The Pig

In my 2 weeks of funemployment after I left Google, I was squatting at my friend’s house and temporarily using her address for my mail.  I was expecting to get a few letters and maybe some new-hire paperwork, but one day I turned up and there was a large box waiting for me in the laundry room.  Large is an understatement – It was massive and I had no idea who or where it came from.  I opened it and was very surprised to find a florescent pink painting of a pig and a little Asian girl. For context, I hate pink and before this I would have never used the color in my house. On top of that, I had no idea where the painting came from and who would send me a picture of an Asian girl holding a knife, preparing to slaughter a pig.  After looking at it for a few minutes in question I laughed at the irony, the first sign that I could like this weird and random painting.  Turns out, it was a housewarming gift from my friend Laura who has been living in Hong Kong.  She picked it out because it resembled artwork that I liked when we were traveling together in Bali (pictures of Laura and that gallery are posted below.) What a nice gesture! The thought of her sending a surprise gift for my new home made my so happy; it made me excited to hang the painting in my apartment.  I got creative and painted black and white stripes in the bathroom to go behind the painting.  After hanging it up, I loved it! I love the fact that Laura sent it to me; I love the ironic knife; and I even love the pink.

Tip: You can make anything work. Seemingly *ugly* pieces are the ones that stand out and the ones that people remember.  They are the things that people reference when they say “only you could pull that off”.