Rubik Cube and Age

Current obsessions: Antique wrist watches and Men's shoes. One is too expensive for me to own and the other is too big for me to wear. Nothing ever fits right. That's always the story.

I saw a Rubik cube the other day and fixed the first row, but got stuck on the second. Can't believe that I completely went blank on how to solve the rest of it. It was very disappointing. I promised myself that I would never forget it because one of my friend was doubting me when I was trying to learn how to solve it from a youtube video.

Have you ever heard about the age dating rule of half your age plus 7? It's this rule of the oldest/youngest age that you should date. So if you're 27, you would take (27/2) + 7 = 20.5 youngest age. For oldest age you would take 27 + (27/2) = 40.5 yrs. old. I personally have never been with/dated anyone beyond + or - 5 years of my age. I'm not against the age dating rule, I just have never been in a position where I had to think twice about someone's age before. Is age really just a number to you?


Cuties on Halloween

Quality of Friendship

What matters to you more, how many friends you have or the quality of the friendships that you have? I hope yours would be quality over quantity. Building a friendship is hard. With some people you meet, it's instant; whereas the rest may need time to grow. Sometimes you meet people who you think are extremely nice to you to find out that they have other intentions. It's hard to weed these out sometimes. It's unfair to both when one feels more for the other, but is there ever a relationship where two people can feel equally the same for each other? How do you be friendly without being too friendly? How do you care for someone without making them feel like you want more? How do you hang out with people because you want to go out, without making them feel like they're the only people you want to be with?

I went to a birthday dinner six hours ago. It made me think about who I'd want to invite if I were to have my own celebration. So many people are so far away. I miss you. I appreciate and am grateful for my low maintenance friends who understand that we're all busy and that we don't need to talk daily to remain good friends. It just isn't necessary and it's not high school anymore. I wish I have a recording of one of those high school days conversations. I don't know what my friends and I used to talk about anymore, but we would be on the phone for hours...or has something happened to me where I can no longer just speak forever and freely?


California Science Center

Taking a Basic Headshot

Some people just have no idea what to do when they're behind a camera and I know... it's not completely their fault. They just need more practice and some guidance. It bugs me when I get bad headshots from people for any print materials. These pictures are supposed to make you look better not worse. If you're not an artsy type of person, don't go for the weird angle pose. It supposed to represent you and not someone else. So here are a few tips for you to keep in mind if you need it for taking the MOST BASIC headshot.

1) What is a headshot? Remember that it's a picture of someone's head. So don't experiment with cutting off any parts of their ears, neck, head, etc.

2) Lighting: make sure that you're in a well lit place, but not so bright that your subject's forehead is glowing.

3) Size: yes, the size of a person's head matters. Make sure that you're not too far or too close to your subject. You only need the upper portion of the body. If you have more then that's too much. Just from the top of the head to the chest area is enough. Leave some background space in the picture, too. You don't want to make it look like there's no room between your subject and the frame of the image. They need space.

4) Surrounding: make sure there isn't any weird objects behind your subject's head. Try to take the picture in front of an empty wall, but preferably a wall color that isn't the same color as their skin color. It's good to have contrast between the subject and the background color.

5) Eye contact: Focus on the subject and make sure the subject have eye contact with the camera. You don't want them to look lost, confuse, sad, etc. Make them feel confident, happy, and positive.

6) Focus: if you have shaky hands, use a tripod or rest the camera against something.

7) Quantity: always take more pictures than you need and check the image if you can so you don't have to re-shoot later.

8) Image size: most places will ask for 300+ dpi image. If you don't know what this mean, just pick one of the larger size setting on the camera instead of the smallest.

9) Good luck and have fun.

Back From Peru

Peru was amazing! Having a vacation is awesome. It was definitely hard to come back and I didn't really want to. Well, does anyone ever want to leave their vacations? I don't think so...unless you lost everything and really can't come back. Actually, on my back at the airport in Lima, this guy at the counter next to me lost his bank card and didn't have enough money to pay for the airport tax so they couldn't issue him his plane ticket. I wonder whatever happened to him.

I wish I were an explorer or something. Actually, I rather be a world photographer. I just want to travel the world and photograph it. Not sure who will buy it, but that is my dream job. So why am I not doing that? Well, I am kinda...slowly building up my portfolio of pictures from around the world. I think I'm going to go to Italy next or India. Anyways, can't believe I saw a SLOTH! There were also Uros floating islands, Machu Picchu, and the freaking Amazon Rainforest. I can't believe that I was finally there.

We rode this little boat to Monkey Island where there wasn't any type of security at all. We just jumped out of the boat and walked up the sand and into the jungle where wild monkeys were hanging out. We had to rush out after the alpha monkey came out though. You don't want to upset an alpha monkey, you just don't know how they'll fight you. Hmm..what would I do if a monkey were to attack me? I think I would probably try to kick it first, but it'll probably just jump on me, so kicking would be no use. I would probably have to bite it or something. Why am I talking about this?

I am way overdue on all of my phone calls to my friends up North. I'm sorry. I'll call and answer all e-mails soon.

Currently listening to Somewhere Else by Razorlight


Colca Canyon


Taquile Island


Cusco


Madre de Dios

Hola From Peru!

Right now Im on the 6th floor of a hotel in Puno. Sasha and I arrived to Peru about 5 days ago. I have been taking DMG, one in the morning and one at night, to prevent altitude sickness, but I still get headaches on the back side of my head...or maybe they are from all the bus rides, Im not sure. Sorry for the lack of apostrophes here, the keyboard here is a little bit different and I just cant seem to figure out how to use it.


It seems like most places that Ive been so far always have a square infront of a church. The first day was spent in Lima. Its definitely different to travel with a tour group instead of on your own. Everything is already taken care of from bus rides to here and there, but your time is limited and you are on someone elses schedule instead of your own. People here are very friendly so far, but I have been warned to carry my purse in the front and to watch where Im going.


Already, there are over 600 pictures on my camera. Everything here is so fastinating to me from what people wear to the architecture of each town. Poverty is also very visible here and I cant believe some of the landscapes that I am seeing here, which express how little I know about this country. I wish that I could upload the pictures now, but that will just have to wait until I get back.

So Much Fun at the Hollywood Bowl

Finally, I was at the Hollywood Bowl or what many Angelenos refer to as the Bowl. It started out with the New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara ( most excited for) then Death Cab for Cuties with the LA Philharmonic. To top it off, they ended the show with unexpected firework. This venue is awesome because it's completely outdoor and you can bring whatever you want to eat and drink there. The weather was perfect and no mosquitos were in sight. I don't know why I waited so long to go here. I love the whole picnic scene before the show.Can't wait to go back. Let's go!


That's Tegan and Sara


Behind Me

Shoo Weird Neighbor, Don't Bother Me!

A couple of weeks ago, one of my guy neighbor started greeting me when he sees me walking to my car in the morning. He keeps asking me the same question about whether or not I fixed my flat tire. And of course it's fixed because my flat tire incident happened about two months ago. He's obviously is not a good listener or has a very bad memory. Ok, I sound mean here and I guess he's just trying to be friendly or wants to get to know his neighbors better or something.

Anyways, the other night I got home quite late around 2 or 3 A.M. It was completely dark and my front light was out. While walking to my door, I thought I heard someone but didn't stop to pay attention. When I got to my door, I heard a guy saying something like, "Oh, it's you. I'm just walking home. What's your name again?" It took me a while to realize that he's the same neighbor, but what the hell? I was so weird out by this.

Everyone should know not to approach a stranger when it's late and dark. Also, it's not like my place is on his way. Why don't people know when it's appropriate to say hello to someone or not? When it's dark and someone is trying to open the door, just leave them alone. I thought I was going to get attacked by someone or something. Man, you don't even know of all the ways I was thinking of how I could defend myself before I realized who he is. But still, I have no idea who he is other than where he lives.


Yummmm
Bottega Louie, Los Angeles, CA