No more tomorrows

"The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

- Self Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, in my English class, I just finished studying Transcendentalism. As cities and urban life began to develop in 19th century America, Transcendentalists believed that man must find their ideal, independent state that 'transcends' beyond intellectualism and reason. Some say this is the period where true American-style writing began to develop. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman are just a few of the many Transcendentalist writers. Here's a couple of poems I wrote for my English class imitating Transcendentalist style (embrace yourself because they're really cheesy. :D) And the first two pictures are from Austria (my dad and me) and the Alps, 2008, and the last one is from my old house.

Living Today in Love

Life - what a simple word?
But so much to do in a life, so little time.
Love - what an easy beauty?
But one little mess and you have a burdening climb.

Faith - what a useful tool?
But so difficult to trust, so easy to fail.
Hope - what a beautiful friend?
With God's almighty help, man's hope shall never end.

Life - all a man has is now,
one time to live, so live it well.
Love - a grand gift to receive for unworthy man.
it is all we have to give; so act, not just tell.

Faith - we all need a friend,
for without Jesus man is nothing.
So lost is he who has no faith,
but have no fear, for He is here.

Love - so sweet the sound,
and what a generous blessing.
The dirt of man is so undeserving,
but He who loves us so
never stops giving,
never stops blessing
God never stops loving.

With faith, with hope, and with love
life will never cease to be beautiful
as we praise and thank our Father above.


The Galaxy of Heaven

Behold the vast and immeasurable jewels
which surround man's humble soul.

Grasp the unsurpassable advensture of the blue skies.

Embrace the weaknesses of man against God's perfect creation.

Drink the virgin rain drops
as fresh motivation overflows your heart with living dreams.

Follow the shadows painted beside the lambent stars
bantering in an infinite galaxy
painted in the reflections of the clear meadows

Go! Run in the waters of neverending opportunity.
Swim in the hands of the Loving Lord.
Dance freely in the land of intuitive imagination.
Sing the song conducted in your heart as
you draw closer to the golden gates.

Pray, rejoice, and give thanks now,
as you kiss the life in heaven to come.

Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream

I wore my favorite cardigan today. Gotta love argyle prints. I bought this two years ago at Esprit. during my vacation in Germany and Austria. Personally, I liked Austria better because of the more provincial and home-y feel it had. This cardigan and the Sound of Music tour are just a few of my favorite things (no pun intended).

And here's some pictures from Germany and Austria from 2008! I will never forget the cake decoration-like architecture and the gingerbread home-y Austrian homes of the alps. I definitely would like to visit there again. I'll add a couple of pics from my travels every day. Today's pics are all from Austria. :)

Ridin' in style: BMW police car!

The tour bus is aliveee with the sound of music... :O

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning on a Thursday evening

I was watching Saturday Night and Sunday Morning after my daily nap and snack before starting homework. I noticed the British sure said a lot of unique slang: "that's daft"/"don't be so daft," "you duck," "...luv." There's something about the 50s and 60s that's is so lovable; the perfect hair, elegant and sophisticated clothing, intelligent gentlemen (except in Arthur Seaton's case). I've always wished I grew up then, but maybe it was one of those "gilded ages."



And Shirley Anne Field sure is gorgeous. I almost feel like everyone from back then was beautiful because, for one, there was no such thing as fat, and their hair, make up and fashion is just perfect.

Good Ol' SweaterThursdays

As January is coming to a close, I wore one of my favorite winter sweaters from DC today. It's not exactly a sweater since it's zip-up, but close enough right? Since Thursdays always feel like Fridays and are therefore slightly disappointing, my friend started Sweater Thursdays at our school to make Thursdays a little bit better. :)

Not only was today Sweater Thursday, but I got a B+ on my APUSH test! First test of second semester, and I received the best score yet for an APUSH test (for me of course). I even scored higher than my APUSH wizard, peer tutor friend. :)

On top of that, I saw my math teacher get pied in the face-it was Student Revenge Day today. And on top of that, my math teacher proved that 2=1; well he said there's a hidden mistake in it, but here it goes!

x = y
x2 = xy
x2 - y2 = xy - y2
(x+y) (x-y) = y (x-y)
x+y = y
2y = y
2 = 1

.
.
.
AHHH!!!! Somewhere in the process there's a surreptitious error, but this is simply mind-boggling.

Watching teachers get pied + wearing a sweater + getting a relatively high score in APUSH + crazy math stuff = a great day

I was looking for some poster making inspiration online and I really liked this one. I found some others, but I'll post those later. :) I'm so excited for my school's Art Appreciation Association, next month we're going to visit the Seattle Art Museum, and go to the Treehouse warehouse to see how Fostering Tunes is coming along. (Fostering Tunes is a charity I created that provides musical instruments and funds for music lessons for foster kids. The arts are vital in life and especially in childhoods!) And I'm can't wait for the Seattle International Film Festival!! Yippee! The arts are definitely amazing.

Chagal

Picasso (!)

Chagal

Andy Warhol

All pictures were taken in April 2008 at the 48/8 Art Museum in Germany (I think that was the name...) :)

Bright Blessed Days

"When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had, and never will have."
-Edgar Watson Howe

The world wouldn't be so wonderful it there wasn't the blessing of music. Today I decided to compile just a few of my favorite songs from Oldies to Alternative Rock. It's not a very exciting post, but maybe some of your favs are on here or maybe a new favorite. :)

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
That's Amore - Barry Manilow
Edelweiss - from Sound of Music
From Russia With Love - Matt Monroe
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Dancing Queen - Abba
Laughing With - Regina Spektor
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
I'll Be Missing You - Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
Cold Hard Bitch - JET
Rollover DJ - JET
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
I'll Be There - Jackson Five
Jesus is Love - Lionel Richie
'Zat you, Santa Claus? - Louis Armstrong (A Christmas song that's nice all year round)
Cielito Lindo
Aqui Estoy Yo - Luis Fonsi, David Bisbal & others (it's a cheesy but nice Spanish song :D)
Barcarolle - Jacques Offenbach

Good Morning - Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney (another one of my favs)

By the way, check out Our Paper Moon's awesome giveaway! :)

A Magic that Must be Love

Today has been a great day and I can't wait for the surprises of this week to come! Our school is hosting a Student Revenge Day where students get to pie their teachers for a few dollars (in support of or Class Council). I think it's a pretty awesome idea. ;) I'm excited to see what happens, and to raise money for our prom at the same time - we need it!

And to celebrate the end of one busy semester, I'm going to take a nice long bath. :) I think everyone deserves a little rest. Especially when you've got the SAT I, SAT IIs, ACT, AP exams, and so many goodies galore coming in a couple of months. ;)

But no matter how busy or crazy life gets, listening to MJ's Rock With You always makes me feel so much better. Nobody has such a gorgeous voice, and talk about one glamorous outfit! A late tribute to MJ - may the King of Pop rest in peace forever.

Just the Beginning

I've always wanted to start up and maintain my own blog. And since midterms are over and second semester, not to mention the new year, is starting, I thought it might be a good time to start one. This will probably be one of those journal-ish, self-expression blogs that only I will look at, but who knows, maybe this is just the beginning of something great!

Here's a sneak peak of what my blog will be about (at least I hope so): random journals/essays, comments of art pieces, Christian inspiration and insights, some fashion images/inspiration, film reviews, travel journals in the summer, and a lot more. This summer I'm visiting South Korea, so be waiting for some exciting adventures and pics! :)

Today I'm just uberly excited that finals is over. It's a big discouraging to remind myself that I've got an AP US History test coming up, but hey, at least it's just one thing! And history can be intriguing even if it requires reading hours on end. I'm currently reading about the turn of the 19th century and the beginning of WWI. History has been my toughest class and sometimes the class just makes me want to cry, but I've got a brighter outlook for second semester. Friends can make amazing tutors.

On an inspirational note, recently I've been memorizing Psalm 51:10-12. I think it's a great passage to memorize and recite when I can't fall asleep (so far, it works like a charm!). Although SATs, internship searching, scholarship searching, studying, and ewagosdjgglsk can be fun, recently, they've just been bogging me down and this passage reminds me to have joy in everything by thinking of Him.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
-Psalm 51: 10-12

As for fashion, I was rather satisfied with my recent outfit and I was inspired by The Clothes Horse's remix outfits:


What do you think of it?

That's a wrap for today, and I promise my next posts won't be this long!!