Life Update #4

With finals coming up next week, my life is finally slowing down enough for me to post something.  So here before you is Life Update #4!

What I’m Reading:

If you’re a fan of Japanese manga, then you definitely need to read some Korean manhwa.  While they’re both very similar mediums, manhwas are read left to right instead of manga’s right to left, which makes it a little easier on a Westerner’s brain (unless you’re already used to reading manga).  One of my friends recently introduced me to manhwas by having me start reading one called “Cheese in the Trap.”

Oh.  Goodness.

It’s AMAZING!

If you’re interested in reading it, head over to this link to read the English fan translation.  It’s quite a fun and entertaining story.  I started it only a couple days ago, and I’m already halfway through Season 1.  This is definitely one that you’re gonna want to check out as soon as you can.

I also had a wonderful lunch meeting with the resident missionary at my school, and he suggested that I read a book called Harmony in Conflict, which is about Taiwanese culture (where he serves and where I’m considering working after graduation).  I haven’t picked it up from the library yet, but it’s very big so I’m honestly pretty excited about it.

What I’m Working On:

I know that my tagline for this blog is, “No, I won’t draw you.”  And I also know that that is exactly what I say to every person who has ever asked me to draw him; however, I just broke my usual refusal to draw “real life people” for school purposes.  See, each person in my Interactive Design class is supposed to build a website by the end of the semester.  Mine is almost done, but I noticed that I had a big empty space on my home page.  The site is dedicated to some of my best pieces of digital artwork, so I figured that I might as well make another piece to take up that empty home page space.  And with my excitement about BIGBANG’s two new singles (“Loser” and “Bae Bae”) nearly flooding out of me, I decided to forgo my usual refusal and draw a portrait of my favorite group member: Dae Sung.

I finished the sketch two days ago and have only gotten around to inking his head and hair so far, but I think he’s looking pretty good currently.  I’m also trying out a new technique for layering inks, so we’ll see how that works for me in the long run.  Below is a screenshot of the piece, which is being drawn using Manga Studio 5 EX (the pro version of Manga Studio).  I’ll post the final when I get it done.

What I’m Watching:

Currently I’m watching three new Korean dramas (I have a hard time just watching one at a time, ok?): Blood, Sensory Couple, and Jekyll, Hyde, and I.  I’m also watching an American football-themed anime called Eyeshield 21, which is surprisingly good.

What I’m Listening To:

I just recently discovered a Korean rock band called Royal Pirates.  Unfortunately they don’t dress up as steampunk pirates on-stage, but they do have some fun music.  The video below is of their song “Seoul Hillbilly,” which is one of my favorites.

So what have you guys been up to lately?  Are you all ready for finals, or should we just skip that week and go directly into summer?  😉

Hope all of your exams and summer job searches go well!  God bless you guys!

– Chrisi –

Life Update #3

Sorry for not posting in a good month.  I’ve either had nothing to say, or I’ve had too much to say.  And, honestly, the real world’s already filled with too many people ranting about government and whatnot.  I see no need to post my own arguments against ObamaCare and other stuff like that, at least not until I’ve had time to logically formulate what I’m going to say and how I’m going to back it all up.  But with finals coming up, I ain’t got time for that.

Suffice to say, I figured I should probably pop on briefly to update you on what’s going on in my world.  Just so we’re all on the same page.

 

What I’m Working On:

My internship with Safe Families for Children (check out the website if you haven’t already, it’s a great organization) is coming to a close.  I’ve got about a week and a half left to finish all my projects and finish up my portfolio, so I’m currently in Crunch Mode.  It’s been a great experience, though.  If I could go back, I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

I’ve also been working on an art project that will hopefully (fingers crossed) be done sometime this week.  I teased it a little on Twitter last night, but it bears repeating: if you’re a fan of the anime Attack on Titan, I think you’ll really like this when you get your hands on it.

What I’m Reading:

I haven’t been reading as much as I wanted to, so I’m still only about halfway through Tim Keller’s Reason for God.  But I’m getting back into the groove slowly but surely.  My current goal is to finish the book before the end of the year, which is definitely doable as far as I’m concerned.  After I finish that one, I’m planning on moving to one of Lee Strobel’s books.  Anyone have a favorite of his that you’d suggest?

What I’m Watching:

I just finished watching the K-drama Boys Over Flowers, which was absolutely amazing!  The last two episodes felt super contrived, but overall it was a great show.  I’m now about halfway through Shut Up Flower Boy Band, and I’ve also been watching the 27th Annual Golden Disk Awards on DramaFever (which is basically the Korean Grammy’s).  The only reason why I’m watching that one (which aired in 2012) is because I really want to see BIGBANG, Super Junior, and PSY’s performances.  Super Junior’s was so much fun to watch, which only made me even more excited for the other two.  SHINee, B2ST, EXO-K, and Infinite also had some pretty cool performances.  Honestly, though, I’m really sad that UKISS wasn’t there because they’re my favorite.  Ah, well.  Can’t win everything, right?

What I’m Listening To:

Been listening to a lot of KPop (such a surprise, huh?), and these two songs in particular:

 

What have you guys been up to?  Gotten all of your Christmas shopping done?  I still have to buy something for one of my sisters and finish up something for my bestie, and then I’m all done for this year.

Ooooh, and remember to check back in the next day or so for the art project I mentioned earlier in this post.  I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with Levi, who is one of my most favorite Attack on Titan characters.  Now you’ll just have to be in suspense until then. 😉

God bless you guys!

– The Chrisinator –

Life Update #2

Just a quick update of what’s going on in Chrisi’s world.

What I’m Working On:

My local Safe Families for Children (the organization I’m interning for) just had their first annual gala, so I had a lot of fun helping to plan and set up for it.  It was the first gala I’d ever been to and, I gotta say, I think I could do that again.

Added to that, I just finished up the line art for the promotional magnet I’m making as one of my internship projects.  It’s done in the doodle-style (a bunch of little scenes surrounding bolded words in the center), which is both incredibly fun and insanely hard to do.

What I’m Watching:

This show… oh, this show is AMAZING!!

I’ve been on a big Bleach kick lately, but I’ve also been trying to catch up to my roommate in Fairy Tail (two more episodes and I’m there!).  I also just got back into watching Flower Boy Next Door, and I don’t think I’ve had this many feels because of one episode in a looooooong time.  If you want a really funny and really touching romantic comedy (and you don’t mind watching it in Korean with English subtitles), you should totally check out this show.  It’s definitely one of the few rom-coms I actually love watching.  The show streams for free on Hulu, but you might be able to find it on Drama Fever (a K-Drama site) or Netflix.

What I’m Reading:

If you want a book that will not only answer questions but will make you really think about what you believe and why, then you should really get this one.

The Reason for God by Tim Keller.  The awesome thing about this book is that Christians and non-Christians alike can read it pretty easily.  Keller has a nice, straight-forward writing style that doesn’t beat around the bush.  He answers some of the common questions that both Christians and non-Christians have about God and His existence and challenges his readers to really think about what they believe and why.  So if you have questions or if you just want encouragement in your walk with Christ, you should really pick up this book.

What I’m Listening to:

This amazing Korean boy band:

And this super encouraging Christian rock group:

So what have you guys been up to this past week?  Anything fun or even mildly interesting?  🙂

God bless!

– The Chrisinator –

So I Had a Butter Popcorn-flavored Jellybean Today…

And they looked so tasty, too! Lies.

What.  In.  The.  What.

Who in the world thought that was a good idea??!

I mean, the taste is fine.  It really does taste like movie theater popcorn, which is the best stuff in the history of ever.

But then you remember that you’re eating a jellybean.

Ok, maybe I’m “old-fashioned” or whatever, but jellybeans are supposed to taste like fruit.  Strawberry, lemon, peach, even blue raspberry.  That’s what jellybeans are supposed to taste like.

So when you bite into a popcorn one, it’s super awesome…at least until you realize what you’re eating.

It’s like eating vanilla pudding out of a clearly labelled mayo jar, ok?  It’s irrevocably weird and impossible to get over.

I’m sorry if the popcorn-flavored jellybeans are your favorite.  I’m sure they’re great if you grew up on them.  But for someone like me who lived just over 20 years before eating her first one–

I CALL SHENANIGANS, OK??!!!  ALL THE SHENANIGANS!!!

…………………..

In other news:

– It’s crunch time for finishing my presentation for the Safe Families Gala next week, so I’m minor-ly freaking out over here.

– The charlie horse-like thing in my Achilles Heel just will not leave.

– One of my little sisters (I’m the oldest of four kids) just became an adult.  Wut.

– I got to Skype with my college roommate and my bestie yesterday, which was super fun and encouraging.

– I also got to wake up early this morning to Skype with another college friend of mine who’s currently teaching English at an International Christian school in South Korea.  She answered a lot of my questions, opened my eyes to the reality of being an American teacher in a foreign country, and has encouraged me to keep pushing forward in my dream of becoming a TEFL/Theater teacher in South Korea.

– God also seems to be calling me to not only trust Him more with my future, but also that I can boldly pray for things I want (like being a teacher) and actively keep moving forward.  In this case (as far as I can currently tell), “moving forward” involves starting to crack down on learning Korean and doing research into both places to get my Masters in Education and schools to apply for afterwards.

So, yeah, a lot of cool stuff is happening.  I’m sure that there are hurdles that I have yet to encounter farther down the track, but God will get me over those when the time is right.  I also have to remember to keep my eyes, heart, and spirit open to wherever He leads, even if it means not going to Korea.  I hope that won’t be the case, but God puts people in the best place and shattering hopes and dreams is not in His job description.  That’s hard to remember sometimes, but it’s something I’m gonna strive to remember more actively.

Anything fun or interesting happen to you guys this week?  Anything I can pray for or try to encourage you in?

God bless you all!

– The Chrisinator –

Life Update

Yep, I really missed blogging (like I mentioned in my first post).  But I really didn’t miss trying to figure out what in the world to post about.

Blehhhhh….

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr….ok!  Let’s use this second post to bring you up to speed on what’s going on in my life.

Firstly, I suppose you should know that I’m currently taking a semester off of college to work.  Debt is far from my favorite thing, so staying out Fall semester for money-making purposes just made the most sense.  Of course it throws a little monkey wrench into my previous plans.  I’m a senior, so I was planning on graduating in Spring 2015.  Instead I’m gonna be one of those December graduates.  And I guess that’s ok.  I mean, how many people graduate in December?  Not too many that I personally know.  So I guess I can be stoked about being unique again, right?  Plus I honestly feel like God has His reasons for working things out the way He has, and if I can’t trust God then who can I?

I only know two of His reasons currently, though there’s probably more that I may never know about in this life.  One (obviously) was to work full time to chip away at my school bill.  The second is so I can knock out my required internship without having to worry about juggling other homework and extracurriculars.

Ever heard of SFFC (Safe Families For Children)?  If you haven’t, you should totally check out their site.  Basically it’s a Christian organization run out of Chicago that helps families going through crises (financial, emotional, relational, etc.) by providing care for their young children while the parents get their lives back in order.  That could be watching a stressed single mom’s kids for a weekend while she spends the time getting things done without being constantly bombarded with her kids screaming and coloring on the walls.  It could be watching another family’s baby until the parents find stable jobs.  There are a ton of possible scenarios.  SFFC does a lot of other things, but hosting kids in a stable environment is the bulk of what they do.

I did some Communications work for my local SFFC branch over the summer and then continued on as an official intern when the Fall Semester started.  Right now I’m working on making a presentation for the gala we’re having in about two and a half weeks, as well as designing some other promotional materials.  Hopefully I’ll be able to show you a full page doodle for an SFFC magnet I’m designing pretty soon, but I’ve gotta add a few things to it first.  Be on the look-out for that pretty soon.

Besides working and interning, I haven’t been doing anything super interesting.  Played a little SWTOR with my college roommate from last year (who I’ll also be rooming with in the Spring when I go back).  Been a little behind in reading Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God,” but I’m gettin’ back in the habit (it’s an AWESOME book, by the way.  You need to really read it if you haven’t already).  Researching how to become a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and/or theater teacher overseas.  Learning the Korean alphabet before I jump into learning the rest of the language.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand….I think that’s currently it…..

Oh.  And I’ve been listening to this song on a permanent loop on Spotify for the past two days.  Judge if you want, but it’s so good and catchy, ARGH!

What have you guys been up to lately?  Got any cool projects you’re working on, or something fun you’re planning on doing this weekend?

Be praying for all you awesome people!  God bless you guys! 🙂

– The Chrisinator –