Stuck on repeat..

It has been a very long time since I last posted on this blog. Keeping this blog was supposed to be my way of documenting my interests and activities, but as I said before, I'm not very good at keeping up with journals and what not. In fact, I had to look at my blog to even remember when and what I last posted! Haha, my second to last post, over a month ago, was actually about this very dilemma! I guess I still haven't learned. Oh well, time for another recap I guess... but maybe at a later time (lol!) since I'm sleepy and hungry and still have to make myself dinner... =)

Ce-le-brate good times!

It's the BF's birthday today. Happy Birthday!! We started celebrating yesterday by attending Skate Cinematography with Ty Evans + Girl and Chocolate Pro Skate Teams, a workshop presented by the Levi's Film Workshop. We got to watch some really cool footage, including one having to do with skateboarding and fire!, and had an opportunity to borrow Flip cameras, film some skateboarders in action, and edit our work. The BF and I have decided to collaborate and incorporate our clips into one video that I'll be sharing once we have it completed and uploaded.  Afterwards, we walked around Little Tokyo, had some red bean bread, and a late lunch at Curry House! On the way home we stopped by our local art walk and bought a bunch of books for $2 each! Today, we plan on doing some shopping and sightseeing, having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and attending the premier of Unbeleafable 3D Skate Film and Girl Skateboards Retrospective. Having watched a short 3D test video yesterday afternoon at the workshop we're really looking forward to seeing this film!

Since I have an early start in the morning, I'll now be leaving you with one of the videos presented to us by Ty Evans at the film workshop:


"LAKAIROMANIA" from Marc Ritzema on Vimeo.

(About my list, I promise, promise I'll have more details and some pictures up and edited soon! Promise!)

And you think YOU have it tough

A London bus driver braves the streets of Manila to experience the life of a jeepney driver. I was crying for at least half of the documentary. It's tough to realize that people live in squalid conditions with very little, if any, hope for a real future.  Makes me very grateful for the opportunities that I am provided with here.

Let's try this again shall we?

While I was at work today I put together a list of things that I'd wanted to share but never got around to doing so.

1. Update on no poo
2. Levi's Film Workshop/Little Tokyo/Art Show
3. Graduation!
4. X-men: First Class/Hooka
5. The Berrics screening

Since it's late and I'd like to go to bed soon, I'll keep this short with more details (and pictures) to follow. So to begin:

1. Unfortunately, my no poo trial only lasted a couple of weeks so I never got the full effects of experiment. The first time I only lasted three days before I washed my hair, with shampoo because I was in a hurry. Second time around I started on a Wednesday night and was able to last til Monday morning when I absolutely had to wash my hair for work. The third time and last time, I ended up washing my hair after the third day because it was looking extremely greasy because of our weather (hot, humid). Because I didn't last long enough, I never got past the "greasy" stage and I never got a chance to work out the right measurements for my ingredients. I am determined to try again, but maybe in the fall or winter when it's not so hot out.
2. Levi's has been sponsoring a film workshop at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA for the past couple of months, in conjunction with MOCA's Art in the Streets exhibit. A few weeks ago the BF and I attended one of their workshop lectures with Steve Berra.  Since I can along for the experience, I wandered and looked at stuff while the BF listened, edited, and networked. We walked around Little Tokyo after and had some Japanese curry at the Curry House (yum!) and caught an art show. I'll be expanding more on this later (with pictures!)
3. As I had previously mentioned, I finished school several weeks ago. Graduation was on the 25th of May. Definitely more to follow later.
4. Went to see First Class the weekend it premiered. Great movie. Tried some hooka for the first time that night too.
5. And finally, went out to the Berrics Tuesday night for their premier screening of the Abberican Originals. Had a good, interesting time. Met an interesting guy at the end of the night, kind of crazy, but in a good way.

As I mentioned, I'll be providing more details and some pictures in the following days.  For now, it's time for bed. Goodnight!

Gah!

So when I started this whole blog thing it was supposed to be a way of learning more about myself and what makes me who I am. I also wanted to start documenting my "interesting" days since I'd like to have some concrete remembrances of my experiences and I haven't kept a real journal in years. I started off pretty well, aside from a gap when I was going through finals, but I haven't really posted much (anything!) since then, well aside from being *semi* consistent with my "Music Mondays."  Therefore, I am now resolving to document, at least a few times a week, my goings-on to keep tabs for myself and to keep up with my resolve to keep this blog going! At the moment I'm getting ready to head off to work so I'll play catch-up once I get home. Until later! =)

Blue Skies

I was feeling so blah about the music I was looking up last week plus the fact that the BF and I spent practically all of Memorial Day weekend cleaning out my room and closet that I didn't end up getting around to posting up a new music blog. =( But yay! I found my music muse once again! Here are some  artists/songs that I found interesting. Enjoy!!

Telekinesis - Dirty Thing

(I really like how they put this music video together.  Makes me really anxious to buy myself a new camera so I can "recreate" and play around with all the effects and editing!)

Non Tiq - Quiet

(Interesting song, horrible music video. I much prefer the beat of this version.)

Sufjan Stevens - Futile Device

(Very mellow sleepy-time track, calming, soothing..)

The Everyday Visuals - I'll Take it All in Stride

(I like their voices and the music but I'm not too keen on the lyrics =/)

Oh the discoveries!

Adele! I was listening to both of her albums last night and came to the conclusion that, although I like her 19 album, I love her 21 album.  There's just a lot more raw depth and feeling to her second album that isn't in her first.

On the other hand, while trying to discover more information regarding Adele's opening acts I came across the artist Goh Nakamura which led me to the discovery of artist Jane Lui.  Both artists have free full-album downloads available for our listening pleasure.

[Click for free album download]

[Click for free album download]

Now I have that I have two new artists in rotation it's time to ferret out more! Until next time!

There's a chill in the air

I've decided that I'm going to make Monday's "Music Mondays" and post different albums and/or songs that I'm currently listening to or am interested in. I've been wanting to get into music more and here's a perfect way to do it! Granted today is Tuesday, but let's just pretend it's yesterday shall we? =)

As I am writing, I am listening to Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi's album collaboration, Rome. I love how mellow and relaxing the entire album is. I've listened to it on repeat at least three or four times straight through and I'm still not tiring of it. A number of the songs have a sort of ethereal or other-worldly feel that's kind of creepy but exhilarating at the same time. In fact, all the songs are bound together by a sort of ghostly thread that wends its way throughout each one. I've been trying to decide which song I would classify as my "favorite," but in truth I love them all! Overall, a great collaboration by Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi with the accompanying vocals of Jack White and Norah Jones. This is definitely an album I would love to get my hands on.

Holy smokes!

For years I've been aware of the fact that I have to eat healthier and take better care of myself, especially with my family history. I have a history of cancer on both sides of my family. Some of my relatives have diabetes and/or have had heart attacks or strokes. Despite knowing all that, I rarely exercise or watch what I eat. Although I didn't exactly take proper care of myself, in the past I rarely ate red meat, never consumed alcohol, ate most of my meals from home and pretty much stayed away from chips and soda. I was relatively healthy. All that changed in the past five or so years after meeting my boyfriend. Since then, I've gained about 30 pounds over my ideal and prior weight, mainly due to unhealthy eating habits. (We used to eat out at restaurants or have fast food at least 3-4 times a week!)

I'd previously made some attempts at managing my weight, running/walking occasionally and "dieting." Since I used to work full-time and was currently working part-time with full-time school I've been too busy (or tired, sleepy, lazy, have too much homework, etc) to exercise and try to eat healthy.

I recently heard/learned of the Flat Belly Diet, mainly because I came across an article about sassy water.  While I haven't yet made any effort to begin the strict four day food regimen I have been drinking the sassy water.  It's basically a combination of 8 1/2 cups filtered water, 1 medium lemon and 1 med cucumber thinly sliced, and a small handful of mint leaves (I left out the grated ginger as I'm not fond of ginger and we didn't have some anyway). The ingredients in the water is supposed to help reduce bloating and water retention while getting you to drink water more frequently. I've read that some people, my youngest sister included, detest the taste of the water. To me, and my dad who drinks it sometimes too, it tastes like unsugared, watered down lemonade. While I haven't noticed any weight loss, not that I'm currently expecting any, I have noticed that I'm not feeling any bloating, no matter what I eat.

Now that I've finished with school, I'm going to make an effort to start eating healthy and exercise more. No more excuses! I plan on following a stricter meal plan (I detest the word "diet" and never go on one) and will make an effort to cook my own food instead of buying it. Not only will I be doing myself a favor by learning to cook and eat healthier, I'll also be helping out my wallet! New SLR camera that I've been craving for forever here I come! =D

I'm alive!

Wow.. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. After a year and a half of learning and studying, memorizing and cramming, I can finally breathe again. All my efforts will shortly be realized. I am done with school! Like the children's rhyme goes, "No more pencils. No more books. No more teacher's dirty looks." I will be graduating in about a week's time.

No 'poo

As I was browsing the Planet green website the other day, one of the articles I came across was about several different uses of baking soda. What interested me the most was using baking soda as shampoo, also called and considered part of the "no 'poo" method. I had learned, many years ago, that washing your hair every day is not recommended or even healthy for hair. Since then I've only washed my hair every other day to every three days depending on how active I have been or how greasy my hair is feeling. Because of this, the idea of no 'poo intrigued me. I did some research regarding the no 'poo method, and the basic premise is to eliminate the use of shampoo (and conditioner) and its harsh, toxic chemicals and replace them with more natural, healthy alternatives. People have reported that eliminating shampoo has helped to make their previously unmanageable hair healthy, strong, and manageable.

Since my previously thick hair has gradually began to thin out due to stress and neglect, today I decided to try the no 'poo method out. I replaced my normal shampoo with a baking soda (BS) and water mixture and apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse. Based on my reading, I was aware that California's naturally hard water could affect the outcome of my wash, but I was prepared for that outcome and ready to face the possible consequences.

As directed in several websites I visited, I mixed 1tbs BS with 1c water in one 8oz squeeze bottle and mixed 1tbs ACV with 1c water in a separate squeeze bottle. Once I massaged and worked the BS mixture through my hair it began feeling smoother and silkier. That feeling changed when I began rinsing the mixture out. My hair ended up feeling very greasy and heavy. I went ahead with the ACV rinse hoping that it would cut the greasy feeling and even out my hair texture and it did help, somewhat. I ended up using a nickel-sized amount of Suave conditioner to smoothe out my hair and make it feel better. My hair dried quicker than usual, did not have a vinegar smell, and felt pretty nice and soft. Since I normally wash my hair out every other to every three days, I'm going to try and wait for at least four days before I try the wash again. A few people suggested the use of a water softener, such as Brita, to use in the event of hard water. Since we have a water filtration system, I'm going to attempt to use that the next time I wash my hair out, hopefully with better results.

A "New" Beginning

This isn't the first time I've started a new blog. It probably also won't be the last. What I'm hoping to accomplish with this blog is to be honest with myself in an attempt to find myself. I want to be able to document the little bits and pieces that make me who I am in an attempt to figure out what makes me tick.

So, to start let me give a little background of who I am. I'm almost 30, a graduating senior at a Cal State University with a major in Healthcare Administration. I currently work part-time for a medical billing company and am a Certified Professional Coder. I live with my parents and youngest sister in a four-bedroom home in California. My parents are Seventh-day Adventists and raised my sisters and me in their faith. I have, for the past several years, not practiced my religion or attended church aside from a few select occasions. My mom is still bitter about that. I love learning new things and reading fantasy and science fiction books. I just recently discovered Calico Critters and the Sylvanian Family and am beginning a collection. I also collect Hot Wheels cars. I'm what my parents would consider lazy but what I would consider as lacking any real motivation.

That, in a nutshell, is the surface of who I am.  Of course I'm a lot more complicated, a condition which I hope to get deeper into as I continue with this blog.