{85} Richmond, VA Diary III

Didn't do anything today, so I'll put another VA picture.

I wasn't able to do too much in Philadelphia.

All my Philly pictures were of the grand buildings, so I'll post up a more active VA picture instead. 

We went to a shooting range.
This was when a bullet's shell flew into my eyewear and burned my brow.
This is my sister, not me, if it's not obvious.

{85} Being a Chef

Food I made today: Non-red velvet cheesecake, Cod fillet with artichoke hearts and basil, random salad I made up

{84} Richmond, VA Diary II

At Black Sheep for brunch. I know, this doesn't depict Black Sheep's food or what else I did during the day. I ate ice cream at Bev's (flavor coffee oreo- delicious). My sister got a flat tire so that delayed our day. Walked around vintage shops and toy stores. This is as "artistic" as my picture went for the day though. 

{84} Cheesecake

Went grocery shopping today. I have to assume cooking duties, because my mom just had surgery and can't be in the kitchen. I'm trying to make a red velvet cheesecake cake. I just made the cheesecake layer today - cooling it overnight in the kitchen before making the cake layers tomorrow.

{83} Richmond, VA Diary I

MEET BOWSER.

4 months old.

Wheaton Terrier.

Incredibly kind & klutzy.

{83} Slide

My cousins from Fremont came to visit today. We took Cathy to the playground next to my house. I was trying a motion photography technique called "panning". It is a way to show motion, where the subject is clear, but the background is blurred. I didn't completely pull it off (my cousin Cathy is still kinda blurry).

{82} Hazelnut Ice Blended

I met up with Lauren today for Chevy's Happy Hour. We had peach and strawberry margaritas, chips and salsa. When I took my camera out of my bag to take pictures I realized that I forgot my battery in the charger at home, so here is a picture from my Wednesday adventure. This drink reminds me so much of college days.

{82} Philadelphia, PA Diary II

A glimpse of City Hall and the surrounding towering buildings. 

It was really beautiful and fiercely windy (I had to run against the strong wind).

{81} Motion shot

I was supposed to freeze and blur motion for my photography assignment today. This is my freeze shot. I met up with my brother near his high school. He was doing flips and jumping off of stuff for me near Aquatic Park/Ghiradelli Square. Here he is jumping over the railing and he let go of the bar for a second.

{81} Philadelphia, PA Diary I

Way Way & his study domain. 

We had dinner next to his numerous vagina diagrams plastered all over the wall.
We ate dinner while he educated me on the women's reproductive system 

There's another wall of diagrams he created. 

Hello everyone, this is med school's top notch honor student.

He's very relaxed the night before his exam.

{80} Skateboarder

Went walking around downtown today. This crazy skateboarder came down the street waving his arms everywhere because he was about to fall. Does it look like the streetcar is about to hit him?

{80} More Mr. Greenie Photoshoots

{79} Add yo Swagger

a coffee mate pen I got from a co-worker who also works at coffee mate 

{79} Umbrellas

I got critiqued on this photo today in class. I turned this in for our second assignment, "Composition". There are a gazillion compositional/design elements we could have used, but here I used repetition of form (patterns), color, lines, use of edges of the frame (things are popping out of the sides), and depth of field to bring focus on the middle ground. My teacher said that when we are taking pictures of objects like this, it is best to have an odd number of things (I have 5 umbrellas here) rather than even.

I took this picture in Chinatown yesterday. I saw these umbrellas in front of a store and just started taking a bunch of pictures. I tried rearranging the umbrellas, but the original arrangement looked the best.

{78} Transamerica

Went for a walk around Chinatown area with my father after brunch with the besties

{78} My Life is Passed by Through Eateries

I forgot, some pizza... at BJs, with artichoke, tomato, and basil. my go to pizza toppings. 

{77} Fruit Tart, Nuts and Berries

Met my friend Kimi for a slice of fruit tart at Tart to Tart and then drinks after

I tried a new drink called "Nuts and Berries" - it tastes like chocolate and raspberries

{77} My Studio

Was supposed to go to My House in Hollywood. So we stood outside for 30 minutes waiting for my friend's promoter. Then we found out he was promoting My Studio instead. Then we took around 30 minutes to drive 1 mile to My Studio in crazy traffic and crazy people. This was the night I was kissed by a lesbian.

With all my gas & break, it consumed half of the gas from my tank from Hollywood to home. 

{76} More rain

Rain makes me not want to leave the house...

I had to go to work early this morning and went shopping with the family, but didn't bring my cam

{76} Self Portrait Whilst Gassy

The only method that will reduce piercing stomach, bloating gas pains (when going to the restroom doesn't work). At Barnes n Noble reading some interior design magazine. I was laying on a bench.

{75} Raindrops on Window Mesh

Heat wave last week

Cold rain this week

Coming back home to my electric blanket

{75} Oh Patty Patty!

Guess who I visited today! Turquoise to the max!

{74} Main Public Library

Went here to prep for the class I'm teaching

View of the ceiling - it's supposed to resemble a nautilus

My photography teacher said it's a good photo because of something about the Fibonacci sequence?

{74} Window Pane & the Sky

On a lovely day, I got a lovely present, with a lovely card, from a lovely friend--thanks bbgurl!
I was going to put the pictures of the pumps and the window together, but they don't match and the pump pictures look ghetto!

{73} Route to Work

Getting off the freeway to get to work.
Moments before a bee flew into my car and caused me to panic and swerve.

{73} Another magnolia picture

My mom wanted me to take a cool picture of a magnolia blossom with morning dew on it but
1. I can't wake up early enough.
2. I think I need a new, good macro lens.

{72} Keeping it Cool in a Sleeve

Even on a freezing day, I'll settle with an iced cold drink--with a sleeve designed for a hot beverage.

p.s. i'm getting bored of having nothing to do, but HAVE to study for my anatomy exams and taking pictures after pictures of coffee & tea.

{72} Off the Grid

Trying to take a cool picture of magnolia blossoms from the other side of the cement fence/wall thing. I tried to focus on the blossoms rather than the cement, but didn't know how.

{71} Shoe Shopping

Downtown for some shoe shopping before work

Image of rotunda inside the mall

{71} Happy Valentine's Day

At Golden Truffle: heirloom tomato bisque, chianti braised lamb shank, & lavendar gelato afterglow with pistachio paper

A day for all the couples to slow down and to remember not to take their relationships for granted--or perhaps, for some, a day to take advantage and start expecting love in the form of materialistic gifts and expensive dining. 

Regardless for anyone, it should be a day to remind those who forgot, to not take relationships and friendships for granted on any given day--to remember that we do not need a holiday to remind us to say the i love yous or to show the i love yous. 

I'm confusing myself. It's late, I'm delirious, and probably trying to be meaningful. Good night.

{70} Straits

Family dinner at Asian fusion restaurant Straits - owned by rapper/actor Ludacris

{70} Conservatory | Los Angeles

A house of dedicated and skilled baristas. Cute & small coffee shop. 

Good place for those who like hard coffee.

[Can you see the heart ... I think this angle makes it hard to notice]

{69} Medjool

Loungin' and dancin' the night away for my first grade homie, Courtney's birthday. I was extremely interested in taking tons of pictures of the lights. I'm pretty sure someone thought I was on drugs, especially considering that I had to use my passport because I lost my ID. (In my passport picture, I look like a drugged out meth addict, no lie.)

Another compositional element: leading lines. I heard it's good to have lines in photos because people automatically want to follow them to see where they go, haha. Makes photos more interesting supposedly.

Ohhh another element: patterns. It's nice to have the same thing repeating over and over again in photos. In this case I have balls...of light.

{69} BLU JAM Cafe | Los Angeles

Review: The Eggs Florentine is not comparable to Stacks's Eggs Florentine in San Francisco. Stacks's service, environment, food owns Blu Jam. Blu Jam's wait was long (but I believe it is an "it" place to be), the host was a racist (senses Tina), and just bland in flavor!! But Stacks's Eggs Florentine had crab meat in it and Blu Jam tasted obviously healthier-maybe I just didn't fancy the healthy taste to it. 

{68} Internal Framing

I took a picture of a random lake in Golden Gate Park after the yoga people wouldn't let me in when I was 3 minutes late. I was pretty annoyed, but this random lake soothed me with it's mini-waterfall. The water is pretty green and gross though.

Another compositional element I learned is called internal framing. The name is pretty self-explanatory, but it just means that pictures are better when they're framed by objects in them, like two trees, two poles, or in this case a random Greek-inspired altar thing next to a lake. I had to climb on muddy dirt behind the structure while in flip-flops.

{68} C&O Cucina | Los Angeles

Cute atmosphere, good pasta, friendly portion, amazing complimentary garlic bread balls, great grilled artichoke appetizer, & friendly service. 

{67} Rule of Thirds

I learned a compositional rule in photography called the "Rule of Thirds". We're supposed to pretend that each photo we take is divided into nine squares, like a tic-tac-toe grid. It's best to place lines (like horizon lines) on the grid lines, and to put subjects on the intersection points of the lines. I attempted with this photo, but I don't think I did it very well. I just put the tree trunk on one of the vertical lines, but then I blurred out the trunk with my editing. Uh...I think Wikipedia explains it best.

{67} Poached Eggs

I should never ever try to be adventurous and spontaneous with the ingredients I put together for a recipe I don't even know. I made poached eggs on WHEAT bread, with Gouda cheese (that does NOT melt, only hardens), RAGU sauce, with smashed potatoes. The hoe was this mixture--a nasty one. 

{66} MGT

apparently i do cha all day, erryday.

{66} Tulip

Tulip baby

{65} #4

The cat scared me because it looks so vicious.

Started cat dissection in lab today.

Cat #4

{64} Ebay

Selling some clothes I never wear on Ebay to make room in my overflowing closet

{64} All Mine

My student gave this Valentine's Day sugar candy to me saying I was all hers.
So I put it with my tea and said that the tea was all mine--all the students were eyeing my drink.

{64} Civic Center

Took the subway to my first day of real teaching work today in Civic Center area.

{63} Bow-Tie Bun

Nothing to take a picture of today besides the new hair style I tried. It's hard making this bun with short hair. I dressed like a granny today with my unflattering & baggy sweater, but it was comfy!

{63} On the road home...

We stopped for delicious all-you-can-eat sushi and raw oyster in Sacramento on the way home from Tahoe

{62} Red Sunset on Lake Tahoe

After a long day of sledding and skiing, my family was driving to dinner when suddenly the sky turned red and the clouds looked like they were on fire. I had to tell my Dad to pull the car over onto the side of the road, so that I could take some pictures.

{62} The Makings of Macarons: Trial 1

Meringue = standard flavor from the almond powder (meant for texture)

Filling = Belgian chocolate

Result = Fail. Very few meringues had a foot. Too crunchy and crispy, rather than multi-textured. A bit chewy because I accidentally crystallized the sugar syrup

Conclusion = no recipe to share with anyone

{61} Snowmobiling

Top to bottom: Snowmobiles in a line, view of Lake Tahoe from the top of the mountain, view from the backseat on the ride back down

{61} Crustaceans for Dinner

Boiled crabs with lemon, salt, & pepper dipping. mmmm