Wow, again, life has gotten really busy with everything... Moving up to Poughkeepsie, New York for school... (wait, does that mean I should change my profile information??? Hawaii is my home...) Getting used to the idea of no rice everyday or college food in general... Getting used to the lack of Asians or haupas... (sorry, that kind of sounds insulting... but it's true)... Trying to keep myself healthy in between my busy schedule of a full load of classes and diving... Adjusting to my new diving coach's ethics... Trying to help my new friends understand Hawaii slang... (I can't even say "spam" without anyone freaking out or telling me not to ever say it again haha) Remembering the time zone differences between the East Coast, West Coast, Idaho (my dad and brother moved up there for Dad's job), and home... (by home, I mean Hawaii)
In terms of media, I've been watching various episodes of dramas, but never a complete set of drama episodes to understand the entire plot line. But I did rewatch SMILING PASTA (微笑PASTA)and loved it all over again.
Oh, also, I have a new favorite saying: 幸福的权利不要放弃! Don't let go of your right to happiness.
It's in simplified, but I'll put the traditional characters up as soon as I can get to a computer that can convert simplified to traditional characters. ^^
That's all I have time for now. But since I've just about figured out my schedule for now, I should have more blog posts.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
First Post of 2009
Wow. It's been a while since I've posted on here... Hmm... It's the year of 2009! (Graduation is right around the corner for me! Woo!) There's a lot of new things going on for me. Surprisingly, none of them are New Year's resolutions. I think I won't have time to commit to resolutions if I made any. Let's see... What will I be doing?
1) ILH Diving— Very important. I think it's about half of my life right now. 1 1/2 hours of diving practice Monday-Friday in preparation for my LAST Hawaii State Diving Championships which will be on Valentine's Day. I might do this in college so I have to give it all I got this season.
2) School— As always, school is very important for a student (especially to a soon-to-graduate senior). The reason I put this second on this list is due to the fact that I'm doing very well in school and it is now second nature to me. I must say that this is a major accomplishment for me because I would have to put a ton of effort into school. Whereas now doing/concentrating on school isn't such a hard/'painful' thing for me to do.
3) Variety Show— This is a 'senior' thing at my school. It's a 'play'/stage production that most of the class participates in. (You have to audition. Then the directors assign you to acting, singing, dancing, or a combo of something. At first, I was a singer/dancer a 1980's scene. But they had too many girl dancers, so I was cut. (I didn't really like the dance and wasn't putting much effort into learning it. I didn't feel very 1980's to me.) At first I was sad because I would only have one part. But I realized that I wouldn't have to go as many practices: more time for homework, diving practice, college apps, etc.
4) College Apps— Actually, I'm almost done with this item. The actual applications are in. But the financial aid papers will be my next step towards college. The thing I'm now always wondering about is why applying to college is one the most complicated things possible... But one could say that all the frustration and effort put into the application process makes the acceptance letters have more sentimental value.
5) Continuing "The Red Flower"— Mm, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I wrote a story during my sophomore year, about the time I started this blog. I will be continuing the story as my Senior Independent English project. By completing this part of the series (—I'm hoping it to be a trilogy—) I will graduate with a full credit extra of my high school English courses.
Mmm... I think that is all I can remember at the moment. Okay, it's late and I have a 7:30 Creative Writing class tomorrow morning. See you next post! =D
1) ILH Diving— Very important. I think it's about half of my life right now. 1 1/2 hours of diving practice Monday-Friday in preparation for my LAST Hawaii State Diving Championships which will be on Valentine's Day. I might do this in college so I have to give it all I got this season.
2) School— As always, school is very important for a student (especially to a soon-to-graduate senior). The reason I put this second on this list is due to the fact that I'm doing very well in school and it is now second nature to me. I must say that this is a major accomplishment for me because I would have to put a ton of effort into school. Whereas now doing/concentrating on school isn't such a hard/'painful' thing for me to do.
3) Variety Show— This is a 'senior' thing at my school. It's a 'play'/stage production that most of the class participates in. (You have to audition. Then the directors assign you to acting, singing, dancing, or a combo of something. At first, I was a singer/dancer a 1980's scene. But they had too many girl dancers, so I was cut. (I didn't really like the dance and wasn't putting much effort into learning it. I didn't feel very 1980's to me.) At first I was sad because I would only have one part. But I realized that I wouldn't have to go as many practices: more time for homework, diving practice, college apps, etc.
4) College Apps— Actually, I'm almost done with this item. The actual applications are in. But the financial aid papers will be my next step towards college. The thing I'm now always wondering about is why applying to college is one the most complicated things possible... But one could say that all the frustration and effort put into the application process makes the acceptance letters have more sentimental value.
5) Continuing "The Red Flower"— Mm, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I wrote a story during my sophomore year, about the time I started this blog. I will be continuing the story as my Senior Independent English project. By completing this part of the series (—I'm hoping it to be a trilogy—) I will graduate with a full credit extra of my high school English courses.
Mmm... I think that is all I can remember at the moment. Okay, it's late and I have a 7:30 Creative Writing class tomorrow morning. See you next post! =D
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Old Reflection: Interviewing Project
**NOTE: This post was actually supposed to put this entry up a really long time ago, but I never got around to do it. So enjoy! =D
I have a really weird feeling that I was supposed to post another entry for journalism... I don't remember what the subject was supposed to be, but since we just finished a video project, I guess I'll reflect on that.
Assignment briefing:
Video interviews. TOPIC: alumni of my school and why they came back as faculty/staff.
I thought that the concept was my group's topic was very interesting. There are many places alumni of my school (Punahou School) can end up, as recently demonstrated/proved by Barack Obama. So why in the world would they want to return to their school?
The answers from our three interviewees were interesting. Two of the interviewees were teachers and one was a dean. The teachers both said that they really liked the environment at Punahou. The dean said that he actually didn't want to become a dean, but came back because Punahou let him "discipline the way [he] thought was correct." But after thinking about his response (in relation to the rest of his interview and his time as a student), his return also had to deal with the environment at Punahou.
I was assigned to interview the dean, Mr. Hata. After asking, "Why did you come back to Punahou?", I thought it was necessary to ask how student life was when he was a student. He said, "There's a lot of differences. It was suffocating! I lived to break the rules. It was a block schedule, unlike now. There was a break that wasn't a break. Freshmen and sophomores had mandatory study hall while all the juniors and seniors had breaks. All I did was stare at them and be jealous."
I found it interesting when he answered my second question because it made his answer to my first question crystal clear... If he thought that his time at Punahou was suffocating, it makes sense that he would want to change the way Punahou disciplined its students. => The less suffocating the environment is, the better time a student will have at school.
Maybe it was reverse psychology that forced Mr. Hata's final decision to become real. I wonder if something like this will happen to me sometime during my future.... We will see...
I have a really weird feeling that I was supposed to post another entry for journalism... I don't remember what the subject was supposed to be, but since we just finished a video project, I guess I'll reflect on that.
Assignment briefing:
Video interviews. TOPIC: alumni of my school and why they came back as faculty/staff.
I thought that the concept was my group's topic was very interesting. There are many places alumni of my school (Punahou School) can end up, as recently demonstrated/proved by Barack Obama. So why in the world would they want to return to their school?
The answers from our three interviewees were interesting. Two of the interviewees were teachers and one was a dean. The teachers both said that they really liked the environment at Punahou. The dean said that he actually didn't want to become a dean, but came back because Punahou let him "discipline the way [he] thought was correct." But after thinking about his response (in relation to the rest of his interview and his time as a student), his return also had to deal with the environment at Punahou.
I was assigned to interview the dean, Mr. Hata. After asking, "Why did you come back to Punahou?", I thought it was necessary to ask how student life was when he was a student. He said, "There's a lot of differences. It was suffocating! I lived to break the rules. It was a block schedule, unlike now. There was a break that wasn't a break. Freshmen and sophomores had mandatory study hall while all the juniors and seniors had breaks. All I did was stare at them and be jealous."
I found it interesting when he answered my second question because it made his answer to my first question crystal clear... If he thought that his time at Punahou was suffocating, it makes sense that he would want to change the way Punahou disciplined its students. => The less suffocating the environment is, the better time a student will have at school.
Maybe it was reverse psychology that forced Mr. Hata's final decision to become real. I wonder if something like this will happen to me sometime during my future.... We will see...
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Viewers....
*Sigh... Although the privacy settings for this blog is on private, I am going to change it back to the public availability. I think it's a hassle to figure out who's who and getting permission to read my blog. Besides, not many people have requested to read my blog except for my English classes and a few of my long distance friends (which comes in handy since I'm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and they're all on the East Coast, haha.)
Sure, I know that it is for the security of my classmates for the usage of my journalism class, but I think that if I had just left it on public availability, I think I could've spent much more time on my blog entries making the entries better.
**EDIT: Heyy! Woo! Just found out that I can definitely put the blog on pulbic setting because my journalism class is done with the blogs! (Unless extra credit is wanted.) So I won't get into trouble. Haha. =D
Sure, I know that it is for the security of my classmates for the usage of my journalism class, but I think that if I had just left it on public availability, I think I could've spent much more time on my blog entries making the entries better.
**EDIT: Heyy! Woo! Just found out that I can definitely put the blog on pulbic setting because my journalism class is done with the blogs! (Unless extra credit is wanted.) So I won't get into trouble. Haha. =D
Monday, November 3, 2008
Second blog.... (second part of 1st quarter crammig)
Yes, this is my second part/post of my almost late blogger posts. (Ha, ALMOST. note that word. ha... =D) TOPIC: Identify FOUR factors of quality article writing and discuss how you incorporate it into your own writing.
Hmm... well in the previous post I think I identified three out of my four personal standards of writing: voice, knowledge, eloquence. I'm not quite sure what my fourth standard of quality writing is/would be... OHP! CONFIDENCE! Although, according to my previous post, confidence falls under my definition of eloquence, it does have a very high significance in (my) writing.
VOICE: Most of my written pieces have a lot of voice (or so says many of my current and previous English teachers). I really value this aspect of writing because a person is most likely writing to show what they think, and in turn, to voice their opinion about a topic.
KNOWLEDGE: I really like to have the necessary amount of knowledge to make my writing valid. (Seriously, who wants to make an embarrassment out of themselves because they said something wrong?) And if my knowledge can help me in a discussion, then I can have bragging rights to say "HA I KNOW MORE THAN YOU". (I know, it's mean, but that's how I function... so DEAL WITH IT. lol.)
ELOQUENCE: This is my weak point as I notice my grammar is not up to par in parts of my writing. It's kinda sad really, because I remember being the 'grammar queen' so to speak in seventh grade. My friends call me the "English queen" as a joke, especially when they want me to edit one of their papers. When editing, I usually won't find anything wrong with the paper unless the writing is inconsistent with the author's voice and knowledge. I know that I need to work on this as I have received comments from my teachers and my more hard-core writer friends.
CONFIDENCE: This is not necessarily my weak spot nor my strength. I guess it depends on how my voice of my written piece ends up. My confidence usually works very closely with the voice of my piece, which is usually greatly affected by the topic I am writing about. If I can't bring myself to believe/agree with my writing topic, my voice won't come out into the piece for display, then I don't feel very confident in my writing. It shows when I don't have confidence in my writing and I end up with lower grades and lower quality papers.
I will continue to incorporate these and improve these aspects of my writing in whatever form I come across. Hopefully, I'll be a lot better in my eloquence and more consistent with my topic confidence.
Hmm... well in the previous post I think I identified three out of my four personal standards of writing: voice, knowledge, eloquence. I'm not quite sure what my fourth standard of quality writing is/would be... OHP! CONFIDENCE! Although, according to my previous post, confidence falls under my definition of eloquence, it does have a very high significance in (my) writing.
VOICE: Most of my written pieces have a lot of voice (or so says many of my current and previous English teachers). I really value this aspect of writing because a person is most likely writing to show what they think, and in turn, to voice their opinion about a topic.
KNOWLEDGE: I really like to have the necessary amount of knowledge to make my writing valid. (Seriously, who wants to make an embarrassment out of themselves because they said something wrong?) And if my knowledge can help me in a discussion, then I can have bragging rights to say "HA I KNOW MORE THAN YOU". (I know, it's mean, but that's how I function... so DEAL WITH IT. lol.)
ELOQUENCE: This is my weak point as I notice my grammar is not up to par in parts of my writing. It's kinda sad really, because I remember being the 'grammar queen' so to speak in seventh grade. My friends call me the "English queen" as a joke, especially when they want me to edit one of their papers. When editing, I usually won't find anything wrong with the paper unless the writing is inconsistent with the author's voice and knowledge. I know that I need to work on this as I have received comments from my teachers and my more hard-core writer friends.
CONFIDENCE: This is not necessarily my weak spot nor my strength. I guess it depends on how my voice of my written piece ends up. My confidence usually works very closely with the voice of my piece, which is usually greatly affected by the topic I am writing about. If I can't bring myself to believe/agree with my writing topic, my voice won't come out into the piece for display, then I don't feel very confident in my writing. It shows when I don't have confidence in my writing and I end up with lower grades and lower quality papers.
I will continue to incorporate these and improve these aspects of my writing in whatever form I come across. Hopefully, I'll be a lot better in my eloquence and more consistent with my topic confidence.
Another post... (after a super looong while)
As I expected, I haven't really kept up with my blogging assignments... (>_<) Therefore, here I am again, writing (more like cramming) another longer set of blog posts than I would have needed to if I kept up with the assignments. (Haha, oh, the irony of my lazy stupidity...)
First topic (of my required minimal two posts): Quality in journalism in any aspect:
Hmm... QUALITY... Well, especially in regards to journalism, I really value voice of the writer. Quality (in writing) to me shows what a writer is thinking, and uses their ability to use/PLAY with words to explain his/her thoughts. I mean, the best people I have come across are the people who have exciting personalities, and not totally dry and strict on themselves.
It is possible that I like the pieces of writing that convey the best of someone's personalities. Looking at the previous sentence, the best of someone's personalities means the good AND the bad aspects. A piece of writing could be one of the best pieces of writing and have one of the darkest points of views on the planet (i.e. EDGAR ALLAN POE => one of the best poets known to the English writing world). I actually like it when a person can take the opposite side of the common argument. I think about taking the opposite side of an argument, but don't do it very often due my lack of knowledge to back up my reasoning.
KNOWLEDGE: A KEY FACTOR IN JOURNALISM... I think that having valid information is one of the most important factors of making a journalism piece. I have seen this one article (in the University of Hawaii's school newspaper) regarding my school's (Punahou School) annual carnival and where all the funds go towards.
LINK: (You might find it interesting, depending on your standpoint.)
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2007/02/01/Editorials/Dont-Go.To.The.Punahou.Carnival.Its.Social.Injustice-2794231.shtml
FOLLOW UP ARTICLE:
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2008/01/31/Commentary/Revisiting.The.Punahou.Carnival-3179994.shtml
The author, probably (in my opinion) didn't do very much research to back up his story. Although some of it does make sense, a lot of it can be considered a logical fallacy. (Haha, a Humphrey's moment... Nolan'll get this.) There were many comments from Punahou students and alumni and carnival fans (as a follow up article stated) criticizing this article. It was interesting to read the article and comments as the comments had a lot of facts to back up the criticism. At times, I thought that the comments were stronger than the article because of the supporting facts that were stated. Facts are also important because if a writer gets the information incorrect, the article will most likely be taken as a joke (or something of a fool's paragraph) by the readers.
ELOQUENCY: A KEY FACTOR IN VOICE...
Eloquency can make or break a person's writing voice in a way. Eloquence doesn't need to a sentence with long and complicated words. It just needs to make sense, HAVE CONFIDENCE in what the author is writing about, and show the writer's voice. A person could have one of the best writing voices, but how they put out their writing voice is crucial to display the 'fullness' of the voice. The eloquence of a person's writing is also important to show the degree of his/her opinion on the matter (news or editorial). Again, as I stated in my paragraph about knowledge&facts, if a journalist writes in a very confusing way that the message and/or voice is unclear, the article will most likely be taken as a joke (or something of a fool's paragraph) by the readers.
.... *reading over post...* I think that sums up my personal key factors to a quality article (news or editorial). I guess that's one down, another one to go! =D
First topic (of my required minimal two posts): Quality in journalism in any aspect:
Hmm... QUALITY... Well, especially in regards to journalism, I really value voice of the writer. Quality (in writing) to me shows what a writer is thinking, and uses their ability to use/PLAY with words to explain his/her thoughts. I mean, the best people I have come across are the people who have exciting personalities, and not totally dry and strict on themselves.
It is possible that I like the pieces of writing that convey the best of someone's personalities. Looking at the previous sentence, the best of someone's personalities means the good AND the bad aspects. A piece of writing could be one of the best pieces of writing and have one of the darkest points of views on the planet (i.e. EDGAR ALLAN POE => one of the best poets known to the English writing world). I actually like it when a person can take the opposite side of the common argument. I think about taking the opposite side of an argument, but don't do it very often due my lack of knowledge to back up my reasoning.
KNOWLEDGE: A KEY FACTOR IN JOURNALISM... I think that having valid information is one of the most important factors of making a journalism piece. I have seen this one article (in the University of Hawaii's school newspaper) regarding my school's (Punahou School) annual carnival and where all the funds go towards.
LINK: (You might find it interesting, depending on your standpoint.)
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2007/02/01/Editorials/Dont-Go.To.The.Punahou.Carnival.Its.Social.Injustice-2794231.shtml
FOLLOW UP ARTICLE:
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2008/01/31/Commentary/Revisiting.The.Punahou.Carnival-3179994.shtml
The author, probably (in my opinion) didn't do very much research to back up his story. Although some of it does make sense, a lot of it can be considered a logical fallacy. (Haha, a Humphrey's moment... Nolan'll get this.) There were many comments from Punahou students and alumni and carnival fans (as a follow up article stated) criticizing this article. It was interesting to read the article and comments as the comments had a lot of facts to back up the criticism. At times, I thought that the comments were stronger than the article because of the supporting facts that were stated. Facts are also important because if a writer gets the information incorrect, the article will most likely be taken as a joke (or something of a fool's paragraph) by the readers.
ELOQUENCY: A KEY FACTOR IN VOICE...
Eloquency can make or break a person's writing voice in a way. Eloquence doesn't need to a sentence with long and complicated words. It just needs to make sense, HAVE CONFIDENCE in what the author is writing about, and show the writer's voice. A person could have one of the best writing voices, but how they put out their writing voice is crucial to display the 'fullness' of the voice. The eloquence of a person's writing is also important to show the degree of his/her opinion on the matter (news or editorial). Again, as I stated in my paragraph about knowledge&facts, if a journalist writes in a very confusing way that the message and/or voice is unclear, the article will most likely be taken as a joke (or something of a fool's paragraph) by the readers.
.... *reading over post...* I think that sums up my personal key factors to a quality article (news or editorial). I guess that's one down, another one to go! =D
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Assignment #1 (JOURNALISM)
sigh... i cant believe i wasted about 1 1/2 trying re-figure out (haha, i bet that's not even a word =D) how to work this blog again... now it's late and i'm probably gonna feel like i procrastinated this assignment... >_< sigh... here i go!
ASSIGNMENT: FIND TWO ARTICLES ABOUT THE SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT STAND POINTS AND COMPARE/CONTRAST/COMMENT.
TOPIC OF MY CHOICE: GOOGLE'S NEW BROWSER
Links:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6zJy-N11opc0PCJUIK6GyriOkpw
http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2008/08/microsoft-takes.html
The first link is supporting Google's move while the second link seems to have a favor towards Microsoft.
I chose this topic because I didn't want to touch upon some of the more popular issues of today [which will include the poverty of the world etc and presidential elections, even if I find the elections very exciting]... (I have this weird attitude that if something is too redundant, it'll get on my nerves so I won't discuss it.) I randomly heard someone (I think it was my Dad) say that Google launched a new internet browser. Now, I'm not super good with computers, but I am one of the main sources of internet knowledge in my family. So it was natural that it sparked my general interest to ask if it was really true. My dad then went on to say that apparently the person in charge of this project was part of now two non-existing companies that got beat out by Microsoft, so it's his motivation for success. Random? Maybe, but it was enough to get my interest. I remembered about this topic while I was brainstorming for my article topics. So, what better idea than to look it over?
When I did, there was a lot of terms I didn't really understand. But from what I gather, there's a lot of changes with the Internet Explorer application and still more to come. Unfortunately, I cannot say much because of my personal biased: I grew up with Apple computers and have naturally sided with Google. Actually, scratch that! HA! I am with the special minority... I think. [dang it... sleep is getting to me... I'll come back and edit later.]
Okay! I went over the article again and I figured out my stance [present and past]. I grew up with Apple computers being used for school and used Internet Explorer (which is Microsoft) for a good amount of the time. But I switched to Safari (which is Google) because my friends suggested to it and I thought the overall appearance looked cool. [I was not as computer savvy as I am now so I couldn't tell the true differences.] In sophomore year I switched to Mozilla Firefox (which is also Google) due to more obvious usage possibilities by using it. [First actual reason for switching was for this blog... Thanks Mr. Schauble! =D]
I am actually surprised that Firefox is used less than Internet Explorer. Most of my friends use Safari rather than Internet Explorer if they don't use Firefox. But of course, I don't know everyone in the world, so it is sort of expected. Reading these articles showed me how much competition there is everywhere in the world, even in the 'worlds' that I do not understand or know of its existences.
ASSIGNMENT: FIND TWO ARTICLES ABOUT THE SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT STAND POINTS AND COMPARE/CONTRAST/COMMENT.
TOPIC OF MY CHOICE: GOOGLE'S NEW BROWSER
Links:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6zJy-N11opc0PCJUIK6GyriOkpw
http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2008/08/microsoft-takes.html
The first link is supporting Google's move while the second link seems to have a favor towards Microsoft.
I chose this topic because I didn't want to touch upon some of the more popular issues of today [which will include the poverty of the world etc and presidential elections, even if I find the elections very exciting]... (I have this weird attitude that if something is too redundant, it'll get on my nerves so I won't discuss it.) I randomly heard someone (I think it was my Dad) say that Google launched a new internet browser. Now, I'm not super good with computers, but I am one of the main sources of internet knowledge in my family. So it was natural that it sparked my general interest to ask if it was really true. My dad then went on to say that apparently the person in charge of this project was part of now two non-existing companies that got beat out by Microsoft, so it's his motivation for success. Random? Maybe, but it was enough to get my interest. I remembered about this topic while I was brainstorming for my article topics. So, what better idea than to look it over?
When I did, there was a lot of terms I didn't really understand. But from what I gather, there's a lot of changes with the Internet Explorer application and still more to come. Unfortunately, I cannot say much because of my personal biased: I grew up with Apple computers and have naturally sided with Google. Actually, scratch that! HA! I am with the special minority... I think. [dang it... sleep is getting to me... I'll come back and edit later.]
Okay! I went over the article again and I figured out my stance [present and past]. I grew up with Apple computers being used for school and used Internet Explorer (which is Microsoft) for a good amount of the time. But I switched to Safari (which is Google) because my friends suggested to it and I thought the overall appearance looked cool. [I was not as computer savvy as I am now so I couldn't tell the true differences.] In sophomore year I switched to Mozilla Firefox (which is also Google) due to more obvious usage possibilities by using it. [First actual reason for switching was for this blog... Thanks Mr. Schauble! =D]
I am actually surprised that Firefox is used less than Internet Explorer. Most of my friends use Safari rather than Internet Explorer if they don't use Firefox. But of course, I don't know everyone in the world, so it is sort of expected. Reading these articles showed me how much competition there is everywhere in the world, even in the 'worlds' that I do not understand or know of its existences.
GAH!!!
lol. i almost had a panic attack just now... lol because i thought my blog got deleted... >< lol. okay now for my homework. lol.
Friday, August 29, 2008
wow... long time no see! =D
wow, i havent used this blog in a REALLY long time. haha. good thing i was lazy last week and didn't delete this. who knew that it would come in handy for another class?
okay, new usage is for my JOURNALISM CLASS (primarily) and maybe for posting random facts i find interesting or something like that. =D
okay, new usage is for my JOURNALISM CLASS (primarily) and maybe for posting random facts i find interesting or something like that. =D
Thursday, May 3, 2007
A Music Video
This is a music video that I found. It's by the Korean pop group "Super Junior", which consists of 13 members. I like this music video because of the dancing. I thought that their time was very good. I thought that it is fairly different from American music videos, although it does remind me slightly of 'N'SYNC and Backstreet Boys.
Twins (Knock Out) By Super Junior:
I thought that this video could represent how ideas flow around the world. About five years ago, this sort of music was the popular genre. But now that it's out of fad in America, it is now popular in the Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China. I thought that this was interesting because of the question "What will influence them next?" I'm not sure what will be the next fad in other countries once they aren't as popular in America and other Western countries. But it will be interesting to observe.
Twins (Knock Out) By Super Junior:
I thought that this video could represent how ideas flow around the world. About five years ago, this sort of music was the popular genre. But now that it's out of fad in America, it is now popular in the Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China. I thought that this was interesting because of the question "What will influence them next?" I'm not sure what will be the next fad in other countries once they aren't as popular in America and other Western countries. But it will be interesting to observe.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Recently, we finished the required class reading, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I thought that this book was well thought out, especially considering the plot line parallels to international history. I also like how Kingsolver was able to distinct the different character voices so well. My personal favorite character is Adah because of the interesting ways she put sentences backwards and how she can see things in ways I sometimes wish I could see as. I also like Adah's last words in the chapter of the "Song of Three Children". She says, "Illusions mistake for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization" (532). After reading this, I agreed with Adah's observation. So many stereotypes are based on misunderstandings between cultures and different people. Also, beliefs are based on opinions, which do not always reconcile with the facts.
When Ruth May dies, I was surprised at first. But when I thought about it, there were reading patterns that hinted at her death fairly obviously. One such is how she makes references to reptiles and how she doesn't picture herself in her father's Christian heaven. Another is how her entries were filtered out as the book made more progress to Bel and the Serpent. As I looked back at her entries, I noticed that her character voice wasn't really maturing or changing. So that could also have been a pattern that hinted at her death.
I personally didn't like Rachel. After a while, her entries got extremely annoying, to the point where I entirely skipped her entries and just read her sisters' entries. But I did eventually go back and read her entries. I thought that she reminded me of one of my second grade classmates. When I tried to give her constructive criticism, she wouldn't take it and like Rachel's attitude, shut the door and ignore the things coming for her attention. (I haven't seen this classmate since then, but that's how I remember her—a younger version of Rachel.)
Leah, I have mixed feelings. I can identify with her—wanting to be independent, wanting to be just like her father, open minded— which puts me in favor of her. But when Ruth May died, and Leah could have saved her, I got mad at Leah. But when I reread that section, I thought that I was really mad at myself. I remember being in a situation in which I could have improved, but did nothing about it. Although I can't recall the details, I didn't do anything and the situation turned even worse. I think that anyone can identify with Leah's shock in a situation such as that. I think that I would be shocked numb if I witnessed my baby sister dying.
I really liked this book overall, even if I procrastinated at reading some of the sections. I think that the aspect of reading for class dimmed the light on it's 'reading glory'. But otherwise, I think that this would be in my top twenty of the my recently read list.
A Surprising Diary
I was organizing my desk today and found one of the many notebooks I had tried to start a diary in. I looked at the first page, expecting to read one of my rants. Instead, I found a diary introduction. Strangely, it addressed one of the themes in my English class ("What kind of world is this?"). This is what I wrote.
When I read what I wrote, I was actually surprised that I thought about this sort of topic. I was even more surprised that I even wrote my thoughts down. At the beginning of the second semester, when the questions "What kind of life is this? How should we live in it?", were presented to the class, I thought That is something that people don't normally thing about. But I think that this entry actually contradicted my assumption. Now, I think that the question theme isn't such an ambiguous theme.
This is my first diary entry in about thee years, so this entry may have a lot to talk about. But let me get this general idea a basic walk through. Life is never simple. Personally, I think that Life is fabricated of layers and layers that vary in degree of goodness, badness, mourning, and celebration. Life is generally viewed in two ways: the good and the bad. But it is never really one way or the other; It's never simple.
People throughout time have wondered 'Why are we here?' People have looked up to a higher being or persons or a god or multiple gods to explain why people exist. I remember in seventh grade, I was required to take a course in religion. One of the lessons the teacher taught was that God (the Christian God) put us down here because he loves us, the people. There has been so many ties since that lesson when I've wondered, 'Is there really some higher being out there?' My heritage, the Filipinos, is one of the two countries in Asia who has Christianity as their national religion, so my family is naturally Christian-Catholic. At least, to a certain point. I guess that there is a higher being out there, watching us. At Escrima, or the martial arts of the Filipinos, there is a command pronounced 'pamajé', which means 'pray'. Our head guru tells us that we should pray to whichever higher being it is we pray to. He says, "To whomever you pray to, whatever your religion is, just pray." He just says to pray; it doesn't have to be a good long prayer asking for something. It could just be a short thank you. But if yo listen to what I hear, and interpret his words the way I do, Guru implies that a person should pray to someone of a spiritual high being to at least thank him or her or them for life.
This long introduction brings me back to my initial statement and reason of these following entries. Life is never simple. As one reads along, though my experiences and thought, Life is never simple. There are always things that will make people wonder about things that are obvious and not obvious. Life is never simple because of the many views and options and possibilities that it could be viewed or experienced. I guess that is the general purpose in Life: to go through choices and feelings and thoughts, and to reflect and learn about what Life is meant to be.
When I read what I wrote, I was actually surprised that I thought about this sort of topic. I was even more surprised that I even wrote my thoughts down. At the beginning of the second semester, when the questions "What kind of life is this? How should we live in it?", were presented to the class, I thought That is something that people don't normally thing about. But I think that this entry actually contradicted my assumption. Now, I think that the question theme isn't such an ambiguous theme.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Myspace vs. Facebook
I had some time on my hands so I decided to create a Facebook account.
I know, it's another internet craze like Zanga or Myspace. But really, what is the difference?
I didn't have a Zanga account, but I did have a Myspace. I thought that it was a pretty good site. I reconnected with some old gymnastics friends I hadn't seen in years. I was able to personalize my page and put music on and all these other features. When I told my parents, they first became parentally concerned and made me do monthly check ups on my page. (This was when there was myspace 'horror stories' on the news.) After a while, they stopped... and so did the myspace craze.
Now the Facebook craze has begun and I just joined it. I think it's interesting and has its pros and cons as anything does. Instead of the myspace comments, Facebook has 'writings on (your friends)'s wall'. It also keeps record of what changes that were made to your account and what others did to your account (i.e. write on your wall, 'poke' you, add a new friend, etc.) I haven't got many facebook friends yet, but I'll see how it turns out compared to the myspace world.
I know, it's another internet craze like Zanga or Myspace. But really, what is the difference?
I didn't have a Zanga account, but I did have a Myspace. I thought that it was a pretty good site. I reconnected with some old gymnastics friends I hadn't seen in years. I was able to personalize my page and put music on and all these other features. When I told my parents, they first became parentally concerned and made me do monthly check ups on my page. (This was when there was myspace 'horror stories' on the news.) After a while, they stopped... and so did the myspace craze.
Now the Facebook craze has begun and I just joined it. I think it's interesting and has its pros and cons as anything does. Instead of the myspace comments, Facebook has 'writings on (your friends)'s wall'. It also keeps record of what changes that were made to your account and what others did to your account (i.e. write on your wall, 'poke' you, add a new friend, etc.) I haven't got many facebook friends yet, but I'll see how it turns out compared to the myspace world.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Gymnastics
When I was younger, I grew up in club gymnastics for Aloha Gymnastics World (commonly known as Aloha/AGW). Around sixth grade, I stopped gym and I declared that I wasn't going to do anymore gymnastics. Well, I proved myself wrong around eighth grade. I was at a new school and wasn't very outgoing. My mom suggested for me to do ILH gymnastics for the school. At first, I didn't want to. But I remembered that a lot of my friends from Aloha did it. So if I did it, I would be able to keep in touch with them better. So I went and 'represented' my school and did ILH.
Since then, I've been in ILH gymnastics, not quite willing to renounce all of my gymnastics abilities. Now, I'm a varsity member, although it's not a very big deal. A lot of my friends are in this group, so it almost feels like old times. I think that a person can never truly leave their roots. I've experienced it through gymnastics. Many of my favorite skills are still with me and help me along in my primary sport, diving.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Show Finale
Wow, I haven't made a post in a while. I think that this was a personal discipline problem and lack of ideas of what to write. Anyways, I'm back and I'll be making more posts now.
This past Thursday was the finale of the Korean show Pure in Heart. It had such a happy ending. MH approves of Gukhwa, at first due to publicity pressure. But after Gukhwa and Yunhu get married, MH approves of Gukhwa due to unasked favors Gukhwa performs for MH. DK and MH make up and act more like a couple. (They fought a lot over petty things...)
Ugyeong (a college buddy of Yunhu's and older-brother-like figure to Gukhwa) and Yunjeong (Yunhu's younger sister) are married and have twin boys. Ugyeong also takes over his grandfather's tailor shop.
The show officially ends when the creators show the families one year later. Gukhwa is seven months pregnant and Yunhu is really happy. Gukhwa also becomes a college student. (She is ten years younger than Yunhu, and didn't have enough money to go to college immediately after high school.) Ugyeong and Yunjeong are proud parents of twins who are 100 days old. Ugyeong's tailor shop is flourishing and his younger sister is dating a good guy. (Earlier in the show, Ugyeong's sister was having a lot of boy problems.) MH also gives her cooking class company to her son-in-law (who loves to cook).
All in all, a happy ending. Here's the link to epilogue part of the show if anyone wants to watch:
I think that every story can have a happy ending, only some turn out better than others. Change in every character is imminent and maybe obligatory in every story. And depending on how the characters change, the ending changes also.
This past Thursday was the finale of the Korean show Pure in Heart. It had such a happy ending. MH approves of Gukhwa, at first due to publicity pressure. But after Gukhwa and Yunhu get married, MH approves of Gukhwa due to unasked favors Gukhwa performs for MH. DK and MH make up and act more like a couple. (They fought a lot over petty things...)
Ugyeong (a college buddy of Yunhu's and older-brother-like figure to Gukhwa) and Yunjeong (Yunhu's younger sister) are married and have twin boys. Ugyeong also takes over his grandfather's tailor shop.
The show officially ends when the creators show the families one year later. Gukhwa is seven months pregnant and Yunhu is really happy. Gukhwa also becomes a college student. (She is ten years younger than Yunhu, and didn't have enough money to go to college immediately after high school.) Ugyeong and Yunjeong are proud parents of twins who are 100 days old. Ugyeong's tailor shop is flourishing and his younger sister is dating a good guy. (Earlier in the show, Ugyeong's sister was having a lot of boy problems.) MH also gives her cooking class company to her son-in-law (who loves to cook).
All in all, a happy ending. Here's the link to epilogue part of the show if anyone wants to watch:
I think that every story can have a happy ending, only some turn out better than others. Change in every character is imminent and maybe obligatory in every story. And depending on how the characters change, the ending changes also.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Change. Connecting with a Show
I like Korean dramas/soap operas. The show that I'm watching now is called "Pure In Heart". It's about a girl (Gukhwa) and how she falls in love with this guy (Yunhu) and how his parents don't approve of their relationship.
This is the show's "cover picture":
In the more recent episodes,the parents finally approved of their relationship and agreed to their son's wish to marry her. The father (DK) is more willing because he observed them during work (—Yunhu works for DK's company and Yunhu hired Gukhwa as his secretary as a bargaining price to work for DK). But the mother (MH) seems entirely against it because of her background.
As the season goes on, MH seems to secretly like Gukhwa and doesn't want to admit it. The way I see it, MH doesn't want any change to her life and doesn't want to share any attention with Gukhwa. I think that if MH gets along with Gukhwa more, she'll get equal amount of attention and maybe in better light because it might make up for all of the things that she did to Gukhwa.
I think that sometimes people who don't want to change miss out on things and possibilities that could open a new world to them. That new world may have negative aspects in them, but every sort of world has at least some positive aspects that will please everyone to a certain extent, even though it may not always be apparent.
This is the show's "cover picture":
In the more recent episodes,the parents finally approved of their relationship and agreed to their son's wish to marry her. The father (DK) is more willing because he observed them during work (—Yunhu works for DK's company and Yunhu hired Gukhwa as his secretary as a bargaining price to work for DK). But the mother (MH) seems entirely against it because of her background.
As the season goes on, MH seems to secretly like Gukhwa and doesn't want to admit it. The way I see it, MH doesn't want any change to her life and doesn't want to share any attention with Gukhwa. I think that if MH gets along with Gukhwa more, she'll get equal amount of attention and maybe in better light because it might make up for all of the things that she did to Gukhwa.
I think that sometimes people who don't want to change miss out on things and possibilities that could open a new world to them. That new world may have negative aspects in them, but every sort of world has at least some positive aspects that will please everyone to a certain extent, even though it may not always be apparent.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
A Flight to Somewhere
Yesterday, my brother returned from his spring break trip to Washington DC and New York, NY with his school. It seemed that he had fun, which I had hoped. He didn't get me many things for souvenirs, but got me something at least. He got as many National Holocaust Museum pamphlets about people who were involved in the Holocaust and their stories. He also saved the playbill for the Broadway production of The Lion King. He also got me some jewelry trinkets.
Now, generally, I don't like jewelry trinkets. But I told myself that I'd be willing to change so I can appreciate his gifts better. This sort of change will be slightly difficult for me because I'm not used to wearing jewelry. But, I will adjust my attitude to the situation to better myself. thus willing to this change. I hope that this will able me to take other situations in the better light in the future.
Now, generally, I don't like jewelry trinkets. But I told myself that I'd be willing to change so I can appreciate his gifts better. This sort of change will be slightly difficult for me because I'm not used to wearing jewelry. But, I will adjust my attitude to the situation to better myself. thus willing to this change. I hope that this will able me to take other situations in the better light in the future.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Movie Review
Recently, a friend of mine let me watch this Korean drama movie. The original language is Korean, and not wanting to ruin the original feeling of the movie, I watched it with English subtitles. It's called "The Classic". The title fits because there are so many clichés in the movie. It's about a girl who is having boy problems. (Her best friend likes the same guy and makes her write love letters to the guy.) At the same time, she's reading the diary of her mother's first love, whose situation was very similar to her own.
Although a movie with a lot of clichés would be not very good, it sort of made the essence of the movie. You could predict what the characters would do or what was going to happen next, which sort of made it funny.
While I took the first semester of English over summer, my teacher constantly said, "Don't use clichés." It's hard to, but sometimes that's the only way to get to the point. I thought that it was interesting to put many clichés together in a pack. I don't think that I've seen anybody use that many clichés all at once, which made the movie pretty unique.
Here's the DVD cover:
Although a movie with a lot of clichés would be not very good, it sort of made the essence of the movie. You could predict what the characters would do or what was going to happen next, which sort of made it funny.
While I took the first semester of English over summer, my teacher constantly said, "Don't use clichés." It's hard to, but sometimes that's the only way to get to the point. I thought that it was interesting to put many clichés together in a pack. I don't think that I've seen anybody use that many clichés all at once, which made the movie pretty unique.
Here's the DVD cover:
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Video Explinations
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.
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.
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.
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