I’m the friend who takes photos. If people want photos for their clubs and special events, they’ll ask me to take them. If people need LinkedIn profile photos, they’ll ask me to take them. I’m honoured that they think of me. But hardly anybody approaches me with a creative idea they want to bring to life. It’s always me taking photos for other people; it’s never a collaboration. So I was really excited when Alex showed me an idea he had for his photos.
‘Love’, this English word: like other English words it has tense. ‘Loved’ or ‘will love’ or ‘have loved’. All these specific tenses mean Love is time-limited thing. Not infinite. It only exist in particular period of time. In Chinese, Love is ‘爱’ (ai). It has no tense. No past and future. Love in Chinese means a being, a situation, a circumstance. Love is existence, holding past and future. If our love existed in Chinese tense, then it will last for ever. It will be infinite.
–A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
Kat (my roomie) left me over the break for home, so I was left to fend for myself. I think she was a little worried for me. I was worried for me too. Good thing Georgina got me this fantastic cookbook for my birthday titled The Starving Artist Cookbook. Accurate, no?
ONE // The artist and the storyteller
In the spirit of Valentine’s month, here’s a blog post from Camille Styles’ “It Couple” series, “featuring photographer Kate Zimmerman and professional storyteller Luke Turpin.” They’re way too cute asdfghjkl. Lots of love and also creatively inspiring.
TWO // Dorm decor: starting with the basics
Um, I still can’t get over this dorm room makeover?? As a current college student, I know that the dorm rooms we have to work with are… lacking. When I lived on campus, the only decorating I did in my dorm was a wall of photos I put up with sticky tack, and when the photos started falling, I just pulled them all off and left it blank. I live off campus now and I’ve been more successful at making it feel like home, especially with my bed and coffee table. I don’t have any coffee table books, but I do have a pretty stack of magazines (I’m so adult). The newest edition to my collection was the 11th issue of Boys by Girls, featuring Tom Odell, Cole Sprouse, and more dudes! Anyways, for more interior inspiration, check out The Daybook’s interior update.
THREE // Unicorn hot chocolate
Whilst this unicorn hot chocolate isn’t really Valentine’s themed, it totally could be! It’s pink and magical; is that not festive enough? I think this galaxy glaze and these crunfetti cruffins are in the same vein as the unicorn hot chocolate. I can see them sharing a table at a party.
FOUR // Alignment before action
I can only read or listen to a limited amount of personal growth and self-care content before it gets to be too much for me and then I become very skeptical and think the preacher is full of hot air. It has nothing to do with the content creator and only has to do with me. Anyways, one of many podcasts I listen to is The Lively Show, but I’m not always up to date with her content for reasons explained previously. I was listening to Jess talk about 80% alignment and 20% action, and it really struck a chord with me. This is relevant on so many levels, but also especially to bloggers like you and me who might hit writer’s block once in awhile.
FIVE // How to set up an online portfolio (that will land you the job)
I’m trying to figure out what I want to do this summer. I should have already had this figured out, but… I don’t. In the meanwhile, I’ve been productively procrastinating by thinking of ways I can present my creative work in a way that is professional and visible. I don’t even know if I’m looking for a job on this track, but it’s something I suppose. Some other blogging and business links I’ve found are: do you really need social media to grow your business, 6 ways to brand your Squarespace website, and 30 desirable content upgrade ideas. On the other hand, maybe it’s time to go beyond content upgrades and ask what else? Talk, write, and behave in a braver way, like drinking full strength black coffee. Have better conversations. Tell great stories.
What has been your favourite read of the week?
I’ve been sitting on this blog post idea for a long time, and finally decide to just go for it, in honour of today’s winter storm, which I’ve been looking forward to all week. You won’t believe how obsessively I’ve been checking the weather forecast.
We lost Mom while walking from the train to our Airbnb, so we headed to the nearest Hermès store to wait for her, coz we know where she at.