mid terms are here once again (WHAT?!?! I JUST GOT HERE A FEW WEEKS BACK!) oh yes. it's back again to bite me in the ass. it's been a very tedious and stressful time with the midterms approaching and with the projects piling. 

i am exhausted. I've only slept 2-3 hrs last night and even then, i didn't really do all that i needed to do. i completed the bare minimum to fulfil the criteria. but LO AND BEHOLD. when i got to class, most people dun even have it. WHY DID I SACRIFICE MY PRECIOUS REST?!?!? bahhh....nonetheless, i must say, my hard work paid off. am currently pretty pleased with my work, so are my professors. i wouldn't say it's fantastic nor am i proud of it. some stuff i am pretty ashamed of really. dun think it's wonderful or that i know i can do better. nonetheless, i heave a sigh of relief to know that i am finally done with it, and it is COMPLETE. 

here below is my second drawing for my Drawing 2 Class. I regretted using aluminium foil. me and my ambitious nature of wanting to challenge myself with a texture...ppfftttt...i soon grew impatient doing it's details and thus i resorted to the lazy but effective way of slashing my kneadable eraser across the area like a samurai wielding his sword. the funny looking crap in the background is really plastic, but i could be bothered to go in depth with details cos i had no more time left to spare. worked on this for a total of bout 8 hrs when it was supposed to be 11. i'm just average over this piece. reckon the mask is damn ugly. haha. WHAT TO DO. the mould it followed was my face wad. UGLY FACE PRODUCE UGLY MASK LOR! still, this "exquisite" piece of work, as my professor calls it to be, is now on display in the hallway of the foundations building, and surprisingly, my professor and no one else, found fault with my work during today's critique. YIPPEE!!! :D

so now that i am moving towards mid-terms, color is now being introduced to the course. WHOOPIE. it will definitely be challenging especially since i was taught that pastel and charcoal are not to applied in the same fashion. there is a different procedure in working and layering the colors on. boo. For mid-terms we are to replicate a master copy of an impressionist work. frankly, i dun really like the impressionist. i wanted to do death of marat for it's soft and smooth rendering of form and it is simply a gorgeous piece. sadly, i had to pick something out of the impressionist and among all the crappy landscape and haystacks and water lilies i found a few portraitures that i liked. perhaps cos of the ugly and the finished look of rendering by renoir. I reckoned that with the color it will be very inspiring to do. it's always impt to work on smth u like :D

my professor likes this alot for its rich color and lighting, but she warns me for being so ambitious. this will definitely be a over 30 hour working piece and it's due next wed atop of studying for mid-terms and my 3 other color theory projects and my 10 tasks for sketchbook. woe is me. nonetheless, i am DETERMINED to complete this and be entirely proud of my achievement. let's see how good i am. hahahaha. 

so all in all, though it's tiring, i am satisfied. 

my roommates are shocked to see me working so late into the night especially since last quarter i barely stayed up past 1am during school days. when i woke up for class after my 2 hour nap my roommates were super confused about the time and nicole exclaimed loudly: "WHAT??!? WHY ARE YOU STILL UP?!?!?!" I had to explain that i JUST got up too and that the only reasons why the room was still in the same way it was when she went to bed was cos i turn on the same lights so as not to wake any of them up. 

weather has been gorgeous here too. very very delighted with the cool but not too cold weather. it reminds me very much of home and for that teensy weensy bit of moment where i reminisced about home, i felt homesick once again. but it was all over quickly for my thoughts were immediately transferred to the work that awaits me. 

on another happy note, i'm doing excellently well once again for this quarter, aceing even my art history (HAH! TAKE THAT WILKIE TAN!) though this art hist class now requires essays and stuff, i've pretty much gotten the hang of it. learning in art school the different techniques definitely helps in visual analysis of works and i found my essay for my exam read to the class as a model to follow. PLUS, i score 95/100 for the exam and 94/100 for an essay assignment. with extra credit, i got a full score of a 100 for my art hist. 

I am so going to celebrate and treat myself to my accomplishments once mid terms are over. HOORAH!

I AM FRUSTRATED.

bloody color theory. what the hell does mosch want??!?!? she talks and talks and talks and just demonstrates what to paint/how to mix paint/how to get the color. but i dun even know what the final project is SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE. I AM SO LOST AND CONFUSED IN CLASS I TELL YOU.

this is stressful. shit. i hate non-objective art. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!?!

I've walked the streets of Cairo and Bombay

I've seen the neon signs on ole Broadway

I've climbed the Eiffel Tower

The Great Wall in one hour

Experienced sweet and sour but that's ok

Seen Hollywood, the sunsets in LA

The London Bridge, Big Ben, the Thames, UK

I've crossed the River Kwai

Yet still I don't know why

I think of you each night and every day

There's no place I'd rather be

You'll always be a part of me

And even though, I've roamed the world

It's still my home I long to see

This is where my family

and my friends grew up with me

So I'll cross the skies and sail the seas

To be where i wanna be.

this song has pretty much been stuck with me for the past few days as i'm feeling homesick. my first few mnths here went along perfectly fine and dandy and i was honestly shocked at the fact that the expected homesick-ness never came along. Yet, just as i am all cocky about being independent, it strikes me and strikes me hard. I guess it's contributed by the knowledge that i am pretty much stuck here in the states for minimum a year. and sadly, it's gonna hurt even more during summer where everyone is going to head back home and be so excited about it and rub it in my face :( i on the other hand. will be retardedly taking summer classes or perhaps, as i've seen all the summer programs coming up, i might want to go on an off-campus trip like perhaps to Italy or China (cos of the food and the familiarity of asians and all things comfortable). doesn't help either to know that from now on, my holidays back home may not be as wonderful as they used to be, considering the fact that my close hang out buddies like bobo and chrystal might probably not be around in singapore. sad. what am i going to do??????

I truly miss home, and the song above does it for me. I've travelled quite a bit and though as a kid i wanted to become an american so much, now that i'm here, i'd say no. despite the fact that practically everyone believes or have this gut feeling that i will marry a white man. there's no place i'd rather be. singapore will always be a part of me. being far away from home for so long has taught me to appreciate all sorts of things in Singapore, like the safety, the accessibility, the food, and having all things familiar around you. As of right now, it frustrates me that i am practically handicapped. without a car and a driving license, i can't get around much except to areas within walking distance. even getting groceries and daily necessities is tough. i miss the convenient 10 minute trips to hougang mall, to popular, to the accessibly coffee shops and old chang kee. i would gladly spend the 15 minutes to walk home just to just rejoice in the easy accessibility of singapore, knowing that you can practically walk from an mrt station to another. 

and of course, there's the issue of being totally all alone. yes i have friends, but none i can truly bitch and feel self- conscious about. especially since most of them are so extreme - either too holy, or too full of shit and vulgarities and everything RA. i miss winnie, the dear darling bitchy brother of mine. sometimes i want to cuddle up and cry and be totally selfish, but i can't, cos i'm sharing a room with 2 other people whom i have to tolerate their nonsense, messes and inconsiderate late night whatevers when i have a class at 8am the next day. i do appreciate the fact that they are pretty nice to me and i've grown to love nicole very very dearly. 

i miss the people back home, my grandma and her smiles and her jokes and laughter which makes me tear up at this very moment just thinking about her. i missed her so much i called home only to be further heartbroken. I was delighted to call her and hear her voice, but the moment she realised it was me she very excitedly, too excitedly i would say, passed me to talk to my uncle whom i am not close to. it was awkward and he put the phone down on me when i wasn't even done with my grandma. i am thus terribly upset about this and it has thrown me into a uber homesick and upset mood. very very emotionally vulnerable. thank goodness i pretty much have the room to myself right now. 

then...there's the two brothers whom i've grown to love as we all grew older and more mature over the years. i used to loathe my younger brother to the core, but now that he's all grown up and mature, he is so endearing. i miss ruffling both their hairs and just teasing them. it's especially fun when you know they like it but are pretending to not like what you say...like "awwww...you're so cute..." or "so sweeeeeeettttttt...you know you lovveeee meeeee" yess. i miss all that and know that my two brothers, that i love you two and miss you dearly all the way across the universe.

so what about my parents??? i pretty much am very touchy on that subject. i have no idea what the **** is going on with the two of them, but they pretty much gone on the whole "family revolution" thing on us. i would probably miss them and realise that i may actually subconsciously love them despite my utter denial and refusal if not for all those lame-ass pathetic emails that are driving me insane with not just a "whatever" response but more like "wtf" (i'm sorry for the many vulgarities use. it's not very helpful to be surrounded 24/7 by people who use that word all the time it has practically invaded my brain non-stop. i use it when i;m pissed, when i want to say "destroy" or "damage" or "screw" and even the weather.) 

you may think i am being an ass about the whole family idea and love thy parents commandment, but try as i might, they are teetering tottering pretty much on my nerves. i mean..yes...they are trying hard. i can clearly see that. but it's truly a turn off when it turns from "i'm sorry. pls tell me where i've gone wrong" to "i'm imperfect mother" to "i've failed as a mother" to "it's so bad i won't be surprised i'm sinking into depression" to bloody lame ass ultimate shit "i'm asking God to bring me home". like WTH?!?!?!? and not to forget the self pitying "so and so's daughter is overseas and they IM/skype every week and i don't have" HOW OLD ARE YOU??!?!?!? 

"YOU DON'T HAVE???!?!?!"

thats probably a term i used in grade school honey. 

bloody emo for ur age. grow up. if ur kid is telling u this. smth is seriously wrong.

OH I AM SO GOING TO HELL. 

it's been flippin cold the past few days, with temperatures dipping all the way down to negative 7 at one point. it has never been this cold in savannah and everyone is surprised. apparently we broke the record of such low temperatures set since 1965 or 1977 or so. 

it's so cold, even the fountain downstairs froze. check out the sweet pictures my new roommate took with her amazing DSLR camera. (she's a photog student)

simply gorgeous. it's pretty cool when you see puddles on the floor frozen. i'm pretty sure if it rained it would be snowing. after this weather, 14 degrees became warm to me. i can now run around in a simple t-shirt and my fbt trackpants at 0 degrees outside. haha. THICK SKIN MAN. 

so anyways. we had an uber long 4 day weekend last week due to Martin Luther King's and thank goodness my professors didn't take full advantage of it and spam me with homework....very much unlike what the usual Singaporean education system would do. anyways, Laura and I headed down to Savannah Mall on Saturday cos i needed to get supplies. What was intended to be a short shopping trip to buy groceries/daily necessities and art supplies bloomed into us carrying quite alot of bags. I was very much drawn into the book store sale there. it was a closing down sale ranging from 40 to 75 percent off everything. I managed to grab a borders reversible and waterproof tote bag for like 3 bucks and a legit art book which teaches you all kinds of materials and techniques and a legit photography book of animals which is HUGE and would cost u say....40 to 60 bucks in singapore each for 2 bucks each. so all in all, what would probably be an over S$100 book shopping trip turned out to be a less than US$8 shopping trip. i was uber pleased with myself. 

laura did more shopping and she obviously made full use of all the sales that were at the savannah mall, together with her lil discount coupons, snagging a sweater at victoria's secrets for a measly 4 bucks. it was a very interesting time of bonding considering how she was super antisocial and cold towards me last quarter and now we talk and hang out. which is strange. nonetheless, i'm glad to have expanded my social circle :) 

oh yea. we bought  a whole gingerbread tree christmas set for a dollar at the art craft store cos they were trying to get rid of it so we bought it for fun. who cares if christmas is over. in this cold weather, i would think we could still re-create the spirit of christmas! 

so home we went, where we bumped into michelle carrying her bike up the bus from wal-mart, of which we made a huge fuss and laugh out of it. silly michelle wanted to buy a bike to cycle back cos she didn't think she could catch the bus. SILLY HER. for all you people back home, the malls, unlike singapore, requires a travelling time of a minimum half an hour to 1 hour along expressways. Michelle appeared silly becos

1) it's damn bloody far as i have already illustrated

2) it is damn bloody cold

3) she didn't know the way home and she thought she could stop along the way to ask for directions

4) she didn't realise that bikes are prohibited on the expressway...which is the way home. 

HAHAHA. we joked about it and i joked about her having to buy some common sense from walmart since they sell practically everything there. hahaha. ;p mean but oh man. that was a pretty good line. 

so after we pretty much settled down, laura helped me to make my plaster mask and it was a very interesting experience. we had a homework cum movie party (yes. only art students can do that cos we dun require extreme concentration) and alot of people were there. so can u imagine how all of them took the opportunity to tease and disturb me while i was handicapped with my mask, unable to speak, laugh, react and finally see. still, we got it done and i realised how unshapely asian faces are. we dun have nice deep eye sockets so my mask is pretty.....unshapely. all u can see are my uber high and round cheeks and a small buttonny nose :( that was pretty much it. i'm like shit. i'm going to fail my planar analysis for my drawing class cos there's practically not much planar to analyse :( BOO

after that was done and cleaned up, i helped laura to put together our lil christmas gingerbread tree. the icing didn't turn out very successfully so what we ended up with was a gooey mess which was really quite embarassing, but nonetheless, a good laugh. i waited so long to blog becos i was waiting for her to upload pictures BUT SHE HASN'T and i couldn't wait anymore to blog lest you guys think i have frozen to death here or smth. 

so anyhoos. school has just been alright. the projects have still been pretty basic and slow going and nothing really portfolio worthy. i mean...WHO WOULD PUT A GRADIENT SCALE OF TONES, TINTS and SHADES and a COLOR WHEEL for their portfolio?????? blah. but we learnt smth cool today. how to make transparency with color. :D drawing's been pretty slow going too. even for my sketchbook assignments. it's been pretty much too cold for me to want to sit outside in the park to draw. most of it is outdoors which is bloody insane. one of my classmates told me how her pen ink froze while she tried to draw and she couldn't get anything done in the end. lol. 

speaking of which, my experimentations for sketchbook work of animals at the zoo and animation-style of head anatomy construction with blue pencil has turned out pretty mighty fine and i'm so psyched to use my new set of 96 brush markers that i got at a steal of 150 USD. the original price was 288 USD. hahaha. yes. i am psyched. i originally wanted to buy them individually at the local store, but after calculating, i save 1 buck per marker and even if i buy more markers than i need, it's still more worth it :D not to mention that it comes with a desk stand to put my gorgeous array of colors :D 

OH EXCITINGNESS!!!!! WHOOT

soooo...anyways, been pretty much caught up with studying art hist for the first exam and i pretty much aced the extra credit quiz with full marks ;0 we're on the renaissance period now and i'm learning so much awesome shizaaz from my professor. michelangelo is my new hero. his artwork is AMAZING. specially his pieta, the sculpture of virgin mary and jesus. so much meaning and beauty in it. AMAZING. stuff wilkie tan never showed us. sad. no wonder i could never appreciate it. oh well...perhaps it is true that more knowledge does help you to appreciate things more and more :)

CHEERS :)

check out this AWESOME video of this AMAZING renaissance artwork:

http://www.nga.gov/highlights/index.shtm and scroll down to New Video Podcast, and watch The Trinity - Masaccio, Part 2. that dude is amazing. 

Masaccio...wad an amazingly perfect name for a car :D

shout out to my girl friends back home - pacey, chrystal and cheryl. miss you guys loads. i dreamt that we were chillin together last night and it felt so real and so awesome. i was so sad to find out it was just a dream :( still...better than nothin yea? miss u loads and love ya!