Creative Every Day (CED) Roundup

After listening to this great presentation by Nick Campbell on the "creative gap," I have decided to take one of his main points to heart and start creating a short project everyday. So, as of this Monday, I have been creating new work by the bucketloads (or, at least, once a day, everyday), and would love to share it! I hereby deem Thursdays as my new roundup day for all the creative things I've done for the week.

 Monday's project was to use a pen and grease pencil to create a drawing. This is what came out of it! Also, the weird lens flare was my camera having an awkward flash moment...

"Taligunge watched the man sift through the drawer; his hands lingered over bits of cloth, pieces of paper, all the little odds and ends she had collected from surveying at different meet ups and gatherings. His fingers on her possessions made a spark jump inside her."

Tuesday, I wrote about 250 words of my first serial fiction experiment. This is a teaser sentence from it, so expect more of the story on the blog in weeks to come!

Wednesday I decided to start using the mannequin I bought to do some creative Photoshop work. This is a work in progress cartoon figure that hopefully will be starring in some later work.

Interested in other creative projects I've done? Check out the DIY Interlude series to see both tutorials and works in progress, or my Project by Project series to see the final results.

DIY Interlude: Process (Part IV)

Alright, we're back on track. This post is all about the concept art that will go into the final collage edits - I chose to work it out in Photoshop beforehand rather than draw and erase over and over (I'm much better at vectoring than using hand-eye coordination!).

I used two reference pictures for this one, both taken during my high school years. One is of me attempting to eat a balloon and the other is of a friend of mine jumping through the air.

On Location: SOCLR Love (or, Day 3)

(my SOCLR graphic - click to actually read!)

I want to describe my SOCLR experience in a series of experiences, similar to the way I have previously described New York.

1. First day, waiting for the bus, lugging too much stuff, I am aided by a kind (and stronger) hand.
2. I almost cry on multiple occasions from day one to day three.
3. Fig leaf shed; real life coming.
4. Four words: rock, paper, scissors tournament.
5. Interesting insightful conversation even between programs - after an interview, before eating, on the bus...
6. Trippiest and most educational game ever: forks, spoons, knives.
7. Beware the Facebook profile.
8. Working on the intersectionality of identities and how that affects your leadership.
9. Following through on your goals.
10. I met some of the most fantastic people and I have never felt as safe at college than at this retreat.

Thank you so much everyone for the notes, for the support, for the greatness that is SOCLR. Leadership is a promise made in your heart and your head to your peers, and I believe that it comes from all good intentions. Our experiences at SOCLR really voiced our good will and good intentions, which I hope will blossom into greater leadership on campus and a safe community in which people can be as open as possible without fear.

Read the first two posts SOCLR Day 1 and SOCLR Day 2.

Lists: 19x19 Birthday Lessons & Loves

(click to see a larger version)

Today is my 19th birthday. It was a fairly low key affair spent with gourmet pizza, vegan desserts (Pala Pizza and Babycakes are both delicious!), and my dear roommate Liberty. For the workaholic in me, there was also a gift: I mandated that I could do no work today for any class, enforced by said roommate. And so, as I lounged around on subways and reflected on this year in my life, I thought I would do something rather silly and awesome. Make a list.
But unlike regular lists of to-dos and goals for the future, this list is one that looks back on my life lessons and loves in my first 19 years. The collage above and the anecdotes below are representatives of some of my best-loved words of wisdom and material possessions nowadays. The items are in no particular order. So, without further ado, here is my 19 by 19 list.*

19. Big dreams, little steps
I have always been a big dreamer. When I was in kindergarten, I announced proudly that I wanted to be a writer, and that hasn't much changed in all my years of life. I have molded it to fit in with a practical lifestyle, but it persists in my mind as one of my most important goals. Becoming a writer, as defined by me, has come in a series of steps. Step one: write a lot. Step two: write badly. Step three: ameliorate said bad writing. Step four: repeat for years and years until finally you can look back on your writing and say 'hey, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.' That's the stage I am at now. By this time, I have written three novels (unpublished as of yet), a running set of blogs, a set of short stories and poems, and several zines and personal essays. And I'm still going at it by forcing myself to write and finding the diamonds in the rough.

18. Artichokes, mushrooms, and olives [my favorite veggies ever!]

17. Trying new things
I am a terrible beginner. I get frustrated if it doesn't come easily. When I was in my angst-riddled teen years, I used to throw things (knitting needles, video game controllers, dumbbells...) across the room. But, at my now great age and wisdom, I have learned to combat it. I will always get frustrated when I don't understand or feel completely uncoordinated at something (*cough* roller derby *cough*), but my desire to try new things will generally prevail. I tell myself: "You love to do these things. Why would you give up now?" And usually that's all I need.

16. Zines, podcasts and blogs [independent media rocks my socks off]
Some suggestions:
PODCASTS: Stuff Mom Never Told You, Stuff You Should Know, Body Love Wellness podcast, The Moth podcast, This American Life, and (for those of you ok with raunchy sometimes sexist humor) The Mens Room podcast
BLOGS: Already Pretty, Body Love Wellness, Weightless, New York Times Wellness blog, Sepia Mutiny, FunkyBrownChick, Racialicious, Feministing, Salon Broadsheet, How Stuff Works, GalaDarling, Refuse the Silence, and Well Woman (those are the ones I read daily or write for... I am an information nerd)
ZINES: Too many to count - check out the Barnard Zine Library if you're in NYC or ZAPP in Richard Hugo House if you're in the Seattle area! (my zines are featured in both these locations)

15. Body acceptance
This has been something I've struggled with since I was in my early teenage years. I learned that I didn't "look right" as compared to my white, thin, more developed peers, and my depressive years made that stick with me. But, since coming to college, there's been a profound change in this outlook. Culminating with my daily outfit photo project, I have become more used to the way my body looks and how I want it to look. The two have reconciled, which makes me feel much more safe in my own skin.

14. Handmade items & photographs

13. Long-distance relationships
I didn't know Josh and I were headed towards this until we got here. We were dating in high school and now... now it's bee 1 1/2 years, half of it when I was away at college. The internet makes it easier, but this type of relationship is inherently hard. I feel like we've proven our mettle as a couple just by attempting it, which makes me feel like - dare I say it? - we might stay together for a long time.

12. Letters/notebooks/paper [the tools of the trade]

11. Self-love
Yoga, sleep, reading, writing, taking long baths, crafting, moving my body, eating delicious things... these are some of my methods of self-love. What are yours?

10. Clothing from the thrift store [e.g. the majority of my wardrobe]

9. Passions & self-study
School is only (or even less than) half of all the learning you do in your young life. College has opened my horizons on a lot of things that I was interested beforehand, but never got the chance to see in depth. But I think that having a passion outside of school really enriches your life. I have many - from DIY to derby - but it's ok if you just have one or two. Josh has guitar and an encyclopedic knowledge of diseases. How about you?

8. Books [please, become as addicted to bookstores, manga and fiction as I am]
7. Small adventures in NYC [which you could argue are actually huge, but frequent]
6. Headphones & Sansa Fuze

5. Living with others
I can't imagine not living with other people. I was afraid to sleep alone at a friend's house for many years, and still feel some discomfort in empty rooms. I think it's a valuable experience to learn independence and how to set up boundaries, even if you decide you want to live alone later on.

4. Roller skates

3. Creating
Creating anything from a knitted scarf to a collage to a piece of writing is always an awesome feeling. It's something that is fundamentally yours and so personal.

2. Good food [and the occasional Top Ramen fix]

1. Growing
I have been wrong a lot in my life. Although, even now, I get a bit miffed if I am wrong about a subway train or a random fact, I also believe that being wrong is a source of growth. Of healing. I don't have to be correct all the time in order to be wanted or capable of something. I think that growing up enough to know that is perhaps one of the greatest lessons I've come to know.

*The idea for this list was inspired by Marissa Falco's mini-zine 39, which can be found on the shelves in the Barnard Zine Library (and I had to read it for work!)

If you enjoy this list, check out the plethora of lists I make on a regular basis.

The Fremont Troll Chronicles

Everyone thinks the troll is made of stone.
His long terraced fingers rest inanimate and no breath shoots from between his closed lips. His body is grey and ever-locked in a soulful expression of grief, lost in thought. Encapsulated in one grand silver eye, his wandering expression gazes over the hill, seemingly through the bridge, seemingly through the haze of Seattle's drizzle and outward into the empty universe.
Everyone believes he is made of stone, for the only trolls they have ever encountered were in the pages of storybooks and tabloid magazines. They take pictures with his cold hands, let their children laugh and kick at his worn claws, and their couples steal precious moments to eat their lunch and smooch beneath his giant nose.
The troll is impassive.
He has no ambitions, but at night his mind wanders. He lets his troll arms, lost beneath a pillar of sand long-paved over as a roadway, jostle back and forth to create miniature earthquakes for the houses above.
The troll needs nothing. He ponders this thought. Is he nothing because he needs nothing? All the people and animals that scatter themselves about his earth, near his bridge and his chest - each has a need or desire they wish to fulfill. But the troll sits, motionless, sand and pavement coating his limbs in a thick blanket, and wonders. He constructs long theories about his own existence, then abandons these thoughts at first light. The troll is made of stone, yes, but this stone is a clever material.


Check out some more posts featuring my photography.
More writing and stories are also available for your reading pleasure.

Finally... Finished...

View me larger! Click me! Then you'll understand!

I am about to fall on my face out of sheer exhaustion... my eyes have dried out from staring at the computer screen for so long...
Today was my foray into panography (thank you, Photojojo, for introducing me to another really cool technique!), which is where you take a bunch of pictures while standing in one position and then put them together in Photoshop. That was where the tiredness came in. When I got home from book shopping/photographing the Fremont troll (pictures will be up later!), I began to work on this little beauty. At first it was simple to put together the images... and the time didn't seem like a lot... but before I knew it, I was ordering pizza and working for 6+ hours trying to fit overlap minuscule details over one another so that the image would coalesce.
As you can see, not all of my efforts were rewarded (the left side has some wonky angles - the best way to view all the details is to click on the picture for a larger version, by the way!). However, I really like the way it turned out - and I think I'm going to do another panography for the Grand Canyon (that will be sweet!)
In other news, I scored 15 books at the Half Price Books warehouse sale in Seattle today - hopefully I can read them all before I leave; otherwise, I'll be lugging them back East with me...

P.S.
I just realized... these panographies make perfect banners! Maybe when I get better at it/use a tripod/get one of a really cool place, I'll change out my Cowation banner... yay!

Check out some more posts featuring my photography and even more Photoshop work.

Up and Down at All Hours

I have had the strangest sleep cycle for the past day and a half; I took a monstro-nap this afternoon after going to bed only 2 hours later than I normally do and getting the same amount of sleep. Now I'm here again at 12:30am wide awake and feeling kind of strange. Maybe it was listening to all that Loveline or the nerdy camera conversations with Josh, but I'm just feeling really weird.
I finished writing my letter to Chiara though, and this time it's going to be in pamphlet book form! Pictures will come later - once I've worked out how to print the pages so that it doesn't go 1, 7, 5, 3, 8... you know how it is.
Other than that, enjoy this miniature post in the middle of the night for it's promises of better (Photoshop'ed) pictures of this beaver. I have ratcheted myself up to work with Photoshop again - hence my scrambling for many many tutorials and interesting websites. Ah, the wonders that are to come!

I am grateful for...
Lenticular photographs! They're so cool... turn them one way, it's one picture, the other way, it's another! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this easy tutorial on how to make them:
How to Make Lenticular Images


Check out some more posts featuring my photography.

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

Today (and yesterday), I have embarked on the Make J Pretty scheme. It's not just for prom, though that seems like the most obvious reason. No, in truth, I have just found the urge to make myself pretty for myself and my new boyfriend [Joshka, if you were wondering - see Facebook or this picture, haha]. And so, I have set off into a bevy of woman-ish things that are not so reviling as I thought. Shock and awe, shock and awe.
I got my eyebrows and upper lip done by threading today... it was crazy because the woman just used a piece of thread to rake across the skin and take up the hairs (ouch! I definitely teared up, but it was surprisingly less painful than plucking and took less time). The results were fabulous!
I also have started using the curly girl hair method, which has kept my hair from frizzing up and going out like a wild horn beast. Yay!
Tomorrow, I am going soap shopping. For good stuff this time. Yesterday, I downsized my nail polish, hair accessories, and products (to the overture of Eminem, Pitbull, Carrie Underwood, and a bunch of other singers whose names I have no use in remembering), so now it's time to look for quality over quantity. It's a mission that has sorely bested me since the time of yore. On a related note, tomorrow I have to bite the bullet and buy some makeup so that Abby can help me do it for prom. Heathy has suggested that I should go to a makeup counter if I want to learn how to do the stuff myself (which I do now... since I feel kind of rude for asking someone to help me apply makeup, I would like to learn at least the basics) and I think I will do that sometime this week or next. Ah, womanhood...
My hair will be trimmed and done by Raymond, as usual, on Saturday, but before then it is a race to shave all the other annoying hairs (legs and armpits, for those who assumed the worst).
I spoke to Kita about his opinions on whether a girl should wear makeup and smell good and all of those traditional things, and I think his answer was quite promising. You don't need (and, actually, don't want) to be too made up or anything. For me, this is a good sign. It means, first, that all men have their preferences, but that I generally don't have to spend forever trying to be anything but hygienic [showers with good soaps, regularly getting haircuts and eyebrows done, basic makeup on good occassions...] And, of course, the most important thing is to keep in shape and not look like a slob. Gym time!
I believe that it took me just a little longer to understand the girl things than other people... perhaps I was resisting out of gender-biased fear. But now, rather than being one of the guys, I kind of feel like it's cool to be the girl with the guys. Makes sense, I hope.

Anyway, the picture that I took today was of Gerald [the socktopus that I tried to make a long time ago out of scrap yarn and dreams...]. It wasn't a particularly good picture, so I used my Photoshop skill to make it slightly more acceptable. Hoorah!

I am grateful for...
The ability to communicate my feelings. Even when that's not always a positive thing, just being able to tell someone else that I am feeling this way or that really benefits me and allows compassion in.

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.

Roadblock, Slump or Senioritis?

I'll take my pick. As foretold by the ancient seniors of old, I believe that my desire to do anything has just gone down tenfold. Scratch that. My desire to do things remains the same, but my motivation surrounding said things is waning. Following the days of my intense productivity, my "normal" mode has been to just laze around and watch online videos all day, surf internet links, and maybe read. But otherwise, there seems to be little preoccupying my life. And that gets on the nerves of my boyfriend.
So, what's a girl to do to regain motivation in an ever-increasing downward slide? I don't have a direct answer to this yet, but my listing has been helping me along. Coming back to the blog now, fortunately, makes me want to pursue the photography and writing portions of my life again (also, I got Photoshop CS3, so now I can be a computer nerd again, whee!) The other major goal that should happen before summer ends is the documenting of senior year and, on a larger scale, the time I've lived in this house. Memory projects have always been something of a preference of mine, and now that I'm leaving the house in a big way, I might as well put things onto paper and downsize the stuff in my room (goodbye desktop computer and TV; I knew thee well...)
And then there are the other tinier measures that I want to put into effect. I discovered (for probably the second or third time by now...) that I really am a girl [spiritual and trying to be healthy to boot] and I want to start dressing well, changing my health habits, and just learning about all the interesting cultural and genderal intricacies that surround being a Bengali woman.
I was talking to Charlotte yesterday (and she is probably on a plane to Israel or maybe even there by now) and we agreed that college is really the place where you find yourself more than anything. After receiving my suggested course catalog and filling out a bunch of new housing and medical forms, I realized that everything I do now is personalized. I will choose my classes, where I live (hopefully the Wellness Floor!), what clubs I'm in, and what I do with my time. Though we have that freedom now, there is still 'The Arbitors: Parental Units 1 & 2' and 'Homebase' which basically restrict where I'm sleeping over and whose company I keep. Soon, that will all change...
Anyway, I really want to stop annoying both myself and my sweetheart with all my talk of boredom. I think that my lack of motivation plus the fact that everyone else has something to do has pushed me into the annoying self-conscious corner. Must... fight... darkness! So, after finishing this post, I will sally forth through the jungles of boredom with a pen and a sword and perhaps we will find the Temple of Intrigue in the wilds of my mind. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the journey.

Oh! Also, in a completely unrelated, but pretty awesome, story: I found a way to wash/style my curly hair! It's actually staying fairly manageable and in attractive little ringlets. Thank you, curly girl how-to guide to non-frizzy hair!

I am grateful for...
Odd combinations. Such as the pho and cupcake that I ate for lunch today! Yum.


Check out some more posts featuring my photography.

Epic

Today was just awesome.
For photography, for food, for hanging out with people, for... well, a lot of things. I am going to have a really long-winded post today just to belt out all of this stuff from my system. And then there are the 50 billion pictures that I am going to put - at the end of the post so that it doesn't look like I'm entirely neurotic. But I will put my favorite one at the top!
Anyway, yesterday was Sophia's going-away party and we rocked out for a while [though it was kind of hard to because barely anyone outside of our group showed up to the dance] and then went to a coffee shop and played Apples to Apples for a while to get acquainted. I won once and got something like... Harmful, European, Refreshing, Hot, something. So that is apparently my personality - brilliant! It was just great to meet all those different people and to send off Sophia in the way that she wanted. Yet it didn't hit me then that she was leaving; ironically, that only happened today at the time she left Gasworks Park. I will miss her soooo much!
[as an off topic bracketed side note, I went to Costco yesterday before her birthday and found the most awesome pair of jeans ever and a new bathing suit and a novel about Bangladesh during the separation from Pakistan - totally win! I went back today and got 3/4 of what I wanted: a warm jacket, bras, and stockings. I LOVE Costco!]
That brings us to this morning - where I made another collage mirror for Ka-chan's birthday gift (the picture of it is below if you prefer to look) and bought Indian food to bring to her house. Sadly, not as many people showed up for lunch as was expected and so we had a ton of food with only 3 guys, Ka-chan and I. So we partied it up at her house for a bit and then left for Gasworks [in Connor's dad's car which is actually super awesome - and warm when you stuff two large men in the back and "manwich" me between them... ehehe...]
I had never been to that park before today but now I am in love with it. There is just so much to photograph! The water and boats and skyline of Seattle and archaic rusting architecture and friends that come with you and rolling hills and dogs and arches and poles and geese and... *takes a breath* Today I am a little giddy and not so professional, as perhaps is noticeable. Oh well.
We just played around the park after that, in the frigid weather which we adjusted to after a time (though when I got home and took off my shoes, my toes felt like they were irradiated). Sophia and Lin showed up so we got to jog around and take pictures of each other and do crazy things - Grant, Connor and Mike were already there and acting themselves while trying to fly a kite. Then Rachel, Katie, and Austin arrived and we ate cake and talked about life as if it were some big explosion of creativity and luck. Which it is, in a way. Sophia and Lin left at about 5pm, and that was when it hit me. She's leaving. It made the joyous feelings just all the more memorable, and so we had a group Asian female hug fest for a few minutes before they left to the great yonder. *sigh*
Then we too departed; eating Ginger Thins and discussing a spring break road trip on the way back to B-Town [which is actually not what all the cool kids call Bellevue] and realized... life isn't all about school. I think that was perhaps the best part. I didn't think about school at all. I miss the days when that was so easy...
Ka-chan's birthday was great and grand (even though it really happens tomorrow, so I can still shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the sky so that she will hear it) and I think we all got to really step out of our student skins for a second [mega alliteration!] to finally be real. Let's hope it continues.
Here are the pictures - I hope that you get a kick out of the jumping ones, 'cause they're just that awesome.








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