hello, Mike!

Baby!

2009-05-13T18:39:08Z

I keep saying that I'm going to put together a photography portfolio, but there's lots I need to do and progress that needs to be made before I get to that point. I'd like to get a macro lens, a good telephoto lens, and a wide-angle lens. I'd like to shoot a wedding. I need to shoot some graduations. And don't get me started on bands.

I'd wanted to shoot a baby and finally got a chance last weekend. There are lots of babies on my dad's side of the family right now. Sophie, Danny, Aiden (not actually sure how his parents spell his name), and - the kicker - Vincent. How Italian is that? My cousin, Vinnie.

This is Danny, my cousin's baby. I think he's about 5-6 months old right now. That thing he's chewing on is a stuffed Bunny. As in Peeps. (Dude, Peeps in a chocolate fountain. Genius.)

Sing in me, Muse.

2009-05-13T17:05:39Z

I've been thinking about type and font a lot lately. I suppose it started when we were working on our Carpoolchella signs.

One of the most exciting parts about starting a new language is learning how the people who speak it write. Learning languages that use non-Latin scripts is a way to start off with a clean slate: my Greek is more attractive than my English because of the amount of dexterity I had by the time I started learning to write it. My English still has hang-ups from kindergarten. The same is true for my Italian - although compared to most Italians my handwriting is gorgeous - though not my Latin: I write it fairly exclusively in majuscules, as Latin is wont to be written.

The thing I miss most about Japanese is calligraphy. Brush calligraphy has something that pen calligraphy doesn't. It was never an art at which I was particularly skillful, but I love India ink and the feeling of a brush on paper.

I was looking for my copy of Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey and came upon my Pentel color brush that I used to practice calligraphy. All the perks of brushwork with none of the mess. Because my finals are tomorrow, I am in high procrastination mode. This is the opening of Ὀδύσσεια.

At some point in my life, I would like to learn standard calligraphy... but scripts such as Devanagari and Longobardisca seem so much more fun, and the latter is something which would actually prove useful. I also want to make an illuminated abecedarium (I suppose it's properly called an abecediary, but being a Latinist and all...) but am certain that my inability to draw or paint would hinder me.

This guy, on the other hand, I think I could do:

I declare I don't care no more.

2009-05-12T01:47:05Z

This is my idea of an appropriate Green Day song for the time of year. I think most would think of a different song, but "Burnout" is definitely the first that comes into my mind.

I have never been fond of traditional graduation announcements - too fussy. So I designed mine in Photoshop myself. They're formal, but not stuffy. The hardest part was finding a sufficiently high resolution version of the seal of the University, but the UCSF School of Dentistry came through. (The first image? Propaganda. From Brin and Page, no doubt. At least my degree isn't from a junior university.)

The color scheme is pretty basic, blue and tan. I mostly focused on texture. The font is Adobe Garamond, which I also used for my thesis. Medieval Sicilian courtly poetry, as it turns out, is not really my thing. What is my thing is the nouveau-y background, which I of course did not make.

As far as school goes, I have this one last week to push through, and I'm really not looking forward to it.

I'm Designer.

2009-03-22T19:15:05Z

The reason that I never really considered going to art school to study graphic design was that I figured it would take all the fun out of my hobby.

And boy was I right.

I've been working on various print material for my club's show - tickets, flyers, posters - in addition to doing the design work on the website. The main poster was a headache and a half, but I really liked the end result. I've started work on the programs and the fun has all left the building. I'm learning a new program - Adobe InDesign, since PageMaker is no more - and experiencing the joys of attempting to make something look good when printed. There is no joy in Mudville, let me tell you.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what type of border to use on the cover. It's clear that a border is necessary, but what that one border will be is beyond me. I'm now experimenting with kapa and really hoping that it works.

What a freaking headache.

Diēs Cinerum

2009-02-25T08:26:05Z

I have this weird thing about Lent. I'm not Catholic, nor have I ever been (though - to be fair - Catholicism is the religion I know best). All the same, I give something up every year. I often go for more abstract things: last year it was laziness. I was pretty amazingly productive, up until Easter.

After much deliberation, I think I'm giving up "being out of shape" for Lent. In other words, I'm going to be much more on top of getting exercise and will be eating better. I think I may do some serious Lent blogging to keep me honest.

[Morrisey]'s Ninth.

2009-02-19T20:49:45Z

Favorite album, that is.

I think I sometimes project an "anti-pop" image, which is so far from the truth. Many friends have expressed embarrassment about my pop tendencies, but I think they're just a bit small-minded. I've been fighting my The Prodigy/Def Leppard urges for the past few days (yes - make sense of that one if you can) and have found that the one pure solution? Good, old-fashioned, 90's pop. Post-grunge pop-punk. (EBPM, anyone? And whoever says that P is "punk" is an ignorant motherfucker and just plain wrong. Or delusional about what punk means.)

And the best album from that era is of course Moz's preferred Born to Quit by Smoking Popes. You may or may not know of the song "Need You Around" - it was on the Clueless soundtrack.

It may seem surprising, but this is probably on my top 25 all-time favorite songs ever list. There's something so classic and melancholy about it. It's the best love song I can think of, depending on what you would consider a love song. Josh Caterer has the perfect voice for this kind of music. And I love the fact that the album can't really exist anywhere but in the mid-90's - it's as if a grunge hangover seeped into the pop. There's that oh-so-Seattle existential crisis and despair, but not in such a depressing way. Now that they're sort of back together, I think I need to see them.

My other favorite song from the album is "Rubella" - he's just so Moz-y in both voice and cadence. With that excellent pop-punk background. It's kind of perfect. And less depressing than some of the other stuff. Sort of. I'd be interested to be that girl to someone, but I think were it to happen I'd be grossed out. Let's be honest.

This all seems strangely appropriate, like a good hair of the dog to the melancholy rain music I've been listening to over the past week. It's certainly a better cure and smoother transition than the aforementioned Def Leppard and The Prodigy.

I can't stand the rain.

2009-02-18T21:13:29Z

The rain is gone, but I can't shake the melancholy. Rain - or more specifically drizzle - is the reason I could never live in Seattle, despite my love for the city. I would without a doubt become a serial killer. Despite my vampire tendencies, I am quite dependent on my Vitamin D.

It lasted long enough that I made a rain playlist. With the oh-so-boring Zepp-inspired title "The Rain Songs." It's not an entirely logical playlist and it certainly doesn't capture my mood. It's missing something.

"Geronimo" - Yann Tiersen, Black Sessions
"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" - Missy Elliott, Supa Dupa Fly
"The Rain Song" - Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy
"Sit down. Stand up. (Snakes & Ladders.)" - Radiohead, Hail to the Thief
"Gun Street Girl" - Tom Waits, Rain Dogs
"When the Levee Breaks" - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV
"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
"Rain When I Die" - Alice in Chains, Dirt

In fact, the only song on it that really correlates phonically to my mood is "Geronimo," by the genius Yann Tiersen with vocals by Neil Hannon. It reminds me of Paris.

St. Hallmark's Day

2009-02-15T21:11:20Z

I forgot how much meaning people attach to Valentine's Day. Last year, being in Italy, I was sort of removed from all the commercial hullabaloo. We had Porn & Chocolate day. I fell asleep, but still really enjoyed myself.

This year, Facebook seemed all about Valentine's. Couples were being coupley, singles had statuses about "Singles' Awareness Day," and all I could think was, "why do you guys give a shit?"

That said, I celebrated in customary fashion, i.e. with a playlist. (I was also celebrating Pitchers & Catchers and Injured Players Day, so it was admittedly hard to be unhappy.) Appropriately enough, the shining star of the playlist? St. Valentine's Day Massacre and no, not 50's. Rather, the three song LP by motörheadgirlschool. It was kind of awesome.

Sex is on fire.

2009-02-12T09:39:22Z

About two years ago, I threw together a webpage for my club in literally about five minutes. It was supposed to be temporary, but it's still up. The design is pretty ugly. I'd worked on mock-ups for a new layout last year, but lost them to a hard drive crash. I decided that we're going to have a real website this year.

I spent the past three or so days (on and off, of course!) working on my initial plan: simple background, clean navigation. I spent quite a bit of time working on a kapa inspired pattern for the background. I ended up making a texture I loved, but no amount of fiddling with Kuler or anything else was able to help me find a color scheme that worked with it. It's hard to find something nice to go up against three different but strong browns. It's also the kind of design that might be off-putting or weird to people who don't know what kapa is and looks like.

In the end, it had to go to the junk pile. There was no way around it. I was looking through various Hawaiiana I keep around and got to some vintage postcards, then was struck by inspiration. This never happens to me. I put on Kings of Leon, as a courtesy to a friend who harassed me into giving them another try (they sucked at Coachella. I'm sorry. I loved "Molly's Chambers" pretty much since the week it was released, but if you can't put on a live show...). So I've been listening to "Sex on Fire" and fooling around with Photoshop for the past three hours, but I got something I really like. And yes, it looks shitty, but it's a JPG because I didn't want to waste space on a PNG.

Now I just have to code it. I don't even care that I'm up three hours after I intended to go to bed.

Are we the people?

2008-11-05T20:29:42Z

Fun things that have happened in the past 24 hours:

I left answers blank. On my ballot. I never do that, didn't even on the SAT.
I didn't have to wait in line to vote.
I almost vomited on my ballot.
I voted against my conscience. And felt remarkably at peace about it.
I avoided listening to the news.
I had a dream about the first-term aborted foetus picture I saw. I have a morbid fascination with the damn thing.
I felt proud to be an American.
I felt ashamed to be a Californian.
I punched a wall.

Scared to speak the speak 'cause you scared.

2008-10-30T05:39:14Z

otherwise titled as "Tra gli ignavi"

I went to go see Matt Gonzalez and Jello Biafra speak at school. Full disclosure time: despite my better judgment, I supported Gavin Newsom in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election. And let's be honest, if the man were not so good looking, I probably wouldn't have. He stands for and is a lot of the things I dislike about politics. For one, he is nothing if not a consumate politician. And I hate that.

But the Winter of Love happened and I felt somewhat justified in my decision. There has never been a time in my life that I've felt more proud to be American, more proud to be Californian, and more proud to be a Bay Area native. It was the first (and perhaps the only) time in my life where I saw someone standing up and doing something because it was the right thing to do and the constitutional thing to do, Prop 22 and California voters be damned.

Mayor Newsom, physical appearance aside, is in many ways the new boss. At least the old boss did it with his very own type of flair.

By this time next week, I will have cast a vote for the President of the United States of America for the first time in my life. This is something I've been waiting eagerly to do almost as long as I can remember. The problem is that, with less than a week to go, I'm not sure what I'm doing.

I want to believe in the promise of Obama. He makes me feel good, I will say that much. But voting for Obama is voting for a system and a party with which I fundamentally disagree. The Democrats have been breaking my heart for years. Nonetheless, I had quelled my doubts and was fully prepared to cast my vote.

Then Matt Gonzalez brought up every doubt I've ever had and suddenly the issue wasn't quite so clear. The point he made that really struck me was: "what is it going to take for them to lose your vote?" Should it be the 2006-8 congress? The failing electoral system that got us to this point in the first place? Bill Clinton for signing the Federal D.O.M.A.? What happened to the social programs? The importance of education? Or did they never exist in the first place? Were the ideals never followed at all?

It pains me to the very depths of my soul, but I'm inclined to answer the last question with "yes."

And I could demand more from the party. I could cost them my vote. As I have always defended Rage Against the Machine for protesting against the Democrats as well, ought I not do as I myself say?

At this point, I think that I will cast my ballot for Senator Obama, if only because the thought of President Palin terrifies me. I'm just upset that my first presidential vote is being decided on a lesser of evils basis.

I want to demand better of the system, but I don't know how to. Because the problem is not the candidate nor the party, but the system that allowed it and continues to allow it to occur. The problem is the fact that the American people have not a clue. I feel like Cicero watching the death of the Republic.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

Through this new frame of mind.

2008-09-04T14:18:48Z

There is little in life as satisfying as finding that one song that suits my mood when none of my other music will do it for me. My restlessness tonight needed something that for once was neither metal nor grunge nor "Harder" - which, no thanks to Oliver, I listen to quite often.

The thought occurred that Portishead might be good restless music.
And so I'm listening to "Glory Box." On repeat.
All of Dummy would probably work.

Upon leaving Europe, there was little doubt in my mind that there would be no mens in Berkeley, per usual. Whatever if I cop out a lot: the fact of the matter is that I can count on one hand the number of guys whom I've met here and to whom I've been instantly attracted.

That said, I find myself at a crossroads of sort. Which is a bit of a luxury, but then again, my interests read like a "pick me to be your girlfriend" application. I've never been sure how to respond when people ask me why I'm single, but I think it amounts to this: if life is too short for bad coffee and frat parties, what makes it long enough to deal with relationship bullshit?

The fact of the matter is that it isn't. Don't get me wrong, I like people. But I prefer the company of me to the company of someone I don't really care about. I'm a third-wave feminist in so very many ways. But I am tired of playing. It is exhausting.

Wanderlust

2008-05-28T19:12:24Z

Since August I've wanted to jump in our town fountain, La Fontanta di Nettuno. I was pretty sure that it was going to be me (post-alcohol), being watched disapprovingly by a few of my friends and an in-and-out maneuver. Last night was James' going away party; I told him about my plans and he decided to join in. Eventually the thing snowballed and there were a good ten of us who made it in at one point or another. I would like to point out that I was first in and stayed in longest. I'd love to make this a post-finals tradition, but I have a feeling that Ludwig's would lead to cops and a situation that I couldn't flirt my way out of.

At ten tonight, I leave for Pisa because we have a six a.m. flight to Sicily! I'll be there until next Wednesday, but I leave again for Puglia that night. I'll get back from the south on the 9th, but I'm leaving for Dublin on the 10th. That means today? Today is the day in which everything needs to be attended to. Laundry, train tickets, packing, etc. etc. etc. But I'm ready to tackle the world right about now. So bring 'em on.

Under the Waves

2008-05-27T08:41:55Z

My procrastination is reaching all-time highs, which is an achievement for a Super Procrastinator such as myself. I should be proud. Today's distraction du jour (I really don't mind the obvious redundancy) was design. I modified the site design to de-yellow-ify it (much better, if you ask me) and did a bit of photo editing.

In high school I really enjoyed virtual "post-processing" of my photographs and certainly much more than I enjoyed photography itself. Nature of the beast: my camera was no Mostro. It's been years since I've done much in that vein, but I had a fun time tweaking some beachy photos.

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The light is clear in the darkness.

2008-05-26T21:41:03Z

Nazis and Jonses and Cathars, oh my.

I was once told that the reason I didn't like, didn't get, didn't respect The DaVinci Code was because I love grail lore too much. I don't love grail lore too much. This dude did.

I'll soon enough be heading off to the Languedoc. I've always wanted to go on a "grail" trip, three weeks of the stuff that dreams are made of. I'd go to Jerusalem and Petra and Vermont and Ireland and read Arthurian romances. I like the idea of theme in travel, like my mission trip. I like making my itineraries and planning and going and seeing.

I like not studying. I'm almost there.