Yay for Snow Days!

Last weekend, I had my first snow day! –meaning, school gets cancelled because it's too snowy and cold outside! That was a novel thing for a Californian like me. I got to stay in my PJs all day and watch the pretty snow fall outside. And I even enjoyed the snow on my windowsill, even if it only really lasted for a few hours.

Of course I also had to take advantage of the snow days for some much-needed rest and play time. Friday night, I went to dinner and an avant garde John Zorn concert with my cousins. The show started with a quartet, including a harpist, vibraphone player, electric guitar, and double bass. It was a little reminiscent of Combustible Edison's lounge music, or a sort of retro tropicalia sound with a touch of surf rock, which I quite liked. The vibraphone player was very animated and had hair like The Muppets' Beaker, which made him especially entertaining.

The second part involved Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson (credited in the show as "The Lovers," which apparently they are in real life) reciting romantic Jewish poetry with a chorus of four women as accompanied music. That was really unusual and interesting, but for some reason, I hate to admit: I got super sleepy. Maybe it was the low, soothing quality of their voices. At the end of the show, I saw Lou Reed standing about three feet away from me as we left the theater lobby! Afterwards, we went to Good World, (a Swedish bar/restaurant) where I enjoyed an Elderberry cocktail and way too much dessert.

When I thought the night was over, I went home, only to find that my roommate was hanging out with three of our friends, watching cable tv. (BTW, I told them I saw Lou Reed, and one of them said that he didn't know who that was. Sigh.)

So of course with my arrival, that turned into an impromptu Karaoke Revolution & red-wine party, even though my throat was still healing from a cold. That probably wasn't wise, but it was definitely fun! (BTW, my roommate and I highly recommend the Merlot by "Independent Producers".)

Saturday night, I found it very peculiar to be wearing a mini-dress and boots, under a big puffy coat, walking around snow! I joined some classmates and friends for drinks, dancing and late-night diner food. One of my classmates met up with a cute boy, who kindly paid for all of our diner food, supposedly because we were all students. I think it was more to impress my super-cute classmate, and I think it kind of worked. (Except, that super-cute classmate is spending spring break in Paris with another boy.)

I wasn't thrilled with the house music at Cielo, so I almost pushed to go dance some more at Sway, where they have poppier tunes. But my younger classmates wussed out! But then I also realized it just got way too cold when we left the diner, so I went home around 3am.

Sunday night, I attended a tiny Oscar-watching dinner party. It dawned on me that I had never been to an Oscars party, which is strange, given that I'm from L.A. –Even more ironic: this may well be the year I was least aware of the movies (having been trapped at school for the last six months). I hadn't even heard of any of the foreign film nominees! The only Oscar nominees I had seen were "Juno" and "Persepolis." But now I can say I have friends who worked on an Oscar-winning film!

Kudos to Grace, Geenie, and Erich, who prepared the most delightful dinner, involving: blood orange martinis, blood orange sangria, some-kind-of-artichoke soup, blood orange salad, polenta, pork w/ caramelized onions, and ice cream with home-made chocolate truffles (made from Green & Black's organic dark chocolate)! Amazing.

Also at this dinner party, I met a guy who sometimes DJs at Cielo. I also met an Interactive Designer who briefly worked for the same manager I once worked for at Yahoo! Plus, she graduated from and taught at NYU's ITP program, where some of my other tech friends went. (She said they were instructors when she was in the program.) Also one of the party hosts works for IDEO, and of course he knows the few people I know from their Palo Alto office. Small world.

***

This weekend, we won't get a snow day, but my usual Saturday class got bumped to Sunday. So... I might actually work in time for a date with an animator, who seems to have a lot in common with me. That might be great and all, but I am concerned about developing a habit of meeting great guys three months before I move to another city. (—And in this case, another country.)

But my voice is still hoarse (from a cold that started over 2 weeks ago!), so I don't know if I should go on a date in this condition. Actually, I sound a lot like my roommate's normal voice now, which is kind of sexier, so I guess it's kind of fun. Except if I go on a first date like this, will he be disappointed later when my voice returns to its normal, squirrely, 7-year-old, self?

(Side note: my roommate and I are slowly turning into each other. I got her sucked into tv shows, like "Weeds" and "Make me a Supermodel", and I am growing out my hair to her length and now my voice sounds like hers.)

Either way, I'm making a point of going to see Michel Gondry's "Be Kind, Rewind" art exhibit tomorrow. Now I'm just debating between seeing DJ Jazzy Jeff perform tonight at the Museum of Natural History, or catching up on homework. Hmm.

I told my classmates about the DJ Jazzy Jeff night, and one of them responded with, "Isn't that guy old? He looked old when he was on 'Fresh Prince.' Like thirty-five or something."

Somebody, please shoot this kid.

A Day in the Life

Thought some of you'd like to hear how a typical day of a Toy Design student is, so here is a detailed account of how today went for me:

8:30 bundle up in puffy jacket, leather gloves, pom-pom hat, and furry boots for 11-degree weather

8:40 run out the door to catch the uptown R train

8:45 get on train, start reading The History of Industrial Design for a quiz, struggle to turn pages with gloves on

9:05 look up to discover I just missed my street stop and am already late for class

9:10 get back on the downtown W train

9:15 run into class late, apologetically

9:20 set up my sewing machine and open up my MacBook Pro to show my teacher color studies of my plush squirrel

9:30 watch the teacher demonstrate how to revise a plush toy body to fit the desired shape, as my hunger grows and boredom increases, as I think she's going over what I already know how to do

9:45 sneak out of the class to feed my hunger rage; run to McDonald's to grab a sausage burrito meal deal, plus their tasty premium Hazelnut iced coffee

10am donate extra burrito to starving classmates (as I only ever really need one burrito and maybe one hash brown), start to sew a revised squirrel body in muslin (fabric), as I explain to my class BFF that I only eat breakfast, fish filets, and minty milkshakes at McDonald's

10:15 stop sewing, to show my teacher my color studies and decide on plush fabric colors and textures; we agree on blue-green-yellow striped accent patches, possibly a cuddly soft turquoise furry fabric, and a chartreuse fleece fabric

10:30 alternate bites of food and sips of orange juice and coffee with sewing, while asking classmates questions about the significance of the Singer sewing machine in 1876

11am grab stuffing to fill the new squirrel body, while listening in on classmates quiz each other on the significance of Wedgwood Queen's Ware pottery in 1790, the .36 Colt revolver in 1851, Thonet's bentwood chairs in 1836, Pugin's armoire in 1851, and James Whistler's Peacock room in 1876

11:30 Laugh at my classmates, as they start getting goofier and punchier by the minute, while studying for the quiz and deciding on lunch options

11:45 Adjust version 2 of my plush squirrel body with pins; cut up new sewing pattern shapes while laughing at the absurdity and gall of my sewing teacher as she shares some ridiculously judgemental anecdote about "Mexicans on the train"

noon Pack up sewing machines and supplies, choose the Szechuan bean curd over rice from a Chinese takeout menu

12:10 check email while listening to classmates quiz each other, gameshow style

12:30 write email replies, then notice when one of the dorm guys bizarrely brings up a pornographic term ("Babuke?"), to which we all respond with a resounding "EEWWWWWWW!"

12:32 get even more disturbed, when this same guy explains that "the girl usually throws up afterward," at which I say, "Usually??? What do you mean by usually? How do you even KNOW? Wait. I don't want to hear about it anymore, we're about to eat LUNCH."

1pm start to eat lunch, then realize it's not that tasty, and that I'm not very hungry

1:15 Get all excited telling my classmates how my internship interview went

1:30 Check email again, watch an awesome clip of Improv Everywhere, performed at Grand Central Station then post it to Facebook

1:45 Look over class notes to review last details for quiz

2pm Take History of Industrial Design quiz, delighted to find that it's about Wedgwood Pottery, which I remember the most about

2:15 Type notes on my MacBook Pro while enjoying a colorful and funny lecture, in which the teacher explains how two 19th century designers enjoyed the menage-a-trois, even in the staid context of Victorian England

3:45 class break, in which I check my Flickr and find updated photos from my favorite designers at Meomi, realizing that they were just in NYC

3:50 Suddenly remember that Vicki Wong of Meomi is Canadian and designed the 2010 Vancouver Olympic mascots; then realize I could probably stock up on mascot toys when I go to Toronto this summer, then show how insanely adorable they are to my classmates who all start to coo at them (–even the guy who knows too much about pornographic terms)

4:00 Agree with my class BFF that Christopher Dresser looks kind of like Edward Norton and was a way hotter 19th-century designer than William Morris; marvel at how Japanese influences were as big back then as they are now in product design, but for different reasons

5:00 hop on the 1 train downtown and delight in the combination of wierdos and fancy business folk I pass on the way home

5:20 check email, Facebook, Scrabulous, start blogging

5:45 catch up with my roommate who gets home from work, finish blog entry

7pm ponder whether I should nap or have a quick dinner and go to bed.

Buzz Buzz!

I need to cram tonight for a quiz, so of course I now have to procrastinate with a blog entry. Last week sucked with my hideous cold that made me lose my voice and want to slam my head into the wall, but things are better this week:

• I spent Valentine's Day at home recovering from a crappy cold, but I did snail-mail a Valentine to someone I hadn't quite been in touch with in awhile. And he wrote back that I was "the bee's knees!" I never expected such an adorably old-fashioned reply (and I'm not quite sure I fully understand that expression, but I understand enough that it generally means being a very good thing).


• Last Friday, I made it to see a 3-hour tour of the Mattel showroom (just before I fully recovered from my cold), which was robot-tastic, including a look at the NEXT Elmo doll.


• I booked my spring break for a trip to Cali, cuz I miss my friends, and I need to get me some long overdue sunshine! And I was reminded of how generous and kind my friends are, because I immediately got about six or seven offers for places to stay.


• Sunday I saw my buddies Angie & Jo for brunch, who were visiting from L.A., just before I headed out to my first Toy Fair, where I saw way too many toys, both good and bad.


• Tuesday, when I was finally well enough to go to class again, one of my teachers called in sick. So the Dean brought in a kids' movie to watch, which was really nice, up until the part where the character you love, a LITTLE GIRL, suddenly DIES. (BTW this is the 2nd movie we've watched in school, where a charming, loving, inspiring, adorable character suddenly DIES. Can I go see "Be Kind, Rewind" now?)


• I had a great interview with SpinMaster for an internship this morning. And they seem like a very cool group of people to work with! So now I have to email my Canadian cousins to let them know I'll finally get to fully experience their fine city of Toronto this summer!


• I wrote to someone at IDEO to let them know I couldn't apply to intern with them, but I'd love to keep in touch with them when I graduate. I also sent them a sneak peek at my portfolio. Then I got a reply that they were "impressed with the breadth" of my portfolio so far.

So I'm feeling pretty fantastic this week, except for the part where I'm quite a bit behind on schoolwork and I have a quiz to cram for. But I'm sure I will work it all out somehow.

Now I need to buzz back to my life as the busy bee.

Feels like wha?

First, I must say that all this talk about Microsoft buying Yahoo! is totally depressing. I hope Yahoo! finds a good way out of it.

Also... check out this morning's weather:



AND: I am coming down with a cold... just in time for my interview. :|

Kill me now.

Missing out, yet again

If I were doing anything but Toy Design school right now, I would just quit, because I keep missing out on things in New York that are kind of driving me mad:

• I live right on the edge of the biggest Chinatown in the country, and I did nothing to celebrate Chinese New Year, except maybe I picked up red velvet cupcakes for my roommate and me on the way home from school. Even the lobby of my building was decorated for Chinese New Year. Oh, also I had Chinese takeout for dinner. But that's the same as every other night of my week.

• Fashion Week? Was that last week? Wait, don't I go to a fashion school? My roommate went to a fashion show, but I spent my days and evenings either in class or recovering from lack of sleep.

• Oh what's this, one of my friends covered Fashion Week for New York Magazine? And she's releasing a book about celebrity fashion, but I probably won't make her book party, because I will be in CLASS that evening??

• Knitting? Crocheting? Oh was that a hobby of mine? Oh yes, I remember those days. Hey, whaddaya know! My apartment is surrounded by fabric stores, some filled with yarn, but I don't have time for such things. But I did go shopping today for fabrics today for my soft-toy class though, and they don't carry fuzzy fabrics, really, because apparently fabric stores in Manhattan focus on clothing fabrics, not "craft" fabrics.

• Going out Saturday night? Hey, my cousins are inviting me to dinner and a movie! And my roommate is inviting me to the clubs! Oh wait, I had class all-day SATURDAY, and now I'm too tired to get my ass out the door.

• Broken camera? Too bad, I have to put off buying a new one, because I have to buy a $300+ wacom tablet, sculpting/masonry tools, and hundred-dollar textbooks. Luckily I have a fairly decent camera on my cellphone to get me by for now.

• Cute, straight boys who love karaoke? Oh wait, I left those in California. And my roommate is meeting the New York ones for me while I'm out hanging out with gay boys and teenage girls at Spice Girls shows.

At least I have the internets, so I can read and see pictures about all the fun I'm missing. It's like I'm there! But really, I'm not. And I can live vicariously with my roommate, who is apparently now hanging out with our neighbors and spotting the cast of "Make Me a Supermodel" at the local Whole Foods.

BTW, after the Toy Fair ends, in addition to my EIGHT classes, we start volunteering at a headstart program every week.

Well. I can't bitch that much. I did have an amusing adventure last Wednesday, taking the train from Manhattan out to Long Island for the Spice Girls concert. I am rather unfamiliar with the local geography, but I was tickled to pass through Hollis, which reminded me of the Run DMC Christmas song ("Christmas in Hollis").

We got to Nassau Coliseum early, so we stopped a nearby Marriott lobby to grab dinner at a sports bar... where they were playing nothing but Spice Girl songs! And we also got drinks without being carded, while I saw businessmen looking very confused among tables of too-young girls wearing very revealing clothing.

Of course the audience was heavy on the estrogen, with several girls dressed as Posh or Baby Spice, but we did spot the occasional boy who went by themselves!! The show was filled with spectacular stage theatrics, super-girly-fun choreography and the gayest backup dancers ever (who could breakdance and flamenco). Several costume changes and props were involved (including feathers and boas, of course). Costumes were by Roberto Cavalli, and my class BFF and I favored Posh's outfits the most.

We opted out on on the overpriced concert shirts ($45!), but I did buy a tote bag and buttons. To get home (on a school night!) I shared a cab with 5 half-drunk strangers.

After Marketing class on Friday, I went to see Juno with the bff, the only other person I knew who hadn't seen it. After that, we went to the Times Square Sanrio store, Toys R Us, and Sephora–you know, for research!!

So basically, I spend my free time like a Tween.

Tomorrow I think I find out who I'm interviewing with for an internship. I hope it's something good! I better go pick out a nice interview outfit... and oh yeah, finish some drafting and marker homework.

(Spice Girls photo by thewindytree, from the San Jose show. My seats were not quite as awesome.)

Kudos to Junos, Sappy Sundays

I finally saw Juno, which was very charming, and you should go see it if you haven't. Also, kudos to my friends at Shadowplay Studio, who did the wonderful opening title sequence.

Can someone tell me where this actress, Olivia Thirlby is from, other than her part in Juno? She looks and sounds so familiar to me, but nothing on her IMDB profile is anything I'm familiar with. Or is there another actress that she looks like? I can't place it at all.

Did you know that the Oscar-nominated film was directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman–known mostly for Ghostbusters!? I saw a little interview with the two of them on CBS Sunday Morning news, and I actually got teary-eyed, when I watched Ivan Reitman get all teary-eyed about his son's Oscar nomination.

Also on CBS Sunday morning, Ben Stein got all sentimental about how much he loved his crazy wife, despite the 16-odd stinky animals she keeps in the house, and how he couldn't imagine the day that one of them has to live without the other someday. And he talked about how broken his dad was when his mom left. He also reminded the public, that on Valentine's Day, we should call our loved ones who have lost their significant others. That got me teary-eyed too.

I was reminded that I become especially vulnerable to sappy tv on Sundays, when I'm not as distracted by the daily demands of school and social life. I am going to guess that is not just me. Those tv programmers sure know what they're doing.

Steppin' Out

Yay, I finally have time to be out and about in New York! Of course, it's the one weekend my super-fun roommate wasn't feeling well and decided to go to sleep early. But I managed to fit in a nice spread of activities in one night:

• I watched Persepolis (a wonderful and funny but somewhat somber animated film, in French, about growing up in war-torn Iran) at the Angelika theater with my cousin


• I went dancing to 80s/90s music at a really crowded bar called Hugs in Williamsburg for a birthday, with classmates (The birthday girl nearly had to throw down over a tambourine. And unbeknownst to us, it was lesbian night, and one of our friends got asked for her number by a lesbian, after the lesbian denied being a lesbian.)


• I stopped for delicious hotdogs and a mango shake at Papaya Dog (–which, in my opinion, is better than Gray's Papaya, where there isn't even a mango shake option)


• I bizarrely bumped into two FIT classmates on the street, on the way to karaoke in the East Village


• I karaoked at Sing Sing until 5am, with a very unlikely small mix of friends (where we performed some amazing gems, including songs by Whitney Houston, Blue Oyster Cult, Blondie, Lil Mama, Judy Garland, and Matisyahu)

I had a great time, but I have to say, I think I've had enough of the gay scene. I luuurve my gay friends, but I miss my hetero boys. Well, at least the cute ones. We'll have to straighten that out next week.

This afternoon, my roommate and I headed out for dim sum. As we rode our elevator down, I was griping to her about how I wasn't able to meet any cute guys last night. Just as I was explaining this, the elevator door opened, and three attractive guys stepped in, which pretty much shut me up. Of course this was the one time I decided to leave the house looking dumpy. –Not that I would really want to date someone who lives in my building.

Well, maybe if he were super cute.

School Poops!

I was hoping to go to a dj night last week at the Museum of Natural History, but no, I was stuck finishing my portfolio for the Winterim and couldn't go out.

But look who made a surprise appearance at the museum:



Aaaaaargh!!!

Ok, for SURE I am going to see Spice Girls next week to make up for this nonsense. I am going to have fun in New York while I'm paying copious bucks for rent goddammit.

Also if anyone's in Brooklyn this Saturday, you should come out to Hugs! We're celebrating my class bff's 23rd birthday with 90s tunes. Yay!

What's this, you say?

Have you heard??? New Kids on the Block is reuniting! Jordan Knight's dream has finally come true. I mean, I probably won't go see them, but I hope this means that the Jackson 5 reunion rumors are true.

On an unrelated note, I would like to inform the public (i.e., the misguided youth), that leggings do not equal pants. I have seen three people wear this look since my second semester started, and I am confused. It looks like they forgot a piece of clothing, especially when you're out in 20-degree weather.

Or, if you are so bold as to wear leggings without pants or a skirt, don't even consider it unless you have an amazing body.

Yesterday, I saw a student in leggings without pants, and Uggs. And no, she did not have an amazing body. I bet she owns crocs at home too. You would think that FIT would put her on academic probation just based on that.

However, I have also seen legwarmers recently worn over skinny jeans, and that actually makes sense to me, in 20-degree weather. Sometimes I'm out in a puffy jacket and jeans, and my upper body is warm, but my legs are still a bit cold. And the legwarmers actually looked cute on these women. I never understood the use of legwarmers in the dance context, and I'm not even sure I could pull that off myself, but these ladies were rockin' it. And maybe it'd be a nice excuse for me to get back into knitting.

Okay I need to get back to serious stuff, like markering my toy gorillas.