raining raining raining

I like waking up to the rain. I just don't like walking to all my classes in it.

Drawings from Dr. Sketchy's and my To-do's for this week :)

Lion Dance!

So today for China Care we did a lion dance for the kids! They were pretty scared.. Emma wouldn't even let me hold her after I had taken off the costume. :( I was the butt. Now more Nash Equilibrium? Game theory and housing drama?

hot date with the city

Wonderful date with the city yesterday. It always energizes me. I bought my first leather mini skirt at Banana Republic (identical to the one my mom played mini golf in with my dad in the 80s only it's black not red). Emmanuel approved. We walked and walked through Central Park and finally bailed for a taxi to Alice's Teacup (Snigdha has been telling me to go all year). SHE WAS RIGHT. Alice's Teacup is amazing. Quaint and the best cupcake I've ever put into my mouth. And there have been many. It was banana nut with cream cheese frosting. If heaven doesn't have banana nut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting I don't think I want to go there. Next for me was Dr. Sketchy's. There I sat for three hours sketching a beautiful burlesque dancer. It's too bad pasties are never acceptable outside of strip clubs. This one is really a never. They were wonderful though-- her boobs had little spinning tails! It was an interesting crowd, drinking and drawing in the afternoon. I think a few guys were there just to pickup the creative ladies. They spent more time at the bar than drawing. Every so often the ring master would switch it up and we'd draw with our left hands or make the model into a circus animal. I won the contest for impossibly erotic drawing. There was confetti bursting from between the model's legs. It actually got a "WTF" out of Molly Crabapple, without the acronym. Emmanuel and I met so many people in the city today. New Yorkers get such a bad rap, I've always found them extremely helpful and courteous. So many great subway conversations. I even got asked for my number. I was relieved. It's just Yale. Boobs are still in vogue in other parts of the world. Thank God. Actually they were never in Vogue. The models are too damn skinny.

Beautiful Friday

Watching. Reading. Figuring things out. I guess that's not an entirely terrible way to spend my days at Yale. Actually, it's usually enjoyable. Emmanuel and will be adventuring in New York tomorrow-- Tim Burton and Marina Abramovic at MOMA, life drawing at Dr. Sketchy's, Magnolia's cupcakes something in there along with more galleries and an architecture exhibit. I love the rush I get every time I get out the train in the city. Even before that when we go through the tunnel and I know it's time to put my knitting away and get ready for the craziness that is Grand Central Station. It seems like anything could happen. And it does. Like the Senegalese men that appear on the street with umbrellas just as it starts to rain. A mermaid day parade? The naked cowboy?

I can't wait.

The real cardio

Sudler coming along...


hahahaha


Ran 7 miles in the morning. Human Emotion test. Went to an awesome event with the CEO of Learnvest. Decided to start my own business. Ran 2 more. Thought about buying a cute froggy umbrella (made for little kids) online. Ate seaweed rice crackers. Wore sunglasses and leopard print coat with running shorts to jump Dahlia in Bass.

Three little birds, Sat on my doorstep

Illustration for a Lady Gaga/Taylor Swift piece in the YDN today.




Went to bed really early because I just didn't feel like working. Woke up to a toothache at 6. Waiting for advil to kick in while reading Nine Billion Names of God and The Whole Earth Catalogue. Those crazy hippies.

Last night at tutoring my regular kid was sick so I worked with someone else. Seven years of attitude and baggy jeans. So cute and such a deep voice. He didn't want to read though. I found the bloodiest, goriest book I could find (about sharks) and we started reading.

Taking pictures with the Holga. Carrying it with me.

I get lonely painting in the studio. Been running again. Seeing friends. Studying for this Human Emotion exam at 9. Made up funny acronyms with Baby Cheese.

All you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be

I love what Cristina got me in PR!

More painting last night. Cleaner. More organized.



And Sniggie is back with tales of the Middle East, olive oil soap, and Turkish Delights. I think breaks are always good for roommate relationships. I'm having fun taking pictures with my Holga. There's lots of masking tape involved. Oh, and I broke my wisdom teeth no solids rule for some Dulce de Leche girl scout cookies.... they were so cute, how could I resist? The weather in New Haven continues to spoil us. Gorgeous. I am so grateful for this weather. I think we all have seasonal affective disorder to some extent...

And so it goes

Started a new painting today. Worked on it for 4 hours where I literally didn't think about anything else. I love activities like painting where your focus is so intense it's like you're meditating. I decided I hated the mermaid-birthing painting and needed to start anew. Now there are horses. And strawberry milkshake cows. Still flying eyes.



Still on the three meals of froyo/day diet.

The oil paint doesn't come off in the shower. Even with soap. My hands will be green for days.

Your feet flyin' up in the airrr

Got a little paint mustache on my lip (it's green)

'cause I been painting! Mermaid giving birth. Self portrait of sorts.

Annnd I feel special 'cause Emmanuel, George, Gabe, and Eric all came at some point during the night to sit and talk to me while the magic happened. :D

In other news, I went to see an oral surgeon in New Haven today. New Haven ghetto. There was a man on the street next to the office sitting on his porch holding a massive snake. I played it cool. And walked realll fast. Wisdom teeth are infected. Taking antibiotics and sticking to a strict diet of yogurt and frozen yogurt. Getting bored. Might try jello.

The weather is beautiful. The birds are chirping. I feel like I have Yale to myself for a few days at least. ..

Let's live it up

I went on a little adventure in Williamsburg today and found some treasures! Inspired by Kate Bingaman-Burt of Obsessive Consumption, I drew my purchases:

I also volunteered myself to draw a “steampunk dinosaur” for the WYBC (Yale Radio) Zine yesterday. I had to look up a definition for steampunk on Wikipedia.

Are we human or are we dancers?

Despite having four massive wisdom teeth cut from my mouth this morning I feel fantastic. It's not the drugs, those wore off hours ago. Apparently though, I was laughing and asking why they threw my teeth away because I wanted to make a necklace with them HAHA. Looking at my own life, I can see that circumstances don't affect our happiness level too much. Feel loved does though! Sirius Black was my nurse all day licking my feet and laying next to my couch nest. About an hour after getting home I felt well enough to send in a couple freelance writing applications for while I'm in Shanghai.



Then I read half of Zen Flesh Zen Bones for my East Asian Lit class. Love it. I'm also really getting into Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Matinence. I relate to it a lot. This book and into the wild make me want to get a motorcycle when I'm out of college and ride across the country (or maybe another country?) My mom wouldn't like to hear this. On another note, she says every time I come home she will be conducting naked full body scans for tattoos and piercings. I won't write here what she told me she would do if she found such an offensive design.

There is something to being outside. Having no barriers to partition you off from nature. I feel like nothing could shake my peace of mind as if I'd say, "Is that so?" and keep running. Speaking of running-- I've still got the marathoner in me! I have an amazing ability to pull long miles out of my butt when I haven't been training. Fast too. But only in the right mood. I ran two or three quick miles to start the morning yesterday and met up with my old marathon training club (The Omaha Marathon Training Clinic) later in the evening. I ran with Ken and Susan and we covered about six miles. We talked about the CIA and secret agents. I forgot how much I loved running. Maybe I can try to change my mindset and run not because it's good for me but because I love it?

[photo from my very first Half-Marathon in Brownville, NE on the Fourth of July... it was very flat!]

you gotta let me go
are we human or are we dancer
my sign is vital, my hands are cold
and I’m on my knees looking for the answer
are we human or are we dancer
[The Killers]

Oh, and I forgot to mention-- I had the most amazing steak on this planet last night while I could still eat solid foods!

Puppy Love!

Sirius Black protects me from mountain lions.


Oh, and I've decided that in my future life I will have a cat named Dharma and a big dog named Baozi. Doesn't that sound like a wonderful life? I wonder where we'll live. Hmm. Taos? San Francisco? Shanghai? Barcelona?

The happiness project

So I'm watching "Ultimate Fighting" now with my Dad which he claims started in Council Bluffs 20 years ago. Basically there are no rules-- you just beat the shit out of each other and see who passes out first. He wants to be a contestant? Mom is playing Farmville. Dirty jokes are being exchanged, which I try to ignore or pretend I don't understand.

I took a massive car full of clothes to the Salvation Army. So much more room in my closet.

Found out Ariel has the full Adobe suite so I'm playing with Photoshop and Illustrator.

I'm reading The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky for a Psych paper I'm working on. Apparently 50% of our happiness potential is determined by a genetic set point while the rest is unaccounted for. She estimates only 10% is determined by circumstances. So beauty, power, wealth only makes us happy for a short period of time before we return to our set point. Guess I won't bother with plastic surgery. It's interesting because I've always been told-- you get this, do this, and then you'll be happy. I suppose we wouldn't have an economy if the consumers were all Buddhist monks.

Also reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for another class.

It's always hard readjusting to the pace of life back home. I've forgotten how I used to spend my time. Just carried chicken feed and walked up to the barn with Mom. Put the donkeys in the barn. Pet the kitties. I love the smell of the barn. Mom has so many ducks right now. Apparently, big paw prints and growls have confirmed the presence of a young male mountain lion on our property. This could make my runs more interesting.

In other news, I'm already really looking forward to Shanghai. I looked up a running club and a cycling group. And a salsa group. I'm really excited about being there for the Expo.

And me I've been a longtime gone.

The dogs at this house have it made.


It's so nice to come home after a while. Getting food out of the refrigerator. Watching Friends. Bubble baths. Momma's cooking. Gossip. Drama. All the old haunts.

Approaching the hinterland

[Roy Lichtenstein]

I've always loved his work. If the hula dancer in a snow globe doesn't work for Halloween next year I could paint red dots all over myself and be one of the girls from his comic prints. Bingo.

Main Entry: hin·ter·land
Pronunciation: \ˈhin-tər-ˌland, -lənd\
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from hinter hinder + Land
Date: 1890

1 : a region lying inland from a coast
2 a : a region remote from urban areas b : a region lying beyond major metropolitan or cultural centers

Tune in tonight at WYBCX.com (the Yale radio station) to hear George and I talk about porn. The call-in number is listed on the page. Cheers!

Everything

Check out Zhuo Danting, the most famous tattoo artist in Shanghai (probably in China). I want to find something to do that makes me as happy as this seems to make her. Very cool.

so I'm still looking... I can't wait to be back in China this summer.

[Gummy Bear Chandelier via Fun by Design]... and I thought I was creative when I made a clock out of Barbie shoes ^_^

HAHAHA


And I couldn't resist sending in a logo idea for the "Cancer Sucks" campaign. Tehe.

Perfectly competitive firms

I just ate a pear. It made me think of City of Angels when Seth asks what a pear tastes like. Grainy.


And, econ is boring. His jokes are really bad.
.
.
.


Cover illustration I did today for Scene. The article is about sororities at Yale. Inspiration= Edward Gorey.

金のうんち

Yale is so pretty in the winter time.

Yalies are funny.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the naked snow mermaid they had on the women's table a few weeks ago...

Random, but I was thinking about Tokyo's golden turd last night.

The locals also call it the ‘unchi biru’ (poop building). Actually, it’s not poop but golden beer foam (or gold flame) that is rising up from the black beer hall which represents a beer mug. The flame/foam/turd is made of submarine-quality welding of hi-test stainless steel and weighs around 300 tons.

It looks like a turd to me. I used it as a landmark as I wandered around Asakusa. I guess the golden poop left an impression on me. I miss Tokyo. I want to live in a monastery and eat sushi three meals a day. Please.

How about remembering your divinity?

Loverly-but-too-short dinner with my most handsome boyfriend, Emmanuel. He's a fabulous artist. Note to grandma: I use the term boyfriend loosely. :)



Tutoring at New Haven Reads was fun today. Peter and I bonded over a heated game of chess-- so adorable. Helped WanWan make a video for her film class with some really terrible acting about a cookie fight. Doing the YDN scene cover illustration this week- 3 sorority chicks towering over 180 rushies. It's going to be great. Ran into Connie at Publick Cup on the way back and procrastinated some more. I'm trying to get her booty in Shanghai for the summer. Presently sleeping on Dahlia's couch for the second night in a row... this happens so frequently. We just skyped Jenny and Jasmine and made a resolution to reunite in Beijing ever summer. Just seeing their smiling faces made me want baozi. And a Beijing cabbie. Ahh the smells are coming back to me. Oh, 中国。我想你！

And I'm loving my English class. And my Prof. And his glasses.