SYNAESTHESIA - MY MUTANT POWER
Synaesthesia is a condition that is best described by its Chinese characters: "Mixed Senses." I see letters, numbers, days of the week, months, and many other things in colours in my mind's eye. Sometimes it may distract me but I'd never give it up if I had a choice. It's actually made some things easier, like memorising pi, and may have led me to become a passionate learner of new world languages with different character sets. They don't gain colour until I learn what they mean!
Recently, I found that I also see colours with music, which I noticed because the colours in Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor are so different from each other (see Music section for a visual representation I created). My dad wrote an entertaining blog article on Radiohead, Syneaesthesia, and The Mutants Among Us.
These are some examples of my colourful inner world.
Studies
"Grapheme-Color Synaesthesia in English-Speaking Learners of Chinese" by Allison Kirkegaard
I couldn't believe my eyes when my mom texted this photo looking for synaesthetes studying Chinese to participate in a study at Pomona College. Believe it or not, there actually was another participant in the study too. It was so much fun to take the computerised test and discuss synaesthesia with the student who ran the study, who was also herself a synaesthete! The most interesting finding was that for me, characters have a neutral colour until I understand them. It's also interesting that the components of the characters each have their own colour depending on their shape, how they're said, or what they mean.
I also participated in a follow-up study a couple of years later (I was the only participant this time), but it hasn't been published yet. Allison was happy to share all of the data with me so I can help research, write up, and finalise the paper with her next year.
"Silent War"
It started with Black Butler
When I was in 8th grade, I saw the anime Black Butler, based on Yana Toboso's manga masterpiece. Combining my childhood loves of Doctor Who, the Terminator, art, and music, and introducing me to Japanese and a never-ending series of easter eggs to figure out years later, it's fair to say that Black Butler changed my life.
The Ultimate Digital Art Project
Silent War is a combination of my writing, my art, and my love of Yana Toboso's work. I've been creating the manga for three years and it's still not done! It might not ever be complete, but working on such a challenging project in my Media Art classes has taught me what's possible and how much more there is to learn. I was so very lucky to get an amazing teacher, and access to the computer programs she taught me how to use in class.
How a good manga came from a mediocre artist
Starting from the Screenplay...
Whether making a manga or making digital art, I struggle with drawing human proportions correctly, so I use small 3D physical "mannequins" that can be positioned, photographed, and then uploaded into Photoshop as an opaque layer for reference. I’ve also found that a trick for drawing perspective in complicated buildings (e.g. ones with curved surfaces) is creating a model of the building in Tinkercad, a program that allows users to easily form shapes together to make 3D models in the computer. The viewpoint can be set from within the building at any height, and this can be screenshotted and put into Photoshop as well. Most "skills" can be replicated with technology and the right mindset, so keep your eye out for creative solutions!
.png/:/rs=w:400,cg:true,m)
Language Experiences
Meeting George Takei
Best Book Signature Ever
Best Book Signature Ever
I was honoured to speak with George Takei, who is an amazing activist (as well as being on a little show called Star Trek). He seemed truly surprised to hear me speak Japanese!
Best Book Signature Ever
Best Book Signature Ever
Best Book Signature Ever
George Takei signed my book in Japanese. It says "Jacqueline, it's so nice to have met you - Takei George." Learning languages has helped me connect with people much more than I expected. One time, a Chinese waitress who struggled with English gave me a big hug after I talked with her in Chinese!
Interviewing David Peterson
Interviewing David Peterson
Interviewing David Peterson
Unless you're the ultimate Game of Thrones nerd, you probably don't know his name, but this is David Peterson, the linguist who invented the Dothraki and Valyrian languages. He was very generous with his time and we geeked out about languages for several hours!
Japanese Lessons
Interviewing David Peterson
Interviewing David Peterson
As a kid, I twisted my parents' arms until they found a Japanese teacher for me. I would blast Sumi with so many questions she could barely get through a lesson, but she didn't seem to mind and encouraged and supported my love and passion for learning the language. I used to sneak into Oldenborg at Pomona College whenever possible to practice at the language tables and now I live there and am taking advanced Japanese!
Writing
I can't stop writing -- even if I wanted to
I was super excited to win the Sweepstakes (overall 1st place for poetry or fiction for 11th and 12th graders) at the LA County Fair for "Silent War", because I put my heart and soul into that over 80 page manga screenplay! This is the story behind my digital manga project, and I would've been crushed if the judges were like "meh".
LA County Fair
Believe it or not, The Silent War wasn't my first Sweepstakes award. When I picked it up, the judges at the Fair actually said they recognized my name!
Girl Scouts
Meeting Jane Goodall
Getting Lots of Badges
Getting Lots of Badges
I was invited to present my Silver Award project to Jane Goodall in San Francisco, and later received a $200 mini-grant from her youth organization.
I actually ran into her again in Windsor England just by chance!
Getting Lots of Badges
Getting Lots of Badges
Getting Lots of Badges
I started Scouts in 2010 as a brownie and earned the Presidential Volunteer Award in 2015 from President Obama, as well as the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards.
TV Interview - Tackling climate change
Newspaper Interview - Spreading the word
Newspaper Interview - Spreading the word
I went to Hollywood to be on a show called FabLab on Channel 11 and couldn’t believe that the interviewer was someone I knew and had just seen at a 4/7 event at Pomona College, Madison Vorva!
Newspaper Interview - Spreading the word
Newspaper Interview - Spreading the word
Newspaper Interview - Spreading the word
I made a lot of friends and earned a lot of camp funds by selling cookies each year.