Here and There

Like a Secret

2012-02-17T21:07:00.001-05:00

It's been a rough week, so after I went to my two classes and finished math homework today, I took a walk downtown. The weather felt great!

I'm not a huge fan of Vera Bradley (mainly the purses), but once in a while I find something useful in a cute print at a good price, like this tech case in Happy Snail print (lolz). I like how the wrist strap is completely detachable, unlike a lot of other wristlets that only allow you to detach part of the strap... like what's the point of doing that? The good thing about this is that it's flat and doesn't have any extraneous stuff, like extra pocket or zipper.

This type of sunglasses are pretty popular at my college, so I picked up white framed ones. I've always wanted white sunglasses, they standout among the sea of black and brown sunglasses in the summer!

*UPDATE: I just realized that mine look nearly identical to the original Ray Ban Wayfarer! bwahaha, I love knock-offs that look like the real thing.

I'm happy I got to use my dslr again. It's all about problem-solving...or at least figuring out how to make improvements. Lighting, composition, focus, shutter speed, lenses!

Speaking of cameras, lately I've been looking for a point-and-shoot, specifically one that takes great low-lighting shots, has a low f-stop (f/2.0), manual mode, and great color. Oh, and is reasonably priced. I'd love to buy a micro 4/3 camera. They're the best type of compact cameras on the market because they have the functions of a dslr, including interchangeable lens!, but are small and lightweight.

Panasonic Lumix GF1

Nikon 1 J1
so cute!

So why don't I get one of these? Well, I probably will in the future, but the price starts at $700, and that's just the body with kit-lens. If the kit-lens isn't spectacular, you'll want other lenses, right? Those cost at least $200. ugh. I'm sure every penny is worth it, but.... it still costs a lot.

I'm considering either the Panasonic Lumix LX5 or Canon G12.

I'd love to have a white camera. Few people have a white camera and I'd be able to easily spot it my bag. Both are excellent cameras raved by pro photographers. I'm just not sure if I should splurge on one now or later. I really want to test both of them out before settling on one. It's like trying on clothes before buying them - it might look good on the rack, but you don't know if it looks good on you until you try it on.

This is the life

2012-02-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

because today was depressing. I got B's on all my exams so far because of some really stupid mistakes, except Physics because I haven't taken the first exam yet. I have to admit, though, I thought I did a lot worse on some of the exams, but still... I'm really hating on life right now. well, mainly weekdays because I've been slacking off too much on weekends. I've been extremely busy ever since the 2nd week of this semester.

Because of all of this, I really want some retail therapy.
Problem:
1) My debit card can be used as a credit card, but I don't exactly know how that works. Plus I don't want my parents to find out what I buy online, especially if they have to pay for other expenses from my bill
2) There are some considerably pricey things I want. I think they're fairly priced and worth it, though, like the Urban Decay Naked palette and stuff from Photojojo
3) No good shops in my college town

hope you guys have had a better week so far than I have.

Wisteria Pink

2012-02-14T10:07:00.000-05:00

I think Valentine's Day posts are the only ones I actually blog about on the day of the holiday. Despite it being possibly the most ironic subject I ever write about (because I don't, or at least have yet to, celebrate it), I still like to compile some pictures that I've seen throughout the year or what I love - beautiful things.

ok, so you probably don't think Totoro is beautiful, but I still love Totoro. He's a big, fluffy, loveable guy, and my childhood friend. hehe :)

For Valentine's Day
1. ASOS Drape Dress

2. ZARA Metallic Clutch

4. Coco Rocha for Senhoa Earrings

3. Steve Madden Pumps

My style exactly, plus natural-looking makeup and loose curls :) Except in reality, I'd only splurge on the dress because until I have a job, I'll be using my extra money for college and necessities. This dress is so worth it!

I wonder if couple break up on Valentine's Day... that would be horrible.

Anyways, have a beautiful day!

Summer Jam

2012-02-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

Magazine: Elle Sweden

Issue: May 2011

Model: Josefine Ekman Nilsson

Photographer: Joel Rhodin

Styling: Jenny Fredriksson

source

Light fabric, tie-dye, sun, breeze, beach, and ocean evokes summer dreams. at least for me :) I absolutely love this photoshoot, especially the first shot. Did you notice that the model in the 3rd pic is actually smiling? yay! Models need to smile more; it lightens up the mood of the photo. I highly encourage you to click on the photos to full view. These pics are too small to them justice.

I discovered the photographer, Joel Rhodin, today. His style is unique compared to other famous fashion photographers like Mario Testino and Annie Leibovitz. I don't know how to describe it, probably edgier and full of movement, but his portfolio is beautiful.

I Wonder

2012-02-10T01:10:00.000-05:00

Last night I dreamed that I was late to my own wedding.

It took place in a church. It was nothing grand - the walls were white, the chairs were a musty green, there was fluorescent lighting (eww). No flowers, no vivid colors. The pastor and my fiance stood halfway down the isle so I didn't need to run very far. There weren't many people there. I didn't see any of my family members or relatives there, but maybe I didn't notice them because I was frantic about being late. I turned to face my fiance and told him that I forgot something. I don't remember his face (I wish I did!) but he was Asian. and handsome. I spy my neighbor, who's an old lady and good friends with my family, sitting in the back in her wedding dress with her veil on... I asked her why she was wearing her wedding dress, but she didn't give me a clear answer. We proceed to the small vanity room. Again, it looked old (not in the elegant way). I explain to her that I forgot my veil and needed to borrow hers. She reluctantly gave me her veil and wrapped it around my neck like a scarf.... and then I woke up because I overslept -.-

Here's what's weird - nearly everything about the wedding is opposite of what I'd imagine my wedding to be. First off, if I were to get married, I'd prefer to have it outdoors, not in a church or a room. Doesn't matter if it's under a canopy or out in the open. I love nature for its beauty, so why not have a beautiful wedding outdoors? If no theme, there would be a nice color scheme, not nasty old faded colors. I'd somehow incorporate orchids in because I absolutely LOVE orchids. And then I highly doubt I'd be late to my own wedding or forget something. Being late for classes and not finishing assignments on time makes me paranoid, so I'd try my best to make sure everything runs smoothly at my wedding.

And now the dress. In my dream, it was strapless, which I'm ok with. But it was plain and stiff. It's design reminded me of origami inspired fashion, like the examples below -

Elie Saab Collection

Isabel Toledo tube jacket

Marchesa Spring 2009 RTW Collection

...although the dress in my dream didn't look so lovely.

If I were to get married, I'd want a dress that's light flowy. Perhaps tulle with a touch of lace. It would be incredible if it was a Vera Wang or Elie Saab dress!! But it would also be incredible if I were willing to spend that kind of money on a dress...

What did the dream get right? Um, my preference of guys and that it was a small wedding.

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea why I had a dream about a wedding. It would the absolute last thing on my mind because I was frantic about amount exams, homework, and projects that occurred within 3 days (3 tests in a row -.-).

My dreams are almost always drawn from my daily life, focusing on whatever is on my mind. Sometimes it's about an important test I don't feel ready for. Other times it was about an audition or a place I loved traveling to. Everything tends to be normal - no mutant people, no random strangers, no random superhuman powers. I almost always recognize where I am, and things tend to not be out of place. Although I do have to say that dreams where I have super powers are amazing! Like the time I could breath underwater. Nightmares, which are rare, occur when I'm not taking part in it. So it's like watching a scary movie play out in my mind. Nevertheless, dreams are forever fascinating!

Can I have some?

2012-02-05T01:38:00.002-05:00

I learned how beneficial a caffeinated drink can be for 8am and 9am classes. It turns out that drinking red tea only makes me a little bit awake while a small cup of mocha latte keeps my brain clear and eyes wide open. very important for chem class when I learn new material...

I spent the week writing an important essay for a summer program. Writer's block had never hit me so hard. I managed to write a good essay though, but I hate it when I'm so focused on trying to make the first draft the final draft. I'd write a paragraph, read over it, delete sentences, change words. Write next paragraph, stop mid-sentence because I try to think up a euphemism or a synonym so I won't sound repetitive, reread, rewrite. And this goes on and on, which is annoying. I'm a decent writer, but when I need to write something important that requires appropriate sentence structure and words, I get too caught up in thinking about how to write it. Blog posts are easier because I can write whatever's on my mind.

3 tests in a row next week, and I'm totally not ready. I wish I didn't need sleep. I could do so much more, and it's not because I procrastinate that I don't have enough time in the day. oh wellz...

Coeur de pirate - Fondu au noir
pretty French song

P.S. Did you notice the Totoro gif on the sidebar? ♥

So Much Love

2012-01-23T00:59:00.000-05:00

This is possibly the most beautiful behind-the-scenes video ever for a photo campaign. Never mind that it's about wedding rings (which automatically makes any video about it swoonworthy). It's not the typical video that shows the hustle and bustle that goes on; it's more about the campaign from the photographer's, Dominique Isserman, point-of-view. The collage above shows some of my favorite photos that I recognized in the behind-the-scenes video. See the rest of the photos here.

I came across this new collection from Tumblr based on the photo below. They are stunning!!

More photos of rings and other jewlery that I love from Chanel's website. The rest of Chanel's jewelry collection is worth looking at, too.

This one is probably my most favorite

Seal - Kiss From a Rose
One of my all-time favorite songs. Pop music from the 80's and 90's ♥

Perfume Sketches

2012-01-02T20:34:00.002-05:00

I drew these as a Christmas present for my aunt. The only thing I outlined in pencil first was the lettering. Otherwise the words would be off-centered, unproportional, ugly, etc. I love sketching perfume bottles because it's fairly easy and drawing glass is fun.

This style doesn't actually exist. I didn't want to draw the elaborate logo that's on the real Juicy Couture perfume bottles, so I made one up.

I think my most favorite would be the Dior one because it looks the most accurate, except I drew the letters with a black pen instead of a blue one :(

A Look Back on 2011

2011-12-31T08:52:00.000-05:00

Wow, I have to say that this has probably been the most eventful, stressful, and exciting year so far! Emphasis on the eventful part. Every month, there was something important going on, mainly high school, choosing a college, graduating from high school, AID, and college itself.

{I know everyone seems to do a post, whether its on their blog, tumblr, facebook, twitter, etc. on a reflection of the current year and how he/she hopes the next year will be even better. This is basically my life story of 2011, so if you don't like reading about lengthy ramblings, then you can read about what I hope for next year ;D }

I read my December 31 post from last year and, uh, it definitely summed up my life for that year. I thought I'd do the same for this year.

January - February

Submitted my last college applications by New Years day. And I still clearly remember how I wrote at least 10 essays within two weeks during winter break. I burned way too many brain cells during that period.
High school is still as busy as ever. IB teachers don't believe in lessening the workload just because us seniors have finished applying to colleges -.-

March - April

I find out all the colleges I got into by March. Some of the acceptances were surprising, others were expected. Too bad I couldn't even ponder over a few of them because the financial aid package wasn't good enough T__________T
Spent most of spring break visiting colleges and studying for AP and IB exams.
The last week of April was extremely stressful because of deciding which college would be best for me. My parents took this VERY seriously even though a lot of people they talked to said that the college you attend isn't that important.

May

FINALLY decided what college I'll be attending
AP/IB exams the entire month. But that also meant that I went to school for maybe a total of about 5 days
Prom. It was pretty fun, although it didn't meet my expectations since, uh, Southside is a poor school and other stuffies

June - July

Gone to Taiwan!!! It was seriously the best summer ever. I made many good friends and went on my own adventures around Taipei.
Got to know more about myself

August - November

College: Stress > Fun :(
Created an awesome video for a major English project.

I met some of the most interesting engineering majors...
Procrastination is almost a thing of the past! :)

December

Final exams. I studied like a madman, although I really slacked when it came down to my last exam (the Intro to Engineering). I didn't start seriously cramming until 5 hrs before, but at least I got a higher grade than I expected. Still QQing about my Econ grade.
I had the best time in NYC!!! (Posts from my trip are coming along... slowly.) I've pretty much decided that I wouldn't want to live in Manhattan unless I had a high paying job. But I'll buy a condo or studio and chill there when I want a vacation :)

It's been such a great year. For one thing, you know how people say that it's better to have a few good friends than many friends who aren't that great? Well, I'm glad to say that even though I don't make friends easily, I have some of the best friends ever! Too bad a few of them live on the other side of the country, but at least technology brings us together :)

So now for what I hope in 2011

Learn to love what I don't love
Communicate my thoughts and ideas more clearly
Be more social
Network

Um, I'm supposed to finish writing my resume and I need write an important email... so here's the last thing for you guys. I always look forward to DJ Earworm's United State of Pop at the end of each year!

End of the (School) Year

2011-12-17T23:04:00.000-05:00

My first semester of college is over!!! :) On my way home, I was thinking how fast it flew by. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the first few months. Everything seemed overwhelming bc I had to stay on top of all the work, tests/quizzed, studying, and other miscellaneous things. I was seriously condering on transferring, but after giving it a lot if thought, I came to the conclusion that everything at Clemson will get better once I give it a chance. And as it turns out, I've met fun and some of the most interesting people here. This diagram literally defines every collge student -

It's all sleep and study for me... aka no life :( But, honestly, I think it will be worth it in the end. Which two do you choose? Oh, in fact, I have all A's for this semester!!!!!! except in Economics I got a B :'(

So I have something exciting to show you guys!

Yep, it's my Christmas AND birthday gift from my parents. They actuallygot it for me on Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday). Talk about getting it a month before Christmas and my birthday... I think only Asian parents do that (consistently). Oh well, I don't mind it so much since my birthday is about 2 weeks after Christmas. I'm just really excited that I can read books now without having to walk to a bookstore. Well, I'm not that lazy, but I can find a larger variety of books online.I bought 3 books on Cyberspace Monday since they were on sale on Amazon.

The Way of the Panda

"How the extraordinary impact of the panda—from obscurity to fame—is also the story of China’s transition from shy beginnings to center stage"

Why We Believe in God(s)

"A succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief"

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This book is about an old dog named Enzo who is "frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs". Basically, the story is told through his point-of-view. It has a 4.5/5 star rating on Amazon! I bought it as soon as I read one page of the excerpt. The writing is so detailed and beautiful! kinda just like how I'd imagine what a dog thinks about all the time.

I love Murakami's books because he's so imaginative and unafraid to write about whatever he finds fit for his stories. He's writing style never bores me, which is a plus for someone (like me) who gets bored with reading books that take what seems like forever to get going (aka 拖拖拉拉).

I was really excited when I heard that his most recent book, 1Q84, was a national bestseller in Japan and was going to be released in October. I got a 7 chapter sample of the book through the Google Reader app. Yea, that's a lot of chapters, but this book is actually composed of 3 volumes, 79 chapters total, 900+ pages (the size of a textbook). I downloaded the ebook version and I might get the hardback version. It's a great read!

It's day 3 of my stay in Manhattan (or NYC, for those who don't know that they're the same place). So far I've been to some great places for shopping!! - Woodbury Outlet, Spring St, Broadway (the shopping district, not the theater district). I've done more looking than shopping, but I've bought a few cool things. I'll post pictures of them when I go back home. I think I'm going to 5th Avenue tomorrow along with Central Park, if it doesn't rain.

I got that super sonic boom

2011-11-30T13:09:00.001-05:00

Watch this video. It's totally worth 7.3 minutes of your life. The dance crew is the Poreotics! They won on the 2010 show of America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC). Words can't even describe how good they are, and they dance to a number of different genres...at a wedding! In fact, at an Asian wedding! Must've been the coolest wedding ever. btw, watch it to the very end. The little boy owns the dance floor!

Guess what?! My hair is finally to the middle of my back!! Too bad I might have to cut it when I go back to NYC during winter break :'( As in to my shoulders... We'll see, but I guess it would be good to get a new hairstyle(?) I already have a style in mind that would suit me, since I despise having short hair. I wanted my hair to be long since I want a digital perm (as in big, subtle waves), but I've kinda chickened out about it. Maybe when I have longer hair. This is what I'd want, but a little less curly -

Oh, I still have yet to try out waterfall braids. They look really cool -

I'm not sure when I'll upload the pics I took in New York. I left my camera at home because I knew I wouldn't have time to take pics for the next few weeks.

Visitors - Super Sonic Boom

Nothing is Forever

2011-11-13T23:00:00.001-05:00

Today was pretty awful. I won't go into too much detail because some of it is very personal, but I do want to address an important topic.

This morning at 10, when I was only half asleep, my mom called me and told me my aunt passed away last night. My first reaction - WHAT?! I hadn't heard about my aunt being sick or having serious health problems. I remember when she called me just a couple weeks ago, she was sounding so cheerful. She told me that she was babysitting a dog, which is considered a milestone for my aunt because she has a fear of them. Just the fact that she was enjoying taking care of the dog made me feel so happy for her. But it's just like what my mom told me over the phone (and what we always hear about) - you never know when someone will pass away. You always think that they are going to live forever because they're always around. But once they are gone, you suddenly realize how much you wish they were around, how you wished you spent more time with them, how you regret something you did to or with them.

I remember 3 years ago when I talked to her for the first time in months. She told me that she had converted to Buddhism and was now living in a temple as a monk. She also became a vegetarian a while ago and had lost weight. I could hear from her voice how happy she was now, and I just felt so glad for her. I know she never had an easy life, moving from Hong Kong to the bustling Chinatown in Manhattan and having to deal with the hectic life there and in Brooklyn. In the past, she'd tell me all these funny stories about me when I was little. She'd always make me laugh. Sometimes her stories were complaints about her coworker, which I tended to zone out on because she'd go on and on for an hour about it.

The worst thing that happens when a person close to you passes away is thinking "I wish I had..." and "If he/she were still here, I would...". Again, we always forget that one day everyone is going to die. Instead of wishing you could change the past, treasure the moment today. Don't do something that you'll regret. In fact, "Live life with no regrets" is the motto I now live by. It wasn't because I read a list of cliche inspirational quotes like "Live life to the fullest" or "Love conquers all". In fact, it didn't even hit me until today that I was living by a quote...and it's now my life motto.

It started during the summer when I was thinking about how I have so many regrets because I was too shy or didn't study enough or didn't put enough effort towards something. I was so tired of it that I just thought, "I need to change this." So whenever I was faced with decisions, whether it's something small, like deciding if I should spend some money, or something significant, like choosing whether or not I should drink, I always asked myself, "Would I regret it in the future?" Just thinking about it actually made me enjoy my summer in Taiwan so much more. In fact, it's made me become better at time management in college. I almost don't even have a problem with procrastination anymore, which is a huge accomplishment for me because I was such a slacker in high school. There was only one time I had to stay up past 2AM for three days writing a 2,500 word rough draft of an important research paper. And it's all because I had such a problem with procrastination in the past. I'd end up thinking, "omg, WHY didn't I start this essay earlier?" or "I should've started studying for the test earlier". I think that if continued the bad high school habits in college, I'd probably be 5x more stressed then I already am.

To sum it up, keep those you love and trust close to your heart, because you never know when they will pass away. Try to spend as much time with your family as possible now, especially your parents, because in the future, when you have a job and your own family, you won't be able to be to see them much except maybe once or twice a year at the most. It's going to be even rarer when your whole family will be together (unless you're an only child...). As for your relatives, get to know them. I'm glad to say that even though I wish I talked to my aunt more often, I'm still glad that I spent my life enjoying my times with her.

小書姑姑, 我會永遠想念你, 我會永遠愛你.

Love,

君君

Lost OST - Life & Death

Do It Like This

2011-11-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

I took a break and made this for a contest on Polyvore. Just something chic that I could pull off. I love shades of teal with grey (as you can see from my blog layout). Actually, I think a majority of colors look good with grey.

I haven't been feeling well since last night. No, I'm not sick, I'm just not mentally feeling well (if that even makes sense). Everything seems to always be mashed together. I had put together a to-do list on my phone, and I have 10 items on it, all of which are related to school. Most of it isn't even due until later next week. So far I've finished half of it. Still, I feel like a work-a-holic and weekends are my only time when I can sleep-in until 11. I know I always look tired so I use makeup. I don't like putting on makeup everyday. It's not even excessive - just BB cream, eyebrow kit, and sometimes mascara - but I have to. I need to go somewhere chill, like a cafe. I would order some hot chocolate (I don't normally drink anything coffee related) and sit at a table with a good book.

Time for dinner! and more schoolwork.

Alors on Danse

2011-10-19T01:29:00.003-04:00

Fall break was over too quickly! *sad face* I was somewhat productive. The first two days of break, my mom woke me up at 9 AM when I told her beforehand that I don't want to be woken up because I seriously need my sleep. I ended up taking at least five short naps throughout those two days. But she figured it out eventually when she woke me up at 11 AM on the other days. I've figured out that I feel refreshed from a nap if I don't nap for more than an hour, I wake up without the aid of anything or anyone, I dream, or I suddenly wake up in fear that I slept for too long.

One of my big accomplishments was transcribing "Come Back to Me" by Utada Hikaru. I wrote it with Noteflight, which took FOREVER because I was basing it almost entirely on this arrangement I found on YouTube because it's so good, and after I finish writing a section, I'd listen to it over an over again to see if it flows. Finalizing it took a long time as well because I wanted to make sure that everything sounded nicely and the music itself looked ok. The crazy thing is that the entire time I was writing it, I never used the piano to try out chords or sections. very risky indeed. I didn't bother putting in the pedal markings just so the MIDI will sound nice when people listen to it, so it sounds choppy and weird in some parts.-

I had so much good food! Duck, steamed purple yams, soondae (Korean sausage), cake (because my family celebrated my sister's birthday early), different soups, a Cantonese dish my dad made, and some other stuff. My food supply in my dorm is now restocked! I was given lots of fruits, soy milk my mom made, Chinese food that I keep in the fridge or freezer, and some yummy snacks. yay!

I'm seriously considering studying abroad next year. I really hope I get to. I always have an urge to travel to somewhere out of South Carolina once a year. It's my form of excitement since I don't have my own car and I don't really like driving. I still haven't really decided on where yet, either Japan or somewhere in Europe. I know that I can study at University of Tokyo, which would be amazing! but I'll need to take at least two semesters of Japanese and have a minimum GPA of 3.5. There are a number of other universities around for my major. I just have to do some research on them and narrow down the list.

um..so the title had absolutely nothing to do with this post. But then again, the titles for my posts don't usually have anything to do with the subject of my posts lately. oh wells. I like saying alors on danse, "so we dance". It's what I'm currently listening to. Lately I've been listening to French songs, especially the ones that are mellow (I love Joyce Jonathan) or pop/dancey.

Stromae - Alors on Danse

Experimentation

2011-10-15T23:02:00.001-04:00

I recently bought a Moleskin sketchbook! I got this one instead of a regular Moleskin because I read reviews on how the paper from the sketchbook one is like thin bristol board, which means it's thick enough to even use some watercolor on and still not warp the paper. It turns out that it's true! Well, I haven't tried using watercolors on it yet, but I'm excited that no matter how much ink I put on the paper or how much pressure I put on the page, it doesn't show through the back of the page at all!!

Here are some of the sketches I did this week. Please keep in mind that I haven't actually drawn or sketched anything in well over a year, so they aren't superb or anything.

Can't complete a post without my baby Teddy! ♥

La Roux - Bulletproof

I saw this on the page where I found the video to embed above -

"Bruno Mars had a Grenade, and Tiao Cruz had Dynamite, so they both threw them at Katy Perry who exploded like a Firework. The bang was so loud that the Black Eyed Peas forgot The Time, while Rihanna had memory loss and ran around saying Whats My Name.Eminem looked around and said Im Not Afraid, then Willow Smith began to Wip Her Hair, which started a Far East Movement. They then crashed their G6 into a club and stopped Party Rocking. Luckily for Nelly it was all Just a Dream"

Freakin' Weekend

2011-10-02T21:15:00.000-04:00

I think I'm going crazy being stuck in my dorm. Half of me wants to go walk outside. The other half of me just wants to stay in my room because it's not hot like it is outside. But I only get tired of staying here when it's Saturday. I want to be productive, but I can't because I don't feel like taking notes on 20+ pages of the next chem or econ chapter. Which reminds me, maybe I should start writing my research paper on global warming (for English class) that's due November 2nd -.-

I really miss city life. I miss walking around aimlessly. I miss discovering shops that I didn't come across the last time I walked down that street. I miss the randomness in making new friends in a city. I miss the energy from the busy parts of the city. I miss walking from shop to shop, finding something I liked and buying it (if the price was resonable. If not, I made a mental snapshot of it or jotted down the products' company name to search it on Google later). I miss wearing chic clothes that make me feel proud because no one ever cares in the city.

I miss that kind of life. But one day, when I have enough money, you will find me wandering the streets of a city. Content, ecstatic, independent me.

p.s. Karlie Kloss is gorgeous. I love the photo above.

Brain Drain

2011-09-28T23:01:00.000-04:00

I can't wait until my profs start teaching material that's not basic info, except for math. I hate the online math homework. But seriously, I can't wait until we get to actually build stuff in my CES (intro to engineering) class. I love hands-on projects, but for the past month up until we took the first exam, we've been learning about...dimensions, conversions, units (that I deem as useless, like slugs and BTU), and some physics-y stuff such as force, weight, energy, power, efficiency, and the different pressures.This week we get to chill and listen to professors from different engineering departments talk about their field, since everyone's major in CES is currently General Engineering, even if you know for sure what kind of engineering you want to major in. Then next week, we get to learn how to use Excel -.- rawr. But for my other classes, it's been pretty chill, unless I don't understand something. I finally completely understand chem because now I know why certain things happen, why something is the way it is, and how everything is interrelated. I love my English class. My prof is a college grad student at my college, but she's really good at teaching and she's super chill. Plus, since she's close to our ages and not some ancient adult, she likes to use YouTube videos and pictures from the internet to teach us how to analyze them for our papers. Her class is never boring and I always feel relaxed when I'm there.

I haven't played piano since the first week of school T^T I miss it a lot. Hopefully I'll get my lazy butt out of my dorm this weekend to walk (for 10 min -.-) to the practice rooms. I'm currently teaching myself Chopin's Fantasie Impromtu in c-sharp minor. I think Valentina Igoshina plays and expresses it the best.

OMG I found the perfect camera bag today! and no, this time I don't mean a bag that can fit my dslr in it :)

They are so perfect. Both are designed by ONA. I swear it's so difficult for girls to find camera bags that are chic and stylish but not so bulky and too girly looking. I love how the men's messenger camera bag is also cool enough for girls to carry around. Plus both could double as a everyday bag when you take out the inserts. At least I know that I rarely carry around an extra lens, so if I were to carry either bag, it wouldn't look as bulky as it does in the pictures. It's so pricey though!! :( I know, I know, I can just buy a sturdy messenger bag or satchel that's much less expensive. But hey, it would be nice to have an actual camera bag that's stylish!

d'awww, so cute! from here.

I guess you can say that I'm in a happy, relaxed mood right now. It was beautiful today, my classes were easy, I finished my first round of exams as of last night, and I had a fruit yogurt parfait for lunch!

muy delicioso!

You might've noticed that the pics' backgrounds are more blurred then usual. Well, I went home this past weekend and asked my dad for a manual camera lens with a low f-stop (he only has manual lenses -.-). So he gave me one that was f/1.9! It's really good, despite the fact that it needs to be manually adjusted, but at least my camera can use both digital and manual lenses.

sooc, self-portrait I took today while eating lunch in my dorm. rawr, blurriness, but I kinda like it.

That's it for tonight. I need to go do something productive. I've been quite lazy today.

peace out

Hey, Love

2011-09-26T00:45:00.001-04:00

Vienna Teng - Gravity

This is the fate you've carved on me
The law of gravity
This is the fate you've carved on me
On me

One of my two favorite songs. Ever. It's soothing and means so much to me.

p.s. The anime shown is The Place Promised in Our Early Days, which is totally worth watching

You know I know what you don't know about me

2011-09-16T14:49:00.003-04:00

I found this thing on tumblr, and it's pretty legit. I should be studying because I have 3 exams next week D: but hey, it's FRIDAY and my afternoon class was cancelled!!!

1. a famous person i’ve been compared to.
Zhang Zi Yi. Apparently I look like her when I have my bangs pinned up and hair pulled back.

2. 5 things that irritate me about the same sex/opposite sex.
1) People who think they know everything
2) People who are cocky all the time
3) Girls who say the word "like" too often. Learn how to communicate better!
4) People who don't throw away their own trash.
5) People who have the smell of smoke or weed on them.

3. the best thing that has happened to me this week.
I discovered that the ice cream machine in the cafeteria near my dorm is actually a froyo machine!!! I'm lovin' the strawberry froyo.

4. weird things i do when i’m alone.
uh...play music from my laptop. Most of the time it's energetic music. Other times it's chill music, like classical music and stuff by Joyce Johnathan and Charice.

5. how i’d spend ten thousand bucks.
ok, so that's pretty much 1 yr tuition right thar :D But if it wasn't for college or anything related to it, I'd get a beautiful new camera along with 2 lenses (telephoto + 50mm f/1.4), buy some books, including the expensive ones (like the fashion ones, color/design ones (industrial, product designs)), get the Mulberry Alexa and Proenze Schouler PS2, save a few thousand bucks, and give the rest to my parents.

6. things i like and things i don’t like about the way i look.
unfair question because people are always critical about themselves, but...
What I like: facial structure, hair (on most days)
What I don't like: nose, height

7. my last night out in detail.
See #14

8. something that makes me sad when i think about it.
Grades

9. something i’ve lied about.
How much I like something

10. would i rather be stranded on a desert island with someone i love for ten years or someone i hate for a month? explain why.
Someone I hate for a month. You can get off the island in a month and I know how to deal with people I hate. Personally, I wouldn't want to be stuck on a desert island for 10 years.

11. something i’m currently worrying about.
Next week's exams

12. something i do without realizing.
Breathe

13. lyrics that apply to my current situation/mood.
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go

14. a drunken story.
The last night I was with my teaching group in Taiwan, we went to the night market and 7-eleven, where we bought drinks. Legal age for drinking in Taiwan is 18 btw. After our adventure, we went back to the hostel and chilled. Nina drank too fast and got drunk, which means she asked and repeated dumb questions and laughed a lot. And said a bunch of nonsense like "THE ROOM IS SPINNING IN HALF CIRCLES!!!! :D". No, I didn't get drunk :P I just got tipsy and giggly and fell asleep sitting sideways against the wall...

15. something i regret.
Not applying for enough scholarships

16. post a picture of myself.
[see previous post]

17. things you want to do before you die
Design and sew a dress, go on vacation somewhere with my sister, get paid to do a photoshoot

18. post a bit of my last IM convo.
Me: avigne!!! omg you're finally back in the states!
when did you get to sd [San Diego]?
Avigne: haha today
Me: nice :)
how was your trip to Thailand?
Avigne: crazy
haha
we even went to a pub there
and went back to hotel at 3

19. 5 things i want to change.
1) The cafeteria food at college
2) My to-do list
3) The weather
4) The nail polish color I'm using
5) The amount of time I have

20. someone i’d like to be for a day and why.
One of those really good DJs at clubs, because I want to know what it's like to play/mix music for people, making everyone happy and excited when you drop a good beat.

21. things within touching distance.
calculator, laptop, chem textbook binder, black pen, headphones

My Way

2011-09-06T22:10:00.002-04:00

shirt and skirt by Abercrombie | shoes by Coach

You know what else I love about college? No dress code! Enough said.

I realized that I hadn't put up any Korean music in a while, so here's a song I found today by SS501. I really like it.

SS501 - Love Ya

Yum

2011-09-05T12:23:00.002-04:00

My mom bought me hi-chews <3

Memories

2011-09-04T20:34:00.004-04:00

I saw this posted on Facebook by Oryza. You must watch it. Right now.

This is the epitome of why I absolutely love cinematography and want to get into it. The acting is bad in some places since it's a serious convo between two people, but the gorgeousness totally makes up for it.

My thoughts on the video - having memories of things that never existed almost seems like daydreaming to me. Sometimes it can be so vivid that you could tell someone and you could convince that person and yourself that it happened when it never did. Of course, having a memory of something that never existed is easier if you have been to the place before and such. But I like to create new settings and different people in my mind. It could be such a sad memory that it makes me want to cry. Or it could be an anxious memory about walking around Manhattan by myself (which hasn't happened yet, but I could BS my way through telling someone how that went). Granted that real memories are better than made-up ones, but still, wouldn't it be interesting to have a memory that doesn't or hasn't existed?

P.S. - 2 posts in one day. I'm so cool.

This is the Life

2011-09-04T18:08:00.005-04:00

College life has been pretty decent so far. I love the freedom and independence. and the fact that I haven't procrastinated at all yet. I always manage to finish homework and reading/taking notes on the next chapter at least a day before the class. whoohoo, better time management!! I love waking up later too. My earliest class on Tuesdays and Thursdays is at 9:30 and my earliest class on M, W, F is at 10:10, so I get to wake up at 8:30 and slowly move about.

I think my dorm is pretty decent. It's really small compared to the suites and the rooms in the dorm that used to be a hotel, but I don't need 400 sq ft of space. At I have a walk-in-closet!! and a sink!

I bought this in Atlanta before I left for college. Isn't it cute? It's a Chinese dictionary that has traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, and zhu ying fu hao.

boom sucka!! It's the gorgeous Kate Moss on Vogue's September issue. I got this the day before moving into college so that I could just flip thru the pages when I'm bored.

Party People

2011-08-30T16:18:00.003-04:00

I decided to listen to the Club Mix & Party Songs youtube playlist today. I rarely listen to youtube playlists, but I gotta say that this playlist was really good. The video above is totally worth listening AND watching.

Short post for today. My next one will be on college, k? :)

oh oh, guess who's Portrait/Model Editor and Landscape Editor for my college's Photography Club? meeeeeee! I found out today.

Now's the Time

2011-08-19T23:51:00.006-04:00

Ever since I've gotten back from Taiwan, I've been insanely busy. It has mostly been with getting ready for college and rushing to finish many little things like sending out important emails. But there were good times, like getting a new dress today (a cute halter!), chilling with my sister, and taking long naps.

I can't believe I'm going off to college tomorrow, starting a new chapter in my life. It has been a long, adventurous, arduous but fun life so far, and I owe it to my amazing parents and sister ♥

The last photos before I leave tomorrow morning. I took these this morning. gotta love fresh-dew-on-grass pics. mm, yummy bokeh.

Cascada - Everytime We Touch
If you listen to this song, I'd suggest you turn up the volume. It sounds better that way ;)

Each day's a gift and not a given right

2011-08-01T12:58:00.009-04:00

I love how gorgeous Penghu is. I miss it so much!!!!!
Just for the record, all 4 of the pics were taken at a different spot around the islands.

My school, Chihdong Elementary School

Me with my group. I had an incredible 4 weeks with them! The cool thing was that each one of us was good friends with each other. If I ever had a bad day or was too stressed out, they were always able to make me smile and laugh. ah, so many funny memories with them :) Well, then again, we didn't have wifi in the house we lived in, so we talked to pass time. and did lots of laundry -.-

Oh, another interesting thing was that unlike last year where the teacher of my school took care of my group, we had a total of 5 "bodyguards" - Kirk, Lambert, Peter, Derek, and Davan - who bought us food and other stuff we need as well as helping us out with teaching. They're actually military soldiers, but not really because even though males are required by law to serve one year in the military, they don't even carry around guns and just kinda act as security guards at wherever they're assigned to.

Here's a pic of 4 of them. It would've been a great pic, if only Kirk and Nina were looking at my camera... -.-

They were really cool to chill with, always telling us interesting stories and putting up with with us when we trolled them! hahaha. All of them had studied in other countries, including Hawaii, Oregon, Canada, and England, except for one, so their English was pretty decent. According to one of the Deans of the school, we have a lot of "bodyguards" who can speak English this year because apparently none last year's AID group in Penghu could barely speak any Chinese, so there were communication problems. Funny thing is that this year, everyone in my group, except for Flora, was fluent in Chinese :)

Nina - she's the only Asian girl I know who rides horses competitively, shoots frogs, raps, breakdances, finger tuts, and rides on top of friend's cars for fun. so BA

Tiffany and Nina!! Tiffany was my teaching partner. We worked really really well together. When I couldn't think about what to do for teaching plans, she was able to come up with ideas, and vice versa.

One of the numerous self-portraits (or "self-shots" as Kirk and Lambert called them) that Eunice and I did. It all started when we borrowed Kirk's nice Leica camera to take self-shots without him knowing about it. Later we ended up taking self-pics on his camera once a day to troll him.

Nina and I, being so cool

My class, the Crab Class! They were fun to teach. Sometimes their energy got out of hand and I had to use my super angry loud voice to tell them to sit down, but otherwise, even though I was always exhausted at the end of the day, I always looked forward to teaching them. I've figured out that I love teaching kids, but I HATE making up lesson plans. Tiffany and I tried to make each day a bit different because we didn't want them to get bored.

I let my students use my camera pretty much everyday, as long as they always had the neck strap on and I was able to keep an eye on them. didn't want anything bad to happen to my camera because if it was dropped, I wouldn't be getting another camera for a few years.

One of my favorite students, Betty. I actually met her a few days before teaching. She's so cute and fun to be with.

Cactus ice cream. Tastes really good! It's a specialty in Penghu. They also have cactus cake (仙人掌酥).

It's made from a certain cactus that's purple inside

Hopefully the next time I come back to Taiwan, whether it be in 3 years or in 7, I can visit Penghu again and visit my students ♥

Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day

Here we go!

2011-06-26T09:12:00.004-04:00

Finally. A blog post in Taiwan! Just thought I'd put up photos of where I'd been my first week around here. It has been pretty eventful, I'd say, going out to at least one place everyday, even if it's very boring.

I don't know what this place is called in English, but it's basically a memorial for the fallen soldiers.

Changing of the guards (like what they do at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC).

One of the countless flower stands at the Jianguo Holiday Flower Market

Inside the Jianguo Holiday Jade Market

A pretty bracelet I got there. It matches my skin tone, haha. It was the only bracelet I saw that was suited for me; everything else looked suited for adults and people my grandma's age...

I spent two days in Taichung with my grandma, two of her friends, and the baby grandson of one of the friends.

Isn't he so adorable? :) He's such a good kid and quiet, except when he doesn't want to eat. Then it gets ugly...

Old railroad station in the mountains that doesn't run anymore. There was a photoshoot going on there and near the restaurant we ate at for lunch. ahhhh, makes me want to do a photoshoot :( I want to branch out and shoot portraits of others rather than just macro, scenery, and self-portraits.

Outside of the pretty restaurant

Wheat fields are common in Taichung

The next day we went to eat lunch at a nice buffet

There were a few bunnies, a white hen, and a three-legged dog around the courtyard of the buffet. The place is huge, since, it also had a roofed outdoor area to eat.

Later we drove up another mountain and stopped at a mushroom farm along the way for a quick snack. You could pick your own mushrooms there, but it was raining that day so I don't think anyone wanted to do that.

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at a small tea cafe place to rest. One of my absolute favorite part of the trip was visiting this large Japanese style house right next to it. The owners of the tea place rents it out for $40 a night, which I think is really cheap considering how spacious and gorgeous it is inside.

I forgot to take pictures of upstairs :( It's lovely though, like the rest of the house.

One of the bedrooms. You sleep on tatamis, of course :)

I'd love to live there, except I'd rather the location be on a mountain the in US than in Taiwan.

I've been having a great time with my relatives. They're all so chill and we always laugh at each others stupid mistakes, like when my aunt drove 5 of us to see the changing of the guards at 5 PM because she thought it started at that time, but in fact it ENDS at 5 PM. Yes, we were all pissed off at her, but we had a good laugh about it. And like how today when I saw a picture of a windmill, I automatically called it, "龍捲風". I thought I was right, until my cousins corrected me. Turns out I called it "tornado" in Chinese! Everyone laughed so hard. It had totally made sense in my head beforehand because it had the words "twist" and "wind", which describes a windmill!!

Besides taking pics here, I've had a grand time shopping! Everything is so cheap! For example, nice iPhone cases are only around $12, whereas iPhone cases in the US are over $20. Food is cheap too, as are clothes and electronics :)

Anyways, it's getting late. I'll try to post at least once a week!

Sonnet 116

2011-06-13T01:48:00.006-04:00

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose Worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

- William Shakespeare

This has been my favorite for a long time

Nope

2011-06-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

Bruno Mars - Lazy Song

I really don't want to do anything today, but my mom wants me to be useful and act like a mature person aka clean the house and be helpful.

Penghu Islands

2011-06-05T21:50:00.002-04:00

I just found out today where I'll be teaching in Taiwan...in Penghu (澎湖) county!! It's actually a group of tiny islands off the coast of Taiwan. Yes, Taiwan has little islands :)

It's the red parts on this map.

Soooo, I'm going to be teaching near the beach again!!! I'm so crazy excited about it! My mom and dad told me that it's gorgeous there and the water is crystal clear because there isn't as much pollution or people there as the main island Taiwan. Getting there will be interesting though, because the meeting point for all the volunteers is at Taipei, which is in the northern part of Taiwan. My group members and I will probably be taking a bus or train to a harbor, then riding a boat for a few hours. I'm so ready for SEAFOOD there!

just a short post for today. I have lots of pics to go through from June 1st. I might put some of them up.

#1 {With You}

2011-05-27T07:15:00.006-04:00

Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory

I'm on the edge of glory,and I'm hanging on a moment of truth
I'm on the edge of glory,and I'm hanging on a moment with you

This is one of my absolute favorites off of Lady Gaga's new album. Not only is there the deep meaning from the lyrics about your last moment on Earth, the moment of truth, but it's upbeat, pop-dance + jazz kind of song. I'm not a fan of jazz, but just the fact that she combines that into her music makes me happy. Just like how she used the beginning of Czardas by Monti in "Alejandro". Yes, I totally spazzed out when I first listened to that song because I'm such a classical music freak (ok, "Czardas" isn't considered classical, but whatever) and it's such a famous violin piece. Too bad only violinists know it. gotta love them gypsy songs!! I also love it when she sings in different languages, too.

So I hope you guys didn't mind me posting pics with words on them this week. There were some things on my mind when I posted the first one and I decided to just slap words on some photos. Plus I love typography and quotes. I hope you guys also realized that all the pics, except the first one I put up (#5), were ones that I took (last year).

#1 was from May in my backyard
#2 was from March in NYC. Yes, this is what the New York City skyline looks like at 4AM on the Brooklyn Bridge. Gorgeous, huh?
#3 was from February in my front yard
#4 was from July in Taiwan
#5 was for Daniel in reference to this post

In case you were wondering, the posts were counting down to today, FRIDAY

#2

2011-05-26T08:18:00.004-04:00

Adele - Rolling in the Deep

Things I wish to accomplish this summer:

Read The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and Life of Pi
Finish the drawing I started in 2008
Create a short stop-motion film
Write a short story

Let's see how many of these I actually do.

#3

2011-05-25T08:43:00.006-04:00

Norwegian Recycling - All Bad Touches (Come To An End)

Inspiration for the quote, because it's true

#4

2011-05-24T14:05:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I wonder if all of this is worth it

#5

2011-05-23T17:36:00.003-04:00

Jennifer Lopez - Everybody's Girl
My song of the moment

Let There Be Light

2011-05-22T00:20:00.007-04:00

Photos from yesterday and this morning --

I love my doggy

Guess what came in the mail today? The Chanel Mimosa! got it off of Ebay for a good price.

Summer wedges!

I took this 2 weeks ago at the AP/IB exam place, but I just thought that I'd post it here.

I've been so happy these past few days. Why? There's no more school, no more tests, and high school is over. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know I'll be very bored in a few weeks, but at least I no longer need to panic about finishing homework and cramming for the next test for until college starts. I also finally got a chance to clean my room and my desk, so now I have so much space to chill!

Let's Make It Quick

2011-05-16T00:33:00.005-04:00

This is just going to be a short post for tonight. A ramble really. Basically, it feels like things are starting to fall apart. It's the end of the school year, my high school career is coming to an end, but problems keep appearing. I wish everything could be simple again, back to the time when I could live as a carefree person.

Or maybe somethings really aren't my problem. Maybe some things just happen for a reason and it's one of those life lessons that everyone will come across one day or another.

My nails are now Blue Gum blue :)

I was messing around with my photo app on my phone today.

Peace out

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Here Today

2011-04-28T02:17:00.003-04:00

story of my life

Sorry, no legit blog post today. I'm too tired to write, although I gotta say that I'm so glad that I'm finally done with choosing colleges. The process has been quite lengthy, starting from freshmen year. I'm pretty excited about college life, even though I'm not going to where I had hoped, but I think I'll be ok :)

excited for prom~ but then there's 13 AP/IB exams and papers + 5 days of school in May before I'm finally OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL!!!

On the Floor - JLo ft Pittbull
This has been on repeat on my computer today. It's a great song to dance to.

peace out

My Dilemma

2011-04-20T20:17:00.007-04:00

For the past 3 hours, I've been in an in-depth discussion with my mom about colleges. By the way the discussion has been going, I think I'll be staying in-state. It makes me want to cry every time I think about that, but I know it's for the best. My mom has already talked to 3 or 4 people on the phone today in regard to colleges because their kids have already studied in college. And what they have said is true - what people, companies, and industries care most about is the final college you attend. If you graduated from MIT with a PhD, no one's going to care about where you went to for undergrad and grad school. For me, I know for sure that I will be going on to grad school.

I guess the biggest mistake I've made in high school was not making the best possible grades and getting a higher SAT/ACT score. That way I would've had a greater chance at having a better financial aid package from colleges. Possibly even full tuition from the in-state colleges. Overall, money has been the biggest factor. If I could make money grow on trees right now, I would grow a forest of them. Seriously. If only the education system in the US was like the education system in all other countries, where the best schools are public with little or no tuition (since it's paid by the government).

But I won't dwell on the past.

Right now, the school I want to go to the most is U of R. No, there's not much in the city and the skies tend to be gray for most of the year due to the heavy amount of snowfall (lol!), but I love their academic program: non-traditional "liberal arts" program, the freedom to choose any class you want to take as long as it corresponds with your major.

I don't know. Maybe things will change. College decision wise. But as of now, I have 10 days until College Decision Day.

Back to Reality

2011-04-04T01:41:00.006-04:00

Weekend photos

I went to the mall to see if there were other prom dresses that suit my fancy. There weren't. Looks like I'll be wearing my pretty wisteria colored one! pics below from BCBG.

furrrrrr <3

omg this is probably one of the coolest fabrics I've seen! :D I love fabrics. BCBG has some of the best.

lol Teddy's glaring at me. He was snoring and I used flash when taking a pic of him. muahahaha!

My mom found Hi-Chews at the local Vietnamese store!!!! I thought they were only sold in Taiwan, but somehow they're sold at the Viet store too.

sorry about this being blurry. I have other non-blurry Chanel pics, but I'll put them up sometime in the future. They're cooler than this one, btw :)

Eminem - Lose Yourself
This is one of my favs by Eminem. The title of this post is from a small part in the rap.

In Being a Wallflower

2011-03-27T22:04:00.009-04:00

I discovered the perfect song for a girl who wants to confess to a guy! or vice versa.

Charice - The Truth Is

Just listen to the lyrics. They seem to express exactly what a person wants to say for a confession. Yes, the lyrics might sound cliche. Yes, it would be different for a person to confess via a song (that they didn't write) rather than through the traditional means. um, Yes, I have read way too much shoujo manga... BUT, this would be appropriate for a quiet, shy wallflower who's seeking to reach out to someone. or for anyone, really. But especially for a wallflower.

Thoughts in their head

I’m a wallflower. I watch and wait, but my voice is nothing but a whisper. I can see the hurt behind your eyes; I feel it too. I want you all to be happy. I’ll comfort you when no one else can. I’ll be your wallflower, and bloom when you’re around. I wont say a word, even when I feel as if I’ll burst. I’ll be loyal and true to you. I’ll keep all of your secrets. I’ll be your wallflower, even when I wilt.

- livingwithlanterns

I know that we've all met a wallflower before, that one person who seems to be socially awkward, never speaking in class, sometimes having trouble keeping eye contact with the person they talk to. Their small voice doesn't help them much; the bolder voices seem to always take over. At parties and school dances, they stand at the sidelines, watching others. In school, they listen to the casual conversations floating about at their table. Always watching. Always listening.

We tend to judge them negatively and thus we ignore them. But the truth, sometimes, they turn out to be interesting people. Sometimes, you'd be surprised to find that wallflowers are quite interesting and knowledgeable people. Wallflowers are observers. They don't openly judge someone or something.

Here's one thing we can learn from a wallflower: sometimes you can learn more about someone when you keep silent for a few minutes and just listen (not eavesdrop) and observe.

P.S. I no longer read manga. I'm finally over my manga addiction.

Don't Think Too Much

2011-03-20T23:41:00.010-04:00

My sister had a chemistry homework in which she had to make a supersaturated solution and take many pictures as evidence. I had fun helping her out.

I was searching for some nail polish that my mom has, and guess what the name of this fun nail polish is? Red Holographic Enamel. Plain name, but the color is striking. so BA.

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

These were photos I took this week.

The title is from that one line from Lady Gaga's Love Game. There isn't a significant meaning behind it here. I was listening to Chew Fu's remix of that Lady Gaga & Marilyn Manson for Love Game. Listen to it. sick remix.

This Was Forever

2011-03-03T01:56:00.009-05:00

Amel Bent - Ou Je Vais

old photo that I decided to edit. btw, I know it looks like I'm wearing eye makeup, but I'm not.

New layout + Batteries!

2011-02-18T21:33:00.008-05:00

Horray I have a new layout! I think I had my other one for over a year. I definitely learned more about CSS/HTML when I worked on this layout. It's fairly different from the original. I coded/edited in good ol' Notepad, although halfway through this project, I discovered Notepad++. It's just like regular Notepad but you can specify what language you're coding in (ie CSS), which causes it to color the classes and stuff so you can differentiate between them all. The best thing is that now you can navigate back to older posts (which you can see in the sidebar). I couldn't figure it out for the longest time until I saw another person who had that on their blog, and after some modifications, I have it lookin' all nice and pretty. Boom sucka!

My dad bought me new rechargeable batteries off Ebay!!
As you can see these are 3 volt, Li-ion batteries. These should last me for a good 2 or 3 years. My previous set of batteries were a measly 1.2 volt -.- I had 3 sets of 4 of them (12 total), and they died recently after 1.5 years of continuously using them.

I know it's pretty silly that I'm ecstatic about getting rechargeable batteries, but if you own a dslr that requires 4 AA batteries, you understand what I have to go through: fear that the batteries will die after about 30-50 shots (without flash). My dslr freaking eats batteries.

I found this great cover of "Down" by Jay Sean by the Netherlands rock band, Destine. I like their accent :)

I'll always remember

2011-02-16T23:10:00.004-05:00

I will always remember the moments mixed a surge of emotions - shock, bliss, on-the-verge-of-insanity, delirious, disappointment, epiphany, heartbreak, relief. oh, and that feeling where you feel like you just conquered the world. It's what makes us human. Our life is like a piece of paper. When we're born, the paper is white and blank. As our life is filled with those moments, no matter how complex or how difficult they are, sections on the paper are filled up, colored up. The moments that stand out more on the paper are what we remember best. Sometimes I wish I could see that paper and remember all, well most, of what happened in the past. But for now, I'll just remember the happy moments.

Today was a good day :) Except now I'm studying for a bio test that I will fail tomorrow. ugh.

"Love looks good on me"

2011-02-14T01:59:00.010-05:00

Coincidences and Consequences

She hums softly.
She’s already forgotten the words he taught her.
But the song is catchy, and it’s stuck in her head.

He stumbles a bit and bumps into her.
Have I met you before?
The question goes unanswered but you can see him thinking it over in his mind.
She brushes him off and walks away.

Later.
She is sitting in a photobooth.
Staring blankly at the camera, she should be used to having her picture taken
But she cringes at the flash.
He walks by, holding another girl’s hand.
Their eyes connect and it’s there again:
Some kind of crackling electricity.
Where have I met you before?
He turns away and puts his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders.

A Month.
It is cold.
Her gloves aren’t enough to fight the sting of the winter chills.
Her grip is tight on the ropes of the swing.
She has twisted herself around, and around
She lets go.
The world is bright and fuzzy and spinning.
When the motion stops, she is breathless. He is standing before her.
She blinks. Could it be? A spark of recognition.
I know you.

A Year.
Sitting in front of a stack of books,
(Sitting in front of a cold cup of coffee)
He waits
(She waits)
For what, they don’t know.
A line from a poem
(A note scrawled on a napkin)
I have to find you.

At an airport terminal,
She sits waiting for her plane.
She does not know where she is going, only that is far far away.
He buys a paper at the newsstand, takes the only empty seat.
He looks up in acknowledgment.
Their eyes meet.
It’s you.

The boarding announcement is called,
They are on different flights
Bound for different places.
She stands up.
He clears his throat.
She tilts her head and for a moment…
She sees what it means to be with him.
She sees a future, and a family.
(Is that what I want? She asks herself quietly)

She turns around and walks away.
And for a moment,
He thinks about going after her.

But only for a moment.

- written by my friend Kara

“People keep telling me that I fall in love too easily- that I should protect my heart, that I shouldn’t wear my heart on my sleeve… I fall in love at least 20 times a day. I fall in love with the sky and the sun and the flowers and my children. I fall in love with smiles, with music on the radio and with french fries and Dr. Pepper. I fall in love with the sound of laughter, blue jeans, accents… Sometimes I fall in love with complete strangers, especially the ones holding hands and kissing in public. The ones who aren’t afraid to be in love with the idea of being in love either… I don’t mind the pain of unrequited love so much, because I think they’re wrong. Love looks good on me.”

— Natalie Anne Erlanson

Valentine's Day. The national holiday in which we spend time with whom we love aka girlfriend & boyfriend, husband & wife. How do we define "love"? A majority of us will define it as a strong attraction to another person. But love, as Natalie Anne Erlanson once said, can be anything that you have a passion for. It's not just loving a human being. We fall in love with so many things that we don't account for on Valentines Day. What about the sunshine, a good movies, soup, the ocean? For all those out there who are just chilling at home by themselves, go outside and enjoy something you love today.

---
This is possibly the cutest, sweetest thing that I've ever read on my tumblr dashboard.

Today was crappy for me just because I was so exhausted that I could barely think at all. BUT there were some good moments. The best one? haha, I can't exactly state it here (unfortunately), but lets just say that...it makes me stop and think about what has happened since last week. I think that there's something going on that makes me pretty...curious as to what might be happening. and yes, it's about particular person.

SOTD

a beautiful, old song by DBSK. It's even better if you understand a bit of Japanese.

Sorry for the long post. I was originally going to a post on something ridiculous like last's year's VDay post, but I couldn't find that epic thing I was going to put in my post.

Happy Valentine's Day!

So you think it's special?

2011-01-29T16:25:00.008-05:00

Within this past month, I have been asked by a few people about whether or not I want to major, or even minor, in Photography in college. My answer? No. Here's why: over these past few years, I've come across many people online who take incredible photos but they aren't professionals or photography majors. I have come across blogs of medical and engineering students, such as Miaoyuan Wang and Jean Fan, who are talented photographers. Then there are the self-taught pro photographers whom I highly admire, especially Zhang Jingna and Tori. In other words, I know that I can still pursue this hobby without feeling restricted and being constantly criticized by a professional as to how my photos should be composed. Trust your own judgment, and learn through trial and error. Besides, I've gone on the sites of famous art schools in the US to check out their student gallery for Photography, and they aren't that great.

In other words, what's the point in majoring in Photography when it's possible to create beautiful compositions (pics) by doing it yourself? I honestly don't think that taking photography classes will be able to help you develop your own style. A person has to constantly take pictures and they can learn how to better compose their shots by studying other photographers works, but not just through photos by pros from National Geographic. It's by viewing the photos by everyone: bloggers, fashion photographers who make photoshoots artsy, talented amateurs, etc. I guess the good thing about majoring/minoring in Photography as opposed to being an independent photographer would that you'd have access to all the expensive studio equipment, like those flash umbrellas and reflectors.

And then there are the photographers who think they're great, but aren't. They don't have an eye for photography, so while their photos may seem pretty to the general public, they seem pretty bland to someone who has eye for aesthetics. Maybe it's the lens they use... Basically, I'm talking about the students on Facebook who create their own fan page under "*insert name* Photography". It's funny when I browse through their pics and photoshoots because most of the time, they aren't good, but their friends all comment on the person's album/photos, saying "You're a talented photographer!" "I love you're work! They're very pretty!". Umm, yea, the photos look great because the person heavily photoshopped it and decided to put a colored filter on the photo. Otherwise, the photos are so...normal. Nothing special, nothing that catches the eye.

I'm not saying that I'm a good photographer, because I'm not. I don't have much time to take pics. But I just find it funny when a person thinks they're awesome at photography when in the real world, they aren't. It's good that they're trying their best, butttt...from their pics, they still aren't that great. Good luck to you peeps.

idk about the title either. I just type whatever comes to mind that kinda fits in with the post.

SOTD

Gummy - There is no Love

Why I ♥ Exams

2011-01-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

Taking exams have been the greatest joy among students since the Sui Dynasty (518-618) in China introduced the Chinese Imperial Examination System. Students who wished to obtain a position in the Chinese government spent three days in a cramped room, writing essays after essays for their exam, in hopes that they can live a better life away from their small time. Of course, at present day, students are not locked in a tiny room by themselves when completing an exam. Instead, the class stays in the classroom with their teacher and typically has the limited time of approximately two hours to finish numerous questions.

I love exams. Why not? I have the chance to spend two precious hours of my life on an exam while burning neurons. I always get excited when teachers pass out their exams because I know that no matter what, every day is a good day for me, especially at school.

Here is a breakdown of the great fun that other students and I experience when there is an exam coming up: Teacher tells student what’s on the exam one week prior to it. Student is surprised but delighted that Teacher is covering so much material that Student forgot about. Student slacks off on preparing for exam. Two days before Exam Day, Student studies from dawn to dusk. The night before exam, Light Bulb flickers on in Student’s head. Student understands what is on Teacher’s exam! Exam Day arrives. Student is delirious due to having 3.5 hours of sleep. Nevertheless, Student staggers into classroom with a big smile. Exam is passed out. Student prays to the gods for an A. Student begins answering the 4832 questions. Teacher is sitting in front of computer playing Solitaire. Student is able to answer every question. Exam time is up. Student walks out with others. Everyone loved the exam. Rinse, dry, and repeat for every exam day twice a year.

I have been taking exams since middle school. It is part of the requirements of my job as a student to complete them two times a year. While it might not seem very exciting, it is one of the best things a teenager can do. I mean, why would you not want to read over 500 pages of Biology one night, practice countless Chemistry problems, sleep with the math textbook under the pillow so you learn it through diffusion, have your parents rush you to the nearest Barnes & Noble so you can buy the REA or Barron’s AP French book, write out a simple program in preparation for Computer Science, or watch YouTube videos on the Calvin Cycle because reading about it just isn’t good enough. Studying is a big factor when it comes down to taking exams. It can’t be avoided. But I study because I love exams, just like how I collect rocks because geology is cool.

I love exams so much that if they were eliminated from my current life, I would feel lost in this world, like a flower without leaves or a bee without wings. It is the missing piece to my jigsaw puzzle of life. Everything about exams is so….exciting. The 110% effort that I put into preparing for exams, the joy of sharpening yellow #2 pencils, the sounds of pencils scribbling as the class answers questions, the challenge against the time limit, and the exhilarating feeling of finishing, are all what makes exams so lovable.

Many people have asked me, “Why do you love taking exams so much?” Good question. Well, my love for exams can be compared to a person’s love for running. Depending on the runner’s dedication and time, they will train as often as possible and compete in several marathons a year. Not all marathons are created equal, though. Like the varying difficulty of exams, there are different conditions and length of courses in marathons. The most arduous ones, where runners compete in the heat on a course that seems to last forever, are the most challenging. Exams can be compared to the long marathons. It is the most grueling, most painful test of the entire school year. But you know what? When someone loves to do something, they don’t give up on it. They strive to do better, to come in first place. And when you cross the finish line (aka finish the exam), you throw your hands in the air, do the New Jersey fist pump, run a victory lap, and hug your teacher because the exam was even more exciting than last year’s. When you love something, you work harder for it. It becomes part of you. It makes me feel so accomplished.

Now that I have professed and explained about my love for exams, we now know what a guru I am in preparing for and taking it. So what is the best way to pass exams? You must embrace it with open arms like you do when you hug your mom. Do not treat it like it is one of those liquid, nasty tasting cold medicines. Otherwise, your life will become miserable and exams will haunt you in your sleep. First off, start preparing for examples as early as possible, preferably starting from middle school, by reading all your textbooks cover to cover once a week and by taking notes even during boring, monotonous lectures. Pay attention to the types of questions teachers give on their tests; that is the clue as to the types of questions that will be appearing on their exam. But do you know what the best thing about exams is? Teachers will tell you what will be on it. Bam! Now I know you what to study. Secondly, don’t worry about getting a good night sleep. Studies have shown that even students who fully embrace exams since the beginning of their life still tend to wait until the night before, especially if you are someone like me who loves exams so very much. Thirdly, have fun! I know that if you don’t love exams, it will be hard to do. It’s like trying to pretend you love your aunt’s acrid smelling and tasting green bean casserole she brought to Thanksgiving. However, it is important to love exams, since it will be part of your life all during middle school, high school, college, graduate school, and throughout your life if you want to renew your professional license.

I have come across many hardships in life. Unlike a majority of students that I have met, taking exams has not been one of them. No. Exams are so important to me that I always have the strong urge to prepare for it. Even my typical Asian parents think that it is insane how much I love exams. But it doesn’t matter to me. The fun of study and taking exams gives me the thrills in life.

However, what comes after exams? The more exciting stuff: almost no homework and no need to study for anything over the weekend. As one might think, I miss exams all the time since I don’t get the chance to take it each year, but sometimes I’m just glad to be done with these long, grueling, marathon-like exams.

*NOTE: I hope everyone realizes that this is completely sarcastic and satirical. Over the weekend, after midterms were over, my crazy awesome Chemistry teacher wanted us to write an essay on "Why I ♥ Exams" on 2 pages, single-spaced, 12 pt readable font, and 1-inch margins. I found that pretty fun to write. It's been a long time since I've been able to free write like this for school.

I like it in Black

2011-01-22T16:36:00.006-05:00

woot IB Ball was on Friday! The DJ was really lame, but overall the night was pretty great!

I love my dress. and guess what? It's by BCBG, my favorite brand that I buy from :) But of course, I got the dress during a huge sale.

And yes, I love clothes in black. No, I'm not emo. I just like how black can make you look elegant or edgy while having the ability to make you look slimmer. How many solid colors can do that? Besides, if my clothes was mostly composed of black clothes with some random, colorful pieces like leggings and such, I wouldn't have to spend time thinking about making colors match because it's all black. haha :)

Getting ready for the night was really scary. I decided to practice violin beforehand because I had an audition coming up. I lost track of time, leaving me with about 30 minutes to get ready. The scary thing was that I curled my hair in 20 minutes when it tends to take me about 30 minutes. Not only that, I curled half of my hair in 10 minutes and the other in 5. But at least it didn't look too bad and I only had to put on some concealer to cover up my panda eyes along with a bit of mascara before rushing out the door. whew!

\
I love you Teddy!!

Yesterday, my dad was fixing my telephoto lens.

One of the lens part is really cool. Because the lens has the capability of zooming in from a far distance, it can also be a substitute for macro shots. So essentially, that cool part of the lens is what magnifies. I decided to place a paper crane the size of my thumbnail at the other end and take a picture of it through the lens part.
I was disappointed that the photo didn't come out the way I want it to with strong colors and sharp focus. Instead, I got overexposure and blurs, sometimes even a yellow or blue hue, depending on what setting it was on. Ugh, I can't say this enough: my camera is decent, but nothing beats a Canon or Nikon DSLR. The day I buy a better camera will by my happy day.

I Like it in Color

2011-01-16T18:58:00.003-05:00

I had extra time today, so I went on Photoshop to play around with a few of the pics I took over the past few days. It's just some really really simple Photoshopping. I used Photoshop CS2 and CS4 before I got CS5, and let me tell you, the CS5 is fantastic! I love it.

{You should click on the ones below. I think they look better on black.}

This is titled Big City Dreams because that's where I want to go - to work and live in a big city, be a city girl. I don't really like living in a small city where I have to drive to the nearest big city (Atlanta) to get certain products and food. I like a fast paced life, like that of NYC, LA, Sydney, Taipei, etc.

ugh, midterms are next week! The only ones I'm worried about are History (2 essays for our midterm), Biology, and Chemistry. I hate how colleges can see our midterm grades :( wish me luck!

oh, have you heard Britney's new song Hold it Against Me? I love it! It's good dancing/clubing music~ ;)

which reminds me...IB Ball is this coming Friday! I'm excited! Imma be wearing a lovely black ruched dress. I'll finally get to loosen up and have a little fun ;)

peace out

Bored

2011-01-13T23:47:00.005-05:00

So I like how school has been canceled for the last 4 days thanks to the snow and no state government investment in snow plows, plus we have a 4 day weekend. But I'm pretty bored right now. Yes, I have been kinda diligently studying for my midterm exams, but it's all getting pretty boring. *yawn*

Out of boredom, I created a new blog using Wordpress. idk right now if I'm going to link it here, but if you're a pro at stalking ppl and good at searching for things online, you'll find it ;) So you know how some ppl want to set their blog on private and such? Well, my other blog will be my public private blog. And besides, my blog is slightly messed up because I started it out as a blog for sheet music, and now it's a photoblog. It will be unlikely for me to delete this blog however, so no worries!

These are cool and artistic -

I love love love clean, simple, modern interior design and architecture! Here are some pics of what I would want when I make enough money and start living in an apartment, house, loft, or whatever.

I love this!!!
So as you can see, I like white rooms with accents of other colors.

I want to capture this kind of moment someday. It's difficult for me to take pics with the perfect sun flare (like this pic), but I hope to do so one day!

Hello 2011~

2011-01-01T06:52:00.000-05:00

Summing it Up

2010-12-31T21:31:00.004-05:00

Hi! So it's just 2 more hours until 2010 is over. I had many ups and downs and definitely too many regrets (most being bc of procrastination and extreme laziness). But I just want to highlight the good and bad that occurred in 2010 -

Survived Junior year and passed all my APs (fyeah!)

Became lazier and a larger procrastinator :(

Figured out what I wanted to do as a career

Got a laptop!

and more clothes. I haven't worn most of them bc I'm saving some for college. haha

Became closer to my two besties

Taught in Taiwan. 'nuff said

Met some of the most amazing people at NYLC

Found out online why my DSLR is so crappy. I need a new camera. I'm not kidding.

Had less time for watching movies :(

Started talking to two of my friends from middle school whom I haven't been in contact with for a few years. The other day, I IMed one of them on Skype for 7 hrs straight! yep, when our convo finished, it was 3:30AM -.-

Created a tumblr

I'm currently just about through with college apps!! *throws confetti*
Here's something to show you guys that I've experienced while I've been in this college app process - For my important essays, I have a friend, who just started working as a PA (Physician's Assistant) in Boston, read them. She's an exceptional writer while I'm a mediocre writer. I recently sent her one of my supplement essays --

My first draft

Her comments in red

All that red looks so scary! *cries* It looks much longer than my original paper because she had 2 long suggestions written in. But it's my first draft, which are typically shaky and ugly. The first draft of my Common App essay also looked like this when she corrected it, but by the time she emailed her comments back for it, I had already sent her my 4th draft. She said my 4th draft was much better than the 1st, lol.

anyways, I hope 2010 will be better as I finish high school and move on to COLLEGE! woo hoo!

DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop)

Have a Happy New Year. Bring it on, 2011!

In my pants

2010-12-30T17:23:00.005-05:00

1. Put your music on shuffle (iTunes, iPod, Mp3)
2. When you get your song title, add “in my pants” after the song. YOU MUST WRITE IT NO MATTER HOW FUNNY IT SOUNDS.
3. Do this 20 times.

I'm doing this just for the lolz

Norwegian Recycling - All Bad Touches in my pants

Chromeo - Fancy Footwork in my pants

Brown Eyed Girls - Moody Night in my pants

Brown Eyed Girls - Abracadabra in my pants

BoA - Hurricane in my pants

Far East Movement - Fighting for Air in my pants

2NE1 - Lollipop in my pants

SHINee - Shout Out in my pants

Angela Zhang - 白白的 (White) in my pants

Norwegian Recycling - How Six Songs Collide in my pants

Sugababes - Too Lost in You in my pants

T-ARA - Bye Bye in my pants

Lady Gaga - So Happy I Could Die in my pants

Sistar - Push Push in my pants

BoA - Touched in my pants

SHINee - Life in my pants

Big Bang - Stay in my pants

Da Mouth - King and Queen in my pants

Super Paradise - Someone Else in my pants

Far East Movement - 2gether in my pants

The Paradox of Modern Americans

2010-12-22T20:39:00.003-05:00

We have bigger houses but smaller families,
more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense,
more knowlege, but less judgement,
more experts, but more problems,
more medicines, but less healthiness.
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more
information to produce more copies than ever,
but have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods,
but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.

- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

I read this from here while browsing through Tumblr. This, unfortunately, is true of our world today. More specifically, in America. What once was a simple life in the Land of Plenty, the Melting Pot, the country with "amber waves of grain" and "purple mountain majesties", has now become a more...technology filled place, with the highest number of obese people in the world, greedy businessmen (think Madoff's Ponzi scheme), and a declining rate in the quality of education we give to students. There are homes being built everyday, destroying Mother Nature bit by bit, but do be really really need that many homes? Americans used to be the most intelligent in mathematics and science in the world. Can you believe that? We are now ranked at around 30. How disappointing. I'm not saying that other countries are any better or worse than we are but. But to think how far Americas have come since the mid-18th century...it's both amazing and depressing.

Think about it.

------
Enough ranting. I just had to get this out there.
It's amazing how fast time has passed since I last posted here (Nov. 25). Christmas is right around the corner! I'm not expecting anything from my parents (so asian, haha), but I know my neighbor is getting me college dorm stuff, so I'm pretty excited. Otherwise, I prefer giving gifts rather than receiving.

SOTD

Norwegian Recycling - Technology is Right
It's a mashup by Norwegian Recycling. You should check them out. They make some of the best mixes and mashups of pop songs!

Black Friday + Wish list

2010-11-26T10:10:00.005-05:00

I LOVE Black Friday! It's probably my favorite "holiday" of the year because this year, I stood in line outside Office Depot for an hour to get a good laptop. It's an HP one, although I would've preferred a Toshiba, but hey, it's cheap, light, looks pretty, and has excellent battery life (about 5 hrs).

I know it's kinda early, but here's my Christmas wish list. I'm not expecting to get any of these, but I made it for fun.

Canon 60D

50mm f/1.4 lens
for some serious bokeh

Charlotte Russe Shirt Dress

Hello Kitty "I Love Nerds" laptop case
Actually, any laptop case would do. I just like this one because it's cute.

UPDATE: I got a purple Juicy Couture laptop bag latter today because it was super on sale at the Juicy Couture outlet store! win!

H&M Holiday Collection 2010 sweater

"All about the LC-A" - The Lomo Book Japan

Elecom XCALGO headphones
It's so beautiful *sniff sniff*

Ruched boots from Forever 21

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero Black

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

and of course, I'm not dying to have any one of these because I have everything I need. It's just fun to make this list :)

This is kinda funny. 4 out of the 17 things in the Expectations column has happened in my life (so far). Everything in the other column (14/14) is true, so true. lol all those stereotypical things I thought teens did back when I was in middle school has never occurred to me. I remember back in elementary school reading about how the older students would steal your lunch money. Well, thankfully, that's never occurred to me.

SOTD (Song of the Day)
hehe putting up music for each post is fun

Sarah McLachlan - Angel
such a classic :)

Let's Compare

2010-11-09T22:10:00.003-05:00

Writing college essays is like running a marathon. You start out slowly, trying to ignore all the distractions around you, like the cars whizzing by (or the Firefox icon if you type essays on your computer). There comes a point in time when you push yourself to go beyond your limits to reach your goal. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail. If you procrastinate and decide to start writing (or training) only 2 weeks before the Big Day, you're screwed because you'll be crying inside everyday about why in the word you didn't start earlier. On the plus side, if you have a group of encouraging and helpful friends and people around you, life won't be as painful and you're motivated to do better.

Yes, I am currently screwed with college apps. I finally wrote a beautiful personal essay for Common App and finished my short essay for Oxford, but I still have 6 more ridiculous essays to write, and those are all for the same college D: Yea, I'm crying on the inside.

Let's see, what song should I share today? How about... "She Owns the Dance Floor" by Far East Movement

Listen to the lyrics, it's pretty interesting, especially in the beginning where it talks about a college girl with a 4.0 who becomes "someone else" when she's dancing at the club. haha. I know that kind of thing happens when we go to college XD

peace out

Portfolio

2010-10-29T23:30:00.002-04:00

I finally created a photography portfolio! I decided to use Carbonmade because it's free and is easy to use. Unfortunately, the free version only allows 30 images total and limits the size of pictures in the portfolio. So this will be my portfolio until I am able to create a better portfolio with large pictures.

random video of the day. yes, of course it's kpop ;) man, I wish I could dance well like them.

All this madness + other stuff

2010-09-18T11:04:00.008-04:00

I hate how things are going for me at the moment. It seems like there's much more stuff happening in senior year, and I don't mean the partying and such that other seniors at "normal" high schools go to. More homework, more studying, more gossip floating around...why does this year seem quite different from last year? haha, if I went to a normal high school, I would be able to take classes that I want to take, such as art, maybe a science, just something chill and nonstressful. Actually, I would've graduated last year since I have enough credits.

And the competition. By the time we're juniors, our seniors have basically drilled into our heads "high GPA, leadership, joining clubs/sports, and a good essay will get you into college". True, that's basically the formula to get into college. Too bad not all of us can successfully accomplish all of that. or maybe just me. Because to that get-into-college formula, we need to add "Luck". I know many people who don't believe in luck; instead, they believe everything happens for a reason, that one thing leads to another, and before you know it, good things happen. What happened to believing in luck? Sometimes, the only thing we can rely on when we're under pressure is luck. And that's exactly what I need to get into (a good, out-of-state) college.

On a side note --
R.I.P. "Itty", my neighbor's dog who was put to sleep a few hours ago. She was at the ripe old age of 16. I'm going to miss her.

This pic was taken when she was 12, btw.

I HAVE AN MP3 AGAIN!!!! It's probably one of the most random surprises I've ever gotten. My mom bought one off ebay for $50 cheaper than the original price. I don't think I'll be able to use it anytime soon because my mom believes that I'll be too distracted with an ipod, but that's ok with me. It's so beautiful! :D I've already gone thru a total of FIVE mp3 players. I didn't break any of them, they broke/froze on their own. I should be able to use this new one for a long time. hehe, we'll see how long this one lasts.

Visual styles makes it all pretty

2010-09-15T00:01:00.006-04:00

I just found out that Gaia 10 is finally out!!! yay that makes me happy! For those who aren't familiar with it, the Gaia online community creates beautiful digital art for computers that consists of icons, a visual style (that works in XP, Vista, and 7!), wallpapers, cursors, and skins/themes for Rainmeter, iPhone, Miranda, Winamp, foobar, the start up page, etc. I get bored seeing the same icons and themes for stuff, so I like to spice it up with different icons, themes, and a visual style. Being different can be good. You won't seem like another typical person.

btw, if you've never heard any of the programs I just mentioned above, I'd suggest you to go check them out. They're pretty useful and can be skinned to look fabulous!

I also just came across the prettiest site ever - Nika. I love the font, colors, images, its simplicity, and the layout.

Don't you just love it when you come across amazing stuff while just browsing around on the web? It always makes my day :)

Delightful | di-ˈlīt-fəl | adj. highly pleasing.

2010-09-05T19:51:00.003-04:00

hello! This is going to be the post about my life back in July. Actually, June 28 to August 3 to be exact. You might be wondering, "Why in the world is Stephanie blogging about stuff from July when it was, like, 2 months ago?" Well, I had a laptop with me and such, but there was about 10 days total when I didn't have access to the internet. Plus I was lazy and I didn't feel like having to upload all the pics I wanted to put in this post onto Photobucket first.
Warning: there are many many photos in this post, so you may or may not be able to load all the pics.

so why was July one of the highlights of my summer? Well, I finally got to go back to Taiwan after 5 years of not being able to visit there.

About Taiwan (from my point of view) --
The Good
- Everything there is soooo much cheaper than stuff in the US, except for name brand items. And they're good quality too! For example, only a few drinks cost over $1. most are only about $.50.
- delicious food and fresh seafood everyday

I love squid!

one of the breakfasts that we had

- cute clothes that I like because I like the azn fobby style (haha)
- high quality thin 0.38mm pens in beautiful colors, including black!!!!
- road trips are only about 2 hours long because of the tininess of the island :D Unless, of course, you decide to drive from Taipei to Kaoshung (aka from the far north to the far south), then it takes 4 hours. haha, 4 hours is how long it takes me to get from my house to the beach.
- shopkeepers, waiters, and employees are always nice and respectful, unlike those in the US (especially up north).
- night markets and the Taipei New World Mall aka The Underground Mall (because it's like the night market, but with air conditioning and it's underground)
- I can quickly understand what people are telling me in Chinese because they don't have a mainland chinese accent :P
- many many convenience stores, such as Seven Eleven, Ok!, and Family Mart
- I loved watching the tv commercials! unlike American commercials, asian commercials are funny and creative.

The Bad
- not enough air conditioning. either all azn people don't believe in a/c or it's too expensive for them/us. I'm not saying that people should turn the air conditioner on to 75 degrees, but if a room is hotter than 86 degrees, then I really think that the a/c should be on...
- the use of oil seems to be a must in Taiwanese dishes. Even simple, plain veggies are cooked with oil when oil isn't needed. I'm very used to not eating oily foods, so every time I saw the ridiculous amount of oil used in food there, I'd feel sick about having to eat it.

The Ugly
- mosquitoes and tiny black flies!!! gah!! I got used to the mosquitoes. Plus Taiwan's mosquitoes are big and slow and they fly pretty low so it's easy to kill them (muahahahahaha). but I got severely bit on my legs by these tiny black flies. and out of my volunteer tour group of 150+, I was only one of two people who got bitten by those little guys >.>
- THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY KILLLLSSS ME!!! I eventually got used to it, but I had to wash my hair every single day because I'd always get very sweaty and nasty by 10am. The humidity is ridiculous. It's actually kinda like the humidity in the US like around where I live and in NYC, where the sweat just sticks to your skin and barely evaporates off. so nasty. idk how anyone wears makeup there without it melting off within 3 hours.

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My youngest cousin, who's going into 6th grade, loves SNSD. Sometime when he bored and he doesn't think anyone's within earshot, he starts singing "Gee". haha!

The Lover Bridge of Tamsui at the Tamshui Fisherman Wharf. There's good food around along with street musicians. and yes, there were numerous couples there...

I really do have bad luck with mp3's. The day before leaving the Chien Tan Youth Activity Center where all of us 370 volunteers stayed at, my mp3 froze T_____T I couldn't restart it because I didn't have anything as thin as a needle to fit into the Restart hole. and I couldn't figure out how to play music off the laptop I borrowed from my cousin. Therefore, I was basically music-less for the next 3.5 weeks. Although sometimes I went on YouTube to listen to stuff and other people would play music off their laptops anyway. So in other words, this is my 5th mp3 that has malfunctioned. ugh.

I'd like to have a nice mp3 like the ones below --

Samsung P3

Samsung S5

but of course, I can't exactly afford one of those, so I'll just stick with my no-mp3 for the next couple of months.

I bought a pair of nerdy glasses that were only about $3 and I got this watch for about $7. I love the design. plus it's all white :)

I bought the new Jay Chou album!! yes, I already have his whole album on my computer, but I loved his new songs so much that I wanted the album too. I didn't buy one until I was wandering around in the Taipei airport the day I was leaving Taiwan. It was only about $15, which is cheaper than all other places. :)

I did a good amount of shopping during my stay :) There's an epic, 4 story bookstore in Taipei called Eslite by Taipei 101 that sells an incredible amount of books, plus stationary, Diana vintage cameras, electronics, food, etc. I bought 2 books from there - one related to pen doodling and the other on photography. :D

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Now for what I did in the volunteer program...

As most of you probably know, I taught 4th and 5th graders. I think that they were the best group of students to teach. They learned pretty fast, never caused fights, and liked to play games. I loved the 2nd graders, especially the twins Becky and Linda who are very sweet. I'm just glad that I didn't have to teach them bc from what I heard, they don't remember words that are taught to them and they didn't follow most of the rules, like rising your hand before you speak.
The kids hard at work

What I love the most about little kids is how they're so straight up honest! It's so funny! but sometimes it can also be cruel.

On one of the days, a news crew with some college student interns came to our school to interview us and to talk about the teaching program. The lady who was in charge of it was pretty annoying because she was picky about what she wanted us to say and do. and we had to pretend that we knew how to surf just because the school is right beside the beach. bullshit! False advertising!!!

At the harbor --

yea, happy time!

Check out my cool drawing skillz

I took a permanent marker and drew this bc I was bored. Then a drew a hat for the smiley face. It turned out to be two faces in one! Mario and strange-man-with-ugly-unibrow. haha

On one of the days, these two students I became friends told me that I should watch the sunrise. So I woke up at 4:30am and they took me to see it.

Turtle Island off in the distance

At one point, you could see two distinct pink spots in the sky, so that it looked like the sky was blushing. pretty cool, huh?

and with all the pinkness in the sky, the ocean looked surreal with the pink reflection and all.

And finally the sun actually breaks across the horizon at 5:30am

On a weekend, we took a boat to Turtle Island where we climbed all 1706 steps up to the highest point of the Island, and back down. I had never sweated so much in my life. I was so tired and delirious that my legs were shaking while I was walking down the steps.

Little model of Turtle Island

The view of a part of the island from above

The next day we did another hike, but on Taiping Mountain >.<

Right before we left the school :'( I had such a fabulous time with these people with all of our crazy conversations, hilarious moments, and our war against the ants who liked to crawl around. Our problem with ants was far worse than our problems with mosquitoes and cockroaches. In fact, we even had "ant highways" where there would be a long trail of ants crawling from one of the side doors to the trash can in the middle of the room. ugh.

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One day Ruthie saw this picture on facebook of a beautiful photo that she loved and because she liked my photog skills, she wanted me to take similar pics like that photo for her facebook profile pic.
I only took 3 shots for her, and each were different. This was my favorite one -

but she loved this one the most -

alrighty, time to go study some more because I get to watch a movie later tonight! peace out

Just do it

2010-08-26T18:32:00.006-04:00

"Don't lose sight of what's really important in life and don't sacrifice what you love the most to something that you may think is the only path."
- Jysla Kay

this is just a mini blog post. I saw that quote above about 5 minutes ago by Jysla Kay (who's an amazing photographer, btw), and I love it. It's so true. Do what you love. It doesn't mean you have to live your life for it, but don't sacrifice it for something else that might not mean as much to you.

I promise that my next blog post will be awesome and worth reading, ok? :)

Summer goals

2010-06-11T11:01:00.006-04:00

High Priority goals
~ Read and complete journals for 100 Years of Solitude before flying to Taiwan
~ Learn bopomofo (Chinese phonics system) before teaching in Taiwan
~ IB Options for chem
~ Brainstorm, research, and type up at least half of Extended Essay
~ write college essays

Low Priority goals (aka what I actually want to do)
~ finish this realistic portrait that I started in the winter of 2008
~ do the sewing projects that I've conceptualized (they're unique and useful)
~ learn a Kpop dance
~ finish learning Liebestraum by Liszt
~ finish watching Autumn's Concerto and The Place Promised in Our Early Days

this is my personal list of goals so that I can keep straight what I need to accomplish this summer. Of course, I need to finish my high priority goals first. So if I find time (or make time), I'll also do my low priority goals.

It turns out that I won't be able to take my big camera to Taiwan with me! T_______T You have no idea how pissed off/upset I am about it. Don't you wish that sometimes, even just for once, you had the power to turn back time and redo something so that the outcomes would be better? That's what I wish I could do. I should've went with my dad to the camera store to discuss about what was wrong with the camera. Then I would've been able to not need to send the camera off to fix. My dad didn't even call home to ask me if I wanted to get it fixed. He was only thinking about how the warranty just passed and how I might be able to get a good deal if I get it fixed. The store owner said that it would take about 6 weeks for the camera to get back to me. My dad didn't even remember that I was heading to Taiwan in less than 4 weeks, which means that even if the camera arrives @ my house in 6 weeks, I might or might not be able to receive it at the school I'm teaching!
I know that companies that fix cameras wouldn't take only 6 weeks. When I sent my phone to AT&T because there was a problem with it, I didn't get it back until at least 2 months later!!! and the camera is sent to the camera fixing company via UPS Ground. fml.

Update -- NEVER MIND! My mom just called the camera store and it turns out that my camera is already fixed and will be shipped out today or tomorrow. Which means that I'll receive it when I come back from DC, and I can take it to Taiwan! yay!!!

summer!

2010-06-08T12:57:00.001-04:00

School is finally over! I can't believe how fast the year has gone by. and in a little less than one more year, I'll be graduating along with my dear friends and classmates. :(

Here are the highlights of my Junior year --
- I still had great fun at school despite the fact that there were more tests and quizzes...and stress
- there was less homework given this year compared to last year
- Probably the best long term decision I made was to take IB Music through Band instead of taking a free period
- my photography skills improved!
- missed 2 days of school to go with CYS to New York and Carnegie Hall, but because my absence was excused, I still got perfect attendance
- found out what I wanted to do in the future :)

I'm not going to the talk about all the bad things that happened because there would be too much to say and it would remind me about how I'm such a failure.

I'm heading to Washington D.C. for a summer program in a week and a week after I come home from D.C., I leave for Taiwan for a month!!! I was accepted into a volunteer program in Taiwan where I will be teaching English to disadvantaged children. It still amazes me how I actually got into the program, considering that I was competing against hundreds of other more intelligent, over-achieving Taiwanese/Chinese kids. hmmmm. But I've made many friends who are also in the volunteer program. and I've met a few photographers too! One of them is basically a pro -- you should check out his portfolio!

oh, speaking of photography -- a few weeks ago, the slot where you put the SD card into the camera suddenly decided to stop working properly. The card no longer "clicked" when I pushed it into the slot. The camera can still read the card and record pictures though. However, my dad insisted that because the warranty had just expired a couple days ago, he was going to see if Pentax will be able to do something about the slight defect. Which means that I won't have my camera to use in Washington D.C. I guess that's alright since I'll be taking the Panasonic Lumix compact camera, which isn't too bad. BUT if I don't get my big camera back before I leave for Taiwan, I'm going to be so angry and depressed.

For the program in Taiwan, I'll be teaching in Yilan, which is in the northeastern part of the country. But more specifically, the school I'm teaching at is literally right next to the ocean :)

Pretty exciting, no? but since I'll be next to the ocean, I'll end up becoming very tan...

I am so going to pitch a tent in my backyard one day. My backyard is ridiculously big, so I can just put up a tent in one of the corners of my yard under the shade of some trees and relax there :) That would be so much fun! But considering for the fact that I'll be gone for most of the summer, I won't get a chance to implement my wonderful idea :(

oh, I have an interesting/gross story to share (hehehe). There is a wonderful little peach tree in my backyard that has been growing for the past three years. There are currently many little peaches growing on the tree right now. So, since they weren't going to grow any larger anyway, my parents decided to pick some of the peaches. My parents invited my sister and I to eat those peaches, and I have to admit, homegrown organic peaches aren't as sweet as those you buy from the supermarket, but they were pretty good. While I was half done with my peach, I look down into it and there was a little white larva wriggling around near where I had just bit down into my peach!! Thankfully I didn't actually eat it, but I freaked out a bit. The funny thing is that my dad saw a little white larva in his peach too when he saw my reaction, and he totally flipped out and tried to make himself throwup over the kitchen sink even though he didn't eat accidentally eat the larva!! haha
soooo, always make sure that your fruits don't have holes in them before you eat it ;)

For Gary --

and here's a song...
Namie Amuro ft. Ai - Suite Chic

I hope you didn't mind my jumbled post :)

If I were a ...

2010-05-26T19:34:00.007-04:00

I realize that I haven't blogged since...April? yep. so here's a quick post. I'll post more interesting stuff once school is over, so don't complain about this one.

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If I were a month, I’d be March

If I were a day of the week, I’d be Friday

If I were a time of day, I’d be 10pm

If I were a planet, I’d be Neptune

If I were a sea animal, I’d be a sea horse

If I were a direction, I’d be right

If I were a liquid, I’d be red tea

If I were a gemstone, I’d be a garnet

If I were a tree, I’d be a pine tree

If I were a flower, I’d be a purple orchid

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be sunny sunny sunny with a nice breeze

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a cello

If I were a color, I’d be teal

If I were a fruit, I’d be an apple

If I were a car, I’d be a black mini copper

If I were a food, I’d be sushi!

If I were a place, I’d be Tokyo and Shibuya

If I were a taste, I’d be bittersweet

If I were a scent, I’d be Guerlain 'Meteorites' Pearls :

If I were an object, I’d be a fancy schmany camera

If I were a body part, I’d be eyes

If I were a facial expression, I’d be a great big smile from laughing

If I were a song, I’d be Gravity by Vienna Teng

If I were a pair of shoes, I'd be Miu Miu pumps

in the City pt 2

2010-04-05T19:07:00.004-04:00

A continuation of my adventures in NYC.

Inside the National History Museum

I feel bad for that giant lobster that's preserved/squished in the jar.

It's a dinosaur!!!!!

The 5th most photographed building in the world. Whoever designed the NY Apple store is genius!

To be continued...

p.s. I've changed the song on at the bottom of my blog to "Hey Soul Sister" by Train.

New York, New York pt 1

2010-04-01T21:39:00.011-04:00

Pictures I took while I was in NYC. Just fyi, I have relatives there, so some of the pics I took were when I was with them; other pics I took were when I was with CYS. and let me know if any of the pics load to slowly or don't fully load. I've figured out that if I upload pics directly only my blog, Blogspot reduces all of them to a width of 400px even when choose for the image size to be large. So now I'm trying out ImageShack to see if things will be better.

NYC skyline at 4am. yep, I arrived in the city early in the morning. My dad drove through the night. For anyone who wants to know, you can see this if you go to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Gotta love bubble tea!

The West Side Story Broadway was incredible! It was pretty much the same music and script as the movie, but the Latinos spoke in Spanish half the time. I actually understood most of what they were saying in Spanish!

Inside the H&M on 5th Avenue

One of my roommates, Kayla. The hotel we (people of CYS) stayed at, the Grand Hyatt, had the coolest windows/window seats ever.

sun & flowers

2010-03-20T13:51:00.007-04:00

whee it's the 1st day of Spring! and the weather is beautiful outside.
btw, only the last pic is edited.

Because it's springtime, I can open the windows and screen doors for fresh air without having to worry about mosquitoes or flies wandering inside. Warm breezes, green, flowers, birds. :D mmm.

woot I can't wait to go to NYC next week! I haven't been back there for 2 years. It's going to be lots of fun :)
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Chasing Dreams

2010-03-03T18:12:00.002-05:00

I recently read an inspiring post on decouverte's blog that was originally written by nirrimi.

Thoughts on Dreams

i remember being a child. this long-haired, twiggy thing with delicious dreams of becoming a movie starlet or a princess. of course, you're not entirely logical when you are that young. your head is in the clouds and the future is a million miles away. i think when the clouds begin to clear and you start to see the future there in the sky, you begin to grow up. life begins to sink in. you realise you are not beautiful or elegant enough to become a princess, and your eyes don't sparkle enough to be a movie star. try again.

even though my clouds cleared away sooner than anyone else i knew my age, i was still breathing them. only suddenly i knew who i was, or moreso, who i wanted to be. i was fourteen and i wrote in my diary "i am nirrimi and because of that, i'm going to live. really live." and for me that meant throwing myself headfirst into photography and life. i didn't attend school much, i spent days planning, learning to retouch and taking pictures. my studies suffered and my passion bloomed. it was "illogical and thoughtless" but i thought, why should i listen to a miserable, high school teacher about how to live my life?

my grandparents lived by the alice river, on an enormous property with fruit trees and a treehouse by the water where you could watch cows gather at sunset. i remember sitting in the treehouse with a blank book, filling it with ideas for pictures. the passion welled up in me and i saw the world through picture-finding eyes. i miss the excitement now, which only greets me sometimes in memory. i discovered that came with my growing up, it became harder to feel.

there is resentment and jealousy from others at times, as though people think i am undeserving of the attention i've gotten or the talent i've developed. as though it is all luck and really, they deserve it much more. but i have worked and i have obsessed. i've left my mind inside my camera and forgotten to use my head, pushing away friends and family and being regretfully selfish. i've forced myself to grow up rather quickly. and now things are beginning to happen for me. things i only ever imagined. not just with photography, but also with my life and lover (but that's a story for another day).

i've learnt that to make dreams come true, you have to be obsessed. truly, utterly obsessed. i think of obsession as passion squared, and if you have passion for something people will see that. if you go through an entire day without doing something towards your dream, you're not obsessed enough to make it happen.

sure, some people get lucky, but we're not going to wait around to see if that's us. we need to make things happen for ourselves, because we are the only ones in control of our lives. with enough obsession and work any dream can come true for you. you will be disappointed, sleepless and somedays you will want to give up. but you will be happy, because you are living.

i can't wait to let my children dream the way my parents let me. teach them that as long as they have the love and motivation to work towards their wildest fantasies, they will happen.

never give up on all your loves and dreams, let them out to be loud!

I had a long talk with my dad two days ago. It had to do with college and my future, of course. well, let me back up; it was more like him talking away while I nodded at all the right times, whether or not I actually agreed to what he said. Basically, he had gotten very angry when he overheard me say that I hope to one day learn both science and art in college. He misinterpreted that and thought that I wanted to major in art, which I really don't want to do. well, in the fine arts at least. I like applied arts more, like package designing or advertising, not strictly painting or drawing. My dad believes in the whole "starving artist" stereotype a whole lot, which is why he wants me to go to med school.. or at least science.

I enjoy science and art/aesthetics. I have thought about certain jobs that I could do in the future, but none of them truly appealed to me. But then yesterday, I found out about cosmetic science. I like science and cosmetics, as ironic as it seems. So yea, I always wonder about how people make anti-aging creams, water-proof makeup, moisturizers, powders with minerals, etc. I would love to work for La Mer or Neutrogena one day. :) That road might be difficult, but it's something that I'm truly interested.

Hopefully I'll be able to achieve my dreams someday ;)

All State + Bumblebee

2010-02-28T18:10:00.006-05:00

I just came home from All State Orchestra :) I managed to make it into 1st violin this year in the Senior Honor Orchestra, which only has 11th and 12th graders. We played Marche Slave by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovitch Symphony 5, mvt IV and accompanied JaJa Liao on the Elgar cello concerto. JaJa was the winner of the All State Solo Competition. She's only a sophmore, goes to an IB school in Florence, has only played cello for 5 yrs, and practices 6 hours a day O.o I really want to know how she balances school and music. dang, if I practiced 6 hours a day, I would be able to major in music and actually have a chance to play in a professional orchestra.
Our conductor this year was the best conductor I've ever had! Jeff Grogan conducts the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and various other orchestras. He really gets in to the music and has a love for strong, intense Russian music and the Berlin Philharmonic. He is patient, throws in good jokes and stories, and knows what parts the orchestra needs to rehearse, unlike other previous conductors I've had who just let difficult passages that no one can play slip by.

The Elgar cello concerto is my new favorite piece :) it makes me want to learn cello now.

This part of the post is in response to Eileen's post on pianist Maksim Mrvica.

Cziffra's arrangement of Flight of the Bumblebee. Yuja Wang is amazing!

The sheet music for it --
Volodos - Cziffra Flight of the Bumblebee

I'm 99% sure that this is the most technically difficult arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee for piano. I swear Cziffra was on something when he rearranged this. You can barely read the music.

magic

2010-02-21T00:10:00.003-05:00

So some of you may know that I really like reading blogs and such because
1)They're interesting
2)I like to look at the layouts
3)It's something to do when I'm bored on the computer.
While reading through the archives of a blog, I came across this video. It's a magic trick (or several magic tricks I should say) done by the magician Cyril Takayama. Watch it. It's mind-blowing!

If you thought that was cool, you should watch this one as well.

fun time!

2010-02-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

[this post is really late, but anyways... ]

It started snowing last Friday during the last 30 minutes of school, so when I got home at about 4pm, I had fun in the snow for 2 hrs. My definition of "fun in the snow" means taking multiple photos, even though only some turned out the way I want them :/

Tip for people taking pics in the snow: Don't stay out for 2 hrs straight, especially if you aren't used to the cold and you're outside without a hat and gloves. My fingers were super cold even with gloves on and my poor toes felt frozen by the time I went inside for dinner.

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My dad woke me up at 7am on Saturday and told me that I should go take pics because it looked pretty outside. I actually rolled out of bed and went outside for pics bc it was beautiful outside :D

c4mh0arr!ng :P [I used the lovely tripod for these, but I couldn't find my camera remote so I failed at focusing.]

I spent an hour outside before hoping in the car to head to Atlanta. My sister needed a new violin and we needed to look for one asap. Violins in Atlanta pwn the one's at Bernhart.

We went to Nori Nori for lunch. It's THE BEST buffet I've ever been too! They have all Japanese food there and everything is so fresh! I totally recommend it, unless, of course, you despise Japanese food.

My sister's colorful sushi plate.

The green stuff in the right hand corner is green tea ice cream :D

At the violin shop --

The cheaper violins -- they aren't in a glass case where the more expensive ones are. These are about $600 - $1500.

A 1/32nd violin!! so cute! Basically, it's small enough for a 1 or 2 year old. According to the shop owner, the violin is playable...

Pretty ribbon

Later we went to super H mart, of course. bought yummy foooood!
I discovered that there was a section of the supermarket that sold stuff besides food, like pots, rice cookers, silverware, aprons, etc.; a section that sold this Korean makeup brand that I've never heard of; and one section that sold Korean videos/dramas, stationary, random stuff, and Kpop CDs. Guess what I found there --

2NE1 mini album! nah, I didn't buy it. I wanted this other CD that contained at least 40 songs of fast, dance-type kpop all on 2 CDs, but yea, I didn't buy that either.

I've been listening to this song non-stop thanks to my sis who looked it up after she watched a kpop group perform on TV while I was browsing thru some albums

_{CNBlue - I'm a Liar}

I took about 4 naps that day. lol!
<3

new layout

2010-02-14T18:19:00.000-05:00

I finally changed my layout. I hope you guys like it! The reason why I had that Blogger Minima Left Stretchy layout before was because when I was editing this layout, I had accidentally hit "Save", and because I didn't back up my layout, I temporarily switched to a Blogger template. I also had some html problems when I was editing this layout, which was very frustrating, but I eventually figured them out.

I've had a fun weekend with all the snow and being in Atlanta, so expect pics soon!

Happy Chinese New Year + How to get a girl

2010-02-14T00:03:00.002-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year!!

hrmm, and how to get a girl.. try one of these 50 nerdy pickup lines -

1. You’re like an exothermic reaction, you spread your hotness everywhere!
2. I wish I was your derivative so I could lie tangent to your curves.
3. You're like a dictionary, you add meaning to my life!
4. If I was an enzyme, I’d be helicase so I could unzip your genes.
5. I’m attracted to you so strongly, scientists will have to develop a fifth fundamental force.
6. Baby, you overclock my processor.
7. Be my queen and mate me with your knight moves.
8. Baby, you make my floppy disk turn into a hard drive
9. You make me want to calibrate my joystick without the latest drivers.
10.You defragment my life.
11. Do you think we can make it a step more serious and disable network sharing?
12. You must be auxin, cause you are causing me to have rapid stem elongation.
13. Baby, let me find your nth term.
14. I don’t have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?
15. Baby I’ll treat you like my homework — I’ll slam you on the table and do you all night long
16. Hey baby, can I see what’s under your radical?
17. If I were an integral, I’d fill you up.
18. I’m a fermata… hold me
19. I think my heart just lagged.
20. I wish I were your second derivative so I could fill your concavities.
21. Did you just combust?? Because you’re HOT!
22. By looking at you I can tell you’re 36-25-36, which by the way are all perfect squares.
23. It doesn't take a genius to see how gorgeous you are, but if it did, I would be overqualified.
24. Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be what they call FINE PRINT!
25. What do you say we go back to my room and do some math: Add a bed, subtract our clothes, divide your legs, and multiply
26. Baby, you’re a 9.999999999…but you’d be a 10 if you were with me.
27. Baby, every time I see you, my cardiovascular system gets all worked up
28. I wish I were adenine because then I could get paired with U.
29. What’s your sine? It must be pi/2 because you’re the 1
30. If my right leg was Christmas and my left was Easter, would you like to spend some time between the holidays?
31. You have nicer legs than an Isosceles right triangle.
32. You’re so cute you make my zygomaticus muscles contract. (Muscles that make you smile)
33. When you and me get together it’s like superposition of 2 waves in phase.
34. Want to meet up so I can excite your natural frequency?
35. If I was sin^2 and you were cos^2 together we would be 1
36. You know.. it’s not the length of the vector that counts… it’s how you apply the force
37. If I move my lips half the distance to yours… and then half again… and again… etc…. would they ever meet? no? Well in this specific case I am going to disprove your assumption.
38. Your name is Leslie? Look, I can spell your name on my calculator!
39. If I was an endoplasmic reticulum, how would you want me: smooth or rough.
40. I wish I was an Ion so I could form an exothermic bond with you.
41. If my right leg is the cell wall and my left the membrane, do you want to be the cytoplasm?
42. Our love is like dividing by zero…. you cannot define it
43. Let’s meet somewhere… you bring your beaker and I’ll bring my stirring rod
44. Baby let me be your integral so I can be the area under your curves
45. Hey baby, what’s your tanx cosx?
46. Let’s get together and test the spring potential of my mattress
47. Let’s discover our coefficient of friction
48. Baby, you’re so gneiss I’ll never take you for granite.
49. I less than three you….. (i < 3 you)
50. I heard you’re sin because you’re always on top when we make tangent
source

I found these really hilarious. Happy Valentine's Day as well!

Stefani Germanotta vs Lady Gaga

2010-01-18T17:06:00.007-05:00

This is a video of Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, at a talent show in NYC before she became famous. You should watch it, if you haven't already. She has an incredible voice, proving that she can actually sing without her voice being digitalized. and she looks pretty without the crazy hair and heavy eye makeup.

And here's the Lady Gaga that we know today --

haha is it just me or has her voice changed during the time between the two videos?

I love this litte guy :)

My page looks goofy, I know. I'm going to change it up in a bit :)

happy new year!

2010-01-01T16:09:00.007-05:00

wow 2009 sure flew by fast! I had lots of fun today because New Years day means shopping day for my family...at least for my mom. It's funny how she was more enthusiastic about the sales and shopping than I was. I had to wake up at 9am, and I was pretty tired because I had stayed up late attempting to finish a project >< but anyways, we went to the mall where there were lots of good sales on clothing and shoessss! I was lucky and got a pair of Steve Madden boots for $20! I didn't get anything else but I had fun just walking around, window shopping.

ok, back to studying now! >.<
I wish all of you a happy new year!

twenty-ten

2009-12-28T09:21:00.005-05:00

wow 2009 has been a crazy year, from Obama to H1N1, from the econ frenzy to crash landing a plane in the Hudson River. lol. Probably the worst thing that happened this year was the economic downturn that occurred all over the world. And did anyone notice the number of deaths of notable people? Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Andrew Wyenth, Farrah Fawcett, Irving Penn, Naomie Sims, Daul Kim, and the amazing Gary.

Anyway, 2010 is going to be a good year. My goal for the next year will be to get into college and some other stuffies.

I hope everyone has a good rest of the year!

~Stephanie

Spread the smiles!

2009-12-25T08:06:00.004-05:00

happy time! nah, I'm not very jumpy and excited about Christmas, but I think it's kinda fun. I didn't get many presents this year, but that was kinda expected because I already have everything I need^^ A few days ago, I got myself a present for fun and a big bag of pistachios! yessss! plus, I'm going to a tea party later at my neighbor's house and I'll be watching a movie with my sis tonight, probably Totoro because it's our favorite!

[about the photo above] The antlers were given to me by my violin teacher because she said that they were too small for her head. The antler headband is more for little kids, but I still think it looks cute. The dog was a Christmas present from my aunt when I was visiting her and my other relatives in NYC back a few years ago. I couldn't bring my dog along because he would be tedious to take care of. So because I have a mini schnauzer and because my aunt know that I missed my doggy, she got me this dog because he looks like a schnauzer! I love it so much!

Sometimes the best smiles you'll see are the ones when a person unwraps a gift. We've all been through the times when we had to force a smile on our face and pretend that we like the gift, but when a genuine smile appears, it always makes you feel good inside. So go enjoy this holiday, even if you aren't into all the celebrating :P haha jk!

Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas~

In the light of day

2009-12-12T16:28:00.007-05:00

It was unusually windy two days ago. When I got home from school at 4, the sun was already setting. Winter sunsets are the best because the clouds and the sky turns into different colors!

Below are pictures that I took that day. None are edited because I'm too lazy to do that right now. There wouldn't be much to edit anyway.

I don't know what happened here, but it looks cool.

yay lots of lens flares~

to: stephanie.z

2009-12-10T19:59:00.003-05:00

:)

created by notebookdoodles. Go check out her amazing blog! <3

[only some will understand why my last name in the title begins with a Z instead of a C, btw]

Rubik's Cube

2009-12-05T21:01:00.005-05:00

Check this out...

...Rubik's cube purse?! I've never actually thought that anyone would make such a thing. so it might look cute or whatever, but exactly how many people would actually carry that around with them? Too bad there aren't any pictures showing how you can open this cubical purse. At least it's made out of polyurethane and not leather or something, otherwise it would probably make the rubik's cube look worse.

[probably the worst purse/bag I've seen so far would be the Chanel Cocoon, which looks like a winter parka (like this one) or some sort of inflated purse.]

oh and here's a new song that features Jay Chou --

"Sand Painting" by Cindy Yen ft. Jay Chou

The song is pretty good and the mv isn't bad either.

new blog for music

2009-12-04T17:16:00.000-05:00

I've created a new blog for sheet music because I just want to use this blog for talking about random things from life and such. I'll probably leave up sheet music links here, although they won't be updated.

feel free to browse around --

Click here to go!

Pursuit of Happiness

2009-11-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

hmm, apparently my last non-music post was a bit.. depressing, even though I only wrote a paragraph. So this time I'm going to rant about my non-depressing thoughts..

What makes me happy --

When I'm having a good time with my family and friends
When I laugh so hard that my stomach starts aching
A beautiful warm sunny day with a slight breeze
cookies!!
Barnes & Noble
Surprises from my mom because they're always good surprises
When the photos I take actually look good
Talking/instant messaging old friends
When I listen to my favorite songs
When I'm home alone because then I can play my music through the speakers instead of through my earphones
photography and cinematography
When people tell me that they like my drawing or photo
soft fleece
Going to a store and trying on clothes and dresses for fun
When epiphany hits me
Getting new clothes or a bag/purse
Reading good books
dark chocolate
Discovering more good music
When I finally succeed and finish something, like a realistic drawing or an essay
Seeing others smile and enjoying life

What about you?

random

2009-11-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

So my life is such a wreck right now. I try my best in school and I put all my effort into schoolwork so that I'll get the best grades, yet I'm still not doing as well in my classes. It's really making me depressed. I feel so pressured to do my best, and it's me who's pushing myself this way, not my parents. It seems as if my whole future rests on junior year. gah!!

on a brighter note ...

I don't usually dream much, but whenever I do, I always love my dreams because they're so interesting! The other night, I had a dream about an asian motorcycle gang!! This one was unique in that I wasn't involved in the dream and it wasn't from my point of view. I can't remember what actually happened, but I know that there was a small gang fight. No blood was shed. There were about 6 people in the motorcycle gang. All were guys, except for the wife of the gang leader. She was tall, tough-looking, and very pretty. lol!

This song should be as the bg music of Tetris --

2PM - Tetris

Interesting dress that I thought I'd just post here

Miscellaneous

2009-11-12T20:37:00.001-05:00

Here are some links to english piano sheet music. For more, visit my music blog here.

Ai Otsuka - Planetarium
Arashi - Wish
Yiruma - Maybe
Yiruma - Kiss the Rain
Yiruma - River Flows in You
F.I.R. - Lydia
F.I.R. - Wo Men De Ai
F.I.R. - Thousand Year Love
Utada Hikaru - First Love
Utada Hikaru - Deep River
Utada Hikaru - Flavor of Life

Mario Theme
Naruto: Sadness Sorrow
Naruto: Wind
Kiki's Delivery Service: Hare Tajitsu Ni (main theme)
Kiki's Delivery Service: Shigoto Hajime
Kiki's Delivery Service: Tabidachi
Vampire Knight - Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi
Vampire Knight - Maria Kereni's Theme
Vampire Knight - Secret
Vampire Knight - Still Doll
Vampire Knight - Yuki Cross' Theme
Vampire Knight - Yuki Kiryu's Theme

Memory from CATS
Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata
Debussy - Clair de Lune
Harry Potter - Hedwig's them
Harry Potter - Death of Cedric
Harry Potter - Quidditch World Cup
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Debussy - Reverie
Jack Fina - Bumble Boogie

English sheet music

2009-11-11T22:06:00.002-05:00

Here are some links to english piano sheet music. For more, visit my music blog here.

Bella's Lullaby from Twilight
Beyonce - Baby Boy
Beyonce - Crazy in Love
Beyonce - Dangerously in Love
Beyonce - Halo
Beyonce - If I Were a Boy
Beyonce - Irreplaceable
Beyonce - Listen
When I First Saw You
Carrie Underwood - Jesus Take the Wheel
Carrie Underwood - Inside Your Heaven
Carrie Underwood - Whenever You Remember
Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts
Coldplay - Violet Hill
Coldplay - What If
Coldplay - A Message
Coldplay - Amsterdam
Coldplay - Clocks
Coldplay - Don't Panic
Coldplay - Everything's Not Lost
Coldplay - Fix You
Coldplay - Gravity
Coldplay - High Speed
Coldplay - In My Place
Coldplay - See You Soon
Coldplay - Sound of Speed
Coldplay - Swallowed in the Sea
Coldplay - Till Kingdom Come
Coldplay - The Hardest Part
Coldplay - The Scientist
Coldplay - Trouble
Coldplay - Twisted Logic
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Coldplay - X&Y
Coldplay - Yellow
Demi Lovato - On the Line
Demi Lovato - Don't Forget
Demi Lovato - Get Back
Demi Lovato - Our Time is Here
Demi Lovato - This is Me
Demi Lovato - Two Worlds Collide
Eurovision Alexander Rybak- Fairytale
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Jason Mraz - Lucky
Jason Mraz - Make it Mine
Jason Mraz - Curiousity
Lady Gaga - Love Game
Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
Lady Gaga - Paper Gangsta Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis - Better in Time
Leona Lewis - Angel
Linkin Park - What I've Done
Mandy Moore - Only Hope
One Republic - Stop and Stare
Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music
Rihanna - Hate That I Love You
Rihanna - Umbrella[1]
Rihanna - Umbrella[2]
Rihanna - Unfaithful
Sara Bareilles - Love Song
Sarah Mclachlan - Angel
Taylor Swift - Love Story
Vienna Teng - Gravity (Lake Version)<
Where Do I Begin from Love Story (Francis Lai)
Where Do I Begin from Love Story (Henry Mancini)

It's winter now, not fall

2009-11-07T20:09:00.004-05:00

I think this has been one of the longest week so far. It's been so cold outside that the only traces of fall are in leaves.

I was taking pics late at night bc I was bored, and in a few of them my hair was brown with brown highlights! So this is what I want my hair to be, dark brown like in the photo, but without the highlights.

I wore my shades for fun and because I like them :) I didn't plan on posting these pics prior to taking them anyway.

er, digressing from my pics...

omg I almost killed myself this week due to the total number of hours I slept (which wasn't many). This was all thanks to the fact that my amazing idea for the Reflections contest didn't come to me until a week before the entries were due. So I spent 18 hours in 4 nights finishing the drawing. I hate it when there are times when my best ideas come to me right before a deadline. I would go in depth on the meaning of my drawing, but I'll save that for some other time ;D

As for my photog entries -- who knows, maybe I'll actually make it to state this year. My goal is to win at nationals ftw!

"Beauty is superficial"

[photo of drawing was hastily taken, so in reality, the drawing looks better than in the pic]

So how was everyone's week? (:

Kpop music

2009-10-25T17:40:00.012-04:00

"I Don't Care" - 2NE1
----------------
2pm - Again & Again
2NE1 - Fire
2NE1 - I Don't Care
2NE1 - In the Club
2NE1 - Pretty Boy

After School - Diva

Big Bang - Fool
Big Bang - Sunset Glow
Big Bang - Good Man
Big Bang - Cheongook (Heaven)
Big Bang - Lies
Big Bang - Haru Haru (Day By Day)
Big Bang - Majimak Insa (Last Farewell)
Big Bang - We Belong Together
Big Bang - Stylish
Brown Eyed Girls - Abracadabra
Brown Eyed Girls - My Style
Brown Eyed Girls - Gajima Gajima (Don't Go Don't Go)
Buzz - Thorn
Buzz - Coward

DBSK - Wrong Number
DBSK - Ballons
DBSK - Hi Ya Ya
DBSK - Insa
DBSK - Miduhyo
DBSK - My Destiny
DBSK ft Super Junior - Show Me Your Love
DBSK - Tri-angle [Extended version]
DBSK - Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Nantte Shimattan Darou (Why Did I Fall in Love With You?)

Epik High - One
Epik High ft. Younha - Umbrella
Epik High & Jung Hyung Don - Barbeque (BBQ)

FT Island - I Hope
FT Island - One Word
FT Island - Bad Woman
FT Island - Lovesick
FT Island - Sonyeoreul Mannada (Sonagi)

G-Dragon - Heartbreaker

Jessica (SNSD) & Park Myung Soo - Naengmyeon (Cold Noodles)

KARA - Honey
KARA - Pretty Girl

Memory - Paradise

Rain - (Running Away From The Sun
Rain - Handshake
Rain - You Know
Rain - Love Story

Se7en - Passion
SHINee - Bodyguard (Anycall CF)
SHINee - Chamggodae (Please Dont Go)
SHINee - Juliette
SHINee - Nuna Neomu Yeppeoseo (Replay)
Se7en - Goodbye
Se7en - I'll Do Well
SNSD - Baby Baby
SNSD - Etude
SNSD - Gee
SNSD - Into The New World
SNSD - Day By Day
SNSD - So Nyeo Shi Dae (Girls' Generation)
SNSD - Tell Me Your Wish / Genie
Super Junior - Sorry Sorry
Super Junior - Miracle
Super Junior - Don’t Don
Super Junior - Endless Moment

Wonder Girls - This Fool
Wonder Girls - A Sorry Heart
Wonder Girls - Nobody
Wonder Girls - Tell Me

woot kpop! I'll be adding more to this list as time goes on.

In memory of the awesome Gary. <3

New Layout!

2009-10-18T11:36:00.001-04:00

yesss! I was getting tired of the other layout. Plus there were limits with the other one anyway and I couldn't figure out how to fix them.

So it took me all weekend to fix up this layout. I had to add and change a bunch of stuff. I would've linked the sheet music to show up on another page here, but after many frustrating hours of trying to do so, it wouldn't work for me so I went with using drop down menus.

keep prayin' for Gary! I know he'll make it thru!

a Wolf and a Pig

2009-10-12T21:26:00.006-04:00

Possibly the coolest stop motion film ever.
<3

story of my life

2009-10-01T19:15:00.019-04:00

_{click to see better}

_{click to see better}

I hope this made you guys smile (:

awesome drawings by Ennokni

"Fairytale" from Eurovision 2009

2009-09-27T19:54:00.004-04:00

The winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest is Alexander Rybak of Norway. He wrote and sang "Fairytale", a love ballad.

The transcription of this song Fairytale - Alexander Rybak

For those of you who don't know what Eurovision is, it's basically a song-writing and singing contest among all the countries in Europe, including Russia. Each country gives points to other countries based on the countrys' singer/song. plus they can't vote for themselves. I really like listening to what others sing on Eurovision. I know some other good songs from the contest, but I'll talk about them some other time.

Vampire Knight music

2009-09-26T12:02:00.005-04:00

Sheet music from the anime "Vampire Knight" --

Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi

Harry Potter time!

2009-09-22T19:17:00.002-04:00

For all the HP fans out there :)

Hedwig's Theme

Death of Cedric

Quidditch World Cup

HP soundtrack music books

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Favorites

2009-09-19T18:38:00.006-04:00

Here are just some of the great photos that I've come across (:

I looovve this!

haha!

Here's something different and interesting (:

It's so cute! I love stop motion films. They're so cool! :D

*All photos and film in this post belong to their respective owners.

200 Pounds of Beauty OST and music

2009-09-14T17:08:00.009-04:00

Over the summer, I watched 200 Pounds of Beauty, which was pretty good. The story is about where a singer, Han-na, decides to undergo major cosmetic surgeries to become skinny and beautiful. Kim Ah Joong is an amazing actress and has a great singing voice. I especially love the music in this movie.

Sheet music from the Korean movie 200 Pounds of Beauty -

Maria

You can watch it with English subs here. I just think it's more meaningful when you can actually understand what she's singing! (the same goes for pretty much every song out there, doesn't matter what language it's in.) I really like the energy in this song.

Byul

You can watch the video clip here. Lyrics and eng subs are at the bottom.

This is a beautiful song ^-^ "Byul" means "star" in Korean.

200 Pounds of Beauty OST

1 . Beautiful girl - 김아중
2 . 별(Star) - 유미
3 . Maria - 김아중
4 . 슈퍼스타 (Super Star) - Loveholic
5 . Dance with my daddy - Alex (Clazziquai)
6 . You don’t know I love you - U
7 . 튜울립 (Tulip) - Venny (상상밴드) Feat. 종휘
8 . Miss you much - 유미
9 . Beautiful Girl - 김아중 feat. Alex Chu & And

10. 바보처럼(Like A Fool) - 김형중

11 . 별 (Star) (Original dialog Ver.) - 김아중

You can download it here.

sorry for not posting anything for some time. it's junior year madness.