My Hobbies

I like to spend my free time learning new creative skills and practicing old ones (like pyrotechnics).

I particularly enjoy arts like painting, carving, and sewing.

My favorite part of Halloween by far is pumpkin carving, for which I use fine wood carving tools to achieve greater detail. This particular year I was inspired by Georges Méliès' 1902 film, "A Trip to the Moon," where Méliès' whipped-cream-covered face plays the role of the moon.

I grew up stargazing frequently while accompanying my dad on astrophotography outings. I watched as the positions of the stars and planets changed throughout the seasons and learned to identify as many constellations as I could. To make sure I don't forget any, I mapped out the celestial shpere on a 2'x3' black poster using white pen and soft pencil.

Here I combined art and electronics to create a gift. The image is of Point Reyes Lighthouse and is back-painted onto glass (painted in the "reverse" order then viewed from the side opposite from which it was painted). I then used a 555 timer integrated circuit to power an LED behind the painting in an astable mode and make it blink. The oscillation of the LED mimics the oscillation of the real Point Reyes Lighthouse: one second on, then five seconds off.

I frequently sew personalized things to give as gifts. On the left is a handmade (although machine-sewed) apron for my mom. On the right is a gift for my brother: a plush "bantha" from Star Wars. The bantha is largely hand-sewn.

I enjoy practicing photography as well, both film and digital and have learned to use Photoshop to color-correct and edit my images. The left is high-speed digital photography; the right are film. The lower right picture shows the comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rising in the early morning on July 11, 2020.

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