Make Music Pasadena 2011

Saint Motel @ Make Music Pasadena

Best Coast @ Make Music Pasadena

Ra Ra Riot @ Make Music Pasadena

Kisses @ Make Music Pasadena

Zola Jesus @ Make Music Pasadena

This is the 3rd year I’ve been to Make Music Pasadena – a free annual music festival in downtown Pasadena. Pretty good line-up too: we started the day with Saint Motel at 2 PM, the Morning Benders at around 3:30 PM (who we didn’t really watch), then walking around for food and bathroom breaks. Best Coast at 5 PM, Ra Ra Riot at around 6:30 PM (the main stage was running late), Kisses on the emerging artist stage at around 8:30 PM and Zola Jesus at around 10 PM.

The weather was nice all day, not extremely hot like the first year I went (it was around 106 degrees). This time around, it was in the high 70′s to mid 80′s and didn’t drop too low at night. Tons of people were already there even at 2 PM, so getting around the main stage area was a little tough.  The side streets weren’t too bad, but parking was a bit tricky. There were more inexpensive parking lots than we thought, but we weren’t sure where they were.

The bands were pretty good, though watching them from really far away is not usually that great.  Free events like this is more about hanging out and enjoying the music rather than really getting into the show. At least, that’s how it is for me.  There were some interesting vendors set up in the street that was blocked off (Colorado and Fair Oaks – I think).  Even though Pasadena isn’t too far from where I live, traffic always makes it seem farther.

There was a Chalk Art Fair happening down the street from Make Music Pasadena, which was also pretty interesting to see. It’s sponsored by JetBlue and there were plenty of talented artists making some very cool chalk art. I didn’t get any pictures, but I’m sure there’s plenty online. It was at the same place last year also, so I guess these two events will always coincide now.

Nana (Anime)

I started watching this anime a few years ago when I was visiting my brother in San Francisco (probably start of 2009). Still not finished the series yet even though I've owned a DVD copy of it for awhile now.  Much has changed in my life since then, I've had my own adventures traveling with friends to follow a band and I've gone back to school and seriously pursue a career. And I've been in my first (and most likely only) serious relationship for the past year and a half. It's interesting to be watching this series with my significant other (who's most likely watched a lot more anime than I have over the years despite the fact that I'm older and have most likely started watching it earlier).

We're still early in the series and past the part I stopped watching (Episode 12), but it's interesting since it merges rock music and anime - worlds that I never really felt mixed too well before. My boyfriend likes to marathon anime series if we have the full series, but we do need a few breaks since there are 47 episodes in the series and 3 OVAs, and so far we've just started Disc 2 (of 4). I considered doing some sort of manga series about music awhile back before I knew about Nana, I could probably do something based on my travels and experiences meeting BRMC fans from different places.

I'm not sure how interesting that might be, I never considered my storytelling to be very strong (which is why I had hoped I could work with friends on such a project). Even drawing a few panels would probably not be easy, I'm out of practice on my manga drawing and I'm focusing more of web stuff so there may never be a time for such a project to materialize. Maybe I'll just try drawing certain people in a manga style... that would probably be a fun exercise to see if I coud do it and actually demonstrate certain people's likenesses in a cartoony style.

Break time

Next week, I'm planning to be back in San Francisco for about a week. My boyfriend is going to Google IO and I will just be hanging out with friends and family. It'll be a nice break. I'm not sure about moving up there for work, there are many great companies in the city, not to mention the surrounding areas. Those are the kinds of companies who probably have plenty of good experience job seekers to choose from, which is most likely why I may not even be considered to work there. A lot of contract jobs I get contacted about are in the Bay Area, and it's definitely easier to get that kind of work before something more permanent.

I'm fortunate to have many breaks from work, but that's a mixed blessing. I'm not getting the experience (or pay) of someone who is continuously working, but I do have the time to reflect and decide what to do next rather than just having to keep going. I've had the time to travel, make friends, take classes, and ultimately change my career path. As much as I'd like to be an experienced and highly paid something or other, I'm just figuring what I want to do and how I can do it.

My family is generally supportive about me working, but not necessarily doing things I enjoy. They do provide me financial support in the housing area for the most part, so I'm happy to be able to not pay rent or anything while I try to get where I want to be in life. I still think working from home would be nice, but I do like going into a workplace and having an office to work in that's separate from where I live. My current excuse for a home office is way too messy to be productive in and my room is not much better. I often say I'd clean more if I had time, but I really just need to be motivated to do it.

Tutoring tales

Since I started tutoring students through WyzAnt, I've mainly been showing people in their 20's how to use  HTML and PhotoShop. I recently started tutoring a 10 year old how to use PhotoShop and Illustrator. It's a such a nice thing when parents get their kids started younger on subjects that interest them and I am really happy that her parents are encouraging her to pursue graphic design at an early age.

My parents had me take painting classes pretty early on and piano lessons when I was 10 (which I continued through high school). Me and my siblings were always drawing when we were growing up and I think it's helped me in many ways. I kind of wish I'd gotten into sports earlier, but I did have tennis lessons and didn't do too well with those. My sister ended up joining the tennis team in high school, so at least it wasn't wasted on her.

When I got into using computers as a teenager, it was mostly to use the internet. I dabbled in PrintShop and drawing programs and was very impressed by 3D landscape creators like Bryce. My first web design class at ROP was also my computer course outside of normal school. I'm pretty sure my early web pages were full of animated gifs and large images. Some places still do that (as I've seen from some websites I worked on).

Back to Work!

While I was eating lunch today, I got a message from the Project Manager for the contract job I had started last month. I will be going back there tomorrow and hopefully a few more weeks until the project is done. I had a Skype interview yesterday with a good placement agency and someone else contacted me about another position this morning, but nothing beats actual solid work.

This is a bit of a relief because my mom and brother have been annoying me about my Metrolink monthly pass (which I already got a 20% off discount for) and basically a day of working there pays for the whole pass and even my lunch while I'm there. I have been contacted by other recruiters and such, but most of them would require a move up north. I wouldn't mind moving to SF or something, but for now, I just want to gain more experience.

Retail Therapy

I've been doing better lately in my job search, people are actually scheduling interviews and interested in getting me work. Even so, I get a little down about things. The thing about buying stuff when you're not happy is not a healthy thing, but it really does make you happy for a little bit. My boyfriend hardly ever wants to take me shopping, so I end up buying stuff online and the thing about that is - you have to buy at least $50 worth of stuff to get free shipping or you have to pay a lot to ship a few things...

I like maximizing my spending potential and usually always end up spending at least $50 worth of stuff: Old Navy (30% off sale on everything except dresses), Forever 21 (super cute biker boots on sale for $22.99), Sephora (new Tokidoki Beach Makeup bags and Devil Girl Makeup palette for $28.99)... Then there was some other places I just buy from because of my boyfriend: ThinkGeek, Valve Store (Portal shirts are 10-35% off), Best Buy (the new Tron 5 disc set on Blu Ray was on sale for $50, now back up to $70).

I ordered some of the Relief Run shirts by Tokidoki for me and my boyfriend also, but aat $25 a shirt - it's a little cheaper than most of their shirts and it benefits Red Cross's relief efforts in Japan. The Giant Peach was having a 20% off sale on already reduced prices, so I got a couple Tokidoki x Marvel shirts for me and my boyfriend. The retail therapy only works if you are expecting more money - and I do have another check coming in soon for the other 2 weeks I worked.


I do need to be more careful about my bills and spending, even if I have a few interviews lined up. I have plenty of stuff I can list on my ebay store, I just need to get around to doing it. The Post Office now has padded flat rate envelopes, which I think is the best thing they've come up with yet. I have so many heavy Body Shop and Bath & Body Works items that fit perfectly in those envelopes, so I'll probably sell more of that stuff soon.

One more thing, I somehow have 26 subscribers to this blog. No one I really know, which I find a bit interesting. I'm not really writing for my friends to find out about my life - though I wouldn't mind if they did read this blog. I'm not sure who reads this blog or why they read it, but it's nice to know there are people out there who are interested in my life even if they don't know me. I have email and Facebook for friends, Twitter for interests, LinkedIn for business, and this blog for random internet folk.

Journal writing is good for you

This time off from work has given me some more time to write in my journal, which I enjoy since it's a place where I can write anything without censoring myself. Blogs are good for that, but there's always a chance of someone you know reading something you don't want them to if it's online.  I don't usually write anything bad about any specific person, but being able to vent privately is nice if you are particularly annoyed at someone - which is bound to happen.

I had a relaxing weekend, mostly stayed home while my boyfriend was at work. On Sunday, I had a tutoring session to introduce a 10 year old to PhotoShop. It's nice that her parents are encouraging her to learn at such a young age, I kind of wish my parents cared enough to do that for me. I did have piano lessons for awhile and painting classes before that, but I never considered doing either of those things professionally. Technology has gotten to the point where kids are learning things earlier, which is a good thing since there is so much you can do with computers.

I applied to some interesting jobs today and found some for my boyfriend to apply to also. One job was writing about music, which I hadn't thought of trying to get paid for in awhile. I later on noticed that there's a specific genre that they want the applicants to like and I realized I would probably not be right for it. Oh well, there are lots of web design and development jobs that would be a better fit. I'm not as into new music as I used to be and I really have no idea what's popular or not right now. I am slightly enclosed in a bubble of seeking only information that interests me or my boyfriend, which means I'm a bit out of it...

A week off or time to find a new job?

My contract work is taking a week off since there hasn't been much for me to do lately. They said they would bring us back for more testing of the website later, but who knows if they really will. Since I have been getting lots of notifications about other jobs, I figured it may be a good time to look for more work either freelance or permanent. I noticed LA has more telecommuting work for web design (at least on Craig's List), so I decided to apply to some of those jobs as well as local jobs. Working from home is sort of a dream of mine, and if I can actually do it now - why not? Taking the train to LA is interesting, but working in my pajamas would be awesome.

Bloom Circle

I placed an order for some skin care products through this new website called BloomCircle since they give you $40 after your first purchase of $40 or more. My skins been breaking out a bit more than usual, I think it may have been stress related as it started during my frantic job search. I'm slightly stressed by taking Metrolink every day, but it's more when I go home because I tend to get on the wrong train more than I'd like. Fortunately, I've started being able to correct the mistake faster than before - meaning I do end up on the right train as soon as I realize I'm on the wrong one.

Today's been pretty relaxed here, I did an online training that I was probably supposed to do as soon as I got here. Other than that, I did a simple file conversion. I changed my Blippy username, since I figured out that I could so update your links if you happen to have them. I am wondering about this contract thing, it seems more likely to lead to more work here - so I'm not sure if I should be responding to recruiters... I usually do so out of politeness, but there are some that I actually might want to apply to. I wouldn't want to leave this position early which is why I'm hesitant about responding to certain emails.

The weekend is almost here and it feels like summer already is... I've put away some warmer clothes and now I'm thinking about losing weight. Not necessarily for bathing suits, more because I don't want to sell clothes because they don't fit me. I don't want to buy larger clothes if I don't have to and I also don't want to get rid of cute clothes that would fit me if I were thinner. I do enjoy eating and dressing up, but there's danger in liking either one too much. I have lots of clothes I don't wear, but I'd rather sell them because of that rather than because it doesn't fit me.

Opportunities

Yesterday, my boyfriend got some exciting information. A recruiter for a staffing agency told him about a software QA position for a company in El Segundo. It's a full time contract position and pays a lot more than where he is currently (and even what I'm making), plus he's been wanting to find something else for awhile. If he does manage to get this position, it almost seems that a move out to LA is a good idea. Even if my contract position ends after 2 months, it may be easier to find other web related jobs in Los Angeles or even Long Beach. I know moving is a pain, but commuting is too and an easier commute is always better. We'll see how things turn out, but I'm hoping he gets it since he works hard and is too smart not to get something like this.