Book Club

I was having a discussion with Jeremy yesterday about his love/hate relationship with contemporary literature. As an avid reader, he expressed his lament about how the prose in recent fictions are often too "easily digestible" and "mass oriented". Though their subject matters tend to pertain to issues people deal with on a daily basis thus making them very relatable in the sense that the stories could very well be true. He however finds that a great deal of successful contemporary writers (ie. Palanuik and Coupland) stick too much to the "formula of success" by identifying too much with sensationalism and commercialism. To him, he believes that the writings don't delve deep enough into the nature of life and the conditions of humanity. Conversely, he finds classic Russian literature (ie. Tolstoy and Dostoyesky) to be a lot more compelling and realistic. 

I on the other hand am much more appreciative of what writers can do nowadays. Some of my favourite writers are quite popular with the masses precisely because their prose are easy to understand and straight forward. I also find underrated local writers to be especially inspiring (read Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai, it's amazing!). Then I realized his problem existed within the confines of modern living. If you ever read classical fictions, and compare them to a book that may live on to one day become a classic piece of work, you'll see just how the struggles of the human race has changed. Books such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights have heavy focuses on the oppression, prejudices and general hardship. Whereas books such as Fight Club, and Hey Nostradamus! express the anguish and discontentment of isolation and losses. I'm not saying that modern literature don't deal with what classical fictions deal with but modern literature is "easily digestible" because people are primed to digest issues like that. Intense political struggles and poverty are not as poignant as they would be back in the days and people aren't as ready to live vicariously when they read those things as they would if they were reading about personal mental states and the pressures of living in a highly competitive society. Thus the reason why Jeremy would find old classical literature more compelling is because they deal so intensely with overcoming adversity. Life in the 1900's is fucking hard! In 2012, not so much because nothing really directly threaten our survival (at least not in this part of the world).

Oh hey, I got green and purple ombre (fancy way of saying dip dye) in my hair.

Nope, not askin' for directions.

I've been feeling pretty inspired lately due to the fact that I pretty much have been staying at home and sewing and playing music. As suffocating as it can be at times, being housebound isn't all bad when you dedicate your time to your favorite hobbies. And for me, it's making dresses and playing around with all of my quirky instruments I've recently added a pair of spoons to my collection and have been annoying the hell out of everyone with them). Having discovered the silver lining of my joblessness I'm starting to feel somewhat lucky for the fact that I have all the time in the world to do the things I love. And this blessing in disguise may have just presented itself as a new possibly for I have been contemplating about going into fashion design. Of course, I wouldn't just rashly commit to something as big as a career change. Because ever since high school, I thought my true calling was in psychiatry. However, I slowly discovered that I'm really not cut out for the grueling process of graduate school and medical school. So I guess what the moral of the story is that I can never really know or prepare for what's to come. Who know, maybe it's time for something different...completely different?

These thrifted Banana Republic pants are so incredibly comfortable. They used to have flare bottoms and fitted a little awkwardly due to the disproportionate length. But after I altered them into slim trousers, they're much more flattering and stylish.

I've been working with and wearing lace a lot just because it is the the single best material since cotton and this AA raglan is the best of the both worlds.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Three plane rides, numerous car trips and sixteen hours later I finally made it home from St. Louis, Missouri. The four day trip consisted of copious amount of drinking, dancing and stewing in above 30 degree heat and humidity; so all in all a good time. In the midst of partying like there's no tomorrow I realize just how lucky I am to have been surrounded by awesome people so for the first time in a long time I truly my time being away from home.
Here's something you don't know about me, I am an incredibly shy person upon first encounter and sometimes I come off as being even a little stand-offish. Thus I've always been awkward in social situations when crowds of strangers and semi-strangers are involved. However, this time it was different, I felt at ease in the company of others. This new found sensation was foreign at first then I slowly realized that maybe this is merely a sign of growing up and being able to let go of old habits. This is the dress I made for my friend's wedding I attended in St. Louis. The top is made from scratch from lace and the bottom was a trifted skirt I had recently purchased in Seattle. I meant to take some pictures of me wearing it at the wedding but like I said, there was a lot of drinking.

Looks, it's a tornado! Actually, I'm not sure what it was. My friends said it was just a plume of smoke coming out of that factory, but I say it's some sort of mist pillar. But I really just wanted to take a picture of the Mississippi river.
When I got home yesterday, I was treated with a pleasant e-mail which informed me that my blog review is up and I was also awarded the Featured Blogger badge.