deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
win, lose, or draw—sometimes life is like a game show. well, the results from the minted challenge are in; sadly, i lost. i didn't even place in the top ten. the votes for my design averaged at 2.86 which wasn't too bad considering the number 10 design scored 3.03. by looking at the top ten, it's clear that my style doesn't quite reflect what the minted customer is looking for. and what might that be? according to those that won, nothing really fresh or creative. not to be catty but a majority of the winners look like products already on minted. that's the things about design, it's all subjective. losing the challenge didn't really bum me out. sure it would have been great to have won, but i mainly did it to see if i still had it in me. what did bum me out slightly was a comment left by marni, "I've received similar calendar save the dates in the mail about 4-5 times a year. feels a little tired..." i'm all for constructive criticism but pettiness is another matter. just goes to show you can't please everyone. the winners are here.
yesterday, we were suppose to go to angel island for d's birthday. due to the rainy weather it was canceled so the festivities were held at his apartment instead. it was good gathering of peeps. to keep in the spirit of angel island i brought over my charlie's angels dolls and some dvds. the angels were proudly displayed. we never got to view the dvds. the afternoon was spent drinking and eating. around 4:30 we headed to truck for a chili cook off. i was pretty much full from all the eating at d's so only only took one spoonful of each chili. both one and two were pretty decent. number three i could barely swallow. words can't even describe how bad it was. just thinking of it now makes me want to puke.
from truck we ventured off to the pilsner. on our way there we had a box of tomato puree or something thrown at us. we narrowly escaped. the sidewalk wasn't so fortunate. we finished off the evening at the 440. the walk up the hill to d&j's house felt brutal especially after having spent most of the day drinking. we chowed on some leftovers before turning it. i spent the night on their couch where i dreamed the night away.
stay gold & be well…
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
storm
deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
magic tricks, fortune tellers, & jazz fusion—life is but a carnival. my week started off with a very unexpected visit from bc. she had a 24 hour layover in sf. sucks for her, great for me. we met for coffee during my lunch break then again after work. lucky me. we ventured back to my hood and dined on korean cuisine. just like old times. i miss her, although not those red tights she bought. hehe.
the week came to end with toi, one of my students, demonstrating a magic trick he knew. he thought he was going to get out of it but i happened to have a deck of cards in my bag so there was no backing out. hehe. he was a little nervous having to do his card trick in english but he pulled if off flawlessly. the class was pretty impressed. i think they expected him to fall flat on his face. toi is definitely an interesting character. last week he was asking where he could find a wig. he was planning on shaving his head and wearing wigs. i advised him that i didn't think it was such a good idea.
once again i played the role of julie mccoy, and lead a group of four girls to fisherman's wharf. pier 39 is the one place in sf that i dread most. thankfully, it wasn't that crowded on friday. it was actually a gorgeous day to be out walking. the girls couldn't get enough of the sea lions. after twenty minutes i told them it was time to move on. i had completely forgotten that they moved the musee mecanique to pier 45 and was pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon it. i love this place. the old time games/videos are awesome. the girls seemed to really it. before venturing on with our walking tour, they convinced me to crowd into a photo booth for a group shot. our tour ended at a pub near the cannery.
on saturday, kiki stopped by to give me a chair. yay! i know have something to sit on. we headed off to the neighborhood dollar store. on our way, i was stopped by a nosy elderly couple who wanted to know what was happening down the street. they preceded to tell me all about the school carnival they went to. i didn't think i was ever going to escape them. later that night a group of us went to see son of rambow. there wasn't anything particular great about the film, but it definitely had its moments. i think the french kid was by far my favorite. the 80s soundtrack was right on. after the film we went to yoshi's for some very pricey but tasty drinks. they had a group playing that night that we could see on the tv screens but couldn't hear. they were dressed in traditional japanesse attire and playing traditional instruments. i was quite intrigued with what i saw that i asked someone who worked there who they were. when i got home i surfed the net for some tunes by the yoshida brothers. definitely liked what i heard. spent the rest of my weekend relaxing and reading journals. good times. good times.
stay gold & be well…
previously on the e-list…
magic tricks, fortune tellers, & jazz fusion—life is but a carnival. my week started off with a very unexpected visit from bc. she had a 24 hour layover in sf. sucks for her, great for me. we met for coffee during my lunch break then again after work. lucky me. we ventured back to my hood and dined on korean cuisine. just like old times. i miss her, although not those red tights she bought. hehe.
the week came to end with toi, one of my students, demonstrating a magic trick he knew. he thought he was going to get out of it but i happened to have a deck of cards in my bag so there was no backing out. hehe. he was a little nervous having to do his card trick in english but he pulled if off flawlessly. the class was pretty impressed. i think they expected him to fall flat on his face. toi is definitely an interesting character. last week he was asking where he could find a wig. he was planning on shaving his head and wearing wigs. i advised him that i didn't think it was such a good idea.
once again i played the role of julie mccoy, and lead a group of four girls to fisherman's wharf. pier 39 is the one place in sf that i dread most. thankfully, it wasn't that crowded on friday. it was actually a gorgeous day to be out walking. the girls couldn't get enough of the sea lions. after twenty minutes i told them it was time to move on. i had completely forgotten that they moved the musee mecanique to pier 45 and was pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon it. i love this place. the old time games/videos are awesome. the girls seemed to really it. before venturing on with our walking tour, they convinced me to crowd into a photo booth for a group shot. our tour ended at a pub near the cannery.
on saturday, kiki stopped by to give me a chair. yay! i know have something to sit on. we headed off to the neighborhood dollar store. on our way, i was stopped by a nosy elderly couple who wanted to know what was happening down the street. they preceded to tell me all about the school carnival they went to. i didn't think i was ever going to escape them. later that night a group of us went to see son of rambow. there wasn't anything particular great about the film, but it definitely had its moments. i think the french kid was by far my favorite. the 80s soundtrack was right on. after the film we went to yoshi's for some very pricey but tasty drinks. they had a group playing that night that we could see on the tv screens but couldn't hear. they were dressed in traditional japanesse attire and playing traditional instruments. i was quite intrigued with what i saw that i asked someone who worked there who they were. when i got home i surfed the net for some tunes by the yoshida brothers. definitely liked what i heard. spent the rest of my weekend relaxing and reading journals. good times. good times.
stay gold & be well…
Sunday, May 11, 2008
come down to me
deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
churches, murals, & burritos—it was a tour of the mission like no other. on friday, i once again had the privilege of taking the students out for their activity. this week's planned event was a walking tour of the mission. i had worked in the mission district for 5 years and am ashamed to say that this was my first journey to balmy alley to look at the murals. what i saw was quite impressive. if you're in sf and haven't been to check them out you need to go. it's great to know that we have places like this in the city. along balmy alley i stumbled upon poloppo inc. they created a line of children's wear based on artwork from children around the world. all of the children receive royalties on products sold with their artwork. check it out poloppo.com.
from balmy alley we made our way back to valencia and walked towards 18th street. i pointed out a few artsy-fartsy stores along the way. i was going to stop in a few of them but with such a large group i didn't think that would be wise. two of the girl were extremely interested in every dog they passed. it was a total photo op for them. i kept have to tell them to move along. before heading to dolores park we stopped at the women's building. i took them of them to a nearby taqueria which proved quite interesting. when they were asked what kind of beans they wanted they just stared off into space. i had to decide for them. from the park we ventured to the dolores mission church. by this time most of them were tired and didn't want to go inside. i walked them to the bart and we said our goodbyes. i was exhausted.
saturday i spent in my hood. grabbed some dinner with a friend at china first. we had an order of salt and peppered pork chops, so freakin good, and a few other dishes that were all right. the rest of the evening was spent planted in front of the tv. i ran some errands on sunday. later that evening misty and i met up with john and derek at martuni's to catch some drag queens singing piano bar songs. it was definitely entertaining. had myself a couple of martinis: blueberry lemon drop & a watermelon one. i so wanted the watermelon to taste like a jolly rancher but it didn't. oh well...
stay gold & be well…
previously on the e-list…
churches, murals, & burritos—it was a tour of the mission like no other. on friday, i once again had the privilege of taking the students out for their activity. this week's planned event was a walking tour of the mission. i had worked in the mission district for 5 years and am ashamed to say that this was my first journey to balmy alley to look at the murals. what i saw was quite impressive. if you're in sf and haven't been to check them out you need to go. it's great to know that we have places like this in the city. along balmy alley i stumbled upon poloppo inc. they created a line of children's wear based on artwork from children around the world. all of the children receive royalties on products sold with their artwork. check it out poloppo.com.
from balmy alley we made our way back to valencia and walked towards 18th street. i pointed out a few artsy-fartsy stores along the way. i was going to stop in a few of them but with such a large group i didn't think that would be wise. two of the girl were extremely interested in every dog they passed. it was a total photo op for them. i kept have to tell them to move along. before heading to dolores park we stopped at the women's building. i took them of them to a nearby taqueria which proved quite interesting. when they were asked what kind of beans they wanted they just stared off into space. i had to decide for them. from the park we ventured to the dolores mission church. by this time most of them were tired and didn't want to go inside. i walked them to the bart and we said our goodbyes. i was exhausted.
saturday i spent in my hood. grabbed some dinner with a friend at china first. we had an order of salt and peppered pork chops, so freakin good, and a few other dishes that were all right. the rest of the evening was spent planted in front of the tv. i ran some errands on sunday. later that evening misty and i met up with john and derek at martuni's to catch some drag queens singing piano bar songs. it was definitely entertaining. had myself a couple of martinis: blueberry lemon drop & a watermelon one. i so wanted the watermelon to taste like a jolly rancher but it didn't. oh well...
stay gold & be well…
Thursday, May 08, 2008
or
deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
a couple of months ago i was chatting with a friend and we were both complaining about how unmotivated we felt. this prompted me to do something about it, so i created a new photo project called 20 [something], 30 days. basically, what it comes down to is this: each month we have a new theme and 30 days to take 20 pictures. check out the links below to see the projects from march and april. also, if you have a flickr account and want to join the group send me an email. the more the merrier.
photo projects:
march - 20 doors, 30 days
april - 20 circles, 30 days
stay gold & be well…
previously on the e-list…
a couple of months ago i was chatting with a friend and we were both complaining about how unmotivated we felt. this prompted me to do something about it, so i created a new photo project called 20 [something], 30 days. basically, what it comes down to is this: each month we have a new theme and 30 days to take 20 pictures. check out the links below to see the projects from march and april. also, if you have a flickr account and want to join the group send me an email. the more the merrier.
photo projects:
march - 20 doors, 30 days
april - 20 circles, 30 days
stay gold & be well…
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
ultraviolet
deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
vote, design, & win—it's a contest thing! i've entered a design contest over at minted.com. for those of you reading my post, if you feel like helping a guy out go here and vote. voting is based on a 1 to 5 scale. feel free to leave a comment, too. voting ends may 15. thanks in advance.
stay gold & be well…
previously on the e-list…
vote, design, & win—it's a contest thing! i've entered a design contest over at minted.com. for those of you reading my post, if you feel like helping a guy out go here and vote. voting is based on a 1 to 5 scale. feel free to leave a comment, too. voting ends may 15. thanks in advance.
stay gold & be well…
Sunday, May 04, 2008
bowels of the beast
deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…
viagra, plastic surgery, & porn—just some of the subjects my students brought up in class. as many of you know by now, i have returned to the land of the working. while i continue my search for that "perfect" design job, i've secured a part-time gig teaching esl. it's not quite the same as when i taught in korea, but i'm enjoying it. gone are the days of nose pickers and art projects. most of the students are in their early twenties and are either college students or young professionals. it's quite a different experience to actually be able to elicit conversations from them. these guys love to ask questions. oddly enough the majority of my students hail from korea. japanese, thai, and one swiss girl make up the rest. it's great to see so many students coming to the u.s. to study the language. personally, i feel its the best way to learn since they are immersed into the culture. plus i'm able to give them advice as to where to go.
i've only been there two weeks and i'm already getting attached to them. i've gotten so use to teaching younger students that i often have to tell myself that they are adults. especially when they start talking about strip bars, porn, & viagra. topics like that never came up during my days at ils. what worries me most is their naivety. many of them act as if they are in their own country. i try to advise them that they should be conscious of their surroundings. you hope that they won't get taken advantage of while being here. unfortunately, that's not always the case. last week one of the students was mugged. they actually threatened to kill him. if that had been me, i would have been on the next plane out of here. not this student, he decided to stick it out. then there's a girl in my class who wrote that her host mother only fed her bread. what the fuck! i actually had to read the entry twice to make sure i was reading it correctly. she was smart enough to leave her host mother and found a new place to live. of course not every one's experiences are bad. for the most part they all seem to be enjoying their time in the city.
last friday i took a group of them to the golden gate bridge. what i thought was only 15 students going turned out to be 26. half of them i knew since they were in my class. the other half were fresh faces. it got to the point where i had to ask if they were from our school. hehe from downtown we had to take two buses to get to the bridge. trying to get 26 students onto a bus turned out to be a nightmare. i literally watched as one bus took off with ten students who had no idea where they were going. my first instinct was to chase it down but i couldn't leave the others behind. i could hope that someone had one of their cell numbers. on the second bus i could only get a handful of students on. i told them exactly where to get off and to wait for us there. i also made sure the bus driver knew to tell them when to get off. i managed to get on the third bus with the rest of the students. i was still pretty freaked out about how i was going to contact the first group of students. no one seemed to have anyone's number. before entering the stockton tunnel, the students from the first bus were waiting at the bus stop. they had been smart enough to get off and look for us. lucky for me, i didn't have to make that call to school saying i lost some students.
i was pretty excited about going to the bridge. sure, i've crossed it several time via car but i've never actually walked it. when i told them that they were pretty surprised. they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. they basically took pictures of anything and everything. we had a mini photo shoot at the half way mark. it got to the point where i was getting tired of smiling. we all know how much i like to do that. we didn't walk the whole bridge. it was far too cold and windy. before heading back i gave them some time to explore the park area and take yet more pictures. the next time i have to do an outing i'm going prep them beforehand with vital information. that way if we get separated at least they'll have some idea of where they are going.
pics from the field trip are here
stay gold & be well…
previously on the e-list…
viagra, plastic surgery, & porn—just some of the subjects my students brought up in class. as many of you know by now, i have returned to the land of the working. while i continue my search for that "perfect" design job, i've secured a part-time gig teaching esl. it's not quite the same as when i taught in korea, but i'm enjoying it. gone are the days of nose pickers and art projects. most of the students are in their early twenties and are either college students or young professionals. it's quite a different experience to actually be able to elicit conversations from them. these guys love to ask questions. oddly enough the majority of my students hail from korea. japanese, thai, and one swiss girl make up the rest. it's great to see so many students coming to the u.s. to study the language. personally, i feel its the best way to learn since they are immersed into the culture. plus i'm able to give them advice as to where to go.
i've only been there two weeks and i'm already getting attached to them. i've gotten so use to teaching younger students that i often have to tell myself that they are adults. especially when they start talking about strip bars, porn, & viagra. topics like that never came up during my days at ils. what worries me most is their naivety. many of them act as if they are in their own country. i try to advise them that they should be conscious of their surroundings. you hope that they won't get taken advantage of while being here. unfortunately, that's not always the case. last week one of the students was mugged. they actually threatened to kill him. if that had been me, i would have been on the next plane out of here. not this student, he decided to stick it out. then there's a girl in my class who wrote that her host mother only fed her bread. what the fuck! i actually had to read the entry twice to make sure i was reading it correctly. she was smart enough to leave her host mother and found a new place to live. of course not every one's experiences are bad. for the most part they all seem to be enjoying their time in the city.
last friday i took a group of them to the golden gate bridge. what i thought was only 15 students going turned out to be 26. half of them i knew since they were in my class. the other half were fresh faces. it got to the point where i had to ask if they were from our school. hehe from downtown we had to take two buses to get to the bridge. trying to get 26 students onto a bus turned out to be a nightmare. i literally watched as one bus took off with ten students who had no idea where they were going. my first instinct was to chase it down but i couldn't leave the others behind. i could hope that someone had one of their cell numbers. on the second bus i could only get a handful of students on. i told them exactly where to get off and to wait for us there. i also made sure the bus driver knew to tell them when to get off. i managed to get on the third bus with the rest of the students. i was still pretty freaked out about how i was going to contact the first group of students. no one seemed to have anyone's number. before entering the stockton tunnel, the students from the first bus were waiting at the bus stop. they had been smart enough to get off and look for us. lucky for me, i didn't have to make that call to school saying i lost some students.
i was pretty excited about going to the bridge. sure, i've crossed it several time via car but i've never actually walked it. when i told them that they were pretty surprised. they seemed to have enjoyed themselves. they basically took pictures of anything and everything. we had a mini photo shoot at the half way mark. it got to the point where i was getting tired of smiling. we all know how much i like to do that. we didn't walk the whole bridge. it was far too cold and windy. before heading back i gave them some time to explore the park area and take yet more pictures. the next time i have to do an outing i'm going prep them beforehand with vital information. that way if we get separated at least they'll have some idea of where they are going.
pics from the field trip are here
stay gold & be well…
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