two weeks ago: white elephant sale

It's been a while since the White Elephant Sale in Oakland happened and I finally found some free time to take pictures of half of my purchases! Ignoring the clothes I've bought for now (80s red power suit, flanel jacket...), though all are free to take a peek at the questionable purchase of the year: Bill Cosby style flower sweater, which was $2.50 if I remember correctly.

White set of 2 from Germany ($12); gold rim set of 3 from Japan ($4).

Subtle with fine detail: link bracelet ($2); circular ornament one ($5).

For my mother: light blue earrings with curavture ($3); bronze ones ($2.50).

the fantastic flying books of mr. morris lessmore (2011): books can be your best friend

I'm sure every other art/animation blogger and their mum has blogged about 'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore' (as well as an iPad app...) but when something showcases the love of carefree imagination and fantasy within literature, how can I not?  Hailing from the roots of Louisiana, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg bring together inspiration from Hurricane Katrina, Wizard of Oz, Buster Keaton, and the love of books and literature. And the combination of it all is too precious to not love.

working at: potrero hill

Chilling on the balcony for lunch.

View of downtown.

Documenting a very warm February day with Instagram shots (my first 'official' ones after a year of having the app on my phone).

spring is coming

All photos unedited, untouched.

February: the month in which a bunch of people poke at a poor groundhog to come out, Valentines (still awaiting my guy's package to come!), mardi gras explosive joy (New Orleans needs to go on my 'American Cities to visit' list), and spring. Allergies aside, a favourite of mine is watching all those blossoms paint the trees a delicate pink.

center stage (1992): oh, she may be weary

Ruan Lingyu (阮玲玉) 1910-1935

"As an artist, I hate to be maligned. Rumours are horrible in any age. It's still just as scary now. A movie star doesn't need to make her private life public. What an ordeal if the public twists the facts and turn white into black. When your private life spills into public domain, you feel you're being stripped of everything bit by bit. That's the most traumatic experience. So I fully understand how Ruan felt then." - Maggie Cheung.

Ruan Lingyu was one of China's first predominant actresses, thrived in Shanghai's silent cinema scene in the 30s, and at the tender age of 25, committed suicide. But her inner motivations, what she liked, what she disliked, her dreams, were all taken to the grave with her, leaving Maggie Cheung (and the team) a half tabula-rosa to embody and a story to flesh out on film. And Cheung's performance is something to behold: breathing life into Ruan Lingyu once more, whoever she was 80-something years ago, and the talent she had on camera. Stanley Kwon combines biopic aspects from dramatization to documentation to archival footage, to create not just a reflection, but also a study of a sensitive, long-gone actress and an equally sensitive, lone-gone era, filled with societal pressures and expectations that don't exactly go away even with time.

Other thoughts: Stunningly beautiful Maggie Cheung, Shanghai silent cinema needs more delving into, and slow, so very slow.