Archive for Friendship Bracelets

Much Ado About Nothing

2008/11/23 at 11:41 am · Filed under Friendship Bracelets, Living Green, Musings ·Tagged , , ,

While this post has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing, I’ve got some complaints about how modern day education sometimes pushes students to be. Everyone values different things about life – I can deal with that. I’m definitely not a flippant youth when it comes to life – I enjoy thinking about my future and to explore different fields from A to Z, and I fail to understand why some of my friends disregard all the opportunities we have in store at this age. This is the biggest shot we can make, the easiest time to become who we want to be. Why waste it (this wasting definitely does  not equate to procrastination… ok, maybe it can.)?  While life isn’t all about commitments and seriousness, (yes, I do understand that), I do believe that each of us have something to accomplish in life. Whether it be in developing a cancer cure or even building a beautiful family, we have something to do. This whole attitude of There’s only today… well, it’s important to take day by day and not overburden yourself (and I’m not going to lie, I fail at this concept miserably), but the lack of a goal, a curiosity, a desire to celebrate life?

So about the education system… well, it’s just that it’s become a huge market. While knowledge is wealth and it’s the best thing that any community can own besides a sense of community (duh), I feel that this corporate business pushes my generation to be the way we are: materialistic, superficial and distant. Not everyone is this way, but it’s a phenomena more accentuated by our media, our goals, but most important, our reasons for how we act. Since so many are pushed to be “successful” in the eyes of our society, I think amidst all the academic struggle, we lose sight of what we wanted to do, who we want to become and sometimes even who we actually are. Many of my friends in my major, when you ask them why they’re in it, can’t give you anything more than a generic answer… My question is, if you can’t discover a personal bond with the major (whether it be nerdiness-deluge with the material or application of the material itself), why struggle to do something that you don’t love? For the money? For the prestige? For your family? I don’t know, don’t ask me why you want to do whatever you want to do! So that’s it, everyone’s doing someone else’s thing, which pretty much won’t amount to anything, whether you get it or not, because you’re not doing your own thing. Now does the title make sense? You’re doing much about nothing… a. k. a. Much Ado About Nothing.

Bah, don’t worry, I haven’t only been busy and slowly torturing myself. I’ve been running 2-3 times a week 40-50 minutes, and this way I preserve a speck of my sanity (that I never had! ;-)) I definitely don’t get to read as much as I would like to (a. k. a., I don’t read anymore.) , but hey, a girl gotta do what she gotta do.

Here’s something I made on and off – it’s a super duper easy one, but I like the change within the bracelet:

I can wrap the beast thrice around my wrist and twice around my ankle! The red rag bracelet is from Brasil and yes, it is a wish bracelet. It’s been there for almost two years now, so let’s hope that wish comes true when it (Yes, and what you spy in that corner, indeed are anatomy and physiology notes… If you care to know, those notes are on the basics of the neural tissue. Well, that was only a month and a half ago, and now we are on the autonomous system AFTER covering the up to vision and all that jazz. Now I know why if you drink coffee you can’t sleep! It’s because the caffeine binds to the A1 receptors that normally bind Adenosine that induces sleep.. and as caffeine inhibits adenosine binding, sleep is inhibited. You know what the sad part of this all is? I was thinking about this on the night AFTER my third midterm in that brain-drilling class when I couldn’t sleep till past 3 AM despite how tired I was.)

Anyways! Here’s a view on my laptop to show how long it is:

I like how I have mixed methods for this bracelet and how the colours are so vibrant! It makes me happy to look at and occassionally play with at the library.

I think I would like to try this method with a bigger mix of colours – some neon, some pastel, some solid, some changing, some metallic if possible. I’d love to see how the colours complement, contrast, clash and melt into each other!

Here’s my anklet baby that I made back in August.

I’m sorry that picture is a little blurry, but it’s hard to take a picture when you’re a little sleepy… I’ve been good with recycling and reusing. Here at Purdue University, when you print out something from your account from a university computer, prints an extra page indicating your balance. Most people recycle them, which is good, but I use the back of them and then I recycle once I’m done. My Organic Chemistry professor found out about me doing this, and since he’s working on another edition of one of his text books, he just gave me a whole stack of scratch paper. So after I use them, I recycle them, separating coloured and white paper (Sometimes the printer gives me yellow or green or blue… I’ve gotten hot pink once). I’m trying to lessen the amount of trash I create per week. I don’t like squashing my trash since I don’t separate things until I get to a recycling place (my room definitely is not the definition of spacious), so sometimes it seems like I have a lot of trash, but let’s try to downsize that…

And now that this blog post is done, Imma going to finish my NMR spectra analysis and finish reading about opiates… YES!

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From the Windy City

2008/08/16 at 1:24 am · Filed under Friendship Bracelets, Musings, Reading ·Tagged , , , ,

After twelve grueling hours, through a torrential rain (and getting most of my luggage soaked) and without food for a while, I finally returned to the US. Currently, I write in the Windy City, also known officially as The City of Chicago. The 67 degrees Fahrenheit hardly even qualifies as late spring weather. Let’s just say that upon coming to Chicago, I have acquired:

  • a cough
  • a need to dig through my wet luggage to bust out the slightly soggy jeans over shorts
  • inclination to hide under the covers (during the summer, you hide on top of the covers. The mere fact that you are in bed shields you from the world.)
  • craving for long sleeves (not available from my luggage)
  • lethargy
  • ORGANIC ALMONDS, STRAWBERRIES AND CHERRIES (I had strawberries and cherries for dinner – how pleasant!)
  • … and the list goes on.

Surprisingly, I think I’m OK with jet lag. I have a mild headache, but I’m alert enough. I’ve read up to page three-hundred-something in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but I left The Silmarillion at home. I wonder how much time I’m going to have to actually read at my own leisure (that means, text books aren’t counted as relaxed reading.)

An interesting note related to reading is what I’ve been using as bookmarks (They magically disappear, do they not?). I’ve been using the friendship bracelets I’ve made. When well made, friendship bracelets end up being sturdy but not too voluminous, so it’s a perfect substitute to the paper ones that I seem to always end up losing. (This summer, I tragically lost my Die Muik by Klimt bookmark. :() I advocate the making of friendship bracelets because a) it’s fun, b) it’s cheap to do, c) repetitive hand motion not only enhances brain function (especially good for the elderly) and d) de-stresses your brain e) it’s pretty! and f) quick project. So, instead of buying bookmarks, you can make your own!

We’re staying at Naperville right now, and I do believe it’s quite a pretty and quaint little place. I, of course, checked out the library, the little stores and the cafés. While I’m not entirely sure of their food selection (which translates to I didn’t find any exciting gelaterias), but the library is quite pleasant. They had a eclectic nonfiction section (I didn’t get as far as the fiction section.) and seemed to have a nice audio selection as well. A little complaint I had, though not only on Nichols Library, was the amount of AC that was on. First off, going from a hot weather to extreme cold isn’t healthy for your body (everyone catches a cold during autumn). Secondly, it’s a waste of money and energy to just have the AC on as much. Thirdly, it’s summer. Why does everyone complain about the cold and when summer starts, everyone reverts to the cold? I know it’s nice to have a rest from extreme heat, but it’s not even eighty degrees. Take a nap with your cat on the lawn and just enjoy the warmth while it lasts.

Tomorrow we head down to school. Let’s just say that Indiana isn’t known for cute little shops, but corn and, uh, more corn… at least, corn’s readily available for Thanksgiving.

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Because I’m So Tangled Up

2008/08/10 at 12:17 am · Filed under Friendship Bracelets ·Tagged , , , , ,

… in threads.

Gotcha. hah!

I have long been enamoured of the simplicity but intricate flow of the intertwining friendship bracelets. The basic girl scouts one seemed too dull (though cute, too repetitive), and then I decided that crocheting and knitting sufficed.

This summer I found myself both hook-less and needle-less. Though I have been enjoying myself with work, reading and spending time with family, my hands literally twitched with boredom. I guess this was the main reason why I decided to try it.

Well, seems like I’m tangled up now in this mess! (Bad pun, I know!)

Here are three bracelets I finished a week or two ago:

Bracelet #1 – Embossed

I modified an already existing pattern to my tastes. I’m sure someone has already made it, but since I did do it myself, I claim it to be mine!

On the right is a picture that shows the pattern a little better:

I ran out of thread because I totally miscalculated how much black I needed – I suppose I could have substituted extra thread, but I was already bored with the simple lattice pattern and decided that it was time to move on.

I named this bracelet Embossed. The black diamonds seem to pop out of the silky red background, and I am fond of this effect.

An important thing to note is the thread I used: for the black I used a standard embroidery thread (6 strand), but for the red, I used some left over crochet thread I had (4s). I wouldn’t recommend since crochet thread often comes mercerised, meaning that the thread is shiny and very slippery, making it harder to knot. On the up side, it was thinner, and it did achieve an interesting effect!

Over all, I’m content with this 1st knotting, and probably will sew it on to my pencil case, since it needs some jazzing up. (On pencil cases, I’ve had that thing since 7th grade! And now I’m a sophomore in college! As usual, good to buy something that lasts than buy a lot of stuff and throw it away. Minimize waste!)

Bracelet #2 – The Slopes of Rohan

I saw the pattern and I fell in love with it. Since the first bracelet wasn’t really much of a challenge, I decided that I wanted to do something a little harder. Anyways, this seemingly celtic-inspired beautiful bracelet grabbed my gaze. I really liked this blocked pattern method (Heather from Heather’s Friendship Bracelets: go to eighth set to see what I mean.) because it gave an overall feeling about the colourway. On top of that, I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to read it.

I’m naming this The Slopes of Rohan mostly because the colours I chose to use – earth tones and the black striking through seems to be forceful, but not without harmony to the overall product. Though I do like the bracelet, I do feel like there should be a rearrangement of colours: the black takes away to much from the green too much. The green spirals was the main point for me, but while I was knotting, it seemed that the black was the main point. Also, for the side panels and for the diamonds, one colour should be used. Though it does give some flair to the colourway, I feel that it increases the feeling of disorganisation in the bracelet. But, in my defense, I didn’t really see a good reason to go out and by floss when I had some. This arrangement was the best I could do with the available resources. I think I may try this with a different set later to achieve better harmony.

And since we’re talking about the Lord of the Rings anyways… (More like since I like this picture.)

Unfinished, but pretty

Though this hardly worthy of mentioning, but I did a good deed. Around a year or two ago, I rescued a cross-stitch kit that was being thrown out. I didn’t do the pattern because it was hideous and too large (and x-stitching is so monotonous!) and kept it for future use – though I didn’t know what for. Crocheting would not do unless for a small motif, so I just kept it aside. Good, aye?

Bracelet # 3 – The Pain of Martyrs

The colours come off a little more harsher than I had thought it would, but it achieves the effect I desired: blood on innocence. In the picture, it is a small figurine of Mother Theresa of Calcutta – the Albanian-born Roman Catholic nun that did many humanitarian works in India. Though she isn’t necessarily a martyr, I thought it showed the sacrifice she had to go through to carry out her dreams.

But this bracelet isn’t only honouring religious martyrs (not that I’m forgetting them.) – rather, it’s about anyone and everyone who had to sacrifice much to see their dreams unfold to better the world. In other words, scientist are martyrs too, and I’m not even only talking about those scientist who opposed the world is a tabernacle view and the church run a stake through them. I’m talking also about scientists like Marie Curie, though later honoured, had to toil much. (Marie Curie encountered some xenophobia due to her Polish background, etc.)

Anyways, back to the actual bracelet.This was a very good learning experience. I attempted to do a little round clasp, but failed miserably. I didn’t realize how much thread it would take and added maybe 10 cm to the other’s lengths… well, let’s just say that I later read somewhere that you need DOUBLE the length.

Also, being the frugal (or froogal? ;)) person I am, I decided that I would just cut the minimum length necessary. Well, you know, this doesn’t work like knitting or crocheting where a recommended length fits all. I ran out of the scarlet thread when I was almost done. So, I had to substitute that in (which, I might add is a painful, agonizing process), and then I had to wrestle with the super short remaining white thread to add two rows. [side note: I added two white rows on each end so that the actual lattice pattern would show up without being disturbed by the ends.]

Here is a picture of the pattern:

I actually like how the end turned out to be. It was the perfect length for my wrist, and I like how the serpentine curves it can make. I’m going to work on this type of ending to see what I can make it into, though I do really like the standard braided ends as well. We’ll see!

Here are the boo-boo’s on the back:

The bracelet is a little flabbier than I would like. I miserably failed again at getting the knots tight enough. Another thing I don’t like is that I did the tail-thing in all scarlet. It would have been more amiable looking if I had used white thread also to wrap it around. Like I said before, the scarlet punctuates through the white background a lot. Maybe I should have tried a lighter colour, but then, it might have seemed whiter and then would have lost the effect I initially aimed for.

Overall, I’m content with these three bracelets. I think I might take a break from these criss-crossing lattice-y, pseudo-Celtic renderings of mine. I’ll probably work on some easier things on and off through school to unwind! I have decided on my next knotting endeavours, so we’ll see how those turn out.

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Eco-friendly Pledge

2008/07/15 at 5:27 am · Filed under Friendship Bracelets, Living Green ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

So I know a bunch of people that are urbanites, that enjoy the diversity, the awesome food and the culture, but I don’t know anyone who likes the pollution and rubbish that city life brings. I’ve always grown up in the city-suburb setting, meaning that I lived in tree-loving places that were less than 30 minutes away from downtown. I really took recycling, global-warming, anti-pollution policies as granted, well, that was, until I moved to the US. Let me explain before you start huffin’ and puffin’.

I know that people’s stances differ on many environmental politics and occurrences, but it was the first time in my almost 18 years of my life, that I met people who thought that global warming wasn’t happening. I’ve lived in three big cities in South Korea, Vancouver, Canada and lastly in Wassenaar (near Den Haag), the Netherlands, and I come to the US and I hear people say that, global warming isn’t a problem! Regardless of the origin of it, whether man-made or a natural earthly cycle, but it was the first time being in a country that out right denied the occurrence. McCain’s the Republican nominee, and he actually cares for the environment. McCain said that he realizes that global warming is an actual problem and if elected president, he’s going to deal with it. Cool, right?

Not for some people. What caught me by surprise is when I was reading through an online Christian news source that has some good stuff. Some people were hating on Obama, which sadly isn’t too surprising with their racist and uneducated remarks, but they’re even against McCain because he cares about the environment. What I just find so disgustingly ironic is that most of these people enjoy the environment through camping, fishing or hunting. They seem to have failed on the pre-school lesson on clean up after you play game. If you don’t clean your room, it will get dirty. Same logic. If you don’t clean your neighbourhood after camping, the waste will accumulate and you can’t camp there anymore. So if you like it, care for it! Your carp won’t last long, and next year might be the last time you get to stuff some wild baby boar that you caught.

Anyways, that’s my tuppence on these elections. Here’s what this post’s main purpose was before I digressed. I had to make a few important decisions last year upon entering college, and here’s my pledge this year. I care for the environment, hence I will act to prove it. One of my favourite Bible verses:

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
-1 John 3:18

Action Plan:

  1. Reduce Waste. Don’t print out or buy useless crap.
  2. Recycle like there’s no tomorrow.
  3. Reuse. Be creative.
  4. Do laundry and dishes with cold water.
  5. Turn off my laptop when I go to bed… save energy. And hibernate when not in use. (Better than Sleep)
  6. Unplug stuff not in use.
  7. Turn off/down AC when not needed.
  8. Shorter showers. And don’t let the water run when you’re brushing your teeth.
  9. Use both sides of notebook paper. This would help a lot of people on school supplies, too.
  10. Eat green! :)

So yeah, that’s it for now. And here’s my pledge bracelet I made.

The colours are obviously earthy ones. White for glaciers, the two greens for plants and organic, tan for arid landscape and brown for soil, orange for other life. I actually also made another anklet, but that’s for another time.

So here it is. I hope this works out for the better.

PS. I got a new fan to combat heat. It’s also an energy saving model. Hah!

PPS. 4 days until rafting!

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