new years resolutions...kind of

it's never too late. these are the things i think of most everyday, my informal new years resolutions...4.5 months after the official new year. they probably sound just small, but they're things i'm really actively working on and trying really hard to do...
- be a better friend
- be more selfless, less selfish
- share more: emotional, mental, items, insights, what have you. includes both give and receive.
- to go for it, whatever it is
- be outdoors and active more
- eat more apples, bananas. they're pretty much the only fruits i eat, and i'm finding the benefits of reaching for one of those if i'm wanting a snack.
- watch what i say. i'm a jr high leader now and i remember how i would latch onto a phrase my leaders would say, sometimes write it down, and i need to make sure what i'm telling the girls, or boys, is really what i want them to be learning from me.

'try to catch me ridin dirrrrty'

it's really silly when people quote rap songs. it just tickles my fancy.

i finished my painting... i think her skin looks too dark (as i was painting i thought people would think it was rick james.) classmates said her hair was too dark. this scanned copy is more gracious than the actual one, i think.


next project: we're making a collaborative color wheel with a partner. our color is red. brainstorm: RED. primary. child playthings. tomato, apple, coca cola. firetrucks.. any suggestions are welcome. as the teacher was introducing this, i wanted to tell her about the multicolor search lab but we're not allowed to use computer print outs. maybe i'll bring it up anyway.. eep gotta jet to biological anthro! got a movie to watch! it may be dull and flashback to horrible biology memories sometimes, but at least i get credit for going to the zoo!! and i loooovve my giraffes!

betsey johnson

next art project: using Shepard Fairey's art (man behind Andre the giant stickers, Obama Hope poster and so much other work) as inspiration, create a propaganda painting using words in a similar fashion. i decided to pick betsey johnson, crazy fashion designer, as mine.

this is my prototype:

i'm halfway done using transfer paper (allowed) then it should be like fill in the blanks but we can only use black and white paints and matching the shades of gray might be brutal.

it's worth it because its betsey johnson, woman behind my junior prom dress and graduation dress,



breast cancer survivor, and, c'mon you have to give props to a woman that's over 60 that does a cartwheel at the end of every fashion show.


i could go into a lot more detail about why i think she's great, but i there's a burger calling my name and i should be on the computer less...

whenever i write a paper

my brain feels like it is going to explode. if you've ever seen butterfly effect, when ashton kutcher is getting a new batch of memories delivered into his brain there's this crazy camera angle and sounds like his cranium must be expanding and hurting. so it's kinda like that. i also seem to wait till the last day, but so far in my essay writing career beginning in maybe 7th grade, it's the only way i can do it. all the thoughts that have been swimming around my brain for the last week finally got all out on paper, or at least electronically for now. i even got to reference this HILARIOUS book i've been wrapped up in.

Youth In Revolt. nearly 500 pages. i read it in 8 days. pretty dirty but SO funny. some of the words i really don't know but can get the gist of it. i stumbled upon it one day when i got off babysitting extremely early and decided to reward the afternoon with a mini-shopping spree. one friend is already reading it and another is lined up after that. so if that isn't a testament to its greatness... well, you'll just have to see for yourself.

and lastly, i just finished my most recent art project. the theme was texture and creating a pattern with words. we had to find a gift under $5 (white elephant goes artsy) and create a single cell that we would then repeat that gives clues to what the gift is. this is mine:




guess it.
got to be going to eat some of the 15 random slab of meat my dad got in exchange for some office furniture (his business).

art scmart

for our first project in 2D design, we had to pick an object and draw it 6 times using different line styles. the first was to mimic the space devoid of the object, then slowly it appears and the final image is to be the most realistic. so the progression was supposed to be as follows: implied, lost and found, contour, gestural, calligraphic, and hatching or cross hatching

i got marked down, rightfully so, because i colored in the middle 2 glasses and the last 4 look just about the same.. i was pretty bummed about it but now i know.

and for the second project, as i mentioned in the previous one, we had to make a picture that could possibly be a tattoo (with some adjustments) that represented us. i came up with this and everything is described in the photo below it (click to enlarge, obv)




yup! that's about it so far...

bad day

gloomy. moody. unpredictable. unusual.
for some reason i'm in a really bad mood today. i felt it from the moment i woke up. even though i had a funny dream and days after stuff like that i'm good, today i wasn't. any conversation i had with anyone was just off and i was short with people. and it feels uncontrollable.. and while i'm sorry for if i was mean to anyone, i'm not necessarily apologetic for having this mood. i definitely don't like it but 'off' days may just have some sort of purpose...



annnd that's the basis for my art project. we have to incorporate things that represent us, future, past or present. it's going to get a lot more intricate but i'm excited.

the rebel sell

article: The Rebel Sell - Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter

I had to read this article for my english class and it's pretty interesting. It talks about American consumerism, how we're all SO tired of it but we still add and add to the problem. It mentions that, in the 1990s,

Anti-consumerism has become one of the most important cultural forces in millennial North American life, across every social class and demographic... [But look at] the non-fiction bestseller lists. For years they’ve been dominated by books that are deeply critical of consumerism: No Logo, Culture Jam, Luxury Fever and Fast Food Nation.

It uses examples from Fight Club and American Beauty. I didn't read all of it before class, so when my teacher asked "Who here doesn't care about brands?" and I was the only one who put up my hand, I knew something was wrong. He went into discussing a part of the article that says:

Of course, most sophisticated people claim that they don’t care about brands—a transparent falsehood. Most people who consider themselves “anti-consumerist” are extremely brand-conscious. They are able to fool themselves into believing that they don’t care because their preferences are primarily negative. They would never be caught dead driving a Chrysler or listening to Celine Dion.

And immediately I knew he was right. Not that I consider myself 'sophisticated' by any means but I know about brands, ones that are "good" and ones that are "bad," which are subjective to how I see them and the people around me impact that too. I know which are typical American designers and how to pronounce the European ones so I don't accidentally make a fool of myself.. I have a fixation on Betsey Johnson clothes and think they're some of the best, most eclectic things I've ever seen, besides couture things that aren't made to be worn in real life. Especially in vintage or second-hand store situations, I know what labels shouldn't be there and don't qualify as vintage. I know what 'kind' of people wear Ed Hardy and my friends and I joke about never being caught in such ugly things.

But it's interesting that this week that I've been learning and thinking about this, I also got a new assignment for my 2D design class loosely based on the history of Don Ed Hardy. I'll be honest- I never knew it was a real guy. What do you expect in a world where Ruehl 925, a Abercrombie sister store, makes up a story about the store's name stemming from a fictional German family living in Greenwich Village, NY? Anyway, we watched a video on the history of this SoCal guy that included drawings he did as a child, pen tattoos on he did on neighborhood kids, that he turned down a full art scholarship to yale (yeah, YALE), how he became famous for bringing Japanese tattoo ideas to America (at a time only sailors and I guess hookers were getting them) such as full back art, and he's now retired from tattoo art to focus on fine art and in 2000 completed a FIVE HUNDRED foot long painting called 2000 Dragons. Needless to say I was impressed by this guy and it changed my impression of the brand, the label Ed Hardy. So what if a certain KIND of people wear his clothes and maybe don't know who he is either. They don't reflect the artist behind it.

Basically, this week I've been thinking about 'labels,' may it be on clothing or people. They're useful for identifying things but they don't define them.


If you want to watch the video on Don Ed Hardy, who's a pretty cool guy, here's the one I saw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9gGbJ9J-cA