Personal Statement for Musician's Institute

Please describe in detail any specialized training, employment, or other activities where you have gained experience in a field related to your program of interest.
I have gained experience from starting the foundation for our music club in high school. When I had first arrived as a freshman, I was just beginning to learn how to play guitar, my dad had bought me a guitar for my graduation from middle school. When I first got accepted into my high school, I immediately read from their website that they were mostly an academic school and there were no electives there, so that crossed out art and music for me. I thought it wasn’t going to be a big deal, but once I got there, it was a big deal. There were so many talented people who knew how to play instruments, they had been taking lessons since they were lyoung kids, but they were stuck in a school where they might not be able to show off their musical talent, and that made me mad. Sure, I wasn’t taking professional lessons and was only teaching myself, but at my new school, it made me sad that I wouldn’t be able to see people with immense backgrounds of music show what they have to offer. So when my school was asking for performers for an upcoming event, I brought guitars, a keyboard, and a drum set to school, where I recruited some people to perform alongside me. The teachers were extremely supportive that there were students who played instruments and most of them allowed us to use their room for practicing. A few times a week we practiced in whatever room we managed to find that day, and we played our song with an amazing vocalist and we even had an audience who would always be watching us. The performance was a success, and the next semester, the music club was formed.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the music/entertainment industry?
My inspiration to pursue a career the music industry was inspired by the music club at my school, when it first started, there were only a few people, but those few people became the foundation of the club, and it has stayed solid ever since. The music club became a big part of the school, and me because it was the only thing at school that I feel that I could actually exceed in. I’m not a very strong academic person, which I believe plays a part in why I want to have a career in the music industry, if I’m not strong academically, maybe I’m strong musically, and that’s what I relied on every time I dropped by for the music club meetings.

My first trip to a recording studio also helped inspire me to pursue a career in the music industry because, well, it’s a recording studio. It’s where music transforms from a piece of written lyrics to a song. It’s where the music I hear today comes from that little recording booth where everything is recorded, produced, and engineered to perfection. My trip to the recording studio was all in courtesy of a good friend of mine, Sean, who invited me to watch the recording of a new song that his band had written. I guess Sean could also be a reason why I want to pursue a career in the music industry, mostly because his job is in the music industry, and he was the one that first introduced me to songwriting, producing, and engineering, since his day job consists of that.

There is another person who inspired, sort of introduced my to music in the first place. In middle school, I was placed in a math class one grade ahead, and I met Xavier, who was one of the very few musically inclined students in the school, and he played guitar. He was one of the first people in our school to ever bring a guitar to school and he brought it for fun. That played a part for me in high school, because I was the first person in my school to bring instruments, and the ironic part with that is I didn’t know how to play any of them. I mean, I knew how to play them, but not well.

When I first started bringing the instruments, the thing that people kept telling me was, “Oh, this would look great on your college application.” It wasn’t about the college application that first made me want to bring the instruments, it was the fact that I could bring something more to an already good school, something more than just academic stuff.

Describe your career goals and expectations after you graduate from MI.
My career goals and expectations after Musician’s Institute is to probably find a studio where I plan on becoming a music producer or songwriter. But as far as I am concerned, my path after Musician’s Institute is still unclear only because I am still in that phase where I know which path to take, but I don’t know where it will end.

Mysterious Benedict Society Final Review!

The book that I read was The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is the first book in this trilogy series. It was about 4 kids who get sent on a mission by and old guy named Mr. Benedict. They get sent to this school where the headmaster there is brainwashing people who watch TV and listen to the radio. It turns out that the headmaster is Mr. Benedict’s long lost identical twin brother, Mr. Curtain. This notorious villain is trying to take over the world using children.

          

I am going to compare the characters of Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain. They are identical twins. Meaning that they look alike and probably have the same voice, but do they have the same brain? Referencing the ending of the book, yes, they have the same brain, that brain is what stopped The Whisperer right? Right. The only thing that even tells the two twins apart is their heart. Mr. Benedict’s heart is towards doing good, while Mr. Curtain’s heart is evil. Just imagine Mr. B as Dumbledore and Mr. C as Voldemort.

            

Mr. Curtain, while running The Institute, the school that is brainwashing kids, is in charge of those kids, he hates children. Mr. Benedict on the other hand, adores children. In fact, he believes them to be the future. The relationship between the two brothers is sort of vague throughout the book because they don’t have many interactions. It is towards the end where the book kind of dips into their lives. They’re both narcoleptic, which means that whenever a strong emotion is triggered within them, they fall asleep for a few minutes, then wake up without remembering what happened.

            

Their narcolepsy is also something that defines them. The strong emotions that triggers the disorder for Mr. Benedict is laughter or happiness, while for Mr. Curtain, it is anger. The Mysterious Benedict Society had no idea that Mr. Curtain had narcolepsy; they just found it sort of accidentally.  The Society had just started insulting Curtain and he fell asleep.

            

After this scene, Mr. Benedict convinces the kids that even though Mr. Curtain is an extremely bad villain, he doesn’t want to do anything to him, just let him go. This little act that Mr. Benedict did shows his love for the brother whom he only just found out about, and the fact that he believes that there is good in everybody, even the ones that seem to be bad on the outside.

            

I think that author wrote this book to emphasize on just how important friendship and family and heart can be. In the book, each character has their own story, their own life story to tell (even though like half of them are like 10).Every character in the book faces an obstacle later, whether it has to do with Mr. Curtain or just a personal problem.

For me personally, I feel as if there's some sort of friendship/love thing that exudes from the writing in the book. It connects to how the author writes, because he uses a lot of foreshadowing in the books. The fact that this book is, I believe,a children/young adult book, already makes it seem as though the characters will have a happy ending. Let's examine, shall we?

"As it so happens, however, I now find myself in the presence of the best possible team of children I could ever hope for -- indeed, have long hoped for -- and with not a minute to lose. In other words, you are our last possible hope. You are our only hope." (82).

The first time I read this, I immediately thought that the kids were in for one hell of a ride. And that is exactly what happened. The foreshadowing got me more hooked onto the book, because I wanted to know what was going to happen to these young kids, and I think that's what the  author meant to do as well. He played the foreshadowing card right.


The book I am reading is called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It's about 4 kids who go on a flurry of adventures sort of led by Nicholas Benedict, an old guy who's narcoleptic.

The prompt I chose to answer was the one about choosing a character, or choosing two to analyze and stuff. Well, the characters I chose were Reynie and Sticky.

Reynie, he's sort of what you would call the 'puzzle guy' in the group of four. He's very friendly, smart, and is the only one who can handle Constance.

Sticky. Where does his nickname come from? Everything he reads, it sticks to his brain, and he is able to relay that information when needed. He's the 'brains' of the group of four.

"Well, you didn't know it was a puzzle, and I didn't know any of the answers, but we're both here now. We'd make a good team." (35).

The part that I quoted from already tells the future of the two characters together. They, along with the rest of their group, fit together perfectly when trying to solve the problem with Mr. Curtain, the book's evil villain. Reynie, with his puzzle solving skills, allows for him to see things more differently than other people, and Sticky, with his extensive knowledge, helps the group to learn some facts about something in order to learn more about it.

An example of how both their talents were used, was when the group went exploring around Nomansan Island, and discovered the drapeweed. Sticky, being the smart one that he is, identified the plant immediately, and called the plant somewhat safe. Reynie, on the other hand, was sort of being the self-proclaimed leader, as everyone was asking for his opinion on what to do about the plant. He had an 'uneasy feeling', but the group went to inspect it anyways.

Overall, I thought this book was good. There was just the right amount of that 'children's book' feeling to it, but it wasn't a children's book. It was a well-written mystery, young-adult book. And the author played another foreshadowing card leading on to the next book in the epic trilogy of The Mysterious Benedict Society, (the trilogy is epic.)

And now I shall return to my ship and resume my duties as Starship Ranger.

May the fourth be with you.

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

The book I am reading is called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It's about 4 kids who go on a flurry of adventures sort of led by Nicholas Benedict, an old guy who's narcoleptic.

The prompt I chose to answer was the one about choosing a character, or choosing two to analyze and stuff. Well, the characters I chose were Reynie and Sticky.

Reynie, he's sort of what you would call the 'puzzle guy' in the group of four. He's very friendly, smart, and is the only one who can handle Constance.

Sticky. Where does his nickname come from? Everything he reads, it sticks to his brain, and he is able to relay that information when needed. He's the 'brains' of the group of four.

"Well, you didn't know it was a puzzle, and I didn't know any of the answers, but we're both here now. We'd make a good team." (35).

The part that I quoted from already tells the future of the two characters together. They, along with the rest of their group, fit together perfectly when trying to solve the problem with Mr. Curtain, the book's evil villain. Reynie, with his puzzle solving skills, allows for him to see things more differently than other people, and Sticky, with his extensive knowledge, helps the group to learn some facts about something in order to learn more about it.

An example of how both their talents were used, was when the group went exploring around Nomansan Island, and discovered the drapeweed. Sticky, being the smart one that he is, identified the plant immediately, and called the plant somewhat safe. Reynie, on the other hand, was sort of being the self-proclaimed leader, as everyone was asking for his opinion on what to do about the plant. He had an 'uneasy feeling', but the group went to inspect it anyways.....

AND THEN...

The drapeweed SUCKS them all into this cavernous-like place that seemed like a tunnel.

BAM! A tunnel? At the Institute....hmmm,

Anyways, the relationship between Reynie and Sticky seems to be strong, not only because they're 11, and they're guys, and you get the point, but they work well together, with each other, and also their group.

 

Amy Tan and Amy Chua

Before we read The Joy Luck Club, we read an article by some person named Amy Chua. That person was    c-r-a-z-y. No lie. She's more asian than asian people. That's how asian she is.

In The Joy Luck Club's Rules of the Game, Waverly Jong's mother wants Waverly to be protege. Meaning, doing something that will make her like famous or something along that line.

Amy Tan, does a somewhat similar thing with her daughters, wanting them to be something other than not playing piano or violin, if you get what I mean:

"What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences."

I think that Waverly's mom and Amy Chua are similar in a sense that they want their kids to succeed in what they want them to do, not what the kids want themselves to do. Amy Chua went all out and did not let her daughters have any sense of freedom whatsoever. And not letting them do theatre? That's just crossing the line.

Waverly's mom was sort of different when it came to what Waverly wanted to do. Waverly was strong, and she spoke up to her mother when she was doing something that Waverly thought wasn't right, for example, when Waverly's mom was bragging:

"I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everybody I'm your daughter." (99).

That's another thing with Chinese parents, they love to brag about their kids and the things they do, when in reality, it's the parents that make their kids do that. Amy Tan and Amy Chua both somewhat do that, have their kids do what they want them to do, and later play the 'my horse is bigger than yours' game with other Chinese parents.

This section of Joy Luck, along with Chua's article show different sides to Chinese parents. yes parents, and not just moms.

Kim's Awesome Review of the Oscars

Overall Review: It was pretty decent. I mean aside from James Franco looking stoned the entire time, it was pretty good. And Anne Hathaway was just trying to cover James Franco's...uhm...disinterest..yeah that's the word.

Winners: If you check my (former)Oscars Prediction Blog here, I have updated it to accommodate the winners, which was exactly what my predictions were (I'm so good).

Best Part: The opening monologue, where the hosts go 'visit' the 10 best picture nominees. It was HILARIOUS, Alec Baldwin and Morgan Freeman were in there, all channeling their inner Inception. 


"You just got Inception-ed!!" -Alec Baldwin.... quote of the day.


At least James Franco did good in the opening... I mean it was acting that's what he got nominated for right? Even if he didn't try to host the Oscars well, he could have at least ACTED like he was trying.

"And so the naked girl from Love and Other Drugs and the guy from General Hospital continue through Alec Baldwin's dreams." -Morgan Freeman... other quote of the day.


The other best part? KIRK DOUGLAS.

At 94 and a stroke from 1996 HE'S STILL GOT IT. Even though he took like forever and delayed the opening of the envelope to make a comment on Hugh Jackman laughing cause he was Australian and Colin Firth not laughing cause he was British... still funny.

To Jeff Bridges in True Grit:


Anne Hathaway: "Say something."
James Franco: "Oh..uhm... I loved you in Tron."

Just watch it.

Quickwrite #1:Kweilin Story

Mother- Suyuan Woo
Daughter- Jing-mei "June" Woo
(too lazy to type them out, so it's just going to be mother and daughter)

There were about two different endings to the Kweilin story. One of the, was the mah-jong game, and what the mother did with her money, which included buying food. The other ending is when she escapes Kweilin, with only her two babies, a wheelbarrow, and the mah-jong table. Also in the wheelbarrow, anything that was valuable to her at the time.

With the tip that she received from the officer, the mom packed up her things and heads to her husband, but along the way, her wheelbarrow wheel breaks off and she has to abandon her table, make a sling and carry the babies.

...

I think that she changes the ending to the story she tells to her daughter, because she wants to keep her safe from knowing the real thing. If the mom told her daughter the whole story, the true, complete one, then the daughter will only remember that story form the moment it was told, but when the mom tells her daughter the story again, then the daughter probably won't want to hear it.

Also, another reason why the mother would want to keep changing the endings to her story is to keep the daughter hooked. While the daughter may know what ending to expect and probably has heard it many times, it keeps her sort of connected to the story, and how her mother sacrificed everything in order to get where they are now.

That also applies to the message that the mother is trying to send to her daughter. The message that the mother went through a lot of things in her life, and even if the daughter could never sense it, her mother is still remembering all that had happened to her in Kweilin, and mostly because she lost two babies, which can be really depressing.

Another message that the mom could be sending her daughter is that she is lucky to live where she lives now, in a place where there is not much violence happening, and just the fact that her daughter does not have to go through the same experiences that she went through.

Script Preview

This is my sucky script. I have decided that this is going to be PRACTICE for Script Frenzy and I am going to start a new one in April....: Please excuse the names. I found them on google and the current book I was reading when I wrote it.

DIEGO

Oh okay, I woke up at 11 last night cause I heard shuffling in my dorm and it was only your brother. I’m Diego by the way, welcome to Alpine.

Diego walks to Harley and SHAKES her hand.

RILEY

          Hi Harley! I’m Riley.

Riley walks up to Harley and shakes her hand.

AUSTIN

Hey Harley, good to see you again.

HARLEY

                   (sad-looking)

          Austin. 

Family?

My family has a their own group Facebook page. Grrrr-eat. Now I can interview people.

my new blog thingy

new (sucky) blog, where i will post my experience of writing a script. how exciting.

i got a job! as an illustrator for a comic. I don't get paid, but it's still a job which i will mention in my application for CSSSA next year.

That's my day.

Oh, and Andrew Garfield is awesome. Why? cause he likes Corey Feldman as Mouth too!

grrr

i really dislike chris evans. just saying. he can't go from being a superhero from fnatastic four to captain america. doesn't make sense. grr

Chinese Mothers

In an article by Amy Chua, she describes how she treats her daughter.

There are all these new books out there portraying Asian mothers as scheming, callous, overdriven people indifferent to their kids' true interests. For their part, many Chinese secretly believe that they care more about their children and are willing to sacrifice much more for them than Westerners, who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly. I think it's a misunderstanding on both sides. All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. The Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that.

This paragraph, I agree with. All parents want their best for children, but the Chinese do do it differently. I think that with the Chinese mothers, when they see that their child is number one, then they feel that they have done something for their development, which is true.

One thing I disagree though, is that they limit their creativity. If a child dislikes playing the piano, there is nothing they can do about it. They have to play, or else feel the wrath of their parents. Limiting a child's 'true interests' only stops their development and when they grow older, the only thing they'll know how to do is what their parents taught them: to be number one.

Asian mothers also think that if they're child is the 'number one', then they'll be superior in their future. Another thing that Asian mothers want their child to do: be a doctor or lawyer. That's prbably why they want them to get straight A's too. To get into the law school or medical school.

My parents for example, even though they're technically not that 'Asian', they want me to get a job that will be raking the bucks. I personally, dislike anything that makes big bucks. Because that only means that I hav eto go to school longer. And homework. They let me be myself. Because of that, I have shown my interest in the arts. Also meaning drawing, guitar, and yes, piano. Not piano much though.

Annie was here

Just wanted to say that I love Kim!

Also, I like the keyboard on this computer more.

The Oscar Winners

Here are the winners, (they're in bold. sorry if i didn't include the other nominees. I'm too lazy to type.)

Best Picture:

Winner: The King's Speech (still unsure about that)
Dark Horse(check out my new vocabulary): The Social Network
My pick(s): 127 Hours, Black Swan...somewhat. It was good.

Best Actor:

Win: COLIN FIRTH (he deserves one), and Jeff Bridges won last year, so slim chance of him getting another one.
no dark horse (Well, Jesse Eisenberg?)
My Pick(s): JAMES FRANCO
*and how did Leonardo DiCaprio NOT get nominated, damn Academy*
it's going to be tough. I love Colin Firth and James Franco. I want them both to win -.-

Best Actress:

Win: Natalie Portman
-If she doesn't win, I'm going to be PISSED.

Best Supporting Actor:

Win: Christian Bale
Dark Horse: Mark Ruffalo
My Pick(s): Geoffrey Rush
*And yet again, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is left out of this, another Inception actor...seriously Academy? AND you leave Christopher Nolan out of the running for Best Director? *facepalm* *

Best Supporting Actress:

Win: Melissa Leo (unsure)
Dark Horse: Hailee Steinfeld (SHE'S 14)
My Pick(s): Helena Bonham Carter, no surprise if Hailee Steinfeld's name gets called. She got to work with Josh Brolin. COME ON.

Best Animated Feature:

Toy Story 3 is going to win. Hands down. If it doesn't, someone's going to be angry.

These are the important ones. Just Google the others.

The new Superman

Henry Cavill (The Tudors) is going to play Superman. D:

(He looks better as Batman...just saying. But they got that part already)

Rebuttal To Amber Chan

A rebuttal to Amber Chan's Opening Statement:

Amber's claim was that child actors should be seen as role models to people their age. She includes a couple of examples, including David Henrie and Lindsay Lohan. She said that what they did was passable to many of the young audiences that look up to them (or in Lohan's case, used to).

Child actors should not be seen as role models to people their age. Sure, they make mistakes, but that doesn't make up for the fact that they did something bad that would be looked down upon fans of that person.

When David Henrie was caught drinking in Puerto Rico, many people argued that drinking in Puerto Rico is perfectly legal, and he was just having fun. It was legal alright, and I'm pretty sure he had fun. but many of his young fans, the parents of his young fans see David Henrie as another Disney Star living 'under the influence.' Schools now actually teach their students that the effects of alcohol is bad, so when they see their favorite stars getting drunk, they know it's bad and they could have thought about what they were doing before they actually did it.

Oh, the Lindsay Lohan mess. At first she was this amazing innocent child star that everyone loved, especially her performance in The Parent Trap. But then she started going crazy with DUI's and drug charges just rolling down her path.

Amber's view on the Lohan case:

"Younger audiences might think that driving under the influence, using drugs (like cocaine, which Lohan uses), or reckless driving is perfectly fine, because even if they do it and get arrested for it, they won't get into much trouble, since they may think that they won't need to serve the full sentence like Lohan did."

Well, it wouldn't be 'perfectly fine' for the younger audiences to drive recklessly and use drugs, because they will get in trouble, whether or not it's with the police or their parents. Yup, parents. Lindsay Lohan did not really get the support from her dad did she? If the younger audiences were to do what Lohan did, they would need to serve the full time, even if they're not a big star like Lohan.

Child actors should not be role models to people their age because when/if they mess up, they will be looked down at by many people.

Squealer and Napoleon

The pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm have assumed the leadership roles that they should not have taken. Those pigs, meaning Napoleon and Squealer, take advantage of the animal's weaknesses.

Napoleon, is described as this in the book:

"Is a larger, rather fierce-looking Berkshire bear, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way," (35).

This description of him fits perfectly with what he does in the book.  Napoleon has always seemed to be the quiet one, and 'getting his own way' means that even though he is quiet, he knows what he is going to do and what is best for him. The animals are frightened of Napoleon and since they know better than to speak up for themselves, they have no other choice but to do as he says.

The first time Squealer is mentioned, it is when the other animals question the pigs about the missing milk. This point in the book already shows that the pigs are getting more food than what they deserve.

Squealer is described as this in the book:

"He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tale which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.” (16)

Squealer is persuasive. That's about right, except that he is Napoleon's right hand pig. Squealer tends to use the word 'comrades' everytime he addresses the animals. By using this word, the animals start to think that Squealer is on their side, and he's not. That's just another part of his persuasive side. This is effective with the animals because it makes them think that Squealer will always know what is right or wrong with the happenings of the farm.

By making the animals think that what he is going to say will benefit all of them, it is only benefiting the pigs:

"It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds." (56)

 While at first, Napoleon and Squealer only took advantage of the food that the animals had, this quote shows that they have gone too far with being 'leaders'. Squealer went from being the right hand pig of Napoleon to his 'mouth.' Meaning that Squealer, instead of being his usual persuasive self, is now just saying what Napoleon wants him to say.

Napoleon, on the other hand, has begun to forget about the actual Commandments, what Old Major had said in his speech, and also what the Revolution has taught them to do, which includes the use of the house and sleeping in the beds.

Every time the animals question the matter, they check the Commandments, which has rules against what they wonder about. But, when they do check, it seems as though the Commandments have changed so that it actually does prove that what the pigs are doing is okay.

Towards the end of the book, Squealer and Napoleon have begun to walk on two legs, and carry whips, which frightens the animals because now, Squealer and Napoleon have assumed an authority that no animal wants to fight against.

“No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (117)

This quote at the end of the book implies that Napoleon and Squealer have changed from pigs to real mean, and the 'lower animals' see it.

Debate: Should child actors be role models to people their age?

Oh, kids shows these days. I wouldn't say that they're kids shows though, it's more like teen actors in a show aimed towards little kids. While many of the kids who watch those shows look up to those teen actors as role models, should the teens their age look up to them as role models also? Child actors should not be considered as role models to people their age because, most of them end up doing things that are not seen as 'right' and it will only damage the image they have to the younger audiences that look up to them.

Many of the young actors seem to have a knack of getting noticed. For example, Miley Cyrus, that sweet, innocent, fresh face that we all came to know on Disney's Hannah Montana. NOT. She supposedly wanted to get away from her 'image' and switch from pop songs to something 'edgier'. (check it out here). When she got caught with Nickelodeon star Avan Jogia (here), the fans only wanted to see Miley, not Avan. Half of them probably even said: "Who the hell is Avan Jogia?" It seems that most of the people who saw the picture only cared that Miley Cyrus was the one in the picture, and did not give a second-thought about Avan Jogia.

Nowadays, many actors that we see in the shows marketed to young audiences are much older than we expect them to be, most of them are even in their 20's.

I was looking up for the latest Superman/Flash rumors, and stumbled upon this article on Parade:

'Okay, I'm at a certain point in my life now where I only want to play this guy or that guy.' When Glee was casting, I thought, 'I'm too old to be a student. I need to stop playing high-school kids.' 

Many of the teen actors are over the legal age, some of them even younger, and they are caught doing things they shouldn't be doing. Even if most of them claim it's because they want to step away from the image they had before, it doesn't change the way that people will look at them even if they are doing those things.

Vegetarianism

Over the past two years, I have met extremely wonderful people who don't eat meat. I also just found out that David, is a vegan. I was surprised to hear that.

I honestly considered becoming vegetarian for the past few years. I met people at my program, Eureka that are vegetarian and they explained to me why they made the change. My friend Patrina was eating this dish that I thought was chicken, and she told me that it was 'fake meat' and she liked it better than the real thing.

Then I came to ASTI, and met some of my really good friends, like Annie that is vegetarian.

Over the past few years, I have received so many vegetarian, I wouldn't say brochure, but something along that line, uhm magazines(?). And when I went to DC for Close Up and our group stumbled upon the gay parade, there was a whole tent filled with anything you wanted to know about being a vegetarian.

For me, being a Filipino and all, my family owns a pig farm. They treat them kindly, but still, they kill them. And they send us videos depicting it. When I first watched them, it was gruesome. But I still ate meat because there was no other choice.

Filipino foods, almost all of them have meat in them. The worst of them all, dinuguan. It's all pork, and it is cooked in pork blood.

I eat meat on a daily basis. Even though I know it's not good for my health, and I know what they do to those animals.

George Orwell

These days, power seems to provide the opportunity for people to let their true colors show. Once a person has power, they can either use it for good or bad.

So, in my opinion, yes, political power does corrupt the people who attain it. In Animal Farm by George Orwell, he has a quote that also happens to tie in to one of the seven commandments that the animals, pigs, have made up themselves:

"All animals are created equal." (43)

This, in the book, means that no animal on the farm can be the ultimate leader. Each animal has an equal amount of power to be used. That went awfully wrong. Soon, the pigs were in power, and everything went to them. They abused their power.

This reminds me of that one guy, Ferdinard Marcos. He had seemed like a good leader at first, but then became a dictator. Sure, he didn't kill people, but he definitely abused his power, he even killed his opponent who was running against him for the supposed 'presidency.' Okay, so he did kill a few people.

I still don't get why he was buried in Arlington Cemetery for a while.

If George Orwell were to read this post right now, I think he would agree with what I am saying, and I have absolutely no idea what I am saying. Orwell wrote this book to show the Communism that was happening in Russia, or so, that's what many people think. I believe that he wrote the book, not just to point our the Communism happening in Russia, but to sort of show what would happen, if the same events were to happen again.

My Summer vacay, mostly about CSSSA

This summer, I'm hoping will be packed. Last summer was BORING. I mean, I had college classes, which were okay, kinda. I took Spanish 1A with Marco, Sohrab, and Kevin. I regret that now.

But this summer, I intend to change that. My dad has planned a trip for this Philippines, and honestly, I don't want to go. Seriously. Unless I score tickets to Spongecola.

And, I have two plans that will all work out. This year, I am going to apply to the California Summer School for the Arts, a month long Arts program that is designed to provide high school students to excel in the Arts program of their choice. My choice? Animation. But if things were to change, I would choose Music or Film. Music, only if I can bring my guitar, and definitely not Film cause my cousin's applying and I don't intend on seeing him everyday.

Reading throughout the website again, I have decided to apply to Visual Arts and maybe Theater.

Stupid Life

"Afraid" -Vanessa Hudgens

Just when it's getting good 
I slowly start to freeze 
Just when it's feeling real I put my heart to sleep 
It's the memory I can see 
Then this fear comes over me 
Understand that I don't mean 
To push you away from me 

[Chorus]
Why am I so afraid to crash down and lose my heart again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 
Why am I so afraid to break down and lose my mind again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 

You got a way of easing me out of myself 
I can't stay but I can't leave, I am my worst enemy 
Please understand that its not you it's what I do 
Just when I'm about to run I realize what I've become 

[Chorus]
Why am I so afraid to crash down and lose my heart again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 
Why am I so afraid to break down and lose my mind again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 

Now I wonder what you think of me 
Don't know why I break so easily 
All my fears are armed surrounding me 
I can't get no sleep 
I keep runnin in circles around you 
Are you the trap I wanna fall into??

[Chorus]
Why am I so afraid to crash down and lose my heart again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 
Why am I so afraid to break down and lose my mind again 
I don't know, I can't see, what's come over me 



gosh. my life is so confusing.

My Winter Playlist (Free Post?)

These are the albums and songs that I listened to this winter break. It's in the order of how good it was.

1. Speak Now -Taylor Swift

This album was extremely good. If you haven't listened to it yet, then there is obviously something wrong with you.

I needed to listen to this album. It was like my life before break in only a few songs. And I went through a lot, let me tell you.

Stand out songs:
-Haunted                
-Better Than Revenge
-Mine
-Back To December
2. Crazy Love -Michael Buble

I listened to a lot of him over break. It was a good album and I was impressed by it. I like Buble's voice. It has such an uplifting feeling to it.

Songs:
-Haven't Met You Yet
-Hollywood (in the deluxe version)





3. Illuminations -Josh Groban

ahaha. So some of  my friends hate me for liking this guy. Even though I am still pissed that Groban left David Foster, the pairing up of Rick Rubin and Josh Groban actually shows his best. The songs are catchy and sound amazing, and he plays piano, with Track 1.

Songs:
-Hidden Away
-The Wandering Kind
-Higher Window
-Bells of New York City



4. Human EP -Darren Criss


Is there much to say about Darren Criss? I mean, he plays guitar, is on Glee, has an amazing voice, and most importantly, he played Harry Potter in A Very Potter Musical. Don't forget his looks. This album shows his best, his voice, and the talent that he shows playing his instruments.

Songs:
-Not Alone
-Human
-Sami



5. Paul Freeman -Self-titled album

He's not really well known. But he has potential, like a lot of potential. Already, he is compared to Bruce Springsteen, and yes he sounds a lot like him. Did I tell you he's English? His accent doesn't show up when he sings.

Songs:
-Tightrope
-Fearless and Free
-The Girl Who Broke in Two




Other albums that I failed to mention:
Believe -Travis Garland
Breathing Underwater -Marie Digby