That's right. Four hashbrowns. If you're gonna pity anyone in this photo, it's the poor kid in the back, weeping over this whole hashbrown ordeal.

I’m a socially conscious web geek who loves to paint and make stuff. 

Okay, first, I promise I’m not addicted to McDonald’s. Their hashbrowns are pretty delicious, but I rarely eat there. I recently got braces and dislike most pics of myself with (robot voice:) met-al mowth. [insert robot gestures here.] This photo cracks me up so umm it’s here.

I do many things, have many passions, and try to live life to the fullest! Want to know more about me? Read on…

I want to save the world.
I was born and raised in Oakland, CA. (I love my town!) Growing up in Oakland’s public school system, I was exposed to a lot of socio-economic injustices that upset me. There were so many social boundaries that prevented many of my peers–minorities of some form–from succeeding. I harnessed that energy into activism, striving to make a positive difference for my community, folks that don’t have adequate resources or education, and hoping to make the world a better place. Daniel Handler has said:

“I’m not a believer in predetermined fates, being rewarded for one’s efforts. I’m not a believer in karma. The reason why I try to be a good person is because I think it’s the right thing to do. If I commit fewer bad acts there will be fewer bad acts, maybe other people will join in committing fewer bad acts, and in time there will be fewer and fewer of them.”

I love this quote. Similarly, I believe in doing good things for the world because I feel it’s my OUR responsibility to do so. We’re all here for such a short time, and we should do whatever we can for the betterment of the human race and Earth as a whole. Or… maybe I just feel like I need to do more activism than the average person to make up for all the people who don’t care. :)

Here are some of the not-for-profits and charities that I’ve been supporting recently:

• GSA Network — Empowering youth activists to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools
• The Trevor Project — The leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
• Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths — Beautiful Lengths is a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society, providing real-hair wigs for women with cancer.
• charity: water — Bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations
• East Bay SPCA

I love to create stuff.
I love painting, drawing, and sculpting! In 4th grade, my drawing of Sonic the Hedgehog (in golden Super Sonic mode!) was auctioned off in a school charity and was sold for the highest bid of $15!!!!!! Probably one of my greatest achievements to date.

More recently, I’ve been exploring different mediums and working on building my technical skills. I’ve really come to love painting, and plan on scheduling time every week to paint. Check out my Portfolio to see my latest pieces!

Moving forward, I want to put more of my emotions and feelings into my artwork. I may want to integrate my social activism into my pieces, similar to the piece I made for an AIDS/HIV Awareness charity.

I am a nerd.
There is no denying it. And I’m proud of it!

I’ve been designing and building sites since 1997. :O
That’s right. I was in the 7th grade, had 28.8k dial-up internet, and made my own effin’ Sailormoon fansite on Geocities in the “SoHo” neighborhood. Since then, designing and coding new layouts for my personal site was an ongoing hobby. I’m a huge fan of WordPress, love learning new php, and awesome designs make me drool.

I love 8-bit games, and I frickin’ rock at Mario Kart Double Dash (best time on Yoshi’s Circuit: 1:55:590)!

About Craisin.com

• I chose the nickname “craisin” when I first started using the internet in 1996 and I had to select a nick to chat on IRC. I needed an easy temporary nickname, saw a bag of Craisins in the kitchen, and went with that. How’s that for a “temp” nickname?
• I started handcoding sites with Notepad in the 90s, and hosted a little gallery on Geocities.
• In 2000, my friend Ryan got the domain for me as a present, and my site’s been growing since then. It first started as a picture gallery of high school formals and place for me to post my artwork, turned into a hard-coded blog through my college years, and has since evolved into a more robust portfolio and blog site. Feel free to check out old iterations of Craisin.com here»

An xkcd comic that hits home for me: "When did we forget our dreams?"

Craisin.com has always been a documentation of the events and experiences I go through via blog posts, photos, and the visual artwork I make. I’m proud of who I am, the things I believe in, and the experiences I’ve encountered. Craisin.com is simply a showcase of my life! Welcome, and I hope you enjoy! :)

This xkcd comic to the below helped me understand the beauty of TRANSPARENCY on the internet. We have such a short amount of time on this world, and each of us have so many different experiences and knowledge.

Ol’ Stelly

My friends called me “Grandma” because I prefer to be in bed by 9:30 — I looooove sleep and I need my 9 hours to function properly! (Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as I need to stay up to work on projects most days T_T)

A Wii character was made as a joke, the grandma nickname started to encompass bad puns, coupon clippings may have been involved, and Ol’ Stelly eventually became her own character.She’s since been living contently on Craisin.com.

Connect with me online:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Have questions for me? Feel free to send me a message via the Contact page. Happy browsing!