100

I wanted to make a stopmotion for my 100th post, but as you can see, my brain was completely devoid of ideas. The music got cut off sort of abruptly at the end, but oh well. I think you get the gist of it :)

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And here are some outtakes from the past 100 posts:

Here's hoping for 100 more! xoxo

The Motherland

I will be leaving for my 8th trip to Pakistan next Wednesday. One of my cousins is getting married, so my mom and I are flying out to attend the festivities. It seems each trip back, the conditions worsen but I enjoy myself more. On my last trip, the electricity was gone the majority of each day and because of the political turmoil, we were advised against going out to the main plazas too often. I'm hearing that this year, the electricity situation is even worse. I don't mind sitting around in the dark with candles, catching up with my family, but there are a few major setbacks from a lack of power: no email, stress from trying to preserve all battery operated devices (cameras, hair straighteners, etc.), going stir crazy from a lack of entertainment, no email...

I'm getting ready for my trip and thought I'd share some photos from my past two trips in 2006 and 2008. Consider it a preview because I'm sure I'll be uploading heaps of photos once I get back.

Shopping, inside a fabric store

Sight-seeing...I believe this is the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore

One variation of a taxi

Power outage

Minarets during sunset

The Lahore Fort

A shoemaker on the side of the road

Goats outside the day after rain (in the small town where my grandmother lives)

A house of cards I built during one of the many power outages

At the bazaar (in Lahore)

A view of the Badshahi Mosque from the Lahore Fort

An old room at my Grandma's house that is now basically storage. My grandparents used to sit in those chairs.

I'm pretty excited to experience my first wedding in Pakistan, as well as take photos with my new camera. Anyhow, be sure to check back in with the blog because it should be updated, even while I'm gone! xoxo

POV

Currently On Repeat

The debut album by The XX was sent my way a few weeks ago (recommended by Best Friend, who else?) and I've had it on repeat for quite awhile now. Some of my favorite aspects of the XX: the sweet, innocent lyrics, mellow beats, and the heavy bass and dual male-female vocals (reminding me of the Pixies at times). "Islands" is my personal favorite off the album, but "VCR", "Heart Skipped A Beat" and "Crystalised" are definitely worth a listen as well. Enjoy!

All That Jazz

Friday night, we took a short trip to the Hip Kitty in Claremont. The Hip Kitty is a fondue bar with live entertainment, and like most places in the Village, is a hub of mellow, pretension-free fun, drawing friendly vibes and diverse crowds (no hipsters--they flee the Village after American Apparel closes at 8). They feature different musical styles throughout the week, but the weekends are exclusively jazz. The Hip Kitty is open Tuesday through Sunday 6:30pm-2:00am. Check out their website for more information.

Suddenly the hinges started to unhitch

I love finding hidden gems in photos, like a cool fluke effect that you serendipitously produced, or a stranger in the background picking their nose.

True, when looking through my viewfinder for this shot, I was trying to get the tattered canopy of our backyard swing to show the intensity of the rain/wind/thunderstorms we've been experiencing this past week. But at the time, I didn't notice the ripped pattern was shaped like a heart. I guess it brings new meaning to the phrase "broken heart" ha ha...was that cheesy? Oh well, it's been a long day.

Moody Blues

It's funny, I used to hate 4 Non Blondes when I was younger. Kind of random, but I really love 90s music.

Slick Streets

There was a tornado warning on the news this morning...

I'm tempted to expand that into a cheesy poem but I'll just leave it be. And there actually was a tornado alert for a few hours today.

(Pictures taken from my front yard during the few minutes the rain stopped this evening)

Two Bad Neighbors

The much needed rain has finally arrived in southern California and I couldn't be happier. I'm a fan of the year round heat over here, but I love falling asleep to the sound of rain outside. Lush, green hills, stoplight reflections in the slick streets at night, old flooded streets that remind me of the insane traffic on rainy schooldays from my childhood, an excuse to wear my snuggie all day long-- those are just a few of the reasons I love the rain.

A view of Chino Hills and its surrounding cities on a cloudy evening, taken shortly after the rain stopped for the first time all day.

**I have to admit most of this is coming from the whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing. If it rained all winter, you would see a lot more hate fueled posts like the previous one.

Pet Peeves

Ever have one of those days where everything irritates you? Well, as a result of one of those, I've compiled a list of pet peeves. I hope none of you are offended. With that said, here it is:

• Men who go into lingerie stores, especially by themselves. Being on your girlfriends arm doesn't make it much better though. I'm not a prude, I just find this extremely tacky. If you really want to buy your girlfriend a present, shop online...
• People who go out in public in their pajamas/sweats (the grocery store and random off days are forgivable). Also, when said girls are in full glamazon makeup. So you had 45 minutes to cake on all that makeup, but you couldn't throw on some clean clothes?
• "What I wore" blogs. I can't deny that I frequent a good amount of fashion blogs (or at least used to) most of which fall into the "what I wore" category. I can't tell you how obnoxious it is to post 5+ pictures of yourself in the same outfit staring off into space trying to look strung out, and then do the same thing the following day, and the next, and the next...I can appreciate an outfit post here and there, but come on girls! Put yourself to better use. There is much more to life than fabulous clothes.
• When people use lolspeak in real life. I just found out this was called "lolspeak" a few weeks ago-- thanks Flickr.
• Girls that knowingly flirt with other girls boyfriends. This one's pretty self explanatory.
• Girls who say they're "one of the guys". If you feel the need to make this proclamation, you aren't.
  
• When people list magazines under the Favorite Books section on facebook. Even worse: "I don't read", "books? what are those??", etc. I don't judge people about what they read, but to those that brag about being illiterate, shame on you. Pick up a book and grow a brain.
• When people don't know the difference between "your" and "you're." We learned this in 3rd grade. It really isn't that hard.
  

There are probably more, but for now, that was therapeutic. Again, I'm sorry if anyone was offended by anything on this list.

Flashback

I found some old prints from high school. This was my first day of photo class (circa 2003) when we made pinhole cameras. That building is the high school Admin Office. There wasn't any film involved, but I kind of miss processing photos and the smell of the dark room.

Carnies Pt. 2

I have a strange affinity towards carnivals, especially on the boardwalk. I never visited them as a child but they reek of nostalgia.

*EDIT: Blogger sucked the color out of the above pictures. Check my flickr to see the difference.

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve, I had a nice Italian dinner at Polina's Salerno (a sweet little restaurant in Laguna Beach) and then spent the later hours of the night on the sofa watching tv with Best Friend. It was nice to spend the night in and relax. Some pictures from dinner:

So far I only have one new years resolution: to watch more movies this year.

What are some of yours?