Nature Sketcher

One day, I reached to the side pocket of my backpack, seeking for the fountain pen I have owned for four years. To my horror, it had vanished.

I turned up bag upside down. Searched my jacket pockets. Searched my desk. Traced my steps.

Nowhere can it be found.

My hand is itchy. My sketchbook looks too empty. I realized that my wallet will suffer soon, because I want a fountain pen, and they – at least the one of decent quality – are never cheap. But hey, I can try a different pen this time. I am not a student anymore, and I just got a part time job, so maybe it will be ok for me to a bit relax about the price.

Is it strange to mourn for the lost of a pen yet excited for the prospect of a new one?

Actually, why would someone lust after a pen? For those of us in a generation dominated by digital technology, fountain pen is not a daily tool anymore. They are also appear ridiculously expensive to us for a reason.

For this generation, we write a lot less. Most of us is good with a pack of Bic ballpoint pen. But for those of us who have writing or artistic hobby, that’s just not enough. Bic pen are cheap for a reason. They are designed to be dedicated for casual light writing, to be toss around, and not intended to last. Their line weight don’t change, nor do the change the matter. Their ink flow don’t change or leak if upside down, but their construction is fragile and flimsy because of the cheap plastic material. They are not designed for heavy amount of writing, so it is just a cylinder shaped, hard plastic pen where long term writing would result in a sour hand. People buy them in packs, because they lost, breaks, taken, and run of writing power in packs. People probably never think about the life span of a Bic pen, because they don’t have life span. People don’t cherish them – and they don’t need to, because it was never designed for that intention.

Fountain pen, technical pen, and other artistic pen are different. In the case of fountain pen, it writes smoothly, its line weight varies, and I can even change ink color and nibs. Because of its more flexible nibs, I can write for a much longer time and quicker without hurting my hands. I don’t worry about it breaking, since it tend to be of a sturdier construction. Since I can change ink cartridges, the pen last a really long time instead of getting throw away the moment it’s done. I wouldn’t deny that it is much more expensive than a pack of Bic pen, and that most people would probably never need that quality of pen in their life for this era, but for me who journals and draws, it is a cherished pen.

And so, a few week afterward, when I slowly settle into my new job and I finally have some income, I decided to have my parents drive me to Flax Art for a new pen after a family lunch outing. Unfortunately, the store don’t have my old pen:

Actually, the store associate don’t even know the pen, which is slightly disappointing. I had a Sheaffer No Nonsense, which was an old classical student pen. But hey, I should be grateful that the store still have a fountain pen department.

He eventually recommend me me to use the same brand of pen, especially since I needed a student budget pen. I took a look and immediately find the sets of pen he displayed attractive – especially the blue one. I ask him to let me hold it, and after a try, I know I like it right away. Just like my old Nonsense pen, it is just a cheap-end fountain pen, but its build is definitely different. It is made of metal, so it got a nice smooth texture combine with a little weight. It also give it a sense of classy-ness. The slim body also helps – it is not as thick as my older pen. The pen cap, unlike Nonsense where the cap is open by twisting, snaps on and off with a nice click. Classy… I like it!

Here a picture:

The pen is known as Sheaffer VFM. I keep misspelling it though – why don’t they use a easier to remember name? No one would forget a name like Nonsense.

… Although VFM does sound great deal more professional than Nonsense, which does give any non-fountainpen-fan the urge to giggles.

The pen is pretty nice for a student-budget pen. The only few problems are that, unlike my old Nonsense pen, it only have one nib choice (instead of letting me change different size nib, including ones good for calligraphy), its cap keeps falling off the end of the pen when I am writing, and …. it uses INTERNATIONAL INK!?

I had to stop myself from banging my head against the wall. Really, Sheaffer? You have manufactured and designed your pen to fit your own company-designed ink cartridge, and now you suddenly change to international ink cartridge design fountain pen WITHOUT a warning on the label? I have over 10 ink cartridges, and they are pricy too.

In addition, because I neglected to remember that I do practice calligraphy on occasion, now I have to get a calligraphy pen because Sheaffer didn’t design this pen to be nib-exchangeable.

Alas, the pen is great if I am just taking notes and working with my journal/sketchbook. The ink flows fine, the pen feels good in my hand, and it is easy to use – didn’t realize how inconvenience it is to having constantly twisting pen cap of Nonsense until I got my VFM’s snap-able pen cap.

Now I just to wait another month since… well, budget, budget.

I have way too many hobbies (glances at my transaction history in my Mint app account). Calligraphy pen, please wait for me in a month…

One of my most vivid and fond childhood memories in Hong Kong was this tiny little stationary store, with shelves filled with goodies. The first outing I had with classmates was there. My parents also brought my school supplies there. With Chinese parents, that means I was there very frequently for shopping, and what do you know? New toys always excite kids. I think the only other place that I occupied just as much (outside of school and home) is the market across the mall, where fishes literally flied in the air and I ate delicious curry fish balls and sweet tofu custard. When I first came to US, two of my favorite stores is Sunset Stationary and Pearl Paint. One of the main reasons why I went into architecture is probably because trying different stationary and art supplies seems magical. They all produced different lines and color, and each is a different experience. Though technology has moved the subject into a digital art, I still has a set of Rapidograph pen in my desk drawer and take notes with fountain pen.

As an architecture student, we are doing presentations each school quarter, and that means large custom print jobs each quarter. I quickly learned how to format my print jobs and my USB organization to most time and cost efficiently do my projects. Learning to evade the craziness of print jobs for oneself and for print shop is a art that architecture and design major probably learns the first three year of school. Imagine my surprise when I was hired to help out at a print center years later. Surprise, but a pleasant surprise now that I finally have a job, and one that relates to my experience to boot!

As mentioned earlier, I promised to blog about my experience, so here it goes:

I do know that any job in a print center is quite chaotic and complex, but I never see the full-scoop of it. Now, I am learning them day by day, and it is truly fascinating. As a trainee, I definitely made mistakes here and there, but I really like seeing a project completed successfully.

With the powerful printers we have, I can center a smaller image on a bigger sheet of paper. I can even set the machine to duplicate the image so there is 2 copies on one sheet without having to print an extra sheets. I also got to learn to print large scale blueprints and colored posters, and I learned how to laminate and mount large works. We learn to think ahead for the client and match their need with correct print service – sometimes clients forget how the rain and fog in San Francisco may destroy their $20-ish paper poster.

Papers is also an art in itself. There are papers for black and white printing, then there is paper for color so the ink wouldn’t show in the back. While we have a large selection of color papers, half of there are thicker, so I have to finger it to see which one it is and price it accurately. Then there’s glossy papers, which can really transform the out look of an images. We also have resume papers, cardstock papers, business card paper, and clear cover sheets. With thicker and specialized papers like heavy cardstock and photos, we have to remember to warn the clients about the possibility of bubbles in lamination machine. Even with thin paper, I have a case where heat of the laminate shifted the ink. For people who wants their papers binded, there is coil and comb binding in store. We have to make sure that the books can be binded and can be done on time, because the number of pages and type of papers all affects the resulted projects. Different binding can take different numbers of pages, and there is different maximum for the book thickness with different binding. Again, we learn to observe and ask ahead of time in order to match client needs with services.

Even though it is 2013 and email is taking the postal business in storms, we still gets fax job on regular basis. While USPS is about to take off its weekend delivery services, there are still people mailing every single day (Surprisingly, we accepts both UPS and USPS service). Occasionally, we gets international shipping, and I am always surprise by the pricing – it goes up to the hundreds – and so does the client. Though I have seen very calm clients who obviously either had experience or had ask around. My eyebrows went up each time I see the prices though, so it will probably take me a while to get used to that.

Then there is the occasionally machine malfunction or such strange daily occurrence, such as when the lamination machine started smoking. (!) Oh, and I am still learning about the specialized services that can only be order and done with an outside facility, such as envelopes and checks. Ah, and there is the cash register. We have coupons with bar codes, coupons with only numbers, membership card, business client card, company credit cards, Print Shop cards, returns for unopened items, returns for damaged items, recycling ink cartridges, warranty plans purchases, and more. It is easier because I am in the print center and not on the sales floor, but it is still a lot of selections. I am glad that I have a trainee badge, because I can’t count the numbers of time I have to ask another coworker since there is so many ways a transaction can go differently! The pay is not high, because it is a retail job after all, but I am at least learning a lot. With jobs like printing, I can apply the skills I learn to any office jobs in the future. It is so complicated and specialized, no wonder there is still so many individual print shop despite the increasingly digitized world. Of course, this is my first month and my first retail job, so I am not sure how everything will turn out, but for now, it’s pretty ok.

Internet had began in the US Department of Defense.

… The thought never even cross my mind before. I have to say, I am quite surprise. I have heard that many of our technologies were originally developed by the government’s defense and engineering teams. Just take instant noodle for example: originally developed for the astronaut in Japan to eat in space. But the internet. Wow. With the trouble it created for the government entities in term of information leaks and legal law restructure, talk about irony.

I also started looking more into different courses and certification offered by CCSF. At first, I have a singular goal – I wanted to give web development a try. I like graphic designing work for the Botanical Garden, and if I can get a handle on web design techniques, I can expand my design skills on a wider level. Me being me, I want to understand the background work too, so web programming seems like a good path. But after my teacher’s first day orientation, and I looked further into the courses offered by CCSF. Something had caught my eyes back then.

Ethical Hacking Certificates.

I can’t believe there’s a certificates for ethical hacking, and an entire course work to go with it. I don’t think school would want to encourage hacking, after all. Upon further reading, turns out it is a course on network security. It’s kind of like how doctor would take class on toxicity. A person who work in network security can’t fight hackers if they don’t know how hacking works themselves. Since they are learning hacking for a ethical reason, thus the certification.

The name is really fun though. My cousin told me that I should take the course just for the name’s sake. Not that I would have much use for it – I am a Mac user, and our hacking threat is much less. Although, I have to say, the ideal of being able to understand network threats and how to build a computer structure to defend does sound kind of fun. It’s almost like being a police investigator, without the physical danger.

If I do get into web programming as an additional career path, it would be nice if I can build website that safe against hacking. I think I may end up taking a class or two on network security down the line. I doubt I will get an actual certificates – the web programming certificate coursework would keep me busy enough – but an extra class will only help.

I just started reading my first computer textbook today. I don’t know should I be happy or sad that I find the first chapter basic. Granted, this is a 101 course, but the class fee… even if it’s a first week of class, I want to help jump right to HTM instead of browsers 101- and I am not even suppose to start on the book this week.
A quick update on my life. I completed my airline agent training, but they have been taking a long time in deciding to hire me or not, and the paper work took a while too, so I am not sure what’s going on any more. Meanwhile, I was hired to help with the Print Center at Office Depot, which I am please in that the work’s at least slightly related to architecture. Plus, I was thinking about expanding my professional skill to graphic or web design before I learned of my new job. I already volunteered at as graphic designer at SF Botanical Garden, but a more comprehensive knowledge and a certificate would be nice. So now I am officially starting my first computer course at CCSF, which can lead to a website development or web programming certificate. Plus, I am also taking a Revit class! If all goes well, I would develop more advanced drafting skills, plus a computer science skill. Of course, I have to see how I like the 101 – more correctly the CNIT 131 – course first.
Talking about Revit, I decided to work on my homework today on campus. To my surprise, the lab was empty! Not a single window blind or computer was opened. I know it is the first week, but the lab is probably not going in the weekends, and we have the Martin Luther King’s Day right afterward! Sure there’s the possibility of working at home with a laptop, but the screen would be no where as a desktop, and it is always better to work away from home in my experience. I was really hoping to meet some classmates too. It feels strange to be in an architecture class where I don’t know my classmates at all for once. Eventually a girl did came in, but she wasn’t in my class. Not that I got to stay long – I think I arrived at 3 pm. Someone came in a while later to let us know that the lab is closing early today. Turned out he was the Architecture Department Head, and the other girl is taking Studio Max – Studio Max! I would love to give that a try. Not only that, he also let know that the school computer has Rhino, and it seems like universities’, or at least CP’s, focus in design but not computer skill teachings are quite well-known. Not only that, the CCSF’s architecture department uses Cloud for turning in assignment. I am quite surprise, as CP still uses CDs and occasionally emails. It used to drive me nuts because my Macbook DVD driver dies easy, and I don’t really wants to think about CD covers and running to computer labs when there’s deadline. Ah, the advantage of city schools.
He also mentioned tutors, which is nice bonus. Although unlike CP labs, their labs don’t open late or weekend, which is extremely inconvenience. With my daytime job, the only way I can do my assignments is with my dad’s old desktop computer. My Macbook now only holds 2 GB – one of my memory card slot is damage, and somehow my computer can’t do bootcamp because of the damaged card slot. Sure I could send in for a new memory card slot, but with the state of my computer and the cost for the fix, I would be better off buying a new laptop. Using duo-platform would probably tax my computer too much and bring it to an early grave. I think I will be fine with mostly working at home though. I know that people talk about learning curve differences, but I am a quick learner when it comes to visual programs. Besides, Revit seems pretty close to ArchiCad that.  All BIM ultimately comes from the same reason and goal anyway. But I would love more time to play with the program, and my dad’s computer is just like that – dad’s computer.
Since a new laptop is needed for the imminent demise of my loved but aging MacBook, I will probably do a posting on laptops that I am considering – a few years ago I would have automatically go for another Apple laptop, but with the repair-unfriendly Macbook Pro and the discontinuation of the more cost-efficient and repair-friendly Macbook Core 2 Duo (namely, the famous White MacBook), Apple laptop is no longer anywhere on my purchase list – top or bottom. Maybe if I will consider iPad if want to get a netbook, but one where I can’t even change the battery? I don’t know…
I will probably also do a posting on how my Print Center jobs is like later as well. For now though, I think I will stop for the day and get some rest – my CNIT class is an online course, but we have an optional orientation tomorrow. I look forward to it!

Was bored the half hour before work (got another part time work in addition to my airport post – Office Dept this time.) and realized that *gasp* I have my sketchbook and a fountain pen with ink!
My fountain pen had ran out of ink every time I use it – evidence that I had been slacking in my sketching. Although the part where I forgot I could sketch with sketchbook instead of taking notes is telling enough. My sketching skill has greatly deteriorated because of my job hunt. I am not even going to imagine what it’s going to be like once my Revit class starts next week…
Alas, here my first 5 minutes sketch of 2013. Well, at least I can still draw in straight line.

I have a new obsession now. One that I do while taking the bus or waiting for pages or files to load. One that lets me play with color. One which creates products can be use on a daily basis. One that takes a long time to finish and therefore will not deplete my wallet quickly. One that makes me purl.

Nope, I didn’t misspell that word for those with careful eyes. Though I guess purr instead purl also work in this case. My new obsession is, in fact, knitting. With yarns that cats love so very much. I’ve been obsessing over it for close to a year now. I have quickly discovered that how colors match with the pattern really makes a different in knitting, that there’s a real big differences between 5.5mm and 6.5mm (at least in term of needle size), that yarn work encourages one to practice on their algebra, and that I will have to resize everything I knit because I got the body and head size of a child.

It is great for self-exploration, isn’t it?

Really, though, it’s fun. I like matching the color with the right pattern, and I like seeing how changing my knitting method creates changes the whole projects. It feels almost like magic, and I can’t wait until I am good enough to create my own pattern. I just updated my profile on the knitting network Ravelry today. Since this blog is about my trying new things and exploring the my surrounding environment, I figure I should post it here too – with insert from my Ravelry comments:

Here’s my overall projects. My first one was the scarf:

“The first scarf that I made that are to my liking. My actual first one is done all in knits, pretty much just a practice scarf. I had, in fact, took my first scarf apart and reuse the yarn in this one. The variegated color scheme works very well for this pattern.”

“Since most Western size is too small for me, naturally I started the smallest size. Since this is my first time knitting hat and I decided to be cheap and used 5.5mm needles thinking it’s ‘close enough’, naturally I miscalculated the stitches needed and probably miscounted later too.
This is all a round-about way to say that the hat is the size of an small child’s head. Since I am not a child any more, naturally it barely fits.
Maybe one day I will have a kid and inflict the terror call ‘my first hat’ to her.
… On the other, that is too much of a terror even if a kid is oblivious of terrible knitting skills.

9:12 AM
I recently got hired for a part time position at the airport. Today will be my first day of work. The makeup part is a hassle, and I hate commuting on the Highway by car everyday, but at least the working-at-airport aspect will be fun. I have always like being in the airport and airplane as a child, traveling from Hong Kong and US – even that time when I got lost as a ten year old. Speaking of which, I hope I don’t get lost again…

9:20 AM
Oh my god! As I went up on the escalator, I was greet by a curtain of simmering steel wave that clings onto the atrium wall between stories. Turns out it was steel disk, linked together. Will take picture tomorrow.

9:32 AM
Got there! Love the building tress work.

And found it nice that the decoration pieces hides the light bulb in a very unnoticeable manner.

Hmm, bicycles are everywhere! I think the bicycle goddess is trying to cheer me up knowing that I have to commute on the highway.

6:25 PM
Home sweet home! Until next time!

It is strangely satisfying to meticulously weed out box after box of tiny succulent container. Well, not so much when I turned the said container around and got the shock of life because there is giant snail right next to my finger, but the weed part is definitely satisfying.

Of course, I don’t have boxes of succulent at my house. No, this is me at San Francisco Botanical Garden, enjoying my first day of volunteering. I had finally followed through my desire to volunteer at a local garden/park. I am going to be helping at the nursery, and I will start helping with GIS and graphic design later on. Today though, it is mainly nursery tour and walk.

We started at 10AM and was suppose to end at 2PM. Me being me, went accidentally overtime by half hour without noticing. It’s a good thing I learned my lesson as outdoor Route Rabbit at Sunday Street – where I bike around checking up on volunteers and jay-driver (car that wonders into closed off, pedestrian only streets) – regarding the importance of sunscreen. I probably didn’t burn myself this time.

I did, however, neglected to bring my own gardening glove, lunch cash, and cap – though the nursery did provided backup, as no one actually brought any of those for their first day except for the cash part.

While browsing SFBG, I kept seeing this Poppy:

Since I left my camera at home, here is a stunning photo I found at an online store named Annie’s Annual.

Turns out it is is called the Ladybird poppy (Papaver commutatum), a heirloom flower (though the word Ladybird is a British way of calling Ladybug, which is strangely not Californian at all. I guess the botanist naming the flower is Britain???). The petal appears to have a paper like texture, yet it is smooth and soft like a regular petal when I touch it. The contrast of crimson red and black seems to set the petals on fire in a scenery of green and brown. A truly puzzling yet stunning sight.

Sadly, I didn’t have my watercolor kit with me either. Next time, next time.

After helping at the nursery, I am going to start helping in graphic design next Monday, and hopefully learn some GIS soon. Gardening and design, two of my favorites all in one!

When people think about a city known for technology in California, the first thought stop tends to be San Jose. Its quite logical, considerating that it is the largest city within SIlicon Valley, housing some of the most major tech HQs – Adobe, Cisco, Ebay, HP, and IBM… and those are just some of the major names there.

San Francisco is catching up though, and I was once again reminded of that as I read this little article by SF Gate:

Tech firms seek perfect space in S.F.

With new industry, comes new demands and needs. It is no wonder that the advancement of tech industry will directly influence commercial design, architecture planning, urban structure.

It’s sunny, it’s warm, it’s a season that inspire all gardener to go all out. Even containers ones like me.

So, as of a few days ago, I found myself rumbling through my boxes for seeds. The questions though, is how I should grow them? The plant nursery has so many different seed starter kits, sparkling in front of me and tempting me. So, what are someway to start seeds indoor?

Hmm… how about the good old jiffy pots? The compressed soil tend to led to sterile soil that will develop a moldy surface. I want to use my own, healthy soil. Besides, my chives has never successfully seeded in a jiffy pot – and I plan to plant some chives seeds.

Plastic container? They don’t have it, and transplanting is going to be nightmare for the seeds I have in mind.

Oh, what’s that? Biodegradable Coco-fiber pot? And it looks shiny too. But nope – bigger than what I want, pricier than other products in store, and don’t look that biodegradable. Maybe it will degrade outdoor, but I am not so confidence about indoor without all the bacteria and rain. I want something with thinner surfaces, like paper.

…No cowpot, pulp pot, or other paper-like pots on store shelf.

In the end, I ended up buying only a bag of all-purpose “Natural Plotting Soil” from a nearby succulent shop named Succulence (Yep, they sell not only succulent soil, but also natural and occasionally organic soil, all for a lovely $2 per bag. Oh, and they have Renee seeds and… wait, wrong post! Shall shut up now).

At home, I mentally debated on which seed starter products I should use. I mindlessly took some paper out for recycling. Lo and behold, I saw a egg carton. My mindless haze cleared up, and the wheel in my brain started cranking as ideas popped into my head. I was so busy thinking about what to BUY to solve my problem, I totally forgot my Eco Crafty side! The scariness of consumerism culture.

I make a quick, sneaky gaze around the apartment trash room. Area clear. I grabbed the carton and checked for a clean condition. Good. I chucked my papers-to-be-recycle and stealthy transport my egg cartoon without any neighbors seeing me.

Once I got home, I renewed my research, now with a new mindset and a new weapon idea. Excitingly, I googled about egg carton seed starter. I immediately learned that it is too small and not very biodegradable. Fortunately, I came across other solutions – homemade paper rolls, eggshell, and newspaper containers. I didn’t had any eggshell and paper roll prepared, so newspaper it was.

I decided to forgo the tape that several blog uses, and relied on my origami folding  skill. Then I rumbled through the cabinet for something to put it in. To my luck, I found a take-out rice box with a clear plastic cover – perfect for a greenhouse. All the seeds are edible plants. A lunchbox of edible garden – yummy.

From left to right, there is two strawberry, chives, nasturtium seeds.

The nasturtiums outgrown the box pretty quickly though. So I took it, and it’s now arrange symmetrically with two other baby aloe. One of the chives have also popped up. Strawberry will take a while, but I think it is a pretty successful experience so far.

Point one to DIY.