Up!

Picture taken a long time ago at the Getty. This was when I made my sig part of the pictures...Yeah then I realized it was a little distracting...

I watched Up yesterday in 3D. It was hilariously cute and did I mention in 3D?? Except it cost us a few bucks more for the 3D part, but it's ok. I got a pair of not-so-free 3D glasses/ghetto cheap nerd glasses. Pixar made very nice use of their new 3D technology. Lots of DoF camera shifts and flying in the sky. In all, a beautifully crafted movie especially the play with color and balloons.

The end of the year really should look better to me than it does right now. But maybe the stress in my stomach will be overcome by my brain. And no, as much as I am a nerd, it's not even just stress from the SATs this Saturday or the finals this week. It's a whole lot of other stuff in the way of my mind. I really have no reason right now to feel this way. I need a boost. Wanna help open my eyes?

Summer= photography. I'm kind of lacking right now...

carrot & gerber

carrot cake!
just gotta make it through the last hurdle
& then FREEDOM.
sweet sweet freedom. it's so close.

i was cleaning through my stuff & i found a picture of my first grade teacher and myself.
i think she was my favorite. she was a little weird- a nutjob actually- but in a good way. i guess her methods worked since she taught the A class but they were far from ordinary.
i do remember what she always used to tell us;
"Always read the directions. Even if you don't like to follow them."

short interruption

kafka can be so cynical.
I LIKE IT.

i really want to be near the ocean right now.
ride a few waves.
the only ones we're getting right now are heat waves.
uggghhh.
i want my board. NOW.

big ups to michelle, who's survived another year. happy soon birthday!

So tell me...

Ever get attacked by a lion head??? yeahhh that was my Relay for Life '09. Hilarious stuff. Front row. yeahhhh. I know this is kind of old (Relay was in April), but I finally remembered I had some pictures that needed tending to. Sorry pictures, I neglected you for a little bit. =/

Is it really possible that I'll be graduating in like a year and a couple weeks??

Yeah. How weird...

I'm finally getting an ipod!!! Yeah, one of the last in the world to, I know. xD But I'm super-excited. Next up, a laptop. Yay Amazon is sending it earlier than expected. Super saver shipping ftw.

LSTN #4 is up. I'm probably late on this, but yeah. Have a listen.

For all of you who just feel at a loss for words sometimes. Or when you have too many to say.

"Closet geek"? not me. =D

woot

cranberry, apple, gorgonzola & cinammon salad. & ravioli.
it must seem like all i do is eat.
& that's ok. because it's kind of true.
i really didn't intend to blog about food. but oh well.

also, i LOVE isabel allende. she's pretty high up there on my favorite authors list. PRETTY DARN HIGH.

"...memory is fragile and the space of a single life is brief, passing so quickly that we never get a chance to see the relationship between events; we cannot gauge the consequences of our acts, and we believe in the fiction of past, present, and future, but it may also be true that everything happens simultaneously."
— Isabel Allende

putting it bluntly

one of my good friends, dominic, was upset when he found out that he was a number below my favorite chinese take-out place on my speed dial.
but hey, it's not like he brings me delicious, greasy food on my every whim, does he?
i thought so.
keeeeeedinggg.
not really.p.s. a very happy birthday to genevieve and guinevere :D

pink & purple

yay for literature! and for frozen yogurt!
taro with dark chocolate & pomegranate with mochi.
mmmmm.

New Music. yummm

Passion Pit has taken over the music blogosphere! I've heard a dozen remixes of this song, but the Neotokyo remix of Sleepyhead is by far the most amazing so far. If you really want to know why, skip ahead to 2:17. It's my new message alert on my phone.

If you want a totally different take on Sleepyhead, listen to The Mummers' cover. It's really pretty and kind of easier to hear the lyrics.

Btw, here's a trick. If you want a free ringtone/message tone for your phone, cut the song in Windows Movie Maker and it'll save as a music file. Just put in in your phone like a regular file and it should work. Free!!!

Keenhouse-Mecho Maniac (Short Circuit Remix)- I've never even heard the original of this one. I was listening to this one and doing math hw...*cough* yeah I'm a nerd. I actually kind of *cough* enjoy math sometimes. It feels like a journey kind of a song, if that makes sense. You'll get it once to listen through to about 4:00. Just imagine yourself traveling through space. 80's music video style. Got it?

SYTYCD started!!!! yessssss but I couldn't watch it all. I so want to watch it live this summer. They better come around here!

Have a good memorial weekend. Tomorrow we (sort of) become seniors. I can't believe we have 9 more days left. That's crazy...and kind of scary.

[]

don't have much to say at the moment.
although i have been watching far too many hayao miyazaki films.
my oh my, i love those.

time is all around

"we don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. and the human race is filled with passion. and medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. but poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. to quote from whitman, [o me! o life! of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, o me, o life? answer. that you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.] that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. what will your verse be? "
-dead poets society

Ansel Adams

I'm doing a research project on the great Ansel Adams. My dad actually talked to him over the phone a couple of times when he worked at the photo place Adolf Gasser back in SF. So I was looking through this photo book of his, the stories and methods for 40 selected works. And I felt so humbled at the skill it took the old school way. When it wasn't just point and shoot and BAM you have a photo. This stuff took methods, brains, and heart. And risk. This was back when you had a number of photo plates and you actually had to know the exposures and how to transform a negative into your vision. I feel like I have such more to learn. I feel like a lvl 2 again in Maple trying to hack at a red snail. There was this one picture in the book, Lodgepole Pines, that swore I saw in color as I turned the page. It was that kind of photo that's legendary. When the tones and hues are perfect even in black and white.


I totally agree with Mai on her last post. This has happened countless times to me:

Random Person: like, OMG you take good pictures. What kind of camera do you use???
Me: -_______-

Ok, I'm pretty sure it isn't meant to sound that way, but I sure construe it that way. Actually, I'm kind of being a hypocrite. I was surprised to hear that Mai took those photos with a simple Coolpix. But she's just proof that it's the photographer, not the camera, that makes the photo great.


I was driving today, and before I even reached 5 mph, a freaking bird hit the windshield. All my life something like that has never happened. O_o Good luck? The bird's ok though, if you're worried.

Currently loving this song.

lion king live & an answer

"is it possible, finally, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? we can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close are we able to come to that person’s essence? we convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?"
-The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami

question numbah one...& a half: which camera do you use?...what's your preference?

i have a couple different cameras in my arsenal. my first digital camera was an olympus d-560 zoom. yeah, i know. it's practically medieval nowadays. then, i was gifted with a nikon d40 for my birthday when it first came out. but the most recent addition is my beloved nikon coolpix l18; i use it most of the time- actually the majority of my pictures on the blog were taken with it. i love it that much!

when you say preference, i would rather much work with lomography. goodness, i love the distortion, the saturation and natural filters of lomographic cameras. at the moment, i own a frog-eye and an old holga. because of how lazy i am to get things developed, i kind of lag on my lomography. but it still remains my favorite. if you aren't particularly acquainted with lomography, take a gander here. or here. especially here.
i'm also fortunate enough to own a polaroid but because of the recent hiatus of their production and the fact that the film was selling for such hefty prices on ebay, i kinda stopped with those too. thank goodness they've continued with the production. suffice it to say, i went digital. it's just so much more expedient & there are less consequences when it comes to money since everything is "reusable". i can make so many more trial & error experiments and that kind of thing.

with that said, i absolutely don't advocate the idea that skill comes with the quantity of cameras or "fanciness" of the camera one uses. i think true development as a photographer comes with the passion a person has. i mean, i'd rather use the coolpix instead of the d40 because its sensitivity to light & movement creates cool effects- & well, it's smaller to boot. not to say that i don't like the d40, the resolution is fantastic! but the coolpix just suits my personality & style a little bit better. no matter how accessorized a person's d200 is, their pictures can still be a mess- just a higher resolution mess. good pictures don't come from a box filled with expensive equipment, they come from the heart. some of my most admired photographers have taken their pictures with one-time use cameras. i think that's just incredible. nevertheless, whatever you prefer should reflect your own brand of originality. but hey, that's just me philosophising, you don't have to agree.

& so now i'd like to ask you guys which camera do you use? style preference?
if there are any other questions, don't hesitate to ask :D
also, thanks for the book suggestions. i've looked them up, & they seem interesting.

^

face stuffer, yup, that's me.
unagi. mmmm.

i'm doing fine, & you guys?
also, suggestions on any good books?
much appreciated.

p.s. when i said i would be answering questions soon, i guess i meant in the somewhat near future. i don't know, consult with the theory of relativity.

The Little Things

There's something about being in a tunnel, about the comfort of warm lights, the symmetry of the space, the knowing of the end in sight. I've always enjoyed driving through them for some reason.

I used to do a lot of light motion photography when I was younger. When I really got attached to my digital. I used to play around with it and take pictures at night outside the car window as my mom and I drove to the Strip to pick my dad up from work. And it's one of those things I always like to do in photography. It's unpredictable, and things always turn out really interesting.

I'm the kind of person that finds a lot in the little things. Waking up at 6 AM on a Saturday and realizing you can go back to sleep. The beautiful light that floods my room from 4-6 after school. Being done with APs. Kokology in class when there's nothing to do but chill.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys the small things. What about you?

btw, the color coordination was not planned. O_o

still kicking

apologies for the serious lack of posts.
will be back shortly. with a vengeance.
in the meantime, you'll have to settle for pictures of food and florals.
i'm surrounded by both at the moment & they're all i take pictures of. tsk.
i don't know if that's good news or bad news, but it's news news.

p.s. a couple of people have emailed me a few questions; i will answer them soon, my friends.
soooooon.

Time to Celebrate (in some ways)

So if you've been following Chromaphilick, you know that Zamaika loves desserts. I'm like the total opposite. I'd rather just take a bite, photograph the stuff, then be done with it. I can handle semi-sweet, but some cake is just too sweet for me to handle. If you've been following Chromaphilick, you'll also notice the dirth of posts. It's AP season, guys. Zamaika's last post explains it all.

My sister's bridal shower was a couple Fridays ago. The same Friday as Relay. Yeah, I took awhile to do anything with my photos. haha Anyway, look at the beautiful rose frosting pattern on the cupcakes. And the yummy stuff on the top. I don't even know the name of it. I also learned that fondant is, like, not edible. Unless you enjoy eating pure sugar. Then it's ok.

I think I've developed carpel tunnel really badly. But it should be better soon. I wrote 1.5 essays on Friday's USHAP and my hand hurt like crazy. =/

Have a taste of OK Go's new sound. I'm liking the cool guitar runs but the high-pitched Damian parts might need a little getting used to. The album, tentatively The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky, will be out hopefully around September. It'll give me a boost to my obsession at the start of school. =D

NHS inductions was incredible. I'm so going to miss this year. But I'm looking forward so much to next. Everyone liked the slideshow, thank goodness. It's like the main reason for the carpel tunnel. Literally dozens of hours was put into that thing. I'm glad it all paid off though. I haven't seen so many people be as happy as that for a long time.

Confessions...Before I go to bed, I have to turn my radio on and wait for a nice word to be said/played before I turn it off. I have to see something happy on TV before I turn it off. I actually consider math homework a nice break from AP studying (1 down, 2 to go!)

For everyone still partaking in APs, good luck to all of you.

Look around. Passion Pit leaked.

the current state of affairs

...has been rather grim, my friends.

rather grim indeed.