Good News: I am Back!

Yup, I'm back! How have you all been?

Long story short, I have started doing my Master's Degree and also working so I have been quite busy. I have failed to keep up with blogging, I know. I have also failed to work out, to draw, to make manga, among many things. But I love this blog, and I love my readers, so here again, I am back.

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful to me. Arwen and I were invited to my professor's house to have dinner with his awesome family. The meal was fantastic, and Arwen enjoyed hanging out with the baby and the two huge dogs they had.

That's all I have for now. I will try to do this once a week as before and share with you the most exciting things I can get to. I think Arwen is gonna have her own blog so it's just me here. It's good to be back. Thanks.

-------------------------------
The Thanksgiving posts of the years past:
And So I am Thankful
Dark and Cold
"You Want to See Miracles?" 
A.R.K.

Origami Extreme - Part 09!!!

I am back!!! It’s another Origami collection (Wohoo)! It’s AIRPLANES this time (anyone feels excited?!) Airplanes are awesome, you gotta admit that. This time, most of the models are from Gary Hsu’s Origami Airplanes that Fly – a book filled with great models and bad instructions. I was certainly happy folding them nonetheless, but come on, Mr.Hsu, try making clearer diagrams and your Origami will be much more popular! The keynote this time is a model by Marc Kirschenbaum – what a fantastic designer! Oh so that means this time all the models are American (where did the Japanese go?)!

One more fun fact: the model for the cover picture this time, it’s Bluebell (Yay)! :D OK I am done. Posting something on this page again really makes me happy and excited.

PART 09: AIRPLANES

FIGHTER by Gary Hsu – What a fun model, but can it really “fly” with this much weight?

FUTURISTIC FIGHTER by Gary Hsu – Can you spot the differences between this model and the previous “non-futuristic” one? :D

DOUBLE TAIL FIGHTER by Gary Hsu – Another “fighter” model. I think it should be “double-tailed” instead but whatever.

 INTERCEPTOR by Gary Hsu – Interceptors are always fun: they can… intercept stuffs!

FLYING WING by Gary Hsu – I wonder if this one even exists in real life. It’s still one of you favorites.

SPACE SHUTTLE by Gary Hsu – Say hi to Mr. Armstrong!

FUTURISTIC SHUTTLE by Gary Hsu – So this is what a shuttle in the future looks like. I wonder how many missiles it contains!

DART PLANE by Gary Hsu – It’s a dart, baby!

JET II by Gary Hsu – “Where is Jet I?” Well it’s very similar to this model, just not as fun to work with. Same thing, right?

And here we are presenting…

BYPLANE II by Marc Kirschenbaum!!! What a classy stud! This model was made with a two times bigger square than the rest, yet the final product was smaller. It’s a whole new different level, a leap on the Moon which would change mankind’s history forever… or not. But I was still so happy when it was completed.

This concludes another Origami post of mine. Special thanks to Bluebell, you were a very cute model! And thank you all for reading this post. I hope to make some more Origami soon!

------------------------

Related topics:

Origami Extreme!!! – Dinosaurs 

Origami Extreme – Part 02!!! – Convention 

Origami Extreme – Part 03!!! - Dragons 

Origami Extreme - Part 04 !!! - The Winged World 

Origami Extreme - Part 05 !!! - People of Humanity 

Origami Extreme - Part 06 !!! - Dogs 

Origami Extreme - Part 07 !!! - Cats

Origami Extreme - Part 08 !!! - The Little Birds 

It's Hard to Share!

I like to share. It’s not like donating stuffs (it’s good too) but more like… introducing to other people what I find interesting. So actually this post’s title should be: “It’s Hard to… Introduce”, but it wouldn’t sound as good. So there you go.

Songs, books, movies, games… Whenever I find one interesting I’d love to show it to another person – like a “maven”*, if you know the term, even though I am not as specialized and valuable. It’s pretty much become a hobby of mine. “Hey, you want to hang out? Come to my place and I’ll show you this awesome video clip I found last week!” And one day I finally realized the ugly truth, and I am sharing it with you right now.

Well, the title exposes it: sharing interesting things is hard. It’s very weird, really, because when I share with someone the stuff I found, it’s not as interesting as before! Almost always, when I play a movie or the song while introducing about it super-enthusiastically, I will feel that the movie or the song is rather plain and not worth-telling. It’s no longer funny or exciting or innovative to me (because I have just experienced it). In some cases it turns out to be straight-out disappointing. The other day I tried to get my girlfriend Arwen into some Japanese show called Boukenger. Somehow the beginning was strange, confusing, and slow-paced. I felt like I was wasting her time.

Why would I still like to share, then? Why is it that when I find something fun, I have that urge to tell others? It’s because occasional successes are rewarding. When a song I introduce makes a sad friend feel better, I am the most happy. When I find a fun game and successfully get my friends into playing it me, I am the most glad. Guess what, it happened to me today! Arwen said she enjoyed the musical movie I brought out today. It was made by my favorite Vietnamese singer. Happiness can be so simple like that.

So sharing is hard. I get the idea and try to write a post about it to tell my readers. But it’s not as easy as I thought. Now, how should I start? What do I write so people would read it? Oh my, sharing is so hard…!

----------------------------------------------------

*Mavens: information specialists, who love to study the market AND sharing what they know to other people. More casual interpretations are welcomed, however.

That Joe Roelle Guy

There is a Canadian guy names Joe Roelle. He works for UNICEF in Vietnam (yes, Vietnam), and his Vietnamese is absolutely phenomenal. Living in Hanoi, Vietnam for roughly 10 years, he’s become a very popular blogger with his (of course) Vietnamese blog. His two published books, one of which just came out this February, are two top-sellers in the Vietnamese market. Having a chance to enjoy his new book, I was put to awe. Knowing too well of how difficult Vietnamese can be to Westerners, I can say that Joe has archived something extraordinary.

Learning another language is usually challenging. Someone who has been interacting with English since forever like me still has his incompetencies, and that makes me believe that it takes a life-time of effort to master a second language. Now I am trying to get to Korean, it gets even tougher. Will I ever become tri-lingual?

Let me tell you a secret about that Joe Roelle guy: he started learning Vietnamese when he was 25! Twenty-five years old! It means one thing: You don’t need to be a child to learn another language. If we are committed enough, we can be as good as Joe in any language. True enough that I am not living in Seoul for the next ten years (which would really make a difference!), I can still try it on my own. And guess what, 10 years from now, I may speak Korean fluently with a unique accent. : )

Oh, and he has a website. Try him!

------------------------------------------
Related post(s):
The Ineffectiveness of English

My New Artwork! It's Colored!!!

(click on the picture for a bigger resolution)

The newest artwork of mine, celebrating Arwen's successful GMAT result. This is the second time I tried coloring my works using Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (the first time was that silly comic poster). The characters are in Vietnamese high-school students' clothing.

"You are to be loved by me", 2012.

Em Là Để Yêu

Duyên hồng phận nhỏ Trời thương

Nhìn em muôn kiếp nghìn phương mơ màng

Phút giây ngoảnh mặt quên nàng

Hồi lâu thức dậy, ngỡ ngàng: anh sai!

Dẫu mai tháng cạn ngày phai

Dù thương dù giận nào ai vô hình?

Nắm tay, nắm trọn chữ Tình

Vì em là để cho mình anh yêu!

How I Draw Dragons

I like drawing dragons. Today I am gonna share with you how I complete a dragon picture. It’s been awhile since the last time I posted something tutorial-like, so I am pretty exciting. Should be fun. Here we go.