Dillo Day

Thankfully the weather was beautiful yesterday or else Dillo Day would have been moved into Patten. The day was eventful, to say the least. Personally, the Decemberists did not do it for me, but Estelle, N.E.R.D. and Mike Posner rocked the crowd. It was wild. What a great day.

I can't believe it took me until the end of the year to realize how relaxing the lake fill is. I always stay on the West side of the lake fill if I ever go out there, sit by the gravels and listen to the waves crash. The past two days, I walked out there with friends and sat on the rocks right on the coast of Lake Michigan and it is absolutely beautiful.

More photos of Dillo Day to come on North by Northwestern.

Give it a whirl and more

So I have my list of daily reads, as shown on the side. The list keeps growing and I can spend over an hour just perusing a series of links and pages connected to each of the bookmarked pages sitting on my toolbar.

Here is just a list of things

Andrea at Superhero Journals is inviting friends to feature as guest bloggers and Jen Gray's video inspired me. I am sitting in Global History right now listening (used loosely) to my professor talk about the 1970's and industrial national wealth so I did not listen to this video with sound, but I find it absolutely adorable and message-worthy.



--------------------------------------------------------

My friend Lana emailed me this article:

"The implication here is that what can be considered a provocative image in a fashion magazine today is one that shows something real."

"In Fashion Magazines, Retouching Stirs a Backlash," in the New York Times

---------------------------------------------------------

I want to find that feeling where I am taken for a whirl, incredibly out of focus and yet still firmly planted on the ground...

Expiration Dating

North by Northwestern published its new Spring 2009 quarterly magazine (an online version here). Read page 12 - 17 yourself and take what you can from it. Some of my friends did not enjoy it, but I absolutely loved it. Perhaps it's because it hit home.

But it's interesting to see how people are put on the back burner when, at the end of the day, they are what matter the most.

I would write more right now, but I have two papers and an exam all due by Friday, so until next time.

------------------------------------

Lincoln Park Zoo featured on Cute Animal Blog. Sweet.

05/22: Lincoln Park Zoo

There is something about zoos and aquariums that always get me excited. I don't know if it's nostalgia and a reminder of my childhood or the simple excitement of seeing all the animals. While small, the Lincoln Park Zoo was such a blast (and free!). Unfortunately, the weather was not consistently warm enough for some of the larger animals to be out, so I missed out on my favorite polar bears. The primate house and lion den made up for all of that though.


Read the sign: "If a Lion met a Tiger. . .Lions and tigers never meet in the wild. They live in different parts of the world." That was probably the most self-explanatory sign I read that day, and I saw that right after entering the park.





Not exactly a zoo animal, but this bunny was too adorable to pass up a photo-op.




Unfortunately, Vanessa avoided my camera and I have no photograph of her that I can publish. But we had such a fun time. Next fall? The Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo.

05/22: Matt's birthday

It was Matt's birthday on Friday and after coming back from a great day at the Lincoln Park Zoo, we decided to hang out and watch the Blackhawks playoffs. We took a detour at Whole Foods and Emily found this epic cake -- so fitting for a guy who loves Burger King. We had to get it, even if he told us he already had cake and did not want anymore. Hell, who doesn't want more cake on their birthday?


Emily could not stop making that face everytime she looked at the cake. It was so beautiful.


Unfortunately, I cannot embed video at this time or you could see what happened. Dan bet Matt a dollar to pick up the cake and eat it like a hamburger.


During BK Birthday, Lara decided she wanted to write her life plan on a napkin. I say she's off to a good start.

Tulips?

It's really funny how I never associated tulips with Spring back in San Jose. Now, they are everywhere I turn. On Michigan Ave. when Dan and I are going to pick up our hats from Lids. On the patches of grass and shrubs around campus. In the planters around Evanston. They're starting to grow on me.

A snake biting a hawk

Today was OASIS-organized Spring Carnival on Norris East Lawn. ISRC had a face painting table tucked away in the far corner of the lawn, but we had a lot of traffic. Children's creativity and imagination always amaze me. We had girls who wanted the simple heart and butterflies, but then boys came and wanted their faces painted entirely. Others wanted a football on their hand. One kid wanted a snake biting a hawk which led to a girl wanting a hawk drawn on the expanse of her face. Two girls wanted their names written across their forehead.

It was an interesting day, to say the least. The weather is beautiful outside and I just spent the last hour and half sitting out on my knitted blanket eating and reading. It's days like these that brush Chicago's cold winters out of my mind.

Poetry Mondays

On NBN, we have Poetry Mondays and my friend Dan wrote a poem yesterday, reprinted below, that really struck a chord in my heart.

You said you would read this
By Dan Camponovo

To the best of my ability
I can only remember
three girls I write about
in the second person.
I say “you” so you can never be too sure
which you I actually mean.
Which you a specific poem
or play
or novel
or rant
or hate mail
is truly about.
It keeps you guessing,
keeps you on your toes,
and reminds you that you’re
not the only person
who has gone through this before
with me.
You each have your own memories
and places I’ll never be able to visit again
without wanting to go home.
You can tell where I’ve been
by the earth on my shoes.
Rocks and dust mean the Lakefill,
and the campground by the river
you and I used to go to
when we were young.
Grass stains mean the field,
and the hill in your back yard
where I tripped
and rolled
and broke my wrist
in the middle
of your birthday party.
And sand means the beach,
and the observatory in the desert,
Tucson, Arizona,
on top of a mountain,
collecting images and measurements
of light from stars
and worlds
long dead.
More importantly, all of this earth means
that I am in Chicago,
without you.
I am at the Lakefill,
and you are 758 miles away.
I am at the field,
and you are 645 miles away.
I am at the beach,
and I have
absolutely no idea
where you are.
Let’s keep it that way.
The beach is eerily still tonight.
The lake is still frozen
even though it was sixty today.
Earth is slow to respond
to her own changes
A fault we share.
There is a simple reason I am anywhere from
645 to however-many miles
away from you.
I needed to move on
with my life.
And still,
on still nights like tonight,
left alone to clear my head,
I find myself
thinking about you.
And you.
And you.

Avedon

I wish I could be in New York to see the Avedon Fashion.

Go Cubs Go

Feat in North by Northwestern.

Unfortunately I only had my point and shoot, which in the dark shadows did not do me justice. It was a great game though. After I started losing hope in the third inning with Padres winning by 2 - 0, the Cubs tore the field up and hit some amazing home runs.

Great game.

-------------------------------------------

Note to self about potential future:

"Recognize that the career of a photojournalist is a difficult one personally, so you must love what you are doing. Be certain of your mission, but be prepared to constantly grow. Work hard, very hard. Be forever curious, persistent and gracious."

- Michele McNally from the New York Times

NU Day at Wrigley Field

Taken at a NU Baseball Game

Today's NU Day at Wrigley Field and I am pretty excited. The Cubs are playing the San Diego Padres. Lately, I have been reminiscing about going to A's games with Anthony, Matt, Ankur and whoever else came along. For some reason, I find baseball pretty fun to watch and there is something about just sitting in the stadium and eating a hot dog that just brightens my day. So I'm excited to see a Cubs game and even more excited to go home for the summer and watch the A's play.

Ask yourself

I feel myself evaluating my actions constantly and yet reminding myself that I shouldn't think to hard, that I should just enjoy life and go with the flow.

What keeps you going? What motivates you to do what you do?

Evening Escapade

My friend Tom kindly taught me how to design a Web site, so hopefully I will be informing you of www.emilychow.com sooner or later (realistically, later). We were walking back to my dorm from McTrib when both of us realized the flowering tree outside of ISRC. I imagine that the flowers did not bloom overnight, but this is the first time I really looked at it. As photography freaks, both of us started framing shots and I figured, why not just walk the few hundred feet, grab my d90 and shoot some photographs?

It was probably the most fun I have had in a while (the entire night in general was rather fun: visiting Lara in Goodridge and hanging out with friends). I grabbed a chair from our lounge and plopped it down in the middle of the sidewalk. We both climbed the chair. Tom climbed a tree. We spent a good half hour taking pictures of generic flowers, but they hold a timeless quality that I have not noticed in a while.

Thoughts?







I think Tom took that last one.

Infinite

Every once in a while, my suitemates and I will drop all our work and just hang around, doing the most random things. I saved some henna from the fall quarter Indian social and my roommate pulled it off my desk after a cleaning flurry and insisted on getting henna.

I drew this one for myself. I think, if I ever had to get a tattoo, this would be it.