Deluge of photos

Decided it was time to clear off the 250+ photos on my cellphone.

Plus had some pretty scrumptious treats at Lowell Master's Tea and felt like posting a photo of it! If I could bake I would make these things and probably eat one or two of them. I don't like sweets - birth defect!

If you analyze the contents of my desk I wonder what kind of conclusions you could draw. Ipod, check. Empty water filter, check. Medicine bottle, check. Cup containing the words "Irrevocable, Tired, and Hungry", check. Random Japanese hairspray fizz product, check. 4,001 calories, check. I think it makes for a pretty typical college desk, what do you think?

I guess I should go in chronological order from here.

Beginning of last year:

Someone forgot to screw in one side of the light bulb? Or a highly acclaimed piece of art featured in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City?? You decide!!

Toward the end of last year (Oh, how time flies!):

The Lampoon celebrates their 100 year anniversary with a laser light show! The only way the Lampoon beat the Crimson in any way last year! Well, since I'm not designing for the Crimson this semester I guess I don't have to be so loyal.

Identities practice for us Asian Americana models was... amusing. I think these heels work for K better than they work for me.

Summer:

The first hotel I lived at in Japan looked over the bay. Pretty nice. Hopeful for the future!

My shirt is brighter than the sky, win.

Manga cafe <3>

Private rooms are awesome

Make a wash upon entering Japan (:

Awesome bear speakers. I thought it had magnetic paws until I realized.....

Scramble crossing... what a crazy place. Go Shibuyaaa.

And finally at home:

Mom: Chopping vegetables late in the afternoon Hey, remember not to schedule anything for Friday night ok? We are going to ling ling circus.

K: Ling ling circus? Is that Chinese?

Mom: No, everybody knows the ling ling circus! It's not Chinese!

K: Umm... ok... Here I proceed to type in ling ling to look for it online when all of a sudden it hits me... Wait, when you say ling ling.. do you actually mean Ringling? Like the Ringling Brothers?

Mom: Ah yes, Ringling, ling ling, same thing!

And so we went to the Ringling (Ling Ling) circus.

The Greatest Show On Earth!

And I leave you with... my favorite picture in my cellphone pre-clean up. Not sure why I like it so much, I think it had something to do with the colors.

Mnnnn.... Ja, nehhh.

"What are we going to get out of this conversation?"

Living is full of random occurrences and whether these events add up to a life is a matter I have to live more to find out.

I went to get my printing downstairs at 10:52 pm. Down, make a left, go all the way down, make a right, swipe on the unmarked door to the left. I grabbed my printing, rustled through it to make sure it was all mine and then went back the way I came. Tried some moving toprock as I went along, ran out of breath along the way. Out of shape, I guess.

As I went up from the basement to the first floor I looked at the door looming in front of me. Normally this door didn't mean anything except that I should make a left and continue going up to my room on the second floor. Today, however, it started to nag me. I wonder what the temperature is outside. Maybe Y called wanting to be let in while I was in the printing room. If I want to go to 7eleven later today will I be able to go in my current attire? By the time my internal debate ended my arm was already at the entryway door. I pushed it open and looked out to see... A, J, and R, who all just had lab together (which ended at 10 so no aha moment there) walking right in front of me with multiple rolls of toilet paper in each hand.

After staring and pondering how this came to be J, whose hair still needs to be restyled, interjected with "Well, what does it mean? Like, what are we going to get out of this conversation?" Even as I'm writing this I still can't think of an answer. I guess whatever we get out of these random occurances, conversations, thoughts - it's what we're getting out of life. Oh shit, I was about to go all existential right there, good thing I caught myself.

Speaking of which, the random, not the existentialism, I saw one of my roommates from last year twice today. I haven't seen the other three yet. Seeing her made me reflect on all the opportunities I missed out on. I could have gotten to know them so much better and I think I might have liked that. Oh well, too late now. Perhaps it's not too late, I guess it is more accurate to say that I am just too lazy. BOOM.

The banality of artistry

Yes that title is a failed reference to the essay I am currently reading, in short - The Banality of Evil (Hannah Arendt).

Had my first painting class this morning from 8 am to 12 pm. For a 4 hour class, after the teacher stopped droning, time sure passed nice and swiftly. Today's task was to mix colors. Does that mean I made a color wheel? Oh no, I am way too advanced to make a color wheel, instead I decide to make color circles in a balloons floating up into the sky fashion. I worked mixing paints around on my glass palate adding reds to yellows to greens to blues. Slowly my paper began to look like a gumball machine let loose upon the world.

After working on this for 3 hours I turned the paper around to get a better look at my piece only to realize that it... sucked. The colors were all in a disarray, there was too much of a premeditated randomness to the positioning of the color blots and even the colors themselves didn't interest me. What I had thought was so creative and interesting in the beginning by the end seemed to me to be my idea of Art with a capital A (reference to Chris Killip's disdain for Photographs with a capital P), what "art" should be, not something I had any feeling for. Not to mention someone else in the class did the exact same thing I did, except better. Damn.

I clearly have too many preconceived notions of what art should be and thus I cannot create anything truly original or representational of me.

I guess we'll see how it goes on Thursday.