Moderation leads to Mediocrity. Intensity leads to Excellence.

♪♫Ryuichi Sakamoto - Oto♪♫

I am lost, purposeless and generally directionless. Of course, there's photography, as work and lately as therapy.

Taking the advice of Ira Glass, trying to focus on creating volumes of work in order to get better. For a while I've gone through the motions. Learned from workshops, shot, made money. My images improved and then, plateaued. While I got poses down, what I discovered is missing was soul, so I started reading literature, poetry, watching films. I've started immersing myself in little known sub-cultures and ignoring rules.

Julia Margaret Cameron, Neil Gaiman, Shostakovich, Dorothy Parker, This American Life. Long walks in search of lines, shapes and patterns. And life. Arthur Rackham, Issuu, binaural beats, David Byrne, Young Adam.

Am I moving forward? Getting lost again. What is it I want? Where is happiness? I've been asleep so long in the Doldrums, and I'm still here in its comfort of numbness, not allowing myself to feel or think, though really, pain is certainly there (yes, an actual ache in the chest). I'm nudging back, gradually turning into a shove. I am not out yet but the strength is building. Can't ignore the fact time keeps moving forward no matter how hard I close my eyes, how long I hold my breath. Like the recurring dreams. Running in molasses, drained of energy, trying desperately to escape. Trying to fight it by being present. Forcing myself to keep turning that page, run that extra quarter mile, pick up that pencil, push that shutter. Depression is a beast no one wants to believe in and excuses are his talons.

"But you don't have a degree, you're not poetic, those inspirational quotes are stupid, you don't deserve...you can't..."

No, shut up shut up SHUT UP! Your time has expired long ago. No more time to be reasonable. What was that quote about doing things in moderation? Oh yes..

"Moderation? It's mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It's the devil's dilemma. It's neither doing nor not doing. It's the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It's for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation...is lukewarm tea, the devil's own brew." - Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior)

Keep exploring, keep open, keep going. Depression is its own entity. It has motivation powered by its own purpose and he may never leave. I acknowledge its presence, but can't let it destroy my entire being, which may or may not be its goal. Who knows, I cannot ask. Anyways, again. Keep exploring, keep being curious, and above all,

Don't Fucking Stop.

Listen to Ira. Listen to Neil. Keep going.

Do it.
One step at a time. Keep going.
Finish it.
Fix it.
Laugh.
Repeat.

That's all. No more drama. Ok, not going to lie. Sometimes I just need to cry and scream about it into my pillow. Just for a moment let me indulge in this drug called self pity. Alright, I'm looking back down at my feet now, time to keep going.

Shino - Tests

♪♫David Byrne - Speechless♪♫ 

Album: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

(Soundtrack of film Young Adam)

Suppose - E. E. Cummings 

suppose

Life is an old man carrying flowers on his head.

young death sits in a café

smiling,a piece of money held between

his thumb and first finger

(i say “will he buy flowers” to you

and “Death is young

life wears velour trousers

life totters,life has a beard” i

say to you who are silent.—”Do you see

Life?he is there and here,

or that, or this

or nothing or an old man 3 thirds

asleep,on his head

flowers,always crying

to nobody something about les

roses les bluets

                    yes,

                              will He buy?

Les belles bottes—oh hear

,pas chères”)

and my love slowly answered I think so.  But

I think I see someone else

there is a lady,whose name is Afterwards

she is sitting beside young death,is slender;

likes flowers.

Arbonne FC5 Cleanser

 

Arbonne FC5 Purifying Cleanser + Toner $28

Green juice - check
Regular exercise - check
7-10 hours of sleep - consider it checked

But when it comes to taking care of my skin, I freaking suck. Going through my teenage years as a tomboy and having only to deal with the occasional zit by doing absolutely nothing (and thus maintaining clear skin?), I didn't learn basic skincare, nor did I show any interests in knowing until around 2007 when I did a holiday job at Sephora and my first facial cleanser was bought. Up until that point, I either washed with body soap in the shower or slathered on Mom's St. Ives Apricot Scrub because it smelled nice and I could scare my brother with the "mask face". I've been using Philosophy's Purity in a Bottle for about 2 years but now wanted to move on to something new. It removed makeup, but the skin seems to have bored of it.

I know an Arbonne rep but I wasn't particularly interested in the products until I saw a friend using the FC5 Purifying Cleanser + Toner and raving about it. My skin isn't in the best condition these days. I wear heavier foundations and need something that will cut through the stuff and get it squeaky clean. I'm dry, but oily. My skin seems to be more prone to zits and blemishes now, and I have discovered that popping zits are super satisfying... Terrible, I know. I spoke to the rep Tamara, and at first, she gave me samples for the Calm and RE9 line. Calm is there no-fragrance, pure line which I didn't care for much and RE9 was nice but I wanted something wallet-friendly for now. Though she didn't have samples for FC5 at the moment, I took the plunge and bought the full size because, well, I had to! It's one of those things when I see someone use it, I decide "it must be mine...NOW!".

Very very pleased with the results. My initial fears of a cleanser made for oily/combination skin drying out my skin was put at ease. It's strong enough to cut through all the crap my face was slapped with through the day - the makeup, the kitchen grease, what ever pollution is in the air outside. It's gentle enough my usually flaking skin wasn't as bad and didn't feel tight like it does w/ harsher formulas. It also smells like strawberries! Not fake strawberry scent - but like real, freshly picked juicy red goodness! The toner part? I don't know about toner being counted as the same step as cleanser, but the product's finish is damn refreshing. Unless I had particularly heavy makeup on that day and want to go through a final wipe-down with toner and cotton pad, I'm good finishing off the routine with a light moisturizer. Been using it for a couple weeks now, and my face has gotten noticeably clearer and smoother.

$28 puts it in the lower price range with Philosophy and First Aid Beauty, but I find the performance to be far superior. And for the tiny pea-size amount per wash, I expect it to last 6 months or more. For dry skin, they have the FC5 Hydrating Cleaner + Freshener. Hope this helps those who are interested in Arbonne!

P.S. I was not in any way endorsed by Arbonne for this post. Those who know me well know that when I really love something I really like to let that be known. This is one of those times.

Clothing Giveaway

Clothing giveaway event at the Boston church was a big success - many happy girls with bagfuls of donated new and gently used clothing. Thank you Dr. Chie Kotake for your generous donation and making this possible! Hopefully we can plan to do a clothing swap in the future for everyone to participate in and bring a wide range of styles and sizes.

Byul

Byul - Dedicated trombone musician and recent graduate of Boston University.

 

Camera: Sony a7R

Lens: Pentax 77mm FA 1.8 

Makeup for Us the Creaseless

Flipping through the glossy pages of Japanese makeup magazines Maquia and Vivi. It's filled with dozens of informative how-tos, if you have creases. On average in these magazines I see one or two tutorials for us monolids, but there is a lack of variety. It's always minimal. They seem to be thrown in carelessly, the voice of the tutorials sound defeatist and seems to be saying, "Well, there's not much you can do with those eyes". Aww come on! I use eyelid tapes on occasion just to be trying something different but what about most days? I like my default eyes just fine. The lack of monolid makeup tutorials online is hugely unsatisfying, and even though a large number of us Asians are born without natural crease lines, Japanese magazines continue promoting and catering only to those with visible creases.

Well, complaining accomplishes nothing.

This is for those who normally don't use anything other than a liner and want to go beyond basics over to eye shadows. Two looks - an everyday minimal and an intensified version, similar to what I did for Nina's shoot which I've gotten positive feedback for.

Disclosure: I am not a makeup artist, but I know how real the struggle is and just sharing what knowledge I do have :P

1) Highlighter underneath the brow bone, inner corner and underneath the eye.

2) A light wash of midtone all over the eyelid. Shadow from the lash base upwards. Remember to blend the edges.

3) Crayon liner drawn close to the lashes as possible. Instead of one long sweep, connecting dotted lines can be easier.

4) Smudge it out with the darkest shadow to soften the line. The shadow also helps keep the crayon liner from moving around later.

5) Everyday look completed. Usually I stop right here. It's minimal, and don't even use mascara. If you want more intense, keep going.

6) Mascara time! Monolids tend to have lashes that aim straight down so curling is important or else you'll see the dark mascara in your vision.

7) Extend the liner more outwards to make a wing. Liner the bottom lid, only a third of the way in from the outside, and a quarter of the way from the inside. Lightly smudge and set with the darkest shadow.

*This is purely optional: With the dark shadow, you can lightly sketch a line of shadow underneath the highlighter below the eye for the popular "puffy eye" look.*

8) Lightly sketch in the shape of the brows you want with the brow pencil. I went with the thick and straight Korean type.

9) Fill it in with either the pencil or a matte shadow. You don't want sparkly brows.

A map of what shade go where. It's kind of messy but you get the idea. Any palette that has at least three shades can be used. For this everyday look I've kept it simple with neutral shades. Apply light washes of color building up gradually as needed. The key to this is to blend upwards from the lashes instead of from the outer corners in like most of us are used to seeing.

Hope this helps! :P

Emily

Emily Chu is a Crafter/DIYer who really needs to make a blog soon. Everything she makes and decorates looks like a shot from a magazine or Pinterest, including the award-winning Halloween costumes for her puggle Miley! She is going to be a first time Mama and I look forward to making her Maternity portraits!

 

P.S. Miley a couple summers ago. I wonder if she knows a little sister is coming her way?