#worklog
A weekly collage + notes about work I did in three different areas: app development, art practice, and video making. Published the following week.
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2025/40
intro
Again, my insides ask, what the fuck are we doing here when the world is doing what it's doing out there? I oscillate between feeling helpless and fueled by rage within the hour and it's exhausting.
art
Not pictured in the collage: I did a lil bit of collaging + I spent an hour or so cutting out elements from magazines and putting them in photo albums! I'm building up a browsable collection for a collage event I'll be hosting in Nov.
video
Recorded and edited audio for Collaged Thoughts #3 and got it out by Friday. I feel like I'm starting to lean into being cringey, which is a good thing, because I think the sooner I lean into it, the sooner I can move through it to feeling comfortable. Audio editing is still my least favorite part as well as my weakest skill. I'm contemplating trying to do a one take for the next video, to see what it ends up like.
app dev
None!
- Written: 04 Oct, 2025
- Published: 12 Oct, 2025
- Last updated: 1Â week, 6Â days ago
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2025/39
intro
The anxiety is still here (multiplied by the state of things unfolding in the news), but listen, if you look for chances and opportunities to help somehow, you will find them, and they will make you feel better (I'm talking to myself here). It feels silly to work on personal work with the hope of making a living that way, but hell, the world is chaos so why not be silly?
art
None!
video
Did a rough cut of two more videos, as well as outlined a script for one of them.
app dev
Made some progress on some volunteer app work - dove into styling in Flutter which was interesting.
- Written: 04 Oct, 2025
- Published: 04 Oct, 2025
- Last updated: 1Â week, 6Â days ago
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2025/38
intro
pardon the interruption, but my anxiety wants to make herself known. she's currently convinced that nothing I do is the right thing to do or done in the right way, so getting this out is a stupidly uphill battle. something (an ig reel, a tarot card spread? idk) recently told me that now is the time to learn to rely on inner approval and to stop seeking outward approval but twenty something years of self-criticism is a hard knot to untie.
art
None!
video
Scheduled two videos for upload. Pretty much outlined the work in this Release List post. Which is done, with the exception of a reflection... which will be done at some point (:
app dev
None!
- Written: 27 Sep, 2025
- Published: 28 Sep, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â weeks, 6Â days ago
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2025/37
intro
There was a point in my life where I would see this nearly empty collage that represents the lack of work I did this week and feel bad, feel doubt about myself and my work and my path, feel inclined to quit because if I can't execute things perfectly then why try at all? At this point, I can look at it and know that it doesn't reflect my worth or the worth of my work. I got a lot of other things done this week, and I know the next few weeks I have more time to focus on my own work. I'm writing this at the top of week 38 and I'm feeling hopeful and ready to get some work done. The next collage gonna be a loaded one.
art
Nothing substantial! I did get samples for my online store, and tbh I'm not impressed. I think I want to order from elsewhere and keep an inventory instead of going the print-on-demand route. I also had a brainstorm session at the beach while I was there with a friend. I thought about how to make collage interactive at something like a market, as well as hosting collage parties. Interestingly, what got me really excited about that was the idea of prepping for a party involving creating super organized albums and collections of collage elements.
video
None!
app dev
None!
- Written: 14 Sep, 2025
- Published: 20 Sep, 2025
- Last updated: 1Â month ago
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2025/36
intro
I spontaneously decided to start a monthly newsletter this week, it feels a little half-baked, but I wanted to have it as an option for people to keep in touch if they don't want to follow on other platforms. Right now the plan is for it to be super utilitarian, just a list of links.
art
I made progress on the collaged book I'm working on. The goal was to finish the remaining 5 spreads, but I only did two. (My friend came to visit and the second half of the week was spent prepping for that + playing tourist with her!)
video
I recorded making the two collages I made this week! My original plan was to publish the first video this Friday, but I want to have at least two more ready to go before starting to publish, so I'm delaying it for a couple of weeks.
app dev
None!
- Written: 13 Sep, 2025
- Published: 14 Sep, 2025
- Last updated: 1Â month ago
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2025/35
intro
hello, hello. idk if that break brought any new ideas, but it was nice, and in making the above, I did feel called to a slightly different direction of less collage and more clear cut? But I think bc the photos are of collages so they're already very busy. Anyways, last week was full of other things to do, but in the middle of all that I also made these collages and I love them.
art
I finished and submitted my cards for ADX's Playing the Cards show. I really love how they turned out, especially when paired together, and seeing how they play off of each other. I'd started with just the two phrases: "Your fear of _____ is holding us back" and "Your ____ of _____ is ______". For the second one, I didn't have an exact phrase in mind, but searched through magazines til things jumped out, and I ended up with "Your love of _____ gives us more strength". I wanted these to be fill-in-the-blanks, and while I don't think that's super clear just by looking at them, I do think there's a lot of room for interpretation. You can see these at ADX's Gallery X until the end of the show. I also have a diptych print listed in my shop.
video
None!
app dev
None!
- Written: 5 Sep, 2025
- Published: 06 Sep, 2025
- Last updated: 1Â month, 1Â week ago
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2025/34
[This post intentionally left blank for a scheduled two week break.]
Why?
Because expecting myself to do something endlessly is setting myself up for failure + forcing myself to take a break gets me excited to come back + the time away allows my brain to break out of routine and come up with new ideas.
- Written: 14 Aug 2025
- Published: 30 Aug, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months ago
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2025/33
[This post intentionally left blank for a scheduled two week break.]
Why?
Because expecting myself to do something endlessly is setting myself up for failure + forcing myself to take a break gets me excited to come back + the time away allows my brain to break out of routine and come up with new ideas.
- Written: 14 Aug 2025
- Published: 23 Aug, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months ago
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2025/32
intro
I almost forgot to make and post this today, which makes me feel really good about the two week break I scheduled for the following two weeks. Except! That I did so much video and art this week (week 33), lol. I did sneak a couple collages into the background of week 32's collage.
art
Oh look, another idea! I worked at the Lloyd Center with a couple of friends and brainstormed an idea for a collaborative collage newsletter. It's on the back burner until September, but I am excited about it. This week I also finally released a written piece into the wild internet, with the help of a release list. I also wrote a poem in a fit of inspiration in the library: what more is there to say.
video
I redownloaded Davinci Resolve after trying Clip Champ and a few different audio editors. I didn't really like using any of them, so I ended up back with Resolve. I started editing the first video of the series I want to release in September. Recording voiceover was probably the hardest and most awkward feeling part of the process, but I ended up going a weird and playful route and I'm fairly excited about it.
app dev
I made the decision this week to not touch Impulse Bye until September, instead of letting it linger out on the counter, I'm putting it back in the freezer. I did also start working on the Know Your Rights app, getting it running locally and poking around.
- Written: 14 Aug-16, 2025
- Published: 17 Aug, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months ago
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2025/31
intro
An idea from this week: lean in when it's easy. Don't discount the work that comes easily to you, don't wave it away because you think ease means less value and struggle means more worthy. Your easy work has value. Your ease is so valuable.
art
The collage phase continues; my mom sent me some old magazines and I decided to collage a board book that I've had laying around (it was meant for another project). I love how much collaging feels like a little treasure hunt. I always think I'll stay away from the words, but then I find myself drawn to them and to creating new meaning from found words.
video
I recorded collaging the board book. And I decided this week that I'm going to consolidate my two YouTube channels and work in series instead of approaching it with the idea of posting every week indefinitely. This way, I can make a bunch of videos and schedule them out, alleviating the pressure to constantly be making videos.
app dev
Not collaged: I had a meeting with a designer + a Flutter dev to talk about volunteering to help build their app. I haven't worked directly in a Flutter code base, so am excited to dig through it and learn. The app is called Know Your Rights and is meant to be a multi-lingual repository of information for people about their rights here in the states.
- Written: 09 Aug, 2025
- Published: 09 Aug, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months, 1Â week ago
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2025/30
intro
This week I jumped into the deep end of cutting down the blackberries in our yard. I would start my day by going outside to spend a few minutes in the space, and I would end my day with an hour of hacking away at thorny vines. Separating the first step of getting out there has given me a new outlook on discipline. I used to think discipline required forcing yourself to do something, but now I see it as setting up systems that make it easy for you to do what needs to be done.
art
I think making these weekly collages has started a collage phase (which I'm very very very excited about). This week, I collaborated with some really rad Asian zinesters and made posters for an Asian Zine Fest next year; I made digital collages in response to a class I'm taking's self-inquiry assignment about what sharing feels like; I asked my mom to send some old magazines so I could start making physical collages. I also wrote this interactive poem for my class.
video
Not pictured: a little bit of planning and thinking!
app dev
More ideating for a to-do app. One of these day's I'll figure out how to harness the excitement of new ideas to finish the currently in progress ideas.
- Written: 01 Aug, 2025
- Published: 02 Aug, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months, 2Â weeks ago
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2025/29
intro
It's surprisingly hard to recall what I did the week before. I'm going to try pre-making these posts and add to them throughout the week. I'm also thinking about adding an "other" section, but I think for now, to keep the focus on trying to do these things more, I'm going to resist.
app dev
nothing (:
art
I wrote a reel report this week! And made art as a response to what I learned from it. I letterpressed the phrase "BE BRAVE AND GIVE A DAMN" at the IPRC. I used up some cardstock that I had, including some brown and black paper. I ended up using metallic ink for the black paper and really liked the way they turned out. I'm setting up an online shop to sell the prints and other work, and will probably publish the reel report once that's all ready, as well. I haven't written anything like it in a while (something that involved research and synthesizing what I'd read); it felt nice to do, but also, I feel like such a slow writer, and it tired my brain out fast.
video
nothing (:
- Written: 26 Jul, 2025
- Published: 26 Jul, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months, 1Â week ago
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2025/28
intro
Week 2 of doing this and I'm torn between finding it a lil helpful and finding it humiliating. I swear I'm not sitting around doing nothing; it just seems that way when I only look at these three things, which are the things I want to prioritize, but get knocked down the priority ladder. Which is why I'm doing this, to buoy them higher. It's not really working so far, but maybe future me will be grateful/interested in seeing these.
app dev
nothing (:
art
Did some sketching at the library. I also sketched some ideas for an upcoming reel report and drafted designs in Canva.
video
Uploaded video clips to my laptop and renamed them so they'll be easier to rummage through. I've decided to try out ClipChamp, the default video editor on Windows and see how it goes.
- Written: 18-19 Jul, 2025
- Published: 20 Jul, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months, 1Â week ago
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2025/27
intro
I'm testing out an approach to sharing on Instagram + holding myself accountable for prioritizing the work I want to do. It's a weekly digital collage of photos of work I did that week in three different areas: app development, art practice, and video making. I'm only sharing the visual on Instagram, with a link to this blog post for more context, mainly bc I really don't want to have to type things out twice. I'm also sharing on a delayed schedule so that I have time to play catch-up when I need to.
app dev
The plan was to work on redesigning the login page for Impulse Bye. I'm in the process of adding Google and Apple sign in, but I'm also in a bit of a rut. Usually working on design is a good way to ease myself back into work, but this week, I ended up majorly distracted by designing a completely different app. Inspired by the simplicity of apps like TeuxDeux and Ellie, I spent more time than I should have daydreaming about yet another to do app, with the only main difference being that it would have swimlanes for a little more organization of tasks.
art
I started sketching! I did two sessions this week; one at a market (the top two photos) and one while watching The Menu (the bottom two). It was a fun challenge to sketch people on the move. I don't think I did that great of a job, but I enjoyed the process and people watching! Not pictured: I started reading a book called Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives and also I spent the 4th of July thinking about how I want to move into our country's fucked up future on the horizon. I recently did a reel report and I think I want to do something like that, a series where I share a reel (or maybe a few) and my experience diving into and learning about the things they talk about. Then, after learning, I want to also make some sort of art around it. I was entertaining the idea of making this a separate project and blog; sharing anonymously feels appealing and less scary, but as a daughter of immigrants, this also feels too personal to not do as me. I spent a good chunk of last week feeling hopeless and helpless, and I know my work isn't going to be the deciding factor in how things unfold, but this is how I think I can contribute right now. It's a starting point.
video
I outlined and drafted a script + filmed the visuals for a video about my zine collection. It was a lot of fun to lay out all of my zines and gather some quantitative data (like how many mini-zines I have vs how many booklet zines). I wish I had taken a photo of my filming set-up because it was a phone holder sitting on top of a stack made of a stool, a speaker, and a little storage cube. Very, very precarious, but worked well for getting top down shots.
- Written: 07 Jul, 2025
- Published: 12 Jul, 2025
- Last updated: 2Â months, 1Â week ago
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