Greetings from San Marino, California.

As several friends have instructed me, I'm supposed to regale them with stories, display works of art on websites... but most of all, they all seem to genuinely wish me happy and safe travels.

This is why they are my friends. How I love them so.
=]

It is 1114 PM here, but my laptop's clock says 2:14AM. Good old Eastern Standard Time.

For the next two weeks (well, in actuality, less than that now), I will be traveling. Consider this to be a mini-series of sorts - and so whenever I get the chance, I will update this.

Day one in the beautiful, sunny suburbs of Los Angeles county has been great. Flew in last night on a relatively peaceful flight - a great, modern airplane. My motion sickness was pacified by drugs, my excitement and apprehension appeased by the presence of "A Walk to Remember" and "Galileo" (episode 1) on my laptop. I slept for half the ride, and awoke to the thousands of lights shining through the night that brought Los Angeles to life.

Today, I went to In-and-Out. Had to. I'd say it was pretty good; and REALLY good for budget-minded folks. (cheap burgers! decent size! see the Zagat guide / review of FAST FOOD. Link to follow.)

I played driver to three old farts - my mother and her two sisters. Don't worry, I feel no qualms in saying 'old farts,' as they 1. are well-aware of this and 2. they constantly joke about it, perhaps a little too much. So me, driving around the suburbs of California... it felt awesome.

Went to an awesome but huge place called Huntington Library. It was not just a library! It contained several art galleries and botanical gardens. I fell in love with the place, especially the botanical gardens of all sorts. It was photo shoot heaven, and pro/amateur photogs were crawling the place (on a random Wednesday, no doubt).
I definitely put a checkmark in my head, saying: "I will return here. I will take lots of portrait photos." ... and certainly thoughts like this crossed me head: "This would be a great place to have my engagement/wedding photos done. This is a great place. This is a great place. So many places. So many photo ideas."

Photos will definitely be posted on ABstudios when I get the chance. It's ABOUT TIME I updated that. Truth be told, I hadn't whipped out my camera since final exams and the semester ended... so for nearly two months, my camera was stowed away. I had been meaning to bring it to the city to take photos after work (Central park, surrounding area, etc)... but hadn't gotten the chance.

Well, my camera's back in action. Only it's thousands of miles away.


This trip seems more of a reflective one; I, the only 21-year-old around... I, defining my role as a 21-year-old on the cusp of 'real life'... I, no longer the child who hangs with the children, yet can't fit in with the whackiness/ideals of the older generation.

Ah, yes. Hollywood and downtown LA tomorrow.

PHOTOS and THOUGHTS to follow.

Goodnight for now.

ひさしぶりですね。
(it has been a long time.)

hello there, oh blog of mine. i have not neglected you; i have simply been 1. too busy! and 2. afraid to blog... because i now work for a major company. when you google my name, a lot of my social networking sites come up (twitter and blogspot, for example). though this is the general direction of this next generation / is a sign of the times, i'm still not used to censoring myself when it comes to writing.. so i have to be careful.

summer 2009 has been different.
i'm working full time.. doing the daily grind at ABC in NYC. i love my work there.. and wish i could divulge my skill-sets... the learning experiences i've had for the past month, etc. in general, i've been taught that you truly need to love what you do in order to succeed. and secondly, you need to meet the task with professionalism, seriousness, but also maintain a certain comraderie with co-workers. as if my previous working experiences have not taught me this already... but i need to really prove myself at this internship. i have many talents.. but no one will know that unless i show them. all in good time. i'm hoping and praying that i will continue to impress and push push push.

even if i really want a free summer.. a summer of travel and being with friends.. it isn't what i need to do right now. i know i need to work and have fun. i need to balance.

the only thing that i lack is sleep and down time. i need to schedule that into my life too.. it is important. they say that less sleep can equate to depression/apathy/feeling like sh*t. i believe that. it's true. i need to get shut-eye to keep level-headed.

what has occupied my free time as of late...?
watching sappy/romantic/funny japanese dramas. of course, hanging out with friends as well (perhaps a little too much). they make me giddy as a young girl (the dramas), hopeful and wishful for romantic encounters like those i see in tv (a thin slice of hope that such shows/movies can come true. haha). the hangouts with friends keep me sane and also enhance my appreciation for friendship and loved ones... more than i tell each and every one of them. they are very important to my well-being, and i hope that i can give them something in return.


i suppose this is a 'to-be-continued' blog!

--
so many things to give this world.
the chances we take...
i'm working on defining myself.
making an impact.
somehow.