On blogging

The post I enjoyed writing most was that one about places to eat, in which I wrote about the korean bakery & cafe 'Había una vez'. It brought back many pleasant memories, because I've only visited it with the people I love the most. And I love their food the most aswell, expensive as it is. 

The post I enjoyed writing the least was the one about 10 things to do before one's death. It made me think too much, and I always collapse under pressure, so it was a bit stressful for me to picture some things I had to say. In a way it was good though, because one tends to live too fast, not paying atenttion to the most important things in life. 

My favourite classmate's post is Bastian's 'Syd Mead'. It went on this kind of art I had never heard about before, and had never seen either. Yet it was interesting, educative even. I felt like seriously searching for it, and studying some pieces just for the pleasure.

I think the one with the most atractive blog is Natalie. There's this special vibe about the background image, the transparencies, the typography she choose... and the fact that is doesn't bother me that she used one type for the titles and another one for the text, each quite different from each other. It works, somehow, specially because the font for the text is a nice one for reading. 

What I enjoyed about blogging was to write about things I like, or lived, or wish, or think. It was also very compelling to get to know my classmates through their posts, because sometimes a random conversation doesn't get the most interesting details about people. 

I don't think there was something  I didn't like about it. It's different that I felt a bit impatient while waiting for my classmates to update their blogs when mine was ready, because I needed to post a comment on theirs. Yet, I had other things to do when the teacher told me to. I admit sometimes I was really worn out (after the intense conversation sessions) and just wanted to finish my blog and leave, but it was bearable after all.

I appreciate this experience greatly. I enjoyed it, and improved my writing (I think I was good before, but I learned quite a few things!)

Thank you all. May we meet again.

A nasty hideout known as Tumblr

I could expend my entire life in Tumblr.

The first time I visited it was some time around last year, when my best friend (the same one that gets me into new music styles and korean places to eat) started spazzing about it. I didn't listen to her at first, but after a  few days I couldn't help but join, because I noticed many pictures of my favorite idols were posted there first and in better quality.

Tumblr is about many things. One can either post a quote, a written conversation, pictures, gifs, videos, audio or text walls. It has a system of liking other people's posts (by clicking the heart icon) and reblogging. So one basically could never post anything of their own, but have towns of posts in their tumblr blogs (as in my case). One can also follow other people's tumblrs and be followed  too. 

There are many different kind of people in Tumblr, but I'm in the side where there are only girls, mainly over their 20's, who love to read, are a bit socially awkward (and/or forever alone), enjoy movies and comics, and are crazy about fanfiction.

There are tons of golden posts in Tumblr; I would recommend it mainly because it is a good balanced mix of art, lifestyles, entertainment, lots of laughter and porn in some cases.  

Michelangelo is sublime

I fell in love with Michelangelo Buonarroti when I  was in high school. Specially with two of his works: the statue of David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

We had this arts teacher who tried to balance our free style homeworks with history of art. We went through the renaissance and I was way more dazed by Michelangelo's work than  by master Da Vinci  (and we know they had some sort of rivalry over who was the most brilliant one).

The history of how the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted makes me shiver. Michelangelo took 4 years to finish it, painting over 300 figures. I can hardly believe he could extend his greatness to the entire work, although it's  pretty obvious taking in count that he was an extreme perfectionist. It makes me sad that a little time after he finished that ceiling, someone (I think it was a pope) ordered another (terrible) painter to cover the character's private parts with random pieces of cloth. He was later named 'Maestro Braghettone' for this infamous work. 

And as for the statue of David... it's just as amazing. Michelangelo rathered do sculptures than painting (he differed with Da Vinci on this point aswell) because he though sculpture was a superior form of art, since it's in 3D and paintings are only in 2D. Hence, he said it was simplier, and therefore, inferior.

The thing about the statue of David (and all of this statues, really) is that it... alive. I feel like it's just as alive as I am. Besides, he didn't make it proportional; he made it in a certain way that it seems right looked from downbelow. Otherwise, it looks deformed. I think that's just genius.

Bridget Jones's diary

The first time I watched 'Bridget Jones's diary' was when I was 12 years old or so, back when it was released. Everytime we went to our country place in Curacavi we'd rent a few movies to pass the weekend. I had watched the trailer and, since I love comedies, I decided to give it a try. It turned out really good; I liked it and I enjoy it every single time I catch it on the TV again. 

This is a romantic comedy  about 'a British woman is  determined to improve herself while she    looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary', based in the homonymous novel by Helen Fielding. 

The screen version was starred by Renée  Zellweger as Bridget Jones, Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth as Mark Darcy. I loved the job they all did (not to mention the minor parts, which were just as great), and I admired Renée's effort, since she's from the United States, yet she pulled out a nice british accent. I  don't know why they didn't choose a british actress (well, the rest of the cast IS british...), but this movie really got me into her other movies. 

I strongly recommend this film if you like a good laugh to sarcastic situations and a main character's intrinsic silliness. 

Here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQdy98B1nf0

10 things to do before I die

1.- I want to finish writing my epic fantasy saga.
2.- I want to publish my books, be famous and earn tons of money.
3.- I'd like to feel like a designer someday, soon. I mean,  because I don't want to start working without feeling like one.
4.- I REALLY want to be better at drawing. I guess I need to practice a lot more, there are tons of thing I still have to learn.
5.- I would like to keep playing music, and perhaps join a band as a hobby.
6.- I want to travel to some countries: Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Korea, U.S.A, France and England, por example. I seriously hope I can accomplish it.
7.- I want to give my mother a good life. She's not quite young anymore, but I want to pay her back for everything she's done during my entire life.
8.- I want to get married and have children. Though I'm still wondering whether I can cope with that family life style or not.
9.- I want to pay the university credit, and to survive meanwhile.
10.- I want to age well, long enough to see my children build their own lives, and long enough to accomplish everything else.

I hope we can all go do all the things we want before our time comes.

VAMPS in Chile

VAMPS  is a japanese band formed in 2008 by Hyde, vocal in the legendary band L'arc~en~Ciel since 1991, and KAZ, guitarrist in Oblivion Dust. Their bassist and their drummer are not listed as part of the band, I'm not sure why.

I have been in love with Hyde and his music since I was about six years old (no kidding), when I used to watch the anime series D・N・A² with my older brother and its opening song was L'arc~en~Ciel 'Blurry eyes'. I fell in love with his voice first, and I didn't get to see how he looked like until a few later, when I became an otaku and searched for pictures of the band (not that he looked really atractive in that video anyways).

So two years ago, when my friends started spazzing on Facebook because Noix Producciones announced he was coming to Chile with VAMPS, AND they managed to release their album named 'Beast' in Feriamix, AND they were going to record the concert to make a DVD as part of their world tour (where Brazil and Chile were the lucky ones in South America), I didn't doubt to buy my ticket. It was just for tribune, but it was worth not having to deal with the crazy chicks killing each other at the V.I.P area, right in front of the stage.

The concert was held at Teatro Caupolicán, in San Diego street. I attended with two of my best friends. It's always the three of us anyways, we're like the most hardcore ones in our group of friends (all J-Rock and Hallyu stans).

It was really good, even though Hyde kept trying to sing in a harsh style and sometimes his voice would sound out of tune, but it was ok, because we were too happy to see him live.



Eventually the fangirls started screaming for the other band members aswell, but Hyde owns our hearts by far. Besides, all asian artists learn some spanish so they can say a couple of things to us, such as 'I love you all', but Hyde learned how to say 'I want to eat chilean people'. He also faked an orgasm... or at least I think he faked it. We all left the Caupolican with huge smiles in our faces.

I hope he would come with L'arc en Ciel soon. I will buy an expensive ticket if that ever happens!

Habia una Vez - Korean wonders

Había una Vez is a korean bakery and cafe in Antonia Lopez de Bello, Patronato. There's one in Providencia too, right outside the Pedro de Valdivia metro station, but I like the one in Patronato better.

I found out about it because my friends and I are into hallyu (korean culture fever), so we often visit Patronato's korean mini-market searching for new marvellous stuff (I like their K-Pop related food goods, their aloe vera drinks and their pizza flavoured snacks).

One day, about two years ago, my best friend came from Patronato saying there was a new korean cafe we should visit. I was curious, so I joined her on a different ocassion. I was amazed by the fantastic concept of the decoration, which had a fairy tale feeling.

Then, I fell in love with their cakes and their food. After we sat down, I was even more seduced by the excellent branding job they did: everything had their logo printed, and they had (still do) a customer card to win points each time one makes a purchase. Those points are printed in the card as pesos, which is great, because eventually one can exchange the points for a beef croquette or a few macarrons (yes, the french sweets).

I go once a month, or once every two months, because it's not exactly cheap to eat there. The average amount is about $ 4.000 per person (though I bring my own drinks and only buy beef or chicken croquettes or sandwhiches, so I only spend like $ 1.000~$ 2.000). The price is worth the quality and the great experience, though. I'd rather go to Habia una Vez than to Starbucks, for example.

The last time I went was last week with my best friend; I spent all my money because we found new great stuff in the korean mini-markets, and we had some exclusive hot dog braids at Habia una Vez. My friend also bought soju (korean licuor) and a green tea piece of cake.

Once I get my next PAE, I'm going to spend it there!
You should go too! Here's their website --> http://cafehabiaunavez.com/home/

World's worst book covers

This article starts speaking of the worst sci-fi book covers en general, from Good Show Sir, which the writer really likes. If you go there, they are indeed awful covers, mainly retro (from the 60's to the 80's), mainly nonsense.

Then, there's Tutis Classics work. The Guardian itself has an article from 2008 where they announce the launching of Tutis's online catalogue. Nevertheless, if you follow their URL, the site is down. Going through Caustic Cover Critic's blog about Tutis's work (here), you can see why their covers are so despised; they use images that don't relate the plot of the books, and sometimes are the complete opposite of it. A few books even have the same illustrations, photoshopped to look a little different.

Go to World's worst book covers in The Guardian's website to find out more.

Playing music

All my life (since I can remember) I've been good at drawing. Then, when I was about twelve, I became good at writing (because I wrote the scripts for my comicbooks and enjoyed reading books all day long). Nowadays I'm great at both, specially at writing. So much, that people read my 'novels' and are either delighted and want more, or are dumbstruck out of the complexity of the words, since I mostly write in medieval and fantastic contexts.

Yet, I've always wanted to play music. My older brother once borrowed me his acoustic guitar for several months so I could learn, with the help of a guy I met at a drums store. I learned a few things but became frustrated easily. Instead, I started playing the drums, and even became the leader of my own band, along with three other friends. The guy from the drums store knew how to play pretty much any instrument AND he could sing, so he coached each one of us during the rehearsals.

Still, besides the guitar and the drums, I've always wanted to sing. I don't have a nice voice and I never asked anyone to help me (they just kept saying 'your voice has to come from your stomach' or something like that), but I sing everyday while designing, writing, drawing, tidying, etc. I'm terrible, but I'd love to be good someday. And the picture I posted is because I like the high pitch tones that Edu Falaschi can reach in Angra's songs (and Almah's, too). I also enjoy practicing those tones in Iron Maiden's and Helloween's songs, for example.

A girl can dream, right? I want to be a singer.

Festigame 2012

Since I don't ever travel anywhere, I think this counts as a holiday.

Festigame 2012 was a really large event held during the first weekend of August at Estacion Mapocho. It was all about videogames, with all the brands of the many developers there are in the world of gaming.

I was invited by my older brother (the one with the glasses, Marcelo), who also invited my younger brother and my nephew. We're all gamers, although the younger ones play more often and are quite fanatics. Marcelo and I take it easier... but we still went mad when we got to try some motorcycle racing game one against the other. I beat him, as always when it comes to racing games.We also tried a 3D split screen TV and had a race competition there aswell, with cars. Won again.

There was a Marvel vs Capcom 3 tournament displayed in a giant led screen and we stayed to watch. It was AMAZINGLY EXCITING. Then there was a PES 2012 tournament with the football commentator Alberto Jesus Lopez, 'El trovador del gol'. That was tons of fun. The winner was a guy who played using the Barcelona team, so we were happy. Meanwhile, the younger ones were in line trying to get an autograph from Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario (from the Mario Bros. games).

It was very crowded and I found it hard to walk by the stands... and sometimes big masses of people would puch me from one place to another, but I still had a blast. We were all gamers and the geeker you were, the cooler you became!

(My face is blurry in that photo so I look a bit weird...)

Being a clown

I wouldn't say this one is my favourite... but I do like it, a lot. It's pretty much 100% ego with an extra large portion of MORE ego.

This one is my profile picture in Facebook (where I can be found as Nat Kougi).

That's me, sitting by the desk in my bedroom, leaning against one of the walls covered with posters. That one behind me is a 'The New Avengers' poster. I found it cool, because I love comics (my hoodie has 'Deadpool', Marvel's greatest antihero, written across the chest).

I actually think it's funny, because I have low selfsteem, so I don't think I'm pretty or atractive... and definitely not sexy. I took this picture to make fun of the people who take themselves too seriously. People who think they're stylish. I don't have the money to buy the propiate clothing to be stylish, so I decided to pull some sort of parody while listening to LMFAO's 'Sexy and I know it'. I happen to have those ridiculous sunglasses (though there is no glass), and they looked perfect.

On the other hand, I had to take Photography twice because I failed the first time. Nevertheless, I think this is a nice shot. I used a warm filter to take the picture because I like that hue... and it came out even warmer than I intended.

Anyway, I like to be silly sometimes. I guess the fun is worth the embarrassment!

El Pangal

I haven't travelled a lot, really... My parents are lazy and my father keeps saying it's expensive to go anywhere, even inside the city.

If I had to name anything, I'd say I really enjoyed going to Curacavi. It's a small town near Santiago, driving to the coast. We had a house there, behind the hills that surround the town. It was in a valley, in its east basin, named Pangal.

This is what the valley looks like:

Since I was 10 years old, we'd go there every single weekend, for 8 years. At first I hated it, but when the trees my parents had planted began to grow and the entire place turned green, I started to like it. I remember we'd sleep very deep for over 12 hours each night, because it was THAT pleasant. It was quiet, the air was pure and there were birds everywhere.

It was amazingly hot during the summer, but we had a small pool and lots of water, that came from a well. After a few years, we heard about this resort in the other basin of the valley. I don't remember its name, but we'd pack some food, bathing suits, towels and some other stuff and go spend the day by the shadow of their big trees and enjoying the cool water of  their huge pool.

Those were good times. I enjoyed getting out of the pool, changing into dry clothes and sitting by some tree to draw or to write.

We sold the plot when I was 18, but to be honest... I still kind of miss it.