a year of happiness :D

Man, 2009 went by in a flash.  Loved, lost, and learned to be happy through it all.  :)  The beginning of the year was a hard one.  But I made new friends and got to be more outgoing.  Summer '09 was one of the best I've had yet, and I became super close with my best guy friend over the course of the year.  ^_^  I've had to say goodbye to one of my best friends (her family moved out to Wisconsin) and hopefully we will see her again, and then another one of my best friends is now 6 months pregnant!  ah, that time in my life already?  XD

I made the executive decision to start my education at the Brook's Institute of Photography and will begin on January 8th.  For those who don't know what brooks is, it is a very famous photography school in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA.

 It's a 3 year, year-round program and by the end I will have a BFA.  :D  Not sure what my main focus will be (I wanna keep an open mind), but I love fashion photography and people photography (making them kinda artsy and all that stuff).  My parents used to want me to get a degree in Japanese (my first passion), but then I realize that to be a language major you should really start off at your four year, I decided I would continue to work on Japanese on my own (I've taken 6 years of Japanese).  I would love to live there for a year or so and just learn the language that way.  I know most of it, it's just the flow of it now.  Who knows what these next 3 years will bring me.  If all goes as planned I will be done Dec. 22, 2012.   :)  I'm ready to get out there and do stuff.  2 years at a junior college was good, and I got to be on nor-cal's team for the US Kendo championships in exchange and was able to feel confident with my kendo.  I will miss my friends from that the most.  And just the experience of being in it.  I hope to practice down in Santa Barbara someday and get back into it.

Since not many people know what it is, Kendo is a Japanese martial art that is sorta like fencing.  Except that it has MUCH more contact than the fencing that many people are used to seeing on TV.   You have headgear, a protective body armor and wrist guards.  You can hit an opponent at the head, wrist, body, (and for experienced players) the neck.  Your kiai (or yelling) is essential to scoring points also.  The idea is that you are making your opponent fear you by vocalizing.  haha.  I am told that my kiai is intimidating and I am usually very loud.  I like to help raise the spirits of my team mates when we have really hard and strenuous practices.  Here's a video of what a kendo match typically looks like.  These guys are the top of the world, so they're a different league, but it's the general idea.  haha.  Maybe someday I'll get a video of me on Youtube, but until then....




This is what I love to do.  I have been doing it since I started high school, which now would be...6 1/2 years now.  :)  I hope that you guys also have something that you're passionate about and love to still due today.  My life is about to take some crazy turns and I am hoping for the best.  :)  And I know most people will want to make resolutions like always, but I know that I won't go through with it.  I love my Dr. Pepper too much.  (I wish I could give up soda)  hahaha.  Good luck to you guys in your 2010 endeavors too.  :D

 "life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

Singing

I love singing.  I sing everywhere I am.  My family remembers me singing a lot when I was younger too.  I'm  no professional, and I might not have the greatest and most projecting voice, but I really do enjoy singing.  Back in my junior year of high school I met a guy who has now become my singing buddy.  :)  Keo and I have been singing m-flo and various other duets for awhile now.  We used to always sing The Love Bug by m-flo & BoA, and have been recently singing a lot of english stuff.  So far, he's the only guy that I have that wants to sing with me and do duets, which is nice, cause I love singing in the style of duets.  I was finally able to get him to record videos and tracks with me today, so I wanted to post a few and share them with you guys.  :D  So I hope you enjoy!  And I am hoping to get some m-flo covers on youtube very VERY soon.  Who knows, we might even end up being youtube rockstars for awesome m-flo covers.  haha.  (for those of you who don't know m-flo, you can refer here...)  I also have my own set of youtube videos of just me singing, so check them out if you so please. :D

shout-out to steph for making the beautiful necklace featured in the vid.  ^_~

Fashions

The holidays are coming around.  That means parties!  Well the kind that I usually have with my friends involve going to someone's house, eating, and playing games.  I'm still only 20, and many of my close friends aren't in the drinking phase.  But usually around the holiday times, the girls in my groups of friends are always like, "dress up party!"  Usually that entails wearing old prom dresses or getting cute new ones.  haha.  This year I bought myself a nice cheap dress from Forever 21 and found some black, sparkly tights from Urban Outfitters.  I also bought some shoes from Lulu's (an online clothing site), some sparkly nail polish, and of course, a DSK necklace.  =P  I can't wait to wear the outfit! (and I will definitely post some pics later)

I never really used to be into fashion.  I never cared about what I was wearing, if it was stylish, I just liked to be comfortable.  But when I got a job at a thai restaurant when I first started my college days, I knew what it was like to have money, and haven't looked back since.  My style...I guess you could say it's urban/girly.  I love the urban look (like Hellz Bellz and Married to the Mob) but I also love floaty tops, flats and jewelry.  :)  Jackets are my one vice.  I have tons of them.  My mom is always getting on my case and telling me that I need to stop buying them.  But...I can't help it.  They're always so versatile. Plus, it's always nice to relax around the house with a comfy sweater or two.  :P  My favorite jackets right now have to be my Hellz Bellz Heartbreaker jacket.  It's simply a cardigan (no buttoning up) with half-length sleeves and an awesome grey color.

American Apparel (even though I think it's overpriced) has very comfy sweaters.  And I love that color with the white string and zipper.  The contrast works very well in my opinion.  :)  I own it in the orchid-like color, and the bright pink (kinda salmon-ish) color.  Notice in the picture, I happen to be rocking Steph's Bubbi Necklace and PH heart earrings?  ^_~

I also have a cheap (but still awesome looking) fake-leather jacket from Forever 21.  My best guy friend, Eddie rocks the punk style, and in the past year it has really been rubbing off on me.  If I could pick any style to emulate, I would want to be a badass punk.  haha.  Sorry if this is seeming to be a post of just pics of me... XD  I don't have enough time to go take some pictures of my stuff.  Maybe when I get home from my Spanish final today.  :)  What about you guys?  Have any vices when it comes to fashion?  Any favorite things to wear  or styles you like?

Headphones

I have a thing for headphones, especially really interesting looking ones, or really big DJ type ones.  I don't know why I love them so much...maybe it's because I've always  thought DJ-ing was really cool and that I wish I knew how to do it.  But I really love photographing people with them on too.  I think the main reason is because I love music so much.  People see headphones, they think music.  The thing is, the nice ones are always super expensive!  But I've found some really cool ones that I want to share just cause they're so awesome.  :D

So, let's go from most expensive to cheapest of my favorites.

Beats by Dr. Dre (about $300 standard, $500 colored)

These not only look really cool, but you can send them to colorware and have them customize your colors!  So cool!  I will probably never own a pair or get them colored, but one can dream.....Click here to make your own color scheme!

Heartbeats (going price approx. $119)

These beautiful works of art were a collaboration of Beats and Lady Gaga.  Now I like to think I'm an anti-gaga fan, but recently, her music just makes me really happy.  It makes me want to get up and dance around and just have fun.  But I love the way these look on (check out her Bad Romance video for view) and their a super fashion-forward approach to ear buds.  I like them best in shiny chrome, but it also comes in black and red/pink.


WeSC Bongo (approx. $80)

                                                                               WeSC Alpine (approx. $150)


WeSC (We are the Superlative Company) is a Swedish clothing brand that sells brightly colored, and often times unique looking headphones.  My favorites are the bongo ones (to the left).  They come in a variety of colors (ones I've seen are black, white, green, blue, purple, pink, orange).  They have smaller earphones on ones called Oboe headphones, and they have square sliders on ones called Alpine headphones.


Alas, I have yet to get any really cool headphones, and will have to save my money for them soon.  I kinda want the heartbeats ones, but we'll see....

In Progress

Currently working on a DSK jewelry haul blog.  But I gotta figure out how to use my new camera to take pictures to do the work justice.  :)  In the meantime, enjoy some of my current favorite songs from youtube!

A good song to duet with.



Not my favorite version, but youtube doesn't have the one I have.



Electric Six just makes me want to get up and dance.  


Upbeat is my thing lately.