If you frequent my Tumblr, which you probably don’t because why would you?, you would know that the past few days have been a little rough on me. By that I mean, you have probably witnessed me whine whine whine, abusively, on that microblogging platform and/or I’ve bitched to your face in real life. In any case, I really have no excuse.

See, work’s been piling up. I am pretty stressed about my thesis, which is, theoretically, going well in my head. Meaning, there is progress, but only in the level of me thinking about what I want to do, and not really putting things down on paper. I’ve also been designing stuff for people, and because these obviously have to do with other people (hereafter known as clients), thesis and other school activities have been taking the backseat.

But, like I said, no excuse, really. A new sort of technique, I guess, that I have picked up from my daily Google Reader time is this practice that guestblogger on Yes and Yes, Gene, has suggested, which is to make a list of good things about the previous day, despite it being lousy on the whole. This way, you start the new day with a renewed sense of optimism in the vein of, “Well, at least, that didn’t happen.” Because I can’t really blog tomorrow (I think?), here is what the good vs. evil about today:

• I didn’t see the Leonid shower, but now I know what Universal Time is.
• I left my phone in Starbucks, but now I know, for sure (not that I didn’t before), that I have awesome friends.¹
• Our car got hit by a tricycle, but it’s great to know that my dad is waaaay patient, and that I probably should take a leaf out of that Patience Book, and hope that it is genetic.

And so on.

OK, so now, here is where I will post photos from last weekend until today. Just because they also cheer me up despite my “hormonal”² self. Enjoy. (!)

So, I went to this exhibit last Saturday.
It was by my parents’ friend, Reggie Yuson.
He made the pretty stone fountain/sculpture in High Street.

Pretty.

Awesome people are awesome. Paulina + me & me + Eira.
Pardon my face.

Jamie gave me these as a late birthday present. <3

Showing the Christopher Walken cover of “Pokerface” to people in school,
because everyone deserves to see its glory.

Paulina was drawing my profile, so I tried to draw her face.

Then we had a one-minute draw-off.

Workspace in Starbucks this morning.
Banana loaf and a tall Americano with caramel syrup.

Free green tea frappuccino = day got better. <3

And then it was really sunny and really rainy at the same time.
(It’s not so obvious in the photograph.)

Phone found! It came in this plastic bag.
I guess people leave a lot of stuff in Starbucks.

———
¹ My friend, Evee, offered to check Starbucks if my phone was still there, because I had class. Then she passed it along to some other friends who passed it along to me! GMH.
² I’m probably not really hormonal, it’s just an excuse for my sucky personality. Plus points if you get that reference.

For my last first day of school, ever (or I am hoping), I decided to document it every couple of hours. I missed a few ~events~ but I guess I did alright. The photo up there is the set I uploaded on Flickr, which you can see by clicking this link: Carina Santos’ Last First Day, 2009.

Today was pretty fun. I met two of my professors, saw a few friends (I didn’t see so many, due to my 3-week hibernation), met up with people regarding design stuff, met up with high school people! Among other things. I also was able to do a little bit of thesis work (which I so desperately need to be doing but am not) and I ate so much crap that my body is like, “What the hell, man?” in whatever accent that so pleases you.

Anyway, my schedule is rough, and all I want to do is both to drink this cup of coffee in front of me, and also to pass out on my bed and sleep. I’ve been wanting a nap since 11:30 this morning.

Also, I’ve said this once, but I’ll say it again: Taylor Swift on Saturday Night Live is the best thing that has happened to my life. I luv this gurl~*~* I am not even joking.¹

———
¹ OK, maybe a little hyperbolic. But I love her.

I only have to submit one! moar! requirement! this semester and I am home free. Except for thesis, I guess, but that’s OK. My topic should at least make it enjoyable for me. I pray to God that this does not make me hate any of the shows. I’m already dubious about Jordan Catalano. Do not need a reason to hate anyone from Buffyverse or Neptune, CA.

In other news, I have been exercising my tablet-skills by drawing what I wore today, instead of taking photos. Because I realized that I don’t really like posting on my Lookbook (I do have one, the horror~) and I really like doing it. This is what I wore last Friday:

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Five Words Is Not Enough. (Or, “Daniel Brühl is Frakking Hot.”)
SPRING AWAKENING: Regret: Didn’t See On Broadway.

So, there. I am done biznatching.

Today, I actually crossed things off my to-do list, a few of which are pretty major things, so that was good. I actually haven’t been doing so well in the productivity aspect, so this was a pretty good thing. I should really stop taking so many naps, but I just get so sleepy all the time.

My weapon of choice, aside from caffeine is loads of sugar:

It seems to be working, as it is already half past three in the morning and I am still up and a-typing.

So, thesis progress is progressing, although pretty slowly. I am beginning to fathom just how tedious the work really is, and how it’s not really suited for multi-tasking ADD-ridden chumps like me. (The work involves paying attention — visually — and remembering what to watch out for. I’ve been re-watching My So-Called Life and I’ve been looking out for how many times Angela Chase wears plaid and how many times she snaps at people, and at whom. I think I might go crazy.)

Speaking of My So-Called Life, I have unearthed my old flame that is Jordan Catalano, and in the light of my own experience with jerky guys, I have come to the conclusion that Jordan Catalano is a major douche. I have no idea why I never realized this when I first watched the series, because Angela’s absolutely crushed face is practically perpetually on screen. Really, he has mastered the art of douchebaggery. And the dude can’t even “read good.” At least Jesse, from Gilmore Girls is brooding and literate. Tim Riggins, from Friday Night Lights (who has been, incidentally, dubbed the new Jordan Catalano) only hides behind his good looks, football padding and permanent drunken stupor, but “can read, you know.” Jordan’s like, a total loser. I mean, he wrote a song about his frakking car, instead of Angela Chase, who is so obviously beautiful, and so obviously in love with him, never mind that she’s been dubbed “that weird girl,” by Jordan’s similarly dumb-ass friends.

And yet. I mean. I would have to agree with Angela — he leans great.

Please also take into account his face:

It is doubtless that, without a doubt, Jordan Catalano is the only reason I am forgiving Jared Leto for his real-life ways. Let’s face it — the only reason why the world lets Jared Leto get away with half of the things that he’s done in his life (admit it — he’s pretty insane) is because he played Jordan Catalano, for eighteen episodes, for one brief season, for one of the best coming-of-age television shows in existence.

And the world does not forget people like Jordan Catalano. So, you’re welcome, Jared Leto. Please tone down the crazy. For all our sakes.

These days, I have been subsisting on instant noodles, caffeine, Snickers bars and corned beef hash (!) which makes me miss the good old days when I actually ate actual food¹ or when I had time to make (and fantasize about making) lovely dishes aside from the usual salads:

Not to be all woe-is-me (but really, woe-is-me!) but my diet these days is pretty bad and food intake has been erratic. I would go for hours without food but gorge myself as soon as I got home. It is worst(/best?) right after a trip to the supermarket, which usually results into another trip to the supermarket… but enough about food. Here is my current thesis strategy, since I usually end up being distracted by online “frivolity”²:

That’s right! Good, old-fashioned note-cards map-pinned to a sheet of corrugated board (because cork is really, really expensive, and I have no walls). So far, it’s been working. But only as long as I keep my eyes on the board and my hands off my laptop.

I’ve also been trying to spend my time doing things related to my thesis, even if only tangentially. Which is why I have been watching episodes of My So-Called Life. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s about a girl called Angela Chase (played by Claire Danes) and her high school woes. I bet you can see why I love it. But seriously, I completely forgot how much I love this show. This is a funny screencap from the third episode:

Hardee-har-har. ALSO, I’ve taken to drawing, as a practice for my ambitious thesis that will probably erupt in flames, for no reason other than I suck. Um. Yeah. So, while perusing my Google Reader³ I saw a few exercises that I think I would enjoy doing:

FIRST: What I Wore Today.

UM. I stayed home. There is no body because I have yet to master the
human-body-drawing-skill, but if you are looking to look (heh!) at clothes
that people who actually know how to draw wear, their Flickr group!

SECOND: With / Without / Covet
I think this is pretty much explanatory.
Also, reflective of the LACK OF CAKE in my life.
Here is their Flickr group

So, as we can see, even though I am wasting a lot of time, I am technically still being productive. Even if just a smidgen. I’m just saying.

FOOTNOTES
¹ Thank you to my mother, who feeds me real food every dinner time. And lunch on weekends. <3
² This mostly consists of Tumblr, which I am enjoying very much, even after a year:
 
³ This is in bold because Google Reader is amazing.

The reason why I haven’t really been talking about my thesis is not because it’s top secret or because I’ve been so busy working at it that I didn’t have time or space to talk about it. The main reason why I never really talk about my thesis (save for a vague “basta, it’s about pop culture.”) is because I haven’t really gotten around to fleshing it out and actually working on it. It’s curious that I have checked out several books to help back up my very flimsy thesis statement, surrendered a couple hundred bucks in overdue fees and have had very little to say about it.

So, today, I am telling anyone who cares, and those who asked and I’ve blown off, about it. I’ve whittled the ginormous and vague ‘pop culture’ to three main focuses, all of which happen to be the main characters of television shows: Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars), Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Angela Chase (My So-Called Life). What started out as, supposedly, a collection of general commentary on films, music and television has been “reduced” to a book on three of my favorite T.V. characters. I’m going to write about how they are similar, something like that, and it’s generally going to be all in good fun. The design aspect’s going to be the general layout of the book, which will feature articles, “artistic renditions” (if I figure out how to draw in time) and informational graphics, much like these by Feltron.

I’ve recently realized how behind I really am, and I’m just writing this post as a reminder of how much I’ve been slacking off, in hopes that when I log onto the greatest/worst invention of all time (aka, the Internet), I will be reminded of how crappy my thesis is going to be if I don’t get on it and git ‘er done. I’ve only finished several article outlines — the one I’ve fleshed out the most is called “The Cons of Being a Vampire Slayer” — and yeah, wow. I’m really going to have to hustle.

So, there. Now, you know.