More from the Mall

This week at the mall, I got brave and asked people for pictures of themselves. If I keep getting more and more outgoing, I'll become the Sartorialist! By the way, I just looked him up now, and I'm a little addicted. I first heard about this blogger in 2009, when the cook at a summer camp I worked at mentioned that the Sartorialist was publishing his blog thus far as book. For some strange reason, I never forgot the name of blog...

Anyway, a little girl took a picture with Santa on my set this week. She had Disney's The Little Mermaid socks underneath her black mary-jane shoes. I asked her mom about it, and the mom said "We love that movie around here," and showed me her Ariel tattoo. This has to be one of the most beautiful unofficial images of Ariel I've ever seen. I asked to take a picture right away. She obliged me. :)

Another little girl came to take pictures at my set and I was stunned to see how neat and presentable she was. Then I looked at her mom (I assume) and my eyes beheld this lovely lady you see here. She had pointed spider bites on her lip that matched her lipstick perfectly, stunning hair, carefully and neatly applied makeup. She told me she's a makeup artist, as well as a hairdresser. She was kind enough to let me add her photo to my blog and even gave me her card! Thank you, to the lovely Malaya! If you'd like to meet her or have your hair/makeup done by her, look for the Total Package Salon in Hayward CA.

We agreed that unconventional makeup keeps life interesting...:)

In my adventures through the mall I found that the co-founder of Caterpillar was from the San Leandro area, where I'm working for the season.

Daniel Best, co-founder of Caterpillar, in the white shirt

Yeah, that Caterpiller. The big yellow cranes and tractors.

A machinist and wood logger, Daniel Best branched out on his own and later merged with Benjamin Holt to form this famous company. 

The mall has musicians perform sometimes in the main plaza, just beside my set. I met a man who played the hammered dulcimer, and he let me take pictures to show all you, my dear readers. 

...intricate details...

There's a shop that sells lots of Sanrio items and I stepped inside to make a purchase (a Christmas gift) ;), and I finally allowed myself to buy some Hello Kitty and Keroppi chewing gum. Isn't it cute? I've never bought a Hello Kitty purse, so many people don't know I'm a fan of this cute little kitten. But if you ever got letters from me, or looked at my collection of journals, you'd know! I also have a few writing pens/pencils.

Also, I met a little boy with a green Luigi T-shirt. I told him "Luigi is one of my favorites." He looked up in surprise and exclaimed "How do you know who he is?!" LoL!

I will leave you with a song, this lovely, moonlit Thursday evening. It's one that was stuck in my head for a little bit, yesterday.



Each time I hear it, I always imagine stepping out into the rain and dancing to make the one you love smile.

Adventures in Retail

In the past month, I've had a few unexpected moments, some of them good and some of them bad. I feel they've all made me more aware and even a little more fearless. They've also made me realize what joy there can be even during stress and chaos and hard work. I'll share some of the following.

 My mom saw that I work with a mouse and mouse pad on a daily basis. She found me a special mouse pad with a crown on it, and said it reminded her of something I might like. I use it everyday.

 This is one of the trees on my photo set. Two L-shaped stockings frame a round ornament. Is it just me, or does it seem like this tree is trying to spell out "LOL"?

 When I least expected it, I was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of mariachi players who serenaded the shoppers with Jiggle Bells, Feliz Navidad and even Schubert's Ave Maria. It reminded me of a similar performance that happened at my College last year. :)

I heard otherworldly singing coming from the set when I stepped away for a moment. When I walked back, I saw a caroling vocal quartet, in full Victorian winter garb. I sang along quietly, and one woman who worked with them said I should consider joining the group in the future. :) I would love to! 

Velvet Gent

Gotta love those ruffles!

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of a lady named Rose. She told me today that she'd like to have me photograph her 10 (ten!) grandchildren and after introducing herself with a handshake, she didn't let go of my hands until the conversation was over. It shocked me to realize that even when I get to work with people every day, and I truly enjoy being kind, accommodating and making my customers happy, I still have so many walls and boundaries up. Perhaps that's because of my nationality (living in the US my whole life) or because I really am quintessentially shy. I'm still so much more outgoing than I used to be, but I see that I'm also just naturally an introvert. No ifs, ands or buts about it, I guess.

Believe me when I say that I've seen even more weird and wonderful things going down in this mall (like fairies that paint faces and make balloon animals for kids for free!), and I'll do my best to bring all my awesome readers photographic evidence. Haha!

Or should I say:

That's all for now. See you next Thursday!

My Thanksgiving night

Can I first say that I just saw that I just had my first readers from Cypress, Denmark and Portugal! Yes and yes! Thank you so much to my readers near and far for your interest in my blog! If I don't emphasize it enough: I'm so glad that we share enough in common to keep people checking out my posts! : D

Thanksgiving night, my family decided to check out the movies. My parents saw Delivery Man, which didn't sound quite as exciting as Thor II: The Dark World! (...at least to me...) When we stepped inside to see our respective films, though, we were greeted by quite the sight.

The lobby stairs

This theatre was built in 1935 and featured what I can only describe as a late art deco decor. Perhaps there's another word for the 1930's style, as opposed to the 1920's. We were surrounded by all things mauve, gold and crimson. Gold leaf was applied on the wall reliefs. The original screen stood in a room with no doors; all were welcome to walk in briefly and see what was the largest screen in the United States through most of it's glory days.

The lobby's ceiling lamp

Guilded Fresco

A 1930's lamp

Beyond that, the theatre opens up into the new sector, which is fully modern and has multiple screens available. The stairs and two escalators were impressive to me.

The stairs in the new section of the theatre

former phone nook

An arm guard fit for ARMTGARD

Someone made a display for the lobby to show their appreciation for the Mocking Jay/ Hunger Games series. I'm told they're excellent books and excellent films.

More nice architecture down the street.

If you're ever in Alameda, CA, check it out, too.

Thanks for reading!

Google Memoriam: Maria Callas

Today I went on Google (because I was meaning to look for t-shirts with specific rock band names on them...) and I found this as the main picture! The beautiful Maria Callas, singing at some classic, lush opera venue. 

I don't think my last blog fully captured/expressed how much this lady impresses and inspires me. Today Maria Callas would have been 90 years old. My late grandmother would have been 84 this year, and always took the time to read every newspaper clipping and article about Maria she could get her hands on. My grandmom was also a soprano.

Maria Callas, a coloratura, possessed a strong voice that could project over a large orchestra. My grandmother's voice was soft and delicate, powdery almost. I imagine my grandmother would have been happy for the extra power, though she had a sweetness of tone to make up for it. (I fall somewhere in between the two ladies.) 

The thing that always stuck out in my mind: Even though Maria's background was from Greece, and my Grandmother's background was from Puerto Rico, they both had the same accent! I heard a recording of Maria instructing as a guest professor at the Juilliard school. I turned my head to the side and said "Abuela?"

Maybe it's silly, but Maria seems like the long lost aunt that I've not met yet. But she's also something to look up to in the world of both music and performance. I've learned so much from her by just watching youtube videos. I'll stop myself before I wax poetic or start recounting her biography to you guys. : p

I suppose I'm always glad to know that others love her as much as I do, and I really sense that my readers appreciate her, too. So this post is for you, my readers, and our common interests (I know opera is not everyone's cup of tea, but hey!)

Hopefully, I'll have another post for you on Thursday about my adventures in retail!

Thanksgiving and the seasonal job

My blog-posting day and Thanksgiving happened to coincide this year. I thought I might show you what I've been up to since the 19th of this month.

My favorite grey dress

I've been working a seasonal job at a mall in central California, and it's been great to be back in the region that I used to live for about 3 years. I've missed the scenic nature in this area, and there's something unique about the people, too. I can't quite put it into words. 

Sunglasses from G-Stage, Ring from Forever 21

 This is my first managerial job, and it's nice to be the boss-lady. It's a lot of work, but I feel like I'm learning so much! Consequently, that's something that I'm grateful for this Thanksgiving.

 Yesterday before work (and putting on the uniform) I had a chance to walk around the mall- though not the whole mall- and take some photos for you all. This is my favorite grey dress. I found it in Target some years ago, and took it after I found they were out of it in black. But as it turns out, I'm kind of obsessed with the LBD, and have enough of them, anyway. I guess things worked out for the best, even when I didn't get my first wish. Better than I could have planned, actually.

But soft! What blogger through display window breaks?

Unlike years past, I won't be home with friends and family, cooking away for hours on end. As it turns out, I realize that this will likely be the most busy holiday season of my life. I guess I had better hold on and do my best! Hopefully, it will be another one of those better-than-I-could-have-planned-myself situations, too.

My little set before we open in the mornings! I'll be here 'til Christmas day.

 I wish every one of my readers a restful and wonderful [Thanksgiving] Day (even if you're in a different country and don't celebrate Thanksgiving! Yes! I still mean you, too!).

Hair (or Whaaaat?)

This week I straightened my hair so my sister could trim my hair. I noticed it was a little damaged at the ends, and because of this, I was always wearing my hair up. And I don't necessarily think of the same old bun as my only look.

Showing off my white streak. It started growing this way at 23.

 Then out of nowhere, my hair started behaving as it never had before: full, wavy, bouncy curls occurring naturally, sleekness to boot! Now, the practice of straightening, that I had shunned for years, is looking like really good deal. (It may be because I put small coconut oil in my hair before heating it up...)

Mmm, gurl! Look at this buffant!

Teacher knows best!

A friend of mine compared this to the birth of Venus!

Daring to rock a center part for the first time since I was 10!

Perhaps in the future you'll see me using this hair style again. I really think so!

(Also, I had my first reader from Vietnam this week! Thank you again to all my readers, near and far!)

The Brilliant Purple

When I was in high school, I discovered a Japanese vocal artist whose stage name was The Brilliant Green. I thought that was such a cool name for anyone or any thing, I ended up calling a blog of mine "The Brilliant Purple" (I think I had to shorten it to The Brilliant Purp, because it was too many letters for the title).

My mother tells me that purple has always been my favorite colour, and that before I could even speak, I pointed out a purple plaid shirt for my dad's birthday. My mom picked it up and lo and behold: It was the right size and everything. I don't know if my dad really loved it, really loved me or both, but he wore it until it was really sheer and I was in my late teens. :)

For a while I had absolutely nothing purple in my closet because I was afraid of getting into a colour funk and I was desperately/bravely trying to break out and try new things. But recently I've told people that purple is my favorite and they look surprised. I barely wear it, so there's little to show for this long, chromatic love affair of mine.

Luckily, my sister knows best more often than not, and purchased this cardigan as a gift for me. Much like the last cardigan she got me, I bet I'll be seen in this for a long time to come.

That morning I woke up and said to myself "I'm going to go really cray on the eye makeup!" :D

Sometimes you just get really excited about ideas...

Got my pink ear phones!

Belt shot! (Or something...) :p

Doing my Olan/Good Earth thing

And now, for your enjoyment, The Brilliant Green! (I had to, after that shout-out, right?) :p 

I remember hearing someone say "All good things must come to and end... but so must all bad things!"  

I feel like that's the message that this song is trying to convey. That languid positivity plus the chill guitar riff makes this one of my favorite songs of hers. :)

Tomoko Kawaze, keep doing your thing, Honey! You are one breezy babe!

My first Dia de los Muertos

Walking in the parade

 On November 2nd, I went to my first Dia de los Muertos event. I got a lot of good pictures and had a nice time. My sister, my buddy Nathaniel and I decided at the last second that we would rather go (even after staying up so late on Halloween night) than miss out on a cultural learning experience.

Mischief at its best

 Just to fill in some of the blanks, I'll share my limited knowledge of what Dia de los Muertos is all about. First, the name means The Day of the Dead. From what I understand, this is a day that people gather in graveyards and around specially made altars, to commemorate their deceased loved ones, and invite them back from the spirit world for a day.

 People will put out their dearly departeds' favorite foods, photographs-- I even saw favorite DVDs and bottles of perfume. Legend has it, I'm told, that the scent of the marigold flower leads the souls back to the land of the living. Hence people wear marigolds in their hair, place them on tombstones et c. My flowers (okay, it's pretty much just a sideways hat...) was modeled after the marigold.

Papel picado (y plastico picado... heehee!)

 People also make skulls out of sugar and decorate them with colourful frosting/food dyes.

I left mine plain.

 We found this girl, all dressed up with heels, tea-length dress, makeup and flowers, and found out she was a cover-girl for a cultural magazine!

An altar

I get the feeling that this holiday is really abundant in decoration and details. I loved how many candles, tea-lights, Christmas lights where all around; everything was reverently lit even after sunset. 

 The makeup reflects that beautiful busy quality, too. And when I said I might not wear any, my friend Nathaniel whipped out some eyeshadow and said "Yes, okay. But I'm going to ignore you a little bit... because you have to wear some at least." I'm glad he insisted.

You start by making your hair look like a little sea urchin that has perched on your head... :p

My sis

Nathaniel (The master-mind behind the makeup for that day)

Nathaniel making me laugh at dinner

 I wanted to show some pictures of other peoples' costumes, and I'm usually shy about publishing pictures of strangers, but I figure everyone is mostly in disguise, here.

Really detailed costumes

 I have two pictures that I got with my camera phone from Halloween. I went to a big street party (so new for me!), and found so many people from TV shows, movies et c. If I can find more (get them from friends), I will post them posthaste... wait... you know what I mean!

I found Krieger and Megumi-chan (finally in real life!) from Archer.

The couple from Beetlejuice and my friends, the Addams children. :)