April 27, 2011

Roller derby


Click here for soundtrack listing and previews.
I watched "Whip It!" (a 2009 comedy/drama, dir. Drew Barrymore, perf. Ellen Page) the other day and I need to say that I'm kind of obsessing over roller derby now. I would never participate, though. I'm too much of a wuss and a weakling. And it's better that I stay on my two feet. Being on wheels never end well for me. I bruise easily. (It looked like a hand span super nova on my right thigh. It's still a little numb there and this skateboarding fall happened...almost three years ago.)

Anyway, I was, at first, hesitant about the movie as Drew Barrymore was directing it. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against her. It's just...well, it was her directing debut and sometimes actor-turned-director debuts can be disasters. (Please excuse my lack of support. I have none.) But, I love Ellen Page so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did because it was phenomenal. It may have been because I was watching it late...past midnight...but I found that I loved almost everything about it. It probably also helped that the screenplay was written by Shauna Cross who was the author of the book the movie was based on. She also played roller derby. We're off to a good start. And yes, I will just link you to every Wikipedia page there is out there.

April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

My family has never been big on "celebrating" Easter with the Easter baskets, the chocolates, and the rather creepy Easter bunny.
Have you been a good little child this Easter?
I mean, a fat man shimmying his way down chimneys bringing presents is more believable. My parents and the whole world had me fooled. And I believed for the longest time. Why? Because I had the same reasoning as my childhood friend Calvin.
Good logic.
On a semi-related note, I always try to go to the temple on Good Friday. 
Manhattan Temple
This year, I was not able to attend the temple since Illia did not have her recommend with her. So we wandered New York together while we waited for my parents to finish their temple session. I always like going to the temple on Good Friday because it is a perfect time for me to reflect on what was Christ has done for me. He provided us redemption from our sins. He provided us a way back to eternal life with Him and God. He provided us comfort as He has suffered all the pains and afflictions of all those who have been, who are now, and who will be on this earth. 

I hope you have a beautiful Easter. Over here at home (I love home!), it's a little overcast, but it's a wonderful day to go for a walk; I suggest you take one too, if the weather permits. And while on your walk, remember what took place on the first Easter: the resurrection of Christ the Savior, He who rose from and broke the chains of death (Matthew 28John 20). 

Happy Easter, my friends!

April 18, 2011

Finals Week: I'm home in two days.

I started packing Saturday. My roommate, Linea, also recently got a TV for next year for $25 so you can just imagine how much space we have in our little dorm room right now. Linea also brought back all her pottery projects, all of which are super cool and awesome. (I tried pottery once. It failed. Apparently you can water your clay too much to the point where even a little touch can cause your cup to collapse. So I have a lot of respect for people who can manipulate clay into masterpieces.) (Oh, also, I felt like linking you to Wikipedia pages of various words. I really just wanted the red links to add color to my blog.)

Currently, I am sitting on top of my half-packed suitcase with my laptop on a chair in front of me. To my right is my other half-packed suitcase. Behind that is a smaller suitcase half-packed. Underneath my bed are three boxes half-packed. But, you know what? I studied my brains out, finished three of my five finals, and will be finishing my last two tomorrow. So pretty soon, I'll be done and I'll be headed home.
My home, Connecticut
On another note, I made lamingtons today with Crystal. Deliciousness. It was supposed to yield 24 servings. I messed it up though. But they still came out wonderfully. Why lamingtons? Because my favorite YouTube vlogger promised her viewers she would send out a tutorial on how to make them. And that was hundreds of videos ago. And because she didn't come out with a tutorial, I failed at the cake base.

Back to packing and studying.

p.s. new song (Loved You Tonight, John West) in  "Favorite Songs For The Time Being"

April 12, 2011

A ✓ off the Bucket List : Flash mob

I did it.
I participated in a flash mob. 
An Asian flash mob.
Our goal: to raise awareness for Japan. Our solution: purchase, and tell others to purchase, products from Japan. There were tons of NGOs that sprung up after the disaster, and ours seems the safest, best possible route. It would help their economy.

Buy "Made in Japan."

Weeks of lying to my roommates about where I was going can finally end. Actually, they were half-truths, so I really didn't feel bad about it.
"Where are you off to?"
"Oh, Asian Ward family home evening." 
And it was their FHE. I just lied about what we did.
"What did you do at Asian FHE?"
"Oh, we played Sudoku. We also counted rice paddies to tone our math skills." 
(I once overheard someone saying that Asians are good at math because they have to count rice paddies...)
How many can you count?
But you know, I couldn't check participating in a flash mob off my bucket list unless I had witnesses. And so I schemed. How was I going to get my roommates there? I enlisted the help of my friend Rachel who I revealed the secret of the mob to. I racked my brain for ideas. 
Brunch. Eleven AM. Wilk Terrace. And my roommates agreed. I couldn't wait for their reactions.

April 10, 2011

Candles

I've never been good at art, but I guess one lazy Saturday afternoon proved that I'm a closet artist. That, or I'm just really good at being abstract.

For my last assignment in Humanities, we have to create something that either parodies or pays tribute to someone or something we learned this semester. At first, I wanted to parody John Cage's "4:33"--four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence--on the piano (don't worry, I only was going to play the first movement). But, as I was studying for the art identification portion of my final, I looked at Jasper Johns' "Flag," which was painted with hot wax. I was intrigued by this concept of encaustic painting so I decided to melt some candles and drip them onto cardboard to see what would come of it. This was the outcome: (Blah...I made them bigger, but now they're all pixel-y.)


I know that you can't really see it that well, but it looks pretty decent in person. Regarding the names (I feel like I explain names often on my blog...), Lauren, Nicolle, and Crystal named them. Lauren called the first one Kindergarten because "it's all the primary colors...plus one." She named the second one Easter because of the addition of the color pink. Nicolle named the first one Revolution because although it always begins orderly, somehow, chaos always ensues. And she named the second one Consumerism because it was done on the back of a Pillsbury brownie mix box and the mess of consumerism leaks from it source (or something like that...I took creative liberty on what Nicolle actually said). Crystal only named the second one, but she called it Shadows because the 3D wax gave off a shadowy effect. So as of now, the titles for these works of art are still in the selection process.

But here they are. My first two art pieces: tributes to Abstract Expressionism.

April 7, 2011

My second attempt at a blog...

I've never really known what to do with a blog. It's like a diary for the whole world or, realistically, for the few followers, to read. But, I was inspired. I've been following my friend's blog for the past couple months and today, she blogged about Britney's new album. (I also got a quick summary of Britney's life.) This led to two things:
1. I listened to clips from "Femme Fatale" for a good half-hour.
2. I began to think, why not? Why not start a blog and just talk about my life and the weird little things about it that make me feel happy?
(Thanks Kristen for influencing me.)

So, from my post title, you'll notice that this is my second attempt at a blog. My first attempt went pretty well for a little bit. It was my sister, Illia, and my blog about our vacation in Hong Kong. Illia never posted, but I was so good at updating. But the day before we went back home, I completely stopped. My two followers probably were wondering where I had gone. Then again, my older sister Worthy and my friend April were the only two that read my blog and they figured out pretty soon that I didn't fall off the face of the earth.

My new blog title: at first, it was a really beautiful, ambiguous lyric from a song I've been obsessing over for the last two days, but when I looked up the meaning of the phrase, I was shocked at how perverse it actually was. And so I scrolled through my iTunes Library. I've finally settled on a song that I used to listen every morning to get me pumped about starting the day:
"Barlights" - fun.
I often found myself singing along as I pull my pants on. "And I...feel aliveeee, feeeel aliiiiiiiiiveeee!!!"
It seems like a really cliched, generic title, but hey, whenever I read it, I sing the song. And I imagine a gospel choir singing along with me.

"Me, I'm gonna live forever."

Update: May 1, 2011--Obviously, I changed the blog title. I used Mumford & Sons' "Awake My Soul," which just soothes the spirit with its simple accompaniment, its beautiful lyrics, and its moments of sustained notes that just tug at my soul in hopes that it will wake and see the world it is living in.