skygarden

I have finally found the rooftop garden at exists on SF! So excited to start volunteering there.

Went on a brief tour of the place today with Kevin, the view is gorgeous on the roof:


It'd be amazing seeing this throughout the summer. Hopefully I'll have time throughout the school year to continue volunteering as well. Bonus for the fact that there's a small chance that this will turn into paid employment (y).

Had nice chat with Kevin afterwards, it's good to catch up with highschool friends. It's great seeing the progress that everyone made in first year.

More pretty flowers seen on the way home:

Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits

Should not be playing Bastion all day, so here's some reading that I got done:

Found this book through Brain Picking, click through to read the much better review since what follows will be a collection of quotations.
I should preface this with the declaration that I'm a giant sucker for brands. I buy Apple products...because well they're Apple (which translates into amazing design and wonderful user experience to me). I spend a ton of time on Etsy's "featured shops" and Carryology because they tell stories of the products. And (last example I promise) I reeeeaaally wanted a Goruck backpack just from reading their news stories.

Anyways.
This leads nicely into a quotation from the introduction of the book by Walt Whitman:

Whatever satisfies the soul is truth

The book is a series of interviews with prominent individuals in branding. A lot of the discussion involve the human need to belong, designing, and brands embodying archetypes. Such as, by Brian Collins:

Stories are how we give meanings to what happens to us. When we call upon them, they activate "archetypes" [...] they remind us of eternal truths, and they help us navigate through our lives. 

He also says, which I found quite amusing:

If you were a greek warrior, you went to the temple and make a sacrifice to Nike before you went into battle. You asked her for victory. She was a mean motherfucker! You did not mess with her. She was about winning and achievement.

I don't feel that branding is such a "noble pursuit" as described by many of the interviewees, but definitely can't deny their influence in our lives. Cheryl Swanson says:

The brands are totems. They tell us stories about our place in culture-about where we are and where we've been. They also help us figure out where we're going. Brands have become time capsules, and in many ways, they're now navigation and identity devices. They've transcended their transactional economic function and now reflect our culture and who we are in a way that no other object can.

Dori Tunstall comments on creativity and connection:

What defines being human is our ability to transform things from one energy state to another [...] our ability to adapt to so much change and to also be the force of change-both good and bad-is extraordinary

One hypothesis is that creativity comes from our need to make things special. [...] our ability to make abstractions concrete. In many ways, this is the genesis of creativity. The notion of making things special and the identification of something as special or unique - and the relationship to that thing as special and unique - are the heart of creativity itself. 

Nowdays, we have a tremendous emphasis on dress and makeup and in our rituals of buying. [...] but our rituals of consumption are no longer as satisfactory to us. Because they are empty of human relationships. 

 And lastly Phil Duncan on leadership:

Its the responsibility of the leader to have a sense of vision. But its also important to build that vision with your colleagues. [...] but in order to inspire them to greatness, i must be able to instill a sense of possibility in them and enable them to see hose possibilities.

proving grounds

Started playing Bastion today, the graphics are so beautiful ;_; Trine is like...glowy pretty, whereas Bastion's art more stylistic. So happy I got the bonus artbook with the humble bundle deal :D

I don't have the best gameplay screenshots, so head over to the official site to ogle them. But the still scenes:

The plushie is so adorable, makes me want one in real life too *u*

Otherwise, still trying to map out a good control system. Was really happy when I could use my ps3 controller (moving with joystick is soooo much more accurate and responsive than wasd), but it makes the screen glitchy and somehow I couldn't heal. Gonna try to make it more mmo like with mouse for moving and keypad for attacks. Though that could mess up aiming with ranged weapons...

Speaking of weapons, I like how there's a variety of them to play with. Currently using the war machete/breaker's bow. Also the power up & upgrade system is nice too.

Overall quite liking it (y) the narrating voice ftw.

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Also went to see Ironman 3 yesterday with friends. T'was good, actions scenes were really over the top haha. Chatting with them at McD's afterwards is always nice. I should really catch up with them more xD

develop

Since I doubt I will find a job this summer, efforts are currently concentrated in scholarship applications. Gone are the easy days of admission scholarships T_T"

Anyways, I've sat for a long while staring at a blank Word document. Even when I had a few sentences down to the ever generic question of "Please lt us know what transferable skills or areas of development you feel you gained through any of your involvement" but still feeling "rawwr why are ideas not translating into words properly", I realized that these applications are a good exercise in reflection.
Not much of a revelation I know xD

(this is a bit of a sidetrack before coming back to the main topic)
At the beginning of the year, Angus complained to me saying how he felt that extracurriculars are becoming something you must do. Much like how one must go to university if they want a chance at a good job. While I do have intrinsic interest in the extracurrics that I joined, an equally powerful motivator is that it will look good on a resume.
My point is that extracurrics are something that "must" be done, so I rarely look back and analyze the experiences. What went well, how something went wrong, things that can be applied to future positions, etc.

And also having good paragraph structure, that has to count for something right?

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I would very much like a source of income.

grapple

I finally have a mouse! aka time to start playing all my backlog of steam games, which is really just Trine 2 and Bastion. Ought to buy Ni no Kuni soon too.

Anyways! Trine 2 is so beautiful, even not at max graphics settings:

Though I must admit I'm rather bad at platformers. 's why it's much more fun playing with the twins and knocking their carefully stacked boxes together xD

feed

Met up with Janice, Grace and Mimi after way too long at bubble tea yesterday. I totally miss having female friends "orz Time just flew by while we chatted and played screwed each other over in Monopoly deal. It's good to be back haha.

While on the topic of food, UofT held a TedxHartHouse conference last year with the focus on food. Can't believe I didn't know about that! Nor did I know about this year's conference, which is happening in days. Such a shame to miss the opportunity to attend.

So the next best thing is to watch the various TedTalk about food:

His storytelling is hilarious.

Jamie Oliver's very passionate talk about reforming eating habits in America. He has really effective visuals in the presentation, but walks around way too much to the point it's very distracting.

lastly:
Michael Pollan on shifting the paradigm of argricultural thinking. The farm he mentions near the end is described in more detail in his book. 


And and I finally found more information regarding the roof-top greenhouse in UT. Their website is very pretty as well. Gonna try to make time to volunteer their next school year.

backseat of my mind

I don't know why this song seems summery to me:


Stop the clocks and turn your world around
Let your love lay me down
And when the night is over, there'll be no sound

Lock the box and leave it all behind
On the backseat of my mind
And when the night is over, where will I rise?

What if I'm already dead, how would I know?
What if I'm already dead, how would I know?

Lost inside my head behind a wall
Do they hear me when I call?
And when the night is over, where will I fall?
And when the fight is over, where will I fall?

But if I'm already dead, how would I know?
But if I'm already dead, how would I know?

Stop the clocks and turn your world around
Let your love lay me down
And when the night is over, there'll be no sound
And now the night is over, there'll be no sound
And now my fight is over, there'll be no sound