12/30

I'm gonna try Blogging short form style, that way I can know what I did every day and it won't seem too demanding, we'll see how this goes :)


-Played some Battlefront with the bro and gave him the PS3 for his apartamente
-Tidied the Living Room
-Hung out with a friend and got boba, donuts, and gyros and talked about life issues and the such

Blogging for Books The Tsar of Love and Techno

For my first book to review, I chose the Tsar of Love and Techno. The book is a bunch of short stories, some of which relate to each other, and some not at all. I've read the first story so far and I really love this book. I'm a big fan of short stories like this one and world war z. The first story is about an artist who is employed as a censor artist painting out enemies of Stalin and the regime until he finds a photograph he can't fully erase. He then starts painting in his brother, who was taken away by the government years ago, into all the works of art he retouches. 

I'm actually really invested in this book already and I want to keep reading as I'm typing out this review now that I finally have time since finals are over and winter break has begun.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

I wish (more than anything)

Saturday, Sept 26: What's on your wishlist?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/212449437/brass-crescent-moon-necklace?ref=market

http://www.storenvy.com/products/124204-adjusting-sails

http://www.storenvy.com/products/10540422-new-designer-fashion-style-genuine-leather-pu-high-quality-wallets

http://www.storenvy.com/products/2981922-magic-spells-large (sold out a loooong time ago)

http://www.storenvy.com/products/1156667-mens-octohug-t-shirt-wrap around

Friday, Sept 26: Three songs you are connecting with right now

I'm totally going to cheat this one but idc 

1. 1989 by Ryan Adams

Taylor swift is known as the breakup song queen, and having Ryan adams cover the entire album only magnifies it. The album gives the feeling of walking around the jersey shore in the fall when the chills of the ocean set in and when the water touches your skin with it's unexpected chill.

2. Hamilton Broadway Soundtrack

I only knew about Hamilton a few days ago, but I'm already hooked. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer of In the Heights which is another favorite of mine, Hamilton tells the story of our nations youngest founding father Alexander Hamilton by using Rap and Hip Hop, the music of visionaries and those looking for change.

 My favorite track is the surprisingly slow  and tender "Dear Theodosia" where Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton tell their newly born children how much they love and will fight for their children, hoping to make the united states a better place for them to live.

 It just released on spotify recently and I highly recommend a listen. 

3. The Competition by Kimya Dawson

The only actual song in this list, is the competition by Kimya Dawson. Kimya sings about how people told her she was too lazy, too fat, or too much of a slob to make something of herself and her proving them wrong. But the most relatable  part has to be this "And sometimes I'd rise to the challenge, But other times I'd feel so bad that I could not get out of bed"  Knowing how hard it is to defy peoples expectations and strive be better than regular people, to know everything, and know how to do everything and be talented and sociable and likeable  and how tiring it is, I connect with this song a lot deep down inside.

Let's Update this hoe

Tuesday Sept, 22: Get Creative!

Sketch, paint, dance, play music, whatever then give us a glimpse.

School has kept me super busy but at least I can show you guys what I worked on all weekend.

When I was printing them out in the lab, it kept messing up and printing vertically instead of horizontally and I felt so embarrassed to keep asking the aide for help and for refunds since it was the first time I used the special matte printers.

Anyways, the project so far was to create three items that are unique to a place we want to visit.

I had Mumbai, India on the mind until a girl who came in late sat in the front who had it as her 2nd choice, so I scrambled to find a different place and landed on Amsterdam which I'm pretty happy with as a substitute.

Hopefully I can have enough time to keep you updated, until then Bye~!

Those famous Red Amsterdam Bikes 

Stroopwaffels <3 Little caramel waffles of pure goodness

A Frame of a Van Gogh Painting 

Some venting

I gotta vent because everything is piling up so here goes

- Everyone else's coasters (for my typography class) are so much better, well executed, and more intricate than mine, how do they find the time to create boxes with light features and coasters made from acrylic and vinyl letterforms while my materials are chipboard and cardstock? One girl wanted to make her coasters out of sections of a tree, she would've cut down a small tree if it hadn't rained this weekend.

- Why did Houston have to change ALL their buses? Now I can't go to the art store where I can buy and cut my mounting boards in a single bus. Now I have to ride one bus that makes an entire loop around two blocks and get on another bus just to go 4 miles.

- Building off the mounting boards, I have to buy a separate printing account card just so I can print my graphic software images for my class. I need to have it all finalized by tomorrow because the computer lab with the printers is closed on the weekend.

- I can't go Friday because I have a dentist appointment so I need to wake up early on my day off so I can ride with my dad to his work and to the dentist in the afternoon. Then I have to go to a show that I didn't want to go to, limiting my time to work on the aforementioned coasters that are due Monday.

- I haven't been able to work at night because my parents keep pulling me off to watch shows and eat at restaurants that I don't want to go to because I'm trying to be a good son and have good grades so they can be proud of me but instead we stay downtown until 11 or we eat over in westheimer until 9 and by the time we get home, I'm already sleepy but I have to work on my projects

- I'm always late for my intermediate graphic design class so I  always miss the beginning instructions of what we're working on today, because the public transportation only goes so fast and there's always traffic in the morning when I drive to the park and ride so an eight minute drive turns into a 20 minute drive.

- I left my skateboard in my locker which I brought so that I could get to my class faster from my train stop which is half a mile away from the school. I used to complain about parking by the student lots but if the past me could see this now, he'd shut his mouth in a heartbeat.

- I need to make 10 icons for my intermediate graphic design class which is due tomorrow and it's not so much hard as just another thing that needs to be done.

if anyone is still around after this wall of angst and anxiety, <3

It's in the bag

Tuesday, Sept 15: What's in your bag? Pick up your bag and peruse it's contents, then share with us!

There is

- a pack of beef jerky (cherry wood smoked)

- an uneaten sandwhich from yesterday (gouda, canadian bacon, spinach, and egg free mayo on        lavash bread)

- one metro rail ticket from the time I got pulled off the train (expired)

- a ticket stub for furious 7 (awesome)

- one sheet of giraffe stickers (also one donut and pizza sticker)

- two mini A7 notebooks 

- a lens for a fisheye iphone lens (missing)

- a button from the 2015 cambridge jazz festival

- keys 

- a 32 GB thumb drive (4GB of 30 used)

- chalk (broken)

- antibiotic pills (10 of 30 taken)

- pencil case (filled with mechanical pens and pencils)

- planner

- 3 subject folders 

- one notebook (college ruled)

thanks for coming guys!

Snapshot day 12

Saturday, September 12: What are you up to currently?

Reading... How to build a girl by Caitlin Moran and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami
Playing...  Viridi, a meditative game about growing succulents 
Watching... Let's play's of Until Dawn
Trying... to get my homework finished on time
Cooking... Sandwiches for lunch, gouda, spinach, and back bacon. Yessssss.
Eating... Leftovers from a party a few days ago 
Drinking... Water or Root Beer
Calling... Melissa nearly every day 
Texting... Melissa but not as much since we started talking on the phone
Pinning... For colder Weather
Going...  7 hours of sleep
Loving...  two weeks ago
Hating... My Classes workloads, I'm sure I could handle it if I had only one or two but 3 is almost unmanageable
Discovering... Adobe Illustrator 
Feeling... tired, itchy
Hoping (for)... good times and good fortunes
Listening (to)... Sunday Candy by Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment 
Celebrating... the little things, one at a time
Smelling... like I haven't showered yet
Ordering... to go, no time to sit and eat 
Thanking...  three day weekends for me 
Considering... having a skateboard to get around campus quicker
Starting... to go slowly insane 
Finishing... my breakfast.

Party like it's Friday

Friday, Sept. 11: It's a Friday night and you decide to stay in. What do you do?


I've literally been so busy with all my school assignments that I can't go out or else I'll fall behind my classes. Also there's not much I do on friday nights anyways so...

Reverse time capsule

Wednesday, Sept. 9: Write a letter to sixteen-year-old you. Any advice or funny stories?

Dear anthony circa 2011

Wasn't New York great? I mean, except when you got sick with food poisoning and stubbed the entire ball of your foot on the balcony of the hotel making you miss the next day. Also freezing your ass off in Boston. But hey, Avenue Q was fun.

But anyways... here's some tips for you to have a happier and more successful life 

Do not fall in love with that one girl that you think you like. I know what you're thinking but it's not going to work. It goes nowhere and eats at you at night for the most part of a year wondering what's wrong with you. For the most part, don't look for relationships right now, they'll come naturally in time.

Try and join martial arts again, you didn't know it back then, but being in tae kwon do was actually pretty good for you and weekly exercise will be harder to get into later in the future.

During the violin concert in the spring, you will be asked to perform the final solo with the guest performer, DO NOT PANIC! This will go very well and you will feel like a million bucks walking through the crowd to find your parents, while everyone congratulates you for the solo. Also mom will buy you that red hoodie and it will become a part of you for the next few years. Keep that clean.

TAKE THOSE AP CLASSES DAMMIT!!

this is the biggest discount on college credits you can get and paying less for college may actually get your parents to not hate paying 1000 less for each class you take. Also graphic design is your major. There, I just saved you a year of guilt and having to see your dad's face when you tell him you failed your class and dropped out of two others.

I love you man, 

signed, me

Fall Lovin'

Tuesday, Sept. 8: Tell us about your favorite season. Why is it your favorite and what does it say about you?

(Listen to this while reading)

It seems to me that Autumn is the really austere season.  Everything
burns into a glory of colour and disappears. The green splendour of
Spring degenerates into lushness, the leaves are tarnished with dust,
but the flaming reds and yellows, the pale gold, the rose colour, the
splendid purple-red of these trees will swirl with the wind, will have
one splendid moment of sailing in the blueness of the sky, one moment
of motion beyond anything that a leaf could dream of. . . . I have seen
this country for the first time at an austere season.  But it would always
be austere because it is passionate. The earth burns with a colour of
orange, with the colour of red, burns with a purple blackness, shows
its ribs of stone, coloured, blanched, carved into fantasy.

Ella Young

if you guys haven't guessed already, I'm madly in love with the fall. The way the hazy summer air turns into crisp and almost biting gusts of wind as the temperature drops and my mood soars. 
If it weren't for Christmas, Halloween would be my most favorite of all the holidays. 
One of my favorite TV series Over The Garden Wall  really solidified my love for the season, as does old disney halloween movies like hocus pocus and halloweentown. Also there's something that's definitely crafty about the season as well. Pumpkin Carving, Knitting scarves, making thanksgiving decorations. 

This is probably the most work I've put into a post, which shows how much I love autumn

Origin Story

Monday, Sept. 7: Tell us about your blog name. Where did it come from?

The quote "When all of this is over will you come to wake me up?" is from Skyward Sword, a legend of Zelda game which is my favorite video game series. 

Style? You wanna talk to me about style? Look at that bowtie!

Sunday, September 6: Share your style. What fashion trends do you love, frequent, or avoid?

For my kind of fashion, I'm a fall oriented person so that means muted colors, dark jeans, cardigans, and non sneaker shoes. 

Here's one of my outfits I usually wear 

What's playing?

10 Songs

Saturday, Sept. 5: Put your iTunes/music player on shuffle and share the first 10 songs that play.

   1.   Stay in my corner- The Arcs

I really like this song because it feels super bluesy and soul filled and just kinda dreamy. It's part of an album by Dan Auerbach  who is half of the band The Black Keys and the album just came out so I'll be listening to the rest of it soon.

   2.   Can't bring me down - Awreeoh

This band is from the movie Dope, which I highly recommend. It's probably one of the best movies about high school nowadays other than 21 jump street. The band, Awreeoh is a punk band in the movie and the music has a punchy dramatic feel which matches what happens in the movie with the song playing at the time.

   3.   Brother Sport - Animal Collective

When I was in New York with my family this summer, we went to a oddities show over in coney island. One of the performers had this song as one of their sets and it was just super happy and everyone was having fun and even though he messed up a few times, we didn't really mind.

   4.   You're the Inspiration - Chicago

Don't we always like the same music that our parents listen to? I remember playing Elite Beat Agents on my Nintendo DS and most of their songs immediately became favorites of mine. Songs like this one and I was Born to Love You by Queen and September by Earth Wind and Fire always make it into my playlist.

   5.   Stubborn Love - The Lumineers

Oh Lumineers, when are you guys gonna make a new album? The second time I went to New York with my entire family for my Dad's birthday, this song and the entire album was basically the only thing I listened to during our trip, so I connect New York with this album.  Also if you haven't seen their concert performance at Red Rocks, Youtube it because it's one of most active an audience has been short of Queen at Live Aid

   6.   Homecoming - Kanye West

~Chi City!~ Homecoming is probably my favorite Kanye West album because it was the first big introductions to rap that I had. 

   7.   The Guilt Engine - Gatsby's American Dream

Gatsby's American Dream is one of the bands I remember listening to with my brother and my sister and we still sing along to some of the songs now and then. The singer has this really interesting voice that varies between whining and sounding like an Incubus sent to ensnare women with his gritty growling voice. 

   8.   Home is where the Hatred Is - Gil Scott-Heron

Another song off of the movie Dope, Gil Scott-Heron is hailed as the father of rap and a self defined "bluesoligist." It's a really powerful song dealing with addiction and relationships and I find it fascinating.

   9.   Prom Night - Anamanaguchi

I'm ok with anamanaguchi, most of their songs I can appreciate but I need lyrics for my songs which is why Prom Night is my favorite song of theirs. It ahs such a dancy rave feel to it that it always puts me in a good mood, and so is in my morning routine mix.

   10. I'm ready, I Am - The Format

The Format was probably the first band that I really got into, and so when they dissolved I was crushed. I just really love all the songs that Nate Ruess and Sam Means created during their time as a band together. I wish I still remembered the name of my AIM friend who shared my love of The Format.

Passions

(I missed yesterday because ain't nobody got time for that)

What are you passionate about?

Freedom
I want people to be able to be themselves without having to live in fear otherwise. I'm an advocate for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and black and other POC rights. 

Animals
I'm passionate about animals and I love them with all my heart. I'd remember taking in egg's that had fallen out of nests, taking care of stray cats, and putting all of my effort into finding a lost dog's owner, I bleed for these animals because my siblings and I weren't allowed to have real pets other than fish or the turtles that we have had before. When I was being confirmed as a catholic, I chose to have saint Francis of Assisi as my confirmation name because of his love of animals and his good nature. 

Waynes World
I know it's kind of weird to be passionate about a movie like this, but basically this movie was my childhood. I'm sure this movie is why I and my siblings love references so much, because they remind us of our childhoods. I watch this movie when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm bored and when I'm cleaning. I vividly remember a time when my siblings and I were waiting in the car for our dad at Blockbuster and we starting re-enacting the entire movie from memory.  

Friends

I wouldn't be anywhere if I didn't have friends. Most of my time in high school was spent messing around with my friends rather than doing my schoolwork. I always had a huge web of friends that spanned the different social groups and nowadays I always try to make friends wherever I go, and seem to be moderately successful  at it.

Traveling

Almost every summer is a cross country trip to places like Orlando, Boston, Los Angeles, or North Carolina, Nowadays we fly to some of the farther destinations but I grew up with 20+ hour car rides. Being in transit is the most relaxing thing to me while I'm on a vacation and even when I'm not, because the only thing you do is take in your environment around you the way you want to. There's something meditative about watching the highway lights and the way their hazy orange lights illuminate the road in front of us, and there's something about pulling into a gas station in the dead of night. The stillness of it and the realization of you in it.  

An Ideal Day

Day 2 - Describe an Ideal Day

An ideal day for me would be a weekend, with no homework
to do and no events that I'm being dragged to by my parents.
I would wake up feeling refreshed and relaxed.
Drive into town to meet my friends for brunch
and we'd talk and laugh and eat eggs benedict and chocolate chip pancakes.
After eating, we'd shop around and buy some art supplies and books.
Then we would go and spend the rest of the day hanging out and playing video games.

I'm not really a solitary person, I like to be with other people and bounce jokes off of them and it's kinda hard to do so by my lonesome.

Til tommorow!

Blog Every Day September

Hey all! For the month of September I'm doing the Blog-Tember Challenge and am going to try and blog every day in September with relatively small posts so I can get into the habit of logging my life.

September 1st - Tuesday 

-Introduce yourself however you like! Pics, vlog, collage, your choice :)

• My name is Anthony 
• 20
• Graphic Design 
• Simpsons 
• 80's
• Dogs

If there's anything more you need to know about me, don't hesitate to ask!

I'll see you guys Tommorow!

That one time I went to Martha's Vineyard

 Can I just say, that if I were a white person who lived up north, with tons of money and nothing to do, Martha's Vineyard would be my number one place in the U.S. to vacation in. Seriously this place was so cool to just walk around in, and even though we didn't get to see the entire island and it's towns, it just made me want to come back someday.

 After eating lunch, we hopped into a tour van to take a look around the island. We did some celebrity sightseeing looking at Tom Clancy and Spike Lee's house and saw the creator of Bosom Buddies and Laverne and Shirley walking right by us. The island was also celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jaws, which was shot in location on the island. It felt so surreal to be walking around in Amity and looking at the town hall and the bridge.

Once we got out of the van back in Oak Bluffs, we went to go see the Gingerbread Cottages which are these amazing houses on the right. Every one of them had so much character and style to each cottage that it piqued the first year Architecture student in me. I wanted to grab a bunch of my friends and pool our money together and just live in one of those cottages for a week or two and forget everything else that stresses me out in life.

Once we finished looking at the cottages, we got some ice cream and went to go see the Flying Horses Carousel, which is the oldest carousel in America. The horses had real hair which was kinda weird, but there was a brass ring game on the ride which has silver rings coming out of an arm that the riders grab during whenever they go around, and the rider who grabs the brass ring gets a free ride which makes riding the carousel more fun. Finally, we got back on the Ferry to go back to the mainland and drive back to Boston.

 


                                                    NEXT WEEK! NEW YORK!

Boston Bound

Last week I went to Boston. We spent the fourth of July at our Aunt's neighborhood in a nearby suburb which was the perfect little town to walk around in. There was a lakeside celebration going on a little bit down from the town square where they had a live band, fireworks, and tons of food like ice cream, fried oreos, pizza, and giant corndogs. It was so cliche and perfect that I felt like a character in gilmore girls.

The next day we went to watch the Astros play against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. 

The crowd was so huge and participative (is that a word?) that every time the Red Sox got a run, the entire stadium exploded in cheers, and when the Astros got two home runs in a row, the boos rang throughout the seats. It was pretty impressive to witness what a town looks like when it fully supports it's hometown. We couldn't even get any seats because they were all sold out, so we settled for standing room tickets instead. 

I'll be sure to post more of my trip to Boston soon!

Last week from monday until thursday I helped my sister paint her classroom 

the first day was fine, just moving around things and cleaning the classroom and buying paint and taping the baseboards and outlets, but the next day things started feeling a little bit sour.

We started prepping the first wall with primer and our mom called my sister to pick her up so she left me to finish the wall, which I didn't mind, I spent the time making the wall nice and even with the primer. So when my sister comes back and we start working on the second wall she keeps telling me "It doesn't have to be perfect, we're going to paint over it." but of course it's going to look splotchy and uneven. I decide not to fight it and finish the wall as fast as possible.

 So by the time we get to painting on the third day with one of her friends, we have to apply more coats of paint to the second wall in order to get it to look as good as the first wall I primed evenly. During the time we're painting, my sister keeps complaining about my playlist saying how it's not as good as the one from yesterday and keeps telling me to change it but the thing is that the playlist from yesterday is the same one I was playing today.

On thursday my sister pisses me off before we even get to painting, we go to raising canes to get some chicken and while we're waiting for our food she yells at me that I'm standing too close to her and that she needs space. I guess i exerted enough negative force of will that our car slipped its belt and needs to be towed away. Later our mom comes over to watch since she had nothing else to do today and we finish up the classroom as best as we can since I had to go to the dentist tomorrow.

It was a lot for my first week being off school, and I'm sure it's only going to get better from here.

Hiatus over

Okay okay, Let's get back to blogging. Sorry for being inactive for like, a year.

1.  School

 School is finally over, and I did pretty well. 3 B's and one A in the class I thought would be the hardest. God bless extra credit and test revisions. I got a B- in my Graphic Design class which is okay, but I think I'll rework some of my art boards later on to get them looking their best when I go into art block and need to put up my work to be considered for getting into my Graphic Design classes.

2. New Phone 

I'm off the iPhone train and onto the samsung note 4. The 16MP camera is awesome and the screen resolution is insane. There's a moment when the video on a movie is so crisp that you can tell it's a set. I really like the stylus and the ability to download videos and comics super easily. There's also a game emulator I downloaded to play my childhood favorite games. (I bought the games back in the day so it's ok you guys).

Buko Pie Recipe

makes one 9-inch pie

Filling:
1 C young coconut juice
1/3 C cornstarch
1 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C sugar
4 C shredded young coconut, juice reserved

Egg Wash:
1 Large Egg Yolk
1 Tb Milk

Pie Pastry: (makes enough for one 9-inch covered pie)
2 1/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Baking powder
1/2 Pound (two sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
4-6 Tb Ice Water

1 In a small bowl, whisk the coconut juice and cornstarch together until smooth

2 In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and sugar and bring to barely a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the coconut and bring back to a simmer, stirring. Slowly pour in the coconut juice-cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool completely

3. Preheat the over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the pie pastry and diving the doe in half. Flatten both pieces into two 14 inch circles. using one of the pastry circles to line a 9-inch pan. Pour in the cooled Buko filling, and fit the second dough circle on top of the pie. Roll the excess dough on the top over and under the edge of the bottom crust, fluting the edges.
Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and poke 6 vent holes in the top of the pie.

4.Bake for 15 minutes, the lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Back to School

Been a while.

So school finally started back up, and being on break for nearly a month pretty much destroyed any hope of me having a schedule or being productive so coming back to school is rough for me.

The counselors finally changed my major to graphic design only a day before school started and I had my doubts if I should even be enrolled in my current college when I could be going to a community college and getting it done faster and for less money. But one of the deciding factors in staying is my friends.

When I started back in the fall, I was pretty much alone until I met Melissa and came with her and met her friends Kim, Kat, and Beth. Never before have I felt so in place with these lovely ladies, I've never really automatically clicked into place with a group of people and it makes me wonder how I could live without these people in my life.

Plus they're all total babes.

Crusin'

Hey y'all happy new year! I spent the first couple days on a boat, more specifically a cruise.
 It was good to get out of winter weather and actually sweat a lil bit south down Mexico way.
  We went to Cozumel and to Progreso and spent a day in each, going to Chankanaab National Park and to Chichen Itza, an archaeological site about an hour of where we docked.
    I ate ice cream and burgers almost every day.