Filed under: Resolutions, School Life, Triumphs & Heartbreaks | Tags: 2009, Faye Wong, graphic design student, illustration, new school semester, Resolutions, student, timid
Hello new year.
Hello new, and third to last, school semester.
Hello new me.
Hello new scanner/printer.

I’ve had an extraordinary holiday. I feel refreshed, and I’m ready to tackle projects and assignments once again with new fervor. I’m determined to make the most of my educational career as the end is not so far away now.
It’s exciting, and it’s scary.
2009 Resolutions
After having a thorough discussion with my trusty betches, we’ve all come up with some sort of resolution for ourselves. I’ve decided that I am going to be more pro-active in the year 2009. I’ve decided that I could use a healthy dose of ambition. I’m going to actively pursue what I want.
I’m also going to be more outspoken, more expressive. This is something I’ve been working on pretty much all my life. I think I rehearse things in my head too much. I fear offending people. I fear sounding stupid. But no more. I’m just going to have to accept the fact that no matter what I say, someone, somewhere is going to be offended. And there will always be people smarter than me. And to them I say, “well, it’s no big accomplishment.”
Tomorrow is going to be the first day of school, semester number 3.5 of Graphic Design for Marketing. I look forward to it with much wonder and enthusiasm.
Filed under: Glitter & Sparkles, Graphic Design, Resolutions, Triumphs & Heartbreaks | Tags: all-in-one printer, design, gay, Graphic Design, graphic design student, gym, illustration, new year's resolutions, parents, sketchbook
I hadn’t realized until now, how much I missed my scanner! Either that or it’s just novelty with my new scanner/printer. I’m sure it’s novelty.

This is a bunch of doodles I did when I played and paused some of my gay pornographic videos. They made for really great figure drawings, among other things. And no, those are not cum stains or stains of any actual kind. I just decided to add a bunch of textures to distract from my mediocre doodles.
So it’s that time of the year again – the end.
It is the time to reflect upon the year’s triumphs and defeats, the time to assess new goals and devise realistic ways to achieve them. How exciting!
My previous New Year’s resolutions:
- Start working out again. 2.5 times a week.
- Start on school assignments as soon as I get them.
- Read for half an hour/day at least.
- Write for half an hour/day at least.
- Better relationship with parents.
- Wash the car once a month.
- Draw in sketchbook for at least 2hrs/week. Bring sketchbook to places.
- Practice design applications. Do not avoid unfamiliar applications.
- Learn to love people I hate (or at least tolerate).
- Try to do at least one thing/day that will better someone else’s life.
All in all, I would say I achieved a fair number of those resolutions.
I went to the gym quite religiously for about 6 months, but when school started again, I just could not muster up the energy to go. I’m now planning my big comeback. I think it will be sometime in January, when all the crazy snow business lets up a little bit.
I now start working on my school assignments maybe not immediately after they’ve been assigned, but definitely not last minute either. I like to think that I’ve been making a conscious effort, but in truth, I think I’ve realized that a lot of the assignments that we’ve been getting has a much wider scope. And it requires more time for the projects to turn out satisfactorily.
I also think that in this program, you get out of it the amount you put in. We’re not in highschool anymore. We are studying graphic design not because our parents made us. We are there because we want to be there.
Reading for at least half an hour per day is probably the only resolution that I kept completely. I definitely don’t write for at least half an hour a day. That’s something I would like to put a bit more effort into this year.
When I wrote “better relationship with parents,” I was quite confident in meeting that goal just because our relationship couldn’t get any worse. And I was right. I would say that my relationship with my parents, although not yet ideal, has definitely seen some improvements. And I hope to build upon these improvements.
I think I washed the car maybe once this year, not including the washes at the maintenance appointments. But it seems cleanliness is about the last thing I was concerned with my car this year. I would just like it to start.
I haven’t drawn in my sketchbook since late April? I’ve mostly used my sketchbook for design ideas and sketches, which is sort of like drawing, but not.
Wow this is getting to be a very long post.
Since the Flash and Dreamweaver fiascos last semester, I can say I have made friends with Dreamweaver with the introduction of CSS. Flash, however, still isn’t my thing. I have also realized the amount of untapped power that Photoshop holds. I will continue to explore these unfamiliar programs.
It has been a long time since I truly hated someone. I’m quite proud to say that I don’t seem to have hated or have hatred for anyone for quite some time. So this one is also a success.
And lastly, one thing per day to better someone else’s life? Well to be honest I haven’t really kept track. And this was a bad resolution to begin with because it’s so vague.
Filed under: Glitter & Sparkles, My Weekend Pillows | Tags: gift exchange, all-in-one printer, sketchbook, tiger, illustration
I did the ol’ gift exchange with Pillows yesterday. I was mortified when I found out his mom had bought him measuring spoons for Christmas as well. Only the kind that she got him is the funny adjustable ones, and mine are just the old fashioned stainless steel measuring spoons. I remembered to ask for a gift receipt when I bought the measuring spoons, so that he could exchange them for something else if he wanted to.
I gave him a somewhat perfunctory Christmas wish list which included a DSLR, an all-in-one printer, an i-phone, and a puppy. I didn’t expect him to get any of those things for me because they seem a little pricey for a Christmas gift, so imagine my surprise when I tore off the wrapping paper to find my new all-in-one printer!
I’ve been wanting to get an all-in-one printer ever since my scanner at home stopped working. Having a scanner at my disposal means I could readily incorporate more hand-rendered elements to my designs. Yay!

A pencil-crayon illustration I had in my sketchbook. Like with most scans, I find I had to crank up the contrast in Photoshop.