This ain't pointless optimism 'cause I've got a plan.
Tick one off my STUFF I MUST LEARN BEFORE I REACH 30 List because I just taught myself HTML. That leaves me with Flash animation, fluency in Mandarin and Russian, and play the drums, among other things. XD
I have another list with a much shorter deadline. Before the end of my senior year I should have already learned the following with equal fluency as I draw human figures now.
- drawing buildings, cars, and machinery
- ornamentation
- drawing animals
- digital painting
I’ve never been as serious in planning the development of my art as I am right now. I’ve been restless since I came from New York two weeks ago. My mom was the first to point that out. She said that the main reason for sending us kids to the US - more than a nearly-expired visa, more than having a fun-filled vacation, and more than being able to say “Hey, I just came from the States!” with equal confidence and nonchalance as a conio kid (kidding on the last one.) -- was mainly to create dreams. Expand our horizons.
Well, it worked. That was only five days in New York, and honestly, it’s affected me profoundly. Was it watching Phantom of the Opera on Broadway or shopping in Times Square? Was it seeing Andy Warhol’s silkscreen prints at the MoMA or the graffiti on Lower East Side? It wasn’t a singular defining moment in the city. (Although the realization hit me on top of the Empire State Building.) You just take it all in, and it swallows you. I felt like I walked into the mouth of a living creature, and it regurgitated me with renewed inspiration. There is just so much energy and opportunity. I decided that at some point in my life, I have to be a New Yorker. I’m not talking about a change in citizenship; it’s more of residing there and living out its culture and lifestyle. I’m always thinking about my future these days, it’s become unsettling. Whatever particle of New York that has invaded my system, I preserve and carry with me everyday. Like right now, I am typing a LJ entry about New York with such passion as if I’d just come home yesterday, when in fact, it’s been over two weeks since I came from there. Words are inadequate, and I end up with these clichés of hopes and dreams. What I tasted of New York is ineffable. I must become a New Yorker. And something tells me that it’s not a corporate path that will take me there. Because clearly, I could relate more to SoHo than Wall Street.