Obligatory End of My First Semester at Uni Post

My mom posted an embarrassing photo of my CAAP exam certificate on Facebook:


She should have posted a photo of my GPA instead: 3.87, y'all - which is actually four As and one B+ (with special thanks to my #1 study buddy slash #1 girlfriend), but I suppose that the certificate is easier to brag about as opposed to telling people that her daughter is a Fine Arts major and Gender and Sexuality Studies minor AKA academic lesbian. I really enjoyed my first semester as a university student. It was hard, but the end result was worth it. I feel a smidge smarter and a smidge more disgusted with patriarchy and dominant race discourse.

Since I was unable to take art classes this fall, I overcompensated by taking too many photos around campus with a plethora of different cameras:


Various spots at UNLV
Taken with a Fujifilm Instax90 Neo Classic


"Tuscany"
Taken with a Polaroid 101 Land Camera


West side of WRI
Taken with a Polaroid 600 OneStep


Pida Plaza
Taken with a Polaroid 600 OneStep


One of the many golf carts on campus
Taken with a Polaroid SX-70 Sonar
In other news, I finally got a few rolls of film developed from the summer. The following are shots from a heavy Mamiya Tower 18A that I thrifted for $11.


I am quite pleased with outcome...after I finally figured out how to use the light meter, of course. Trial and error, such is my life.


















My Uncle Charles gifted me with his near mint Canon AE-1 and accessories. Even though Art104 (B&W Photography) filled up before I could even sign up for it (thanks, upperclassmen), this SLR is indeed a lifesaver because the alternate AE-1 in my possession is in shambles.


Most of the roll is from what looks like a house hunting expedition shot previously by my uncle. I do not know how it happened, but I managed to take a multiple exposure:



Highlights of Fall 2014 include:

+ Turning Katy Perry's racial ignorance into an eight page paper.
+ A lecture on the origins of the Italian porn industry given by Italian field scholars.
+ Using expensive telescopes to observe a massive waning gibbous moon.
+ A guest lecture by Lauren McCubbin. When asked what comics she currently reads, she mentioned at least three titles that I also read.
+ Working less retail.
+ Access to free highlighters and study rooms for law students.
+ Being mistaken for a law student.
+ Pop culture courses.

Spring does not start for another twenty something days and while it is refreshing to not be holed up in the library for hours on end, constantly read thick academic journals or write 4+ page essays weekly, I am excited to complete my first year of college and maintain my fantastic GPA. It's not easy, but I love it. I never thought that I would enjoy academia or even aspire to go to graduate school. Maybe I will end up double majoring since I have turned into a late-in-life overachiever. Who knows? So what? Who cares? My mom.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

(photo by Uncle Nat)
MY COUSINS CAME TO VISIT!!! It has been at least three years since the last time we saw each other, so I was missing them pretty bad. And I miss them still. (Insert crying emoji here)


(photo by Uncle Nat)
We went to Red Rock Canyon and did not go on any hikes because a) it was too dang hot and b) senior citizens.


(photo by Z)
This photo was taken after I dropped a cartridge of Spectra film into the desert tortoise preserve. My klutzy ass totally climbed in there to retrieve it.


(photo by Uncle Nat)
We also went to the Hoover Dam. I took a few Spectra shots, but it was just too dang hot out.





I even brought a cooler with an ice pack, but it did not help much. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I probably am. Story of my life.


The following day, went to Zion National Park. Getting there was an adventure (no, it was not - it was ridiculous). We did not leave Las Vegas until well past noon and there was a lot of highway construction going on. Then my cousin was unsure of his driving directions and blah, blah, blah.


So, it was pretty late when we actually made it to the park. Most of our time was spent in the car and not ideally the way in which one should enjoy mother nature.


(photo by Lena)
Next time, we're sticking to a laminated itinerary and leaving the old people at the slots. I found Zion to be beautiful. However, I found the resort area right outside of it to be THE WORST. We all had to tinkle right after leaving the park and the teen working the register at the convenience store in the same strip mall as the Zion Canyon Giant Screen Theater ignored my mom (she's not quiet), when she asked him where the closest restroom was, AND THEN told us to use the theater's restroom after it had been closed for at least fifteen minutes. So we went to the ZION CANYON BREW PUB next to the convenience store and the dirty hipster schmuck working the door completely ignored us (five women of color varying in age from 20 to 70). Luckily a (POC) busser recognized that we were in search of something and pointed us in the right direction. Part of me wanted to leave my used sanitary napkin on the forehead of the host, but I digress. I know that had it been just Lena and I, the customer service would have been the opposite. The best part of that strip mall was seeing a doe in the parking lot. With the exception of the National Park, I knew I never liked Utah.


(photo by Z)
ANYWAY, I miss my cousins. Next time, we're gonna go hiking. And get cocktails. Next time, na lang.

Nerding Out

Earlier this month, the Las Vegas Camera Club christened it's grand opening with an appearance by the Impossible Project airstream. What? Basically, I had a Polaroid boner all weekend long.



Last year, I procured three Polaroid cameras: a Sun 600, a Onestep and a Spectra System from various thrift shops at very thrifty prices. I had no idea if any of them were functioning, so after awkward moseying between the LVCC and the airstream, Larry from the Impossible Project hooked me up with a tutorial and an empty 600 film cartridge for the future.


After he took this sassy Spectra shot of Lena, Rach and I, Larry showed us how the Instant Lab worked. It is a fun gadget, however it is also out of my second-hand store budget.


A couple of days later, I continued to stalk the Silver Shade Tour at the Linq. I had every intention of buying one or two packs of Spectra film, but the Fotobar did not carry any, and the airstream was not selling. Geoff from the LVCC pulled some strings with the IP guys and hooked me up. And in return, I repay the photography gods with the worst pictures ever.













Maybe it is the Las Vegas heat, maybe I do not know what I am doing - actually, I know that I do not know what I am doing. Larry suggested that I tote around a sandwich bag-sized cooler with an ice pack for developing. Before the airstream rolled into town, I had emailed the LVCC about the possibility of purchasing a frog tongue to shade the pictures as they ejected. The cooler will be my next experiment. I suppose I could have actually done the experiment, but I have become the world's worst blogger within the last four years.



Christmas came early in the form of a SX-70 currently on layaway at the antique mall. It was priced at $49 and I could not pass it up. The above photo is what it looks like, but with a few scratches on the leather and no strap. Upon amateur inspection, the rollers appeared clean and the viewfinder functioning. I observed no tears in the bellows, but an expired cartridge of film inside. I assume the cartridge is expired since the shutter would not fire due to a dead battery. Fingers, eyes, toes and ovaries crossed that the shutter is not damaged. Either way, the camera is still a good deal at $49. Currently on Craigslist, they are being priced between $80 and $400.



In other news, we took a quick day trip to the state line to play the California Lottery. We did not win, but we did ride the roller coaster and log ride at Buffalo Bill's.



These are a few double exposures of the High Roller during the day time taken with the Instax90. I have zero intentions of riding the observation wheel.



And these are a couple of long exposures in my hood. A car of dudebros attempted to make some type of prostitute joke as Lena and I waited at the corner en route to Target. It turned out to be a big 'ol failure as neither of us look like ladies of the night. I would like to see the same line used on one of the regular Summerlin crack heads during daylight and not from the safety of a moving vehicle.

Introducing...

Alastair Espinosa Rieke.


He is 8 years old, part Burmese and Abyssinian AKA he fancy. Alastair was the son of an English duke. He pissed off his family somehow, so they sent him to the island of criminals (Australia). He befriended an aboriginal tribe and became a proper bushman. Okay, I totally made that up. The actual story of how Alastair came into our lives is kind of long and exhausting. I cannot imagine how anyone would easily give up this handsome chap. He is kind of like a One Direction song ("sleep all day and party all night"), and when he hears dogs barking, he GROWLS.


Today is day 19 of my second round of the Whole 30. Today is also the 3rd day of the 30 Day Abs Challenge.


I have not had a flat stomach since I was in the 4th grade. The schedule looks intense, but I am actually excited and happy to do it. Who am I?!


My running has not been as frequent. I run for half an hour without an incline at a speed of 4.5. Today I cranked up the treadmill gradually until 5.0. It was too much, but I still felt good doing it. I cannot run in silence, or talk on the phone, or watch tv (like what I have observed of others). I listen to music. So here is my cardio playlist:

1. Azealia Banks - Licorice
2. Kylie Minogue - Change Your Mind
3. Kelis - 4th Of July
4. Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her
5. Thunderheist - Jerk It
6. Azealia Banks - 212
7. Flosstradamus & Kid Sister - Luuk Out Girl
8. David Guetta - I Just Wanna F
9. Peaches - Mommy Complex
10. Disclosure - January
11. Sebastien Tellier - L'amour Et La Violence (Boyz Noize Euro Mix)

Obviously, I do not listen to the entire playlist (because it is longer than 30 minutes). One day, I will be able to. My cousins Lei and Z are avid runners. They invited me to join the 30 Runs In 30 Days group. I wanna do it for the free swag, but I am too embarrassed to post my 2.20 mile run. Next time na lang.

This blog is so 2013.

My uncle rang me up the other day and told me he was reading my blog. I was mostly embarrassed with how much time had passed between the last post and today. Not much happened since then (understatement of the decade).

I completed a Whole 30 and lost a pant size, or so. Whole What? Whole 30. Possibly the best diet, I have ever been on. For me, it was easier (and cheaper) than being a vegan and gluten-free. The stricter the diet, the easier it is for me to follow (like that time I got my gallstones and went on an extremely low-sodium and low-cholesterol diet). If I had gone to boarding school, I would not be wasting my life working in retail today. I am getting ahead of myself. What is Whole 30? It is clean eating: no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no fun. I suppose it is similar to the Paleo diet, but stricter. My Whole 30 meals consisted of sweet potatoes, apple sausage, fish, cauliflower rice, guacamole, steamed asparagus, chicken cutlets, thin steaks, spinach, apples, bananas and a ton of eggs.

Some days were definitely hard. I craved cheeseburgers, nachos, tacos, pizza, pasta, ice cream, cookies, donuts and everything else bad. Then I would look in the mirror and remember why I started this. Well, Lena is mostly to blame. She is more hardcore than me. I never read It Starts With Food because I was too busy bingeing on episodes of Shameless and Arrow (in the absence of quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches). There was no cheating during the 30 days. It was totally worth it because my face doesn't look as fat as it did 30 days ago, my skin has not broken out and I have a lot of energy.

After the 30 days (four days ago), I had a bite of red velvet cake - which tasted like chemicals, two bites of a chocolate chip cookie and cheese in my In-N-Out protein style double doubles. Lena and I decided to do another round of the Whole 30, which at this point, is not very difficult. I think I have come to terms with breaking up with cheese. It makes me bloated. I will miss you, brie.

We started going to the gym regularly to do cardio for 30 minutes. If you know me, you know I do not run. I always had a doctor's note excusing me from running the mile in P.E. And my parents like to make a big deal out of my asthma - which I totally grew out of. If I am out of breath, it is because I am out of shape. But I have been running. On the treadmill. For at least 25 minutes. At level 4. Last night, I ran for 20 minutes at 4.3. I could have gone longer, but the gym was closing. So, I took a selfie.


We plan on adding toning exercises during the second Whole 30 session. I feel like I am going to plateau soon with only doing cardio (like how I plateaued with dieting alone). I do not think my back can handle any lifting, so I am not interested in doing crossfit.

Why am I Whole 30-ing? Because I am sick of being fat. I am not getting any younger (although a cashier at the mini mart did not believe that I was over the age of 21). And my boo is younger than me, so I have to work harder at keeping in shape. The initial reason for doing the Whole 30 was to look less chubby at my cousin's summer wedding. But Lena made a beast out of me and I am turning this into a lifestyle change. Plus, I want to be the hottest one at the wedding.