I can hardly wait for these films:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Dec. 21)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jan. 20, 2012)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

The Great Gatsby (Dec. 25/26, 2012)

They are all adapted from novels.

You definitely need to read at least the last three books, if not also The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (though this one isn't exactly for the faint of heart).

mixtape for a blue mood

Snakehips

i-DJ: Snakehips by i-D online

exercise: big bass

Three things you might want to know about this (and me):

1. I created this as an exercise. Just like how people practice instruments and sports, I practice with typography and design.
2. I love wordplay and I love it when I can incorporate it into designs.
3. Someone told me I had a big ass today/has told me many times...I swear that I don't. 

Also, I really wish there existed a jazz duo on the double bass named Big Bass so they could use this as their cover art or something...

pre-project

Idea 1

Idea 2

I like taking the initiative to experiment and "doodle" around with graphics and stuff. I've figured out some techniques that I'll want to incorporate in my next project.

These are some of the experimental pieces/rough drafts I worked on today.

[mixtape] sweet november pt. 1

This week has been good in terms of music discovery, so I thought I'd share because everyone ought to give these a listen.

Work Drugs - "Flying Zambo"
  Flying Zambo by Work Drugs
I love the guitar riffs and the dope sound. It just occurred to me that many chillwave and lo-fi groups have a very similar sound (the same goes for groups of any genre really), and not everyone can produce something catchy. I probably listened to a hundred different songs this week, many of which are chillwave-y/lo-fi, but only a few groups and songs stood out to me. Work Drugs' sound is fantastically catchy and noice.

Craft Spells - "After The Moment"
 After the Moment by CraftSpells

The Whitest Boy Alive - "Inflation"
 The Whitest Boy Alive - Inflation by cocamix
I would recognize Erlend Øye’s voice anywhere--I love it. He is the vocalist of Kings of Convenience, too.

Weird Dreams - "Joan"
 joan // weird dreams by sexmusic

Cloud - "Turning"
 Cloud - Turning by rjcf
Heard this in the bookstore when I was visiting the arts program at VCU. I don't think I'd ever heard of it before. This was made in the early 2000s. Amazing. It reminded me of Clazziquai Project (favorite Korean group of all-time) and their house phase.

Here's a song to kick off your weekend:
Class Actress - "Weekend"
 Weekend by Class Actress

And I've been obsessively listening to my favorite shoegaze band, The Radio Dept.
The Radio Dept. - A Window

Note to a few.

the end

Work Drugs - Flying Zambo

  Flying Zambo by Work Drugs

project hap (1-3)

Remember how I told you that I'd be doing a mixed media project involving graphic design, photography, and haikus about people?

Yeah, it's actually happening. I have made three hap (haikus-about-people) posts already. Here they are:

hap #1: mum 
whenever she walks,
she brings a cool breeze with her,
and away she goes.


hap #2: Clementine*
Cuando contigo,
Siempre espero que
Habrá una vez más.
(It’s not perfect, but it’s the truth.)

hap #3: Untitled, a series of three

1.
今天是阴天，
我等了你这么久，
但你都没来。

2.
Fell asleep in class,
I dreamt of you and your smile,
Why do you haunt me?

3. Explanation
Hoy, yo escribí
Dos poemas para ti
Porque te amo.


I'm welcome to all graphic/design ideas since I'm designing these into square posters.

Also, I'm not sure how long this project will go on.

Maybe it'll go on forever because I love everyone I write about and I write about them because I love them.

discovery of Nov. 5

The oxeye daisy is also commonly known as the love me not flower.

愛 vs. 爱

Though I have learned simplified Chinese for the majority of my life, I started off and set my foundations in traditional Chinese. One of the few things I retained from the traditional form is the character for the word love: 

愛

That’s how you would write it traditionally, and that’s how I still write it—interspersed in a sea of simplified characters. I grew up thinking that the complexity of the word in its original form was beautiful—far more beautiful than its simplfied counterpart, 爱. 

Love is complex and complicated.

please wear this on your sleeve

NOV. 3
How can I be expected to mask unhappiness?