2009

Ok, so it's 10:26 and I'm not at a crazy party...yet! Ha, this New Year's Eve I'm kickin it with the fam in Disneyland, and we'll be heading over to California Adventure for a New Year's Dance Party!!! YAY!

But, since I have internet, I thought I'd do an obligatory New Year's resolutions list. Who knows, maybe this year I'll actually keep my resolutions since I'm writing them down...

*I re-start taking yoga and pilates classes at the RSF
*Put aside at at least 1/3 of my paychecks each month for savings
*Got to New York for Spring Break
*Get good grades
*Buy most of my clothes vintage/2nd hand to save $$(they're cuter anyways)
*Make more new friends
*D-A-N-C-E

Alright. Done. Heading to California Adventureeeeee!

Goodbye 2008, you were, well, amazing!
Hello 2009!!!!! Let this year be just as AMAZING as the last!!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....

...jack frost nipping at you nose.

So, it's Christmastime. And I'm blagging because I'm bored. This year I wasn't expecting much in terms of gifts, I'm just happy to escape this holiday break without too many arguments with my mother. Surprisingly, it's going pretty well so far!! No big fights, and tomorrow we leave for Monterrey and Carmel then to Disneyland for New Years! All that in a week and a half, then the high point of the break VISITING SOCAL friendsies!! Although it'll only be for a few days...I feel like it's the most fun i'll have all break.

Not to sound bratty, but I think my parents have lost touch with my sense of fashion and basically everything about me!! Basically everything I got was totally not my taste...but there were a few morsels:

Boredom: A Meditation on Winter Break

This is what Mindy and I wore on our last escapade of the fall semester! Me: Free people dress, Forever 21 blazer, mom's tights, and Mindy's brown shoes from Buffalo Exchange. Mindy is wearing AA skirt, my holey nylons, UO knee-highs and flats. :)

OK, I'm officially BORED. And i'm not even home yet hahahahaha. I miss the hustling bustling dorm i'm used to. The random people (welcome and unwelcome) coming to our door at all hours. Multiple trips to Peets everyday to order THE SAME THING: large Earl Grey hot tea with two packs of sugar and a lot of half and half. Naptime with Mindy and Steph. Watching Friends with Sophia. Listening to Alex play guitar and Ryan play the Ocherina on his iPhone. *What the hair?!?* Not doing homework, but somehow spending countless hours on the computer/talking and sleeping at 3am.

Also, Sophia just pointed out that I haven't done the "16 Random Facts" yet, so here it goes!

1. I love my friends more than anything in the world, possibly more than my family (which is sad but true), and I would do anything for them. I may not have that many, but the ones I have are for life.

2. I don't think I make good first impressions. I'm incredibly shy and socially awkward at first, so I may appear standoffish and super quiet. But of course, once I am comfortable with you, I can be loud and weird and fun!

3. I listen to what everyone says *except my mother*, and sometimes I care too much of what people think about me or what they'll think about what i do, so I don't do it. I usually rehearse things in my mind before I say them, especially if its important.

4. I am afraid of losing self-control and of being rejected.

5. I think that i'm secretly an old lady because I love tea parties, book clubs, music from the 1940s, old-fashioned romance, and baking in an apron.

6. I know a lot of random facts, but when it comes to my own homework, I feel like I know nothing.

7. I have a pretty good memory, especially visually, so if I draw a little picture next to an important note, I can remember what the page looks like and what the note says.

8. I wish daily that I was from Europe. I am enamoured with their rich culture, their humor, and their fabulous sense of fashion!!

9. I love dressing up, especially in dresses! Vintage is my favoirte, and if everything was the right size, I'd probably live in nothing else. I don't really know that much about fashion, I kind of just copy things that I like.

10. I'm insecure about people calling me too skinny or anorexic, even if they're just joking, so don't do it!

11. I trained to be a professional ballerina for 12 years. I miss dancing a lot, not the drama and politcs, but I don't think I could ever start again.

12. Dancing is my favorite part of getting drunk.

13. Art is incredibly inspiring to me, even if I can't create it, and I'd love nothing more than to discover the hidden meanings/histories/agendas between works of art all day long.

14. I'm an incurable dreamer. Even though I know how harsh and difficult the world is, somehow I have this image in my mind of how my life will be, and I, despite the certain debt and uncertain future, can't shake the idea of me accomplishing my dreams.

15. When I grow up I want to live in a big city on one of the American coasts or in Europe and own an art gallery or work at an auction house. I realize this does make my dream life seem like Charlotte's from SATC, but whatever, her's isn't real and mine will be!

16. I'm really hungry right now...so here is the last fact: I hate when my foods are mixed together (like eggs with maple syrup on them that leaked from my pancakes), or eating my meal out of order. Potatoes are my favorite food, and I could eat them at every meal...especially with sour cream.

*woof* that was long. Now to pack.

Il Fine della Semestre

Ploof! First semester of Sophomore year (or more accurately, 2nd semester Freshmen year) OVER!! I can't believe it! It feels like we moved in and met our floor just a month ago :( And now, we're beginning Winter Break, then a new year with new adventures and challenges...life seriously does fly by when you're having fun. I feel like this semester has been a momentous one, and here are a few highlights so I won't forget (most memories are pertaining to parties, but hey, we all want to remember those moments ;)

Treasure Island Music Festival: best music ever.
Co-oping with Liz: Wine + Cheese and Pirate Party (oh what an eventful night)
LEMINEE-LEX: Trip to Chinatown!! (also the day that Alex puked, but who remembered that?)
Trip to the Asian Art Museum SF: a day of art, food, and spending

Jocelyn and Marvin visit!!: seriously the most partying in three days EVER80's Party at Stebbins: Epic
Black and White: At Sigma Nu, where the deck almost collapsed (also Mindy was gone this weekend)
Halloween: Need I say anymore??
November 4th, 2008: The night Obama won!! Our faces say everything :)
March against Prop 8, SF: A truly incredible night. Marching with my friends, for my friends
Dinner with Licious: Family Fun at Steve apartamento!!
Rainbow Party: ROYGBP at their finest-on the dancefloor
Imitation of Chirst: Oops! I mean Steve...he he he
Rape: hahahahahahaha!!! I like my outfit though...FINALS: Loungeness and insanity. A week from HELL.
10 Years Later/The Last Supper: Our last dinner and a peek into the future. That's right, fur coat, plants, champagne, and full head-tilted laughter!

Thanks for and AMAZING semester guys, I know the next one will be even better!! I love you all!

Last Day

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
I'm really excited that I have no more classes....I couldn't be happier to have this semester over with, BUT now I have finals!! EEK! I think my expressions effectively convey my feelings towards finals :)

Docs

In honor of my new/old Dr. Martens found at Buffalo Exchange for $40!!!! I am very excited to have found them since I've been debating buying a legit pair for a while! Also I'm channeling Stockholm street fashion today because I secretly want to be European.

Parental SuperVision Needed(Wanted?)

So, Thanksgiving is over, and in my somewhat successful attempts not to write my Art History 35 paper, I'm Blogging. Thanksgiving was just alright this year. I had mixed feelings about going home in the first place, since I usually don't enjoy my visits home, but I thought that because it was Thanksgiving, I should get in the family spirit and appreciate them a bit. So there I was, regrettably excited to see my old room and indulge in a weekend of gluttony and laziness, and I get home, come up to my old room and it's EMPTY! Well, not truly empty, just all remnants of my presence were gone! No more fashion mag photo collage (which I worked quite hard on), no more bookshelf filled with Leilani knick-knacks and yearbooks, no more 19th century print ads, and no more pictures of baby me and my friends! Now, I know that I pride myself in being a good, upstanding, rebellious Lynch daughter. Independence is my motto and rebellion is my cause, but this hit me suprisingly hard. I was dumbfounded and frankly a bit hurt that my parents had stripped the room of my presence and packed all my memories into paper bags shoved in the closet. What hurt me even more was that after asking my brother why I hadn't been notified of this change, he replied, "Well, you don't live here anymore,". Well, I guess I don't. But where do I live? Now that I live in the dorms, am I from Berkeley? I've always looked to my Hercules house as my home, reluctantly, but still, as my base. Having this base suddenly disappear was jarring. I guess maybe I deserve it after years of blatantly displaying my dislike and disinterest in spending time at home and with my family. Perhaps they just assumed that I didn't want my room anymore. The truth is, as much as I lament 'going home', the act implies a destination, and now that destination is uncertain, and I don't like it. "Grow up" I tell myself. "Moving out is part of becoming an adult". While I acknowledge that this is true, I had never had it shoved in my face so clearly as this weekend. OK, but now I'm back in Berkeley. My new home. With my friends, cheesy but I really consider them as my family. In Berkeley I feel like I am who I want to be. I dress how I want to dress. I act how I want to act. I say what I want to say. That isn't how I am with my family, so why am I whining about not being stifled anymore?? I don't really know.

Anyway, the good things that came from Thanksgiving break were (A) new/old clothes acquired from my parents' closets, (B) seeing my old friend Julia, (C) my amazing purple shorts that I found at the secondhand store run by my highschool called 'Seconds to Go'! And, because on Tuesdays and Thursdays I get out earlier than Mindy and Stephanie, I took the liberty of having a photo session to document the amazingness of my shorts. My original goal of this blog was to capture my outfits if I do remember correctly. That sounds horribly self involved and pretentious, but hey, we're all writing blogs here, so let's not judge. Here's what I did:
Woo! And, basically everything I'm wearing is secondhand, minus the shoes! I'm proud. Saving the planet one vintage piece at a time!!

And now for something completely different. Recently, I've been really inspired by my Art History lectures, which is strange because I began the semester dreading this class (it focuses on Japanese art...I didn't think I was a fan). For the past few weeks we've been discussing early modern-modern Japanese art especially the interaction between Japan and the West and subsequent 'westernization' of Japanese art. Why am I so excited about this? Not sure...but something fascinates me about the visual, artistic evidence of one culture coming in contact with another. Not only did I find out that Japanese modern is amazing, but also, I didn't realize how much of an impact Japanese woodblock prints by Hokusai and Utamaro had on the Impressionist movement in the West! We didn't really discuss that in Art History 11, and I find it very interesting. It seems that for each movement in 'Western art history' ie Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and Minimalism, the Japanese have had simultaneous movements! So, I'm going to be a total dork and show you guys some art I really loved:

First, the contemporary adaptation of Manet's Olympia by Morimura Yasumasa, Portrait. 1988.
Second, a video of the performance art of Murakami Saburo, Passage, 1994

And lastly, another video of an artist imitating the abstract expressionistic art of Shiraga Kazuo.

And here my entry comes full circle: I started out avoiding writing about Japanese art, wallowed, thought about fashion, then talked about Japanese art...irony.

Let me know what you guys think of this art if you please! I want to talk about art more in my blog...

The Blue & Gold

This week is Big Game week against Stanford University...

...and I feel like I have some kind of obligation to be school spirited and wear Cal gear, but (A) I don't own much Cal gear, and (B) I feel like school spirit shouldn't forced.

So, here's my sad attempt to wear our colors haha, but I don't think I did Oski proud :) I did take the opportunity, however, to wear my new grandpa sweater from Mars!! The rest of the outfit is compliments of Mindy's wardrobe: white top, blue shorts from AA, and tights from Urban.

Little Red Technihood

Lately I've been having a lot of fun with photo editing programs. The jacket in this photo is from lululemon, a remnant of my days as an 'educator' there. I love the paisley/tapestry-like pattern on it as well as the way the designers were able to discreetly plaster the lulu logo all over the jacket without it disturbing the pattern!

For the Weekend

This week was epic. First with the Obama victory and the spontaneous riot in the streets of Berkeley, then yesterday, I marched in the streets of San Francisco with thousands of people with my roommates and friends in support of the many homosexual couples who lost their right to marry on Tuesday.

While walking (what felt like miles) from the Civic Center to Dolores Park, a few moments almost brought me to tears:

• A pair of daddies carrying their twin babies on their chests while the babies held "No on Prop 8" signs.
• Two mommies guiding their daughter across the street while she shouted "No more hate!"
• Linking arms with my friends and chanting with the crowd "What do we want?" "Equality" "When do we want it?" "Now!"

Saturdays are always lazy for me, but today I felt inspired to make a little photo-collage in honor of this weekend's escapades...politics with a side of fashion; a good combination I think.

Rocking Gently on my Dreams

A few things...

• OBAMA WON!!!!!!!!! I was so excited and happy when I heard the news, I screamed and jumped in the street! After talking to one of my roommates but my anxieties and fears about the election, I was couldn't believe that my hopes that Obama would win came true!!
  
• Also, by no means was my elation singular. Around 8pm when the presidential race results were announced, students and people of Berkeley went crazy in the streets! We made a marathon run in a crowd of hundreds or thousands up toward College, around Frat Row, down Telegraph, into Sproul towards Free Speech Movement Cafe, back through Sproul and down and around Shattuck towards Telegraph again, all the while singing the national anthem and shouting "OBAMA!" and "Yes we DID!" It was truly one of the most amazing moments of my life, and an experience that i'll remember forever! Thinking back on it today, it seems surreal that it happened...i've never felt such a shared feeling of excitement with so many people. It felt momentous, historic, and refreshing. I can't wait until the day when I can tell my children this story.
• Amidst the chants of "Si, se puede" and utterances of change, Prop 8 passed :(. I am devasted and heartbroken that there is so much in hate in people that they would rob human beings of fundamental rights and award more rights to chickens and pigs!!
  
• Now my feelings are ambivalent; how can we claim to advocate change while we ammend backwards laws? Although I couldn't be happier that Obama will be our 44th president, part of me just wants to get up and leave California, America, and this seemingly hypocritical/paradoxical nation!!
  

Voting Season!

Today is the day before Election 2008. The monumentality of this moment both thrills and terrifies me because the older i get, the more i realize how much an election can impact my life. I can proudly say that i've been an Obama fan since the beginning, but in the past few months, especially with school starting, my belief in him has really grown. Something about his charisma, passion, and his genuine manner of speech makes me truly believe that he can bring the change that we need to this country.

Being at Berkeley has intensified the political frenzy, whether Democrat or Republican, everyone seems pretty excited about this election. My boss was saying the other day how it will be weird to read about this election and this time period in fifty years, when all this is written in a history book. I always wonder what side of the story will be remembered as the 'right account' of what happened because obviously not all sides are represented in history books. In fifty years, will my grandkids be learning about Obama's speech on race or Sarah Palin's battle against the 'liberal media'?

I think i'm having the most anxiety over the vote on Prop 8. First off, I can't even believe this is an ACTUAL proposition! How did a prop that takes away rights from individuals even get enough signatures to get on the November ballot? Even if people don't approve of gay marriage, they should still vote NO, because this is not the 18th century, and the bottom line is that we should not be ammending laws that deny rights to the citizens of this country.

Despite people's presidential political leanings, I really hope people get out and vote...because seriously, this is our lives we're talking about!!!