8 posts tagged “art”
Ah, here we are again. After Christmas I went to Japan for New Year's. I had lots of fun and took about 400 pictures and some videos as well. Don't expect to see them all - most will probably die a quiet death. Perhaps I will get around to slogging through them at some point, though with my past record... yeah. We'll see. I'm going to try to be more productive this year. Try being the key word there. Anyway.
Things I missed about Japan.
--Actual houses.
--Being able to talk to people.
--ramen!!
--Caffe Veloce Iced Cocoa.
Yeah, food is clearly associative for me.
Before Christmas, I decorated my apartment. And then, when I went to Japan, I got some other thingys. So now my place looks thoroughly lived in, cute, and boasts a random collection of art, Christmas cards, and small figurines.
First up, my puzzles. Which, I might add, were a pain in the butt. Had to get mr. lee to come drill holes in my cinderblock walls. Hope they aren't going to charge me for that when i leave...
Anyone who has ever visited a room I have lived in for a significant period of time has probably noticed that I like small figurines, usually animals. Especially cats. I kind of collect things like that. When I was in Japan I discovered hashi-oki (chopstick rests) are great for that sort of thing. They are invariably small and usually cute. I had two already, a tiger and a dragon from a series on the Juunishi (Zodiac Animals). This time while I was in Kyoto, I picked up a few more.
Found these in Kiyomizudera at a handmade family-run shop and thought they were adorable. No dragons, unfortunately. They did have lots of cows though, since that's this year. Next year is my year!! I hope I will get to visit Japan at some point during the year of the Tiger. These two are very different styles, but both cute.
It's not fair that three such beautiful people should be fiction. granted, the actors who play them are real, but it's the characters I really love.
I spent the afternoon finishing Season Three, and I really loved it, even though I'm still a Rose/Ten shipper. But who needed that? There was enough slash to drown in, what with the Master and dungeon-surviving!Jack and last but not least, "Regenerate!"/angst!Doctor. Martha was nice too, though I think it would be cool if she hooks up with Dr. Milligan later. I thought the comment the conversation about the TARDIS key perception field was funny - "Like someone you fancy who doesn't even know you exist!" and Jack's comment, "You too?" Although, to be fair, it's been mentioned enough times as a joke that it's very clear the Doctor does know. And Martha's been building her house of cards since the first episode and the genetic transfer, so even though I think she's awesome in her own right, I still don't get the Doctor/Martha shippers. It's just not there, at least for me.
Ahh. And now that I have finished that, I will let myself dl the next episode of Psych. God knows I have so many shows that people have recommended that I will never finish all of them. Even though it's sad, it's kinda a good thing that Torchwood and Who are taking a break, cause it gives me time to catch up. I go through spells of TV watching, so it takes me a while.
Also today I finished my second puzzle!! This one took me the same amount of time as Starry Night, despite that it was 500 pieces, not 300. But I think it was a bit easier, even though I loved it and had lots of fun. I'll post of pic of it later.
While looking for pics of the puzzle on the internet, I discovered the Art Renewal Center. They seem a bit forceful in their views, but the important thing is that they have high-res images of lots of pre-Modernism paintings. And since I love pr-Modernist art, I really loved browsing through their stuff. I found some awesome stuff, and a new artist to love.
All these new pictures (and some of my old ones that I have been editing lately make me want to change my blog to make it more personalized, so I might start making banners or something. Or just do image editing. In all my free time, when I'm not doing other stuff, you know. Haha.
I'm off to the store for food and then to cook dinner, listen to an audiobook version of Twilight, and knit Tim's scarf. Fun times.
I really want to just fall into bed, but I had to stay up so that I could call Amanda (not awake yet) to see how things went for her. From what she told me, she let him stay. -sigh- At least she knows there's a problem now, and everyone else knows she knows it, so people will actually call him on his bullshit. And perhaps he will listen. Here's hoping.
So I'm eating my yogurt rice cause I had to be up and I really needed to eat, since I haven't had much all day. Or yesterday, come to think. -shrugs- I generally only eat once or maybe twice a day anyway, especially on the weekends. But I had a bowl of cereal this morning and then walked through the art exhibit with Sohee, and wasn't really hungry. I went up to Edae and Tim and I were supposed to have dinner, but... let's not get into that. So now I'm home, and after sadly learning that Torchwood won't be airing again until next year, I remembered that I needed to post. Here I am.
The exhibit wasn't bad. I enjoyed it, to some extent, despite them having hardly any Frida Kahlo (a few watercolors and a tabletop with signatures) and the general dreariness of Latin American art. I really enjoyed the gift shop though. It's a good thing I didn't have much cash on me, because they have these beautiful earrings. They were only 14,000, actually. But I did get some post cards, as usual, and now they are on my wall with the ones I bought in Boston. I might pull the ones in my journal out and put them up too, just to make my walls more interesting. It should be noted, though, that out of the three things I bought, two of them were van Gogh... Yeah, Latin American art, really doesn't do it for me. But Sohee enjoyed it, I think - she bought the catalog to show to her family.
And I just got sidetracked on Amazon. Need to sleep now...
All things considered, today has been a bit boring. I actually managed to stay awake the whole day, despite a weird sleeping schedule last night. But I got my goals for November written, and even though I didn't get a whole lot done today, I feel like it was a success, for the most part. And I still have more to do, once I finish this post.
I signed up for NaBloPoMo yesterday, so I'm officially a part of the whole 'post every day for a month' list. I did some writing in my journal, and though I didn't learn any new words yesterday, I did write down a bunch of them. I was in my observation class for Daisy and they were studying shapes, so I copied them off the board. Now I just have to look up the words and see how to pronounce them. One of my goals is to study a bit of Korean every day, and of course I'm going to start with the alphabet. But today I learned a new one from my afternoon classes:
junggap = gloves
We're studying clothes right now, so this afternoon I brought a bunch of different things back from lunch with me to play dress up. I really wish I would have brought my camera as well - they were so cute dressed up in my too-big clothes. I'm changing the way I do the class - trying to make it more about playing, at least with Joseph and Junie, and not worrying about really sticking closely to the book. It's easier to teach the girls anyway, and as long as I have them speaking English, I think it's fine if they play. But anyway, I brought in my pair of gloves that Jessica got me a bit back, the blue and white ones with sparkles, and since they didn't know the English at first, they of course told me the Korean. Had to look in my little phrasebook to make sure of it, since Debbie was already gone for the day, but I think it's a useful word.
Speaking of gone, that would be Rachel. Yepper, our supervisor just up and left. I'm kinda disappointed that she didn't even say goodbye or anything, but as Douglas pointed out, it doesn't really affect us. We just teach, and since we don't speak Korean, there aren't any extra responsibilities to work out. I don't really mind the lack of supervisor - it effectively means no one really notices when I take my two-hour lunch, like I did this afternoon. To be fair, I actually stayed in Rose, my last class, for an extra half-hour. I decided to do an art project with them today, and it took way longer than I expected, with all three classes. Let's not do that again, even though I think the kids had fun. I told wong jam nim (principal) that I was eating at home, then grabbed my stuff and left.
To be fair, even though I was at home, I was working. I made myself some ramen, and started on the progress reports I have due this week for Tulip Class. In the meantime I talked to Nick a bit and dled a new program that Robin at SnB told me about the other day called Ted. It dls the torrents of your upcoming tv shows for you, which is pretty sweet. I've been trying to figure out how to get utorrent to do that, since trying to keep track of three shows can be a pain. I imagine if I start following other ones, this thing will come in even more handy. Still haven't signed up for Twitter yet, but it looks like an interesting idea, and definitely fits my obsession with changing my facebook status.
After my class, came home, finished writing progress reports while listening to Gizmo howl in the bathroom. I put her in there because she got into the trash while I was out, and she managed to cry for about an hour straight. I have to say that it was a little bit impressive, actually. I tuned most of it out by turning up my itunes. I did manage to clip her claws when I let her out, though. I'm not really sure what's up with her, because as soon as I let her out she wanted to be held and cuddled. Most cats with sense would be upset and not want you to touch them. -sigh- I don't get her. She has to be the weirdest cat I've had, and that's saying something.
And now that I've rambled for no apparent reason, as well as watching an episode of Psych (S2 Premier, "American Duos" with Tim Curry guest-starring), I think I should go and do some more of the things on my list. Email to catch up, nails to fix, and the hangul alphabet to start learning. I might even get some knitting in this evening. I'd like to finish that scarf soon. Also should probably wash some dishes...
Last but not least - Today's picture.
So, I'm going to throw this out there - I love Sharpies. They're awesome markers. I own about 30 of them, in almost all of the colors that are available. People laugh, but they really are that wonderful. They smell good too. Not that I make a habit of smelling markers, I'm just saying - never mind.
But I'm not the only one, and I have proof:
Man decorates his basement with Sharpie markers
I can't get the flash of the room to embed here, so you have to go see it. But it's so awesome!! Go check it out. And if you need to gush about the awesomeness of the marker called Sharpie, I'm right here.
How does triskaidekaphobia manifest itself, I wonder? A number, an essentially unreal concept, seems to me to be a strange thing to have a fear of. What if such a person’s family or partner happened to be born on that day or something? Would they refuse to associate with them?
Do they have quatrephobes in Asia, I wonder? (I’m not sure if that’s the right word.) I’m thinking of the association between the number 4 and death/general unluckiness. I saw quite a few buildings there that didn’t have fourth floors while I was in Japan, just like here you don’t see 13th floors.
I have forbidden myself from buying any more books before I go. For one, I have so many that I haven’t read, and I really need to get through those before I get more. Secondly, I spend a lot of money. Thirdly, I have to haul them all up to the attic myself, and trust me, that’s a pain in the ass. I really don’t like storing them there, but there’s not really any other place for them, though I know that the conditions there aren’t ideal. But I have to hope that plastic bins will hold them well enough without damaging them too much. It is for this reason that I have decided my future house will have a dumbwaiter.
Before I made this decision, however, I made my last purchase of the summer at Books-a-Million, and it is very gorgeous, if I do say so myself. It’s a hardback edition of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass, with the original illustrations, and unabridged. I saw it, and pounced, despite that I have a paperback signet edition of it. But I love those books, and so I felt myself justified. After all, it is the last thing I’m buying for now. I’m still going to be bookmooching, but for the moment I have used up all my points, so I just have to wait for stuff to come in the mail.
I was driving home today, and there were dragons in the clouds. They were beautiful and windblown and I could see them so clearly. And it occurred to me, why can’t I draw those? I can see them, can trace their lines in my mind – but not onto paper. I was musing over this, and a scene came into my head from earlier that afternoon – a guy at the body shop I had just visited struggling to pronounce the name of my claims adjuster. Perhaps it is the same sort of thing, a discoordination between eyes and hand/mouth. In the case of words, our minds become used to pronouncing certain combinations of letters in certain ways, and when we stumble upon something that doesn’t fit, we become confused. Though I’ve read a lot, and always made an effort to expand this part of my mind as much as possible, I still get stumped by some things – particularly, my own name, in any of its alternate names. (Sounds weird, I know.)
I remember my art teacher once telling me that artists weren’t special – that anyone could learn to draw. And though at the time, I thought it was a horrible thing to say, especially to a class full of art students, I eventually understood what he meant – that art, like anything else, has to be practiced. I always became discouraged with my drawings, and eventually I gave up. But in the short time I practiced, I did get better.
And because my mind runs on strange tracks, it eventually occurred to me that perhaps Derrida’s ideas on deconstructionism could be applied to all this. Structure, sign, and play. When we look at the world, we see things in terms of signs – letters, pictures, what have you. These don’t usually mean anything in terms of themselves, but are placeholders for structures that we have built within our minds – the way certain lines make a picture, or letters form a sound. Obviously, these structures and signs vary from person to person, depending on a multitude of factors. The play is an unknown of sorts – the gaps in our understanding, when we look at a word or picture and have no earthly idea what it means. It seems to me that the way in which to reduce this play, this uncertainty, is to practice, to stretch the structures of your mind. At the same time however, this will give rise to a different sort of play, a creative sort, wherein your mind becomes something like Tolkien’s soup, with each new experience adding a different flavor. The uncertainty becomes an adventure, made no less uncertain by the creativity of it.
And this is why I can’t draw dragons.
Does that make sense?
OMYFUCKINGGOD.
I hate my computer. It spazzes out repeatedly. This will be literally the 4th time I have tried to type this post. My battery has been being ridiculous, the adapter’s only working half the time, it overheats itself, and I can’t use the wireless in my apartment. Any other wireless is fine, but if my wireless card is even on in my apartment, the computer will continuously reboot itself until I turn it off. It will get into launching XP, recognize the wireless card, flash a blue screen of death at me, and then restart. Really annoying, since I can’t read most of it to try to figure out what’s wrong. But it doesn’t happen anywhere else. Ack. I need a job.
Okay, so back to my post.
I did nothing today, for the most part. I watched Van Wilder and Legally
Blonde on comedy central. Both movies I
kinda like, despite them not being high film.
I feel marginally useless for spending 6 hours in front of the tv, but I
only binge like that occasionally. Now
I’m in callaway, writing cover letters and applying for jobs. At least, I will
be when I finish this post. But I had
some stuff I wanted to post.
First up – my time in front of the idiot box was not
entirely wasted. I finished this:
Ain’t it purty? I’ve been working on it for a few days. I made a choker last year when I needed to do something with my hands (right about this same time, actually), but I lost it in Kyoto. Oh well, can always make more. Anyway, I’ve been wanting another choker, cause I can’t wear my collar everywhere (people give me strange looks, dunno why
-smile-). And, I had a new shirt! So I made something to match. Here’s the shirt. I love threadless. Go buy stuff there.
Also, I was thinking the other day. Or rather, I think this all the time when I hear this song. Ever wonder about the sexual politics behind the song “Angel is the Centerfold”? Just listen to it. It’s totally 80s, but it’s really interesting.
Lastly – I went to Buckhead the other day, and I always find this sign interesting. But the billboard behind it just makes it awesomer. You might have to view it larger to see the background.
omg it's fricking cold in my room. like seriously. hang on a sec, i need to go get my blanket. okay, now that i am firmly ensconced in my blanket in my desk chair, we're good. i spent last night in my chair like this anyway - i started looking for an inuyasha fic i read a long time ago, and never did find it, but ended up reading all night and going to bed around 7. i woke up around 3:30, but didn't actually get out of bed till 4.
my host mother told me over dinner she thought i might have died. i told her i was studying, and that i couldn't sleep last night, so i read. which isn't exactly entirely untruthful - i consider watching japanese shows to be studying on some level (i'm always making mental notes of words i hear). and then when i was reading well - i was too engrossed in my reading to sleep, so i guess i technically "couldn't sleep." or at least, as much as my less-than-mastery of the japanese language will permit, it was a good explanation.
not that i really needed to sleep anyway. i've been doing that for most of the break. i have quite literally slept through about two days, altho if you want to be technical i have probably slept for 3-4 of the 7 days i have been on break. i noticed i was sleeping more the last few weeks in general - i chalked it up to being sick, and then to being tired of classes, and possibly slightly depressed. and as for this week - i was on break, so 'nuff said. i did get out of the house quite a bit (and even spent the night in a mcdonald's), but for the most part, i did exactly what i wanted to do, which was nothing, and that suited me just fine. of course, it also means i didn't get to do some things that i meant to, like
- finish my skirt, fix my purse and pencil bag
- edit pics/videos
- watch matsu jun with sarah
- figure out my finances
- organize my japanese binder (way too many fricking papers)
- catch up on my miyazawa work
- listen to music/ watch movies.
other highlights of my yasumi
-- i have finally made some progress on getting my financial aid situation fixed. emory apparently decided i didn't need the loan i applied for, which made me very angry/frustrated, esp. cause i have the KCJS people in NY breathing down my neck about their program fee... (long story). but i talked with bethany, sent a frantic email to my advisor, and hopefully things will work out within a week or two.
-- went to a party, read tarot for kyodai students. (you think trying to explain tarot is hard in english? try it in a non-native language) spent halloween night in a mcdonald's. missed my train, walked around the city, had fun. came back and sat outside my house for an hour and a half because i was locked out and didn't want to wake my kaasan (she'd had a stern talk with me a day earlier about my nocturnality and disturbing people when they were asleep. went to bed at 8 am, woke up at 5 pm. went back to bed at 7:30 pm, slept till 10 the next morning. really.
-- went to osaka! hung out with kcjs friends, ate indian food and japanese subway and took pretty pics from the top of a really tall building. post those later...
-- explored kyoto a bit yesterday with nick, went to a cultural fair, was amazed by small children who spoke fluent french and japanese. lost my train pass on the way back, somewhere (yeah, the one that cost $190). was slightly angry at myself.
-- went to an art exhibit at kyoto eki with nick and sarah. ate KFC at teramachi.
-- got lectured by my kaasan about my nocturnality and my otoko-ppoi speech...
-- still being texted by that shiranai kankokujin. only vaguely concerned with actually meeting him again.
i decided i need to explore more of kyoto. i'm hoping to get a bike, perhaps sometime this week, and maybe that will help me get out of the little bubble that i usually exist in. i realized that i don't really go many places except to class, and the weekly teramachi/sanjo visits. and my neighborhood too - i walked around it a bit today when i went to get a coke from the vending machine, and it's pretty cool. there's a playground a block away... my kaasan is worried about me spending so much time in my room, but i explained to her that's what i usually do in my dorm anyway. not that i really have anywhere else to go here - the trains stop around 12, the kaikan isn't always open, and the kyodai library closes at 10 (yeah, i kno - what college library closes at 10? really?)...
