ting

i'm working with a taiwanese girl on my physical computing midterm. i consider myself taiwanese too. the only difference between us is that i barely speak chinese. when she talks to me, little does she know that i'm typing on my laptop because i'm translating the things she's saying.

the day in platitudes

I overslept this morning. I had woken once earlier, at an ungodly hour, because a group of men were being very loud outside my window. In my sleep-drunk stupor, I was convinced that they were vandalizing the building and I made a mental note to look at the graffiti in the morning. In the morning I saw no graffiti but I did see the inside of the Swallow Cafe. I've been there every day this week and I already feel like the baristas are judging me for it. I had red wine and coffee for breakfast. It felt weird. To say the least.

I take the L-train as my main steed out of Brooklyn. The L is the wildest bronco in New York. It barrels its way through tunnels, rocking violently side-to-side. My ears pop every time. I've almost been knocked off my feet multiple times. A man came into our car playing the accordion and singing in Spanish. I want to know if people ignore subway car musicians because they think the music sounds bad or because they feel that if they show pleasure then they'll have to tip.

I met Pigtina in the East Village and we ate Venezuelan food, which I don't think I've had before. I had shredded beef with beans cheese and plantains in a crispy corn bun. Highly recommend. We then went to Van Leeuwen  for artisanal ice cream. Mine was hazelnut and it had lots of hazelnuts in it. I enjoyed it. The pig had Earl Grey. I sampled it and it was good and we talked about bedbugs.

Afterwards, I worked on the floor at school, where I promised to make a batch of pigs-in-blankets for a party Sunday night in BoCoCa. I was extremely pleased with myself because I knocked out all of the editing for the rough cut of my group's short film in less than two hours, thereby eliminating our scheduled meeting to sit around and edit together. I was terrified that we were going to be working through the night to finish.

I rewarded myself for all that time saved by coming home, buying a pack of beer (Goose Island IPA), reading a very heartwarming e-mail from the bagel, and watching a nature special on Siberian tigers with one of my new roommates, Artist.

bleh

i feel really homesick again. i took a lot of nice photos of my new home - i'll show off when i'm feeling less despondent. meanwhile, i'm in bed drinking wine out of a jam jar and listening to queen beyonce.

pigtina did my nails yesterday and made me beautiful

manhattan bridge

i filmed this today on the manhattan bridge. it is cold and not in focus. 

Manhattan Bridge from valerie chen on Vimeo.

weekly skype

weekly skype, september 25th, 2012

during last night's weekly skype my parents told me that they're really proud of me and that they can tell i'm working really hard (after i gave them a live presentation of this really awkward lab i did.) naturally, this positive reinforcement was startling and unnatural to me and ever since then i've been really ridden with anxiety about not being good enough at school to deserve any praise. 

crystals everywhere

piggy and i brought most of my luggage from her apartment to my apartment this afternoon and now everything i own smells like versace bright crystal. not that i'm complaining, it just does.

lunchtime

today i'm having a provolone and prosciutto sandwich with dryck lingon

ikea nightmares

i'm quickly finding that building ikea furniture is not fucking easy in a 7x12 room. neither was carrying all said furniture pieces down a narrow stairwell into my dungeon bedroom. i just switched from a glass of water to a glass of gin.

update: blood has been drawn

home sweet home

looks like i'm just in time

From the NY Daily three days ago: An insider's guide to Bushwick, Brooklyn

i'm only googling the neighborhood because i can't figure out where to buy groceries

update: i decided it was getting too dark to go looking for a grocery in the hood (however gentrified) so i went to the neighborhood hippie store instead. it's full of vegan goodies, meaning the only thing i was willing to purchase was a box of mushroom soup and a bottle of gin from the liquor store next door.

regular or memory foam

i'm conducting side-by-side lie-tests on the two different mattresses on my floor. 

servo lab

trying to do homework again...and failing

Capture 20121003 from valerie chen on Vimeo.

"it's not plugged in."

Not Plugged In from valerie chen on Vimeo.

throwback

a good old day

apps

we've started this new tradition as of today of downing a pint of beer each on our 15-minute class break. and now i'm listening to the CEO of Foursquare speak and it's great.

queen of the thames

i'm up late in this alien place called home and it feels weird in an unnerving way. i smell cologne and it confuses me.

rz's house

today is the mid-autumn festival, but i did not get any mooncake.
I started moving into Renee Zellweger's house in Bushwick today. I feel relieved and excited and happy all over. I have these dreams now of being peaceful and catching up in school and actually completing my assignments and not running all over Brooklyn every waking moment to look at the various shitholes where people cage themselves at exorbitant prices. I love my new digs and I just blew a bunch of money on buying a bed and mattress. I'm back at Piggy's for the night, but more exuberant nesting to come.