tokyo bag lady

2012-02-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

I hate to be that person, but srsly guys:

"Take the 5 to the 605 to the 210 to the 134 to the 101." I've said pretty much everything in this sketch before, including screaming "I LOVE IN N OUT!" while exiting the drive through.

highs + lows.

2012-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

I know its been a bit since I wrote last. Life has been a continuous rollercoaster of highs and lows and I'm just doing my best to be open to it all and not be completely exhausted all the time. As I type, I am in the middle of packing up my bags to head to Vegas early tomorrow morning. By sheer luck, I am going to cover my first fashion trade shows and due to scheduling overlaps, I will be covering at least one on my very own. I am bursting with excitement at the prospect of this and the newness of possessing a press pass to cover trade shows, despite an entire week of 12-16 hour work days. As always, I am just happy to be writing and shooting for a living, and grateful that I get to travel instead of work at a desk.

Sorry for being a bit of an intermittent crack head this year. Life is crazy busy and I'm still working out achieving balance. Here are some photos I snapped from last night's cocktail affair at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific:

Sometimes at the Long Beach Aquarium, the attendants scream "TWO FINGERS TWO FINGERS!" at you like crazy drill sergeants. And by sometimes, I mean almost always.

a sad Moray with no rock hole to call home

Otter nap time: this is what happens when the aquarium hosts a cocktail party at night -- half the exhibits are sleeping.

hello there, little mouth!

ulrika kestere's the girl with 7 horses.

2012-01-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of research for a possible piece on environmental art for WGSN -- artists like Andy Goldsworthy who make work using organic materials found in nature (and specific to the work's site) or artists like Ned Kahn who create work that poses questions to the audience, aiding in starting a dialogue about environmental issues.

Andy Goldsworthy's Rowan Leaves & Hole

Ned Kahn's Fog/Rainbow Arbor at the Skirball

I met James Peterson at an art show last weekend who built an interactive installation called Hypoxia that explores the phenomenon of out of control algae growth, which in turn sucks all the oxygen from bodies of water and suffocates the eco system in which it exists.

James Peterson's Hypoxia

Anyways. Wanted to share Ulrika Kestere's work, entitled The Girl with 7 Horses with you. It's haunting, beautiful and kind of inspiring me for my very slow going 365 project. (Click the above link for the other six horses.)

/ hiatus.

2012-01-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

Big, big apologies for the two and a half week hiatus. I was without internet at home for a few weeks and it impaired my life in ways I couldn't have imagined. I'm a bit rootless at the moment, feeling trapped in constant turbulence, as I spend my week nights at my grandpa's house in the LA area and my weekends on the road (or, in last weekend's case, on a boat at sea). It's going to be a little cray-cray 'round here for the next couple of months as this rootlessness trend continues. I'm still learning to balance my full-time job at WGSN with my social life, personal creative life and health so that no area is too full or too light. I've also been lazy about photo editing because I miss my giant external LCD monitor and wireless mouse like hell. [So if I owe you photos -- and you know who you are -- I am sorry! I am working on them slowly and intermittently.]

It is growing more and more apparent that I will be unable to get away from Los Angeles. My editor position is likely to become permanent in due time and the only job offers/responses I am receiving are from LA companies (despite applying in the Midwest and East Coast). I am struggling to readjust my head and heart to this fact.

As for my job, I love it. It's nearly a dream job. A normal day for me jumps from researching outsider art (made by people not formally trained or connected to the art world, who are often mentally ill) to gazing at these dreamy algae blooms in Colombia to mocking baby tuxedos with tails (!!!) with my fellow editors to mining the Roaring Twenties for trends. It's never dull. Though, after researching several outerwear companies, I've considered applying to Patagonia for a job. Those hippies have amazing environmental stewardship programs like clothing recycling and give their employees "flex-time" so that they can take off work to surf, hike, climb, camp, etc. The 9-6 life is hard for me to adjust to and sometimes I go for mile long walks around Downtown LA during my lunch hour to stretch my cramped limbs.

I'll try to get some fun stuff up here soon. I've been tossing ideas around like another "__ days of style" photo project or maybe creating an aggregator for all the randomly awesome stuff I stumble across throughout the course of my work day.

reset.

2012-01-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

little Nala

Just got home from a long weekend in San Diego caring for one of my dearest friends, Erica as her mother-in-law passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. There are few people in the world that I would drop everything for but she is one of them. Sometimes I get lost in my own self-absorbed world, too busy working or strategizing my next move/goal. It was a nice change to step outside of myself and into the role of caretaker. The funeral shifted my focus back to where it needs to be. It was like a giant RESET button. Sometimes we get too lost in (what my friend Akeem calls) "rich white girl problems" and forget that there are real problems and real pain in the world. I listen to too many people moaning about metaphysical unhappiness and ennui and it makes me fucken crazy. To me, life is all about the love you give and create and the love you receive. Everything else is noise.

a day with Mark.

2012-01-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

My friend Mark Velasquez, professional "button pusher", incidental cupid and all around no-bullshit good guy, and I went out shooting this afternoon. The catch here is that I was the (very awkward) model. "Can you stop making your weird faces?" he asked me, about every five minutes. I pranced around in vintage dresses and ridiculous accessories while performing feats of strength like snapping twigs in half and climbing trees in heels while grunting excessively.

Mark is the perfect example of the unfortunate phenomena Kristin and I have been discussing recently: when an audience cannot differentiate between who the artist is and what the work is. It is natural to assume that the work is a direct, unaltered representation of who the artist is and what he/she thinks/feels/has experienced. If your work is about sensuality, physicality between two people or the human form, you are immediately tagged as promiscuous or a pervert. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Mark is a wonderful, warm, respectful and down to earth human being with a sharp sense of humor and a well developed aesthetic. I am glad to call him a friend and am honored that he would ask to shoot me.

I normally hate photos of myself but Mark has a way of capturing a person's energy, humor and character in frame. I feel like the best version of myself in front of his lens.

helvete: the final portfolio.

2012-01-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

Here she is, in all her glory:

(click image to access design portfolio)

I was one of 25 in my graduating class to be selected to showcase my design portfolio on a FIDM graduate site. I've spent the past two and a half days cleaning up, resizing and organizing my portfolio and building out two websites (the FIDM site and my own professional site). I haven't felt ready to wrap up 2011 and look forward to 2012 yet, but with this portfolio finally laid to rest, I think I can get on with that. Also, I think web design ranks right up there with getting your lady bits waxed or getting sucker punched in the face. It's mid-level awful.

I'd love to hear your feedback -- positive or negative. I spent about four solid months on research, concept, sketches and designs and this is about as close as I am going to get in the near future to giving birth. This is the culmination of everything I learned during my fifteen months at FIDM. I am immensely proud of it.

maui, underwater.

2012-01-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are photos of my trip to Maui, as seen under water. They range from a number of days and dives we made. All photos were shot by my beloved father, Ray Tsuyuki. (He doesn't have a photo site yet, but I am working on building him one.)

[Full disclosure: there are a lot of fish and sea creatures that I cannot accurately identify.]

I feel incredibly lucky that not only am I able to dive but I have an underwater photographer father who can document our dives together so I can share the experience with others. I love diving. Being under water is like entering another world. You're surrounded by dampened silence, alien creatures that defy description and a universe you don't understand. There are terrifying elements to it that I still wrestle with as a beginning diver, but the ineffable sensation of flying in the water quickly negates all my fears.

My sister and me.

Tiny crab on coral.

Frogfish

Moray eel

Sea urchin

Sis and me, again. I'm the short haired, super Asian looking one on the right.

Turtles!

Little puffer

I'm diving in a couple of weeks off Anacapa. We're hoping for some hot sea lion action and I can't wait to show you the beautiful kelp beds of Southern California and the prolific eco system that calls them home.

365 project.

2012-01-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, my friends. I haven't quite figured out what it is that I want out of this new year or out of myself, but so far, I have set one goal. I am doing a 365 photo project.

You can follow my progress here: 365 project

I bought a DSLR in 2009 but did not begin to love it and photography until this past year. Photography is just another vehicle for story telling, for documenting my life and growth as a person and an artist, and for indulging my nostalgic tendencies. Being behind a lens has changed the way I view and interact with the world. It inspires me to travel and be outdoors, it forces me to slow down and notice beauty in unexpected ways, it reminds me of and grounds me in all the people, things and places I love so much.

I hope this project will encourage me to take more risks, will train my eye, and get me to finally read my camera's owner's manual. I hope it will help me shake off the things that limit me, like being too shy to shoot in front of or alongside a more talented photographer or being too lazy to lug my giant camera around with me.

I'll try to do a recap here once a month of the images. I am determined to complete this, even if it takes more than 365 days.

animal party.

2011-12-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

My parents house is currently home to four adult humans, two german shepherds and four felines. It's a pretty packed house.

My sister and the puppies on a walk along Highway 1.

Kaz-monster, constantly seeking affection.

Nami.

Little Mako.

Mich & Mako.

Michi.

F2 (Frosty 2.0)

Our fourth cat declined to be photographed as I tested out my new flash.

hiking oso flaco.

2011-12-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

Three of my childhood friends and I spent the afternoon hiking Oso Flaco in Guadalupe, California. It brings me back to how impossibly beautiful the Central Coast is.

People seem to find it incredible that I am still so close with so many of the kids I grew up with. Maybe it's the small town atmosphere that bonds us across states and continents after all these decades, maybe there's something in the water, or maybe we were all just lucky enough to grow up to be interesting, intelligent, fun, creative, amazing people. Whatever the case, our little cow town by the sea created brilliant researchers, talented musicians, bright artists and generally good people with good hearts whom I am blessed to call some of my dearest friends.

We made a seesaw!

Phoebe lives in San Francisco, travels the world on a regular basis doing ethnographic research, and will kick your ass at playing the drums or (drunk) Scrabble.

Cameron makes wine and sweet, sweet music with his rich, buttery vocals and the kind of deeply observant lyrics that sock you in the gut. He is also highly skilled at making bad, lascivious puns. i.e. He once rapped: I'm like a bully. I find the pussy and then I beat it up.

(photo: P. Kuo)

"I like a girl with a nice back catalogue... of Simpsons references." That day, Warren coined a new euphemism for ass. What can I say about Warren that I haven't already said? I love the guy, and the fact that he can rap with anyone on world politics and gangster rap.

Beautiful Central Coast dunes.

The intrepid explorers money shot.

We found what I believe to be a sea lion bone yard on the way back, an entire disassembled skeleton. I took a vertebra home with me.

I've been shooting a lot the past few weeks and testing out my new shoe mount flash + diffuser so this joint is going to be a photo blog for the foreseeable future.

she's back.

2011-12-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

The little Japanese frittata you love so much is back online!

(Photo: P. Kuo)
Here I am, ass up, setting up for a group photo while hiking Oso Flaco in Guadalupe, CA.

To recap:

- I finished finals, crawling my way to the finish line.

- I moved back to my hometown and into my childhood bedroom (which has lain in ruins for the past decade), which initially felt weird but now is completely wonderful. I don't miss the homies in Highland Park blasting their shitty radio rap at 8 a.m. on Sundays or the soul sucking traffic of the Los Angeles freeway system.

- Two days later, I received a contract editor position with WGSN at their Los Angeles office so I'll be back in LA for the next few months by next week. I am torn because this is my dream job but returning to LA is not my dream locale.

- The rest of my time has been spent on long walks with my dogs, hiking around the Central Coast, holiday reunions and drinking with childhood friends, excessive sleeping, watching The League repeatedly and LOLing, playing a lot of mandolin for my audience of cats, and working on long neglected personal projects, unrestrained.

Self, 2011/2012

Self, 2011/2012

It has been a lovely week and a half since I left Los Angeles. I'll have lots more to post in the coming week so come hungry and often.

wrecked.

2011-12-16T04:29:00.001-08:00

Signing off for a while so I can attend to my basic human needs. Been neglecting that for the past two weeks or so.

update: mission statement.

2011-12-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

HA HA! I found my mission statement for my Tumblr account, which apparently I started in 2010 when I was still a sad cubicle worker at a law firm.

mission statement.

Because I need yet another venue in which I may talk about myself. The internet is a well oiled machine, fueled by solipsism, self-importance and agenda pushing, which I am happy to be an active member of.

I’ve been blogging long before “blogging” was even a term.

2001 I started a Geocities, in which I posted long winded, “creatively embellished” stories about my classmates and friends, much to their chagrin. My favorite series on this site was our campaign to Free Cameron From the Closet! Evidently it worked because Cameron is getting married (to a biological woman) this spring.

2003 I joined Xanga, but quit after a year or so, due to Drew complaining that my blog was too much about feeeeeliiiiiings. Also, Xanga was for aZnSs!!11!one!

2004 I started my blogspot site, aptly titling it “All Freak, All the Time,” which, at that point in my life, summed up my every day. This was by far my most popular and hilarious blog as I regularly posted, while drunk or on sleeping pills, stories about working at a ghetto nightclub, homeless men hitting on me, and the oddly amazing professors from CSULB’s philosophy department. In the end, these stories got me in trouble as they were eventually discovered by the main characters, whose feelings were hurt, and/or who were prompted to send me hate mail/comments. Important life lessons were learned via this blog.

2006 I bought my own domain and created a WordPress site. I remember very little from this site as I posted very rarely.

2009 I started a fashion blog, which I aim to keep separate from this.

2010 …. which brings me to this. I can’t talk about myself as much or tell too many personal anecdotes on a fashion blog frequented by complete strangers. Also, no one on there is interested in stories about my cat. But I know you are!!!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was prompted to start this so that I would have a place to post pictures and accompanying narrative of my cat’s fifth birthday party.

It’s a celebration, bitches!

i'll tumble for ya!

2011-12-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done... two more days. I can barely contain myself. I had my final interview with my design portfolio professor and an industry professional (who happened to have worked in trend forecasting for five years) today. I killed it. I won't brag too much but after being ridden relentlessly to the brink of insanity by my teacher for the past three months, it was indescribably rewarding to see an A on my final portfolio and to receive so much positive feedback and encouragement from her.

The trend forecasting lady who interviewed me told me that my resume is well-rounded and my random skill set is perfectly poised for the job. (My extensive random knowledge, writing skills, blogging and internet skills, photography, lust for art and design, vintage collecting, years of runway reviewing, love of music, obsessive reading, yen for travel, etc, etc.) She felt the only thing that was missing is a public blog. I like keeping this one private and I don't want my public face/career necessarily tied to it because of how deeply personal it has become, and how much creative cursing is tossed about.

So I decided to revive my Tumblr, which I've done on and off since 2008. Follow me for a lovely little assortment of photography, cat pictures, musings on non-fiction/poetry/the relevance of memoirs, bits of old school hip hop and fashion editorial pictures. It's pretty fun and for brevity's sake, it's a nice change of speed.

a random assortment.

2011-12-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

Things are getting better nowadays. I slept 10 hours last night, which is probably more than I've slept the entire past week combined. I cooked something again, for the first time in weeks. The sweater wearing penguins were released back to the sea in this adorable video where they look like frazzled crack addicts trying to figure out how to get into the water. My dumb ass cats are an endless source of entertainment:

I was featured in a street style round-up on WGSN for prints and graphic direction. That photo was taken a few months ago and I had forgotten about it. But my adorable professor, Eliason, yelled, "Chris, you're famous! I saw you on the front page of WGSN today!" She was so excited, she had saved the photo and emailed it to me. I'm going to miss her. She is the biggest sweetheart ever, and my friends and I like to call her Becks behind her back (short for Rebecca).

I'm very much looking forward to enjoying the action packed next 8 days, my last living in LA (for now, but who knows?). Tonight I'm going to a goodbye party for my very talented friend Akeem who is transferring to the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design for fashion design. Then, as a graduation present, my friends are taking me gay nightclub dancing at Ripples in Long Beach. Gay dancing is the best. No one touches you inappropriately, I get whiskied up and dress up in near work out clothes so I can be super serious about getting down, and the music selection is killer.

And one other thing, courtesy of a wonderful, inspiring, heart soothing cooking blog I read called Happy Yolks:

“I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that’s what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”
-- J. Didion

penultimate.

2011-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've been working non-stop locked in my apartment for the past three days on my design portfolio, not sleeping much, eating leftover vegan Chinese, listening to my weird Pandora station that is a perfect mix of doo wop and Wu Tang. I think I'm going a little bit crazy. The only break I've had was to wake up at 5 a.m. yesterday to run a 5k in 35 degree weather yesterday. Utter madness. (But I think I'm ready to start racing 10ks again!)

I went to school tonight to print some of my stuff. For those of you who are in/have been in art school, you know the stressful battle of the large printers during finals. They break, they run out of ink/paper, there aren't enough computers available, your colors print too dark/light/weird, your print out doesn't match what's on the screen. I'm going to back at 7 am to make sure I can get all my printing done before my final portfolio turn in at noon. No joke, bro.

I was walking back to my car in Downtown LA when a young brother with a tattooed face sidled up next to me. "Has anyone ever told you you the baddest chick they ever seen?" I broke into manic hysterical laughter. I think it frightened him because he mumbled something and crossed the street. I have no makeup on and am wearing sweatpants, combat boots and my Isis hoodie.

Oh my god, I needed that. I'll probably only sleep a few hours tonight but I'm going to be SO HAPPY to turn this portfolio in. I'm done in a week and I am going to party insanely fucking hard and make everyone with eyeballs look at my portfolio. Then I'm going to sleep for several days straight.

still...

2011-12-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

My life has changed in a bajillion ways in 2011 -- mostly for the better. But the change that haunts and pains me still is my life without Zoey.

Edna St. Vincent Millay summed it up for me:
Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.

I am getting this tattooed on my ribs. It's the truest truth I know.

highlights from hawaii.

2011-12-04T18:35:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd take a break from finals to share some of my photos from our Thanksgiving Maui trip. Hopefully in a few weeks, my dad will get me his underwater shots and I can show you what some of our dives looked like under the sea.

My momma being adorable and looking like she's wearing a cape while ziplining.

This is not normally how you land while ziplining, but our guide was a flirt.

Watching the sunrise on the ocean, on our way to our first dive.

My sister and me.

We dove Molokini Crater and the crater wall down to 85 feet twice that week. It was pretty incredible. On our second dive day, I got super sea sick and puked over the side of the boat. Pretty gross.

Feeding the birds goldfish as we come in to dock.

Tyus Edney and Coach Harrick of the UCLA 95 National Championship team share a moment and reunion hug. This made my dad tear up a bit. My dad is a very, very sensitive man with a lot of feelings.

Reeves Nelson = ummmph.

Bruin warm-up: Anthony Stover (in center) is a crazy good dancer. I NEED more of his dancing in my life.

Smith and Stover

With diving and basketball taking up the majority of my days in Hawaii, I only found one morning to spend at the beach. But it was a beautiful one and I switched off between reading on a blanket and swimming in the warm ocean.

Old town Lahaina

Star is a teacup Yorkie and a service dog. She is trained to sniff out chemicals and alert her deathly allergic owner to their presence. She always has waaaaay better seats than us at games.

Reading in line for the UCLA vs. Michigan game while Star licks my legs.

on existentialism.

2011-11-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

In undergrad, I took several upper division philosophy classes on nihilism and existentialism simply for my own personal enrichment, not credits. I also really loved partying with the philosophy department's faculty and PhD students. Elderly philosophy professors, doctorates and tweed blazers notwithstanding, love to drink and listen to me tell my "in the cluuuuuub" Cohiba stories. As soon as I left academia and entered the real world, all the theories and tenets of existentialism began to feel less and less relevant to my day-to-day concerns. When you're concerned about paying your rent or paying off a loan, questions of "what is consciousness?" or "is morality a man made system?" are pretty low on the list of worries.

Today I'm in an existentialist sort of mindset. WGSN and I sat down, and due to things beyond any of our controls (which I am not at liberty to discuss), I do not have a job. Three weeks ago, I was sent a package for the WGSN 401k, which I took as a sure promise of employment. We're still in discussions about my future with the company but for now, I am at a loss as to what I am supposed to be doing after school ends in 2 1/2 weeks.

For those of you who know me, and have tried to make spur of the moment plans with me, you know me to be a hard core anal retentive planner. Even more so when it comes to very important life decisions. I had this one all planned out, circled it a million times, ensured there was zero margin for error. Two incidents this past month have quickly taught me that when I make the safest bet ever, the universe will come around when I least expect it and as I bend over to pick up a shiny new quarter, it will rape me in the ass. (Sorry for the graphic imagery, but this is really how I feel.)

The other incident to which I refer is when a couple of months ago, I made a firm decision to hang up my dating hat. I figured I'd stockpile all the bad date karma I'd endured over the past year and a half and cash it in for some big, shiny romantic prize when I got to Chicago. The universe then proceeded to trip me up with someone incredibly wonderful and unexpected but wholly improbable.

So, right now I'm confused. On the work front, I don't go down without a fight. I will be on the ambition fueled "tiny rage" attack. I have been working my ass off, headed at full force with great speed and internal momentum towards Chicago and my dream job for the past 15 months. I will have at least one of those next year. As to the other, I haven't a clue. I don't believe in a benevolent, omniscient hand guiding my life. I believe in the universe raping your best laid plans. I believe life is a surging cacophony of illogical events but I will have a hell of a lot of fun with it.

Tonight I'm going to snuggle my puff ball cats and see what Joan Didion thinks of all this in The Year of Magical Thinking.

this makes me tear up...

2011-11-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Goodbye love from Jesse.

She told me once she wanted to make t-shirts that said "Behind every great designer is an even greater Japanese intern."

I don't normally look so cute when working, but I thought I'd pump up the jams for my last day. I miss her tons, every week.

goodbye, vacationland. hello, reality.

2011-11-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

I'm back from Maui and vacationland (my fictional headspace full of family time, imaginative and absorbing fiction, warm water diving, beachside running and heart pumping basketball). The drudgery of the home stretch is upon me with three weeks left in which to sell most of my furniture, pack up all my belongings, finish up school and wrap up last times with beloved Californians. On Wednesday, WGSN and I will sit down and they will mete out my professional fate.

I have billions of photos to slog through and post in the coming week, but first, here's this little nugget of joy from my trip:

This is a still of my rabid family featured on ESPN during the UCLA vs. Kansas game. I think it is going to be our family Christmas card photo. It speaks volumes and makes me laugh so flipping hard every time I see it. My mom, sister and I are so angry and out of control, while the surrounding fans are sedate and contemplative. Warren called my mom "a tigress he wouldn't want to tangle with on a bad day." Our tiny hands are clapping so fast that they're blurry and our brows are furrowed in intense anger. And I am the tiniest Tsuyuki by far.

This game was incredible and very exciting to be at. We screamed ourselves hoarse and wore our bodies out cheering, clapping and berating the referees. I got into a fight with an errant KU fan in our section who ended up getting kicked out. GODDAMN, I LOVE BASKETBALL SEASON!

1Q84.

2011-11-22T02:21:00.000-08:00

I am on vacation this week. My fanatical family and I are in Maui for the Maui Invitational NCAA basketball tournament. I spent today watching the Bruins play, for first time this season, like the team they're supposed to be from a seat directly behind the team bench. I screamed myself hoarse and exhausted. To make things even more magical, we sat beside the late, forever great Coach Wooden's daughter and granddaughter. We face Kansas tomorrow and that magic will come to an end but for now, we have tonight's win.

So far I've been able to enjoy so many of the things I love doing: diving in tropical waters with brightly colored fish and sea turtles, spending time with my family, running along the beach each day, shooting hundreds of photos I will later deem unfit in the harsh light of Bridge/Photoshop and throw away. I also brought along Haruki Murakami's new novel 1Q84. It's almost 1000 pages and I call it "vacation reading."

I can't sleep tonight. I'm nearly halfway through in a matter of a couple of days and I can't decide whether I want to pull an all nighter to complete it or drag it out for the remainder of the week. I'm already pretty sure I'll finish it tonight and get no sleep.

What I find so amazing is that since I learned to read at the age of 6 and every year since, literature has had a way of hijacking my life, my focus and my emotions. So many days and nights of my life have been consumed with a book and a singular driving desire to read it without any concern for physical health or comfort, emotional well-being or my everyday life. I won't sleep until I finish it, I often forget to eat or bathe, nothing can happen until I reach the conclusion of the book. A good book has the ability to leave me sobbing and near suicidal on the bathroom floor of a San Francisco hotel (James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room), feeling comforted and connected to my heritage (a Jhumpa Lahiri short stories collection), laughing to the point of tears in the middle of a crowded gym while using an elliptical machine (David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day), healing all my emotional scars after a bad break up (Kate Chopin's The Awakening), and scared witless to the point of being too afraid to go to sleep (this is a long list). When a book affected me too much when I was little, I would sometimes throw it in my parents' room and lock the door, believing this would protect me from its contents. Nowadays I'll throw it in the trunk of my car.

I realize this all sounds like pure madness. But to those of you who are truly readers, you probably know first hand some of this madness, in whatever form it may take for you personally. And to those of you who are writers, this is all we want to do for our audience -- to touch something in them, reflect some truth back to them, and to make them feel something from our words.

So tonight, I'm not sleeping at all. Because every time I close my eyes, I imagine Murakami's alternate universe beings crawling out of my sister's sleeping mouth and it scares the shit out of me. I need to know what they're doing and how it's all going to end, and I need to know tonight.

cold weather dressing.

2011-11-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd give us all a break. For you, a break from the current programming of emotional, nostalgic rambling. For me, a break from my design class where my Ann Demeulemeester collection is undergoing a FOURTH draft after a meeting with an outside professor, and also where my Helmut Lang collection is undergoing its second (of likely many) draft which has become me researching traditional pagan clothing from the time of the Crusades. (Serio. This was my teacher's feedback at our first review.)

Over the past few months, I've been collecting images related to cold weather dressing. Some are more transitionally seasoned, some of them just look like a pile of blankets with a skinny girl underneath, a few of them even feature cut offs (hells yes!). Here's what I love for fall/winter...

1. Hats!
2. Blankets instead of jackets and coats. (This is actually not new.)
3. Long and short socks with all manner of shoes.
4. Never wearing pants. (Also well demonstrated in the history of my personal style.)
5. Layering
6. Native American or Pendelton type prints
7. Dressing like a man.
8. Cut offs

(Okay, I actually think this outfit is hideous. I just really, really love meerkats. I love Meerkat Manor... it's like Animal Planet + Real Housewives of the Desert + As the World Turns.)

Images sourced from The Sartorialist, fgr, Shopbop, Honestly WTF, & R29.

nerds.

2011-11-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

This Mr. Chiizu app is kind of the best thing happening in my life right now. It allows you to take an existing photo and add a whole mess of Japanese kawaii bullshit on top of it until you can barely see the original photo. (I tip my cap to Miss Celeste.)

I've had a monster cold all week and spent the majority of it asleep. I came out of it just enough for a birthday dinner with Pita and to spend today watching the laughable state of UCLA sports. I also tricked the boys into taking that picture with me. See that monkey in the middle? That monkey is one of my best friends on earth. I realized this years ago when my boyfriend and I were fighting and I needed a place to stay at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning and he was the first person I called.

Warren is the best kind of person to have in your corner -- loyal to the core, a huge goofball and someone who will be so awkward around you while you're crying that you have to stop crying because you can't handle his screwed up face or his fidgeting or the way he misquotes Arrested Development in an attempt to cheer you up. He took me to the hospital when I had pneumonia earlier this year and made lots of racist jokes to entertain me while I was on an IV. He even let me make a pass at our sexy male nurse. He calls me "baby girl" and I call him about a hundred nicknames that are all deeply offensive, but that's just how we roll.

I will miss watching sports with him and the boys on weekends, drinking beer and shooting the most random shit. Tonight, for instance, Warren and I got in a huge fight over which of us was more of an expert on boobs. He believes that I am because I have a pair (hardly) and I believe he is because he has touched more pairs than I have. Then we tried to guess cup sizes of girls we knew.

I love him and I hope he's prepared to have dance sessions over Skype when I move because I'm going to miss getting crunk and hyphy with him. He's my little Egyptian man.

point of view.

2011-11-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is my vantage point from Sunday through Thursday every week, with the slight exception of working at a laptop in a fluorescent lit cubicle at WGSN's LA office during business hours. Total Ann Demeulemeester + Illustrator + anal retentive post-it bombing overload.

Mako does this cute thing where he gingerly taps at my leg or arm until I pick him up and snuggle him while I'm working. If I choose to ignore him, it escalates into biting my feet or climbing up the back of my desk chair while I yell at him. This is how he beats me every time.

It is only 7:00 p.m. on Monday and already this week feels endless.

snapshots from my week.

2011-11-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Had my first more evenly balanced week in a very long time. I am intent on making the most of my time left in California, squeezing out as much joy as possible. I was about to get uber nostalgic here, but I think I'll hold off another month on that. I'll just keep it limited in that I feel very lucky in retrospect, very lucky and incredibly grateful for all the wonderful people, places and times I've known in this beautiful state.

Jesse and I called it quits this week. I am thankful for everything she taught me about single handedly launching a line, always being truthful in my art and my intent, and becoming a more conscientious consumer. She found a gay version of me with a costuming background and I just couldn't bear this juggling act anymore, so we found it a mutual time to say goodbye as work friends but not as friends. Everything in the above photo is a goodbye gift from Jesse.

My old friend Patrick and I continued our slow craft beer and burgers tour of Los Angeles this week (or rye whiskey and veggie burger tour of LA, in my case), which resulted in this drunk shot of myself. Sad that I am at my most photogenic when I drink. (See sober examples below of the opposite.)

California in the fall is a beautiful thing to experience. My oldest partner in crime and wheezing, Erica and I met up to spend the day together in Long Beach over the weekend. I literally would not be the person I am today without her in my life. We were inseparable in high school and though our lives have diverged in massive ways (i.e. she has been married for seven years whereas I have been actively dating for 12 years and still can't get a handle on that shit), we still laugh until our faces and stomaches ache when we get together. I love her to pieces.

And it begins... (with a blurry photo.) The 2011-2012 UCLA basketball season has begun and I am wildly excited about it. I will be in New Orleans for the Final Four in April and the Bruins best be there as well. I was seriously so excited for this game that I got the first date jitters/sweats.

No Shame Payne and Kooky Tsuyuki: he's like my brother -- I will always love him, but most of the time, I want to punch him in the face.

Naptime!

helvete x ann demeulemeester: first draft, before & after.

2011-11-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

top: wrapped leather top dress with jersey knit wrapped neck and jersey knit/leather skirt, wrapped leather top, button down tailored shirt with frayed edges and tails, lace up leather high waisted pants with suspenders

bottom: sawed off stud collar with body chain, leather lace up glove with sawed off stud details (and a robot hand!)

top: lace up asymmetrical oversized collar and lapels jacket, frayed leather and brushed suiting vest, mixed media skirt with jersey knit panels and leather panels

bottom: gathered leather shoulder pads with chain, re-worked lace up boot (which looks like bullshit)

hooded brushed suiting cape with leather lace up details, jersey overlay and mixed media leather corset dress with jersey knit gathered shoulders, leather wrapped neck jersey drape top

These are my first designs for my Ann Demeulemeester collection. I don't even want to tell you how many hours this took me to do and still, the boot looks like a special needs child dreamed it up and the glove has a robot hand attached to it.

Here's what they look like after my professor, Hahn, took her scissors, tape, stapler and pencil to them:

Mako is pulling an exorcist on them. Despite her wielding her scissors on everything save for my accessories (which she actually said she liked), I think it all went over pretty well. I have to make several changes to everything but the most challenging part is now over.

enough of that.

2011-11-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, that is truly the last of my fucking whining. For the rest of the year. If I have nothing positive to say or nothing new to report, I will simply post pictures (of these New Zealand oil spill victim penguins in their fancy sweaters!).

As of December 15, I will have another degree under my belt and will say goodbye forever to higher learning (until I get the yearning to get my MFA in writing in my seventies, or whenever). As of December 17, I will no longer be living in Los Angeles. I've begun lining up a series of "last times" with the people I love here and the food I love to eat here. It makes me nostalgic and sad, but the quickening of time towards Chicago is making me giddy with excitement.

Moving across the country alone will be the biggest, scariest thing I have ever done in nearly three decades of life. But I'm ready, tough as shit, and dumb enough to be excited. I'm also very lucky to already have a network of wonderful friends counting down the days to my arrival. I'm going to squeeze all the enjoyment out of the next month and a half that I can, work schedule be damned, because this will be the last I see of California for a while.

style devolution.

2011-10-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

uo baby doll, vintage Levi's cut offs, vintage cardigan, target knee socks, joie lace up boots, nixon acetate chronograph, vintage copper ring

Since my life is a never ending cycle of work and I have nothing interesting to report, I think it's time to return to the awkwardness of personal style shots! My personal style has seemingly devolved in the past few months to thrifty homeless mannish lingerie chic. These elements translate as such:

thrifty = I love thrifting but continuously fail at buying anything practical or wearable. For example, I cleaned up this week at a thrift store with purchases like a Mexican poncho circa the 90's and a giant vintage Pendelton men's jacket (seen here in the foreground).

homeless = cut offs or sweatpants

mannish = I've been wearing a lot of men's clothing lately - men's button downs tied at the waist, cut up men's sweatshirts, men's hats (because I have an unusually large head).

lingerie = I'm on a lingerie as outerwear kick. Not only is it pretty, floaty and comfortable, it's only a hop, skip and a jump away from pajamas. This particular baby doll is worn backwards because the embroidery on the back is much more visually interesting.

chic = This is a lie. There's nothing chic about this hot mess.

Other notables include the fact that I got new specs - Balenciagas with a wood grain effect that sit comfortably on my fat cheeks and give me a nice sexy librarian look, and the four days a week running plan to keep me (relatively) sane is buffing my legs out like a lady body builder... yum. If you've noticed that my recent posts have been written in short, snappy sentences and seem slightly unhinged, please understand that I'm stuck in Dante's Inferno, a hellish cycle that saps all my creative energy and speech capabilities. Ugh, also, it is turning me into a whinger (British slang for whiner, courtesy of my ex-old man English boyfriend).

Oh, wait, I do have something interesting to report. I ate an entire ricotta-arugula pizza in one sitting at Maximiliano and the bartender said he was very impressed. It's true, I'm awesome.

things I'm working on: helvete.

2011-10-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

One of the things I did over break was watch several black metal documentaries and spend a lot of time online researching the early 90's Norwegian black metal movement. I have a new fascination with Varg Vikernes/Count Grishnackh of Burzum, who is easily one of the most intelligent and fascinating sociopaths ever. He also looks like a cute little gnome with his prison haircut and pointy goatee! Everything sounds perfectly logical when he explains it, including murder.

Norwegian black metal has been something I've wanted to explore for years now but never sat down to fully immerse myself in the music, the history and the violent political/social scandals that arose from it. (P.S. They're not Satanists, they're pagans. Norwegian/Swedish/British media got it way wrong.) I will translate this theme twice over -- once for Belgian avant garde designer and personal heroine, Ann Demeulemeester and again for the deconstructionist contemporary Helmut Lang brand, now helmed by the Colovos couple.

This design portfolio is going to be the biggest thing to ever come out of the past 15 months of school. That is, if I don't burst a blood vessel in my brain and stroke out while screaming profanities at Illustrator and Photoshop.

** It should be noted, unsurprisingly, that when I debuted this theme in class, the general reaction was blank staring. Helvete will be keep esteemed company with such themes as "Girly" and "Sparkles." It goes without saying that I have no friends at school.

things I'm working on: reverse process.

2011-10-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Look! I made this piece of crap. It took me like 8 hours because I am the worst at Photoshop. My teacher and I duked it out in class last week because we fundamentally disagree on almost everything. She wants me to clutter my minimalist theme board with literal depictions of designs through excessive fashion imagery. I like to keep things more abstract and force everyone else to do a little mental work.

My write-up is much better.

“Reverse Process” represents a return to form and the championship of less and better design. As a reaction to over designing, over embellishing and the general over use of the environments around us, “Reverse Process” seeks to simplify and turn back the hands of the design process to an earlier time and place. Balance and equilibrium are the goal – be it in form, function or effect on the earth. Silhouettes will be soft, lines clean and shapes reminiscent of those found in nature. Textiles will arise from the earth and its creatures and have an organically ingrained texture to their hand. “Reverse Process” is a meditation on how to bring the design process full circle, signaling a return to from whence we came.

Points of Interest/Reference:
- the Salton Sea: a saline endorheic lake in California’s Imperial Valley, this sea represents human error, explosive tourism, environmental decline and subsequent abandonment. Now an environmental hazard and an eerie wasteland, every year, salinity increases and the water and soil grows more poisonous.
- Marc Bradford’s newsprint “graphic drawings”: using acrylic gel medium and newsprint, Bradford layers newsprint then sands the papers down to reveal texture. In a way, this circular process returns the layers of newsprint to their original form – the pieces begin to represent weathered tree bark.

PADI certified.

2011-10-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've been working like a dog, a really, really sad and tired dog.

I spent last weekend in Avalon on the Catalina Islands getting certified to SCUBA dive. I did five dives over the course of the weekend and they completely wiped me out. Once you get over the fear of running out of air while 30 feet under water, it's a pretty incredible and surreal experience. It feels like you're flying, very slowly, under water. You can feel your body rise and fall with each inhale and exhale, which was soothing to me. There's a blanket of tamped down silence around you and an amazing, thriving, completely foreign world around you.

We dove at a little wildlife preserve called Casino Point. It's super easy to get in and out of the water -- you literally walk down a set of stairs into the sea. My first four dives (+ a skin dive with no air tank) were to practice safety and emergency skills. My dad and I did a fifth dive together on Sunday afternoon where we just explored the kelp beds together. I saw sea cucumbers, crazy looking sea snails, brightly colored Garibaldi, California sheepshead, and we swam after a little flounder.

First dive, 8 a.m., Saturday

Second dive, 11 a.m., Saturday

There was a group of divers dressed up in Halloween costumes who carved these pumpkins underwater.

I really enjoyed diving, but my hands down favorite part of diving is the community. Everyone I met over the past two weekends is friendly, down to earth, open minded, well-traveled, adventurous and full of energy. Going to FIDM and working in fashion, I often end up spending my time around a high percentage of people with their heads firmly inserted up their own asses so hanging with dive people is a giant breath of fresh air. It's great fun to drink with them and shoot the shit, talking about traveling and diving.

I'll be diving a lot in Hawaii in a couple of weeks with my sister and dad. My dad is an underwater photographer, so hopefully I'll have some cool photos to share with you.

This man made me. I think that probably explains a lot.

Oh, and I got my PADI certification card in the mail the other day. I look like I'm taking an angry poop in it. So, thanks, Hal/Hollywood Divers. I'm so unphotogenic. I'll bet you miss my style posts.

we joke to mask the pain.

2011-10-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

me: Oh, I don't believe you've met my new boyfriend, Brand Portfolio. It's pretty serious. We spend every day together.
Akhila: Oh, but my boyfriend is named Brand Portfolio! I also have a mistress. Her name is Digital Presentation. Sometimes I sneak off to be with her.

I had to take a nap tonight just so I could get up and grab a drink with a friend. I'm officially old.

the salton sea.

2011-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Over break, I finally made it out to the Salton Sea with my camera in tow and my photographer friend Aaron as company. I'm super excited to share these photos with you as I shot them all manually and am immensely proud of this fact. They are truly some of my favorite shots my camera and I have ever taken together. But, first, a history:

The tale of the Salton Sea is a sad one. It is a sea that never should have been. A saline endorheic lake in California's Imperial Valley, this sea represents human error, explosive tourism, environmental decline and subsequent abandonment. Created as a result of faulty irrigation when the Colorado River burst through and flooded, leaving behind a giant sea in a salt basin. For a while, the Salton Sea became a thriving resort spot and tourism boomed. With no inflow or outflow and reliant on rainfall to keep the water level high, the Salton Sea has evaporated over time and the salinity continues to increase, rendering the water and soil poisonous. Now it stands as a ghost town in the desert, full of abandoned homes, trailers and resorts, all marked for demolition.

The Salton Sea smells like sulfuric shit, literally. The "beaches" are basically layers of decomposing fish in various stages of decay and the sand crunches from the high salt and fish bone content. Yet, it is one of the most eerily beautiful places I've ever seen. It is still and calm, except for a small bird population and a rampant fly population. When you look out over the sea, you can't ever see the horizon line and it feels like you're standing at the end of the world.

This place is stupefyingly beautiful and frightening at the same time. What hath our selfishness as human beings wrought?

new york diary: the conclusion.

2011-10-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

My last two days in New York were a massive blur. I rushed from meeting to meeting but managed to squeeze in a couple of hours at MoMA (those of you who have been know that a couple of hours is a completely inadequate amount of time for this six story haven of modern art) and a fun whiskey excursion in Williamsburg with my old friend Dave. I pretty much stopped taking photos the last days of New York. I was too exhausted to lug my DSLR around on the trains and sidewalks and my meetings, while providing good industry and design experience for me, were not particularly memorable.

I met a lot of Mahattanites who firmly believe New York is the center of the universe and were more than happy to assertively press this upon me. When I told a lot of my appointments that it was my first time in New York, the stock response was "You love it, right? I mean, of course you do. How could you not? Why on earth would you want to live anywhere else but New York? You'd have to be an idiot not to." Pardon me? Some of us like living in our shitty, un-air conditioned one bedroom apartments in the barrio where our neighbors steal our Netflix DVDs, contact lens prescriptions and lawn furniture. (This really is my current living situation. Yay.) Some day when I retire, I am going to move off the grid with nothing more than my internet connection and camera and start that animal rescue ranch in Zoey's name. Suck it, Manhattan.

Whipped ricotta bruschetta with olive oil and rosemary. Tuna bruschetta with cracked black pepper. Not pictured: COOKIES!!! and carrot and tomato soup. The "cafeteria" at MoMA is pretty damn amazing. All other cafeterias should really step up their game.

Monet's Water Lilies

Dan Flavin

close up on Arman's I Still Use Brushes

Jackson Pollock's One

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's Nuages (Cloud) bookcase

Robert Rauschenberg screen prints

It was humbling and wonderful to be in the presence of so many great artists and artwork. I've never been that close to Picasso or Man Ray. Jackson Pollock's paintings upon closer inspection are breathtaking in their skillful execution and planning. I got to see Robert Mapplethorpe's early Polaroids and assemblage sculptures and Cy Twombly's odd sculptures. I can't wait to go back and spend an entire day exploring.

I had a fun meeting with Buttonology, a family run, old school button house and they let me rummage through their store rooms of buttons. They showed me carved horn buttons and buttons made from a South American nut.

My friend Dave took me to a great little whiskey bar called Post Office in Williamsburg where the whiskey menu read like a fancy wine list. We sat and talked in oversized armchairs next to an open window facing the bike and street traffic. Afterwards, we met friends and Dave's fiancee at a dark little restaurant for more rye whiskey and I got down a giant plate of baked macaroni and cheese (still not as good as mine). As the boys walked me back to the G train, Dave and I ran down the streets of Brooklyn kicking a cup. I was wearing stilettos and feeling particularly schwasted and exuberant. I kicked the cup so hard, I flipped flat on my back and scraped my palms up bloody. Hands down, that night in Williamsburg was the highlight of my New York trip.

I will definitely be back in New York next year, but on vacation mode so I can see things like Central Park and the Met, explore more whiskey bars and sit down for a good meal at a real restaurant. I can't wait.

... And we're back!

2011-10-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

1: Does anyone know how leather is sold?
2: By the yard.
1: No, it's a cow's skin. It's sold by the hide.
2: By the hide... WHAT.

That girl just got her $35k tuition's worth of an education right there. (After which, my teacher went on to explain that all our shoes and handbags were likely made from a cow's skin, or gasp a lamb's skin. A lot of girls got super bummed out. I wonder what they think their hamburgers are made out of.)

And we're back. I started my last 2 1/2 months of school today. I spent the first half of my break traveling like a crazy gust of wind across the country and up and down the great state of California. I then spent the second half of my break in the same pair of "fashion" sweatpants (the kind you see all dressed up in J. Crew catalogs, worn by those impossibly beautiful undone looking models). My sweats and I spent the past week watching 90's TV shows on Netflix, going for long walks with my puppers, and holding hands and snoozing with my grandma during Bible study at her rest home.

Real life is officially back on. I only had enough time to eat a PB&J sandwich today until I inhaled about 4 sweet potato croquettes around 9 p.m. and went down for a short nap just to get through the remainder of the night. ...But, I finally figured out what the eff Adobe Bridge is for and it's going to revolutionize my life in extreme ways. I'm starting work on my first solo freelance feature for WGSN, which will include both writing and shooting, and real journalism money! I hope to get this blog caught up over the weekend between dinner plans, homework and SCUBA classes so stay tuned for photos and more whining about how tired I am! I'm back, snatches!

the 200th post.

2011-09-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Wow. Today is my 200th post in the history of this blog. In almost 2 years, I've posted 200 times. This is kind of amazing. My own narcissism and self-importance impresses even myself.

Ironically, I signed on today to post an apology for not posting much since I went to New York, and to let you know I won't be posting much for a bit. I'm completely burned out. I realized this today when I finally noticed I was wearing my underwear inside out, around 4 p.m. Yesterday, I wore my cardigan inside out all day at work and no one pointed it out to me. I plan on sleeping and watching movies for the rest of my break so I'll have to get back to you on this whole blogging thing.

Happy TWO HUNDRED POSTS, TBL! Now, put your underwear on right side out.

new york diary: day three.

2011-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe this trip is halfway over.

These are my bodega cat friends. They love to play with me while I wait for my bagel to get toasted. The one in the second photo has blue eyes and is cross-eyed just like my dummy, Mich.

We're working out of photographer Andrew Zuckerman's beautiful studio loft in Chelsea all week, taking appointments with buyers, eating vegan cookies and enjoying the hell out of Andrew's amazing art/design/photography library.

Christopher Astley concrete sculpture

I am steadily working my way through these books between appointments and errands. Someday, I will have a library to rival this one.

Jesse Kamm and Dieter Rams

View from our window: the Chelsea Art Walk bridge

The day was spent running up, down and around 7th Avenue to appointments with fabric showrooms and trim wholesalers. We had appointments at the loft in Chelsea later on and I ran a few errands in between. I feel dead tired by the end of the day and have only once during the past three days had a chance to sit down for a proper meal. Mostly I'm grabbing a carton of raspberries, a street truck pretzel or a bodega bagel to eat on the run, on the train or, this afternoon, for a five minute respite in a park.

I literally ran a few blocks to a pizza place at 10:30 tonight before they closed so I could wolf down two slices of cheese pizza. As it turns out, NYC has the best flipping pizza, hands down. Los Angeles, Chicago and everyone else in the country should take note.

Jesse Kamm sail dress, vintage belt, vintage necklace worn as a bracelet, vintage magnifying glass on chain, Nixon watch, Joie lace up boots.

And here's my crappy iPhone outfit shot, as promised, from the dressing room at Uniqlo in Soho at 9:00 p.m. It's wrinkled and sweated in, it looked a lot nicer when I left the apartment this morning.

I bought an interesting +J (Jil Sander for Uniqlo) wool jacket and a faux fur stole (or "fox" as my classmates would call it -- ughhhh, don't even get me started). It's getting me excited about cold weather dressing. Having spent three days so far in the rush of New York, I am happy to say that I am making the right decision to move to Chicago. I'm not made to be a New Yorker and I'm at a point in my life where I desire a slower pace in life and a city more livable.

To sum it up, an older woman was struggling to get her suitcase up the stairs from the F train last night. A younger man asked if he could help her with it. She screamed, "Get the fuck away from my bag! What are you trying to do? Rob me?" In Chicago, I've watched upwards of 4 people get up from their seats to help a wheelchair bound person onto the bus -- high school kids, middle aged men, young women, pretty much everyone. That's the city I want to be in.

new york diary: day two.

2011-09-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

In the late afternoon on my second day, I hopped on the train to go to a food co-op a few miles away in Brooklyn. While walking through the neighborhood, I chanced upon a little community garden tucked away in a tiny lot between two looming brownstones. I stopped to talk to the girl working in the garden. Farrah was trying to weed out the overgrown garden and since I wasn't particularly doing anything and I am in love with the concept of community gardens in cities, I offered to help her. We spent a couple of hours hoeing the weeds, picking fruits and vegetables, listening to hip hop and talking about her thesis on rhetoric and the community. This was definitely one of my most fun/random/interesting travel activities.

The food co-op was closed so I took the train into Manhattan to try to find an organic market. Mostly I got lost and then wandered around (recurring themes on this trip). I ended up finding myself in Grand Central Station, which is a beautiful place to behold, humming with activity and a constant ebb and flow of travelers.

In the end, I epically failed in my quest to find a grocery store. I did end up eating Japanese food that night, which I always find comforting when I'm homesick.

agedashi tofu

I was also viciously attacked by mosquitos at some point between Brooklyn and Manhattan while wearing short jean cut offs. I taste so delicious that my legs are now completely covered in giant red welts and are a disgusting sight to see.

new york diary: day one.

2011-09-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be nice (for me, mostly, not so much for you) to keep a little daily diary of my trip to New York. I woke up at 4 a.m. to fly out on the ten year anniversary of September 11th. My Egyptian friend gave me his personal guarantee that his "paisan" would not touch my plane, and apparently he was good for it.

I have my own little room in the home of a French photographer and her Jamaican-American boyfriend in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Bed-Stuy is the home of Biggie and the mighty Mos and is a predominantly African-American neighborhood that is undergoing gentrification.

I bought all travel sized toiletries and significantly lessened the number of hair products I packed just to squeeze five pairs of shoes into my suitcase. Priorities.

My street is pretty quiet, lined with trees and old brownstones.

On my first night in Brooklyn, I rode the train for two hours just to try to get to a whiskey bar in nearby Ditmas Park. I took five trains, and then when the Q unexpectedly stopped running its full route, a shuttle bus. It was awful and confusing and I was even more pissed when I realized I could have walked 10 blocks and had an easy two train ride home from the bar. I met one of my girlfriends from LA and her friends at Sycamore Bar and Flowershop. The DJ spun vintage Jamaican vinyl and the bar pretty much has my dream selection of whiskey. I found my favorite Japanese whiskey and had a seat in the ivy covered garden in the back.

Last night I discovered one more thing to love about being in a city that isn't Los Angeles: listening to music while enjoying a brisk walk to the subway, drunk.

When I woke up this morning, my stomach was in a terrible state and I ralphed for about 4 hours straight. I managed to get dressed for work and only made it two blocks towards the subway before I had to go back and throw up again. When I called Jesse to tell her I was sick, she told me that New York likes to fuck you in the ass before it gives you the good stuff. My stomach is still cramping so I've been forced to lie in bed all morning. New York better be nice to me after punishing me on the subways last night and punishing me over the toilet this morning.

I'm planning on going to a local food co-op later today when I feel stronger and I found two good places to eat in the neighborhood. Tomorrow, I'll be working in Manhattan and for later in the week, I have visits to the Met and MoMA planned, as well as drinks with an old friend in Williamsburg.

Jesse Kamm presents: SAIL.

2011-09-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

SAIL /// SS2012

The look book for Jesse's Spring 2012 collection is now online. This is what I've been working closely with Jesse on for the past six months, from conception to collection, and every step in between. I'm incredibly proud of the final collection and I hope you enjoy it too. I think we hit it out of the park.

earning it.

2011-09-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Two more days of school left (for this quarter) and holy hell, I'm earning these upcoming vacations. It's about 90 degrees in my house right now and I'm working (well, blogging at this very moment) in my knickers. This may seem like a sexy picture in your head, but the reality of the situation is I don't have air conditioning so I'm sitting in a pool of my own sweat and screaming "what the fuck!" every five minutes at my Photoshop + Illustrator combo final project. I am also singing along half-heartedly but at high volume to a weird mix tape I made today that is a combo of 90's RnB and poppy indie rock and a little Michael McDonald. Yeah, that's right.

I put in extra time at both WGSN and Jesse Kamm this week, as well. My editor and I crammed into an amazing vintage storeroom to shoot some stories for the site. The 95 degree temps, lack of air conditioning and crazy hot studio lights made the experience akin to being in a sauna. We did, however, have a lot of fun playing with this creepy baby mannequin.

I kept grabbing and physically accosting the creepy baby mannequin with the dismembered adult mannequin arms. It's a really fun game to play while shooting children's clothes and also heat stroking out.

I raided the Jesse Kamm sample closet today for pieces to wear in New York. I'll try to do a style photo diary for you while I'm out there. It may be a shitty-awkward iPhone style diary, so don't get your hopes up too high.

montana de oro.

2011-09-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

The boys and I headed out of town last weekend for a much anticipated camping trip in Montana de Oro in Northern California. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to escape the city with the highs reaching the 100s in my neighborhood. We had a private campsite on a bluff overlooking the ocean, a half mile hike up a mountain into the campground. We spent each day hiking around 10 miles through the hills and climbing down to the beach and tide pools. With dense fog and breathtaking views, it was a really great weekend away. We also built illegal campfires, had a whiskey and beer fueled jam session and Glenn told us ghost stories that all started "in the cluuuubbb" that made me laugh so hard, I literally fell asleep mid-laugh.

Bromance sandwich.

Sea caves at high tide.

The boys almost stepped on this snoozing rattler while trying to get close to a giant lizard.

Syl, these tide pools are for you!

I found this gross looking dead chiton on the rocks.

Here come my babies! We took the pups to the dog park before heading out of town.

I have more finals this week and then will be traveling for about 12 days straight. It may be quiet around here for a while, but I'll be back in full force with loads and loads of photos and stories from my traveling adventures!

this year is ruling so incredibly hard.

2011-09-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

... And the hit parade continues. I am having the most unbelievable luck this year. While I'd like to attribute this to hard work paying off or karma coming full circle with a giant gift bag of goodness for me, my luck seems too good for even those explanations. I don't know, maybe this means I'm going to drop dead next month. (Maybe I shouldn't put that online. The internet has a pretty decent track record of delivering on these things I ask of it.)

My boss and homegirl Jesse Kamm is flying me out (on the company dime) to New York to work New York Fashion Week with her. Firstly, this is great because it means that I (and the work that I do) am valued enough to be worth a pricey plane ticket. But most important of all, I'M FUCKING GOING TO NEW YORK! WOOOOT!

It may be surprising to some to learn that I have never once been to NYC. People tell me constantly how much I would love it there and how they can picture me living there. But deep down inside, I still feel like the weirdo, awkward, sweaty and slightly chubby nerd from Podunk, California. It has only been in the past year that I have developed the yen to travel and there's still so much out there for me to see and learn about. I'll be working with Jesse, taking appointments with buyers at a studio in Chelsea, most of the days but will be free to explore the city on my off time. The only things I've really thought about doing is hitting up The Met and MoMA, and oddly enough, I have been daydreaming of running in Central Park. I'm sure that excellent and innovative restaurants, bars and shops are around every turn no matter what neighborhood I'm in and I'm content knowing that I am adept at making friends and getting into trouble.

Maybe it sounds fruity, but I feel very blessed in life.

goodbye, california. also, goodbye, fun.

2011-08-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

The first installments of my Goodbye, California Polaroid nostalgia project.

So far, these have been really fun. Note that I have not showered in a couple of days in the bottom three photos, and I am dressed like Walter from the Big Lebowski. I have over a thousand photos to wade through this week(end) from last weekend's camping trip to Montana de Oro up north.

In other news, I am now officially a contributing writer and photographer for Cool Hunting. Come end of September, I am likely saying goodbye to fun. I am going to be taking a couple of intense design classes for my last quarter for which I am already plotting out themes and designs. I don't want the time/energy crunch to prevent me from fully realizing and articulating my designs. So, between school, several jobs, preparing to move, writing and photography, running/yoga/sleeping/eating/drinking whiskey (= health), etcetera, etcetera .... ughhhhh, even this sentence is making me tired. Anyways, goodbye, fun. I'll see you on the other side in Chicago.

palm springs.

2011-08-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends (and frequent traveling companion) and I did a quick Palm Springs getaway this past weekend. I was burning out pretty badly from school, two jobs, writing and art projects, social engagements, the extra miles I've been logging weekly in preparation for a 5k I'm running soon, and the failing miserably at attending to my own basic human needs (i.e. sleeping and feeding myself). Man, what a difference a weekend makes. I feel brand new. The extensive sleeping, portfolio re-booting, excessive Thai food eating and watching The Sopranos in bed on Monday was also helpful.

My famous baked mac 'n four cheese, featuring sharp cheddar, gruyere, pecorino and parmesan. So good it will make your stomach ache like mad.

My new favorite coffee shop in Palm Springs. The interiors are beautiful and the sweet staff and regulars are tons of fun. Coffee is bomb too. I quickly befriended the regulars who happily obliged my photo shooting.

Things got a little out of hand when some of the guys demanded more photo ops.

After an unsuccessful bout of vintage shopping, we spent the remainder of Saturday poolside at the much lauded Ace Hotel. (I did, however, find a beautiful vintage men's hat large enough to fit my bobble head and spent the rest of the weekend protecting my delicate Asian face from the harmful sun.) The pool at The Ace is basically DJs, wedding parties, and everyone is drunk and beautiful. The staff is phenomenal here, particularly my new bartender pal who created a "Chris whiskey poolside" cocktail in my honor when I asked for a whiskey based, non-sissy drink I could sip poolside. He made me a sugarless version of a mojito with muddled mint and basil, whiskey, and cucumbers.

King's Highway, the revamped retro Denny's diner adjoined to The Ace that serves tongue-in-cheek cocktails, fresh salads and hearty burgers.

On Sunday, we took a tram up to Mount San Jacinto to hike around. I don't know how I made it up there because I am shit scared of heights. Heights and scary movies will bring me to tears instantaneously. Ironically, I remain unafraid of things that should cause real fear, such as living in the ghetto, gunfire/guns, dying and rape. When I finally stopped shaking and sweating through my dress, I got to take in all the beauty atop the mountain. (But I still love Yosemite the best.)

I love how some of these photos have super saturated color and look hyper-real with no post-processing work. It's not Photoshop, it's called nature, bitches.

A stop at the Cabazon robotic dinosaurs on our way back home.

I hope you're enjoying the spoils of my new lens as much as I am. With my friend coaching me on how to actually use my camera better (I just figured out I have Live View on my Canon -- after four years of shooting with it, ugh), I think my photography is going to improve more and more. Which is great since I'm hoping people will start paying me for it.

more jk trunk show.

2011-08-16T21:31:00.001-07:00

More photos I took at last weekend's trunk show are up on the Jesse Kamm blog. Check it, bitches.

something incredible happened today.

2011-08-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

I received an email today from an editor at Cool Hunting, a site covering design, art, fashion, technology, travel and food/drink, and of which I have been a long time subscriber, asking for permission to use a couple of my photos from my recent visit to Big Star in Chicago. I said yes, of course, because I am an idiot who happens to love taking mediocre photos and is desperate for photo credits.

http://www.coolhunting.com/travel/ch-local-chicago.php

It got even better when they asked me if I'd be interested in contributing to Cool Hunting. Um, duh. I'm still awaiting details (i.e. will they pay me?) but it looks as if the internet gift wrapped and hand delivered another job opportunity into my lap. Thank you, internet. I love you the best.

Since the universe seems to be effortlessly paving the way for me to move to Chicago, I will now admit to the two readers out of there who I do not talk to IRL that I am moving to Chicago at the end of the year. This should come as no surprise given that I have talked at length about wanting to have babies with the City of Chicago and my boundless love for Chi Town. I have some amazing Midwestern residing friends awaiting my move, two companies that are interested in having me on as freelance to expand Midwest coverage, great basketball teams within reach of Chicago, a big, open heart, and an exciting new city to explore and conquer.

The only thing left to do is say goodbye and thank you for all the love, growing pains and amazing places and people of the State of California, my home all my life so far. I tend to get nostalgic and as a way to explore and manage these feelings, I am working on a Polaroid project that will serve as my goodbye to California. It is based on this image I saw a while ago, liked and saved, before it even crossed my mind to move across the country.

Nothing says nostalgia quite like the medium of a Polaroid, plus, at the end of it, I'll have a wonderful heart composite to be homesick over in my new place in Chicago.

Aside from the many, many people I will miss, I plan on capturing a long list of places, including:

1. Pismo Beach, where I spent almost every day of many summers growing up, flirting with the Dreyer's ice cream counter boys, shooting pool at the local pool hall, engaging with crack heads down at the pier, and gorging on Splash Cafe toasted sourdough bread bowls full of creamy clam chowder.

2. Old Foster Road and the eucalyptus forest, where I drove home late at night, waiting for the ghostly lady in white to appear (she never did), where I hiked against my mother's wishes and amongst abandoned WWII stations, and where I now take my pups on long hikes to see the horses. The smell of eucalyptus will always bring my heart home in less than a second flat.

3. The hills of Echo Park, where Zoey and I spent our happiest years. I grew up a lot in that neighborhood -- changed boyfriends, changed career paths, Zoey and I formed an infrangible bond, and she gave the neighborhood animals real hell.

4. Downtown LA as seen from the surrounding hills, where every time I'm up on one of the many, many hills surrounding the greater Los Angeles area and I see this sight, it centers me to exactly where I need to be in the universe.

5. Pauley Pavilion at UCLA, where I quite literally grew up. My parents fell in love here and I went to games there every year of my life since infancy. I fell into line with my family's UCLA basketball fanaticism post-college and grew much closer with them as a result. If you want to know what makes the Tsuyuki clan tick, it lies somewhere within the hallowed Nell and John Wooden court.

6. Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, where I spent many years running a five mile route, clocking 30 miles a week, down Ocean Blvd., sucking the ocean air into my lungs and expelling the latest emotional "crisis" of my tender years into the sky. I composed some of my best poems in my head on that street, solved every problem I encountered in those years, and once tried to take my shirt off in the heat and fell flat on my face into the grass alongside Ocean Boulevard. Story of my life, no doubt.

The two hardest things about moving will be saying goodbye, and having to buy and wear pants. I loathe pants. They're the worst. But I suppose we all have to eventually grow up and wear them.

trunk show.

2011-08-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Jesse, surveying her kingdom with a visiting pooch at her feet.

I spent this weekend working (and shooting) a trunk show for the Jesse Kamm fall/winter 2011 collection. I met a lot of wonderful women as it seems that only intelligent, warm, ambitious and cultured ladies are fans of JK.

I took a break from dressing women to get a henna tattoo and enjoy a glass of champagne.

Jesse Kamm knot dress, thrifted belt, Alexander Wang booties, vintage copper ring and magnifying glass, Tiffany's vintage 80's watch.

When Jesse told me to pick a piece from the fall collection, I immediately knew I wanted this knotted sack dress in two ply silk crepe. It is amazing. The textured fabric glides over your skin and the sack dress moves easily with my form. The back is extremely flattering too.

Look, it reverses too!

If I look exhausted in these photos, it's because I am. I had a glass of champagne and a bag of chips in me until about 5:30 p.m., when I shot these photos, before I put myself down for an early evening nap. Lucky for me, I got to spend my Sunday poolside with Miss Gold of La Placard sipping on Leinenkugel beers from Chicago (which are officially the best things ever) and eating homemade guacamole.

tbl x la placard.

2011-08-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Sylvia was so enamored of my dress in class the other day that she texted me and asked me to self-shoot some photos to post on her adorable blog.

TBL on La Placard!

Go visit La Placard, a Midwest meets California style adventure! I hope to collaborate (behind the scenes/camera) with her in the future.

Thanks to M, who gifted me this vintage find. Ironically, she gave it to me because the dress is too transparent for classy individuals to wear. The weird Asian girl who sits next to me in my fit analysis class, who is unfamiliar with the concept of personal space and whose sneezes sound like angry yelling, pointed at the dress and said, "Is... is that your underwear?" Why yes, yes it is. I've been going through a phase of wearing semi-transparent dresses and skirts that showcase my asexual knickers. My motto is: If you have to work for it, you earned it.

Fashion bad asses, Carine and Anna are all on board with this mantra. Both are in their fifties and forties, with better bodies than I can ever hope to have. If I looked as good as they did and ran Vogue Paris (Carine, former EIC) and Vogue Nippon (Anna, current EIC), I would run around half dressed too.

wgsn clips.

2011-08-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some of my work has started to go up on WGSN's site and the accompanying blog. It's exciting to be getting published again and to exercise my writing muscles.

Global Art Listings (The first four listings are mine -- both my show selections and my words.)

Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's Impulse (They left my iPod joke in, which delights me to no end. I watched a documentary that toured Lagerfeld's home and that whackadoo literally owns a hundred iPods.)

Whee!

a new lens and good friends.

2011-08-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

My new lens arrived just in time for the weekend. I didn't break it in as much as I would have liked to, but I was enjoying being with people I love far too much. I'm already happy with the results.

I had mezcal for the first time. It tasted like pork water + smoke. Ugh, it was pretty disgusting.

Some of the greatest people in all of Los Angeles assembled for my best friend's birthday. Also, I like how I am dressed like a gay cowboy mixed with a gay indian. Good job, me.

After a lovely picnic, my friends Maritess and Aaron took me to get Taiwanese sea salt coffee (soooo good) and then to gawk at weird food at Asian Whole Foods.

Box of tiny crab bodies for you!

They need an entire aisle just for kim chi? C'mon. Really?

Only $3.61 for pig feet? No shit. They had to kill 1 1/2 pigs for just one container.

Box o' live crabs. They weren't moving much, so they're either dead or asleep.

I hid in the candy aisle amongst the Pocky and Hi Chew to snap this photo.

up, up and away.

2011-08-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

After four hours of sleep, I awoke in the pitch black of 4:30 a.m. and stumbled around my apartment like a senile drunk. But it was all worth it because today I was told that WGSN is very pleased with my work and is interested in hiring me post-graduation. All the pieces of my future are falling into place perfectly and I couldn't be happier. Please, please pinch me.

I'm going to celebrate by eating an entire cheese pizza, uploading photos to the WGSN FTP, watching The Sopranos and then passing out in my open pizza box by 7:00 p.m. Because that's how I like to party.

2011-08-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

The past week has been nut balls. I spent most of last week making decorations and flower arrangements for my daddy's surprise sixtieth birthday over the weekend.

I also managed to break my lens on Friday night because I was the doofus practically slam dancing on a crowded dance floor in a tiny dive bar wearing her expensive DSLR around her neck. But I cashed in on all the good karma I've been saving up over my lifetime (rescuing animals because I have an addiction, giving up my seat to the elderly, and giving hobos money and listening to their crazy stories) in order to get a new one. It just so happened that my folks were planning on buying me a nicer lens than my kit lens as a graduation present. Given that no one got me a present for getting my BA, I'd say a lens for my AA is a pretty good trade. I think we were all underwhelmed by my graduating from a university that underscored its academic achievements by referring to itself as "The Beach." My new lens arrives from B&H on Friday!

Sadly, I had to hike without it on Sunday night, when my friend took me up to the top of a mountain in Altadena where an abandoned hotel was lain to ruin.

The view from the top of the mountain looked a lot like the opening scenes from this video by Colin Rich:

LA Light from Colin Rich on Vimeo.

Sometimes it's hard to hate LA when it's this beautiful.

We saw this sweet ass tarantula on the trail. I wish I could have gotten a better photo of it with my phone.

Sorry this is a slightly haphazard, haggard sounding post. I wasted two hours looking up chords for songs since I can now play many, many chords on my mandolin. I should have been plugging away at Photoshop, but... priorities. Now I have to be up in 4 1/2 hours to go shoot for WGSN, which means GUESS WHO IS GETTING PHOTO CREDITS? Yeah, that's right, bitches. (It's actually not that big of a deal, but I like to pretend it is.)

In closing, here's to old friends:

I've known these girls for 23 years. We met in preschool/kindergarten and have been lucky enough to remain close through growing pains, boyfriends and husbands, cross-country moves and everything in between. I am thankful that we all grew up to be such amazing people and am proud to call them my dearest and oldest friends.

remotely controlled.

2011-07-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Came home from a long, sweaty run to find my remote control had arrived in the post! As you can see, it's great fun.

drape and design.

2011-07-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today in my fit analysis class, we did a draping exercise. After I let the pushy 19 year olds raid the fabric box, I walked away with a janky burnout knit that had three armholes cut in the fabric and a tinsel flecked fuzzy knit that looked like Christmas tree flocking. I'm pretty happy with the freehanded draping I did. It's more difficult than it looks, and a hell of a lot of fun. I was imagining some of the designers who never fail to blow my mind season after season and who are masters of the art of draping: Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons, Haider Ackerman, Junya Watanabe and Ann Demeulemeester.

Sometimes I wistfully think of what turns my life would have taken had I gone down the path of fashion design rather than product development at FIDM. Initially, I wanted to study fashion design but my admissions advisor convinced me I would have more marketable and well-rounded skills if I opted for product development. While I am extremely grateful that fashion school has helped me circle back to my life long love of words, I still wish I could be spending my days draping dress forms and sketchy dreamy giraffe people in clouds of fabric, rather than taking flipping math classes or researching labor laws in other countries.

Wahhh wahhh. I'm going to start draping on my dress form at home and see if I can't figure out how to make a dress of things. This process of trial and error design at home has been both fun and frustrating. I can manage most of it but the sewing.

inspiration today.

2011-07-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs today under the pretense of acquiring images for my Photoshop class, and I got so excited about the things I saw that I wanted to share them with you.

Tie dye that looks awesome and not 80s!

This makes me excited about tucking my fashion sweatpants into mocassins.

Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson Hole, WY

Jackson Hole, WY

Russian print on print done with aplomb.

Girl meets boy at Fashion Week.

I wish I could channel Wasson's surfer-hippie chic steeze.

This company makes stupid crocheted bike doo dads. What is great about these photos are the bikes, the backgrounds and the brightly colored flowers.

Shots of attendees of the Glastonbury festival. European summer music festival shots are much more interesting than US ones. Everyone who goes to music festivals in the US looks like they can't afford to buy a pair of shorts that covers their bum. Men included.

more hikings.

2011-07-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah. The pups and I went hiking again last weekend. We found this cool ass bone. I think it is from a cow or a horse. I'm going to bleach it in case something creepy is living inside of it, and then put it on my desk because it's bad ass.

best year?

2011-07-28T00:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight, my girlfriend jokingly said that not having very much sex was really working for me; I've managed to achieve all my goals this year. While I'm more than happy to agree with the latter, I'm not so sure about the former. Let's be honest here. This is the first year that I have been truly single for longer than a month in about 12 years of non-stop, rapid fire dating and relationships. This is the first time I have had long expanses of time where I was free to think only about myself and what I want. This has served me extremely well this year, but do I want this dry spell to go on forever? Not so much. I'd like to (daftly) believe that I can have it all.

I have a goal to dump 50% of my belongings by the end of the year. I am working hard to disabuse myself of the long held belief that having "stuff" brings me happiness. I've already bagged up trunkfuls of clothes to drop at Goodwill and separated out designer shoes, handbags and dresses to sell.

I started bugging Jesse about making a non-ironic fanny pack. I am a woman and have lots of shit to carry around. I rarely wear things with pockets. But I've decided handbags are a fool's game and I want nothing more to do with them. Jesse told me that if I design my own fanny pack, she'll create a sample and consider putting it into production under her line. So I'm sitting down this weekend to start sketching my first real design!

Drew and I are working on a combined art and poetry project based on our relationship with each other, our lack of relationships and the displacement of time. So far my poems are pretty terrible so I've been displacing writing with doodles of cats. I imagine it will take some time for me to work through until I hit what I really want to write. This project arose out of a joke and became an extended metaphor for where we're at in our life. Drew wants to get us gallery space in Chicago to have a real show. I find that both amusing and inspiring.

Lastly, I wrote several little pieces this week for WGSN on art shows in California and the Pacific Northwest. The exciting thing about this is that I get a byline, meaning that once the pieces go live on the site, they will have my name on them! I have written many things for them that have been published to the site but as I was one of the many staffers who contributed to the write-up, it simply says WGSN on it.

[Side note: I've noticed my readership has dropped from about 200 a week to 50 since I stopped posting my crackhead outfits and started writing about writing and making art. OH WELL, I have to do something to keep my tiny, ragtag motley crew of internet stalkers busy.]

shine.

2011-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I always seem to shine a little brighter before my pal Mark's lens than anyone else's. (Or, in this particular instance, maybe it's a case of what I like to call "whiskey shine.") We have plans to work together and I'm really excited at the prospect.

It's been a productive week, much of it due to the fact that I barely left my desk all week. A friend of a friend came by and filmed me for a project. I built a professional portfolio online. I finally sewed up that top for which I made patterns weeks ago. I'm still tweaking it because my chop shop sewing skills made it look pretty janky.

Today, I watched the women's World Cup championship game while sewing. It was phenomenal. There isn't much I cry over but sports + high stakes (+ period, an essential ingredient) equals tears. Japan was a true under dog, being half a foot shorter than the American team, unable to practice much this season due to power outages and destroyed practice fields, and most of the team had family or friends who died in the earthquake. With their indomitable spirit and pitbull tenacity, they just kept coming back from behind at the last minute -- through regular play, then extra time, then penalty kicks. They wholly deserved that win and I hope it boosted a nation that needed it badly.

I also sent off a host of poems tonight to several literary magazines. It's a little nerve wracking for me. I feel like a mother, unsure if she's given enough time and care to her babies before sending them off into the world to see if they can stand on their own two feet, or better yet, fly. It might crush my spirit to not have any of them published, but I feel that I get so much personal satisfaction out of writing my little poems, getting them published is not the important part. It's the process, not the end goal.

vegan leather.

2011-07-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Word.

I opened my email this morning to see Free People is now offering vegan leather. I'm totally on board with this -- ethics-wise and price-wise. I think it may be time for me to add a pair of leather shorts to my summer short shorts rotation.

chi town: summer of shine // cool breeze on a high road.

2011-07-15T01:12:00.000-07:00

To the City of Chicago: I'm yours. I'm coming back to you, just wait and see.

Summer time in the Windy City is unlike anything I've ever seen. The joie de vivre runs rampant in the city and the warm weather draws everyone out into the streets 24/7, fostering a sense of community, appreciation and kinship of man. We're spoiled with sun year round in California and sit, locked away in our cars, avoiding eye contact with one another. I'm dunzo with that noise.

Patios and outdoor spaces spring to life and bloom. It's a sin to stay indoors during the summer. The first night I was there, Drew made us black bean burgers, oven baked potato wedges and a salad, and we ate on the porch. In every building facing us, every patio was occupied by people. (This isn't actually her porch. I took a picture of it, wishing it was hers.)

After traipsing around Taste of Chicago, an outdoor food festival in Grant Park, we cooled our feet in the Millennium Park foot bath. The name makes it sound gross, but it's actually pretty refreshing.

Even this duck agrees.

Remember these from my spring trip? They shoot water at you during the summer months!

Gelato on the 13th floor of SAIC, accompanied by a stellar view of Millennium Park.

Lake Michigan

Lady date with Drew at Calo in Andersonville. We were fueling up on cheese and wine prior to gay karaoke at Mary's Attic.

As intended, I spent half a day at the Harold Washington branch of the library in the Loop, reading for six hours straight.

Shortly after this photo was taken, I settled down to have a snack and the security guard came by to apologize to me. "I'm so sorry but the library has a no eating or drinking policy. I'll have to ask you to put that away." The Midwest is so polite! He didn't even say anything when I said I'd stop eating, then shoved the remaining half of my Clif Bar in my mouth.

On our way to picnic at Millennium Park while enjoying a free concert, we got too hungry and stopped for a hobo picnic in front of an office building in Downtown. That's Chi Town.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, anyone?

This photo doesn't do it justice. There are thousands of people out here, happy to share a blanket and a bottle of wine with you. The speakers spread out across the Gehry beams are perfectly timed so that there is no delay between what you hear and what you see. The architecture and design is so thoughtful in Chicago.

Soon after this, it began to rain and we had to run for the train. Lucky we did, because the rain turned to crazy thunder, lightning and extreme hail. So extreme, that my friend Carter said that most of the cars parked on the street in Logan Square had their windshields bashed in by the hail. [Also, the man in the background here is rapping about being homeless and wanting us to give him money.]

Weird weather in Lincoln Square, the day after the hail storm.

Mike made me take this picture outside of Sultan's Market in Wicker Park. He wanted me to have proof that I ate at a place no one has ever heard of. Yay.

Snapped this street style shot of this cute girl near Five Points in Wicker Park. She caught me being a creeper.

Phil took us to karaoke at this amazing little dive in Logan Square where I convinced Drew to get up and sing Salt n Pepa's "Whatta Man" with me, not realizing it is mostly insanely fast rapping. We mostly stood there awkwardly and people were not drunk enough to be pleased. (I'm still sorry, Drew.) Then we went to the legendary Wiener's Circle in Lincoln Park, hoping for some late night abuse. Unfortunately, the Young Republican's Club was there and Jerry Seinfeld was more abusive than the staff.

But their veggie burgers are damn good.

We ate at Elly's in Lincoln Park (they make a mean waffle and some of the best grilled cheese I've ever had) after a Second City improv show. It was killer and I thought I was going to die from laughing.

Drew emptied the entire jar of Dum Dums onto the counter just so I could have the blue raspberry one I wanted. That's love.

Fourth of July mint juleps.

Vegan "pulled pork" sandwich, garlic bread, carrot and jicama salad and Indian potato salad. Damn, Drew is a good cook.

Fireworks courtesy of Navy Pier, as seen from the park. On our hike over, with half the feckin city, a young South Side Chicagoan asked me about my tattoo. When I told him a family crest is like a last name, he asked me mine. When I told him, he exclaimed, "Oo-ee that sounds like a muthafucken motorcycle! I'mma find you on Facebook!"

I took a 1 1/2 hour long architecture tour by boat. It was rad, even if the pictures aren't, except that half my body got pretty badly sunburned.

Phil joined me for a visit to see the Marc Bradford's at the Museum of Contemporary Art, along with the permanent collection.

WTF, these stairs rule.

I was excited to see a Nick Cave sound suit in person. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos and read extensively about them. Apparently he is a professor at SAIC.

A Chicago art and design collective called the Object Design League was running a week-long balloon factory where they made and painted latex balloons from scratch inside the MCA.

I had to buy one. I am a special needs child. One of those needs includes balloons.

Gallery stop in Wicker Park at Pawn Works. Clown Soldier from NYC was on display.

BALLOON! (Ugh, I am getting really tired right now....)

The boys took me to Big Star Taco in Wicker Park. Their pitcher of margaritas is as potent as it is delicious. Mad props to their whiskey list as well.

Fish taco, green bean taco, margarita margarita margarita.

Tagging along for the Blind Staggers band practice. I was promised more beer.

This is Louie. He represents one of the greatest things about Chi Town: how incredibly kind people are there. In LA, drunkenly sitting on a bus bench at 3 a.m. and chatting up a homeless person would result in him a) showing you his penis, b) aggressively asking you for money, c) following you home, d) attempting to murder you or convert you to his religion (real or imagined), e) some combination of the above, or f) all of the above. Instead, Louie and I talked about comic strips for 20 minutes. When I told him about Garfield Minus Garfield, he got real bummed and said he couldn't believe it. I told him he needed to get on the internet ASAP.

I didn't necessarily peg him as homeless when we first began to talk. But when the bus pulled up, I exclaimed, "Louie, our bus is here!" to which he replied, "Your bus. I'm staying here [on this bus bench] for the night." That was when I realized he was homeless. We shook hands and I boarded the 22.

On my last day in Chicago, before I had to board a plane and go back to school the following morning, Phil and I napped in the park. We tried to go to the SAIC Museum but as it was a free day, there was a line around the park. Rather than rush, we enjoyed lying in the cool grass under the trees in the adjoining sculpture garden, watching the children picnic. It was a nice end to a lovely trip.

I took over 1000 shots in 8 days in Chicago. I whittled that down to about 200 for an album online. And still, I had to post over 50 here for you. It was pretty memorable... and that's all I can say about that. I'm wiped. Bonsoir, dovies!

priorities.

2011-07-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

I've spent the majority of this week building an online portfolio which portrays me more favorably than is realistic, learning as many three chord Bob Dylan songs on mandolin as are available (using only G, C, D, A and A minor), and watching the BBC TV series of Pride & Prejudice (man, I love that shit... nothing happens!). I have a project due tomorrow morning for my Fit Analysis class, but fuck it, I think I'm going to post my Chi Town photos here. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to have another go at academia. I'm hands down the worst student ever, despite my innate desire to learn.

hearrrtttt!

2011-07-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Look at what Jesse surprised me with! While I was in Chicago, she had two samples made of a pouch -- one for herself and one as a surprise for me. I absolutely adore it. It's sturdy and spacious enough to house a collection of short stories (Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing by Lydia Peelle), a moleskine, my Smythson diary, wallet, makeup bag, ipod, iphone and a pair of Raybans. These pouches be available in her online shop soon!

(Mich can't resist a photo op, ever.)

new horizons and different directions.

2011-07-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hello, my dears. I'm sorry for being absent for weeks! I've been busy with other projects, adventures and creative endeavors, and it has brought me to the realization that actively cultivating my personal style, being the consummate consumer and documenting it on this site is no longer a priority for me, or my energy. After reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, my new goal in life is to be a multi-disciplinary artist and spread my energy wisely across multiple platforms until they sort of bleed into each other.

What I'm trying to say here is that this blog is going to be less about personal style and more about where I'm headed as an artist/writer/creator/designer. As you can tell, things were already headed that way. It seems inescapable that every blog I create and nurture inevitably becomes me talking endlessly about myself and this one is no longer an exception.

The things that are drawing my interest include the following:

- photography: By sheer volume, I've noticed slight improvements in my photo taking skills. When I was in Chicago over the Fourth of July, I took over 1000 photos and spent many hours sorting through them, editing and fixing them. I am signing up for a photo class starting this summer and I want to develop further as a photographer. Hopefully, round two (or three, including undergrad) at a Photoshop class will help me even more.

- writing: I'm putting myself on a tighter regimen when it comes to writing. All the writing I do every week at WGSN is also sharpening my skills and the copious reading (essays, short stories, poetry, news, novels) encourages and inspires me.

- fashion design: I'm tired of shopping so I've been working on pattern making and designing things for myself. I just have to jump that hurdle of deep loathing for sewing in order to make this a reality.

- music: Nothing is making me happier right now than playing my mandolin. Music has been a huge, if not one of the biggest, influence on my life. I spent years behind the piano and playing the flute in accordance with Asian parenting mandates, but I hated it. I've listened to more music than most people combined. I've written about it for newspapers and magazines. Now, I'm getting to a point where I might even be able to make it. The possibility of this makes me dizzy with happiness.

Yesterday, my friend Adam and I spent five hours playing music together. I'm still a novice so it mostly consisted of him trying to think of three chord songs and then telling me what chords to play and when, but it was great fun having "folk jam" with him. We recorded a few things, too!

Sweet Home Alabama by kookytsuyuki

Knocking on Heaven's Door by kookytsuyuki

So, in short, so long to my crackhead outfit posts. That crackhead energy is going to be spread out into new and interesting avenues.

this warms my heart.

2011-06-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Richard Lam shot this photo during the riots that ensued in Vancouver after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup.

"The couple in the photo is 29-year-old Scott Jones from Perth, Australia, and Alexandra Thomas, from Vancouver.

Jones’s father, Brett, told The Star: 'She had actually been injured… She had been knocked down by a shield… He lay down next to her to comfort her. She was crying and he just kissed her to calm her down.'"

via my modern met

samo to venice.

2011-06-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

I spent Sunday biking from Santa Monica to Venice for an early dinner and drinks. Aside from the cluster fuck of people around the Santa Monica Pier, it was a really enjoyable way to spend a Sunday. I was set on selling my bike a few weeks ago but now after two Sundays in a row of biking (and using eating as a destination point), I've reconsidered.

(film stills courtesy of Nancy.)

wearing joe's jeans chambray button down, aa silk boxer shorts, joie lace up boots, rayban aviators and alexander mcqueen head scarf.

I spent Saturday in Joshua Tree and have loads of photos to share, but first I have to wade through the editing and post-production of some odd 300 photos. I'm also drafting my first pattern from scratch tonight and attempting to make my own tank top. I'll be documenting that hot mess for your viewing pleasure.

metal tutu.

2011-06-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

megadeth cropped shirt, aa tutu, c label pumps, michael morrison belt, 80's tiffany's watch, vintage copper ring.

I wore this last weekend out to some bars. It was about three years ago that I first started wearing tutus out in broad daylight as if they are a rational clothing item intended for every day wear. But it was the night that I wanted to wear my tutu to a metal show at the El Rey and my ex was noticeably irritated that I WANTED TO WEAR A FUCKING TUTU TO A METAL SHOW that I began to love the idea of putting a harder, grittier spin on the tutu, if only to irritate him further. Years later, it stuck. There's just something tongue-in-cheek and irreverent about mixing in a little metal with your tutu.

Even my style heroine, Kate Lanphear, agrees:

I've been reading a little bit of The Beautiful Fall by Alicia Drake, a story about the parallel rise and confluence of Yves San Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld in the 1970's, every night before I go to bed. It is making me want a tailored menswear suit very badly. I'm also going to scan a hysterically amazing photo of young Karl in a tiny swimming suit, fresh from the pool and quite proud of his man boobs. It makes me laugh every time.

a few things...

2011-06-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm finally freeeee! A few things for you before I go sleep for 20 hours straight.

the mushroom sandwich with creme fraiche and chives, baked mac & cheese, and roasted corn with summer squash // forage, silver lake, a rad locavore cafeteria style restaurant

I'm probably the worst frolf player of all time. Frolf is also the dumbest "sport" I've ever played in my life, so I'm not ashamed to hold this title. (Note: the wine glass in my hand.)

my puppy loves meet the local horse population.

I'd like more time in my home town, please.

beautiful typography courtesy of lark press arrived! (e.e. cummings poems, soon to be framed and hung in my house.)

new books to inspire me during break.

Michi and Mako, still for a brief moment in time.

a brief respite from finals.

2011-06-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

I took a break from the mad rush of finals to make this white pizza with mushrooms, broccoli and spinach on store bought whole wheat dough. I normally poo-poo at store bought dough since making pizza dough is quick and easy and infinitely more delicious, but two solid weeks of finals leaves me with no other options.

I recently inherited this 1920s Gibson mandolin from my grandfather. After getting it cleaned and restrung, I took my first lesson this weekend. This instrument is beautiful looking and the simple playing of a chord sounds like the music of angels. I am so excited to be learning this instrument and the connecting thread it represents between my now gone grandpa and myself. My finger tips are raw and will soon be replaced by heroic callouses. Also, my teacher told me he's going to teach me some Zepplin and Elliott Smith once I get the dexterity down.

I have a backlog of stuff to post here later in the week, after finals wrap up and I catch up on sleep.

Jessi Arrington: wearing nothing new.

2011-06-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this lighthearted yet effective talk by Jessi Arrington in defense of thrifting and dressing like a crazy person for self-expression and happiness. I love this and I completely believe in this.

I have a thrifting expedition to Palm Springs planned with a girlfriend during the summer. I'm excited!!!

dmt: ease into summer 2011

2011-06-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm up north for one last weekend of fun before finals hit and I stop sleeping and making sense, and start eating three dinners per night because I'm up working until 4 a.m. I'll see you on the other side, prior to jetting off to Chicago for the 4th of July and spending a few weekends diving the Catalina Islands. But in the meantime, I'll leave you with the latest digital mix tape.

Download TBL DMT: ease into summer 2011 here.

"High for This" The Weeknd - rad, atmospheric Canadian R&B

"Get Some" Lykke Li

"Bizness" tUnE-YarDs

"Fidelity" Regina Spektor - my new favorite song to belt during rush hour traffic

"Vengeance is Sleeping" Neko Case

"Go Your Own Way" Fleetwood Mac

"New Soul" Yael Naim

"Love Out of Lust" Lykke Li

"Black Refuge" Junip

"Someone Like You" Adele

"Say Yes" Elliott Smith - in honor of the new Elliott Smith documentary

"Coochie (ODB and Ludacris)" Blakroc - hip hop layered over the Black Keys, overall this album doesn't work but I love anything with ODB

"Sandwitches (f/ Hodgy Beats)" Tyler, the Creator - more dgaf Odd Future... I can't get enough!

I'm off to play in the rain with some of my childhood friends. My friends live in a house in the middle of rolling hills and open fields on the Central Coast, no city lights in sight and only unmarked dirt roads to drive in. It's so incredibly beautiful out there. I love getting out of town. Enjoy your weekend!

another weekend of momentous proportions.

2011-06-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to spend the majority of the three day weekend outdoors, celebrating the mildly warm weather and happy occurrences in my life.

Big things are happening. I cold called one of the handful of trend forecasting companies in the world early last week. This lead to an interview, which by the end of the week, ended in a paid internship offer to work at WGSN. Yesterday was my first day and I spent the majority of the day researching and writing. Writing! For money! I couldn't be happier.

This is a turning point in my life. Not only could this potentially lead to a job offer post-graduation, but I finally feel like I'm exactly where I belong. Suddenly the creative writing degree I earned five years ago means something beyond a naive 18 year old choosing a major to please herself. All of the job and industry hopping I've done in the past decade adds up, and is beneficial instead of detrimental to my career stability. All the sideways jumps I've taken collectively have the momentum of an upward ascent. And when my supervisor sent me an email this morning to tell me that my copy was very well done, clean and on-trend, I knew this job was made specifically with me in mind. Things are looking up for ol' Chris. Just you wait.

And to celebrate, a 2 a.m., a sweaty post-dancing, post-bars bacon wrapped hot dog. Even I am powerless to the siren song of the 2 a.m. bacon wrapped hot dog.

aZn.

2011-05-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

alexa chung x madewell silk top, aa striped crew neck sweater, uo knit shorts, salvatore ferragamo bow flats, uo brass necklace and rosette earrings, pendleton messenger.

Upon initial observation, I wasn't going to put this photo up. But the more I looked at it, the harder I laughed at how fucking aZzZzzNnNnnn!!11one! I look here. Also, I really love this outfit. I've been too lazy to do full makeup lately, so I roll out in a touch of mascara and pop of bright lip color. Couple that with the prototypical Asian baby bangs and my daikon ashi thunder thighs, and damn, do I look Japanese.

I just looked at that photo again and laughed. I am insanely unphotogenic.

hello, summer.

2011-05-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

The weather has been unbelievable in California lately. I feel so lucky to live here right now. Check back in August when it hits the 100s and I'm whining like a little girl about having to go outdoors. I spent virtually the entirety of last weekend outdoors. I am developing the weirdest tank top tan lines of all time.

Saturday: hiking the Backbone Trail in Will Rogers State Park in Malibu.

Trail runners. Warren said these girls "bummed him out" because they're too skinny.

We sat and watched a polo game afterwards. Really cool stuff.

Sunday: brunch and beach time in Laguna Beach.

Las Brisas: still the best brunch in town. Mimosas and four courses of unbelievable food. Pictured are seafood crepes, roasted potatoes and scrambled eggs.

I'm hoping this coming weekend will be more of the same. I had an unexpected work at home day today and managed to squeeze in a run around the Silver Lake Reservoir late in the morning. I will miss California something terrible when I move away so I'm trying to appreciate it as much as I can right now.

still trying to be good, still believing my good taste will bloom into real potential.

2011-05-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

vegetable leather and biocouture.

2011-05-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

I watched this incredible TED talk today featuring designer and director of the Biocouture research project, Suzanne Lee. A huge part of my internship with Jesse Kamm is researching sustainable, organic and earth friendly fabrics and sources. You'd be aghast if you knew the toll clothing takes on the environment, people and society. From harmful pesticides sprayed on cotton fields to destructive smoke pumped into the air by the processing of bamboo to truly fucked up chemicals released in the processing of synthetics like polyester to the thorough dyeing of rivers in China from run off from dye houses. I'm not trying to be preachy but that shit is fucked up and depressing.

There are pockets of people and companies around the world trying to make a difference and brainstorm new ideas. I applaud Suzanne Lee for her Biocouture project, growing "vegetable leather" out of fermented kombucha squash. This is additionally bad ass because the vegetable leather looks like dried human skin and can be dyed/patterned via interesting chemical processes. There are so many interesting new textiles and textile processes taking off and I look forward to seeing where it's all headed. Science! Magic! Fashion!

legs, and the summer of short shorts.

2011-05-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

c&c california knit babydoll top, aa silk shorts, la rok school girl cardigan, minnetonka lace-up boots, elle macpherson bra, vintage copper ring.

Some friends of mine have been actively attempting to christen this coming summer but with each incarnation, it moves further and further away from comprehensibility and the English language. So I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction for myself, and declare this coming summer The Summer of Short Shorts. Hi, my name is Chris and I am addicted to knit short shorts. I spent the majority of my childhood in shorts of one form or another because I was both a tom boy and playing year round sports. Short shorts and I go way back and there is a certain level of comfort we have that short skirts and I just can't muster no matter how we try.

Which brings me to the other reason that short shorts and I get so down together: my legs. The Japanese call my body type "daikon ashi" which means (daikon) radish legs. Daikon ashi are dense, muscular and wide in circumference. My legs are the only things that don't fluctuate when I gain or lose weight. They have two settings: muscular and super ripped (this is directly related to how many miles I'm logging a week running). Most of my adult life, my legs have been a hot topic of conversation. My friend once compared my thighs to his brother's thighs. His brother was a linebacker. My legs earned me both tips and compliments when I worked at the club, along with the nickname "Legs" from the bouncers (Mensa scholars and generally cuddly teddy bears). And a homeless man once yelled "HEY POWER LEGS!" at me.

While my arms are constantly failing me (they can't reach things at the grocery store, sleeves are always too long for them, they're incredibly weak), my legs are probably the most functional part of me. They've run 10Ks and hiked hairpin switchbacks in the Sequoias. They can move double time to keep up with my 6' tall boyfriends. They destroy the dance floor in 4" heels for 3 straight hours of sweaty dancing. They played soccer for 11 years and have beaten army officers in foot races outside of bars. They bend into downward facing dog just fine and have kicked people in fights. And they can climb those pesky high grocery store shelves when my arms fail me. I'm quite proud of everything they do for me and this summer is dedicated to showing them off.

print and textile design.

2011-05-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

inko dyed fabric.

Resist print created by painting leuco form inko dye on fabric, placing toys (cat shaped and beetle shaped) and a branch of sage on the fabric and setting in the sun until that beautiful blue color develops. I love this. I want to buy inko and resist print handkerchief linen with branches and herbs and make a dress out of it. Add that to my long list of personal creative projects I want to do and so far, never get done.

velvet burn out.

No chemical burns sustained to my person -- great success! Using a bottle of fiber etch, I outlined my print design on an undyed piece of velvet. I dried it with a hairdryer until the chemically treated areas started to change color and flake. It was placed into a dryer, then cross-dyed with two different types of dyes: each type dyed only one of the two fibers, leaving a raspberry hue to the protein (silk, I think) and a blue hue to the cellulosic (cotton).

print design.

I designed this print for my Fashion CAD class last quarter. It's based on this vintage dress and my family crest. I'm going to create greeting cards using this print. I'm a huge fan of prints and could easily see myself doing print design as a job.

heat transfer, Grandpa Disco design.

I made this design in Photoshop and Illustrator and used it for my heat transfer t-shirt project in textiles lab. It's awesome. I'm awesome. Grandpa Disco fucking rules.

I love, love, love textiles lab.

+/-

2011-05-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

My life balancing issues have been coming to a head in the past week or so. I had to sit my anal retentive ass down and make a list of things that could stay and more importantly, things that had to go.

what had to go:

- cable tv: NCAA basketball is over so I no longer have a need for it. Except I got hulu plus which pretty much negates my getting rid of cable.
- dating: this is not my year to meet my mate. I got cats instead, likely sealing my own fate.
- photoshop: I dropped that class this morning. Since I'm extending an additional quarter, I can ease up on the gas by dropping this class off my current super heavy class load. I have some kind of mental block against Photoshop. Even as I was explaining the difference between vectors and pixels to some classmates, I could not understand what my problem is. They are whooping my ass in Photoshop right now, yet don't know what a pixel is. Riddle me that one.
- personal writing projects: Some of that is due to lack of energy for it and some of it due to lack of inspiration/content. My life is a jam packed but predictable routine of school, work, friends and personal projects.
- facebook/twitter/foursquare/tumblr: I waste excessive amounts of precious time on those things and gain very little from them. Well, maybe Tumblr sometimes. I'm still heavy into the crack, a.k.a. Instagram.

what has risen to the top:

+ another internship: I'm heavy on the hunt for another one and feel pretty confident about bagging a dream one shortly.
+ super healthy eating: It's making a huge difference in my day-to-day energy levels, stamina and overall happiness. I can't remember the last time I had a french fry, which kind of makes me sad. I did eat a slice of cheese pizza from Hollywood Blvd. with ranch at 4 a.m. last Saturday, because that's kind of what you do when you get suckered into going out in Hollywood proper.
+ hardcore exercise: I find it keeps me sane, even when I'm grimacing, sweating into my open eyeballs, crying and questioning my motivations during. I'm up to working out about 4-5 days a week, mixing yoga, cardio barre, running and swimming. I'm going to be in bomb ass shape by summer, just in time for poolside hanging, hiking, camping, and SCUBA diving.
+ quality time with friends and family: There's nothing more rewarding and re-energizing. Letting that fall by the wayside last quarter was a terrible mistake.

I think these lists were longer, but I've come down with another cold, probably because I haven't had much time to sleep during the weeknights. Time to go do lab dips in my kitchen! Wheeee!

the puffs.

2011-05-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Michiko

Mako

I was raised in a household full of animals. As a baby, I gave our orange tabby Sunkist hell. We got a goat with the purchase of our house when I was four years old (I told you I was from hickville) and I renamed him Clyde. Cats, dogs, rats, birds, lizards, frogs and fish came into our house, gained considerable weight, and lived long happy lives. Well, maybe not the lizards and frogs my sister and I trapped in the yard. We played with stuffed animals and turned our noses up at dolls or Barbies. In fact, we used the Barbies to clobber one another. A life without animals is simply not one that I can fathom.

I adopted these two ragamuffins last weekend. I originally set out to acquire one kitten, but the shelter smelled the single and approaching 30 on me and suckered me into a 2-for-1 deal. When I showed Drew the kittens, she said, "Those aren't kittens! Those are puffs!" They basically are. They're recovering from the mange and ear mites and are basically tiny skeletors surrounded by a puffy cloud of fur. But they're on the up and up. I call the seal point female Michiko, or Mich for short, and she took to me pretty quickly. She barely meows and tends to gurgle or occasionally let forth a soft "eep" sound. She follows me around begging to be picked up and held. The gray male is named Mako and he's pretty much a wang. I've touched him a total of two times and he tends to hide out under the couch. He's socially awkward, skittish and possibly mentally retarded. It's okay. Everyone needs love.

Zoey will always be my child, and my heart. But it's awfully nice to have some pets again.

we go together...

2011-05-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

I have a new love for typography. So simple, so effective.

Etsy store.

image // type.

2011-05-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so backlogged on blogging and I've got so much to share. Here are a bunch of images and typography I've been obsessing over this past month or so.

my approach to life right about now.

truth.

Alberto Sevesto, ink dropped into water and shot at high speed.

Mark Mawson

Mark Mawson

Alinka Echeverria

Izima Kaoru

Izima Kaoru

Izima Kaoru

la >>> sd.

2011-05-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

I had a glorious trip to San Diego last weekend. It was full of cheese and margaritas, hustling some guy at pool and winning $20, friends and long walks around Mission Bay, pool side chilling and herb garden planting, and lots of care free fun. I then returned home to real life and had a blur of a week with minimal sleep and maximum depreciation of vocabulary to the point of pretty much speaking some sort of ghetto-Engrish hybrid on the phone with Drew last night. Oh god, my life.

One of my roommates last weekend, Gizmo, aka Momo.

Mission Bay

Mission Bay

Mission Bay

Bosco, our gardening and QA assistant.

Repotting the jasmine -- Megadeth shirt, grey antics high waisted knit shorts, joie leather sandals, cooperative hat.

Lavender

I'm probably one of the happiest drunks you will ever meet. Here I am holding a post-it that some guy gave me at a bar.

Ensuing hangover, poolside stopover on my way home.

Corgi party!

I like how this blog is half animal photos. Good practice for when I launch the Zoey Best Friend Rescue Ranch, which I threatened upon her antisocial ass for years.

2011-05-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

8 a.m. Photoshop meltdown on account of no sleep and the fact that this program is foiling me at every conceivable turn. I realize that I'm the problem, as is always the case when it comes to technology. I also recall that this is why I dropped this class in undergrad. My dead sexy professor likely being gay and aloof to my predatory tactics really wasn't a factor at all. Neither was the flash drive necklace wearing, rotten meat smelling CS major who kept invading my personal space and offering to tutor me. I'm going to go cry in the privacy of my shower now. FML.

more japanese.

2011-04-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

zara maxi dress/skirt, winter kate silk chiffon wrap, anthropologie conejo belt, tom's shoes, ray ban aviators, uo leather headband, gifted tiffany's necklace, vintage copper ring, vintage 80's tiffany's watch.

I wore this outfit to work earlier this week and our older Chinese lady pattern maker/sewing contractor told me I looked "more Japanese" than usual. That made me laugh pretty hard. I love how airy and diaphanous this wrap is, even though I frequently get tangled up in all of its chiffon fabric.

I'm off to San Diego to visit one of my oldest best friends, and youthful partner in crime and wheezing. I can't wait for a weekend of gorgeous weather, cooking with friends, beach time and night walks.

So far, I'm packing up a lot of ridiculous things, like these new high waisted knit booty shorts, my Megadeath shirt, a beat up cashmere Fred Perry polo (just in case I want to go to a hardcore show... jaykay), the silk chiffon wrap, my AA sack dress, and yes, I did hit up the dry cleaners this week so I could bring my new favorite striped sweater. Have a spectacular weekend, and if you're in California, enjoy the weather. It's tops this weekend.

blossom // bloom.

2011-04-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

american apparel thermal, zara shorts, random suspenders, madewell brogues, vintage copper ring, cooperative wool hat.

I have been making a concerned effort recently to dress decidedly less homeless than I usually do. (Although, some would argue that wearing the same sweater five days in a row until I drop food on it easily classifies as "homeless." Whatevs.) I threw this together on virtually no sleep and was pretty happy with the results. My professor even said my outfit brought her back to middle school. I then made a vague joke about "Blossom" that probably didn't make any sense because I wasn't actually allowed to watch that show growing up. The Asian parenting ban on television often leaves me reaching for pop culture relevance in conversation.

On an unrelated note, I am exceedingly proud of the theme and collage I made for my design class. The class voted on it to use for our spring collection. I got to do a lot of geeky jellyfish research. The title "Deep Sea Bloom" is not related to florals but rather to the scientific term for a group of jellyfish, known as a bloom. Putting my focus on one thing allowed me to extensively milk creative ideas out of it. For instance, I can derive an electric color palette from jellyfish; silhouettes like a bubble hem or bell sleeves; trim like dip dyed fringe; details like cascading lapels on a coat; and fabric choices lend themselves towards drapable, layered sheers. I also spent time researching new photographers and artists. I cannot wait until this is my job.

Images: Style.com, Fashion Gone Rogue, Mark Mawson, Alinka Echeverria, Wikipedia.

yeah, I wasn't joking.

2011-04-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

aa crewneck sweater and miniskirt, zara boots, phoebe's handmade flower worn as a brooch, lavalier necklace, thrifted ghetto gold chain.

I have literally been living in this sweater all week. I sexed it up with a miniskirt, tights (to protect my ass from impropriety), some flair and ghetto gold, and my Isabel Marant knock off boots folded over and slouched down. Its life cycle was effectively interrupted when I dropped some burrito down the front of it last night. Chris FTW! Now it will sit in my embarrassingly large pile of dry cleaning, awaiting my biannual trip to the dry cleaners, which only occurs after I realize I no longer have any dresses or silk blouses to wear. At least you won't have to look at it again for several months... so, you're welcome.

cozy generic.

2011-04-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

american apparel crewneck sweater, levi's cut-offs/never-nudes, madewell brogues, antique magnifying glass on a chain.

This outfit is pretty generic and you've probably seen it at least ten times this week on some under-nourished hipster in your city. But, I have been living, eating and sleeping in this sweater for the past week because it is lightweight, soft and superbly comfy. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be for a metrosexual man, but fuck it, it fits me exactly as I want it to.

Aside from this summer being dubbed the Summer of Shine, I'm additionally calling it the Summer of Red Lips. Nothing works so well on me as dark hair, my classic Asian baby bangs and a red lip. I just mixed the perfect combo of red lip stain and a touch of MAC's Ruby Woo matte lipstick to achieve long wearing, easy going red lips.

Just found out Twin Peaks is available on "watch it now" on Netflix. See you ass clowns never.

updates + gratitude.

2011-04-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

value scale :: orange :: fiber reactive dyed cotton swatches

ink from my Wednesday afternoon sharpie tattoo series, a.k.a. Assortment Planning & Purchasing is boring as shit

Yes, I'm exhausted. Yes, I am quelling the urge to whine. Yes, I rubbed at my eye yesterday because I thought the soot color under my eye was errant eye shadow. Nope, it was my freaking eye. Yes, I am 98% sure I just ate the sticker on my apple. Yes, I need to sleep. I realized today, while eating hot dogs and drinking Floris Apple Ale with my boss while sketching out the Spring 2012 line, that I don't have a damn thing to complain about. I am living exactly the kind of life I want to live and when I eventually get to sleep, I'm the good kind of tired, completely spent of all my creative energy. Jesse even told me that I seem brighter, more radiant and more beautiful than when she met me back in January. I think it's called doing what makes you happy in life and reducing the petty, irrelevant noise around you.

In the past two weeks, I have been working closely with Jesse on the Spring 2012 line. So far, this has entailed fabric research, film watching, image collecting, lots of bouncing ideas back and forth, studying vintage, selecting a color palette, fabric sourcing and pricing, and sketching out silhouettes. We spent today trying on vintage dresses (to see how pieces work on both a model and a tiny child-woman such as myself), brainstorming, sketching and fabric sourcing. I'm so incredibly lucky to be working with someone who sees value in my opinion and who creates things I believe in. We are enjoying working together so much that I am going to stay on past May, working one day a week with Jesse. I am seeking internships in trend forecasting but with a lighter load to look forward to in school, I should be able to stay on help out at Jesse Kamm. I'm excited to help her grow her brand and to see the SS12 line progress from inspiration to design to production to being in stores.

If you had asked me a year ago if I could see my life looking like this, I would have said, "Fuck no, but I did find some discounted Prada gladiators." This year is killing it. I feel like the kid with my hand in all the damn cookie jars.

home is wherever I'm with you.

2011-04-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

I think the crazy train is leaving the station several months ahead of schedule. I find myself planning my life hour by hour in order to get everything accomplished. I also found myself writing really cracked out emails tonight, telling my friend I was going to impregnate her so she and her husband could finally start a family, re-reading that statement, and thinking, "Hmmmm, no spelling errors. Okay, send!"

I got to enjoy one last carefree, relaxing weekend up north with my family, full of sleeping early, family meals, a play, reading and lots of hiking. My hips and butt ache because apparently these are the muscle groups/joints I employ the most when hiking. We got new collars for my beloved pups and I was finally able to walk both of them at once. Given that each one weighs almost as much as I do, I usually take them for short walks individually and in shifts. We maxed out on the hiking, covering about 10 miles in total over the weekend. It was awesome.

Nami loves horses more than anything in the world.

Our house is surrounded by a eucalyptus forest, cow pastures, fields, and rolling grassy hills. It was truly a beautiful place to grow up.

My daddy with Kaze and Nami.

Old Foster Road. There is rumor of a white dress wearing woman who emerges from the forest in the fog of night, looking for her dead child. All my life I looked for it, and never once saw her. Damn.

In Old Town.

Sunset in Old Town.

my puppy loves.

Hiking out in the fields.

My favorite thing about photography is the way it makes you slow down and notice the details, the simple beauty in the every day. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my phone with me on our third walk, which was the most eventful. We saw horses, cows and sheep, and walked along particularly pretty hills and lush farming fields.

This post is dedicated to those of you who know these sights and live far, far away from them. Someday, when I leave California, I will hold these images dear in my memory.

screen printing!

2011-04-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

Some of the photos I took of my crash course in screen printing are now up on the Jesse Kamm blog. Check it, and marvel at my newly acquired skills and novice photography!

Jesse Kamm blog.

quarter three.

2011-04-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I started my third of four (or possibly five, I'm not sure yet) quarters at FIDM this week. Y'know, every quarter, I start off by telling myself that I am no longer going to suck at life and I feel very positive about the prospects of this coming true. I pledged this to myself on Monday morning. Then I dyed both my elbows blue in textiles lab. And got anally raped by parking today, was late to my first class, then late to my second class because I had to go back and get my keys before the lot closed at 4 p.m., and was verbally molested by the parking lot attendant. And sat in the wrong class for 10 minutes before realizing it, after the professor turned away people who wanted to add the section because the room appeared to be too full. D'oh. I'll get it right by next quarter, I hope.

Here are my classes this quarter, and the kinds of bitching and moaning you can expect as a result:

Classification and Line Development
This is the second level of my design classes and they're upping the ante by assigning a specific company we are designing for and a classification. Mine is jackets and outerwear. Big ups for that! I pray this professor won't hate everything I design like my previous one did.

Textile Application and Color Management (but I just call it textiles lab)

silk swatches hanging dry in my bathroom

Even though I have no idea what is going on in this class ever, I am completely in love with it. He threw us in during the first session and using acid dyes in primary colors, we mixed the dyes to achieve secondary and tertiary hues. We dyed silk swatches and are going to assemble them like a color wheel. I dyed both my elbows blue and look forward to many other exposed body parts being dyed or chemically assaulted. (Don't worry, we signed an extensive waiver of our rights to legal retribution.) We get to wear lab coats and glasses like in a real lab and play with chemicals and burners! I think we also get to tie dye and do burnouts (like this) and a bunch of other bad ass stuff.

Pre-Production for Apparel
We're now getting into the nitty gritty, technical stuff in my program. In this class, I'll learn how to make tech packs to send overseas to the tiny, impoverished children to sew up with specifications and costing. In the first session, we mostly did 100 exacting measurements of crotches, belt loops, inseams, etc. on a pair of jeans. Bo-oring.

Assortment Planning and Purchasing
I hate this class already because it involves analysis of sales, financial planning and maths. My education is largely one of liberal arts. So when it comes to busting out something in any kind of poetic form or a lengthy discussion of the latent meanings within the subtext of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland, no problem. (These are real world skills... hence, why I'm back in school.) But ask me to add 5 and 8? Oh wait, let me take off my shoes and socks for this one. UGH. Also, this professor reads to us like we're illiterate children and I try not to fall asleep or roll my eyes too often.

Computer Aided Fashion Design II
This class is the gem in my repertoire this quarter. The professor mostly tells highly entertaining, random, rambling stories about drinking Cristal with Jay-Z or putting hidden "fuck you"s on his baby blanket company's website to a former supplier. I just sit there and laugh hysterically for a few hours straight. This class is mostly Photoshop and surprisingly, the half semester of graphic design that I took back in undergrad is coming back to me. Even though I mostly took that class because I thought the professor was hunky, and then dropped it when I saw him rollerblading at the beach in Hammer pants (= gay!).

My workload appears to be on par with last quarter's, so I won't really be seeing any of you IRL for a couple of months. I'm probably going to go on another bender in Chicago for 4th of July once it's all said and done, so I'm excited about that. Oh and if I go to the hospital with chemical burns, I'll make sure to take copious amounts of photos for your enjoyment.

the utter, maddening capriciousness of the creative process.

2011-04-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

This video is completely amazing. Writer Elizabeth Gilbert muses on a different way to manage the “utter, maddening capriciousness of the creative process” without letting it swallow you whole. Her story about Ruth Stone’s poems coming to her like a “thunderous train of air” and her initial reaction to “run like hell” to get to a pen and paper mirrors my own moments of genius when I’ve been run down by a particularly good poem. A couple of months ago, I jumped off the treadmill at the gym, ran to my car, grabbed a sharpie out of my sewing toolbox and some napkins from the glove compartment, and wrote a poem in my passenger seat. I later resumed my 2 1/2 mile run, once the poem was captured and tamed, because real life moves on.

Thank you, Drew, for sharing this with me.

midwest mayhem tour: my love letter to the city of Chicago.

2011-04-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

To the city of Chicago:

I think I wanna have your baby.

Love,
Chris

After several months of being holed up working, buried by school and my internship, I was burned out and ready to go on a bit of a bender in Chicago. And Chicago was happy to oblige me. I only photographed a couple of days from my trip, which in some cases were unfortunate, but in others were my saving grace (read: drunkle). Chicago is a beautiful, effortless mix of old and new. Eerie abandoned industrial sites along its outer edges with rusted metal and boarded up windows exist harmoniously with proud, old brick buildings and modern, cleanly designed architecture straining toward the heavens. There is a city-wide commitment to aesthetic, design and art. Theatre is nurtured, public art is prominent, and hardly anything I saw on the streets could be deemed ugly and of little worth. Coming from Los Angeles, a baby of a city in comparison to the rest of the nation, it was breathtaking for me to see the preservation of our country's history just by walking the streets of Chicago. In LA, we knock down everything "old" and "ugly" and replace it with a shiny, vomitous monstrosity every couple of decades. I've even spoken to some architecture students in programs in Los Angeles who scoff at the idea of historical preservation and are eager to, degree in hand, destroy some of our city's history. This makes my stomach curl in pain.

With my dear friend Drew, her boyfriend Mike, my new friend Phil and my old partner in randomness and crime Flounder, I had a whirlwind of a trip. We managed to cram in several weeks of activities in a matter of five full days or so. Every night, my body ached from gallivanting and my stomach and facial muscles were sore from laughing so much. It was the greatest vacation of my life.

I saw a lot of art; decided I wanted to move into the downtown branch of the Chicago Public Library; walked the Loop listening to cold weather music (Beach House, Junip, Russian Circles) while staring up at the buildings; looked for friends' bands' records at Reckless Records; vintage shopped in Wicker Park; ate deep dish pizza; ate hot dogs but don't remember it; went to nightclubs that smelled like melted chocolate (the area in which they were situated has chocolate factories nearby); danced and possibly got roofied at a Wicker Park house party; learned what the term "grown and sexy club" means by going to one; was told to be wary of city rabbits who carry VDs; saw some mediocre local theatre at Steppenwolf, where people complained because Drew and I brought burgers in; fell asleep and woke up "club convertible"; had a love thing with a doggy named Tela; went to a speak easy run by Vietnam vets on the fourth floor of an office building and it reminded me of a bingo hall, only more hipster and with more booze; ate cinnamon buns bigger than my feet; went to Indy with Flounder for 24 hours; ate a deep fried sandwich bigger than my forearm and got a stomach ache; saw an amazing jazz band play in a tiny bar; listened to Professor (Flounder) Lee give a talk about his curatorial process; rode on the incredible concept that is Mega Bus back to Chicago to snuggle with Drew and laugh in bed.

Matts' send off dinner: marinara made from scratch over angelhair. It was delicious. Ladies, he's single!

Blue Line out of O'Hare. I arrived to Chicago about 4 hours late because my flight was delayed. I was also hungover because I drank at the airport bar for the several hour delay. I helped a guy change his cell phone's language back from Spanish to English because I'm bilingual and a Good Samaritan when I drink. I also asked the bartender if his wife would marry me because I heard she gives out iPads as birthday presents.

This is blurry but it started snowing when Drew, my giant suitcase and I were walking back to her house from the train. I've never been in actively falling snow before so I was verrrry excited. It feels like magic and cold feathers touching your face!

Drew's roommate's dog, whom we call Mister Shakes. He is a sad old man.

The view from our bedroom window.

Andersonville, Drew's neighborhood.

Waiting for the train.

Drew's school. Georgia O'Keefe, Halston, David Sedaris, Jeff Koons and many other impressive people went here! My arm was crooked and/or shaky in most of my photographs, by the way.

A visit to Drew's painting studio.

Drew explaining a work in progress.

Downtown.

Public art, in the process of being cleaned.

Men at work, cleaning.

Skyline.

The Bean!

Millennium Park

My tiny deep dish pizza.

Heaven, a.k.a. the library. I loved all the art in it, the nine stories full of books, records, media and photographs, and the art deco design.

The Picture Collection is several filing cabinets of random photographs or magazine clippings arranged in an autistic type of filing system. The images were really interesting and inspiring.

Here's an example of what one drawer held.

Reading a history on the house of Yves San Laurent. Anything you could ever imagine wanting to learn about, or even haven't imagined learning about, you can find information on here. Next time I go back to Chicago, I'm packing a lunch and spending an entire day perusing the library.

Rose gold elevators.

Library atrium.

The view from the SAIC Sullivan Gallery. We went to view the school's BFA show.

"That's a proper Midwestern portion right there!"

Jazz at the Chatterbox in Indy.

Flounder's art school has a program for furniture design, which is one of the coolest things I've ever heard of. This is from the program's exhibit.

Aerospacial curated by Flounder Lee at the Basile Gallery at Herron. Photos by Sam Davis and paintings by Darren Hostetter.

Video projection piece at the Herron student gallery.

Indy public art piece.

Me, at the Wicker Park house party. I'm happy because I haven't gotten roofied yet and I've been dancing quite a bit. Photo by Flounder.

Finally, the stories are true. People in the Midwest are very, very nice people. Young men offered to carry my suitcase on the trains, a couple of women invited us to sit at their table when there were no available seats at the Chatterbox, and people will smile at you instead of looking away. I am looking into booking a ticket for the Fourth of July so I can enjoy the hot and humid activities in Chicago. These include picnics by the lake, music festivals, BBQs and beer, architecture walking tours, and I missed out on the SAIC museum of art. Plus, the Chicago Public Library and I have a second date. Mike and Phil have deemed this summer The Summer of Shine and I'm all about it. As I screamed, twirling in circles in my tissue thin Megadeath shirt and pleather leggings in 15 degree weather, outside the melted chocolate smelling nightclubs full of doughy, pale douche bags, "My shine will keep me warm!"

downtown.

2011-04-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

rogan asymmetrical sweater, uo blazer, f21 skinnies, alexander mcqueen silk scarf, marais canvas wedges, ray ban aviators, target earrings, vintage ring, vintage kissing cheetahs cuff, vintage 80's tiffany's watch, etro backpack.

I bought this backpack for my Chicago trip but I'm enjoying using it so much that I've switched it out for my handbags. It's so easy to toss the essentials, plus a water bottle and novel into and run around town hands free.

book buying expedition.

2011-04-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

boy's flannel, unknown knitted overalls skirt, unknown suede booties, uo beanie, vintage magnifying glass on a chain.

Sorry for the extended hiatus, lovers. After my bender of a trip to Chicago, I came home with a massive Chicago vacation hangover which quickly turned into a lot of work on personal projects:

things I've done over spring break

1. visited and fell in love with the city of Chicago;

2. read three books, and counting;

3. signed up for SCUBA classes;

4. efficiently booked up my coming summer with lots of fun trips and activities;

5. settled all old debts with the friends I was forced to ignore for all of winter quarter;

6. fed some of the people I care for;

7. watched A LOT of basketball;

8. enjoyed my fair share of dancing and debauchery;

9. watched a lot of TED talks;

10. began teaching myself conversational French via a couple of crazy Scots running a podcast;

11. visited a museum;

12. effectively avoided some of the time burglars in my life;

13. started eating a buttload of fruit daily and weaning myself off sugar;

14. accidentally dyed my hair back to dark brown (the box lied, and I was bored that day);

15. workshopped some of my poems with a dear friend via the wonders of the internet; and

16. molested a lot of people’s dogs and cats.

I wore this last night on a book buying expedition to Vroman's in Pasadena, where one of the salesmen told me that both my outfit and book selections were "dope." Afterwards, I met up with some friends for drinks and dinner.

Zelda, one of my molestation victims

Pacific Design Center

Rodarte at the MOCA/Pacific Design Center
I took this highly illegal photo of the "Black Swan" costumes while the security guard was texting on his cell phone.

I'll post my little love letter to the City of Chicago very soon!

packing for chicago.

2011-03-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

After five hours of sewing and pattern making today, I'm finally done with finals! Nothing ahead of me but freedom for almost three straight weeks. On Wednesday morning, I board a plane for Chicago and embark on what has been dubbed by my friends as my Midwest Mayhem Tour.

Boots of all shapes, sizes and heights!

Clothes and accessories strewn about my bed in a semi-logical order. Oversized t-shirts, sweater overalls/skirt (I don't know how else to describe this), wool tights, Megadeath shirt, pleather leggings, flannels, printed dresses, an overcoat and child's Peruvian sweater.

I'm really terrible at packing so I hope I don't forget to bring any bras or a toothbrush. I've done that before. I'll be back in a week with hundreds of photos to share!

dmt: ss11

2011-03-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly building up this playlist over the past couple of months and it is a weird one. It's by far the most diverse of any I have posted previously. There is a Swedish Bob Dylan protege, Brooklyn noise pop, a fine sounding folk cover of an R. Kelly song, shoegazey French post-black metal, the rawest hip hop I've heard in years by a super young kid, a weird song with an even weirder music video which introduced me to the phenomenon of "daggering," and the most beautiful, drawn out outro song. (Yeah, look it up. You will be just as impressed as I was by the physical stamina and muscle power required by daggering.)

Download the spring/summer 2011 digital mix tape here!

"Relief" Sam Amidon (R. Kelly cover)

"Hang With Me" Robyn

"The Mermaid Parade" Phosphorescent

"Yonkers" Tyler, The Creator

"Percees de Lumiere" Alcest

"Run" Basia Bulat

"Stars" The xx

"You Better Mind" Sam Amidon

"You're Going Back" The Tallest Man On Earth

"Riot Rhythm" Sleigh Bells

"Below" Intronaut

"It's OK" Cee Lo Green

"Pod de Floor" Major Lazer

"The Lengths" The Black Keys

"Ready for the World" How to Dress Well

"Light up the Night" The Besnard Lakes

I'm sorry I included some metal on it but you're just going to have to deal. I kiss you! (Listening to some metal will make you a better human being.)