I’m incredibly optimistic about this year and the things to come. I’m revisiting some of my favorite hobbies. This year, I’m making an effort to take more pics, write more, and etch out much more time for family and friends by planning fun events. Can’t wait! ^_^

Here are some recent pics that make me happy. Enjoy!

Brent and I at visiting the wonderful aquarium at the SF Academy of Science in late-December

Taking Phuong out to pig out at my favorite burger joint at the moment, True Burger!

New Years Eve with some of my favorite peeps from high school at The New Parish

I love these ladies. This totally captures our energy!

Cutie!

How could I resist?

Mussels from Slow, an incredibly delicious restaurant in Berkeley that supports "slow food" (opposite of fast food), uses local organic goods, and is still very affordable. My hidden gem in Berkeley!

Homemade smores from Phil's Sliders in Berkeley. Comes with a glass of milk! Mmmmmmmmm good!

An intriguing building at 16th & Carolina St. in SF

Lights at the club turn on. "THAT'S what y'all look like?"

Sesame creme brulee at Yoshi's Oakland. Yum.

Baking again! Made some Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins (per JoytheBaker.com). We'll see if they're tasty :o

Hallo, love. <3

Siiiiggghhh, if only it were true! Sadly, I’ve been stationed at home, merely bitten by the travel bug, longing for the days of traveling again. As fun as that sounds, I’ve been working feverishly on many goals.

Discovering My Creative Process

I took an art class last semester that pushed my growth as an artist — I loved it! “Critique and the Creative Process,” the class was called. The class was led by Seth Eisen at Berkeley City College (along with three amazing TAs). It was certainly the most challenging class I’ve taking through the Peralta Colleges. I learned a lot about my own creative process, like:

• I need my work area to be CLEAN before I start working. I need to start with a clean slate around my canvas (only to make it all messy while creating!)
• It’s really hard for me to work with no music. Lack of music is very distracting for me, and the type of music I listen to can vary depending on my mood. Though, 80′s and 90′s hits are always a win in my books!
• Writing is a huge part of my creative process. I didn’t realize this before. I need to do “brain dumps” of all my thoughts and ideas. (When I realized this portion, I knew I had to start blogging again! My writing is so rusty!) From there, I pull together the points I find most intriguing, and then begin sketching compositions that unify the main ideas.
• Sketches of the piece are general guidelines. Leaving room for change and modifications is very helpful for me, and encourages me to go with my gut instincts while painting.

I created many new pieces that I’m very proud of! Check out my Portfolio to see if you like them, too!

Working on My Portfolio for Art School Submission

This has been something I’ve been planning for a while. Even while I was still working at Embark and taking night classes, I knew I wanted to pursue art/design/the creative field. It’s something I was very scared of doing when I was younger: afraid of rejection, scared of criticism, an overall fear of not being enough. Since 2008, I’ve been building my technique/skills and knowledge to be much more confident in my artwork.

I recently found my old notes from my unemployed months of 2009, plotting my path towards art school!

This is my art school bulletin board. Notes, to-dos, plans, and checklists!

Finding a job in the web design field was the perfect medium for me to move from a front-end programming job into something that was more focused on visual design. I picked up a tremendous amount of knowledge from the team at Waxcreative, and it helped me hone in on my design skills overall.

I recently attended National Portfolio Day and I received GREAT feedback from several schools! The admissions counselors were impressed by how professional my portfolio was presented. Phew! I spent a lot of time on making my portfolio clean and tidy, so I’m very grateful that it received very good feedback.

• I had professional pics taken of my art pieces (by Dana Davis Photography, Ringler Studios, and the fabulous Brent Tam)! Good pics of your pieces go a LONG way!
• Had the option of creating a printed portfolio. I just recently saw that Noah Bradley had his portfolio books printed through Blurb.com, so I went with them. I loved the results! (Also received much extra help from Eugenia Man who has plethora of knowledge with printing photo books as part of the fabulous photo packages she provides!)
• Received invaluable feedback from my friend Henry Kim-Han who also went through this same portfolio-building process. Immensely helpful to get input from people who have an eye for which of your pieces are stronger!
• Had all the titles, captions, chapter pages, artist statement proofread by several people.
• Plus, it helps to have one of the best partners in the world. Infinite thank you’s to Brent, who made all the meals and put up with all my messes (tangible and emotional) during my crazy days. Never got angry at me, always understood I was under pressure, and 100% supportive. <3 x 9999999^999999999

Combating a Repetitive Stress Hand Injury

I place this last on my list because I really want this to take last priority. But I can’t deny that it greatly crippled my abilities in the last three months. And I’d be a complete liar if I said these weren’t trying times.

In mid-October, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my right hand’s middle finger joint while working at the comp. I assure you it’s not from flicking people off–I’m really slow at singling out my middle finger, I promise.The pain began to creep up towards my wrist, I started feeling the pain in my second and forth fingers. There was a weird tingling behind my elbow. And my shoulders became as stiff as rocks.

I began seeing a doctor and physical therapist. They said I had a repetitive stress injury from keyboarding/mousing. More precisely, my lower cervical and upper trapezius muscles had been overworked due to reaching too far for my keyboard and mouse, and my nerves were extra sensitive (thus the pain, tingles, numb feelings). In addition to completely revamping my work station by an ergonomist, I was on a modified work schedule. For a while, for every 30 minutes that I worked, I had to take a 30 minute break, for a maximum work day of 4 hours (which meant I only worked for 2 keyboarding hours). I was instructed to lay down during my breaks to ensure that my neck had breaks — literally taking the weight off my shoulders.

From October through December, I felt pretty incapable, insufficient, and my morale was at the lowest its been in a while. It’s not like my brain was cloudly like we often are when we’re sick. My brain was fine, I was still thinking the same, running through the many lists of things I needed to do. All the things I COULDN’T do. My brain was running 10,000 times faster than my body could keep up with. There were days where I couldn’t even use my right hand to lift a manila folder. I couldn’t eat with my right hand, couldn’t drive with it, and I couldn’t even put some papers in my backpack because my right hand couldn’t hold the bag open. I couldn’t work at work, I couldn’t cook or clean at home, I couldn’t work on my portfolio, I couldn’t work on any kind of art without my right hand. During the lowest points, I felt like I was a waste of space, and that the injury would last forever and I would never have my right hand back again. I spent many days vegetating on the floor, watching films I’d been meaning to watch, and regularly slumping at the local bar at 11AM.

A "get well soon" letter from my left hand to my right hand. Woohoo for learning how to write with lefty!

I became religious about my physical therapy exercises. I began to look on the bright side of things, and I started to train my left hand to do a lot of things. (Left hand is so much better at driving now; I can do most chores with left hand; I’m still trying to figure out how to hold chopsticks with my left hand. Btw, noodle soups are extremely difficult to eat if you don’t have a dominant hand to use……) Slowly but surely, my injury was getting better, and my muscles were getting stronger. I was slowly able to work on my portfolio and art again.

I don’t think not many people really understood what was going on with my body and my emotional state at that time, but I am very grateful for those that were unquestionably supportive and for keeping my chin up. A million thank you’s. Additionally, I wouldn’t have been able to make it through without Brent, who helped me through all my whirlwind states of insecurities, whether it  manifested itself as anger or intense moments of panic attacks. I love you, and thank you for letting me lean on you when I needed help the most — even though I kicked and screamed when refusing any help to preserve any sense of self worth.

Even through all this, I eventually got my portfolio done, printed, and reviewed with flying colors. Not to be self-boasting or to build my ego, I’m very proud that I was able to complete my portfolio the way I envisioned it to come out, with even better reactions than I expected. It’s a testament to really putting one’s mind to something and doing everything possible to make it happen. (Okay, maybe I wanted to boast a little. Oh well, I humbly think I deserve a little mini-ego booster after all the hurdles that overcame.)

So, now I’m writing my essays, finalizing everything for my applications before I send them in. *fingers crossed!* Wish me luck! (A thousand thank you’s to Tarrin for helping me with revising my essays and making it all spiffy and presentable! <3 you!)

Oh yeah, this new design has been a project I needed to finish before sending applications off, too. Take a peek around and enjoy! <3

I’m super proud of myself. I found some anti-slip tape, like the kind you put on your stairs so you won’t slip when its wet. I cut a thin strip and then into tiny little rectangles for the two main keys. And ohemgee. I love it. The rough texture makes it SO easy for my fingers to find the keys. I realized I’ve been making and fixing hella typos lately simply because I kept on positioning my hand in the wrong spots. Yay for fingers being able to see again! ^_^

… I also got a little tape-happy and put one on the “0″ at the top row because I go up to that area a lot. w00t.

(Totally sounds like I got hacked, huh?….) Time to do some plugin/file clean ups~

My mom always used to tell me to use my retainer.. but… ah well….

A couple of years ago, I started noticing that my teeth were moving. And I’ve been on and off the last few years about whether or not I should get my teeth realigned. After many decisions to put it off and revisit again, I finally bit the bullet. In fact, I think I committed so quickly that I didn’t really think about the (social?) repercussions.

My boss pointed out that people will FOR SURE think I’m a teenage once I get braces back on. Siiiggghhh. Annnddd I didn’t think too far about the events I’ll be attending this summer (two weddings! Other type things!) where I’ll have to SMILE?! Sigh… I totally forgot what it’s like to have metal teeth, but I guess I’ll be remembering very soon.

Your mind will be blown...

I went to the orthodontic office today, thinking I was just gonna get xrays done. Turns out I did my teeth molding, xrays, and I also got separators put in too. Plus I made a new spunky friend at the ortho office (she’s so cute and energetic)! Umm… so… I guess I’m getting braces next week??? *pannissss*

FAQ:

Why get teeth realigned again? Cuz I miss having straight teeth. :( I’ve noticeably seen my teeth moving the last couple of years.

Are you getting Invisalign? / How come you’re not getting Invisalign? I’m cheap. Invisalign is $1k more. I’m saving mah monies.

How long is the realignment procedure? 1.5 to 2 years. :(((

A little before and after shot

It's like holding my own amputated body part...

Huzzah!

Goodbye (or hello?), my dear human scarf

My hair weighs 95 grams! (0.21lbs/3.35 oz) I swear it feels like 5lbs with gravity...

A little over 22 inches long!

Donating my hair again to LocksofLove or some other sort of wig-making charity to benefit people going thru chemotherapy. Yay! Haven’t had short hair since 2007ish. Very excited to play with different hair styles again~! :))

Thanks to Tarrin for the hairstylist recommendation: Robert at Spank Salon in Alameda was super detailed and in the zone while cutting my hair. Love him! And thanks to Brent for taking the pics and support, as always! People are gonna think that you’re dating a teenage boy now~

So nostalgic! (My favorite part of flipping thru Wizard magazines were all the hand-drawn envelopes that people sent it~)

• Premium tickets for both nights! (first 10 rows)
• Meet and Greet & Photo Op with Weezer
• Backstage Tour with Karl Koch
• Pre-show party
• Exclusive Weezer gift bag
• Crowd-free merchandise shopping

Well, OF COURSE I got the 2-night VIP tickets!! One for me, one for Brent to come with me so I wouldn’t be alone~ It was $500 each, but it was well worth every penny.

Thank you soooooooooooooo much to Calvin for helping me with some of the logistics!
And…. thanks to coworkers for putting up with me that whole day when I was freaking out at work….

Day 1: The Blue Album

Brent and I arrived at the Nob Hill Masonic Center around 4:30PM, where there were people already lined up to get their VIP passes. Very small crowd, less than 100 people getting VIP passes. They let us in to buy merch way before the general admission folks arrived (doors opened at 7), which was pretty sweet. Turns out I couldn’t afford anything… ah well!

Shortly after, Karl Koch (the unofficial 5th member of Weezer) gave us a tour of the stage area that was being set up, with a Q&A afterwards. To get their sound as close to the Blue Album sound, Weezer brought out from storage some of their first amps! Very awesome~

@Weezer tweeted out this photo during the VIP tour. Brent and I are in it! :D

Next, we got goodies! Weezer tote bag, Hurley CD, Weezer tshirt, and poster (not pictured)!

Then… we met Weezer. (Oh God, this video is embarrassing, but I’m glad Brent recorded a recap because my mind was racing… *sigh*)

omg.

Weezer Blue Album poster! LOVE the border design!

We went to check out our seats for the show. Oh. Em. Eff. Gee.

Let the show begin!

Sheee's got eyeballs, in the back of her heaaddd

Check out more of my front-row pictures here »

Day 2: The Pinkerton Album

Pinkerton’s my favorite Weezer album. Even the night before, VIP fans I talked to didn’t seem to like Pinkerton as much as Blue, and someone mentioned that I’m a “rare one” for liking Pinkerton. *shrug* Maybe I just loved listening to it more as an adolescent because there’s so much raw emotion in Pinkerton: a bit of alienation, a bit of heartbreak, a lot of struggle. Across the Sea, The Good Life, El Scorcho, Pink Triangle (one of my favorite guitar parts evvaarrr), Falling For You, how can a Weezer fan seriously NOT like these tracks? Perplexes my mind…..

Anyway, I was stoked. Weezer’s never performed the whole Pinkerton album in its entirety ever before (other than at the LA Memories Tour), and I was getting reeaaalllyyy pumped! Brent and I got there early again and saw that there were a lot of familiar faces from the night before’s VIP tour. Karl showed us a bit of the stage again, and taught us some sound equipment stuff that was pretty interesting!

We got some different goodies, which was pretty AWESOME! Thank you event organizers for giving the VIP fans different items for the second night!

They then had us line up to meet the band again. Brent and I befriended Kingsley and Mike (aka HALLIWAX! I complimented his LOST jacket the night before, of course! It’s so brilliant)! Kingsley wanted to be the last in line for the meet+greet, and we decided to wait with them at the end of the line. We had a ball together! Shared stories, joked around, and shared goodies together! All =w= fan love! <3

After a while, it was getting close to our turn to meet the band again. Buttterrrfflliiieeessssss!! The night before, Brent gave me the idea to bring in something that they could sign. “There must be sooommmeethinngg I’ve made in the past that’s Weezer related…” Ah-hah! The ceramic Weezer box I made in high school! While there were about 5 people in front of us in line, I took out the box and held it in my hands, chanting in my head: Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. I think people were talking to me, but I just.couldn’t.answer. Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box.

“Hi guys. Would you guys please sign this box I made like…. in high school?”
And then all these things were happening.
Rivers was signing first so I had to make sure the pens they were using were permanent silver sharpies so it will write on the black glaze, Pat Wilson said he liked my Oakland shirt, Brian Bell said “Whoa, you made this?”, and I had to explain to Scott Shriner that I had to improvise with a new pic of him to replace the side that has Matt Sharp on it. It’s all a big blur to me and I got shuffled along to take a pic with them and then I stood off to the side and Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. Don’t drop the box. Putting the box away, putting the box away. Breathing.

Thanks for making all my Katy Perry Teenage Dreams come true, Weezer.

Autographed Weezer box!

Shortly after, they rounded up the VIPs again for a surprise: Rivers was sticking around to hang out with us for a bit longer! I have this horrible tendency to not say anything intelligent or anything worth anybody’s time whenever I meet musical idols. (“Umm… hi… i love your music??”) And I don’t want to take up other people’s time either so I just panis, don’t say anything, and just ask for a picture and run away to hide in my little corner.

Thanks for taking a pic with me, Rivers!

Showtime!!

So earlier in the night, Mike showed us a custom-made Weezer flag that he ordered a while back. He brought it to a Seattle show and waved it around in the large crowd. Supposedly Rivers spotted the flag and shouted out to him. Mike brought the flag down with him from Seattle (just to see the SF Memories Tour shows, btw! <3 Dedication!), and even had this whole plan for when he’ll bust out the flag (El Scorcho was the plan), involved a collapsible flag pole that he snuck in (hilarious story about this too), and he was totally ready to be escorted out by security. I told him I’d record him, and I was ready to go for El Scorcho.

Except…. Things got really exciting when Weezer started playing some B-Sides: Suzanne and You Gave Your Love To Me Softly. During the latter, I look over and saw that Mike was pulling out his flag! Here’s what happened:

IMPORTANT [self preserving] DISCLAIMER: UMMMMMM Okay, for the record, my voice was shot already from the night before this, so it was already cracking. I promise I’m not as hysterical as I sound. I was just doing my regular cheering… that happened to make my voice crack….. okay, fine, I really was freakin out about Weezer….!!

More of my pics of the rockin’ Pinkerton show here »

In conclusion: best birthday gift to myself ever. Thank you, Weezer, Karl, ILoveAllAccess, new friends, and BrentBrent for two fabulous back-to-back days! <3

/me sitting in my corner….. waiting……….

——————
Update: I’m gonna be lounging around on IRC again, suckers! Funnet, #pinkbunnies