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Dundundunwoody

I had to illustrate my hometown in Esther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd's class. Tried to think of it as a children's book.

It was nice having the freedom to choose Texas, my birthplace,

Atlanta, Georgia or Nashville, Tennessee.

(click to enlarge!)

There's definitely something special about each place I've lived in, but my memories in Atlanta seem the most vivid. There was this amaaazing park behind our apartment (which for some bizarre reason I thought I owned) full of cherry blossom trees and a wooden bench swing that never failed to give me splinters. Though... that never kept me from swinging. Should've worn gloves. Darn.

she stepped into class

some things must go up up and away!

This weekend I spent some time organizing my desktop and my folder of inspirations. I threw out a whole chunk of inspirations (now more like baggage) and it felt like a great massage for the brain. It went from 550+ images to 50. At first I was super hesitant tossing so much into the trash when the very act of it was defining more clearly what I loved . Letting go must be one of the hardest things, but it's great to know good can come out of it. Now I can look through my precious little archive whenever I want a boost! Hehe :-)

Oh flowers are in my room! They're so fun to look at and it gave me an idea to collect more tangible inspirations rather than relying on the internet/computer too much. They were a "just because" gift from Stephen. So sweet and it's not even Valentine's Day yet! ;)

music box

Made a music box using an Arduino and Wave Shield ! Fairly simple programming, too. You should try it... it's one of those things where you learn so much along the way just to get one little thing to function. Or at least that was the case for me.

push button at the top right corner so music plays when the lid's opened/stops when closed

the box after a little bit of spray painting and decoration. Yippee! Oh and it plays Jingle Bells ;)

current mood

...and how fortunate spring semester starts tomorrow. woopiedoo~

twenty ten: books and resolutions

Goodbye to a fantastic decade and hello to the new! I made couple visits to some of my favorite bookstores of all time this past couple weeks <3

Book Soup on Sunset's my absolute favorite. No joke.

Book Alley in Pasadena's great if you're looking for a large selection of used/rare books.

I love Vroman's, too. <3



...

My resolutions are almost always the same every passing year so here I share 10 fun tips from some wise owls via blogs and magazines we might wanna take into consideration:

1. Go to as many picnics as you can, and don't let bad weather discourage you.

2. Call your friends instead of texting them.

3. If nobody buys you flowers-- buy them for yourself.

4. Listen to loud music and rock out.

5. Do things that scare you every once in awhile.

6. Do not fear being misunderstood & do not waste a minute thinking about your enemies.

7. Adopt a pet.

8. Tell friends they are amazing.

9. Volunteer to help others.

10. Think "year round," not just new year's.

series of silkscreen prints

Spent some long hours in the printmaking lab making an edition of prints...aka Christmas gifts for friends :)

Merry Christmas

picture book

All my drawings from few posts back are put into this little book!
Or more like a magazine...
It felt kiddish taking photos of a book.
I'll leave that for you to imagine why,
but take a peak.

And how sweet and festive are these Valentino Bow Satin Sandals?? Well, I think they match my book and it feels completely necessary that I share this. Nothing can go wrong with bows. Same goes to the nude pink + black combination. <3