Saturday, March 27, 2010

Carologica in Wonderland

Last Sunday I went to a fabulous art show. My mom's coworker was performing there, and knowing how much I enjoy art, she invited me to come along. After browsing their website, I was intrigued.

I was surprised but delighted to find that the show was actually hosted by a couple in their own home - and judging by the outside decorations, I was in for a unique treat.



Entering the building, we heard a lovely voice singing to electric piano, and saw a beautifully decked out hallway.



I loved how they painted the floors, and the hanging and lighting were amazing. I didn't imagine such a gallery!


Flowers sprouted from couches,


and the hallway lead up to the small door.





The lights inside the room changed colors. I think a little Alice wanted to get even smaller to go in...
Lucky for her, there were "drink me" bottles at the ready.


The rooms and floors were absolutely stunning,




the artworks too many to properly display here,





and the hosts completely playing their part. The hostess with her great headpiece,


the host with his fabulous get up. And look, a white queen, perhaps?


It was a wonderful experience to browse the Alice in Wonderland themed work as singers played in the background. I look forward to what they come up with for next year's theme!
http://www.canvasghost.com/Home.html

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Saturdays and Yesterday

It's Monday night, and I'm sitting at home among stacks of items from my dorm room. In week, I'll be leaving for studying abroad in Berlin. It's bitter-sweet, to use a cliche.

I spent Saturday with Jonathan, after saying goodbye to Angela and watching her ride off for a family bike ride around campus. (I daresay Stanford's grounds are real fun to bike around.)

Something you miss when you're always in class is taking your time. In no hurry, it's so much easier to relax and enjoy another person's company and the environment around you. I suppose that's how we ended up in San Francisco later than people usually take to get to the city since people typically spend the whole day, but I don't feel we really missed anything.



Taking the Caltrain and then walking to Pier 39 along the shore came as a new experience, even though I could swear I'd been there before, considering the many times I've been to Fisherman's Warf. There were octopi and turtles,



tall buildings that Jonathan wanted to eventually live in,


fantastic bridges on gorgeous skies and their reflections,



and food that we happily ate. Sadly we didn't get the chance meet up with Francisco, but it was good to hear that he was enjoying his time with his program.



The sun was setting when we finished dinner, and I saw some glorious light hit the boats docked by Pier 39. It's also quite interesting to see how differently you can edit the same light to look so different in a photograph...



 After a wander around Ghiradelli Square and an exciting bus ride through the city because the driver was one fiesty old Asian man, we rode the Caltrain home.


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Fine Skies

We've been having lovely weather all week, since at least Saturday. It's only a shame it's finals week, and most people can't enjoy it to its fullest.

I got lucky with my finals week this year; it's probably going to be the most relaxed finals week I will ever have in my entire academic life.

As a result, I managed to take some leisurely strolls and captured some really fantastic views of the lighting here on campus over the past few days.


When the sun is going down, there are so many colors these days.

The light has also made some beautiful reflections that I was lucky enough to pass by.







Of course, it wasn't only the setting sun that made me so eager to stop and look around.



The flowers around campus are flourishing.


I think maybe even I've grown a bit.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Upside Down

Can you imagine if cars could actually drive like this?


Or planes flew along the ground?



Courtesy of Tokyo, back in September. I sure upload photos belatedly.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Tidbits

I watched Wicked yesterday at the Orpheum. I was blown away. It makes me want to defy gravity...


The show was much more emotional, the characters much more dimensional, and the plot much more interesting than I could have anticipated. I'm so grateful for my dorm staff organizing such an amazing trip.

In other tidbit news, the bottled sakura blossoms that sat on my desk now look like this...


And I finally ate the lovely truffles Jonathan got me. :)


He said he liked the packaging much better. ;P

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Geese

I don't think I ever mentioned how close I was to geese while on my dorm's ski trip. They seemed so comfortable on the snow...


The night before, when we arrived at the house at 11pm, I walked outside and could just hear their calls. I couldn't see them at all. It made them even more of a treat to see in the morning.


Yes, that is actually the same view. You can't even see the lake... But you could hear it.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Just Those Rainy Days

Sometimes, I think the rain brings out the most gorgeous colors.


Of course, they're also an excuse for me to wear my rainboots. ;)

Monday, March 1, 2010

Anime Studio, Face Pamphlet, and Wall Decor

My mom forwarded me an email from one of my family friend aunts. It was about a free promotion download of Anime Studio. So, of course, I went and downloaded.

I hadn't really a complete idea of what it was until I watched this video.
I'm excited to see how to manipulate motion by pulling around little knobs, rather than the usual frame-by-frame type of animation. It looks a lot more digitized and the animation is slightly more awkward (in the sampler video, anyway), so I wonder how things will turn out when I try it.

In the meantime, I'm still working on CS106a, assignment Face Pamphlet. Yes, we are creating our own Facebook using Java. We even have the network set up to connect with other CS106a students. Talk about crazy; the algorithms aren't the problem here, it's really figuring out what the methods they've provided do - especially accessing and storing information on the server.

I also assembled a few things on my wall to cheer the space up. My Art60 professor decided one day to press dry many leaves and flowers, and let us collect them as we pleased. I was very happy with the ones I took and decorated our wall a little:




Well, Annelise's desk got in the picture so that I could show a little context for the location of the decor, but I'm sure she shouldn't mind too much :)