Laura Lai, with nothing in the middle. This blog is written for no one in particular. It is just a collection of thoughts in one little package. I want to color my world.
Filed under: Photoshop | Tags: afterimage, custom header, fonts, helvetica, Photoshop, School, snow, tutorials, typography
Not that I didn’t like my old-new header, which was pretty cool, but my new-new header seems to pack a punch whilst being exceedingly simple.
Aaah! I love typography. There’s just something about positioning movable type into an artistic design that gets me all kinds of excited. Typography is a great artistic alternative to drawing, because my works on paper are simply atrocious.
I found this amazing tut that allowed me to make one of these:
All thanks to http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/create-a-trendy-typographic-poster-design. I have no clue when I’m ever going to use this image, other than to create yet another header, but that didn’t quite work out so well. If any of you have any ideas about how I can use this image and technique, let me know.
Recently, whenever I close my eyes, I see letters, typography, all that jazz. Especially Helvetica. It’s almost like a lasting afterimage. Is that a bad thing? Am I getting too carried away with Photoshop and fonts and things? Perhaps, but I have a hell of a lot of fun doing things like this.
I don’t have Helvetica, and I honestly don’t feel like shelling out God-knows-how-much cash to get a stupid font (I like fonts, but not that much). I get all the free fonts I can get, which works just as well. I just wish I had it sometimes. Things would be a lot easier, and look prettier as well.
I remember seeing a movie about the font Helvetica. No lie, I think it was on PBS or something. It was really interesting. Or maybe that’s just my inner geek speaking. We basically see the font everywhere, so it should be public domain…right?
Anyway, I hope it snows some more, so I won’t have to go to school on Monday. I didn’t start on any of my homework, and outlines are tedious.
Sadly, I don’t like school anymore.
Right when I check my blog, I realize that the “drifting snow” decoration has indeed been activated. Can someone say…winter?!
Funnily enough, I was then curious enough to look outside my window. What do you know? The weathermen didn’t lie! I can barely contain my excitement! (I can’t even type correctly!)
It’s nice, looking outside and seeing your world being blanketed by drifting snowflakes. It’s quite beautiful. And there’s a lot more snow than I expected, which is good. I am now making plans to go outside and play.
I love this time of year. It’s just so joyful, happy, and full of life. I’m definitely looking forward to the holiday season.
Filed under: Holidays | Tags: adam lambert, birthday, break, november, thanksgiving, tofuninja
Even though I don’t write often, I have never skipped a month on this blog. So, I am most certainly not skipping a month this time around, especially since this month the Tofuninja blog turns 1.
I have no clue why I wanted to write a blog or why I came up with this. I suppose it was quite spur-of-the-moment. I guess I wanted a means to document my life in a way that was cooler than keeping a diary, and more convenient. It’s great because I get to keep track of all the important events in my life on my own little archive.
Notice that in honor of Tofuninja’s birthday, I decided to make a new header to spice up the site a little bit. (Alright, perhaps I decided it was Tofuninja’s present AFTER the fact, but I digress). I tried my hand at a little typography. It was tedious work, but rewarding in the end. I will try to create more typography art later.
Thanksgiving just ended, and BLACK FRIDAY has passed. Tomorrow, there is school, once again. This “break” flew by way too quickly for my liking. Plus, I’m still not done with my homework. Teachers often complain about grading 150 homework assignments every night, but they put it upon themselves.
Here’s a solution: don’t assign homework. It’s win-win.
Nevertheless, I must finish these assignments, or risk having to go to clown college in the near future. That is all.
*By the way, I hate Adam Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment.” It’s been looping in my brain for two days straight now. Don’t get me wrong, I like Adam, but GOD. The synth-y ness/Lady Gaga/Britney Spears hybrid is irritating.
Filed under: School | Tags: fun, homecoming, peppers, play, spirit week, woodstock
Personal update! Here’s the first, and probably last, blog entry of October.
By the Time We Got to Woodstock: an NWHS original play.
“Students wrote it? It’s not going to be good. I’m not going.” Sucks for you if you didn’t see it, because it was a pretty damn good show (much better than expected, really). It was so much fun to do! I got a lead as well, so that was a proud moment for me. Peace, love, brownies, and “implied” debauchery ensued. Although going to rehearsals was tiring, and I got sick along the way, I had some good times. Inside jokes and new friends were made. I had a blast.
This play made me think of the good old times, and what I’m probably missing when it comes to GHS drama (GHS is still favored, by the way, for obvious reasons). I miss it, a lot. My experiences when it comes to drama will never be the same. That sucks.
“I love how everyone in drama is separated into cliques.”
I wish that wasn’t the case here, but it is. Isn’t the drama club supposed to be close-knit? From my previous experience, I believe that it is. Everyone in my old school’s troupe was thiiiis (pretend you see me crossing my index and middle fingers) close. But, I digress.
Spirit Week
Homecoming is coming up, and I’m going. This will be my very first. How lame is it that I’m going to have my first homecoming experience as a junior, in a gymnasium congested with freshmen?
Monday was pajama day. I realized that it was lame to try to select pajamas to wear to school, so I pretty much said, “Eh.”
Tuesday was sports day. I am not athletic. I own nothing sportsy. So I settled on a hockey sweatshirt that I sleep in, to make up for the unfulfilled pajama day.
Wednesday, today, was wacky day. My entire plan was to wear normal clothes and a hat. Today was just an excuse to wear my checkered hat, that is all.
Thursday is superhero/villain day. I’m holding a contest. Tell me how many “The Jokers” you predict will be in school. I’ll give you a cookie if you…eh, never mind. I know what I will wear, and it’s going to be epic. (Update: I went as Kim Possible. A couple people actually got it!)
Friday is class colors day. Juniors are red, specifically. ONEONE!
Homemade Banana Peppers
I know how to make those.
School was exhausting. I’m sure that other people are having a worse week than I am, living in a slum or dying of starvation, so I have no right to complain. But let me just say that the transition from summer to school mode is tiring.
The first week of school was alright. It felt longer than it should have been, but it ended with a bang with the pep rally. This time around, it was enjoyable because juniors get good seats. Plus, we are semi-respected. There was no use in trying to see what was going on in the stadium last year. But then again, I only had to endure that for one year. There was no booing or “We hate freshmen” for me. Sweet!
I’m relatively happy with my schedule, I know people in nearly every class now. Well, except AP Psych. I don’t utter a word in that class. That just might be a good thing, because there are no distractions. And it’s still fun.
I’m extremely glad it’s the weekend. A couple hours ago, I took a well-need nap, and now I’m just lying back, enjoying some chocolate biscotti with a glass of milk. I may still be in summer mode, but once the air stays chilly all day, I have to wake up and face reality. That stuff, reality, really sucks.
It has been one year since I moved, and I’m due to repeat the process of a year’s worth of education all over again as a junior. It’s strange, how things can turn around and change so much in just 365 days.
8,765 hours. 525,949 minutes. 31,556,926 seconds.
When you write it that way, it looks like you have a lot of time to spare. however, time is fleeting. Seconds have just gone by as if they were nothing, but those seconds add up.
To minutes, to hours, to years.
It’s hard to believe that I’m halfway done with my high school career, and in merely two years I will become of age and start moving on with my life. That thought, in truth, is really scary. Will I have a furtunate future? Who knows?
My new school can never be called new again, my old school will remain in my fondest memories, and my future looks bright and promising. Let’s just see how I manage to deal with it.
Filed under: music | Tags: advertising, carolina liar, kyle xy, show me what i'm looking for, song
Or have I been hearing that song, “Show Me What I’m Looking For” by Carolina Liar, just about everywhere I turn? I say this because I had just watched season 3 episode 2 of Kyle XY, where this song was blatantly featured. Yes, it is a bit late for me to be watching Kyle XY, for the series finale had aired months ago. But that isn’t the direction that I’m headed with this blog.
This song really is everywhere, from television show promotions, to movie trailers, to commercials. Is exploitation the right word? I suppose not, because the people who wish to use the song in their advertising must ask for permission to use it. But, isn’t it extremely overdone, or perhaps, overrated? Don’t get me wrong, I think the song is great. I have it on my iPod myself. The first time I heard it, I enjoyed it very much. But I can’t help but think that such a great song will become a mainstream advertising staple.
So far, I can think of two movie trailers, two televisions promotions, and one television show that used this song. I don’t think these are the last ones.
Not a big deal, just a thought.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: hate, hot dog, life, pizza hut, sad, target
The Target I go to employs the unhappiest people in the world.
Oh yes, and Gladys still works there.
My cousin (second cousin, distant relative, friend, I don’t know what to call these people anymore) and I went to Target and decided to purchase mini pizzas from Pizza Hut Express.
To my disappointment, there were no pizzas lying out.
So I say to my colleague, “This is a Pizza Hut, isn’t it? How can it be a Pizza Hut without any pizza? Maybe it’s breakfast.”
I was lying to myself. It was three in the afternoon. The only food in sight were cold pretzels, par-cooked hot dogs, and macaroni.
So it’s our turn and we come up to a rather dumpy lady with an ugly scowl etched in her face. I remember her name clearly, but for privacy purposes I’ll just call her “Gladys.”
Gladys hates her life. Anyone within a five mile radius of Gladys would know that she is terribly unhappy. Gladys was hairy.
I was walking on eggshells (or hidden mines?) when I asked her about the pizza.
“No pizza today.”
What the fuck? I’m pretty sure that Pizza Hut sells pizza at 3 PM.
So my cousin(?) and I decide to go over our options. Kids hot dog meal? (He wanted the Icee that was included)
“Thirty minutes.” Allegedly, no kids meal hot dogs were prepared, but the regular ones were. That made no sense, seeing that the half-cooked “kids meal” hot dogs were the exact same size as the “regular” hot dogs. So she and my cousin(?) got into a verbal altercation about how we shouldn’t have to pay more for an Icee in a regular hot dog meal. This was rather frustrating to watch.
Plus, she had the audacity to turn to the next customer and ask for their order before she was done with ours.
Regular hot dog meal?
She plops the hot dog down on the counter.
Cinnamon pretzels?
“We only have cheddar. Would you hurry up? I have somewhere to be.”
I highly doubt that you have a life, Gladys. I bet you just need to go to the bathroom to smoke and cut yourself. Be sure to wash your hands after you leave.
So I, in a hurry, decide to have a cheddar pretzel while my cousin(?) decides to have a regular hot dog meal sans Icee.
She glared at us, gave us the wrong change, and tried to mentally shove us away. It also took us a moment to realize that she had gotten the order wrong as well, only typing in one hot dog and a pretzel.
The pretzel, I can assure you, tasted terrible. Never buy those at a Pizza Hut.
We never did go to customer service to complain about her, because it was too entertaining to watch her piss other people off from a distance. She’s going to get fired.
I think Gladys just needs a man.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blog, blogging, boring, suck, tofuninja, writing
I had nothing better to do today than to listen to songs on HypeM and look through my past posts. Interestingly enough, I found that the posts about my personal life were actually quite entertaining and well-written.
But once February 2009 hit, my blog came crashing down into an infinite realm of suck.
So basically, when I began writing the Tofuninja blog, the outlook seemed promising. There was even a period in time where I got no less than 20 views per day. But then I started getting lazy, I suppose, so the quality suffered because of it.
What have I been writing lately? Repeats of the news? Talk about anime that no one I know has heard of? Lists and useless junk? Tech reviews? I shouldn’t try to be Gizmodo.
My opinions and reports of the events I attended have gone through the window. A lot has happened lately, but I haven’t taken the initiative to pick up my laptop and write about it.
In a couple months, my blog’s birthday will be coming and I’ll have nothing to show for it. Maybe I’ll try out a fresh new layout to liven up the blog. I also keep promising to make new videos, but it’s been around six months and it hasn’t quite panned out. I guess I wasn’t meant to do vlogs!
Okay, from now on I’ll put more thought into my posts and try not to bore you with useless words (I’m not being harsh…even I was bored with my latest posts). But for now I bid you adieu.
