Welcome to Night Vale

It’s only been the first week of school and I’m ready to hit my head on my textbook with a thumping noise. It’s probably just going to get worse later. 

There was a sudden rise of the fandom of Welcome to Night Vale, a radio broadcast set in a fictional desert town. Tumblr seems to be the reason how it started. I got to listen to it during the summer and was immediately hooked. It’s a mix of sci-fi, comedy, horror, and general absurdity that makes you laugh and shiver at the same time. The thing about it, though, is that if you space out for a second during an episode you will have absolutely no idea what is going on. (Not that anything makes sense in the Night Vale world, however.) 

The wonderful people of the internet produce beautiful fanarts of WtNV. Since there is very little description about the appearance of the radio’s host, Cecil Baldwin, artists each have his/her own interpretation. It’s interesting to see what people come up with. The most popular headcanon (an idea or belief that is accepted by the fans but not mentioned in the media itself) of Cecil is a blonde guy in a purple waistcoat that may or may not have a third eye and tattoos on both arms.

“A friendly desert community, where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead as we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale.”

- Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale is probably not for everyone, but if you find the idea of a floating cat, dark hooded figures, angels that help screwing light bulbs, a philosophical pyramid, plus a really cute romantic relationship between Cecil and a scientist named Carlos interesting, you should really check it out.

So Many APs

On Sunday I'm going to take the TOEFL test, and Monday is the first day of school. I still have several AP summer assignments to complete. Yeah, I probably didn't manage my time very well earlier in the summer. It's summer after all.
Honestly I'm really worried about my classes when school starts. I don't know if I can handle four AP classes. Maybe it's my lack of confidence, because people say they think I have the ability to do it, but I can't help but feel a bit scared. Sometimes I'm unconsciously perfectionistic and I spend too much time on one assignment. I spend a really long time writing an essay if I want it to be good.

Sometimes I just worry too much. And there I go again. 

A Truly Introspective Analysis of Myself and Writing

My life as an anti-social dorm student with the descent into my own little world has taught me something: being alone does things to people. For an introvert, loneliness is an incentive for brain activity. When you’re metaphorically brain dead around other people, the absence of such human matters regenerates your brain cells again. Ironically, I do feel trapped by my own thoughts and feelings and want a way out from time to time. The truth about being introverted and growing up is, well, you don’t always have someone to talk to.

That’s when I understand why people write. Writing is having a conversation with someone whom you know so well because they are nothing. It is the simplest therapy. You try to translate your feelings into words so you can give them an explanation. I also found that writing fiction is a form of sharing. You share your existence with your characters; they in turn offer you their adventures.

I envy those with generous imagination, and at some point I told myself that I should try to draw a comic one day. Comic is a wonderful thing because it combines writing and drawing, which I am better at. To come up with a complete story, with an actual ending and all, has become a challenge I constantly poke myself with.

Stories simply don’t come to me. Characters do, however, and I’m stuck with vivid characters that I don’t know where to put them.

I think in pictures, and they don’t always translate into words the way I want them to. That doesn’t mean I don’t ever think in words. As nerdy as it sounds, I have imaginary conversations in my head with my good friends all the time. Somehow I’m always more eloquent in my mind, but that’s beside the point.

Although I am still having trouble coming up with a plot, I hope my characters will one day inspire me with their wonderful (not so wonderful, more like morbid) personalities. Wish me luck, guys.

Project GRIEF

I had been working on a series of artworks around a central theme for a contest, and I finally finished it on Tuesday. I felt surprisingly little satisfaction, but that might be because I still have tons of work to do.

My mom told me about the contest around May. The contest was held by the Taiwanese Palliative Care Association, asking for comics or illustrated stories about “loss” and “grief” for teenagers. The topic seemed interesting to me, (and the first three places receive money), so I decided to give it a shot.

Because both of my parents work at the hospital, death isn’t an unusual topic for us over the dinner table. I grew up listening to them discussing their patients and the patients’ family members. Still, during the course of the project I could only imagine what it feels like to have someone close to you passing away. After all, the saddest thing that ever happened to me was when my cat died. My mom, on the other hand, lost her father when she was thirteen. She told me she simply felt pointless for a very long time.

I asked her, “So, when did you get over it?”

She said, “I don’t think I ever did.”

example page

Based stylistically on three collages I created previously, the series continued using magazine cut-outs as medium. However I incorporated paint into the new ones while in school. Because I liked the result so much I painted every piece after that.

The new project was in storybook format. Writing in Chinese, especially elegantly without being pretentious, proved to be way more difficult than I thought. My mom ended up helping me with the writing.

The title of the project was, translated literally, “Loss and Pursuit,” which sounds somewhat stupid in English. (Project GRIEF was actually the working title)

Working on this project was time- and energy-consuming, but I think I learned a lot. Besides, I also need a few more artworks that can be potentially used in my college application.

Artist Statement Pre-write Questions

I didn't know what to write for this week, so I thought I'd work on my answers to these questions. I have to say, these questions are not easy to answer, and I'm not even done with half of them.  

• If there are other things that inspire you beside art, what is it and how does it inspire you? (ie. music, poetry, outdoors, travel, computers, sports)  

Music is a big inspiration for me in creating art. Music itself is a form of art, and in many ways it can stir emotions and thoughts the same way that visual art does. Each song has its own color, or colors, and each sound creates a visual representation in my head. I like to incorporate the colors and pictures I see when listening to music into my artwork, in which I also strive to convey thoughts and feelings.

• What person or persons in your life were supportive or have been a role model for you choosing art?  

My parents have always been supportive of my interests. They let me take art classes since I was little and encouraged me to improve my skills over the years. They never hesitate to take me to art museums and see exhibitions. My mom also helped me to decide on becoming a serious art student.

• What might a specific college’s geographic location have to offer you in your studies and how do you hope that place can inspire you or offer you resources for your work?

The ideal place for me to study in production design is undoubtedly New York City. The location will offer renowned performances to learn from, and opportunities to work on actual stages. The art galleries and museums in New York will also possibly inspire me in the creative process.

• What role do you hope to play and or what do you aspire to do after you have your degree?  

It’s my dream to work on a performance stage, either as a designer or simply someone who makes the designs. I also hope I will have the chance to travel to other parts of the world while working with a performing group. 

Prejudice is the Last Thing I'm Paying for

A few days ago I lost my respect for a teacher. I don’t want my education to be filled with prejudice by him.

There was one time when he mentioned a movie, a sappy, cliché romantic film, and after he commented on how terrible it is, added, “But girls will love it.” I was immediately irritated; is he trying to say that girls have bad taste in movies? I tried telling him that I was offended by his stereotyping, but he quickly justified himself with the idea that labeling helps people to learn.

He believes that girls constantly dream of romance and a tall, handsome boy to come and save them. When we were discussing the difference between romantic as describing love and romantic as pertaining to Romanticism, he specifically called the female students to distinguish the two. I told him that boys make the same mistake as well, and he didn’t believe it. He asked students who made the mistake to raise their hands: three girls, two boys. He seemed utterly surprised.

I can proudly say that I’m a supporter of feminism and LGBT rights. And I HATE when people say “That’s gay.”

This teacher says “That’s gay” numerously while teaching. I asked him to stop saying it and he forgets it the next class. I don’t think he is purposely insulting gay people; on the surface he speaks for “gay” as meaning happy. He just blindly follows whatever phrases young people are using nowadays to sound casual. I’m not making an excuse for him, however. If those people use “gay” to describe something stupid, that means they must equate “gay” with “stupid” in their heads, whether they know it or not.

What enrages me the most is the fact that he is a teacher. If teachers look down on girls and say things like “That’s gay,” how is that going to affect the students? A lot of students in my school already say sexist and homophobic things like that. To them, I can at least tell myself that they’re immature and stupid, and move on. And that is why I don’t respect this teacher anymore, because he is just as immature and stupid. 

Well, anyways, I’m too busy dreaming about working on a super awesome concert with laser beams. Now excuse me while I enjoy watching black and white films and TV shows about murder.

Studio Killers

I’ve been listening to this band called Studio Killers and they recently released their debut album! 

They are a virtual band consisting of three members: Cherry, Goldie Foxx, and Dyna Minx. I was first attracted to their well-made animations for their music videos and catchy tunes. The real identities behind these characters are still being kept behind the screen, but it’s confirmed that the three are each a Finn, a Dane, and a Brit. 

It’s hard to find pop music that’s actually very good music at the same time. I probably can’t say this with full assertiveness since music taste is a truly subjective matter. However, Studio Killers certainly comes with an extra bit of artistic flair. 

Cherry, the lead singer, is absolutely fabulous. She’s chubby and she’s sexy! What more could we ask for when the pop music industry is occupied by skinny, manufactured women who wear as less clothing as possible just to show their “perfect” body. Cherry is sexy not because we see her breasts or her butt, but because she has a personality and a good voice. (Her voice is provided by a man, by the way. People speculate him to be Teemu Brunila, a Finnish singer.) 

A lot of people compare them with Gorillaz. I personally find them to be very different but both are successful projects at creating virtual bands. I’m not a fan of Gorillaz, though, at least not yet. 

Studio Killers uploaded their entire album on YouTube, but in a way that makes me want to buy the actual music even more. Yes, I’m still trying to get my hands on the album.

Social Skill is Like Music

The other day my mom was typing a report for her studies. She is head nurse in the hospital she works in and she went to a bigger hospital to learn about the procedures of nursing in palliative care. It's rare to see my mom doing any sort of homework so I asked her what she was writing. She told me it's a common homework for people studying in nursing; the task was to record conversations one had with a patient or the patient's family members, and analyze what they said. 

Nursing is based largely on interactions with patients in order to make them feel understood. The purpose of such assignment is to train people to have this ability in a short time, as opposed to learning it from long term experiences. 

I’m amazed at how my mom can write down an entire conversation from mostly memory. She said it takes practice. 

We came to the conclusion that social skill is like music: some people are born with good sense of rhythm, while some can’t follow the beat at all. It’s possible to improve one’s musical sense by practicing, but everyone starts off on a different level.

Video Games and the Art of Story-Telling

There has been hype for an indie game called OFF, a French adventure RPG made by Mortis Ghosts in 2008, translated to English in 2011. I finally got to play it a few days ago, and quickly found myself eager to discover more in the story. With very interesting characters and a surreal plot, the game certainly lives up to its fame. 

OFF

In OFF, you play as a character called The Batter, and you’re on a mission to purify the world. As the story goes on you learn more about the disturbing truth behind the “world” you’re in and the characters you meet on the way.

Then I realized how long it was since the last time I even played a video game. I have never been a gamer. I revisited video games so many years later not because I like to play them, but because of how their players react to the stories. I’ve come to know quite a few games through LPs, or Let’s Plays, recordings of people narrating while playing video games posted usually on YouTube. I watch them for the stories.

There are many ways to tell stories. In writing, you recreate the senses through only words. When drawing a comic, you give pictures and dialogues that suggest motion and emotions. And through film, you indulge your audience’s eyes and ears with fancy visuals and music. Video game is just another form of story-telling. It’s also a multi-media one with interactivity. Players immerse themselves in the plot as one of the characters, and they experience both pictures and sounds.

Good video games are complex works of art that go hand in hand with technology, which in recent years enabled large improvement in interactivity as well as aesthetics. There is so much design that goes into the characters, the environments, the controls and the story. Just as any other ways of story-telling, how the story unfolds is key. In video games, however, the other elements are also essential because the player is actively participating in the virtual world. They have to be hooked by the setting as they go on to continuously want to explore the rest of the game. On this aspect I truly admire the creativity that is put into developing this form of entertainment.