Tagging

Peter, Davina and I signed up for a Graffiti Class at Crib KL. I really wanted to go because I've always like graffiti. It's an art form that I really love looking at and can't help but admire the amount of talent and work that goes into each piece. So, this was a perfect opportunity to learn something about graffiti.

The two people we had teaching us was Ian and Mun (Ian a.k.a Turf and Mun a.k.a Kos [as in K-OS: as in Chaos]).

Anyways, they were both really nice and they taught us a lot about the history of graffiti. It's relatively new, starting back in the 1960's. It started off in the US and soon expanded to all over the world. One really great  artist I've heard of is Banksy. He's done some really thought provoking stuff.

Anyways, they got us to start off by coming up with our own tag. Basically, it's a name/signature. For example, Mun's tag would be "Kos". So when paints, he'd tag his stuff with that, basically signing his piece. We had to first pick a name and then start off by writing it down. Then, we were suppose to develop it. Play around with the words, stretch them, tweak them, add stuff to them, and do whatever else to make them look unique. The best part is that your tag doesn't have to be legible to anyone but yourself.

Of course, Pete was in his element. All this sketching and creativity with a pencil thing. Dav and I were like fish out of water. We both started off just writing our names on the paper (because what else could we do, right!?). After a while, with Mun giving a few tips here and there, we both came up with tags that we were happy with:)

For the next part, they divided us into 4 groups and asked us to design a piece for Crib KL. They wanted us to come up with a piece for the word CRIB. We sat outside, in the garden; each of us working on one alphabet. My group wasn't too bad. Our words looked really good on their own but when it was put together, they still looked good but didn't necessarily flow well together. But still ok la.

Mun then showed us how to use the spray cans. He taught us about shadowing and outlining. Filling it and flaring. It was very exciting. After Mun was done teaching, we proceeded to paint our design onto their walls. It was really fun. Davina's group had this triangular house thing going on and Pete's group was inspired by PacMan. The other group was really good too. I think theirs looked like a really graffiti piece compared to all the others.

Davina's group (left) and Pete's group. And next to Pete's group, Peter proceeded to add his tag (the one in purple)

The really nice one (left) and my group. Mun did the 'Q' when he was teaching us. Also, if you look closely, you can see my tag in between my group's piece and Mun's Q, just above the tiny arch.

Anyways, I did the R. I think it looks really ugly but I am proud of it. I'm sure you can see that my groups piece is the worst. No flow, messy and no real idea. And I still like it!

I had tonnes of fun. It's pretty difficult to create art and even more so to do it on walls. My respect and awe for graffiti artists only deepened with this class.

Ok. Done :)
I'm gonna leave you with this piece right here. I have no idea who did it but I think it looks amazing. I can't even draw a face this well with a pencil but these folks can do it with spray cans. Respect.

If you want to go for something like this, check out the CultureRun website. They have tonnes of other classes and workshops you can go for. It's perfect.

People Are Not My Thing

The new DW episode will be out on the 30th of March! 

Ok, now that's out of the way, I can move on to other things. 

I wanted to talk about this semester. I realised that this semester is lighter compared to the last one in terms of the numbers of days I have to go to uni. This semester, I only have 3 days of class which is pretty good because I get a lot more time to work on my assignments. The bad side of it is that I have too much time which leads to a severe lack of motivation.

I have assignments and I am working on it much earlier that I used to but because I have so much free time, I don't feel the pressure to complete said assignments. On top of that, I have way more group assignments this semester (4 in total) which isn't good for motivation either. Every time there's a decision to be made or an adjustment to the project, we need to consult the entire group. That's can be a pain in the rear seeing as the group consists of 5-10 members. I'm sure you would agree that getting 10 university students to agree on something or even meet up for a discussion is about as easy as retrieving the golden egg from a nesting dragon, meaning, not very easy at all.

For one project, we're supposed to design and conduct a non-experimental research project and write out individual lab reports. That's one. Another project requires us to come up with a presentation about the topic of the week (our topic is on alcoholism. Which reminds me, I have yet to download the slides. I'd better do that now). Those projects are done in groups of 5. Now, in groups of 10, we're supposed to experience something 'Malaysian' and report it. For the other, we have to organised some sort of community project thing (like a fund raiser, or exhibition) and then write a report about it. So you see, this calls for some serious commitment from every one.

So far, we've only started the research project and even that is proving to be a pain. We started off ok, coming up with a research idea. However, we've hit a metaphorical bump in the road and we need to redesign out research idea. This is not going to well. We've having a little trouble finding time to meet and our brainstorming sessions via whatsapp is not going very well. 

I really like my group mates but we're not doing to good. We really need to step it up because our assessment date is coming up and we've yet to come up with a plausible research idea. We need to get cracking lest we fail this assignment which would lead to us failing the entire subject. And that's not a good thing because if we fail this particular subject, we have to spend the next semester doing nothing but resitting this subject. I do not want that. 

I hope we manage this. Soon.

Anyways, I know I sound really whiny right now and that I should embrace these assignments and learn to work with groups. I know. And I will try my best because I do think it's important. However, I do think that the 'working with people' part is not what's bothering me so much. It's the 10 people in a group that's got me irked. I can deal with small groups. But 10? Now that's just too many. It's not going to be easy. 

I guess this is a good time to increase my patience level. 

Grr.

Night folks, have a good week! 

The Silence (not the ones from DW)

If you spent the entire day at home alone, hearing nothing but the sound of the fan turning and cars passing by outside - not a peep escaping your lips, not a shimmer nor a sound from another human being; not even another living thing - how would that affect you?

This is how it affects me:

I feel pressed by the silence at times. It's like air that just keeps getting denser and denser, pushing against my eardrums, against my chest till I can't seem to make a sound myself. And if I do manage it, the sound is usually alien to me. Out of space, out of time. Neither here nor there.

I realise that when I spend the day home alone, my internal volume goes up a few notches. The voices in my head, the music in my head and the white noise in my head becomes so much louder than anything else. Sometimes, I get so used to my internal sound that I forget how silent my day really is. I don't need to turn the radio on because I already have music in my head. I don't know what music it is but I know it's there. I cannot make it out yet I know it's there.

In moments such as these, silence is not really silence.

When I'm suddenly yanked back into reality, when external sounds start cropping up around me - external voices, external music, external white noise - I feel assaulted. These sounds pound on my ear drums. I cringe at the volume, no matter how soft it is because external sounds are so much louder than my internal volume can ever be. I get so annoyed and irked by these external sounds.

I mean, yes, I am happy to hear sounds of the real world, but after such a long day in silence, noise can be quite stressful (even if I did kind of hate the silence). It's like I've grown used to the silence, much like when you get used to having cracked lips - it hurts but you know, after some time, to avoid spicy food. You live around this. In that way, I live around silence; until noise becomes the thing that irks me.

That's what silence is when I'm alone.

On another note, I'm currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love". I think it's a beautiful book. I've learned a lot from it. No, not every lesson the author learnt applies to me, but some things do. My favourite so far, is this: Live in the present. I think that's what we've all lost. The ability to live in the present. Sometimes, I think the human race has lost this ability so long ago that babies are now born without it. They don't lose it, they just never had it to begin with.

We're constantly planning ahead, working today for money tomorrow. Our thoughts are basically, 'Oh, one day, I'm gonna be/do _____. One day...." either that or we're dwelling on the past. "Ergh, last night was terrible," "I wish I had done that differently...." You get the picture.

That's really all we ever do. We relive the past and dream of the future. What about today? What about here and now? What about the present? Do we really want to spend our present dwelling on "what if's"?

What we all need to remember is how to live in the present. We need to live today for today and enjoy the moments in the present. What we need to recapture is the ability to worry about "tomorrow" only when "tomorrow" becomes "today". I really believe that if we put our entire soul into living each day in the present, then the future will sort itself out.

Scary, isn't it, this whole concept of 'not worrying about the future'? It is to me, but I think it's necessary. If we want to really be at peace, we should be at peace with our present because the past cannot be changed and the future has yet to happen, so what is there to worry about.

Anyways, this is me today. Just thinking. Always thinking :)

I want to end with this. I found this video that demonstrates to you what schizophrenic people hear when they have auditory hallucinations. This is based on real life accounts. I have to warn you, it's not for the faint hearted. This is very creepy and I cannot even begin to comprehend how they live like this. I stopped after 18 seconds (the entire thing is 3 minutes and 38 seconds long), literally yanking out the headphone and hitting the mute button. But I hope you try, even just for a bit. I am very glad that my inner voices sound nothing like this.

Take care.

Whovistically Exciting!

The first day back at uni was pretty good. I was happy to see them all again. It was really nice. Everyone looks pretty much the same as they did last year only a little more tanned. I guess everyone had a little fun in the sun over the break.

Class was interesting. I like our lecturer. He's funny sometimes, and strict although not unfairly so. He's young so I guess he connects with us in a way. I'm actually excited about this subject because we get to design our own experiment AND we start with the whole SPSS stuff. I already know a bit so I'm not as worried as the others may be. I'm happy.

I'm also excited about our career guidance subject. Firstly, because it's only for the first seven weeks (yay!) and secondly, because this will be, finally, a perfect opportunity for me to explore my options for the future. After all, it's career guidance! :)

Anyways, as I've mentioned before, there's a lot going on this year. I'm merely 2 semester away from finishing my first year (yay!) and entering my second year as a psychology student (2nd year electives seem a lot more fun than 1st year electives). Also, I'm turning 21!!!

It's a big deal. Finally, an "adult" according to the law and societal standards. It's really cool. I cannot wait!

I was looking through Amazon and I found Doctor Who merchandise! Sonice Screwdrivers: Ten's (blue LED with invisible ink pen), Eleven's (green LED with prongs that extend like the real thing), River's (blue and red LED) and a trans-temporal one that looks really cool. Also, I found The Master's Laser screwdriver. I added them all to the wishlist with some notes (ehhehehe!).  

ALSO, while I was looking at them screwdrivers, I found the Van Gogh 'painting' from the Vincent Episode. The one of the TARDIS exploding. It's a real poster on canvs like thingy! It's so cool! I added that to the wishlist too because it's so pretty and Vincent is one of my favourite episode:)

Another round...

And here it is again, a  new year, young and full of possibilities:)

It's been a good start to my year. I had my friends and my family and lots of excitement too:)

We had a dinner at home with friends and my brother and I stayed up till 7am the next day. I only woke up at  2pm. So basically, my last day of 2012 was also my shortest day of the year! Hahhaa.

Oh well. The first day of this year has been good, to be honest. I had a nice chat with a certain Whovian which was great. He told me about this place called Forbidden Planet which is THE place for cult entertainment (that's what is says on the website: "Your Cult Entertainment Megastore). There's a store in London but they also ship to Malaysia. The have EVERYTHING Whovian and LOTR and any other fandom you can think of (I hope). I know what I'm getting myself for my birthday:) Anyways, it was a a nice conversation to start the year with.

However, I'm not too thrilled about having to wait 4 months for the next Doctor Who episode. 4 MONTHS! That's an entire semester! But then again, perhaps it's a good thing. I can concentrate on psych and think of the new episode as a reward:)

This is a big year. I start my second semester on the 7th. Then there's the whole turning 21 thing (the whole gang!). And and, by mid-July this year, I shall be done with my first year in university. Also, Pete is leaving for the UK at the end of the year (that's still far off so I'm not going to think about it). 

Davina and Peter got me this 5 year journal. I'm supposed to write one thought each day for the next 5 years. I think it's a brilliant idea. Imagine that. Writing a thought, just one thought, everyday and then going back to it after a year. Now that's really taking a walk down memory lane. I'm gonna make sure I keep some paper clips handy just in case I want to write more than one thought a day:)

Anyways, I hope we all have a great year, as always. Growing up is scary but also very exciting and I'm ready for anything.