westward

Off to Vancouver, where it's forecasted to rain the majority of the time I'm there.

consumption

Been working through my summer reading list, read 2 other Murakami books (I have more to say about his books as a whole, but I'll read one more and see if my opinions change) and is currently reading Cooked by Michael Pollan.

Pollan is my favourite food-issue author. His writing isn't overly aggressive and he covers a broad range of perspectives. It's also humorous, which is a huge bonus. Although I'm not done the book yet, here's one quotation that really resonates with me:

Or it could simply be that he subscribes to the general view in a modern specialized consumer culture that "leisure activities" should involve consumption, whereas any activity involving production is leisure's opposite: work. Put another way, a leisure activity is one you can't conceive of paying someone else to do for you. (Watching television, for example, or reading a book, or doing the crossword puzzle.) Everything else - everything that the market has figured out a way to do for us - becomes a species of work, something that any rational actor would presumably outsource just as soon as he or she could afford to.

Sidenote: this fits right into Vanderburg (speaking of which I totally am going to work through APS302, I will make time!).

Before reading this quotation, I've been vaguely dissatisfied with how I spend my down time. Somewhere along the way of growing up, my hobbies changed from making things (eg. playing with lego, drawing, crafting) to consuming things (eg. reading blogs/forums, buying clothes/makeup/skincare). I really regret stopping art class (tbh it wasn't the most enjoyable thing, but in retrospect I was just being lazy) but still keeps most of my supplies in case "one day" I decide to pick it up again.

Last night while searching on Etsy for peony prints to use as wall decor, I toyed with the idea of painting my own (save money too!). And now that this is out on the interweb, I will very much do so (go public accountability). Will also try to focus effort (temporal and monetary) into cooking and hopefully gardening.

maxwell

New house, new game~

Weekend spent equally on plowing the garden of mom's new house and getting started in Xillia. First "tales of" game.

image via.

The tales of xillia tag on dandooru makes me ship Jude x Milla, tempted to read plot spoilers now @_@" This is not good since I plan on milking as much time out of the game as possible and playing through both characters. Picked Jude as my first play-through, and in the interest of time, trying to resist the urge to explore every field map and opening every treasure chest. It's so hard.

Combat system is pretty fun, linking is a good mechanism. It's unfortunate that my controller's circle button is half broken, which makes proc-ing artes extremely difficult. Came super close to dying during both boss fights because of this.

Graphics is not as HD as FFXIII, but the settings are still beautiful. The starting area's design is especially stunning. Character design is good as well, though I find Millas outfit slightly questionable. Additionally, the optional dialogs are funny and is a good way to introduce some more back story.

Sad that I won't be able to continue playing until I move, but Vancouver is next week and I'm so excited for that.

liege

Sweet, chewy, dense. I approve of this waffle.

Unfortunately quite pricy.

condensation

My theory is that rainy/stormy days make for good sunsets. It's all in the clouds.

Here's the past couple days:

Bonus: reflection of the sky in a puddle on some roof, but could totally be a scene in Bebop

super plasticizer

Today was eventful:

First time experiencing cast day, late concrete truck made everything more hectic. Did USPV testing on concrete in the afternoon. Conclusion: the material labs were helpful! Unsure whether I got more concrete on my pants or more Vaseline on my hands.

Finally secured housing for next year! So relieved and excited. Finding a "good" (which in my definition is spacious kitchen and bright room) place to live that's affordable is a near impossibility downtown. Can transfer my efforts to furnishing and decorating now!

Also had a Launchpad meeting, which is always fun and gives me energy. Our year plan is really ambitious, and I say this with a mix of pride and nervousness. 

fragrant

Haven't ate out at a Sichuan-ese restaurant for a while. Feeling an intense longing for hometown food.

Meanwhile, a good article on Saveur on Chengdu's culinary scene.

moon rabbit

Full moon last night!

Kind of looks like an angry cyclops eye haha.

hull

Smitten Kitchen has never failed me when it comes to cake recipes. This particular one, for my mom's birthday, is a everyday strawberry cake.

It's so easy to make, in fact I think slicing the strawberries took more time than making the batter. The trick (okay not a trick, but something I've never followed before) is to take the butter out eaaaaarly so it's soft by the time you want to cream it with the sugar. Makes a world of difference. I recall much older posts where I complain about this step, never again!

My cake's texture turned out to have some hints of a cookie, which I personally like. This is most likely because my pan was too large so the cake is much thinner. Also my strawberries retained it's shape and didn't turn jam-like, which was disappointing. Going to re-try the next time berries go on sale.

sweet pea

I really like Hart House as a building, shame I don't go there often. Had lunch at their fancy restaurant "Gallery Grill" today on the occasion of a graduating friend.

Recommended if you ever need a fancy place on campus.

Cobra

I started watching Cobra solely based on the image below and so far no regrets.
(also what's a summer if I don't watch at least one anime series? It'd be a betrayal to my teenage summers)

via danbooru.

But so far my impression is that Cobra is what Lupin would be if he was in Bebop's setting.

Another reason why I started this series is because the length seems more manageable than Lupin, which rivals Conan (or at least the movies). And surprise the soundtrack is also by Yuji Ohno, which is recognizable at the first couple seconds if you've watched Lupin.

Enjoy the OP and ED:



Weird that I couldn't find the ED sequence on youtube, but watching that card turn is slightly hypnotic.