getting to where i'm going

in my english class, we were given the task to create something inspired by walt whitman's "song of self", which described the individual's search for her own identity. our project was supposed to most authentically represent ourselves in a physical, verbal, or visual medium.

naturally, i chose photography.

here was my introduction to my project:

"it was hard for me to figure out what aspect of my identity i wanted to talk about when the medium in which i wanted to present my project is my identity. the next most logical thing i could about is how art has become a part of who i am. the answer is new york city."

enjoy

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xmas in 4k

this was our N/R (family) christmas.

merry christmas and have a happy holidays!

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absurdity

1/ PREPOSTEROUS

in !!! itself a- short about........ absurdity,! weirdness,%% unexpectedness,**`!! mystery, irony, ??? ? /!! // ....?!

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2/ SLOW FOOD

sMAsH!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!1!!1!!!1!!!

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3/ SWEATPANTS

¡¡¡déjä v¨üuuu ovër án∂ ovér ánß øvër ágäín maStERpieCE!¡

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4/ RESUME SUPPLEMENT

a resume in ÄRT%&vïDÉO form. uh we(i)rD!!!

–

welcome to absurdity. i've been into cool weird stuff lately. like cool cool weird weird videos. they've gotten me through this week and will probably get me through the next and the next and the next and the next and next next next next and next next infinite next. 

thanks, bye conGRaTs!!!!

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because it was great

i made a video a week ago about my grandparents' neighborhood. 

i went to jazz camp for a week.

i met really cool people.

i discovered new music. 

i took a break.

i spent time with my family.

i'm good. i'm home. let's go. 

i miss them.

happy monday

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h0me

i made a little thing because i haven't made one in a little.

happy wednesday

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dear mom,

thank you for everything.

enjoy your mothers and sundays everyone.

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let's be creative

an image by tim schutsky + other unknown sources

i look at a lot of stuff on the internet. i like looking at art (in all of its forms) a lot. 

i'm constantly inspired. i've recently found a few "things" that i've really, really enjoyed + i've been motivated by. here: 

1/ from sketch to screen

the other day i stumbled upon yours truly, a unit dedicated to telling the stories of artists (and more specifically, musicians). i found this piece they did on chaz bundick, an artist / producer / creative. i just loved everything about this.

image by bea policarpio

2/ the crossroads of should and must

i've loved elle for awhile now. i talked about the difference between "should" and "must", but i'm pretty sure you'd much prefer her explanation over mine. she just gets it. 

3/ ok gO!

you all know that okgo is my favorite band. this is also my favorite concert opening. i get chills every time i watch it (also like post-concert sadness). it just makes me want to make something awesome.

images by yours truly

4/ wet

don't wanna be your girl. creative processes + art + music + everything that happens in-between. this is the story of wet (the band, if you didn't know).

4/ our solar system

a group of friends recreated the solar system in real proportion because they wanted to. i just found this whole things insane/cool/beautiful/wonderful/thought-provoking. there's a new perspective that i had formed. 

night

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i'm so happy

i'm home. the past few days of spring break have been the most relaxed. there was a moment when i actually thought that it was summertime.

i'm happy. i'm so happy, and being so is one of the most askdfklj feelings. it's hard to explain, but i'm sure you've felt this way before. when i'm happy, i get creative. i've made so many little things (including a 'california' video!!!) in the past week alone. 

i even made a little playlist about it. cool. 

enjoy your spring everyone. i'll hear from you soon. promise.

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#blizzard2016

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1. 30+ inches of snow in the city

2. i went out at 9pm on friday to explore

3. i took pictures + made a video

4. i froze both my cameras + almost cried

5. a guy danced for my video

6. we didn't have a snow day today, and i'm incredibly upset

7. i've been away from home for 7 days and on 2 trips in the past week

8. it's now the final stretch until spring break

happy monday

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2015 + a video

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photograph by austin schmid

i hope you all have had a wonderful holiday. i celebrated mine with a trip to the west village (shot in the video above). there's been a lot of resting, reviving, creating, and laughing in the rael household. it feels great. 

as 2015 nears its close, i decided to share a few of my favorite things:

1. favorite songs that i've listened to this year

2. favorite photographs taken this year

3. favorite youtuber that i found this year

4. favorite video that i found this year

5. favorite music video that i found this year

6. favorite blog of the year

7. favorite tumblr post of the year

8. favorite shop of this year

9. favorite source of inspiration of the year

10. (one of many) favorite photographers of the year

 

you can listen to the playlist of my favorite-songs-that-i've-listened-to-this-year below.

that's all i wanted to share this week. 

have a wonderful day everyone.

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q's birthday

if you're an old reader of mine, then you know that i have a brother. his name is Q. i like to tell people we're pretty close, which isn't a lie, but i think as the years go on we'll continue to grow closer. 

two days ago, the 19th of november, my brother Q turned thirteen years old. it's going to be a big year for him. he's going to have to learn to be more independent, to keep himself motivated, and not completely break down from stress (like i do).

he doesn't really know it because i don't tell him ever, but i love my brother a lot. he's a cool kid with a lot of talent, but he's shy when expressing it to people. we don't really fight unless it's over who has to set the table, but other than that we're pretty good siblings. 

in honor of his thirteenth year of life, i made a short little film and/or vlog (because it's not that good) about finding him a gift and celebrating his birthday. i hope you enjoy.

have a wonderful weekend, everyone. 

happy birthday, q.

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say yeah + sunday ' 1

it's been awhile since i last made a video. it's been awhile since i last wrote a post. so i decided to make a double-double post and introduce two super cool new things to you guys. 

i recently got a new little point-and-shoot to begin to more easily take videos again (i would rather not carry my DSLR around everywhere i go). 'sunday' is a short test of my new camera and a documentation of my late sunday mornings. i'm still working on my "what am i doing?!!? what do i need to set when i'm manual settings?!?!" skills, so forgive me for the graininess for the low-light shots at the beginning. just like, skip over it or something. yeah, that's better.

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so... in addition to my super cool video, i'm introducing a super cool new post category! snippets. snippets will be a "summary" of what i did and how i felt on a certain day. they're an extension of my moodboards; more or less being an abbreviations of previous posts. i'm introducing snippets so that you can get a more clear insight into my life as a young creative, and how i incorporate art into my every day teenage-school-life. so here it is. my first snippet (denoted by ['{snippet #}]) : 

+ i haven't made a video in a long time, so it feels good to work on my (very much developing) videography skills

+ i'm pretty worried that i wasted my time making this (very much not good) video when i could've written my history paper or studied for my chemistry test 

+ i think it's worth it

+ i think art is worth it? i think relieving stress through creation is worth it?

+ it was valid procrastination, though (i keep telling myself this)

+ it's okay. everything's okay. i'm okay.

+ let the term be over already

have a wonderful sunday evening, everyone.

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farms + portland

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i am currently in portland, oregon for two weeks to visit my grandparents and go to jazz camp! to celebrate this absolutely wonderful summer weather, my grandmother, grandfather, aunt and i went to sauvie island farm to pick (a TON) of berries. i, out of nature, was tempted to film little details of the farm, so i did and i made a video out of them.

so yeah. berry picking + good music + sounds of the farm = bliss.

enjoy.

have a marvelous week everyone!

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your very own book

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ah! i'm so excited about this. you can make your own instagram book (for free) and get it shipped to you. i explain how to do so and give you a peek into what it looks like in my little video. 

why wouldn't you want one?

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01. go to http://chatbooks.com/
02. click "make a book now"
03. click "create an account now" in the pop-up
04. create an account 
05. you will be directed to http://app.chatbooks.com/books – click "+ create new book"
06. select instagram series + "create"
07. name your book + log in to instagram via the "login to instagram" button
08. once pictures load, click "+ subscribe" button, then "confirm"
09. enter my code "MINIM785" to get a free book delivered to you!

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questions and answers

after many weeks of putting this off, i finally filmed, edited and published my q+a (and you get to see my new youtube intro!!)

thank you so much to everyone who asked questions– unfortunately i wasn't able to get to all the questions because of the high quantity of them (i wanted to keep the video as short as i could)...

p.s. thanks to my gorgeous and awesome friend julianna for being my assistant 

have an absolutely fantastic week, everyone!

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i am fifteen

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it's kind of hard for me to believe that i'm turning fifteen today.

the big 1-5– the year of the quinceanera (that i am not having).

i mean, it's just another year that i've been alive, in a quite literal sense. 

about 6 hours into fifteen-dom i realize that being fifteen is just like being fourteen. it's not like you're turning thirteen, your first "teen" year; or eighteen, your "last" "teen" year, and you're not celebrating your sweet sixteen, either. so i ask, what is it then?

fifteen. just fifteen. 

so instead of saying fourteen you say fifteen. that's basically it. you say you're fifteen and that you're a freshman in high school. that's all that you think has changed.

physically.

i don't feel different, i don't look different, i don't sound different, i don't know any different, but i know that i have changed, and will continue to change. and yes, that is both a good thing and a bad thing.

good in the sense that i am becoming more knowledgable and that there will be more opportunities for me.

bad in the sense that i am actually getting older, physically and mentally, and that i will have to hold more responsibility on my shoulders. but there's no stopping it. there's no stopping any of it. and i have to deal with it.

i went with a couple of my friends and my family to two of my favorite places in new york (state) to celebrate my first few days in fifteendom. naturally, i took my camera with me to capture the moments. 

i'll let the film give you a sense of the joy i felt on that day.

so to this i say, happy birthday, me.

may this sixteenth year of existence (and your seventeenth and eighteenth and nineteenth, too) bring you good and amazing things.

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if you're reading this, i just want to say thank you. to all of my friends and teachers and classmates, i wish you the absolute best in the future ahead. i'll miss you all.