City bike

A blogging-cleanse is about to transpire ;).  I've held back on many events that I should have blogged about, so be ware of a slew of blogs to come.

Last month Chihiro-chan and I helped Mar-chan with her marathon training.  So we rode bikes carrying extra Gatorade, water, and snacks packed with electrolytes (Like peanut butter filled pretzels...yum!). We did a 23 mile route:

- one loop of central park starting at 67th street,
- then go across 66th to the east side and over
- to the queensboro bridge,
- back through the park at 59th and
- across 72nd street to riverside,
- down to 14th street, turn around and
- go up until around 116th and back down,
- ending at 72nd and riverside.

It was so windy and cold that day.  Kuddos to Mar-chan for running it all the way through and managing to walk back to the apt and change and walk to the restaurant to feed our hungry faces :)

That day I borrowed Mar-chan's bike has convinced me to get a city bike for myself.  I've been looking around to see what kind I would like for myself.  Something simple, easy, and convenient (If I had a garage to fit a 10' truck then I'd get that with a sign that said, "Move outta my way bi*ch*s! lol jk).  I have a preference for a Japanese city bikes like this Koga-Miyata mountain bike:

 

However, I still do someday hope to be able to enjoy living a Parisian lifestyle.  So secretly the girly-euro side of me wants this gorgeous Batavus Dutch city bike:

oopse! I neglected my blog!?!

Who was I kidding! I couldn't keep up with this blog nor could I snag myself a part-time in the midst of the course.  It dawned on me that it would be a crazy idea to keep up with everything around the third day of the course.  If you know me well, you know that I can maintain a busy body but still manage myself 8 hours of sleep.  And a Casil without the right amount of sleep is....trouble.  So my sleep schedule is something I have to sacrifice and make major adjustments to.  After class, eat something so I don't starve, unwind for about half an hour, then work on projects till about 11pm, take a nap, up again at 2am to finish the residual of my work, and nap again at 4am, then wake up at 7am and head out the door.


I got a little break during the Thanksgiving Holiday. I was able to sleep in, watch movies, enjoy thanksgiving meal that I was forced not to help with, and leftovers and fresh coffee, and little shopping.  On the "work" end we accomplished a business name, a semi-business logo, business colors, purchased business domain name, got business number, scheduled appointment with IP attorney, and got a handful of designs for copyrighting.  Since things are officially getting there and new changes are abound we commenced the beginning of this new beginning with some yummy cigars.  Drew Estate is a unique company in the industry so I guess it was appropriate to have smoked their unique cigars.  They say they are, "The Rebirth of Cigars".  I hope to one day be able to say that about this new venture.  My friend had the Acid 1400cc, and he felt the right cigar for me was the Acid Blondie. :P (that punk, can't he see I'm a brunette!)

Saturday madness!

My weekend is still not over, but yesterday is still so unbelievably vivid so I wanted to blog about it before I start my Sunday.

Woke up super early to make it to the Manhattan Training Center at 7:00am for Summer Training.  Then around 9:15am headed to U haul to pick up my 10' Truck on 23rd and 11th avenue.  A friend and I jumped in the truck and he says, "This is my first time in a uhaul truck." I say, "me too! and my first time driving in the city!" We both crack up, but inside I was screaming madness! I drove north and crossed town to upper east side to meet my friend.  Loaded a bed and a sofa then drove cross town to my place on upper west side then dumped furniture in my room.  Dropped off friend back to MTC then I headed back to U haul.

I secretly was so damn proud of myself so I decided to not go home just yet and enjoy my Saturday.  I hit up Chelsea flea market and found many treasures!! Its really just an avenue long, but there was so much to take in, more so than at Honolulu Swap Meet! Lots of cool antiques and vintage jewelry.  My phone was dying so I wasn't able to snap pics to help me with my design ideas. I did also meet Celebrity Chef, Brett August (finalist on Food Network's NFNS) he had a booth set up and I bought his Carrot Bread and Zucchini bread.

Later, I meet up with a few friends and we get lunch at the Chelsea Market (different from the Chelsea FLEA market). We ate - Pollo Panini, Lobster Roll, Currpy won tons, Cookie n Cream milk shake. Yumm! Then we walk to another underground flea market on 25th between 5th and 6th avenue.  This flea market was unbelievable! So the parking structure closes on weekends and so it becomes a flea market with even more more more antique treasures to be found! I didn't get anything from here, but took in a lot of design ideas.

As soon as I got home I organized my room with my queen size bed and double seat sofa and tried putting my curtains up (big fail!).  Ate some zucchini bread and took a big long nap...and woke up and now it's Sunday morning :)

Scored these antique gold plated and ceramic earrings at Chelsea flea market for a buck!

Day #5 - Vapur

So exhausted!  

Sorry, I'm so pooped so this is a real short, boring blog.

But check out what I found at MoMA (refer to Day #3 blog)

Vapur, The Anti Bottle

 

Day #4 - Yanni

Today started off pretty insane. To keep my cool I thought about maybe my lack of gratitude for all the little things.

We've been working elbow deep in a whole bunch of sketching and shading techniques.  It's been pretty tedious and intense. So to make it easier for us (if our lighting isn't cutting it) the school offers us designer boards that we can put on our desk that allows us to do our work at an angle. I opted not to use it. The theme of my life lately has been, "Frugal hand trumps Luxury hand".  In starting my business there will be sacrifices to make and I know for starters that a designer board definitely lands on the "luxury hand".  We are given so many tools for so many different things that I can't keep up with all of them.  I'm a simple girl. So my choice is to tough it out. If you can balance innovation, resourcefulness with passion then things work out better than "okay". Take Yanni for example. This man had a passion for beautiful music.  He grew up with just a piano and no music instructors.  He created his beautiful music with what he had in his head and invented a style of music all his own (literally - he has his own music writing style). 

So while doing my work I thought about all this and thought about everyone I look up to and the hardships they have endured.  I'm pretty lucky.  I should have more gratitude for every little thing.  But instead of Yanni my iPod played Yann Tiersen today :) Yann Tiersen is a combination of my two faves: Yanni and Paris! (And yes! I do admit to being a Yanni fan.  Proud fan since middle school, baby!!)

Day #3 - Drinking Water

I decided that since I'm getting a second chance at things then I might as well go all out and be an overachieving dork.  So I completed all my projects in class today.  The drive to excel and get everything done so that I don't have any work to do at home was the hope to get a run in at Central Park or a little bit of yoga.

So throughout the day there was a lot of talk going around about drinking water and the cost of water. We noticed that there are no drinking fountains on campus.  There are snack and drink vending machines, but no drinking fountain.  There is a refrigerator and a microwave, but no drinking fountain. I had to take a part my purse to find every nickel and dime I could get to pay for a bottle of water. I never realized that a bottle of water can actually be such a huge dilemma.  See, as a foot commuter, you take what you can carry - books, wallet, cell phones, iPod, gym clothes, umbrella, home lunch, a bottle of water, etc.  When you carry a bottle of water it's usually filled with water then at the end of the day you can fill it with water from a drinking fountain and have water on your commute to your next destination.  But if you have no access to drinking water then you are left with an empty bottle that takes up room and space in your bag and if you're thirsty you gotta pay another buck or two to get more water.

So I did no running or yoga tonight.  Instead, I decided to use my time off to go venture with a classmate to get last minute supplies for cheap!

Supply shopping went as follows:
*Cheap sheet protectors at Kmart
*Cheap tiny paint canisters at Bed Bath & Beyond
Then all i needed was a piece of glass, acrylic or mirror

So we decide to hit Jack's World because they have a 99 cent store as well.  So I got a picture frame with an acrylic plate for ninety-nine cents! We also scored Brita Pitchers for $9.99!!! vs $21 dollars everywhere else. 

So we're keeping a pitcher in the campus refrigerator.  Drinking water for all!! :)

$9.99 Brita Pitcher from Jack's World

 I realized I take many small things for granted.  Today and everyday, I give thanks to water. 


Side note: My blogs lately have no mention about the content of what's going on in my class because it's just a whole bunch of facet drawing and shading.  No one wants to read about that.  Then again no one really wants to read about my cheap finds.  But once class gets more interesting, I promise my blogs will too.  HAHA!

Day #2 - Facet Junctions

So technically, today was my first "real" day of class.  After a crazy, insane, mind blowing weekend; I woke up at the crack of dawn and got myself ready, prepped my lunch, and mentally prepped for my first day. 

There are a lot of things to get used to. Besides being in a new home, the next most obvious change would be my commute.  Going to temple, going to church, going to parties [just noticed I listed "partying" after "praising" - yessss, I know my priorities ;)], going to get groceries, going to school, all require a different set of trains, cabs, subways, walk to get there.  For instance - going to temple: Leave apt, walk to subway, take 1,2 or 3 to Times Square, transfer to S to Grand Central, catch the 9:48am Metro North to White Plains Station, then catch cab to temple. And, that's actually a not-so-bad trip.  Getting to the beach like Fire Island, however, is just a whole other "OMG" type of story.

In due time, all these changes (making my own lunch, being a loner at school) will eventually become part of my daily routine.  My Oh-my-gawd-I'm-changing-my-entire-life paranoia isn't as bad as I had imagined (so far).  Things get thrown at me left and right and I'm impressed at how I've been handling it.  Today in class while properly drafting diamonds the instructor asks us to, "draw in the facet junctions" - The wha?!? It threw me off for a few seconds before I made a mental note to look it up when I get home.

One thing I can easily get used to and will always look forward to is my sister texting me daily pics of Nohea's daily routine. 

She sleeps all day :)

Day #1 - Bodily Fluids

Today felt like Christmas! Everything was perfect on Orientation day.  Entering campus felt like I was going in for a Spa Treatment.  I never imagined that a school could make you feel so pampered.  Its a small class of about 14 students and everyone came from countries across the globe: Taiwan, India, Bombay, Mexico, Panama, Canada, Japan, Philippines, even as far as New Jersey! [just kidding ;-)]

We had a campus tour, reviewed the syllabus for the term, then we opened our Christmas gifts of text books and cool goodies stored in our jewelry design tool box.  We even got a triangle ruler that you can only get from Austria!? Crazy, right? Then we watched a video on safety where "bodily fluids" was mentioned one too many times it started to make me feel uncomfortable to the point where I felt an urge to go make an appointment to see a gynecologist.

Today's experience solidified my decision in taking the step in changing my career.  Actually the moment I knew this school was a perfect fit for me was....(see image below). Last week, some friends and I went to Ikea to grab a few things since we all either moved into new rooms or moved in period.  We picked up this cool conventional white light desk lamp.  I thought, "I could use a cool 'Pixar-looking' lamp for my workstation in my room".  So in class today the instructor advised us to create our workstation at home and to get ourselves our own white light lamp as well over the weekend.  The work lamp on my workstation at school is exactly like the one I got at Ikea!  A light-bulb went off in my head (no pun intended). I am exactly where I am supposed to be!

"my at-home workstation"

FORSÅ work lamp from Ikea

Conversations

Fire Island, NY

What I've been living off of these past few weeks are the conversations with friends and loved one.

• Great reads and why we couldn't put the book down
• Why don't I have any blog posts for the year 2009?
• Passion in creating ideas that we know will just work...gourmet cupcakes on wheels?
• Why we should eat at "X" instead of "Z" and on a Tuesday instead of a Friday night
• Why I've made it back here and when you'll be back there
• Sharing similar fears, having the same gratitude, and totally embracing the present with hot coffee and great conversations...

White noise

Barbara Cole ROCKS! Her work reminds me of real life images of what Edgar Degas sees in his head. Don't you feel like jumping into the ocean and dancing a little ;)

Remembering a gift

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." - Coco Chanel

Happy Birthday to Coco Chanel!!!

Verdura's gift to Chanel became a gift to the world of jewelry design.

This one has no focal point. Prepare to be boggled!

These past few weeks has been devoted to making lists and making sure that during this experience I apply the things I've learned from my past experiences: 1) No procrastinating 2) Careful planning.  Despite how excited I am for this new change, it's been complete chaos! I'm overwhelmed with things to do on my list, but I just don't know where to start. I bounce off the walls going back and forth on different things to do....

So, with that said, I'm going to bag the "move" discussion and blog about the joys of Taiko drumming.

Words cannot explain the gratitude and joy I have for having been given the opportunity to be a part of, how do I say it? Maybe this: "the art of conveying joy through the hit of the taiko drum".  It really is exactly that.  Everything you are feeling at that very moment shoots out from your core/your heart/your soul and extends out through your body till it reaches the tip of your drum stick and explodes at each hit of the taiko.  That explosion of happiness reaches out to every soul out there.  It's such an amazing feeling.

I'm not good with words.  Hence this random blog for blogging to help me master writing.  In the end, the best way I ever really express what I really want to share is through art.  When my mom first gave me a piece of paper and pencil to practice writing my name and the ABC's, I made it a goal to sketch humpback whales. Yeah! no kidding.  Back then in elementary I didn't know what it was with my obsession of coloring, painting, sketching humpback whales, but I was so completely fascinated. I almost peed my pants when they announced in the 3rd or 4th grad that we get to go on a whale watch field trip! Shit, I'm going off tangent.  What on earth is my point here? Oh, it's my obsession with creating. Creating what I feel.

Now back to my taiko topic.  Taiko allows me to express what I'm feeling within.  That explosion of emotion and feelings with each hit of the taiko, I created. 

Is blogging a form of art?

His Story, Her Story

..."And I remember thinking, 'Maybe I shouldn't feel so ashamed. Maybe, one day, Allah willing, I can become a great lady too.'" - Jahan, one of the first educated woman in the history of Braldu Valley (Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson)

Sterling silver cuff by C. Casil

The marker for the beginning of this new journey.  Sketched it on my notebook, carved it out of wax, then began the cire perdue process. Created with sterling silver in a class that was just supposed to be an outlet from my nine-to-five career. The theme, the motivation, the inspiration - pretty hard to explain to strangers, in a blog post, to the world wide web.  The strength, the femininity, the humanity is hard to showcase in a cuff bracelet, but that is a brief summary of the inspiration that helped create and complete this project.

To get a little bit of understanding, I'll leave you with these suggested reads by great men: Greg Mortenson and Nicholas Kristof.

take a glorious bite of the whole world

Growing old used to be a scary thought for me, but now I've come to embrace it.  My age has been brought up several times in conversations with friends this past week and if the intention was to make me feel old, I didn't quite catch that message. What has changed with age is my love for traveling. Haven't traveled to many places yet, but I'm getting there. It's hard to describe the specifics of what it is exactly that I love about traveling; however, if I had to the state the obvious it would be: 1) the food 2) the art 3) the architecture 4) the language 5) and the location (duh!). 

The past few years I've gone on many travels for business purposes and personal leisure trips.  If you want to travel outside of Hawaii you are required to travel across the vast Pacific Ocean and there's no way out of it because, well - we're on an island! My latest trip has opened my eyes to really experiencing the joys of traveling.  Of course, there is no escaping that if you are traveling to Paris.  Maybe it was a combination of the situation I escaped, the situation I was in presently, and the situation that I envision being in the future that culminated into what I was experiencing right there in that city.  Drinking cafe la creme after a meal, sitting at the park behind the Eiffel tower, riding the bus to Montrésor, milking a cow at the local dairy farm, whatever the situation may have been - I was completely immersed in it.  Unlike the travels I've done before to Tahiti, Costa Rica, the Phillippines, etc. this Parisian experience was unlike any other.  Probably because of the whole idea of accepting and being a completely whole person exactly where I was.  

So to the rest of the world out there that I have yet to experience - I will see you in a few and I look forward to meeting you  ;)

kalos kai agathos

Balancing the good and the beautiful. I've been wanting a way to swim in this kind of notion since I've been five. The world I created in secret when I was that age was beautiful, peaceful, fun, and serene.  There was only one option and it was clear, precise and perfectly right to me. I didn't think I was a little bit crazy, what kid thinks they're crazy? I loved my little weird projects of paper dolls, carved chalk dolls, and daydreams. Of course, as we get older we change. We are influenced by everything around us.  We are faced with other options, different projects, and then our daydreams even change.

Now I am here revisiting the secret world I created and today it still is beautiful, peaceful, fun, and serene.  There has only been one option for me and it fits just right.  So going back to a comment my nephew made last summer - There is absolutely nothing wrong with basking in the thought of a "world made of jello" (except the people inhabiting the world, of course).

Must reads:  Eat, Pray, Love; Top tips from women entrepreneurs: Linda Rottenberg - How I Did It

The conflicts around us

I'm a Mac ... and I've Got a Dirty Secret - The best video clips are right here

Last month I just signed a petition in support of the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009.  To support accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of most of our electronic devices such as cell phones.  Last month I also upgraded my phone and got myself a blackberry bold. Now I feel completely terrible! Just recently people lined up for the latest and greatest Apple iPhone  Through all my research in trying to discover ways in which my company can be beneficial to everyone vs. bottom line focused, I've become completely overwhelmed. The Sarbanes and Oxley Act had ask for transparency in corporate accounting practices.  I feel that today consumers should want to also know what conflicts companies are supporting.

An article titled, "Death by Gadget" by NY Times Op-Ed columnist, Nick Kristof talks about these "elegant symbols of modernity" and how they are built from minerals that are fueled by mass rape and killings in the Congo. He asks, "What if we could harness that desperation for new technologies to the desperate need to curb the killing in central Africa?" I ask myself, "What do I need to do and how?"

My desire to be constantly aware and to bring about awareness is what inspires the collections of my future designs. In order for me to continue on this momentum I must constantly be doing something to help even if it's just a tiny step. As long as I'm continuously making these small steps I know I can make bigger steps with my company in the near future. Conflict minerals is not the main reason for the war in Congo, but it is one aspect of it. But I believe any amount of help is still beneficial.

How we can help: www.raisehopeforCongo.org 

I love who I am and I will love what I do :)

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." - Abraham Lincoln's Annual Letter to Congress one month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation.

If you are sitting unhappily at your desk at work while repeatedly reciting the forced "I love my job" mantra then I suggest digging deep into your childhood memory file cabinet and re-exploring the most bizarre things you've done as a kid and remembering the feeling of gratification you had from it. Because that may be the ticket to your happy place! Well, it is for me.

We shouldn't limit our capacity and ignore our passions because of the uncertainties of the real world.

If you have a 1/2 hour to spare, watch these presentations:

Diamonds (and roses) Are a Girl's Best friend

There is so much good that can be produced, but even in the process we must always remember the work and people behind it. Were we not taught that it is never really about the end result, but instead the process of how we get there? I know I've been told about the essence in literally everything, even material things such as our cars. Watching this video made it more clear for me. So now, with this new business venture I'm pursuing, I know that nothing will be overlooked. The essence of life is in everything because there is always someone's heart involved in the process.

Paris, je t'aime!

I'm so sure I'm not the only one that has fallen head over heels with Paris :)

I'm officially back in Hawaii and last month has truly paved a small path in front of me...so now - slowly, but surely I'm taking my steps :)

Paris! I'll be back to make out mad with you again ;-)

xoxo

Spiced Chai

All these absorbing and openess has taught me to really appreciate the little things in life. The culprit that helped me realize this was a small cup of spiced chai from Ozzies here in Brooklyn. I did not want the taste to end. It made me truly grateful to the little things that can make us feel so immensely happy and even more gratitude to the people, events, etc that work in helping us feel that same happiness :-)

Mmmm spiced chai...I'm in love

music music music....FREE

My ears are happy when I feed them a little bit of Coldplay every now and then.  They help me go through my work day a lot easier.  Especially when you are expected to make miracles happen on a daily basis.

Get your free Coldplay dose here :-)   

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Tine is: Architype Van Doesberg - brutally fair


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Tine's favorite: I want to help someone; I have ghosts; I want to meet a celebrity.  Okay they are all very funny! Enjoy

Where did 2009 go?

Okay, I've been absent from the blogging world for over a year.  So hard to believe that my last post was in Oct 2008.  So much happened in 2009 and I didn't document it here.

Hmmmm....

Well, I'm back and I'll be blogging again :-)