Almost ten years ago I left America to work in Japan, in a smaller city called Sendai on the northern part of the main island. It was my first time in the country and I had no idea what to expect from Sendai other than it was called "The City of Trees" for its greenery and parks.
It only took me a few months to fall in love with the city, with its quiet beauty and kind people, and even though I haven't been there for several years I often think of it and hope to one day have a second home there.
When I woke up yesterday morning and rolled over to check my emails on my phone, there was the message about the quake and tsunami, sent by a dear friend who is down in Tokyo. She is OK, thank God.
Sendai and Japan, however, are not, and they need help. Whether it's through donations, prayer, or just spreading the word, please don't let this horrible disaster pass you by without doing something about it, no matter how small. The people of Sendai and in other affected parts of the country have a long, hard road ahead of them.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Boot Love
I love boots. When it comes to shoes, I have spent years of my life wearing only boots and still wear them about half the time, summer or winter. There's something about them that makes me feel put-together, confident, and comfortable, whether it's the gothy Pennangalan Dreams boots I once wore everywhere or the Etienne Aigner riding boots I'm currently wearing into the ground.
The latest pair to catch my eye... these Innocent World boots!
The great thing about Lolita brand accessories/shoes/etc. is that, beyond working with head-to-toe Lolita ensembles, they're unique enough to add flavor to "normal" outfits without overwhelming the rest of the look.
Some ideas: I'd pair up the all-black version with black leggings and a simple long tunic or graphic T-shirt. The brown might look good with dark, skinny jeans and a roomy, draped cream blouse, or a casual blue sundress, maybe? You could also pair the burgundy ones with a short, simple black dress.
The latest pair to catch my eye... these Innocent World boots!
The great thing about Lolita brand accessories/shoes/etc. is that, beyond working with head-to-toe Lolita ensembles, they're unique enough to add flavor to "normal" outfits without overwhelming the rest of the look.
Some ideas: I'd pair up the all-black version with black leggings and a simple long tunic or graphic T-shirt. The brown might look good with dark, skinny jeans and a roomy, draped cream blouse, or a casual blue sundress, maybe? You could also pair the burgundy ones with a short, simple black dress.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Life of Beauty
Onihide, as he was known on Flickr, was a Japanese photographer who until recently took gorgeous photos of the modern, dwindling geisha world and was happy to share them with others.
Sadly, he passed away in December of last year, but through his work introduced countless people to the unique beauty of geisha and their apprentice maiko as they performed dances, went to parties, kept Japanese traditions alive, and smiled and laughed with each other as simple human beings.
His gallery is amazing, and even if you know nothing about geisha (or "geiko," as they're called in Kyoto), I recommend taking a look.
Sadly, he passed away in December of last year, but through his work introduced countless people to the unique beauty of geisha and their apprentice maiko as they performed dances, went to parties, kept Japanese traditions alive, and smiled and laughed with each other as simple human beings.
His gallery is amazing, and even if you know nothing about geisha (or "geiko," as they're called in Kyoto), I recommend taking a look.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Want to Learn a Language? Try a Weekly Planner
While at Barnes and Noble the other night, I saw a huge stack of 2011 weekly planners on sale for 75% off, making some really pretty ones only $2 each.
As I was looking through them, I got the idea to use them as notebooks for the languages I'm currently studying. Two of them I'm trying to get back up to speed in (Japanese and Spanish) and the other I'm learning for the first time (Korean).
It's been tricky trying to get a system and organization down for tackling these languages seriously. Now, for $6 total, I can learn and copy down five new (or review) words a day on the five lines each planner has for each day, repeating the word multiple times and saying them aloud. No more, no less, and the calendar formatting will keep me on track and from trying to cram too much in in one day. If all goes well and even with a few days missing here and there, I could have (re)learned over 1,000 words in each language by the end of the year.
I'd recommend giving this a shot to anyone interested in learning a language and who will be learning on their own without a structured course or teacher. Pair a weekly planner with a reliable source of vocabulary and grammar (highly-rated products like iPhone apps, websites, or books, etc.) and keep the learning in bite-size chunks on a regular basis. Study at least five minutes everyday if you can, as constant but brief input lasts longer than a bunch of cramming done once a week.
This assumes a high level of motivation on the part of a student, because without motivation you can live in a country and be surrounded by people speaking a language and still not learn any of it. Motivation can be a lot of things: survival in a different place, a love of that language in general, wanting to translate a particular book eventually (my goal for Japanese), or understanding the lyrics of your favorite band.
My friend taught a Japanese girl once, in Japan, who was learning English specifically so she could understand Bon Jovi lyrics and what he said in interviews. Some people smile at that story, but the cool thing was she was at the top of her class because she was really motivated, no matter what that motivation was.
Getting back to the planning idea, if the idea of 35 new words a week intimidates you, try something else like making Mondays and Tuesdays new vocab day, Wednesday new grammar day, Thursday a review day, and Friday a "test" day where you quiz yourself.
As for me, we'll see how it goes! The Korean alphabet is coming faster to me now, but the pronunciation is murder on my tone-challenged ears. >_>
As I was looking through them, I got the idea to use them as notebooks for the languages I'm currently studying. Two of them I'm trying to get back up to speed in (Japanese and Spanish) and the other I'm learning for the first time (Korean).
It's been tricky trying to get a system and organization down for tackling these languages seriously. Now, for $6 total, I can learn and copy down five new (or review) words a day on the five lines each planner has for each day, repeating the word multiple times and saying them aloud. No more, no less, and the calendar formatting will keep me on track and from trying to cram too much in in one day. If all goes well and even with a few days missing here and there, I could have (re)learned over 1,000 words in each language by the end of the year.
 |
| Two of my new planner-notebooks and a Marie Antoinette ballet flyer. Sadly, none of the planners featured men like that! |
This assumes a high level of motivation on the part of a student, because without motivation you can live in a country and be surrounded by people speaking a language and still not learn any of it. Motivation can be a lot of things: survival in a different place, a love of that language in general, wanting to translate a particular book eventually (my goal for Japanese), or understanding the lyrics of your favorite band.
My friend taught a Japanese girl once, in Japan, who was learning English specifically so she could understand Bon Jovi lyrics and what he said in interviews. Some people smile at that story, but the cool thing was she was at the top of her class because she was really motivated, no matter what that motivation was.
Getting back to the planning idea, if the idea of 35 new words a week intimidates you, try something else like making Mondays and Tuesdays new vocab day, Wednesday new grammar day, Thursday a review day, and Friday a "test" day where you quiz yourself.
As for me, we'll see how it goes! The Korean alphabet is coming faster to me now, but the pronunciation is murder on my tone-challenged ears. >_>
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A Touch of Pink
Happy Valentine's Day a bit early!
Tomorrow I'll be wearing a white dress, white cardigan, and this impromptu pin I made from a flower stem bought at Michael's. I may have to look for more: at 80 cents a pop you could make a ton of little accent corsages.
Tomorrow I'll be wearing a white dress, white cardigan, and this impromptu pin I made from a flower stem bought at Michael's. I may have to look for more: at 80 cents a pop you could make a ton of little accent corsages.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Franken-Loli?
I have a love affair with Innocent World, a Japanese Lolita fashion brand known for its feminine styling and beautifully designed prints. It's actually more like unrequited love, because I recently learned the hard way I don't fit well into their dresses. Skirts might be fair game, however.
As IW skirts also tend to run $120 and up, it may be awhile before I can get my hands on one. In the meantime, at Target today I saw a black $18 dress with a drape and floral border print that I loved and reminded me of IW (not the dress shape, just the print).
I figured if I could convert the dress to a full skirt, this is my chance to have Innocent World Lite (Semi-Innocent World? Vaguely Guilty World?). So I bought two in the biggest sizes they had, for a total of $36. The total cost will probably be $40 by the time I add a zipper and waistband interfacing. The plan is to chop the tops off the dresses, take out the side seams, and create a new skirt from the two originals. I'm a M and the biggest one is XXL, so I'm going to use the dress portion from that to make my waistband.
I'll report back on how well it worked out once I finish. I'm at 5'7" and the dress hangs right at the top of my knee, so with some luck at the end of this I'll have a pretty and versatile skirt that I could wear normally or toss a petticoat under for a Lolita look!
As IW skirts also tend to run $120 and up, it may be awhile before I can get my hands on one. In the meantime, at Target today I saw a black $18 dress with a drape and floral border print that I loved and reminded me of IW (not the dress shape, just the print).
I figured if I could convert the dress to a full skirt, this is my chance to have Innocent World Lite (Semi-Innocent World? Vaguely Guilty World?). So I bought two in the biggest sizes they had, for a total of $36. The total cost will probably be $40 by the time I add a zipper and waistband interfacing. The plan is to chop the tops off the dresses, take out the side seams, and create a new skirt from the two originals. I'm a M and the biggest one is XXL, so I'm going to use the dress portion from that to make my waistband.
I'll report back on how well it worked out once I finish. I'm at 5'7" and the dress hangs right at the top of my knee, so with some luck at the end of this I'll have a pretty and versatile skirt that I could wear normally or toss a petticoat under for a Lolita look!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Starting Anew
I like order. I like making things perfect.
While this trait has been very good for my career at times, it gets in the way. It becomes a little voice in my head telling me that I'm doing things wrong, that I'm off on the wrong track and I'm wasting my time. It tells me it's not worth learning to do anything unless I can learn to do it perfectly.
I'm getting tired of that voice. To give you an example, it poked at me until I wrote four different intro posts for this blog, all of which were way too overwrought and pretentious.
It's getting in my way and keeping me from my writing, from my art, from my sewing and just about every other creative thing I want to do.
So you know what? Fuck it. Let's see if I can do this without constantly self-editing and second-guessing myself.
Here's this blog's theme: things I find beautiful.
It'll include, among other things and in no particular order, my various and random creative projects, Japanese street fashions, clothing coordinates, traditional Japanese kimono, ancient history, the French court, flowers, Victoriana, medieval and Renaissance themes, fantasy, fairytales, poetry, calligraphy, recipes, movie and book reviews, ramblings about language (Japanese, German, Spanish, Korean), geisha, chivalry, stained glass windows, corsets, science fiction, my writing, art, costumes and sewing projects, ukiyo-e prints, hot men in suits, the art of Alphonse Mucha, Aristocrat and Dandy fashion, and so on.
Wish me luck!
While this trait has been very good for my career at times, it gets in the way. It becomes a little voice in my head telling me that I'm doing things wrong, that I'm off on the wrong track and I'm wasting my time. It tells me it's not worth learning to do anything unless I can learn to do it perfectly.
I'm getting tired of that voice. To give you an example, it poked at me until I wrote four different intro posts for this blog, all of which were way too overwrought and pretentious.
It's getting in my way and keeping me from my writing, from my art, from my sewing and just about every other creative thing I want to do.
So you know what? Fuck it. Let's see if I can do this without constantly self-editing and second-guessing myself.
Here's this blog's theme: things I find beautiful.
It'll include, among other things and in no particular order, my various and random creative projects, Japanese street fashions, clothing coordinates, traditional Japanese kimono, ancient history, the French court, flowers, Victoriana, medieval and Renaissance themes, fantasy, fairytales, poetry, calligraphy, recipes, movie and book reviews, ramblings about language (Japanese, German, Spanish, Korean), geisha, chivalry, stained glass windows, corsets, science fiction, my writing, art, costumes and sewing projects, ukiyo-e prints, hot men in suits, the art of Alphonse Mucha, Aristocrat and Dandy fashion, and so on.
Wish me luck!
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