Being Bad and Good

I was bad today. I didn't spend any time on school, and I have SO much to do for the next week.

I went on that third date at the Top of the Rock (where I also checked out the Target Breezeway that one of my college friends designed), and somehow it led to seeing some really good comedy improv at UCB, dinner at Izakaya Ten in Chelsea, and then hanging out backstage at the SNL season premiere live taping!!!

I got to meet Will Arnett (who I loved on Arrested Development and Conan episodes) and Jason Sudeikis (who I've also enjoyed on 30 Rock). And in the halls, I passed by Andy Sandberg, Darrell Hammond, Molly Sims, Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Bob Costas, Chris Rock, and Kanye West!! --Just walkin' around before and after the show. How wacky is that!?

I never realized that Kanye West wasn't that tall. I heard Jay Z and Beyoncé were there too, but I didn't get to see them. It was all very surreal.

When we exited the building, we came out where fans were waiting to see celebs. That was very amusing. I felt a little awkward walking out there, like I was disappointing the fans. Like I wanted to say, "No, I'm not Cameron Diaz or Beyoncé, sorry folks."

But I was good, cuz I could have gone to the after party. But I went HOME so I could study on Sunday. So... I'm sort of responsible? Maybe?

I will definitely have to tag along to the after party another time, especially if Cameron D is hanging out again. I hear she likes to karaoke.

OMG SO MUCH TOY DESIGN WORK

I know how Santa's elves must feel.
This is my schoolwork that I have to do in the next week:

Friday:

• Toy Drawing class: A "playcase" (a toy set carried in a case) with either a Space, Fast Food, Medical Kit, or Doll Set theme, drawn in proper 2-point perspective


• Toy Concept Class: A hand-drawn, finished, full-color, captioned layout board with feature pullouts and logo of an outdoor toy


• Toy Concept Class: 4-6 concept sketches for a vehicle toy

Tuesday:

• Drafting Class: An orthographic precision-tight drawing with labelled measurements (done with an architect's drafting tools)


• Marker-Drawing Class: A large, tightened, finalized, "underlay" line-drawing of a robot in three-quarter view


• Safety & Materials: Midterm on Plastics (Questions like, "Why would one use a Thermoplastic Elastomer versus a Thermoset Plastic?")

Wednesday:

• Developmental Psych: Midterm on 7 chapters of child development

Friday:

• Toy Drawing Class: 2-point perspective drawing with Ellipse guides


• Toy Concept Class: A hand-drawn, finished, full-color, captioned layout board with feature pullouts and logo of a toy vehicle


• Toy Concept Class: Probably 4-6 concept sketches for another toy genre

And after that, I head to L.A. for a wedding for Columbus Day weekend, and then the madness starts all over again.

Plus, a really nice, cute, musician/composer/writer wants to take me out this weekend for our 3rd date, and I don't even know if I have time for that!

Thank goodness I love toys. Sheesh.

Meet the Class of 2009

I really like the diversity among my 15 classmates. I'm also amused that we naturally seated ourselves in demographic groupings. There are 3 rows of tables, which are arranged like so (I'd draw a diagram, but I don't even have Illustrator anymore! Crazy!):

Table 1 (near the front door):
The straight, younger (white and black) dorm guys, plus the quiet, perpetually-headphoned, Chinese girl

Table 2 (center, where I sit):
The Asian (Korean and Chinese) older students, plus the quiet, older white girl

Table 3 (near the back door):
The Hispanic students, & the quiet, older white guy.

(There are three gay guys in the class, one Korean, one white, and one Hispanic. And as far as I know, all the women are straight.)

Luckily, I generally like everyone in my class.

Well, okay, there is this one nosy student, who makes me feel like I'm on a reality show sometimes. If we were on such a show, she would be the highlight of all the commercials, because she ALWAYS has something to say. And everything that comes out of her mouth is vaguely, if not blatantly offensive, insulting, or just kind of crazy. Sadly, she's trying to be funny half the time, and it just comes out sounding insane.

I'm spending the bulk of my waking hours for the next two years with these 15 people, so I'm trying to be patient with the nosy lady, who sits kitty corner from me. She's already joked about inviting herself to my place about three times. I don't know if she realizes I may never be ready to accommodate that request. But I think she's slowly realizing that I'm just tolerating her.

Anyway, today she started getting nosy about my past as a web designer, and so of course she asked me how long I had been working there. I paused, because I realized this would easily give my age away. But then part of me thought that might be fun to surprise the ones who probably thought I was 22. So I said, "Oh, over seven years."

So one of the dorm guys said, "Wow," and paused. And then he said, "So are you like, 25 or something?" And I just laughed and smiled. Either he has his math wrong, or he thinks I've never been to college prior to FIT.

I'm also pleasantly surprised to discover that even the young students totally love the 80s. Sometimes they sound more into it than I am!

One day, we all started reminiscing about favorite cartoons, and luckily they seemed to be mostly the same ones I used to watch, thanks to reruns. And then the 20-year old even said that he and his dorm buddies still watch old cartoons on VHS!! What on earth!? Of course, I am the web-geekiest person in the class, even though I'm the oldest!

And a 22-year old in the class even wears cute 80s dresses everyday. Thanks to her her older sister, she is well-versed in 80s music and pop culture, which is probably why she's the one I'm the closest with in the class. She sometimes plays her music out loud off the computer in class while we're working, and I'm amazed that so many of the classmates will get excited about certain old cheesy 80s songs, and they'll even sing along.

One of the dorm guys asked me if I'd enjoy an Eddie Money concert. I was like, "Wha? What are you doing listening to Eddie Money?" One of the 20-year old guys randomly started singing Wham and later revealed that he loved watching "The Golden Girls" as a kid! And he's straight! Early on, I revealed that I loved karaoke, and ever since then, they've been asking me about when we'll finally go!

One of these days we'll finally go (whenever we miraculously get a break from schoolwork), and I bet it will be CRAZY FUN. They are also talking about going disco-bowling, ice skating, dancing, drinking, and roller skating. My classmates are so cute!

Of course, these activities all just sound like pipe dreams at the moment, because we have a shitload of work due Friday, and next week we have two midterms (one on Chemistry/Plastics, and the other on Developmental Psych), and the week after that, we have a paper due. And I hear our workload will ony get worse. Speaking of which, it's time for bed!

Damn that Hannah Montana

A few of my Californian friends suggested that I keep my age mum as long as possible, to see how long it takes for my FIT classmates to figure it out.

If my classmates realllly wanted to figure it out, it would be very easy to do that by browsing my online profile info from the various social networks. But I guess they're too lazy, not interested enough, or not geeky enough to do that.

Convo #1 from Toy Design class last week:

Classmate A: What karaoke songs did you sing last night?

Me: Hmm. Mostly 80s. Do you remember The Jets?

Classmate A: (--who loves the 80s, thanks to her big sis) Oh yeah, I know them. Which song?

Me: "Make it Real." Wait, no. We did "You Got it All."

Classmate A: (looking confused)

Me: Not "Jet." "The Jets."

Classmate A: Oh. Yeah... I know Jet. The Jets? What's that?

Me: Yeah, you don't know The Jets. That was way before your time. They kinda sounded like Janet Jackson. Big Samoan family of siblings. Good stuff.

Convo #2 from Toy Design class last week:

Classmate A: (listening to her iPod) I looove Hannah Montana.

Me: Who?

Classmate A: You don't know who Hannah Montana is?

Me: Uhh. No.

Classmate A: What?? YOU KNOW who Hannah Montana is.

Me: (pondering this briefly) Umm. No. I'm old.

Classmate B: Wow, you are so honest!

Classmate C: Wait. How old are you?

Me: Heh. Old.

Classmate A: (--who actually knows how old I am) Oh.... but I always think of you like you're 22.

Me: Thanks. Probably because I act it.

Classmate A: Yeah, you do, haha.

Classmate A: (some minutes later) Not that I'm saying you're actually old!

The other thing my Californian friends suggested, was to date some little young'un from my class, apparently qualifying me as a Puma? I hope they were joking, because a good portion of my classmates don't even qualify for the unofficial age rule.

That's right. I have classmates who aren't even legally old enough to drink in this country. Like, maybe I could have been their teacher in junior high. Like, maybe instead of wanting to jump their bones, I want to be pinching their cheeks.

FACE cheeks, people.

Sunday in the Park with Misocrazy

The weather in New York was perfect today! Sunny, warm, with just a little breeze. And I was able to enjoy it in the name of Toy Design research and running errands.

After meeting my cousins and their little daughter for noodles in Chinatown, a block away from my place, we walked to the Columbus Park playground (bizarrely located across from several funeral Shops and one block from the Detention Center), where little Devon got really excited to get on the swings.

Then I went to check out Chelsea Waterside Park (as shown here, with its oddly phallic structures), to research my next homework assignment: designing an outdoor activity toy.

But before I got started on drawing my homework, I had to go shop for much-needed curtains (the windows are so bright in my room, that I can't get myself to sleep in past 8am) and a desk chair, but of course everywhere you go in New York, there are store windows full of cute and stylish items, beckoning you to come in and own them.

I passed a Brooklyn Industries boutique, and there was SO much good cuteness for Fall, I couldn't resist. I bought a dress, a jacket, and a sweater. I figure will need it for the upcoming cold weather!!

I may have to go back and get a bag and a coat later.





I did find some curtains later, plus I scored an $80 discount on my desk chair at The Container Store! It was the last display model of a discontinued chair, and I wanted a newer one, which they didn't have. Also, the sales clerk gave me the huge discount for being "pretty and for being so patient." Hah.

We'll see if the curtains are effective in the morning. I kind of doubt it. Darn. I guess I won't be late to class, but I might start nodding off at my desk again.

Eau de Summer

Aw man, summer's almost OVER! Sad. Here is my ode to summer (created with my Facebook magnetic poetry module):




Now I better get going on those 15 robots I have to draw.

Quickie "I <3 NY" Tidbits

Before I get into my tales of Toy Design school, here are some fun NY moments of the last week:

• Getting asked by Rob Corddry (of "The Daily Show" fame) to watch his laptop at the local Starbucks


• Meeting a tv writer for "30 Rock", a writer of a new book about art & knitting, and a film curator who works for Martin Scorsese, at my cousin's party (The film curator told us about how he sometimes gets mistaken for some kind of celebrity food critic, and it dawned on me that he was, indeed, the doppleganger of Jeffrey Steingarten, who I've often enjoyed watching on "Iron Chef.")


• Getting days off from school for Rosh Hashanah!?


• Karaoke-ing at Winnie's, a funny little dive bar in Chinatown, right around the corner from my apartment. I went with four of my friends, and we realized that we were the only Asians in the whole bar.


• After a late night of drinking and singing at Winnie's, the Crasians wanted to get some food, and somehow we ended up at a "Chinese" restaurant called "69." This was the most Americanized Chinese food I had ever seen, because I could hardly recognize the food choices. One of the Crasians just gave in wholeheartedly and ordered Egg Foo Young & Egg rolls.


• Going to book-signing at a Chelsea Art Gallery, for a book about the new wave of knitting art, where I met a sculptor/part-time E.R. physician who turned out to know my brother from when they worked at the same hospital in Chicago (!?!?)


• My doorman greeting me by saying things like, "If I had a red carpet, I'd lay one out just for you," "It's like a dream come true," and "Did you notice how the lobby got a little brighter when you arrived?"


• Catching up with Dubbledubs and my original ex-boss from the old days of Yahoo!, over food and drink in the East Village. We ate at Momofuku and then drank some more at a hidden little bar called Angel's Share, where I enjoyed a delicious peach-flavored sake, and my ex-boss randomly broke a stem glass (either because he doesn't know his own strength or because he had one drink too many)


• Stumbling upon the Kid Robot store and picking up a "Smery" (stinky tofu) doll.

And as a side note: It turns out that the missing box and magazine rack from my move --they weren't missing at all. I thought the wardrobe box in the hall was my roommate's, but in fact it's mine. Yay!

Happy Rosh Hashanah to me.

OMG, I'm a New Yorker! (Pts. 1 & 2)

As I walk around and sit in the subways of New York, I often think, "Wait, I live here now? For real? Huh." It's been a hectic first three weeks, but also it's been chock full of fun classes, surprises, and general overstimulation.

The moving process is still bothering me, but otherwise I am generally walking around alternating between giddinesss and tiredness. I'm concerned about having enough time to blog while all this is happening, but I'll see what I can do... (Skip Part I if you just want to hear about the good parts)

Part I: Moving continues to suck.

My new apartment lease didn't start until September, so when I arrived in mid-August, I had to share my roommate's old one-bedroom apartment (in Upper East) for two weeks. This meant living out of suitcases and sharing her bed. Luckily she is a tiny person, we get along great, and she has a big, comfy bed.

But then, the long-distance movers called me, to tell me they had my van of stuff, ready to deliver... except they were about a week early! I had to call them to tell them that I'm not at the new place yet, and they can't deliver, because the old tenants were STILL THERE.

So I rescheduled them to deliver on the following Saturday at noon, except they NEVER arrived. I called them repeatedly, and they kept saying they'd call me back... which just were just lies. Finally at 3pm, they called and said they'd show up after 5pm... which my building doesn't allow. I requested to reschedule again preferably for Labor Day.

Then, I moved into the apartment before my stuff arrived. Luckily I ordered a new bed, so I had something nice to sleep on. But classes had already started, and I had no furniture. So I ended up sitting on cardboard, drawing my homework on the floor.

The movers didn't call back to confirm the new delivery time, until Monday morning, when they were 30 minutes away from showing up! I jumped out of bed, threw on some shorts, and frantically ran out of the house to find an ATM so I can pay them the final moving fee. Meanwhile, I had to explain this to the building Super, who hardly spoke any English. But he managed to tell me that moving in requires a $25 fee for them to pad the elevator, and a $300 cash deposit in case of moving damages!! Effing New York condos!

Finally the movers started carrying in all my stuff, which started to make me feel better... until they brought in a whole extra couch. As they started to unwrap it, I said, "Um. That's not mine." To which the Russian dude responded, "You're kidding." "No. That is not my couch. All my items have orange-numbered stickers on them. This couch has a yellow one." It was an ugly couch. And I had no room for extra furniture. This is New York, people. So they took the godawful couch away.

And a few days ago, I realized that I am missing a magazine rack and a whole wardrobe box!! --and that's just the part I noticed! I'll be giving the movers a call tomorrow.

FYI, I used a company called Lightning Van Lines. Don't ever use them.

Part II: Let the Good Times Roll

I've been warned that the Toy Design program would be so intensive, that I'd have no life outside of school. It has actually been compared to medical school, if you can believe that. (Also, they are strict on attendance, and they don't tolerate tardiness. I panicked slightly at hearing this, because I'm still getting used to NY subways, and I got spoiled as a web designer, where I rarely had to show up at work before 10am.)

Luckily, my wonderful New York friends (Dubbledubs & Linda, also recent Cali-transports,) wasted no time in getting me out of the house to enjoy some city entertainment, before FIT sucks my life away. I started off easy (as I was tired from the recent road trip), with seeing a couple movies. If you haven't seen Superbad, you really have to. Right away.

So anyway, for my first Saturday in New York, they planned a jam-packed belated-birthday celebration, which included:

• Joining a gang of "Crasian"* California-NY transports for tasty hotdogs and overpriced Coke at a Dodgers-Mets game at Shea Stadium (Luckily tix were only $5)


• Stopping in Queens for tequila shots, food, and dancing at PS1, a contemporary art center (and an extension of MoMA) -where they have enormous, jam-packed, crazy outdoor rave parties on Saturdays in the summer


• Singing and lychee martinis with old and new friends at Karaoke One-Seven, by Union Square, where I had my first red-velvet cake--delicious!


• Dancing the night away with a major cutie, at a ridiculously loud dance club in the meatpacking district (with the biggest disco ball I've ever seen) and meeting one of the guys from Thievery Corporation!?

*"Crazy Asians," as my friend Jeff likes to call us, fondly, not to be mistaken with those delicious Craisins

I had so much fun, I couldn't sleep that night. And this was all before classes even began!

Speaking of which, I should get to bed for my morning class in Anatomy and Figure Drawing. Stay tuned next time, for Adventures in Toy Design School!