Category / Uncategorized

by Halley

desperately in need of a schedule/routine

I can’t believe how little I’ve done in the past two days. This is what happens when I don’t have school, work, or friends to meet up with. I turn into a hopeless couch potato and watch way too many youtube videos. So, in an attempt to get out of this slump and actually get some stuff done…I’m making a pledge to do the following tomorrow:

  1. laundry
  2. cleaning the apartment: floor & bathroom
  3. get the UPass (maybe)
  4. finish unpacking my clothes
  5. start drawing (yay for new art supplies!!)
  6. take photos for my beauty blog

Let’s see how many of these I can get accomplished tomorrow. I feel like I should create some sort of extra incentive for myself, like maybe a present of some sort? (Yes, I know I’m ridiculous…how do I gift myself o_O?!)

by Halley

I was an obsessive child

Sonnenschein class ended last saturday with a big banquet that launched everyone into food commas. I’m pretty sure there were plans to head out to the town for some post-dinner celebration, but everyone was just ready to go home.

Ever since then life has been blissfully relaxed. I cooked dinner for the very first time in my new apartment on Sunday. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I must admit that I’ve missed my own cooking XD. I also made a few trips to the movie theatre, Walmart and Blick’s. I saw Inception last week and Eat Pray Love a couple of days ago. Inception was one of those rare movies that actually lived up to all the hype, but I can’t say the same about the latter. The best thing I can say about EPL is that it was rather thought provoking, but it sadly lacked a tight plot line that is needed to keep the audience awake. I’m sure it is a very good book thought.

Trip to Blick’s was oh so much fun and brought me back to my childhood memories. I played with markers, pencils and pastels, while picking out the products that I once used when I was obsessed with drawing. I don’t think I ever thought it was an obsession, in fact I distinctly remember thinking to myself as a teenager that I seldom had any obsession. Looking back now, I’m quite certain that I was indeed obsessed. It was all I did from when I first arrived in the States at age 10 all the way until high school. Somewhere between moving to Solon, trying to prove myself in a new high school, and stressing out about colleges art quietly slipped away.

Then I saw those markers in OfficeMax, and again at Blick’s, and I remembered how much I have always wanted to have them. It also made me insanely nostalgic and I felt almost as if these markers could bring me back to my childhood. I ended up getting two sets of PrismaColor markers (one from OfficeMax and one from Blick’s – they were both on sale and one came with a set of 12 color pencils and the other came with a set of 8 brush tip markers), two sketch books (one hard covered bounded, and a soft covered), pencil sharpener and some ink pens. I don’t know if I’m going to go back to anime drawing – I might have grown out of that after all (but you never know). Right now, I think I’ll just draw whatever comes to mind.

My current project will be creating a fashion diary, cataloging all my clothes (at least the ones I still wear). It might sound strange, boring or dorky, but moving around so much in the last couple of months made me realize that I simply have way too much clothes. Worse yet, I can’t remember every piece because 1) there are too many and 2) I’m always stuck with tiny closets and generally a lack of space to organize all my clothes so that I know exactly what I have (and don’t have). Being the economic intj dork that I am, I thought that this would be a fabulous, dual-purpose, project 🙂 My dear friend Anne suggested that I post these illustrations periodically on a blog (like…tumblr); if all goes well (that is I don’t get lazy or super critical), you might start to get virtual (and maybe abstract…) glimpses into my closet, sort of.

by Halley

reasonable = grounds for debate

The past week has been a whirlwind of packing, airports, goodbyes, packing, driving, moving-in, unpacking, cleaning, classes, meeting new people, learning about contracts, talks by partners of Sonnenschein, almost fainting in 100+ weather, and stealing internet from neighbors and Starbucks. As you can see, I haven’t had much free time until now.

The apartment I moved in is in a beautiful, quiet, suburban community called Clayton. It’s purported to be the safest place in this area, roughly two miles away from the campus. The surrounding is laced with big, gorgeous houses that are mostly a combination of apartments and condos – something I have never seen before now. It’s not quite the same as the suburbs I’m used to, identical houses, perfectly manicured lawns, none of that. The old houses are curiously laced with spanking new corporate buildings – it’s a place of upper middle class WASPs, and Asians who are always obsessed with living in the safest and most reputable residential communities. Getting around without a car is a bit of a hassle, especially since I can’t get my Metro U pass which will give me free access to public transportation. That should, however, change once orientation rolls around in a couple of weeks.

Classes at Sonnenschein has been excellent. It’s a small seminar with exactly 20 students. We gather around a large conference table (in reality, several tables put together) on the 31st floor of the building – whose name I still cannot remember – with floor length windows overlooking the famous arch. There has already been a couple of mentions of jumping into the Mississippi from those windows. Classes ran for 4 hours, with one hour of dinner combined with speakers in between. The food has been good thus far, nothing to complain about especially since it’s free and they do a good job at avoiding repeats. Our instructor, Mr. Snell, is commendable for his humour and miraculously keeping all of us awake from 5 to 10pm every day. We just finished our week of contracts; the final was fun and slightly mind-boggling. I wish I had allowed myself a bit more time.

I still have yet to unpack my clothes, partly because I’ve been busy and partly because there not yet much room for me to unpack them to. But I should still go unpack some at least, I suppose.

by Halley

Brink

Today was my last day at Skate’s and I couldn’t help but feeling incredibly sad at leaving. In a little more than a day, I’ll be leaving NYC, but it isn’t just this city that I’m leaving behind. I’m leaving behind my last carefree summer. In a matter of days, I will have to start being a grown up, because while law school is still school, it won’t be like college. For one thing, the loans will be accruing interest at an alarming rate from day 1. It won’t be about the experience, it will be about getting that offer to pay off the loans and justifying this incredible investment in time, energy and money. And that’s just the beginning of the increasing responsibilities that I will be facing as I somehow find a way to fill the shoes of an adult.

The word really scares me. Responsibilities scare me. I’d like to think I’m a responsible person, but I’ve never really had to be 100% responsible for my life. It’s not just being financially independent, but also having to bear the weight of every decision I make, face every challenge by myself, figure out every problem on my own. There won’t be a safety net, no one to rely on. Can I do this? It’s not a real question, is it? We all have to, sooner or later. There really is no other option.

This is perhaps the main reason why I would like to get married sooner than later. It’s not because I have some romantic, fairytale fantasy of marriage, but rather I’m so used to having the support and love of a family in my life that I don’t think I could really be happy without it. I want to have that person that I can come home to and recount my day to. Someone that I can count on, someone who will be there for me no matter what happens. In the end, it’s not even so much what I need this person to do for me as my need to share my life with another. I want and need that companionship because without it life is just too lonely, and I just don’t do well with loneliness.

by Halley

I don’t know how to do this…

I don’t like eating half a gallon of ice scream and the idea of pigging out on a pizza is even less appealing. I have, however, been watching Mad Men and Gilmore Girls like there’s no tomorrow.

I’m not really sure what to think, much less what to do. In fact, I’m not even sure how I should feel.

I woke up at 9:30, went back to sleep, and woke up again with a dream that involved cufflinks, a voicemail, belts, and La Perla. Again, I don’t know what to think of that either…