If you won't think of yourself, think of poor old MacBadger

What happened to summer??! It's been flying by. It leaves me to wonder, why did I take this job in the first place? I guess working has done that, in a way Im kinda looking forward to school starting again just cause then I won't be trapped in the monotonous schedule of a summer job and I'll be back taking interesting classes and doing things I like to do. I just wish I had more time this summer to do all the things I had planned on. I had hoped to learn Dreamweaver and Maya really well so that by the time I got back to school I could make websites and incorporate animation into my art, but I barely made a dent in the Dreamweaver instruction book. My goal for next year though is to create a few really interesting and planned out art pieces that I can have in the student art show at the end of the year. I didn't get involved last year and felt like a loser. There's a fine arts club called SOFA that I'd like to check out too. I also wanted to finish reading a few books that weren't related to school, just ones I wanted to read, but that didn't end up happening much either. I'll miss having my own room again and having the freedom to throw my clothes on the floor. Or just go in my room when I want to be alone and not having the smell of weed on all my clothes. Anyway, Im just hoping the next few weeks will be filled with some cool adventures with friends and family before heading back to the education grind. I think I might quit work around August 9th or 10th so that I have some freedom.

Not much has been going on lately. The other night I went to an East Asian Art Festival called Artwallah which turned out to be pretty interesting. They had some amusing short films, skits, dances, and readings all reflecting the east asian culture which I didn't know much about. I wish I had more ties to my cultural background so I could create some art dealing with that, but it would be a farse for me to try because I'm so many generations removed. The MC guy was incredibly funny, and we had a sneaking suspicion that he was the "gay friend" in Bend It Like Beckham. I was too embarassed to go up to him and ask after the show...so I'll just assume it was him. Plus, everyone there was beautiful. More than normal, it was freakish and unexplainable. It put me in the mood to check out some more museums around LA though. I haven't been to the getty in ages, never been to LACMA, and I'm missing MOCA a bit. I've decided that I am now a fan of most contemporary art. I entered college not liking it at all. I thought that it was a waste and had no artistic value...I mean how could random objects thrown on the floor be called art? But my mind has been melted a bit, or lobotomized, and I've come around to contemporary art more this year and now love it. Watch, in 5 years I'll be the kind of person who puts a red chair in the middle of an otherwise empty white room and called it art.

In other news, I'm heading up to Berkeley with some high school friends this weekend which I'm very excited about. Not only do I love Berkeley, Northern California in general, and fog, but I'm also looking forward to just getting away from work and "here" for a while. It's only for the weekend, but I think it'll be a nice break. Somehow about 10 of us are going to squeeze into one apartment. I went up to berkeley for the CAL/USC football game last year which kinda sucked cuz we lost and I ended up getting a bit lost on the Bart and bus system of San Francisco. But not this time! I'll update on how the trip was when I get back.

Warped

I've had a chance to sit down over the last few days and write, but haven't been in the mood for it. My second time at the Warped tour was extremely eventful...both good and bad. The concert itself was amazing. Jessica and I got there to find that the parking structure was full and so we drove around for a good hour trying to find a residential area to park in. No matter which direction we turned it seemed we always ended up at this same intersection of California Street. It was like the Bermuda triangle. We settled on a Ralph's parking lot and headed on our merry way, not seeing the hidden sign that said "2 hour parking, all offending vehicles will be towed." The weather was perfect...gray cloudy skies and a cool marine breeze. There's something about the gray that makes me incredibly happy and energized, much more when the spotless blue is out. On cloudy days at school, I like to go out on campus to read rather than being locked up in my dorm room. Anyway, after getting inside we ran around trying to see all our favorite bands. It turns out that most of my favorites were playing on the small stages, which was just how I liked it because not only were there less people at those stages but after the set a lot of the band members would stick around to hang out with the fans and take pics. The biggest disappointment was that The Ataris weren't playing this year, which wouldn't have been bad but I had looked forward to seeing the techie who stole my heart. hahahaha. I found out a while ago that his name is Norris. So bad luck, eh? But I did find some new favorites and the crowd was packed with adorable punk guys. I like guys with black hair, piercings, and tattoos, possibly because I would like to have black hair, piercings and tattoos myself but am rather afraid of becoming girl who is covered with tattoos. For now, Im quite pleased with my one little tattoo. I'm plan on posting some pictures on Monday of the concert so check back then. Ran into a few kids i went to high school with. Some were fun to talk to and catch up with, but some I didn't care much and really hadnt thought about them all year. It made me appreciate that Im still on speaking terms with the people who really matter. I steered clear of the mosh pits this time. Last year I got kicked in the head by a crowd surfer, and I want to keep all my limbs, fingers, and eyeballs intact this time.

After the concert we went back to the car only to discover that it wasn't there!! We found out that it was towed and so we walked over to the towing company where they charged us $250 dollars and made us wait for about 2 hours. What a crummy way to end the day. The tow guy was a real jerk too and gave everyone an attitude...there were about 50 other Warped Tour kids that got into the same mess we did. But we eventually did get the car back, and the event didn't ruin the fun we had during the day at the concert. I still can't wait on going next summer too.

I have a few more things to talk about but I'll save them for the next update because this is already fairly long. Work's going well now that it feels like I've had some time off and I'm enjoying my coworkers more.

Im starting to miss USC and design, but I know I will be there very soon and then will miss home. Vicious cycle.