Friday, August 31, 2007

My new doodle blog


I've decided to have another blog just for my doodles and crazy stuff like that, and it will have less words. This blog will be reserved for posting everyday bits and pieces or interesting information that I would like to share with you. And if you can't find me here, I am probably over there doodling...
Please click here to visit my new doodle blog and have a wonderful long weekend!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Finnish YMCA


My co-worker sent me this clip... see what we are doing at work? Busted!
I have nothing to say about this... cause no word can describe it.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Big Scores


I can't believe my good luck today!!!

Don't be jealous... I scored Mary Blair's long out-of-print book "Baby's House" at the River Market antique mall this afternoon... for ONLY 4 DOLLARS! The booth where I found the book is in the basement which I usually don't check out because, first, I rarely find anything interesting there, and second, there is this giant sewage pipe down there which I hate. And even if I do check it out, I never really explore this specific vendor. But today I happened to go inside the booth, flipped through layers of old smelly books on the shelf and then I saw it... I couldn't believe my eye! I love when thing like this happen!

Here are some amazing images which I got from the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive website. If you are also a Mary Blair fan and really want your own copy of Baby's House, there are still 2 of them left on Amazon and also there is currently one auction for it on eBay for $85. Or you can always try to find it in your local antique shops... you might just get lucky too!










Another book that I got from the same vendor today is the vintage black-and-white version of "The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read" illustrated by Seymour Fleishman... for 2 bucks! I absolutely love the linework illustrations as well as the shape and the facial expressions of the main character. The story is so funny and charming, and it makes me laugh! It's is out of print too but Amazon currently has 8 hardcover copies and 3 paperback copies of it... with a collector's price tag of course.





Monday, August 20, 2007

The Lovers


These two are Lars and Inca (my friend gave them the names); I made them awhile back. I found the photo when cleaning my folders and thought it would be funny to show them on the blog. A picture is worth a thousand words: this couple is clearly in love, and you can tell... Lars has been using steroid to maintain his luchador physique, and it's not a secret.

Poor Tony...


I can't believe I did this! Today, after work, I got into my car which had been parked under the sun for more than 8 hours, cursed the hot weather, and started my car... and then, something caught my eye. Wait, what was that thing in my back seat? OH MY GOD!!! It was my cello Tony (Yes, I named my cello! I said it!) which I totally forgot to take out since yesterday. I went to grocery shopping after the band practice last night and I was paying too much attention unloading my grocery bags (and being over excited about the sweet Mexican pastries I got) that I totally forgot to take the cello out afterwards! How could I have done this? I am an idiot! I flew home and got Tony out of the car; I was so scared I almost couldn't open the bag to examine the dead body. I am not kidding, as I unzipped the bag I totally smelled BBQ. Poor Tony, still intact, not falling apart yet, was obviously over-heated and had gone completely out of tune. I left it outside to cool down a little bit and then re-tuned it... Seems like Tony is all right so far, but I have to wait and see if it still plays OK later, otherwise I'll have to send it to the cello doctor. This whole thing almost gave me a heart attack! Sorry Tony, I am the worst mom ever...

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Brian Barneclo




Brian Barneclo is a San Francisco based artist. I used to live in San Francisco and till today I still take yearly trip to the city by the bay which is so close and dear to my heart. I saw Brian's limited edition screen prints for sale in Recchiuti Confections (which, by the way, makes chocolates that are too pretty to be eaten) at the Ferry Building, and I had to get it. I love how his artworks reflect the spirit of the city and its people, as well as the way he combines colors with the graphic quality. According to the artist's website, his latest big work is a huge 225 foot neighborhood mural in San Francisco's Mission district in 2006, and it's paid for by the people... how cool is that? I don't know how I could have missed it during my last trip, maybe it wasn't done yet at that time, but I have got to see it in person next time when I go there! You can go to Brian's website to read about the artist and see more of his amazing artworks.


Sunday, August 12, 2007

Art Unleashed 2007


It's just way too hot today (um, 102 degree to be exact)... some of my girlfriends went to Race for the Cure first thing this morning and I totally, totally respect them. I didn't go, but I had my reason and I wasn't really chilling at home either. I didn't realize the deadline for submitting artworks for the annual Art Unleashed is next Friday and I had to crank up some artwork for it during this weekend. Art Unleashed is an annual live and silent auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit for The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. This is gonna be my 4th year of donating artworks to Art Unleashed and I always have a lot of fun doing it. Since there were some sawing, sanding and stinky staining involved, I had to do some work outside at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I thought my skin started to smell like BBQ and was gonna peel off myself because of the sun, but at the end it was all worth it. I used whatever I could find around the house (cause it was too hot I didn't want to go out) and did a mixed media artwork titled "Tag Team". I liked how it turned out so I did another one for myself to keep. (I don't know why but I love drawing luchadors!)

If you are in the KC area and want to buy some unique original artworks and help the animals at the same time (and there will also be lots of yummy food to enjoy), you cannot miss Art Unleashed, which is scheduled for Friday, August 24, at the Uptown Theater. It's a super fun event. For detailed information and to purchase tickets, please click here.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Pokeweed



I know I have had these plants in my yard since I moved in, but I never know what they are. Until I read the book "Weeds, Friend or Foe" by Sally Roth, then I found out they are pokeweed. They are really hard to get rid of once established (well, mine are almost 6 feet tall so I guess they are not going anywhere). Pokeweed is poisonous and can cause potentially lethal result if handled wrong, but birds love their berries and I actually think they look quite interesting. If you have pokeweed in your yard and want to know more about it, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's website has more detailed information. Some parts of the pokeweed are edible and the berry juice can be used as a dye, but you really have to know which part to use and how to prepare it correctly, otherwise you are risking your own life. For me that's just not worth it. I will leave them alone and let the birdies enjoy them.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

11:11... am I one of THEM?

For as far as I can remember, probably since 7 years ago, I started to keep seeing the numbers 11:11, and I really mean it happens quite often. Actually, I just saw another one last night (well, I always fall asleep on my couch right after dinner, and that's what contributes to my mega double muffin tops but that's another story). I woke up, I looked at the time, and of course, it was 11:11 pm. For all these years I thought it is just a coincidence even though I do feel like it's something uncanny, maybe. Until last week, my friend and I were sitting in my car; he asked for the time and it turned out to be 1:11 pm. I told him, "You know, I've been seeing 11:11 or 1:11 all the time... isn't that weird?" He looked at me, eyes wide opened, and he said, "ME TOO!! I've been seeing that ALL THE TIME TOO!!!" I was like,"No way! Oh, come on, are you for real?" I think we really freaked each other out at that moment.

So... I guess I am not the only one then.

As I research 11:11 on the Internet, I can't believe what I've found: millions of people are experience the same phenomenon. According to what I've read online so far, generally speaking, seeing 11:11 is never a bad thing, actually, it almost always means something good is gonna happen, and it is always a confirmation that you are on the right track. Well, at least it's nothing bad and that's a relieve. But I also found that someone on the internet wrote: "11:11 is an encoded signal in certain souls' DNAs, serving as wake-up calls to their higher purpose, and to help identify each other", and it also refers to people who keep seeing these numbers as Star-Borne People who "have come in increasing numbers to help the planet get through this critical transition." Well, Star-Borne People (that actually sounds kind of cool)?? I am not so sure what that is, but it all sounds positive. I need to do more research on this matter,and at this moment, I am just glad to know there might be some kind of explanation about it and I am defiantly not alone. And next when I see the numbers, I will not forget to make a wish for sure!

Monday, August 6, 2007

More blog about Taiwan... this one is in English!





OK I can't take this anymore... My American friends might be shocked and wonder what the heck are these?? These are food from the wonderful Chinese buffet in Taiwan and they look SO DELICIOUS to me and I miss them so much! Alas, I really shouldn't be looking at them right before dinner time, especially when all I have in the freezer are some pathetic cheap frozen food...

Mr. Michael Turton left me a comment responding to my post that introduced Turkey's blog about Taiwan, and he also left me a link to his wonderful blog named "The View from Taiwan". I couldn't wait to check it out, and man, what a neat website full of information and great photos, and it makes me homesick to my stomach. I just have to share! And best of all, it's in English so you don't have to speak Chinese to enjoy it! (And I also find out since Michael is an English instructor in Taiwan, he also established a website for people who are interesting in teaching English in Taiwan. It has a lot of useful information as well. Click here to visit it.)

I like both of Turkey's and Michael's blogs so much that I have to open a link area so I can quickly refer myself to them. I hope you will check them out, and hopefully, be inspired enough to take a trip over there! And meanwhile I am just gonna retrieve to the dark corner and eat my frozen dinner in tears.... sniff sniff.

Photos (from the top, taken by Michael Turton): yummy yummy fatty pork, seaweed, eggplant, and last but not least, the oh-so-good-it-makes-me-drool cuttlefish!!

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Chippie



As I was relaxing on the sofa in front of my big living room windows (I love that spot especially in a sunny afternoon with the huge trees and shrubs outside dancing in the breeze... it makes me feel like that I live in a greenhouse), I spotted chubby Chippie (I have a lot of chipmunks and I name all of them Chippie) enjoying the birdbath outside the windows. It was just too cute and I had to take a quick shot!

Blog about Taiwan




No, I can't take any credit of these stunning photographs. I came across this blog maintained by Turkey; it's all about Taiwan and full of beautiful images. I just love reading his blog (titled "Our Land Our Home-Taiwan") and his photographs (especially these beach shots) brings me that much closer to the land where I come from. Now, since I can read Chinese, I can fully enjoy the blog, but you can still browse his photo album even if you don't speak the language. Click each image to view tons of photos within it. Most of the photos were taken in Taiwan... what a beautiful place and I am so proud of it.



Big Succulent Family




Yesterday afternoon I went back to Family Tree nursery and got more
succulents. (They do have an awesome collection of succulents.) These
little plants are so addictive and I can't get enough. And afterward
when I was transplanting them into new containers, the grandma from the
cute yellow house behind me called me over and gave me a big pot of
Christmas cactus since she has two, and she told me this one used to
belong to her grandma. Ohhh ...the pressure is on me now to keep it alive
from now on! Ha! Now I have a big happy succulent family! Look how
happy they are drinking in the sunlight while I don't even want to be
out there at this moment! Boy it is H-O-T!!! I am so envious of them.

Here I finally potted my three hardy hibiscus after a week.


And I've decided to plant the purple coneflowers in the ground.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Art-o-mat


This is so cool! I just saw this on the local Fox 4's night news. Since 1997, Artist Clark Whittington has been using retired cigarette vending machines (actually banned in 1997) to create Art-o-mat machines to vend artworks. The first machine was installed to sell his own artworks, but nowadays there are 82 active machines in various locations throughout the country with more than 400 participating artists. For only 5 dollars you can pull the knob and get an original artwork. There is one machine in Kansas City area located at the Pi gallery. For more detailed information about Art-o-mat and to find the machine in your area, just click here.

This is the machine in KC.

Ace Hardware Paint Pod



Yesterday I dropped by the Ace Hardware store (I was actually going to the bookstore next door for some container gardening books) and was pleasantly surprised to see that they now offer little paint pods for the consumers to test colors before they commit. The paint pod collection has 180 really nice satin colors and each jar is 4.75-oz, enough if you just want to do a little craft project. I think they run about $3.99 each if I remember it correctly.

More Sedums


Here are two more sedums I got from Family Tree nursery Thursday afternoon. I just couldn't resist them... I love succulents! They have such interesting architectural forms and they are chubby and cute! I put a layer of leftover pea pebbles as mulch to finish them up. I still want more! I might just go back this afternoon to get more succulents. But first I have to mow my lawn. As mush as I don't want to admit it, and maybe you can't tell from the photos below, I am so lazy that I haven't mowed in one month. It's about time.