Brows 101

What up, dingles.

This blog has fallen (more) silent (than usual) lately, and that’s because I was preparing for the JLPT – and to leave the country. Forever. (Slash for now.)

BUSY TIMES.
But now that the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) is over, I should have slightly more time to fux with my internet hobbies.

THAT SAID:
The next post of my self-inflicted Hair Challenge is underway – and in the meantime, I made a quick video! And it still technically pertains to hair, so. Hah.

Brow grooming 101, for those of us whose brows require multiple tools to tame. This is the technique I’ve used to subdue my brows for years, and it’s p good.

Let me know what you think!

XX

Daiso Haul!

Heyo – I made another video! (And a rhyme!)

In which I take my first trip to Daiso, a Japanese dollar store (108 yen technically, but), and walk away with a stupid amount of dumb purchases. Oops.

Take a look and appreciate how out of hand I let my roots get before finally dyeing my hair again. Lesson learned. Sigh.

P.S.: This video comes with a bonus drinking game – take a shot every time I say “origami” and risk a swift death. Play at your own risk.

XX

地震 | Earthquake

Where the hell have I been? Glad you asked.

Earthquakes.

…I’ve been in the middle of a bunch of earthquakes.

I don’t know how much it’s being discussed abroad, but my prefecture in Japan has been wracked with quakes lately – the biggest they’ve had since 3/11. I’M FINE, which is honestly just plain luck, but needless to say it’s delayed my posting/uploading for the past while.

BUT I’M BACK (God willing.)

The hair challenge continues – new material is on the way! But in the meantime here’s a “vlog” I finally finished editing.

…I just hit paste and a picture of a sheep came up. Wrong link.

THERE IT IS.

A “behind the scenes” look at filming a vlog….Or at least what happens when I try to film a vlog. This is what I get for trying to have a mind-expanding cultural experience.

Anyway, hopefully the earth is done shaking (knock on wood). Hair stuff soon.

XX

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

Little vlog from the amazing and gorgeous Nagasaki Lantern Festival back in February. It was actually oddly nostalgic throwing this video together…until I remembered how gross and cold it was the whole weekend. Still, 10/10 would go again. And eat more Chinese street food.

How to Speak Japanese

We interrupt our regularly scheduled hair-related programming to bring you a new video: How to Speak Japanese (A Scathingly Sarcastic Guide).

I’m weirdly proud of this video, content- and editing-wise – to the point that I almost feel compelled to share it with people I actually know….’Cause yes, shocker, my YouTube channel as well as this blog are somewhat secret. Millennial self-importance meets shame. Typical.

Comically, a dream I had the other night featuring a certain YouTuber (who shall go unnamed to protect my dignity as a fangirl) suggested I need to stop hiding my these secrets (however cringe they may be) and unify the stratified parts of my self – that is to say, the “me” my friends know and the “me” I am alone.

…We’ll see how much nagging I can take from my subconscious before I actually heed its suggestions.

Kyoto Vlog – Silver Pavilion

 

FINALLY I have ascended from the freakin’ Dark Ages and got a new laptop! REJOICE. That said, iMovie 10 fucking blows for exporting video, but shou ga nai I guess.

Anyway. Here’s another vloglette from this summer: a look at Kyoto’s Ginkakuji, AKA the Silver Pavilion.

Kyoto is one of my favorite places in the world – mostly because of the bougie shopping, but the history is nice too I GUESS. The park around Ginkakuji is truly gorgeous.

Blah blah Kyoto photos will eventually appear on my Japan blog @nihonderunin blah blah you know the drill. I can’t procrastinate on that much longer.

Or can I.

Bye.

Osaka Mini Vlog

So, all those tiny clips I filmed in August of my trip through southern Japan – they’re finally being edited! Punctual as always, Charlotte. Gr8 job.

This one is super baby short because we didn’t spend much time in Osaka, but the Kyoto and Hiroshima ones should be longer. (I say that now. Famous last words.)

Sidenote: I’m new to YouTube (clearly) and am not totally sure how to best format these vlogs. My camera films in HD, but I feel like I’m still losing some image quality when I upload. Is there a trick to improving this? Should I let YouTube “stabilize” my videos?

It’s totally possible it was just my filming (hashtag shaky cam), BUT if you have any ADVICE on the matter it would be appreciated.

Plz and thnx. XX

P.S. Pictures from Osaka etc. should eventually make it to my Japan blog. Link below and in my About Me if you care to take a gander.

https://nihonderunin.wordpress.com/

Quarter Life Crisis…

Huh. Lookkit that. It’s a YouTube video. I made a YouTube video.

It was only a matter of time tbh.

As if it wasn’t clear from my haphazard attempts at chronicling my life and interests through blogging, I am very much in the throes of the proverbial Quarter Life Crisis, which is a lot of WHO AM I? and WHAT DO I CARE ABOUT? and WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE? (Definitive answers forthcoming.)

While I continue to wrestle with those obnoxious queries, there is one thing I can affirmatively say I need in life: Art. I need to create it to survive, be that through writing, drawing, photography, music – and now video. Why the hell not.

I had planned to write a post about the so-called Quarter Life Crisis, but it turned into more a script, and then a video. Always down to experiment with different mediums.

Have a cheeky watch if that strikes your fancy! I’m still figuring out the odds and ends of editing and stuff, so any comments or advice would be appreciated. Or who knows, maybe I actually managed to be entertaining.

If not, there’s always Art for Art’s Sake. ❤