見る

I was packing up my photo equipment for my trip to Korea and Japan, and I came to the realization that I have a lot of lenses. Too many, arguably.

When I fret over which lens to bring with my, I simply waste time staring at my equipment instead of shooting. To ensure that this doesn't happen out in Asia, I will keep my 28mm mounted on my dslr. I will keep my 50mm in my backpack as a reserve. No accessories, flash units, fancy lens hoods, or anything of the sort.

It'll be me and my camera (and whatever food I pick up along the way). If I can't take good pictures with just those things, then clearly I fail as a photographer - because getting more expensive lenses isn't really going to get me anywhere.

See you all in a few weeks.

Just dance.

Just finished up with the Winter Collegiate Ballroom Showdown at Pomona this past weekend. My partner and I took second in Waltz, which is fairly cool.

These pictures are more for those of you who have no idea what ballroom looks like. I was running around the floor all day taking pictures of amazing couples from all over California and Arizona, and had a wonderful experience seeing a high quality of collegiate dancers with a few pros and other higher level dancers thrown in.

Possibly the most awesome move on the floor, which they almost got disqualified for because it was off-syllabus.

These two used to be former members of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC), but have since graduated and moved on to greater things. Seeing their top-quality (and incredibly passionate) latin dancing and realizing that they came out of the same company that I did is inspiring. I now have some sort of benchmark of awesomeness to move towards (awesomeness didn't have a red squiggly in spellcheck, btw).

bamfs.

We also had the privilege of watching a professional showcase with some of the top dancers in their respective areas. I believe this couple is ranked second in the world in International Standard, or something of that sort. Great.

It seems that Ballroom has become another area in my life where I must strive to attain awesomeness, or something along those lines. Lovely.

Til next we meet

The thing I love about good friends...

is that even if you lose a bit of contact...

even if you were miles apart...

even if you're no longer neighbors...

even if you can't just sit around and loaf together after school...

even if you haven't seen each other for months and months...

even if you've changed over time...

even if you're all incredibly strange...

when we all get back together...

it's like the world didn't even skip a beat.

I really enjoyed seeing all of you. I missed creeping, eating your honey, playing twister, having awkward moments, and everything in between. I think that no matter how mature we get, or how much we grow up, as soon as we get back together, we'll all be ridiculous high school kids all over again.

Cheers.

Erase and Rewrite

So I had one of those moments where I was made aware of my mediocrity in the context of the world as a whole. Talked to the Photo professor to try to pass out of Intro Photo. He looked at my portfolio, laid down some harsh criticisms, and told me that my work would get me a B+ at best in his Intro class.

So I'll probably go back and relearn the basic of developing and printing, but at the same time I can learn more about concepts such as tonality, edge detail, composition, etc. Even something as simple as dodging and burning - I have some grasp of how powerful of a tool it is, but we only gave it a passing glance at South High.

I think this is for the better though, because even as I was looking through my portfolio, I couldn't help but feel incredibly dissatisfied with my photography. My body of work was a terrible representation of the vision that I have inside my head, but fail to bring into fruition. Maybe one day I can be happier with more of my pictures, which feel more like snapshots when I place them next to the work of superior photographers.

So now I'm going to try to clean up my photographic knowledge. Throw away the crap, bring old film techniques out of the dusty recesses of my mind, and set up a clean slate. Time to start from square one. Again.

But was I ever at square two?

Food coma

Thanksgiving Break. A giant amalgamation of reunions, ridiculous portions of food, and lots and lots of libations. Tis a wonderful time of year.

Carving the bird.

And the hunk of pig.

The feast: Turkey, ham, creamed corn, bacon mashed potatoes, filet mignon, prime rib, mozzarella with tomato, bratwurst, sauerkraut, stuffing, candied yams. Oh dang.

Friends and family

Post-meal food coma goodness.

Good times with family and friends, amazing food, and more memories than I can count. Woot.

What am I doing here?

First off, a return to Chipotle. I hadn't had one of these in quite some time.

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But really, what the hell was I doing in L.A. today? College was supposed to be this time where I got away from it all (which I suppose I did in a sense. Metaphorically, anyways), but I still lack the physical distance from my past that I was looking forward to. And lo and behold... my professor decides to bring my class on a field trip to L.A. Figures, right? It's what I get for being so damn close to L.A.

Don't get me wrong. I love L.A. But going there on a class trip seems sort of ridiculous, considering how often I ended up going during high school. Oh well. At least I got to see something new.

The Watts Towers. I had learned about them as a sort of cultural icon of Los Angeles while in elementary school, but it took me a good decade to actually check them out.

The story behind them is quite interesting. Check it out.

And I got to eat at Skooby's, so I really don't have to complain about.

Delicious, as always.

What was the point of that mini-rant earlier in this post? I'm not quite sure. Oh well.

Wednesday Burger Nights

My week in pictures:

Studying for a Chem exam.

Freaking Acid-Base titrations.

Cupcakes baked to help get us through the Chem exam.

The results of my bringing the camera to dinner.

Wednesday Burger Bar nights.

2 patties, provolone, american, and feta cheeses, hardboiled egg, egg salad, sausage, bacon, onion rings, barbecue sauce, mushrooms, and roast beef. What a heartstopper.

And guys randomly undoing girls' bras at dinner.

I'll still get to shoot with Pedro's 24-105 L lens that he let me borrow for a few more weeks, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Woo.

Disney freak.

So here is my elaborate plan to visit every Disney park in the world within the next decade or so.

Summer 2011: After getting owned at the World Naginata Championships, meet up with friends in Japan (who ideally speak Japanese) and head over to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Update: ended up going here at the beginning of 2010. I'm ahead of schedule :D

2011-2012: While studying abroad in London, find a group of cool kids to take a weekend trip through the Chunnel into Paris and, consequently, Euro Disney.

Eventually: Check out Hong Kong for the hell of it, and to "understand an upcoming world power" according to my roomie. Thankfully, Hong Kong Disneyland still kinda sorta sucks in its infancy so I don't have to worry about it yet.

But once they open up Disneyland in Shanghai, I just have to throw that onto my list. Damn you, Disney.

The end.

Punctuation

I love the power of extra punctuation.

Where are you? <- An innocent question, with little connotation

Where are you?? <- Says, "I'm lost and drunk and alone and scared. Find me please!"

Where are you??! <- The baby's about to pop out and you're not here! Qwat?! *^%*()%$#^?

That is all.

Remember, remember...

...the fifth of November.

I should remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.

But I have a far more personal reason why the fifth of November should ever be forgot.

Like a concussion. Yes, another concussion, like the one I received before Grad Night. But this time, I was being catapulted into the air by five guys for a dance routine, was thrown incorrectly, then proceeded to land on my head and back. Loverly.

And so I lost some memory, went through the usual concussion-related issues, and ended up in ER. Again.

Hello from my gurney :D

It was strange though... throughout the entire day, I kept on replaying when I got hit in the head by the golf ball over and over. I couldn't get my mind off of the sensation of getting thwacked in the head, then this happened. Odd, eh?

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In other news, it's somewhat fall-like here.

The trees and colors aren't all that exciting, but there is one good thing about living in the desert. When leaves fall, they dry up and get extremely crunchy - perfect for jumping on. Very satisfying.

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One last little sidenote: getting a suit tailored is a good lesson in assertiveness and knowing what you want. You can ask for your pants to hemmed a little shorter than most for a single, clean break, and the tailor will ask if you're sure you want it like that. Just smile and nod, being sure of your decision. This process will repeat itself for every alteration different from the norm, but you cannot be swayed. Otherwise, you will get your suit back and be disappointed that it does not look exactly how you wanted it to.

Go in knowing how you want to look, and stick to it, I suppose.

Legalize me.

First off, I'm finally 18. Now what..?

Hm. I'm not quite sure. I don't feel any older, or more responsible, or whatever. I'm just chilling, really.

But yes, my parents came up to Claremont to visit me on my birthday. We ate.

3-D Roll at Kazama Sushi. Shrimp Tempura roll with baked lobster on top. Not exactly sashimi or whatever you would consider "traditional," but still delicious and filling.

My parents also brought up my favorite cake in the whole world! Dobash from King's Hawaiian :D


Light the candles...


Then blow them out.


The rest of my birthday festivities were far more exciting, but I won't go into them here. Really, lots of things that you'd be better off not hearing.
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On to the main attraction: Girl Talk. I was sad to have missed the Super Mash Bros. concert at USC a while back, so Girl Talk just had to satisfy my craving for tacky mixes of old school beats layered on some pop and hip hop.


That was definitely the most hectic assignment to date. My arms were constantly in the air, I had to fight for dear life not to lose my shoes, and I could barely take a peek through my viewfinder. This was one of the few times that I actually wanted Live View. But by some coincidence (and a large memory card with continuous shooting) I was able to pull off some half-decent shots of Girl Talk mixing it up with his Toughbooks.


So put your hands up in the air and enjoy Girl Talk.




Now that I've emptied my mind of the major event of the weekend, allow me to bury myself in some Murakami and Emerson and attempt to lose myself to the beauty of words.

Music...

Got to shoot the Gym Class Heroes concert here a few weeks ago, which was interesting. It was my first time with a legit press pass, which I suppose made me feel special or something, sitting in the pit right in front of the stage and all. Definitely a good experience.









As usual, I got some great use out of the good ol' 50mm. I love that lens.

Pleasantly Exciting

I had the privilege of watching a free show of Ernie Watts Jazz Quartet this past Friday. Just like when I saw them at the Jazz Bakery, I was taken on an emotional roller coaster, pulled through the highs and lows of sax solos, cedar flutes, and one sick bassist.


Check it out.


What else has been going on? A day trip to L.A., including a stop at Phillipe's for some lemonade and a Danish.


Quite refreshing.


Next, lunch at Cafe Angelino over by the Beverly Center for a lunch filled with fresh ingredients, friendly service, and delicious bread.

Caprisi salad


And Margherita Pizza with Prosciutto


To top things off... a celebration of Fall!

Pumpkinbread cupcakes baked by Hannah...


A splattering of pumpkin guts


and the finished products.


Absolutely lovely.