Technological Black Thumb

During an excited Tweetfest with my flock, Allyson suggested that I put my nervous energy about my new job to good use and start brainstorming design ideas for my new place in New York. For some reason, it seemed that the clouds parted and I was instantly enlightened as to the theme for my bathroom.

Asian Inspiration Turned Decoration
When I lived in Japan, I went to visit my pal Alex in Malaysia with my friend, Yuriko. We hit up some of the hottest tourist spots and I snapped up tons of photos like a good like globe trotter. Rifling through my library, I pulled a handful of images that just seemed to flawlessly complement one another. As my bathroom is a place where I do some of my best thinking, I figured defining my trifecta of serenity was essential: comfort, relaxation, and inspiration.

When I write my name in Japanese「華蓮」, the first character (“Ka”) means “flower”, and the second (“Ren”) means “lotus”. These are based upon the Chinese-style reading of the characters, as opposed to using the Japanese readings of the Chinese characters (「はな」＆「はす」). I have pictures of lotus flowers (and I love pink, green, and yellow), so I decided to lean to this palette for the bathroom. Before I left for Japan, I had a cherry blossom motif in my loo, but my refuse to copycat my gal pal Alison’s creativity.

The staple of the wall decor will be print outs of these photographs, but depending on wall space, I would like to add addition art by artists I have spotted on DeviantArt. Here are a couple that caught my eyes:

• “Water Lily” by AcidLullaby
• “Lotus Princess” by Starlight-Usagi
• “Princess Lotus” by Marumiyan
• “Lotus Pond” & “Lotus” by Hiliuyun

My concern is that I might end up overloading the walls with pictures. There were countless close up photographs of lotus flowers, all of which looked better than the photos I took. Also, I am wondering if digital and drawn art would clash with the photographs. I am quite certain that painting the walls will be out of the question, so I am looking for ways to brighten up the walls without doing anything permanent.

Once I resume learning Japanese calligraphy, I would like to make a piece that resembles this one, complete with gorgeous brushstrokes, precise balance, and natural elegance. This will be a  nice project to work on after I am settled in my new place. I’ll have plenty of time to practice, but I have a hunch it may take a while before I generate a piece I am comfortable displaying on my walls. I hope that I will be able to seek assistance from the art instructor or my neighbors on perfecting the perfect piece.

Ambiance, Shower Power & Counter Toppings
After watching excessive hours of HGTV, I am determined to have a fabulously accessorized diva lair. During my relaxing (and regularly scheduled), end-of-the-week soaks, I want to kick off the regular light and enjoy the soft glow of a koi printed paper lantern. Candles would be a lovely addition to this, however, I have an inkling that they may be verboten. Though this koi & water lily toilet seat could spell overkill, I think it would be a funky, final addition to the Throne of the Enlightened.

The sunny yellow transitioning to aquamarine of this flamenco shower curtain really makes me want to get up and boogie down in the shower. It reminds me of the yellow sun and the cool water, like looking at a lily pond in the early morning. To keep the ruffles in shape, I want to add this bamboo vinyl shower curtain as a liner on the inside, and fastening them together with these orchid & narcissus shower hooks. Matching the ruffly shower curtain could be good fun. I found these vivid colored towels , but the issue is selecting colors. I am torn between buttercup, honeydew, flamingo, or hibiscus. Should I mix and match or just select a single color? A reversible bath mat in one of these colors may be a smart idea, too.

Bringing a little woodsy flavor to the bath, I’d like to line the tub with an
orbz amber shower mat so as to prevent slipping in the shower, and this solid teak shower mat outside to towel off on. The spa salon effect can be enhanced with the matching shower caddy to keep me organized and my shower goods in a handy location (and preventing crowded tub corners). Depending on counter space, this teak folding shower bench may come in handy when getting ready for a night out (or just a place to keep items off the floor).

Depending on the availability of counter space, I may have to juggle my ever growing list of decor.
For a dash of color, this pink lotus soaps with ceramic lily pad set is adorable, as are these cherry almond soaps and this stunning lotus soap & body butter set. Fear not. I will have soap that one could actually use in the bathroom, despite my love for decorative, scented soaps. Kamini lotus bar soap in a cute bamboo soap dish from this bamboo slat bath ensemble is what I have in mind.  I’ll admit hesitation about ordering soaps and lotions online without being able to waft, whiff, and sniff to my heart’s content beforehand. I am a consummate fan of testers and samples, so I can make an informed decision.

Online boutiques and nifty blogs have really helped me collect my thoughts on planning for my new place. I am working on mapping out ideas for my living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Granted all these plans could be promptly discarded upon setting my eyes upon my new place, but I am enjoying the chance to play mini-Design Star. Stay tuned for the next project!

After a year or so of fawning over the PSPs in just about every electronics store I happened upon, I caved and bought one. The latest generation (PSP-3000 in Pearl White). Though I really pined over the pastel colored ones, I figured if I am going to shell out the money for them, I might as well get my money’s worth.

Since Christmas Day (12/25/08) better known as the day Karen resumed hermit-hood, I have had been glued to the darn thing playing until my thumbs lose feeling. When I was a child, the boys in my neighborhood coined it as “Nintendo Numbness” because that was the only game system in my household at the time. I swear, somewhere in this body of mine there is a 14 year old Japanese fan boy chained up, but trying to claw his way out. The shiny new PSPs were on display beside the latest game releases by ‘SquEnix’, including Final Fantasy Dissidia (the ultimate FF Manics dream complete with all the heroes and main villians as playable characters). FFD won’t be available in the US until mid-2009, so I caved and bought the Japanese version as– It. Was. Right. There.

I really shouldn’t be allowed to step foot into an electronic store unattended, or able to contact any of “enablers”.

I’ve been really impressed by the lighter weight of the 3000 series PSP. Having a bag full of junk to schlep around all the time often prevented me from purchasing the Sony hand-held gaming device. I have a clear, (removable) plastic casing to keep all those pesky chips and fingerprints off my new Precioussss….

As for FFD, I haven’t figured out how to do any of the really fancy moves, nor have I figured out how to do the play against your friend option. With the DS, one’s friend didn’t need to have the game, but I am thinking that for the PSP, both players may need to have a copy.

Other games purchased: Itadaki Street! Dragon Quest vs. Final Fantasy, The Goddess of Jokes, I’ll Never Forgive You, and Suzumiya Haruhi’s Promise. I have been told that the UMD Disks play in all systems, much like the Nintendo DS games, however, I don’t know if this is true. I’ll need to chase up some of my friends back home and see if any of them are “in possession” of the goods and if we can arrange a trail deal.

The first one’s always free, right?

Here in the Future, I am on Day 4 of  Year 2008. I’ve decided that I need to start narrowing down my extensive list of hobbies and things I want to do, and try dedicating my attention on polishing up my skills in certain areas. I read an article in one of my Malaysian magazine about the Art of Blogging, and it suggested concentrating on one particular thing. Once readship increaces, and one has a following, then the author should attempt branching out. I found it interesting, especially since it was a fashion magazine that touched upon the subject. American fashion magazines aren’t so accommodating (from what I remember).

A fun theme I’ve decided to start with my Japanese Blog is “The Queen of (insert topic here)”. Now, I am not a princess or queen by any means, but I figure if I am to improve my critiquing, writing, and langauge abilities, I should take an interesting approach to keep myself motivated.

Japanese Blog Queen :: Though I have a Japanese blog on my Mixi.jp account, readership and exposure is only available to those with membership. So, I decided to dust off my poor, neglected Ameba Blog, and attempt something I’ve been completely slack about: continuously blogging about my experience here in Japan. Despite having a relatively uneventful winter holiday, I had plenty of time to think about things weighing down on my mind.  

On thing that motivates me to write on Ameba is the blog ranking system. The insecure high school girl locked up deep within my heart craves to know if people are actually accessing and reading my blog, or if I am just wasting my time on it. It also triggers my competitive edge, making me want to post frequently so as to increase my popularity ranking. I know that is insanely shallow, but it’s fun (in complete honesty). Yesterday, I hit my all time general ranking high with being in the top 30% (yeah, keep in mind I was 61,680th of out of 2,136,636 people, but whatever, I’m proud of it). 

Shopping Queen :: My two recent purchases were headphones for my iPod and a wireless for TV/Video Game surround sound. The walls in my apartment are rather thin, so I worry about disturbing my neighbors when I watch movies or play games late at night. I feel like a DJ with wearing big headphones for the first time in years.

Plan B Queen :: This is where I fear people will want to beat me with a Clue-by-Four. I’ve been thinking of alternative paths in case grad school falls through, or I can’t find work after I graduate (provided I do so). With watching so much Japanese TV, I’ve noticed a very distinct pattern: plenty of Western male TV talents (variety/talk show programming, quiz programming, etc), but virtually no Western female TV talents. It’s been suggested by several friends of mine that I should consider going into Japanese show biz.

Unlike the US, where blue eyed, ligth brown haired girls-next-door is commonplace, I have potential to go far in Japan, especially since I speak Japanese (well, sort of).  Though I am not the pop idol/sexy pin up type of girl, I could do very well as a comedian/talk show panelist (provided I drop about 15-20 pounds). I know that it would be a very arduous, risky task, especially in my late 20s, but I think the dejected ex-Telecomm major within me is still itching to emerge. However, the tricky part is that in Japan, most companies (if not all of them) only admit new employees in April when the new fiscal year starts (as university/high school students graduate in March).

So what does this mean for me? Possibly a very narrow window to slip through, if I seriously want to get into the business. Also, a point of concern would be the language barrier, as I know that there will probably be things I will miss provided I don’t improve my Japanese to a native fluency. All, I know is I want to live in Japan forever, but I don’t think I could survive living in Tottori, especially if I am single. I have a greater possibility of meeting people in the larger cities, and there are larger availibility of jobs. I’ve been considering this since NOVA, one of Japan’s largest English Conversation schools, went bankrupt in October 2007, stranding hundreds of foreign teachers in Japan with no money to pay rent, let alone pay for plane tickets back to their home countries. Any available English conversation school jobs have been snapped up like sharks in freshly chummed water.

Heck, I’ve even kicked around the idea of working in a Maid Cafe, if not anything else, just to experience something different before settling into a career. I know that sounds extremely reckless of me, but curiosity is nibbling at me.