Six-pack abs progress as of the end of October.


This is where I stand after about three months of training. So far, I've been reading that it will take at least 9 months to get them entirely defined, if not transformed to an eight-pack. Looks pretty good around the 3 month mark. Thanks to heavy workout routines and a change in my past-horrible diet. I'm glad!

Employee of the month at work? It surely caught me by surprise. I have to say I'm thankful for the reward, and the delicious brownies my co-worker made for me.

Picture on the wall

Among everyone else.

Mouth-watering brownies made by my co-worker, Sasha.

Note from the managers.

After about 13 hours of work, an epic journey to search for more gouache paint in Berkeley with Sarah, the deed is finally done. The result is a muted, temperature changing painting featuring Heath Ledger's 'Joker' from The Dark Knight as a subject. The process, as you may know, was incredibly long and tedious. Yet, I'll give you a taste of what it was like:

1st: To trace shapes from the posterized image, which ended up looking like ...

... this. Transfer paper is underneath to trace the image to an illustration board.

2nd: Line art appears from the tracing, which means ready to paint.

3rd: Paint.

4th: Just about done, almost 10 hours later.

5th: Mounting the painting with heavyweight cardboard, vellum, and cardstock.

6th: The final piece, all mounted.

7th: All done!

It looks nice! I can't wait to hear its feedback during the critique and I hope that I get this piece back. I want this for myself. Anyways, as frustrating and time-consuming as it was, its looks all right, don't you think?

piece _ 'joker' midterm painting
draft _ second
class _ color & design
semester _ fall 2009

A couple hours well spent on my midterm project for 'Color & Design.' As tough and tedious this class may be, I've been learning so much on how to paint and work with colors. This is the second draft, focusing more on value study and temperature change.

Tomorrow, I'll be painting the final draft. I'm excited!

Yesterday was really a hectic, but enlightening turnaround of a day. I realized how much, in this day and age, we rely on technology. So much so that when the smallest device is unavailable to you, it feels as if you're lost in a mob of people, unable to find anyone to help you. I had something like that happen to me — I lost my phone on the BART train on my way to the city.

It was completely by accident since it slipped out of my pocket, but I didn't notice until I was a few hours in the city. Communication became so difficult, luckily wi-fi hotspots and a Borders bookstore telephone were my savior. However, I really have to thank the woman who found the phone and was kind enough to call my house, leave a message and arrange a pickup with me. That has to be the most selfless gesture I have ever seen in a stranger, almost shocking really. I'm infinitely grateful for her kindness, and wished I could have returned her with a favor or a "thank you." Unfortunately, I couldn't, but I just want to say thank you to that woman.

I have returned to BlogSpot because Tumblr was too mainstream and reminded too much of Twitter. Don't get me wrong, I like Tumblr's simplicity, but not the greatest way of posting a reflection when it's in the midst of "reblogs" and random pictures.

Therefore, I'll get myself situated back on Blogger.

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