time to kill time
ten years ago: i was in fifth grade and we still lived in maryland, where the snowy season was always fun without the excessiveness of ohio winters. we lived in a very friendly neighborhood and the rest of the kids and i would all gather to play video games, go sledding in the local forest until our hands and feet were frozen, and warm up said hands and feet against the central heating vents. my best friends were andrew and hamp, i still took private violin lessons regularly and played in the county orchestras, and spent a lot of time bikeriding all over the damn place. also, 1995 was the year that we got the undeniably crappy packard bell computer, the internet (my first screennames were all x-men related), and the tan mazda 626 that would later be christened the "golden lamb" under my ownership.
seven years ago: i was the most bitter thirteen-year-old there ever was known to man. still adjusting to the suffocating homogeneousness of ohio, withdrawn more and more from family because of awkward growing pain issues, making friends with people but still pretty much a loner. i spent most of my time watching tv (those abc sitcom marathons), playing mah-jongg with my grandparents during the weekends, and bleeding my heart out all over the journals i kept from seventh to ninth grade. i was also really into no doubt.
five years ago: around the time my father contemplated moving us to santa barbara. i really didn't want to have to start over again in the middle of high school, and the social situation seemed to be improving. tenth grade was a good and bad year. also full of those really angsty dramas that one can only produce at age fifteen. i ran for class president to spite everyone. i worked at a haunted house and became close friends with cathy, mary grace, and tammi. "going out" meant to the mall. i held onto an unfortunate friendship via internet that turned out driving me crazy. i was into beck, but started really getting into tool, sunny day real estate, operation ivy, and a smorgasbord of underground.
three years ago: senior year of high school, still quite a lackadaisical president. i went through phases of different lengths and colors of hair, mostly influenced by the cathy troupe of friends. we'd go to shows pretty often in cleveland (of the embarrassingly hard variety, mosh pits included) and sit around at denny's all the damn time or frequent the mall (still... sigh). i had a part-time job at the dollar tree, one of the most bizarre year-and-a-half experiences of my life. i started applying to schools, set on the idea of new york and specifically early decision columbia after a college tour. serendipity landed me in l.a. and i have to say i'm more pleased than i could have imagined. i was on homecoming court and prom court that year [sorry!! self-promotion moment] and to be honest, i was really fucking content with myself for making it so far socially because hey, asian kids in ohio were almost always shuffled off to riffraff and/or sneers from dumb white guys. i felt like some rags to riches memoir-type story of coming of age, i resolved to move to california after the outside locks on my car froze solid when i was trying to go to work, and i took pictures like this:
one year ago: i was interning at the film festival channel downtown, fatigued by never sleeping and general ed courses in chemistry, physics, AND chinese literature. spent a lot of time driving to and back from west l.a. and orange county for alex, developed the habit of smoking pot regularly, and went to vegas with my family for thanksgiving.
one day ago: i went to the beverly center with caity and jessica (guilty indeed). we ate at p.f. chang's after circulating among all the girly stores, much to my chagrin, and then i worked an awful six to midnight shift at the editing labs. also, i bleached my hair when i got home and half of it is bright bright blonde. who'd have thunk?
five favorite snacks: those snapeas from trader joe's, walnut with honey, peanuts and cashews, baby tomatoes, bread and marmalade!
five million dollars?: a third to my parents and extended family to pay for my tuition, my sister's tuition, modern comforts and some stock market funds (my parents are obsessed). a third to various charities. a third for a small but nicely decorated loft somewhere in los angeles, and money to travel on a whim and feed an independent production. fuck, maybe all of it should go towards a production... but, nah.
five places to escape to: paris, shanghai, new york, hong kong, copenhagen
five things i would not wear: tech vests, anything grossly flamboyant (mildly flamboyant could be okay), trendy sport shoes with micro-chips... i don't know. i kind of let myself go sometimes with fashion.
five greatest joys: drunk subway, naps, a well-crafted film, sincerity, drinks and smokes with friends
five greatest toys: ipod, digital camera [still need a replacement], a laptop [dreeeam], a nice videocamera, a boyfriend
seven years ago: i was the most bitter thirteen-year-old there ever was known to man. still adjusting to the suffocating homogeneousness of ohio, withdrawn more and more from family because of awkward growing pain issues, making friends with people but still pretty much a loner. i spent most of my time watching tv (those abc sitcom marathons), playing mah-jongg with my grandparents during the weekends, and bleeding my heart out all over the journals i kept from seventh to ninth grade. i was also really into no doubt.
five years ago: around the time my father contemplated moving us to santa barbara. i really didn't want to have to start over again in the middle of high school, and the social situation seemed to be improving. tenth grade was a good and bad year. also full of those really angsty dramas that one can only produce at age fifteen. i ran for class president to spite everyone. i worked at a haunted house and became close friends with cathy, mary grace, and tammi. "going out" meant to the mall. i held onto an unfortunate friendship via internet that turned out driving me crazy. i was into beck, but started really getting into tool, sunny day real estate, operation ivy, and a smorgasbord of underground.
three years ago: senior year of high school, still quite a lackadaisical president. i went through phases of different lengths and colors of hair, mostly influenced by the cathy troupe of friends. we'd go to shows pretty often in cleveland (of the embarrassingly hard variety, mosh pits included) and sit around at denny's all the damn time or frequent the mall (still... sigh). i had a part-time job at the dollar tree, one of the most bizarre year-and-a-half experiences of my life. i started applying to schools, set on the idea of new york and specifically early decision columbia after a college tour. serendipity landed me in l.a. and i have to say i'm more pleased than i could have imagined. i was on homecoming court and prom court that year [sorry!! self-promotion moment] and to be honest, i was really fucking content with myself for making it so far socially because hey, asian kids in ohio were almost always shuffled off to riffraff and/or sneers from dumb white guys. i felt like some rags to riches memoir-type story of coming of age, i resolved to move to california after the outside locks on my car froze solid when i was trying to go to work, and i took pictures like this:
one year ago: i was interning at the film festival channel downtown, fatigued by never sleeping and general ed courses in chemistry, physics, AND chinese literature. spent a lot of time driving to and back from west l.a. and orange county for alex, developed the habit of smoking pot regularly, and went to vegas with my family for thanksgiving.
one day ago: i went to the beverly center with caity and jessica (guilty indeed). we ate at p.f. chang's after circulating among all the girly stores, much to my chagrin, and then i worked an awful six to midnight shift at the editing labs. also, i bleached my hair when i got home and half of it is bright bright blonde. who'd have thunk?
five favorite snacks: those snapeas from trader joe's, walnut with honey, peanuts and cashews, baby tomatoes, bread and marmalade!
five million dollars?: a third to my parents and extended family to pay for my tuition, my sister's tuition, modern comforts and some stock market funds (my parents are obsessed). a third to various charities. a third for a small but nicely decorated loft somewhere in los angeles, and money to travel on a whim and feed an independent production. fuck, maybe all of it should go towards a production... but, nah.
five places to escape to: paris, shanghai, new york, hong kong, copenhagen
five things i would not wear: tech vests, anything grossly flamboyant (mildly flamboyant could be okay), trendy sport shoes with micro-chips... i don't know. i kind of let myself go sometimes with fashion.
five greatest joys: drunk subway, naps, a well-crafted film, sincerity, drinks and smokes with friends
five greatest toys: ipod, digital camera [still need a replacement], a laptop [dreeeam], a nice videocamera, a boyfriend