Zip-ah-dee-do-da!
My fingernails smell like espresso.
Yesterday my parents and I were running some errands and going to Costco and we spoke about traveling and how next year or the year after, the UN crew could travel alone to Japan (stopover), Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Every time I start talking about Japan, Hong Kong or Shanghai (my interest in that area has peaked recently), I get really giddy. In Japan I wanted to sleep in the traditional houses with tatami mats and spend most of my time in Kyoto where the temples, teahouses and gardens are. I think Julia would prefer Tokyo with its city culture and cosmopolitan lifestyle (she also has this idea that Japanese people love tall blonde girls).
Most Asians I know (whitewashed/westernized) look down upon Chinese/Korean/Japanese traditions, culture and art. My roomie hates asian art but loves Rococco (french) and anything with lace, bows, flounces, Star Warsy (ie capes, cloaks). I think the whole idea of Paris being the city of romance is way overdone. I'm quite tired of seeing a picture of the Eiffel tower or some Parisian cobblestone street with Art Nouveau scripted restaurant signes and Americans injecting random French words like 'tres' or 'bonjour' or 'ma cherie' into their english: it just sounds contrived.
So I'm trying to embrace the other point of view where paintings are very flat and lack depth (compare the mona lisa to any chinese painting), calligraphy with its fluidity and expression (I find Chinese characters translated by the computer are so rigid and sterile. I enjoy looking at brushstrokes and movement and not being confined within a rectangle), everything is set low onto the ground (traditional japanese furniture vs western: high vs low), Japanese shamisen music (fluid, harmonious Western music vs. static, dissonant Asian music: instrumental that is) and slow moving, symbolic Chinese films with pretty cinematography and interesting angles.
Okay so I'm embracing more of the traditional art and culture side of Asian society but all those things from interior design to fashion to music to films have a large influence on me.
I don't understand why Chinese Americans dislike Chinese art- I think it's more because they've been used to looking at European art and Baroque art that when they look at Chinese art- it appears bland and different in an unsettling way. I always find the whitewashed Asians to be quite narrow minded in thinking that Western things are far superior than those of the East. It would be interesting if magazines featured more things in the East or shot their editorials in Guilin, China. No more Italy please.
How are you supposed to react when you find out someone you used to hang out with no longer wants to hang out with the same mutual group of friends anymore? I first felt surprise, confusion and then anger which turned to resentment and at the same time understanding and slightly guilty. To make things a little more odd- I see her at church and probably will later on. But perhaps it's because I don't know her side of the story. It's hard not to judge people.
I discovered a PHD is much like my 3D design class (though very miniscule)- you do self research, come up with a thesis, do tests and labs and write a freaking long essay. in 3D we had to come up with an object that no one else had done before, do research, create prototypes and actually make it- more project based than writing but the same principles are applied but as I said before on a miniscule scale (I don't want to get bashed by all those scholarly friends of mine out there ;)).
I like watching my brother play X Box. It's kind of fun. He's playing this roleplaying game called 'Oblivion' which is kind of like Lara Croft in how you problem solve, search and talk to people to finish quests etc. He's good at the fighting and such and I'm good at spotting things most people don't notice (I suggested he steal this evil book within a cult for fun and the cult he was pretending to be under tried to kill him... hahhaha I also got him out of the cult cave when I spotted a wooden lever in the dark cave to open this stone wall... see my eye for interiors allowed his character to escape! LOL). I know it sounds bizarre. I like the 'problem solving' in those games.
Today at our family gathering, I gave the adults a mini 'slide presentation' of Robyn's pre prom pictures so her parents could see what they missed out on. The ones I manipulated, altered and photoshopped were a huge hit in the family- something I was quite surprised by. They were all rather impressed by how I enhanced the photos by fading things out and changing colours and adding titles and adding curls and brushes or just adding a mere reflection of the main image- something so simple in the eyes of a professional graphic designer yet they would never have conceived in their minds. They really loved the outdoor photos though and said I should consider wedding photography or something. Hm I will keep that in mind. I also showed them a few landscape pictures I took in Hong Kong which I got many compliments for. Nothing makes me happier than for my work to be appreciated.
I realized that all I talk about really is not backed up by any hard evidence or facts. Everything is all that I feel and think. When I copied stuff from the newspaper in my previous entry, I was like "wow I have some solid proof!". hahah... Not a very Sam thing to do. My entries may be essay-style but minus all the facts and works cited and citations etc. Those annoy me.
Yesterday my parents and I were running some errands and going to Costco and we spoke about traveling and how next year or the year after, the UN crew could travel alone to Japan (stopover), Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Every time I start talking about Japan, Hong Kong or Shanghai (my interest in that area has peaked recently), I get really giddy. In Japan I wanted to sleep in the traditional houses with tatami mats and spend most of my time in Kyoto where the temples, teahouses and gardens are. I think Julia would prefer Tokyo with its city culture and cosmopolitan lifestyle (she also has this idea that Japanese people love tall blonde girls).
Most Asians I know (whitewashed/westernized) look down upon Chinese/Korean/Japanese traditions, culture and art. My roomie hates asian art but loves Rococco (french) and anything with lace, bows, flounces, Star Warsy (ie capes, cloaks). I think the whole idea of Paris being the city of romance is way overdone. I'm quite tired of seeing a picture of the Eiffel tower or some Parisian cobblestone street with Art Nouveau scripted restaurant signes and Americans injecting random French words like 'tres' or 'bonjour' or 'ma cherie' into their english: it just sounds contrived.
So I'm trying to embrace the other point of view where paintings are very flat and lack depth (compare the mona lisa to any chinese painting), calligraphy with its fluidity and expression (I find Chinese characters translated by the computer are so rigid and sterile. I enjoy looking at brushstrokes and movement and not being confined within a rectangle), everything is set low onto the ground (traditional japanese furniture vs western: high vs low), Japanese shamisen music (fluid, harmonious Western music vs. static, dissonant Asian music: instrumental that is) and slow moving, symbolic Chinese films with pretty cinematography and interesting angles.
Okay so I'm embracing more of the traditional art and culture side of Asian society but all those things from interior design to fashion to music to films have a large influence on me.
I don't understand why Chinese Americans dislike Chinese art- I think it's more because they've been used to looking at European art and Baroque art that when they look at Chinese art- it appears bland and different in an unsettling way. I always find the whitewashed Asians to be quite narrow minded in thinking that Western things are far superior than those of the East. It would be interesting if magazines featured more things in the East or shot their editorials in Guilin, China. No more Italy please.
How are you supposed to react when you find out someone you used to hang out with no longer wants to hang out with the same mutual group of friends anymore? I first felt surprise, confusion and then anger which turned to resentment and at the same time understanding and slightly guilty. To make things a little more odd- I see her at church and probably will later on. But perhaps it's because I don't know her side of the story. It's hard not to judge people.
I discovered a PHD is much like my 3D design class (though very miniscule)- you do self research, come up with a thesis, do tests and labs and write a freaking long essay. in 3D we had to come up with an object that no one else had done before, do research, create prototypes and actually make it- more project based than writing but the same principles are applied but as I said before on a miniscule scale (I don't want to get bashed by all those scholarly friends of mine out there ;)).
I like watching my brother play X Box. It's kind of fun. He's playing this roleplaying game called 'Oblivion' which is kind of like Lara Croft in how you problem solve, search and talk to people to finish quests etc. He's good at the fighting and such and I'm good at spotting things most people don't notice (I suggested he steal this evil book within a cult for fun and the cult he was pretending to be under tried to kill him... hahhaha I also got him out of the cult cave when I spotted a wooden lever in the dark cave to open this stone wall... see my eye for interiors allowed his character to escape! LOL). I know it sounds bizarre. I like the 'problem solving' in those games.
Today at our family gathering, I gave the adults a mini 'slide presentation' of Robyn's pre prom pictures so her parents could see what they missed out on. The ones I manipulated, altered and photoshopped were a huge hit in the family- something I was quite surprised by. They were all rather impressed by how I enhanced the photos by fading things out and changing colours and adding titles and adding curls and brushes or just adding a mere reflection of the main image- something so simple in the eyes of a professional graphic designer yet they would never have conceived in their minds. They really loved the outdoor photos though and said I should consider wedding photography or something. Hm I will keep that in mind. I also showed them a few landscape pictures I took in Hong Kong which I got many compliments for. Nothing makes me happier than for my work to be appreciated.
I realized that all I talk about really is not backed up by any hard evidence or facts. Everything is all that I feel and think. When I copied stuff from the newspaper in my previous entry, I was like "wow I have some solid proof!". hahah... Not a very Sam thing to do. My entries may be essay-style but minus all the facts and works cited and citations etc. Those annoy me.
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