Worlds Apart// Fashion Tidbit// Silent Extrovert

The Chinese are geniuses: unlike the New York Garment District where in order to look at a fabric you have to haul it out from under a million bolts to get an idea of what it looks and feels like, the Garment District in Sham Shui Po are littered with small stores that have these kinds of 'business cards': a large card with their business information printed at the top with swatches of the fabric in different colours underneath. And if you forget which fabric you wanted which happens often in NY, you just have to bring the swatch card back and show them the material and they'll find and cut it for you. No more searching in vain! Oh the cleverness!
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Ecological footprint: analysis measures human demand on nature. It compares human consumption of natural resources with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. It is an estimate of the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to regenerate (if possible) the resources a human population consumes and to absorb and render harmless the corresponding waste, given prevailing technology and current understanding. Using this assessment, it is possible to estimate how many planet Earths it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle.

Okay so I decided to calculate my ecological footprint:

CATEGORY ACRES
FOOD 6.2
MOBILITY 1.5
SHELTER 1.7
GOODS/SERVICES 2.2
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 12

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.6 PLANETS.

And this was based on my lifestyle in New York. Now I thought, what would it be like if I calculated my lifestyle in suburbian Toronto?

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 5.9 PLANETS.

Bahaha. This is no laughing matter- I'm just sputtering at the extremities between the cosmopolitan living in Manhattan versus the spaced out lifestyle in Toronto. This is absolutely ridiculous. Though the survey is not entirely accurate for it doesn't take into account many other things that I consume like clothing, art supplies etc and some of the options are severely limited, this is pretty bad as is.

I'm curious to know what other people got on their ecological footprint, so if you decide to do this quiz, tell me what you get. It only takes two minutes to fill out.

So now I'm wondering how I can downsize my consumption levels. Looking at the stats based on my NY lifestyle, the city where I spend 70% of my time in, the number one category that I could alter is my food consumption.
I'm Chinese therefore I love my meat and rice. lol. The problem with that is our demands for beef and pork have a huge environmental impact that very few of us are aware of: in just one quarter-pound burger alone, a pound of corn is required (cause: monoculture), a cup of gasoline, 600 gallons of water, topsoil five times the weight of the patty's weight along with all the greenhouse gases coming from transportation, packaging, cow waste.
Brilliant. So what now?
I don't eat that much beef in the first place- the majority of my meat/dairy consumption comes from my one glass of milk a day, the cream cheese in my bagel and the chicken or pork I consume at night.
Hm, I shall think this over.
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And Fashion Week Fall/Winter '08 commences.
Random stab in the dark but I'm feeling the art look is gonna come back in as well as off the shoulder tops/dresses. Trends these days are no better than fads- they're coming and going so quickly there's no linearity anymore.
Garments to sew over the summer:
-one shoulder dress (no one seems to be making them at the moment)
-backless dress. I saw a french girl in Paris last summer and she looked really pretty.
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Friends always tell me when I complain to them that there's nothing for me to do, that there's always something going on in New York because I'm in New York. I'm not complaining or anything but since my roomie now has a love life, I'm basically living in a studio all by myself. Having lived with someone for the past 2.5 years has made me dependent on the presence of someone always being here. Yes I've complained that I had no privacy and look, I got what I wanted. But in a way the loneliness scares me. Opening the door to see a dark room to waking up alone forces me to confront with the fact that despite the fact that we all have a family and a few friends, essentially we're alone (not counting the metaphysical).

Today is Saturday. I had no plans at all and had to force myself to do something to entertain myself the entire day. It was pathetic. I enjoyed it though. I got my readings for my lecture printed out, went to the art store to get a sketchbook, started my indepedent study on consumer behaviour by sitting in the middle of a clothing store and people watching (it seems that the average consumer looks at a garment for five seconds to determine whether or not to try it on), walking around some more before stopping by a Japanese run cafe to pick up a berry tart, looking at valentine's day cards (I'm a sucker for the graphic design) and then going home to enjoy my afternoon snack with a cup of milk tea (omg I miss HK style tea so much...). Surprisingly roommate was there to pick up a few things before heading out again. Did my devos and readings for my lecture, had dinner, watched a movie I saw in HK stores and did more research.

But in the end, I'm not really the introvert type- I like seeing a friend a day and if I don't, it makes me feel a little miserable because I feel like the day was socially unproductive.

Dum dum dum... it's always good to have physical reminders of people who love you. I keep a box of many letters, notes, cards and mementoes over the past few years from family and friends and I pull it out when I feel crummy to remind me that I'm loved.
Now I want to send Valentines Day cards to everyone! hahaha My excuse to do something for people. I like Valentine's Day- it's fun to plan events and parties, bake cookies and cakes for people, give personal gifts and tell people that they're loved and valued.
Yesterday I was reading up on the spiritual gifts bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit. I've never really figured out my gift.. I'm not sure what falls under the spiritual category. Is serving people one? Because I think I do that best. I like doing it because I like making people happy.

Well at least I know how I'm spending my Valentine's Day this year.