A Clam In The Mud At High Tide

vegan softserve

2010-07-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Babka!

2009-07-13T10:33:00.001-07:00

Soak in these glorious pictures of... vegan chocolate babka! A polish bread that I've never tried so I can't compare it to anything but it's from The Joy of Vegan Baking. The bread took 3 hours of resting/rising time, so prepare yourself... I watched the Harry Potter series while I waited, haha. The bread is soft and airy and not too sweet with the dark chocolate/cocoa powder rolled inside. The chocolate didn't stay very well inside once I cut it and crumbled out, so maybe use less cocoa powder so it's not as dry? Or mix it with some melted EB. It rose like a yeast monster! The best bread I've ever made because it actually is soft inside and crusty outside. It was baked in a bundt pan to create a lopsided ring. I will definitely make this again.

LACMA's 12 Contemporary Korean Artists

2009-07-13T08:17:00.001-07:00

"12 Contemporary Korean Artists" is an exhibit at the LACMA right now at the new contemporary wing of the museum. I was so excited for this because contemporary art is what I need to learn more about, especially for sculpture, since this is what I do too. And I don't know many Korean artists except for Nam June Paik and Doho Suh, so I took this as an opportunity to soak in these artists.

The first floor of the contemporary building contained two of Richard Serra's famous corten steel sculptures. "Band" 2006 and "Sequence." This was the first time I came across his pieces after seeing them numerous times in photos, so I was a little too enthusiastic that I ran through "Band" like a maze instead of slowly contemplating its monumental qualities or the unsupported yet independently standing walls of sloped steel. Serra's have the ability to dislocate the individual and isolate him within towering walls, yet allowing the significance of echoing footsteps to bounce against the walls into the room. Its ability to silence only amplifies the sounds of movement that I experienced when running through.

Here's an excerpt from the LACMA's blog pertaining to its install:
The building, BCAM, is equipped with two very large “barn doors” on the first and second floors. Sequence, which is made up of a series of large heavy cor-ten steel pieces, traveled across the country on flatbed trucks, with each piece having its own truck. The parts stayed outside on the grass until we were ready to install the work.
Then each piece was brought into the building by crane (the divisions between the parts are visible as lines that run from the top to the bottom of the work), through the barn doors on the first floor. The process of putting Sequence together went surprisingly quickly; it only took a few days. Once the work was complete, the doors were shut and the opening covered. over, making it indistinguishable from the rest of the wall on the inside.

"Band" at the LACMA

1. Choi Jeong-Hwa
"Happy Happy" is outside in the pavilion between the contemporary wing and Ahmanson building. It is made of hundreds of brightly colored Korean-made plastic bowls and utensils strung from the ceiling in different sequential patterns, utilizing the variety of colors, forms, sizes and signifying the potential for an "indefinite quantity" of these cheaply made/sold objects. It was an eye-catching, fun and interactive sculpture, inviting people to walk between the stacks while they gently swayed.

These are the only pictures I took from the exhibit because cameras weren't allowed :/

2. Doho Suh (RISD alum)
"Fallen Star 1/5" 2008-2009. A miniature replica of a large Victorian style brick home/mansion with a miniature replica of a small, traditional Korean home that has hurtled into one of its corners breaking apart the Victorian home and exposing its interior. The brick house was also split in half and viewers were able to see the infinite life-like details of the furniture and items of the home from fallen chandeliers to crayons on the table. Rubble and broken furniture were created by Korean home like it was a meteor from space. I can only surmise that the "1/5" in the title is referring to the size of the Korean home compared to the other, but I am probably wrong.

"Home Within Home" is made of resin that gives the house a ghostly greenish-white color that his more commonly known fabric houses are. It is again, a life-like miniature construction of a European style apartment building that is cut into quadrants, and each quadrant contains a quadrant of a small, traditional Korean home--literally a house within a house cut into four pieces. It took a minute for me to find the Korean home (due to the uniformity of the color) when I discovered the peculiarity of an Asian shingled roof cutting across the interior space. This could refer to a literal translation of having to create a traditional Korean life/home in a juxtaposing building. Perhaps, a concrete illustration of the concept of home within contrasting cultures, something entirely different yet incorporated and intermingled.

2. Bahc Yiso
"Your Bright Future" (also the name of the exhibit). Bright electric lamps screwed onto an unstable-looking shoddily constructed wooden base. All the lamps faced one wall, illuminating the otherwise dark room.

"Wide World Wide" 2003. A large, painted map of the world with Korean characters making up the land masses, and different areas were pinpointed with labels.

"Untitled (The Sky of LA)". A video installation with four projectors on the ceiling with mirrors reflecting the projection onto the ground for viewers.

3. Kim Sooja
"A Needle Woman". 6-channel video projection. No audio. Each projection of the same woman, her back facing us (we never see her face), standing completely still in the middle of busy thoroughfares located in various countries. The woman seems to be Asian with a traditional-looking ponytail of long hair and shirt. Of the countries shown were Nepal, Chad, Brazil, Israel, Yemen, and one more. The reactions and movements of the anonymous people moving past her are the most interesting because some people (like in Chad, where everybody is African) notice her as very out-of-place, while others in busier thoroughfares barely notice her. She has a permanent presence in each screen because of her comparative stillness to the environment and because of her looks. Sometimes she disappears from screen because people surround her, but you know that she is still there. I thought that this installation was very interesting because the people around me were really fixated by the videos, as the woman was standing and staring, we were too. The desire to see her face is so strong because we are exposed to all the other faces around her. But, our desires are denied, making her character very mysterious. I am only guessing that the woman in the videos is the artist?

4. Kim Beom
"Pregnant Hammer". A simple, whimsical object that I enjoyed. A hammer with a bulge in its
wooden handle as if it were a pregnant tool, giving a mundane, inanimate object human/animal characteristics.

"An Iron in the Form of a Radio. A Kettle in the form of an Iron. A Radio in the form of a Kettle"

"Noonchi" 2009. Potted plants made of recycled newspaper clippings of plants and earth that were paper-mached into a plant form.

5. Jooyeon Park
"MONOLOGUE monologue" 2006. Video with audio of an Irish man speaking English that Korean students would lip synch to to learn English. The exterior appearance of language without the comprehension.

"Eclectic Rhetoric"

6. Koo Jeong-A
"The Bridge". Two large wooden shipping crates. The materials stated razor blades but I didn't understand where the razor blades came in. (In the box?)

7. Jeon Joonho
"The White House" 2005-6. An animated video of a hundred (I think) dollar bill projected to fill up an entire wall. A very small man in scale to the White House appears in the bill and proceeds to paint over all the windows of the building.

8. Gim Hongsok*
"The Wild Korea". I didn't really get this one. A video that seems to me to be of a Korean sitcom/drama with audio but in Korean. Forgot the really long description handwritten by the artist that each piece has.

"Journey to the World". Single channel video of young Korean students singing Western songs that were translated into Korean. Tunes are recognizable to Western viewers but not understood. Memorizing these songs were encouraged in schools to introduce Western culture to young children and intended to be used to build cultural relations/buffers with Westerners... I guess Westerners are dull enough that they will love anybody who can sing one of their songs.

"The Talk". A video of a fake interview between a Korean talk-show host and a man of another ethnicity in traditional garb, but who is in fact a Korean actor paid to dress up and act like the other ethnicity (I think he was supposed to be Timorian). Also, the subtitles are in English but apparently after reading the artist's very long description has nothing at all to do with the content of the interview. They were only included to give Westerners something to read while watching it. HAHA.

"Bunny's Sofa". The artist claims that this a real man he hired to wear a bunny costume and lounge on a sofa as a performance. He is being paid per hour, and we are told not to touch him/disturb him from his performance. Do we trust the artist or is he deceiving us? I think that he is clearly being silly and wants us to be the fools. This is a statement of what people will do if they are being paid.

"Mao Met Nixon" 2004. A box made out of four picture frames, which is inside another glass box. The artist talks about the historical secret meeting between Mao and Nixon, and he tells us that scientists were able to gather parts of their conversation from the meeting room and store them inside this glass picture frame box. Again, he is cleverly fooling us--how can we see a conversation? or in this case, store one in a box? Why is it not a tape recorder that we cannot access claiming to contain the contents of the conversation? By cleverly using a clear glass box, the artist is showing that he is not trying to hide anything from us or deceive us as if he is saying, "Hey! it's there! Can't you see it?" I love that the artist makes up an elaborate, whimsical story about each piece.

"The Bremen Town Musicians". Another animal costume piece but even more hilarious because the artist claims that this is a family he hired for this performance to stay still in a "Twister" like tangle of positions.

9. Haegue Yang
"Storage Piece". A bunch of packing boxes stacked on a floor covered with palates. Includes a three-part performance in which the artist will come and unpack his belongings from the boxes.

*Favorite of the 12

I guess I didn't take note of the other three artists! Haha.

raw

2009-07-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

after my trip to san francisco (to cafe gratitude and my friend's hippie raw foods house) and a class i went to, i've decided to try eating raw for at least a week if i can make it. tuesday was my first full day of raw and it was alright except that i got hungry faster, like every thirty minutes after i ate something... because i didn't have any grains, which makes me feel full. i bought some kombucha which i'm starting to like alot. yesterday morning and this morning i had a smoothie with kale in it, and i made raw almond milk last night... i'm trying to make more food for myself to eat for the week. i wonder if people who eat raw for years ever get bored with eating vegetables because, you know, there's only so much you can do to dress a tomato to make it taste different without cooking it... but i guess their bodies get used to all the fresh nutrients that they don't crave anything else.

gotta go to work soon. i'll start taking pictures of food sometime.

Real Food Daily Reviews!

2009-03-25T17:20:00.001-07:00

I went to Real Food Daily in West Hollywood for the first time, I think last summer. Street parking was crazy to find (I ended up circling the block to look for a single spot close to the restaurant). I went with someone else during brunch time, and we shared a huge breakfast burrito with cashew cheese and a yummy red sauce that it was swimming in. AND a tiny fruit boat that probably cost way more than it ever should. To keep things short (I wrote a more detailed review before), you can't go to RFD unless you're planning on spending a fair amount of money (Or be cheap like us and share). The service I don't remember very much, but I had no problems. The decor was modern and minimal, making this one of the more upscale vegan restaurants. I think that going with a big party would be difficult though because alot of the tables were for 2 people. The people eating at that time looked very middle-class to upper middle-class, very well groomed, and all obviously health-conscious/body-image conscious. Such are the type of people you get when in Los Angeles. This restaurant probably gets most of its business from these L.A. health-nut customers who aren't necessarily strict vegans but who dine at the trendy and healthy joints. (I personally wouldn't call RFD "hip." Vegan restaurants have in some way become a trend for the wealthy, but nobody "hip" enough to make it totally awesome.) Let me tell you now, I HATE the word "hip" and it makes me queasy just to type it so many times. Oh, did I mention that I saw Tobey Mcguire with a two table-hordes of young parent friends (who are probably in the Hollywood biz one way or another) with all their many babies and children? There was SO much food on the table and slight havoc, as you'd expect when you dine out with little kids. The rest of the diners seemed oblivious to the celebrity, or probably just sneaking furtive glances like I was. Come on! This is my first major celebrity sighting in L.A.! Those other diners are probably used to it, or they just don't care that seeing someone from the screen in real life is interesting. Anyway, that's how trendy RFD is.

The one in Santa Monica though, looks less upscale and more casual. There are only a couple of tables in the front, the kitchen taking up most of the space, and a second floor where there are more tables. There's a RFD bakery right next door that I was curious to look at, but didn't have the time. I went in with three friends who I'd say are very open to eating vegan food. One is a vegetarian, one is an omnivore who's open-minded, and one was a vegan when she lived in England (not sure if she eats meat now though). The menu-reading was intense. There was utter silence when we looked at the menu for what seemed like 10 minutes until someone said, "This is so hard!" We liked the names for some of the dishes like, "Fettucine my Alfredo" or "TV Dinner," but then we finally narrowed our choices down. Mine were between the Tempeh Reuben Sandwich and the Real Food Daily Meal, both around $13 (the sandwich coming with a side). My ex-vegan friend decided on the Meal for me. She got a combination of Basics, as did the vegetarian. The omnivore got a bowl of tortilla soup and a tofu wrap (wrapped in collards). The combo of Basics seemed like the cheapest choice if you want to try lots but with small portions. One friend chose mashed potatoes, seitan, and steamed veggies. The other chose quinoa, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and marinated tofu. I didn't see what was inside the tofu wrap, but my friend had a hard time eating the gigantic collard leaf, so she only ate the inside. It was too much hard, raw, bitter leaf for one wrap I think. You have to grow to like collards. I don't even like them that much even after cooking them, which gets rid of alot of the bitterness. My RFD Meal was pretty good--It had small samples of macrobiotic foods that represent a balanced meal from some Eastern philosophy... Anyway, there was brown rice, some kind of small white beans in a sauce, "sea vegetables" or seaweed/kelp stuff that had a bad aftertaste of clams, pickled cabbage salad that had the most taste compared to everything else on the plate, plain steamed kale, and an assortment of steamed vegetables (carrots, parsnips, snap peas, etc.) Everything was very plainly cooked with only the seaweed, cabbage, and beans having any sauce/salt. It came with a small jar of ranchero sauce that I had picked--it mostly a tomato-y sauce with spices. I poured all of it over everything, but it still seemed a little meager on the taste-side, so I had to grab the hot sauce unfortunately to make things somewhat tasty--my tongue is sadly not accustomed to foods without added sodium. I noticed that they didn't put a salt shaker on the table and only brought it out when my friend asked for it to douse everything in salt. Although I avoided the salt shaker, I just wish that even though this dish is majorly healthy, it could have been prepared with at least some spices. I hate adding alot of salt on the food I cook, so I can appreciate somewhat the level of healthiness they are trying to achieve. Overall though, I liked it. Come with a bigger jar of sauce next time! (And don't charge me for it!)

We could only afford getting one main dish each (an exception for the small bowl of daily soup). No appetizers or "small plates" (that still cost $12). No desserts. And we only drank water too!

Having the money is one thing. Choosing to spend it is another. I do want to try their desserts some day. A waiter brought out a slice of strawberry cake with white frosting, and it looked soooo good.

I still have to try all the vegan restaurants in LA!

New Undertaking

2009-03-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

Just last night/early this morning I created this website using Google to record the many artists I have come across through school, museums, googling, etc. I think it'll be an effective way for me to remember these artists, as many names have again and again slipped my mind when I need them most. It is a project for myself of course, but it is a free reference site for anyone who comes across it. The site isn't limited to only the artists I like--but most of them will be "sculptors," in the broadest sense, hopefully more alive ones than dead, and more obscure ones than world-famous (there is more than enough information floating the internet about Degas, Picasso, Rodin, ya dig? But, if there is any work of theirs that is not given as much attention to as their main money-makers, I will make a note). I will only include the 2-dimensional artists that I find inspiring.

Right now, there is barely anything on it... I'm still getting accustomed to the Google webpage maker as I've never made any website before.

P.S. I need to practice my French! Four years of study can't go to waste, but I feel the vocabulary hissing out of my ears.

Enjoy the site!

See all the cute ways you can memorize Hiragana?

2009-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

Angrrrrrr

2009-03-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

Stupid cat and his stupid teeth. How the fuck did he dent it?

I'm going to post a sculpture post sometime soon.

Snow Day

2009-03-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

I wake up multiple times this morning, once at 5:30, then at 7, then a half hour later, then at 9 when my alarm goes off, then at 10 when my other alarm sounds. This happens to me when I'm stressed or something really important is happening that day, so I make sure I don't oversleep by sleeping as lightly as if someone were to spring out of my bathroom and kill me if I've dozed off for too long. But the sad thing is, is that I'm just stressed, sad, and afraid I'll miss my one o'clock class.

I get out of bed, brush my teeth, and wipe my face so that I will look decent today, as I do day after day. I always leave my earrings in even though they pinch me when I sleep, and sometimes I forget to take off my glasses before bed, which makes the bridge of my nose hurt in the morning. All of this isn't because I want to reduce my time in the bathroom the next morning by 1 minute, it's simply because I am forgetful. My hair looks like how my hair would if it were underwater, so I pull and scrunch every brown coarse hair into its unkempt place--I don't know why I bother to keep a brush.

As if by cue, I hear my cat's hungry wailing by my door as soon as I manage to make a noise louder than water running through the pipes. Opening the door cautiously I greet him and go on to refill his bowls and clean his litter. While scooping up clumps, I suddenly remember the text I was sent at 5:30 this morning, telling me that school was closed due to the snow. Every time I woke up, I had to check if the text was real and not just a dream, but then I would just fall back asleep to fool myself again. This time, fully awake, I checked. It was a snow day, an official grey, silent snow day. Out the window, I only saw a foot of snow, but this brief announcement sent in a text message, automatically to me and everyone else by an important computer on campus, had invaded the warmth of my slumber and had just made me a tiny bit happier.

After making myself instant oatmeal and doing some reading for homework about Brancusi and Futurist sculpture, I decide to head out to studio to get started on work. I wearily put on my puffiest jacket with the broken zipper and walk to school, feeling the extra weight of snow on my already heavy workman's boots that are a half size too large. Studio is warm, there is music playing, Pauline is in, wearing a mask and busily sanding pink foam. We acknowledge each other, and I start to work. I check on my cement molds, pop them out, and start a fresh batch of cement for casting. Without the particle mask and the gloves, mixing cement oddly reminds me of cooking, in the best way--the kind of cooking you pretend to do when you're a kid and all you have is dirt. I get to have a huge bucket, a big mixing stick, and I get to plop mystery powder into water. The right consistency is key! It has to be like a thick milkshake. Cement, with all its heavy-duty industrial context, becomes a material that I in some strange and inexplicable way connect with. I've never had this experience with any other material whether it is plaster, paper, metal, or fabric. Maybe this is the feeling one gets when they decide that they love a material and that it is a part of them as an artist, it expresses who they are. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but maybe I'm like how that fiery carnival-in-her-hair girl is with yarn but with cement. Or not! Ha!

Anyway, I'm running out of cement (I've already used around fifty pounds of it) again! I quickly pour it into several little molds, rebuild my one foot cubed wooden box mold, and rush out the door to catch the 51 bus to Home Depot. Considering that I can only lift so much by myself, I buy just one twenty pound bucket of cement, some nylon rope, and screw-eyes. It totals thirty-nine dollars to my annoyance. I luckily only have to wait minutes in the snow before the bus comes, and I lug my cement up the hill and back to studio, switching arms when one tires out. I've lifted fifty pounds before at the gym, but in real life, it always seems more difficult! Possibly because that twenty pounds is compacted in a little bucket with a skinny little handle. I mix up a big batch, breaking up the lumps as best as I can like the lumps of flour in batter. I pour into the box mold again, using foam inside to decrease the weight. It still turns out to weigh forty to fifty pounds per cube. I am terrified of the thought of it failing to hang because of the screws falling out. I repeat, terrified. I've gone through so many failed and reworked versions of this project in my head that having to come up with an entirely new idea after all the work I've done to save my ass on crit day terrifies me to the point of wanting to give up.

More of that later. Time spent working flies by. It's five o'clock. Ryan gives me a little bottle of soju because he doesn't like it, wondered if I wanted it. Sure, why not. And I give him a Vitamin-C candy. I'm a little hungry, but honestly I just want to go home. I leave.

Chicken McNugget Before the McNuggeting

2009-03-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

look at all the grainy shit in the scooper!

A List of Activities that Someone Compiled Thinking that These Were Probably the Moments that Make You Worthy of Life

2009-02-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

I should probably rephrase that... It's a list of activities that, to the average human being, should be invigorating, and if he/she has not done something, they should... because then he/she is missing out and has not had a "real" life. This is all assumed because the point of the list is egocentric and self-appreciating. You're basically showing to everyone, in a passive-aggressive way, what a lucky and privileged person you are to be able to have done these things--and what's even more egocentric about it is that the reader has no use of it whatsoever. It's like you're saying, "Wow, I'm so great!" to yourself while among a bunch of strangers. A pretty ridiculous list, yet nonetheless harmless, so I shall take part in it just to make the point that it is dumb.

1. Started my own blog – Wait, then I guess this list didn't start as a posting on someone's blog.

2. Slept under the stars – Yes, I was forced to go on camping trips in middle and high school.

3. Played in a band – What about an imaginary one? If that counts I played the drums by the way.

4. Visited Hawaii – When I was little I stayed in one of those crazy hotels right by the beach.

5. Watched a meteor shower – Well, the forecast said meteor shower, but I only saw a couple on this dusty hill in Los Angeles with my friend.

6. Given more than I can afford to charity – No, but maybe someday I'll drive by the Humane Society and throw hundred dollar bills out my car window on a whim.

7. Been to Disneyland/world - Ya, that's why California rules. Florida is okay...

8. Climbed a mountain – Not sure if it was technically a mountain, but let's just say it was a really big hill. Again, forced backpacking trips.

9. Held a praying mantis – No DUDE! Are you crazy?!!?

10. Sung a solo – It doesn't specify to whom, so yes, to myself.

11. Bungee jumped – No, but I have seen those fake bungee jumping contraptions at Six Flags.

12. Visited Paris – Once on a summer program, once with my family. And I hope to again in the future.

13. Watched lightning at sea – I thought electricity and water didn't mix well...

14. Taught myself an art from scratch – What does one mean "from scratch"?

15. Adopted a child – You mean all those dirty kids in third world countries where the honest thing to do is get rid of the girl? (Where is this sarcastic racism and sexism rubbing off from?)

16. Had food poisoning – I'm glad I haven't.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty – Ya, but for some reason I don't recall the torturous trek that people associate with stairs.

18. Grown my own vegetables – I hate hippies (haha) but yes, I have as a child for the sole reason that I do lots of things--I was bored (and I love to watch things grow. I still do now). Because I'm in college and therefore an outcast (A self-chosen one!) from the goings-on of the regular world and nature, I'm deprived of being around plants (as I was freshmen year of being around animals). This being so, I obsessed over the catgrass I grew, taking pictures of it every few days as record of its progress. Just like I would obsess over every dog I saw walking down the street. But I have a cat now so all is well.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France – Not as impressive as I thought. Small potatoes.

20. Slept on an overnight train – Fuck, I want to do it Hogwarts style!

21. Had a pillow fight – With my little sister in hotel rooms, especially when they had those cylindrical decorative pillows that we could use as bats. And sometimes when I wrestle with my boyfriend, pillows come in handy as faux-asphyxiation tools.

22. Hitchhiked – 'Tis illegal, is it not?

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. – Couple times in high school when I begged my mom to call in sick for me. That was cool of her.

24. Built a snow fort – Hm, if we're talking full-on igloo habitat then no... but I did build a snow barricade for snowball wars when I was little.

25. Held a lamb – Hahaha, this makes me laugh and feel sick at the same time. Is this supposed to be some kind of soul-saving activity? I did hold one in my dream before I killed it. Just kiddinggggg.

26. Gone skinny dipping – Ech, no. My body would look all weird and distorted in a pool. That's not why I haven't gone, it's just something I think about. And no to lakes/ponds teeming with mal-intentioned (is that a word?) organisms.

27. Run a Marathon – I'm too out of shape right now, but if I do, I will have buff legs.

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice – Hehehe, I've seen the indoor Las Vegas Venice though. It makes me not want to go to Venice.

29. Seen a total eclipse – I remember the solar eclipse at a high school graduation. It was funny because everyone was looking up at the sun with funny glasses on.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset – Just a sunset. Even though I'm an early bird I'm not that early.

31. Hit a home run – On WIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

32. Been on a cruise – Disney cruise. Don't laugh. It was fun. Minus the people in scary Disney character costumes appearing everywhere on the ship.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person – No, sigh.

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors – Uh, I guess. I've been to Taiwan.

35. Seen an Amish community – Where do they live? Somewhere foresty?

36. Taught myself a new language – I taught myself a little Japanese in high school.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – Money doesn't make you happy though...

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person –

39. Gone rock climbing – Forced trips again. I think it's easier to go up than go down.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David –

41. Sung karaoke – Yay for alcohol and Korean restaurants with karaoke rooms.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt – I'm Asian, therefore, my family wouldn't give a rat's ass about geysers in America.

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant – The gesture is nice though.

44. Visited Africa – Only white people do that, duh. They like safaris and learning the ways of the people they once enslaved to add to their list of culture-enriching experiences.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight –

46. Been transported in an ambulance – It was completely unnecessary, but my mom thought I had appendicitis.

47. Had my portrait painted – Well I paint them myself. All the others aren't as good ;)

48. Gone deep sea fishing – Stupid.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person –

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – Well, since you can't go to the top anymore, I've been as far up as you can go.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling – One of the coolest things I've ever done, but I have a lot of fears of the ocean, from being touched by a fish to touching coral (it looks sharp!). My mom was busy chasing a fish, haha. A sea turtle got really close, and for some stupid reason I thought it was going to bite me.

52. Kissed in the rain – Maybe? It isn't as romantic as it sounds...I think I might have kissed while it was raining and I was cold.

53. Played in the mud – No, sadly. I've always wanted to be in a big pile of mud to live out my dreams as a pig.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater – There are only a few nowadays. It seems like a waste of space.

55. Been in a movie. – I have fears of seeing myself in pictures or videos, so no thanks.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China – Boo on China! Just kiddingggg.

57. Started a business – Hopefully in the future my friend and I will start an omni and vegan bakery. It's our what-to-do-when-we-get-old-and-have-no-kids plan.

58. Taken a martial arts class – Not a good idea. I'd kung fu chop everyone after that.

59. Visited Russia – I want to someday, so I can wear a big faux fur cap and cluck "nyet" and "dah" wherever I go.

60. Served at a soup kitchen – During middle school as one of our forced (again!) volunteer activities. I didn't mind this as much as cleaning up the Arroyo Seco (All I remember from that was lots and lots of burrs). We gave out old donuts and scones donated from Starbucks, bowls of oatmeal and butter, and coffee. We also helped chop onions and meat for lunchtime. This helped me realize that not all homeless people are scary.

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies – Definitely. Door to door with the outfit. Unfortunately, my neighborhood was mostly old white people who didn't like sweets and would stand behind their screen doors in case my six year old self had come to rob them. Selling Girl Scout cookies is some kind of deranged Capitalist game for little girls and their parents. Whoever sold the most won some stupid patch and other prizes. I could tell that whoever won always had help from their parents.

62. Gone whale watching – I'd feel like I was spying on them.

63. Got flowers for no reason – I wouldn't say for no reason!

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – Enough to save a baby maybe. Now I'm too scared to donate because I got really nauseated before. It was at my high school. They had to call my mom.

65. Gone sky diving – Once I accept that I might die.

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp – What the hell? They still have those?

67. Bounced a check – I'm guessing bounced means skipped out on? Only losers do that.

68. Flown in a helicopter – For some reason I imagine that I have, when in honesty I don't think I have. Too much living vicariously through television...

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – NOOOO, I still have a grudge that my mom threw away most of my toys when I was a kid. They were too "old" and "dirty." If you knew her you'd understand.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial –

71. Eaten caviar – I think a little bit once at a fancy restaurant, but caviar is so 1999. I don't even know what I'm talking about.

72. Pieced a quilt – A Space Invaders one too!

73. Stood in Times Square –

74. Toured the Everglades –

75. Been fired from a job – Negative.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London – Non. What's the big deal about that?

77. Broken a bone – I guess having a hairline fracture doesn't count. I'm not as hardcore as I thought I was.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -- Wow, nerdy much? (The fact that there is some romanticism behind being on a motorcycle, at least in America)

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person – Again, Asian family.

80. Published a book – I kind of self-published one when I was like ten. I wrote my book, drew the pictures, and sent it in the mail to be made into a book. It was all part of a kit. My book came back with a pink cover that I had chosen. It was about an episode on a cartoon show that I had seen about this red-headed girl named Elle Vyra or something who was being chased by a vampire man. But in the end she owned that vampire. I remember drawing a scene of the melted vampire as liquid dripping out of a pipe and oozing down the stairs after she had forced him to tan in the sun.

81. Visited the Vatican –

82. Bought a brand new car –

83. Walked in Jerusalem –

84. Had my picture in the newspaper – In lower school I won a coloring contest so I was put in the city tribune. Neat, huh?

85. Read the entire Bible – Thank god, no. It became a required text though for the grades below me to read during freshmen year of high school. Poor them.

86. Visited the White House –

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – Ahhhh NO.

88. Had chickenpox – Both me and my older sister had it. If you haven't had it, you didn't have a childhood. Haha.

89. Saved someone’s life – My boyfriend's. Countless times. From being hit by cars, falling of the high bed, from starvation, etc. etc. He owes me big time.

90. Sat on a jury – Huh? Literally? That would be funny.

91. Met someone famous – The Boy Least Likely To band on my birthday. My boyfriend's brother who was in Silver Daggers? Not quite so famous though...

92. Joined a book club – Perhaps when I am old.

93. Lost a loved one – A brother of a friend. My granduncle who I've never met. My hamsters and fish.

94. Had a baby – Maybe someday.

95. Seen the Alamo in person – Ew, Texas. No offense to anyone.

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake – Is it really salty?

97. Been involved in a law suit - No, and hopefully never.

98. Owned a cell phone – I envy those who go without one.

99. Been stung by a bee – Eep, no siree.

100. Ridden an elephant – I have no memory of where I did this, but I remember sitting on one with my mom and little sister. It was very bumpy. We sat on a seat thing on top. It is sad, I shouldn't have.

Back to Blogland Mateys

2009-02-17T08:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Wintersession (trimester from January 5 to mid-February) is finally over. (I hope you realize that I have to go back to school right after New Years when every other college starts again in mid-January!) Damn school! Anyway, I have to dedicate another post on what was going on for a month and a half--not that interesting, trust me, it involved watching lots of Netflix, Hulu, and bad TV. But this post is about recent events. My penguin pal (I still have to think of a moniker for boyfriend because that is apparently what lots of people do on their blogs) came to visit me for a week and just went back home to my protest, but we had a great time because we got to spend Valentine's together. He got me tulips! Not the cliche rose! They've started to bloom. So pretty. I love having plants inside and these are the only ones that Otto has not managed to chew on (at least very much). I tried to give him catgrass that I grew but hawhaw he didn't even touch them, just pulled them out of the pot.

Okay, and on to the early birthday boy's cake. The blackout chocolate cake with raspberry jam from Vegan with a Vengeance. It was so simple to make and turned out to be the best cake I've ever made out of all vegan and non-vegan cakes. Very moist and mind-blowing (i.e. it was so chocolatey-good that we blacked out for days after one slice). I actually doubled the recipe because I thought that there wasn't enough batter to divide to make the two layers, so I just decided to make an even taller cake. Sprinkles and blackberries are a must.

Spiraly candles are a must.

Behold the majesty and splendor!

I was very excited about the cake as you can tell. So much that I took fifty pictures of it before eating and made my hungry boyfriend wait, even though it was his cake. Hah.

This is what I made a while ago. Israeli couscous and garlic kale with tangerine baked tofu. I think they're all from Veganomicon. I put dried apricots and sunflower seeds in the couscous and half followed the instructions on the couscous box and half followed the Veganomicon recipe. It was good but I've never had it before so I couldn't compare it to anything. I think I might have toasted it a little too much but who knows.

Have you ever

2009-01-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

felt like curling up into a ball and lying still for hours because you ate too much?

Eating Vagina...Pops!

2009-01-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

I found these when I was looking on Etsy for the first time. I want to give these to my vajayjay-appreciating friends. Cute for lesbians too. And these vaginas are vegan. All the better.

Anyway before I keep thinking about wasting money on those vagina pops, here are pictures of things I baked recently. Spiced chocolate muffins from Joy of Vegan Baking. They're actually not that sweet and really soft. And there's a hint of banana since I used a banana instead of Egg Replacer. I don't really like using that stuff. Chocolate and cinnamon and banana taste so gooooood.
Ginger cookies from one of the other vegan cookbooks I have. SPRINKLES!!!!!! make everything better! like pancakes and broccoli and french fries!
I made the sugar cookies from Joy of Baking but they always turned out too dry so I had to add soymilk. It was like making pie dough. And they were underbaked even though we left them in the oven for a long time. After being rolled in cinnamon sugar they tasted decent but not a good recipe.

Catchup on a Winter's Day

2009-01-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

Otto lying on the table, bored.

Everyone was snowed in. It was so quiet.

So I made some soup with the vegetables I had. Miso, soba, and tofu with zucchini, potato, carrot, onion, mushroom, broccoli, spinach. Yummy.

"The Recently Deflowered Girl" 1965

2009-01-10T10:52:00.001-08:00

A book illustrated by Edward Gorey, one of my favorite illustrators. Written by Hyacinthe Phypps. Invaluable etiquette tips.

To read the full text click here!

Winter Break

2008-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

I want to work but I don't want to go back to school. That is all. At least I get to see my cat who I want to try to cuddle with if he lets me.

Some things I learned while not at school:

PETA is well-intentioned but sucks at what they do. I knew already that their tactics were somewhat ridiculous--for example anti-fur protesters throwing fake blood, flour, and other substances at people in an attempt to publicly humiliate them for wearing fur and possibly to damage it. Who came up with this strategy? Animal activists probably thought that since words were not going to convince people, action was the next best thing. But this? The only possible way this would work was if fur-wearers were scared shitless into throwing away their coats--but that would be called terrorism/blackmailing/illegal. And we as freedom-honoring Americans can't be suppressing the individualism of other Americans right? But in reality, this kind of "protest" is simply the occasional event of harassment that annoys the fur-wearer to hate PETA, ultimately giving them more of a reason to wear whatever they want. After all, one flour-blasting incident isn't going to change one person's entire state of beliefs. It is going to make them go to the dry cleaners. Mind you, I don't wear fur and sometimes get angry when I see young style-obsessed girls wear entire coats made of families of rabbits. Also, I was already aware of some of their ads including naked women (like Pamela Anderson) declaring that they would rather go naked than wear fur. I never thought those ads were very effective to my emotions either. Obviously they would not affect what I believe in but despite that, they should be able to make me want to believe in what they are conveying. PETA decided to use a cliche strategy, which is the use of the female body as a marketing tool. For an ad for clothing or perfume this might be effective on the man who wants to be with the model and on the woman who wants to be that model. Then the ad would manipulate the audience to believe that to have that woman or to be that woman, he or she must buy the product. The media bombards audiences with this old strategy that in a way, it becomes less effective than it once was such as in the fifties when "modern" utilities and decor in the American home superficially determined the happiness and therefore "success" of the household, which was a competitive issue and matter of pride at that time. It still is like that today but the "ideal" woman in the apron with the vacuum has become the physically "ideal" nude woman with the seductive gaze, and this image bombards us so often that we have become more immune to its effects. I can skip through an entire Vogue magazine without taking even a glance at any of the clothing ads not because I'm not interested in fashion but because in essence it is always the same strategy. Therefore, in the case of animal rights, it makes no sense. There is no connection between basically nude women and not killing animals. Why would PETA, an organization fighting for an important issue, want its ads to blend in homogeneously with the rest of the media? The only logical explanation is that it wants to be more relatable to a certain audience group in today's society that is susceptible to being manipulated by images of ideal models. Honestly, animal rights is not an issue that needs to be made more relatable, especially not in that way. If you advertise yourself using attractive, aesthetically pleasing images, the only kind of attention you get is superficial, and even though the phrase "sex sells" is somewhat true, PETA is not a handbag/perfume company and is NOT selling anything. If PETA thinks that the idea of animal rights is something they have to sell, then I don't know how much they value and take seriously what they are doing and how much they know how to inform others well. That is why I don't understand why they continue to use women in a demeaning way that does not make sense to the goals they are trying to accomplish. Okay, so these women agreed to lie on the ground or display themselves in stores without any clothes and okay, they also like animals... but it doesn't make the fight for animal rights noticed in a positive way. It kind of makes the fight look like a joke. They say Ingrid what's-her-name, the president of PETA, is a feminist but the evidence points otherwise.

Sorry, this is long and carried away...

I didn't know that knitted toys were an art or even had a name: amigurumi (It's a Japanese thing). Kawaii!

Back to throwing stuff on people, PETA activists' techniques reminds me of a form of tarring and feathering, a corporal punishment in feudal Europe that was publicly enacted by vigilantes. Except that the punishment isn't so physically harmful and doesn't involve animal parts ie. feathers (and lard in the painful removal of the tar that took off most of the skin). Tarring and feathering was an unofficial punishment that was aimed to humiliate the victim and ostracize him or her permanently with the scars caused by the hot tar. Just an interesting thing I wanted to share.

So something about food!:
So during break, I went to two well-known vegan restaurants in LA. One was M Cafe and the other was Real Food Daily. Both were kind of expensive, which is an unfortunate aspect of all-vegan places. M was macrobiotic and had fish but everything else was vegan like their sandwiches and desserts. The first time I went I had an M burger, which was probably the best veggie burger I ever had (full of sprouts and vegan cheese and other yummies and a toasted bun). And then I took home a banana mille-feuille, which was pretty good if you like lots of banana. The second time I went for breakfast and I had walnut french toast with cranberry compote, maple syrup, and EB. Thor had tofu scramble, sweet potatoes and tempeh bacon. Their sushi was really big and looked good except for the fish in it. I say an 8 out of 10. At RFD Thor and I shared a breakfast burrito with cashew cheese and some pepper sauce, which was pretty good. We also saw Toby McGuire there and some other actor. I'd say that it'd be a really good place to have a nice meal at if you want to spend the money. 8.5 out of 10. I want to continue to search for yummy places. I also went to Scoops again and got some vegan coconut coffee ice cream and my favorite, vegan banana oreo. I LOVE ICE CREAM! Blahaha.

My Mom Doesn't Like Me

2008-12-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is what you should all NOT do -- enthusiastically dump something into the blender, then press grind, wait for the magic, a few seconds later wonder why it's not working so great... without checking that there was something else in the bag...

I've been very accident-prone recently. Last night I knocked a whole pitcher of tea from the fridge onto the floor. Now I just ruined a whole bag of flax seeds. For the one week that I've been home so far I've managed to break my toilet four times. And then I shut the garage door onto my car--shhh, no harm was done so no one needs to know. The door was acting up. I think my mom is getting a little exasperated that I am home. Funny, when all the other times I come home for break she yells at me for going out all the time.

On another note, I just made some oatmeal pumpkin cranberry cookies to use up leftover pumpkin.
And I'm baking cinnamon raisin bread. I put alot of soy yogurt in it because I didn't have applesauce. It had flour, oats, brown sugar, yogurt, raisins, pineapple juice, ground flax, oil, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and soymilk.

Thor's

2008-12-21T12:46:00.001-08:00

This is Me Mosaic

2008-12-21T00:42:00.001-08:00

This was made using a list of questions and flickr. I would type in the answer to each question on flickr and choose a picture on the first page, and then it was put together with fd mosaic maker. easy enough.

1. What is your name?
Jessica

2. What is your favorite food?
mushrooms

3. What high school did you go to?
Polytechnic

4. Your favorite color?
Orange yellow

5. Your celebrity crush?
Brian Chippendale

6. Favorite drink?
coffee soymilk

7. Dream vacation?
Iceland

8. Favorite dessert?
soy ice cream

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
sculptor

10. What do you love most in life?
love

11. One word that describes you?
curious

12. Your flickr username?
I didn't have one so I put another username--warm panda cola

Cute

2008-12-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

2008-12-15T07:20:00.001-08:00

Sorry I don't have a better picture (this one was from my phone) as I am home (California) right now and didn't want to bring my nice camera back.

These were made using the recipe from donteatoffthesidewalk

The dough is fluffy and soft, I thought they would turn out bigger though. The pumpkin I really can't taste once I put the icing on but it's a really good recipe for cinnamon buns in general. They don't even taste vegan.

I'm pretty sure I will be baking alot on my break :)

Lists are fun I guess

2008-12-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

This is a list of foods that I found on people's blogs, and they're bolded if you've eaten them.

1. Natto

2. Green Smoothie

3. Tofu Scramble

4. Haggis

5. Mangosteen

6. Creme brulee

7. Fondue

8. Marmite/Vegemite

9. Borsht

10. Baba Ghanoush

11. Nachos

12. Authentic soba

13. PBJ

14. Aloo gobi

15. Taco from street cart

16. Boba tea

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Gyoza

20. Vanilla ice cream

21. Heirloom tomato

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Ceviche

24. Rice and beans

25. Knish

26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Caviar

29. Baklava

30. Pate

31. Wasabi peas

32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Mango lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Mulled cider

37. Scones with buttery spread and jam

38. Vodka jelly

39. Gumbo

40. Fast food french fries

41. Raw brownies

42. Fresh garbanzo beans

43. Dahl

44. Homemade soymilk

45. Wine from a bottle worth $120 or more

46. Stroopwafle

47. Samosas

48. Vegetable sushi

49. Glazed doughnut

50. Prickly pear

51. Seaweed

52. Umeboshi

53. Tofurkey

54. Sheese

55. Cotton Candy

56. Gnocchi

57. Pina colada

58. Birch beer

59. Scrapple

60. Carob chips

61. Smores

62. Soy curls

63. Chickpea cutlets

64. Curry

65. Durian

66. Homemade sausages

67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake

68. Smoked tofu

69. Fried plantain

70. Mochi

71. Gazpacho

72. Homemade chocolate chip cookies

73. Absinthe

74. Corn on the Cob

75. Whipped cream, straight from the can

76. Pomegranate

77. Fauxstess Cupcake

78. Mashed potatoes with gravy

79. Jerky

80. Croissants

81. French onion soup

82. Savory crepes

83. Tings

84. A meal at Candle 79

85. Moussaka

86. Sprouted grains or seeds

87. Macaroni and "cheese"

88. Flowers

89. Matzoh ball soup

90. White chocolate

91. Seitan

92. Kimchi

93. Butterscotch chips

94. Yellow watermelon

95. Chili with chocolate

96. Bagel and Tofutti

97. Potato milk

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican blue mountain coffee

100. Raw cookie dough

Figure Modeling with Jeff

2008-12-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

This is what I've worked on for most of my figure modeling class this semester. I really enjoyed this class, so maybe I'll take the advanced course next year.

Head Project

Sitting Pose

Second Standing Pose

I'm going to keep working on my head project when I have time.

Some figure sculptors to know are Judy Fox, Isamu Noguchi, Elizabeth King, and Jeff Hesser.

Vegan Thanksgiving!

2008-12-10T18:00:00.001-08:00

Some yummy pictures...

Eileen and I cooked all day to make a grand vegan meal. We made cornbread, cranberry sauce, casserole, salad, stuffed mushrooms, tofurkey, fried tofu, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and sweet potato pie.

Stuffed mushrooms

Mushroom cauliflower casserole with olives in the crust

Actually looks really good when it's cooked. You're supposed to baste it like a real turkey haha.

What a frozen Tofurkey looks like if you don't know. I didn't know until then. Alot smaller than I thought it would be... actually I thought it would be the size and shape of an actual turkey and that would be a disgusting amount of tofurkey.

Mashing potatoes on the floor and avoiding the cat pounce.

Elise chillin

And I made two pies but forgot to take pictures... a gingerbread apple pie and a sweet potato pie with nuts on top. I liked the sweet potato one alot, but the apple was good considering I don't really like apple pie.

(Everyone, all omnivores except one vegetarian, thought it was really good despite the lack of meat. And my friend said that it was filling but in a way that it doesn't make you have to sit still with food babies for hours. Success! I think the best thing I made was the gravy. I think I could put it on everything and be able to eat it.)

Light & Color

2008-12-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Something of the sublime.

Photographs made with flashlight and filters. Thanks Thor for helping me!

Wood and Metal Shop Practice

2008-12-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

My Wood and Metal Shop class is one of my favorite classes this semester. I'll tell you a little about it. It's mostly technical training in the wood shop and foundry to help you build the skills you might need for your projects. In the metal shop we've learned MIG welding, oxyacetylene welding, TIG welding, torch bending, torch cutting, a little forging, using rivets, plasma cutting, using the Pirahna, horizontal bandsaw, drill, power roller, angle grinding, etc. In the wood shop we've learned to use the tablesaw, joiner, planer, lathe, laminate bending, making fingerjoints, lap joints, and more.

So this is a small example of something I made in the class that is more or less resolved (and that I like).

Site Specific Installation #2: "PLAY"

2008-12-10T16:34:00.001-08:00

I can't seem to get the pictures organized below the text, so this is a little out of order.

While it was being built in the foundry

Sorry for the delay of post.

I finished this one a long time ago, like two weeks before Thanksgiving.

3' x 4' x 3' steel welded mini transportable playground unit.

Each face is designed to be a letter that spells the word "PLAY"

Located at the park next to Kennedy Plaza

This work was inspired by public art specifically for kids, like playgrounds. I appreciate interactive participatory art more than "display art," so I decided to create a unit that evokes the aesthetic of a playground. It got me to explore what it means to "play" when you are a kid versus what it means to "play" when you are older. It also made me think about the aesthetic and I guess functional properties that all playgrounds seem to share. This is a tactile and visual piece that I want to be appealing and inviting to kids. As a semi-sensory experience, this project encourages me to think of creating a piece that involves sound.

The installations on sonicarchitecture.com are really lovely.

Site Specific Installation #1

2008-11-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

Without the sculpture

I worked with a partner this time. The requirements were to use wood and that the piece had to take up a cubic foot of space. This was near the river in Providence under the bridge. We set it up Sunday afternoon and when it was time to look for our pieces, we found out that someone had taken all of it. That sucks! SUCKS. Part of the project was seeing how people would receive public art or whatever could be deemed "sculpture" and left in a public setting--like whether it was considered a "danger" or an "obstruction" or just something that some angry individual decided to take apart and throw into the river. Sometimes little pieces of art remain in their original sites for a long time even if they weren't necessarily made with the intention of being art. Well for my next pieces I will set them up in their specific areas, take pictures, and then bless them. And I then shall be on my way. (I'll put them up in hard to reach spots, so you'll really have to be determined to take it down).

Anyway, I voted for the first time today. It was truly exciting. And made me feel good :)

I got a free sticker and a free cup of coffee woot.

On a side-note about food: I want someone to make me a really really really extreeemely cheezy slice of pizza. This is my cheeze pizza envy :/ I hardly get cravings for cheese, but I saw people eating some fat slices, which made me jealous.

Reincarnate

2008-10-23T07:36:00.001-07:00

The pretty satisfied result of two weeks of desperate brainstorming, forced motivation, second guessing, and lots of cardboard. It turned out overall better than I thought it would, and my crit was good. hooray! This is the first time I've installed something in a room, so it is also the first time I get to experience the bit of sadness of taking it down and apart.

Artist of today: Carsten Holler

FOOD

2008-10-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

I like making food, and if it just happens to be nice-looking I'll take a picture of it. These were just on my computer from years ago when I wasn't a vegan, so even if they were gobbled up happily full of animal babies and whatnot, I still like the pictures a lot. So there.

Gingerbread cookies and chocolate biscottiiiiiiiiiii

A raspberry blueberry shortcake with whipped cream and preserves I made for my sister's birthday.

A fruit tart for le jour de la mere. Bad translation, whatever.

The next posts will only have vegan food unless there is something so unbelievably amazing that I have to take a photo of it. Probably not because I'm lazy.

East Coast Noise

2008-10-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Daily Life. Chris from Kites, Muffy, and Asian girl from Lazy Magnet.

The subway. A mysterious beast of transportation I will probably never understand.

Mr. Sparkle setting up his drum.

New York - Lightning Bolt show in September. Pictures of the place, which was under the metro tracks in an empty lot, but no pictures of them playing. This is a time I wish I were tall, snaggle-toothed, and scar-faced. Or maybe just tall. The show started three hours later than scheduled and after an hour of sound check in between bands I was annoyed and heartbroken that I had to leave to catch the bus back to Providence right when they started to play. Too many fucking ridiculous New York hipster middle schoolers for my taste anywayyy.

I don't have any pictures from the one in October in Providence. After much determined struggle and my progress being (literally) pushed back several times, I squeezed into the front right behind Gibson! Mmm happy happy me! It wasn't as violent or loud as I thought it would be... but maybe my ears just died a little bit in a good way, so I didn't notice. Even though elbowing bitches be crazy and sweat be sweaty, I was glad to see the Brians play together once and for all! Afterwards Chippendale shook hands with fans and I remember him saying to someone, "You're not one of those Palin supporters are you?" Hahaha

Hello world

2008-10-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

A month and a half into school, I am currently working on my mid-semester final-- a reincarnation spiral constructed of mostly cardboard (and 50 or so balloons shall be involved!). The assignment was to make a time machine, which is really open-ended if you think about it.

I'm glad someone is stepping up to do "performance" art, i.e. a poetry reading because I feel that performance art can carry a stigma, especially at art school. It can either be construed as a student's forced attempt to be profound (in other words, arrogantly intellectual)--or construed as a bullshit attempt to get by without actually "making something." Sculpture as an art has no boundaries. It includes performance, installation, modeling, etc., so I don't believe that if you don't make an object it isn't sculpture. We're often left wondering what thought process went behind it, and that's what is interesting.

Experimentation risks "failure," bad critique, or a bad grade but in sculpture, the art created is ultimately for the artist. It can be intended to be viewed or used by the public in a gallery, park or whatever, but the artist's decisions are not based on public demand/what other people want Compare this to industrial design for example. I think that no matter what the most honorable artist is one who follows his/her own goals however large or small they may be. People will try to challenge your art and question your credibility as an artist. I'm not talking about just performance art anymore. But once you've established what your "thing" is, the only possible obstacle to pursuing this course could be the issue of earning a living. But honestly, I don't see this as a big obstacle even though many people are turned off by it, so they turn to illustration, industrial design, or other majors that are more commercial.

This post is just a free flow of thought, haha. I don't see my work being exhibited in a gallery. I don't even know what I will make or do in the future. Right now, I'm not interested in gallery settings because they seem a bit cold and isolated, white rooms, echos, and all... but who knows what I'll think when I'm older. A lot of artists actually transform the typical sterile gallery into a more interactive setting that requires public participation. When I am exposed to something, my first instinct is to touch it or smell it, then to figure out how it was made. I'd like to taste it too, if it doesn't look too toxic.

Let's cover the walls, floors, and furniture with marshmallow paste and let hairy nude men run rampant. Let's call it sculpture.