Happy Day 2!

Okay, I thought I’ll take this chance to make a DIY (the Christmas present I did for my friends) until I realized I did not take much pictures as I thought. So instead, I’ll show you pictures and I’m sure you can figure out quite easily. It’s not that hard, I promise!

First, I attached crayons to the canvas by using hot glue (do check to make sure the crayons are secured!)

Then with the help of blow dryer, prop the piece against the wall and patiently blow dry them until they start dripping waxy goodies!

(for this, instead of making my blow dryer perpendicular to the crayons which will make it drips into lovely stripes. I went for angled blow drying to make colorful splatters!)

After some time and patience, the final piece should looks like this.

Experiment with different colors arrangements or add more crayons to fill in the cracks! I added my friends’ first name initial on each pieces on the bottom. It didn’t cost much and it was nice to do something much crafty! :)

Second day went well, I guess. Well, I’ve been going to different classes trying to see if I can add them. It is indeed tiring especially for today where I went to 3 classes. I basically stayed on campus form 9:30 to 4:30. Whew! Even though there are chances that I won’t be able to get in those classes, it’s nice to see and meet the possible future professors for upcoming years. It’s a really big but quick change that it’s kind of overwhelming for me but I know it will be worth it. Oh yeah and I didn’t get much sleep last night because my roommates and I were really busy snapping some photos, haha.

Hope your day was a lot smoother! :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Goh Hay Fat Choy! Gong Shi Gong Shi! Yesterday, my family and Winnie’s family celebrated Chinese New Year’s Eve lunch together and it was a really good ending to my winter break!
You see, we started out with a great feast.
My favorite part?

The amazing sticky rice my mom always make! And few other goodies that I did not really try to take pictures because I was starving!

Then from that point, Winnie pretty much took over the rest of the day with her fashion statements.

It started out with fun stuff like tattoos and pushing cousins on the swing (okay, that wasn’t not relevant to fashion statements thing but it was fun, ha!)

Then she rocked this Top Gun styled helmet.


But she felt this viking hat made her look a lot better.

Finally, traded the viking hat for snowboard headgear and gloves.

Then eventually at the end of the day, she liked the viking hat so much we gave it to her, haha.

And today marks the first day of Chinese New Year! And my first day of school. Hooray. Or should I say Hooray!! Today, so far everything has worked out well. Met up with someone to help me see through this major changes, went to the very first class, ART 250, which is probably the coolest class ever! It’s photography I and we are using SLR to make black and white photos. This means hands-on experience in dark room! I’m so excited that I didn’t really talk to the professor on how will it work when it comes to dark room as I couldn’t see the interpreter, haha. Now for this week, I’ll be working on trying to add some classes I need and then I’ll be set for the rest of the semester! I’m really excited about this! :)

Here to a brand new start!

Recycling

is not just for reusing objects but also reusing them in different way.
Here’s a youtube video and it’s gone viral on my Facebook newsfeed and it’s for good reason!:)

“A liter of light”

That’s pretty smart!
And be grateful for what you have. :) If you can, help out!

Then I came across a cute one!

“Wimpy Braille Burgers”

Okay, this will be the last post of youtube frenzy, haha. Tomorrow. Will be the celebration of Chinese New Year’s eve. :) Huzzah!

Youtube

is pretty good site for music listening. Especially those with lyrics if you don’t know the words to the songs. *Warning: Videos and videos will be posted!*
Here’s one I’ve been listening for a while. It’s different and might as well be something to calm me through the stressful moments.

We Could Happen;; AJ Rafael

(with lyrics!)

Imagine making a stop motion music video with thousands and thousands of jelly beans! Do check the making of this video!
In Your Arms;; Kina Grannis

Seem like a typical teenage love story but I think it’s cute and funny.
What Does It Takes;; Dave Days

And here’s something for everyone to enjoy. Even if you can’t hear it, you’ll love watching this! Always put a smile on my face and I hope it does to your! :)
I’m Yours;; Ukulele version by this young boy. He may not know how to say the words, but he still can sing and is so cute!

Till next time!

Frustrated

Yes, I’m slightly frustrated by things happening at this point. But this will be another story. Anyhoo, last weekend, I got to celebrate two birthdays! One is Moi’s which was a day at Boomer’s and a grand delicious feast of tamales and menudo made by his mother! Delicious!! Then next was my father’s birthday! So I made him a card. You know being crafty really help me to calm down and give me some sense of peace. PEACE. Is what I really need but noo, things will happen and then I’m even in a messier situation and yeah. AHH! Why?! Ah well. It happens. Anyhoo, back to the subject so here’s a picture of my craft. :D Pretty proud of it.

Ta da la! Pretty, isn’t it? I’ve could have done more around the border but after 2+ hours I couldn’t feel my fingers from gripping the xacto knife hard (cutting through thick scrapbook paper is quite hard). The reason for this style is because Chinese New Year is coming up! Yup, the first day is 23rd of January and it is the year of dragon! So figure, the cut out card is fitting along with the celebration! :)

School is starting next week and I’m not looking forward to it. (Say what? you used to look forward to school?? Oh yeah, I love school and all the shabangs!) I guess this is the part where I’m feeling quite frustrated. I know what I want. I know what I have to do. But I just hate the waiting game. I have to wait to meet with couple people to fully confirm everything. At least, I’m not as lost as before. So that is a good thing.

See ya!
P.S. Hopefully by next week, I’ll show you a DIY! :)

Days like these

Diddly Reese’s;; Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

BJ’s Pizza;; Half of Buffalo Chicken and half of Cheeseburger.

Harajuka Crepes;; Green tea crepe with strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, nutella, and vanilla ice cream.

Umami Burger;; Umami Burger and Port & Stilton Burger

Welcome to Umami Burger. Uh, is that lips or burger?

make good winter break. Actually the title should say “Foods like these” since looks like I’ve been checking some good eateries, ha! Those foods are quite delicious! And I’ve been away for a while to take a real break and then work on school stuff and trying to get stuff organized. Yup, it’s time to get serious for the next semester! Meanwhile, foods weren’t the only thing I’ve been enjoying over the winter break, there was snowboarding day (I have to go get the pictures!) and it was so much fun despite the man-made snow and warm weather. Here’s another picture of something that isn’t food related, haha.

“Is it good?”-an inside joke, ha

Spark-tacular!

I bought three nail polish colors from Sephora, High Maintenance, Opening Night, and Spark-tacular! And I loved them!

Not the best paint job but you can see the Spark-tacular! And for my thumb it was the Opening Night with Spark-tacular!

Here, I did the opposite color on my right hand. But you get the idea. I haven’t painted my nails for a long time and I was usually obsessed with bright neon colors (oh gosh) and now it’s bold but somehow mellow? Well, spark-tacular isn’t exactly mellow type but it makes things fun, ha! :)

Last night, I finally got to see some of my friends from my youth group and it was nice to go out and hang together despite me being a tad sick and short on cash! (Thanks, Matt!)

Another sticker on my sketchbook! Snow Princess is actually a restaurant, where they serve Japanese-styled buns. I wouldn’t say just sausage but yakisoba (noodles) and croquettes! Along with fries and iced-teas. Also they have shaved ice, seems pretty cool place. I ordered a sausage bun with fish flakes and it was yummy!

Also, I’ve been staying up bit longer than usual. Not good but last night I was into drawing and drawing so I added few pages of sketches in my book. Here’s one and it’s my favorite!

See the specks over it? It’s not your computer screen, it’s my page. Dirty, I know. And I really liked this because I’m starting to get hang of what I like (obviously, big eyes!) and actually like what I see. This is Jeff and I on New Year’s Eve outfits. Simple but it came out a lot better than I thought. So I’m back to drawing more stuff.

Meanwhile, on academic issues, I’m definitely starting leaning toward Journalism a lot more. There’s always work to do with other factors. But I’m feeling better. It’s nice to know that I’m take a step forward instead of being stuck in one spot. It’s not as bad as I thought. Ha! Mainly because, I think I had this mindset where everything will just happen right after (you know, college, classes, pass, graduate, degree) but I just never really thought about this until now. Kind of scary at first but after a while, it’s just another bump that I just have to strategically climb over, haha. Nothing is really definite. Not until you set it. So.. for now, it’s just taking a step at a time and yet enjoying the break, haha!

And tomorrow’s Friday and it will be a good day!

I promise…

to appreciate outdoors.

to learn night photography.

to be with people I love.

and pets.

and mostly, I promise to be happy and appreciate what I have at present.

New Year’s Resolutions?

Well, I’m not trying to join in the trend and all that but it’s a good reminder. And kind of nice to have set of goals for next year. And plus my uncle asked me today during the daily Friday luncheons. Got me thinking about it for a bit. So here’s mine:
1) Find a major and be content with it. This is on the very top of the list because obviously, I’ve been struggling about this issue. And knowing myself, hopefully I can feel a lot more at ease, haha.
2) Start the business! Yup, I just tested the prototype and it seems to go well! Will do more testing and hopefully I will start selling by summer or before 2013 starts, haha.
3) Stay creative! This will be fun actually. Each year, Jeff and I usually give each other gifts on alternating months (for example, December is my month to give him something, then he has to give me something on January and so on). First year, we were exchanging mix CD’s and second year was to find something cute for each others to wear for $15 and under (kind of failed because we ended up adding two months or three months together for a gift that’s over $15, haha). For third year, it’s going to be fun because we have to make the gifts ourselves! So far I finished this month and am working on February!
4) Add a Polaroid to my camera collection! I’m definitely leaning to SX-70.
5) “Keep Calm and Carry On.” Yup, basically just try to not over-stress myself and I guess to add to it, keep it real.
6) New wardrobe! I’ve realized after donating a bunches that I don’t wear anymore, I’ve gone kind of dull. Meaning most colors I got are usually black, grey, or white. Ha! I want to colorful it up a bit! But keeping it minimal so most outfits can be worn for any time, to dress up or to dress down.
7) Cook more! I do cook, like I can make ribs and all the jazz. But I want to try to do all different kind of recipes! It’ll be fun! :)

That’s pretty much. Simple, kind of? Whatever. What’s your?

And have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve!

Art Show 2011 by Mr. Brainwash

Yesterday, Jeff and I went to check the exhibition, Art Show 2011 by Mr. Brainwash. It was pretty awesome especially the quotes. I love the quotes and I guess walking through this exhibition (3 floors of it) got me kind of back into my artsy side even though it’s all graffiti plastered over Pollock-ish elephants and oversized spray cans lying by the paint-splattered cars. Uh.. Just go ahead and see for yourself. (And I’m particularly proud of how I took the photos with lightings and angles and with my short statue.)

My favorite part of the exhibition was this whole floor with writings over the walls (like the Life Is Beautiful one) and had sayings like “I will learn to be a better person” and other quotes. I guess because typography is my thing. In my current sketchbook, I’m trying to make series of letters with no boundary lines so it’s pretty fun and it’s my favorite thing to draw now. Yup. Pretty fun exhibition. Even got to meet Mr. Brainwash himself and he signed the posters. (Score! Free posters and postcards! I love postcards. It’s a thing ever since Darren took me to Grad Show in Art Center College of Design. It’s awesome.) “Life Is Beautiful” can be seen everywhere, it’s a theme along with hearts, and spray cans all over.

My favorite piece is the one with quote, “Never never give up.” I guess it’s a quote for me to think about. At this point, I’m actually wringing my brain over this whole “major changes” mainly because I can’t handle Computer Science. No, it’s not that CompSci major won over me but it’s starting to grow tiresome on me to the point where I don’t like it and I lose all the motivation. So changing major seems to be a good option. But there’s another issue, what major? I don’t want to go to art major because I rather go to other school for that. But I would like a major that allow me to bring my creative juices flowing but at the same time have good job outlook for other financial purposes. Doesn’t really help when the school doesn’t have a long list of majors. So yeah. This is also the reason why I was really stressing in the beginning of my winter break (Does the word “break” ever have meaning to me?) So while it seems trivial it’s kind of big deal for me and walking through the building Mr. Brainwash had delightfully decorated with his pieces (and several other taggers had their shares) got me really thinking of how do I really want to do 3rd and 4th (and maybe 5th) years. One thing for sure: Never never give up. :) Although if you guys have any suggestions or advices about this situation, drop a comment!

Excuse my long rambling.. but another thing for 2012 (just right around the corner!) I want to keep it real. It’s on my resolution list, ha!
Maybe I ought to make an official list.

By the way, if you’re in LA tomorrow’s (or today if you’re reading on 29th of December) is the last day for you guys to check out the Art Show!

See yah!