Another 3 Vlogs up on Youtube. First I tried that dumb nail kit:
Then I had a pretty boring Monday
And lastly I went to the Wavelength pre-party show with Speed Ortiz, HSY and WISH
Month: February 2015
Today I Forgot My Phone
As I rode the subway to work this morning I realized, I had left my phone at home. It was the worst. I had an uncomfortable empty feeling inside. I kept compulsively checking my pockets throughout the day.
Throughout the day I kept wondering if I was missing calls or important texts from friends and family. The world seemed so tweetable. Everywhere I looked I wanted to make funny commentary or post photos to my online friends. People with misspelled t-shirts, funny dogs, overheard conversations. The catch 22 is that I may not have even noticed those things normally if I was looking at my phone.
The one thing that bothered me the most is that when I was commuting, I had no concept of time. After having a phone, I was no longer wearing watches. I had places to go after work and almost leaned over to look at someone else’s phone to check the time. I thought someone would think I was crazy if I asked them for the time. I mean, who does that anymore right?
Mostly I didn’t know what to do with my hands a lot of the time. I forgot my book, gameboy and my mp3 player had also ran out of battery. At work, I was fine. I didn’t really need my phone and I might have even been more productive since I didn’t need to check it all the time. I did receive a package I really wanted to take a photo of. I ended up searching for “online webcams” (which I don’t recommend doing at work) so I could somehow use the webcam on my work computer. It’s amazing how convenient having a camera on your phone is.
Anyways, I learned that I will never forget my phone again. As nice as it is to be “sort of” unplugged. It creates more anxiety than it is worth for me.
Wavelength 15
Today’s a holiday here in Toronto. It’s Family Day, but I am using it to recover from a very busy weekend at Wavelength’s 15th anniversary music festival. Find all photos and reviews here.
Chocolate Cookie Necklace from Tiny Hands
I stumbled on food jewellery site Tiny Hands a while ago but I finally ordered my first piece. A chocolate cookie necklace!
It arrived after a week and a half in a beautifully packaged box.
All the jewellery on the website is handmade. They are also scented (unscented available too). It smells like a delicious baked good. Whenever I wear it, I get a waft of it every so often and it makes me crave cookies.
It’s definitely a unique addition to my accessories. Now I need to stop myself from ordering the entire site!
If you use the following coupon code at check out you can get 15% off your order: A9EHQ997
The New Rudest Question
The rudest question to ask I find when you meet someone is no longer How old are you? or What is your age? People generally don’t ask that anymore in our modern society. Now I find that the rudest question to ask is What do you do?
In my last post, I wrote about meeting new people at concerts. Generally at some point (and I am sometimes guilty of this too) somebody will say something along the lines of “So…. what do you do?” Keep in mind that we’re at a concert. This is not a business meeting, or networking event.
The more I thought about it, the more I find it kind of irrelevant to the atmosphere. I start to think other things when the other person asks these questions to myself: Are they just using me for connections? , Do they want to try to figure out how much money I make? or Would a certain answer make them not want to be my friend? The question is particularly rude if the person on the receiving end was jobless, unsure of future prospects or just hate their jobs.
Why can’t we instead be talking about the bands about to go on stage, or other most memorable music moments. Why is what we do (professionally) in our lives so important?
Meet A New Person At Every Concert
A few years ago, I was the person alone at a concert wasting time on my smartphone until the first band began. I was afraid to talk to those around me, even though I had an inkling of who they were because their faces matched their social media profiles. Sometimes nice people would try to make pleasant conversations but I shrugged them off and retreated to my phone.
In the past year, I’ve been better at this and particularly in the past few months I made it a general goal to attempt to talk to someone I didn’t previously know (or communicate with face to face) at a show. Believe me, this can lead to exceptionally awkward conversations such as “Hi, are you @thesupermaniak?”. It turns out she was and an incredibly nice person. But do you know what’s more awkward? Staring at someone and wondering if they are a certain person, and then not actually going up to them.
Another thing a friend and I did was go up to a random person alone on their phone. He ended up welcoming our conversation. In the end, he turned out to be a friend of somebody we knew!
Talking to more strangers has honestly heightened my concert going experience because less and less am I feeling like I’m in at a concert alone, but more like I’m in a community or a room full of my friends.
Fighting SADS
I’ve discussed this with a few people on Twitter, but this year, I’ve been having a huge case of SADS (Seasonal Affective Disorder) aka winter blues. Some days, I wake up and don’t feel myself, I feel upset even though there’s nothing particular to be upset about.
Sometimes I feel like I really need to stay home and eat an entire bag of chips or two. Staying in suddenly seems more appealing than going out (to concerts which I love). But this sometimes leads to missing out on things which in turn leads to me feeling more depressed.
I found that the mood I wake up in generally dictates how I will feel for the rest of the day. I’ve been waking up a little earlier to make myself a coffee before heading to work. A relaxed mood on the commute (rather than a rushed one) really helps me to maintain sane for the rest of the day.
I’ve also pushed myself a little harder to go out. There are merits to staying in and doing hobbies I love too, but if I had previously planned to go see a show, I will make myself follow through on that plan. Oftentimes I feel like I don’t want to be there, but once I am, I never regret it. Having things to keep me busy keeps me from wallowing in SADS. This method may not work for everyone (or anyone else), but it works for me.
Have you been experiencing SADS? I’d love to know what you do to stay sane this winter.
Dollarama Reviews: Style Me Up Chalkboard Nail Kit
Thanks everyone for all your support in my first Dollarama review. Today I am going to review this Style Me Up Chalkboard Nail Art thing. Like the Easyfeet, it is also a premium item for $3. If you hate reading, I also made a video of me trying this for real.
Anyways, doesn’t this look like a super fun thing to do when you are bored? Even when I’m in my 20s? At $3 it seems like a steal for black nail polish, 3 decorating markers and a top coat. They even give you a mini catalogue of all the other style me up nail kits and hair kits available.
When I opened the pink marker (after shaking it for a while), it did not look like there was any ink. I tapped on the table for a while and everything but it was definitely dry.
I found the exact same thing with the green marker. This was making me sad.
Lastly the blue marker had colour. When I pressed it to paper, it made blue markings! However, when I applied it on top of my black nail polish, it did absolutely nothing. The blue markings were not bright enough to show up on top of the black.
In the end, I was left with a matte black nail polish and a gooey top coat. This was definitely a Dollarama fail. The product either sucks, or the ones that they sell there are way past their due date.
Video Round-Up: Viet Cong, Constellation Records, Macarons & More
I’ve been on top of my Vlogs lately so here are 3 more! First I hit up Viet Cong’s sold out show:
Then I went to a Constellation Records showcase:
What began as a relaxing weekend turned into another concert trip:
Found Treasure: My World Map Desk
When I moved out on my own to downtown Toronto in October, I literally had no furniture of my own. Most of my apartment was furnished by IKEA and Walmart. My favourite piece of furniture however, was found. It was a wooden desk with a world map as its table top.
Dad found it the week I was about to move out. The neighbours across the street had chucked it to the curb. He knew he had to sweep it up right away. The desk was in perfect condition with hardly any scuffs. It was also very clean. However, a closer glance at the tabletop would prove that it may be retro considering the divides in Europe reflect that of the 50s.
I love it though. It serves as a great place for inspirational thoughts and artistic creations.
Tiana Feng 