A.Blog

Moonrise over Atlanta

Amy — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:39:07 +0000

This photo doesn’t¹ do this view from my window last night any justice. It really was quite lovely. I stopped what I was doing² and gazed at it for a bit.

Do you ever feel your digital camera is holding you back?
procrastinating on the Internet

Celebrating my 25th Birthday

Amy — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:50:15 +0000

This past Saturday I celebrated my 25th birthday. It was food-themed for the most part, which is just fine by me because I love food.

Rob got me Almost Meatless as a present and Arren got me some turtle fudge from Kilwin’s.

Also, for my birthday I thought it would be a good idea¹ to eat the Double Bypass Burger for my birthday dinner at the Vortex Bar and Grill here in Atlanta. Here’s the official menu description:

Topped with two fried eggs, six slices of American cheese, and eight slices of bacon, all served between the two grilled cheese sandwiches that we use in place of the regular hamburger buns.

In preparation, I only had fruit and salad for most the day. When I ordered the dinner that night, the waitress was unfazed. The burger arrived, and it didn’t seem as big as I thought it would. Here’s a video of me tackling the burger (9 minutes, 4 minutes of which are of me chewing and rolling my eyes back).

I didn’t really taste the burger, I was more focused on finishing the burger. Also, I had to divide the burger in two because I couldn’t fit the whole thing in my mouth. So, one portion was a grilled cheese sandwich with a burger on top (the meat was adequately juicy) and the other portion was a grilled cheese sandwich with fried eggs, bacon, and cheese on top of it (the breakfast sandwich portion). I also subconsciously managed to eat a good amount of my tater tots (which are always very good). The meat didn’t really get to me, it was the massive amounts of cheese. The next day, I just ate salad and fruit in an effort to detox.

So, last year I had written that I felt stagnant, that is certainly not the case this year. My 24th year of life has been pretty eventful, for one thing I got into grad school and I moved to a different city that was completely different from New York City. I also paid off my student loans. I learned how to do lot of different things like, silkscreen and Processing.

I don’t think I feel old at 25. Sometimes I still feel and see the world (and sometimes act) like a kid.

it’s wasn’t

2 books a month

Amy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:43:50 +0000

For the new year, I’m going to aim for reading two books (for leisure) a month, I was inspired by this interview. This designer, who has a day job and everything managed to read a book a week for a year. As a graduate student I have about 160 pages of readings a week, so we’ll see how far I go with my leisure reading. I’m also trying to make something everyday too¹. Point is, I’m being ambitious. It wouldn’t surprise me if I fall short, as I don’t want to flunk out of school, so homework will almost always take precedence².

For January, I only managed to read one book (On Love by Alain de Botton) so I need to make up for it by reading 3 books for Febuary. Here’s the plan:

February³:
Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (fiction)
Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus (philosophy)
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino (fiction, translated from Italian)
Persuasive Games by Ian Bogost (non-fiction, have to read Chapter 1 for homework next week)

March:
The Creative Habit by Twyla Thwarp (non-fiction)
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung and Aniela Jaffe (non-fiction)

does this blog post count?
unless it’s past 11pm, that’s the academic part of my brain goes to sleep
I’m definitely going in over my head for this month

Mixtape for You: Valentine’s Day 2010

Amy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:36:16 +0000

I’ll have to admit that this is one of my more upbeat mixtapes. Yet each song has some kind of desperate plea, a refrain that is masked by poppy, energetic melodies. Stream the mixtape here.
Track Listing:

Good Weekend by Art Brut I have a new girlfriend and I have not slept for about four days.
White Russian Doll by Lucky Soul I’ll always be there when you call, no pressure at all.
Your Easy Lovin’ Aint Pleasin’ Nothin’ by Mayer Hawthrone When you pull away girl, just when I think I’m home and you leave me all alone…
Beause it’s not love (but it’s still a feeling) by The Pipettes I just want to catch your eye.
Back the Same by Parachute Musical We can try to think like friends but we’ll end up back the same, I know it.
Swimming Pool by The Submarines When you kiss me in ways I’ve forgotten…
Sellotape by Flight of the Conchords Love is the greatest adhesive.
Sweet Darlin’ by She & Him I think that it haunts me, I want you too much.

New portfolio site up

Amy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:50:42 +0000

Visit the site.
Oye, this is another revamp that took awhile. It was necessary though. I’ll be applying to some summer internships pretty soon and I’ll need a portfolio to show potential employers. The revamp of my portfolio at amycheng.info was also a bit tedious because I’m not using a CMS, so I had to code every individual page. It was tough decision but in the end I decided to code single pages, so I could implement some fancy jQuery features easier, like overlays and tabs. In addition, I wanted the option to embed flash, java, or whatever objects may pop up in future projects. I just haven’t found the right CMS that fulfills all these needs¹).

maybe I’ll create my own CMS once I learn PHP, MySQL

New Year, New Blog Design

Amy — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:19:33 +0000

It’s actually a coincidence that I finished coding up the theme in time for the New Year. I’ve been meaning to re-design A.Blog for awhile, but with applying to grad school, preparing to go to grad school, and going to grad school, A.Blog got pushed aside¹.

It’s actually my winter break, no homework = time for personal projects. Though, I don’t remember it taking this long to work on the previous design, which I called Sporty Redd.

This theme is called Rainbow Kicks, though now that I think about it, it should’ve been called CYMK Kicks.

Things I added to this iteration of A.Blog:

Asides aka a mini-blog at the bottom of the main page
An actual blog roll on the About page
A Miscellany section for random pages and mini-sites
More feed options.

for example, I’ve barely posted monthly to this thing

Adventures in Atlanta: My first football game

Amy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:10:24 +0000

There is no use in denying that I am an elitist liberal who prefers living in the big city somewhere in the Northeast or on the West Coast and drinks Frappicinos. If I drove, I would probably drive a hybrid.
That said, I thought it would be interesting to go to a football game. Also, the concept of “tailgating” was intriguing. I am always up for free food and beer.
So two Saturdays ago, I dragged myself out of bed on a Saturday to meet up with Bryan and Fred for their tailgating thing. Walking through Frat Row¹, on a beautiful November afternoon, 80’s rock blasting, people grilling and drinking beer, I FELT SO AMERICAN.
Bryan put a bacon cheddar burger o² on the grill. I was also offered Bud Lite and a 24 oz can of PBR. I chose to drink the PBR because I don’t think my fellow beer snobs would ever forgive me for drinking a Bud (no offense to anyone who does like Bud Lite).
The actual game was okay. I didn’t really know what was going on.³ It just looked like the players were running back and forth every few yards. Fred and Rob told me it was a very exciting game against Wake Forest because it was a very close game. I knew it was a close game (Yes, I do know how to read a scoreboard) but I guess I haven’t developed an emotional attachment to the home team⁴.
I did like the spectacle of it all though: the cheerleaders, the game songs, big screens with flashy b-roll and animations, chants⁵, and other fan rituals. I didn’t grow up with this stuff like most of America did, so it’s all very fascinating to me.
I am looking forward to the Georgia Tech vs. Georgia State game, which is going to be intense because there supposedly a huge rivalry. I’m probably going to go to that. Also, Tech is going to the Orange Bowl⁶ , so that’s kinda cool…

Georgia Tech has a Greek system, which is an object of curiosity to me because Vassar never had any one. I watched tv and movies, so frats were kinda like a myth to me
that is a beef pattie with cheddar and bacon chunks mixed into it. It was alright but it needed more bacon flavor. As I chewed, I felt the bacon bits but I didn’t taste the bacon
During tailgating I joked I would be able to fake football knowledge after two more games because I’m good at absorbing buzz words.
The Jackets btw
people stand up and sing the Budweiser jingle between the 3rd and 4th quarter for some reason
the one before the Rose Bowl, which is the Superbowl of college football, I think…

Brainstorming for my ink drawing tool

Amy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:40:13 +0000

My latest project for my programming class¹ was to create a drawing tool. I opted for something rather straightforward, an ink simulation. I wanted the user to be able to create ink splatters, so I used actual inks to create the shapes I would re-create in Processing:

I realized after the fact, that I could’ve just scanned the ink splatters and import them into my applet as images. Then again, that was sorta like cheating. My solution was to procedurally generate the ink splatters using circles, Bezier curves², and triangles. You can try out my app here.

I also know there are quite alot of usability issues, but when you’re on a tight deadline, usability is usually the first thing to go >_< . I’ll probably refine this applet later on, so I can put it on my portfolio.

Computation as an Expressive Medium
which took FOREVER to get right

Hello from grad school!

Amy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:41:36 +0000

It’s been about a month since I’ve arrived, and it’s just been a whirlwind. I’ve settled in for the most part but the first few weeks, my head overflowing with new ideas, theory, and new names. Here are a few observations I’ve made:

* Atlanta IS NOT NYC (well duh). You need wheels to get anywhere. I felt crippled by my inability to get anywhere¹, so I walked 40 minutes to the nearest bike shop to get a bike². Also, the streets change names in the middle of intersections. I, Amy Cheng, a native New Yorker, is not ashamed to admit that I’ve gotten lost a few times and either had to call someone for help or turn back. But it’s not all bad, the South has its charm (and a few good local breweries). I am entranced by the thunderstorms down here. The skies flash purple. ALSO, the hushpuppies are excellent.

* It is true that there are way more guys here at Georgia Tech than there are girls, a total reversal from Vassar, my undergrad alma matter. BUT it’s not like I’m having a field day here either. The stereotype of the awkward, pasty-faced, nerd, with the horrendous fashion sense holds true too. Not that I really mind or am repulsed by it, but if I smile and make polite smalltalk, I do not want to hear you whine about not meeting any girls³. MAJOR TURN OFF.

* Not that I have time for boys or for exploring Atlanta⁴ because I have graduate work to do. Some days it hardly feels like work at all because I’m studying and research stuff I’m interested in. The work is slowly overwhelming me though.

I will document all my work of course and will probably post stuff here or on Twitter. BTW, I’m taking a project studio and here are some robot ideas I’ve had to come up with for class tomorrow:

And here is my digital notebook for that class if you’re interested.

spoiled by the MTA and what not
which I’ve fallen in love with. It’s such a smooth ride…
HELLO, I’M A GIRL!
I have made plans to go to the zoo and the World of Coca Cola though

New Asian Pose

Amy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:35:47 +0000

I call this asian pose, Pop the Puffer Fish or Amy and Robyn Incorrectly Remember an Asian Pose.