Oatmeal

Every time I eat oatmeal, the following dialogue occurs in my head:

[After the first few spoonfuls] "Oh, this is delicious! I don't know why I thought it was disgusting!"

[Half way through] "Ugh, now I remember why... the texture makes me want to gag at about this point."

[When I'm done] "I never want oatmeal ever again."

Then I don't eat oatmeal for a year. I guess the lesson learned is that I should only eat very tiny portions of oatmeal at one sitting.

<3 jen

Quick Baltimore Comicon Recap!

It was kind of exciting, flying out by myself - it was my first flight out of Boston! :) Arrived in Baltimore, and checked into the hotel.

Got to the con at about 10:15ish, and there was a line to buy tickets! I've only been to ECCC, and it's much smaller. The line wasn't too bad and it moved quickly, and I love people watching so it all worked out. Said hi to Kris, but then I was really hungry from being up so early and ran out to grab some food.

Finished just in time to make it to the webcomics panel, which consisted of the Halfpixel Guys (Brad Guigar, Scott Kurtz, Kris Straub, and Dave Kellett), Danielle Corsetto, and Scott Sava. It was really funny. A lot of the points they made had been made either on the podcast or at Emerald City, but they are so amusing nonetheless. It was especially amusing when there was a sign language translator.

Got to meet Magnolia, who is superawesome and really cool! I knew I had found a kindred spirit when she confessed she loved watching old Simpsons episodes with the commentary on!! We might have spent more time hanging out and talking then actually being on the convention floor, which I didn't mind in the least.

One thing I made sure to was to stop by the Digital Pimp booth to say hi to Joe Dunn, one of my favorite artists. He is such a nice guy and so talented, and I picked up the 1st print collection of Matriculated.

Went out to dinner with Kris, Magnolia, Malki, Kevin, Aaron, and some other people and it was really fun watching Kris, Malki, Kevin and Aaron do impressions. After dinner we hung out at the Marriott bar and just goofed off. It was crazy crowded in there, and it was great. This guy randomly started talking to me and Danielle when we went to get drinks. I don't remember the conversation but I remember thinking it was kind of awkward. Someone even asked, "What was that all about?" Oh welp. Edit: yeah I remember the convo, at least the beginning. He was saying how annoying it was to be always carded b/c he didn't look 21, and apparently neither did we. Something like that.

Eventually the group petered out and it was just me, Magnolia, Kris and Danielle. It was nice because we were sitting in the plush hotel lobby sofas, and we could have a conversation without having to yell. Danielle's friend, assistant and roommate Katie wandered over with this giant jug of sangria, which was fun.

The next day Magnolia and continued to wander around the con floor. For a little bit Magnolia manned Kris's booth for him and handed out a buttload of fliers. One guy came up and asked us if the jinxlets were free, and I said, "No." I dunno why he thought they would be free. Idiot.

Then I met up with Brandon J. Carr, my homie, and went out to lunch with him and got to meet Jorge Vega, who looks like Turk from Scrubs. It was good seeing him! I love cons because I get to see my artsy-fartsy friends that live so far away.

We went back to Danielle's booth so I could pick up a copy of her book, and she remembered my name which was so awesome! I'm pretty sure I stopped by her booth at least 4 times to say hi those two days.

Sundays are always nice as a con because it's not as crowded and crazy so it's easier to just wander around and look. Baltimore is very mainstream American comic-heavy, so there wasn't much for me to do. I do wish that I could have had Robert Kirkman sign my Marvel Zombies 2 issue 5, but I forgot to bring it back on Sunday. Otherwise, I didn't really have any interest in any of the artists there besides those in the webcomics community. It was also kind of annoying because there were just crazy lines everywhere, making it hard to even just look at stuff.

After the con was over, I helped Kris move stuff and then met up with everyone else for dinner. Got to talk to Brad Guigar for a little bit which was nice. I think a big reason why I like cons is because I get to meet so many nice and interesting people. I did feel a little silly not knowing much about the Orphan Works Bill when Gugiar asked me, especially since Intellectual Property law is what I want to do. (side note: glad it got shot down in the Senate. Any statute with a "good faith" element is going to be icky)

Danielle knew of this really great sushi place in Inner Harbor, so we went and it was DELICIOUS. I got to sit with Danielle and talking with her was a lot of fun. She was nice enough to talk to me when everyone else was talking webcomic business and stuff. I ordered this delicious avocado and unagi sushi which was awesome. The waitress was Chinese, and from HK, and got excited when I could speak Cantonese to her and that my parents are also from HK. She was really funny. Also, there was a sushi called the "Sweetheart Roll" shaped like a heart!! and I kept saying Danielle is my "sweetheart roll." which she totally is. ^_^

After that I hung out with Kris, Kevin, Aaron and Malki. Aaron showed us this really ... interesting... webcomic, and Malki showed us this really great cafepress store. They also talked about webcomic business stuff. Even though I'm not in the webcomics business, I still love listening to all these conversations. I think I just love listening to people who are passionate about what they do.

By then it was 2 in the morning, and I originally was planning to take the light rail from Inner Harbor to the airport, but after walking around and 1) seeing a ton of motorcycles and atvs roaring down the street, with one of the atvs running a red light while weaving through the cars crossing the intersection, and 2) seeing many shady people, including one person who may or may not have been yelling at himself (could have been on a bluetooth...eh.) at the light rail stop I was planning on waiting at, and 3) noticing the poorly lit streets, I decided that it would be best to take a cab instead.

At that point I realized that 2 hours of sleep would do me no good, and so we decided to just stay awake until I had to leave for the airport. We just hung out and talked in the hotel lobby, which was nice. At ECCC there wasn't much opportunity for conversation, so it was nice having that time to talk. Kris is a great guy, and was like a big brother to me throughout the weekend. I find it weird (in a "who woulda thought?" kind of way) that we're friends, but glad that we're friends.

Finally, I begrudgingly left the hotel and made my way to the airport. You have no idea how sad I was. I passed out on the airplane, and made my way back to Boston. Needless to say, school was really hard yesterday (technically two days ago). I almost nodded off twice in Contracts! (Thankfully my professor can't see all that well and the class is fairly large and I sit in the back and therefore he didn't notice) John was understanding and didn't begrudge me when I (gently) punched him several times throughout the day.

Okay, begrudge is a great word. teehee.

<3 jen

oh! Kris put up a recap video on his website. I'm in it! yay. yaaaaaaaaaay.

Haymarket

Haymarket is this Farmer's Market that is near Faneuil Hall every Friday and Saturday, and it's really crazy. It's just a line of vendors with rediculously cheap produce. The catch is that you have to buy a ton of it, and the quality is so-so. I ended buying 3 lbs each of tomatoes, beans, and peaches for $1 for each 3lbs of produce. I also got 3 avocados for $1 (they turned out to be really mushy, but perfect for guacamole) and 6 limes for $1. I ended freezing most of the beans and I've been putting tomatoes in everything I've been cooking the last couple of days.

Sunday in the Commons

I had finished my research assignment and so I decided to go to Charles street to see if DeLuca's sold baguettes (they didn't but they had these really delicious garlic rosemary croutons that did the trick), and cut through the Commons. It was kind of dark, but I could still see okay. I saw two groups of elderly Chinese people, speaking Cantonese. It made me miss SCAC, and hearing people I know speak Cantonese (besides when I talk to my parents on the phone). I don't know why but it was kind of soothing hearing those elderly Chinese people talk about the ducks in the Commons, and it made me especially miss my grandma, who I don't see too often because she lives in San Francisco. I also wanted to say something to then in Chinese, as if to say, "Look, I'm Chinese too! We share a common bond!" and also because I miss speaking Chinese - it's something I'm proud of, y'know?

Heroes (spoilers)

...was meh. Sylar came back and didn't do much, although the last 30 seconds of the show was great. Something I realized was that it seems like they're trying to make Claire and Peter more coupley-seeming, but they're uncle and niece, so EW. I also hate all the characters except Hiro, Ando, Nemesis, and Matt. Oh and Ma Patrelli because she's actually interesting and drives the plot forward.

I really feel like they're trying to add too many new characters at one go, so that we end up following 10 different storylines, and not one gets to be fully fleshed out.

Finally

Here 10 songs I've recently dled that I really enjoy:

1. One Fine Wire - Colbie Callat
2. Vanessa Carlton - White Houses
3. Ooh La La - The Faces (the last scene in Rushmore is so amazing. I love Wes Anderson movies no matter what anyone else says)
4. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
5. Use Somebody - Kings of Leon (saw them perform on SNL and they were amazing!)
6. Just Dance - Lady Gaga
7. Check Yes Juliet - We The Kings (I think it's because they sound like Girls Like Boys who I really adore)
8. Who Knew - P!nk
9. That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed) - Panic! At the Disco
10. Viva La Vida - Coldplay

<3 jen

I am a full-fledged law student! Huzzah. Here's what I've been doing as of my last update:

Cindy came to visit Labor Day weekend, and painted the town a lovely peach colour. We went to Finale's, Newbury Street, Faneuil Hall & Quincy Market, North End, The Museum of Fine Arts, The New England Aquarium, and the JFK Presidential Library and Museum (the name is kind of misleading though, because access to the library is only allowed for researchers). We ate pizza, pasta, more pasta, desserts, sangria, cannolis and macaroons, dippin' dots, divine gourmet chocolates, crumpets, seafood, and risotto. It was a very busy and fun weekend.

I love Borders. It's a good place to study because I can grab a coffee, and there's some background noise but it's not distracting (except for when I sat behind a Chinese girl who was practicing her conversational English with another girl, and they were talking about weddings and the differences between Chinese and American weddings). Also I have no internet so that helps me focus.

Yesterday my friend Quincy had a potluck gettogether for people in our section. Her place is a nice size for a gettogether, and about 13 people (myself included) were present. At the insistence of one of my classmates I made risotto for the third time in two weeks, but it seemed like everyone liked it so that made me happy. My classmates are great and we're all full-fledged law students because that's mostly what we talked about. I used to gripe when people would talk about their walk at fellowship or general hanging outness, but now I hang my head in shame because that's what we did. I felt kind of bad for the significant others that came, because I'm sure they were confused most of the time. I also had a really yummy green tea cake. I miss Asian cuisine, because I haven't really had any since I've moved here, and our Chinatown is pitiful compared to Seattle's. Sigh. At least I know a good dim sum place ^_^

Today I went to Central Square for the first time to buy art supplies. I ended up doing a fan art for Multiplex, which you can see here. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I am always nervous painting acrylic because there's a point where if you mess up, it's game over. For me, it's the face, because if you mess up the face then the painting is ruined. I wish I had done a better job with the hair, and that I had made his facial shape more like Kurt's, but I think most people who see it can tell that it's Kurt.

Still haven't gone dancing though. I think I feel guilty for going out on a school night. Must break that thought and go dancing, for as Christine said, "You need to take a break from the studying!" (becuase I'm very studious. Yes.)

<3 jen

 Candorville is one of my favorite comics. It smartly tackles a lot of issues and is able to balance serious and funny. I heart it, and love that Darrin puts it online for free for everyone to read. This was from a couple of days ago that made me especially laugh:

Check it out: http://candorville.com/

<3 jen