OMG it's almost 2009!!

2009 is going to be so awesome, I cannot wait! Obama will be President, the economy will have to pick up, and best of all, I will have my FINAL semester of school, which somehow has allotted me FOUR DAY WEEKENDS. Wowee!

Plus I will GRADUATE, and return to being a free woman! Or a woman of leisure, at least for a little while.

What will I do with all this magical time???

• Finally install those curtains that have been sitting on the floor for six months.


• Finally be able to sleep in... after the curtains finally block out all that amazing sunlight in my bedroom.


• Visit my brand new baby second cousin, in the Upper West side.


• Visit my midtown cousins and indulge my little girl cousin in girlish ways.


• Wear the other 70% of my wardrobe that I was protecting from the toxic hazards of the toy workshop last semester.


• Mend all those buttons that fell off my clothes for the last five years.


• Dust off the cookbook shelf and make something at home other than instant ramen or egg breakfasts.


• Visit all those fantastic New York museums!!


• Get back into some knitting, crocheting and sewing.


• Shop at actual New York stores, instead of shopping online for clothes.


• Check out Century 21 for once and shop at TOPSHOP when it finally opens.


• See movies in the actual theater.


• Eat out with people outside of my class (as much as I lurrve my classmates), maybe actually get to know restaurants in my own neighborhood.


• Hang out with my roommate, maybe even co-host a White Elephant party with her.


• Karaoke with my PS3/PS2, or in K-town, or Union Square, or Chinatown. Or L.A. or San Francisco. Or Europe or Asia. Or South America or Australia. OMG Karaoke AROUND THE WORLD! That should be a tv show! Or at least on Youtube.


• Take tap dance lessons (with a couple of my classmates).


• Join a gym! Or dance weekly at 80s night at Sway. Or both!


• Take Mandarin Chinese lessons???


• Humor my panicky relatives and go on a date or two with New York men that may have to consider following me to California or convince me to stay in New York.
  
  (More likely, that consideration will not be worth their effort, and I will be annoyed and move away anyway, and a year later they regret that they didn't try, and by then I'll realize I'm happier without them, and then they get their shit together and marry the next girl they meet.
  
  –As roughly that scenario has been the case with almost every guy I've dated –and really liked– in my life. One of these days, I figure the love of my life will turn up and stop this cycle.
  
  Or maybe I should just stop moving from town to town.)


• Do afternoon tea at Bergdorf's, overlooking Central Park.


• Study the squirrels in Central Park.


• Possibly travel to Costa Rica and/or San Francisco to see some friends gettin' married!


• Finally learn to surf or snowboard!


• Become an Improv Everywhere agent.


• Finish an actual book or two! Or five!


• Listen to This American Life, regularly.


• Witness some form of Fashion Week, in person?


• Indulge in the occasional mani-pedi.


• Get back to grooming my eyebrows and getting my hair cut by someone other than myself.


• Watch 30 Rock when it's actually on instead of online.


• Get my broken tooth fixed.


• Design a poster of the family tree?


• Get out of Manhattan, like to Brooklyn, Coney Island, or the Bronx Zoo to see those adorable baby orange monkeys!! Or find some rich friends to join me on a weekend trip to Cali or Europe.


• Design and make something lasercut with Ponoko.


• Design and get a tattoo??


• Get a job in Toy Design or start my own gig.


• Purge about 50% of my belongings, get my car back and take another roadtrip, probably back to Cali!

Ironically, I do not have plans for New Year's Eve. Not that I really care to, because even when I do make plans, it's at the very least disappointing, or something shitty happens like my boyfriend pours champagne on my head or a guy who tries to flirt with me ends up breaking my tooth with a karaoke mic.

ENOUGH already with the NYE abuse! I'm getting some rest so we can just get the year started!

Anyway, have a Happy New Year everyone! It's going to be great. I can feel it.

Revelations: 12/08

I caught up with various relatives over X'mas break in Chicago, during which I came to some revelations:

• Really? I still have to educate non-relatives to avoid phishing scams?


• If I nudge my Uniqlo down coat when the lights are out, I can see actual sparks!


• When my 2nd older brother went to Chinese School (a Saturday school for learning Chinese) in Junior high, he got less than an "A" for a report about the lack of free press in Taiwan, because the teacher didn't agree with his opinion. So he quit Chinese school on political principle. I quit Chinese school because I was an Americanized, little brat who didn't want to learn Chinese. Well I guess in the end, we agreed it was a waste of time.


• Now that I'm grown up, I would like some Chinese lessons. And tap dance lessons.




• Someone forgot to mention that my Texan uncle got remarried last June.


• My brothers still think it's wrong that my dad got me a dog when I was eleven, even though they had owned seven different puppies at different times, before I was even born. They were never able to keep a puppy for more than a year or two (due to sickness, theft, or mysterious disappearance*).
  
  My dog lived for 16 years.
  





• It's amazing that I came out okay, growing up with Aspergian relatives. Also this explains why I love David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and This American Life.


• Despite my experience as a dog owner and now becoming an auntie, my maternal instincts have not really kicked in so much. I'm hoping that changes if I ever fall in love and have kids. In the meantime, I'm getting a lot of practice drawing awkward-looking bulldozers for my nephew!




• While going to the American Girl store for afternoon tea with my little second-cousins, I realized that had I gotten knocked up in my early-to-mid 20s, I could have had a daughter old enough to be indulging in one of these $100+ dolls. Whoa.


• Something about this capitalist mecca of American Girl Place freaks me out. But you know, those new Bitty Baby Twins are actually kind of cute.




• My nephew loves watching Ni Hao Kai Lan, and I approve.


• I could not bring myself to buy any of the girly fashion magazines at the airport! Instead, I bought issues of Fast Company, Inc., and Nylon to read instead. Do I actually miss the business innovation & indie rock babble of San Francisco? Hmm, I think it's more about giving up on dating and figuring out how to make my millions so I can live like a rock star.

* My brothers debated whether one of the puppies they once owned lasted two days or two weeks, before it got euthanized in our garage by a restaurant owner. The last puppy they owned was a Boston Terrier that just disappeared. Our dad was mad about that one, because he spent a pretty penny on it. It was named "Lucky," and my brothers joked that he was probably lucky for getting away from a bad situation.

Why?

Why did my relatives choose to live in one of the coldest big cities of America? Of course I arrived just in time for the coldest day of the year! It is minus four degrees.

I suppose I should be thankful that my flight was relatively uneventful and only had a slight delay.

On the upside, I am rather proud that on the morning of my flight, I was able to make time to grab a Vietnamese sandwich, shop at the Opening Ceremony sample sale, and stop by the Muji store to pick up last-minute gifts.

Also, for the first time in my life, I changed tops in public at a sample sale. I saw both men and women changing in public! I remember being a little mortified seeing women change in public at a Barney's sample sale last year, but somehow it didn't look as psycho to me this time.

Maybe this sale was a lot calmer than the other one, so it didn't feel as desperate of a situation. Maybe seeing both genders exposing themselves this way, with such shopping determination, made it seem like less of a free show. Maybe I didn't see any saggy old butts at this one, so it was less scary.

So I just faced a corner and changed tops. It wasn't so bad. But I couldn't get myself to change back out of it, (especially because a hetero couple was chatting and discussing what to buy behind me and wouldn't go away). Luckily I did want to buy the top, so I just left it on.

A girl in the checkout line ahead of me said, "That's a really nice top, I didn't see that one!" so that made it all the worthwhile. (This happens a lot when I shop – female strangers telling me something looks great on me. It's to the point that I almost wonder if they're planted by Marketing people, to convince me of buying things.)

I have yet to change bottoms in public, but I have considered it in crowded stores. I saw a woman at this particular sale wore a long sweater, specifically so she could try on jeans, which was rather smart for cold-weather-sample-sale-shopping.

But I think the best wardrobe strategy for attending sample sales is wearing leggings with a tank top or tube top and skirt. And maybe even swimwear, or at least very flattering underwear with good coverage. I'll have to remember that in the future.

Is public clothes-changing one of the rites of passage toward New-Yorker-hood? Or is that just a statement about not caring as much what people think now that I'm older? Or is it a statement about having nicer underclothes? Meh, I'm just glad I have a cute new top... that I can't wear until the weather gets warm again, in at least 3 months.

Anyhoo, my nephew in Chicago is still redonkulously cute, even if he does prefer playing with boys over playing with girls and asks me to draw the one type of toy I'm not good at drawing (construction vehicles). I'm sure that will change eventually.

For now, I will enjoy his toddler antics, such as screaming at the top of his lungs arbitrarily to see how we'll react, obsessing about "bee-doo"s (his word for bulldozer), taking my hand to show me things, not being able to pronounce "s" sounds, and smiling adorably at everyone with a twinkle of mischief in his eye when he wakes up, like it's always time for fun.

Bad shopping karma

On the one day I have time to finally shop for holiday gifts (since Thanksgiving weekend, now that school has ended), of course a snow blizzard hits NYC. Still, I trudged out in rainboots, down full-length coat, jumbo hello kitty umbrella and made it to insane Times Square to the Sanrio Luxe store and flagship Toys R Us store to make sure I got some gifts for my cousins' kids.

I didn't fit in time to really shop for grownups. By the time I get to Chicago, it's going to be like 8 degrees, so I won't be stepping outside of the house. They'll have to get mixed cds or something... probably post-X'mas.

After dealing with all of the Times Square madness in freezing rain/snow, two of my classmates and I headed down to the subway in a crowded line of dripping people, balancing on slippery steps. As we approached the turnstile, I had trouble finding my monthly MTA pass among all my pockets. Then one of my friends saw that the MTA exit door was open, so she just yelled at me to just run through the exit. So I did.

As soon as I ran through, I found my monthly pass in a side pocket of my purse and laughed about it. Then we started walking toward the trains... when a cop flashed his badge at me and asked me why I used the exit gate to get in.

I told him that I had my monthly pass but couldn't find it, and I didn't want to stall the line, so I just went through the exit gate that was already open. One of my friends said, "Noooo! I made her do it!" but the officer just ignored her. He was being totally unreasonable, so I was more annoyed at him than with my friend. I told him that I had my monthly pass, but just couldn't find it, and I told him I was willing to go back behind the gate to use it and show him I did have a monthly pass that still worked.

He just kept yammering on his walkie talkie and handed me the ticket like a brainless robot. He told me I could call the number on the back of the ticket to argue my story, so they might waive or reduce the fine. Wow, thanks, man.

I don't see why it's okay to punish someone who actually always pay for MTA instead of people who are really trying to take advantage of the system.

I think he just felt okay fining me because I had shopping bags, meaning I had money to spend. But I'm now a NY resident who pays taxes, that already contribute to his wages!

I appreciate a city that enforces the law so well that I feel safe getting home late at night by myself, but this is bullshit. Anyway, I'm not going to let it ruin my mood during my holiday break. I will call the authorities Monday and let them know how ridiculous this all is, especially during the holiday season!

Hello Daniel

Today my classmates and I got all excited about the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer. A bunch of them were all excited about Gambit. I asked who that was, and they explained that he's the "coolest" and his X-Men power is throwing cards. Hrmm.

I say, forget Gambit, who is the mixed-Asian guy with the pretty hair they threw in there!?

Apparently it's American ex-patriate actor, Daniel Henney:



According to Wikipedia, he's half British and Korean and has done some Korean tv, film, and commercials. And according to the human eye, he is beautiful.

Dear Santa,

Scratch the personal assistant. I've been extra good this year and would like one Daniel Henney please.

Love,
Misocrazy

Oh no, it's finals week!

Oh yes, our final projects are due for a presentation this Wednesday. This means we'll be presenting our carefully labored, constructed hard toys and storybook progress, all recorded on video.

This means our class is cracking a bit under pressure.

The day started out alright, with people sanding plastic toy parts, testing paints and advising each other on paint methods and color choices. But a lot of us have way too much to finish before Wednesday, so panic was slowly setting in.

So a few classmates started trying to sweet-talk our workshop lab teacher to let us come in on SUNDAY, which is normally our only day off from the school week.

As if it weren't bad enough that we have to spend every full Saturday at school, toiling away on workshop toys like Santa's worker elves, we actually were pleading to have another workshop day on Sunday!

Then the Chair of the Toy Design department stopped by in the afternoon, with surprise cookie treats. She asked how we were doing and whether we'd be in tomorrow too. But we pitifully mentioned that we didn't have additional workshop hours tomorrow.

She gave us a look of shock and then had a quick talk with the lab teacher. Then she told us that we would be able to have lab class on Sunday after all.

To this, we responded with yelps of joy!

Later, I grabbed a quick dinner at McDonald's, where I realized that My Little Ponies were available with Happy Meals. So I brought My beautiful rainbow-haired, baby-blue Little Pony back, which of course was met with envy by Jan. She called another classmate, Carlito, who was still at Mickey D's to tell him to buy her a My Little Pony too, but without the Happy Meal.

Carlito came back, to tell us that the lady at McDonald's wouldn't let him buy a pony without buying a Happy Meal.

...to which, Jan responded, "What!? I'm gonna kick her in the face!"

I was equally dismayed by this news. And as we started bitching about how effed up it was that McD's wouldn't let her buy a pony, Carlito tossed the pouch of beautiful rainbow-haired party-themed pony at Jan, at which she cooed with glee. Oh that crazy Carlito.

Half the class stayed after lab hours, (as usual during finals) until 2am, when security guards kick us out. We generally manage to get along and laugh and listen to music while we work, but today it got to the point where someone left the room to cry, and later, another classmate sliced his finger with an exacto knife at his desk, dripping blood, causing him to nearly faint. Another student had to help him take a cab to the emergency room for stitches.

So tonight, I'm going to get a good night's rest, so I'm alert enough to not injure myself while working. And maybe I'll pick up some extra Vietnamese sandwiches to keep everyone's blood sugar up. And somehow I will finish this plastic baby "Girlilla," and it will be beautiful!

Another Day in the Life

Haven't done one of these in awhile.

This is for all my ol' colleagues who once worked at Yahoo! Sorry I couldn't be there for the UED reunion. Hope you kids are doing great! If you're wondering what I'm up to, this is a sample day of my school-centered life that keeps me from seeing anyone outside of class until I graduate in May:

9:45am Wake up late, with stiff finger muscles from sanding plastic toy parts for several hours over the last few days for model-making class.

10:30 Sick of the dreary winter weather, I book a flight to L.A. for January.

11:30 Take the 1 subway uptown to class, for which I am about an hour late.

noon Glance over my 106% grade on test (yay for open book & extra credit on math tests at a trade-focused school!) and then listen to the bucktoothed but almost-cute teacher review how to calculate the distance of a star based on its parallax & how to calculate sizes of spirals as they grow. Pleased to hear him say he'll be bringing chocolate Dunkin' Donuts to our final exam.

1pm Go out to get lunch, pass by outdoor vendors with cute accessories on the way. FIT somehow arranges this on most Wednesdays during the school year. Fashion schools in NYC are neat!

1:30 Pick up painting supplies, like spraycan gloss coating, tiny paintbrushes, tape, and face mask at the art supply store.

2:00 Browse 20 different feathered headbands at the weekly vendors near school and finally pick a pretty brown one to buy.

2:30 Return to classroom, open up laptop, and revise color studies of my baby gorilla hard toy.

3:30 Pull hard toy project & supplies out of my locker and spread out them out all over desk. Play iPod on my new lego-speaker so my classmates have some holiday tunes to work to.

3:45 Sketch concepts for candy toy assignment.

4:00 Research online for candy-based toys. Sketch a few more concepts.

5:00 While my classmates are sanding and refining their hard toys, (toys that we should have started painting by now but haven't,) I talk to the hard toy teacher about colors. We agree on purple fur, beige skin pink hair, pink dress, orange flower, and brown eyes.

5:30 Refine Illustrator file of final color choice, help Lilo brainstorm how to execute a Sushi-chef cat who prepares sushi candy into a toy concept.

6:30 After all the sushi talk, we get hungry and order Japanese takeout with classmates for dinner. Agree to split some sushi and a Katsu-don with Lilo, was we are in the mood for the same kind of food 90% of the time.

7:00 Start trimming off rough edges of my baby Girlilla's plastic body with an exacto knife and sandpaper.

7:30 Eat takeout food in the hall, with classmates. Lilo and I agree that the Katsu-don is disappointingly dry.

8pm Review candy toy concepts with teacher. We agree on a train that mines gem-shaped candies from a candy mountain.

8:30 Load up "Pushing Daisies" to watch on my laptop, as I continue sanding and filling gaps with superglue and some toxic spackle-like material on the baby Girlilla.

9:30 Cut holes in the top the Girlilla's plastic head to insert hot pink hair and a resin-cast hibiscus flower, as Jee, the girl next to me, slowly fades into zombie mode from sleep deprivation.

10:30 Berate Jee to stop sanding unimportant details that nobody will look at. I finally steal a part of her toy and tell her to go home and sleep.

11pm Align and cut holes out of my Girlilla's remote control to make room for buttons.

11:30 Photograph progress of hard toy, clear off desk, and put hard toy & supplies back in lockers.

midnight Take subway 1 downtown and walk home in pouring rain.

12:30 midnight snack, shower, late night tv, email, and review my schedule of tasks to complete final projects for the next week.

Tomorrow, I hope I start painting that Girlilla! If not, I will have all of Saturday to do it too. If I'm lucky, I'll have time to solder a circuit board, not that I really know how to do that yet.

Sunday's my only day off from class time, but that just means a whole day of work this time, since it's the finals crunch week. Wish me luck!

Shit now hitting the fan

• I have toy shop class all Sunday, instead of the usual Saturday. This is the one week during all of this semester that our class got moved to Sunday. I also realized too late that this happens to be the same day as my cousin's baby shower AND my roommate's housewarming party, which I will have to miss.


• I haven't had time to ask a doctor about whether I should be alarmed that my forearms are all red and irritated. I'm hoping it will all pass. It could be all that solvent, Bondo, sawdust, and styrene I breathe at school. Also my left index finger feels like it's been sprained.


• My cable tv stopped working.


• The cable man supposedly stopped by our lobby but disappeared after he had the doorperson ring our room. He very suspiciously noted us in the system as "not at home" and "called twice," even though I have no missed calls on my phone.


• My hard toy project needs to be in hot pink or magenta, but Tamiya (the really good brand of model paint) does not make that color. –Naturally, as these paints are most often used on hobby models of war vehicles, trains, aircraft, robots, and horror movie monsters.


• I keep getting messages from VW that my car warranty may have run out and there may still be time to renew!! Should I renew? Is my car even still okay in Texas?


• My MacBook Pro has reached its capacity for saving new files. Oh wait, maybe that's because I have over 100gb of music files.


• My bank's website won't load when I try to log in. Helloooo, I have bills to pay!


• I still haven't gotten around to closing my Canadian bank account, because they accidentally sent me a check made out to someone with the last name "Smith." "Smith" is not my last name. F you, RBC bank.

Dear Santa,

I've been very good this year and would like a personal assistant. Or intern. Or servant. Or all of the above. Oh, just lend me one of your worker elves early this year and I won't ask for anything for ages!!

xoxo
misocrazy.