sketches of motion and such.

A few hours ago I looked up The Fray’s new song, You Found Me on youtube (I was about to pre-order the album on Amazon, and while youtube surfing, I came across Plain White T’s - 1, 2, 3, 4. It’s definitely one of the cutest songs I’ve heard recently, so I figured I’d share. Enjoy!

Also, I just gave in and opened my box of Godiva Raspberry Premiere Biscuits. After eating one, Kency claimed them to be “amazing. They’ve got like, the perfect amount of raspberry. Sometimes it’s too much and overwhelming, but this is perfect.” Emili also says, “Delicious!” It’s true that $8.50 is a bit much for fifteen pieces of chocolate, but I never feel too guilty buying expensive edibles. Because they’re awesome. If you try these and love them, I’d also recommend the Petite Mousse Biscuits. They break apart and melt in your mouth. Heather’s reaction was, “Ohh my goooooddddd!!!” Seriously, Godiva chocolates can be the go-to present for anyone, anytime. (But Valentine’s Day is coming up! Now you have an excuse of a reason to get some for yourself.)

Actually, to clarify: Not always. My exboyfriend gave me a box of chocolates once, and, well, it was just one of those boxes of chocolates that are nice, but not so thoughtful. It doesn’t take too much extra effort to find something more special, I think. An assortment says I don’t know what you like so I hope this is good enough. My advice is to pick something more individual (like these, yum! or these, which my sister likes) that says I know you well enough to know you’d like these. An exception is the G Collection which is well, completely and totally great.

Wow I really just blogged about Godiva chocolates for no reason. I hope somebody somewhere gets some from their sigoth (read: significant other) and loves it because of me. That’d be awesome. (Too bad if I receive Godiva from my boyfriend now it’d lame because it’s already obvious that I’d like it. Okay I really need to get back to work now…)

(Really really) early on Saturday morning, Stanley and I went to a weekly car show in Irvine, Cars & Coffee. I’ll openly admit that I know next to nothing about cars, but it was still pretty cool to see a lot of extremely old and rare cars. Stanley pointed out a handful of models and explained a lot of different specs and such to me, which was realy cool. I love knowing things, but am not always in the mood to research on my own. So having him explain things kept me interested in the cars. I think next time I’m surrounded by a lot of extreme car enthusiasts, I’ll just ask someone random to explain how things work to me, too. I brought my camera to Irvine; It was interesting for me to shoot a subject I never encountered before - automobiles. Of course I didn’t have any special equipment with me, but I was mostly just composing and taking quick shots of whatever was happening/seen around me.

We stayed the entire two hours to watch the cars leave at around 9. I sat with Stanley at the entrance and played with these three pit bulls that were really cute. I also saw a six-month old blenheim CKCS that was so adorable. I chatted with the owner for a little bit about what my dog, Monty, was like with a few years under his belt, and then really missed my puppy… After we left, we eventually found our way to Rose’s apartment. We relaxed for a little while before deciding on eating lunch at Diamond Plaza, a decently-sized Asian plaza with a handful of restaurants. We met up with Maggie and ate at Ajisen Ramen, which was deliciously tasty! After lunch, Rose, Maggie, and I took purikura (photo booth sticker pictures). Seriously, taking those pictures is one of the most fun things ever. I guess that bit of Asian in me will never cease to exist, haha.

We left and went to Maggie’s house. She had this awesome karaoke set, so we sang a few rounds of Chinese pop songs before heading back out to Yogurtland. I still like tart yogurt better than sweetened froyo, so I wish they had a mango tart yogurt. We got kiwi and mochi and mangos on top of regular tart, strawberry tart, and mango. Strawberry tart was lame, but probably just because I’ve been spoiled by the Pom froyos at Pinkberry and Redmango. After Yogurtland, Maggie drove us all to South Coast, one of the malls in Irvine. I looked for sunglasses (I swear, no sunglasses look good on me) and Birkenstocks (didn’t find my style, but did discover my size). I also found the bracelet I wanted at Tiffany’s, in my size and color. I got a call from Tako in the afternoon who told me she wouldn’t be able to make it to dinner, so Maggie, Rose, Stanley, and I just went to dinner at Islands. Rosie and I shared a burger with mushrooms which was really good. After dinner we went back to Maggie’s to continue karaoke-ing and take a break before getting shaved ice at Guppy’s. Stanley fell asleep at Maggie’s, though, so instead, the three of us just karaoke-ed for a few hours with really old American songs and lots of Chinese songs. It was really fun, so by the time I woke Stanley up it was already pretty late. We headed home to get back to school around 11. I was so tired that I just fell straight asleep right after climbing into bed.

Overall it was an extremely long day, but I’m glad I went. It was a lot of fun, to see Maggie and Rose (and lots of cars). Lots of thanks to my boyfriend for driving me around and tagging along!

Last night I was struggling with my schoolwork and hence having a bit of a mid-week crisis. Lately I’ve been reconsiderig my major (for the upteenth time) and so when my frustration with math reached its peak, I gave up and went to talk to Stanley. I wanted to be a mechanical engineer so that I could have more choice and versatility with my future studies. With a degree in ME, I could either continue studying engineering, or transfer to an art school to study design or architecture. Having background engineering knowledge would help me the most with industrial design, yet another strong interest of mine. Not to mention I’d be able to get a job relatively easily with the engineering degree.

The worst part about the classes I have to take is that I don’t understand what’s going on. It’s a big problem, because when one doesn’t understand, it’s extremely difficult to foster an interest in the subject. Without interest, one loses motivation, which obviously leads to discontent.

Why am I still studying to be an engineer? Why haven’t I transferred out yet? I don’t have a concrete answer to these questions - I’ve been questioning my path. I used to think that the reason why I wasn’t out there studying fine art was because I lacked the skill to succeed in the art industry. But honestly, seeing where I am now and how I’m getting through my physics and math classes (barely)…I wonder if I’m that much better at comprehending the maths and sciences. Which just means, no matter what I do I need to work hard. Who cares if I’m not good at it. Like my dad claims, perseverance is key to success. Is it really? Will working hard without enjoying my work now be worth it in a few years? I can tell myself it’s just a few years to get through, and it’ll be okay, I’ll be done soon. But I mean, is that really what I want to be doing?

Yes, I guess it really is. I want to be a mechanical engineer. I want to be able to say I did it, and to have learned what I claimed I would. Even if it’s solely out of spite (which I used to avoid at all costs, now I’m just accepting myself) I don’t care, because I chose this and I’m going to do it.

It’s not too late to change my mind, but that’s irrelevent now. My dad told me in the middle of my first year, that if I really wanted to transfer into a significantly different major, then I could stay at UCLA a fifth year to graduate. I’m almost halfway through my second year of college, but I know that if I wanted to get out, I still could. If I decided that I were unhappy enough to really want to leave HSSEAS, I would. But I’m not as unhappy as I seem to complain about, actually. Because, I guess, it’s just so satisfying to walk into a classroom full of nerdy looking Asian guys and know that I’m just as good as they are. (Just kidding.) More like, although everything so so freaking difficult to understand, I know that love learning. The harder a class is, the more I learn from taking it. So I should (and do, I guess) enjoy my classes, in a way.

Educational masochist, yeah, that’s me.