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February 27, 2009

Last night at The Pad before relocating to Pad v.2. I am doing some first/last minute "packing" to make it easier for the kind people who are helping me move tomorrow, my beau, my little sister, my friend and my beau's bro. I quote "packing" because it's not really your typical wrap-in-newspaper-and-fit-nicely-in-a-cardboard-box, I really only have one box that's like that.



I've CRAMMED my ish into every single sturdy clothing bag I saved, every large oversized bag, every plastic bin and decorative basket I own. One box. It's really remarkable and I have to say I am impressed with myself how organized these little bundles are.


We've got scarves and belts and gloves in one Equinox gym drawstring bag from Equinox. Over here we've got an IKEA basket filled with my brave plants. Some bundles have welcomed random categories of objects, for example in the Brooklyn Industries diaper bag I've wedged in three other purses, and a box of my CDs. My favorite collection is the Zara paper bag full of giveaway merchandise for my little sister in honor of her first visit to my apartment of this past year, ON THE DAY I MOVE. Everything will be dismantled and empty but I guess she'll be able to see the kitchen appliances that came with the place?


March 2008 ( more like August, since I couldn't really afford luxuries like IKEA shelves and plants until then)


March 2009. Sayonara Emeryville.

February 25, 2009


[ Photo via Decor8 blog of London print textile designer Brie Harrison's living space. Too many pronouns. ]

February 23, 2009

Cooliris


Trying to get Cool Iris' oh-so-slick embedded wall to work on my page down there. My friend Peter told me about it this weekend and every person I've told so far has juiced themselves over it.

What is Cooliris? It is a downloadable application that transforms your browser into a powerful and wicked fast 3D discovery experience.

Friends' Cooliris Reviews:

"F*** it's kinda awesome."
"Love it. Love it. Two thumbs up."
"It's really pretty crazy."

It takes two minutes to download the plugin on Firefizzle. Prepare to be amazed.

February 15, 2009

What Do I Write About?


I am having trouble pin-pointing my focus for what I want to blog about. I've been dwelling on the idea of starting a useful blog for quite some time now, and I keep finding myself stuck on this part -- What topic do I want to discuss with my readers? I have many interests that I feel merit being written about, but what are the chances that a reader will feel equally passionate about all those things, over one?

Relationships?

I really find the topic of relationships fascinating. I could write for days and days about symbiotic relationships of tangible and intangible things. I think about it all the time; making connections between people, evaluating and balancing events, occassionally from an observational P.O.V. mostly from experience. But who would want to subscribe to that? Not sure. I'm not about to tailor to teeny bopper romantics who tell stories that start with "Dear Abby --". Although that is also an interesting approach.

Design?
I am a designer, so of course I'll also want to share my insight on what is design and how it works. But I'm a young designer with relatively little experience, I don't always feel confident enough to dole out my so-called expert opinions. I could always collect cool designs that I find on the internets and upcycle them to my audience, but pleh, everything is that. I only want it to be a very small part - if anything.

Photography?
I like photography and can incorporate my own photography into the blog. I think that is a requisite for good original content and value.

Style
I also love to write. Easy nuff. I particularly like to freewrite, so it would make sense that the format of my writing would be a slightly edited and pared down version of my daily musings. So that leans more towards a personal blog rather than a professional blog. Dilemma; I want a professional blog. P.S. I'm currently writing this in Khoi Vinh's preview version of Writer's Block, a writing application that dims everything but the TextEdit-like text box, muffles all background sound/music, and prevents you from deleting ANYTHING or going back to add text anywhere. At first it's pretty frustrating to see so many striketrhu marks on the page, but then slowly you just kind of go with it and learn to appreciate that what comes out comes out and you can't do anything about it but keep moving forward. Thus, eliminating the writer's block. I digress.

I suppose the issue isn't that I need to focus my ideas to just one thing or style -- pigeonholing myself to one thing or style may not necessarily draw the strongest audience -- the issue is that I feel pressured that no one will want to read what I write, and I don't know how to manipulate my writing so that people will want to read it. I see my pageviews and unique visitors go up but I see no discussion forming in the comments, no feedback to give me direction.

Just Do It

It's my own mental block that's keeping me from starting, isn't it. I know I just need to do a bit more DOING and a bit less PLANNING, especially this early in stage, but I can't help but feel like I'm treading in really shallow water alongside a huge mass of other bloggers that are just trying to get known in this world wide net. For now, I'm going to keep writing whatever it is that comes to me through my day and hopefully my subject matter will develop naturally. Until then, any and all feedback is appreciated greatly.

February 9, 2009

A Place to Call My Own... to rent.. for a year







So, if all goes well, I will be signing the papers to an apartment in a cute little town called Berkeley.

From the Craigslist posting:

Clean, sunny upper one-bedroom in garden setting. The nicely landscaped courtyard is filled with greenery and has a deck with a comfortable seating area. Updated tile in kitchen, neutral Berber style carpet, gas stove/heater, large closet, tub/shower combo, coin laundry, off-street parking, bike racks, secure gate at entrance. Fixed cat or small pet OK, no dogs. Quiet, nice neighborhood.

I couldn't stop daydreaming about this place since Jason and I went to look at the place yesterday. The visit was a totally positive experience -- any fault I saw was compensated with a bonus. The landlords live up in West Marin but they seem very open, kind, and communicative. I look forward to making friends with the other tenants. Hopefully my neighbors are as equally nice as the landlords are. I want to borrow cups of sugar and drink wine and listen to music with thy neighbors and share vacuums & spare chairs.

I'm a bit scared about living alone, however. It's that anxiety you feel before doing something you've never done before and not sure at all if you'd like. I envision myself having my own space, my own things, my own privacy, and I feel good about it. But then I imagine having my own space IN THE DARK, my own things IN THE DARK, my own privacy IN THE DARK and then i start to freak out. Imagining is not reality, I know, so I have to resort to common knowledge for comfort. People do it all the time, blahblabhhahbaaa.

So, here's to trying new things in life. Stay tuned over the next month or so for decorating ideas and moving updates.

February 6, 2009

How Annoying

An email I sent to Mica this morning:

"I had a dream last night that we moved into big house together, you and johnny. and things were good and then you stopped talking to me and i didn't know why. Then johnny [her boyfriend] told me later that you told him that you were afraid i was going to kill you and that you were annoyed.

O_O I'm not going to kill you, silly!!!"

February 5, 2009

Have My Seat


My new years resolution was to be nicer, and I think I've made quite a substantial effort to be conscious of it. I have been feeling more giving lately. I'm recognizing situations in which I benefit and in response I ask myself, can I give back?

Funny enough, that's what my mom lectured me about most. She lectured my older sister about lacking confidence, she lectured my little sister about being passive, and me? She lectured me about being selfish. And oh boy, she couldn't have been more spot on. Mothers sho' do know their kids and their vices... probably because they stem from ahem* a certain root.

Anyway, if I had to speculate as to why I am feeling more giving, I would say that it is because this conscious effort to keep my new years resolution is starting to seep into the subconscience. Now whenever I find myself in a "situation", I automatically prompt myself, can I give? And immediately following, do I want to give?

I think it's an important distinction to make; the power of choice. We are human, and we are undoubtedly selfish in times of crisis. We are programmed to want to survive. But surely being human also means to be compassionate, even in and especially in times of crisis. So, choice comes into play.

For example, today on BART, I sit down on a crowded train in one of the last open seats. The other open seat next to me has no idea that two women are racing to try and squeeze on each others laps, one of the women blatantly stealing from the other. It was an ugly thing to see, the sitting woman sneer at the woman she stole from. Grown women! The verbal exchange was inaudible but the tones were of disgrace countered with obnoxiousness. I felt disgusted to the core to see two 'mature' women surrender to their survivial instincts with no shame. I thought to give the defeated one my seat but she'd already stormed off... leaving me wondering what I would have done had I not been so stuck gawking like a tourist with no sense of direction. It was a sad thing to see.

I think everyone can give but oftentimes choose not to. Fine. But whether or not you are generally "mean" or "nice", you should know right from wrong. I am thankful that I am relatively aware and fair, but more thankful that my mother taught me well.

She knew me before I knew myself and pounded into my bone marrow that life amounts to nothing if you don't appreciate it. To appreciate, you take and you give back double, in bite sizes whenever you can. Write thank you cards, give surprise gifts, share a kind word or exchange a hello. If you're walking past a homeless person with leftovers in your hand, give it to them. If you are on a bus and an elder is standing, give them your seat.

(written with Khoi Vinh's Writer's Block, app on preview until Feb 15th.)

February 2, 2009

Take a Deep Breath

Is it just me or has 2009 so far been a little bit insane? I feel like my immediate circle has accelerated into a hurricane mass of all sorts of seemingly uncontrollable life changes. People I love and care about, including myself, are being tested for their strength to survive through financial struggle, poor health, loss and work or family stress. I guess I just have to breathe and remember that even in the darkest times we always find hope and manage to pull through.

Move on. Don't stop.