Merry Christmas!

So much food... so many presents... what an excellent haul for the holidays! :) I finally got an art tablet, and I'm excited to see where it'll take me in the design department. Here's what I came up with via some preliminary doodling:

"By the fire"

 

 

Because it's Christmas, check out this pic of me at Kirkwood with my Sparrows (just before their inaugural run) and ugly holiday sweater (courtesy of Goodwill and lots of fabric glue):
 

 

Annnd another one (here I'm actually being pelted by icy winds of death that gave me terrible windburn): 

The Sparrows, by the way, were awesome! The early-season conditions (read: rock, ice, random pockets of creek) weren't exactly ideal, but they flew wonderfully nonetheless. Even in the moguls! I seriously can't wait for the fresh, deep pow that will let them really, really shine. 

Anyway, time to go check on the cake -- Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

First day

Last weekend, Tahoe got pounded with a ton of new snow. As the inches piled up, my excitement became overshadowed by agony -- there was really nothing I could do to take advantage of all the pow, as I was chained to SF by an important research deadline.

This past week, I obsessively checked the weather reports and lift statuses for Northstar/Heavenly/Kirkwood multiple times every day, my eyes bulging with anxiety and anticipation each time I refreshed a page. Things didn't look promising, but I hightailed it to Kirkwood at the first opportunity anyway. 

And boy, was it worth it! Despite the fact that there were only 3 lifts open, I found a super fun and challenging mogul line to hit over and over again (my legs are currently jello). While exploring the woods and gullies, I came across a fair amount of deliciously untracked pow as well. :) I didn't have my Parlor skis with me (they're still without bindings), but my new Fischer skis really delivered -- I got my ski legs back way sooner than anticipated. First day of the 2013-14 ski season = huge success!

Now, behold: my artistic interpretation of the mogul line that's rendered me pretty much immobile:

"Kirkwood"

 
 

The day has come: my Parlor Sparrow!

At the start of 2013, I, trapped miles and miles from any semblance of decent skiing (see Sugar Mountain), began dreaming of something that seemed incredibly silly and farfetched: designing and skiing on my own pair of skis. Now, as 2013 draws to a close, I have to keep pinching myself as I sit and stare at the pair of purple/yellow Sparrow Parlor skis sitting in my SF apartment.  

These birds, my friends, are mine in a very special way -- in a months-long process, I brought them to virtual life in Photoshop, and the Parlor guys brought them to real life in their Boston workshop. Pretty surreal. They're so beautiful, and in all honesty, I'm kind of scared to ski on them for fear of ruining them! I am, after all, a fairly reckless skier. Ack!

I can't really recall many other occasions that caused me to feel much prouder than I am right now. Being able to create something like this has been so different from anything else I've done (which, granted, isn't much, but still), and it's just been ridiculously rewarding! AHHHH! Thank you Mark, Pete, and Jay at Parlor for taking on Sparrow and Heron -- it's been a true pleasure. And I haven't forgotten about you, Mary! 

If I see anyone with either of these babies (or any of the other awesome Parlor skis available) on the slopes, rest assured that I will chase you down and proceed to, how shall I say this gracefully... lose my shit! In the best way possible, of course. :)

POW

Holy cow, it's December now! Brrrrrrr. I guess this means it's that time of year to... 

Go on powder watch! 
Check trail reports daily! 
Do the snow dance, all the time!

Please be kind to us this year, snow gods of Tahoe! :D
 

"pOw"

Holidaze

Thanksgiving hasn't even come and gone yet, but Christmas decorations are already up on the lamp posts in Union Square. Facebook statuses about Christmas music are starting to appear. And when I was at Trader Joe's yesterday, shelves of prettily-packaged peppermint bark (along with a host of other candy-cane-derived treats) lured me into at least 20 minutes of pacing, inward drooling, and ruminating on the importance of self indulgence (never mind the pounds of fresh pastries I regularly consume).

This is all very confusing to me, but as I'm still in a jolly mood (see last post), I'm simply going to accept it like the obedient consumer that I am. Hooray for the holidays! Soon it'll be time to break out the wrapping paper, bwuahahaha. That said, here's a take on Thanksgiving giftwrap, just to tickle my own fancy:

"Scalloped"

P.S. For other giftwrap designs, see here and here!

Why you lucky little...!

All this SF sun has got me feeling jolly good! Apparently such awesome weather is a rarity, according to every longtime SF-er I've come across (I'd like to say that I don't understand this compulsion to burst a wide-eyed newcomer's bubble, but alas I am evil and have done the same to many a poor soul, aka premed student :D). 

These mean-spirited (or perhaps well-meaning?) people have also been telling me that the snow at Tahoe has been incredibly shitty the past few seasons, but given my good luck on the West Coast so far, I'm reasonably optimistic about my chances for 2013-14. Plus, I finally got new mittens. And my Sparrows will be arriving soon! 

"Jolly"

Intergalactic

It's become weirdly luxurious to just sit at home and fiddle around in Photoshop. What's going on? Who am I?! Lol. 

Anyway, I can barely keep my eyes open, so all I have for you today is this cheesy, retro galactic graphic (with some Halloween colors forcibly mixed in)!

"Intergalactic"

 

Time

Holy cow, my life is moving at warp speed! During the years I spent in Durham, I would sometimes think of the time that was depressingly passing me by, taking with it unmet people, unexplored places, and unfamiliar feelings. I kept feeling older and older, smaller and smaller. 

Now that I'm in SF and experiencing all those "un"-things, time remains a very scary entity. The more I do, the more I want to do, and the less time I have to do all of it!!! I'm kind of learning to go with the flow though, because it seems that things have quite a lovely way of falling into place.

"Geometric"

 

Xplosion

Step 1 is over, I'm a year older, I've moved into a new place, and I've finally started my fancy research position (which has quite quickly reminded me that I actually hate working)... whoa, it's an explosion of big events! To celebrate all this, I'm taking a step away from the pastel kick I've apparently been on: 

"Xplode"

P.S. After this, I'll also be done with my gratuitous and inexplicable use of the letter "x."

Back to basics

Wow, what an anticlimactic ending to a months-long ordeal, haha. Whenever I spend a long time preparing for something important, I always expect jolts of pure, unbearable happiness and triumph to rip through my body when I'm done with that thing. Yeah, that rarely happens. At the end of my exam, I just felt beaten up. So I went shopping. :D

Now I have no responsibilities... minus all of the paperwork and administrative hoops I have to jump through to finally kick off my research. Ha! Exciting and dreadful. 

What will my life in SF look like from this point on...? Time to get crackin'!

"Basix"

Zen

Step 1 is finally here, and I'm doing everything in my power to remain calm. I'm so scared to wake up tomorrow, but I'm also SO EXCITED to get it over with! Now, excuse me as I fake a zen state by bingeing 'Breaking Bad' until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Ha! 

"Zen"

Crystal... meth

I've become re-addicted to 'Breaking Bad' -- now that I'm winding down on the study front, I finally have time to do fun stuff (ok fine, I'm lying, I've been streaming other shows and doing other things and on the whole getting dumber instead of smarter). But man, I can't believe that I forgot how pretty Walt's blue meth is!

"Heisenberg"

Off balance

Where's my sense of balance?! I can't wait to get my life together once this horrendous Step 1 is out of the way. There's a gigantic, sunny, beautiful, flashcard-and-question-bank-free world out there, waiting for my havoc! >:)

"Kilter"

Modern art

An afternoon amongst masterpieces yields my MAGNUM OPUS! Lol, really I just craved some Mondrian cake, which I will NEVER get to eat because the SFMOMA is closed for the next 3 years.

"Nredom"

To friends

I've been here for almost 2 weeks! Hard to believe. There's really a ton to do in the city, and I'm so happy to have such great people to explore it with. Here's to friends, old and new!

"Amité"

Shifting

So much has changed in so little time! Almost everything about SF is simultaneously refreshing and daunting, from the great food to the beautiful buildings to the steep-ass hills (my legs are seriously sore ALL THE TIME).

The public transit system, though, is an absolute nightmare -- the buses are constantly late and painfully slow, and the drivers seem to have the power to randomly boot everyone off the bus for no reason. All this crap, along with the uneasiness that comes with waiting at bus stops alone at night, is something I'll have to get used to... I don't have enough money to cab every where, and I absolutely REFUSE to attempt to bike around (there are large hills and trolley tracks and cars and crazy hobos wherever I look!!!). I'll probably remain lost and confused for quite a while, but I WILL get the hang of it.

The weather is also particularly challenging. It's been consistently gorgeous outside during the day, but the nights are insanely chilly, what with the wind and the fog and my thin blazers/cardigans... I don't know if I can bear to become someone who lugs a puffer around all day just to have it on hand at night. I might just have to get fat, which, given all the delicious food I intend to consume, probably won't be hard to do. 

Also... it's SEPTEMBER ALREADY! WHHHHHATTT. September in a new city... let's do it, baby!

"Shifting"

SF! SF! SF!

My SAN FRANCISCO adventure is right around the corner! Feeling giddy and empowered! Whooooooo!

"SFO"

Contours

Cartoon hearts are really lame, but playing around with their contours was actually a pretty interesting exercise. 

Cuuuuuurvy...

"Contours"

Interior decorating

I have a friend who's getting ready to move into her first house. This will immediately be followed by a giant paint-every-room-a-different-color project, for which she is recruiting the slave services of her pals. (Un)fortunately, I won't be in the area long enough to help out with this hellish/fun-seeming undertaking, but I'll be in spirit! Here's what would probably happen if I got to re-do a tiled room (a bathroom, maybe?): 

"Regrets"

I suppose it's for the best that my talents won't be utilized. :)  

Sparrow

Finally, they're alive! It's weird to think that I've managed to design two pairs of real skis... what happened?! Ha. 

Can't wait to check my birds out in person!

 

 

 Thanks again, Parlor!

Ugly pretty... or just ugly?

Time to spice things up a bit! I've decided to go for the ugly aesthetic today, and what I ended up with was this somewhat-artsy, bad-90s-videogame-graphics thing that I have very ambivalent feelings toward. When I look at it, I get this weird taste in my mouth that usually only appears when I'm surrounded by lots of gray-colored objects (e.g. those ugly tiles with lego texture, gray walls, etc.). Ahhhh make it stop!

"Ski free"

 

Cycling

A lot of people I know are really into road biking. This is something I will never understand, as I hate both biking near cars and driving near bikes. If there are any hills involved, forget it. The stress! The anger! The crotchal pain! And those leotard... costumes... You freaks.

Anyway, from the most unenthusiastic cyclist ever to the most hardcore one I know -- happy belated, R! 

"Roy"

Dots, stripes, what have you

A study in shape and texture.

"Along the dots"

-.-

I'm trying to juggle so many things right now. Everything's a colorful blur -- it's like looking through a kaleidoscope!

"Kaleidoscope"

 

Processing...

Thanks for the kind messages -- I can't wait to crush it out on the slopes with my very own pair of Parlor skis this upcoming season! :)

I wanted to share some of the Heron and Sparrow iterations I went through before we decided on the final designs. I got overly-attached to some (ok, maybe all) of these... I figured I'd showcase them so they'd at least live on in the internet world. 

Man, I really thought I'd barf if I had to look at another heron or sparrow graphic again, but I'm already getting a bit nostalgic for those days of design-induced hair pulling and forehead pounding. Ha.

Parlor Skis

When I first started this blog, I had vague notions about becoming a mega-successful, ultra-powerful, real-life ski designer (ok, maybe not as vague as they were pompous). I always tend to get carried away when I start out on a promising project or endeavor (e.g. when I started re-learning how to ice skate at age 17 and got complimented by the instructor on my "great sense of balance", I immediately had visions of competing in the next Olympics). However, these farfetched imaginings have inevitably faded as time after time, I realize that I don't have the ginormous resolve required to make them come even a little bit true. 

This time, things haven't taken the usual, fizzling route. A few months ago, thanks to a series of fortunate events (such as meeting my dear friend MARY!), I was put in touch with the guys behind Parlor Skis. Parlor is a small, passion-driven company that's new to the ski game, and its attitude toward the skiing experience really coincides with my own. 

Blah blah blah, I'll get to the point: One fine day, the Parlor dudes, for one reason or another, decided to give me a chance. They had recently decided that their demo fleet for the upcoming ski season would be based on birds, and as such they asked me to do some bird-related mockups. At the time, I didn't know if this would amount to anything, and I decided to treat it as a fun (and immensely exciting!) challenge. Then I got super panicked because I had never actually done real design work before. And because I was in the thick of my Surgery Rotation, notorious for its 4 am mornings. Yeah, I felt really dumb. 

In any event, a zillion man hours and panic attacks and revisions later, I've completed two designs for Parlor, and they are both in production. Yes people, I've managed to design some real skis!!! I wanted to wait until both skis were completely finished to announce this project, but I just couldn't help myself anymore. 

Dun dun dun....

Meet Heron: 

And its real-life counterpart: 

Meet Sparrow: 

I don't have any photos of Sparrow IRL yet, but will share when one becomes available.

My deepest gratitude to Mary and the Parlor guys for making this gal an OFFICIAL SKI DESIGNER! WHOOOOOOOOOOT!

Party party party. 

Have a great weekend, 

Dr. Quinn, (Ski-Designing) Medicine Woman

Happy 4th!

Hi all, happy July 4th! Hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy some fireworks/sparklers/cake tonight. 

Check back tomorrow for my big announcement! 

"The 4th"

Birds

I have an exciting announcement to make soon! I've been dying to share, but wanted to wait until everything was in place.

Here's a hint... it has something to with birds... 

Stay tuned!

"Bird brain"

Random

Checkerboard, remixed.

"Remix"

Go Wendy!

There's so much going on in politics this week! I was most blown away by the sheer willpower (and back strength) of Texas state senator Wendy Davis, who empowered many, many women with her 11-hour filibustering feat.

I can't wait to see where this woman's determination takes her. Time to put up a Wendy Davis Google Alert.

In honor of Wendy and her pink shoes:

"Wendy"

Man of steel

I've become quite fond of the new Superman, Henry Cavill. I've been wondering whether the % of women dating scruffy laborers (a la Cavill in the early scenes of Man of Steel) has increased since the movie's release. And how many men are now 'roiding out to replicate Superman's body. 

Cavill aside, I thought Man of Steel was the most engrossing superhero movie I've seen in a while (maybe ever..?). The 2+ hours goes by in a flash. Time well spent.

"Steel"

 

Hide and seek

I'm into disguising things today. Can you spot the oh-so-well-hidden vegetables? Hehe.
 

"Farmer's market"

 

Glitter

When this next week is over, it's TIME TO LET LOOSE! For a few days, at least. 

Also, I noticed that I use orange a lot. 

Happy weekend!

"Glitterbomb"

From me to you: take 2

I really enjoyed coming up with my first wrapping paper design, so here's another!

It kinda puts me in a party-planning mood. Not that I've successfully planned any parties. All of the glamorous parties that I've hosted (e.g. my 12th birthday party) were put together by someone else (i.e. my mom).

"Funfetti"

 

Spin spin spin

So much to do! Sometimes I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. 

"Wheels"

 

Retro

When I was a kid, I loved drawing out good 'ol fashioned bubble letters. Any poster project was a chance to showcase my superior artistic skillz! This, mind you, was ages before I discovered the scourge that is Comic Sans. 

Here's to the days in which I worshiped balloon letters, the curvier the better!

"Retro"

The cave

When Brett and I were in Paris two summers ago, we checked out the Pompidou, a fantastic modern art museum just a few blocks from where we were staying. There were several exhibits that blew my mind, but there's one in particular that still stands out quite vividly (possibly because I have a picture of it on display in my apartment): Jean Dubuffet's "Cave," a whacky, cavernous installation that invited visitors to enter and romp around to their hearts' content. The thick black lines, which seemingly flowed without direction, made the walls appear simultaneously flat and bulging. I kept thinking of rubber bands and Dr. Seuss when I was in there!

"Pompidou?"

Downpour

Monday. Rain, rain, go away! 

My last weather-related post for a while, I promise. Can you tell that surgery has driven me insane?

"Rainy day"

Greenery

This beautiful weather makes me want to be outside all the time (I know, I keep going on about the weather, sorry)! Everything's so lush and green, plus we don't have to deal with that disgusting, neon-yellow coating of pollen any more. Thumbs up! 

Here's a design inspired by summer-y jaunts into nature:

"Greenery"

City slicker

I keep forgetting that I don't get a real summer break... The sun is out all the time now, and it's really warmed up a lot! Such pretty blue skies, too. I hope the weather stays this nice come mid-August, when I'm finally free. Yeah, right, as if -- it's going to be disgustingly humid and suffocatingly hot, but oh I remember... none of that matters, because I'll be OUTTA here! So ready to go experience some real city life. :)

"City slicker"

Popcorn

Ooooh, look how sneaky I am, hiding popcorn behind paint splatters! 

Yeah... I'm too tired to say anything even remotely intelligent.

"Pop"