The Foreign Exchange at Yoshi's SF

Great night!

Loyal Friends

This is my roomie until Bryan gets home from Hawaii. We've been taking several walks around the neighborhood and parks. I'm happy I can at least run a mile with this guy (he's not much of a walker/runner). He's a bit of a bother when he growls at the dogs outside or feel anxious to wander outside but I suppose he's still good fun otherwise. =)

He's grown so much and still an adorable puppy (to me)!

Jax barking at Biggie

Marcus' cute pup, Jax!

Opening Photography Reception at Koji Sake Lounge

Preparing my photos for the exhibit

Over the past year, in my opinion, I’ve captured some notable photographs while traveling throughout SE Asia and the Pacific with my first DSLR, the Nikon D40. I love that I have these moments accessible to me to remind me of the amazing things that have happened over the past year and all of its grandeur. Lara and I always manage to find each other reminiscing or linking each other pictures of certain events and laughing/tearing/squealing about them.

A year ago, I had a dream that I hosted a photography show. I often found myself dreaming about different things, then contemplating about them weeks later and outlining a proactive plan to pursue these dreams (depending if these dreams seem attainable at that time… some days, I don’t pay attention to them much, others I hysterically obsess over) this one, being one of them. I knew who to contact and I knew what tools I needed to execute this. But slowly thereafter, especially upon my return, my motivation to pursue declined significantly. I think I just got comfortable like we usually do, allowing aspirations to slowly slip from the potential of our fingertips. It wasn’t until after I went out to one of our favorite lounges in downtown San Jose when interest sparked again in the form of bicycle photographs mounted on their walls. I thought, “I could do this, too!” I got up the courage to speaking with a few of their managers, exchanged contacts and a few days later I submitted an online portfolio. Shortly after a few exchanged e-mails, a scheduled date to hang up my photos went into effect. I decided I wanted to give a little more meaning to this small exhibit and have the photos sold for a $10-20 where 100% of the purchases go directly to Isara.

I had my opening reception on the 21st of last month and invited a few friends to come celebrate with me. The night turned out well, I’m not quite sure if I sold any that night (or at all?) since all transactions go through the lounge. I’m hoping I did. If not, I’m still planning on giving back somehow and definitely proud to be able to exhibit my work. I’m very thankful to be able to accomplish something and being able to say, “it was always something I wanted to do”. People tend to be modest of their accomplishments but I absolutely believe that celebrating small victories are essential to a healthy and happy self-esteem and what better way to do that than with a little sake? Hehe.

Here’s a few photos from the reception:






Thanks for coming, everyone!

Sketch Tuesdays at 111 Minna

I've always seen myself as an arts enthusiast. I'm not exactly artistically-inclined, but of course very few people can say that statement with confidence. It seems that with art, many feel restricted or pressured into abiding by the rubrics of what is deemed as art (like symmetry, depth of field, popular aesthetics, proper shadowing, etc.) but really, art to me is about expression and finding beauty when not a single soul in the world could understand what the hell it is you are trying to express. Ah, but then again... art is such an ambiguous thing.

In reference to art, a few friends of mine attended an event called Sketch Tuesdays at 111 Minna gallery yesterday. This event is held every 3rd Tuesday of the month and such a sensational space to be in. Sketch Tuesdays is essentially an event to gather art-enthusiasts, several in attendance from the neighboring Academy of Art students and other SF natives into one space to give birth to creative energy. 111 Minna also invites a panel of local artists to showcase and paint their pieces. Another awesome thing is that they allow the general public to sell their pieces as well.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

My water color painting (right) & Bryan's (left)

I managed to sell my impromptu piece that I made there for $5 that night!

The quote that I had written is from Max Ehrmann,

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Sister Kate (Belly-dancing Burlesque dancers)

Live models were also in attendance for people to sketch.

Art posted for sale

My medium of choice: Water Colors

Erin McCarty

Bryan's creation

The guys

Sketches

That's all for now!

Blogger is revamped!

I can't believe I've gone this long without writing. Something that I've always told myself to do whenever I begin to feel restless or idle is to write. Write about anything and everything. At times, these thoughts lay buried under the thick layer of anxiety from everyday life, breaking threshold, and struggling to resurfacing to my journal or this nifty free webspace. My thoughts have been scattered all over planes of electronic hosts, but I feel like I always seem to return to Blogspot. Today must have been the day the universe spoke to me, re-centering myself and steering me back to this blog that I've left neglected for so long during a random morning scanning of my dashboard on Tumblr. And what do you know, blogger is re-vamped, too!

I've come back to writing in this blog for a few reasons:

1. I didn't quite reflect on my trip as thoroughly as I'd like to
2. I'd like to update a few of my overseas pals and extended readers (if any, anymore?) the goings-on of my life as well as allowing this blog to serve my memory proper documentation and my lingering sanity the well needed venting-space it deserves
3. I just miss writing in general and I don't like writing in the tumblr's Text field for some neurotic reason.
4. I support all mediums of expression.

Time has definitely moved at incredible speed. I can't believe it's already summer. Lara and I had lunch yesterday and we've come to the agreement (time and time again) that our time overseas was sadly, too short. We miss the kids from Isara, Kirk & Ming, the strangers turned to friends we reminisce amount every time we see one another and just the overall experience of vagabonding. I sometimes find myself melancholic about this, but I try to remind myself that I can no longer live in the past, wishing that I had stayed longer or done more because I truly (...again, trying to remind myself) believe that it was time well spent and just enough to help us grow and keep humble. If anything, I should be thankful instead of sad about these events because it was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

Where am I today? These days, you can either find me working to save up for graduate school (Yes! I got in!), which I will be attending in the fall. Although I've fallen back into the patterns of a 9-5 job in corporate, I still see the light in this grind-time. You know, planting the seeds to reap your ideals of wealth (that's not the exact euphemism, but you get what I mean...). It has always been important to me to develop a sense of independence and strength through supporting myself financially as I've learned from the womyn before me and so by really working towards this masters, I really want to be able to give more significance to it than ever, both academically and financially.

Aside from working, I've been practicing yoga and training for a half marathon (13.1 mi.) taking place in the fall-- September 5th, to be exact! I'm definitely not that fast if you're thinking I'm some 5"2 road runner. In fact, I hold only about a 13-minute/ per mile speed. I'm doing this as a personal goal of mine to test my discipline and who knows, maybe next year might be a marathon! Over the past two years, my health has become tremendously important to me. I don't know at what point over those two years has triggered this, but I just simply choose to take care of myself more mindfully.

In a variation of other news, I think growth is a perfect topic to shed light on in this summary of my life. I sometimes have a difficult time expressing this to friends since we both are at different speeds of growth in our own personal lives so I never really leave these conversations completely satisfied. Then, the sometimes neurotic over-analyst and zen in me reminds me that I should rely on other people to make me think or feel a specific way. It's all semantics, I know.

Anyway, my thoughts are escaping; more updates to come!

New Yoooooooorrrrk!

Ah, it's happening again! This habit of beginning something and finding absolutely no time to continue it/following through. It is time to resurrect this blog once more and post a quick entry about a recent trip to I took to New York with Bryan shortly after I returned from my travels overseas.

In terms of traveling with another person or group, I often find myself challenged with the idea of compatibility and judgement. Thankfully, in the past few trips I have made out of the country and state, I've been lucky enough to be paired/grouped with people whom I can ACTUALLY travel with. Last summer, I went to Japan with some good friends, Jenny, Frank, Nar & Bryan. Just recently, with Lara overseas and to New York with Bryan. Finding the appropriate people whom you can travel with is essential to your overall experience away from home. I seriously would not be able to survive with people who are constantly negative or time maximizers (i.e. non stop and smell the roses people-- it is so important to live in the moment at all times)

With this trip to New York, Bryan and I didn't exhaust ourselves by crunching every minute of our time doing something, I felt like the New York environment filled those passing moments we weren't seeing something monumental--- it was Bryan's first time anyway and I'd been there 2 times already before, just being with him for the first time was enough for me.

Here are just a few highlights from our trip:

• Watched a Broadway musical, Wicked
• Times Square wandering
• Eating the best Artichoke pizza!
• Max Brenner's restaurant
• Serendipity
• SoHo Shopping
• Drinking out of a 1ltr glass boot & Bryan out of a 2 ltr, which btw I had to pay a $60 deposit on because previous customers were constantly breaking these finely crafted boots!
• New York MOMA Tim Burton exhibit (this man is a genius!)
• JFK passtiming
• People watching
• Resisting relentless weather
• Metro riding
• Falling in love with the energy here
• Enjoying my time with Bryan

There is seriously an abundant amount of things to do in New York, not just one weekend or a few days would suffice all your aspirations to see what a typical New Yorker would experience and everything it has to offer. A trip back in autumn or mid spring would be amazing, for the reason that the weather would cooperate much better and just the excitement of being outdoors. The rain was absolutely relentless during this time of year that we went; it was pouring 2 out of the 4 days we were there. I could not believe it!

One moment I can vividly remember as I was people watching was when both vision and audio of the live film I was viewing before my eyes immediately transformed into a silent film.... watching people pass, tourists taking pictures of one another, runners jogging past, pets obediently walking through large crowds, business drones walking steadfast through the hustle and Bryan recording Times Square's electricity. It was one of those moments where I felt entirely touched to be somewhere, feeding off the air and feel absolutely elated to be living in that exact moment. I now understand why they made that shirt, I Love New York.

Anyway, sorry for the dry blog update...I'm trying to get back into writing again and let me tell you, it's quite a challenge. I'll try to progressively give more life into this blog. I think I'll keep this thing, after all...

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Resurrection

I promise to come corrected with a lengthy re-cap of my experience. It's fascinating to have this webspace after such a long journey and still be able to return to these feelings that I've experienced.

In a nutshell:

• I'm slowly but surely assimilating back into American life and filing back into the grind of good ol' corporate life. Bleh.
• Back with the bf.
• Training for a 1/2 marathon.
• Working on getting into grad school (just waiting on acceptance letters I hope-- if not, Americorps is on my agenda in replacement).
• Living back home with the folks.
• Opting out of a carnivorous diet.
• Continuing to stay grounded and humbled by this amazing experience.

I promise I'll update this thing as soon as I have some time on my hands. I swear if I didn't have to wake up at 7 am every morning to work a corporate job in order to save up to pay for a year and half's worth of grad school I would write everything in my heart at this moment.