thoughtful wanders
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thoughtful wanders
  • About
    • About Thoughtful Wanders
    • Meet Lydia
  • Topics
    • Travel
    • Society & Culture
      • What I Read & Watch
    • Personal Growth
      • Creativity
    • Journal
    • Art Studio
    • Illustrated Essays
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Lydia C

21 posts
Wait, I'm totally getting scammed
Lydia C
  • June 13, 2022

Illustrated EssaysMy Experience with a Craigslist Housing Scam

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  • 6 minute read
In early 2022, I had just moved back to the Bay Area and was searching for housing. Ideally,…
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Asian person posing with tiger statue
Lydia C
  • June 4, 2022

TravelA day in San Francisco: Little Saigon, Civic Center, the Asian Art Museum & “Drive My Car” film

  • 106 views
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  • 8 minute read
Below is a thought-ramble and recollection, photos included, of a Sunday spent in San Francisco in February 2022.…
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to blog or not to blog
Lydia C
  • March 7, 2022

Personal GrowthTo Blog Or Not To Blog? What’s holding me back?

  • 268 views
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  • 8 minute read
I’ve been absent from blogging and writing for a couple of months now. While it was a needed…
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Lydia C
  • November 30, 2021

JournalDiary comic: Getting boosted & the following day

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  • 9 minute read
In today’s post I share a diary comic of the day and day after I got my COVID…
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turning 27 header
Lydia C
  • November 16, 2021

Personal GrowthI turned 27 – A reflection

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  • 11 minute read
[Method] – I drew ten illustrated pieces. The words on this page are late night thoughts stemming from…
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Shang Chi Fighting source Yahoo
Lydia C
  • September 7, 2021

Society & Culture“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” — On identity, family & representation

  • 476 views
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  • 20 minute read
I watched Shang-Chi last night in a theater of a small Flemish town in Belgium. We had just…
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rainbow in post storm skies
Lydia C
  • August 29, 2021

JournalCreative dreams, busy-ness of living life & burnout

  • 340 views
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  • 10 minute read
Today’s blog entry is prompted by the build up of my pent up dreams and so far, the…
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cloud sunset with pink glow and blue skies
Lydia C
  • July 28, 2021

JournalA week of (un)familiarity, peace & frantic-ness in Maryland

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  • 13 minute read
My friend and I decided to do an impromptu road trip to head up north to Maryland from…
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asian woman scuba diving dos ojos cenote
Lydia C
  • July 20, 2021

TravelNotes to self: on scuba diving, my experience & much more

  • 525 views
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  • 23 minute read
In my recent one-month trip to Mexico, I spent 3 days scuba diving in the Playa Del Carmen…
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collage of young asian girl growing up in south africa and thoughts on reading born a crime by trevor noah
Lydia C
  • June 27, 2021

Society & CultureThoughts on “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah as someone who grew up in South Africa

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  • 7 minute read
*This post is a stream-of-consciousness of my thoughts around the book. I’m not very articulate or good at…
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Lydia C

About
Recent Posts
  • My Experience with a Craigslist Housing Scam
  • A day in San Francisco: Little Saigon, Civic Center, the Asian Art Museum & “Drive My Car” film
  • To Blog Or Not To Blog? What’s holding me back?
  • Diary comic: Getting boosted & the following day
  • I turned 27 – A reflection
Recent Comments
  • AR on Looking back on my first international solo trip to Mongolia: Thoughts on my 17-year-old self & “voluntourism”
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  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • August 2020
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  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • August 2020
Categories
  • Creativity
  • Illustrated Essays
  • Journal
  • Personal Growth
  • Society & Culture
  • Travel
  • What I Read & Watch
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thoughtfulwanders

i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog
During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distr During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distracted by the pretty colorful flowers. It took me many months to get around editing these photos. It was really fun to edit in a way that teased out all the different colors of these flowers and to make the sky blue the way it was in real life.
The sky was on 🔥 today The sky was on 🔥 today
spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉 spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉
Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Fr Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The light immersion exhibit was called “teamLab: continuity” and was a temporary exhibition. Also got to see Chanel Miller’s mural of “I was, I am, I will be”. Overall, def highly recommend the Asian Art Museum to visit in SF for it’s permanent exhibitions showcasing historical art from all over Asia. The museum also hosts regular exhibitions and events regarding Asian and Asian American topics 🤓🌏
sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to m sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to make food and feed ourselves during the work week. i have been staying at an airbnb for the past month in NYC and there is the bare minimum provided so it has been a challenge to cook, let alone cook during the work day. in this video, i make stir fried udon noodles with bok choy and egg which i just kept feeding myself until i ran out of the ingredients. ideally i would have more seasoning at home but soy sauce and scavenged hoisin sauce is enough for now. just trying to make it through the work day 🥬😴💻 What is your go-to workday quick to make low effort lunch?
The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really goo The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really good camera but I quickly learned that because there are 3 lenses, the default settings made photos actually fuzzier and lower quality sometimes. Also by default, the nightshift mode would toggle on and I didn’t like how the photos looked. So I finally did some googling and changed some of the default settings to make my phone camera work for ME. I hope this means taking more photos I like and taking advantage of the (expensive) phone camera. Also writing this is holding myself accountable to make the effort to learn the tech behind photo-taking instead of being willfully ignorant about it because I find learning it all so overwhelming. Ok anyways here are 3 pics from recent days I liked - edited a bit. The second pic is of a storm and it was SO COOL IRL but dang I couldn’t capture it via phone properly 😭
First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to look at the buildings in all directions and recognize where everything was without needing to look at a map. I’ve never been to NYC in the spring/summer before. So many people were out and people were laying on any and all green patches of grass 😎☀️Makes me think of San Francisco where people do that all year round while here it can only be done in some months of the year. I love the energy of that collective appreciation that shows itself in a place where good weather is not taken for granted 🌤
Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature hea Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature heals ✨ This was shot from El Capitan Meadows in Fall of 2021. I was experimenting with my camera and tried to get close up clips. Without a tripod, it meant most of the footage is shakey… so here is the teeniest short clip that is relatively stable. I had the best time taking photos and videos in this field 🌾
can’t believe spring is actually here! ☺️🌸🌿 spring weather may feel heavy, humid, and dense but when the rain passes, the air becomes light and breezy and you can just tell that all the plants and animals are excited for the showers ⛈
a really random photo dump from a weekend walking a really random photo dump from a weekend walking around Astoria & Flushing on a rainy saturday & sunny sunday ☀️🌧
Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take a moment to enjoy the ocean’s sound. This was filmed back in October of 2020. We took a 3 day weekend family trip and drove from Taipei to Kenting (southern coastal town of Taiwan). The weather was mild and the ocean was as beautiful as ever 🌊
Some clips from walking around a San Francisco ✨ Some clips from walking around a San Francisco ✨rich✨neighborhood. The view is pretty, the weather is nice, fancy restaurants abound and ooo look it’s the Golden Gate bridge 🌁 SF is so beautiful and unaffordable 🥲 Weeeee
It’s a great feeling when…while you’re walki It’s a great feeling when…while you’re walking uphill out of breath carrying heavy bags on both arms and look up to find endless bubbles seemingly appearing out of nowhere. I didn’t have to look long to see someone had made it generate automatically when their air conditioner (i think?) was on. I’m sure many who passed by also appreciated this ☺️
anyone else? #friedegg #dinner #eggs #blackpeppe anyone else? #friedegg #dinner #eggs #blackpepper #cooking
Sharing my journey with doodling lil me, someone w Sharing my journey with doodling lil me, someone who I’ve come to name Lydie. I have drawn mini me (her) for many years on and off and every time I try to turn away to focus on something else, she comes creeping back asking to be drawn and shared with the world! I am no longer denying that instinct of mine and am officially birthing Lydie into the world ☺️ She is me…and maybe also not me. Maybe sillier, maybe more angsty, maybe more conflict friendly 😉 Follow @lydiesworld to stay tuned for more of her silly antics. And follow @thoughtfulwanders for the human who still struggles with being open and speaking her mind 😅 This reel shows my journey from the last 5 years. I loved drawing Lydie but the drawings lacked depth. I hope to change that going forward, or at least, Lydie will make sure it changes! ☀️
Excerpt from blog post today that I am proud of 💫“To critique and feel shame for my own desire to write and make art, I realize, is exhibited from low self-esteem and a trauma response to not having a childhood where I was encouraged to play and have a creative outlet centered around myself. Through years of processing and working on my healing, it is not uncommon for Asian immigrant girls to be raised this way, especially the oldest child. There are cultural and gender dynamics to this but essentially from a young age immigrant children are told to keep quiet and their head down, to not fuss or make trouble. For girls, they are told to read and prioritize everyone else’s emotions (especially mens) except their own because that’s what a “girl” or “woman” should do. So in a way since I was not really taught to prioritize myself or cultivate my own sense of identity but instead to please everyone else around me, of course doing something that gives me joy and prioritizes myself feels…shameful! I have often struggled with “what gives me a right to do this? to do something that I enjoy so much? To center on my own life and experience?” To ask for permission, and waiting for someone to tell me that it’s okay I go for it. I’m still learning to resist the shame. To know that I have a right to self-expression and prioritizing myself. It gives me a sense of purpose to know that each time I write and make art, I am resisting the forces that are trying to keep me in submission and silent. I refuse silence, I have a voice and I want to share it with the world.” (full post up thoughtfulwanders.com)
A moment of peace A moment of peace
Love the sound of breakfast 😋 Ham Cheese Omelet Love the sound of breakfast 😋 Ham Cheese Omelette with avocado + spinach. I’m all about imperfect quickly thrown together satisfying food - both in how it tastes and how it sounds 👀
Some snaps from visiting Alcatraz. Started with fi Some snaps from visiting Alcatraz. Started with finishing some fries at the dock with a calm but silently begging seagull watching us eat (did not feed. do not feed wildlife!). The self-guided audio tour within the building was interesting and well-done. Learned a bit about the history of Alcatraz as a federal prison and got to learn stories about a few people who were there. The audio tour was cool because it would tell you which way to walk and what cells to look at (the cells were furnished according to the story they were telling). Def an educational experience! I appreciated that there was an interactive exhibition at the end of the tour on mass incarceration in the US today to educate about the prison industrial complex. This experience got me thinking more about how tours/museums/storytelling have the potential to encourage critical thinking and educate the masses. Does it always work? Idk, probably not. What I can say though is I did walk away having learned some concrete stories about real individuals (and their names) who were incarcerated on this island decades ago. Some things that stood out…1) why people ended up imprisoned (rough because people ended up imprisoned for starkly different reasons…from being a murderer to robbing a few dollars to being anti-war/anti-govt 😢) and 2) escape attempts (brutal because escaping the island is near impossible due to the harsh water/currents so even if people made it out of the prison they wouldn’t make it off the island 😢) would recommend visiting as an educational experience. they managed to balance self critique as an ex-prison while still being palatable to a mainstream audience.
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@thoughtfulwanders
i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog
i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog
During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distracted by the pretty colorful flowers. It took me many months to get around editing these photos. It was really fun to edit in a way that teased out all the different colors of these flowers and to make the sky blue the way it was in real life.
During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distracted by the pretty…
The sky was on 🔥 today
The sky was on 🔥 today
spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉
spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉
Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The light immersion exhibit was called “teamLab: continuity” and was a temporary exhibition. Also got to see Chanel Miller’s mural of “I was, I am, I will be”. Overall, def highly recommend the Asian Art Museum to visit in SF for it’s permanent exhibitions showcasing historical art from all over Asia. The museum also hosts regular exhibitions and events regarding Asian and Asian American topics 🤓🌏
Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The light…
sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to make food and feed ourselves during the work week. i have been staying at an airbnb for the past month in NYC and there is the bare minimum provided so it has been a challenge to cook, let alone cook during the work day. in this video, i make stir fried udon noodles with bok choy and egg which i just kept feeding myself until i ran out of the ingredients. ideally i would have more seasoning at home but soy sauce and scavenged hoisin sauce is enough for now. just trying to make it through the work day 🥬😴💻
sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to make food and feed…
The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really good camera but I quickly learned that because there are 3 lenses, the default settings made photos actually fuzzier and lower quality sometimes. Also by default, the nightshift mode would toggle on and I didn’t like how the photos looked. So I finally did some googling and changed some of the default settings to make my phone camera work for ME. I hope this means taking more photos I like and taking advantage of the (expensive) phone camera.
The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really good camera but I quickly…
First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to look at the buildings in all directions and recognize where everything was without needing to look at a map. I’ve never been to NYC in the spring/summer before. So many people were out and people were laying on any and all green patches of grass 😎☀️Makes me think of San Francisco where people do that all year round while here it can only be done in some months of the year. I love the energy of that collective appreciation that shows itself in a place where good weather is not taken for granted 🌤
First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to look at the buildings…
Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature heals ✨
Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature heals ✨
can’t believe spring is actually here! ☺️🌸🌿 spring weather may feel heavy, humid, and dense but when the rain passes, the air becomes light and breezy and you can just tell that all the plants and animals are excited for the showers ⛈
can’t believe spring is actually here! ☺️🌸🌿 spring weather may feel…
a really random photo dump from a weekend walking around Astoria & Flushing on a rainy saturday & sunny sunday ☀️🌧
a really random photo dump from a weekend walking around Astoria &…
Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take a moment to enjoy the ocean’s sound.
Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take a moment to enjoy the…
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