mishmash

my brain has been in a perpetual state of fried lately. i'm constantly trying to keep my head above the piles of reading to complete and papers to write for class. there is always another deadline right around the corner. and yes, i did sign up for all this when i decided to enroll in grad school so really, i'm not complaining.

but since sleep has been compromised and so has my social calendar, blogging sadly has also taken a backseat. here, in no particular order, are snippets of thoughts i've meant to blog but haven't had the time...

• when you attend school for a program in arts administration with a bunch of girls who are all artists and art-lovers, this means no one wears sweatpants to class. NO ONE. even the three guys (2 gay, 1 straight) in my class always look good. and it's not just looking put together - every one of my classmates has their own sense of style, their signature. there's the girl with the braids who always wears large lattice-like earrings. and the girl with the short hair who works for phillips de pury and always carries a kate spade bag. or the black girl from brooklyn whose amazing collection of colorful hosiery astounds me. or the guy who's interning at christie's and always wears a tie and sometimes vest to class. gone are the days of bumming in class.

• my brain feels like it's about to explode. besides the copious amounts of reading we have to do for class, there is so much external reading to do just to keep up with current events, exhibitions, art news.... and with my particular interest in art and social justice/community development, this means i have to stay abreast of public policy as well. keep those rss feeds coming.....

• my supervisor at work, the senior accountant, is hilarious. he's a middle-aged filipino-american man who always says what he thinks.  he has a slight accent where he stretches out certain vowels into nasaly flat tones, like "stupiiiiiid", which he uses a lot. today, when i was eating hummus and pita for lunch and raving about how much i love hummus, he said, "that's fine now but one of these days, you'll have trouble poo-pooing." and then later this afternoon, when the CFO was joking around with him about how he didn't hear what she had said earlier, he responded, "it's not my fault. it's all this hair that's growing in my ears." i love my job.

• want a surefire way to lose weight? first, move to a city where everything is expensive. then, choose to be a student so you're not earning money full-time. better yet, be a full-time student and work 20 hours a week to try and alleviate the expenses of living in said-expensive city. make sure your schedule is really packed - every hour measured out. and make sure your schedule involves a lot of running around from one end of the city to the other, which means you're usually late so you're literally running around. eat simply and not often, due to time and budget constraints. trust me, you'll lose weight unintentionally.

• this city is crazy, chaotic, maddening, inspiring, daunting, liberating, cacophonous and lyrical. in other words - i love it here.

and in the spirit of halloween, here's a recent gem of a find:

http://halloweenorwilliamsburg.tumblr.com/

is it halloween? or is it just williamsburg in brooklyn? you be the judge.


cups of coffee:  1 + 3 cups of green tea

mood:  time for bed

on halloween

i don't think i will ever tire of halloween. every other day of the year, i have to act like a respectable adult. i go to work, i pay bills, i dress nicely (most of the time). but on halloween, i can be a kid again. i can wear fantastic costumes, smear bright makeup on my face, dance like a maniac and run around in a sugar-induced (or alcohol-induced) state.

i love it.

i even love the tiny feeling of being scared - i'm not into the blood and gore, but i love that little shaky feeling in my stomach and the chill tingling along my skin from haunted houses and ghost stories. on halloween, there's a sense that there's more to this world than what we see - be they good or evil spirits - and there is room for the imagination to fly.

a city like shanghai loves a good party and takes every occasion to throw decadent bashes. halloween falling on a weekend is like a perfect storm here - lounges, clubs and bars compete like crazy to attract the attention of indulgent partygoers.

some friends and i headed to a 'heaven or hell' party being held in a sumptuous lounge on the bund and then to a 'celtic' halloween party being thrown at an irish pub. the beats were heavy, crowds were friendly, and fun was definitely had.

 getting ready beforehand: a glam angel, ghost and minnie mouse

 zombie hipster, chic punk, deviled egg

 on the dance floor

 wings shot

the locals' reaction to our halloween get-ups

cups of coffee: 1

mood:  wait--it's already november?!?