Day: January 17, 2012

New Years Resolutions

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happy new years

On New Year‘s night I took a moment to come up with some good resolutions that I believe will improve my life. For once I want to live up to the resolutions that I decide to make.

For the year of 2012 the first thing I would like to do is develop a more effective way of saving money. I feel that this is a very important element to growing up as well as a good skill to possess as I head into college.

Secondly I would like to start to improve my health. The main things to improve it would definitely be eating healthier foods as well as exercising more often and at a higher rate.health and fitness

For my third and final resolution, I would like to enjoy the rest of my senior year at OVS with the girl who matters the most to me as well as with some of the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for or hope for, cough cough** Evan Cooper! then I would like to enjoy my upcoming summer, and take advantage of every opportunity presented to me for the rest of the year.

Happy 2012 everyone!
2012
LETS MAKE IT A GREAT YEAR!!!

Athletes I Call Family

r3t5nom2 Comments

Much like the majority of sports, they are most fun to watch when they are  being done by those who are good at the sport. And as a photographer, it is way more fun to take pictures of them.

I am blessed with family and friends who are more than just good at the sports they make a part of their lives.

My little sister Chloe is one of the most amazing gymnasts that I have ever laid eyes on. She is 12 years old and is the gymnast who represents Baja California at the Gymnastics Nationals and last year’s first place national champion on beam, second place national champion on floor and third place national champion overall.
This is her below:

My friend Stosh is an amazing surfer who has won many surf competitions and is a well-known surfer in mexico. I have taken photos of him for years and have managed to get photos published on surf magazines.This is him below:

My best friend Angel Carreon is not a professional skater or a majorly well-known person but my god is he a great skate boarder. I have taken pictures of him skating for many years as well but the difference is that he doesn’t have the tittle attached to his name. I absolutely admire him as a person as well as a skater because he always manages get back on his feet and never complain.

This is him below:



Whats your sport?

Let’s Pause and Reflect

backinphilly1 Comment

After the Divisional Playoff games this past weekend, I am left speechless. I know I constantly preach that anything can happen in the NFL. After this weekend, once again, I was right.

Well, not about all the games. I was 2/4 this weekend, and considering the miracles that took place, I cannot be blamed. The unpredictable has once again unfolded. Let’s discuss the craziness of the Divisional Playoffs. Ya, it’s about to get crazy.

Let’s start with the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers.

Easily the best game of the weekend, the Saints and ‘9ers engaged in a battle of sheer firepower. With the exception of the first quarter, the game quickly evolved into a “Game of the Year” candidate.

I was jumping out of my seat during every single play. I would have never predicted the 49ers to be in this position at the beginning of the season.

If Jim Harbaugh doesn’t win Coach of the Year, I don’t know who else could win. Harbaugh has taken full control of San Francisco, and has evolved them into a solid football team.

The rushing touchdown by Alex Smith and pass from Smith to Vernon Davis in the last 9 seconds provided excitement until the clock hit zero.

I loved everything about this game. Even though I predicted the Saints to emerge victorious, I commend the 49ers for their success.

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The truth behind College Life

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This past weekend my good friend visited me from College.  He is at UCLA, studying world art and culture, or basically blowing through freshmen year pretending to be a dancer.

He did though have some of the best war stories I have ever heard.  Being a Pledge for the Sigma Nu Fraternity.

So this blog is a shout out for my buddy who is experiencing hell on earth being a pledge.

Good luck. We are all rooting for you.

Before he visited I thought that all the crazy fraternity related tasks and events were just myths and only showed up in movies, but boy was I mistaken. After listening to my friend recount his horror experiences I could not help but cringe.

Thankfully now, he is past pledging and has become an active brother of Sigma nu.

What’s Left Of Us…?

yrreskrap2 Comments

Yesterday, a fascinating idea struck me as I ate breakfast in the cafeteria. As I was looking at the various awards in the display case (that will be handed out the day before GRADUATION), my eyes fell upon one award in particular. It is indeed, in my eyes, the ugliest award: a rock glued onto a metal platform.

 

But it made me think. And I talked to (thebrownguy) about this and I wanted to share this thought with you. I am curious to know what you feel.

What would happen if the world ended now?

If all that was left of us was dust and scraps and rocks attached to metal platforms, what would later civilizations think? Would they see our accomplishments? The progression we have made? The technological breakthroughs, the scientific knowledge, the intellectual beings we came to be?

Or would they see an obvious path to self-destruction? Would they see a failure to come together, an overuse of natural supplies, greed, ignorance, pride? Would they find a fallen people?

I don’ t know. I think it is a little bit of both. Maybe one more than the other.

First off, everything on the internet would be negligible to later civilizations because there will be no electricity or MacBook to bring it to life. Which again, I hold ambivalent opinions on because it nullifies a lot of academia and creativity our society holds. Beautiful bits of knowledge that are held in educational websites, news, recipes, photography, or even blogs such as the OVS Journalism Blog will be gone. However, I would be relieved because of all the negatives the cyber world has brought us. Such as bullying. Or self-image issues. The tabloids. Peer pressures and social standards.

Most of what knowledge we hold will be represented by print. And with the newspaper industry slowly falling apart due to our society’s thirst for instantaneous news reports, what we leave behind in print will be very little. Kindles and Nooks will mean nothing with a dead battery. But with what little we have, I believe we can draw inspiration and perhaps a chance for change.

And our carbon footprint. The huge problem that most people fail to see or don’t care to fix. We cannot come together to solve such a simple problem. And the ramifications of our indulgent lifestyles will be shown in our oceans and the weather. It will be proven in the industrialization and in the air. The later civilizations will see how wasteful we were. Hopefully, these people will also take the initiative to learn from our mistakes and live with a more sustainable, eco-friendly initiative.

However, more importantly, it made me think about what I have done in my life and what I can do to make a change. It made me realize how I could start with myself to make the world a better place, as cliche as that sounds. As for me, I am going to college in mere months and I believe that, with the willpower, I can do something.

Now the question I want to ask is: What will you leave behind?

Raven Gold, Sapphire Green

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Golden and sapphire

The other,

Raven and green

It was never a choice

A simple mistake

So short and so sweet

The memory is mine

Everlasting

But as fate would have us

The cards frowned upon it

A second chance

Was it real?

Or perhaps an illusion

The sensation may fade

The dreams…

They do not

Talking in silence

Waves on the shore

Seeing chance wither and die

Stinging skin

Salty, cold

Starlight beams down

Another comes, I listen

Wondering what you think now

Sand flies

Words pull me

Tugging me closer to shore

So far from me now

Words flow and I nod

Hearing, not hearing

Gold flashes brightly

But green, it shines brighter

Defeated am I?

Victorious?

Not

The season is over

Long, long overdue

But the feeling remains

And I ask, have you too?

Reichenbach.

theycallmedameLeave a comment

It must be so boring!
So dull. So bleak.
To live in a mind
No more than obsolete.

Does it drive you mad?
No madder than me.
To breathe in their air,
But see more than they see?

I thought you were different:
Extraordinary! Unique!
But you’re just like them:
Boring, labeled, not me.

So take a leap of faith
Off a hospital roof!
With you still alive,
They’ll not yet know truth.

You fraud! You fake!
You waste of a genius!
They’ll never understand
While drowning under brilliance.

So jump! Leap!
Wait! Here! I’ll go first.
Because, as falls go,
Reichenbach is worst.

Car Troubles: Run in With the Gardener.

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Lampost

I’m guessing you read disaster and immediately associate the word with an accident. This is exactly what happened and yes it did involve my car and me. By reading this blog you know that I am still alive and I am not in prison, so surely the accident was not that bad. In fact I wouldn’t even call it an accident, maybe just a bump.

Ok now you’re probably wondering what I may have done. No I did not kill anyone, damage anyone or murder a cat. In fact, I just dented a car. Ok, lets be more specific. A truck. Yes my tiny ford fiesta miraculously managed to dent a truck.

So I reversed around the sharp corner of the driveway, guided by the smiling gardener, following his hand signals. My reverse seemed to be going pretty well at this point. Well for me anyway. This is the first time I’d followed hand signals before so I assume that I just followed his lead. Little did I know glimpsing away for one second would mean reversing into his vehicle. Yes I reversed into the gardener’s truck.

Oops.

You heard me right; I reversed in to a truck while the owner was watching. How embarrassing. And the worst part of it is I see him on a regular basis.

Everyone always seems to be watching the minute I do something wrong. And in this case it was the gardener. As he walked over to his car, the smile now wiped off of his face, I sat dreading the moment he would walk towards me from the accident scene, insurance information in hand. Luckily for me he didn’t.

“Only a little scratch” he said, “Don’t worry about it.”

I may have escaped insurance claims, a dent on my car and death, but I did not escape the shame. These sort of situations always happen to me. At least it wasn’t a lamp post.

Guantanamo’s(eternal)Prison

frog31 Comment

September 11 2001, a day that will forever live in infamy, rushed in many changes to America. From the controversial signing of the “Patriot Act” to the even more controversial opening of Guantanamo Prison, America is not the place it once was.

The facility was opened on January 11, 2002 with 20 prisoners suspected of terrorism arriving the same day. These prisoners were described by top US officials  as the “worst of the worst.” Our former President George W. Bush even acknowledges terrible treatment at the facility by stating that detainees are NOT protected by the Geneva Conventions.

President Obama had promised that during his term Guantanamo Prison would be closed. It seems he has ignored this issue even signing the Defense Authorization Bill. This bill contains provisions that make it nearly impossible for Guantanamo to be closed.

It seems that the famous prison will remain open indefinitely but it does seem that the inhumane treatment has stopped.

My Fabulous Christmas Vacation!

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There is only one word that can describe my Christmas vacation.

Fabulous.

 

The foggy sensations of nostalgia that I felt for my home and the people I missed melted in those three weeks and its cavities were filled with warmth of family, friendship, love, and Christmas spirit. Only now, nostalgia has resumed its place in my heart, waiting for its release from my next encounter with my loved ones.

My sister had come home for the first time in over a year. I missed her dearly. Just having her presence in the house changes the entire mood and air of everything. We didn’t do anything extraordinary. We just stayed in the house and talked, did some errands, and ate good food around Los Angeles. Nothing over the top but nonetheless special.

Jin Soo Park. My brother from another mother, so to speak. Although I’ve only known him for a few  years, we have grown so close and always seems to connect on a level that makes me believe that we must be siblings. I saw him for the first time in almost a year and we gorged ourselves on Korean BBQ and shaved ice. We even roamed the local mall to find his secret santa gifts. But seeing him again was wonderful and I hope I could see him again before he heads off to a different state.

Last but not least, I got to spend a good amount of time with Kai. In fact, we spent the New Year’s together in New York City (NYE IN NYC)! I met more of his family, joining them on a day-long trip to Disneyland. I couldn’t have been happier anywhere else.

 

Ultimately, I am so grateful for my Christmas vacation. God brought to me the people I cherish the most, my parents, my sister, my brother, and my boyfriend. Altogether, with the Christmas music that dominated the radios, the lights that hung from the roofs of houses, and the red/green sweaters I saw made my Christmas vacation fabulous and precious.