Recently I've posted two videos that are just plain stupid. They're funny, but just stupid. After I thought about my changes to the page, I realized that I didn't specify any real reason for posting those two videos.
After some thought, I was able to connect the videos to my freedom essential question. I thought that these videos are from YouTube, the popular video site. Their slogan is "Broadcast Yourself". This slogan could be interpreted as "Express Yourself". A person has the freedom to post videos of many kinds that could be any length in time. I've seen some videos originating from France, New York, Sanfransico, Japan, China, and Korea. The videos ranged in many topics. One of the videos were used by my French teacher to see what is happening in France. The video from Japan was a talk show event with English subtitles. The videos from China and Korea were drama excerpts also with English subtitles.
Although I do not know why I posted these particular videos, I think that YouTube is another gateway a person can use to find a sort of freedom.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
A Love Poem
I found my sister browsing ametuer poem writers and their pieces of work. This isn't the best piece of work, but I liked this poem.
I love the way you smile,
I would sit around and wait awhile.
I love the way you always look,
Our love is like a fairytale in one of those books.
I love the way you shine,
I like knowing the fact you are all mine.
I love hearing your voice everyday,
Around you, I never run out of things to say.
I love looking into your eyes,
When you’re not around all I can do is let out sighs.
I love being kissed by you,
I know my love for you is very true.
I love being there right by your side,
I cant wait for that day when I will be your bride.
I love how we are never apart,
You will always be right here in my heart.
I love the way you hold me,
I love listening to every single one of your stories.
I love everything about you,
Most importantly, I Love You!!!!!
(Anonymous)
I don't know why I liked this poem. Initially, this poem is a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship sort of tone. But if thought about it, this could slightly be applied to a sibling relationship. I think that to say "I Love You" is to say "I am loyal to you, will help you out in anyway possible, and I admire you for something." I can't really elaborate on this thought right now for some reason. But maybe I'll elaborate this later.
Poetry. Another way for any person can express themselves. I think it could be thought of as the more conventional way. A writer doesn't have to worry about general grammar that rules over paragraph/paper writing. They can have double or hidden meanings in their poem as a whole or by lines, stanzas, or words. Ironic, my current thought: a poet has more structural freedom. Maybe it can be thought of as the Romantic music era when compared to essay writing (if this is thought of as the Classical era)—there is more feeling without restraint of complete or run-on sentences.
Right now, I'm repeating myself. I'll leave it as that.
I love the way you smile,
I would sit around and wait awhile.
I love the way you always look,
Our love is like a fairytale in one of those books.
I love the way you shine,
I like knowing the fact you are all mine.
I love hearing your voice everyday,
Around you, I never run out of things to say.
I love looking into your eyes,
When you’re not around all I can do is let out sighs.
I love being kissed by you,
I know my love for you is very true.
I love being there right by your side,
I cant wait for that day when I will be your bride.
I love how we are never apart,
You will always be right here in my heart.
I love the way you hold me,
I love listening to every single one of your stories.
I love everything about you,
Most importantly, I Love You!!!!!
(Anonymous)
I don't know why I liked this poem. Initially, this poem is a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship sort of tone. But if thought about it, this could slightly be applied to a sibling relationship. I think that to say "I Love You" is to say "I am loyal to you, will help you out in anyway possible, and I admire you for something." I can't really elaborate on this thought right now for some reason. But maybe I'll elaborate this later.
Poetry. Another way for any person can express themselves. I think it could be thought of as the more conventional way. A writer doesn't have to worry about general grammar that rules over paragraph/paper writing. They can have double or hidden meanings in their poem as a whole or by lines, stanzas, or words. Ironic, my current thought: a poet has more structural freedom. Maybe it can be thought of as the Romantic music era when compared to essay writing (if this is thought of as the Classical era)—there is more feeling without restraint of complete or run-on sentences.
Right now, I'm repeating myself. I'll leave it as that.
Another Funny Video
This is yet another video showing lack of commonsense... especially when boredom takes over your senses.
It will go bang!
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It will go bang!
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A Funny Video...
This video just shows that everyone can lose their commonsense sometime or another...
How Not to Light A Bonfire
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How Not to Light A Bonfire
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Qualities
And now to contradict my previous post: My Qualities:
I'm dedicated to the things I like to do.
I love and protect my family.
I'm a hard worker.
I use my imagination a lot.
I like to learn.
I'm dedicated to the things I like to do.
I love and protect my family.
I'm a hard worker.
I use my imagination a lot.
I like to learn.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Faults
This post was actually inspired by a post on "Don't Ever Stop Chewing"'s blog.
My Faults:
My eyes never cooperate with my contacts, especially when needed most.
I live in a world blurred by book stories and reality.
I've a temper that erupts like a volcano (cliché =P)when tampered with.
I procrastinate (especially with homework).
((Just listing what I think are my faults.))
My Faults:
My eyes never cooperate with my contacts, especially when needed most.
I live in a world blurred by book stories and reality.
I've a temper that erupts like a volcano (cliché =P)when tampered with.
I procrastinate (especially with homework).
((Just listing what I think are my faults.))
Facing Fears
Although this is sort of old news, I hit the board during diving practice the night before the ILH champs (2007). It was on my scariest dive (reverse 1 1/2 somersault tuck position). I wasn't doing my basic dive of that category very well (I as getting too close to the board), which of course got my harder dive in that category sort of screwed up. I was out of the practice for the night and had to go to Tripler. Out of a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest of pain, I rated it as a 9 3/4. (I always compare my accidents and pain ratings to my fourth grade scooter accident, which of course was a 10.) I was at the hospital until about 10:30. Luckily, no broken fingers.
While I was waiting at the hospital, I was sort of wishing that my fingers WERE broken. As I thought about it, I scolded myself for being a pessimistic. As I thought more about it, I realized that I was going to have to face my reverse 1 1/2 dive sooner or later. I decided later since I couldn't even hold a pencil and write correctly.
But when I got to the ILH champs, the MC, his wife, my mom, my coaches, my brother, my sister (everybody) wanted me to dive. Being the obedient girl, I dove and won the champs.
At the time, I was resentful of everybody and even gave a glare at my brother who was filming me during the meet. (Luckily, it wasn't recorded.) The following days, I didn't feel much better. My dad even said, "You don't look happy with yourself." I wasn't—I listened to the crowd and did what I was told, which I don't like to do. But later, I felt foolish for feeling scared about the dive and freaking out about bruised fingers. (Wally and the Serai's [the MC and his wife] were telling me how all of these great Olympic divers dove and won while injured with worse injuries.)
But now, I don't know what to think about it. My mind can see both ways on the issue, and dealt with the fear. (I still don't like my reverse 1 1/2 and am still scared about hitting the board.) I keep changing my mind about it and I'm still confused. I don't know if I'll ever make up my mind about this issue.
But I know that I have to move on from this fear. (Wally always says, "Don't put emotion into your diving. Don't dwell a mistake. The past is the past. Move on.") I won't get better at diving if I'm scared of a dive. So right now, I'm just going to tuck it in the back folds of my mind and face my fear head on... when diving season starts again.
While I was waiting at the hospital, I was sort of wishing that my fingers WERE broken. As I thought about it, I scolded myself for being a pessimistic. As I thought more about it, I realized that I was going to have to face my reverse 1 1/2 dive sooner or later. I decided later since I couldn't even hold a pencil and write correctly.
But when I got to the ILH champs, the MC, his wife, my mom, my coaches, my brother, my sister (everybody) wanted me to dive. Being the obedient girl, I dove and won the champs.
At the time, I was resentful of everybody and even gave a glare at my brother who was filming me during the meet. (Luckily, it wasn't recorded.) The following days, I didn't feel much better. My dad even said, "You don't look happy with yourself." I wasn't—I listened to the crowd and did what I was told, which I don't like to do. But later, I felt foolish for feeling scared about the dive and freaking out about bruised fingers. (Wally and the Serai's [the MC and his wife] were telling me how all of these great Olympic divers dove and won while injured with worse injuries.)
But now, I don't know what to think about it. My mind can see both ways on the issue, and dealt with the fear. (I still don't like my reverse 1 1/2 and am still scared about hitting the board.) I keep changing my mind about it and I'm still confused. I don't know if I'll ever make up my mind about this issue.
But I know that I have to move on from this fear. (Wally always says, "Don't put emotion into your diving. Don't dwell a mistake. The past is the past. Move on.") I won't get better at diving if I'm scared of a dive. So right now, I'm just going to tuck it in the back folds of my mind and face my fear head on... when diving season starts again.
A Reflection on Robert Pirsig’s essay excerpt of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Recently, we’ve read an excerpt of Robert Pirsig’s essay Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The excerpt topic is ‘stuckness’.
I liked this essay after some decryption of what the essay was trying to say. I thought that it was interesting how Pirsig calls this topic ‘stuckness’ instead of something else. After reading this excerpt, I thought that Pirsig was trying to go a complicated way of saying “think out of the box”. His arguments make sense, if not the confusing wording (at least for a sophomore student). His example of the screw in the motorcycle was actually sort of funny because of what he records as the general human train of thought—it makes sense in a common sort of way. I also like his word choice in how he tries to emphasize his meaning; “You’re stuck. Terminated. It’s absolutely stopped you from fixing the motorcycle. …. This is the zero moment of consciousness. Stuck. No answer. Honked. Kaput.” (Pirsig, chapter 24) Another thing I thought that was interesting was how Pirsig uses made up words to try to help explain his point. For example, he uses the word “commonest” to emphasize how a broken motorcycle (in an analogy view), or (in the essay idea flow) getting mentally stuck is not something you see a lot. Maybe it could be another way to help explain the idea/notion to think out of the box. I also liked his ‘parts of a train’ examples (Classic vs. Romantic). When I first read this, I didn’t understand where the names of Classic vs. Romantic came from. But as we did a Harkness discussion in class, I threw out the possibility that it could be the parallel to the music eras in history. My teacher, Mr. Schauble, liked that thought and organized a lot of the ideas under those two categories. So I thought that was cool.
I liked this essay after some decryption of what the essay was trying to say. I thought that it was interesting how Pirsig calls this topic ‘stuckness’ instead of something else. After reading this excerpt, I thought that Pirsig was trying to go a complicated way of saying “think out of the box”. His arguments make sense, if not the confusing wording (at least for a sophomore student). His example of the screw in the motorcycle was actually sort of funny because of what he records as the general human train of thought—it makes sense in a common sort of way. I also like his word choice in how he tries to emphasize his meaning; “You’re stuck. Terminated. It’s absolutely stopped you from fixing the motorcycle. …. This is the zero moment of consciousness. Stuck. No answer. Honked. Kaput.” (Pirsig, chapter 24) Another thing I thought that was interesting was how Pirsig uses made up words to try to help explain his point. For example, he uses the word “commonest” to emphasize how a broken motorcycle (in an analogy view), or (in the essay idea flow) getting mentally stuck is not something you see a lot. Maybe it could be another way to help explain the idea/notion to think out of the box. I also liked his ‘parts of a train’ examples (Classic vs. Romantic). When I first read this, I didn’t understand where the names of Classic vs. Romantic came from. But as we did a Harkness discussion in class, I threw out the possibility that it could be the parallel to the music eras in history. My teacher, Mr. Schauble, liked that thought and organized a lot of the ideas under those two categories. So I thought that was cool.
This I Believe...
I believe in freedom. I think that freedom can help a person accept who they are by letting that person express themselves in ways suitable to them, giving them self-confidence. If a person is taken away their freedom, then their confidence can be broken.
With freedom, people can express their feelings, their thoughts about a situation, and in essence, express themselves. Some people do this through song. Others gain freedom through sports, writing, or art. For me, I like to write from my imagination. Through this, I gain freedom and self-confidence of my imagination and myself.
Although many people believe that freedom is generally physical, such as freedom from jail or maybe slavery, I believe that it is more spiritual. The physical aspect of freedom may help the spiritual and psychological aspect of freedom, I’m sure. But ultimately, freedom is made of thoughts and spiritual participation.
I believe that any and every person can achieve and find freedom. It may be hard to find, but people will find freedom for themselves someday or another. Even if this freedom is not fully attainable, if a person can just find a small part of freedom, and are able to express themselves just a small bit, then that person has found enough freedom to satisfy their current situation and encourage them to find other ways of expressing themselves and gaining freedom in other ways than one.
With freedom, people can express their feelings, their thoughts about a situation, and in essence, express themselves. Some people do this through song. Others gain freedom through sports, writing, or art. For me, I like to write from my imagination. Through this, I gain freedom and self-confidence of my imagination and myself.
Although many people believe that freedom is generally physical, such as freedom from jail or maybe slavery, I believe that it is more spiritual. The physical aspect of freedom may help the spiritual and psychological aspect of freedom, I’m sure. But ultimately, freedom is made of thoughts and spiritual participation.
I believe that any and every person can achieve and find freedom. It may be hard to find, but people will find freedom for themselves someday or another. Even if this freedom is not fully attainable, if a person can just find a small part of freedom, and are able to express themselves just a small bit, then that person has found enough freedom to satisfy their current situation and encourage them to find other ways of expressing themselves and gaining freedom in other ways than one.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Diving
I am a varsity diver for my high school team. I think I have done a very good job so far in my "career" in diving. I've won three ILH school Diving Championships (Intermediate in 7th, JV in 9th, and Varsity in 10th), placed in the top five for last year's state championships, and am making constant improvement in my diving. My current coach, Wally Nakamoto, is constantly using metaphors and tells us many sayings during practice. I think that they're supposed to motivate the team to do better. Although his sayings don't really motivate me to be better, I think that his most meaningful quote is; "You see, diving is not just diving—it builds character and it will take you places."
I would have to agree with this constant saying. I think that it does build character. Diving can help build personal dignity or carriage for a coach or diver. In the diving seasons I've been with Wally, he remarks on how a diver looks on the board—shoulders back, chin up in confidence, stomach in and tight butt for elegance—and how all of this can be carried over into a diver's activities out of the pool. He also talks about how confidence in the pool carries over into school and other activities. I would agree with him. Personally, if I feel happy about my diving for a practice or meet, I feel noticeable happier and perky, I guess. That's from personal experience. I think this saying could be applied to any and other sports too.
I guess what Wally tries to say is that what you do in one "arena of life" will carry into another and maybe more than one aspect of a person's life.
I would have to agree with this constant saying. I think that it does build character. Diving can help build personal dignity or carriage for a coach or diver. In the diving seasons I've been with Wally, he remarks on how a diver looks on the board—shoulders back, chin up in confidence, stomach in and tight butt for elegance—and how all of this can be carried over into a diver's activities out of the pool. He also talks about how confidence in the pool carries over into school and other activities. I would agree with him. Personally, if I feel happy about my diving for a practice or meet, I feel noticeable happier and perky, I guess. That's from personal experience. I think this saying could be applied to any and other sports too.
I guess what Wally tries to say is that what you do in one "arena of life" will carry into another and maybe more than one aspect of a person's life.
Theme Brainstorming— A Fantasy in Making
Currently, I am writing a free write story for my own entertainment. I’ve been writing since the Tuesday before school started and have about five chapters completed and other major scenes in the making. The story is about a young girl who fits the profile of a prophecy and has to find a missing gem to prevent chaos and havoc spreading across the entire world.
There are many interesting scenes that give the main character, Lunesca, the personality of a tomboy in a mideval fantasy setting trying to find someplace where she can fit in. I also placed some scenes that also give Lunesca sort of a separate part of her personality that is buried deep within herself. So there are many things I still need to think about to give the story a consistant theme or story pattern that a reader may be able to follow and understand.
One of the things I thought about including in the story was a prince falling in love with Lunesca. This idea was actually a theme borrowed from a book I read over the summer. I thought that this would eventually help recover that separate part of her personality. Another scene included in the story is how Lunesca almost gets raped while fleeing from danger. I thought that this would reinforce the theme of a persona of more feminine quality buried within her because of difficult events of her past when she presented her feminine qualities more openly. I thought that if she were more exposed to the masculine side of a person, the feminine side of her would be cast aside because Lunesca thinks that women are weaker in personality, but strong at the same time. By having this opinion, I am trying to incorporate the notion that Lunesca would try to prove to herself and others in her life that women can also be strong even if they are generally thought inferior to men in society.
Another important theme I thought about incorporating was how Lunesca deals with relationships between different people. Early in the book, Lunesca talks about how her father was distant from her and her second oldest brother. This would maybe show Lunesca that not all relationships may be worth trying to strenthen because when she tried to strengthen her relationship with her father, the father-daughter relationship did not improve. Another failed relationship was between a young man named Eyvind. Lunesca and Eyvind are supposed to be great friends. Eyvind was supposed to be part of the expidition accompanying Lunesca’s group, but Eyvind dies early in the expidition. So this relationship may show Lunesca that her personal relationships may not be worth to strengthen because of the dangers in the life she leads.
There are many interesting scenes that give the main character, Lunesca, the personality of a tomboy in a mideval fantasy setting trying to find someplace where she can fit in. I also placed some scenes that also give Lunesca sort of a separate part of her personality that is buried deep within herself. So there are many things I still need to think about to give the story a consistant theme or story pattern that a reader may be able to follow and understand.
One of the things I thought about including in the story was a prince falling in love with Lunesca. This idea was actually a theme borrowed from a book I read over the summer. I thought that this would eventually help recover that separate part of her personality. Another scene included in the story is how Lunesca almost gets raped while fleeing from danger. I thought that this would reinforce the theme of a persona of more feminine quality buried within her because of difficult events of her past when she presented her feminine qualities more openly. I thought that if she were more exposed to the masculine side of a person, the feminine side of her would be cast aside because Lunesca thinks that women are weaker in personality, but strong at the same time. By having this opinion, I am trying to incorporate the notion that Lunesca would try to prove to herself and others in her life that women can also be strong even if they are generally thought inferior to men in society.
Another important theme I thought about incorporating was how Lunesca deals with relationships between different people. Early in the book, Lunesca talks about how her father was distant from her and her second oldest brother. This would maybe show Lunesca that not all relationships may be worth trying to strenthen because when she tried to strengthen her relationship with her father, the father-daughter relationship did not improve. Another failed relationship was between a young man named Eyvind. Lunesca and Eyvind are supposed to be great friends. Eyvind was supposed to be part of the expidition accompanying Lunesca’s group, but Eyvind dies early in the expidition. So this relationship may show Lunesca that her personal relationships may not be worth to strengthen because of the dangers in the life she leads.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Finding a Writer's Song
Over the course of our recent classes, Mr. Schauble has had the themes of quality and 'finding a writer's song'. We read the poem "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats. After we left class, I thought about how the metal/alternative group Evanescence would compare to this theme and how it could relate to John Keats' poem.
I thought that maybe Evanescence would be a group that sort of recreates the feeling of John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale". This would apply especially to their song called "Lithium".
(Here are the lyrics)
Lithium
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
Oh, but God, I want to let it go.
Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.
Never wanted it to be so cold.
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.
I can't hold on to me,
Wonder what's wrong with me.
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
Don't want to let it lay me down this time.
Drown my will to fly.
Here in the darkness I know myself.
Can't break free until I let it go.
Let me go.
Darling, I forgive you after all.
Anything is better than to be alone.
And in the end I guess I had to fall.
Always find my place among the ashes.
I can't hold on to me,
Wonder what's wrong with me.
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, ...stay in love with my sorrow.
I'm gonna let it go.
In "Ode to a Nightingale", John Keats creates the feeling that the world has a gloomy look from the speaker's point of view. The chorus of "Lithium" may demonstrate this feeling. Also in both pieces, the writers demonstrate their attempt to 'fly away' and be free of their gloomy world. But in the end, they fail. Also, in their attempt to get free of their gloomy world, they create their "bird song" as Mr. Schauble would put it. Both writers make a good piece of work that expresses their thoughts about the world how they are living in it. The music background in Lithium reinforces this theme when compared to Ode to a Nightingale.
I thought that maybe Evanescence would be a group that sort of recreates the feeling of John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale". This would apply especially to their song called "Lithium".
(Here are the lyrics)
Lithium
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
Oh, but God, I want to let it go.
Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone.
Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show.
Never wanted it to be so cold.
Just didn't drink enough to say you love me.
I can't hold on to me,
Wonder what's wrong with me.
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow.
Don't want to let it lay me down this time.
Drown my will to fly.
Here in the darkness I know myself.
Can't break free until I let it go.
Let me go.
Darling, I forgive you after all.
Anything is better than to be alone.
And in the end I guess I had to fall.
Always find my place among the ashes.
I can't hold on to me,
Wonder what's wrong with me.
Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside.
Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...
Lithium, ...stay in love with my sorrow.
I'm gonna let it go.
In "Ode to a Nightingale", John Keats creates the feeling that the world has a gloomy look from the speaker's point of view. The chorus of "Lithium" may demonstrate this feeling. Also in both pieces, the writers demonstrate their attempt to 'fly away' and be free of their gloomy world. But in the end, they fail. Also, in their attempt to get free of their gloomy world, they create their "bird song" as Mr. Schauble would put it. Both writers make a good piece of work that expresses their thoughts about the world how they are living in it. The music background in Lithium reinforces this theme when compared to Ode to a Nightingale.
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