Monday, July 26, 2010

I'm really excited about looking at Mt. Rainier. That's all I have to say. What a good hike though. :)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Karen's Leaf Mustache


Leaf mustache
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

I had a fun weekend. There was dinner and Castle Crashers, a hike up Mount Pilchuck (should've worn real hiking boots and not athletic shoes) and a day of lounging and napping at the Ballard Locks while listening to Big Band music.

But first...I HAD to take some leaf mustache pictures. I'm all for being rediculous...some of the pictures turned out much worse than this one. And by worse, I mean I am making some of the worst faces in the history of photography.

All in all, a good weekend with many friends. :)

-Cheers

P to the S: if you're interested in climbing Mount Pilchuck, read this first: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-pilchuck

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Jabba the Winslow


Jabba the Winslow
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

or Winslow the Hut...whatever you want to call him. He's a pequiliar cat. A little demanding when he wants food, but otherwise quiet and always underfoot. I just had to share this because he looks rediculous.

-Cheers!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Revamped Website



Redesigned a few things on my website and made some updates. Check it out. Thanks to Sam for figuring out why IE was being stupid and making my pages display funky. Thanks to Reed for "branding" my pictures in the top banner. Wooo!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Who I am

This cosmic question seems to come up more often now that I am out of college and living on my own. Often, I think I have the answer nailed down. That I know where I want to go in life and that I understand who I am. Each time it comes up, I find that it opens up a part of me or bring a new piece of me to light that I hadn't considered or addressed. It can be little things that trigger this self discovery, but nonetheless questions arise. What does this mean? Does this change who I am now? Will this change my future? Will I forget my past? Will certain things up until this become less valuable?

Forgetting my past and things becoming less valuable have come up as I begin to explore more of my Korean heritage. I am proud to say that I was raised in Idaho and that I grew up in Lewiston. Sure, there are things I would change about my childhood if I could, but my childhood was full of wonderful things and wonderful people. All who were...very caucasion. I have to throw that out there, because I'm addressing a race issue in exploring my Korean side. I have many "white" tendancies for lack of a better term. I am Korean on the outside, but extremely white on the inside. My friends like to joke that I am a banana or twinkie.

When I went to Korea I still felt out of place...not because I didn't understand many of the Korean traditions, but because I'm super white on the inside and Korean on the outside. For once, I looked like everyone else. But while I was there, I felt even more out of place.

I want to explore my Korean heratige...I would like to speak conversational Korean and understand the people and the history more. I worry at times, that because I have this desire to know more, that this will mean I'll forget where I come from. Or that the things that my parents have passed down to me and taught me will be pushed the wayside. I worry that that's how it will seem to my family.

Someone asked me once where I would feel the most comfortable. Where would I feel like I fit in? I had no idea. I still have no idea. I tried so hard when I was younger to blend in...I didn't like sticking out and I didn't like all the attenion that being Korean brought. I just wanted to be Karen. Nothing else...I didn't want ot be known as that Korean girl, that Asian girl...Paul's little sister, the girl who's good at math, the one who plays piano or whatever label was thrown at me. I just wanted to be known as Karen.

I find that often this desire of wanting to be known can't be fulfilled in the way I envision it in my head. There is no person on this earth that could begin to comprehend who all of Karen is; the Karen I see vs the Karen you see. Each person has a different relationship to me and therefore has a different understanding of me. The tip of an iceberg is probably the best visual example of what I'm trying to explain. Underneath the water is where the rest of me is hiding. And yet...I don't want to be underneath the water.

Who I am. Well, I do know for sure that I am on an endless journey. I have learned that whatever self discovery I have done so far...cannot compare to the amount of things I will learn about myself down the road. Karen is a multitude of things. Just like everyone else. If we must use lables, I am a twinkie. I am an injured athlete. I'm a foodie. I am Korean. I am American. I am dense. I love logic and reason. I value those two things over emotions and intuitiveness. The list could go on and on....and yet the list would hardly begin to describe me. You try making a list of things about yourself that you like or wish people would see. It's not so easy, is it?

Who then is left to know me? Who can know that there's so much more under the water. Right now I have but one choice. I don't think there are any others and I don't think I'm wrong.

Where am I going from here? I am learning Korean through Rosetta Stone. I read books and at times I like to feel like I know what it's like to be culturally Korean. In reality, I don't. I have nothing to compare the things I learn with what I currently know. What a frustrating place to be...But this is what self discovery is all about right? There aren't standards when you discover yourself. You just uncover different things...and then change based on the standards of the type of person you want to be at the end of the day. So maybe this post isn't just about who I am and Where am I going. But also, who do I want to be.

Who do I want to be? I'll have to think about this a bit more and get back to you...

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

If only...

If only I could use this as my real email signature:

> Awesomeness Representative
> 206.281.2982
> awesome@spu.edu
> www.spu.edu/awesome


It is very winnar ish :)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping...try it!

Good Descriptions
Bad Descriptions AKA Things I Should Work On

Make your own and I'll pick some adjectives about you. :)

Polaroid cat - Hipstomatic


Polaroid cat
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

It's an app on the iPhone that makes the pictures you shoot look like you took them with a Holga camera. I actually have a Holga, but I don't use it too often because film development is often expensive...plus I am forgetful.

I like that I can just do crazy things with my phone now. It truly has become an all-in-one device.

The hipstomatic app is about $1.99 in the iTunes App store and is, I believe one of the top 10 apps right now in the Photography category. It seems as though a lot of people like playing with stuff like this.

I'm still exploring a lot of my camera settings. I was looking back through my pictures today and I noticed a recent change in exposure. I've been overexposing a lot of my pictures lately and I like the look...but I'm not sure if it's "me." It kind of feels like something I've taken from other photographers...particularly those who shoot for SPU.

In other news...I'm looking to acquire a new camera lens. I think I'll contact that friend someone suggested to me to look into purchasing his old Canon 28-135 IS USM lens. I'd really like to replace my kit lense 18-55 IS lens. I've dropped it twice now and I don't think it has a lot of life left.

I think I may look into taking a Photography class in the area...or something that has to do with HTML dev. I know that sounds very different...but I want to start working on my website and making it a little more useful. Right now it's two pages. Yeah, that's right. TWO FULL PAGES. More and more I feel like my blog has turned into a portal/hub of Karen things. I think that's a good thing. I'll just have to think on this more and figure out where I want to go with all of these random hobbies of mine. :)

There are quite a few new pictures...so take a look around. Hopefully you like what you see.

-Cheers!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Fireworks


050
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

I finally got some of my pictures up this evening. I posted pictures from my trip to Bellingham, the 4th of July Fireworks in Lewiston/Clarkston and a little Birthday Party gathering for a friend of mine.

- Cheers

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Slacklining


Slacklining
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

Pictures and Video of my friends slacklining on campus are up on my photostream.

Check it out!