2.28.2009

I Now Profess My Love

For some of the things I thought I disliked and ended up liking.

iPhone
The Ting Tings (to some degree)
museums
piano
blond haired blue eyed boys
green tea
the Office
running
window shopping in LV stores


2.22.2009

Find the Artist in You

The other day my friend and I were discussing about architecture, our favourite buildings and architects. Since I've been learning about Greek and Roman architecture, I picked up my pen and started drawing my own version of a Greek and Roman styled house. Out of inspiration, I drew this from memory. Usually I can never draw anything without looking at the subject. You just have to be a little creative and have faith in yourself that you can make anything become art.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up"
(Pablo Picasso) 

2.21.2009

Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)

A while back on a family vacation trip at Universal Studios, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) in 3D. I still remember being terrified of all the realistic animations of many birds flying towards me. This memory still haunts me when I think of Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock scared me as a kid and still has the capability of scaring me now as I'm years older. Vertigo (1958), a psychedelic film by Alfred Hitchcock shocks his audience with horrific suspenseful thrills. Some of the scenes in Vertigo strikes a resemblance to Salvador DalĂ­'s approach with avant-garde films. Hitchcock gives his audience a sense of vertigo by distorting acrophobia with how M.C. Escher perceives endless staircases. While watching the mystery of Vertigo decipher, suspenseful music and lighting gives a psychological discomfort at what might appear next. Repetitive imagery and color successfully play into motifs and the theme of Vertigo. Carlotta Valdes' portrait shown in Vertigo now marks as an iconic symbol from the film. One couldn't help, but have immense interest in all the symbols throughout Vertigo. The audience can relate to each of the unique and somewhat strange characters. Midge, an artistic and close friend of Scottie had strong feelings for Scottie. Cleverly and humorously, she painted a portrait to convey her feelings, but no spark lit between Midge and Scottie. Who hasn't fallen for a best friend who didn't return the same feelings? Galvin Elster, another close friend of Scottie convinced Scottie to act as a detective on a case concerning his wife. Who hasn't been a victim of falling because others have spotted our weaknesses and fears? And confused yet beautiful Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton helped murder the real Madeleine Elster. Caught between fear and a dagger, she lamented at her own remorse and fell madly in love with Scottie. Our own mistakes, errors, judgement and consequences show we're all human. Her two identities, our own two personas we sometimes put on as a mask. Each of us can relate to the characters in Vertigo. Hitchcock leaves his audience for a handful of satire and dark humor irony in the end. My first reaction was utter confusion and then I didn't know whether I should laugh or not. Vertigo imprinted a lasting impression on me of Alfred Hitchcock. Simply, I'm obsessed with Vertigo and wish to watch another classic Alfred Hitchcock film.

2.16.2009

Grand Gothic Cathedrals

While discovering "Cathedrals" by Jump Little Children, I was more awed by the lyrics than the actual tune, which sounds like an oldies classic. 
Faded colors, pieces left incomplete
Across the borders between continents

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

In the shadows of tall buildings
The architecture is slowly peeling
Marble statues and glass dividers
Someone is watching all of the outsiders
The line moves slowly through the numbered gate
Past the mosaic of the head of state
As I'm still piecing out what these lyrics mean, I think of my own deep reverence for all the cathedrals I've visited. Walking into a cathedral, one feels small and incomparable to the scale of grandly elevated ceilings. Most cathedrals are hundreds of years old with layers of history built into stone. There's much appreciation towards all of the beauty held by the details of cathedrals. We see this art and wonder how these cathedrals become one of us. We take our surroundings and place these cathedrals in our hearts and...home. Sometimes as individuals we don't know where that home is so we need to find it ourselves. Maybe these cathedrals aren't cathedrals. Maybe they represent skyscrapers or people, cities and ruins. I'm not entirely sure of the meanings of this song, but I do know I love traveling to places and finding myself in these cathedrals, places I feel at home.  
Photo: Inside le Notre Dame
Photo taken by: Lauren Sum

2.13.2009

[NPR]

NPR (National Public Radio) is programmed in my car. When there's commercials and songs I just can't stand on what seems like every radio station, I'll listen to NPR. I listen to NPR so I'm more informed about the problems around me, locally and globally. I enjoy All Things Considered, their news updates and sometimes their interviews. The stories they publish educate and inform in a light different than other mass media companies. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I can say that I'm in love with NPR. 

Facts I Learned Today That I Was Not Aware of Before:
Little did I know, in the 1930's 20, 000 Jews escaped from Nazis and found refuge in Shanghai. Today, the Chinese government want to demolish the remains of Little Vienna. This, I find sorrowfully sad. As the author of this article mentioned, China doesn't value history. For example, look what happened during the Cultural Revolution during Mao's time. So much history gone forever. I'm not a huge history person, but I'm certain that future generations from all backgrounds would want to know their own history from the past. I'll pray that they change their minds and keep Little Vienna as a memory in history. 
Scientists have always named their discoveries with their own names or crazy ones. Scientists who study the genetics of fruit flies have named a species INDY after Monty Python's Holy Grail. These fruit flies live longer than usual and I think the naming is hilariously appropriate. Some people actually suffer from INDY. This runs on my dad's side of his family. After all, my great great grandfather was the oldest living man in Rhode Island years ago before he passed away. 
Everyone knows about Darwin's theory on evolution. Although he remains a controversial subject, I'm glad NPR and other mass medias commemorated Darwin's 200 years anniversary. Darwin linked his studies with earthworms and agriculture. Who knew? Darwin did.  

2.10.2009

For Valentine's Day

My Candy Hearts For You

2.07.2009

The Brilliant John Green's [Paper Towns]

John Green first released award winning novels Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and now Paper Towns. Paper Towns is a story every young adult can relate to. The meaning of paper towns is so true. Almost all of us live in a paper town and from a distance on top of a hill or a skyscraper, you see how perfect your city looks. The Postal Service even puts these words into their lyrics, "everything looks perfect from far away, come down now they'll say." And then you observe your city in detail, magnified close up and things have changed. There's the cracks and flaws, the paper people living in paper towns. You see it everyday and it's there. Then you realized that somewhere someplace, there are pretty people out there living pretty lives in a fairytale. But then sometimes we are the paper people living in paper towns. Paper towns has a literal meaning as well. John Green informs us that paper towns exist, fictitious towns on maps, a dead end trap mapmakers use for copyright. Quentin Jacoben, the hero is a bit like each of us, imagining our loves how we think they are. I absolutely adore Quentin and his unstoppable quest of finding Margo Roth Spiegelman. Who is Margo Roth Spiegelman? She's a twisting mystery, curious cunning character and the heart of the story. As the story unravels, we begin seeing her two sides, our own two sides and personalities. Hence, the two different covers for Paper Towns. Paper Towns will make you laugh all the way through, think philosophically, intellectually and most of all emotionally tearful. This story reminds every young adult about why we seek liberating ourselves, holding onto our friends and finding the ones we love. Paper Towns is unforgettable, a brilliant piece of literature not to be missed out on. 

2.06.2009

wild bunnies + a deer in the headlight


This morning I looked out my window and there was a bunny hopping across the grass. A few years ago, a friend captured a wild bunny in a cardboard box. I thought the beautiful bunny was my new friend to keep. The wind blew the box and the bunny ran away. I remembered feeling slightly sad, but the bunny was meant for the wild anyways. Besides snow, my favourite part about winter is seeing happy bunnies jumping around. 
Tonight I encountered a deer in the headlight moment, literally. This wasn't the first time I almost ran over a deer with my car. Fortunately, I was only driving less than 10 mph when I saw a figure in the darkness ahead of me. At first I thought it could have been a jogger, but as I came closer, I realized it was a deer in my headlights. The deer froze in its tracks, staring at me with its big eyes. I waited until the deer cleared the way and in just a few seconds, it leaped over a fence. It was just as though the deer knew to get out of the way. The deer leaped about four feet off the ground, effortlessly. To my amazement, I took one last look at the deer before driving away. Animals have an incredible sense of instinct and survival. 
For moments like these, I wish I had a camera to take a picture at the right moment, the exact time the deer leaped over the fence. 
Someone else has already spotted and captured this same deer behavior, but as you can see, deers really know how to leap! 

2.01.2009

Snow! la neige!

The other day as I was driving home, I noticed how the entire valley was covered in beautiful white snow. I'm still not over the beauty of this snow and don't think I ever quite will be. Snow is truly one of the most beautiful creations on this earth. After heavy snow storms, my favourite part about snow is how the trees look. Snow makes everything look magical. Walking under snow covered trees and standing underneath a snowy tree. I love seeing all the tiny droplets of melted snow that hang off trees. Certain snow covered trees have an ability to resemble cherry blossoms in Japan. Only I'm not in Japan, I'm in Utah. I've been to many places, but I must say all this snow makes me live in a wonderful world.