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christina chen

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japan x3

09/27/2025 on the plane, i watched the korean remake of you are the apple of my eye with dahyun and jinyoung dolls (2002) – i initially watched it for yohji yamamoto's costume design, but i didn't expect to connect with the characters so much crazy rich asians – 0394 said it was his comfort movie for flying, and the first time i saw it in 2018, i hadn't lived in NYC or been to singapore (i also…

23-24

01/06/2025 – aomori museum of art ​ 01/08/2025 – hobby OFF parking lot ​ 01/25/2025 – yves "apple cinnamon crunch" tour, brooklyn paramount ​ 01/26/2025 in my dream, i'm giving away cough drops and matcha cake. i approach a rich family, and they refuse it. inside their house, a girl is playing piano. a homeless person helps me distribute the goods, so i give him 50 cents. we are in chinatown and i…

japan x2

i've never given much thought to an "ideal vacation." usually, i just end up travelling because someone else suggested it, and i'm happy to tag along. if they say, "is there anything you want to do?" i'll check my phone and propose one or two sights we can easily stop by. and when we pass by a cute store or dessert shop, I'll ask if we can take a look. this was the first trip where i had to really…

singapore

10/08/2025 ​ 08/30/2024 ​ 08/29/2024 today we visited 0551 at NTU and had malatang at 热的地方. it was my first time having it with potato chips on top. we also ate out for 0552 's birthday and had maybe one of the best cheese tarts ever. ​ 08/28/2024 i really wanted to eat yakun again so we went to the one at jewel. it didn't hit the same as that day in the basement with no AC but it was still good.…

22-23

01/01/2024 my dad's life lessons from playing go you need to think ahead and anticipate what might happen in the future, instead of being shortsighted and only doing things that seem to benefit you in the short term. one mistake can be deadly. things may look like they are going okay, but one wrong move may cost you your life. the one with the upper hand is the one who has the freedom to go…

gradex 108

04/27/2023 at the end of the year, OCAD has this exhibition of graduating students' work, called gradex. my final project, crystal type , is about making fonts by growing crystals and inputting the letters into a machine learning model. for gradex, i wanted to set up a space where people could use the font, so i was thinking about how i wanted people to interact with it. a keyboard is kind of…

crystal type

04/25/2023 my project explores the role of design tools to creative outcomes through applications of data science in font design, and challenges the way we communicate through digital typefaces. it begins with an organic phenomenon and develops through a series of experimentations with man-made tools. i was inspired by the formation of salt crystals to grow my own using physical letters. these…

japan

"do you want to go to japan during reading week?" "sure." 02/17/2023 tokyo i was reading a lot of typography books for my undergraduate thesis. the one i brought on the plane was learning from the japanese city by barrie shelton, that i'd borrowed from OCAD's library. when 0399 and i landed, it was nighttime. the first meal we ate was at sukiya. we stayed in a shared women's room. me and 0399 both…

21-22

01/03/2023 things i like fonts curating playlists multitasking desserts walking in places i haven't been reading things that change my mind sneakers ​ 01/04/2023 ​ 01/09/2023 last night, i dreamed someone was testing me on korean characters, like 반짝반짝. ​ 01/20/2023 yesterday i dreamed about cohere API. ​ 02/2023 ​ 02/11/2023 i dreamed about meeting someone born on august 8, 2002. they said,…

20-21

01/01/2022 ​ 01/05/2022 yesterday or the day before, i dreamed i was in the PCA washroom. there were lots of girls, not all of them went to school here. we were washing our hands, there was a buffet-style self-serve burger setup inside. i don't know why, but people really liked the pickles. so i got some extra pickles, and left the washroom to go to my locker. my locker was kind of empty, and some…

19-20

02/02/2021 – first month internship retro ​ 02/10/2021 ​ 02/21/2021 ​ 02/28/2021 ​ 03/2021 – postcards from design beans ​ 03/09/2021 things i learned this season every piece of design interviewing advice i've ever read online says to make a slide deck, but every time i've interviewed with a deck, people seem to be surprised that i made one. both at fortune 500 companies and startups! but i would…

OCAD U

06/12/2023 ​ 05/06/2023 at the end of the year, OCAD has this exhibition of graduating students' work, called gradex. my final project, crystal type , is about making fonts by growing crystals and inputting the letters into a machine learning model. for gradex, i set up a space where people could interact with the font. read more ​ 04/25/2023 my project explores the role of design tools to…

18-19

01/02/2020 – 0186's house ​ 01/11/2020 ​ 01/28/2020 ​ 02/10/2020 celebrating 0350 's birthday during our lunch break. ​ 02/14/2020 – my OCAD application ​ 02/15/2020 0351 and i took a break from hacking to draw babu frik and baby yoda. ​ 02/16/2020 ​ 04/2020 ​ 04/03/2020 ​ 04/06/2020 ​ 04/14/2020 ​ 05/22/2020 ​ 05/31/2020 ​ 06/2020 ​ 06/03/2020 any questions? what are the best degrees to get for…

western university

09/02/2019 ​ 09/06/2019 – killy, western oweek ​ 09/08/2019 ​ 09/09/2019 ​ 09/12/2019 ​ 09/13/2019 ​ 09/14/2019 first hackathon, first time using figma, first time learning about the product design career path. i was sick and coughing blood the entire weekend, but it was worth it. ​ 09/28/2019 – bülow, purplefest ​ 09/29/2019 – waiting for a greyhound, 3:58am ​ 10/04/2019 in waterloo, visiting…

summer

07/15/2019 – 0136's birthday ​ 08/01/2019 – demetres with 0025 ​ 08/07/2019 khalid concert ft. clairo, SAFE, and majid al maskati at scotiabank arena, with 0131 . ​ 08/16/2019 – my 18th birthday ​ 08/19/2019 failed my G2 driving test. ​ 08/22/2019 ​ 08/26/2019 toronto zoo, with 0343 . we got in for free because of the attractions ontario reciprocal admissions program.

grade 12

09/2018 ​ 09/12/2018 i'm running on a clock, chasing the hand, getting pushed by the finger of time. ​ 09/15/2018 i like talking to slow texters, because it's not always on me to reply. it's stressful talking to fast texters, because it's always on me to reply next. and if i reply, they reply right back. i'm not trying to have a conversation. ​ 09/20/2018 did the MBTI before, but i've changed i…

summer

06/29/2018 painted room. ​ 07/02/2018 mall with 0025 , moved things back into room. ​ 07/04/2018 mostly finished cleaning and organizing room. ​ 07/11/2018 0136 's house. ​ 07/30/2018 ​ 08/10/2018 got a second job. ​ ​ 08/17/2018 dinner with 0203 and 0204 . ​ 08/20/2018 beach house concert at sony centre for the performing arts, with 0112 . i fell asleep because i was really tired. ​ 08/23/2018 i…

grade 11

09/2017 ​ 09/05/2017 – school cafeteria ​ 09/11/2017 ​ 09/13/2017 i just want to make art and not do any of this school shit. ​ 09/16/2017 i think about pasta everyday. ​ 09/20/2017 study habits of gr. 11 PCA students. answers are estimates based on memory. ​ 10/2017 ​ 10/04/2017 – tale of two cities book 2 chapter 7-8 group assignment ​ 10/19/2017 – MCR3U ​ 10/20/2017 – DISC assessment, executive…

summer

06/22/2017 ​ 06/23/2017 ​ 06/26/2017 ​ 06/29/2017 woke up at 5:15am. showered, finished packing. drove for hours. listened to ctrl, brockhampton, kevin abstract, 6LACK, and future. edited a new photo and sent to 0025 . went on snapchat and imessage. ate mcdonald's and other food. organized lots of photos. was in the car for many hours, slept, played sudoku and word association games. went to the…

wonderland

03/23/2017 i almost didn't apply, because i wasn't old enough for most of the jobs listed on the website. only when i scrolled to the bottom, the last option said "park attendant (16 yrs. min. after 08/17/2017)" which was exactly my 16th birthday. ​ 03/30/2017 canada's wonderland called me. i applied for park attendant, but they have me down in the food & beverage section? ​ 04/01/2017 first…

photoshop

stuff i made while learning photoshop ​ 12/08/2019 taken on aug 1, 2019 ​ 03/27/2019 ​ 03/19/2019 taken on oct 15, 2018 ​ 03/06/2019 ​ 03/04/2019 ​ 03/01/2019 taken on mar 7, 2016 ​ 02/27/2019 taken on may 14, 2016 ​ 02/22/2019 taken on mar 6, 2016 ​ 02/21/2019 taken on dec 26, 2015 ​ 02/20/2019 taken on may 18, 2017 ​ 03/04/2017

concerts

06/05/2026 – wisp at the bowery ballroom, support from after ​ 03/21/2026 – FKA twigs "body high" tour at madison square garden ​ 09/10/2025 – the hellp at webster hall ​ 09/09/2025 – SE SO NEON at brooklyn steel, support from mei ehara ​ 08/06/2025 – newdad at music hall of williamsburg, support from zackery ​ 01/21/2025 – yves "apple cinnamon crunch" tour at brooklyn paramount, appearance from…

grade 10

09/07/2016 ​ 09/15/2016 ​ 09/29/2016 – outdoor education ​ 09/2016 things i didn't think would ever happen me going on behemoth and leviathan us being regular friends that i would sell even one item i'd fully watch a horror movie in theatres i quit dance ​ 10/06/2016 – 0026's cupcakes ​ 10/09/2016 ​ 10/12/2016 ​ 10/17/2016 – dentist ​ 10/20/2016 only 2001 kids from ontario will understand. ​…

summer

06/26/2016 ​ 07/01/2016 ​ 07/12/2016 ​ 07/15/2016 today i ate a pastry, an apple, and had some coffee. also i did math for several hours. it is 6:39pm. ​ 07/16/2016 – canada's wonderland ​ 07/18/2016 breakfast was a cranberry dinner roll, nectarine, astro yogurt, and half a banana. went to the optometrist to get my eyes checked. visited 0191 's grandpa at the senior home. did three pages of…

china x4

03/06/2016 – nanjing ​ 03/07/2016 – suzhou ​ 03/08/2016 – hangzhou ​ 03/09/2016 – zhouzhuang & shantang street ​ 03/12/2016 – shanghai hongqiao international airport ​ 03/13/2016 – zhuhai i haven't been on twitter or instagram recently because i've been in china. a lot of apps are blocked here, so if i'm not responding to any messages or things on social media, then it's just because i can't…

grade 9

09/08/2015 i really like my class. it's small, 14 kids, but i think it'll be fun this year. we have two new kids, 0167 and 0168 . everyone thinks 0167 is cool and we're all not sure of 0168 yet. i tripped during gym class today, but what isn't a first day without tripping? something embarrassing has got to happen. i think my teachers are all really nice so far, and the only thing that sucks is…

summer

06/27/2015 so the first week of summer break has come to an end, it's saturday night and everything has been so exciting so far. on tuesday i went shopping and watched inside out with some friends. it was way better than i thought, and of course i watched it because of amy poehler. I ACTUALLY CRIED THREE TIMES and it was super cute. also went to the amusement park several times and ate a ton of…

grade 8

09/12/2014 – 8tracks ​ 09/13/2014 ​ 09/14/2014 – my faceQ avatars ​ 09/19/2014 little things i like stickers badges & pins crayons & markers tiny containers lightbulbs buttons stones & rocks beads pinecones mugs drinking straws paint samples rope paper clips plastic cups cotton balls tape wires bookmarks kneaded erasers ziploc bags springs from a ballpoint pen dimes coloured yarn…

summer

07/02/2014 ​ 07/10/2014 ​ 07/16/2014 coming home after a week of being away at camp. my sunflower grew so tall! ​ 07/23/2014 on polyvore magic // coldplay hiiii (◡‿◕✿) soo, today has been normal. unproductive as usual but trying to change that haha. i'm (hopefully) going to x paint flowers & cacti x make lunch x read 'the road' by mr mccarthy x finish sketch of elle fanning x watch adventure…

grade 7

09/2013 ​ 10/22/2013 ​ 11/2013 whenever we get scholastic magazines, i circle my favourites, beg my parents, and sometimes purchase the good deals. we wait for the box to come, our teacher distributes them, and we revel in clean new books. ​ 11/06/2013 ​ 11/10/2013 ​ 11/16/2013 ​ 11/22/2013 today was one of the best days i've had in a long time. after countless late nights of dreary work and…

polyvore

my second account, @spacemode . also known as @watering and @tetrachris. my first account, @slanted-sidewalk . but you could say my "real" first account was one i shared with 0011 , who introduced me to polyvore. ​ 05/10/2016 : farewell (for now) hi friends, it's christina i guess i haven't really been on polyvore for months and it feels kind of repetitive to be saying this again but i don't think…

summer

06/2013 ​ 06/21/2013 ​ 06/24/2013 ​ 06/30/2013 – camping on canada day long weekend ​ 07/03/2013 – bomomo ​ 07/05/2013 ​ 07/08/2013 it is currently free time! for lunch, we had grilled cheese sandwiches and AWESOME chicken noodle soup. i got second helpings of it. for dessert, we had lovely oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. the cooks are very talented. after that, we all got changed for water…

grade 6

09/2012 ​ 09/06/2012 when did your family first come to live in canada? on june 26, 1996, my parents drove a rental car from miami to toronto after graduating. what was school like when your grandparents were young? my grandparents did not go to school. can you tell me a story about some of the people in your family who died before you were born? a long time ago, a dog saved one of my ancestors…

summer

06/22/2012 the reason i don't use the back papers of notebooks is because i like privacy. i don't want to be holding it up and writing while people glance at the back of my book! at least i don't double space. it's for me to read, and i don't care about spacing between letters. i've always wanted to be an author, even when i was little. problem was, i carried around all my ideas in my head because…

new york

11/28/2025 ​ 11/08/2025 – kamotecue danish from kora ​ 05/06/2025 ​ 03/24/2025 ​ 09/01/2024 ​ 08/02/2024 i have a new next door neighbour. ​ 07/21/2024 – guggenheim ​ 04/05/2024 ​ 04/04/2024 ​ 03/13/2024 ​​ 11/18/2023 ​ 11/07/2023 ​ 09/29/2023 ​ 08/31/2023 seen outside our office window – i genuinely thought they had all coordinated to dress the same as part of a themed happy hour. ​ 06/11/2023 –…

grade 5

09/06/2011 1st day of post-summer camp. the government are still checking the school site. at PS camp, 0067 hit a lot of people and threw a book at mrs. 0068 , and 0069 was chasing 0028 and i, (the only gr. 5s) and trying to kiss and hug and do weird things. 0025 wasn't on MSN today. ​ 09/09/2011 so today – what a day! school ceremony was fun. i'm going to be in mrs. 0066 's class. next week…

summer

07/18/2011 ​ 08/15/2011 i've always never finished my journals. so this time, i am so totally determined to keep this all the way until the end. this week, i'm at grace camp. the last time i went, there was this girl who... i think she didn't like me so i just laugh it off. i wanna be that type of guy. BTW, i'm a girl. and at camp i saw my school friends – super happy i did! i saw 0055 from the…

grade 4

09/02/2010 ​ 09/2010 ​ 10/2010 top 5 worst things i've experienced public speaking (with eye contact) freefall rides getting spanked crying a teensy bit on my 8th birthday but i think no one saw lots of homework ​ 10/2010 ​ 11/2010 It was a breezy Saturday in the autumn. I skipped out the doors of my dance school, Toronto Dance Vibe. I had a smile as wide as a banana. But it turned into a frown…

summer

07/2010 i think everyone should have at least one secret because, well, think of life without secrets. would people like you anymore? i mean, imagine you're at school and everyone knows what you're thinking about. it's probably good to know a test answer, right? but what if the test was happening right now, you thought you aced the test and you probably did, and then you see your friend, who…

grade 3

09/17/2009 ​ 10/12/2009 ​ 11/25/2009 yesterday, me and my class went to willowgrove farm. when we got on the bus, me and 0001 got a seat next to each other. we played slide, chopsticks, tic-tac-toe, and talked. it was drizzling when we got there. we walked to a cabin, a small one, with lots of tables in it. it was really loud. we didn't even see the woman that came into the room. so to get our…

summer

07/09/2009 i was at mont-tremblant from july 6 to july 9. it was tons of fun! 0021 , 0020 , 0019 , and their cousin 0044 came there with us. my dad was driving following their car. it took about seven hours to get there! we stopped at tim hortons for breakfast. i had a chocolate donut with butter cream inside. at tim hortons there were lots of mirrors on the ceiling. we stopped by for lunch at tim…

grade 2

10/13/2008 i'm thankful for lots of things! here are most of the things i'm thankful for and why. i'm thankful for books, because i love reading. i'm also thankful for my TV. i like watching zoey 101 , the suite life of zack and cody , zeke and luther , sonny with a chance , and other shows on family channel. that's why i'm thankful for my TV. my computer is also something i'm thankful for because…

art class

i went to art class once a week outside of school for 10 years. looking back, what i learned from 张老师 influenced the way i see the entire world. i'd have more drawings now if i didn't trade them for silly bandz in grade 4 but i don't regret it! that was me learning to share my work and participate in the creative economy... and maybe some people out there still have my art. in high school, i…

grade 1

11/08/2007 today i finally remembered to bring my gloves. and me and 0001 got kicked out of the recess club. today i also went to gym. and today it was day 3. and 0002 wore my favorite color today. the snack shop started today. but i didn't get anything. ​ 11/09/2007 today 0003 and 0004 catched me and 0001 . and we also got in the recess club, but then we forgot our gloves and we almost got in…

kindergarten

09/08/2005 – first week of JK ​ 10/2005 – las vegas ​ 2006 – JK yearbook ​ 12/2006 – disney world ​ 08/2007 – my 6th birthday

china

02/26/2003 – 广东河源 ​ 03/07/2003 ​ 12/09/2004 – 0297 伯伯家 ​ 12/12/2004 ​ 12/18/2004 ​ 12/28/2010 ​ 12/30/2010 ​ 01/02/2011 – 河源恐龙博物馆 ​ 01/04/2011 ​ 01/05/2011 – pizza hut ​ 01/07/2011

0-4

07/24/2002 ​ 08/18/2002 – my 1st birthday ​ 08/2003 – my 2nd birthday ​ 2003 – marilyn bell park, toronto ​ 08/2004 – my 3rd birthday ​ 12/10/2004 ​ 04/09/2005 ​ 04/29/2005 ​ 08/15/2005 – my 4th birthday

toronto

12/27/2025 ​ 12/25/2025 ​ 09/06/2025 ​ 05/10/2025 ​ 05/09/2025 ​ 03/21/2025 ​ 03/22/2024 ​ 12/26/2023 ​ 06/28/2023 ​ 06/24/2023 ​ 02/18/2023 toronto is like 3 in 1 shampoo. ​ 01/30/2023 ​ 12/22/2022 ​ 11/03/2022 ​ 10/24/2022 ​ 07/16/2022 ​ 12/02/2021 ​ 09/21/2020 ​ 01/18/2020 ​ 06/06/2019 ​ 05/01/2019 ​ 03/01/2019 6:05pm 6:55pm ​ 02/11/2018 ​ 02/10/2018 ​ 11/15/2017 ​ 02/10/2017 ​ 01/26/2017 ​…