The Senakams | Corgi + 3

What's in a Paper Elixir?

As you know, I've been thinking about jumping onto the etsy bandwagon, and joining the throngs of starving artists and craft-enthusiasts in offering our goods online.

I've even got a shop set up and everything already: www.paperelixir.etsy.com. It's an empty store now, but feel free to admire the "store front", aka the banner and avatar I throw together (courtesy to the $70 PhotoShop Elements software I picked up at Costco!) and my bio.

But the question is, how on earth do I draw people to my store when 100,000+ sellers (I'm not kidding) are all competing to grab the buyer's few seconds of attention on this site that's as congested as Bay Bridge at 5 p.m. on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend?? (whew, that's a mouthful)

Well, I've browsed the internet for ideas, and found some useful resources (on and off etsy).

But I guess before I need to worry about that, I gotta be sure I got something to sell (what a concept).

That's when I started going through some of my old work and trying to find a way to create something new with some of these half-baked ideas...

Above is a snapshot of some of these odd elements thrown together: some sketches I painstakingly did for a class a few years ago (not because they're particularly good but because I've never sketched in my life), some scraps of handmade paper, fabric remnants, an old text book, bits of unidentifiable junk...

But that's how I get ideas, in fact, one is brewing in my head now. OK, gotta go throw a couple more things in and see how that'll work.

See, it really is just like brewing a potion. Or elixir, made out of paper. :) 

Crack My Mind

I had such a revelation today, I feel obliged to share. Even though it's causing me to feel a bit lightheaded just to think about it...

I walk by this neighbor's unit at the end of the hall almost every day, and I would notice her business website- mojotivity.com. What an interesting name, I often thought. There's also some description of the "hypno-energy work" she does as a therapist which I didn't quite understand.

One day, in casual neighborly chit-chat, I learned from another neighbor that this "mojotivity lady" (her name is Joan) can "work wonders", helping you solve your life's problems in the amount of time it'll take you to drive to your shrink.

Really? Hmm. Sounds too good to be true.

So, what did I do? I have to put my issues to the test.

I have issues. They bother me, but I can't even begin to describe all the why's and how's. They're just there. I've learned to cope with them, but what if I could get rid of them completely...

And get my mojo back. Hmm.

So, with certain degree with skepticism, I went to seek out Joan's help. I had to admit (quite stupidly) I was relieved that there was no crystal ball or swinging pocket watch during our sessions. Duh, what was I thinking.

I was also relieved that she was warm and sensitive and humorous. At first, she listened to my issues, gave me her thoughts and feedback, and I thought, OK, this is probably quite harmless.

However, I wasn't quite prepared for the way the "energy work" we later did, that quite literally shook me to my core.

You can read more about this energy work she does here on her website. It seems quite simple and intuitive, but for some reason, I didn't think it would work on me. I thought my skull is so thick she wouldn't be able to penetrate it.

Joan can sense my fear and skepticism. Just follow my directions in a series of taps and repeat certain things after me, she said, you can't do it wrong.

And I had to say that, at first, I felt a bit silly doing it. Could tapping my finger on my temple and rolling my eyes in my head really work to get rid of my issues?

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a floodgate got opened.

Tears and emotions started pouring out from this long-forgotten pit in my heart. I was sobbing like a child. My head felt light, and my arms hung numb like two pieces of wet dough.

The only way I can describe it is like I've been living in a dark cave all my life, being tormented by these dark, evil bats swarming around my head that I couldn't see. I kinda know something is wrong, but I was too afraid to confront them.

And now, it's like a light had been turned on, and I am forced to reach out and grab one of these bats, look them in the eyes, and see for once what's bothering me.

I'm not quite there yet, but the goal is with repeated exercise, I can not only look them in the eyes, but realize that they're quite harmless. Perhaps I can even adopt them as cuddly pets some day.

I can honestly say that after just 2 sessions, I can feel my anxiety level much lower when I feel these issues bubbling up again. I mean, they're still there, but I can acknowledge them, and begin to feel that they're not having this evil grip on my every emotion.

I am still trembling at the thought that such a simple therapy has caused such a profound change in my being.

What can I say, the mind is a crazy thing. It just takes the right touch to crack it open. I will be indebted to Joan for a long time.

Bryson the Search and Rescue Dog

Winter time isn't the best time for outdoor dog sports (think mud). So Bryson has wisely put agility and rally on hold, and opted for something more suitable for wet weather- and we're in tracking class.

Tracking is a dog sport that forms the basis of search and rescue work. There're tons of rules in competition, but basically, they find stuff by sniffing around.

We don't really anticipate Bryson becoming a search & rescue dog (unless they have a unit specializing in recovering lost turkey drumsticks in the woods), but any "sports" that involves him dragging me across an open field, sniffing for treats and being rewarded for it, I don't think it's such a bad deal.

Here're some videos of him practicing at home. The goal of this exercise is for him to learn to "indicate" a found object by laying down next to it ("finding" it isn't the key here, we practice that outside since the whole house smells like us).

OK, we cheated a little in this next one, it was hard though, so I guess it's OK.

Window to the Doggie Soul

The other day when I was cuddling with Bryson in bed, soaking up doggie love when it was all raining and gloomy outside (highly recommended, by the way), I noticed his right eye was oozing some thick, greenish gunk. Eek!

I took a picture of it right away, coz I know as predicted by Murphy's Law, it'll disappear as soon as we get to the vet's office the next day.

Satisfied after a few snaps that I got the goo pretty good, I loaded it up onto the computer, ready to print out the evidence to bring in to the vet's visit the next day.

That's when I noticed something else rather cool...

Those are our lofty 10' windows reflected in his eyes. I can almost imagine pushing these windows open and seeing what's inside Bryson's doggie soul...

It's probably largely occupied by thoughts of table scraps, treats, squirrels, cozy naps, and more treats.

I can also picture a teeny-tiny thumbnail-size corner in there for me and Jacques, looking up hopefully, eagerly waving and competing with all the other edible items to win over a bit of Bryson's heart.

P.S. The vet thinks that he probably had a passing virus, since as I correctly predicted, the goo was gone by the time we were in.

You've Got Meme!

My missing blog posts have been restored! Crisis averted... Whew!

So, now I can get back to the meme I was tagged to do by JuLo. Yippee!

But wait... um, first I gotta find out what the heck a meme is...

I googled up a bunch of sites that attempt to explain it, all without much success. Here's the precious little I could gather: a meme appears to be an idea that gets replicated and propagated from one person to another. Like chain mail? No. That's lame. More like a gene, and hence the name (note meme rhymes with gene).

Oh and by the way, the picture here has nothing to do with a meme. Just don't want to do a post without a pretty picture. This is a painting by Barry Masteller.

OK, without further ado, here's the my meme:

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. But there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family. This post pretty much sums up the biggest (and smallest) event in my family this past year.

Link 2 must be about friends. I can't imagine living without my 5 dearest friends!

Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are… what you’re all about. Well, I cheated here! OK, just a bit... I wrote this post after I knew about this meme. It's rather long, but you can't say you don't know me after reading it.

Link 4 must be about something you love. This is a hard one. There's just so many things I love... eating, napping, shopping, eating some more... but if I have to pick one, this post probably represents one of the "things" (note: non-living) I'm most passionate about now.

Link 5 can be about anything you choose. One of the most special moments captured on the blog gotta be this one. Yeap, Dec 28, 2006, the very first day we met Bryson and took him in as part of our family forever.

OK I have to cheat again! I can't stop at these 5 here, this is too much fun! There's one very important aspect of my life I haven't mentioned yet... and you can read more about it on this post and this post here.

Experiencing the roller coaster ride of life with my hubby has helped me become the person I am today. I've read somewhere that a soul mate is someone that can help you see your own soul. If that's true, then I'm just about the most blessed person in the world right now.

Missing!

I just noticed something bizarre on the blog...

All my old posts without a comment has disappeared  from this blog!!!

I've written to typepad for help. Still waiting for a response...

Did anyone notice it before today? I just found out last night when I was trying to do the meme JuLo tagged me for, where I have to find old posts that'll answer some questions... And discovered they all went MIA!!!

How frustrating... please bear with me and pray that my missing posts haven't fallen pray to some blog-eating predators in cyberspace.

Back on the Vandercook Again

I'm psyched to be letterpressing again!

It seems like it's been a while since I've produced anything (my {Paper Elixir} business card, remember?), so I'm excited that I'm back printing away again this past weekend after weeks of traveling and general craziness.

This time I'm printing letterhead and envelopes, using the same motif from the business card.

Despite of all the trial and errors one inevitably go through in the process of learning to letterpress (What? Rollers too high? too low? too little padding? what's that funny sound from the press?! Ewww... is that Crisco on my pants?! Arrgghhh), there's something very satisfying in the process of transforming a humble sketch to a piece of meticulously hand letterpressed work.

Speaking of meticulous... this is just half the pile of the trial prints on the envelopes... it took me HOURS and they're not even done yet!!! I still have another color to print on the back flap...

I was warned that printing such a large sprawling design on envelopes would be a challenge, since there're so many folds and overlapped areas (just take out any envelope and look at the back), it almost guarantees uneven printing. On top of that, throw in some mechanical issues with the 75+ year-old press (I swear I heard it wheeze), it made for some pretty interesting printing experience.

Like my letterpress teacher Kim said, it's all about being zen... Ommm......

(P.S. Crisco is used to get the paint off the press. I know. But it works. Just don't get it on your pants)

Happy Belated New Year!

I know it's kinda late in the day and Chinese New Year's Day is almost over (it is in China), but better late than never, right?

Happy Rat Year!! Gong Hey Fat Choy!!

And my brain is too mushy right now to think of anything else auspicious or clever to say... so I cheated... I copied Bryson's picture from our New Year blog last year and stuck it here. You probably couldn't tell, right? Hee hee...

New Look!

Welcome to the new design of our blog! I decided it's time for a facelift, things were starting to look a bit old and droopy...

Hope you like the new profile picture! I wanted a picture with the 3 of us, but we didn't have many choices... So I photoshopped this one a bit... (shhhhhhh...)

I also changed the description/tagline to reflect the evolving nature of this blog, and added some functions on the left that you could use to subscribe to this blog.

Let me know if you like the new blog!

One's Many Duties

We voted today!

As we proudly sport our "I voted!" sticker on our chest around town, I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that this is actually only the second time I've voted ("OK, let's see... draw a line evenly across the boxes... alright, I can do that...")

I know we haven't been the best when it comes to fulfilling our civic duties, but then when you think about it, one's life is so full of duties- volunteering obligations, city council meetings, HOA meetings... and that's not counting work and all the family/ social obligations that we bring onto ourselves... how do you juggle them all?

I know, I know, I've been accused (mostly fairly) of overcommitting, but somtimes you feel like you just need to roll up your sleeves and tackle whatever comes at you, that there's really nothing you can't handle (something women learn from their strong moms, I think).

Like this past weekend, I came home from this crazy 2-week vacation-work trip, ready for a comatosed weekend at home, only to discover that my dear friend couldn't find a place to board her 7-month old puppy for a weekend trip starting the very next day (!!!).

There's only one thing to do. Bryson had a new baby-step-sister for the next 3 days and we scooped a lot of wayward poop.

But then I realized something while tugging with this puppy for the 15th time that day- there's nothing more satisfying than experiencing something new- to delight in the pure joy of reckless play, to learn the love and compassion you're capable of towards a creature you barely knew, and to nurture the patience you need to deal with this creature's not-quite-yet-developed bladder/bowel control, and her unstoppable desire to chew on the rain coat you're struggling to put on for her own good. As tiring and frustrating as it can get, it also helps you feel you've lived life a little bit fuller than the day before.

And I hope little Xena wasn't too traumatized at our inexpert hands. Bryson, as you know, isn't big in playing and tugging, and often gets annoyed when Xena tried to lick his face and invite him to play (the same way that older boys get annoyed by their much younger siblings, I guess). At the end, he did warm up to her and attempted to play with her in his way (watching her run around the coffee table and then tackle her at one end, which usually ends in spectacular collisions where he gets mercilessly run over since he's so short).

 

So even Bryson learned something- duty as a big brother, to love and to tolerate a younger sibling. I guess that's how we- men and dog- all learn to move forward in life.

Big Island Bliss!

Just came back from my marathon meeting in San Diego yesterday. I'm exhausted, and our place's a mess with half-unpacked luggages and 2 week's worth of mail strewn all over the place...

But I can't deal with any of that now. I feel so lazy that the only thing I can bring myself to do was to tiptoe around the mess, unpack my camera, load up the photos and savor the short but sweet trip to Hawaii. Flipping through the pictures, I can almost feel the salty breeze on my face and black sand between my toes again... Hahhhhhh.....

I'm also too pooped to write a whole heck lot here, so feel free to check out our Flickr album for more details of our trip. Here're a few photos to get you in the mood.

Hanging out by the pool at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, vodka & tonic in hand, blue ocean in sight, da bomb!

Tales of the Two Coasts: Left- on the Hilo (east) side among lush forests on our B&B's (Emeraldview- highly recommended) balcony; right- falling asleep swinging on a hammock overlooking the fine white sand of Hapuna Beach on the west side

Driving under a towering canopy of fig trees on a quiet country road in Puna (southeast and more local part of the island)

 
Revisiting the same soda machine! This is the exact same archaic machine in the exact same location since our trip there 3 years ago (picture on right was from 2005)! Notice the newly accquired rust at the bottom of the machine since our last visit. Almost like a time-lapsed photo, ha!

MUSUBI!!! A Hawaiian delicay- a layer of fluorescent red Portugese sausage over rice, wrapped in seaweed sushi-fashion. Looks kinda gross but actually quite delicious. Mahalo to the Hawaiian people for such a great addition to the culinary world!