You can find those lists here:

Ultimate 80s
Ultimate 90s Alternative
Ultimate 2000s 

Overall, I like Spotify but there are two things that really annoy me about it: their super long and intrusive ads and their selection of music is somewhat limited. I would say 30% of the time, they don’t have what I’m looking for OR they have a version of the song that’s not by the original artist (i.e. crappy cover or karaoke version). So if anything, I’m still on the Spotify bandwagon just for the social aspect of it. And that’s about it. When it comes to discovering new music, I still prefer to listen to Indie Pop Rocks on SomaFM.

You can find me on Spotify: becausemaybe

I had started work on The Fabrication Dept a few weeks earlier when I had this idea for another brand. (The Fabrication Dept has since been abandoned as of early July). I wanted something that had less constraints than becausemaybe. When I first started becausemaybe, there wasn’t really a plan. Hell, I didn’t even expect the name to ever stick. I’m still surprised by how long it’s lasted. In my teens, my friends and I came up with a slew of ridiculous names for potential business ventures. Names like: Leraste, PimpSynth, Wine Make Crazy, Little Scissors for Baby Bangs… just to name a few. Being something I came up with in my freshman year of college, I thought becausemaybe would suffer the same fate…just another inside joke amongst friends. But over the course of the past 6 years, becausemaybe managed to keep itself alive. With very little help from me. But how it grew was definitely not what I intended.

Although I had envisioned becausemaybe to be my graphic design moniker, it became first known because of the handmade goods I was making at the time. (Let’s fast forward a bit, because I can talk for hours about becausemaybe) But it wasn’t until I hopped onto Twitter in 2008 that becausemaybe started to take off. I would go to gallery openings and events and run into Poketo and Axel Honey who would actually address me as “becausemaybe.” It was then that I knew I couldn’t get rid of the name, even if I wanted to. Even when conversing amongst themselves, a good number of my acquaintances would refer to me as “becausemaybe” instead of my name. My network of friends/acquaintances/contacts has grown significantly since. Almost to the point that I feel the need to be careful of what I say and how I say it.

I describe the Quiet Tiger as being the younger twin sister of becausemaybe. Born minutes later with her own set of interests and ideals, but share the same values as her sister. One likes short hair, while the other prefers long. One craves attention, while the other shies away from it. One goes for the safe bet, while the other goes for the rule-breaking risk. It’s all a matter of balance. And this is what the Quiet Tiger is about. It’s the wide and open reality to becausemaybe’s narrow, idealistic society. It lives life, instead of trying to create it. I don’t know where this project will go. But like many things I do, the best plans are the ones unplanned.

Go ahead. Take a gander. It doesn’t bite. The Quiet Tiger keeps its mouth shut.

Then headed off to Book-Off which is a Japanese-owned used book store. I was specifically looking for used DVDs of movies I can watch while working late at night (like a night like tonight), but didn’t find anything I wanted. I guess, more correctly, I didn’t really go in with a list of what I wanted so I didn’t know what to look for. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found this:

I’ve been hearing so much about Outliers, it’s ridiculous. I first heard about it when my professor, Sunook Park, put it on a recommended reading list for our Branding class. Since then, I’ve been hearing people referencing it at AIGA events/talks and in just talking to various acquaintances. So I finally got around to picking it up. It’s quite an easy read and to be fair, the type is fairly large (compared to what I’m used to). I’m a little over a quarter of the way through the book after only 2 hours.

After that little trip to Book-Off, I headed over to Frostbites in Cypress. And after hearing so much about it, I just had to try it. It’s this little sorbet place and crepe place by Cypress College. And all I can say is…I FREAKING LOVE THIS PLACE! The minute I walked in, they threw a bunch of samples at me. I practically had a sample of everything on their menu. The employees are super friendly, especially if you’re a first-timer. It was difficult to make a decision, but I finally settled on the Shirley Temple(cherry & margarita sorbet on vanilla soft serve) and Kevin got the Reese’s(peanut butter sorbet on chocolate soft serve). It was super delicious and I loved that the cherry sorbet actually had some chunks of cherry in it.

Then to end the day, I took a trip to Henry’s to get groceries for the week. I’ve been buying Broguiere’s milk in glass bottles from time to time (when I do decide to drink milk) and today I got the last bottle of 2% milk. And it was in this New Year’s 2010 edition bottle. It’s always awesome to see a bottle recirculated.