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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
What Are You Listening To?
Just killing time before I force myself to go to sleep. I was listening to one of my playlists on YouTube (I originally named it Disco Hits, but now I have to change it because YouTube decided to pull all but 2 of the disco songs, leaving only 80s hits and misc.), and I'm stuck on "Rapture" by Blondie. I've loved this song since I first heard it on the radio back in '03 I believe.
My dad and I were driving down Melrose, and they were playing Blondie hits when it came on, and it was just instant fave in my mind. I just remember thinking "Wow, this is the perfect song for a perfect day (sans the doctor's appointment we were going to). This is the perfect song for driving around on a sunny day."
Sadly, i didn't catch the name of the song, so the tune kind of just stuck in the back of my head. It wasn't until a few months ago that I found the video by chance, and I've been playing it over and over ever since.
Sidenote: I felt the same way when I had heard "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys, this time driving down Santa Monica through W. Hollywood (I apologize to those who don't live in S. Cali/know the place I'm referring to).
My question to y'all is: Do you remember when and/or where you heard your favorite song? How did it make you feel?
Thanks for stopping by, and here's the link to the music video (embedding disabled =/):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHPikUPlRD8
My dad and I were driving down Melrose, and they were playing Blondie hits when it came on, and it was just instant fave in my mind. I just remember thinking "Wow, this is the perfect song for a perfect day (sans the doctor's appointment we were going to). This is the perfect song for driving around on a sunny day."
Sadly, i didn't catch the name of the song, so the tune kind of just stuck in the back of my head. It wasn't until a few months ago that I found the video by chance, and I've been playing it over and over ever since.
Sidenote: I felt the same way when I had heard "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys, this time driving down Santa Monica through W. Hollywood (I apologize to those who don't live in S. Cali/know the place I'm referring to).
My question to y'all is: Do you remember when and/or where you heard your favorite song? How did it make you feel?
Thanks for stopping by, and here's the link to the music video (embedding disabled =/):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHPikUPlRD8
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Would you sacrifice your adolescence to follow your dreams?
A few days ago, I was reading this article on Yahoo about this amazing 16 year baseball player. He had just appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, referred to as "The Chosen one" and, if my knowledge of baseball serves me correctly, his stats were extraordinary, given that he's only a sophomore in high school.
The thing that caught my attention in this story, however, was that he and his father decided that he would drop out of high school, get his GED and enroll in a community college so that he could be drafted in the 2010 Draft. He's already guaranteed almost $20 million when he goes pro, along with some other perks.
I don't really agree with this decision. It's not so much because he'll be dropping out of high school-having gone through high school, I know that there are many people that can do much better going to community college than high school. I just feel that he may not have thought about if he's psychologically ready to make such a jump into adulthood.
Granted he's an amazing baseball player for his age, but why the rush to go pro? He's already proven that he has the talent to back up the hype, so I doubt that he'll be at any disadvantage if he waits another year or so. And since he's just a sophomore, he hasn't had much exposure to playing in front of big crowds, so who knows how the pressure might affect him.
The last point I'd like to make is that I feel that if he jumps right into the Major Leagues now, he'll miss out on some of the best years of his life. it doesn't take an expert to know that training and practice takes a lot of time out of your schedule, and by the looks of this kid's stats, he must have been practicing almost every day since he was old enough to hold a bat. But at least with high school baseball, there are only so many days that you have to dedicate yourself to sports, leaving you some time to just hang out and do things that teenagers do. And with him being surrounded by older guys, he might find it hard to "fit in"-not in the superficial "popular kids' group" way, but just someone that's around his age that he can relate to.
Perhaps I'm not giving him enough credit; maybe he's already thought all this through and feels ready to handle it. Maybe he'll experience all this and become a stronger player and overall person because of it. Either way, he's made up his mind, and clearly nothing will stop him from carrying this plan out. I'm glad to hear that his parents are fully supporting this decision (I don't know what I'd do if I were to take so great a risk without my parents rooting me on), and are standing by him no matter what. I just hope for the best for him, and that he's making the right decision for himself.
Question: If you had a chance to follow your dream career path though success isn't guaranteed, but in return had to drop out of high school, would you do it? Why or why not?
Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to your replies!
EDIT: In another more recent article I read about this subject, Bryce (the baseball player) has admitted that he's been very bored hanging around high school, and feels he is ready for college as well as being around older folks. This kid-excuse me, young man is way more mature than I perceived him to be.
The thing that caught my attention in this story, however, was that he and his father decided that he would drop out of high school, get his GED and enroll in a community college so that he could be drafted in the 2010 Draft. He's already guaranteed almost $20 million when he goes pro, along with some other perks.
I don't really agree with this decision. It's not so much because he'll be dropping out of high school-having gone through high school, I know that there are many people that can do much better going to community college than high school. I just feel that he may not have thought about if he's psychologically ready to make such a jump into adulthood.
Granted he's an amazing baseball player for his age, but why the rush to go pro? He's already proven that he has the talent to back up the hype, so I doubt that he'll be at any disadvantage if he waits another year or so. And since he's just a sophomore, he hasn't had much exposure to playing in front of big crowds, so who knows how the pressure might affect him.
The last point I'd like to make is that I feel that if he jumps right into the Major Leagues now, he'll miss out on some of the best years of his life. it doesn't take an expert to know that training and practice takes a lot of time out of your schedule, and by the looks of this kid's stats, he must have been practicing almost every day since he was old enough to hold a bat. But at least with high school baseball, there are only so many days that you have to dedicate yourself to sports, leaving you some time to just hang out and do things that teenagers do. And with him being surrounded by older guys, he might find it hard to "fit in"-not in the superficial "popular kids' group" way, but just someone that's around his age that he can relate to.
Perhaps I'm not giving him enough credit; maybe he's already thought all this through and feels ready to handle it. Maybe he'll experience all this and become a stronger player and overall person because of it. Either way, he's made up his mind, and clearly nothing will stop him from carrying this plan out. I'm glad to hear that his parents are fully supporting this decision (I don't know what I'd do if I were to take so great a risk without my parents rooting me on), and are standing by him no matter what. I just hope for the best for him, and that he's making the right decision for himself.
Question: If you had a chance to follow your dream career path though success isn't guaranteed, but in return had to drop out of high school, would you do it? Why or why not?
Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to your replies!
EDIT: In another more recent article I read about this subject, Bryce (the baseball player) has admitted that he's been very bored hanging around high school, and feels he is ready for college as well as being around older folks. This kid-excuse me, young man is way more mature than I perceived him to be.
Real Quick Update
So sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. Last week was my finals week, so I spent most of my time studying and packing, and I've spent the past few days guilt-free slacking off. But tomorrow, or rather today, I'll be getting back into the swing of things. I've got plenty to blog about, and I may even post a vlog along with some other videos. So sit tight, and I'll def have some new stuff up asap.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Random Thought of the Day
Is the universe really just a metaphor for life? I mean, yes of course we are living in the universe, but have we really taken time to look at its parallels to human experiences? (If this has been done already, I apologize for the redundancy.)
As I see it, the vast number of galaxies is much like the various people we never meet in life, yet are curious if they might be anything like us. The infinite stretch of space in any given direction mirrors the many different paths in life we can choose to take, as well as our never-ending quest to see what awaits us at the end. And just as we wonder what happens when we reach the actual "edge" of the universe, we wonder about what happens when we die-while it may very well be impossible to know for sure, we'll never stop trying.
Just something that popped into my mind...any thoughts?
As I see it, the vast number of galaxies is much like the various people we never meet in life, yet are curious if they might be anything like us. The infinite stretch of space in any given direction mirrors the many different paths in life we can choose to take, as well as our never-ending quest to see what awaits us at the end. And just as we wonder what happens when we reach the actual "edge" of the universe, we wonder about what happens when we die-while it may very well be impossible to know for sure, we'll never stop trying.
Just something that popped into my mind...any thoughts?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Back in the Day When I Was Young(er)
Anyone remember the name of that song? The chorus goes "Back in the day when I was young/ I'm not a kid anymore/ but some days I said 'I wish I was a kid again'" I love that song, but I've never known the title or the artist for the song....
But I digress. Lately, I've been thinking about all the stuff I remember doing as a kid, and it's made me so nostalgic. Saturday morning cartoons, play dates, no real sense of time...The bits and pieces of my early childhood that I remember were always these random fragments in time-at one point I'm a toddler in diapers, the next I'm 3 yeas old watching Family Matters, wearing my favorite homemade sweater with a moose on it. I don't even remember the times when we were released from school, just seamlessly transitioning from running around the playground to opening presents Christmas morning.
One of my favorite things from my childhood was when my older brother and I used to make a fort out of our bunk beds (sheet tucked into the top bunk, pulled down and out and secured on the floor, like a tent). We used to have a ritual off climbing up to the top bunk and chanting "Camp Wacachookoomookoo," our beloved name for the pseudo-campsite. Usually this proceeded a Friday night of Pizza Hut, TGIF on ABC, and Kablam! on Nickelodeon.
Probably one of the best things about being a kid was the simple fact that the world really was your oyster, where you could be anything and you could do anything and, unless it was dangerous, no one really told you otherwise (I know they usually say that phrase when you become an adult, but when you think about it, our options for obtaining happiness become much more complex). If you wanted to be a ballerina, your parents bought you a tutu and sent you off to ballet classes. You wanted to be the next Sammy Sosa? Off to Little league you go. Firefighter? Well, that one was a bit tricky...I think they just bought you one of those firetrucks that lights up and maybe took you to a fire station, but by gosh your parents would support you no matter what. It was just so easy to choose to want to do something, and then drop it within days and move on to something totally new (no matter how much money was involved, we were able to win 'em over with kicks, screams, pouts and, the kicker, "I Love You!").
When we were kids, the world just seemed so magical, and we didn't really know much pain outside the realms of bruises, splinters and various other "ouchies" (I realize that there are many kids that knew pain much greater than the aforementioned, but do forgive me, for my views are biased, in that I'm writing from the point of view of a child with a relatively stable home life). At times, it turned into a contest of who had the bigger scab, a badge of bravery if you will. We didn't know about heartbreak, we didn't stress over tests, we didn't fuss over looking decent in public, and homework was a fun thing that usually meant a reward-usually in the fashion of a sticker.
As I thought about all this, I came to realize why I didn't like kids for the longest time-I was...envious. The endless possibilities, the seemingly infinite energy and undying sense of trust and faith in people. I wanted that back. I wanted to be able to go up to random strangers and just talk to them for hours as if I had known them forever (a funny story my parents like to tell me to remind me of my days as a social butterfly). I wanted to go back to the times when it was unheard of to stay up all night just to write a paper, or even having to study for anything.
But most of all, I wanted to go back to a time where I had no knowledge of the pain and woes of the world. As kids, we never heard the words terrorist, suicide bombers, gang violence or government corruption (though I vaguely remember hearing about the bomber near the Olympics in the 90s or something? again, my viewpoint is biased to life in the 90s.). We had no possible concept of recessions or depressions or ponzi scams-our greatest understanding of economics involved Monopoly. And we definitely had no idea there was such a thing as severe poverty or famine.
What I would like to know is, when we get older, why do we have to lose not so much our blissful (yet understandable) ignorance, but more so our ability live so harmoniously? Sure, every now and again there was a bully on campus, but for the most part, we were happy just to play with anyone; while we were aware that we didn't look like one other, we didn't let that stop us from playing with each other (unless your parents taught you to keep away from certain people, either because of race, creed, or general stereotypes).
Why do we get so wrapped up in such superficial things like social status or name brand clothing? Why must we create these irrelevant barriers? We shouldn't let these small things rule who we associate ourselves with or, most importantly, let it dictate our self-worth.
As kids, we were all so weird, but once we started getting older, society almost forced us to obtain a sense of "normalcy," guidelines of how you gotta act in order to fit in, or else you're branded an outcast and shunned from the public. I say, throw out the mainstream (for lack of a better word) ideals that make us forget who we really are deep down inside. We all have quirks and abnormal tendencies, but we shouldn't have to hide them in fear of being ridiculed. Let's go back to the days when we could dance how we wanted, make up a new language with friends, and laugh and smile at the simplest pleasures in life, be it from watching your favorite cartoon, getting those little 50 cent Valentine's cards from your teacher, or going to Chuck E. Cheese with your family and your best friend on your birthday.
But I digress. Lately, I've been thinking about all the stuff I remember doing as a kid, and it's made me so nostalgic. Saturday morning cartoons, play dates, no real sense of time...The bits and pieces of my early childhood that I remember were always these random fragments in time-at one point I'm a toddler in diapers, the next I'm 3 yeas old watching Family Matters, wearing my favorite homemade sweater with a moose on it. I don't even remember the times when we were released from school, just seamlessly transitioning from running around the playground to opening presents Christmas morning.
One of my favorite things from my childhood was when my older brother and I used to make a fort out of our bunk beds (sheet tucked into the top bunk, pulled down and out and secured on the floor, like a tent). We used to have a ritual off climbing up to the top bunk and chanting "Camp Wacachookoomookoo," our beloved name for the pseudo-campsite. Usually this proceeded a Friday night of Pizza Hut, TGIF on ABC, and Kablam! on Nickelodeon.
Probably one of the best things about being a kid was the simple fact that the world really was your oyster, where you could be anything and you could do anything and, unless it was dangerous, no one really told you otherwise (I know they usually say that phrase when you become an adult, but when you think about it, our options for obtaining happiness become much more complex). If you wanted to be a ballerina, your parents bought you a tutu and sent you off to ballet classes. You wanted to be the next Sammy Sosa? Off to Little league you go. Firefighter? Well, that one was a bit tricky...I think they just bought you one of those firetrucks that lights up and maybe took you to a fire station, but by gosh your parents would support you no matter what. It was just so easy to choose to want to do something, and then drop it within days and move on to something totally new (no matter how much money was involved, we were able to win 'em over with kicks, screams, pouts and, the kicker, "I Love You!").
When we were kids, the world just seemed so magical, and we didn't really know much pain outside the realms of bruises, splinters and various other "ouchies" (I realize that there are many kids that knew pain much greater than the aforementioned, but do forgive me, for my views are biased, in that I'm writing from the point of view of a child with a relatively stable home life). At times, it turned into a contest of who had the bigger scab, a badge of bravery if you will. We didn't know about heartbreak, we didn't stress over tests, we didn't fuss over looking decent in public, and homework was a fun thing that usually meant a reward-usually in the fashion of a sticker.
As I thought about all this, I came to realize why I didn't like kids for the longest time-I was...envious. The endless possibilities, the seemingly infinite energy and undying sense of trust and faith in people. I wanted that back. I wanted to be able to go up to random strangers and just talk to them for hours as if I had known them forever (a funny story my parents like to tell me to remind me of my days as a social butterfly). I wanted to go back to the times when it was unheard of to stay up all night just to write a paper, or even having to study for anything.
But most of all, I wanted to go back to a time where I had no knowledge of the pain and woes of the world. As kids, we never heard the words terrorist, suicide bombers, gang violence or government corruption (though I vaguely remember hearing about the bomber near the Olympics in the 90s or something? again, my viewpoint is biased to life in the 90s.). We had no possible concept of recessions or depressions or ponzi scams-our greatest understanding of economics involved Monopoly. And we definitely had no idea there was such a thing as severe poverty or famine.
What I would like to know is, when we get older, why do we have to lose not so much our blissful (yet understandable) ignorance, but more so our ability live so harmoniously? Sure, every now and again there was a bully on campus, but for the most part, we were happy just to play with anyone; while we were aware that we didn't look like one other, we didn't let that stop us from playing with each other (unless your parents taught you to keep away from certain people, either because of race, creed, or general stereotypes).
Why do we get so wrapped up in such superficial things like social status or name brand clothing? Why must we create these irrelevant barriers? We shouldn't let these small things rule who we associate ourselves with or, most importantly, let it dictate our self-worth.
As kids, we were all so weird, but once we started getting older, society almost forced us to obtain a sense of "normalcy," guidelines of how you gotta act in order to fit in, or else you're branded an outcast and shunned from the public. I say, throw out the mainstream (for lack of a better word) ideals that make us forget who we really are deep down inside. We all have quirks and abnormal tendencies, but we shouldn't have to hide them in fear of being ridiculed. Let's go back to the days when we could dance how we wanted, make up a new language with friends, and laugh and smile at the simplest pleasures in life, be it from watching your favorite cartoon, getting those little 50 cent Valentine's cards from your teacher, or going to Chuck E. Cheese with your family and your best friend on your birthday.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Why Hello!
Hello everyone, welcome and thank you so much for coming to my official blog!
Let me start off by sharing a little about myself. Currently, I am finishing up my 1st year at university (2 weeks left!), political science major, born and raised in Los Angeles, 18 and some odd months young (nope, still don't have my license...), band geek for life, amateur technology buff, amateur photographer, phlogger (photographic blogger, if you haven't seen my 1st video; i will make this word popular, mark my words!), optimist with a hint of realism, chef/baker, aggressive Monopoly player (I won't rest until there's a clear winner, even if it takes 4 hours) and all around big kid at heart.
Some things that bring great joy to my life, in no particular order:
Drawing (mostly fashion design); music; band; family; friends; toys-I love board games, video games like The Sims, Twister, games for my Gameboy Advance (I know it's out of date, but it was the 1st game console I ever received/most up-to-date console I have right now); grammar, though I'm completely aware that this blog post is breaking quite a few as is; reading-James Patterson is my favorite author to date, but I have been reading a lot of autobiographies lately, love learning about peoples' lives; football; bowling; Arizona drinks; dancing (I'm sure there's a video of me getting down during football games on YouTube somewhere...); experimenting with hairstyles-I shall post a slide show of sorts of the different hairstyles/colors I've had over the years in a later post; and many, many more things.
That's quite a mouthful in those few run-on sentences, so I'll just wrap it up here-as you will come to find, I like to ramble and digress, though in a very tasteful way, haha. Thanks again for dropping by, and be sure to check back often, because I plan to post something new a couple times a week. What you can expect in my coming posts is a myriad of thoughts that come across my mind, ranging from rants, revelations, trials and tribulations, mind-blowing existential questions, teenage angst or my disgust/utter confusion about the world of pop culture.
I hope y'all enjoy! Peace!
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