ミ★ Yume no Basho

Day 30

2011-03-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

Day 30- 20 goals you want to accomplish.

Wow, done already? It seems like I just started...thanks to those who followed or are just finding me. :) I can't believe I did it!

1) Be assertive and stick to my rates for photos
2) Get assignments/work done on time and to the clients/teachers asap
3) Get a better sleep schedule
4) Work on stronger, technical photography aspects for a better portfolio
5) Return to kendo practice. It's been too long, and I miss it. I won't be as good as I used to be, but I want to get to that level again
6) Keep my room CLEAN! haha
7) To be able to look back when I'm 50 and still have the same awesome friends
8) Feel confident about myself
9) To become better at guitar and to eventually play by ear
10) Visit Japan
11) See Verbal and Taku perform (preferably together, fine seperately)
12) Be fluent in Japanese
13) Work on video skills
14) To not be afraid of putting myself out there and offering my services as much as I can
15) Be happy with life
16) Visit the rest of the 50 states (I've been to 43)
17) I would love to learn Korean
18) Become even less of a picky eater
19) Get an internship while at Brooks
20) Fall in love

Day 29

2011-03-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Day 29- In the past month what have you learned?

That it's never too late. I feel progress. Maybe I'm being silly and too hopeful, but I feel it. And I know I made a huge deal about moving on when I started this 30 day challenge, but I've come to realize I can't give up that easily. It's going to be a long road that might lead me nowhere, but I'm willing to try. I also realized that I am truly a romantic. I had a brief fall of my defenses, but thankfully it didn't get crazy. I want to believe that I can be like majority of the people I see around me, but I can't give up on the idea of love or settle for something that won't make me happy.

Day 28

2011-03-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now. How have you changed since then?

2010: This was me trying to do a modeling picture for He Qi Crystal Designs. I never did send it it. haha. Anyways, this was back at my old apartment. The first one I ever lived in for college education. I was still pretty shy at this point, but I was making friends with all my session mates. Still the person I was from Delta College. Starting off fresh after a year of heartbreak and I had no motivation back at Delta that last semester. It was tough realizing that my goal of becoming fluent in Japanese was being pushed farther back. I didn't feel like I had a future in something I wanted for so long and that was hard. I also felt like I had lost some friendships thanks to all the change I had gone through. At the same time I met some of my best friends at Delta and was kept from going insane in April and May. My decision to come to Brooks came in October 2009, when my parents decided that maybe going to a 4-year CSU was not in my best interest. In 2010, Brooks allowed me to do what I love. I achieved so many goals of learning how to use the technical things that Brooks taught us and to make great images with it. I got my first photography jobs and got to photograph some amazing things and people.

2011: I have changed so much within the year. I learned a huge amount of information about photography and I know how to take better pictures now. I've made friends much easier than I ever thought I could. And have experienced roommate troubles as expected in every day college stories. I went to my first raves and realize that I enjoy them way more than any club I've ever been to. I've developed callouses from guitar playing and can finger pick. I hope to continue on that path of becoming a better guitarist. I confessed feelings to the guy I'm into after years of hiding them and as a result I feel a million times more confident in myself. I keep in contact with all of my friends from home every time I go back. I'm almost ready to hit upper division and am very excited at the prospects the future holds for me. Here's to another year of personal growth!

Day 27

2011-03-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?

I wanted to try this out so that I can prove to myself that I could stick to this for 30 days. It gave me a small goal and also preparation for possibly doing a 365 photo a day project. I was inspired by fellow bloggers to do a 30 day blog challenge and a fellow photographer friend to do the 365 one. I will see if I can get on that soon, but until then I'm just going to finish up these 30 days. :)

Day 26

2011-03-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Day 26- Places you want to visit before you die

I still have never been to Japan. It's been my dream to go ever since I was in grade school. I am deeply rooted in my heritage and I am very proud to be fourth generation Japanese-American (yes I am full Japanese, even if I might not look like it). I used to want to go to school in Japan and become fluent. I was even set on being a Japanese major. In the end I didn't but I still want to live in Japan someday.

I also want to visit places like Italy, Australia, South Korea, England (again), South Africa, Paris, Prague, and a multitude of other places. I've traveled majority of the United States (43 out of the 50) but I want to go out and see the world.

Day 25

2011-03-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

Day 25- What would you find in your bag?

Oh the "inside the bag" blogger picture. It seems like a common theme with all the beauty bloggers that have to do it at least once. I'm not as glamorous as a lot of the other bloggers out there so my bag is pretty simple. Today was English class day so I have my purple notebook for the daily free writing session. I have my wallet, checkbook and random change thrown about my purse. I have random batteries just in case I forget some for photo equipment, my pair of sunglasses, and my iPhone headphones. I have lip stick and lipgloss that I don't use on a daily basis and a small sample vial of Victoria's Secret Noir Love Me scent. My friend works at Victoria's Secret and he gave me the sample since he said he wouldn't use it. I also usually have my EOS lip balm, but since I constantly change purses, it's probably in one of the others. I typically change my purses every other day so i keep a minimal amount of things in my purse at a time.

Day 24

2011-03-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Day 24- Share a story about your past that you are ashamed of.

When I was younger, we moved homes and I started at a new school. The whole time I was there I had a hard time fitting in. I never really felt accepted and tried very hard to be friends with a group of girls. In that process of just wanting to fit in, I didn't stand up for a friend when the others picked on her. I felt so badly, but I just wanted to have friends. Looking at myself then, I see that I should have stood up for the other girl. The funny thing is that the girl that they picked on is one of my best friends now. I'm glad that she forgave my cowardice. I am glad I was able to redeem myself and I'm happy to call her one of my best friends. But I still feel ashamed that the old me was such a sad person who would do anything to feel like I had friends. I am glad that I am not the same person as I was then. Self-confidence does wonderful things for you. :)

only a few more days left! Thanks for sticking with me for so long. :)

Day 25- What would you find in your bag?
Day 26- Places you want to visit before you die
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now. How have you changed since then?
Day 29- In the past month what have you learned?
Day 30- A picture of you today and 20 goals you want to accomplish

Day 23

2011-03-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Day 23- What is something you crave?

Time with friends. It's always tough when everyone is so busy with growing up. I've noticed that the older I get, the harder it is to get a big bunch together. I try and visit all of my friends when I go back home and keep in contact with the ones I can't see. My friends are a huge support system and I don't know what I would do without them. :)

Day 22

2011-03-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else?

I am a Japanese American girl from northern California who is studying to be a photographer. I have friends in many places. I took Japanese and practice kendo. There's a lot of things that add up together to make my life what it is.

Day 21

2011-03-11T23:54:00.000-08:00

Day 21- Share a picture from your day

I got to see Pogo live in SF. IT WAS AMAZING. He mixed new songs and had movies such as Casablanca, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars and a lot of other Disney ones. I loved the live and was so happy to be at the front of the stage. The picture is INCREDIBLY noisy, due to the fact that the only thing lighting his face was the laptop and soundboard. They kept the lights low the entire show since half of Pogo's show is all about the video. :)

Day 20

2011-03-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Day 20- If you had three wishes, what would they be?

1) To be immune to diabetes. haha, I think it might run in my family. XD

2) To have clear skin 24/7. I've been plagued with it since I was in 5th grade. It's left scars and is always active.

3) I would wish to be a successful, editorial-type celebrity photographer in Japan. I would love to photograph the movie stars and musicians that I love so much.

I will be in San Francisco for the weekend, so Day 20 might not be posted until Sunday, but I will definitely be keeping the picture from tomorrow. :D Hope this doesn't count as missing a day! lol

Day 19

2011-03-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Day 19- Nicknames you have; how and why you have them.

My first nickname was Pucca. I had a group of friends in high school that were in band together and we wanted cute names for ourselves. I used to wear puka shell necklaces a lot my freshman year, so they named me Puka. Then I stopped wearing them, so I asked to change the spelling to Pucca like the little asian character that was floating around the internet. The name is still with me today.

My middle name, Chiemi, is used to my Japanese class friends from Delta and started with my friend from Tokay. I gave him a Japanese nickname that was similar to his real name and he would call me Chiemi. This is also morphed into Emi-chan or Chi-chan depending on who is talking to me. :) I used to hate my first name, since it was so common, so most of my friends call me by my Japanese name (plus it's easier for Asians to pronounce Chiemi then it is to pronounce Lauren)

My last nickname comes from one of my best friends here in Santa Barbara. Kiana used to give nicknames to everyone she met and of course, me being her roommate, I was no exception. For some reason she called me Babycakes. And it has stuck. Don't know why she picked the name, but it's just my name. haha. At one point, her boyfriend knew me for a year as only Babycakes so he had no clue what my real name was. XD I found a clothing brand called Babycakes and Kiana is determined to by any future boyfriend I have a pair of Babycakes underwear. lol. She even advertised for me on Facebook once because she was so excited to buy a pair. hahaha

Those are my few nicknames. Specific groups of people call me certain names, but majority of my friends just call me Lauren. :) Either way, I will answer to any of these!

Day 18

2011-03-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

Day 18- Plans/Dreams/Goals you have

I want to be a successful editorial-type photographer (people in general, advertising/portraits/anything)
I want to be able to get all my school loans paid quickly
I want to play guitar proficiently
I want to speak Japanese fluently
I want to stay friends with all of the great ones I have now
I want to be me through it all

Day 17

2011-03-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.

I would love to switch places with Yoon. She is Verbal's husband, but that's a small detail. I would love to see how it is to be such an influential person in the fashion industry. Yoon has this look and attitude that is something I would love to exude. It would be so cool to run Ambush Designs for a day and just be awesome traveling and working as her. She is definitely a role model for me. :)

Day 16

2011-03-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Day 16- Something you could live without

I want to live without soda. For some reason I like drinking it. I know it's just extra calories and not good for you, but my self control about it is very very low. I might be able to cut it for awhile, but I never succeed at cutting it out completely.

Day 15

2011-03-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first 15 songs that come up (I have 6681 songs total so the songs might get crazy... XD)

I'm heading back to Santa Barbara today for another session. Disneyland with my sister tomorrow for a last minute visit! :D

1) Sea of love- Fly to the Sky

2) Blood Red Summer- Coheed & Cambria

3) チャンピオーネ (Champione)- Orange Range

4) Defying Gravity- Idina Menzel & Kristen Chenoweth

5) Pass me the Sugar- Olivia

6) We're So Far Away- Mae

7) Where Are You Now?- Michelle Branch

8) come again- m-flo

9) Under the Sun- Do as Infinity

10) Go Away- 2NE1

11) Passion ~opening version~ - Utada Hikaru

12) Armory- Daft Punk

13) Maroon Cartoon- Alan Silverstri

14) Peace N' Rock N' Roll- Cherry Filter

15) 修羅の花(Shura no Hana; Flower of Carnage)- 芽衣子(Kaji Mieko) this is the theme song for Lady Snowblood or more commonly known as the scene where Lucy Liu gets sliced in Kill Bill Vol. 1

Day 14

2011-03-04T14:48:00.001-08:00

Day 14- A picture of something you ate & 10 confessions
So I was a bit slow on getting the picture up! I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food because it was so delicious. hahahaha.

1) I am okay with a messy room until someone visits, then I wish I didn't let it go so much. haha
2) I've always wanted a pet dog.
3) I watch Spongebob whenever I go back home for break week.
4) I dowload singles for their album art.
5) I am slowly being turned into an Arashi fan. But I'm more interested in their acting skills, and the songs that accompany their dramas/movies. (more specifically, Nino's work. <3 :D)
6) I am mostly attracted to Asians.
7) I want to go to Japan and be a celebrity photographer. NOT a paparazzi, a celebrity photographer for things like editorial portraits and magazines.
8) I am constantly trying to find out what kind of music suites my singing voice best. So far the closest that I've come to is He is We's sound.
9) I want to play more and more guitar songs. Kina Grannis, He is We, Jeremy Messersmith..I want to play all of their songs.
10) I can't write music and I'm always jealous/admiring of people who can.

Day 13

2011-03-03T00:14:00.000-08:00

Day 13- Write a letter to someone telling them something you could never tell.

Hmm this one seems really personal. But I guess since it's unnamed it will be okay. I've been pondering who to write to since I read the challenge those 7 months ago...but I guess I will finally make a decision. Here it goes...

Dear Person,

It is always so difficult talking to you about the past. We have never brought it up since then. I think we both realized that what's the point in talking it out? But I finally have to admit to myself and to you all the things that I have thought about. When we first started dating, it was the first time I really knew someone on my own without the influence of others. We had one class together and we hit it off really well. Maybe you were flirting with me the whole time, but at the age I was, I barely knew how to tell if someone was into me. I wasn't used to the feeling. It was great getting to know you and I introduced you to a whole new world of music. I remember when I started having feelings for you. And then suddenly, someone from my past came into my life again and wanted to date me. I was confused and could tell you were disappointed when you found out. I myself didn't really know what I wanted. And then he abruptly ended it. For no real reason...but I was relieved. I thought that you might not want to approach me after that, but you did. We realized that we both liked each other a lot. We started dating and I completely changed. You gave me confidence in myself and for once I had a real boyfriend. Sure we only talked on the phone and went out on a couple dates, but it was more real than anything I had ever had. And yes, you are my first love. You might not think so because it was such a short relationship, but I really fell hard for you. Now here comes the hard part. The part where I have to admit to myself and to you why I ended it.

Back then I felt I had really good friends. I was particularly close with one of my friends and valued her opinion. Towards the end of the short relationship she made it sound like she didn't like our relationship. Looking back on it now, I think she was manipulating me even then. She probably knew how much I valued her opinion, and used that to her advantage to mess with my head and heart. I can look back on it now and realize what was happening. But, no more excuses. I questioned myself and wondered if it was possible for me to be that happy. I was scared. I ended our relationship. I broke your heart (maybe it was not as extreme as I'm making it out to be). You wanted me back, but I was too scared to let you back in when you still wanted me. I regretted my decision for awhile. I knew it wasn't possible for us anymore but I always wondered what kind of person I would have turned out to be had I stayed with you for longer.

I didn't see you for awhile. Then we met up again. And we went back to being how we were when we first met. It's wonderful to be such a good friend of yours, even though I did a terrible and stupid thing. But it seriously was a growing experience. It gave me the knowledge to never let someone's opinion of your happiness get in the way. I'm so glad that you can call me a friend, and I want you to know that I'm truly sorry for back then. I know it probably doesn't mean much, but know that scared and confused, 16 year old me really did love our relationship. I don't regret dating you and I am so glad to have you in my life as we are now. Thank you for teaching me about what love could be and giving me a magical first love experience. I might not be your first love, but I'm okay with that. I'm so glad you can call me your friend and I hope to be a part of your life for a very long time to come. Thank you for always being there for me. :)

Sincerely,

ちえみ

Day 12

2011-03-02T23:26:00.000-08:00

Day 12- A picture of your room, don't cheat by cleaning it! Share a secret.

This is my room back in Lodi. I've been sleeping in it for a few days so it's a bit messy. XD Let's see...a secret? Hmm. I am drawing a blank..

I guess I sometimes worry that I won't be able to make it as a photographer. Competition is tough and finding something that makes people come back to you will be tough, but I'm going to give it my all and be the best that I can be.

Day 11

2011-03-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

Day 11- A picture of something you dislike

I hate bananas. I can't stand them. Don't like the texture, taste, or anything about them. I've never been able to eat them, and probably never will.

Day 10

2011-02-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

Day 10- A story about a past relationship

This is one of the ones that I am not quite sure what to talk about. I can say that there have been 5 important relationships in my life. They each had lessons that taught me about how I view love and how it has made me the way that I am about relationships. The first love, the first "oh I'm in college now, things will be different from high school,"the first long-term, the first "dump you for a friend" guy, and the finding out about myself lesson. So which one should I talk about?

Hmm. Well when I started college, I briefly dated someone. We really hadn't talked much before we started dating. We just hung out a few times and then randomly we decided to start dating. I thought, "oh I'm in college now, things will be different than high school." Turns out, it wasn't. It was pretty much like a high school relationship plus the fact that I could drive. hahaha. It was as awkward relationship and we just didn't have the chemistry. It was very short lived, and it made me realize that just because I was in college now, didn't meant that people automatically just change and mature. It was a reality check that freshman me needed and it taught me that growing up meant changing how I viewed realtionships. And I did change. I had a good relationship following that one and have learned even more about myself since.

Day 9

2011-02-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

Day 09- Something/someone you're proud of

So this might come off as incredibly cheesy, but here it goes...

In the summer, it will be 4 years since I graduated high school. My friends either went to a four year university straight away or went to Delta and made decisions from there. I am so proud of where everyone is at in their lives today. One of my friends just came back from auditioning all over the US for music school grad programs. One of my friends has an awesome job lined up for her when she finishes in June. One of my friends passed the CBEST test so he can now teach for minimum wages. Each friend is at a good place in their lives (even if some might be wary of the future) and have had so many good things happen in the process. Many of my Delta friends have moved on to better schools and made greater goals for themselves. My friend has a a beautiful son and her own little loving family. All of my friends are at such great places in their lives and I am extremely happy for everyone and the places they are at in their lives. I am happy to be a part of their lives and I hope that we will continue being friends for the long haul. :)

Day 8

2011-02-26T02:16:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this early in the morning since my Saturday will be busy with a photo workshop, packing and traveling home. :)

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

March is around the corner. Another session is starting soon. This is definitely a good time to get some short term goals going.

1) I want to go to kendo at least once a week (probably Thursdays after my class in Ventura)
2) This session I will work on practicing Photoshop at least an hour a day
3) I will try and keep my room clean for this session
4) I want to shoot for myself so I can be ready for the Portfolio class in May
5) I don't want to buy too much since I don't have a steady pay coming in
6) I want to meet more people for modeling and networking

This session won't be as busy as LS was, so I am looking to focus more on myself and professional betterment.

Day 7

2011-02-25T19:52:00.001-08:00

Day 07- A picture of something/someone who has had the biggest impact on you

EDIT: okay, so I guess I'm just all talk. XD I feel progress and I just can't let go. My mind won't let it go, and I just can't. I still learned from this class and the people in it. I will not forget what I learned, but I'm not able to let go just yet. It's too important to me still. :)

Well...this one is a challenge. I could do my first love...I could do my first heartbreak (different from my first love person)...I could do the story of a ~~boyfriend~~ punk who dumped me for one of my friends after introducing them...I could do my ex-best friend story....there are so many things in my life that have taught me so much about people and myself that I have a lot of people to thank where I am today. I know that sounds incredibly and ridiculously cheesy, but it's true. And thinking about it..they probably could all tie together. XD At the same time, I do have amazing friends and family who helped to get me to the spot I'm at today. So I think I will talk about the most recent growth in my life and the biggest change I have come across so far.

This is a picture of my psychology class from this past session. There was a field trip we all went on where we sat around a campfire on the beach and just talked. We were supposed to talk about the things we wouldn't be able to talk about in a classroom. I took my guitar with me and told them the story of a boy I was into for a year. I told them that I had confessed to him over the summer, but still was not getting any sort of response. I used to say "as long as I know that he cares I could be happy." I used to think that I would be able to live with things the way they are. I told them that I wanted to send him a recording of a song I had learned for Valentine's day and ask him if he had any sort of thoughts of an "us" or if he just wanted me to leave him alone. I played/sang the song, and I was so nervous that my voice was shaky and I could barely form the chords. At the end, everyone thought it was cute and one person said, "it was perfectly imperfect." Everyone supported me and thought what I did was a very brave thing. I had some input from them and a lot of "well, it sounds like the guy just isn't good enough for you." A lot of people that knew the story had told me similar things. Things like, "if you have told him and obviously have so much to give, then him not taking it is dumb on his part." I posted a video to all on Valentine's Day and got a very positive response. But I did not get any kind of response from him. Not even a "good job with the video!" or "I can tell you practiced hard!" Another final straw was when he refused to talk about even his theory on love. To me it was the sign that he is definitely not ready. This, and an amazing week previously gave me a COMPLETELY different outlook on my feelings and how I valued myself. I realize that I do have a lot of love to give, and someone who can't think about relationships now is just not ready for me. I finally had to become honest with myself and realize that I am worth so much more than I give myself credit for. There are people out there who want to put the effort in with me. And I have to realize that my time will come.

It was last week that I realized that I had completely changed. I am slowly letting go. My heart and mind are clear. Finally, after a year, I can focus completely on me. And maybe someday if he changes his mind maybe something will happen. But for now, I am just focusing on me and becoming the best photographer I can be. So I want to thank my psychology class and my teacher for helping nudge me in the right direction of being positive about myself. I didn't realize that by not getting the recognition of my feelings or efforts it was making my self-confidence lower more and more. When you try and put your feelings and hard work, and someone just ignores all of it, you start to feel like, "what am I doing wrong that someone can't like me?" It doesn't have to be just a love interest. It can be friendship too.

I have no hard feelings towards him. I want that much to remain clear. It's more like a self-realization with myself that there's no use in trying to share those kinds of feelings with someone who doesn't want them. My happiness right now is that I came to such a huge realization. I am incredibly happy for this session and all the people and events that helped me to come to this ending. Thank you all.

Day 6

2011-02-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

Day 06- A hobby you have

I'm a lomographer. It all started when I was awarded a 120N Holga from my photography teacher in high school. I had won a class contest for "best photo series" and in the prize pack was the Holga. My teacher said to just mess around with it and see what happens. I actually didn't try the camera out until much later, but the 2nd lomography camera I purchased was in college. I had just finished my first paying photographing job and I wanted to reward myself with a camera I had been debating on buying for some time. It was an Oktomat, a multilens camera that shoots 8 frames on a single shot of film. I had been debating on this camera for awhile because a lot of people were saying that the camera didn't work well. But then I finally decided, that's what lomography is about. It's about each camera's unique feel and function. Each camera has different light leaks, lenses, imperfections and all that. I ended up with a great camera that takes great pictures. :) For my 3rd camera I asked for a Diana F+ for Christmas. It came with a nice little flash, but I also asked for a ringflash and an instant back that would take polaroid type pictures. The splitzer was also thrown in so that I could make composite-type pictures using the Diana. These cameras use film, both 35mm and 120mm types. I love experimenting with lomography cameras and all the cool things they can do. I keep trying a bunch of films and using different equipment to get different results every time. I will continue to do lomography, and hopefully obtain even more cameras (like the Spinner 360˚!) and get better and better and using lomography to show my vision. :)

Day 5

2011-02-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

Day 05- A picture of a place you've been to

I made it in time! One of my best friends and I had our Roo-Re Wednesday (roomie reunion) celebration and we hung out from the end of class (2:30) till just now. Roo-Re Wednesday usually includes food and catching up since we aren't going to be living together until June. After a lovely afternoon/night with her and her boyfriend over a plate of homemade Pastaschute (aka Pasta Kiana) and Roo-Re celebration cake we wrapped up our last reunion of the session. ANYWAYS, on with the blogging. :D

When I was going into my senior year of high school (summer '06) I went to England on an exchange trip. It was with Rotary so it was a little more business-like than most people would have probably liked, but I had an amazing host family and I had so much fun with the other exchange students. This picture is from the London Eye and I had to do my classically fob pose since I thought I was cool back in the day. =P I have so many good memories from the trip. Meeting my host family, hitting up English grocery stores (so awesome!), traveling through London, and getting lost/left behind in Greenwich Village. XD It was a great trip and I can't wait to travel more in the coming years. :D

Day 4

2011-02-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Day 04- List 15 songs that represent your life's soundtrack

Hmm, well I don't know if these would necessarily make up a soundtrack to my life...well maybe I'll pick some of the most influential songs or ones that I can never get tired of.

1. m-flo's The Love Bug
This song changed my life. I was a middle school who had just started getting into anime. BoA was a favorite of mine from some of the songs I had listened to so I was always looking for stuff by her (back when I had to download mp3 links with dial-up...man that took forever!). I went to San Francisco's Kinokuniya and was looking through their little music kiosk where they used to have the latest PV's from Japanese artists. In there I found a PV titled The Love Bug m-flo ♥ BoA. I watched it and instantly fell in love. I raced over to the bookcases filled with CD's and bought the single as soon as I found it. m-flo has been my favorite group since then, and Verbal is my all time favorite rapper. They introduced me to a multitude of Japanese artists and really kick started my love for Asian music in general. Thinking about it now, majority of the artists that I follow have been introduced to me through m-fo. This song is one of the first songs that I learned to sing in Japanese without ever having taken a class. And my junior year of high school, I found someone who was willing to sing this duet with me. :) But before that I used to do all the parts by myself....and people found it pretty entertaining that I could rap in Japanese. XD m-flo has changed my life and I continue to follow their music, even if they aren't making music together anymore.

2. Pogo- Upular
I had heard Pogo's previous mix of Alice in Wonderland back when I was in high school. It was a forgotten memory until I came across Upular! I love how Pogo mixes movies. And not just any movies! He remixes all of my favorites from my childhood. Even down to the exact version of The Secret Garden that I loved. The fact that he just picks out clips that he likes from movies and then can make entire songs from all of it. I think it's really a fantastic ability. Disney might hold him back at times, but his fans will definitely keep him going. I am so excited to see him live in San Francisco March 11th and I hope I will get a chance to meet him and tell him how influential he is to me as an artist.

3. And Run- He is We
I saw He is We open up for Yellowcard at their comback concert in November 2010. They were this cute 5 piece band with a classical pop/songwriter sound. They're from Seattle and currently touring the US with the Scene Aesthetic. This specific song is extremely catchy and has such good meaning. It's a great song about changing your life for yourself and making the best of it. One of my favorite verses is:

Filling my head with words to encourage me

Gotta get my act on straight so I can truly believe

That what I'm waiting for, is really worth the wait

Stop bringing myself down

I gotta know what makes me great

I'm going to open my mind to all these

New found exciting possibilities

They're style sounds like something that I grew up listening to, so they feel a bit nostalgic. I can't wait to follow them more and continue hearing them climb up the music scene.

4. Basshunter- GPS

Before 2008, I really hated techno. I never understood how people could listen to something that sounded the same for more than 6 minutes. I didn't get it and just pushed it away. Then my boyfriend at the time was really into techno. Basshunter was one of his favorites and he had me listen to it. I thought it was pretty cool and I loved the bounciness and energy that his songs had. They did sound similar, but it made me realize that techno can be cool. I love Basshunter's voice in his original work, and his American stuff is all about love, but still so energetic. Thanks to my ex, I was introduced into the world of techno and the variety it could provide. From there it really kept me open minded about listening to it which leads me to my next selection....

5. Tiësto- Escape Me

In Feb. 2010, I had a new roommate move in with me at my apartment for Brooks. Kiana is always so fun and cheery. And she was always singing. She was usually singing a little set list of songs and there was one in particular she was always singing/listening too. Finally, when we got more comfortable around each other, I asked her to share her music knowledge with me and I finally discovered the name of the song. It was Tiësto's Escape Me. I guess I can say that Tiësto and Kiana were the people who finally got me into techno for good. I even went to a rave for Halloween last year! I understand techno now and I such a bigger appreciation for it. There's a stigma that techno is created by talentless people. I've heard people say they think that DJ's just mix other people's music and can't create their own. I highly disagree after being introduced to so many different and talented musicians. So thanks to Kiana and Tiësto for cementing my love for electronic music.

6. Kina Grannis- Valentine

I first discovered Kina Grannis by a friend sending me a youtube video of her offical Valentine video. I instantly fell in love. The lyrics were so simple and beautiful and I thought the she was just a happy and cheery person. Soon after her album went on sale and I immediately downloaded a copy. Her songs are some of my most top played songs on my iTunes and I know all of the lyrics by heart. Her music is so simple, but it packs a lot of punch. I've seen her live 3 times now and she's just as akwardly adorable as she is in her youtube videos. This Valentines day I perfected finger picking and singing this song. I've been working on it since November, so it was a lot of work, but so worth it. Kina definitely inspired me to start playing guitar again and I will continue to support her music as she reaches for greater heights.

7. Monkey Majik- Sotsugyou, Soshite Mirai e (Graduation, and then to the future)

I became a fan of Monkey Majik after their duet with m-flo for Picture Perfect. This song came out in 2007, the same year I graduated so I feel like this is my graduation song. :) It reminds me of the good times I had with friends back then and that I am still close with a lot of good high school friends. It's not one of their more popular songs, but it's still a favorite and always brings a smile to my face. One of my favorite verses is:
We could stay close say no goodbyes
Keeping our ties and never unwind
Maybe tomorrow we can go out for a ride
We’re driving for miles there’s always smile
Your very first kiss remember those days
‘Cause in my heart i know you’re close to me

8. Time (We Plants are Happy Plants remix)- Hans Zimmer
Inception was one of those movies that really made me wish I had tried going into cinematography. I love visually stunning movies like this and the dream sequences were very intricate visually. This is one of my favorite movies and I heard this mix last month. I loved this theme in the movie, especially when it's used at the ending, and hearing a remix of it actually work was really cool.

9. Gifts & Curses- Yellowcard

You can start the hating now, I don't care. Yellowcard was my favorite band back when SSX 3 came out (2003) because their track Way Away was in the soundtrack. I immediately went to the store and picked up a copy of Ocean Avenue and fell in love with their sound. I love that they use violin and Ryan Key is still one of my all time favorite vocalists. People hate them, people judge me, but I love them too much to care. I was so lucky and went to their comeback concert back in November 2010. It was everything I ever dreamed of. I even got the signatures of each member and I was able to tell Ryan Key that he is one of my favorite singers ever. They're comeback album is about to come out in March and they already have 2 singles out. This particular song by them was on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack (a super legit soundtrack) but it's definitely one of my Yellowcard favorites. Forgive me for only finding a cheesy fan-video to share but at least the music is there. In the latest single, "For You and Your Denial" it opens up with Sean Mackin's violin. When I first heard it I thought to myself, "Yellowcard is back."

10. Nothing Better- The Postal Service
This is one of my favorite duets. Maybe because it's bittersweet? It's a sad song, but the vocals are really nice. It's just fun to sing, especially if you have someone sing with you.

11. Bristlecone- Trace Bundy
This is the first song on Trace Bundy's Adapt album, and it was the very first one I heard. Before this I had no idea that people could make such amazing music on guitar without having to sing. It amazed me that people have this much talent at playing guitar and made me appreciate a whole different style of playing.

12. Resistance- Muse
I saw Muse back in September 2010 because a friend couldn't go to the LA Staples Center show so he gave me his tickets. It was my first big venue and it was life changing. Every song they played I knew and seeing these masters of showmanship at work was fantastic. This live was so intense and so very very awesome. Resistance is a track from their latest album and I absolutely love this song. Matt Bellamy's voice is so wonderful and seeing this song live made me love this even more. Muse produces amazing music and maybe someday I will get to see them live again.

13. Truth- Chiddy Bang
I don't remember how I found them. All I know is that I immediately loved them. Yes they rap, yet it sounds so different than the usual hip-hop/rap scene. I'm still fairly new to them, but I can't wait to hear more from them.

14. Journey- Morgan Komure

I feel like I keep on promoting my friend's music, but I really do feel like people enjoy it. But this was one of my favorite songs off his little demo tape and since he's made a youtube account and re-recorded it I still love the song. What's even more impressive is that it was the first song he wrote. I wish him luck with his future songwriting and promoting.

15. Improper Dancing- Electric Six
For those who don't know Electric Six, usually 2 of the introduction videos that you might know of theirs are Gay Bar and Danger! High Voltage!. They're music is upbeat and something you can't sit still too. I love the singer's unique voice and their song content is usually fun dance songs or ones about sex. hahaha. But seriously. No one else can make subjects like this as great as Electric Six.

Day 3

2011-02-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

Day 03
A habit you wish you didn't have.

I wish I didn't bite my nails. I have tried everything to stop. I blame the original Parent Trap movie for influencing me to start. No seriously, that is why I started. =\ I try and paint them to keep me from biting them, which usually works until they all start to snag and then I'm back to biting them. And when you paint your nails while they are incredibly short, I think it looks terrible so I always have a hard time starting up on growing them again. I always say I'll stop, but it never really happens for more than a month.

Day 2

2011-02-20T21:05:00.000-08:00

Day 02- A picture of something you cannot live without.

This might sound incredibly cheesy, but I can't live without my eyes. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't be able to be a photographer. I wouldn't see all the great and wonderful things there are to see in this world. I feel like we take things for granted until they're gone. I want to keep my eye sight so I can continue photographing until I die.

30 Day Challenge Start!

2011-02-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

So after much deliberating, I decided to try the 30 day challenge. I only have a few viewers so I suppose it's okay to be so personal. =P I want to try to go in order so here let's see how well I do! :D

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.
Day 02- A picture of something you cannot live without.
Day 03- A habit that you wish you didn’t have.
Day 04- List 15 songs that represent your life’s soundtrack.
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 06- A hobby you have.
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why.
Day 09- Something/someone you’re proud of.
Day 10- A story about a past relationship.
Day 11- A picture of something you dislike.
Day 12- A picture of your room; don’t cheat by cleaning it. Share a secret.
Day 13- Write a letter telling someone something you could never tell them.
Day 14- A picture of something you ate and 10 confessions.
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle; share the first 10 songs that play.
Day 16- Something you could live without.
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have.
Day 19- Nicknames you have; how or why you have them.
Day 20- If you had 3 wishes, what would they be.
Day 21- Share a picture from your day.
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else.
Day 23- What is something you crave.
Day 24- Share a story about your past that you are ashamed of.
Day 25- What you would find in your bag.
Day 26- Places you want to visit before you die.
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned.
Day 30- A picture of you today & 20 goals you want to accomplish.

Day 01

A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

I took this picture while recording my video for my first guitar performance. :) Finally got it to work on Youtube, so here's the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eOpDlNW1p0

1. For those who have only knew me for the past year, I used to be hardcore into kendo. I made it for the 2008 National team and represented NCKF (northern california kendo federation) and received one of the Kantosho (fighting spirit) awards in my division. :) I haven't been able to do it much since being at Brooks, but I hope I get some time to start doing it at least once a week.

2. I have different groups of friends, but every one is just as important as the other.

3. I am OCD about labeling my tv shows, dramas, and movies. If they're Japanese, I have to have the kanji in the name. If they're Korean, I have to have the hangul label. If they're tv shows, I need to have the season and the episode number and the title. I'm just a little bit ridiculous about organizing media. XD

4. I am super crazy immaculate about labeling my music in iTunes. It bugs me if I don't have album art for songs, and I need to know what albums they came off of. My iTunes library is one of the most colorful and completely filled out.

5. I have a youtube channel. I like doing covers because I can't write my own music. I'm not an amazing singer, but I love to sing. It's one of my favorite things to do in life. I sing just about everywhere except the shower. I don't sing in the shower.

6. I go to photography school in Santa Barbara. I'm finally living my dream.

7. Back home I have more guy friends. In Santa Barbara I have more girl friends. I can be a girly girl or be one of the guys. It's what makes me, me.

8. My favorite place in the world is Disneyland.

9. I love baking and cooking. I guess I'm pretty domestic. XD

10. I love playing instruments. I've played piano with lessons from 2nd-7th grade (now I just play for fun), clarinet in band from 5th-12th grade, koto for 2 years, shamisen for a year, and guitar for a collective of a year. The only thing I still practice now is guitar.

11. I am not confident in my Photoshop skills yet.

12. I really good at remembering lyrics.

13. I took dance lessons from 1st grade to 10th grade because I knew that I wasn't good at sports.

14. I think my latest catchphrase is, "It's like in that one episode of How I Met Your Mother...."

15. I used to be a picky eater. I still am, but a I am million times better than I used to be.

Soulmate [k-drama]

2010-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks. School and break week had me super busy, and I decided to watch a new drama because I have a hard time finding information about this one. Soulmate is a Korean drama series from 2006 that has been popular, but not many people know much about it. I've had this drama in my hard drive for the past few months and had a hard time starting it up. Korean dramas usually like to have the whole romantic fuzzy feeling cut with betrayals of best friends and such. I was super apprehensive and the first few episodes were hard to get into because of the constant slang that had to have foot notes for almost half the screen. But the show is all about how Koreans go about thinking of relationships and the "games" they have to play to get each other. It focuses on different couples throughout the series and how they all have troubles and happy moments.

One of the cool things about this series, is that they use the actual names of the actors. One two of them have slightly changed names in the series.

Lee Soo Kyung (Loving You a Thousand Times, Dae Mul)- she plays one of the main characters. At the beginning of the series, she has been dating her guy Phillip for 5 years, and he finally proposes to her on a train. She feels apprehensive about accepting, but feels she is really in love.

Shin Dong Wook (Stars Falling From the Sky, Money's Warfare)- he plays a music producer who doesn't believe in fate and destiny, and has never really committed himself to a girl. He meets Yu Jin on a setup date by their parents, and feels that she is interesting enough to start dating her.

Choi Phillip (Cannot Hate You, Star's Lover)- He plays Soo Kyung's boyfriend and feels that he really loves her. He can be cheesy, but has good intentions, until he meets Min Ae and he starts to falter in his feelings for his fiancé.

Sa Kang (Salt Doll, Our Happy Ending)- She plays Hong Yu Jin, a naive girl who is very proper and sheltered. She is apprehensive to date Dong Wook who is much different than her, but she finds him very attractive and wants to try dating him.

Otani Ryohei (The Road Home, Love Marriage)- He plays a fashion model who doesn't believe in the whole mind tricks when it comes to love and would rather be upfront about the way he feels. He falls for Jang Mi Ae and she feels a special connection to him, perhaps because he is one of the first men to actually care about more than just her looks.

Jang Mi In Ae (Blissful Woman, Super Rookie)- She plays Jang Mi Ae, the hot girl who can get any guy she wants (through years of technique practice and a little pink relationship book written by a rival/friend in high school) and dates several men at once. She is enticed by Phillip and the fact that he has a girlfriend already and sets out to make him hers.

Kim Min Ji (there were no pictures of her online and she's only been in this show, so I had to take a screenshot from the show)- She plays the boss of Yu Jin and Soo Kyung and has a thing for in shape men. Min Jin ends up falling for Jung Hwan and they have quite the love-hate relationship.

Jung Hwan (My Lady Boss, My Hero)- He plays the playboy personal trainer who feels that he knows all the moves to get the women. Upon initial meeting he cannot stand Min Jin, but with her constant attention and even stalking they form a very unique relationship.

The guys (minus Phillip) are friends from the gym, while the women (minus Mi Ae) all work together. Throughout the series you realize that everyone knows each other, and the concept of destiny and soulmates plays heavily into all these intertwined relationships. The series is only 12 hour long episodes, but the last 10 are split so that one side of the episode is Soo Kyung's pov, while the other half hour is from Dong Wook's pov. This drama is actually very funny and tackles the problems that people have with relationships such as playing hard to get or how to make a move. There are a lot of Korean slang terms in the first couple episodes that require a bit of reading on the screen, and in the beginning I found it a little hard to keep up. The biggest concept that they try to get across is one of my favorite thoughts that, "if it's meant to be it will happen." I'm a big believer in that myself so it was nice to see a drama with the same outlook on love. Many people find the ending to the series terrible, but I viewed it as you don't need to see to get confirmation. It was kinda like how 500 Days of Summer had a hopeful ending, if you look at it the right way. This series has definitely become one of my favorites, and with only 12 episodes it is a nice and short series that is enjoyable.

VERDICT

Characters: 4 out of 5 (The cast has all the stereotypical Korean characters to a drama, but that's what makes it enjoyable. But each adds to the whole complete story and viewpoints on love that is needed for this series)

Story: 4.5 out of 5 (The story is really great because it is a current view on the dating game. There were the typical cliches but how could you not with a story about soulmates? The relationship between the two main characters has incredibly sweet moments, my favorite being one involving a day in the park with a Polaroid camera)

Irritation Level: 2 out of 5 (Of course this will occur in a k-drama, but there were only a few characters that I became really irritated with by the 10th episode. And there are moments where you're like, "really? You deserve happiness, don't be so self-sacrificing." But it definitely is not as bad and depressing as a stereotypical k-drama because of all the comedy thrown into the mix.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Loved the outlook on love that they portrayed throughout the series and how people's minds could be changed with just a few chances of fate. The concept of a soulmate is a very romanticized thing, but this series does a good job of rounding it off with the more practical types of relationships that might happen. There are a lot of cute/romantic gestures throughout the series that really get the "aww factor" in. Another awesome thing about this drama is the soundtrack! It is made up of mostly English songs and is a very unique mix of love songs. A+ for originality in soundtrack. Definitely try and check out this "underdog" series because it is well worth your time!

Here are some of the key songs in the series...

C'mon Through- Lasse Lindh
This is Not a Love Song- Nouvelle Vague
Oh My Love- John Lennon
Across the Universe- Fiona Apple

Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo [j-drama]

2010-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

the Japanese (language) that the Japanese (people) don't know

This is the first time that I've been watching a series as soon as it is aired in Japan. It's much easier to download a series when it comes out instead of waiting for dead links. Nihonjin is currently airing and this week will mark the 6th episode, but the rating have been rather poor. Episode one had 5.8% and episode five had a shockingly low 1.3% Despite these ratings, it is an entertaining series with many lessons in Japanese and reasoning to certain rules in the Japanese language. This series is softsubbed which makes it even faster to watch and upload. The drama is based of an illustrated book of the same name where a teacher is explaining how she teaches foreign students. The premise of the series is a fashionable shop assistant named Haruko who has always dreamed of being a high school teacher. She ends up getting a job as a temporary teacher, but finds out when she gets there that it is a school for foreign exchange students. At first she is intimidated by all of the questions and curiosity of her students, but they end up teaching each other valuable lessons (because come on, it's a drama!). The cast is one of the most amazing parts of the series! The main character is a popular actress this season, but the class is actually made up of a wide range of foreigners who speak very good Japanese. Unfortunately most of them are not popular actors, so there are very few pictures of the whole cast. I hope that this picture will give you the basic idea of what the whole cast looks like. (click on the image to see the entire image)

Naka Riisa (Yankee-kun to Megane-chan)

She plays the character Haruko who is given the position of teacher to a class full or foreign students. She wants to be a Japanese high school teacher and is promised a teaching position if she can get all of her current class to graduate. She typically dresses like she's a fashionista instead of a teacher and can often get overwhelmed by the types of questions her students ask. Typically the way the foreigners learn Japanese is quite different and much more formal than most Japanese people are used to using. She might be a new teacher, but she has a big heart and treats her students well.

This series is very entertaining and informative. As a past student of Japanese I found the lessons to be very interesting and also incredibly useful. It teaches you about some of the little things such as counters, reasoning for kanji readings, "standard speech" vs. "everyday speech," and many various topics. In one episode one of the characters is into yakuza traditions and even has a high stakes hanafuda* match. The foreigner's Japanese is very good and it flows just as easily as quickly as some of the Japanese characters within the series. Perhaps the reason the show isn't too popular in Japan is that it points out things about Japanese language that most people already know or feel like they know. The students know Japanese from the way they were taught from textbooks and their own countries, and many of the questions are about super formal things in the Japanese language that typical Japanese people don't even think to question. I suppose it's like that for any foreign country, where you have the way you speak, and you think nothing of it and the way it must sound to a foreigner. For instance in one of the episodes there are specific ways to talk when working at a restaurant and giving food to customers, but in textbook terms it seems like very strange Japanese to say it the professional way. I highly recommend this series to anyone interested in the Japanese language and the little things that make up the rules of a language.

VERDICT

Characters: 5 out of 5 (The cast is pretty much non-Japanese who speak fluent Japanese throughout the series. Each character has their own personality and they all have good chemistry)

Story: 5 out of 5 (I thought this story was super original and was very good with the information about Japanese language)

Irritation Level: 0 out of 5 (No love misunderstandings, the only thing people might complain about is the characters constantly questioning the way things are. But if you've taken a language, the willingness to learn and understand is something that many can relate to)

Overall: 5 out of 5

It's a good series with an extremely original premise. Being an ex-Japanese major, I can relate to wanting to know everything about the language and just being fluent. Even with the low rating system I am hoping that the rest of the series will be just as good. I'm guessing there about 5 more episodes before the end and can't wait to see the other students' stories and experiences. There are 9 students total meaning that everyone should have their own story line, plus a finale. :) I hope you also enjoy this series as much as I do!

*A traditional set of hana cards. It is traditionally a gambling game, but also a very fun card game. I've tried teaching it to friends in the past, but they have a hard time getting into it. My grandpa and my family used to play this a lot when we would visit.

Shinzanmono [j-drama]

2010-08-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

People lie to escape from their sins and to continue living their lives.

I have been trying to find a good detective-type drama since I watched the series Odoru Daisosasen back when I was in high school. It's been recently that I've been researching dramas and keeping up with current seasons (because it is always so much more convenient to download when links are fresh) and found that there are actually a lot of detective ones. Shinzanmono is a spring season drama that finished back in June. The actors high profile and the story is moved by multiple mysteries, clearing up the big mystery of who killed newcomer (in Japanese the word for newcomer to a town is shinzanmono) Mitsu Mineko. The cast was well put together and each character had screen presence. The main cast appears throughout the series, but there are many recognizable actors in each individual episode.

Abe Hiroshi (been in various dramas and movies for the past 13 years)

He plays detective Kaga Kyoichiro who has been recently transferred (also a shinzanmono) to Ningyo cho, a small shopping-district town famous for it's family owned shops. He is placed as head of the investigation into the murder of Mitsu Mineko and has very good skills at reading people and the little actions.

Kuroki Meisa (1 Pound Gospel, Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru, former JJ Model and singer)

She plays journalist, Aoyama Ami who knew Kaga Kyoichiro when she was still in school and is dating the son of Mitsu Mineko. Ami feels like she has to find out why Mitsu Mineko was killed and starts doing a bit of her own investigating.

Mukai Osamu (Beck, Osen, Nodame Cantabile, Bambino!)

He plays Kiyose Koki, Mitsu Mineko's son who left home to pursue his acting career against the wishes of his divorced parents. He feels like his mother regretted having him and does not feel the need to be in contact with her. He seems to not care about his family since he did not feel wanted, but he can't seem to completely cast away his family.

Mizobata Junpei (Hana Kimi, Buzzer Beat, Seito Shokun!)

He plays Matsumiya Shuhei who works for the police force and is constantly put with Kaga Kyoichiro. He is the typical understudy type character who is constantly wondering if Kaga's techniques and questioning really works. Matsumiya is always trying to prove himself and is a good detective.

Miura Tomokazu (Ryusei no Kizuna, The Taste of Tea)

He plays Kiyose Naohiro, ex-husband of Mitsu Mineko and father to Kiyose Koki. He is constantly under suspicion from the police because of the background between the two. He has distanced himself from her, but it is apparent that he still cares, even after her death.

Harada Mieko (Ran, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, Dreams)

She plays Mitsu Mineko and is shown in every episode through various flashbacks and recollections of the town inhabitants. She is a kind woman who just wants to find out more about her son and his life.

I picked this series up because I was happy to see a detective drama. I am also familiar with Kuroki Meisa because she was a former model in my favorite Japanese magazine, JJ. She has also been in my all time favorite Japanese love movie, Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru. The first episode also had a small segment on kendo (Japanese fencing) and me being a kendoist for the past few 7 years, I was excited to see a drama with a kendo segment. I was pleased with my first detective drama since Odoru and have been looking for other great ones since. Some have been more comedic, while others have been boring, but I will be interested to learn if there will be another great detective series out there. :)

VERDICT

Characters: 4.5 out of 5 (Awesome variety in cast and great character movement. It was the perfect mix with only a few stereotypical characters, but overall good range.)

Story: 4.5 out of 5 (Loved the story and how great of a character Kaga Kiyoichiro was. He reminded me a lot of Kindaichi from one of my favorite manga's The Kindaichi Case Files. The town residents were very unique and interesting to watch.)

Irritation Level: 0 out of 5 (No constant, irritating, quarrels and misunderstanding between lovers here!)

Overall: 5 out of 5

I loved this series. It was very different from the typical comedic-romance high school drama or the heartbreaking love story that Asians love to watch. Abe Hiroshi plays Kaga Kyoichiro very well and is an awesome character to watch. I liked how by solving each of these mysteries, you get closer to the big mystery of who killed Mitsui Mineko. I hope you guys find joy in this series and perhaps it will spike your interest in the ever popular Japanese detective stories.

The Drama Rating System

2010-08-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Since I started to review dramas, I decided to make a rating system.

Characters: Based on the personality of the characters and the way they interact with each other.

Story: Based on the originality of the story and how well it is executed. (since most are based on manga, this would entail the originality of the manga and how the drama executes it)

Irritation Level: Based on how much I feel irritated with the characters and the typical drama stupidness that people in love can have. For example, the main guy sees the main girl with another guy and assumes the worst so he gets mad and sulks by ignoring her. Or if they cry the entire series about their unrequited love (don't worry, after Winter Sonata, I learned my lesson when it comes to super dramatic dramas).

Overall: Based on overall enjoyment of the series and if I'd watch it again.

For the 3 standard scores, it's just based from 1 being bad to 5 being amazing (with irritation level high numbers mean high irritation)
1= bad
2= okay
3= good
4= great
5= amazing

For the overall score, I based the number system like netflix does, but I will add the .5 to the mix. =P
1= hated it
2= didn't like it
3= like it
4= really like it
5= love it

Sunao ni Narenakute [j-drama]

2010-08-03T19:57:00.001-07:00

So it seems like lately I might be doing drama reviews here. I know a lot of other blogs already do this, and a lot of people already have reviewed a lot of the series I have, but since I have so many, I might as well start somewhere. :)

I just finished up a series called Sunao ni Narenakute, which translates to Can't Be Honest. It's about a group of four people who meet each other via Twitter and become great friends. They finally decide to meet up in real life and get to know each other. It's about how they learn to be honest with each other and their feelings and how they live their lives. It's a typical Japanese life drama, but the characters are lovable and ones you get attached to easily. The cast includes some of the following super stars.

Ueno Juri (Nodame Cantabile, Last Friends)

She plays the main girl character (twitter name Haru) who is a provisional high school teacher who lies and says that she is a legit high school teacher. She has feelings for her fellow twitter friend Nakaji, and can't wait to meet him.

Eita (Nodame Cantabile, Last Friends)

He plays the main guy character (twitter named Nakaji) who is a photographer for adult magazines, but he lies to his twitter friends saying that he photographs for magazines like Vogue and Elle. His father was a war photographer and he also wants to follow in his father's footsteps but has a hard time getting into the industry.

Jae Joon (international superstar, part of Dong Bang Shin Ki)

He plays a character named Seonsu (twitter name Doctor) who is a sales guy for a medical company, but he lies and tells his twitter friends that he is actually a doctor. He is incredibly shy and is often bullied by his coworkers for having the worst sales records. But he has feelings for Haru before they meet in person and wants to act on them.

Tamayama Tetsuji (Nana)

He plays a character named Kaoru (twitter name Linda) who works at a magazine as he is trying to be an editor, but he lies and tells his twitter friends that he is the head editor of a magazine. He would do anything to make it in the business, but is being blackmailed into sexual favors by the head editor. He cares deeply about the friends that he has made and wants to do everything that he can to help them.

Seki Megumi (Ganbatte Ikimasho, Hachimitsu to Clover)

She plays a character named Hikari (named Peach for ever episode after the first) who is Haru's best friend and goes with her to the first twitter meet up. She is the type of girl who always wants to be loved and is having an affair with her boss. She has suicidal tendencies and tries to kill herself in the first episode, but her friends save her in time and she decides that she needs to change herself. She decides to join them up on twitter and changes her name to Peach in a way to reinvent herself.

I originally picked up this drama because of the two main characters, Ueno Juri and Eita. They have been together in at least 2 other dramas and always have a good chemistry. I also saw pictures of Eita with a Nikon camera and was intrigued, and I found some nice hardsubs by GOE;SS (gods of the east subbing squad) and finished this series in only 3 days. It had the typical drama elements of bad timing and misunderstandings, and the self-sacrificing love. It might sound too girlish, but it was very nice and had a good morale. Tell the truth about your experiences and feelings. If you don't it can eat away at you and cause unnecessary pain.

The theme song is by Sugawara Sayuri and is called Sunao ni Narenakute. The funny thing about drama music is that you might not like it upon first hearing, but by the time the series is done, you will be listening to it all the time. This song is typical Japanese ballad, but the lyrics are what make the song. I remember hearing this song before I even heard of the drama because I liked the album cover. It's such a pretty picture and I tend to download songs just because of the album art. XD

Sunao ni Narenakute; Sugawara Sayuri

I can just feel it if you protect me

Come and hold me close right now

I want to show you these feelings that were always dear to me
Because my heart couldn’t become honest “…I miss you”

We walked back home and within the silence there was no one
This beating heart feels like it will burst open
I wonder if you can hear it?

Is there a deep love for these closed lips of mine?
I cannot say anything in front of him

I always held in these gentle feelings that you had been deprived of
Because my heart cannot become honest “…I miss you”

I swore I’d live my life, never crying in front of others
But in front of you, my heart becomes overwhelmed with tears

Is there any meaning in the words you gave me in the warmth of your arms?
I held you from behind and muttered softly

I won’t ever let you be alone because I always want to be there for you
I want to feel all of your warmth, I believe you

Because miracles just happen, they are not guided by fate
I was drawn to you so we cannot drift apart

I always held in the gentle smile you wanted to see
Because I want my heart to become honest

I want to show you these feelings that were always dear to me
Because I want my heart to become honest “…I miss you”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope that if you watch this series it will be as good of an experience for you as it was for me. The theme is close to people's hearts because we always hide our true feelings to keep ourselves from hurting, but in the end, you end up feeling worse. It's a very nice series if you're looking for one that is a bit more drama like, without the super depressing Korean teary characters/endings. Enjoy and happy watching!!

VERDICT
Characters: 4 out of 5 (nice variety of characters. they feel insecure at first, but grow to trust each other)

Story: 3.5 out of 5 (it's a typical life story drama where the characters have to learn to trust their friends. some of the relationships are a bit stereotypical drama)

Irritation Level: 2 out of 5 (quite low, but there is some of that self-sacrificing bits that some people find annonying)

Overall: 4 out of 5 (good series, great characters, good chemistry, mild irritation level because of typical misunderstandings)

Message From My Heart part 2

2010-07-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

It’s 3:00am and I can’t fall asleep. So the first thought was perhaps I need to post a blog. XD My internet isn’t working either, so I’m typing this all in a word document until I get the chance to post it later. (images taken from the wonderful world of lelove)

For those of you who have been reading here and have asked about it, I finally do not have to call myself a hypocrite. I was finally able to convey my feelings after much anguish and slight pushing from some of my closest friends. When I went back home, I talked about this never-ending battle with myself to let everything out. And it only took me 6 hours one night. The day of, they kept pushing me saying I can’t back out. They kept telling me that I should stop running away and slowly hurting myself over stress and worry. In short, after taking preventive measures from me avoiding the topic that night (I called a few friends that I knew would call me out on bitching out), I nervously admitted my feelings. And let me tell you, people don’t lie when they tell you it makes you feel so much better. Unfortunately for people who are hoping for a happy ending, it is much more bittersweet. I got the answer I was expecting, but that was enough for me. Timing is everything in a relationship, and sometimes just getting that timing is the hardest battle. It felt great to hear that I was considered best friend material, and for me that was enough. Sure a lot of people say that the phrase is the “nail in the coffin,” but I try to look at it that it’s a starting point. If things can be that easy doesn’t that mean something? I explained that for me just knowing that someone cares is enough. If I can’t have an “official” boyfriend it would be okay. Life is crazy at this point in time. Thinking about such things isn’t always the best idea when you’re trying to figure out your own life and your own happiness. I’m not saying that I am going to use him as an excuse not to try and find happiness, but at this point in my life, down here in Santa Barbara, another photography student is not something I’m looking for. Especially with such a small school because in my past observations, it’s just asking for trouble. (not saying that you can’t have a great experience! Because I know at least 2 extremely happy couples here at Brooks. :D)

After all those years, I realize that my timing was good and that the other times I stopped myself, happened for a reason. As cliché as it sounds, I am a big believer in fate. I feel like everything that has happened to me has led me to Brooks. It’s been a road of school, friendship, love, heartbreak, and failure. Sure, I’m not going to lie by saying I haven’t thought of things that I’ve fucked up and wished I could go back, but when I start thinking like that I just have to remember that I am living my dream right now. I am doing everything I can to make sure that my future is the best one I can possibly have.

Overall this post was to just let the few people in my life know that if you have feelings for someone, let them know when you think it’s right. Sure I had to get some encouragement from my friends because the whole concept was super scary. I spent many a time making up excuses and reasons not to. But when you’re ready, don’t hold back. You wouldn’t want to miss out on something that could be and regret it forever. Unrequited love hurts like hell, but it’s better to hurt for a few months rather than the rest of your life. And who knows, the result is usually a happy resolution. If nothing else, the person would be impressed that you can actually say how you feel about them, especially if you’re a girl. Guys have this feeling like they have to be the ones to initiate. But if the girl can say something first, I think it shows them a lot. This has been another ones of those things in my life that I can look back on and say that even though I might not get a happy ending with this one, at least I tried and didn’t hide. So, thank you to all who have supported me through the rants and indecisiveness. :D Without you guys, I probably wouldn’t have ever found the strength to get it all out there.

Personal Taste [k-drama]

2010-06-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

I recently watched a recent Korean drama called Personal Taste. For anyone a fan of the Korean Boys Over Flowers I would definitely recommend it to. The main guy in this drama is Lee Min Ho who plays Jun Pyo in the Korean version. He definitely grew on me in Boys Over Flowers, but Personal Taste further enforced my love for him. The premise is simple. The ever awkward main girl, Kae In, needs money to save her house from loan sharks, so she lets a guy, Jin Ho (lee min ho), live in her home because she believes him to be gay, thus having no interest in women so it would be fine for them to live together. Unknown to Kae In he is actually straight and wanting to live in this house to discover what it is about the house that could possibly lead him to gaining a huge job for his architecture firm.

This drama has everything. The backstabbing best friend that has you yelling at your monitor, the misunderstandings that come with dramas, and of course, the super cute couple scenes that make these dramas so enjoyable. As usual, the main girl is the off beat main character that typically one would find weird. But of course they are still cute because it is a drama. =P Jin Ho might not be gay, but throughout the series he continually knows how to make women feels better and seems to be very understanding, just like a gay friend would be. There are funny little incidents that lead Kae In and her best friend to think that Ji Ho and his business partner are gay and when she's drunk she usually blurts out to everyone in the room that he is gay. Of course the best friend is an evil bitch and quite reminds me of a girl I used to be friends with. It is key for any sort of media to be relatable to its viewers so that they feel like the situation could happen to them. The couple sequences are completely adorable and sigh enducing and will have you keep on watching.

I try not to watch too many Korean dramas because they always make me want a relationship (haha how could you not with all these beautiful people). Not that I wouldn't mind one, but it's just kinda sad when I don't have one and feel like I need to find one to be fully happy. Longing for a relationship never really ends well and isn't something that I enjoy feeling. But it does make me happy to watch couples in love, and makes me hopeful for my future. :) I definitely recommend this series to drama fans with the cuteness level high and the entertainment level equally matched. Hope you find some happiness with this series. :D I have a great link to downloads for this series so just ask if you would like it! I'm sure you could find it on the drama streaming sites, but I prefer to have the nice quality copies of them that I can keep to watch again someday. =]

VERDICT
Characters: 5 out of 5 (including the bitch you love to hate)

Story: 4 out of 5 (very original storyline, but has the typical "secret" past twist)

Irritation Level: 3 out of 5 (you will find yourself getting irritated at the bitchy "friend" popping up everywhere. I found the jealously kind of cute from the couple, but it can get wearing)

Overall: 4 out of 5 (great story, cute characters, funny situations, adorable couple)

High Quality Goodness

2010-06-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been watching and downloading the most current drams to keep up with them and have good download rates before they get too old. Thankfully with video quality and bluray rips, it is so much easier to get high quality videos. I recently watched the Gokusen movie (subbed by SARS) in HD and it was super amazing!! Apparently they waited for the bluray disc so they could have a nice quality sub. It was also really cool to watch the Gokusen movie that encompassed all 3 seasons of characters. Kind of nostalgic in a way. :D It was great to see my old favorite actors show up in something recent. On the subject of that, one of my favorite Japanese actors, Narimiya Hiroki has played the same kind of character in a lot of things lately. He was in a movie called Drop, about a "yankee-ish" guy getting put into a public school. Now there is a spring drama going on called "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan" where he plays a delinquent character. haha. I first started to watch out for him after he was in Nana, playing Nobu (my favorite character of the series) and have been able to find him in a lot of things recently. I'm anxiously awaiting someone to sub Yankee to Megane!! Just watching the raw, I can tell I will really like it. :) That's the sad thing about not being completely fluent in Japanese. I'm not able to fully understand everything in these dramas as quickly as I want to. I'm hoping that with my upkeep in Japanese, I will be able to continue with my level and hopefully learn it fluently after I finish up here at Brooks. :D

Anyways, there are some pretty crazy formats and subtitle formats floating around out there. There's even a subtitle file that I dowloaded the other day with the extension .ass XD Thankfully, if you're ever in doubt about which player to use, I highly recommend VLC (especially for Mac useres) because it has been compatible with every sort of file I have come across so far. I notice that the HD formats (720p and higher) are usually in mp4 or mvk formats. Both are easily playable on many video players.

One of my favorite things is when artists post their music videos in 1080p on Youtube. It is quite a nice treat to view an amazing music video in top notch quality. For instance, everyone's favorite Tae Yang...I remember this being one of the first 1080p youtube videos I was able to watch. :D

CLICK FOR HD

Overall the way that video graphics are going is simply amazing! Seeing things in high definition and such is really changing the way we watch online. I can't stand watching a show online and seeing nothing but pixels. D: I tend to download different series so I am able to watch it clearly like it was intended. :) If you ever need a recommendation on a series to start please don't hesitate to ask! I have the ever growing collection, but I really should learn how to correctly burn DVD copies so in case I have friends who want to watch ones, without the hassle of downloading. Anyone else have a favorite drama series? I also love getting recommendations so please let me know! :D

Breaking it Down

2010-05-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

I find that sometimes guys have this misconception of girls that if you date someone, you have to pay for dates, talk on the phone for ages, and invest time that you might not have. But let me tell you, majority of girls need a whole lot less than that. For most girls, just knowing that you care about them too will keep them satisfied. If you can't call every day then it's okay. Life is important and your future is important, but isn't sharing it with someone sound somewhat promising? If you're lucky, you will find someone who understands if you can't act all lovey-dovey or don't even want to, but if you have mutual feelings, and understand them, isn't that worth it? It always seems so sad that people can't share their feelings with each other. I see in so many Japanese movies that people lose out on love because they couldn't tell the person they liked their feelings. I'm rewatching a series called Proposal Daisakusen (operation love) that is about a guy who is able to go back in time (via photographs in his best friend's/love's wedding slideshow) to try and tell the best friend that he's in love with her. In the past he felt that he had so much time to tell her, he was just always late. Asian just tend to have those, "too late" movies and no one is happy. Isn't just knowing that you have someone's love enough?

Some guys argue that girls always say this, but never follow through. You just have to find those girls that aren't going to do that. Which makes a whole big circle of work. XD Talking with my roomate, we agreed that if you weren't able to see the person you cared about for awhile because of school or life, if you really want to have a relationship with that person it wouldn't make a difference. Just knowing that you have the support of someone you care about is saying a lot. Some people can work this kind of relationship. Some people can't. Same as things like long-distance relationships. Good timing is right for relationships. Sometimes you have to wait. Sometimes you have perfect timing. But I do truly believe that if it is meant to be it will happen. By the way, if you haven't seen Paper Heart (the movie/documentary) I highly recommend it. It hits both points on not believing in love and just working at something you might have never thought of. And hearing different people's views on love is also really interesting. Finding love is hard, but when you do find it, don't let go.

Love, I don't need those things

I don't need no ring

I don't need anything

But you

And me

Cause in your company

I am happy oh so happy and complete

Photo Blog

2010-05-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

So I started up a photo blog strictly for just posting my work

http://shiseitenhikariphoto.blogspot.com/

My family was wondering if they could ever see my images so I decided to make strictly on photo. I will still be posting up here, so I hope you enjoy both blogs. :) Newest entry in the photo blog is the stuff I took over my week long break back at the end of April. I hope you enjoy! :D

Honesty

2010-04-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

I recently read a post from a friend on her blog about 10 honest things about herself. I decided to do the same. Just 10 random, truthful things about myself. :)

1. Writing things out always makes me feel so much better about the thing I can't say. Sometimes it might be too personal, but it really does make me feel better. I used to write myspace blogs all the time about the feelings and such. I kept them so only my really close friends could read them and it was a good outlet for me to just write.

2. I will sing anywhere, anytime, but never in the shower. XD

3. I believe that everything happens for a reason. You might not understand the reasons why in short term, but in the long run, they usually lead to bigger and better things.

4. I also believe that if it's meant to be it will happen. You might have to wait awhile, you might even get hurt, but I totally believe that it will all work out in the end. Of course, you might have to take charge and make it happen, but sometimes that's what it takes to make it reality.

5. I've never had a brother, but I feel as if my Lodi guy friends are like my brothers. I can make fun of them, laugh with them, and pretty much do nothing and still be entertained. I talk about them a lot, and some people might mistake my talking about them so much as a crush, but the reality is, I feel like they are part of my family. I don't know what I would do without them. :)

6. I only have a few really close girl friends. But I would do anything for them. I hate being so spread out from all of them, but I try to keep in contact as much as possible. The future holds so much for all of us. Life is changing for us at rapid speed, and I can't wait to see what we will be like in 10 years. We can go without ages seeing each other, but the minute we get together, it's like time hasn't passed. Seeing us mature and live life is exciting. I hope to have them in my life always.

7. Lyrics make or break a song for me. I pay attention to them a lot. I think it's because there are just some that I can instantly relate to because I know the feeling. My current favorite songs tend to change with the feelings that I'm feeling and the lyrics that relate to them.

8. I constantly wonder about the future. But at the same time, when someone asks where I see myself in 10 years, I have no clue what to say.

9. I never felt as intellectual as many of my family and friends. All of our family friends and my close friends all went to school for things like science and engineering with top honors in school. I was more the girl who sucked at math but loved to be creative or learning foreign languages. Growing up like that I felt pressured by myself, even though my parents knew I wasn't going to be the next doctor. XD They didn't expect me to, but still, I felt like I wasn't as smart as my friends or family and disappointing the people who would buzz about me for going to a community college. Even though I was happy with my choice, I still felt like I was disappointing people. Thankfully I'm where I want to be now, and it might not lead me to finding a cure for cancer, or creating the latest invention to change mankind, but I am happy doing something that I know I will always be in love with.

10. I never really used to think of myself as pretty. I grew up with crazy blown up hair, glasses, and bad acne. Now, 8 years later, I have grown to love my full hair, have a cute pair of glasses, and have been getting my skin under much better control. Low self-esteem was my enemy back when I was in grade school, but in the past 3 years, I have grown to appreciate and love the way I am. :)

Finding Your Happiness

2010-04-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

Finding something that you love to do is always incredibly rewarding. It is something that you can turn to no matter what kind of mood you're in and make you feel happy. For me, I have a lot of things that make my life. Photography obviously is the thing I turn to. I love seeing the happiness that my photographs can give people. A lot of people hate getting their picture taken. But if I can give them photographs that they love, it makes me feel accomplished and like I have done my job. The satisfaction that comes with giving my gift to others to enjoy is simply amazing.

I have known Morgan for almost 7 years now. He started just a few months before me at Sacramento's kendo dojo, so we were all kind of new together. We've been friends ever since. He is a self-taught guitar player and has been playing for about 4 years now. Morgan's recorded some things already, but is constantly working on new songs. His style is simply guitar (no singing) with a lot of fancy fret work. He's currently working on a youtube channel, but for now here's a link to a performance from 3 years ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7h24MYm_pM

I went to visit this past weekend, and I asked if I could take some photos. My style of portraits is to take ones of people doing the things they love to do. I took the more natural approach since it's more his style, but the lighting was kind of strange, so I definitely want to try more some other time when I have better lighting. I also didn't do too many pictures with his face in it, because most people don't like having pictures of themselves on a wall. XD I am saving posting my favorite pictures till later. I want them to have impact when he sees them for the first time in person. I promise I'll post them up here later if people are interested. Maybe someday when he makes CD's I will be able to do his album art. :) I hope you enjoy these photos and look for Morgan in the future. :D

Rude, Lewd, Nude

2010-04-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I met the most amazing models I have worked with so far. It was wonderful to work with people in the actual business and that were so friendly. I met them through a friend when we went down to LA, and they were kind enough to let us shoot them for free. :) These two people are amazingly comfortable in their skin, and a true inspiration to me. Thanks to Kris and Kara. You two are a great first experience. :D

http://karaneko.tumblr.com/

http://kriskidd.tumblr.com/

I love these guys. ♥♥

^ our catchphrase, courtesy of Bon Qui Qui. =P

Message From My Heart

2010-04-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

(My friends and I took this picture one summer night. We were lucky to have the lights randomly on in the bright, empty, white room.) I sent this blog to Le Love. Let's see what happens.

We see it in movies, read it in books, hear about it in songs....love means different things to different people. Sometimes I feel like I expect too much. Everyone wants that fairytale ending and I can kind of blame that on growing up with things like Disney movies. XD I will be the first to admit that. I hear it so many times in music. Everyone can relate to songs that talk about unrequited love and proclaiming your love for someone. Real life doesn't seem to be as romantic, but it takes a lot of courage for someone to say, "I care about you more than just a friend. I want to be there for you no matter what." Perhaps if I was to say something totally cliche and sweet, it would be, "I want to be the one who makes you smile."

It's rare that a movie teaches you a real fact about love, but it seems that Asians know how to do it well. One of my all time favorite movies is a Japanese movie called, "Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru" (just loving you/heavenly forest) and it teaches you the lesson to not wait to tell someone how you feel and expect the person to be there forever. Take the chance and say what you need to say to get your feelings across. Because wondering for the rest of your life is more agonizing than the brief rejection (if you're not so lucky to have the person reciprocate your feelings). I've learned a lot in the past 5 years. Life has been crazy and unpredictable. Yet, as I am telling you to go for it, I myself can't get myself to say anything. Why? It's because I'm so worried about how it could change everything. For bad or for good. And also because I'm concerned that he just wouldn't care. Like if I said anything, it wouldn't even phase him. Though I suppose that would be better than forever ignoring me. Then I would just have to pick myself up and brush it off. aaah. I go through these stages where I want to, and other times where I don't. It's probably a little irritating to some. Like "why have you been bitching about this for ages when you should just say it and get it over with!!!!!" I can't explain. This guy just always seems so stoic about girls. I can never tell if he's ever been interested in a girl. And I worry that if I tell him I just won't get any reaction from him. I know that everyone says to just do it! Take the chance and run with it. Writing what I should do is always so much easier than actually doing it. I'm scared to take a chance, but I'm even more scared about never knowing how he felt over the course of these years.

I've been wrestling with this idea for a few years now. It comes and goes, and I've been close to admitting it. Am I simply a fool for waiting this long? The more I wrestle with the idea, the more time I waste. Now we live 300 miles away, both at school. Everyone has ideas about long distance. There are people it works for and people who say stay away. I suppose it is up to me. But I thought that writing about it one last time would really set my mind to doing it. Waiting for love sometimes works. But I think for my own happiness, I need to do this. And if I get shot down, well, it's just something that will have to happen.

When I Grow Up

2010-03-26T14:56:00.000-07:00

When I was a young girl... (what a cliche beginning. XD)

Every person had dream jobs when they were growing up. We change our minds so many times because we find something new and cool to get into. I think that most women go through a stage where they want to be teachers. I remember wanting to be a teacher at one point. Then when I got older I realized that kids are brats! haha. At least the ones I was used to growing up with. If I were to be a teacher, there would be no way that I would teach middle school. I give credit to the teachers out there who do teach middle school. Those kids are tough brats! I would have classmates that would make my teacher cry almost 3x a week in my last year of middle school.

I used to dance when I was younger. I always wanted to do pointe. The ones that you see in movies with the pink shoes and standing on their toes. Sure that would really mess up your feet and the bones in them, but I think those shoes are so beautiful and the poses that the girls can hold are amazing! If there is one thing I wish I could do still, it would be pointe. I miss dance. I did it from 1st grade to 10th grade. But then people in my studio towards the end were just getting too catty and mean for me, so that's when I decided to make the switch to full time kendoist (for those that are new, i posted about it here: http://shiseitenhikari.blogspot.com/2009/12/retrospective.html). My sister still does it, and I hope someday to photograph her and make her feel beautiful. :)

At some point in time I remember wanting to be a Disney animator. I grew up on Disney films and always found it so magical and perhaps a bit nostalgic when I watch them now. My favorite were always the random, under appreciated ones like The Great Mouse Detective or Atlantis (though I must point out in this picture....Anastasia is NOT a Disney movie!!). I remember researching what it took to be an animator and was always drawing. But then Disney announced that they were no longer going to be doing hand-drawn animation and thus, my dream ended. I didn't want to do stuff on computers like everything is done nowadays.

Around the time I was in 4th grade to about 8th grade I wanted to be an astronomer. I went through this giant phase where I was absolutely obsessed with the universe and how it worked. I wanted to be a cosmologist, someone who studies the universe and how it works. I was obsessed with the planets and stars, and I partly contribute it to my love of Star Wars and Sailor Moon. hahahaha. I know I'm a nerd. =P I loved pictures of nebulas and deep space and my goal at one point was to own a telescope. My dad took me to the top of Mount Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii to go look at the observatory at the top! It was a great adventure and since it was so high up, we had certain rules for eating before traveling up there. But then I realized around high school that I'm terrible at math and my dreams of researching the stars died. Now I just enjoy looking at them and knowing what I do know about them.

I've always wanted to learn Japanese. I'm a fourth generation Japanese American, and have always had great pride in my heritage. I set out to learn Japanese in high school no matter what and took it for all four years. I loved it, but we had a mix up with teachers and my class never took Japanese seriously after that. It was a struggle to learn in that class because we had a few different new teachers and less interest in the students. I learned a little but what I did learn stayed with me. In college I took Japanese 1-4 and found it much more work that high school. I learned a lot of stuff, but we learned it so quickly, it never really stayed in our minds. My goal was to go to San Francisco State University to major in Japanese and become a translator. Unfortunately, I had some slip ups and ended up deciding against it.

In the end, I am now here at the Brook's Institute. I started photography in high school during my junior year. I feel in love with it and haven't looked back since. I originally was thinking of art school, but my parents wanted me to get a degree in something else first before art school. Then with a few years at a community college and a little persuasion, I'm down here in Santa Barbara living my dream :) I'm already halfway done with my 2nd session and time just keeps on racing by. It's a crazy road that life has taken me down to get to where I am today. Looking back on my childhood dreams I can see connections between the ideas. Majority of the things I wanted to do growing up has to relate to connecting with people and being creative. My ultimate goal is to become a successful photographer, live in Japan, and photographing the things I love most in the world. I'm living the dream. And enjoying life while I do it. :D

Lights, Camera, Action

2010-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I've always had a thing for pretty lights, reflections, and shiny things. Typical girl I know, but I love it. haha. So this last time I went to Disneyland, I decided to do fun things at night with slow shutter speeds and play with the amazing spectrum of lights at Disneyland. Here are my favorites from that night.

can you see the light source?

There's little hearts in this one!

Disneyland makes bank of selling stuff at night

Fireflies in Disneyland

Disneyland is full of amazing things

I love Disneyland

Teacup Whimzy

Can you guess what this is?

Flowers of Light

Electric

I finally have my own annual pass to Disneyland! :D So anytime anyone wants to go I would totally meet you down there. ^_^ Disneyland truly is my happiest place on Earth. It's where my childhood was. It's where I have so many great memories with friends. I still would like to go with a boyfriend someday. Disney is such an important part of my life, if someone can't accept that, then how would it work? =P If you saw my house, you'd understand how much my family's love for Disney goes. I love taking people to Disneyland who haven't been in awhile or who have never been, or who say they hate Disneyland. People tell me that I'm the Disney insider, and I guess that's all thanks to my dad. Back in 2007 I went with a guy who said he didn't like Disneyland because of his childhood experience. I just told him, that's cause you haven't been with me yet! haha. Thankfully after that trip, he said he liked Disneyland. :D It makes me happy when I can help someone's experience be the same ones that I remember and enjoy. For me, Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth. And it is somewhere that I hope to enjoy for as long as I'm around. :)

Miyazaki Hayao

2010-03-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

Miyazaki is one of the most celebrated animation artists of all time. Some call him the Japanese Walt Disney, but I think he brings something completely different from a Disney film. His animation style is simple, yet amazingly detailed. The first Miyazaki movie I ever saw was Spirited Away in theatres. I fell in love with the story and the animation, and quickly picked up more of his classics. Mononoke Hime (or Princess Mononoke) has amazing works of animation. The scene depicted in the first picture is one of the most amazing, and that's all in the first few minutes.

The storylines of these movies are deep enough that you can get into them if you're one of those people who think, "oh it's just a stupid animation movie. I've had many people turn away from things like this because they think everything will be set for a much younger audience. Miyazaki is a master storyteller and really draws you in with relatable characters. His animation style is super unique and it is always easy to tell when it is a Miyazaki movie. I just recently saw Ponyo when it was released on DVD about a week ago. The main characters are supposed to be 5 years old, and the story doesn't have much dialogue, but it is super cute and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. :D Aren't the little girls cute? hehe

The voice choices for the english dubs are always well done with well known actors and actresses, to probably get more of the American audience into it. But I can't bring myself to watch it in English. The intention is to be in Japanese, so I will watch it in Japanese. Plus, it gives me practice since I can't take classes anymore. I highly suggest a Miyazaki movie to any fan of cinema. My favorites include,
Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, and Castle in the Sky. The saddest one by far is "Grave of the Fireflies" which is a story about 2 young kids living on their own after the atomic bomb kills their mother. I hope you guys find joy in Miyazaki's movies too, and I hope that these movies are an inspiration to you. :)

Nishino Kana

2010-03-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I did a music related post, but in the last few months this girl has impressed me so much. Nishino Kana is a recording artist in Japan with BoA-esque sounding vocals. I remember seeing her first single "I" back in 2008. I listened to it because it had pretty album art (something I am known to do) and thought it was so-so and just a generic pop singer. In the course of a year, she has become standout, and I am officially in love with her. I'm a bit biased though so perhaps it is because she did a duet with Verbal (of m-flo, the best band in the universe). =P That song is called Kimi no Koe Wo.

Verbal is definitely THE coolest rapper in the world to me. But yeah, getting off topic.... XD Her songs are the typical j-pop/soul-ish sounding. Not super high pitched bubble gum pop, but the kind of voice like Utada or BoA (i'm trying to be more generic for those not really into Japanese music). Her vocals are nice and sweet and 2009 gave her some nice singles such as "Motto" and the duets with the likes of Wise in "Tokutemo." I tend to like her duets a lot, such as the lastest release with a guy named Nerdhead.

Gotta love when Youtube videos are in 1080p!! :D (the best 1080p video I've seen so far is Tae Yang's Wedding Dress. I love that song and video)

Kana has one album and 9 singles. Her latest one is called "Best Friend" and a very nice release from her. I highly suggest her to you guys and hope you find love in her songs too. :D

First Single- "I"

Seventh Single- "Motto"

Eigth Single- "Dear.../Maybe"

Ninth Single- "Best Friend"

First Album- "Love One"

The Perfect Kiss

2010-03-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

Didn't want to post too many pictures in case you are wanting to see any REALLY good dramas! Check out the earlier blog post about some of my favorites!

I noticed that in Japanese dramas, kisses are sparse and when they do happen they are much more subtle than ones we see in movies in America. Maybe we've gotten so used to the passionate kissing in movies and shows that it doesn't really phase us. But I think that in Japanese and Korean dramas, the passionate kiss is still something that they save for the end of the series.

Japanese dramas might not have the most amazing kiss scenes, but when they do happen, it's super sweet. In Korean dramas, there is definitely more kissing, but each of them are just as sweet as the last. One of my favorites is from the Boys Over Flowers (korean version) in Episode 9. I found the video on youtube to share with those of you who have watched it. :D

For the big fans of Hana Yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers or Meteor Garden you

MUST see this video. It is no doubt in my mind the BEST fanvid I have EVER seen. She chose "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson which perfectly personifies Tsukushi/Tsukasa or Jan Di/Jun Pyo's relationship (I haven't watched the Chinese version, cause I don't like Chinese dramas). There might be a few spoilers, so you're warned when watching this, but I do suggest that you MUST watch this sometime in your life if you're a big Hana Yori Dango fan. :)

~This next section will be about my favorite one, so if you haven't seen Hana Yori Dango Final (the movie) stop here to not be spoiled!~

I noticed that in Hana Yori Dango, they kiss about once per season and each kiss is kinda just a cute peck that's held out a bit longer. I had some of my non-asian friends watch it and they were complaining about how they rarely kiss even though they're supposed to be in love. But of course, at the end of the Hana Yori Dango Final (movie) they have this nice tune by Arashi and at the swell of the song, Tsukushi and Tsukasa have this amazing kiss! The way he pulled her in was just about the sweetest way to kiss someone. :) It makes me smile every time, because even though I know that these characters are just acting, it is still really sweet to see love between two people.

~End spoiler~

I'm such a sucker for a sweet kiss. XD A hopeless romantic who is still waiting for her kiss in the rain. =P Though if it was like the one from Boys Over Flowers like the one here, I wouldn't mind that either. ^_~

Best of First Session

2010-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

The following is the best of my images that I turned into my teacher for my final. There were a few others that I would have chosen, but I think these turned out nicely. My calling is definitely portraits, but I also love finding beauty in the little details. I hope that next session turns out even more amazing images. :) Please do not steal these images and call them your own. Once you become an artist yourself, you realize just how much copyright laws protect your right to your images. I hope you enjoy them! Now I am off to head home and enjoy the company of friends and family for a brief week. :D

Shape, Line, Texture assignment

Architecture Detail assignment

Pans, Blurs, Selective Focus assignment

Picture Story assignment

Diffused Light assignment

Window Light assignment

A Picture Story

2010-02-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

So, at Brooks this past week, we had to do a sort of stop motion picture story. It didn't have to be as fast transitions as I did, but I quickly learned the bare basics of Final Cut Pro to make it look the way it does. I couldn't have it more than 3 minutes and didn't want to cut it short, so it ended up being 2:30 minutes with some cut stuff. Next time I want to make one without limitations. :) So, I had my best guy friend Eddie (his real name is Edward) come out and model for me, which was really awesome because he is 5+ hours away from Santa Barbara, and he was my "Alice" and my "Wonderland" was a Disco Inferno in one of the studios. hahaha. We played loud upbeat music to get everyone into the mood and I took the pictures from the floor. XD I love how it turned out. I bought poster board and paint and we created 2 of the panels in the background and then the other 2 pieces were just really cool types of paper. The music is also kinda fun to talk about. The first song is a song called Alice by the artist Pogo. This guy takes sounds from specific movies and makes whole songs from JUST sounds from the movies! He's done ones for movies such as Hook, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original and better!), Alice, Mary Poppins, Up, Terminator 2, and so forth. Here is his youtube page. http://www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron
The little ping sound is a tribute to my all time favorite band m-flo because they use it in their albums often. Plus it was a really cool sound to signify his arrival to the Disco Inferno! And the final song is by the ever awesome and dance inducing Electric Six. :D btw, I only realized till after I finished the movie that Disco Inferno is a name of a 50 Cent song. XD oops. and I thought I was being creative. That's what I get for not knowing most of the hip-hop era's song titles. lol. Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy my video!!!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=310699256757

please let me know if you cannot view this. youtube wouldn't upload my video correctly. =/

He Qi Crystal Designs

2010-02-11T23:10:00.001-08:00

note, I noticed that this layout doesn't highlight clickable links! So the links have numbers by them. :)

Last month I checked out another little jewelry blog. This time I found the girl was living in Davis! (about 45 mins from where I live, and a lot of my friends go to school) And I fell in love with these pretty feather-esque earrings. In her blog, she said they were one of a kind and she had a blue/silver version, and then a purple/gold version. I figured I'd go with the blue/silver so it could go with another piece I have..... ^_~ I also noticed that she was the only jewelry blog using the vitrial medium color (at the time) and so I had to get her Alice series necklace. :) Plus, the jewel was 18cm and I like bigger crystals. =P Her service was extremely quick and it was at my house the day after I got the tracking number. Lisa's work is very beautiful and recently she's been doing more unique pieces. I am in love with her beautiful necklaces and earrings. I love this piece (1) in particular. :) These are also stunning pieces(2) (she has 3 different colors of this necklace). And these are a pair of her more super unique earrings (3). I had a great experience with He Qi and am definitely looking to buy from her, as soon as I start being more decisive with what I want to buy. Online shopping is a gift and a curse. One, I like having unique things and looks, but at the same time, I want to get everything! hahaha.

Please visit her online shop! (4) You will not be disappointed. :D

The feather earrings

the Alice Necklace

oh, and I am simply writing this because I love her work and want to spread the love. :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

2010-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

My happiest place on Earth is definitely Disneyland. The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 3 months old. XD My dad is part of this Disney group called NFFC (National Fantasy Fan Club) and we used to go to conventions a lot. A lot of the artwork in my house are Disney cells from various movies and old collectables that my dad has found over the years. I remember going to Disneyland a lot when I was growing up (at least 2-3x a year) and it is about a 6 hour drive from where my family lives. Everyone in my classes knew me as the Disney girl and everyone looks to me to know the Disney trivia. XD Going to Disneyland now, makes me nostalgic and remember the fond memories I have of going with family and friends. I used to hate roller coaster types, but now I am obsessed. hahaha. I think my favorite Disneyland ride is probably Indiana Jones. Or perhaps Big Thunder Mountain. I also REALLY like Haunted Mansion at Halloween till Christmas because it is Nightmare Before Christmas themed. Some of my favorites growing up where Alice in Wonderland and the Submarine ride (now the sub ride is Nemo themed and is super cute!!).

I went over Super Bowl Sunday to Disneyland and shot my photo assignment there. We had to do pans (where the subject is sharp, but the background blurry), blurs (the subject blurry, background sharp) and depth of field (having the background out of focus).

Pan shot/ can't you just feel the motion?

Blur shot/ teacup mayhem!

Selective Focus/ I LOVE the expression on the guy's face. This is when he was flipping the girl during the parade. :)

I also really like these things that are called "circles of confusion." My teacher is really into them and likes to point them out every time he sees them. =P

Lights look like this when you open the lens opening VERY wide and keep the back out of focus. These look really cool right? Here are a few other pictures that I really like the way they turned out.

A little bit of Disney magic. :D

Submarine view ^_^

It might be a little hard to tell, but that's a girl there. :) this is while the teacup was spinning.

This was hard because the only light on her face was from the back of her camera.

The carousel spinning. :)

Anytime I go to Disneyland I love taking pictures and trying to make the things in Disneyland look less recognizable. Can anyone tell where this is (this was taken with film and printed in a darkroom)? It's one of my favorite places to go in the world! :) Disneyland is a place that will always make me happy, and I hope that when I have kids, I will be able to give them amazing memories at this place too. ^_^

The Alice Hype

2010-01-29T01:53:00.000-08:00

>Fashion and Alice always go hand in hand<

So with the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie, the "alice hype" is on the rise again! I notice that it comes and goes every once in awhile, but now that Tim Burton is putting his twist on the story, I bet it will stick around for a lot longer. Growing up I always loved watching the Alice in Wonderland (disney version of course) and wanting to go to wonderland. haha. I always wanted my own moneraths. XD They were super cool how they made an arrow to have her follow the path. A lot of the people I talk to say that the movie scared them when they were growing up, but I found the movie always entertaining. I loved the singing and would sing along with a lot of the songs. XD I think my favorite parts of that movie were the scene in Tulgey Wood and the Walrus and the Carpenter song. For some weird reason.

I remember when I was in middle school, before the latest thing were it's "cool" to own a Mac (I grew up with them my whole life) I saw a game called American McGee's Alice that you could actually play with a Mac computer! Many game fans know that mac's are never really game friendly. Anyways, at that age, I thought it looked really scary and something my parents would have not let me play. :( So I never got a chance to play the game. Apparently it is out of print and SUPER hard to find. People are selling it on ebay and amazon for $120+!!!! =O Looking back now, I think this would be an awesome game to play! The storyline is that Alice is a teen, and all her family is killed in a tragic fire. She ends up being schizophrenic and Wonderland is suffering because of it. She has to go back to save Wonderland. Everything in Wonderland is a bit twisted because of her new personality, which makes it sound all the more devious. I've tried a lot of different ways to get to play the game, but no such luck yet. Maybe someday they will remake the game now with the even bigger Alice following that is to come this year.

A few years ago I stumbled across a book called The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. In this trilogy, it starts off in Wonderland where we find out there is a girl named Alyss Heart. She is a young girl with a very strong imagination and her parents are the rulers of Wonderland. Her mother is the most powerful imagination expert in the kingdom, but she has a sister named Redd who was banished because she was into using dark imagination. The premise of the book is that Wonderland is real, and (without spoiling things) Alyss ends up in England were a man named Lewis Carroll is the only man to listen to her life story (everyone else just laughs and tells her to grow up) and eventually writes the book Alice in Wonderland. Young Alyss is furious that her story was completely botched and begins to slowly forget her past. The series is 3 books and has a comic called Hatter M. What is really cool is that Frank Beddor takes ALL the Alice characters and puts twists on them. For instance, the wise tutor of Alyss is Bibwit Harte (if you re-arrange the letters it is White Rabbit) and the commander of the royal guard is Hatter Madigan (the mad hatter). The Cheshire Cat is actually a humanoid assassin and Redd is scheming to steal Alyss's rightful place as future queen. This series was super clever and I hear they are planning to make a movie soon. :D Unfortunately I think the movie will be overshadowed by the Tim Burton version and people might call copycat.

In the line of movies, Marilyn Manson is directing a movie called Phantasmagoria that is loosely an Alice story. Apparently it is a movie about Lewis Carroll and the part of him will be played by Manson himself. I think the movie is supposed to be about how Carroll is going mad in his home and is seeing visions of a girl named Alice. Sure Marilyn Manson is considered weird and rightly so, but I recently saw an interview he did and he is actually quite an intelligent person. I am VERY interested in this movie and can't wait to see what he comes up with.

All in all, Alice fever has swept up again, but I think people will always have a fascination with weird stuff like Wonderland. Sure there are a lot who like it for the acid-trip type experience and what they can do with drugs, but for some it's just childhood. I own a SUPER old copy of the original Alice and Through the Looking Glass books, and I am starting to read them now. I've always wanted to be an Alice for Halloween, but it's hard to find a normal looking one without being too slutty. XD For now, I'll stick to my nice DSK Wonderland bracelet. haha. This story will always have a close place in my heart, and no matter how popular this series is going to get (it can't get any worse than twilight XD) I will stick by it. :) Anyone else a big Alice in Wonderland fan? Anyone else waiting for the new movie to come out?

♥ DSK Jewelry

2010-01-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

So, one of the whole reasons I decided to start writing this blog, was because of a girl named Bubbi and a "little" jewelry blog called DSK. I was looking for cool things to do with my hair, and came across Bubbi's videos and website off Youtube. I thought her hairstyling was super cute, and I tried to copy some (with little success, since my hair is the complete opposite of typical smooth asian hair). Then I saw a video she had on her page titled DSK Jewelry..and me, loving anything sparkly, I had to check it out. I instantly fell in love with a lot of the pieces I saw and I had to get my hands on some. So I started saving up my money and the first piece I was able to buy was the Bubbi necklace. Purple is one of my favorite colors, and that dark blue heart crystal went so well with it. :) For the past 2 months, I have been on this buying spree of DSK things. The pictures are small, cause the X-Large size wouldn't fit on my blog section. =/ but I swear that they look amazing in the original format. Just click on them to see them in high definition

My interactions with Stephanie have always been excellent and she has always answered my e-mails in speedy fashion. I like reading about her big move to Seattle and getting used to living there. I know I will be feeling some of the same feelings once I start going to Brook's at the beginning of January. I admire Stephanie a lot for doing this amazing jewelry business. It's not hard to tell that a LOT of people buy her stuff, and she is constantly busy with tons of orders, especially with the holiday season! Doing something you love is the dream. It's nice to see that you can be successful with something you love to do. :D

So this post is mainly to show my DSK jewelry haul. I can't help it. I have 7 pieces from her, in a very short span of time... XD It is a very good thing I have a job again. So first off,

The Bubbi Necklace
Isn't it so pretty? I love the deep blue and purple together. 2 of my favorite colors. Plus the heart link chain is also very cute and unique.

Purple Haze heart earrings
Purple happens to be my favorite color. And anything sparkly is a good thing. =)

Purple Haze/Golden Shadow Pegasus
So, when I saw the picture of this on Steph's blog, I thought the heart looked a bit more pink. And being new to the site, I didn't put two and two together to realize that PH stood for purple haze. XD The actual stock color is called Light Vitrail. It's purple, but occasionally, it has a green-ish tinge to it. I would love to get a single siam red heart to interchange with this necklace, but that will have to wait. I love the shapes of this necklace and get compliments on it often.

AB Baller
I could not help myself. It's a huge heart crystal...and the sparkle on this baby is amazing. I thought I would want to wear this on a longer chain, but I really like how it looks on the 18" heart chain. I love walking outside with this thing because it sparkles like no other. :) I did notice though, if you want the blue color to come out more, you need to have it behind a white color. With skin tones, the yellow is more prominent.

Key to Wonderland
Steph always makes beautiful bracelets. And they're one of a kind to add to the value. She posted at one point that she wanted to make an Alice in Wonderland themed one, and I knew that I wanted to get that one. Alice has always been one of my favorite Disney movies, and I like the book a lot. When she posted the bracelet, I didn't think I would have the money to buy it quick enough, but no one snagged it up. So finally, after saving for a bit, I bought the bracelet. The only problem I have with it, is that the clasp is super small. I always have to ask for help to put it on. But the charms are beautiful, and the colors are pretty neutral so it goes with a lot of things. And of course, it sparkles. Definitely a wonderful piece that I was able to pick up.

Big Daddy Peridot Stars
I've always been a fan of stars. I used to want to be an astronomer when I was younger, and I have star motifs all over the place. I decided on the bigger studs and in green, since I do not have much green jewelry.

Black Diamond Crystal Balls
I am always attracted to silvery-gunmetal type tones. So when I saw the crystal balls in black diamond I definitely hoped they would stay in stock. Thankfully no one had picked them up before me and I was able to snag them. I get many compliments that they're super sparkly and eye catching.

Steph continues to make amazing work, and is currently working on making an official store page and even a store front! wow what an amazing person. To do something that you love and be super successful at it in less than a year is amazing. I'm hoping that the offical web page won't take away from the personal side of it. But I know it will make it much easier for Steph to continue doing so much for her fans. :) I wish her the best of luck, and I hope you guys find happiness in her jewelry too!

New Home

2010-01-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

*Edit* and thanks to mr/ms anonymous comment who said my blogs are getting a bit better. i hope to please! thanks for the feedback. I like hearing about how people think about this blog and the things I put time into.

So, I finally moved into my new place in Santa Barbara, CA!! (actually it's in Goleta, but eh, details. XD) It's this nice 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment in the middle of all the shops/food, which is perfect for me cause I love to food and for some weird reason, grocery stores. :) The place is nice, and our neighbors seems really good too. I have 2 other girls living with me, but actually, we had one other girl, but she decided super last minute that Brook's was not for her. So she moved out super quick and now we're 3. Now I have an empty bed next to me and lots of closet space. And since we're part of a housing company with Brook's we don't have to pay extra since we lost a girl. I like the layout of my things and we've been starting to get a lot of more personal things like art and stuff for the walls. They're looking a little white and boring lately. >_< Today I made my first meal on my own. I tried my mom's teriyaki chicken recipe and it was a huge hit. :) Should have made a bit more rice and even though I'm not really a salad person, I ate quite a bit.

The first week of school starts on Monday, and I have classes from 10:15am-1:00pm for Photo 111A (the beginning class) and then 1:30pm-4:15pm for a environmental science class for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On three Fridays there are scheduled photo shoots, but other than that it will just be work, work, work. 2 months of crazy living will be starting soon. We have to live in this R&R housing for at least June, but hopefully I will make good enough friends that I can move to a cheaper and better place. :D
I'm far away from my friends, but I've been branching out and making a lot of new ones. The feeling for me is that great friends can never be replaced. And I know I will be going back to see them. :) But all in all, I can't wait to get started on my photo career and get out there and do what I love. ^_^ 2010 is going to be crazy!

a year of happiness :D

2009-12-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

Man, 2009 went by in a flash. Loved, lost, and learned to be happy through it all. :) The beginning of the year was a hard one. But I made new friends and got to be more outgoing. Summer '09 was one of the best I've had yet, and I became super close with my best guy friend over the course of the year. ^_^ I've had to say goodbye to one of my best friends (her family moved out to Wisconsin) and hopefully we will see her again, and then another one of my best friends is now 6 months pregnant! ah, that time in my life already? XD

I made the executive decision to start my education at the Brook's Institute of Photography and will begin on January 8th. For those who don't know what brooks is, it is a very famous photography school in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA.

It's a 3 year, year-round program and by the end I will have a BFA. :D Not sure what my main focus will be (I wanna keep an open mind), but I love fashion photography and people photography (making them kinda artsy and all that stuff). My parents used to want me to get a degree in Japanese (my first passion), but then I realize that to be a language major you should really start off at your four year, I decided I would continue to work on Japanese on my own (I've taken 6 years of Japanese). I would love to live there for a year or so and just learn the language that way. I know most of it, it's just the flow of it now. Who knows what these next 3 years will bring me. If all goes as planned I will be done Dec. 22, 2012. :) I'm ready to get out there and do stuff. 2 years at a junior college was good, and I got to be on nor-cal's team for the US Kendo championships in exchange and was able to feel confident with my kendo. I will miss my friends from that the most. And just the experience of being in it. I hope to practice down in Santa Barbara someday and get back into it.

Since not many people know what it is, Kendo is a Japanese martial art that is sorta like fencing. Except that it has MUCH more contact than the fencing that many people are used to seeing on TV. You have headgear, a protective body armor and wrist guards. You can hit an opponent at the head, wrist, body, (and for experienced players) the neck. Your kiai (or yelling) is essential to scoring points also. The idea is that you are making your opponent fear you by vocalizing. haha. I am told that my kiai is intimidating and I am usually very loud. I like to help raise the spirits of my team mates when we have really hard and strenuous practices. Here's a video of what a kendo match typically looks like. These guys are the top of the world, so they're a different league, but it's the general idea. haha. Maybe someday I'll get a video of me on Youtube, but until then....

This is what I love to do. I have been doing it since I started high school, which now would be...6 1/2 years now. :) I hope that you guys also have something that you're passionate about and love to still due today. My life is about to take some crazy turns and I am hoping for the best. :) And I know most people will want to make resolutions like always, but I know that I won't go through with it. I love my Dr. Pepper too much. (I wish I could give up soda) hahaha. Good luck to you guys in your 2010 endeavors too. :D

"life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

Singing

2009-12-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

I love singing. I sing everywhere I am. My family remembers me singing a lot when I was younger too. I'm no professional, and I might not have the greatest and most projecting voice, but I really do enjoy singing. Back in my junior year of high school I met a guy who has now become my singing buddy. :) Keo and I have been singing m-flo and various other duets for awhile now. We used to always sing The Love Bug by m-flo & BoA, and have been recently singing a lot of english stuff. So far, he's the only guy that I have that wants to sing with me and do duets, which is nice, cause I love singing in the style of duets. I was finally able to get him to record videos and tracks with me today, so I wanted to post a few and share them with you guys. :D So I hope you enjoy! And I am hoping to get some m-flo covers on youtube very VERY soon. Who knows, we might even end up being youtube rockstars for awesome m-flo covers. haha. (for those of you who don't know m-flo, you can refer here...) I also have my own set of youtube videos of just me singing, so check them out if you so please. :D

shout-out to steph for making the beautiful necklace featured in the vid. ^_~

Fashions

2009-12-18T06:15:00.000-08:00

The holidays are coming around. That means parties! Well the kind that I usually have with my friends involve going to someone's house, eating, and playing games. I'm still only 20, and many of my close friends aren't in the drinking phase. But usually around the holiday times, the girls in my groups of friends are always like, "dress up party!" Usually that entails wearing old prom dresses or getting cute new ones. haha. This year I bought myself a nice cheap dress from Forever 21 and found some black, sparkly tights from Urban Outfitters. I also bought some shoes from Lulu's (an online clothing site), some sparkly nail polish, and of course, a DSK necklace. =P I can't wait to wear the outfit! (and I will definitely post some pics later)

I never really used to be into fashion. I never cared about what I was wearing, if it was stylish, I just liked to be comfortable. But when I got a job at a thai restaurant when I first started my college days, I knew what it was like to have money, and haven't looked back since. My style...I guess you could say it's urban/girly. I love the urban look (like Hellz Bellz and Married to the Mob) but I also love floaty tops, flats and jewelry. :) Jackets are my one vice. I have tons of them. My mom is always getting on my case and telling me that I need to stop buying them. But...I can't help it. They're always so versatile. Plus, it's always nice to relax around the house with a comfy sweater or two. :P My favorite jackets right now have to be my Hellz Bellz Heartbreaker jacket. It's simply a cardigan (no buttoning up) with half-length sleeves and an awesome grey color.

American Apparel (even though I think it's overpriced) has very comfy sweaters. And I love that color with the white string and zipper. The contrast works very well in my opinion. :) I own it in the orchid-like color, and the bright pink (kinda salmon-ish) color. Notice in the picture, I happen to be rocking Steph's Bubbi Necklace and PH heart earrings? ^_~

I also have a cheap (but still awesome looking) fake-leather jacket from Forever 21. My best guy friend, Eddie rocks the punk style, and in the past year it has really been rubbing off on me. If I could pick any style to emulate, I would want to be a badass punk. haha. Sorry if this is seeming to be a post of just pics of me... XD I don't have enough time to go take some pictures of my stuff. Maybe when I get home from my Spanish final today. :) What about you guys? Have any vices when it comes to fashion? Any favorite things to wear or styles you like?

Headphones

2009-12-05T06:04:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for headphones, especially really interesting looking ones, or really big DJ type ones. I don't know why I love them so much...maybe it's because I've always thought DJ-ing was really cool and that I wish I knew how to do it. But I really love photographing people with them on too. I think the main reason is because I love music so much. People see headphones, they think music. The thing is, the nice ones are always super expensive! But I've found some really cool ones that I want to share just cause they're so awesome. :D

So, let's go from most expensive to cheapest of my favorites.

Beats by Dr. Dre (about $300 standard, $500 colored)

These not only look really cool, but you can send them to colorware and have them customize your colors! So cool! I will probably never own a pair or get them colored, but one can dream.....Click here to make your own color scheme!

Heartbeats (going price approx. $119)

These beautiful works of art were a collaboration of Beats and Lady Gaga. Now I like to think I'm an anti-gaga fan, but recently, her music just makes me really happy. It makes me want to get up and dance around and just have fun. But I love the way these look on (check out her Bad Romance video for view) and their a super fashion-forward approach to ear buds. I like them best in shiny chrome, but it also comes in black and red/pink.

WeSC Bongo (approx. $80)

WeSC Alpine (approx. $150)

WeSC (We are the Superlative Company) is a Swedish clothing brand that sells brightly colored, and often times unique looking headphones. My favorites are the bongo ones (to the left). They come in a variety of colors (ones I've seen are black, white, green, blue, purple, pink, orange). They have smaller earphones on ones called Oboe headphones, and they have square sliders on ones called Alpine headphones.

Alas, I have yet to get any really cool headphones, and will have to save my money for them soon. I kinda want the heartbeats ones, but we'll see....

In Progress

2009-12-04T01:17:00.000-08:00

Currently working on a DSK jewelry haul blog. But I gotta figure out how to use my new camera to take pictures to do the work justice. :) In the meantime, enjoy some of my current favorite songs from youtube!

A good song to duet with.

Not my favorite version, but youtube doesn't have the one I have.

Electric Six just makes me want to get up and dance.

Upbeat is my thing lately.

Hopelessly Romantic

2009-11-25T01:58:00.000-08:00

I noticed that when I feel lonely, I tend to watch movies or j/k dramas that are "cheezy chick flick" type status. In the end I am a total hopeless romantic. Any little sweet gesture in a love story makes me feel happy. I have seen two movie trailers recently that pretty much show the whole movie in the trailer, but I can't help but feel like I want to see them. One is Letters to Juliet and the other is Leap Year. Letters to Juliet stars Amanda Siegfried (Mean Girls, Mama Mia) where she moves to Verona, Italy with her boyfriend and goes to this wall where people write letters to Juliet (of the story Romeo and Juliet) asking her to help with their broken hearts. There she finds a letter and decides to help the woman find the love that she didn't go after. Together with her grandson (maybe caretaker...I'm not sure the relationship) the three of them go around Italy finding this "Lorenzo" and along the line it looks like Amada's character ends up falling in love with the guy and realizing that she doesn't feel the same about her boyfriend. The trailer as a whole pretty much showed me the whole movie. XD But for some reason, I know it will make he happy in the end and I would want to see it. :)

I'm a sucker for romantic movies...and pretty much any small gesture of love that a guy can give you. I might have a tomboy type personality when it comes to my friends, but really, I love the sweet things that happens when you're in love. I easily cry when it comes to things with elderly people in love, especially in things like Up or Yellowcard's song "Dear Bobbie." For those of you who have seen Up, I cannot help but cry EVERY time I see the opening scene and towards the end. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it. But no matter what your view on animated movies is, you MUST see this movie. It has a heartfelt message that everyone can relate to. To have someone to be in love with for the rest of your life, it is something that I want to find someday. Life has a funny way of suprising you when it comes to things like this. I am curious to see what it has in store for me.

Sorry for the little heartfelt post. Like I said, when I'm feeling lonely I tend to think about this sort of thing more. I wish the best to those of you with a loved one, and to those who don't...well there's a song you might remember that fits well with that. There is also a quote from How I Met Your Mother. Ted, the protagonist, is talking about how he's tired of waiting for the girl of his dreams. The person he tells this to says to him. "She's out there Ted. And she's coming as fast as she can to you." That quote also makes me happy and hopeful. :)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy the time with family, friends, and loved ones. :D

Dramas & Favorite Actors

2009-11-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I go through stages of watching j/k dramas. That's only because it takes so long to download a series through torrents! But I've been watching them probably for about 4 years now...and there are so many good ones! :D I think that Japanese ones are good because they are only 45 mins an episode and usually only run 10 episodes. Korean ones are good because they really take the time to work on the characters and getting you to like them, but they're usually much longer and run 1 hour or more. You start to recognize actors from various dramas and develop favorite actors/actresses. My favorite kind of drama is comedic ones. I can't take those super sad Korean ones where someone is crying in every single episode and it is just tragedy after tragedy after bad timing. XD The best ones are one that make you laugh, have good characters, and sometimes the occasional cry.

I definitely have favorite actors. :D How can I not with so many good looking Japanese/Korean guys? =P At this point i have to say my dream guy would be Hayami Mokomichi. He's the star in Zettai Kareshi and is also one of the main guys in Gokusen 2. There are a few other dramas that he has been in as supporting roles and a few starring ones. He's super tall and just look at the picture... I need not say anything more. haha. But for anyone else who is a fan, Zettai Kareshi is definitely the best one to see him. It's a drama about a girl who gets a "perfect boyfriend" (who's really a robot) made to her liking and conditions as a trial run...and the series is about how you fall in love.

Another one of my favorite actors is Ninomiya Kazunari. For those of you who don't watch dramas at all, he was in the movie "Letters From Iwo Jima." He is also part of a boy band called Arashi. But he has a very cute quality to him. I first saw him in Stand Up!! a drama about 4 boys trying to lose their virginity....but we is the best in Yamada Taro Monogatari. In that one he plays a kid who is super poor, but his good looks and top marks in school make everyone think that he's very rich. It's about how he works extremely hard to get money for his six younger brothers and sisters and scatterbrained, but loving mom.

And of course, I can't say that I love Boys Over Flowers and not like the guys in there. =P but I have to admit, that at first I did not find any of the guys attractive. Well minus Kim Bum, who plays the playboy type. But after a lot of watching and getting the personality of the guys in the Korean version, I really liked Lee Min Ho who plays Jun Pyo (or for the Japanese watchers, Domiyoji). The Boys Over Flowers love story always makes me happy to watch. To have someone who will love you no matter what your social standing or care what people think about you is a beautiful thing. And I know that everyone hopes to find their one true love. :) There's a fan video that this girl made that has ALL 3 versions of Hana Yori Dango and the relationship between the main couple. Everytime I watch it it makes me happy and gives me hope that I will find a guy like that someday.

My Top 10 Dramas

1. Nodame Cantabile - a music school based comedy

2. My Girl (Korean) - a girl who is very good at lyring, works with a hotel manager to pretend to be the long-lost granddaughter of his dying grandpa.

3. Hana Yori Dango the entire series (Japanese) - a loosely based Cinderella type story where the poor girl stands up to the rich elite of the school

4. Boys Over Flowers (Korean) - the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango

5. Yamada Taro Monogatari (Japanese) - a poor kid looks so handsome and is so smart that everyone thinks that he is super rich

6. Zettai Kareshi (Japanese) - a girl gets to pick out her ultimate type in a guy and ends up getting a love robot who wants to give her everything

7. My Name is Kim Sam Soon (Korean) - the "unattractive" baker girl ends up posing as her employer's fiancee to please his mother...but of course it's a korean drama so nothing goes smoothly.... =P

8. Yukan Club (Japanese) - the school's elite group acts as detectives to help solve problems in the school

9. One Pound Gospel (Japanese) - a undisciplined boxer comes across a church and meets a Sister who he falls for and spends most of his time trying to win her over.

10. Gokusen the entire series (Japanese) - the granddaughter of a yakuza boss becomes a teacher for delinquents and reforms them. Each season she has a new class (usually it's made up of the current, "of the moment" boy-band members)

Getting Personal

2009-11-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

So, I usually don't post things like this on public sites, but I realized that blogger sites are not searchable in google, and I'm sure that people who read this aren't going to be super random. So back in about May I dated this guy that I had been friends with for the past 2 years. We met in Japanese class and had known each other by name and face in high school, but since we only knew eachother we became good friends. He had a steady girlfriend and at some point I liked him, but I did not want to pursue anything. After breakups and all that stuff, we decided to go out. And I have to say I was really into it. But througout the time, he would say stuff like he didn't have that "first week excitement" or he'd hang out with another people and not ask me to come. But about the 2nd month, I felt love. And it seemed mutual..but when school started, I guess it just kinda died off for him cause he broke up with me. It was only a four month relationship, but I really did think something came from it.

Then....I started to notice that he was getting pretty close to my friend. This girl I had just gotten to be good friends with this year...so I guess you could say she didn't have any close bond or anything. So for about a month now they have been going out. The funny thing was, he told me that he liked being single. He wanted to be "free" as he so well put it. And as for my friend....well I really just want her to be happy. But at the same time, I just can't help but feel hurt. Maybe she doesn't think of us as close friends....or else I think that she wouldn't have started to going out with him. His favorite phrase was "you can't help your feelings." But I think that really, that translates to "I can do whatever the hell I want. Screw your feelings in the process." So in the end, I wish I had never gone out with him. And perhaps we were just going on our old feelings for each other and not really thinking through it. I regret ever being with him, and it also sucks cause I lost 2 friends. Both of them don't really talked to me and they probably feel awkward. I don't want to lose my friendship with my friend Jessica. He's just not worth it. But I feel like she doesn't want my friendship unless she has to interact with me. I think they both feel guilty. My friend told me, "if it doesn't work out, then she will have lost time to have friendship with you. It's your friendship that she's missing out on." And I guess it makes me feel a little better, but I still want to be there for her if she needs me. In this situation most girls would be mad at the friend for doing that, but....she deserves happiness too. And in the end, if she makes her cry...my friend and I will definitely be paying a visit to him.

Someday I will find happiness with someone. But I need to see my dreams come true for my future. I'm focusing on going to Brooks and finally being satisfied with my education. I am ready to go without anyone or anything holding me back. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Online Shopping

2009-10-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

It was never until I hit college that I started getting into clothes and how I looked. I think it was after I got my first job and started getting money that I decided to look into online clothes. Now, I am absolutely a online shopping junkie. I have a select few sites that I absolutely love and check every day to see if there are new things. My all time favorite site is Karmaloop. I've been shopping there for 2 years now, and have also been a sales rep for them. But I have a hard time advertising. I'm not very good with graphics stuff so I never make anything to show off. Karmaloop is an urban street brand site, and includes the greats like Hellz Bellz, Married to the Mob, Insight, WeSC, Gentle Fawn, Crooks & Castles, and 10 Deep. And what is so good about Karmaloop, they are constantly bringing down the prices of their stuff! I found that a lot of clothings sites NEVER lower the prices on their merchandise, but Karmaloop slowly brings it down and down, you just have to keep watch.

I also really like this site called ModCloth. My style aesthetic is very much urban, but I also love looking girly. So, as a balance, I love checking out all the cute dresses and jewelry on ModCloth. They actually just brought standard shipping prices, so that's quite lucky. Unfortunately, since they are a much smaller company, there are rarely price reductions or sales. Most of the things sell out super quick because of the low stock that this "vintage inspired" company caries. So you have to buy things quick or else they will sell our for good.

Yesstyle is another ones of the sites I can't seem to stay away from. Unfortunately for me, I'm not the size of a typical asian girl, so many of the things will not fit me. But they have very cute labels such as Googims, Sechuna, and this super cool shoe line called HVBAO. HVBAO has these painted sneakers with very unique designs. Typically they run for about $40 which is a pretty good price for these cute works of art. Yesstyle actually just opened a store in San Francisco's Stonestown mall (the one located next to SFSU) which I have yet to explore. Thankfully yesstyle has just recently lowered their standard shipping to the US rate to only $9.99. But the best bet would be to order big with a friend and get the free international shipping.

So, I encourage you to check out these cool sites! Oh, and if you stop by karmaloop, and see something you like, get a 20% discount off your entire order!!! Just input the rep code "emi16" in the space available and get your savings! 20% goes a long way on Karmaloop. I hope you guys find great things on these web sites. It's always so much fun getting packages in the mail. :)

First Post & Birthday Celebration

2009-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! My name is Lauren. I'm a 20 year old living in the central valley of California and soon to be moving to new places in the world. :) I've gone many years looking at other blogs and I finally decided to start one. So, here it goes. I guess my main focus will be on music, fasion, and photography. oh and maybe throw a little baking in there. Those seem like easy topics to start with.

So, the main reason I want to post is because today, October 7, 2009 is m-flo's 10th anniversary!!! m-flo is my all time favorite band and I love spreading the m-flo love to everyone. :D It all started back in 2003 when I walked into the Kinokuniya in San Francsico (Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain in the US for those of you who don't have one near you) and went to the music kiosk. At these things, you could find a music video that had just been released and watch it. At this time I was a big fan of BoA and I see a music video called the Love Bug. with Boa and a group called m-flo. So I started to watch it, and instantly fell in love. I raced to the CD section to find the single, and I haven't looked back since. Ever since 2003, I have been diligently looking out for m-flo releases and spread my love for it to anyone who would listen. Verbal is my all time favorite rapper and I absolutely love his style in clothes and rapping. :) So, this is my short tribute to m-flo today, and I wish them happy anniversary and good luck in their future endeavors!

For those of you hoping to get into m-flo, here are some of the best of the best.

*means that the video is up on youtube and should be watched.

*miss you//♥melody. & Ryohei

*the Love Bug//♥BoA

*Let Go//♥Yoshika

Loop in My Heart//♥Yoshika & Emyli

*Picture Perfect//♥Monkey Majik

Love Me After 12AM//♥Alex (clazziquai)

The Other Side of Love//♥Emyli (sister e)

tO yOUR bEAT//♥Yoshika

*Lotta Love//♥MINMI

*Love Don't Cry//♥Crystal Kay

*Dopamine//♥Emyli & Diggy Mo' (soul'd out)

*Can't Stop Lovin' You//♥BBBB & Emi Hinouchi

Star Struck//♥AI, Emi Hinouchi, Rum (heartsdales)

Tripod Baby//♥Lisa

*One Day //♥Miliyah Kato & Kreva

Distance (m-flo remix)- Utada Hikaru

Come again

L.O.T (Love Or Truth)

Yours Only

Here's how it all started:

Well that's pretty much all for this first post. I will be hoping to find more people to network with and I hope you enjoy my ramblings. :D mata ne minna!