a paper coffee cup

Starbucks is possibly the most successful coffee franchise ever. I can't even walk a couple of blocks before I run into several Starbucks. I, like many in North America, love to enjoy a drink here and there. My favorites are definitely the Green Tea Frappacino and and the White Chocolate Mocha. Ever since my sister had worked there until she quit, I've noticed a few things that bother me about Starbucks.

Firstly, the "aftersmell" is absolutely nauseating, no offense to Starbucks. You know how food can taste good but have an odd aftertaste. Same thing applies with Starbucks. You enter any one of them and it is filled with the heavenly smell of coffee but once you leave, a weird smell clings to you. At first it didn't really bug me but after years of my sister coming home after a long work day there, the smell really starts to get you. The other thing is obviously the price. The price I have to pay for my lunch is equivalent to only a tall Frappacino.

I find it weird how we would buy several cups of Starbucks coffee when something equally as good can be half of the price, but that's the power of branding. People pay for name. Let me know what other coffee places that are worth trying.

a balloon animal

Over the years, I have truly built an appreciation for those people who can make things out of balloons. It seems that often when other people would look at balloon creatures, they would scoff and joke that anybody can do it. I can say for a fact that this is not true, based on my recent experences.

So one of my best friends (the one who gave me this book) and I decided that it would be fun to help out at a daycare event, making balloon animals for kids. At the time, one of our most brilliant ideas for making easy cash. Not true. We spend a week looking through YouTube tutorials, trying to learn as many balloon creations as we can since neither of us know anything about balloon making (except worms, we made brilliant worms). We managed to learn how to make a sword, a flower, a helicopter hat, and a "dog" (which can actually be several different animals if you use your imagination). I took one step forward to learning more and was the only one who could make a teddy bear.

The event was one of the most stressful experiences ever. Kids crying to get what they wanted (and when balloons popped) as well as a lot of immediate gratification. Making teddy bears was definitely not one my brightest ideas, especially since they took me 10 minutes to make, not including the time to start over if they popped. All I can say is that balloon quality DOES matter and this is a difficult skill to develop in a week. To anyone who has this skill, you are amazing. Let me know what is the best thing you can make with a balloon.

a zombie

Okay, I have to admit that when I saw this, it was a no-brainer that I was going to draw this (no pun intended). At first, I thought about drawing something from Walking Dead (great show) or R from Warm Bodies (hopefully great movie), but I knew Plants vs. Zombies was definitely the way to go. I have to admit that this game has one of weirdest concepts, using plants (and fungi) to defend your lawn from various characters of zombies, but I absolutely love it! It tricks me into thinking that if a real zombie outburst ever occurred, I would have a fighting chance when in reality, I probably would be one of the first to get eaten. I'll work that. Eventually.

When I first showed my mom this drawing, she seemed to immediately question my sanity, suggesting that I should expose myself to "happier" things, but who could blame her. I am fascinated by scary movies and ones with dark themes or just appear dark visually (like Tim Burton's movies). Also, my recent interest in American Horror Story really doesn't really assure her that I am at a stable mental state but I still constantly let her know that I am okay.

Heard that the second version of this game is coming out and if it's anything like the first one, I'm confident that it will be equally as fun. If there are any games that are coming out that is worth checking out, let me know!

bubbles

The Powerpuff Girls was one of my all-time favorite show as a kid! Growing up in the 90's, I was exposed to many great cartoons, including this one. I mean, as a kid, who wouldn't want to watch a show with crime-fighting little girls with awesome powers? Clearly I did while I was growing up!

Bubbles is actually not my favorite character. Yes, she is adorable but that high-pitched voice slightly irritated me, especially if I heard it for long periods of time. Since most of my childhood was spent in front of the television, I heard it A LOT. That is why I leaned more towards Blossom. She's a smart, caring, and confident character that appealed to me as a kid. Buttercup is cool too.

It's a shame that quality of kids shows these days are declining. There is the possibility that I haven't seen the right ones but as far as I know, none of them seem to have that "classic" feeling. You know, that timeless appeal that people 10 years from now would still say that it's a "great" show. If anyone reading this does have any suggestions of great cartoons, I'd love to check them out!

Origin of the book

So this all started when one of my best friends gave me "642 Things To Draw" for Christmas this year, which I have to admit, sounds more exciting than it actually is. For anyone who have never heard of this book, you're pretty much paying 17 bucks for a blank sketch book with words that give you suggestions of what to draw on each page. Clearly, you could sense that I was thrilled to receive such a gift at the time, but who could blame me, I haven't drawn in almost 5 years.

Growing up, I was frequently labeled as the "artistic kid" in my class. Inspired by my oldest sister, who later ended up majoring in visual arts, I absolutely loved to draw and it was cool that people recognized that I was actually good at something. I started to become more confident as a person and soon had the guts to try to put myself out there as an artist when I applied to a mini school that specialized in the fine arts. With the encouragement and assurance that people gave me, I felt pretty good about getting in the visual arts program there but obviously that didn't happen since I am writing about this now.

I got into the music program instead which, don't get me wrong, is an equally amazing accomplishment. Too bad my music teacher hated my guts due to several events that happened and my inability to play in "her way". The good thing that came out of this was my discovered passion to compose music rather than to play it, which took only took five painful years to learn. Besides the point, I guess during my high school career, I become convinced that I had tricked myself to believing I was a real artist. I lacked the effortlessness in art ability that my visual arts friends who got in had and took it as a sign that maybe I was never meant to do visual arts.

With everything that had happened and more, I truly believed at the time that what I really needed in my life was practicality, the security that everything would be normal for once in my life. I decided to pursue science as my life endeavor since I'm pretty good at it and that people began to praise me as "smart" rather than "artistic". Lo and behold, I managed to secure a place in the sciences at my current university but after 1.5 terms of this, I'm still not completely satisfied for some reason.

Which probably is why I became drawn to this book. As ridiculous as the idea that they advertise is, maybe it'll do me some good 'cause honestly, I don't know what I want to do, whether it is art, music, or science; I'm still figuring that out. Until then, I'm just going to return to what first helped shape who I am today: art. I'm going to dive into this adventure of discovery for a year that is "sure to entertain and provoke the imagination of anyone ready to pick up a pencil". Well, that's what the book says.