Little Girl, Em

Just this month, my first dog, Emma, died. She was getting sick, and we did not know what was wrong. We took her to the hospital to see what she was suffering from. They kept her overnight for observation. However, at around midnight, she seized and passed on. It's been pretty hard on my family, especially my mom. We're currently on the look out for a new dog, so Joey boy will have a friend again. The poor boy is so lonely now.
On the bright side, she's out of pain now, wherever she is.

Joey and Emma. Emma is on the right.

Jersey Boys

For my dad's 50th birthday, my family and I took him to see Jersey Boys. We had a great dinner, loved the show, and were lucky enough to go backstage and hang out for a bit. I hope he had a great night. He is an amazing man.

Dinner

He's a rock star.

Have a beautiful day today.

Dogsitting

I love these dogs! They're so full of energy, a little obnoxious, but fun just the same.

Get happy

I had a pretty decent week. I started putting a serious effort toward eating healthier, which turned out to be much easier than I'd expected. It wasn't a huge leap for me, I just had to work on my portion sizes and little treats. After the first day, I began feeling much more alert, cheerful and energized. Along with an improved diet, I started getting into Buddhism again, since I have to break from Taoism studies until my brother comes home with the Tao Te Ching. The emphasis on the power of the mind is so fascinating and inspiring.
To top it all off, I spent another evening at the Springs Preserve, and no place in the city gets me in a better mood than this facility. If you've never been to the Springs Preserve, and you live in or near Las Vegas, I highly recommend it.

Check it out here!

Genuine Appreciation

I forgot how wonderful it feels to have time after a long day of school to get caught up and just relax. I need to learn to cherish every moment of these seemingly hectic days. Don't let me forget!

Dracula/Death

Hello hello.
Dracula opens tomorrow night. Six shows and I'll be free....for a minute.
If you'd like to see the show, tickets are available here.

I had a good day today. Left Irvine at around 9 this morning with friends in the cast. We arrived in Vegas once again, just in time for rehearsal. It was a good choir trip...well, our choir sucked...but I had fun.
One downer, though... My iPod died on the trip. It stopped working completely, I had charged it fully before I left and it died...

I reset it and turn it on and I get this:

It was terrifying. Hopefully I'll be able to restore it soon. I miss my tunes.

Have a beautiful day.

Halloween

What a good weekend. Getting Nevada Day off, spending the weekend with my brother and some good friends. I'm mad at myself for eating too much, though.

I don't know if I'm quite ready to take on this coming week. I have rehearsals until 9 every night until opening on Friday. That means fast food dinners all week. I'm not looking forward to it.
I'll try to stay positive and make the best of it all. Everything will be over soon enough....boy time flies by.

Have a very Happy Monday.

Boy...

It's cold outside. Even worse; it's windy. I've really been craving a hot chai tea latte recently. I'm ready to start up the fire place and snuggle up with a good book. Sounds so peaceful. Exactly what I need.

It isn't even Halloween yet and Christmas songs are getting stuck in my head. Poop.

Talk

I quite enjoy having long chats about ideas. It's a great break from the conversations held consisting solely on levity and gossip. It seems that I hardly ever get the chance to really have a deep talk anymore. Thanks, mom.

I'm terribly mad at myself for taking her for granted.

By the way, I picked up a new book at the library the other day, called The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I haven't finished it yet, and I'm still very unsure about the religion. However, I am enjoying it quite a bit, it's very peaceful.

Have a good day today.

End of September

What a lovely month. The weather is getting nice and cool, a perfect 72 and breezy today. I believe the rest of this week will be cool as well. Anyway, I want to wrap it up with a list of some things that happened this month.

1. First Friday...was so fun.
2. Spent nearly every day with Rachel.
3. Made fun headbands.
4. Finished two articles for journalism.
5. Started Dracula rehearsals.
6. Glee premiered.
7. Danced Bollywood with Alex.
8. Spent quality time at the park.
9. Saw Taking Woodstock ...and loved it.
10. Read The Perks of Being a Wallflower... very cute.
11. Downloaded tons of new tunes.

There is more...I'll add on when I remember...

The Plan

I am either going to live in a crowded smoggy city or a small green town. I will either be married to a man with my exact traits, or my opposite. I will either have a steady occupation, or be a musician. I will either be at the very top of the food chain, or I'll be stuck on the bottom struggling to survive.

Either way, I'll make sure I have a blast.

Sophomore Memories

I just found this video on my Photobucket account from religion class sophomore year.
Our assignment was to portray Jesus' first miracle. We got a B due to the historical inaccuracy.



What an interesting class.....

Latest Vocal Project

I may be crazy. I have a few months to get this ball rolling. Thanks to my singing teacher, this might not be a train wreck.




What a beautiful Italian Aria. Renee Fleming has impeccable technique.

Words of Advice to Myself

Learn as much as you can every day.
Step outside your comfort zone.
Express yourself as much as possible.
Build and try to maintain honest, loyal relationships.
Choose your own way of living, regardless of what may be socially acceptable.
Show love always.
Rebel with a cause.
Listen, read, and question everything.

Reading List

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
2. Ways of Seeing by John Berger
3. Vegetarianism: A History by Colin Spencer
4. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
5. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
6. The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
7. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
8. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
9. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
10. Deception Point by Dan Brown (redundant?)
11. 1984 by George Orwell 
12. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
13. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Why do I sing?

I can tell you one thing. It is surely not a thing I do just to pass the time. That is what Solitaire is for.

I don't do it because it's "cute" or because the competition electrifies me.

Singing, to me, is much more than a hobby, a scheme of attraction, having a stereotypical class to fall under.
Being a little highbrow musical snob is great on certain days, don't get me wrong. However, the music is bigger than that.

You may have heard Henry Wadsworth Longfellow claim music as the universal language. I find that claim to be true. This is the language I speak. I don't speak because I enjoy hearing myself speak. I speak to be heard.

Being just one person, seeing everything going on in politics and around the world, I feel small. Being a minority at my private, religious high school, believing differently, having to stay quiet to maintain the peaceful secluded environment, I feel unheard. Speaking my mind in front of obtuse, uncultivated people, I feel ignored.
Without an outlet for my thoughts and emotions, I am nothing.

Rarely do people truly listen to what others have to say. They merely wait for their turn to speak. Either that or they make judgments immediately, and stick with those judgments for self-satisfaction perhaps.

My voice doesn't provide music. My music provides my voice.

To be continued...

Baby Projects

When I went to New York this August with my family, we visited Juilliard and bought several music books in their shop. Among other treasures, I picked up a little sketchbook. I took it home and stuck it on my bookshelf. About a week ago, I finally picked it up and doodled a couple things on the first page. To make a long story short, I decided on having a little fun with it by filling it with nail polish paintings. I can't afford good art supplies.

My old neglected bottles of nail polish finally took over

Disclaimer: I haven't taken an art class since elementary school.

Light vs. Dark Doodle

Silver Trees/River Doodle.

Don't laugh. I'm having fun.

The Little Things

September's List of Little Things That Make Me Undeniably Happy

Inspired by the Rockstar Diaries. 


This list is frequently updated throughout the month.

1. Snuggling with kitty.

2. Cereal Tuesdays

3. Unexpected kindness

4. Sleeping in an extra hour

5. Orange juice

6. Perfect timing

7. Exchanging ideas

8. Running into old friends

9. Whole grain bread and almond butter

10. Dancing frivolously with good friends

11. Autumn fashion

12. Singing loud when nobody's home

13. My brother's faces

14. Doodling

15. Mom's 80s frames.
16. When Joey licks my feet
17. The Farmers' Market and the lovely people there
18. Silly voices
19. Flash floods in Las Vegas
20. Slurpee Fridays
21. Friendly strangers
22. The First Friday music and arts festival
23. New music
24. Shopping at Joanne's
25. Trying new drinks at the Coffee Bean
26. Watching my dogs sleep
27. Philosophical discussions with friends
28. Treasures at the dollar store
29. Seeing the city lights at night.
30. When my Korean friend makes fun of other Koreans.

Welcome to my blog

I set up this blog in reaction to the inspiration I see in my surroundings. Inspirational people, art, fashion, ideas, etc. I hope to use this as an output for the endless ideas floating around in my head. As I discover new things, I plan to document those explorations here.

This blog is also used for my confessions,

so, to begin my time on Blogger, I will confess the love I have for my dog, Joey.

He brings such joy to my life. Every day I have the pleasure of coming home and being happily greeted by Joey and his best friend, Emma. His sense of humor and appreciation for his home is ceaselessly uplifting.