I just wanted to tell everyone that I’m leaving for my Cannes/London trip!
I will be away from later today Saturday, May 11th through Friday, May 31st (plus most likely a few days of recovery, etc.).
During my trip, I plan on taking copious notes/photographs in order to share my adventure here with you when I get back.
Unfortunately, I’ll have only sporadic Internet connection while abroad. But please feel free to leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Zest Books Internship, Day #19: A little bit of editing, a little bit of Facebook-ing, a little bit of photoshopping, and a little bit of mailing.
Saturday, April 6th
Hanging out with family today. Went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, which was pretty bad except for the opening credits and the Danny Elfman soundtrack.
Finished working on notes for The Man Who Never Smiled.
Wednesday, April 10th
Zest Books Internship, Day #20: Worked mostly on mailing today… I think I put together over 60 packages. Wrote a blog post for the Zest Books official blog about upcoming titles Little Fish and Super Pop! with an accompanying illustration — can’t wait to see this go up online!
Thursday, April 11th
Ran some errands and worked on some preparation for the Cannes/London trip.
Made an account with Storenvy and am beginning to set up my own online store.
Went with Wes to an event at San Francisco Film Society. Talked with some of Wes’s former employers and met a filmmaker named Joey who will also be at Cannes.
Friday, April 12th
Zest Books Internship, Day #21: Worked on some cover designs for an upcoming Zest Books title. Everyone really seems to like what I’ve done!
Invited to be an illustrator for an upcoming collaborative project with a small publisher. More details to come!
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Worked on setting up the online store.
Saturday, April 13th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Went to North Beach to eat really tasty Italian food. ( ´◔‿ゝ◔`)
Sunday, April 14th
Date with Wes! Went to see The Place Beyond the Pines, which was interesting. Ate Vietnamese food afterwards. (・∀・)
Ran some errands and worked on some preparation for my Cannes/London trip.
Thinking of investing in a professionally printed preview zine of The Poet and the Flea to sell online and at expos. Looking into various local printers!
Zest Books Internship, Day #23: Sat in on staff meeting. Created a blog post for Earth Day. Worked on WordPress, editing some content.
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Saturday, April 20th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Helped mom prepare for the art show next weekend.
Did some research on local printers.
Sunday, April 21st
Elias’s 1st birthday party! Bit of a strange day… Wes and I went to Gabe’s house to celebrate his son’s first birthday. Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see Gabe since he had to take his father to the hospital for a broken leg. Later, Wes and I went to The Ice Cream Bar since it was so hot outside and we needed to cool off. Then, we ended up eating at Sunflower Vietnamese for dinner and later had dessert with my folks and Nikki the shiba inu.
Zest Books Internship, Day #24: Put together some interview questions for Dan. Worked on some button designs in Photoshop.
HOLY MOLY MACARONI! I just received the most amazing e-mail. (A secret for now…)
♪(┌・。・)┌
Thursday, April 25th
Working on Blake Society talk!
Friday, April 26th
Wow, received another awesome piece of news. Can’t really say anything yet, but everything is really coming together it seems!!
Zest Books Internship, Day #25: LAST DAY! Finished button designs and ordered them online. The office ladies took us out for lunch, which was very sweet.
Spring Cleaning: Wanted to clean up my room and get rid of a lot of junk before leaving for Cannes/London trip! Now that most of the junk is gone, it should be easier to pack.
Monday, April 29th
Feeling under the weather today.
Tuesday, April 30th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Helped mom with some photos I took of her work for various purposes.
Wednesday, May 1st
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Even put together some important snail mail today!
Finally got my hair cut! Now I feel like I’m almost ready for my trip. (◕‿◕✿)
Correspondence with a recruiter for a potential job.
Friday, May 3rd
Ran around EVERYWHERE today to finish up errands for the Cannes/London trip. Utterly exhausted!
Jotted some more ideas down for a future screenplay.
Saturday, May 4th
Today’s motto: 七転び八起き= Nanakorobi yaoki. Fall seven times and stand up eight.
Family Bonding Day! This is the last weekend before I leave for Cannes/London, so spent time with the folks. Ate lunch at a great Puerto Rican restaurant. Finally got to see Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s Century at the de Young.
Sunday, May 5th
Date with Wes! Went to see Iron Man 3, which really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Ate tasty Japanese dinner at Sanraku. Hopefully will see Wes one more time before I leave!
Monday, May 6th
New suitcase arrived in the mail.
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Continued correspondence with a recruiter for a potential job.
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Tuesday, May 7th
Ran some errands for the Cannes/London trip.
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Working on Blake Society talk!
Wednesday, May 8th
Ran some errands for the Cannes/London trip.
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finalizing Cannes/London trip plans.
Working on Blake Society talk!
Jotted down some more ideas for a future screenplay.
Dinner with Wes!
Thursday, May 9th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
Packing for trip!!
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Friday, May 10th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
PACKING!!!
Saturday, May 11th
Finishing up odds and ends of Cannes/London travel arrangements.
Flight leaves San Francisco at 7:05 p.m. Will arrive in Nice, France at 6:10 p.m.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-30 completed, and 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: 8 pages of illustrated work completed. Zine production pending.
So far, my pre-travel planning has consisted of trying to buy/prepare/organize everything on an endless checklist of miscellaneous thingamajigs as well as figure out how I’m going to utilize my short stay in London. I have next to zero idea of what I’ll be doing when I actually get to Cannes, but I just have to relax and hope that the American Pavilion has all of that covered.
Admittedly, I am not the most fashionable person in the universe. But I really do try — especially when I know my destination is the Cannes Film Festival, where the chicest of the chic congregate every May.
Here, I thought I’d share some of the fashion items I’ll be taking with me. Also, I’d like a chance to promote some of the awesome Etsy vendors I’ve encountered along the way.
I bought this amazing maxi dress by Nicole Lebreux a few months ago. I was struggling to find a maxi dress that fit not only my shape but personality, which turned out to be an impossible feat on sites like Macy’s, etc. So I turned to Etsy, and discovered this incredible store. Nicole was extremely helpful, answered all my questions, and even customized the dress to fit my needs. I just can’t wait to wear this at Cannes!!!
For Cannes, I decided I needed a pretty big purse, both stylish and more importantly sturdy in case I need to stuff some screenplays and/or an extra set of clothes into it. Also, I didn’t want to spend too much money, definitely no more than $100. So I decided to try Etsy again, and stumbled across another amazing store. Monday Morning Studios makes an assorment of purses/handbags/totes in all different shapes, colors, patterns, etc. And all for less than $100! I bought a really neat hobo purse in an awesome jewel-tone plaid. Now I just have to figure out how much weight I can carry…
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An assortment of dresses I will hopefully be wearing to parties.
Some accessories to help me along the way.
And some cute warm-weather shoes.
Now I just have to figure out how it’s all going to fit in my suitcase!
Prepared for tomorrow — the first day of my new internship!!!
Wednesday, January 30th
Zest Books Internship, Day #1: Wonderful first day! Having an easy time getting into the flow of everything. Staff is extremely friendly and excited to get to know them better. Get awesome sneak peaks of upcoming titles. Friday, will be working on Tumblr and possibly doing some image research — can’t wait!
Thursday, January 31st
Not ready to announce anything yet, but amazing news (from January 20th) continuing to develop!
Received e-mail from follower Hannah Meiklejohn (bellusmundus.wordpress.com) asking if she could write an article for a magazine about The Poet and the Flea, yay! Excited to learn more details about the article and magazine. (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #2: Worked on historical-themed image research for most of the day, which was mostly a lot of fun! Started working on Zest’s Tumblr (zestbooks.tumblr.com). Ate lunch in nearby park, which is very pleasant and relaxing and will definitely be repeated.
Saturday, February 2nd
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Filled out the rest of Cannes paperwork and made a checklist for what to bring (I’m Going To Cannes!!!).
Went to see Warm Bodies with Wes! Not the most brilliant movie, but adorable and a lot of fun. (︶ω︶)
For those of you watching the new Netflix series House of Cards, I highly recommend watching the original BBC version starring the brilliant Ian Richardson also available on Netflix.
Ran into a neighbor on the bus to work today, and she’d like to hire me to help her with her WordPress. We’ll see what happens… (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #3: Worked on creating prom tips for Zest’s Tumblr as well as a mailing project. Getting to know everyone in the office better — everyone’s super easy to talk to. Took home a copy of Zoo Station to read.
Wow, I adore this new FX show The Americans! Amazing character development and really scary/exciting. Can’t wait for the next episode.
Zest Books Internship, Day #4: Continuing work on Tumblr! Sat at Ann’s desk today — she happens to have a David Bowie paper doll (with multiple outfits) taped to her computer, which brings me endless joy. Got to know fellow intern Olivia a bit better. Extremely excited to proofread/edit the back cover blurb for an upcoming book. Also got to share my opinion on some cover art!
Today’s constant companion: David Bowie!
Saturday, February 9th
Went to see Lewis Black with Wes and the folks! Stomach hurts from laughing so much!
Sunday, February 10th
Finally got to talk with my good friend from high school Tina! Talked on the phone for over 2 hours! (^-^;;)
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Monday, February 11th
Went downtown today to pick up some more supplies from Britex for The Flea plush toy.
Did a little shopping in preparation for Cannes. A lot more shopping to do in the next few months.
Finished writing responses to Hannah’s questions. Just have to edit a bit and then send them to her.
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Wednesday, February 13th
Zest Books Internship, Day #5: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Asked to do some brainstorming for book ideas. Ended up walking all the way home today since the bus skipped a lot.
A few days ago, e-mailed the Tate Gallery about information on their William Blake collection. Today, received response with good news. Will talk about this more in upcoming post.
Received e-mail from Hannah! She sent a draft of the article, and it looks really wonderful so far. Just have to answer a couple follow-up questions. \(^-^)/
Zest Books Internship, Day #6: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Also, talked about a potential book idea I came up with, and some of the staff seems interested! Next week, will be attending the Teen Advisory Board on Wednesday and a staff meeting on Thursday. Very excited!
Saturday, February 16th
Ordered a beautiful dress to wear at Cannes. I needed a maxi dress for pool parties, etc. and couldn’t find the right one in stores. So I browsed Etsy and found the talented Nicole Lebreux! Not only does Nicole have really fun designs, but also she was extremely helpful in answering my questions. So go ahead and check out her shop!
Went to see a simulcast of the new Met production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The opera is usually set in the 16th century, but this production cleverly reimagines the story in 1960s Las Vegas. Wonderfully creative and engaging production with incredible singers! Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zXLKd76fk.
Sunday, February 17th
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Today, set up an interview for a potential internship at a local publishing company! The interview’s Wednesday afternoon, so I have some time to prepare and de-stress beforehand.
Saturday, January 12th
Was going to go see Gangster Squad this weekend with Wes. But I’m definitely coming down with something. Hope I get better before the interview on Wednesday! ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ
I’m sure you’ve all heard about and seen the amazing giant squid footage recently captured by Japanese scientists. Well, I made a giant squid discovery of my own (see photograph below)! P. S. I love the Japanese word for giant squid – 大王烏賊 daiouika, which uses the characters for “big,” “king,” “crow/raven” (perhaps because squids have beaks), and “rebel/thief/bandit.” Yes, giant squid are awesome!!
Resident Squid at Woodhouse Fish Co.
Sunday, January 13th
Under the weather!
I just had to share something amazing with all of you. Recently, I’ve started watching a very strange show called Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. The only way to describe it is Monty Python meets a live-action version of Yellow Submarine plus an unverified amount of crack. You might want to watch the whole episode if you’ve never seen it before to understand the humor. But I wanted to point you all in the direction of a skit about William Blake and The Ghost of a Flea (like The Poet and the Flea, but not)! Watch from 7:50 for The Flea.
Discovered this amazing review of The Poet and the Flea by Sarah Goode at University College Oxford on the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’s website!
Brief but great meeting with Gabe! He seemed to really love what I’ve done so far on the final illustrations for Elias & the City of Cats. He didn’t make any changes other than adding a handwritten title to the cover and adding a second page for the part we call “cat craziness.” Plus, I sent Gabe a list of children’s book publishers I’ve compiled and he’ll look over it in the coming days. It’s wonderful to think that, once I’ve finished the final illustrations, Gabe will start working on submitting Elias to publishers!!!
Began reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Saturday, January 19th
Continued reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Sunday, January 20th
Received some amazing news — more details to come!
Saw Gangster Squad with Wes! Both of us agree that it wasn’t as bad as the 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Monday, January 21st
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finished reading Wes’s screenplay!! Going to meet on Wednesday to go over it with him. (^-^)
Discussed screenplay with Wes today! I think he has a really strong screenplay (especially for a first draft) and already knows which elements need to be further developed. (︶ω︶)
Had dinner with a lovely relative from out of town.
Sunday, January 27th
Had brunch with our lovely cousins.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
My head is spinning from all these award nominations!
Thank you so much to Eszter (felteddreams.wordpress.com) for nominating me a second time for the Liebster Award! Don’t forget to check out Eszter’s amazing felt/embroidery/quilting creations.
To view the post from my first nomination, click here.
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Rules
Post eleven facts about yourself.
Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven questions for people you’ve nominated.
Choose eleven people to give this award to and link them in your post.
Go to their page and tell them.
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Eszter’s Quetions
1. What inspired you to start blogging?
Well, I started this particular blog to keep track of my various creative projects and to organize my thoughts a bit.
2. Is there one thing you wish you could change about yourself, what would it be?
I’m never good at answering this sort of question. Even if I could magically change something about myself, I don’t think I would.
3. If you could meet someone famous who is still living who would it be?
This is a really tough question because I don’t want to jinx my chances at Cannes.
4. What was the most interesting class you ever took in school?
Another tough question since I went to New York University: Gallatin School of Individualized Study and took a number of amazing courses including “Dante’s World,” “Virtue and Villainy: Melodrama,” and “Globalization: Promises and Discontents.” The most life-changing class I ever took was “Yellow Peril: Documenting & Understanding Xenophobia” taught by the amazing Jack Tchen. For this class, I wrote a painstakingly researched 25-page paper (plus 5 pages of works cited) about Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls. Jack’s new book Yellow Peril: Understanding Fears of “the East” and What We Can Do About It is coming out at the end of February, so check it out if you’re interested!
5. What did you want to be when you were little?
I think I always wanted to be a comic book artist/graphic novelist/mangaka since I was in elementary school up through high school graduation. I drifted away from comics/graphic novels/manga in college, but as you can tell from The Poet and the Flea have regained my passion.
6. If you could decorate your work-space however you wanted, what would be your feature color?
Well, when I moved to San Francisco, I really got to decorate my workspace and I wouldn’t really change a thing (other than that it sometimes gets way too hot and there’s no air-conditioning). My room is mostly made of various shades of blue with splashes of yellow, tan, and salmon. It’s pretty funky!
7. If your life were a book, what would be the title?
Radiant Pessimist™ (this will also be the name of my future production company — I have Laurence Harvey to thank for that one).
8. What one happy memory do you have always coming to mind?
I don’t really have one memory that always comes to mind. But I recently thought of a childhood memory (when I was maybe six or seven years old) that I really hadn’t thought of for a long time — me and my dad bobbing in the ocean off of Kiawah Island. I remember that my nose was really runny, ha ha ha.
9. Do you prefer to read actual books or use an E-reader?
Actual books, hands down! It’s just not the same experience with an e-reader. The tactile feeling of a book, the smell of it, the typography and placement on the page, the action of turning from page to page… I really have a hard time reading on my iPad.
10. If you could keep only one item from your wardrobe, what would it be?
I’ve only worn it once, but the skirt of the prom outfit my grandmother made me. She died September 2011, so I’m extremely reluctant to let it go.
11. If you win some millions in lottery, what would be the first thing you buy?
I wouldn’t “buy” anything per se. I’d rather fund a full-length film of either my own script or that of a close friend.
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Nominations
Can’t I just nominate all my followers? You’re all so awesome and talented!
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My Questions
I liked the questions I wrote last time, so I’ll use them again…
What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had?
What is/was your favorite subject in school?
When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Who is your role model?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is your least favorite vegetable?
What is your guilty pleasure?
Are you an optimist or pessimist?
What are your short-term goals/New Year’s resolutions?
What did you last eat?
Do you have any special and/or bizarre talents?
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Only January, and I can already check #10 off my New Year’s resolutions list (New Year’s Resolutions, Anyone?). I have finally gotten an official internship in a field of my interest.
At the end of the month, I will start working at Zest Books, a publishing company focused on readers in their teens and early twenties!
Last week, I had an interview with Ann (Marketing and Editorial Associate) and was hired for the internship on the spot. It’s a small office in a really cool building/neighborhood and, on first impression, extremely friendly staff.
For this internship, I really feel like I’ll be able to utilize a number of my skills (writing, editing, social media, Japanese language & culture, etc.). I might also have an opportunity to do some freelance illustration work for them as well, which would be absolutely amazing! Plus, the internship is only a couple days a week, so I’ll still have ample time to continue my independent projects like The Poet and the Flea. Most of all, I’m excited to learn everything I possibly can about the business side of publishing!!
One really cool aspect of Zest Books is their Teen Advisory Board. They have a number of teen readers who work as interns and help the publishers figure out what kind of books teens would like to read/see published. According to Ann, the current Teen Advisory Board is really into anime/manga and Doctor Who — so I think I’ll get along with these kids just fine!
Zest focuses on non-fiction titles, from memoirs to how-to books. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really looking into their titles and have found a number of books that pique my interest. I’ve complied a list of my favorites below, so check them out!
Another award!!! I’d like to thank T. Jay Santa Ana (artbyanto.com) very very very much for nominating me for The One Lovely Blog Award + The Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Be sure to check out T. Jay’s awesome graphic design and illustration work.
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Rules
Thank the person who nominated you.
Add The One Lovely Blog Award + The Very Inspiring Blogger Award to your post.
Share 7 things about yourself.
Pass the award on to 10 nominees.
Include this set of rules.
Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.
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Facts
Check out these other posts for more than seven facts about me!
I first heard about The American Pavilion Cannes Film Program during my freshman year of college. The program was mentioned by the professor of an “Adaptation” course I was taking (we would read a short story or novel, then watch the movie adaptation of it). Over the years, I’ve thought of applying to the program and this year I finally did.
Wednesday (December 19th), I had a phone interview with The American Pavilion. After the phone call, I really wasn’t sure how it went. I just tried my best to answer every question as honestly and enthusiastically as possible. I especially wasn’t sure since my answer for “the most recent film you’ve watched” was the 2009 British dark comedy In The Loop. Furthermore, I was shocked to hear that I would be notified by Friday the same week whether I got in or not!
Well, today is Friday and I received the e-mail… I’ve been accepted into The American Pavilion 2013 Cannes Film Program!!!!!!!!!
The program begins on May 12 and ends of May 27. I have no idea what to expect, but I hope I’m not too star-struck. According to the interviewer, the program is what you make of it, so that means I’m packing all my business cards, postcards, and copies of my screenplays.
After filling out a bunch of forms for The Pavilion, I guess I need to figure out what to pack as well as brush up on some French?
Wish me luck! Or “bonne chance”?
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
