summer blues

i am a creature of relaxation and chaos, to put it poetically. i love being busy. i love making lists and schedules and reaching my destination out of breath but ready to sit down with a nice cup of coffee. i love it when i make a busy day and i get everything done on time, it's so incredibly satisfying.

i also really enjoy spending a day sitting on my ass and doing nothing except winding down, watching shows on my laptop, editing photos, or reading. but to me, these days are sacred. when encountered in large quantities, instead of making me a happy little potato it actually gives me a case of the summer blues.

there are times when i feel sad and pretty empty because i'm stuck in my boring house in my boring town laying on my bed just scrolling endlessly through tumblr and looking up internship and awesome volunteering opportunities and things i won't get and all these people living their life and i'm young and just sitting here rotting. i told myself this summer i was going to read all the books, work on my photos, finish my portfolio, and culture myself with a bunch of movies. study another language even. but i'm just sitting here like a pile doing nothing and i can't even motivate myself to do nothing and it sucks. and i've taken little to no photos this summer.

there are days like this when i feel good. the weather is a perfect 75 degrees and the sun is setting behind the branches of the tall trees in my backyard. kira is next to me, sniffing around the grass and lounging by my feet. i've got a glass of iced tea next to me and i've got bastille blasting in the background. my mom's cooking a delicious dinner inside and i'm just happy.

i'm usually content after i get back from work. since i had been working all day, i don't feel bad at all just relaxing and blobbing around. but a whole day of just blobbing? nope. likewise, when i come back home on a weekend during the school year i love just laying around.

i work almost 5-6 days a week, and half of those days i work a double shift (lunch and dinner). it's hard to plan stuff with friends when we're all busy with work or internships and what not. since coming back from upstate, my other manager made the schedule so this week i'm only working five days a week but one shift per day so i've had a ton of free time. i've filled it up with movie and ice cream dates with claudia, more walking and hanging out with tyler, and last night i had a giddy funplex night with four of my good high school friends. (involving laser tag and go karting with pre-teens). i'm seeing jasmine later this weekend and my schedule is full and a full schedule is a happy julia.

honestly, i just have to light a fire under my ass and get up. drag myself outside and run a lap, go to the library and borrow some books, get out of my bed and try working in the backyard or on the kitchen table. i just need to remember that i have to motivate myself and that if i stay stationary for too long i'll vegetate.

so summer has been a half half kind of deal for me. half of the time is just pure boredom of doing nothing and not doing anything because i'm too tired from work to do things and see people. the other half is just blissful happiness at home.

random post with no photos, yeah. just writing down my MANY FEELINGSA BOUT LiFE and i just saw pacific rim and i'm in absolute love.

upstate adventure: syracuse, catskills, & skaneateles

since i didn't plan any vacations this summer, i went to upstate NY for ten days to visit friends and get away from home. it really was refreshing to get out of the house and take a break from work and have fun. upstate is so open in comparison to the urban suburbs that i live in. so much green and empty space, my photographic senses were itching. most of the photos were taken on my iphone and 35mm film (a few digital shots here and there). i didn't get to take as many photos as i would have liked, but i got to spend time with my favorite people so that's all that really matters.

the rain room

moma (museum of modern art in nyc) refers to the exhibit:

A field of falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected, Rain Room offers visitors the experience of controlling the rain. Known for their distinctive approach to contemporary digital practice, Random International’s experimental projects come alive through audience interaction—and Rain Room is their largest and most ambitious to date. The work invites visitors to explore the roles that science, technology, and human ingenuity can play in stabilizing our environment. Using digital technology, Rain Room creates a carefully choreographed downpour, simultaneously encouraging people to become performers on an unexpected stage and creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.

you walk into a dark room with rain falling from the ceiling. but there are motion detectors on the ceiling that detect your presence so you so you won't get wet. if you'd like to read more descriptions about the room, google "rain room"! they are better writers than i.

i heard about this opening in london and i was psyched when it came to the moma! for my new yorkers, it closes at july 28th. the only downside to this awesome exhibit is that there is a very long wait. word of mouth said the wait was from 2-3 hours, which is very doable for me. but when i went with ashley, grant, claudia, and her friend leigh we waited for 4.5 hours. aiiii. they let around 10 people in at a time for 10-15 minutes. i would recommend you go on a weekday around 12, because from 9:30-10:30am members have priority in the line and their wait is around 2 hours. so either get membership if you are going or go on a weekday.

the rain room is an exhibit and also a stage, you're there to experience the rain and take photos and i honestly loved it. it just reminded me of giggling and running in the rain as a child. of course if you swing your arms really fast you will get wet but it's quite amazing. i wish i was the only one there though taking photos of dancers, but you do what you can!

photo wise: these photos were touched up in lightroom slightly. most of them are unedited. the biggest question while taking photos was: do i use a high shutter speed and iso to capture the individual rain droplets or should i use a longer shutter speed to get the rain in motion? bokeh/no bokeh? so i just did it all ok.

summer in film II

snapshots along the beach. i still need more film practice, bah.

sweet summer

posted on january 23, 2013

i'm finally catching up and making sure i posted all these old blog posts. here are some digital shots of my last summer at home before i left for the big bad world of college.

summer in film

as you may or may not know, jasmine's dad lent me his old canon a-e program and gave me 6 rolls of film! alkdfjs. this was the first roll that i developed - it was a more like a "test run" to make sure the camera still worked. and, it does. :) i still need to work on the metering/exposure shenangins and i want to play around more with double exposures.

i have another roll that i'm on the verge of finishing - i'm still very reluctant to take a photo with film (since film was always too much to buy), but i'm telling myself to stop worrying and just do it.

i also apologize for the tragedy that is my scanner.


kelly and her windows.

my artz n' bokeh n' stuff.

working flash? check. & a happy birthday girl.

failure, regarding exposure but hey LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE.
revisiting old adventures. in which i make jasmine model for me for a few seconds whilst the parents stared.